Hey there, fellow documentary lovers! There’s something utterly captivating about getting an insider’s peek into the lives of our beloved celebrities.
The world of celebrity lifestyle documentaries has a way of unraveling the glamor and revealing the human stories behind the fame.
From heartwarming triumphs to unguarded moments, these documentaries offer a front-row seat to the real people behind the glitzy façade.
7 Documentaries That Unveil the Human Experience
Join me as we dive into a curated list of the ten most intriguing celebrity lifestyle documentaries that have kept us glued to our screens, offering insights, inspiration, and a healthy dose of fascination.
1. ‘Framing Britney Spears’ (2021)
The impact of “Framing Britney Spears” cannot be overstated. This documentary shines a light on the life and legal battles of Britney Spears, exploring the conservatorship that has sparked a global movement.
As someone who grew up with Britney’s music and witnessed...
The world of celebrity lifestyle documentaries has a way of unraveling the glamor and revealing the human stories behind the fame.
From heartwarming triumphs to unguarded moments, these documentaries offer a front-row seat to the real people behind the glitzy façade.
7 Documentaries That Unveil the Human Experience
Join me as we dive into a curated list of the ten most intriguing celebrity lifestyle documentaries that have kept us glued to our screens, offering insights, inspiration, and a healthy dose of fascination.
1. ‘Framing Britney Spears’ (2021)
The impact of “Framing Britney Spears” cannot be overstated. This documentary shines a light on the life and legal battles of Britney Spears, exploring the conservatorship that has sparked a global movement.
As someone who grew up with Britney’s music and witnessed...
- 5/1/2024
- by Pia Vermaak
- buddytv.com
Fallout is the most exciting Amazon Original dropping this month. From Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, this long-awaited adaptation of the popular video game franchise looks incredible, and is bound to be a hit among video game fans and newcomers alike. The series stars Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones), and Aaron Clifton Moten (Disjointed).
Prime Video doesn’t have much else in the way of original offerings this month, aside from the return of Alex Rider on Freevee a few other films and TV series, but there are plenty of popular films joining the streaming service’s library. Cloverfield, Batman & Robin, Titanic, and The Notebook are just a few of the notable movies coming to Prime this month.
Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in April – Amazon originals are designated with an asterisk.
New on Amazon Prime Video – April 2024 April 1 Blaze...
Prime Video doesn’t have much else in the way of original offerings this month, aside from the return of Alex Rider on Freevee a few other films and TV series, but there are plenty of popular films joining the streaming service’s library. Cloverfield, Batman & Robin, Titanic, and The Notebook are just a few of the notable movies coming to Prime this month.
Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in April – Amazon originals are designated with an asterisk.
New on Amazon Prime Video – April 2024 April 1 Blaze...
- 4/1/2024
- by Brynnaarens
- Den of Geek
There’s a scene in the 2010 film Eat Pray Love where Julia Roberts’s character Liz basks in the experience of eating a guilt-free pizza. It was an important character moment for her–and for many audience members. And whatever your specific dietary preferences or requirements may be, we hope that you’ll enjoy whatever your guilt-free “pizza moment” is this Thanksgiving, surrounded by friends and family (chosen or otherwise.)
Food, of course, has played as major a role in cinema as any other basic human biological function, from the sprawling bowls of pasta in the works of Martin Scorsese, to the last decade’s trend of thoughtfully investigative health-leaning food docs such as Food Inc. and Forks Over Knives. Today, though, we’re leaving the scare-mongering at the kids’ table and indulging in some seriously calorie-dense, celebratory depictions of food on film.
So cinch up that lobster bib and...
Food, of course, has played as major a role in cinema as any other basic human biological function, from the sprawling bowls of pasta in the works of Martin Scorsese, to the last decade’s trend of thoughtfully investigative health-leaning food docs such as Food Inc. and Forks Over Knives. Today, though, we’re leaving the scare-mongering at the kids’ table and indulging in some seriously calorie-dense, celebratory depictions of food on film.
So cinch up that lobster bib and...
- 11/21/2023
- by Film Independent
- Film Independent News & More
Welcome to the world of documentaries, where real lives and real stories come to life on the screen. There’s something profoundly moving about witnessing the human experience captured through the lens of a camera – the raw emotions, the untold struggles, and the amazing moments that shape our lives. As a documentary enthusiast who believes in the power of storytelling, I’m excited to share with you a curated list of seven documentaries that offer a deep dive into the complexities of our existence.
Related: 10 Must-Watch Documentaries That Changed Public Perception
These documentaries are more than just films; they’re windows into the lives of individuals who have experienced the spectrum of human emotions and challenges. From the comfort of your couch, you’ll have the privilege of walking in their shoes, experiencing their journeys, and gaining insights that might just change your perspective on the world.
Each documentary on...
Related: 10 Must-Watch Documentaries That Changed Public Perception
These documentaries are more than just films; they’re windows into the lives of individuals who have experienced the spectrum of human emotions and challenges. From the comfort of your couch, you’ll have the privilege of walking in their shoes, experiencing their journeys, and gaining insights that might just change your perspective on the world.
Each documentary on...
- 10/25/2023
- by Pia Vermaak
- buddytv.com
Ask any person on the street if they are at least somewhat familiar with comic book legend Stan Lee, and almost always the answer will be a resounding yes.
Lee has become such an icon in not just the world of superheroes, but in just popular culture as a whole. The man has helped create some of the most iconic characters in all of fiction, so naturally, considering the legacy that Lee has left on the world since his passing, it only makes sense for a documentary to be made about his life. However, while I’m sure that a great, honest and detailed documentary about Lee will exist at some point in my lifetime, this is certainly not that.
Regardless of my personal feelings about how this film approached its subject matter, it should be said that this is not a poorly-made documentary. The film is directed by David Gelb,...
Lee has become such an icon in not just the world of superheroes, but in just popular culture as a whole. The man has helped create some of the most iconic characters in all of fiction, so naturally, considering the legacy that Lee has left on the world since his passing, it only makes sense for a documentary to be made about his life. However, while I’m sure that a great, honest and detailed documentary about Lee will exist at some point in my lifetime, this is certainly not that.
Regardless of my personal feelings about how this film approached its subject matter, it should be said that this is not a poorly-made documentary. The film is directed by David Gelb,...
- 8/20/2023
- by Timothy Lee
- Uinterview
What I love about documentaries is that they take you on thought-provoking journeys, challenging our beliefs and shedding light on subjects we may never have encountered.
Related: 10 Best True Story Sports Movies on Disney Plus
In this article, we will explore seven mind-expanding documentaries that have the potential to change the way you see the world.
Prepare to embark on a captivating exploration of documentaries that will leave you enlightened and inspired!
1 ‘The Social Dilemma’ (2020)
“The Social Dilemma” offers a chilling examination of the impact of social media on society and our lives. Which helped open my eyes and kept me questioning my own habits.
This thought-provoking documentary features interviews with former executives and engineers from major tech companies who provide insight into the algorithms designed to manipulate human behavior.
It sheds light on the dangers of technology addiction, filter bubbles, and the erosion of privacy, leaving viewers questioning the...
Related: 10 Best True Story Sports Movies on Disney Plus
In this article, we will explore seven mind-expanding documentaries that have the potential to change the way you see the world.
Prepare to embark on a captivating exploration of documentaries that will leave you enlightened and inspired!
1 ‘The Social Dilemma’ (2020)
“The Social Dilemma” offers a chilling examination of the impact of social media on society and our lives. Which helped open my eyes and kept me questioning my own habits.
This thought-provoking documentary features interviews with former executives and engineers from major tech companies who provide insight into the algorithms designed to manipulate human behavior.
