Unlike Cannes’ industry-catered competition section, the festival’s independent sidebar Directors’ Fortnight defines itself around audience outreach.
Headquartered halfway down the Croisette, equidistant from the Palais des Festivals, where the official selection screens for an industry-only crowd, Fortnight embraces the sprawl. The 56th edition programs 21 features and another eight shorts from May 15-25 (starting with Sophie Fillières’ posthumous “This Life of Mine”) while bringing select titles to many theaters far from the main drag.
That same selection will also offer the easiest point of access for so many locals, for whom Fortnight is often synonymous with Cannes, and who can always count on a 30-minute Q&a after each screening. Further afield, however, that clarity of identity begins to fade.
For one thing, the showcase doesn’t have a recognizable pitchman. In the time since Thierry Frémaux took over the official selection in 2004, Directors’ Fortnight has seen four artistic directors come and go,...
Headquartered halfway down the Croisette, equidistant from the Palais des Festivals, where the official selection screens for an industry-only crowd, Fortnight embraces the sprawl. The 56th edition programs 21 features and another eight shorts from May 15-25 (starting with Sophie Fillières’ posthumous “This Life of Mine”) while bringing select titles to many theaters far from the main drag.
That same selection will also offer the easiest point of access for so many locals, for whom Fortnight is often synonymous with Cannes, and who can always count on a 30-minute Q&a after each screening. Further afield, however, that clarity of identity begins to fade.
For one thing, the showcase doesn’t have a recognizable pitchman. In the time since Thierry Frémaux took over the official selection in 2004, Directors’ Fortnight has seen four artistic directors come and go,...
- 5/15/2024
- by Ben Croll
- Indiewire
The Art of Saying Nothing: Dupieux Deconstructs Cinema
Had Luis Bunuel approached conveying the reality of cinema produced by artificial intelligence, there may have been some similarities with what Quentin Dupieux is doing in his latest feature, Le Deuxième Acte (The Second Act). Of course, ironically, it is a film which doesn’t technically feature anything resembling a second act, and much like Dupieux’s previous films, actively disrupts notions of coherence or linear expectation. Such is the generally the blessing and curse of the perennial Dupieux, who seems to operating at the same frantic pace of someone like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, only with less of a success rate considering his strict adherence to an absurdism which suggests his films are probably more entertaining for those who made them than an audience trying to grasp at his intentions.…...
Had Luis Bunuel approached conveying the reality of cinema produced by artificial intelligence, there may have been some similarities with what Quentin Dupieux is doing in his latest feature, Le Deuxième Acte (The Second Act). Of course, ironically, it is a film which doesn’t technically feature anything resembling a second act, and much like Dupieux’s previous films, actively disrupts notions of coherence or linear expectation. Such is the generally the blessing and curse of the perennial Dupieux, who seems to operating at the same frantic pace of someone like Rainer Werner Fassbinder, only with less of a success rate considering his strict adherence to an absurdism which suggests his films are probably more entertaining for those who made them than an audience trying to grasp at his intentions.…...
- 5/14/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
The red carpet will soon roll out for the 77th Festival de Cannes. The international film festival, playing out May 14-25, has a distinct American voice this year. “Barbie” filmmaker Greta Gerwig is the first U.S. female director name jury president. Many veteran American helmers are heading to the French Rivera resort town. George Lucas, who turns 80 on May 14, will receive an honorary Palme d’Or. Francis Ford Coppola’s much-anticipated “Megalopolis” is screening in competition, as is Paul Schrader’s “Oh Canada.” Kevin Costner’s new Western “Horizon, An American Saga” will premiere out of competition and Oliver Stone’s “Lula” is part of the special screening showcase.
Fifty years ago, Coppola was the toast of the 27th Cannes Film Festival. His brilliant psychological thriller “The Conversation” starring Gene Hackman won the Palme D’Or and well as a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury. The film would earn three Oscar nominations: picture,...
Fifty years ago, Coppola was the toast of the 27th Cannes Film Festival. His brilliant psychological thriller “The Conversation” starring Gene Hackman won the Palme D’Or and well as a Special Mention from the Ecumenical Jury. The film would earn three Oscar nominations: picture,...
- 4/25/2024
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
The entire film industry is soon to descend upon the Côte d’Azur this May as the Cannes Film Festival readies for its 77th edition. From May 14 through May 25, the iconic festival event of the year will host much-awaited new works for auteurs and rising directors alike, across sections like the Competition, Directors’ Fortnight, Un Certain Regard (with jury president Xavier Dolan), and Critics’ Week. Major prizes will come at the end of the festival, and will no doubt set the tone for the movie year ahead.
Such was the case last year when Justine Triet’s eventual Oscar winner “Anatomy of a Fall” took home the top award, the Palme d’Or, the fourth consecutive film distributed by Neon to do so. Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 Grand Prize winner “The Zone of Interest” also won two Academy Awards, while Competition entries “Perfect Days” and “May December” earned Oscar nominations, too.
Such was the case last year when Justine Triet’s eventual Oscar winner “Anatomy of a Fall” took home the top award, the Palme d’Or, the fourth consecutive film distributed by Neon to do so. Jonathan Glazer’s 2023 Grand Prize winner “The Zone of Interest” also won two Academy Awards, while Competition entries “Perfect Days” and “May December” earned Oscar nominations, too.
- 3/27/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio, Kate Erbland and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The Criterion Collection has announced its slate of releases for June 2024, which is headlined by 4K restorations of two of the boutique label’s most popular Blu-rays and four new high profile additions to the collection.
David Lynch’s landmark 1986 neo-noir horror film, which marked his first collaboration with Laura Dern alongside her future “Twin Peaks: The Return” co-star Kyle McLachlan, will be re-released by Criterion with a new 4K transfer. It joins Lynch’s “Eraserhead,” “Mulholland Drive,” “Lost Highway,” “Inland Empire,” “The Elephant Man,” and “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” in the Criterion 4K library.
Also getting the 4K treatment is Terry Gilliam’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” which sees Johnny Depp playing Hunter S. Thompson stand-in Raoul Duke in a psychedelic adaptation of the landmark countercultural novel.
New additions to the collection include Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s “Bound,” Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Querelle,” Emilio Fernández’s “Victims of Sin,...
David Lynch’s landmark 1986 neo-noir horror film, which marked his first collaboration with Laura Dern alongside her future “Twin Peaks: The Return” co-star Kyle McLachlan, will be re-released by Criterion with a new 4K transfer. It joins Lynch’s “Eraserhead,” “Mulholland Drive,” “Lost Highway,” “Inland Empire,” “The Elephant Man,” and “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me” in the Criterion 4K library.
Also getting the 4K treatment is Terry Gilliam’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” which sees Johnny Depp playing Hunter S. Thompson stand-in Raoul Duke in a psychedelic adaptation of the landmark countercultural novel.
New additions to the collection include Lana and Lilly Wachowski’s “Bound,” Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Querelle,” Emilio Fernández’s “Victims of Sin,...
- 3/15/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
And I still can see blue velvet through my tears… in 4K! Surely Criterion will add an audio track in their upgrade of David Lynch’s beyond-seminal film, arriving this June in an otherwise-identical edition to 2019’s release. At least two things are arguably of greater note, though: the Wachowskis make their entrance into the Criterion Collection with a 4K edition of their debut feature Bound, while the company takes a big step into the limited-series realm with Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad.
Meanwhile, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s positively apocalyptic final feature Querelle and Emilio Fernández’s Victims of Sin get Blu-ray releases, while Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas also gets the 4K upgrade.
