The actor was told to act like smoke by Terrence Malick and saw Peter Bogdanovich soak his cravat in iced water before he wore it. She talks about shooting with Kristen Stewart, investigative acting, and filming The Teacher in Palestine
Imogen Poots has a confession. “I drew a man’s penis too big recently,” she says, her anime eyes widening. The 35-year-old London-born actor is sitting at home in New York in an olive baseball cap. Willygate occurred at a life-drawing class she attends in Brooklyn. “The art teacher said I needed to get my proportions right, so I erased what I’d done. But then the model, who looked like a young Sam Shepard, came over and saw where the original penis had been, and realised it had been downsized.” She is pondering whether to find another class. “There’s a bunch all over the city but I’m running out of options.
Imogen Poots has a confession. “I drew a man’s penis too big recently,” she says, her anime eyes widening. The 35-year-old London-born actor is sitting at home in New York in an olive baseball cap. Willygate occurred at a life-drawing class she attends in Brooklyn. “The art teacher said I needed to get my proportions right, so I erased what I’d done. But then the model, who looked like a young Sam Shepard, came over and saw where the original penis had been, and realised it had been downsized.” She is pondering whether to find another class. “There’s a bunch all over the city but I’m running out of options.
- 9/20/2024
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Nominations voting is from January 8-12, 2025, with official Oscar nominations announced January 17, 2025. Final voting is February 11-18, 2025. And finally, the 97th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2 and air live on ABC at 7:00 p.m. Et/ 4:00 p.m. Pt. We update our picks through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions.
The State of the Race
If there is one major Oscar race that has changed the most due to the Academy’s push to become more globally-minded, it is the Best Director race. Recent surprise nominees, from “Anatomy of a Fall” filmmaker Justine Triet last year to “Triangle of Sadness” director Ruben Östlund and “Drive My Car” director Ryusuke Hamaguchi the years prior, have often been directors that appealed more to the tastes of international voters.
Fast forward to now, and that sort of Cannes crowd really is leading the conversation...
The State of the Race
If there is one major Oscar race that has changed the most due to the Academy’s push to become more globally-minded, it is the Best Director race. Recent surprise nominees, from “Anatomy of a Fall” filmmaker Justine Triet last year to “Triangle of Sadness” director Ruben Östlund and “Drive My Car” director Ryusuke Hamaguchi the years prior, have often been directors that appealed more to the tastes of international voters.
Fast forward to now, and that sort of Cannes crowd really is leading the conversation...
- 9/19/2024
- by Marcus Jones
- Indiewire
Rome’s Mia film and TV market has selected 60 projects for its co-production market, which runs from October 14-18th.
More than 600 projects were submitted this year from 90 countries worldwide. Of these, 60 will be presented, spanning films, animation, documentaries and scripted TV dramas.
14 feature-length film projects, coming from 10 countries are being presented at Mia’s Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum.
They include French director Yves Piat’s Borderline, following on from his Oscar-nominated short Nefta Football Club.
UK director Juliet Ellis also presents coming-of-age feature Braids, following her 2021 debut Ruby.
Carlo S. Hintermann - whose debut film The Book of Vision...
More than 600 projects were submitted this year from 90 countries worldwide. Of these, 60 will be presented, spanning films, animation, documentaries and scripted TV dramas.
14 feature-length film projects, coming from 10 countries are being presented at Mia’s Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum.
They include French director Yves Piat’s Borderline, following on from his Oscar-nominated short Nefta Football Club.
UK director Juliet Ellis also presents coming-of-age feature Braids, following her 2021 debut Ruby.
Carlo S. Hintermann - whose debut film The Book of Vision...
- 9/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
For her fifth feature as director, Angelina Jolie has gone so far back to basics that Without Blood could quite easily be her debut. That isn’t a criticism, rather an observation about how hard it is, even for A-list talent, to make films about the brutality of war, even though many are raging all around us and, by displacing people in their thousands, feeding the anti-immigrant sentiment currently creeping up all around the world. But even after tackling conflicts in Bosnia, Cambodia, and even the Second World War, adapting Alessandro Baricco’s 2002 short story of the same name is a bold gambit; it’s a deliberately ambiguous two-hander that will have viewers wondering if they’ve missed a title card or two. What year is this? And where in the world are we?
The two stars...
The two stars...
- 9/17/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Bre Tiesi may have risen to fame through her glamorous persona in Netflix’s Selling Sunset, but her journey in front of the camera, seemingly started long before she became a household name in the real estate and reality TV world. While many associate her with her luxurious listings and bold personality, Tiesi’s IMDb reveals a much more unexpected path.
Bre Tiesi in Selling Sunset | Done and Done Productions
As she continues to make headlines for her work, a glance back at her previous work reveals a fascinating yet somewhat questionable connection to major projects. How did Tiesi go from these low-profile roles to making waves in a Netflix dystopian thriller? Let’s dive into the story behind Bre Tiesi’s curious acting career.
Bre Tiesi in Uglies: A Netflix Dystopia That Sparked Online Reactions Joey King in Uglies / Netflix
The release of Uglies on Netflix brought together an intriguing cast,...
Bre Tiesi in Selling Sunset | Done and Done Productions
As she continues to make headlines for her work, a glance back at her previous work reveals a fascinating yet somewhat questionable connection to major projects. How did Tiesi go from these low-profile roles to making waves in a Netflix dystopian thriller? Let’s dive into the story behind Bre Tiesi’s curious acting career.
Bre Tiesi in Uglies: A Netflix Dystopia That Sparked Online Reactions Joey King in Uglies / Netflix
The release of Uglies on Netflix brought together an intriguing cast,...
- 9/14/2024
- by Sonika Kamble
- FandomWire
CAA’s Roeg Sutherland is set to be honored with the Zurich Film Festival’s Game Changer Award for his outstanding achievements and contributions within the film industry.
The co-Head of CAA’s Media Finance department as well as its International Film Group, will be presented with the award during the festival’s industry-focused Zurich Summit, which takes place in October within the framework of the 20th Zurich Film Festival (Zff).
As part of the recognition, FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner will host the Game Changer Award recipient conversation, in which he will speak with Sutherland about his journey.
“Roeg is a passionate cinephile and industry leader, who has not only discovered, but also nurtured and developed the careers of countless artists. In the past several years, he has secured financing and sold some of the most important and critically acclaimed films, both domestic and international,” commented Zff Artistic Director Christian Jungen.
The co-Head of CAA’s Media Finance department as well as its International Film Group, will be presented with the award during the festival’s industry-focused Zurich Summit, which takes place in October within the framework of the 20th Zurich Film Festival (Zff).
As part of the recognition, FilmNation Entertainment CEO Glen Basner will host the Game Changer Award recipient conversation, in which he will speak with Sutherland about his journey.
“Roeg is a passionate cinephile and industry leader, who has not only discovered, but also nurtured and developed the careers of countless artists. In the past several years, he has secured financing and sold some of the most important and critically acclaimed films, both domestic and international,” commented Zff Artistic Director Christian Jungen.
- 9/10/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
When it comes to Sean Penn, all is fair in lights, camera, and action. But surprisingly, the luminary known for his commanding presence and intricate performances, had certain issues when it came to Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. Although the Brad Pitt starrer garnered ecstatic reviews, Penn was left confused and disappointed with his role.
Sean Penn in The Tree of Life | image: Cottonwood Pictures
As Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life marked a departure from the familiar stage where Sean Penn thrives, the actor found himself struggling to match his need for a defined narrative with the film’s enigmatic vision. Therefore, the juxtaposition of Penn’s own creative ego with the daring nature of Malick’s cinematic experiment led the actor to openly share his frustration with the project.
Sean Penn Voiced His Discontent with Brad Pitt’s The Tree of Life
Sean Penn’s...
Sean Penn in The Tree of Life | image: Cottonwood Pictures
As Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life marked a departure from the familiar stage where Sean Penn thrives, the actor found himself struggling to match his need for a defined narrative with the film’s enigmatic vision. Therefore, the juxtaposition of Penn’s own creative ego with the daring nature of Malick’s cinematic experiment led the actor to openly share his frustration with the project.