It sheds light on the dangers of technology addiction, filter bubbles, and the erosion of privacy, leaving viewers questioning the...
- 8/1/2023
- by Pia Vermaak
- buddytv.com
“Stan Lee” — a documentary on the man who, along with Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, created Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther and many other iconic Marvel characters —
selectively focuses on the comic book legend’s career and, to a much lesser extent, his personal life, pruning considerable information about his other ventures and legal disputes as seen on Wikipedia. It’s co-produced by Marvel Studios, so the film, which receives its world premiere at Tribeca Festival and streams on Disney Plus on June 16, expectedly sings his praises.
Lee himself posthumously supplies the first-person voiceover narration, albeit indirectly through various archival interviews and speeches given over the years, which filmmaker David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”) has carefully spliced together based on the chronology of seminal events in his lifetime. To illustrate the narration, Gelb has employed conventional archival footage and photos as well as not-so-conventional comic strips and clay figures.
selectively focuses on the comic book legend’s career and, to a much lesser extent, his personal life, pruning considerable information about his other ventures and legal disputes as seen on Wikipedia. It’s co-produced by Marvel Studios, so the film, which receives its world premiere at Tribeca Festival and streams on Disney Plus on June 16, expectedly sings his praises.
Lee himself posthumously supplies the first-person voiceover narration, albeit indirectly through various archival interviews and speeches given over the years, which filmmaker David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”) has carefully spliced together based on the chronology of seminal events in his lifetime. To illustrate the narration, Gelb has employed conventional archival footage and photos as well as not-so-conventional comic strips and clay figures.
- 6/11/2023
- by Martin Tsai
- The Wrap
A man who lives alone in spartan accommodation, sticking to the same daily routine, devoting himself to his job and barely speaking to anyone? Cinema has taught us that he is bound to be an assassin, a spy, a fugitive or a potential mass murderer. But in Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days,” which premiered in the Main Competition at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, he is a modest toilet cleaner – and this gentle, philosophical character study is all the more mesmeric for it.
The 77-year-old director’s fictional work has been overshadowed by his documentaries lately, but his new film, a fictional work which sometimes resembles a documentary, is a significant return to form for the director who won the Palme d’Or in 1984 for “Paris, Texas.” It begins by introducing us to the middle-aged Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) as he wakes up alone in his small flat. Once he’s cleaned his teeth,...
The 77-year-old director’s fictional work has been overshadowed by his documentaries lately, but his new film, a fictional work which sometimes resembles a documentary, is a significant return to form for the director who won the Palme d’Or in 1984 for “Paris, Texas.” It begins by introducing us to the middle-aged Hirayama (Koji Yakusho) as he wakes up alone in his small flat. Once he’s cleaned his teeth,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Nicholas Barber
- The Wrap
Kohn’s Corner is a weekly column about the challenges and opportunities of sustaining American film culture.
Every year around this time, I relish the opportunity to vanish into a bubble of Cannes hype and pretend that world-class auteurs dominate the movie business on a global scale. But for the moment, I’ll take a breather from the laughing gas and acknowledge it’s a rough moment for the specialty distribution business — especially in America. A lot of those promising Cannes titles won’t follow me home.
Few movies that aren’t in English succeed at our box office. Most get lost in the streaming vortex, if they’re lucky to land there at all. Arthouses nationwide continue to face audience decline. Prestige Oscar movies don’t guarantee strong returns. A24’s winning streak faltered with the flop of its most-costly production, “Beau is Afraid,” suggesting that even its adoring...
Every year around this time, I relish the opportunity to vanish into a bubble of Cannes hype and pretend that world-class auteurs dominate the movie business on a global scale. But for the moment, I’ll take a breather from the laughing gas and acknowledge it’s a rough moment for the specialty distribution business — especially in America. A lot of those promising Cannes titles won’t follow me home.
Few movies that aren’t in English succeed at our box office. Most get lost in the streaming vortex, if they’re lucky to land there at all. Arthouses nationwide continue to face audience decline. Prestige Oscar movies don’t guarantee strong returns. A24’s winning streak faltered with the flop of its most-costly production, “Beau is Afraid,” suggesting that even its adoring...
- 5/13/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
It doesn't take much to make me cry when it comes to movies. Whether it's a deathbed scene, a happy reunion, or a coach giving a motivational speech in an underdog sports movie, I'm close to blubbing every time. "It's a Wonderful Life," "The Remains of the Day," and "Atonement" are just a few movies that leave me in a puddle on the floor, and I even get emotional during films that aren't traditionally tear-jerking. I was welling up through much of "Jiro Dreams of Sushi," awed by the guy's lifelong dedication to his culinary art.
It's been tough over the years, watching movies with my partner who is as hard as nails when it comes to this kind of stuff. She takes some of the saddest scenes ever committed to film in her stride and I can feel her giving me the side-eye whenever I start getting choked up,...
It's been tough over the years, watching movies with my partner who is as hard as nails when it comes to this kind of stuff. She takes some of the saddest scenes ever committed to film in her stride and I can feel her giving me the side-eye whenever I start getting choked up,...
- 9/4/2022
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
With the new month come new arrivals to all TV and movie streamers, including Hulu. The August 2022 slate contains many classic re-watch options as well as new seasons of original shows and new movies as well.
For those who couldn’t get enough of Keke Palmer in Jordan Peele’s latest movie “Nope” (2022), one of her breakout films “Akeelah and the Bee” (2006) has landed on Hulu. Tom Hanks’ “Cast Away” (2000), Natalie Portman’s “Black Swan,” the first two “Despicable Me” films and Tobey Maguire’s “Spider-Man” trilogy also arrive this month.
FX’s “Reservation Dogs” Season 2 arrives exclusively on Hulu Aug. 3. The Hulu Original film “Prey” arrives Aug. 5. “Legacy: The True Story of the L.A. Lakers” premieres on Hulu Aug. 15. Another exclusive heading to Hulu later in August is Steve Carell’s limited series “The Patient,” available to stream Aug. 30.
Here’s what’s new on Hulu in August 2022.
Also...
For those who couldn’t get enough of Keke Palmer in Jordan Peele’s latest movie “Nope” (2022), one of her breakout films “Akeelah and the Bee” (2006) has landed on Hulu. Tom Hanks’ “Cast Away” (2000), Natalie Portman’s “Black Swan,” the first two “Despicable Me” films and Tobey Maguire’s “Spider-Man” trilogy also arrive this month.
FX’s “Reservation Dogs” Season 2 arrives exclusively on Hulu Aug. 3. The Hulu Original film “Prey” arrives Aug. 5. “Legacy: The True Story of the L.A. Lakers” premieres on Hulu Aug. 15. Another exclusive heading to Hulu later in August is Steve Carell’s limited series “The Patient,” available to stream Aug. 30.
Here’s what’s new on Hulu in August 2022.
Also...
- 8/1/2022
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
You ever notice how HBO’s releases tend to do the heavy lifting in HBO Max’s content library? That makes plenty of sense given that HBO has a track record of producing hits well before the streaming era even began. Well, a similar concept is now playing out over on Hulu. Like many monthly releases before it, Hulu’s list of new releases for August 2022 is highlighted by a whole bunch of FX TV shows.
The initiative once known as “FX on Hulu” is no more but that’s not stopping the cable network-turned quality TV brand from churning out some intriguing titles for the streaming world this month. It all starts early on with season 2 of the delightful comedy Reservation Dogs on Aug. 3. That is followed up by the docuseries Children of the Underground on Aug. 13, Little Demon on Aug. 26, and The Patient of Aug. 30. The most interesting of the bunch,...
