Harvey Weinstein's empire iconic Miramax rises from the ashes as he faces sexual assault justice again
There's also a sequel to The Faculty in the works, with Robert Rodriguez returning to helm the project. In many cases, Glickman has had to smooth over decades-old tensions left by the Weinstein brothers (he ran the company with brother Bob) combative reign.
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Evening Standard
24-04-2025
- Evening Standard
Harvey Weinstein's empire iconic Miramax rises from the ashes as he faces sexual assault justice again
There's also a sequel to The Faculty in the works, with Robert Rodriguez returning to helm the project. In many cases, Glickman has had to smooth over decades-old tensions left by the Weinstein brothers (he ran the company with brother Bob) combative reign.
The Guardian
25-11-2024
- The Guardian
‘Activates my lizard brain': why Alita: Battle Angel is my feelgood movie
When I'm in a truly bad mood, about the state of the world or just the state of myself, traditionally uplifting movies (or music, or TV) don't cut it for me. It's not the movies' fault, necessarily; it's the act of pressing play on even a feel-great movie like His Girl Friday or Toy Story 2 that nags at me as overly self-conscious. It's hard for the movie to have its desired effect when I'm giving it such a personal, specific mandate to make me feel better – a truly impossible form of video on demand. Instead, I need something that activates my lizard brain, something that goes straight to the pleasure center of my imagination, rather than engaging directly with my emotions. In recent years, that movie is Alita: Battle Angel. Part of it is probably a form of penance for slightly underrating Alita when it came out. I gave this Robert Rodriguez-directed, James Cameron-produced (and co-written!) manga adaptation a measuredly positive review back in early 2019, clearly still processing my surprise, even confusion, that it was so much better than most were expecting. Another half-dozen viewings later, many on sick days, have worn away my initial resistance to the movie's slightly distended shape, corny dialogue and jostled-together plot. The movie follows the reawakening of Alita (a digitally augmented Rosa Salazar), a cyborg whose body has been trashed and whose memory has been erased. Partially repaired by the kindly but overprotective Dr Ido (Christoph Waltz), Alita eventually explores the dystopian Iron City, takes up a violent cyborg sport called Motorball, becomes a well-paid bounty hunter, falls in love with a human who yearns to escape for a better life, and rediscovers her past as a powerful warrior. It's a lot, and also, in its way, just the right amount. At a time when sci-fi and fantasy films often feel stingy, holding back key characters or set pieces for sequels or budget restrictions, Alita boasts Cameron's characteristic generosity – like his better-loved Avatar movies, the frame is often filled with inventive digital characters and sets – and Rodriguez's boundless energy. Salazar's Alita is a plucky badass whose earnestness in both love and war makes her a lovable resident of the uncanny valley, anchoring the overstuffed action. She's also, as others have explored with greater expertise than mine, readable as a trans hero – a woman who finds her agency by eventually switching to a different, better-fitting body. Maybe that's what makes this particular entry in the digital-cinema canon of gonzo sci-fi (fellow inductees: your Avatars, your Jupiter Ascendings, your Star Wars prequels) seem especially contemporary and vibrant, in addition to the excitement of its colors, designs and rapid pace. Released halfway through the first Trump term and rewatched heavily during a global pandemic, Alita has been accidentally battle-tested by real-world horrors. Like so much big-budget sci-fi, it predicts a bleak future while also making that future look, well, if not exactly fun, certainly a place where the pure-of-heart can still survive and find themselves, possibly through murderously extreme sports. Though some of the film's side characters will be brutally dispatched, there's something touching about how ridiculously extra they all are – and there's catharsis in seeing sweet-natured, curious, open-hearted Alita go absolutely nuts beating them down in a barfight (a Rodriguez specialty that gets a great sci-fi makeover here, complete with literal junkyard dogs). It's not as bloody or unsparing as an ultraviolent thriller, nor as gentle as a children's fantasy. It's something the inner child, outer adult and forever dork can all agree on – perfect for representing a character who occupies a liminal space between childlike wonder and embattled badass. So yes, my feelgood movie for when humanity lets me down is Alita: Battle Angel, a movie where much of humanity hangs out in a city-sized junkpile. And though I don't press play with this aspect particularly in mind, it's nice to imagine a future where things have gone terribly wrong (that just seems realistic at this point) yet unforeseen triumphs still emerge from the tech-nightmare garbage heap. There are plenty of more time-honored films that take a more direct path to temporary bliss, including sci-fi movies better-equipped to restore faith in humanity. (I know many people were appropriately moved by Arrival, opening days after Trump's 2016 victory; I love that one, to.) But for me, it's hard to beat the comfort of a weird, fantastical world populated by sci-fi creations that hustle and bustle with such clamor that they threaten to spill out of the widescreen frame. Alita may be cobbled together from the parts of other movies as well as its famous source material, but it's a beautiful salvage job. That's been a huge part of my life with movies: turning trash into treasured memories. Alita: Battle Angel is available to watch on Hulu in the US and on Netflix and Disney+ in the UK
The Independent
22-11-2024
- The Independent
Critically panned sci-fi film becomes Netflix hit five years after release
A critically panned sci-fi from 2019, that was written by , has become an unlikely hit five years later after being added to Netflix. Alita: Battle Angel, was originally supposed to be directed by Cameron himself but eventually left the task to Robert Rodriguez. The Terminator and Avatar director produced and co-scripted the film instead. The cyberpunk-action movie, starring Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly and Mahershala Ali, was wrapped up in controversy when it was first released after right-wing fans positioned it as an alternative to Brie Larson's Captain Marvel, which was released around the same time. The blockbuster focuses on the titular character, a cyborg, who after being revived by a doctor, realises that she has the soul of a teenage girl and sets out on a mission to discover the secrets of her past. Alita was a success at the time, thanks largely to its international fanbase, grossing $405m (£323m) worldwide against a $170m (£135m) budget. Critics weren't as kind to the movie and it currently holds just a 61 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was added to Netflix on 8 November and has persistently remained in the Global top 10 movie rankings ever since and at the time of writing has the number four slot. CBR reports that the film had 6.2 million views in that time and 12.7 million hours viewed. Fans of the film, which is based on a manga series by Yukito Kishiro, have been clambering for a sequel ever since the first film was released but are yet to receive any official confirmation. In July 2023, during an interview with Forbes, Cameron hinted that he was working on another Alita film. In the piece, which centred on the news that Cameron had sold his coastal ranch in California for $33m (£25.6m), the filmmaker alludes to ongoing work on an Alita sequel, as well as the forthcoming Avatar sequels. 'On Avatar, I'm working in Wellington and Los Angeles,' he said. 'And on the new Alita: Battle Angel films, I'll be working in Austin, so it just didn't make sense for us anymore.' Avatar: The Way of Water, the first sequel to Cameron's 2009 smash Avatar, was released in cinemas in 2022, becoming one of the highest-grossing movies ever made. Three further sequels are currently in development. The as-yet-untitled Avatar 3 was originally set to come out in December 2024 but has been moved to December 2025. As a result, the fourth and fifth entries were pushed back until December 2029 and December 2031 respectively.