Sean Penn Voiced His Discontent with Brad Pitt’s The Tree of Life
Sean Penn’s...
- 9/7/2024
- by Krittika Mukherjee
- FandomWire
An unnamed village, an unknown time; somewhere in Britain, sometime in the Late Middle Ages, something is about to end. Athina Rachel Tsangari’s Harvest sees the twilight of an old social order, but is not mourning a paradise lost. That would be too simplistic a comparison for a filmmaker whose work has always succeeded in weaving the allegorical with the political, such as gender constructs in Attenberg or Chevalier. Nine years after the latter, the Greek director returns to feature filmmaking with an adaptation of Jim Crace’s acclaimed book of the same name, making Harvest her third film and first period piece.
Harvest season comes with warm yellows (fields), bright greens (meadows), and deep blues (the lake). Amidst all of this beauty, we find Walter Thirsk (Caleb Landry Jones), a villager whose bright eyes and pale skin may mislead you: he is so deeply immersed in this natural world––its cycles,...
Harvest season comes with warm yellows (fields), bright greens (meadows), and deep blues (the lake). Amidst all of this beauty, we find Walter Thirsk (Caleb Landry Jones), a villager whose bright eyes and pale skin may mislead you: he is so deeply immersed in this natural world––its cycles,...
- 9/3/2024
- by Savina Petkova
- The Film Stage
There is a sense-memory of Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven when Harvest begins; we are in the midst of a wheatfield, the ripe ears above us, the blue sky glimpsed between the stalks. Caleb Landry Jones appears, caressing a butterfly. Then he bites off a piece of mossy wood, chews experimentally and spits it out; we have just shifted sideways from Malick’s lyricism into the unpredictably strange, unforgiving world of Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Venice competition title Harvest is set in what is probably a Scottish village sometime in the 18th century, when much of the country was being convulsed by an agricultural revolution. During the Clearances, thousands of peasant farmers were evicted to make way for industrial-scale sheep farming, their fields grassed, and woods razed for pasture. Landry Jones plays Walter Thirsk, who came to this imaginary village — so remote that it doesn’t require a name,...
Venice competition title Harvest is set in what is probably a Scottish village sometime in the 18th century, when much of the country was being convulsed by an agricultural revolution. During the Clearances, thousands of peasant farmers were evicted to make way for industrial-scale sheep farming, their fields grassed, and woods razed for pasture. Landry Jones plays Walter Thirsk, who came to this imaginary village — so remote that it doesn’t require a name,...
- 9/3/2024
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
With her small but delicious body of directorial work, Greek New Waver Athina Rachel Tsangari has amassed a loyal fanbase. Her debut “Attenberg” (2010) announced a talent capable of balancing absurdist humor with an infectious warmth for human weirdness. Where lauded contemporary Yorgos Lanthimos makes his characters suffer to drive existential points home, Tsangari uses deadpan observations as a way to affectionately deepen her psychological portraits. Crucially, her creations care about each other, even if they are often hamstrung by certain weaknesses.
The announcement of a third feature, “Harvest,” world premiering at Venice, nine years on from “Chevalier,” was cause for genuine excitement among Tsangari heads. Forays into a TV miniseries (“Trigonometry” in 2020) and regular producing gigs have been no substitute for a feature film brewed in her singular mind palace. So, how does “Harvest” stack up?
At first glance, it seems like Tsangari has totally switched things up. Her first...
The announcement of a third feature, “Harvest,” world premiering at Venice, nine years on from “Chevalier,” was cause for genuine excitement among Tsangari heads. Forays into a TV miniseries (“Trigonometry” in 2020) and regular producing gigs have been no substitute for a feature film brewed in her singular mind palace. So, how does “Harvest” stack up?
At first glance, it seems like Tsangari has totally switched things up. Her first...
- 9/3/2024
- by Sophie Monks Kaufman
- Indiewire
“I’ve never worked with a hog before,” Ben Stiller says. “So when they started making crazy sounds, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute! Am I safe?’” At this, Stiller squeals and snorts like an irate pig, mimicking the scene-stealing sows from his new comedy “Nutcrackers.”
Stiller had to be ready for anything when it came to making the low-budget indie about a workaholic real estate developer who becomes a guardian to his unruly nephews after their parents die. That openness started with his co-stars, Homer, Ulysses, Arlo and Atlas Janson, four brothers who range in age from 5 to 13, who’d never been on a film set. Instead of a Hollywood soundstage, the movie was shot on their family’s Ohio farm, a rural homestead filled with chickens, goats and, yes, hogs. Clearly, Stiller wouldn’t be spending time relaxing in a trailer or enjoying other movie star perks.
“When I called Ben,...
Stiller had to be ready for anything when it came to making the low-budget indie about a workaholic real estate developer who becomes a guardian to his unruly nephews after their parents die. That openness started with his co-stars, Homer, Ulysses, Arlo and Atlas Janson, four brothers who range in age from 5 to 13, who’d never been on a film set. Instead of a Hollywood soundstage, the movie was shot on their family’s Ohio farm, a rural homestead filled with chickens, goats and, yes, hogs. Clearly, Stiller wouldn’t be spending time relaxing in a trailer or enjoying other movie star perks.
“When I called Ben,...
- 9/3/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Pedro Almodóvar has long grappled with mortality in his films, oftentimes using it as a window into society’s views on gender, relationships, and what it means to leave one’s mark. In The Room Next Door, the Spanish auteur migrates those internal inquiries stateside, finding universal resonance in a simple story of a woman confronting the end of her own story. Based on Sigrid Nunez’s novel, the film sees Martha request Ingrid’s company as she ends her battle with cancer, hoping to regain lost connections and impart whatever wisdom remains in her waning moments.
On the surface, this premise echoes Martin Scorsese’s depictions of criminals clinging to brotherhood in the face of punishment or death. But where Goodfellas or The Departed find brotherhood through shared experiences on the fringes of society, Almodóvar locates it through intellectualism and creativity.
As Ingrid and Martha reconnect through recollections of...
On the surface, this premise echoes Martin Scorsese’s depictions of criminals clinging to brotherhood in the face of punishment or death. But where Goodfellas or The Departed find brotherhood through shared experiences on the fringes of society, Almodóvar locates it through intellectualism and creativity.
As Ingrid and Martha reconnect through recollections of...
- 9/2/2024
- by Gazettely Editorial
- Gazettely
“The Piano Lesson” seems to be hitting all the right Oscar notes.
With Black excellence, impeccable filmmaking, and towering performances, Netflix’s “The Piano Lesson” hit the awards season scene this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival. Debut director Malcolm Washington and stars John David Washington and Danielle Deadwyler were on hand as the film premiered to strong reviews. Given the response and Netflix’s enthusiasm for the project, “The Piano Lesson” could find itself with a best picture nomination.
The latest adaptation from the late playwright August Wilson’s “Century Cycle,” the film is set in 1936 Pittsburgh. It follows the Charles family as they grapple with familial trauma and the (literal) ghosts of their ancestors — it’s a history of violence and cruelty and oppression that are illustrated in the elaborate decorations and designs that have been carved into a piano. And the fate of that family heirloom — whether...
With Black excellence, impeccable filmmaking, and towering performances, Netflix’s “The Piano Lesson” hit the awards season scene this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival. Debut director Malcolm Washington and stars John David Washington and Danielle Deadwyler were on hand as the film premiered to strong reviews. Given the response and Netflix’s enthusiasm for the project, “The Piano Lesson” could find itself with a best picture nomination.
The latest adaptation from the late playwright August Wilson’s “Century Cycle,” the film is set in 1936 Pittsburgh. It follows the Charles family as they grapple with familial trauma and the (literal) ghosts of their ancestors — it’s a history of violence and cruelty and oppression that are illustrated in the elaborate decorations and designs that have been carved into a piano. And the fate of that family heirloom — whether...