The initiative once known as “FX on Hulu” is no more but that’s not stopping the cable network-turned quality TV brand from churning out some intriguing titles for the streaming world this month. It all starts early on with season 2 of the delightful comedy Reservation Dogs on Aug. 3. That is followed up by the docuseries Children of the Underground on Aug. 13, Little Demon on Aug. 26, and The Patient of Aug. 30. The most interesting of the bunch,...
- 8/1/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
If you’re looking for new movies and TV shows to watch on Amazon Prime Video in April, you’ve come to the right place. This month doesn’t bring a ton in terms of new Prime Video originals, but there are a few noteworthy titles. “Outer Range,” premiering April 15, is a new series that’s essentially “Yellowstone” but sci-fi. Josh Brolin plays a rancher fighting for his land in Wyoming who encounters a supernatural twist.
There’s also “A Very British Scandal,” which stars Claire Foy and Paul Bettany and focuses on the divorce of the Duke and Dutchess of Argyll, and the second season of the animated series “Undone” on April 29.
In terms of Prime Video movies, Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton star in the thriller ”All the Old Knives” which is streaming on April 8, and noteworthy library titles being added in April include “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,...
There’s also “A Very British Scandal,” which stars Claire Foy and Paul Bettany and focuses on the divorce of the Duke and Dutchess of Argyll, and the second season of the animated series “Undone” on April 29.
In terms of Prime Video movies, Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton star in the thriller ”All the Old Knives” which is streaming on April 8, and noteworthy library titles being added in April include “Fast Times at Ridgemont High,...
- 4/15/2022
- by Adam Chitwood
- The Wrap
Good news for all you Brolin-heads! Amazon Prime Video’s list of new releases for April 2022 is highlighted by one very intriguing TV project starring Thanos himself.
The Josh Brolin-starring Outer Range premieres April 15 and looks like it could be a wild ride. The synopsis is terse and reads “A rancher fighting for his land and family stumbles upon an unfathomable mystery at the edge of Wyoming’s wilderness, forcing a confrontation with the Unknown in ways both intimate and cosmic in the untamable American West.” That, combined with an enigmatic first trailer, has our interest piqued.
Also on the TV side of things this month is season 2 of the beautifully rotoscoped series Undone on April 29. Rosa Salazar returns as Alma, a woman who may have become unstuck in time to help save her scientist father’s life. Before that, the British TV series The Outlaws makes its debut...
The Josh Brolin-starring Outer Range premieres April 15 and looks like it could be a wild ride. The synopsis is terse and reads “A rancher fighting for his land and family stumbles upon an unfathomable mystery at the edge of Wyoming’s wilderness, forcing a confrontation with the Unknown in ways both intimate and cosmic in the untamable American West.” That, combined with an enigmatic first trailer, has our interest piqued.
Also on the TV side of things this month is season 2 of the beautifully rotoscoped series Undone on April 29. Rosa Salazar returns as Alma, a woman who may have become unstuck in time to help save her scientist father’s life. Before that, the British TV series The Outlaws makes its debut...
- 4/1/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Cinema Napa Valley announced the lineup of filmmaker tributes taking place virtually at this year’s Napa Valley Film Festival from Nov. 10-14. Video tributes will play following screenings of the honorees’ work and include conversations with them.
This year, in addition to the annual Napa Valley Filmmaker Awards, the festival will debut a new series of Culinary Cinema Awards honoring achievements in storytelling devoted to food, wine, and spirits. Across both categories, the 2021 honorees include Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Harvey Keitel, Marlee Matlin, Odessa Young, David Gelb, Phil Rosenthal and Jon Taffer. Each honoree will be presented with a special bottle of wine from a festival sponsor.
“Our tributes highlight those that share an unabashed passion for cinema in many forms throughout their careers,” said Cinema Napa Valley chairman Rick Garber. “We recognize and acknowledge not only their personal accomplishments and critical thinking, but also their career achievements. We embrace their artistic vision,...
This year, in addition to the annual Napa Valley Filmmaker Awards, the festival will debut a new series of Culinary Cinema Awards honoring achievements in storytelling devoted to food, wine, and spirits. Across both categories, the 2021 honorees include Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Harvey Keitel, Marlee Matlin, Odessa Young, David Gelb, Phil Rosenthal and Jon Taffer. Each honoree will be presented with a special bottle of wine from a festival sponsor.
“Our tributes highlight those that share an unabashed passion for cinema in many forms throughout their careers,” said Cinema Napa Valley chairman Rick Garber. “We recognize and acknowledge not only their personal accomplishments and critical thinking, but also their career achievements. We embrace their artistic vision,...
- 10/28/2021
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
Everybody in Hollywood in the 1980s and ‘90s wanted to go to Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant Spago, which featured an open kitchen with a wood-burning stove made for serving up fancy pizzas. Puck rode that initial success to a sort of food empire, often at some cost to his personal life, and that makes up the narrative thread of “Wolfgang,” a documentary directed by David Gelb, who also made the very popular food-based doc “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.”
The most impressive element of “Wolfgang” is the amount of ground it manages to cover in 78 minutes without ever seeming to rush over anything. Gelb takes time to linger for a few key moments over Puck looking for fresh fruits and vegetables — which was an innovation in the LA of the 1980s — and also over the concentration Puck brings to cooking itself, which seems to bring the legendary chef contentment that other...
The most impressive element of “Wolfgang” is the amount of ground it manages to cover in 78 minutes without ever seeming to rush over anything. Gelb takes time to linger for a few key moments over Puck looking for fresh fruits and vegetables — which was an innovation in the LA of the 1980s — and also over the concentration Puck brings to cooking itself, which seems to bring the legendary chef contentment that other...
- 6/24/2021
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
There’s a good story in “Wolfgang” that captures how a chef goes with the flow. It was a bustling night at Spago (the only kind of night Spago had in the ’80s), and in walked Joan Collins, at the apex of her “Dynasty” fame. She always ordered one of Wolfgang Puck’s most popular dishes: smoked salmon on a brioche. But all the brioche was gone, and Puck didn’t want to face the wrath of Alexis. So he improvised. He cooked a pizza without tomato sauce and spread dill cream on it, covering it with smoked salmon and topping it with dollops of caviar. Voilà! A Spago classic was born.
That’s an anecdote to make you hungry, which happens a lot in “Wolfgang,” a Disney Plus documentary that tells Wolfgang Puck’s story, and does it justice, in a crisp light 78 minutes. As it happens, the Pizza...
That’s an anecdote to make you hungry, which happens a lot in “Wolfgang,” a Disney Plus documentary that tells Wolfgang Puck’s story, and does it justice, in a crisp light 78 minutes. As it happens, the Pizza...
- 6/23/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Most people know Wolfgang Puck as the ebullient proprietor of celebrity-saturated Spago, purveyor of frozen pizzas to the masses and ubiquitous presence on TV magazine shows. But before all he blazed the trail as one of the first true celebrity chefs, there was an uncertain boy who grew up in a poor Austrian family with a difficult stepfather, who left to work in France at just 14 years old before coming to Hollywood.
That’s the story David Gelb, director of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” and “Chef’s Table” creator, tells in “Wolfgang,” the new documentary about the man who not only invented the smoked salmon and goat cheese pizza but mentored a generation of chefs while building a restaurant empire. “Wolfgang” premieres Saturday at the Tribeca Festival and begins streaming on Disney Plus on June 25.
Puck has been driven by his early need for his stepfather’s approval his whole life,...