See artwork below, with more at Criterion:
The post The Criterion Collection’s June Lineup Includes Blue Velvet and the Wachowskis on 4K, The Underground Railroad & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
Meanwhile, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s positively apocalyptic final feature Querelle and Emilio Fernández’s Victims of Sin get Blu-ray releases, while Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas also gets the 4K upgrade.
See artwork below, with more at Criterion:
The post The Criterion Collection’s June Lineup Includes Blue Velvet and the Wachowskis on 4K, The Underground Railroad & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
- 3/15/2024
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Creo has announced the jury for the 2024 Sony Future Filmmaker Awards.
Director Justin Chadwick serves as chair for the second year in a row. He is joined on the jury by Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, co-founders and co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics; cinematographer Rob Hardy ASC, Bsc; cinematographer Kate Reid Bsc; cinematographer Robert Primes ASC; and Australian filmmaker Unjoo Moon.
Chadwick said, “It is such a pleasure to return as Chair of this new prestigious panel of decorated creatives. Last year, we brought to the forefront 30 exceptionally talented filmmakers from across the world, each of whom had the unique chance to access the inner workings of the industry in Los Angeles, opening doors to career-launching opportunities. From my own experience, the art of the short film is by no means one to be underestimated, and I look forward to discovering more brilliant, talented individuals through this upcoming selection.”
In...
Director Justin Chadwick serves as chair for the second year in a row. He is joined on the jury by Michael Barker and Tom Bernard, co-founders and co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics; cinematographer Rob Hardy ASC, Bsc; cinematographer Kate Reid Bsc; cinematographer Robert Primes ASC; and Australian filmmaker Unjoo Moon.
Chadwick said, “It is such a pleasure to return as Chair of this new prestigious panel of decorated creatives. Last year, we brought to the forefront 30 exceptionally talented filmmakers from across the world, each of whom had the unique chance to access the inner workings of the industry in Los Angeles, opening doors to career-launching opportunities. From my own experience, the art of the short film is by no means one to be underestimated, and I look forward to discovering more brilliant, talented individuals through this upcoming selection.”
In...
- 3/13/2024
- by Jazz Tangcay and Diego Ramos Bechara
- Variety Film + TV
German acting legend Hanna Schygulla will be honored this year with a lifetime achievement award at the German Film Awards.
Best known for her work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, including The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980), and Lili Marleen (1981), Schygulla’s career has included collaborations with the likes of Wim Wenders (1975’s Wrong Move), Jean-Luc Godard (1982’s Passion) and Fatih Akin (2007’s The Edge of Heaven). More recently, the 80-year-old actress has a scene-stealing cameo in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar-winner Poor Things as Martha von Kurtzroc, the eccentric woman Emma Stone’s character befriends on the cruise ship.
“Hanna Schygulla is an institution of German and European cinema,” said Alexandra Maria Lara, president of the German Film Academy, explaining the decision of the honorary jury. “Through her long-standing collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, she wrote herself into film history. She became an icon of German auteur cinema with international appeal.
Best known for her work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, including The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979) Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980), and Lili Marleen (1981), Schygulla’s career has included collaborations with the likes of Wim Wenders (1975’s Wrong Move), Jean-Luc Godard (1982’s Passion) and Fatih Akin (2007’s The Edge of Heaven). More recently, the 80-year-old actress has a scene-stealing cameo in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Oscar-winner Poor Things as Martha von Kurtzroc, the eccentric woman Emma Stone’s character befriends on the cruise ship.
“Hanna Schygulla is an institution of German and European cinema,” said Alexandra Maria Lara, president of the German Film Academy, explaining the decision of the honorary jury. “Through her long-standing collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, she wrote herself into film history. She became an icon of German auteur cinema with international appeal.
- 3/13/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Martin Scorsese was at the Berlinale this week for the first time in a decade. His presence to collect an honorary Golden Bear was a reminder of the festival’s glories of yesteryear.
In decades past, Scorsese touched down in Berlin with major works such as Raging Bull (1981), Cape Fear (1992); Gangs of New York (2003 ), Shine a Light (2008) and Shutter Island (2010). It feels a long time since the event — traditionally one of the world’s great cinema showcases — has attracted such movies. In recent years the studio splashes have dried up.
So have memorable movies from A-list arthouse filmmakers. Scorsese this week sang the praises of the event for the encouragement it had given him as an emerging filmmaker. Citing Brian de Palma’s Silver Bear win for his second film Greetings in 1969, Scorsese said the prize had marked a turning point for unknown, independent American directors such as himself, de Palma,...
In decades past, Scorsese touched down in Berlin with major works such as Raging Bull (1981), Cape Fear (1992); Gangs of New York (2003 ), Shine a Light (2008) and Shutter Island (2010). It feels a long time since the event — traditionally one of the world’s great cinema showcases — has attracted such movies. In recent years the studio splashes have dried up.
So have memorable movies from A-list arthouse filmmakers. Scorsese this week sang the praises of the event for the encouragement it had given him as an emerging filmmaker. Citing Brian de Palma’s Silver Bear win for his second film Greetings in 1969, Scorsese said the prize had marked a turning point for unknown, independent American directors such as himself, de Palma,...
- 2/23/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow and Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Decadent, hermetic, and gleefully hostile to realism, French writer-director Bertrand Mandico’s She Is Conann is the cinematic equivalent of a French Symbolist poem. Throughout, the oneiric imagery seeping from every frame takes precedence over narrative linearity. And yet, even as the film embodies the self-indulgent ideal of art for art’s sake, it devours itself from within and drops the viewer back into the arena of politics.
Lest we forget even for moment that we’re watching a film, She Is Conann is shot in black and white, aside from the sporadic flash of violence and one framing sequence set in hell’s antechamber, where a dead Conann (Françoise Brion) takes stock of her life of barbarism. For her guide, there’s the dog-headed punk clairvoyant Rainer (Elina Löwensohn), whose name could be an allusion to Rainer Maria Rilke or Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Their dialogue at any given moment...
Lest we forget even for moment that we’re watching a film, She Is Conann is shot in black and white, aside from the sporadic flash of violence and one framing sequence set in hell’s antechamber, where a dead Conann (Françoise Brion) takes stock of her life of barbarism. For her guide, there’s the dog-headed punk clairvoyant Rainer (Elina Löwensohn), whose name could be an allusion to Rainer Maria Rilke or Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Their dialogue at any given moment...
- 1/28/2024
- by William Repass
- Slant Magazine
Experimental French filmmaker Bertrand Mandico isn’t for everyone — i.e. an acquired taste whose visions push boundaries of cinematic expression — but he’s achieved something of a cult fandom over the last three decades. After last pairing with the director on 2022’s “After Blue” and 2017’s uninhibited Venice winner “The Wild Boys” — Cahiers du Cinéma’s top film of 2018 — the distributor Altered Innocence again teams with Mandico on another provocation. His 2023 Cannes premiere “She Is Conann,” nominated for the Queer Palm before going on to play at other festivals including Locarno, is an acid-trip transgressive riff on the Conan the Barbarian myth. IndieWire shares the trailer here.
Influences on the film include Tony Scott’s “The Hunger,” the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Liliana Cavani’s “The Night Porter,” and Fellini’s “Satyricon.” Throw Ken Russell in there for good measure, with profane images in “She Is Conann” reminiscent of “The Devils.
