This Is Spinal Tap is one of the most quotable films in cinema history and defined the genre of film known today as the mockumentary.
Rob Reiner’s 1984 directorial debut about an aging English metal band chronicled fame, groupies and their fateful tour and would set the bar for the style of film to satirize a subject depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. They often use the conventions of traditional documentaries, such as interviews and narration, to tell a fictional or exaggerated story.
Christopher Guest, who portrayed Nigel Tufnel in This Is Spinal Tap, would go on to direct and star with an incredible ensemble cast in many of his productions that included Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge in the classic mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration and Mascots.
Jemaine Clement...
Rob Reiner’s 1984 directorial debut about an aging English metal band chronicled fame, groupies and their fateful tour and would set the bar for the style of film to satirize a subject depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. They often use the conventions of traditional documentaries, such as interviews and narration, to tell a fictional or exaggerated story.
Christopher Guest, who portrayed Nigel Tufnel in This Is Spinal Tap, would go on to direct and star with an incredible ensemble cast in many of his productions that included Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Catherine O’Hara, Parker Posey, Fred Willard, Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge in the classic mockumentaries Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration and Mascots.
Jemaine Clement...
- 4/1/2024
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
Eugene Levy got support from family and friends at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony!
The 77-year-old Canadian actor and comedian received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday (March 8).
Guest speakers at the event included Eugene‘s Schitt’s Creek co-star Catherine O’Hara and the actor’s daughter Sarah Levy.
If you didn’t know, Eugene also shared the screen with Catherine in 1980′s Nothing Personal, 1996′s Waiting for Guffman, 2000′s Best in Show, 2003′s A Mighty Wind, 2006′s Over the Hedge, and 2006′s For Your Consideration.
Eugene‘s American Pie on-screen son Jason Biggs was in attendance as well!
Find out who else is set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024!
Last year, Eugene Levy spoke about the possibility of a Schitt’s Creek reunion!
Browse through the gallery to see more photos from Eugene Levy’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony…...
The 77-year-old Canadian actor and comedian received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday (March 8).
Guest speakers at the event included Eugene‘s Schitt’s Creek co-star Catherine O’Hara and the actor’s daughter Sarah Levy.
If you didn’t know, Eugene also shared the screen with Catherine in 1980′s Nothing Personal, 1996′s Waiting for Guffman, 2000′s Best in Show, 2003′s A Mighty Wind, 2006′s Over the Hedge, and 2006′s For Your Consideration.
Eugene‘s American Pie on-screen son Jason Biggs was in attendance as well!
Find out who else is set to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2024!
Last year, Eugene Levy spoke about the possibility of a Schitt’s Creek reunion!
Browse through the gallery to see more photos from Eugene Levy’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony…...
- 3/8/2024
- by Just Jared
- Just Jared
Actress and standup comedian Kate Berlant is always sure to remind people she didn’t get where she is by taking classes. “I was rejected from acting school,” she tells Rolling Stone. “I have no formal training.” But her one-woman show, Kate, which came to Los Angeles last month (well, technically Pasadena) after previous runs in New York and London, is deeply concerned with questions of artistic lies and emotional truth. It’s also brutally funny.
“It’s my favorite place the show has been,” Berlant says of the Pasadena Playhouse,...
“It’s my favorite place the show has been,” Berlant says of the Pasadena Playhouse,...
- 2/15/2024
- by Miles Klee
- Rollingstone.com
Chelsea Peretti is a comedic actor who often lights up any project she’s in. Just ask those devotees of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” So, you have to be excited by the prospect of “First Time Female Director,” a feature she wrote, directed, and stars in.
Read More: ‘First Time Female Director’ Review: A Dire ‘Waiting For Guffman’-Esque Disappointment From Writer/Director/Star Chelsea Peretti [Tribeca]
As seen in the trailer, “First Time Female Director” follows the story of a woman who takes on the role of director at a local theater.
Continue reading ‘First Time Female Director’ Trailer: Chelsea Peretti Enlists An All-Star Comedic Ensemble For Her Directorial Debut at The Playlist.
Read More: ‘First Time Female Director’ Review: A Dire ‘Waiting For Guffman’-Esque Disappointment From Writer/Director/Star Chelsea Peretti [Tribeca]
As seen in the trailer, “First Time Female Director” follows the story of a woman who takes on the role of director at a local theater.
Continue reading ‘First Time Female Director’ Trailer: Chelsea Peretti Enlists An All-Star Comedic Ensemble For Her Directorial Debut at The Playlist.
- 2/7/2024
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Here’s a fun fact: Thanks to his lineage, writer/director/actor Christopher Guest has an inherited royal title — the 5th Baron Haden-Guest — and for three years was an active member of the British House of Lords. In his spare time, however, Baron Haden-Guest makes delightfully silly movies that make audiences around the globe very happy.
Guest largely worked as an actor in the 1970s, with stage and TV appearances mixed with occasional side gigs with the satirists The National Lampoon. His breakthrough role came in 1984 as lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel in Rob Reiner‘s classic comedy “This Is Spinal Tap,” whose improvisational style proved to be an enormous influence when Guest began directing films five years later. That technique came to full fruition in his second directorial effort, 1996’s “Waiting For Guffman,” where he gathered together a group of great comic actors who formed a loose repertory company that...
Guest largely worked as an actor in the 1970s, with stage and TV appearances mixed with occasional side gigs with the satirists The National Lampoon. His breakthrough role came in 1984 as lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel in Rob Reiner‘s classic comedy “This Is Spinal Tap,” whose improvisational style proved to be an enormous influence when Guest began directing films five years later. That technique came to full fruition in his second directorial effort, 1996’s “Waiting For Guffman,” where he gathered together a group of great comic actors who formed a loose repertory company that...
- 2/4/2024
- by Tom O'Brien, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
Catherine O’Hara has been cast in “The Last of Us” Season 2 at HBO, Variety has learned.
Details on the character O’Hara will be playing are being kept under wraps. She joins returning series leads Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the hit series alongside new cast members Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, and Kaitlyn Dever as Abby.
O’Hara is one of the most celebrated comedic actresses in modern times, having first broken out during her time on the acclaimed sketch comedy series “Sctv.” She is best known most recently for her starring role in the comedy series “Schitt’s Creek,” on which she played Moira Rose throughout the show’s six-season run. She received two Emmy nominations for the show, winning the award for best actress in a comedy in 2020 for the final season. O’Hara is also known for her work in the films of...
Details on the character O’Hara will be playing are being kept under wraps. She joins returning series leads Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey in the hit series alongside new cast members Isabela Merced as Dina, Young Mazino as Jesse, and Kaitlyn Dever as Abby.
O’Hara is one of the most celebrated comedic actresses in modern times, having first broken out during her time on the acclaimed sketch comedy series “Sctv.” She is best known most recently for her starring role in the comedy series “Schitt’s Creek,” on which she played Moira Rose throughout the show’s six-season run. She received two Emmy nominations for the show, winning the award for best actress in a comedy in 2020 for the final season. O’Hara is also known for her work in the films of...
- 2/2/2024
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
After Christopher Guest starred in Rob Reiner’s This is Spinal Tap, he was bitten by the mockumentary bug himself: He wound up making five of them, including Best in Show, the Oscar-nominated A Mighty Wind, and Waiting for Guffman. Guffman was the first of Guest’s mockumentaries and, at the time the film was released, he talked to us about the process of “writing” the movie on the spot through improvisation. (Click on the media bar below to hear Christopher Guest) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Chistopher_Guest-Waiting_For_Guffman_.mp3
Waiting for Guffman is available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and most digital platforms.
The post Christopher Guest Couldn’t Wait To Try Improv Approach With ‘Guffman’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
Waiting for Guffman is available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and most digital platforms.