That’s the story David Gelb, director of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” and “Chef’s Table” creator, tells in “Wolfgang,” the new documentary about the man who not only invented the smoked salmon and goat cheese pizza but mentored a generation of chefs while building a restaurant empire. “Wolfgang” premieres Saturday at the Tribeca Festival and begins streaming on Disney Plus on June 25.
Puck has been driven by his early need for his stepfather’s approval his whole life,...
- 6/12/2021
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
The filmmakers behind “Tiger” and “Fed Up” are teaming with the producer of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” on a new investigative documentary into food safety.
Entitled “Poisoned,” the film will be directed by Stephanie Soechtig and executive produced by Jeff Benedict and produced by Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire. It will be based on Benedict’s book, “Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak That Changed the Way Americans Eat.”
“‘Poisoned’ began with my interest in writing about the Jack in the Box E. coli infections in 1993 that sickened over 750 children, four of whom died,” said Benedict in a statement. “But once I entered that world, it became clear the story was much bigger than one outbreak. It’s the same broken system behind each of these horrific events, and while we’ve become more vigilant about what we eat, the issues plaguing the industry rage on.”
Soechtig...
Entitled “Poisoned,” the film will be directed by Stephanie Soechtig and executive produced by Jeff Benedict and produced by Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire. It will be based on Benedict’s book, “Poisoned: The True Story of the Deadly E. Coli Outbreak That Changed the Way Americans Eat.”
“‘Poisoned’ began with my interest in writing about the Jack in the Box E. coli infections in 1993 that sickened over 750 children, four of whom died,” said Benedict in a statement. “But once I entered that world, it became clear the story was much bigger than one outbreak. It’s the same broken system behind each of these horrific events, and while we’ve become more vigilant about what we eat, the issues plaguing the industry rage on.”
Soechtig...
- 1/19/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Apart from sushi, sake has to be one of the greatest culinary exports of Japan. Whereas many countries have mastered their own ways of brewing beer and making wine, the art of creating this drink remains a traditional Japanese craft, looking back at a long and colorful history. At present, the various brands and schools of brewing sake have long ago entered the high class of culinary taste, while at the same time remaining available to everyone interested in it and of course its taste.
“The Story Beyond a Cup of Sake” is screening at CAAMFest Forward
In his short documentary titled “The Story Beyond a Cup of Sake” Japanese director Hironori Sakai takes a look at the craft of brewing sake, from the planting of rice seeds in the terraces to meetings of culinary connoisseurs enjoying the taste of the latest vintage. For his feature, Sakai accompanied Shuzo Okazaki and Keniichi Okazaki,...
“The Story Beyond a Cup of Sake” is screening at CAAMFest Forward
In his short documentary titled “The Story Beyond a Cup of Sake” Japanese director Hironori Sakai takes a look at the craft of brewing sake, from the planting of rice seeds in the terraces to meetings of culinary connoisseurs enjoying the taste of the latest vintage. For his feature, Sakai accompanied Shuzo Okazaki and Keniichi Okazaki,...
- 10/13/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Always be wary of claims of “first” or “only.” Such is the case with brand-new streaming platform Documentary Plus+, which announced this summer that it would be “the first of its kind to focus exclusively on documentary films.” The venture comes from Xtr, the well-financed Los Angeles-based nonfiction film and television studio that Oscar-nominated documentary short producer Bryn Mooser (“Lifeboat”) launched last year.
Xtr, which took five co-financed films to Sundance 2020 — including well-received docs “Feels Good Man,” “Mucho Mucho Amor,” and “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” — plans to roll out Documentary Plus+ this fall; a representative said they’re hoping for the end of September.
Billed as a “highly curated documentary streaming service,” Documentary Plus+ aims to “provide audiences with the best in documentary film and further serve as a permanent home for the work of nonfiction filmmakers along with added distribution and amplification of their projects across all social channels.
Xtr, which took five co-financed films to Sundance 2020 — including well-received docs “Feels Good Man,” “Mucho Mucho Amor,” and “Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets” — plans to roll out Documentary Plus+ this fall; a representative said they’re hoping for the end of September.
Billed as a “highly curated documentary streaming service,” Documentary Plus+ aims to “provide audiences with the best in documentary film and further serve as a permanent home for the work of nonfiction filmmakers along with added distribution and amplification of their projects across all social channels.
- 8/20/2020
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
“Did you eat yet?”
It’s an all-too-common question — a greeting, a worry, a substitute for the words “I love you.” Food is incredibly personal. On one hand, it’s a sign of affection, of family, of community; on the other, it sets apart cliques, the poor, the exotic. From lunch breaks to late-night snacks, food proves time and time again that it is more than just sustenance. It structures our very lives.
So we too welcome you to sit down and take a breather from your day-to-day. Nourish yourself. Feast your eyes. Today’s menu includes ramen westerns and fried chicken ponzi schemes, irresistible dosa and roast duck wars. Just make sure to grab a bite first… you’ll thank us later after you get through this mouthwatering list!
1. Tampopo
“Tampopo” is a very entertaining film about the necessity of enjoyment in our lives, a celebration of the art...
It’s an all-too-common question — a greeting, a worry, a substitute for the words “I love you.” Food is incredibly personal. On one hand, it’s a sign of affection, of family, of community; on the other, it sets apart cliques, the poor, the exotic. From lunch breaks to late-night snacks, food proves time and time again that it is more than just sustenance. It structures our very lives.
So we too welcome you to sit down and take a breather from your day-to-day. Nourish yourself. Feast your eyes. Today’s menu includes ramen westerns and fried chicken ponzi schemes, irresistible dosa and roast duck wars. Just make sure to grab a bite first… you’ll thank us later after you get through this mouthwatering list!
1. Tampopo
“Tampopo” is a very entertaining film about the necessity of enjoyment in our lives, a celebration of the art...
- 5/28/2020
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Wolfgang Puck is cooking up a new series at HBO Max.
The celebrity chef, known for concocting the menu at the Oscars each year, is executive producing a series called “The Event” about his catering company, which has been handed an eight-episode order at the forthcoming WarnerMedia streamer. The series was announced by HBO Max chief content officer Kevin Reilly during its Television Critics’ Association press tour presentation.
Hailing from Renegade 83, each one-hour episode will follow various members of Puck’s team as they try and surpass their clients’ highest expectations at events like the Academy Awards With and the 10,000 guest Adobe MaxBash.
“Wolfgang is one of the most accomplished chefs of our time and for decades has been the go-to restaurateur and caterer for the biggest names and events in Hollywood and across the country,” said Reilly, who also serves as president of TNT, TBS, and TruTV. “This series...
The celebrity chef, known for concocting the menu at the Oscars each year, is executive producing a series called “The Event” about his catering company, which has been handed an eight-episode order at the forthcoming WarnerMedia streamer. The series was announced by HBO Max chief content officer Kevin Reilly during its Television Critics’ Association press tour presentation.
Hailing from Renegade 83, each one-hour episode will follow various members of Puck’s team as they try and surpass their clients’ highest expectations at events like the Academy Awards With and the 10,000 guest Adobe MaxBash.
“Wolfgang is one of the most accomplished chefs of our time and for decades has been the go-to restaurateur and caterer for the biggest names and events in Hollywood and across the country,” said Reilly, who also serves as president of TNT, TBS, and TruTV. “This series...
- 1/15/2020
- by Will Thorne
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Group has acquired a majority stake in Campfire, the production company set up by Ross Dinerstein and responsible for projects including Netflix’s John Grisham doc series The Innocent Man.
The deal is the latest acquisition for Montgomery’s firm, which last month bought a majority stake in Den of Thieves, the production company behind Netflix’s Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour special.