Influences on the film include Tony Scott’s “The Hunger,” the works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Liliana Cavani’s “The Night Porter,” and Fellini’s “Satyricon.” Throw Ken Russell in there for good measure, with profane images in “She Is Conann” reminiscent of “The Devils.
- 1/4/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Mickey Cottrell, the beloved indie film publicist and producer who long championed independent cinema dating back to the early days of Sundance, has died at 79. He passed away Monday, January 1, 2024 at Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, Calif. The news was confirmed by his sister, Suzy Cottrell-Smith, who shared on Facebook, “My adorable, fun, critical, foodie, particular, brilliant, loving brother passed on to the next life early on New Year’s Day. He was smiling when he died. Mickey Cottrell will be missed by many.”
Many of Cottrell’s friends and colleagues shared memories of the veteran PR whiz — who also had many credits as an actor — on Facebook. Cottrell suffered a stroke in 2016, with friends and loved ones raising more than $57,000 to help with medical bills on GoFundMe. He relocated back to Los Angeles in 2019 after recovering from the stroke with his sister in Arkansas.
Cottrell was never afraid to pick up the phone,...
Many of Cottrell’s friends and colleagues shared memories of the veteran PR whiz — who also had many credits as an actor — on Facebook. Cottrell suffered a stroke in 2016, with friends and loved ones raising more than $57,000 to help with medical bills on GoFundMe. He relocated back to Los Angeles in 2019 after recovering from the stroke with his sister in Arkansas.
Cottrell was never afraid to pick up the phone,...
- 1/3/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
As December begins, you might be looking forward to spending time with friends and family over the holidays—and in need of some gift-giving inspiration. Look no further than Notebook's Cinephile Gift Guide, the proverbial online Shop Around the Corner (1940).Below is our third annual, lovingly curated guide to the holiday season. It's sure to spread film-themed cheer, and we hope it's thorough enough to surprise all of the film fans in your life.Jump to a category:Books about cinemaBooks by filmmakers and artistsHome videoMusicHome goods, posters, and gamesApparel Books About CINEMAFirst up is UK culture and music critic Ian Penman’s kaleidoscopic, genre-bending offering to Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors. The book has drawn comparisons to Charles Baudelaire and Roland Barthes, but is undoubtedly a sui generis response to a singular legacy.On offer this year from Another Gaze Editions is My Cinema by Marguerite Duras, a...
- 12/12/2023
- MUBI
Two-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Ed Lachman looked shattered by the time he sat down with us for an interview here at EnergaCamerimage in Torun, Poland.
“I broke my hip, and it didn’t heal correctly. Now I’ve got an operation,” Lachman said of his physical state.
“But he called me again to do this film,” Lachman continued, referring to Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, whom he has briefly left on set in Budapest where they are shooting a Steven Knight-scripted Maria Callas biopic starring Angelina Jolie.
“I said yeah, sure, I’ll do it. And before that, I had lead poisoning, so it’ll just go on and on.”
He added: “It’s amazing what you can get by with if you try.”
Lachman’s injury occurred last year after he finished shooting Larraín’s black-and-white Augusto Pinochet satire El Conde, which he is promoting here at Camerimage. The inventive feature,...
“I broke my hip, and it didn’t heal correctly. Now I’ve got an operation,” Lachman said of his physical state.
“But he called me again to do this film,” Lachman continued, referring to Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, whom he has briefly left on set in Budapest where they are shooting a Steven Knight-scripted Maria Callas biopic starring Angelina Jolie.
“I said yeah, sure, I’ll do it. And before that, I had lead poisoning, so it’ll just go on and on.”
He added: “It’s amazing what you can get by with if you try.”
Lachman’s injury occurred last year after he finished shooting Larraín’s black-and-white Augusto Pinochet satire El Conde, which he is promoting here at Camerimage. The inventive feature,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
While at the Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, German film master Wim Wenders said he shares Martin Scorsese’s deep concern over Hollywood’s obsession with sequels, and worries about AI in line with U.S. actors who are still on strike.
“Actors and screenwriters are afraid of becoming obsolete,” said Wenders when addressing the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike during a press conference on Saturday. The veteran writer-director, who had two films playing at the Cannes Film Festival, “Perfect Days” in competition and “Anselm” in Special Screenings, received the Lumière Award on Friday night during a star-studded ceremony hosted by the festival’s boss Thierry Fremaux, who is also Cannes’ chief.
“With AI everything gets done very fast,” said Wenders. “You give three ideas and a few ideas and the next day you have a new script that many studio executives will want to use because that’s what they wanted.
“Actors and screenwriters are afraid of becoming obsolete,” said Wenders when addressing the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike during a press conference on Saturday. The veteran writer-director, who had two films playing at the Cannes Film Festival, “Perfect Days” in competition and “Anselm” in Special Screenings, received the Lumière Award on Friday night during a star-studded ceremony hosted by the festival’s boss Thierry Fremaux, who is also Cannes’ chief.
“With AI everything gets done very fast,” said Wenders. “You give three ideas and a few ideas and the next day you have a new script that many studio executives will want to use because that’s what they wanted.
- 10/21/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Updated: German film master Wim Wenders was greeted like a rock star in Lyon, France, where he received an honorary tribute on Friday evening (Oct. 21) at the Lumiere Festival, a week-long celebration of classic cinema headed by Cannes festival boss Thierry Fremaux.
“I’ve received prizes in my life but this time it’s different, it’s the the prize of cinema!” said Wenders after stepping on stage to the beat of Texas’ “I Don’t Want a Lover.” Glancing at Fremaux who was standing nearby, Wenders added, with a cheeky smile, “I don’t want to say that a Palme d’Or is nothing. But the Lumiere Prize is unique and I’m proud of it!” Wenders, who won the Palme d’Or with “Paris, Texas,” is considered a Cannes regular. He’s presented his most iconic films there, including “Wings of Desire” which won best director. This year,...
“I’ve received prizes in my life but this time it’s different, it’s the the prize of cinema!” said Wenders after stepping on stage to the beat of Texas’ “I Don’t Want a Lover.” Glancing at Fremaux who was standing nearby, Wenders added, with a cheeky smile, “I don’t want to say that a Palme d’Or is nothing. But the Lumiere Prize is unique and I’m proud of it!” Wenders, who won the Palme d’Or with “Paris, Texas,” is considered a Cannes regular. He’s presented his most iconic films there, including “Wings of Desire” which won best director. This year,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Lise Pedersen and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSTiny, a Canadian technology holding company, has completed a majority acquisition of the film-oriented social networking platform Letterboxd, Business Wire reports. Letterboxd’s founders Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow will continue to lead the business independently as the company scales up.REMEMBERINGThe Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover.Michael Gambon has died aged 82. A notable stage actor, Gambon appeared in Peter Greenaway’s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989) before taking on memorable roles in Michael Mann's The Insider (1999), Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001), and the Harry Potter films, in which he took over the role of Albus Dumbledore from Richard Harris. "Gambon left school aged 15 and, unlike many of his contemporaries, did not receive any formal training at drama school," writes Chris Wiegand in his Guardian obituary.
- 10/4/2023
- MUBI
Above: 1973 New York Film Festival poster designed by Niki de Saint Phalle.The 61st edition of the New York Film Festival, which opens tonight, has 32 films in its Main Slate, fifteen films in its Spotlight section, ten films and seven collections of shorts in the Currents sidebar, and eleven revivals. That's over 60 feature films. Fifty years ago, in 1973, the 11th edition of the festival had just eighteen feature films and nineteen shorts. Just like this year’s opener—Todd Haynes’s May December—1973’s opening night film, François Truffaut’s Day for Night, had premiered four months earlier at the Cannes Film Festival. And as with this year’s festival, the 1973 edition opened, fifty years and one day ago exactly, in the shadow of an artists' strike. Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians had been picketing the New York Philharmonic outside Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, where the festival was taking place,...