- 9/2/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
From “Boy A” (the movie that launched Andrew Garfield’s career) to “Zero for Conduct,” movies set in broken boarding schools and juvenile reformatory centers are a dime a dozen. With “Nickel Boys,” director RaMell Ross finds fresh colors in such a rigidly codified genre, turning a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel into a minimalist tone poem. The book by Colson Whitehead is brilliant, but much of it you’ve probably seen before on-screen, so Ross strips away as many of the words as possible, searching instead for images to tell the story of Elwood, a Tallahassee teen who’s so much more than a victim of the system.
Except, Ross doesn’t tell the story so much as inhabit it, to the extent I found myself wondering whether I could have followed the plot — which alternates between the 1960s and the early 2000s — had I not already read Whitehead’s novel.
Except, Ross doesn’t tell the story so much as inhabit it, to the extent I found myself wondering whether I could have followed the plot — which alternates between the 1960s and the early 2000s — had I not already read Whitehead’s novel.
- 9/2/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
I consumed Barry Jenkins’ 10-part limited series adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad over the course of a weekend because, basically, I couldn’t stop. It was extraordinary storytelling and filmmaking, if harrowing in its uncompromising depiction of slavery. Whitehead followed that book up with The Nickel Boys in 2019, and like Underground Railroad, won a Pulitzer Prize for it. Based on this, I looked forward to the film version, its title shortened to simply Nickel Boys, especially since it also came from Plan B., producers of The Underground Railroad and Oscar-winning Best Pictures 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight. As it turns out, shortening the title wasn’t the only change in the RaMell Ross screen version that just had its world premiere this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival and will also be opening the New York Film Festival.
Admittedly a difficult book to transfer its rhythms to a different medium,...
Admittedly a difficult book to transfer its rhythms to a different medium,...
- 8/31/2024
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross’ big screen interpretation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Nickel Boys, had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival’s Herzog Theatre on Friday night. Reactions among attendees, including numerous Academy members, have been strongly divided — many were impressed and deeply moved by the film, while others were left cold by it — leaving its Oscar prospects somewhat up in the air.
Ross is a tremendously gifted filmmaker who was Oscar-nominated and won a Peabody Award for his unconventional 2018 documentary feature Hale County This Morning, This Evening, which looked at the Black experience in a part of Alabama. Now just 42, he is making his narrative directorial debut with Nickel Boys, the script of which he co-wrote with his Hale County producer Joslyn Barnes.
The story centers on two young Black men, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), who, in the 1960s, while the...
Ross is a tremendously gifted filmmaker who was Oscar-nominated and won a Peabody Award for his unconventional 2018 documentary feature Hale County This Morning, This Evening, which looked at the Black experience in a part of Alabama. Now just 42, he is making his narrative directorial debut with Nickel Boys, the script of which he co-wrote with his Hale County producer Joslyn Barnes.
The story centers on two young Black men, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), who, in the 1960s, while the...
- 8/31/2024
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We love seeing which films rank among our favorite directors’ list of best ever — the ones that left a mark and steered them in the path of becoming some of the most renowned artists of the medium. But let’s face it, we don’t mind a little conflict, either. But Park Chan-wook wasn’t going after his fellow directors in a physical way but rather in a much more damming way — attacking their work!
In a recently unearthed slam session from 1999, Park Chan-wook called out 10 films that he considered the most overrated ever. Keep in mind that by this point, the South Korean director only had two features to his credit. So what’s on the list and what did he have to say? Let’s check it out:
Park Chan-wook primarily took issue with American films, opening the list with Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, which can...
In a recently unearthed slam session from 1999, Park Chan-wook called out 10 films that he considered the most overrated ever. Keep in mind that by this point, the South Korean director only had two features to his credit. So what’s on the list and what did he have to say? Let’s check it out:
Park Chan-wook primarily took issue with American films, opening the list with Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers, which can...
- 8/19/2024
- by Mathew Plale
- JoBlo.com
September marks Marcello Mastroianni’s centennial, and the Criterion Channel pays respect with a retrospective that puts the expected alongside some lesser-knowns: Monicelli’s The Organizer, Jacques Demy’s A Slightly Pregnant Man, and two by Ettore Scola. There’s also the welcome return of “Adventures In Moviegoing” with Rachel Kushner’s formidable selections, among them Fassbinder’s Mother Küsters Goes to Heaven, Pialat’s L’enfance nue, and Jean Eustache’s Le cochon. In the lead-up to His Three Daughters, a four-film Azazel Jacobs program arrives.
Theme-wise, a set of courtroom dramas runs from 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Murder to My Cousin Vinny and Philadelphia; a look at ’30s female screenwriters includes Fritz Lang’s You and Me, McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow, and Cukor’s What Price Hollywood? There’s also a giallo series if you want to watch an Argento movie and ask yourself,...
Theme-wise, a set of courtroom dramas runs from 12 Angry Men and Anatomy of a Murder to My Cousin Vinny and Philadelphia; a look at ’30s female screenwriters includes Fritz Lang’s You and Me, McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow, and Cukor’s What Price Hollywood? There’s also a giallo series if you want to watch an Argento movie and ask yourself,...
- 8/13/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Amid the theatrical release of their horror pic Cuckoo, starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, Waypoint Entertainment has announced the launch of new genre label Cweature Features.
Helmed by industry veterans Ken Kao and Josh Rosenbaum, the label will offer a collaborative sanctuary for filmmakers to create horrifying auteur content, supported by the expertise of its seasoned team. The name Cweature Features (pronounced “Kwee-Cha Fee-Chas”) was inspired by the tendency of Kao’s young children to mispronounce creature as “cweature,” with their teeth still coming in. He and his wife came to realize that the little ones resembled little “cweatures” themselves, and the moment evoked nostalgia for Kao, for the period in his childhood when his early love for all things scary began. Cweature Features will embrace the idea that horror is an experience that transcends age, blending fear with fun and not taking itself too seriously.
News of...
Helmed by industry veterans Ken Kao and Josh Rosenbaum, the label will offer a collaborative sanctuary for filmmakers to create horrifying auteur content, supported by the expertise of its seasoned team. The name Cweature Features (pronounced “Kwee-Cha Fee-Chas”) was inspired by the tendency of Kao’s young children to mispronounce creature as “cweature,” with their teeth still coming in. He and his wife came to realize that the little ones resembled little “cweatures” themselves, and the moment evoked nostalgia for Kao, for the period in his childhood when his early love for all things scary began. Cweature Features will embrace the idea that horror is an experience that transcends age, blending fear with fun and not taking itself too seriously.
News of...
- 8/12/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Wokeness, gender fluidity, the audacity of ageing … Madwomen of the West is a play giving ‘women of a certain age’ a voice – and audiences are loving it. We meet two of its outspoken stars, Brooke Adams and Caroline Aaron
Brooke Adams was a huge star in her 30s after appearing alongside a brooding Richard Gere in Days of Heaven, Terrence Malick’s tragic and masterful film about farm workers. But she walked away from the business in her 40s and instead devoted herself to painting and parenting. Adams was decidedly retired. “I had quit acting,” she says.
But actor Caroline Aaron, her longtime friend, had other ideas. “I tried to bring her out of retirement,” recalls Aaron, who has notched up more than 40 years in the business, most recently playing mother-in-law Shirley in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. She approached Adams with Madwomen of the West – the timing was right, it...
Brooke Adams was a huge star in her 30s after appearing alongside a brooding Richard Gere in Days of Heaven, Terrence Malick’s tragic and masterful film about farm workers. But she walked away from the business in her 40s and instead devoted herself to painting and parenting. Adams was decidedly retired. “I had quit acting,” she says.
But actor Caroline Aaron, her longtime friend, had other ideas. “I tried to bring her out of retirement,” recalls Aaron, who has notched up more than 40 years in the business, most recently playing mother-in-law Shirley in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. She approached Adams with Madwomen of the West – the timing was right, it...