Campfire recently scored a docuseries about suicide cult Heaven’s Gate for HBO Max and CNN and is behind critically acclaimed food documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi as well as upcoming FX documentaries The Most Dangerous Animal of All and Women In Comedy. On the scripted side, it has psychological thriller Rattlesnake, 1922, based on the Stephen King novella and comedy The Package all for Netflix as well as IFC’s cult horror movie The Pact and Airborne, starring Alexandra Daddario.
Dinerstein will continue running...
The deal is the latest acquisition for Montgomery’s firm, which last month bought a majority stake in Den of Thieves, the production company behind Netflix’s Taylor Swift: Reputation Stadium Tour special.
Campfire recently scored a docuseries about suicide cult Heaven’s Gate for HBO Max and CNN and is behind critically acclaimed food documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi as well as upcoming FX documentaries The Most Dangerous Animal of All and Women In Comedy. On the scripted side, it has psychological thriller Rattlesnake, 1922, based on the Stephen King novella and comedy The Package all for Netflix as well as IFC’s cult horror movie The Pact and Airborne, starring Alexandra Daddario.
Dinerstein will continue running...
- 11/14/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
An exploration of the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide pact and a docuseries about fame, fortune and power from Alex Gibney are among CNN’s first slate for HBO Max.
The streaming service has greenlit four original unscripted projects from its sister news brand.
Heaven’s Gate is a four-part series, from CNN Original Series, that explores the infamous religious movement and the stranger-than-fiction circumstances that culminated in the biggest mass suicide to ever take place on U.S. soil. It follows the death of 39 members of the cult in San Diego in 1997, who believed that they would reach an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Directed and executive produced by Clay Tweel (Gleason), Heaven’s Gate is produced by Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire, which produced lauded documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Dinnerstein exec produces alongside Chris Bannon, Eric Spiegelman, Peter Clowney, and Erik Diehn for the digital media company Stitcher, which produced the Heaven’s Gate podcast.
The streaming service has greenlit four original unscripted projects from its sister news brand.
Heaven’s Gate is a four-part series, from CNN Original Series, that explores the infamous religious movement and the stranger-than-fiction circumstances that culminated in the biggest mass suicide to ever take place on U.S. soil. It follows the death of 39 members of the cult in San Diego in 1997, who believed that they would reach an extraterrestrial spacecraft.
Directed and executive produced by Clay Tweel (Gleason), Heaven’s Gate is produced by Ross Dinerstein’s Campfire, which produced lauded documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Dinnerstein exec produces alongside Chris Bannon, Eric Spiegelman, Peter Clowney, and Erik Diehn for the digital media company Stitcher, which produced the Heaven’s Gate podcast.
- 10/24/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Oprah Winfrey sat down with Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger to discuss his book, “The Ride of a Lifetime,” on Own’s “Super Soul Sunday,” airing this Sunday at 12 p.m. Et/Pt. During that time, they discuss mentor Roone Arledge, Iger’s father, the Pulse nightclub shooting and the moment when Steve Jobs revealed his cancer diagnosis to Iger.
Here are a few highlights from Winfrey and Iger’s conversation about his more-than-four-decade-long career in entertainment:
Delayed Retirement
For one thing, Iger thought he was going to publish his book in tandem with his retirement. Not so.
“I thought the timing would work,” he said. “Little did I know that the timing didn’t really work because I’m still at work. I thought this would be a perfect time to create a retrospective of my own of this incredibly wonderful personal experience.”
Iger, who has been CEO since...
Here are a few highlights from Winfrey and Iger’s conversation about his more-than-four-decade-long career in entertainment:
Delayed Retirement
For one thing, Iger thought he was going to publish his book in tandem with his retirement. Not so.
“I thought the timing would work,” he said. “Little did I know that the timing didn’t really work because I’m still at work. I thought this would be a perfect time to create a retrospective of my own of this incredibly wonderful personal experience.”
Iger, who has been CEO since...
- 9/27/2019
- by Elaine Low
- Variety Film + TV
Chef’s Table has become one of television’s most celebrated food-themed programs since it debuted in 2015, but there was a time the Netflix series faced an uphill battle getting made.
“Nobody wanted to hear a pitch about a food show without a celebrity host attached to it except for Netflix,” creator and executive producer David Gelb recalls. “I’m very fortunate they had the vision to let me come in and make the show with them, which is really unique in the food space with no host and no culinary instruction.”
Now in its sixth season, Chef’s Table is Emmy-nominated again this year for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Throughout its history, the show has focused each episode on a single chef.
“It’s about a biographical, emotional journey through a creative life,” Gelb explains. “The focus [is] on story, on passionate characters, on emotion and really looking at why chefs cook,...
“Nobody wanted to hear a pitch about a food show without a celebrity host attached to it except for Netflix,” creator and executive producer David Gelb recalls. “I’m very fortunate they had the vision to let me come in and make the show with them, which is really unique in the food space with no host and no culinary instruction.”
Now in its sixth season, Chef’s Table is Emmy-nominated again this year for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Throughout its history, the show has focused each episode on a single chef.
“It’s about a biographical, emotional journey through a creative life,” Gelb explains. “The focus [is] on story, on passionate characters, on emotion and really looking at why chefs cook,...
- 8/19/2019
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
After the success of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” back in 2011, it was about time someone shot a documentary about traditional Japanese bartending, and Satoshi Watanabe, a Yamagata native dealing with a local legend, 92-year-old bartender Keicihi Iyama, creator of the famous Yukiguni cocktail, seemed like the perfect choice to do just that. Let us see how he fared.
“Yukiguni” is available from Article Films
[From the film’s info] “The Yukiguni cocktail welcomes its 60th anniversary in the same year that the Heisei Era comes to an end. Since claiming first prize at the 1958 Kotobukiya (currently Suntory) Cocktail Competition, Yukiguni has become a favorite amongst bartenders all over Japan, with its continued consumption leading to a rightful spot as an industry standard. A bar critic once stated, “it’s the bar that makes the man”, and cocktail fans have flocked from all over the country to appreciate Keichi Iyama’s creation while listening to his...
“Yukiguni” is available from Article Films
[From the film’s info] “The Yukiguni cocktail welcomes its 60th anniversary in the same year that the Heisei Era comes to an end. Since claiming first prize at the 1958 Kotobukiya (currently Suntory) Cocktail Competition, Yukiguni has become a favorite amongst bartenders all over Japan, with its continued consumption leading to a rightful spot as an industry standard. A bar critic once stated, “it’s the bar that makes the man”, and cocktail fans have flocked from all over the country to appreciate Keichi Iyama’s creation while listening to his...
- 4/17/2019
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
IFC has officially renewed the cult-favorite, lovingly crafted spoof Documentary Now! for another seven-episode season. In a sardonic press release, one of many upfront announcements from AMC Networks this morning, IFC notes that the premiere date for the new run of episodes has not been determined “because Fred, Bill and Seth are super-busy.” That would be Fred Armisen, Bill Hader and Seth Meyers, who created the show along with Rhys Thomas. Lorne Michaels is among the executive producers. Guest stars and targets for the show’s documentary parodies slated for the new season will be revealed closer to air date, per the show’s custom. Past seasons have sent up classics like The War Room, Grey Gardens, The Thin Blue Line and Jiro Dreams of Sushi. In addition to hosted segments featuring Dame Helen Mirren, last season featured guest stars including Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Michael Keaton and Natasha Lyonne.
- 4/8/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Producers and agents behind the success of films like the Best-Picture winning “Crash,” 2005’s “Thank You For Smoking” and actors like Liam Neeson, Daniel Craig and Emily Blunt came together at the TheWrap’s Power Women Summit to get serious about men joining the fight against misogyny in Hollywood.