- 9/29/2023
- MUBI
The 61st New York Film Festival kicks off Sept. 29 with Todd Haynes’ drama “May December” starring Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman. Sofia Coppola’s well-received Venice hit “Priscilla” about Priscilla Presley is the fest’s Centerpiece. Michael Mann’s biopic “Ferrari” with Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz the closing night feature while Bradley Cooper’s portrait of composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein “Maestro,” which had a seven-minute standing ovation in Venice, is the festival’s spotlight gala. Other films screening include Yorgos Lanthimos “Poor Things,” which won the Golden Lion and best actress for Emma Stone at Venice, as well as Andrew Haigh’s “All of us Strangers” and Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest.”
A director came into his own 50 years ago at the New York Film Festival: Martin Scorsese. He’s of cinema’s greatest directors, who has made such landmark films as ‘Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” Goodfellas,...
A director came into his own 50 years ago at the New York Film Festival: Martin Scorsese. He’s of cinema’s greatest directors, who has made such landmark films as ‘Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” Goodfellas,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
In the 1960s, when the Korean film industry truly began to blossom with many directors receiving awards and recognition for their work internationally, filmmakers such Kim Soo-young made a name for themselves with adaptations of popular Korean novels. With his career spanning over four decades, he managed to direct more than 100 movies, featuring such projects like “Sad Story of Supporting Child”, “Sea Village” or “Mist”. His 1967 movie “Burning Mountain” (also known as “Flame in the Valley”) is one of his most interesting works, telling a story about passion and survival as well as the devastating force of passion within people. “Burning Mountain” received the award for Best Film at the Blue Dragon Film Awards in 1967.
Burning Mountain is screening at Film At Lincoln Center, as part of the Korean Cinema's Golden Decade: The 1960s program
The story is set in the 1950s during the war between North and South Korea.
Burning Mountain is screening at Film At Lincoln Center, as part of the Korean Cinema's Golden Decade: The 1960s program
The story is set in the 1950s during the war between North and South Korea.
- 8/28/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
On the final weekend of a bustling 18-day event, the in-person edition of this year’s Melbourne Film Festival has drawn to a close with an awards ceremony that saw a whopping $300,000 Aud in prize money handed out across six categories. The biggest individual award of $140,000 Aud was presented to the winner of the fest’s international Bright Horizons competition: “Banel & Adama,” an arresting debut feature by Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Ramata-Toulaye Sy.
It’s a notable coup for a small-scale rural love story that turned heads — but won no prizes — when it premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and is still seeking distribution in the U.S. and other major territories. Reviewing the film out of Cannes, Variety critic Jessica Kiang commended the “subtly seductive power” of a “striking debut [that] revolves with graceful poetry around the inner experiences of a curious, unknowable woman.”
Its win came...
It’s a notable coup for a small-scale rural love story that turned heads — but won no prizes — when it premiered in Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and is still seeking distribution in the U.S. and other major territories. Reviewing the film out of Cannes, Variety critic Jessica Kiang commended the “subtly seductive power” of a “striking debut [that] revolves with graceful poetry around the inner experiences of a curious, unknowable woman.”
Its win came...
- 8/19/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
In the fall of 1983, one could already make a plausible case for Martin Scorsese as one of the greatest living American filmmakers based on “Mean Streets,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Taxi Driver,” “Italianamerican,” “The Last Waltz,” “Raging Bull,” and “The King of Comedy.” But as the holidays approached, Scorsese’s career was in trouble.
After establishing himself with a series of lean, mean masterpieces shot on tight schedules, the director’s productions had grown in a scale disproportionate to their financial success; “New York, New York,” “Raging Bull,” and “The King of Comedy” had all taken around a hundred days to shoot, and while all three are acknowledged as classics today, they received mixed reviews at the time and “Raging Bull” barely broke even at the box office — “New York, New York” and “The King of Comedy” were flat-out flops.
Scorsese spent most of 1983 preparing what was intended to...
After establishing himself with a series of lean, mean masterpieces shot on tight schedules, the director’s productions had grown in a scale disproportionate to their financial success; “New York, New York,” “Raging Bull,” and “The King of Comedy” had all taken around a hundred days to shoot, and while all three are acknowledged as classics today, they received mixed reviews at the time and “Raging Bull” barely broke even at the box office — “New York, New York” and “The King of Comedy” were flat-out flops.
Scorsese spent most of 1983 preparing what was intended to...
- 8/18/2023
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
You can find hundreds of egotistical monsters who’ve graced movie screens (don’t get us started on the ones working behind the scenes; that’s a whole other piece), but few of them can compare to Tomas Freiburg. A renowned filmmaker who’s a tyrant on set — his volatile Rainer Werner Fassbinder vibe is strong, and he will scream at an extra to walk down stairs and swing his hands the exact right way until He. Gets. What. He. Wants! — Tomas is a genuine terror when it comes to his personal relationships.
- 8/4/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Wavelength’s documentary Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer is proving a hot property. The Emmy-winning film production company headed by Jenifer Westphal today announced Shout! Studios has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, and MetFilm has acquired international rights.
Thomas von Steinaecker wrote and directed the documentary about Herzog, the legendary German filmmaker who has brought to life dozens of films including Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), and documentaries Grizzly Man (2005), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), and Meeting Gorbachev (2018). Von Steinaecker’s film “presents a comprehensive portrait of an iconic artist of our time and features interviews with Robert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman, Chloé Zhao, Christian Bale, and more,” according to a release. “With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare and never-before-seen archival material and in-depth interviews with the man himself and celebrated collaborators, we are given an exciting glimpse into his process and personal life.
Thomas von Steinaecker wrote and directed the documentary about Herzog, the legendary German filmmaker who has brought to life dozens of films including Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), and documentaries Grizzly Man (2005), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), and Meeting Gorbachev (2018). Von Steinaecker’s film “presents a comprehensive portrait of an iconic artist of our time and features interviews with Robert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman, Chloé Zhao, Christian Bale, and more,” according to a release. “With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare and never-before-seen archival material and in-depth interviews with the man himself and celebrated collaborators, we are given an exciting glimpse into his process and personal life.
- 7/18/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSHam on Rye.Tyler Taormina, director of the idiosyncratic Ham on Rye (2019) and Happer's Comet (2022), has wrapped production on his next feature. Filmed on Long Island, Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point is a Christmas comedy that stars Michael Cera, Elsie Fisher, and Gregg Turkington, plus the progeny of two prominent filmmakers in Francesca Scorsese and Sawyer Spielberg.The Guardian reports that filmmaker Brian Rose is attempting to “recreate” the lost version of Orson Welles’s The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), which was altered significantly by Rko prior to its release. Using “the latest technology to reconstruct lost material and animate charcoal sketches,” Rose has reportedly spent four years recreating “around 30,000 frames” of Welles’s original rough cut in order that viewers can visualize what Welles intended in lieu of seeing the director’s original cut,...