- 8/12/2024
- by Emine Saner
- The Guardian - Film News
When it comes to meta experiments that blur those good ole lines between fiction and the filmmakers’ own non-fiction life stories, there’s a risk that the resulting feature can border on being impenetrable if audiences aren’t fed a load of exposition in advance. That’s far less of an issue for classically-told narratives from mega-famous artists delving into (semi)autobiography (like Steven Spielberg with “The Fabelmans”), but definitely so for smaller scale projects from independent filmmakers whose output is more peculiar. What can be a compelling behind-the-scenes story as described in a press kit may not necessarily translate into the finished feature as something engaging, or even coherent, to anyone coming to the work without the luxury of reading production notes before the screening.
This is thankfully not the case with “Invention,” a compact, compelling and warm fiction and documentary hybrid, credited as “A film by Callie Hernandez...
This is thankfully not the case with “Invention,” a compact, compelling and warm fiction and documentary hybrid, credited as “A film by Callie Hernandez...
- 8/11/2024
- by Josh Slater-Williams
- Indiewire
The Humble Beginnings of a Master Emmanuel Lubezki is one of the most decorated cinematographers currently working, having garnered three back-to-back Academy Awards for Best Cinematography — an unprecedented feat and something of a victory lap for a man who had become highly sought after by the time the 2010s rolled around. Cinematographers often take the back seat compared to the directors they work alongside, but Lubezki has the privilege of both being a gifted cameraman and having collaborated with some of the finest filmmakers in or out of Hollywood: Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Terrence Malick, Tim Burton, the Coen Brothers, just to name a few. Lubezki started out, perhaps most consistently, as Cuarón’s go-to cinematographer, with their careers basically starting out conjoined at the hip; with Cuarón’s debut feature, ‘Sólo con tu pareja,’ in 1991, Lubezki was unleashed upon the world — only not quite. He would work with...
- 8/10/2024
- by Brian Collins
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
If we had a dollar for every time Val Kilmer kissed a guy, we would have two dollars, which is not a lot but, weirdly, it has happened two times (one of them being Robert Downey Jr).
Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick (2022) | Paramount Pictures
The other actor that Kilmer has kissed on-screen is The Penguin actor Colin Farrell. Well, Val Kilmer and Farrell became good friends but the Top Gun actor held nothing back when he talked about Farrell’s fame in Hollywood.
Val Kilmer Was Jealous of Colin Farrell’s Fame
Starring in the 2005 film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Val Kilmer, and Robert Downey Jr. shared the screen together while the Iron Man actor hadn’t found his fame yet.
Colin Farrell in Phone Booth | Fox 2000 Pictures
During one of the interviews back in 2005, Kilmer talked about how Colin Farrell had already worked with iconic directors Michael Mann,...
Val Kilmer in Top Gun: Maverick (2022) | Paramount Pictures
The other actor that Kilmer has kissed on-screen is The Penguin actor Colin Farrell. Well, Val Kilmer and Farrell became good friends but the Top Gun actor held nothing back when he talked about Farrell’s fame in Hollywood.
Val Kilmer Was Jealous of Colin Farrell’s Fame
Starring in the 2005 film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Val Kilmer, and Robert Downey Jr. shared the screen together while the Iron Man actor hadn’t found his fame yet.
Colin Farrell in Phone Booth | Fox 2000 Pictures
During one of the interviews back in 2005, Kilmer talked about how Colin Farrell had already worked with iconic directors Michael Mann,...
- 7/28/2024
- by Visarg Acharya
- FandomWire
Dennis Davidson’s UK and US-based Elizabeth Bay Productions (Ebp) is partnering with Atlanta-based finance platform FilmHedge to back the fledgling company’s film and TV production slate.
The partnership with fin-tech firm FilmHedge will be managed by chief operating officer Chandler Heinz Laun, who will have oversight over Ebp’s creative packaging and individual project financing plans. Prior to FilmHedge, Laun worked at ICM Partners.
Ebp has been building its development slate in close collaboration with UK-based sales agent WestEnd Films, with which it has signed a first-look deal.
UK-based Davidson, founder of publicity agency Dda, is the head of Ebp.
The partnership with fin-tech firm FilmHedge will be managed by chief operating officer Chandler Heinz Laun, who will have oversight over Ebp’s creative packaging and individual project financing plans. Prior to FilmHedge, Laun worked at ICM Partners.
Ebp has been building its development slate in close collaboration with UK-based sales agent WestEnd Films, with which it has signed a first-look deal.
UK-based Davidson, founder of publicity agency Dda, is the head of Ebp.
- 7/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Elizabeth Bay Productions (Ebp), one of the companies behind Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” has secured a financing deal with FilmHedge and a first-look agreement with WestEnd Films.
Atlanta-based finance platform FilmHedge will provide funding for Ebp’s slate of film and television projects. This partnership will be steered by FilmHedge’s COO, Chandler Heinz Laun, who will oversee Ebp’s creative packaging and individual project financing plans. Laun was previously a member of the independent film financing and distribution department at ICM Partners.
Simultaneously, Ebp has entered into a first-look deal with U.K.-based sales company WestEnd Films. This arrangement grants WestEnd the initial option to sell projects from Ebp’s developing slate, providing Ebp with enhanced international distribution capabilities and access to additional financing. For WestEnd, the deal offers an opportunity to tap into Ebp’s development and production expertise as the sales company continues its expansion into production.
Atlanta-based finance platform FilmHedge will provide funding for Ebp’s slate of film and television projects. This partnership will be steered by FilmHedge’s COO, Chandler Heinz Laun, who will oversee Ebp’s creative packaging and individual project financing plans. Laun was previously a member of the independent film financing and distribution department at ICM Partners.
Simultaneously, Ebp has entered into a first-look deal with U.K.-based sales company WestEnd Films. This arrangement grants WestEnd the initial option to sell projects from Ebp’s developing slate, providing Ebp with enhanced international distribution capabilities and access to additional financing. For WestEnd, the deal offers an opportunity to tap into Ebp’s development and production expertise as the sales company continues its expansion into production.
- 7/16/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Elizabeth Bay Productions (Ebp), whose principal is publicity firm Dda founder Dennis Davidson and whose team includes executive producer/producer Grant Hill, known for his collaborations with director Terrence Malick and the Wachowskis on various The Matrix films, has struck a financing agreement with FilmHedge and entered a first-look deal with U.K.-based sales company WestEnd Films.
The new partnership with Atlanta-based finance platform FilmHedge will provide financing for the production house’s film and TV slate. Ebp’s film projects include The Dimona Affair, a whistle-blower story inspired by true events, written by Fred Schepisi (Six Degrees of Separation, Roxanne, A Cry in the Dark) from a story by Morris Rosmarin. Schepisi will also direct, with Jeff Wilbusch (Unorthodox) playing the male lead and producing alongside Schepisi, Simon Moseley and Davidson.
The relationship will be managed by FilmHedge’s COO Chandler Heinz Laun who will have “oversight over...
The new partnership with Atlanta-based finance platform FilmHedge will provide financing for the production house’s film and TV slate. Ebp’s film projects include The Dimona Affair, a whistle-blower story inspired by true events, written by Fred Schepisi (Six Degrees of Separation, Roxanne, A Cry in the Dark) from a story by Morris Rosmarin. Schepisi will also direct, with Jeff Wilbusch (Unorthodox) playing the male lead and producing alongside Schepisi, Simon Moseley and Davidson.
The relationship will be managed by FilmHedge’s COO Chandler Heinz Laun who will have “oversight over...
- 7/16/2024
- by Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In one of the most pleasant surprises of the year, Sean Baker picked up the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his latest feature Anora, marking the first American film to do so since Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life. The Starlet, Tangerine, The Floria Project, and Red Rocket director has carved out a fascinating niche in indie cinema exploring sex work in a thrilling, sensitive, humorous way. His latest follows Mikey Madison’s character as a stripper from Brighton Beach who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch, and whose family travels to New York to force an annulment. Ahead of an October 18 release from Neon, the first trailer has now arrived.