The post Christopher Guest Couldn’t Wait To Try Improv Approach With ‘Guffman’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
- 11/30/2023
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
Here’s hoping that “Yellowstone” fans have a comfortable chair this weekend! Paramount’s free streaming servicePluto TV is gearing up to stream the first four seasons of the show on its More TV Drama channel.
Season 1 will start streaming Friday, Sept. 1 at 4 p.m. Et. Seasons 2 and 3 will begin airing at the same time on Saturday, Sept. 2 and Sunday, Sept. 3 respectively, and the fourth season will start streaming at 2 p.m. Et on Monday, Sept. 4.
Watch the Trailer for ‘Yellowstone’ Season 4:
There’s also new content coming to Pluto’s Game Shows channel, with shows like “Pictionary” and “25 Words or Less” debuting there this month. More kids titles will also head to Pluto thanks to the addition of the Nickelodeon Zoom! Zoom! channel, with lightning-fast series like “Blaze and the Monster Machines” and “Top Wing” available.
There are lots of other marathons and themed events coming to Pluto TV this month,...
Season 1 will start streaming Friday, Sept. 1 at 4 p.m. Et. Seasons 2 and 3 will begin airing at the same time on Saturday, Sept. 2 and Sunday, Sept. 3 respectively, and the fourth season will start streaming at 2 p.m. Et on Monday, Sept. 4.
Watch the Trailer for ‘Yellowstone’ Season 4:
There’s also new content coming to Pluto’s Game Shows channel, with shows like “Pictionary” and “25 Words or Less” debuting there this month. More kids titles will also head to Pluto thanks to the addition of the Nickelodeon Zoom! Zoom! channel, with lightning-fast series like “Blaze and the Monster Machines” and “Top Wing” available.
There are lots of other marathons and themed events coming to Pluto TV this month,...
- 8/30/2023
- by David Satin
- The Streamable
Theater Camp is a quirky comedy film directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, they also worked on a screenplay with Noah Galvin and Ben Platt. The comedy film is set in a theater camp in upstate New York, and it follows the quirky teachers and the budding as the threat of financial ruin looms over the camp because its indomitable founder Joan falls into a coma and her clueless brother is now in charge. Theater Camp also stars Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Jimmy Tatro, and Ayo Edebiri. So, if you loved Theater Camp here are some similar movies you should watch next.
Wet Hot American Summer (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – USA Films
Synopsis: It’s the last day of Camp Firewood’s season, but there’s still time for the big talent show, a little romance… and for everyone to be wiped out by the piece of NASA...
Wet Hot American Summer (Rent on Prime Video) Credit – USA Films
Synopsis: It’s the last day of Camp Firewood’s season, but there’s still time for the big talent show, a little romance… and for everyone to be wiped out by the piece of NASA...
- 8/25/2023
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
Of all the films screening at the Galway Film Fleadh on the West Coast of Ireland, one stands out as having the sort of wild premise that should instantly pique the interest of anyone with a penchant for comedy of the more ridiculous variety.
Apocalypse Clown — getting its world premiere on Friday before screening at Canada’s Fantastia Festival later this month and ahead of its U.K. and Ireland release on Sept. 1 — may even boast the most “Wtf?” film plotline of the year, with a story set in the aftermath of a mysterious blackout that plunges Ireland into anarchy and following a group of washed-up clowns, brought together following a mass brawl at a funeral, who traverse the country in chaotic and sometimes bloody fashion for one last shot at their (far-fetched) dreams. A quiet arthouse drama, this is not.
From director George Kane — who has spent the last...
Apocalypse Clown — getting its world premiere on Friday before screening at Canada’s Fantastia Festival later this month and ahead of its U.K. and Ireland release on Sept. 1 — may even boast the most “Wtf?” film plotline of the year, with a story set in the aftermath of a mysterious blackout that plunges Ireland into anarchy and following a group of washed-up clowns, brought together following a mass brawl at a funeral, who traverse the country in chaotic and sometimes bloody fashion for one last shot at their (far-fetched) dreams. A quiet arthouse drama, this is not.
From director George Kane — who has spent the last...
- 7/14/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Molly Gordon and Ben Platt in Theater Camp.Photo: Searchlight Pictures
We’ve got one week before Barbenheimer arrives to suck up all the oxygen in the room and all the spare theaters at the multiplex. So, in this calm before the pop-culture storm, let’s talk about a smaller...
We’ve got one week before Barbenheimer arrives to suck up all the oxygen in the room and all the spare theaters at the multiplex. So, in this calm before the pop-culture storm, let’s talk about a smaller...
- 7/14/2023
- by Cindy White
- avclub.com
It’s good to know that Ben Platt and Molly Gordon’s failed childhood romance didn’t keep them from remaining life-long friends. The actors star in “Theater Camp,” a mockumentary about a performing arts summer camp co-directed by Gordon and Nick Lieberman. Said romance bloomed when Platt and Gordon were just 7 years old.
“I gave her this charm bracelet as I-guess-we’re-going-to-date-now,” Platt remembers during an appearance on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “She freaked out and told her mom, ‘I’m not ready,’ so I gave it to a different girl. Instead, I gave Molly a picture frame with a picture of me and Molly in it because I was like, ‘Here’s a friendship thing.’ Then she was devastated.”
Joining Platt on the podcast was his “Theater Camp” co-star and husband-to-be Noah Galvin. “Theater Camp,” based on a 2020 short of the same name, was written...
“I gave her this charm bracelet as I-guess-we’re-going-to-date-now,” Platt remembers during an appearance on this week’s “Just for Variety” podcast. “She freaked out and told her mom, ‘I’m not ready,’ so I gave it to a different girl. Instead, I gave Molly a picture frame with a picture of me and Molly in it because I was like, ‘Here’s a friendship thing.’ Then she was devastated.”
Joining Platt on the podcast was his “Theater Camp” co-star and husband-to-be Noah Galvin. “Theater Camp,” based on a 2020 short of the same name, was written...
- 7/13/2023
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Ben Platt, Molly Gordon in Theater CampPhoto: Searchlight Pictures
There was a time when the adage “write what you know” was not only an instinctual starting place, but also sage industry advice. These days, many artists seem to recoil from those words, preferring high-concept ideas over simple, small stories, and...
There was a time when the adage “write what you know” was not only an instinctual starting place, but also sage industry advice. These days, many artists seem to recoil from those words, preferring high-concept ideas over simple, small stories, and...
- 7/13/2023
- by Brent Simon
- avclub.com
Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s Theater Camp suggests Christopher Guest’s Waiting for Guffman as made by, and starring, theater brats. The largely improvised film also lovingly lampoons the more ridiculous and high-strung tendencies of overly serious community theater types, but does so with an earnest gusto that quickly becomes tiresome.
Guest’s 1996 film is populated by a murderer’s row of skilled improvisers whose work, even at its most over the top, feels effortless, with a lived-in quality that grounds the absurdity in a heightened yet recognizable reality. By contrast, Theater Camp’s comedy mostly comes across as forced and laborious, which makes watching the film, at times, feel like sitting through extended acting exercises where everyone is giving it 110% every take.
Adapted from Lieberman’s 2020 short of the same name, Theater Camp grew out of co-writers Gordon, Lieberman, Ben Platt, and Noah Galvin’s desire to, per Gordon,...
Guest’s 1996 film is populated by a murderer’s row of skilled improvisers whose work, even at its most over the top, feels effortless, with a lived-in quality that grounds the absurdity in a heightened yet recognizable reality. By contrast, Theater Camp’s comedy mostly comes across as forced and laborious, which makes watching the film, at times, feel like sitting through extended acting exercises where everyone is giving it 110% every take.