- 6/21/2023
- MUBI
Like the early works of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Rudolf Thome’s films owe a significant debt to the French New Wave, particularly Jean-Luc Godard’s penchant for irreverent genre deconstruction. In that vein, Thome’s Red Sun is an exercise in keeping things “medium cool,” holding both its erratic narrative and characters’ motivations at a Brechtian distance. The violence, when it comes, is perfunctory and decidedly nondramatic, paving the way for The American Friend, Wim Wenders’s abstract and stylized adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley’s Game.
After drifting into Munich, Thomas (Marquard Bohm) heads straight for the Take Five nightclub, where he renews his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Peggy (Uschi Obermaier). Little does this rambling man realize that, by crashing at her pad, he’s stumbled into a truly bizarre living arrangement. Peggy and her three roommates—statuesque Christine (Diana Körner), redheaded Sylvie (Sylvia Kekulé), and sprightly Isolde (Gaby Go...
After drifting into Munich, Thomas (Marquard Bohm) heads straight for the Take Five nightclub, where he renews his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, Peggy (Uschi Obermaier). Little does this rambling man realize that, by crashing at her pad, he’s stumbled into a truly bizarre living arrangement. Peggy and her three roommates—statuesque Christine (Diana Körner), redheaded Sylvie (Sylvia Kekulé), and sprightly Isolde (Gaby Go...
- 6/10/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Given the aesthetics of A Question of Silence and its characters’ desire to uncover the motives of three women who suddenly attack and kill the male owner of a boutique, it’s understandable that Dave Kehr wrote that Marleen Gorris’s debut film “was built on a fashionable confusion of fascism and feminism.” But while much of A Question of Silence’s power comes from the steady, meticulous accrual of realistic microaggressions and outright misogyny that these women face on a daily basis, their violent act, as well as their lack of empathy or regret after the fact, is better read as purely symbolic rather than as the filmmaker’s tacit endorsement of their crime.
The film’s scenes are given a sense of verisimilitude by its on-location shooting in Amsterdam, and that raw authenticity brushes up against highly stylized sequences (shades of Rainer Werner Fassbinder) that are punctuated by moody bursts of synthesizers.
The film’s scenes are given a sense of verisimilitude by its on-location shooting in Amsterdam, and that raw authenticity brushes up against highly stylized sequences (shades of Rainer Werner Fassbinder) that are punctuated by moody bursts of synthesizers.
- 6/8/2023
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
Masculinity as a subject isn’t always framed kindly in narratives documenting the early exploration and discovery of the queer self. After all, its aspirational qualities for closeted boys are too often complicated by the threats associated with not having it. Yet the failed attempt at masculine performance can sometimes recast our desire to be different kind of men into an appetite for looking at them instead, and in his essay collection The Male Gazed: On Hunks, Heartthrobs, and What Pop Culture Taught Me About (Desiring) Men, culture writer and critic Manuel Betancourt explores the development of his queer male gaze through candid and wide-ranging reflections on the pop-cultural influences that formed his early education in how to want and how to be.
Betancourt begins with a meditation on his early fascination with the male form specifically as represented in the Disney films of his childhood, as his reluctance to...
Betancourt begins with a meditation on his early fascination with the male form specifically as represented in the Disney films of his childhood, as his reluctance to...
- 6/6/2023
- by Richard Scott Larson
- Slant Magazine
Austrian actor Helmut Berger, the groundbreaking star of European cinematic masterpieces such as Luchino Visconti’s “The Damned” and Vittorio De Sica’s “Garden of the Finzi-Continis,” has died at the age of 78. Berger died at home in Austria from natural causes.
In one of European cinema’s most storied and creative periods, the 60s and 70s, Berger boldly established his place in the pantheon of Continental stars via a handful of films directed by Visconti, his one-time romantic partner. “The Damned,” “Ludwig” and “Conversation Piece” were all crafted with standout roles for Berger and the films were hugely successful both at the arthouse box office and with critics and awards groups.
“The Damned”
Berger was nominated for a Golden Globe for “The Damned,” which was also nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar in 1970. No less an authority than the late German filmmaking maestro Rainer Werner Fassbinder called it “perhaps the greatest film,...
In one of European cinema’s most storied and creative periods, the 60s and 70s, Berger boldly established his place in the pantheon of Continental stars via a handful of films directed by Visconti, his one-time romantic partner. “The Damned,” “Ludwig” and “Conversation Piece” were all crafted with standout roles for Berger and the films were hugely successful both at the arthouse box office and with critics and awards groups.
“The Damned”
Berger was nominated for a Golden Globe for “The Damned,” which was also nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar in 1970. No less an authority than the late German filmmaking maestro Rainer Werner Fassbinder called it “perhaps the greatest film,...
- 5/19/2023
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
1974: a great year for many filmmakers. This was the year Francis Ford Coppola released both “The Godfather: Part II” and “The Conversation”. Mel Brooks hit a prolific streak too with “Young Frankenstein” and “Blazing Saddles”. Over in West Germany, Rainer Werner Fassbinder continued his hot streak by directing Four feature films, including his most beloved work, “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul”. However, it was perhaps Shinichi ‘Sonny' Chiba who had the most iconic and significant year out of that roster, with a career-defining bumper year that contained an impressive amount of diversity for an actor nominally known as a martial arts star. Surrounding himself with the posse from his expert team ‘Japan Action Club' and with the backing of the Toei Company, Ltd., Chiba completed a full trilogy, a two-part crime caper saga, a spin-off to the aforementioned trilogy And a powerful anti-war drama all in one year.
- 4/13/2023
- by Simon Ramshaw
- AsianMoviePulse
There's nothing like a good miniseries. The ability to take as much time as needed to tell a dense yet self-contained story, marrying the immediacy and formal panache of great cinema to the narrative depth of great TV, has allowed many auteurs in both mediums to create some of their finest and most vital work.
Historically, miniseries have been the province of some of television's most memorable hits, from "Roots" to "Taken" to "Band of Brothers." Series like Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes from a Marriage" and Mike Nichols' "Angels in America" are also regularly cited in the upper tiers of master directors' filmographies. In recent years, the format has seen a kind of mainstream revival, thanks largely to the smashing success of titles like "The Queen's Gambit" and "Watchmen."
But countless miniseries from around the world remain that have yet to receive the attention they deserve. Here are 12 examples of...
Historically, miniseries have been the province of some of television's most memorable hits, from "Roots" to "Taken" to "Band of Brothers." Series like Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes from a Marriage" and Mike Nichols' "Angels in America" are also regularly cited in the upper tiers of master directors' filmographies. In recent years, the format has seen a kind of mainstream revival, thanks largely to the smashing success of titles like "The Queen's Gambit" and "Watchmen."
But countless miniseries from around the world remain that have yet to receive the attention they deserve. Here are 12 examples of...
- 3/25/2023
- by Leo Noboru Lima
- Slash Film
The 46th César Awards, France’s top film honors, have been handed out in Paris, with Dominik Moll’s crime thriller The Night of the 12th winning the best picture trophy.
Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms coming into the awards show, just behind Louis Garrel’s The Innocent, which picked up 11 nominations. Moll also won for best director, and Bouli Lanners earned the best supporting actor trophy for his performance in The Night of the 12th.
Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, was up for 9 Césars, as was Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family...
Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms coming into the awards show, just behind Louis Garrel’s The Innocent, which picked up 11 nominations. Moll also won for best director, and Bouli Lanners earned the best supporting actor trophy for his performance in The Night of the 12th.
Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, was up for 9 Césars, as was Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family...
- 2/24/2023
- by Scott Roxborough and Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Steven Spielberg, director of countless blockbusters, delivered a blockbuster speech accepting the Golden Bear for lifetime achievement at the Berlin Film Festival.
