Matt Singer is the editor and critic of the website ScreenCrush.com. For five years, he was the on-air host of IFC News on the Independent Film Channel, hosting coverage of film festivals and red carpets around the world. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, he’s been a frequent contributor to the television shows CBS This Morning Saturday and Ebert Presents At the Movies, and his writing has also appeared in print and online at The Village Voice, The Dissolve, and Indiewire. His first book, Marvel’s Spider-Man: From Amazing to Spectacular, is on sale now.
Matt Singer
Watch Macaulay Culkin Play His Grown-Up ‘Home Alone’ Character in a New Google Ad
Culkin reprised the role of Kevin McAllister for the first time in 25 years for Google’s new Christmas ad.
Stan Lee, Co-Creator of Spider-Man and the Avengers, Dies at 95
“Stan the Man” was the face of Marvel for decades.
There’s Just One Blockbuster Video Left in the Entire Country
After the closings of two Alaska Blockbusters, one lone holdout in Oregon is the final vestige of a big part of movie culture.
Verne Troyer, Mini-Me in ‘Austin Powers,’ Dies at 49
The film and television star had battles with depression.
R. Lee Ermey, the Ultimate Cinematic Drill Instructor, Dies at 74
Ermey became world-famous for his role as the cruel Sergeant Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Full Metal Jacket.’
Stephen Hawking, Beloved Physicist and Pop Culture Fixture, Dies at 76
Watch some of Hawking’s greatest TV and film appearances, from ‘A Brief History of Time’ to ‘The Simpsons.’
‘The Revenant’ Review: This Revenge Western Is Beautiful And… Uh… Well, It’s Beautiful Anyway
How good does a movie have to look to offset its other deficiencies? The Revenant is as beautiful a movie as has ever been made. The photography by master cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki is inconceivably gorgeous; sweeping wide shots that juxtapose tiny, insignificant men against the overwhelming grandeur of nature, close-ups so intimate they seem like invasions of the actors’ privacy, and action sequences of shocking violence.
‘Magic Mike XXL’ Review: Just Like Riding a Pony
Magic Mike was a movie about strippers trying to make ends meet in the midst of the Great Recession, the difficulty of modern romance, and the dangers of drug use. Magic Mike XXL is a movie about strippers stripping. And not a whole lot else.
New Netflix Instant Releases: July 2015
July is almost upon us and it’s going to be a good month for Netflix users, as the streaming service is adding a whole slew of new movies and TV shows, including a bunch of exclusives. Cult comedy fans are eagerly awaiting the debut of the return of Wet Hot American Summer as a new series featuring the original cast, and standup fans will get a brand-new special from Rush Hour star Chris Tucker. Plus, there’s a whole slew of recent hits from television and cinemas (The Guest!). Read on for your guide to the new Netflix Instant releases arriving in July.
What to Watch on Netflix This Valentine’s Day
For most people, Valentine’s Day means flowers, chocolate, and romantic dinners. For cinephiles (or people too cheap or lazy to leave the house), Valentine’s Day means snuggling on the couch and watching a romantic movie. If you’re planning a Netflix night this weekend, picking the right film is key. There’s nothing worse than inviting that special someone over for a private screening, lighting a few candles, pouring a glass of wine, and then killing the mood by putting on In the Ream of the Senses.
‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Review: A Vanilla Movie About Kinky Sex
Christian Grey is an unusual guy. He’s the world’s most eligible billionaire bachelor and an enormously powerful businessman. He’s an avid jogger, an exceptional piano player, and a licensed helicopter pilot. He also really like the color gray. He wears gray suits and ties, drives a gray car to his gray office building (which is called Grey House) under gray Seattle skies, where his assistant dresses in—you guessed it—gray. (For the record, his office chairs are white but the couches are gray too.) And, oh yeah, he’s into kinky sex, including bondage, spanking, and domination.
NSFW: Witness the Overwhelming Sexiness of ‘Fifty Shades of Buscemi’
The first reviews of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ are out and most are pretty mixed on the film and whether or not it delivers on the white-hot sexuality of the original novel. But here is one film that absolutely brings the raw animal magnetism: ‘Fifty Shades of Buscemi,’ a mashup that inserts the great star of ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ ‘Fargo,’ and so many more into new film opposite star Dakota Johnson.
Behold ‘American Sniper’’s Fake Baby In All Its Not-Real Glory
‘American Sniper’ had a record-shattering weekend at the box office, grossing an astounding $105 million from Friday to Monday. It’s already the second biggest earner of Clint Eastwood’s entire career after ‘Gran Torino,’ and with six Academy Award nominations (and great word-of-mouth) behind it, it’s posed to become his biggest hit ever.