Adapted from Lieberman’s 2020 short of the same name, Theater Camp grew out of co-writers Gordon, Lieberman, Ben Platt, and Noah Galvin’s desire to, per Gordon,...
- 7/7/2023
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
A great movie comedy is something of a miracle, a combination of circumstances, personnel, and timing that would seem impossible to replicate, even under the most ideal circumstances. So first and foremost, the baffling thing about Chelsea Peretti’s “First Time Female Director” is that, once you set its title-embedded topicality aside, it’s basically a beat-for-beat remake of Christopher Guest’s “Waiting For Guffman.” Why risk the comparison—especially when you’ll come out looking so dire?
Continue reading ‘First Time Female Director’ Review: A Dire ‘Waiting For Guffman’-Esque Disappointment From Writer/Director/Star Chelsea Peretti [Tribeca] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘First Time Female Director’ Review: A Dire ‘Waiting For Guffman’-Esque Disappointment From Writer/Director/Star Chelsea Peretti [Tribeca] at The Playlist.
- 6/13/2023
- by Jason Bailey
- The Playlist
"These people are really weird." Searchlight Pictures has revealed their fun first official trailer for the indie comedy Theater Camp, a mockumentary in the same vein as Waiting for Guffman or Best in Show. This first premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and was a massive hit, one of the best of the fest, I loved it and raved about it in my own review as well. The acclaimed faux documentary film follows the eccentric staff of a rundown theater camp in upstate New York, as they band together with the beloved founder's bro-y son to keep the camp afloat, when she falls into a coma right before the summer session is set to begin. They attempt to put on a masterpiece to save their theater camp known as "AdirondACTS". The ensemble cast of this comedy includes Noah Galvin, Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Conservative media company Blaze has made its first exclusive movie acquisition in the shape of comedy Re-Opening. The company is also lining up further comedy acquisitions and its first scripted series.
Re-Opening, which won a handful of awards at North American indie and comedy festivals last year, follows the cast and crew of a struggling theater in Pigeon Valley, Tennessee, as they attempt to prepare the theater to reopen after months of being closed down due to the Covid lockdown. You can see a trailer below.
The mockumentary, which nods to classics of the genre such as Waiting For Guffman, is co-directed, co-produced and co-written by TikTok comedy actory and Groundlings alum Chris Guerra who also stars alongside Kelsey Cooke (who also produces), Patty Guggenheim, Emily Pendergast and Leonard Robinson.
The film will be streamed to BlazeTV subscribers on May 4.
Blaze, which is following in the footsteps of fellow...
Re-Opening, which won a handful of awards at North American indie and comedy festivals last year, follows the cast and crew of a struggling theater in Pigeon Valley, Tennessee, as they attempt to prepare the theater to reopen after months of being closed down due to the Covid lockdown. You can see a trailer below.
The mockumentary, which nods to classics of the genre such as Waiting For Guffman, is co-directed, co-produced and co-written by TikTok comedy actory and Groundlings alum Chris Guerra who also stars alongside Kelsey Cooke (who also produces), Patty Guggenheim, Emily Pendergast and Leonard Robinson.
The film will be streamed to BlazeTV subscribers on May 4.
Blaze, which is following in the footsteps of fellow...
- 4/27/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Schitt’s Creek alum Eugene Levy is heading to Summer Camp. The four-time Emmy winner will play Diane Keaton’s love interest in the comedy also set to star Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard.
Castille Landon (After franchise) is directing the film, which is heading into production next month in North Carolina, from her own script. It tells the story of Nora, Ginny and Mary, who have been best friends since childhood, spending their summers together inseparably at sleepaway camp. As the years have passed, they’ve seen each other less and less, so when the chance for a summer camp reunion arises, they all take it, some begrudgingly and others excitedly. Each of their lives might not be where they’d imagined, but one thing is for sure — Nora, Ginny, and Mary need each other, and summer camp reminds them why.
Related Story A24 Sets Disaster Comedy ‘Y2K...
Castille Landon (After franchise) is directing the film, which is heading into production next month in North Carolina, from her own script. It tells the story of Nora, Ginny and Mary, who have been best friends since childhood, spending their summers together inseparably at sleepaway camp. As the years have passed, they’ve seen each other less and less, so when the chance for a summer camp reunion arises, they all take it, some begrudgingly and others excitedly. Each of their lives might not be where they’d imagined, but one thing is for sure — Nora, Ginny, and Mary need each other, and summer camp reminds them why.
Related Story A24 Sets Disaster Comedy ‘Y2K...
- 3/24/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Who’s ready to party?
Parker Posey’s beloved 1995 coming-of-age comedy “Party Girl” celebrates a 4K restoration with a national tour to mark the 28th anniversary of the film. “Party Girl” kicks off in New York City at the IFC Center on April 28, followed by a live Q&a with lead star Posey. The film simultaneously debuts in Los Angeles at Glendale Laemmle Theatre and Landmark Westwood Theatre also on April 28, with a live Q&a with film director Daisy von Scherler Mayer.
In the classic film, a 20-something, irresponsible party girl is bailed out of jail by her librarian godmother. To repay the loan, she starts working at the library and gradually turns her life around.
“We made this movie for ‘the kids’ — as we called them — young people from small towns, who had big dreams, and who weren’t, for whatever reason, conforming to the status quo,” Posey shared with IndieWire.
Parker Posey’s beloved 1995 coming-of-age comedy “Party Girl” celebrates a 4K restoration with a national tour to mark the 28th anniversary of the film. “Party Girl” kicks off in New York City at the IFC Center on April 28, followed by a live Q&a with lead star Posey. The film simultaneously debuts in Los Angeles at Glendale Laemmle Theatre and Landmark Westwood Theatre also on April 28, with a live Q&a with film director Daisy von Scherler Mayer.
In the classic film, a 20-something, irresponsible party girl is bailed out of jail by her librarian godmother. To repay the loan, she starts working at the library and gradually turns her life around.
“We made this movie for ‘the kids’ — as we called them — young people from small towns, who had big dreams, and who weren’t, for whatever reason, conforming to the status quo,” Posey shared with IndieWire.
- 3/22/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Eugene Levy isn’t afraid to call it like it is, and according to the Schitt’s Creek actor, mockumentary filmmaking is going the way of the dodo. Levy, of course, is a star player in Christopher Guest’s troupe of comedians who elevated the mockumentary platform to new heights with films like Waiting for Guffman, Mascots, For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, and This is Spinal Tap. Each offers an in-depth look at the personalities and unprofessionalism behind the music scene, show dog competitions, and more. The mockumentary style breaks the fourth wall, making camera operators and crew members a part of the drama, for better or worse. It’s a film style that lends to plenty of laughs when used strategically, and Levy says the art form of mockumentary filmmaking is dying.
Speaking with The Guardian, Levy said he doesn’t think Guest will make another...
Speaking with The Guardian, Levy said he doesn’t think Guest will make another...
- 3/6/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Bad news for any comedy fan hoping Christopher Guest might get his troupe back together for another mockumentary movie. Guest and actors such as Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Jane Lynch and more popularized the fake documentary format with comedy classics such as “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind” and “Waiting for Guffman.” Guest even co-wrote and acted in perhaps the most famous mockumentary of all time, 1984’s “This Is Spinal Tap.” Yet Levy recently told The Guardian that another mockumentary from the Guest troupe is unlikely.
“No, I don’t think it will happen,” Levy said. “Our last one was ‘For Your Consideration’ back in 2006. Our fake documentaries — Chris always hated the term ‘mockumentary’ because we’re not mocking, it’s more affectionate than that — but they were getting a little cookie-cutter in terms of story. Everything was kind of the same, except we just changed the subject. At a certain point,...