“You need new storytellers, you need new energy,” co-head of motion picture literacy at talent agency ICM Partners Harley Copen told the crowd at the “ReFrame: Male Allies Leaning In on Gender Equity” panel on Friday at the Intercontinental hotel in downtown Los Angeles. “We have to start from our perspective as agents as the first line of helping learn how people think about projects. We have to start the change. We have to be the first people.”
Cathy Schulman — “Edge of Seventeen” producer, president of Welle Entertainment and co-founder of ReFrame — moderated the panel between Copen, agent/producer Kevin Iwashina,...
“You need new storytellers, you need new energy,” co-head of motion picture literacy at talent agency ICM Partners Harley Copen told the crowd at the “ReFrame: Male Allies Leaning In on Gender Equity” panel on Friday at the Intercontinental hotel in downtown Los Angeles. “We have to start from our perspective as agents as the first line of helping learn how people think about projects. We have to start the change. We have to be the first people.”
Cathy Schulman — “Edge of Seventeen” producer, president of Welle Entertainment and co-founder of ReFrame — moderated the panel between Copen, agent/producer Kevin Iwashina,...
- 11/2/2018
- by Omar Sanchez
- The Wrap
Anthony Bourdain was a man of the world. He traveled to the furthest corners of the globe, sought out the best food you’ll ever eat and made his journeys a teachable moment for culture and worldly values. So whether he was in Vietnam with President Obama or at a Waffle House in the South, he tapped into what made a region tick and crafted a lifestyle that countless hipsters, celebrity chefs and aspiring foodies wanted to emulate. Here are some of Bourdain’s best TV moments that defined Bourdain’s love affair with food.
Obama in Vietnam
“Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer.” Bourdain famously tweeted this line along with a photo of himself and President Obama hunching over a small table in Vietnam as he demonstrated the best way to slurp noodles. It’s an incredible sight to see both Obama and Bourdain so...
Obama in Vietnam
“Low plastic stool, cheap but delicious noodles, cold Hanoi beer.” Bourdain famously tweeted this line along with a photo of himself and President Obama hunching over a small table in Vietnam as he demonstrated the best way to slurp noodles. It’s an incredible sight to see both Obama and Bourdain so...
- 6/8/2018
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
We don’t know what Anthony Bourdain ate for his last meal, and today isn’t the day to ask. But we hope it was sushi. Because in interviews over the years, Bourdain was often asked what he would want for this last meal, and he always had the same answer.
When we were lucky enough to interview him in 2013, we didn’t raise the subject of last meals. But he brought it up himself.
“If I knew I was going to die tomorrow morning I’d probably be eating some really high-end sushi tonight,” he said.
Also Read: How Anthony Bourdain Became a Leading Ally of the #MeToo Movement Through Asia Argento
Bourdain had a more specific answer in 2016, when he wrote a feature for the Guardian newspaper.
“Ideally, my last meal would be at Sukiyabashi Jiro, a tiny sushi bar below street level in Tokyo. It serves some...
When we were lucky enough to interview him in 2013, we didn’t raise the subject of last meals. But he brought it up himself.
“If I knew I was going to die tomorrow morning I’d probably be eating some really high-end sushi tonight,” he said.
Also Read: How Anthony Bourdain Became a Leading Ally of the #MeToo Movement Through Asia Argento
Bourdain had a more specific answer in 2016, when he wrote a feature for the Guardian newspaper.
“Ideally, my last meal would be at Sukiyabashi Jiro, a tiny sushi bar below street level in Tokyo. It serves some...
- 6/8/2018
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
Netflix’s Emmy-nominated “Chef’s Table” returns this spring, with a look inside the world of internationally recognized pastry chefs. Created by “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” director David Gelb, “Chef’s Table: Pastry” follows four different chefs and their unique specialties. In an eye-popping first trailer, the new spinoff promises colorful confections as mind-blowing as they are mouth-watering. If the fervor for “The Great British Baking Show” is any indication, Netflix is counting on audiences’ hunger for sweets. (And the characters who make them).
Per the official description: “‘Chef’s Table: Pastry’ goes inside the lives and kitchens of the world’s most renowned international pastry chefs. Each episode of the four-part series focuses on a single chef and takes a unique look at their life, talent, and passion, from their piece of culinary heaven. Dessert is front and center as viewers learn the history behind Christina Tosi’s wildly...
Per the official description: “‘Chef’s Table: Pastry’ goes inside the lives and kitchens of the world’s most renowned international pastry chefs. Each episode of the four-part series focuses on a single chef and takes a unique look at their life, talent, and passion, from their piece of culinary heaven. Dessert is front and center as viewers learn the history behind Christina Tosi’s wildly...
- 3/19/2018
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
From chatting with Justin Trudeau over beer and seafood to dining with Bono at one of New York City’s hottest Italian spots, it’s clear that Barack Obama’s post-presidency life has been full of incredible meals.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the 44th president continued on this eating streak while in Oahu, visiting Mitch’s Sushi on Sunday evening.
Obama even got behind the sushi bar, with the restaurant posting a photo to their Facebook page as one of their staffers took a selfie with him. “Our newest sushi chef!,” they captioned. “After 8 years in office he...
Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the 44th president continued on this eating streak while in Oahu, visiting Mitch’s Sushi on Sunday evening.
Obama even got behind the sushi bar, with the restaurant posting a photo to their Facebook page as one of their staffers took a selfie with him. “Our newest sushi chef!,” they captioned. “After 8 years in office he...
- 11/28/2017
- by Shay Spence
- PEOPLE.com
After you’ve streamed “Man on Wire,” “The Look of Silence,” and “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” take a chance on one of these great non-fiction titles.
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Related stories'Jerry Before Seinfeld' Trailer: New Netflix Stand-Up Special Shows If the Comedian's Jokes Hold Up 40 Years Later'Stranger Things' Season 2: Everything You Need to Know Before Returning to the Upside DownNetflix Developing Marijuana Strains Based on 'BoJack Horseman,' 'Orange Is the New Black,' and Other Original Series...
- 8/29/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Alex Buono, cinematographer and director of Documentary Now!, reveals the logistics behind the Emmy®-nominated episode “Juan Likes Rice and Chicken.” One of the standout episodes of the second season of IFC’s Documentary Now!
- 8/28/2017
- by Megan McLachlan
- AwardsDaily.com
If you’re looking for something a little different on your TV, foreign shows are readily available on our streaming services. But don’t be put off by the subtitles — otherwise, you could be missing out on some excellent programming.
Netflix has more than its share of worthwhile TV shows with subtitles — whether they’re American shows that are set around the world or foreign shows that have come to our digital shores. You can even change the settings for the ones that have English-dubbed tracks to revert them back to their beautiful native tongue.
Read More: The Best Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Acquired Series You’re Not Watching
While choosing to watch TV with subtitles allows for the optimal experience — immersing you in another culture through its language while you appreciate the actor’s actual performance — there’s one other benefit as well. Reading subtitles requires that you put...
Netflix has more than its share of worthwhile TV shows with subtitles — whether they’re American shows that are set around the world or foreign shows that have come to our digital shores. You can even change the settings for the ones that have English-dubbed tracks to revert them back to their beautiful native tongue.
Read More: The Best Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Acquired Series You’re Not Watching
While choosing to watch TV with subtitles allows for the optimal experience — immersing you in another culture through its language while you appreciate the actor’s actual performance — there’s one other benefit as well. Reading subtitles requires that you put...