The filmmaker said that despite directing for six decades, directing “Duel” and “Jaws” felt like “last year.” “I know a lot more about moviemaking than I did when I directed my first feature film at 25. But the anxieties and the uncertainties and the fears that tormented me as I began shooting ‘Duel’ have stayed vivid for 50 years, as if no time has passed. And luckily for me, the electric joy I feel on the first day of work as a director is as imperishable as my fears, because there’s no place more like home for me than when I’m working on a set,” Spielberg said.
“I also feel a little alarmed to be told I’ve lived a lifetime because I’m not finished, I want to keep working.
The filmmaker said that despite directing for six decades, directing “Duel” and “Jaws” felt like “last year.” “I know a lot more about moviemaking than I did when I directed my first feature film at 25. But the anxieties and the uncertainties and the fears that tormented me as I began shooting ‘Duel’ have stayed vivid for 50 years, as if no time has passed. And luckily for me, the electric joy I feel on the first day of work as a director is as imperishable as my fears, because there’s no place more like home for me than when I’m working on a set,” Spielberg said.
“I also feel a little alarmed to be told I’ve lived a lifetime because I’m not finished, I want to keep working.
- 2/22/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Chicago – On the next stop on the book tour, Chicago International Film Festival Founder Michael Kutza will talk about his book “Starstruck: How I Magically Transformed Chicago into Hollywood for More than 50 Years” at Chicago’s Union Club on Tuesday, January 31st, 2023. The tome is a dishy insider account of his two generation run as a film influencer, and moderating the event will be entertainment reporter Candace Jordan. Tickets and more information are available by clicking Starstruck.
After retiring from the festival in 2018, Kutza authored the story, which talks of his early years growing up on Chicago’s West Side, his early interest as a short filmmaker and his founding of one of the most important film festivals in cinema history in 1964. Before Sundance, Telluride, Toronto and Tribeca, there was Michael Kutza and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Michael Kutza of ‘Starstruck’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.
After retiring from the festival in 2018, Kutza authored the story, which talks of his early years growing up on Chicago’s West Side, his early interest as a short filmmaker and his founding of one of the most important film festivals in cinema history in 1964. Before Sundance, Telluride, Toronto and Tribeca, there was Michael Kutza and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Michael Kutza of ‘Starstruck’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.
- 1/30/2023
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Louis Garrel’s heist comedy The Innocent and the Dominik Moll-directed procedural The Night of the 12th are the films to beat at this year’s César Awards, France’s top film prize.
The Innocent, in which Garrel co-stars, alongside Tár actress Noemie Merlant and Roschdy Zem, picked up 11 César nominations, including for best film and best director.
Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which, like The Innocent, premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms, including for best film.
Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, picked up 9 César nominations, as did Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family drama Full Time and Alice Diop...
The Innocent, in which Garrel co-stars, alongside Tár actress Noemie Merlant and Roschdy Zem, picked up 11 César nominations, including for best film and best director.
Moll’s The Night of the 12th, which, like The Innocent, premiered in Cannes last year, scored 10 César noms, including for best film.
Cédric Klapisch’s Rise, about a ballet dancer (Marion Barbeau) who, after an injury, seeks a new future in contemporary dance, picked up 9 César nominations, as did Albert Serra’s Pacifiction, a thriller featuring Benoît Magimel as a morally-challenged Haut-Commissaire on an island in French Polynesia.
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi’s dramedy Forever Young, Cedric Jimenez’s terrorism drama November, Eric Gravel’s family drama Full Time and Alice Diop...
- 1/25/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Edward R. Pressman, the veteran producer behind Wall Street and frequent Oliver Stone collaborator, has died. He was 79.
The prolific producer passed away peacefully Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital surrounded by his loved ones, including members of his family and his company, his son and Pressman Film’s vp of production Sam told The Hollywood Reporter.
“He was working up until the last moment [and] insisted on speaking with London partners on the night before his passing,” he added in a statement. “We have a lot of work to do to honor him and bring to fruition the many projects he put himself into.”
The independent producer, known for financing films he loved and those other studios wouldn’t touch, helped bring close to 100 movies to the big screen. That includes The Crow, Conan the Barbarian, American Psycho, Bad Lieutenant and Plenty. He was also known for frequently working...
The prolific producer passed away peacefully Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital surrounded by his loved ones, including members of his family and his company, his son and Pressman Film’s vp of production Sam told The Hollywood Reporter.
“He was working up until the last moment [and] insisted on speaking with London partners on the night before his passing,” he added in a statement. “We have a lot of work to do to honor him and bring to fruition the many projects he put himself into.”
The independent producer, known for financing films he loved and those other studios wouldn’t touch, helped bring close to 100 movies to the big screen. That includes The Crow, Conan the Barbarian, American Psycho, Bad Lieutenant and Plenty. He was also known for frequently working...
- 1/18/2023
- by Abbey White
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The prolific producer of more than 90 movies across seven decades, it’s being reported today that Edward R. Pressman passed away on Tuesday in Los Angeles at the age of 79.
Edward Pressman’s notable genre credits include American Psycho and The Crow, as well as genre-spanning films including Conan the Barbarian, Judge Dredd, Bad Lieutenant, Phantom of the Paradise, Sisters, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and the slasher Christmas Evil.
Pressman also produced films including Crimewave, Masters of the Universe, Wall Street, Blue Steel, Street Fighter, Wendigo, Party Monster, Thank You for Smoking, and She Will (2022).
Variety notes, “Pressman was born in New York to Jack and Lynn Pressman, the founders of Pressman Toy. After studying philosophy at Stanford, he went to grad school at the London School of Economics, where he met director Paul Williams. The filmmakers came to Hollywood, where they secured a two-picture deal from United Artists.
Edward Pressman’s notable genre credits include American Psycho and The Crow, as well as genre-spanning films including Conan the Barbarian, Judge Dredd, Bad Lieutenant, Phantom of the Paradise, Sisters, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and the slasher Christmas Evil.
Pressman also produced films including Crimewave, Masters of the Universe, Wall Street, Blue Steel, Street Fighter, Wendigo, Party Monster, Thank You for Smoking, and She Will (2022).
Variety notes, “Pressman was born in New York to Jack and Lynn Pressman, the founders of Pressman Toy. After studying philosophy at Stanford, he went to grad school at the London School of Economics, where he met director Paul Williams. The filmmakers came to Hollywood, where they secured a two-picture deal from United Artists.
- 1/18/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Pressman died in Los Angeles on January 17.
Edward R. Pressman, the eminent independent producer of Wall Street, American Psycho and The Crow, has died aged 79.
The US producer died in Los Angeles on January 17. A statement said he “passed away peacefully surrounded by friends, family and members of the Pressman Film company”.
Producing more than 90 features over 50 years, Pressman was known for fostering renowned director-driven titles. Some of his best-known films include Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant, Terrence Malick’s Badlands, John Milius’ Conan the Barbarian, and Mary Harron’s American Psycho.
He had most...
Edward R. Pressman, the eminent independent producer of Wall Street, American Psycho and The Crow, has died aged 79.
The US producer died in Los Angeles on January 17. A statement said he “passed away peacefully surrounded by friends, family and members of the Pressman Film company”.
Producing more than 90 features over 50 years, Pressman was known for fostering renowned director-driven titles. Some of his best-known films include Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant, Terrence Malick’s Badlands, John Milius’ Conan the Barbarian, and Mary Harron’s American Psycho.