Luke Hicks said in his review, “From then on, Anora is a riotous chase, a nonstop, clusterfuck, screaming-match rollercoaster that doesn’t let you breathe until the final minutes, when it also...
Luke Hicks said in his review, “From then on, Anora is a riotous chase, a nonstop, clusterfuck, screaming-match rollercoaster that doesn’t let you breathe until the final minutes, when it also...
- 7/15/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Sean Baker’s latest triumph is an Oscar frontrunner, and now finally the first trailer for “Anora” is here.
The highly-anticipated “Anora” won the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2024, and proved “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” breakout Mikey Madison is an actress to watch this awards season. Madison plays an exotic dancer and sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn).
Vache Tovmaysa, Yura Borisov, and Baker’s frequent collaborator Karren Karagulian.
The feature was the first American film to win the Palme d’Or since Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” in 2011.
Writer/director Baker previously helmed Oscar-nominated film “The Florida Project,” groundbreaking iPhone movie “Tangerine,” and Simon Rex’s career-best “Red Rocket,” which also centered on sex work.
“Anora” will be released by Neon, which handled the release of fellow Palme d’Or winners “Parasite,” “Triangle of Sadness,” and “Anatomy of a Fall,...
The highly-anticipated “Anora” won the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2024, and proved “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” breakout Mikey Madison is an actress to watch this awards season. Madison plays an exotic dancer and sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn).
Vache Tovmaysa, Yura Borisov, and Baker’s frequent collaborator Karren Karagulian.
The feature was the first American film to win the Palme d’Or since Terrence Malick’s “Tree of Life” in 2011.
Writer/director Baker previously helmed Oscar-nominated film “The Florida Project,” groundbreaking iPhone movie “Tangerine,” and Simon Rex’s career-best “Red Rocket,” which also centered on sex work.
“Anora” will be released by Neon, which handled the release of fellow Palme d’Or winners “Parasite,” “Triangle of Sadness,” and “Anatomy of a Fall,...
- 7/15/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Just when you think that horror — currently in a major gold rush — is all out of fresh ideas, along comes In A Violent Nature. This is a film that takes the familiar gore of the slasher movie and gives it a fresh, gently experimental sheen. It’s not always an experiment that works, but it’s a very good sign that it exists.
Filmed by writer-director Chris Nash on a presumably minimal budget in the wilds of Ontario, Canada, the conceit here is: what if there were a slasher film told from the perspective of the guy doing the slashing? In this case, said slasher in question is Johnny, played by Ry Barrett: a mysterious brute figure who is seemingly awakened from a slumber when something very precious is taken from him, and who quickly sets out on a deadly warpath to get it back.
He is a fearsomely effective boogeyman.
Filmed by writer-director Chris Nash on a presumably minimal budget in the wilds of Ontario, Canada, the conceit here is: what if there were a slasher film told from the perspective of the guy doing the slashing? In this case, said slasher in question is Johnny, played by Ry Barrett: a mysterious brute figure who is seemingly awakened from a slumber when something very precious is taken from him, and who quickly sets out on a deadly warpath to get it back.
He is a fearsomely effective boogeyman.
- 7/12/2024
- by John Nugent
- Empire - Movies
Now showing, this week’s film quiz features questions on animated heroes, real-life villains, and fictional movies within movies.
There are a couple of movies about making movies out now – MaXXXine sees Mia Goth’s aspiring movie star bag a role in a 1980s horror sequel, while Fly Me To The Moon has Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum stage moon-landing footage as a Plan B for NASA in 1969. Accordingly, this week’s film quiz has a whole round on fictional films within real films – think more The Purple Rose Of Cairo in The Purple Rose Of Cairo than “Argo”in Argo.
Once you’ve completed all three rounds, you’ll find a link to a separate post with the correct answers at the bottom of this post. As always, this is all just for fun, but please let us know how you did in the comments (scores out of 30 this week!
There are a couple of movies about making movies out now – MaXXXine sees Mia Goth’s aspiring movie star bag a role in a 1980s horror sequel, while Fly Me To The Moon has Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum stage moon-landing footage as a Plan B for NASA in 1969. Accordingly, this week’s film quiz has a whole round on fictional films within real films – think more The Purple Rose Of Cairo in The Purple Rose Of Cairo than “Argo”in Argo.
Once you’ve completed all three rounds, you’ll find a link to a separate post with the correct answers at the bottom of this post. As always, this is all just for fun, but please let us know how you did in the comments (scores out of 30 this week!
- 7/12/2024
- by Mark Harrison
- Film Stories
Principal photography has commenced on the Arab underworld thriller “Boomah” (“The Owl”), written and directed by Zaid Abu Hamdan and marking the Jordanian filmmaker’s second feature following his critically acclaimed “Daughters of Abdul Rahman.”
Previously announced in December, Rakeen Saad is set to play the titular role of the female thug Boomah. Saad rose to acclaim for her central roles in hit shows “The Giza Killer” and the Netflix original “Al Rawabi School for Girls,” and will next be seen as the lead in a new Netflix series production “Echoes of the Past” and “The Way of the Wind,” the biblical drama by Terrence Malick.
“Boomah” — now shooting in Jordan — reunites Saad with Rawabi co-star Joanna Arida who will play the role of her best friend and confidant Anoud. Arida will next appear in “Laura H,” a Dutch TV series based on the bestseller by journalist Thomas Rueb. Rounding...
Previously announced in December, Rakeen Saad is set to play the titular role of the female thug Boomah. Saad rose to acclaim for her central roles in hit shows “The Giza Killer” and the Netflix original “Al Rawabi School for Girls,” and will next be seen as the lead in a new Netflix series production “Echoes of the Past” and “The Way of the Wind,” the biblical drama by Terrence Malick.
“Boomah” — now shooting in Jordan — reunites Saad with Rawabi co-star Joanna Arida who will play the role of her best friend and confidant Anoud. Arida will next appear in “Laura H,” a Dutch TV series based on the bestseller by journalist Thomas Rueb. Rounding...
- 7/4/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
It’s interesting to see how different Hollywood figures react to being famous. There are folks like Daniel Day-Lewis, who would regularly go back to his normal life between gigs. You have Terrence Malick who doesn’t even really do interviews at all. But then on the extreme other side, apparently, is someone like Kevin Bacon.
Speaking in a Vanity Fair interview, Kevin Bacon talked about the fact he has two new movies being released close together— “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” and “MaXXXine.” But he also talked about a social experiment he conducted where he put on a disguise and walked around as a regular person for a day.
Continue reading Kevin Bacon Wore A Disguise To Be Normal For A Day & Hated Waiting In Line For A Coffee: “This Sucks” at The Playlist.
Speaking in a Vanity Fair interview, Kevin Bacon talked about the fact he has two new movies being released close together— “Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” and “MaXXXine.” But he also talked about a social experiment he conducted where he put on a disguise and walked around as a regular person for a day.
Continue reading Kevin Bacon Wore A Disguise To Be Normal For A Day & Hated Waiting In Line For A Coffee: “This Sucks” at The Playlist.
- 7/3/2024
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
The cast of upcoming Arab crime thriller Boomah has been revealed as director Zaid Abu Hamdan begins filming in Jordan.
As previously reported, the title role is to be played by Rakeen Saad, star of Netflix hit AlRawabi School For Girls and who will next be seen in Netflix series Echoes Of The Past and Terrence Malick’s biblical drama The Way Of The Wind.
Boomah will see Saad reunite with Rawabi co-star Joanna Arida, who will play the role of her best friend and confidant Anoud. Arida will next be seen in Dutch TV series Laura H.
Rounding out the cast are Majd Eid,...
As previously reported, the title role is to be played by Rakeen Saad, star of Netflix hit AlRawabi School For Girls and who will next be seen in Netflix series Echoes Of The Past and Terrence Malick’s biblical drama The Way Of The Wind.
Boomah will see Saad reunite with Rawabi co-star Joanna Arida, who will play the role of her best friend and confidant Anoud. Arida will next be seen in Dutch TV series Laura H.
Rounding out the cast are Majd Eid,...
