As Netflix’s library of films ebbs and flows, finding the right movie to watch can feel like bailing out an ocean with a spoon. And if you’re looking for a quality horror movie in particular, the search only gets harder. With the reality that Horror is one of the cheapest genres to produce, streamers like Netflix are cluttered with a veritable tsunami of bloody titles that sometimes seem indistinguishable from one another.
If you’re looking for a good horror movie to watch on Netflix that will truly scare you, picking a final selection can prove a more daunting task than sitting through yet another “Haunting of Hill House” rewatch; with or without its beloved “Bly Manor” chaser. But while the streamer’s priorities seem to shift as quickly as its content selection grows, Netflix’s horror library remains a high point — with original triumphs, including Guillermo del Toro...
If you’re looking for a good horror movie to watch on Netflix that will truly scare you, picking a final selection can prove a more daunting task than sitting through yet another “Haunting of Hill House” rewatch; with or without its beloved “Bly Manor” chaser. But while the streamer’s priorities seem to shift as quickly as its content selection grows, Netflix’s horror library remains a high point — with original triumphs, including Guillermo del Toro...
- 5/7/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Coming on the heels of his experimental assassin flick “Aggro Dr1ft”, which made extensive use of infrared technology, and the forming of his new production company/design collective Edglrd, Harmony Korine is adding to its output with a new music video from bladee and Yung Lean called “One Second”.
Featuring a constant bass-pumping beat and visuals that range from hi-def gaming sequences to classic fish-eye lens close-ups on bare bellies and disarming masks, “One Second” plays as a level-up on the kind of chaotic splendor Korine introduced with films like “Spring Breakers” and “Trash Humpers”. Korine is clearly a fan of bladee and Yung Lean, as exhibited by the DJ sets he performs with them at Miami’s Boiler Room Club. The club setting seems to be the perfect environment for Korine’s experimentation, as he recently screened “Aggro Dr1ft” in Los Angeles at a strip club for its first ever immersive experience.
Featuring a constant bass-pumping beat and visuals that range from hi-def gaming sequences to classic fish-eye lens close-ups on bare bellies and disarming masks, “One Second” plays as a level-up on the kind of chaotic splendor Korine introduced with films like “Spring Breakers” and “Trash Humpers”. Korine is clearly a fan of bladee and Yung Lean, as exhibited by the DJ sets he performs with them at Miami’s Boiler Room Club. The club setting seems to be the perfect environment for Korine’s experimentation, as he recently screened “Aggro Dr1ft” in Los Angeles at a strip club for its first ever immersive experience.
- 5/2/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
What would movies be about if not for love? Since well before the days of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in “Casablanca,” romance has driven countless classic stories, setting up some of the highest highs in cinematic history to follow. Be it Cary Grant and Grace Kelly seeing stars in “To Catch a Thief” or Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal disturbing diner patrons in “When Harry Met Sally,” the 20th century was chock full of iconic romances that helped humanity fall in love with the movies. Of course, those titles were dominated by white artists telling largely heteronormative tales — meaning many (but not all) of the best and most inclusive romances have arrived this millennium.
Now, the best romance movies of the 21st century both resonate and surprise, showing audiences characters they might recognize from their own lives in new and surprising ways. Yes, finding “the one” is exceedingly well-frequented thematic territory,...
Now, the best romance movies of the 21st century both resonate and surprise, showing audiences characters they might recognize from their own lives in new and surprising ways. Yes, finding “the one” is exceedingly well-frequented thematic territory,...
- 3/20/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
The musical sometimes feels like a relic of a long-dead Hollywood studio system, but it remains a genre that captures movies’ ability to create story worlds that move freely between reality and fantasy. The worst examples come from filmmakers who give license to music, color, and movement to run amok; the best transcend artifice and integrate songs that become expressions of pure character emotion. Musicals offer endless possibilities, but success demands a complete mastery of the medium.
The best movie musicals of all time have faced obstacles as varied as their creators’ styles and tastes. That’s in part because its integration of at least two art forms — music and film always, but sometimes also dance — demands an unusually high-caliber of multi-faceted talent from those attempting its complexities.
After Lee De Forest invented the “talky,” the opportunity oozing from that new tech prompted an industry rush on musicals in the last days of the 1920s.