“No, I don’t think it will happen,” Levy said. “Our last one was ‘For Your Consideration’ back in 2006. Our fake documentaries — Chris always hated the term ‘mockumentary’ because we’re not mocking, it’s more affectionate than that — but they were getting a little cookie-cutter in terms of story. Everything was kind of the same, except we just changed the subject. At a certain point,...
- 3/6/2023
- by Zack Sharf
- Variety Film + TV
One of the greatest mockumentaries of all time is “This Is Spinal Tap,” and while filmmaker Christopher Guest didn’t direct it (that was Rob Reiner), he did co-write it with his co-stars Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Reiner. Soon after, Guest took that formula and ran with it, creating several other classic mockumentary comedies, including “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind,” “For Your Consideration,” and the last one, “Mascots” in 2016 for Netflix.
Continue reading Eugene Levy Says Christopher Guest’s Mockumentaries Are Probably Over Because “TV Shows Have Destroyed” The Form at The Playlist.
Continue reading Eugene Levy Says Christopher Guest’s Mockumentaries Are Probably Over Because “TV Shows Have Destroyed” The Form at The Playlist.
- 3/6/2023
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
Netflix has dropped the trailer for the eight-episode second season of “Shadow and Bone.” The second season depicts Alina Starkov, played by Jessie Mei Li, on the run in an effort to bring down the Shadow Fold and save Ravka. However, General Kirigan (played by Ben Barnes) is also back and this time has an army of shadow monsters behind him.
The Season 2 cast includes also includes Archie Renaux, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Danielle Galligan, Daisy Head, Calahan Skogman, Lewis Tan, Anna Leong Brophy, Jack Wolfe and Patrick Gibson.
Eric Heisserer and Daegan Fryklind serve as showrunners and executive producers, with Leigh Bardugo as author and executive producer for the series. “Shadow and Bone” is also executive produced by Shawn Levy, Josh Barry, Dan Levine and Dan Cohen for 21 Laps Entertainment, Pouya Shahbazian (Loom Studios) and Shelley Meals.
Season 2 of “Shadow and Bone” premieres March 16. Check out the trailer below.
The Season 2 cast includes also includes Archie Renaux, Freddy Carter, Amita Suman, Kit Young, Danielle Galligan, Daisy Head, Calahan Skogman, Lewis Tan, Anna Leong Brophy, Jack Wolfe and Patrick Gibson.
Eric Heisserer and Daegan Fryklind serve as showrunners and executive producers, with Leigh Bardugo as author and executive producer for the series. “Shadow and Bone” is also executive produced by Shawn Levy, Josh Barry, Dan Levine and Dan Cohen for 21 Laps Entertainment, Pouya Shahbazian (Loom Studios) and Shelley Meals.
Season 2 of “Shadow and Bone” premieres March 16. Check out the trailer below.
- 2/18/2023
- by Julia MacCary and Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
Here’s a fun fact: Thanks to his lineage, writer/director/actor Christopher Guest has an inherited royal title — the 5th Baron Haden-Guest — and for three years was an active member of the British House of Lords. In his spare time, however, Baron Haden-Guest makes delightfully silly movies that make audiences around the globe very happy.
Guest largely worked as an actor in the 1970s, with stage and TV appearances mixed with occasional side gigs with the satirists The National Lampoon. His breakthrough role came in 1984 as lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel in Rob Reiner‘s classic comedy “This Is Spinal Tap,” whose improvisational style proved to be an enormous influence when Guest began directing films five years later. That technique came to full fruition in his second directorial effort, 1996’s “Waiting For Guffman,” where he gathered together a group of great comic actors who formed a loose repertory company that...
Guest largely worked as an actor in the 1970s, with stage and TV appearances mixed with occasional side gigs with the satirists The National Lampoon. His breakthrough role came in 1984 as lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel in Rob Reiner‘s classic comedy “This Is Spinal Tap,” whose improvisational style proved to be an enormous influence when Guest began directing films five years later. That technique came to full fruition in his second directorial effort, 1996’s “Waiting For Guffman,” where he gathered together a group of great comic actors who formed a loose repertory company that...
- 2/5/2023
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
One thing Theater Camp could never be accused of is not knowing its audience.
Hatched by co-directors Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman and their fellow screenwriters Noah Galvin and Ben Platt out of a string of sketches, an unreleased web series and an improvised short, this larkish comedy is laser-targeted for a highly specific niche. Musical theater geeks, aspiring performers and eccentric drama educators will find countless sweet-spot insider jokes in a film that conveys the love of its creative team for the milieu at every turn. For the uninitiated, its charms are more likely to register in fits and starts.
The project takes as its model the Christopher Guest improv comedy, which is both a blessing and a curse since the under-baked mockumentary frame is rickety and seems to be forgotten for large chunks at a time. Another drawback is the considerable overlap with two sharper, more disciplined films,...
Hatched by co-directors Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman and their fellow screenwriters Noah Galvin and Ben Platt out of a string of sketches, an unreleased web series and an improvised short, this larkish comedy is laser-targeted for a highly specific niche. Musical theater geeks, aspiring performers and eccentric drama educators will find countless sweet-spot insider jokes in a film that conveys the love of its creative team for the milieu at every turn. For the uninitiated, its charms are more likely to register in fits and starts.
The project takes as its model the Christopher Guest improv comedy, which is both a blessing and a curse since the under-baked mockumentary frame is rickety and seems to be forgotten for large chunks at a time. Another drawback is the considerable overlap with two sharper, more disciplined films,...
- 1/24/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
‘Theater Camp’ Review: Song, Dance, and an Adorable and Clever New Entry Into the Mockumentary Canon
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures releases the film in theaters on Friday, July 14.
Real summer camp buffs have this saying: “10 for 2,” meaning they spend 10 months out of the year looking forward to the two they will spend at summer camp. For some people, summer camp is their true home, the one place they can really be themselves, a treat that makes the real world bearable. For the kids (and adults) of Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s charming and hilarious “Theater Camp,” it’s also a place where they can hone their craft without the prying eyes of the decidedly non-theatrical in their lives.
Cleverly conceived of as a mockumentary, “Theater Camp” picks up as our unnamed (and unseen) filmmakers are just a day into production. Their plan: follow a summer at “AdirondACTS,” an upstate New York theater camp run...
Real summer camp buffs have this saying: “10 for 2,” meaning they spend 10 months out of the year looking forward to the two they will spend at summer camp. For some people, summer camp is their true home, the one place they can really be themselves, a treat that makes the real world bearable. For the kids (and adults) of Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s charming and hilarious “Theater Camp,” it’s also a place where they can hone their craft without the prying eyes of the decidedly non-theatrical in their lives.
Cleverly conceived of as a mockumentary, “Theater Camp” picks up as our unnamed (and unseen) filmmakers are just a day into production. Their plan: follow a summer at “AdirondACTS,” an upstate New York theater camp run...
- 1/22/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Click here to read the full article.
Schitt’s Creek star Eugene Levy and Victor Garber have been named in the New Year honors list for the Order of Canada, in recognition of their achievements at home and in Hollywood.
Emmy-winning Levy received a promotion to companion of the Order of Canada, which is the highest rank in Canada’s honors system. The Canadian-born actor, also well known for his star turn in the Sctv sketch comedy series, was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2011.
Levy received the latest Order of Canada honor “for elevating the stature of Canadian television on the international stage as an acclaimed actor and producer.”
Levy’s additional credits include roles in the American Pie franchise, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and Father of the Bride II.
Garber, a stage and screen veteran with film credits like Argo, Milk, Titanic, Legally Blonde,...
Schitt’s Creek star Eugene Levy and Victor Garber have been named in the New Year honors list for the Order of Canada, in recognition of their achievements at home and in Hollywood.