He had most...
- 1/18/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Maverick independent producer Edward R. “Ed” Pressman, who shepherded more than 90 movies including “Wall Street,” “Badlands,” “Bad Lieutenant,” “Conan the Barbarian” and “American Psycho,” died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 79.
The fiercely independent producer had an impressive track record for discovering new talent, having worked with an array of notable filmmakers including Oliver Stone, Werner Herzog, Kathryn Bigelow, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Alex Cox, Brian De Palma, Abel Ferrara, Terrence Malick, John Milius and Mary Harron.
Pressman shepherded De Palma’s early films “Sisters” and “Phantom of the Paradise,” as well as Malick’s directorial debut “Badlands” with Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen.
His longtime collaboration with Oliver Stone started with the filmmaker’s directing debut “The Hand,” and Pressman met his future wife, actor Annie McEnroe, on the set of that film. Pressman went on to produce Stone’s “Talk Radio” and “Wall Street,” and the sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
The fiercely independent producer had an impressive track record for discovering new talent, having worked with an array of notable filmmakers including Oliver Stone, Werner Herzog, Kathryn Bigelow, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Alex Cox, Brian De Palma, Abel Ferrara, Terrence Malick, John Milius and Mary Harron.
Pressman shepherded De Palma’s early films “Sisters” and “Phantom of the Paradise,” as well as Malick’s directorial debut “Badlands” with Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen.
His longtime collaboration with Oliver Stone started with the filmmaker’s directing debut “The Hand,” and Pressman met his future wife, actor Annie McEnroe, on the set of that film. Pressman went on to produce Stone’s “Talk Radio” and “Wall Street,” and the sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.
- 1/18/2023
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Germany has given the world some of its finest filmmakers, Lotte Reiniger, Ernst Lubitsch, Douglas Sirk, Wim Wenders, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder, to name but a few, as well as groundbreaking movements like German Expressionism and New German Cinema. The country has also produced some of the best horror movies in history, from terrifying silent classics about the supernatural to gripping crime thrillers and nerve-shredding cyberpunk tales.
While it's impossible to cover the depth and breadth of German horror movies in a short list, we can touch on some of the greats. Listed below are the 12 best German horror movies. All of these films prove that horror has always been political, mining the fears and anxieties of the times in which they were created to make a point about the world around us and that the genre has always been — and always will be — a vital part of movie history.
While it's impossible to cover the depth and breadth of German horror movies in a short list, we can touch on some of the greats. Listed below are the 12 best German horror movies. All of these films prove that horror has always been political, mining the fears and anxieties of the times in which they were created to make a point about the world around us and that the genre has always been — and always will be — a vital part of movie history.
- 1/15/2023
- by Jessica Scott
- Slash Film
In a major shift one of the nation’s premier arthouses, Karen Cooper will be exiting as director on June 30 after 50 years running the Film Forum in New York City. Deputy Director Sonya Chung will assume the role.
Cooper has led the nonprofit cinema since its first iteration in 1972 as a 50-seat loft space on the Upper West Side open only weekends, to a multi-million dollar operation with four screens and 500 seats in lower Manhattan. She’ll remain an advisor to Chung with a focus on programming premieres and fundraising
“To say this is a transitional moment would be a vast understatement – for virtually all of its history, Film Forum has been energetically and most ably guided by Karen, not least during the very challenging pandemic period from which we are emerging. My board colleagues and I are extremely grateful for her tenure, and excited that in Sonya we have...
Cooper has led the nonprofit cinema since its first iteration in 1972 as a 50-seat loft space on the Upper West Side open only weekends, to a multi-million dollar operation with four screens and 500 seats in lower Manhattan. She’ll remain an advisor to Chung with a focus on programming premieres and fundraising
“To say this is a transitional moment would be a vast understatement – for virtually all of its history, Film Forum has been energetically and most ably guided by Karen, not least during the very challenging pandemic period from which we are emerging. My board colleagues and I are extremely grateful for her tenure, and excited that in Sonya we have...
- 1/9/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Disney’s magnum opus “Avatar: The Way Of Water” remained atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £4.9 million (6 million) in its second weekend.
James Cameron’s return to Pandora now has a total of £25.03 million in the territory, according to numbers from Comscore.
In second place, in its fifth weekend, Sony/TriStar Pictures’ Roald Dahl adaptation “Matilda the Musical” collected another £1.1 million for a total of £16.1 million.
Richard Curtis’ perennially popular romantic comedy “Love Actually,” rereleased by Park Circus, charted in third position with £408,179, while another holiday season rerelease from the company, “Elf,” snared £252,061 in fourth place.
Rounding off the top five, in its fourth weekend, was Universal’s bad Santa hit “Violent Night” with £246,399 for a total of £3.3 million.
In sixth place, in its seventh weekend, Disney’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” collected £200,946 for a total of £32.2 million. And in ninth position, in its fifth weekend, Disney...
James Cameron’s return to Pandora now has a total of £25.03 million in the territory, according to numbers from Comscore.
In second place, in its fifth weekend, Sony/TriStar Pictures’ Roald Dahl adaptation “Matilda the Musical” collected another £1.1 million for a total of £16.1 million.
Richard Curtis’ perennially popular romantic comedy “Love Actually,” rereleased by Park Circus, charted in third position with £408,179, while another holiday season rerelease from the company, “Elf,” snared £252,061 in fourth place.
Rounding off the top five, in its fourth weekend, was Universal’s bad Santa hit “Violent Night” with £246,399 for a total of £3.3 million.
In sixth place, in its seventh weekend, Disney’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” collected £200,946 for a total of £32.2 million. And in ninth position, in its fifth weekend, Disney...
- 12/28/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
François Ozon’s ode to Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s play and cult classic takes us on a spellbound carousel ride going round and round in circles with one man at the centre. Denis Ménochet as Peter von Kant is easily recognizable as a stand-in for Fassbinder, whose private life inspired the plot of his 1972 masterpiece. The film featured Margit Carstensen as Petra von Kant, a fashion designer who falls madly in love with a younger model named Karin (Hanna Schygulla) while living with and abusing her silent secretary Marlene.
Ozon in this free adaptation adds another turn of the screw by making the three protagonists male again, reversing the fashion industry background to the film world and the infatuation to an actor. The costumes by Pascaline Chavanne in Peter von Kant are excellent, especially those creamy suits...
Ozon in this free adaptation adds another turn of the screw by making the three protagonists male again, reversing the fashion industry background to the film world and the infatuation to an actor. The costumes by Pascaline Chavanne in Peter von Kant are excellent, especially those creamy suits...
- 12/28/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Also out during the Christmas and New Year period: ’Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical Singalong’ and ’Peter von Kant’.
In a special festive edition of the UK-Ireland box office preview, Screen has pulled together all the new titles to hit cinemas from December 23 up until January 1, including Corsage, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody and a singalong version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical.
Out this weekend (December 23) is Wildcat for Dogwoof, in partnership with Amazon Studios. The documentary, which premiered this year at Telluride, follows a British soldier grappling with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after...
In a special festive edition of the UK-Ireland box office preview, Screen has pulled together all the new titles to hit cinemas from December 23 up until January 1, including Corsage, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody and a singalong version of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical.
Out this weekend (December 23) is Wildcat for Dogwoof, in partnership with Amazon Studios. The documentary, which premiered this year at Telluride, follows a British soldier grappling with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder after...