The best movie musicals of all time have faced obstacles as varied as their creators’ styles and tastes. That’s in part because its integration of at least two art forms — music and film always, but sometimes also dance — demands an unusually high-caliber of multi-faceted talent from those attempting its complexities.
After Lee De Forest invented the “talky,” the opportunity oozing from that new tech prompted an industry rush on musicals in the last days of the 1920s.
- 3/20/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
[Editor’s note: this list was originally published in December 2017. It has since been updated with new entries.]
The 21st Century is only two decades old, but its first batch of Best Picture winners already paints an extraordinary portrait of a world in flux. From historical epics to intimate digital indies, from a musical that riffs on showbiz standards to period drama that reflects on present crises, from a sparse modern western to an overstimulating multiverse martial arts story, these 24 films range from “problematic” to “perfect” and hit all points in between. More than that, they illustrate Hollywood’s evolving definition of greatness and the relationship between the film industry and the times that forge it.
Here are the 24 Best Picture winners of the 21st century, ranked from worst to best.
With editorial contributions from David Ehrlich and Eric Kohn.
24. “Crash” “Crash” ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection
“Brokeback Mountain” deserved better, but the Academy didn’t know it. Paul Haggis’ painfully obvious ensemble drama about racial prejudices in Los Angeles was a smug,...
The 21st Century is only two decades old, but its first batch of Best Picture winners already paints an extraordinary portrait of a world in flux. From historical epics to intimate digital indies, from a musical that riffs on showbiz standards to period drama that reflects on present crises, from a sparse modern western to an overstimulating multiverse martial arts story, these 24 films range from “problematic” to “perfect” and hit all points in between. More than that, they illustrate Hollywood’s evolving definition of greatness and the relationship between the film industry and the times that forge it.
Here are the 24 Best Picture winners of the 21st century, ranked from worst to best.
With editorial contributions from David Ehrlich and Eric Kohn.
24. “Crash” “Crash” ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection
“Brokeback Mountain” deserved better, but the Academy didn’t know it. Paul Haggis’ painfully obvious ensemble drama about racial prejudices in Los Angeles was a smug,...
- 3/11/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
There’s something uniquely cinematic about romantic comedies — something that makes them a natural fit for the movies and vice-versa. There’s an intoxicating alchemy that allows us to believe in the magic of meet-cutes, happily-ever-afters, and all the agonizing contrivances that tend to pop up between the two. Love it seems gives storytellers permission to transpose the stuff of operas and fables into the fabric of real (or at least overly glossed but still recognizable) life.
On paper, a film like “Pretty Woman” might be a retrograde fairy tale about a sex worker with a heart of gold and the rich businessman who can afford it, but the chemistry between Julia Roberts and Richard Gere is so explosive that you surrender to the sentiment of it all. Literally nothing in Richard Curtis’ “Love Actually” makes sense if you stop and think about it for even a few seconds. The...
On paper, a film like “Pretty Woman” might be a retrograde fairy tale about a sex worker with a heart of gold and the rich businessman who can afford it, but the chemistry between Julia Roberts and Richard Gere is so explosive that you surrender to the sentiment of it all. Literally nothing in Richard Curtis’ “Love Actually” makes sense if you stop and think about it for even a few seconds. The...
- 2/14/2024
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
If you happened to be hanging around the Crazy Girls gentleman’s club in Los Angeles as Wednesday night turned into Thursday morning, the familiar haze of blunt smoke and neon might have lulled you into a false sense that this was a typical night of debauchery. Dollar bills covered the floor while laser lights flashed and scantily clad women twerked. The crowd of increasingly intoxicated men yelled “I Think You Should Leave” quotes and OutKast lyrics at the top of their lungs. The only thing separating it from your average bout of Wednesday night horniness was the fact that virtually no one was looking at the strippers. Despite the endless opportunities to gaze at beautiful women, all the boys’ eyes were on Harmony Korine.
Flanked by an entourage wearing the horned demon masks that have become his trademark in recent months — as well as two women in ghost makeup,...
Flanked by an entourage wearing the horned demon masks that have become his trademark in recent months — as well as two women in ghost makeup,...