- 5/10/2017
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Two specialized releases made the top 10 this week: “Gifted” (Fox Searchlight) came in #8 with $4.5 million, while the second weekend of “The Lost City of Z” (Bleecker Street) managed to place 10th in only 614 theaters.
Specialty distributors are pushing their films to more theaters; at nearly 2,000 theaters in its third week, “Gifted” is a wide release. This strategy doesn’t always work: A24 went to over 1,000 theaters initially for “Free Fire” with Brie Larson. It flopped across the board despite its pedigree.
Documentaries continue to stand out among niche limited openers. “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” (IFC) scored a strong New York two-theater response despite its parallel VOD option. And food scored again as “Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent” (The Orchard) worked with targeted marketing in its first two cities.
Opening
Free Fire (A24) – Metactritic: 64; Festivals include: Toronto 2016
$1,040,000 in 1,070 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $972
Clearly a disappointment considering its...
Specialty distributors are pushing their films to more theaters; at nearly 2,000 theaters in its third week, “Gifted” is a wide release. This strategy doesn’t always work: A24 went to over 1,000 theaters initially for “Free Fire” with Brie Larson. It flopped across the board despite its pedigree.
Documentaries continue to stand out among niche limited openers. “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” (IFC) scored a strong New York two-theater response despite its parallel VOD option. And food scored again as “Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent” (The Orchard) worked with targeted marketing in its first two cities.
Opening
Free Fire (A24) – Metactritic: 64; Festivals include: Toronto 2016
$1,040,000 in 1,070 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $972
Clearly a disappointment considering its...
- 4/23/2017
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
We’ve seen it a bunch of times before: A film acquired by Netflix performs well, and the streaming service commissions a series based vaguely on the concept. “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” led to David Gelb heading up “Chef’s Table.” “Wet Hot American Summer” begat “First Day of Camp.” And the 2015 documentary “Hot Girls Wanted” now brings us “Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On.”
Created by Ronna Gradus, Jill Bauer, and Rashida Jones, this documentary series is (despite the title) not all that explicit. It is, however, deeply embedded in the idea that human beings like to have sex, and thus exploring the ways in which technology and commerce have become embedded in that basic biological urge.
Read More: Sundance Live: Shooting ‘Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On’ in 4k — Watch
Four of the first season’s six episodes focus on sex as an act with a transactional element (y’know,...
Created by Ronna Gradus, Jill Bauer, and Rashida Jones, this documentary series is (despite the title) not all that explicit. It is, however, deeply embedded in the idea that human beings like to have sex, and thus exploring the ways in which technology and commerce have become embedded in that basic biological urge.
Read More: Sundance Live: Shooting ‘Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On’ in 4k — Watch
Four of the first season’s six episodes focus on sex as an act with a transactional element (y’know,...
- 4/21/2017
- by Liz Shannon Miller
- Indiewire
Produced by Kerri Borsuk, Academy Award Winner Glen Zipper (Undefeated) and Ross Dinerstein (Jiro Dreams of Sushi), Ryan Harvie and John Paul Horstmann, Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary takes a look at a subject close to my heart… wrestling!
Morgan Spurlock Presents Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana! follows a unique group of social outcasts who partake in the world of amateur wrestling via Ssp Wrestling (Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling). Led by Josh Black a.k.a. “Ronald McFondle,” and Bill Bates a.k.a. “Eddie Van Glam,” by day the wrestlers are chefs, hairdressers, and delivery men, but by night these “cabaret combatants” put on raunchy matches while rabid fans chant obscenities and hurl beer cans at their heads…
It’s all fun and games until new recruit Paul a.k.a. “The Banana” joins up and plays the role of villain far too well. Banished from the group, he swears...
Morgan Spurlock Presents Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana! follows a unique group of social outcasts who partake in the world of amateur wrestling via Ssp Wrestling (Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling). Led by Josh Black a.k.a. “Ronald McFondle,” and Bill Bates a.k.a. “Eddie Van Glam,” by day the wrestlers are chefs, hairdressers, and delivery men, but by night these “cabaret combatants” put on raunchy matches while rabid fans chant obscenities and hurl beer cans at their heads…
It’s all fun and games until new recruit Paul a.k.a. “The Banana” joins up and plays the role of villain far too well. Banished from the group, he swears...
- 4/7/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
From Kerri Borsuk, Glen Zipper (“Undefeated”) and Ross Dinerstein (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”), along with lauded documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, comes Ryan Harvie and John Paul Horstmann’s “Bodyslam: Revenge of The Banana.” And yes, that title almost speaks for itself.
Read More: Morgan Spurlock’s New Documentary ‘Rats’ Will Definitely Make You Lose Your Lunch — Watch
The film debuted at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival and was recently acquired by Virgil Films. You too can soon experience the power of The Banana.
Per the film’s official synopsis, it “follows a unique group of social outcasts who partake in an unfamiliar world of amateur wrestling via Ssp Wrestling (Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling.) By day they are chefs, hairdressers, and delivery men, but by night these ‘cabaret combatants’ put on raunchy matches while rabid fans chant obscenities and hurl beer cans at their heads. The de-facto spokesman of the wrestling...
Read More: Morgan Spurlock’s New Documentary ‘Rats’ Will Definitely Make You Lose Your Lunch — Watch
The film debuted at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival and was recently acquired by Virgil Films. You too can soon experience the power of The Banana.
Per the film’s official synopsis, it “follows a unique group of social outcasts who partake in an unfamiliar world of amateur wrestling via Ssp Wrestling (Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling.) By day they are chefs, hairdressers, and delivery men, but by night these ‘cabaret combatants’ put on raunchy matches while rabid fans chant obscenities and hurl beer cans at their heads. The de-facto spokesman of the wrestling...
- 3/14/2017
- by Kerry Levielle
- Indiewire
Food porn doesn’t have to tell a good story, but the best culinary documentaries recognize that food is story. Australian director Matthew Salleh’s first feature, “Barbecue,” embraces that approach, careening across 12 countries in search of different approaches to the art of roasting meat with fire. He captures gorgeous scenery and food in lush 4K imagery, loading up enough cultural nuance to make Anthony Bourdain look like a homebody. Anyone who salivates at the site of a grill will find much to lust over.
Salleh’s approach borrows from a now-familiar genre as he combines philosophical ramblings from his subjects with tranquil imagery of their cooking processes, stringing them together with an awe-inspiring score. It’s an approach you’ll recognize from “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” “The Birth of Sake,” or even the Netflix series “Chef’s Table” — quiet documentaries about the ways cuisines reflect broader ways of seeing the world.
Salleh’s approach borrows from a now-familiar genre as he combines philosophical ramblings from his subjects with tranquil imagery of their cooking processes, stringing them together with an awe-inspiring score. It’s an approach you’ll recognize from “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” “The Birth of Sake,” or even the Netflix series “Chef’s Table” — quiet documentaries about the ways cuisines reflect broader ways of seeing the world.
- 3/11/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
In 2017, for the first time, the Tribeca Film Festival will expand to feature a full slate of interactive and virtual reality (Vr) projects. The festival’s Vr selections will be displayed at an exhibition called Virtual Arcade, and the assembled lineup will be a strong one that includes innovative creators like Chris Milk as well as forward-thinking studios like Felix and Paul, Eko, and Wevr.
In total, 23 projects will be featured in the Virtual Arcade. Traditional film fans will recognize names like Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and David Gelb (Jiro Dreams of Sushi) among the list of Vr filmmakers who will have their work showcased at Tribeca.
Many of the other Virtual Arcade selections highlight major innovators in the Vr space. Milk, who helped a dedicated Vr app for Samsung, is involved in two projects at Tribeca, including Life of Us, which he co-created. Felix & Paul, which helped Barack Obama...
