Britt Hayes is a writer, movie lover, and sensible sweater enthusiast living in Austin, Texas. She watches too much TV and never eats her vegetables.
Britt Hayes
‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,’ ‘Barry Lyndon’ and More Coming to Criterion in October
We are living in the peak era of Twin Peaks. In addition to David Lynch’s riveting television revival (which will inevitably become the best series of 2017, don’t @ me), the iconic filmmaker’s cult classic prequel film is coming to The Criterion Collection this October. Also joining the prestigious collection: Kristen Stewart’s spooky text messages, a murderous mermaid musical from Poland, Stanley Kubrick, and more.
Stephen King’s ‘It’ Sends the Losers’ Club to Pennywise’s Lair in New Images and Concept Art
It’s a big day for all kinds of new images and details from several highly-anticipated films, and you have Comic-Con to thank for most of it — well, not it as in It, the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King’s classic horror novel, which is set to hit theaters in September. As we inch closer to the release date, four new images have debuted online, giving us another look at the film’s young ensemble cast as they head into the heart of evil, aka Pennywise’s lair.
Quentin Tarantino Eyeing Margot Robbie for Sharon Tate Role in Manson Family Film
Just last night we learned that Quentin Tarantino’s next film is a “unique take on the Manson Family murders” — news that sent the internet running through the entire reactionary cycle at an unprecedented speed. Little is known about the project and what Tarantino’s “unique take” on the gruesome true-crime story might be, which only fueled speculation about the film (and inspired plenty of premature judgment calls). A new report offers a few more details about the untitled Manson Family project, most notably that Tarantino has met with Margot Robbie for the role of the late Sharon Tate.
‘Ingrid Goes West’ Trailer: Aubrey Plaza Is Hashtag Unhinged
As far as the rest of this summer movie season is concerned, Ingrid Goes West is my most anticipated film (sorry, Spidey). Aubrey Plaza continues her totally unreal tour of pop culture insanity (see also: Legion) in the latest trailer for the Sundance favorite — a social media parable in which Plaza plays a self-destructive, Instagram-obsessed young woman who seeks validation through likes, which she confuses for legit human love…you know, like all of us.
‘It Comes at Night’ Director Trey Edward Shults on Why This Isn’t a Conventional Horror Movie
Trey Edward Shults’ follow-up to last year’s Krisha is an intimately unnerving post-apocalyptic horror-drama in which the real threat isn’t outside — it’s already lurking within. Even without knowing the story that inspired It Comes at Night, Shults’ latest feels far more personal than his directorial debut and every bit as disquieting (and then some). I sat down with Shults the day after a special screening of It Comes at Night, which involved a bus ride out to an undisclosed location in the middle of the woods and seemed like an elaborate ploy to murder us all.
‘It Comes at Night’ Review: Grief Is a Fate More Terrifying Than Death
Tales of the apocalypse are no longer particularly terrifying in 2017, when the end of the world feels all but impending. The real horror is what happens after the world ends, when the surviving few are forced to continue on and cope with what’s left of it. The same could also be said for the devastating experience of losing a loved one, especially if that loss is unnatural and witnessed firsthand by the bereaved. This is the concept that profoundly transforms the basic premise of It Comes at Night into an emotional thesis in which filmmaker Trey Edward Shults posits grief as a personal post-apocalypse — how do you live in the end of the world after your world comes to an end?
‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’ Teaser: Nicole Kidman Shows Elle Fanning What Punk Is All About
It’s a big year for Nicole Kidmaniacs (just something I’m trying out), and Big Little Lies was just the opening act. The actress has four projects screening at Cannes this year: Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, the second season of Jane Campion’s Top of the Lake, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer and How to Talk to Girls at Parties. You’ll have a Nicole Kidman for every occasion, but perhaps none cooler than the one featured in John Cameron Mitchell’s adaptation of the Neil Gaiman short story. As you can see in the first teaser, Kidman’s about to get real rowdy y’all.
‘Alien: Covenant’ Clip: Demian Bichir Needs a (Face) Hug
They’re not called face-huggers for nothin’. That’s a lesson Demian Bichir learns the hard way in the latest clip from Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, which introduces a whole new unlucky crew of space-travelers who swiftly become a bloody buffet for the iconic xenomorphs and their various mutations. Judging by all the clips and trailers we’ve seen so far, it doesn’t look like most of these people are making it off that planet alive, but it wouldn’t be an Alien movie if almost everyone wasn’t gruesomely murdered by a xenomorph.
‘The Dark Tower’ Trailer Features Two Major Stephen King Easter Eggs
If you’re a huge Stephen King fan (like me!), then you undoubtedly noticed two fairly huge easter eggs in the first trailer for The Dark Tower, which finally — after months of anticipation and growing concern — debuted online early this morning. Those less familiar with the SKU (the Stephen King Universe) may have missed the pair of references to two of King’s most iconic stories, both of which have also been adapted before.
‘The Circle’ Review: Almost as Bad as Social Media Is for Society
In the second act of The Circle (a film so poorly structured that it feels like it has five acts instead of three), Emma Watson’s painfully earnest protagonist Mae Holland decides to go “transparent” and have her entire life live-streamed around the clock, save for the occasional three-minute bathroom break. Throughout these sequences, CGI text boxes appear on screen to display viewer comments in “real-time,” with half-baked thoughts ranging from “I just ate cheese from last year” to “My girlfriend dumped me.” Those comments, often irrelevant and ineloquent, are the only part of The Circle that feels remotely relevant or clever…or entertaining. The rest, like the titular shape, is hollow.