Jade Bahr

It's oscar material now 😄 @Lilja K ‘The Apprentice' Gets October 11 Release Date; Will Be Campaigned for Oscars — Screening at Telluride Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice” has been acquired by Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment for a pre-election U.S. release on October 11. The film will also be getting an awards push. It’s also having a surprise screening at Telluride this weekend. The Donald Trump “origin story” premiered at Cannes in May, much to the dismay of producer Dan Snyder, a pro-Trump donor whose Kinematics tried to block the release, reportedly displeased with the film’s depiction of Trump. The film features a much-discussed scene where Trump rapes his former wife Ivana. In May, Variety reported that Snyder, who is a friend of Trump’s, first saw a cut of the film in February and was absolutely furious. This didn’t stop the film from premiering at Cannes where it was met with, mostly, positive reviews. Snyder claimed the scene was kept in the film without his consent. According to her 1993 autobiography “Lost Tycoon,” Ivana made the rape accusation in a divorce court statement, but later clarified her earlier words, noting that she did not mean them in “a literal or criminal sense,” adding she “just felt violated” at the time. After months of contention, Snyder’s interest in the film has now been bought out, allowing the Briarcliff deal to be finalized. This means the film will now be able to start screening at some fall film festivals, and a “full-on awards campaign” is being prepped for it as well. Almost every Hollywood studio declined to distribute “The Apprentice,” but when producers finally thought they had secured an interested U.S. partner, Briarcliff, Snyder vetoed the deal. It was crucial, and time sensitive, for the other producers to get rid of Snyder, as they wanted the film to be shown right before the 2024 election. At Cannes, I asked “Is there actually an audience for “The Apprentice”? Sure, there will be some curiosity seekers, but being inundated with 24/7 wall-to-wall news coverage of Trump, every day and all day, these last 8 years has numbed people to no ends. The last thing audiences want is to pay $20 to watch more of that. “The Apprentice” is actually a good film . Itt tackles the gradual transformation of Trump in the ‘70s and ‘80s and is done in a way that avoids SNL-style parody. It’s actually quite restrained for most of its runtime and the story being told here is fascinating. Jeremy Strong and Sebastian Stan are also great in the two lead performances.

Jurrassic World Rebirth (2025) First look

I mean most of her movies are rather ... medicore so it isn't really a surprise!? @Lilja K Venice: ‘Maria' Reviews Drop — 64 on Metacritic Yesterday, Netflix picked up Pablo Larrain’s “Maria,” and judging by the reviews that just dropped out of Venice, it looks like they will have to fully concentrate their awards campaigning on Angelina Jolie’s lead performance and not the film itself. “Maria” is getting passable reviews, it has a 64 on Metacritic (based on 16 critics), and most of the writeups agree that Jolie is very good as opera singer Maria Callas. The black and white flashbacks seem to be a point of contention in some of the reviews. Overall, we’re not looking at any kind of contender for the Golden Lion. This is said to be the trilogy capper to Larrain’s “iconic females” biopics. 2022’s “Spencer” was underwhelming, but as far as I’m concerned, Larrain struck cinematic gold with 2016’s “Jackie” which featured brilliant editing, sound, music and a fantastic lead performance from Natalie Portman.

@Lilja K A24's ‘Babygirl' Earns Positive Notices at Venice Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl” has screened at Venice, and the reviews for the A24 title are positive, with many citing Nicole Kidman’s “brave” and “brilliant” performance — she might have just entered the Oscar race. “Babygirl” is currently at 82 on Metacritic (based on 15 reviews). The only perfect 5-star review comes to us from The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin who seems to give them out like candy on a near-monthly basis. Coming to us from writer-director Reijn (“Bodies, Bodies, Bodies”), Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonia Banderas, and Sophie Wilde star in a film tackling a high-powered CEO (Kidman) who puts her work on the line when she begins a BDSM-driven affair with her much younger intern (Dickinson). Reijn, whose debut was 2019’s “Instinct,” helmed last year’s A24 breakout “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies.” There was a lot of style, but very little substance to that film. However, visually speaking, the filmmaking did show some real promise, and it does look now like her third feature has hit all the right notes at Venice. “Babygirl” will be released theatrically on December 25, via A24.

by Charlie Gray for Esquire Mexico (August 2024)

🤣 they're not thinking about each other (lie)

Closing the Circle: Charlie Vickers

Did anyone expect it to be perfect? 😂

Booked and busy @Lilja K

Can't wait to start watching tonight

https://www.elle.com.au/culture/anya-taylor-joy-style-career-new-dog/

@Lilja K

Bit off topic but I'll never forget the time when Taylor tried to dig her nails into Leo and he just wasn't interested at all 🤣 The original source may not be the most reliable *cough* but when he rejected her she did what she's always doing. Wrote some shady songs about him because she thinks that her secret super power to destroy a mans reputation (as if Leo needs her for that, he is perfectly capable of doing it all by himself) 😆 LOL forever Let’s just examine the idea for a moment, just to play devil’s advocate. On one hand, I kind want to see what a fling between Swifty and Leo would look like, and just how badly he would mess her up. I mean, one week with Leo and she would have at least two albums’ worth of material. Best line Leo is reportedly delighted to be on Taylor’s radar: “Taylor is exactly Leo’s type – tall, blonde, thin and gorgeous. He’s even more turned on by her success.” Leos reaction to the rumor... “dumb” and "not true". ... probably hurt her feelings

💯 I can just repeat myself I'm glad Joe made it one piece out of this relationship. I don't know him in person but I don't think he deserved any of this ridiclious behaviour of her nor her fans.

^ Colin Farrell seen leaving a yoga class in Los Angeles on August 28, 2024

Oh boy 🤣 @Lilja K In Touch Weekly’s latest make-a-story is about how Angelina Jolie and Colin Farrell sparked all those years ago and could be sparking again because she still has a crush on him. I don’t believe this. But I want to believe it. Mostly though, I’m including this in today’s link roundup because there are new photos of him without his shirt on after a yoga class and I want them to sit on top of the site while we’re off for a few days. (Celebitchy)

‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice' Reviews Are Mostly Fine I don’t think many, if any, expected Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” to get rave reviews out of Venice, where it screened for press this morning. It’s set to open the 81st edition of festival this evening. Early word is officially out, and Burton’s sequel is getting mostly fine, semi-approvable reactions. Nothing more, nothing less. It currently sits at 67 on Metacritic. On Rotten Tomatoes, 20 reviews have been submitted, and 6 are rotten. Technically speaking, this is Burton’s best reviewed film since 2012’s animated “Frankenweenie” — his last few have been mediocre (“Dumbo,” “Miss Peregrine”). Burton has mentioned that, after “Dumbo,” he was close to retiring from directing, but felt rejuvenated by the artistic process of “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” Most critics, including myself, will be catching “Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice” early next week at press screenings. The film is set to be released theatrically on September 6. It’s currently project to have a 3-day opening anywhere between $70M-$80M.

Margot Robbie’s Maternity Style Is Both Comfy and Classic