Emmy-winning Levy received a promotion to companion of the Order of Canada, which is the highest rank in Canada’s honors system. The Canadian-born actor, also well known for his star turn in the Sctv sketch comedy series, was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2011.
Levy received the latest Order of Canada honor “for elevating the stature of Canadian television on the international stage as an acclaimed actor and producer.”
Levy’s additional credits include roles in the American Pie franchise, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and Father of the Bride II.
Garber, a stage and screen veteran with film credits like Argo, Milk, Titanic, Legally Blonde,...
- 12/29/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
David Yates’ Netflix film The Pain Hustlers has begun rounding out its cast, with Andy Garcia (Father of the Bride), Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), Jay Duplass (Industry), Brian d’Arcy James (West Side Story) and Chloe Coleman (My Spy) signing on to star alongside Emily Blunt and Chris Evans.
The film billed as tonally similar to The Big Short, American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street follows Liza Drake (Blunt), a high-school dropout dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter. Liza lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical startup in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. Her charm, guts and drive then catapult the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences.
Netflix acquired global rights to the film written by Wells Tower for 50M out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival,...
The film billed as tonally similar to The Big Short, American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street follows Liza Drake (Blunt), a high-school dropout dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter. Liza lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical startup in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. Her charm, guts and drive then catapult the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences.
Netflix acquired global rights to the film written by Wells Tower for 50M out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival,...
- 8/29/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
When Heather Matarazzo’s indelible film debut “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” went to the Sundance Film Festival in 1996, the young star didn’t attend. “I didn’t go,” she told IndieWire during a recent interview. “Sony wouldn’t pay for me.” Now, it’s hard to imagine a breakout star of Matarazzo’s caliber, let alone the lead of a Grand Jury Prize winner, not being feted in the mountains of Park City.
At the time — and, as a tween herself — she wasn’t fazed by the decision on the part of distributor Sony Pictures Classics. “I didn’t know what a big deal it was,” she said.
Matarazzo’s performance as Dawn Wiener was a shock to the system. In Solondz’s pastel-colored New Jersey suburbia, Dawn is a gangly 11-year-old with glasses whose classmates call her “lesbo” and whose teachers chide her for being a “grade grubber.” Matarazzo,...
At the time — and, as a tween herself — she wasn’t fazed by the decision on the part of distributor Sony Pictures Classics. “I didn’t know what a big deal it was,” she said.
Matarazzo’s performance as Dawn Wiener was a shock to the system. In Solondz’s pastel-colored New Jersey suburbia, Dawn is a gangly 11-year-old with glasses whose classmates call her “lesbo” and whose teachers chide her for being a “grade grubber.” Matarazzo,...
- 8/16/2022
- by Esther Zuckerman
- Indiewire
“No one else acts the way she acts,” says director Christopher Guest of his frequent collaborator Jennifer Coolidge. “I don’t mean acting as an actor. I mean behaves the way she behaves.”
Coolidge, currently a first-time Emmy nominee for HBO’s “The White Lotus,” is on the cover of this week’s edition of Variety; she first became known to many for her work with Guest, which includes roles in “Best in Show” (2000), “A Mighty Wind” (2003), “For Your Consideration” (2006), and “Mascots” (2016). In those movies, Guest says in a rare interview, “It’s so striking to see her with other people, because she’s on a different plane of her own reality.”
Guest’s movies are improvised by their actors, who come in armed with backstories and the plot but then, when the cameras roll, “people basically begin to talk,” he says. “It’s impossible to audition for that. I...
Coolidge, currently a first-time Emmy nominee for HBO’s “The White Lotus,” is on the cover of this week’s edition of Variety; she first became known to many for her work with Guest, which includes roles in “Best in Show” (2000), “A Mighty Wind” (2003), “For Your Consideration” (2006), and “Mascots” (2016). In those movies, Guest says in a rare interview, “It’s so striking to see her with other people, because she’s on a different plane of her own reality.”
Guest’s movies are improvised by their actors, who come in armed with backstories and the plot but then, when the cameras roll, “people basically begin to talk,” he says. “It’s impossible to audition for that. I...
- 8/5/2022
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
Fresh with an injection of 170 million in Castle Rock financing with a lead equity investment from Derrick Rossi — the stem cell biologist who is co-founder of the Moderna vaccine — Rob Reiner is here at the Cannes Market for myriad reasons. One of them is to shoot Sharon Stone in Cannes this week, as part of the documentary film Albert Brooks: Defending My Life.
Reiner’s in a renaissance, with his breakout film This is Spinal Tap airing on the beach on the Croisette this week, as he takes meetings to create territorial deals for Spinal Tap II, a sequel to the stories rock mockumentary that re-launches Castle Rock, and which CAA Media Finance is selling along with the distribution rights to the original film. The plan is for a theatrical release to coincide with the film’s 40th anniversary. Reiner said he hasn’t shopped his Albert Brooks film, but...
Reiner’s in a renaissance, with his breakout film This is Spinal Tap airing on the beach on the Croisette this week, as he takes meetings to create territorial deals for Spinal Tap II, a sequel to the stories rock mockumentary that re-launches Castle Rock, and which CAA Media Finance is selling along with the distribution rights to the original film. The plan is for a theatrical release to coincide with the film’s 40th anniversary. Reiner said he hasn’t shopped his Albert Brooks film, but...
- 5/18/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Maybe this time it’ll go up to 12.
Castle Rock Entertainment, the Rob Reiner-run production shingle that has been keeping a very low profile for well over a decade, surprised the film world yesterday with the announcement that a sequel to “This Is Spinal Tap” is in the works. The company is self-financing but will bring the package to the Cannes Film Market to secure foreign distribution. Perhaps not coincidentally, Cannes has programmed the 1984 original for its Cinema de la Plage sidebar, in which movies play for free on the beach a few steps from the Palais du Cinéma.
All the key players, including director Reiner, who also appeared in the mock documentary as filmmaker Marty Dibergi (“let’s boogie!”), Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer are on board for what will likely follow in the original’s footsteps: a largely-improvised satire of the music industry. The film...
Castle Rock Entertainment, the Rob Reiner-run production shingle that has been keeping a very low profile for well over a decade, surprised the film world yesterday with the announcement that a sequel to “This Is Spinal Tap” is in the works. The company is self-financing but will bring the package to the Cannes Film Market to secure foreign distribution. Perhaps not coincidentally, Cannes has programmed the 1984 original for its Cinema de la Plage sidebar, in which movies play for free on the beach a few steps from the Palais du Cinéma.
All the key players, including director Reiner, who also appeared in the mock documentary as filmmaker Marty Dibergi (“let’s boogie!”), Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, and Harry Shearer are on board for what will likely follow in the original’s footsteps: a largely-improvised satire of the music industry. The film...
- 5/13/2022
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
Actress Kathy Lamkin, who held her own opposite Javier Bardem’s hitman Anton Chigurh as No Country for Old Men‘s Desert Aire trailer park manager, died on April 4 after a short illness, her family told Deadline. She was 74.
“Kathy will be missed by her family and friends,” the family says, “and left an impact on all she that encountered during her life on this Earth.”
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
Born on December 10, 1947, in Graham, Texas on Lamkin landed a SAG Award as part of the cast of the Coen Brothers’ acclaimed 2007 film. She appeared in a total of 46 film and TV projects between 1990 and 2014, and is otherwise best known for her role as The Tea Lady in both Marcus Nispel’s 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Jonathan Liebesman’s 2006 film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
Over the course of her career, Lamkin also...
“Kathy will be missed by her family and friends,” the family says, “and left an impact on all she that encountered during her life on this Earth.”
Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery
Born on December 10, 1947, in Graham, Texas on Lamkin landed a SAG Award as part of the cast of the Coen Brothers’ acclaimed 2007 film. She appeared in a total of 46 film and TV projects between 1990 and 2014, and is otherwise best known for her role as The Tea Lady in both Marcus Nispel’s 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Jonathan Liebesman’s 2006 film, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
Over the course of her career, Lamkin also...
- 4/11/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Ah, the dog show. We love the dog show, don't we, folks? The colorful showroom, the prestigious trophies, the informative commentary, and of course, the doggos. The Westminster Kennel Club, the American Kennel Club, all kinds of fancy-sounding institutions clear out the floor where citizens from all walks of life compete alongside their beloved, expensive pets for the ultimate honor in dog supremacy: Best in Show.
In 2000, "This is Spinal Tap" actor and "Waiting for Guffman" director Christopher Guest came in hot with another mockumentary, this time poking fun at American dog shows. "Best in Show" was co-written by Guest and Eugene Levy,...
The post The Real-Life Inspiration Behind Fred Willard's Best in Show Character appeared first on /Film.
In 2000, "This is Spinal Tap" actor and "Waiting for Guffman" director Christopher Guest came in hot with another mockumentary, this time poking fun at American dog shows. "Best in Show" was co-written by Guest and Eugene Levy,...
The post The Real-Life Inspiration Behind Fred Willard's Best in Show Character appeared first on /Film.
- 3/25/2022
- by Anya Stanley
- Slash Film
Initially scanning as a “Best in Show”-esque mockumentary send-up of megachurch culture in the time of #MeToo, Adamma Ebo’s feature directorial debut “Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul” steadily moves into darker territory, though Featuring stars Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown doing predictably divine work (do these two performers know any other way?), “Honk for Jesus” is equal parts hilarious and painful, an incisive upbraiding of the sorts of people who should have long ago realized no one — especially nattily attired pastors — is above God.
Once top of the heap in their Georgia town, thanks to their thousands-strong Southern Baptist congregation at the snazzy Wander to Greater Pastures megachurch, Trinitie (Hall) and Lee-Curtis (Brown) are months deep into a scandal that’s nearly sunk them. Through amusingly crafted newscasts and fake archival footage, Ebo introduces the duo and their current lot in life — not great, but as Trinitie tells us,...
Once top of the heap in their Georgia town, thanks to their thousands-strong Southern Baptist congregation at the snazzy Wander to Greater Pastures megachurch, Trinitie (Hall) and Lee-Curtis (Brown) are months deep into a scandal that’s nearly sunk them. Through amusingly crafted newscasts and fake archival footage, Ebo introduces the duo and their current lot in life — not great, but as Trinitie tells us,...
- 1/23/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Marionette Land is an intimate portrait into the wonderful world of charismatic puppeteer Robert Brock and his magical marionette theatre. Watch the Trailer:
Winner of Best Documentary at the 2021 Omaha Film Festival, “Marionette Land” will take you behind the curtain of the Lancaster Marionette Theatre and its eccentric owner Robert Brock, who lives above the tiny theatre with his 85-year-old mother, Mary Lou.
Brock has created his own world where he is in total control. He adapts and performs classic family shows like Peter Pan and Wizard of Oz but at the age of sixty-two he decides to bring back his grown-up cabaret show, “Divas and Dames.” The grown-up show features Brock dressing up and performing as Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Carol Channing, and other famous Hollywood stars of the past alongside a few marionettes.
The film chronicles Brock’s unique relationship with his mother and the revival of his...
Winner of Best Documentary at the 2021 Omaha Film Festival, “Marionette Land” will take you behind the curtain of the Lancaster Marionette Theatre and its eccentric owner Robert Brock, who lives above the tiny theatre with his 85-year-old mother, Mary Lou.
Brock has created his own world where he is in total control. He adapts and performs classic family shows like Peter Pan and Wizard of Oz but at the age of sixty-two he decides to bring back his grown-up cabaret show, “Divas and Dames.” The grown-up show features Brock dressing up and performing as Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Carol Channing, and other famous Hollywood stars of the past alongside a few marionettes.
The film chronicles Brock’s unique relationship with his mother and the revival of his...
- 12/14/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Schitt’s Creek” star and Canadian screen icon Eugene Levy has signed with UTA.
The multi-Emmy-winning actor, producer and writer is best known for co-creating, starring in and executive producing the critically acclaimed CBC and Pop series “Schitt’s Creek” alongside his son and co-star, Daniel Levy.
The show — which reached global audiences via Netflix — picked up nine Emmy awards for its sixth season, earning the title for the most awarded comedy series in a single year and the most wins for a comedy series in its final season. With an ensemble cast including Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy, the series set the record for the first comedy or drama series to sweep all four acting categories, while Levy and his son were the first father-son pair ever to win Emmys in the same year.
To date, “Schitt’s Creek” has received 21 Emmy nominations, as well as wins at the SAG Awards, PGA Awards,...
The multi-Emmy-winning actor, producer and writer is best known for co-creating, starring in and executive producing the critically acclaimed CBC and Pop series “Schitt’s Creek” alongside his son and co-star, Daniel Levy.
The show — which reached global audiences via Netflix — picked up nine Emmy awards for its sixth season, earning the title for the most awarded comedy series in a single year and the most wins for a comedy series in its final season. With an ensemble cast including Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy, the series set the record for the first comedy or drama series to sweep all four acting categories, while Levy and his son were the first father-son pair ever to win Emmys in the same year.
To date, “Schitt’s Creek” has received 21 Emmy nominations, as well as wins at the SAG Awards, PGA Awards,...
- 11/9/2021
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Horror fans don’t have to wait until October to celebrate the scary movies, but this month offers a welcome opportunity to embrace the form. Last year, when the pandemic made in-person film festivals hard to achieve, four respected genre festivals from around the country — Boston Underground, Brooklyn Horror, North Bend, and Overlook — joined forces for a virtual festival event called Nightstream. Blending traditional horror programming with broader examples of genre filmmaking, the lineup provided a welcome opportunity to bring the festival experience to audiences nationwide.
This year is no exception: The second edition of Nightstream begins tonight and runs through October 13, with an exciting online program of films and events accessible to anyone in the U.S. Badgeholders will be able to tune into conversations with David Lowery, “Malignant” writer Akela Cooper, and “Creepshow” showrunner Greg Nicotero, as well as recurring events like The Future of Film Is Female...
This year is no exception: The second edition of Nightstream begins tonight and runs through October 13, with an exciting online program of films and events accessible to anyone in the U.S. Badgeholders will be able to tune into conversations with David Lowery, “Malignant” writer Akela Cooper, and “Creepshow” showrunner Greg Nicotero, as well as recurring events like The Future of Film Is Female...
- 10/7/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Harvey Guillén plays the lovable familiar Guillermo on “What We Do in the Shadows,” FX’s mockumentary horror-comedy series following a group of vampires living in Staten Island, N.Y. It’s a role he has made his own in many ways.
A key scene in the Season 2 finale took viewers inside Guillermo’s family home, a warm and cozy apartment with food on the stove and a concerned parent. From making sure that the prop dessert, buñuelos, were regionally accurate to his character, to the casting of an actor of Mexican descent as his mother, Guillén was determined make sure his character’s life and heritage was fully realized. He even chose Guillermo’s last name, a serendipitous decision that would tie into his character’s backstory and relation to legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing.
Here, Guillén speaks with Variety about bringing a Mexican-American character to life in the...
