Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) at the White House. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, a downpour temporarily shut down Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, as famous Hollywood faces huddled in the coastal city. That felt like an apt metaphor for a week that saw David Ellison-led Paramount launch a hostile bid for Warner Bros. Discovery with assistance from “petrostate” money, reflecting the Saudi focus on media and the unpredictable risks that come with it.
Days before, Oscar-winning “Anora” director Sean Baker, who presided over the festival’s international jury, expressed skepticism about Netflix, saying filmmakers have to “put our foot down” over shrinking theatrical-release windows. On that point, the indie darling echoed a voice on the opposite end of the budget spectrum, “Avatar’s” James Cameron, who called the prospect of Netflix acquiring Warner Bros. “a disaster” for the movie business.
Founded by the Ministry of Culture, the juxtaposition of the festival’s fifth edition that concludes Saturday with the WBD tug of war underscores how parts of Hollywood are so preoccupied with one threat they could be ignoring another—namely, what Saudi Arabia hopes to gain from…
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Emma Mackey in James L. Brooks' "Ella McCay." (Courtesy of 20th Century Studios.)
‘Ella McCay’s’ Losing Campaign: Oscar and Emmy-winning writer-producer-director James L. Brooks has no creative mountains left to climb and has directed films sporadically, with his last turn behind the camera coming in 2010. Given his much-admired efforts on “As Good as It Gets,” “Broadcast News” and “Terms of Endearment,” watching the ill-conceived “Ella McCay” it’s hard not to wish he had quit while he was ahead.
The film’s strengths pretty much begin and end with the casting of Emma Mackey, a genuine star in the making (recent credits include the remake of “Death on the Nile” and “Barbie") who seems destined for better things, but can’t overcome the deficiencies in the script and character, as well as the movie’s…
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