Today on FilmWeek, Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Amy Nicholson, Peter Rainer and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases. Larry also sits down with Sony Pictures Chair Tom Rothman to discuss the shifting Hollywood studio landscape as well as some of the challenges behind guiding a major film studio.
FilmWeek: 'The Lion King,' 'David Crosby: Remember My Name,' 'The Great Hack' and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Peter Rainer, Amy Nicholson and Charles Solomon review this weekend’s new movie releases:
" The Lion King " in wide release
" David Crosby: Remember My Name " at The Landmark & ArcLight Hollywood
“The Frame” host John Horn talked to director A.J. Eaton and producer Cameron Crowe earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, where the documentary premiered. You can listen to that interview here .
" The Great Hack " at the Laemmle’s Monica Film Center & Netflix on Wednesday July 24th
" Sword of Trust " at the Nuart Theater
" Rosie " at Laemmle's Monica Film Center
" Rojo " at Laemmle's Royal
" Apollo 11 " in select theaters on Saturday July 20th only
" Bottom of the 9th " at the AMC Universal CityWalk & on video-on-demand
" Above The Shadows " at the Arena Cinelounge Sunset
" A Bigger Splash " at Laemmle’s Music Hall
FilmWeek critic Peter Rainer is hosting a film series centered around the work of French female directors at the Norton Simon Museum. You can find more information about the screenings here .
Correction: During the FilmWeek radio broadcast, Larry Mantle identifies Karim Amer as the sole director of "The Great Hack." The film was co-directed by Karim Amer and Jehane Noujaim. We apologize for the error.
CRITICS' HITS:
Charles: "Apollo 11"
Amy: "David Crosby: Remember My Name" & "Rojo"
Peter: "Rosie" & "Bottom of the 9th"
MIXED FEELINGS:
Peter: "The Great Hack" & "A Bigger Splash"
Amy: "Sword of Trust"
MISSES:
Charles: "The Lion King"
Guests:
Amy Nicholson , film critic for KPCC, film writer for The Guardian and host of the podcasts ‘ Unspooled ’ and the podcast miniseries “ Zoom ”; she tweets
Peter Rainer, film critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor
Charles Solomon, film critic for KPCC, Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
Sony Pictures Chair Tom Rothman Talks “Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood” And The Ever-Shifting And Consolidating Film Studio Landscape
The last several years have been ones of change and some uncertainty for the landscape of the major Hollywood film studios.
AT&T bought WarnerMedia, Disney bought Twentieth Century Fox, and the “Big Five” film studios (Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros., Disney, and Sony) are starting to feel the pressure from a sixth heavyweight, Netflix. Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group chair Tom Rothman has watched it all happen from his various positions as a film studio executive. Over the course of three decades he’s been with Columbia Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn and spent 18 years in various roles at Twentieth Century Fox and Fox Searchlight.
He came to Sony Pictures in late 2013 to head up TriStar Productions before being promoted to chair of Sony’s Motion Picture Group. He oversaw Sony’s most profitable movie slate in over a decade in 2018, including “Jumanji: Welcome To the Jungle,” a film that became Sony’s highest-grossing, wholly-owned film ever, and the critically acclaimed “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” one of only a handful of non-Disney films to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
Ahead of Sony’s release next week of the Quentin Tarantino-directed film “Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood,” Rothman joins Larry Mantle on FilmWeek to talk about the successes and challenges he’s faced guiding a major film studio, how the shifting studio landscape changes the way he approaches his job, and how he plans to keep Sony competitive in a world where franchises and reboots dominate at the box office.
Guest:
Tom Rothman , chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Pictures Group