- 7/3/2024
- ScreenDaily
Zaid Abu Hamdan has begun principal photography in Jordan on new film Boomah which is being positioned as an Arab world thriller with a similar gritty edge as City of God, Gomorrah and La Haine.
Boomah marks Jordanian director Abu Hamdan’s second feature after his critically acclaimed female focused drama Daughters of Abdul Rahman.
The Giza Killer and Al Rawabi School For Girls actress Rakeen Saad stars in the titular role of a female thug, who goes by the name of Boomah. The actress is also soon to be seen as the lead in new Netflix series production Echoes of the Past, as well as in Terrence Malick’s biblical drama The Way of the Wind.
She will be joined by Rawabi co-star Joanna Arida in the role of Boomah’s best friend and confidant Anoud. Rounding out the cast are Majd Eid, Nabil Al Raee and Hanan Al Hilo, who previously starred in Daughters of Abdul Rahman.
The new film is billed as an “expansive crime thriller” set against the backdrop of Jordan’s underworld. Protagonist Boomah is notorious and knife-savvy female gang member who becomes embroiled in a power struggle between street thugs and religious extremists while battling the traumas of her harrowing orphaned past.
The film is produced by Front Row Productions with Ahmad Abu Koush and director Abu Hamdan’s Jordan-based Bounce Productions.
Also on board is Amman-based production company Bayt Al Shawareb, which worked on 2014 Oscar-nominated film Theeb and the 2023 Cannes Critics’ Week breakout Inshallah a Boy.
A joint venture between Mena distributors Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment, Front Row Productions’ previous credits include Netflix originals Perfect Strangers, The Sandcastle, starring Nadine Labaki and Ziad Bakri, and the upcoming Cliffhanger reboot.
“We’re proud to be a part of this project, supporting Jordanian and Levantine talent during this extremely difficult and trying period, with so much risk inherent in cinema and arts coming out of this region,” said Front Row Productions partners Gianluca Chakra and Mario Jr. Haddad.
“Zaid is an outstanding young and ambitious director with a very bright future ahead, a true visionary and difference-maker. His understanding of the nuances of Jordanian street culture is exceptional,” they added.
“We are concentrating on a script and storytelling that transcends borders and nationality while looking to break the limits of background and identity to bring Boomah to a wide Arab audience and beyond. We see Boomah positioned as a film with Arab and international appeal, as a crime thriller reminiscent of great underworld juggernaut works like City of God, Gomorrah, La Haine and others.”...
Boomah marks Jordanian director Abu Hamdan’s second feature after his critically acclaimed female focused drama Daughters of Abdul Rahman.
The Giza Killer and Al Rawabi School For Girls actress Rakeen Saad stars in the titular role of a female thug, who goes by the name of Boomah. The actress is also soon to be seen as the lead in new Netflix series production Echoes of the Past, as well as in Terrence Malick’s biblical drama The Way of the Wind.
She will be joined by Rawabi co-star Joanna Arida in the role of Boomah’s best friend and confidant Anoud. Rounding out the cast are Majd Eid, Nabil Al Raee and Hanan Al Hilo, who previously starred in Daughters of Abdul Rahman.
The new film is billed as an “expansive crime thriller” set against the backdrop of Jordan’s underworld. Protagonist Boomah is notorious and knife-savvy female gang member who becomes embroiled in a power struggle between street thugs and religious extremists while battling the traumas of her harrowing orphaned past.
The film is produced by Front Row Productions with Ahmad Abu Koush and director Abu Hamdan’s Jordan-based Bounce Productions.
Also on board is Amman-based production company Bayt Al Shawareb, which worked on 2014 Oscar-nominated film Theeb and the 2023 Cannes Critics’ Week breakout Inshallah a Boy.
A joint venture between Mena distributors Front Row Filmed Entertainment and Empire Entertainment, Front Row Productions’ previous credits include Netflix originals Perfect Strangers, The Sandcastle, starring Nadine Labaki and Ziad Bakri, and the upcoming Cliffhanger reboot.
“We’re proud to be a part of this project, supporting Jordanian and Levantine talent during this extremely difficult and trying period, with so much risk inherent in cinema and arts coming out of this region,” said Front Row Productions partners Gianluca Chakra and Mario Jr. Haddad.
“Zaid is an outstanding young and ambitious director with a very bright future ahead, a true visionary and difference-maker. His understanding of the nuances of Jordanian street culture is exceptional,” they added.
“We are concentrating on a script and storytelling that transcends borders and nationality while looking to break the limits of background and identity to bring Boomah to a wide Arab audience and beyond. We see Boomah positioned as a film with Arab and international appeal, as a crime thriller reminiscent of great underworld juggernaut works like City of God, Gomorrah, La Haine and others.”...
- 7/3/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Here’s the latest episode of The Filmmakers Podcast, part of the podcast roster here on Nerdly. If you haven’t heard the show yet, you can check out previous episodes on the official podcast site, whilst we’ll be featuring each and every new episode as it premieres.
For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro-budget indie films to bigger-budget studio films and everything in between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dom Lenoir, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk about how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their filmmaking experiences from directors, writers, producers and screenwriters, to actors, cinematographers and distributors.
The Filmmaker’s Podcast #403: The Bikeriders – Producing & Directing masterclass with Sarah Green...
For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro-budget indie films to bigger-budget studio films and everything in between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dom Lenoir, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk about how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their filmmaking experiences from directors, writers, producers and screenwriters, to actors, cinematographers and distributors.
The Filmmaker’s Podcast #403: The Bikeriders – Producing & Directing masterclass with Sarah Green...
- 7/3/2024
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Stars: Sam Roulston, Ry Barrett, Andrea Pavlovic, Cameron Love, Reece Presley, Liam Leone, Charlotte Creaghan, Lea Rose Sebastianis, Alexander Oliver, Timothy Paul McCarthy | Written and Directed by Chris Nash
In a Violent Nature begins with a conversation between two unseen men as they walk through a deserted and crumbling shack in the forest. One of them takes a locket they find there, and that’s when the trouble starts. A hulking, Jason Voorhees-like figure emerges from the ground and begins to trudge after them. Seemingly confused by the sound of automobiles in the distance, the silent figure stops as if to ponder the rotting corpse of an animal caught in a steel trap, fittingly his first victim will be the poacher who set them after he catches himself in one.
Sitting around a campfire that night, Ehren tells his friends the story of a young boy named Johnny who...
In a Violent Nature begins with a conversation between two unseen men as they walk through a deserted and crumbling shack in the forest. One of them takes a locket they find there, and that’s when the trouble starts. A hulking, Jason Voorhees-like figure emerges from the ground and begins to trudge after them. Seemingly confused by the sound of automobiles in the distance, the silent figure stops as if to ponder the rotting corpse of an animal caught in a steel trap, fittingly his first victim will be the poacher who set them after he catches himself in one.
Sitting around a campfire that night, Ehren tells his friends the story of a young boy named Johnny who...
- 7/1/2024
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
The 58th Karlovy Vary Film International Film Festival kicked off with a very personal milestone, commemorating 30 years since the event was taken over by the programming team of Jiří Bartoška and the late journalist Eva Zaoralová. The veteran actor, now 77, gave the festival cause for concern last year when health problems threatened to keep him away from the event. This year, however, Bartoška was the main focus of the traditionally baroque opening ceremony, taking us back to 1994 with memories of Nelson Mandela, TV’s Friends, cinema’s Pulp Fiction, and the first iterations of PlayStation and Bluetooth technology.
There followed a lengthy tribute to Bartoška at work, welcoming a veritable cavalcade of stars; names so famous that for a few minutes, it was possible to forget the festival’s unfortunate tendency to stick with Hollywood stars a tad too long into their wilderness periods (Mel Gibson and Johnny Depp spring...
There followed a lengthy tribute to Bartoška at work, welcoming a veritable cavalcade of stars; names so famous that for a few minutes, it was possible to forget the festival’s unfortunate tendency to stick with Hollywood stars a tad too long into their wilderness periods (Mel Gibson and Johnny Depp spring...