A key scene in the Season 2 finale took viewers inside Guillermo’s family home, a warm and cozy apartment with food on the stove and a concerned parent. From making sure that the prop dessert, buñuelos, were regionally accurate to his character, to the casting of an actor of Mexican descent as his mother, Guillén was determined make sure his character’s life and heritage was fully realized. He even chose Guillermo’s last name, a serendipitous decision that would tie into his character’s backstory and relation to legendary vampire hunter Van Helsing.
Here, Guillén speaks with Variety about bringing a Mexican-American character to life in the...
- 9/2/2021
- by David Viramontes
- Variety Film + TV
Nina Dobrev, Jamie Chung, Michael Hitchcock and Chace Crawford will round out the cast of “Reunion,” an ensemble comedy from Artists Road. They join the previously announced Lil Rel Howery, Billy Magnussen and Jillian Bell in the film about a murder that takes place during a high school reunion party. The story puts a whodunit spin on the genre of awkward, post-graduation gatherings with former classmates — it unfolds during a snowstorm that leaves guests trapped in an isolated mansion. Production begins this week in Los Angles.
Chris Nelson (“The Perfect Date”) is directing the film from a screenplay by the “The Edge of Sleep” writing duo, Jake Emanuel and Willie Block. Producing are Artists Road’s principals, Todd Garner, Ben Silverman, Peter Principato and Mark Korshak as well as Mickey Schiff and Lil Rel Howery. Executive producing are Unique Features’ Bob Shaye alongside Magnussen and Bell.
Peter Oillataguerre, Spyglass’ President of Production,...
Chris Nelson (“The Perfect Date”) is directing the film from a screenplay by the “The Edge of Sleep” writing duo, Jake Emanuel and Willie Block. Producing are Artists Road’s principals, Todd Garner, Ben Silverman, Peter Principato and Mark Korshak as well as Mickey Schiff and Lil Rel Howery. Executive producing are Unique Features’ Bob Shaye alongside Magnussen and Bell.
Peter Oillataguerre, Spyglass’ President of Production,...
- 8/31/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
After a hiatus where New York’s theaters closed during the pandemic, we’re delighted to announce the return of NYC Weekend Watch, our weekly round-up of repertory offerings. While many theaters are still focused on a selection of new releases, a handful of worthwhile repertory screenings are taking place.
Anthology Film Archives
Breathe easy: Anthology is back, marking their resurrection with screenings of Paul Sharits’ dual-projection Razor Blades.
Paris Theater
Yet another return! To coincide with The Forty-Year-Old Version, filmmaker Radha Blank has organized a series of her influences: Cassavetes on Friday, Wilder and Tap on Saturday, Waiting for Guffman and The Last Detail on Sunday.
Museum of the Moving Image
2001 shows on 70mm this Friday, Dcp on Sunday, while Eyes Wide Shut and Fear and Desire have screenings; on the non-Kubrick front, Ran and The Age of Innocence have screenings.
Film at Lincoln Center
Mo’ Better Blues...
Anthology Film Archives
Breathe easy: Anthology is back, marking their resurrection with screenings of Paul Sharits’ dual-projection Razor Blades.
Paris Theater
Yet another return! To coincide with The Forty-Year-Old Version, filmmaker Radha Blank has organized a series of her influences: Cassavetes on Friday, Wilder and Tap on Saturday, Waiting for Guffman and The Last Detail on Sunday.
Museum of the Moving Image
2001 shows on 70mm this Friday, Dcp on Sunday, while Eyes Wide Shut and Fear and Desire have screenings; on the non-Kubrick front, Ran and The Age of Innocence have screenings.
Film at Lincoln Center
Mo’ Better Blues...
- 8/5/2021
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
While Netflix is far from being a haven for admirers of classic cinema, they thankfully are backing strong repertory programming in New York City. After acquiring The Paris Theater, located on 58th Street in Manhattan, and briefly reopening with some runs of Netflix features and other specialty programming, they are now officially opening their doors again on August 6 with a more substantial slate of classic cinema.
Featuring two programs, one curated by Radha Blank and another by the theater’s programmer David Schwartz, the reopening lineup features work by John Cassavetes, Kathleen Collins, Luis Buñuel, Mira Nair, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Ingmar Bergman, Terence Davies, and much more––with many on film prints.
One can also enter to win a pass for Schwartz’s series “The Paris is For Lovers,” with a newly-unveiled scavenger hunt tied to Ira Deutchman’s new documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff, which opens on August 13 and is part of the lineup.
Featuring two programs, one curated by Radha Blank and another by the theater’s programmer David Schwartz, the reopening lineup features work by John Cassavetes, Kathleen Collins, Luis Buñuel, Mira Nair, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Ingmar Bergman, Terence Davies, and much more––with many on film prints.
One can also enter to win a pass for Schwartz’s series “The Paris is For Lovers,” with a newly-unveiled scavenger hunt tied to Ira Deutchman’s new documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff, which opens on August 13 and is part of the lineup.
- 7/28/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The Paris Theater, a beloved arthouse cinema in New York City, is reopening its doors next month.
To celebrate its return on Aug. 6, filmmaker Radha Blank is curating a slate of repertory titles to screen alongside her directorial debut “The Forty-Year-Old Version.” Her movie, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, is playing through Aug. 12.
The Paris opened in 1948 and is the only single-screen movie theater in Manhattan. Netflix acquired the 545-seat venue in 2019 and, prior to Covid-19, held premieres, special events and screenings of its films in the storied institution, which is just south of Central Park.
“I made ‘Forty-Year-Old Version’ in 35mm Black & White in the spirit of the many great films that informed my love of cinema,” says Blank. “I’m excited to show the film in 35mm as intended and alongside potent films by fearless filmmakers who inspired my development as a storyteller and expanded my vision...
To celebrate its return on Aug. 6, filmmaker Radha Blank is curating a slate of repertory titles to screen alongside her directorial debut “The Forty-Year-Old Version.” Her movie, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival, is playing through Aug. 12.
The Paris opened in 1948 and is the only single-screen movie theater in Manhattan. Netflix acquired the 545-seat venue in 2019 and, prior to Covid-19, held premieres, special events and screenings of its films in the storied institution, which is just south of Central Park.
“I made ‘Forty-Year-Old Version’ in 35mm Black & White in the spirit of the many great films that informed my love of cinema,” says Blank. “I’m excited to show the film in 35mm as intended and alongside potent films by fearless filmmakers who inspired my development as a storyteller and expanded my vision...
- 7/28/2021
- by Rebecca Rubin
- Variety Film + TV
Bones star Emily Deschanel discusses a few of her favorite films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Dumb And Dumber (1994)
Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Crusoe (1988)
Watership Down (1978)
Gandhi (1982)
Small Soldiers (1998)
Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Best In Show (2000) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review,
Marnie (1964) – Dan Irleand’s trailer commentary, Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing recommendation
La Femme Nikita (1991)
Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing recommendation
Psycho (1998) – Ti West’s trailer commentary
Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Rear Window (1954) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Topaz (1969)
Foreign Correspondent (1940) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
North By Northwest (1959)
Notorious (1946) – John Landis’s trailer commentary,...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Dumb And Dumber (1994)
Dude, Where’s My Car? (2000)
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Crusoe (1988)
Watership Down (1978)
Gandhi (1982)
Small Soldiers (1998)
Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Best In Show (2000) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review,
Marnie (1964) – Dan Irleand’s trailer commentary, Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing recommendation
La Femme Nikita (1991)
Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing recommendation
Psycho (1998) – Ti West’s trailer commentary
Citizen Kane (1941) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
Rear Window (1954) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Topaz (1969)
Foreign Correspondent (1940) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary
North By Northwest (1959)
Notorious (1946) – John Landis’s trailer commentary,...
