Akira Kurosawa seems to have influenced a sequence in The Batman; an author says the Zodiac Killer may finally be unmasked by his obscure pop culture references; Black Panther director Ryan Coogler was wrongly detained for daring to withdraw his own money from a bank.
But First: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky apparently provided the voice of Paddington Bear. What can’t this guy do?
Batman Meets Kurosawa: The Batman director Matt Reeves has been very upfront about the influences on the film — from All the President’s Men to Chinatown to Klute to The Godfather — but our Caleb Hammond thinks there may be another: Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. Reeves hasn’t commented, but listed Kurosawa as one of his filmmaking heroes in our latest cover story.
More Batman: In case you missed our update to yesterday’s Rundown, new Catwoman Zoë Kravitz issued a clarification about being turned down for a Dark Knight Rises audition.
Zodiac Unmasked?: There’s been lots of talk about the never-identified Zodiac Killer lately, because of the recent 15th anniversary of David Fincher’s Zodiac and the Zodiac influence on Paul Dano’s version of The Riddler in The Batman. Author Jarret Kobek, subject of a film we featured here, has a new book called How to Find Zodiac that says very specific pop culture references in the Zodiac Killer’s letters to cops and the press helped Kobek identify a new suspect. Long story short, both the Zodiac and Kobek’s new suspect share a fondness for cryptographs, a specific type of bomb, and public murder confessions.
Pugh in Dune?: As part of Florence Pugh’s campaign to be in every movie, she is reportedly in talks to join Dune: Part 2. The Hollywood Reporter has details.
Wandering Cinema: Filmmaker and Rundown reader Neal Dhand invites you to apply for his film retreat and workshop Wandering Cinema, to be held this summer in the Italian Alps. Guest filmmakers include director Agnieszka Smoczyńska, whose horror musical The Lure played at Sundance and Fantasia, among other festivals, and whose drama Fugue screened at Cannes. The event features screenings, classes, discussions and networking in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. You can apply through the end of the month.
Ryan Coogler Wrongly Detained: TMZ reports and Variety confirms that Black Panther and Black Panther 2 director Ryan Coogler was wrongly detained in January after an Atlanta Bank of America employee misunderstood his attempt to withdraw money from his checking account… as a bank robbery. Coogler was attempting to withdraw $12,000 from his account, and sensibly asked the teller in a note to “please do the money count somewhere else. I’d like to be discreet.” TMZ cited a police report that said the transaction triggered some sort of alert in the banking system, and the teller and her boss called 911.
Because No One Has Ever Asked to Discretely Withdraw a Lot of Money Before, I Guess: Coogler and two people who were waiting for him outside were briefly detained. ““This situation should never have happened,” Coogler told Variety. “However, Bank of America worked with me and addressed it to my satisfaction and we have moved on.” A bank rep added: “We deeply regret that this incident occurred. It never should have happened and we have apologized to Mr. Coogler.” I know we’re all thinking “hm, this maybe sounds like racial profiling,” though TMZ reports that the teller, like Coogler, is Black. Maybe Bank of America is just bad at the whole banking thing? Black Panther was the top-grossing film of 2018.
Paul Dano: Here he is talking About the Zodiac influence on the Riddler. At the :44 mark he also delivers my favorite line in The Batman.
Main image: Paddington Bear, who was voiced by Volodymyr Zelensky in the Russian versions of Paddington and Paddington 2.
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