In total, 23 projects will be featured in the Virtual Arcade. Traditional film fans will recognize names like Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) and David Gelb (Jiro Dreams of Sushi) among the list of Vr filmmakers who will have their work showcased at Tribeca.
Many of the other Virtual Arcade selections highlight major innovators in the Vr space. Milk, who helped a dedicated Vr app for Samsung, is involved in two projects at Tribeca, including Life of Us, which he co-created. Felix & Paul, which helped Barack Obama...
- 3/3/2017
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
Born out of the idea of wanting to make a food program that wasn’t a competition or a travel show, filmmaker David Gelb was inspired to create Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the 2011 critically acclaimed documentary film about an 85-year-old sushi master. The success of that film eventually led to Chef’s Table, a docuseries on Netflix now in its third season (debuting online Feb. 17). The series is comprised of “biographical, cinematic films about chefs telling their own stories,” says Gelb, creator and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated show that has quickly fascinated audiences with its previously untold stories of the world’s top chefs and restaurants.
In its first two seasons -- plus a French-language offshoot, Chef’s Table: France -- the Netflix series has featured renowned and award-winning chefs Dan Barber, Gaggan Anand, Grant Achatz, Magnus Nilsson and Massimo Bottura while also shining a light on lesser known personalities, such as Ana...
In its first two seasons -- plus a French-language offshoot, Chef’s Table: France -- the Netflix series has featured renowned and award-winning chefs Dan Barber, Gaggan Anand, Grant Achatz, Magnus Nilsson and Massimo Bottura while also shining a light on lesser known personalities, such as Ana...
- 2/17/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
“All great food is soul food” could be the logline for this polished foodie flick from directors Jose Antonio Blanco and Angel Parra, which documents two world-famous chefs from the East and West to show how, deep down, they have a lot in common.
Taking us inside the kitchen of Eneko Atxa’s three-Michelin-star restaurant Azurmendi in northeastern Spain, and to the legendary Tokyo sushi joint run by 91-year-old Jiro Ono (already the subject of 2011’s Jiro Dreams of Sushi), the simply titled Soul does not break any new ground in the culinary genre and sometimes feels closer to a lavish...
Taking us inside the kitchen of Eneko Atxa’s three-Michelin-star restaurant Azurmendi in northeastern Spain, and to the legendary Tokyo sushi joint run by 91-year-old Jiro Ono (already the subject of 2011’s Jiro Dreams of Sushi), the simply titled Soul does not break any new ground in the culinary genre and sometimes feels closer to a lavish...
- 2/13/2017
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hulu is building out its film library through a new deal with Magnolia Pictures that will give it exclusive streaming rights to the distributor's movies after their theatrical run.
The deal grants Hulu the pay one window streaming rights to upcoming Magnolia films. It will bring new titles to Hulu in the second half of 2017.
Magnolia, known for Blackfish, Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Melancholia, currently lists James Baldwin documentary I Am Not Your Negro and Cezanne et Moi among its upcoming releases. Many of Magnolia's older titles, including Blackfish and Melancholia, are currently streaming on Netflix.
"As we...
The deal grants Hulu the pay one window streaming rights to upcoming Magnolia films. It will bring new titles to Hulu in the second half of 2017.
Magnolia, known for Blackfish, Jiro Dreams of Sushi and Melancholia, currently lists James Baldwin documentary I Am Not Your Negro and Cezanne et Moi among its upcoming releases. Many of Magnolia's older titles, including Blackfish and Melancholia, are currently streaming on Netflix.
"As we...
- 1/23/2017
- by Natalie Jarvey
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Virtual reality firm Within has released the first episode in a five-part original series titled “The Possible,” which provides viewers with a 360-degree perspective into some of the latest scientific and technological breakthroughs. The series, Within’s first attempt at producing original content, is available on Within’s app and watchable via a smartphone Vr setup like Samsung’s Gear Vr. Veteran filmmaker David Gelb, who helmed the documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” and created Emmy-nominated Netflix series “Chef’s Table,” is directing the series, which aims to bring Vr into a serialized format similar to a TV show and build a dedicated audience.
- 1/12/2017
- by Matt Pressberg
- The Wrap
The Tribeca Film Festival has hired producer and distribution executive Jeff Deutchman as its Programmer at Large, a new position. Deutchman will remain in Los Angeles, serving on the programming team led by Director of Programming Cara Cusumano, and will report to Tribeca Enterprises Executive Vice President Paula Weinstein, who oversees the festival. His first day in the position was November 17.
Deutchman was most recently Svp of acquisitions and productions at the now-defunct Alchemy, a position he left in March shortly before the company declared bankruptcy. He was previously Director of Acquisitions at Paramount Home Media, prior to which he worked in acquisitions for New York’s IFC Films for more than seven years.
Read More: How Film Festivals Decide Which Movies to Accept
“I love Los Angeles and I’m still enjoying my time here, so the combination of that and the fact that Tribeca saw it as an...
Deutchman was most recently Svp of acquisitions and productions at the now-defunct Alchemy, a position he left in March shortly before the company declared bankruptcy. He was previously Director of Acquisitions at Paramount Home Media, prior to which he worked in acquisitions for New York’s IFC Films for more than seven years.
Read More: How Film Festivals Decide Which Movies to Accept
“I love Los Angeles and I’m still enjoying my time here, so the combination of that and the fact that Tribeca saw it as an...
- 12/7/2016
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Made in 1985, but not released in the Us until 1987, Tampopo was perhaps the first real foodie movie. Before Babette’s Feast (1987), before Like Water for Chocolate (1992), before Big Night (1996), and long, long before Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011) and Chef (2014) there was Tampopo, a sexy comic western about ramen noodles which became an arthouse smash. Nearly thirty years later Janus Films is reviving Tampopo in a 4K restoration that opens today at New York’s Film Forum. The new poster for the film, in which various characters bob in a sea of noodles, is by a wonderful young Brooklyn-based illustrator Ping Zhu whose work may be familiar from the New Yorker and New York Times.The original Japanese poster was also illustrated and by none other than director Juzo Itami himself. Before he was an actor and director (he had been acting since 1960 but directed his first film, The Funeral, in...
- 11/11/2016
- MUBI
The Academy will announce its list of Oscar-eligible documentaries this week, a field that counted just 82 entries in 2005; last year, there were 124. And along with this growth comes a new attribute for the much-admired/often ignored genre: Power.
Under Sheila Nevins, HBO led the way in showing how documentaries could draw audiences with nonfiction programming that’s skillful, dynamic, and relevant. Under Lisa Nishimura, Netflix upped the ante with deep-pocketed algorithms that not only proved audiences craved this content (after all, documentaries are the original reality TV), but also guided exactly where those viewers could be found, and what they wanted to see. And while social justice has always been the bailiwick of documentary filmmakers, Diane Weyermann at Participant has given that niche the financing and clout it deserves.
While their business models differ, they’re all producing documentaries that might not otherwise exist, making them better and getting them seen.
Under Sheila Nevins, HBO led the way in showing how documentaries could draw audiences with nonfiction programming that’s skillful, dynamic, and relevant. Under Lisa Nishimura, Netflix upped the ante with deep-pocketed algorithms that not only proved audiences craved this content (after all, documentaries are the original reality TV), but also guided exactly where those viewers could be found, and what they wanted to see. And while social justice has always been the bailiwick of documentary filmmakers, Diane Weyermann at Participant has given that niche the financing and clout it deserves.
While their business models differ, they’re all producing documentaries that might not otherwise exist, making them better and getting them seen.
- 10/24/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
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