- 7/20/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Joining the ranks of hit British shows to be turned into American hits such as “The Office” and “Queer As Folk,” Fox will present a new comedy “Welcome to Flatch,” inspired by the BAFTA-winning hit BBC comedy “This Country.” Sporting less theatrical “Waiting for Guffman” vibes with a healthy dose of “Trailer Park Boys,” the half-hour comedy will attempt to take the TV mockumentary by storm. Find the newly released first trailer below.
Here is the official synopsis from Fox: “When a documentary crew sets out to explore the lives of residents in a small American town – their dreams, their concerns – they stumble upon the midwestern town of Flatch, which is made up of many eccentric personalities. It’s a place you want to visit and maybe even stay. If there was a decent motel. Which there is not.”
“Welcome to Flatch” is written and executive-produced by Emmy Award winner...
Here is the official synopsis from Fox: “When a documentary crew sets out to explore the lives of residents in a small American town – their dreams, their concerns – they stumble upon the midwestern town of Flatch, which is made up of many eccentric personalities. It’s a place you want to visit and maybe even stay. If there was a decent motel. Which there is not.”
“Welcome to Flatch” is written and executive-produced by Emmy Award winner...
- 5/17/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Ahead of its world premiere at Hot Docs, London-based MetFilm Sales has boarded worldwide sales rights to Set! directed by Scott Gawlik, segment producer on Emmy-nominated Netflix series A Little Help With Carol Burnett.
The film, which has a hint of Waiting For Guffman and Best In Show about it, sees a group of highly competitive table-setters vie for the ‘Best of Show’ ribbon at the annual Orange County Fair competition, often referred to as ‘The Olympics of Table Setting’. From taxidermied monkeys to table-reveal parties, eccentric personalities and old rivalries come to a head as contestants spend months preparing their tables only to be penalized by a misplaced dessert fork – fondly referred to as ‘forking yourself’. You can check out the amusing first trailer for the doc here.
Set! marks producer Gawlik’s directorial debut. His previous credits also include Dave Attell: Road Work and Todd Glass: Act Happy.
The film, which has a hint of Waiting For Guffman and Best In Show about it, sees a group of highly competitive table-setters vie for the ‘Best of Show’ ribbon at the annual Orange County Fair competition, often referred to as ‘The Olympics of Table Setting’. From taxidermied monkeys to table-reveal parties, eccentric personalities and old rivalries come to a head as contestants spend months preparing their tables only to be penalized by a misplaced dessert fork – fondly referred to as ‘forking yourself’. You can check out the amusing first trailer for the doc here.
Set! marks producer Gawlik’s directorial debut. His previous credits also include Dave Attell: Road Work and Todd Glass: Act Happy.
- 4/27/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Back in my early days as a film critic, I took a certain unseemly pleasure in mocking inadvertently funny flops — fiascoes like “The Lonely Lady,” “The Room” and pretty much anything by Uwe Boll — so it’s easy to recognize the impulse with which “Alien on Stage” directors Lucy Harvey and Danielle Kummer drove from London to Dorset to catch the stage play of the same name, a scene-for-scene amateur theatrical production of the Ridley Scott horror classic, as performed by a cast of small-town bus drivers. Safe to assume, the pair traveled all that way for a laugh; then they turned the delight of their discovery into a documentary.
Appreciative to a fault, “Alien on Stage” never really makes clear whether its subjects — a troupe who call themselves the Paranoid Dramatics — are in on the joke. The filmmakers have nothing but affection for director Dave Mitchell and his company,...
Appreciative to a fault, “Alien on Stage” never really makes clear whether its subjects — a troupe who call themselves the Paranoid Dramatics — are in on the joke. The filmmakers have nothing but affection for director Dave Mitchell and his company,...
- 3/30/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
In the latest win for inclusive voice casting in animation, Harry Shearer is stepping down from voicing Dr. Hibbert on “The Simpsons” (via The Wrap.) The character, who first appeared in the 1990 second season of the iconic series, will be voiced by beloved voice actor Kevin Michael Richardson, best known for voicing Cleveland Brown Jr. on Seth MacFarlane’s “Family Guy” and “The Cleveland Show.” The change will go into effect as of next week’s episode, according to a statement from “Simpsons” studio 20th Television.
Shearer’s exit comes about eight months after a June 2020 announcement in solidarity with the George Floyd protests that “The Simpsons” would no longer voice Black characters with white actors. “Moving forward, ‘The Simpsons’ will no longer have white actors voice nonwhite characters,” the network said in a brief statement at the time.
Dr. Hibbert is not the most notorious case of cross-racial voice casting on “The Simpsons.
Shearer’s exit comes about eight months after a June 2020 announcement in solidarity with the George Floyd protests that “The Simpsons” would no longer voice Black characters with white actors. “Moving forward, ‘The Simpsons’ will no longer have white actors voice nonwhite characters,” the network said in a brief statement at the time.
Dr. Hibbert is not the most notorious case of cross-racial voice casting on “The Simpsons.
- 2/22/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Mulan and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Rosalind Chao chats about a few of her favorite movies with Josh & Joe.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Mulan (2020)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Mary Poppins (1964)
The Sound Of Music (1965)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Gremlins (1984)
Explorers (1985)
Funny Girl (1968)
What’s Up Doc? (1972)
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
The Graduate (1967)
Midnight Run (1988)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
The Lonely Guy (1984)
Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Best In Show (2000)
Hamilton (2020)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
Misery (1990)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
sex, lies and videotape (1989)
The Shining (1980)
Matewan (1987)
Thousand Pieces of Gold (1990)
Lost In Translation (2003)
Mean Streets (1973)
On The Rocks (2020)
Somewhere (2010)
Adaptation (2002)
Mandy (2018)
Possessor (2020)
Midsommar (2019)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Hereditary (2018)
The Lighthouse (2019)
Other Notable Items
The Scott Alexander podcast episodes
Tfh Guru Larry Karaszewski
Star Trek franchise
The It’s A Small World ride
Disneyland
University of the Arts
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Mulan (2020)
The Joy Luck Club (1993)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
Mary Poppins (1964)
The Sound Of Music (1965)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Gremlins (1984)
Explorers (1985)
Funny Girl (1968)
What’s Up Doc? (1972)
The Heartbreak Kid (1972)
The Graduate (1967)
Midnight Run (1988)
Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
The Lonely Guy (1984)
Waiting For Guffman (1996)
Best In Show (2000)
Hamilton (2020)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)
Misery (1990)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
sex, lies and videotape (1989)
The Shining (1980)
Matewan (1987)
Thousand Pieces of Gold (1990)
Lost In Translation (2003)
Mean Streets (1973)
On The Rocks (2020)
Somewhere (2010)
Adaptation (2002)
Mandy (2018)
Possessor (2020)
Midsommar (2019)
The Wicker Man (1973)
Hereditary (2018)
The Lighthouse (2019)
Other Notable Items
The Scott Alexander podcast episodes
Tfh Guru Larry Karaszewski
Star Trek franchise
The It’s A Small World ride
Disneyland
University of the Arts
Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine...
- 2/9/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
So, How Was Your 2020? is a series in which our favorite entertainers answer our questionnaire about the music, culture and memorable moments that shaped their year. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December.
2020 found the Old 97’s making a new album under conditions that encapsulated this disastrous year: Recording in Nashville amid a devastating tornado and on the precipice of a deadly pandemic. The resulting LP was Twelfth, released this summer, but frontman Rhett Miller still found time to do things in quarantine, like hosting his Wheels Off podcast,...
2020 found the Old 97’s making a new album under conditions that encapsulated this disastrous year: Recording in Nashville amid a devastating tornado and on the precipice of a deadly pandemic. The resulting LP was Twelfth, released this summer, but frontman Rhett Miller still found time to do things in quarantine, like hosting his Wheels Off podcast,...
- 12/31/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
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