- 12/23/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
UK-Ireland box office preview: ‘Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical Singalong’ set for 775-site release
Also out during the Christmas and New Year period: ’Corsage’ and ’Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody’.
In a special festive edition of the UK-Ireland box office preview, Screen has pulled together all the new titles to hit cinemas from December 23 up until January 1. A singalong version of Road Dahl’s Matilda The Musical is the widest release of the period, set to play at 775 locations from January 1.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical is directed by Matthew Warchus, with Dennis Kelly writing and Tim Minchin composing, and is based on the stage musical created by the same trio.
In a special festive edition of the UK-Ireland box office preview, Screen has pulled together all the new titles to hit cinemas from December 23 up until January 1. A singalong version of Road Dahl’s Matilda The Musical is the widest release of the period, set to play at 775 locations from January 1.
Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical is directed by Matthew Warchus, with Dennis Kelly writing and Tim Minchin composing, and is based on the stage musical created by the same trio.
- 12/23/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – Looking for a last minute book gift for the Chicago film buff? Well, it doesn’t get any more insider than “Starstruck: How I Magically Transformed Chicago into Hollywood for More than 50 Years” by Michael Kutza … the founder of the Chicago International Film Festival and a film influencer for a couple generations.
Michael Kutza is taking a well-deserved victory lap, after retiring from the festival in 2018. In “Starstruck,” he talks of his early years growing up on Chicago’s West Side, his early interest as a short filmmaker and his founding of one of the most important film festivals in cinema history in 1964. Before Sundance, Telluride, Toronto and Tribeca, there was Michael Kutza and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Michael Kutza of ‘Starstruck’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
During his 55 years in film, Michael supported the early careers of many cinema titans, including Martin Scorsese,...
Michael Kutza is taking a well-deserved victory lap, after retiring from the festival in 2018. In “Starstruck,” he talks of his early years growing up on Chicago’s West Side, his early interest as a short filmmaker and his founding of one of the most important film festivals in cinema history in 1964. Before Sundance, Telluride, Toronto and Tribeca, there was Michael Kutza and the Chicago International Film Festival.
Michael Kutza of ‘Starstruck’
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
During his 55 years in film, Michael supported the early careers of many cinema titans, including Martin Scorsese,...
- 12/21/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In Berlin, principal conductor and Leonard Bernstein protégé, Lydia Tár, lives with her partner, concertmaster Sharon Goodnow (Nina Hoss) and their daughter Petra (Mila Bogojevic) in a cave-like, modern, tastefully impersonal apartment, while she keeps her old flat on the side as an office for composing and whatever else some people need a spare one for. Tár mistreats her doting assistant Francesca (Noémie Merlant), plays favourites, acts ruthlessly towards those in a weaker position, and is on constant prowl for new prey. Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Petra von Kant and, by proxy, François Ozon’s Peter von Kant came to mind in several situations.
Todd Field’s heavy film opens with...
Todd Field’s heavy film opens with...
- 12/19/2022
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
John Waters officially unveiled his semi-annual list of top 10 films of the year, filled mostly with sex-laden dramas and yes, one Polish existential donkey movie.
Waters awarded the top honor of 2022 to François Ozon’s “Peter Von Kant,” calling the Rainer Werner Fassbinder-inspired feature “by far the best movie of the year” in a list shared with Artforum.
“Fassbinder’s classic lesbian melodrama is appropriated and remade as a gay Frenchman’s love letter to the original version,” Waters wrote. “Hilariously stilted, often overwrought, but always highly entertaining, this cock-eyed tribute will make you swoon when Hanna Schygulla finally makes an appearance and Isabelle Adjani soon follows. My God, it’s just plain Douglas Sirk perfect.”
Waters’ second pick, “Eo” by Jerzy Skolimowski, is another “tribute film” with Waters calling it “Bresson’s ‘Au Hasard Balthazar’ meets ‘Old Yeller.'”
“Can a donkey remember? Just ask Isabelle Huppert, who...
Waters awarded the top honor of 2022 to François Ozon’s “Peter Von Kant,” calling the Rainer Werner Fassbinder-inspired feature “by far the best movie of the year” in a list shared with Artforum.
“Fassbinder’s classic lesbian melodrama is appropriated and remade as a gay Frenchman’s love letter to the original version,” Waters wrote. “Hilariously stilted, often overwrought, but always highly entertaining, this cock-eyed tribute will make you swoon when Hanna Schygulla finally makes an appearance and Isabelle Adjani soon follows. My God, it’s just plain Douglas Sirk perfect.”
Waters’ second pick, “Eo” by Jerzy Skolimowski, is another “tribute film” with Waters calling it “Bresson’s ‘Au Hasard Balthazar’ meets ‘Old Yeller.'”
“Can a donkey remember? Just ask Isabelle Huppert, who...
- 12/7/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
“Cinema is not pages and it’s not minutes: it’s the way you look at the minute that passes,” Syrian director Ameer Fakher Eldin is talking about the 55-page script of “Yunan,” his follow up to “The Stranger” (Al Garib), which played at Venice Days in 2021. Eldin knows from the experience of editing his first film that one page doesn’t equal one minute. “It’s a two hour film,” he says.
Eldin’s second feature is due to film in the first half of 2023 and is currently being presented at this week’s Red Sea Souk Project Market of the Red Sea Film Festival. Iconic figure of New German Cinema Hanna Schygulla and Syrian actor Bassem Yakhour have both been cast in the production. They join Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz (“Capernaum”), and German actor Sibel Kekilli, from “Game of Thrones” and Fatih Akin’s “Head On.”
Filming will...
Eldin’s second feature is due to film in the first half of 2023 and is currently being presented at this week’s Red Sea Souk Project Market of the Red Sea Film Festival. Iconic figure of New German Cinema Hanna Schygulla and Syrian actor Bassem Yakhour have both been cast in the production. They join Lebanese actor Georges Khabbaz (“Capernaum”), and German actor Sibel Kekilli, from “Game of Thrones” and Fatih Akin’s “Head On.”
Filming will...
- 12/5/2022
- by John Bleasdale
- Variety Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
This week’s New to Streaming column is sponsored by Alex Pritz’s The Territory, now streaming on Disney+, courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films.
The Territory (Alex Pritz)
There are about 180 Uru-eu-wau-wau people left in the Brazilian Amazon. This community lives off the land, protecting the Amazon from deforestation, constant threats of violence, and an expanding base of anti-Indigenous sentiment, streaming from the far-right emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro. Over three years, filmmaker Alex Pritz spent time with these native Brazilians for The Territory, a collaborative, vérité documentary that’s both engaging and terrifying. Pritz even hands over the camera to the Uru-eu-wau-wau at one point, as the group closes their borders and prepares for an ongoing fight to preserve their land.
This week’s New to Streaming column is sponsored by Alex Pritz’s The Territory, now streaming on Disney+, courtesy of National Geographic Documentary Films.
The Territory (Alex Pritz)
There are about 180 Uru-eu-wau-wau people left in the Brazilian Amazon. This community lives off the land, protecting the Amazon from deforestation, constant threats of violence, and an expanding base of anti-Indigenous sentiment, streaming from the far-right emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro. Over three years, filmmaker Alex Pritz spent time with these native Brazilians for The Territory, a collaborative, vérité documentary that’s both engaging and terrifying. Pritz even hands over the camera to the Uru-eu-wau-wau at one point, as the group closes their borders and prepares for an ongoing fight to preserve their land.
- 12/2/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.