- 6/28/2024
- by Damon Wise and Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Here at FandomWire, we review the Hulu and FX series The Bear Season 3. The article does not contain spoilers.
I said it once, but it uh bears repeating: FX’s The Bear remains an American classic despite a season that will disappoint many. Creator Christopher Storer has developed a show like no other on television, producing anxiety-inducing stress and tension that can pivot on a dime and lead directly to jaw-dropping breaking points.
And yes, the hardships and challenges faced by this group of damaged souls took a turn in a season that lacked focus. While I can practically guarantee many will be left disappointed after a sophomore effort that will go down as one of the best in television history, Storer’s latest chapter with Carmy and friends is frenetically brilliant.
The Bear’s third season is confusing, excellent, dissonant, extraordinary, innovative, delicious, simple, inconsistent, and utterly unique, unlike anything on television,...
I said it once, but it uh bears repeating: FX’s The Bear remains an American classic despite a season that will disappoint many. Creator Christopher Storer has developed a show like no other on television, producing anxiety-inducing stress and tension that can pivot on a dime and lead directly to jaw-dropping breaking points.
And yes, the hardships and challenges faced by this group of damaged souls took a turn in a season that lacked focus. While I can practically guarantee many will be left disappointed after a sophomore effort that will go down as one of the best in television history, Storer’s latest chapter with Carmy and friends is frenetically brilliant.
The Bear’s third season is confusing, excellent, dissonant, extraordinary, innovative, delicious, simple, inconsistent, and utterly unique, unlike anything on television,...
- 6/28/2024
- by M.N. Miller
- FandomWire
Harmony Korine scholars no doubt mourn The Trap, a revenge thriller he once called his “most ambitious project” and which would’ve starred Benicio Del Toro, Robert Pattinson, Al Pacino, Idris Elba, and James Franco. He clearly hasn’t forgotten: nearly a decade since its collapse, Korine will, per Variety, resurrect The Trap as an anime feature supported by his Edglrd imprint. Here’s how the official synopsis went in 2015, and might still play when a new version hits screens:
Rico (Elba) is at the top of his career and about to enjoy a triumphant night at the Grammy Awards when Slim (Del Toro) is released from prison after 14 years. Slim is determined to exact revenge after learning that Rico not only achieved fame and fortune but also married his girlfriend and raised Slim’s son as his own. Slim’s plot includes recruiting a crew of Uzi-wielding surfers led...
Rico (Elba) is at the top of his career and about to enjoy a triumphant night at the Grammy Awards when Slim (Del Toro) is released from prison after 14 years. Slim is determined to exact revenge after learning that Rico not only achieved fame and fortune but also married his girlfriend and raised Slim’s son as his own. Slim’s plot includes recruiting a crew of Uzi-wielding surfers led...
- 6/27/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The saying goes that miracles are everywhere for those with eyes to see them, which helps to explain why Rita Lopez — the most pious and competitive member of her rural Argentinian community — seems to find one in the first place she looks. Nearing 70, terminally bored of her marriage, and desperate for a heavenly sliver of the recognition that she’s been denied here on Earth, our heroine decides that an old sculpture she uncovers in the musty storeroom of her local church must be the statue of Saint Rita that’s been missing for 30 years, and was assumed to be lost forever.
It’s a big deal. So big, in fact, that Rita (Argentinian icon and “Wild Tales” star Mónica Villa) enlists her sweet and doddering husband Norberto (Horacio Marassi) to help smuggle the statue out of the church so she can spruce it up and unveil it to the...
It’s a big deal. So big, in fact, that Rita (Argentinian icon and “Wild Tales” star Mónica Villa) enlists her sweet and doddering husband Norberto (Horacio Marassi) to help smuggle the statue out of the church so she can spruce it up and unveil it to the...
- 6/26/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
In a New York Times profile to promote his film “Daddio,” actor and activist Sean Penn griped about how things in Hollywood have changed since he starred in “Milk” in 2008. He said the industry has become “timid and artless,” and he’s been “miserable” on sets for the past 15 years.
In the interview, Penn told writer Maureen Dowd that he focused more on journalism and political activism after “Milk,” because he was having a bad time in the film industry.
“I went 15 years miserable on sets,” he said. “‘Milk’ was the last time I had a good time.”
Penn won his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Harvey Milk, who as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was the first openly gay elected official in California and was assassinated by a disgruntled political opponent in 1978.
At the time, Penn was rewarded for being...
In the interview, Penn told writer Maureen Dowd that he focused more on journalism and political activism after “Milk,” because he was having a bad time in the film industry.
“I went 15 years miserable on sets,” he said. “‘Milk’ was the last time I had a good time.”
Penn won his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Harvey Milk, who as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was the first openly gay elected official in California and was assassinated by a disgruntled political opponent in 1978.
At the time, Penn was rewarded for being...
- 6/25/2024
- by Liam Mathews
- Gold Derby
Most film fans in the ‘80s got their first glimpse of John Cusack on the big screen as one of Anthony Michael Hall’s buddies who placed a bet that requires that their pal to secure a pair of Molly Ringwald’s panties in the John Hughes teen comedy “Sixteen Candles.” Hey, everyone has to start somewhere. Consider that his sister Joan was reduced to playing “Geek Girl” with an awkward brace around neck.
It was uphill from there as Cusack, with his ironically humorous takes on leading manhood, became one of the more in-demand male stars for the next two decades, working with such top-notch directors as John Sayles, Rob Reiner, Cameron Crowe, Stephen Frears, Spike Jonze, Woody Allen, Terrence Malick and Mike Newell. Somehow, Cusack has been under the radar when it comes to be nominated for major awards as a performer. But he has made considerable contributions...
It was uphill from there as Cusack, with his ironically humorous takes on leading manhood, became one of the more in-demand male stars for the next two decades, working with such top-notch directors as John Sayles, Rob Reiner, Cameron Crowe, Stephen Frears, Spike Jonze, Woody Allen, Terrence Malick and Mike Newell. Somehow, Cusack has been under the radar when it comes to be nominated for major awards as a performer. But he has made considerable contributions...
- 6/21/2024
- by Susan Wloszczyna, Misty Holland and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Matthias Schoenaerts had worked with Kate Winslet before, but never like this. Never as a lackey engaging in a psychosexual power play with a capricious dictator convinced bacteria is flooding her palace. It almost goes without saying that The Regime is far less restrained than Schoenaerts and Winslet’s previous screen romance, the largely forgotten 2014 period film A Little Chaos.
“We both were like, ‘Ok, so what is this mad piece of work that we’re reading?’ ” Schoenaerts says of his first conversation with Winslet about the HBO limited series. “ ‘Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Is it both?’ We were trying to figure out what the tone was going to be.”
Will Tracy, who created and co-wrote the show, has a résumé heavy on humorous genre hybrids, including Succession, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and The Menu. According to Schoenaerts, Tracy was careful never to define...
“We both were like, ‘Ok, so what is this mad piece of work that we’re reading?’ ” Schoenaerts says of his first conversation with Winslet about the HBO limited series. “ ‘Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Is it both?’ We were trying to figure out what the tone was going to be.”
Will Tracy, who created and co-wrote the show, has a résumé heavy on humorous genre hybrids, including Succession, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver and The Menu. According to Schoenaerts, Tracy was careful never to define...
- 6/17/2024
- by Matthew Jacobs
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A while ago, we highlighted the relatively new film club/ cinephile-friendly streaming service, Galerie. This is a service, unlike Netflix, Prime Video, and the rest, that is all about acclaimed filmmakers curating lists of films. Launched by Indian Paintbrush, what sets Galerie apart from streaming services alluded to above is that this is a destination to find curated lists of collections crated by esteemed filmmakers and industry folk.
Continue reading Kimberly Peirce’s Curated Galerie Picks For June Include Films By Fellini, Alfonso Cuarón, Terrence Malick & More [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Kimberly Peirce’s Curated Galerie Picks For June Include Films By Fellini, Alfonso Cuarón, Terrence Malick & More [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
- 6/12/2024
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Chicago – You’ll never hear a better speech about the actor’s gratitude for his hometown than John C. Reilly’s proclamation at the 60th Chicago International Film Festival’s Summer Gala on June 1st, 2024. He brought the house down with emotional and passionate words about his journey that began in the Windy City.
With an astonishing range of roles already under his belt, John C. Reilly has played an eclectic host of rich characters to great effect over the years, from seedy ne’er-do-wells to lovable and good-natured schlepps. The fifth of six children, John Christopher Reilly was born in Chicago, and was brought up on Chicago’s Southwest Side. On the amateur stage from age eight, Reilly trained at the Goodman School of Drama and eventually became a member of Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf Theatre.
John C. Reilly at the 2024 60th Ciff Summer Gala
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.
With an astonishing range of roles already under his belt, John C. Reilly has played an eclectic host of rich characters to great effect over the years, from seedy ne’er-do-wells to lovable and good-natured schlepps. The fifth of six children, John Christopher Reilly was born in Chicago, and was brought up on Chicago’s Southwest Side. On the amateur stage from age eight, Reilly trained at the Goodman School of Drama and eventually became a member of Chicago’s renowned Steppenwolf Theatre.
John C. Reilly at the 2024 60th Ciff Summer Gala
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.
- 6/7/2024
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
“It’s just a thrill a minute,” filmmaker Chris Nash is quick to joke of his debut feature, “In a Violent Nature.”
“We made this movie with an audience of maybe five people in mind. So having anybody like it and endure the walking and just the pace of the film, it’s been a testament to the patience of an audience,” he said.
Nash cuts himself short — a metaphor made more apt when you’ve seen just how creative the filmmaker can be with a paralyzed victim and a well-placed log splitter. The extra gutsy first-time feature writer/director and his star Ry Barrett spoke with IndieWire in April at The Overlook Film Festival. That’s an annual horror event in Louisiana, where Nash’s spellbinding slasher deconstruction for IFC Films and Shudder screened for the second time after making its world premiere at Sundance. “In a Violent Nature...
“We made this movie with an audience of maybe five people in mind. So having anybody like it and endure the walking and just the pace of the film, it’s been a testament to the patience of an audience,” he said.
Nash cuts himself short — a metaphor made more apt when you’ve seen just how creative the filmmaker can be with a paralyzed victim and a well-placed log splitter. The extra gutsy first-time feature writer/director and his star Ry Barrett spoke with IndieWire in April at The Overlook Film Festival. That’s an annual horror event in Louisiana, where Nash’s spellbinding slasher deconstruction for IFC Films and Shudder screened for the second time after making its world premiere at Sundance. “In a Violent Nature...
- 6/6/2024
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
June 4, 2024 – Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley, beloved James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan and Star Wars universe luminary Mark Hamill form the ultimate vocal rogues’ gallery in Mofac Animation’s upcoming The King of Kings, an animated family film inspired by a little-known short story by Charles Dickens depicting the life and times of Jesus Christ.
Kingsley voices High Priest Caiaphas, who presided over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. Hamill takes on the role of King Herod, who, according to the Gospel of Matthew, ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in an attempt to kill Jesus as an infant. And Brosnan gives animated life to Pontius Pilate, who ultimately ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. The triumvirate of villainous voices further enhances the A-list cast behind the faith-based animated film, which also includes Academy Award & Emmy Award winners Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Golden Globe...
Kingsley voices High Priest Caiaphas, who presided over the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus. Hamill takes on the role of King Herod, who, according to the Gospel of Matthew, ordered the Massacre of the Innocents in an attempt to kill Jesus as an infant. And Brosnan gives animated life to Pontius Pilate, who ultimately ordered the crucifixion of Jesus. The triumvirate of villainous voices further enhances the A-list cast behind the faith-based animated film, which also includes Academy Award & Emmy Award winners Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Golden Globe...
- 6/5/2024
- by ComicMix Staff
- Comicmix.com
Sean Baker’s “Anora” is betting big with a fall release date.
The feature, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2024, will be released October 18 from Neon, IndieWire can confirm. The limited release window makes “Anora” primed for the fall festival circuit, with possible inclusions at Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF, which concludes right before “Anora” will hit theaters.
“Anora” stars “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” breakout Mikey Madison as an exotic dancer and sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). Writer/director Baker previously helmed Oscar-nominated film “The Florida Project,” groundbreaking iPhone movie “Tangerine,” and Simon Rex’s career-best “Red Rocket.”
The release of “Anora” on October 18 proves that Neon has high hopes for the Palme d’Or winner. Neon has released a trio of Palme d’Or winners before, all in October and all going on to be Oscar-nominated.
Neon released “Parasite...
The feature, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes 2024, will be released October 18 from Neon, IndieWire can confirm. The limited release window makes “Anora” primed for the fall festival circuit, with possible inclusions at Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF, which concludes right before “Anora” will hit theaters.
“Anora” stars “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” breakout Mikey Madison as an exotic dancer and sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn). Writer/director Baker previously helmed Oscar-nominated film “The Florida Project,” groundbreaking iPhone movie “Tangerine,” and Simon Rex’s career-best “Red Rocket.”
The release of “Anora” on October 18 proves that Neon has high hopes for the Palme d’Or winner. Neon has released a trio of Palme d’Or winners before, all in October and all going on to be Oscar-nominated.
Neon released “Parasite...
- 6/4/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
“Anora,” Sean Baker’s comic look at an exotic dancer and sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, will hit theaters next fall. The film will open in limited release on Oct. 18 from Neon.
It’s a lucky time of year for the indie studio. Neon previously launched “Parasite” on Oct. 11, debuted “Triangle of Sadness” on Oct. 7 and opened “Anatomy of a Fall” on Oct 13. Like “Anora,” all three of those films premiered at Cannes and won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top honor. “Anora” was the first U.S. film to earn the prize since 2011’s “Tree of Life” from director Terrence Malick.
In a rave review for Variety, Peter Debruge enthused that the film was the “uncut gem of this year’s Cannes competition,” adding that it is “a rowdy Safdie-style movie about two cultures (Russian and American), two languages (Russian and English...
It’s a lucky time of year for the indie studio. Neon previously launched “Parasite” on Oct. 11, debuted “Triangle of Sadness” on Oct. 7 and opened “Anatomy of a Fall” on Oct 13. Like “Anora,” all three of those films premiered at Cannes and won the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top honor. “Anora” was the first U.S. film to earn the prize since 2011’s “Tree of Life” from director Terrence Malick.
In a rave review for Variety, Peter Debruge enthused that the film was the “uncut gem of this year’s Cannes competition,” adding that it is “a rowdy Safdie-style movie about two cultures (Russian and American), two languages (Russian and English...
- 6/4/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The Canadian slasher film In A Violent Nature was known for its reinvention of a familiar horror trope. Directed by Chris Nash, the ‘ambient horror’ film follows a killer in the rural parts of Ontario who targets a group of teens who come to spend their summer in camping in the woods. The film seems to have added a new visual language to the usual premise.
In A Violent Nature had its premiere at the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Many critics praised its unique filmmaking twist to the slasher genre. However, despite the love from critics, the film seems to have not impressed audiences as its Rotten Tomatoes audience score was reportedly lesser than the critics’ score.
In A Violent Nature Gets A Lower Audience Score Than Critics’ On Rotten Tomatoes A still from In A Violent Nature | Credits: Shudder Films/Zygote Pictures/Low Sky Productions...
In A Violent Nature had its premiere at the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Many critics praised its unique filmmaking twist to the slasher genre. However, despite the love from critics, the film seems to have not impressed audiences as its Rotten Tomatoes audience score was reportedly lesser than the critics’ score.
In A Violent Nature Gets A Lower Audience Score Than Critics’ On Rotten Tomatoes A still from In A Violent Nature | Credits: Shudder Films/Zygote Pictures/Low Sky Productions...
- 6/1/2024
- by Nishanth A
- FandomWire
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