- 2/8/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Rapper Travis Scott recently teamed up with the entertainment company A24 and director Harmony Korine (Kids) on two different projects. One was Circus Maximus, a companion piece to Scott’s album Utopia that reached theatres the day before Utopia was released. The other is the “action-oriented feature” Aggro Dr1ft, which was shot entirely in infrared and has been making the festival rounds. JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray wasn’t very impressed with Aggro Dr1ft after catching one of its festival screenings, giving it a 5/10 review that can be read Here. Next up is a February 7th screening at a strip club in Los Angeles called Crazy Girls (tickets are available at This Link), and in anticipation of that screening a trailer for the film has arrived online. You can check it out in the embed above.
Aggro Dr1ft has the following logline: Breaking away from the traditional parameters of cinema,...
Aggro Dr1ft has the following logline: Breaking away from the traditional parameters of cinema,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
January is a transitional time for film, with focus shifting to the Oscars just as new offerings in theaters enter an annual dreaded slump. It’s also, paradoxically, one of the best months for new movies — if you’re lucky enough to head to Park City, Utah for Sundance Film Festival.
The single biggest film festival in the country, with almost 50,000 attendees each year, Sundance Film Festival was founded back in 1978 as the Utah/US Film Festival, before rebranding in 1984 to its current name. Operated by the Sundance Institute, the annual fest hosts hundreds of films each year, showcasing the brightest in independent filmmaking, along with a variety of foreign, documentary, and midnight films. Over the years the festival has hosted some of the most beloved indie films ever, and helped launch the careers of major filmmakers like the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Damien Chazelle, Ava DuVernay, and many, many more.
The single biggest film festival in the country, with almost 50,000 attendees each year, Sundance Film Festival was founded back in 1978 as the Utah/US Film Festival, before rebranding in 1984 to its current name. Operated by the Sundance Institute, the annual fest hosts hundreds of films each year, showcasing the brightest in independent filmmaking, along with a variety of foreign, documentary, and midnight films. Over the years the festival has hosted some of the most beloved indie films ever, and helped launch the careers of major filmmakers like the Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Damien Chazelle, Ava DuVernay, and many, many more.
- 1/23/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDry Leaf.On Criterion’s Daily, David Hudson has shared a useful roundup of films that might be expected to premiere during 2024. Among the inclusions are: Mickey 17, Bong Joon-ho’s first film since Parasite (2019); It’s Not Me, Leos Carax’s latest collaboration with Denis Lavant; and Dry Leaf, the enticing-sounding new film by Alexandre Koberidze (What Do We See When We Look at the Sky? [2021]), which is said to be about “a photographer who shoots soccer stadiums [who] goes missing.”A list of international filmmakers including Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pedro Costa, Radu Jude, Ira Sachs, Claire Denis, and Abderrahmane Sissako have signed a letter, published during the holiday season in the French newspaper Libération, demanding (as translated by the Film Stage) “an immediate end to the bombings on Gaza,...
- 1/10/2024
- MUBI
RoboCop and Total Recall director Paul Verhoeven says he’d make another sci-fi film in the vein of those classics if it were offered. “I haven’t seen it,” he said.
RoboCop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers, released in 1987, 1990 and 1997 respectively, are among the greatest sci-fi films ever made. Darkly, violently satirical and loaded with sly humour, they carry all the manic energy of the director behind them – Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven.
By the millennium, however, the independent studio system that gave Verhoeven the latitude to make those films had gone, and 2000’s Hollow Man – an invisible Kevin Bacon thriller even Verhoeven admitted he was disappointed with – marked the end of his movie-making period in America. After that, Verhoeven made smaller-scale but no less edgy films like Black Book, Elle and the saucy nun drama, Benedetta.
In a new interview with Metrograph's Eric Kohn (as picked up by IndieWire), Verhoeven...
RoboCop, Total Recall and Starship Troopers, released in 1987, 1990 and 1997 respectively, are among the greatest sci-fi films ever made. Darkly, violently satirical and loaded with sly humour, they carry all the manic energy of the director behind them – Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven.
By the millennium, however, the independent studio system that gave Verhoeven the latitude to make those films had gone, and 2000’s Hollow Man – an invisible Kevin Bacon thriller even Verhoeven admitted he was disappointed with – marked the end of his movie-making period in America. After that, Verhoeven made smaller-scale but no less edgy films like Black Book, Elle and the saucy nun drama, Benedetta.
In a new interview with Metrograph's Eric Kohn (as picked up by IndieWire), Verhoeven...
- 1/8/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
Films are stunning artifacts of humanity’s singular ability to dream and wonder in unison. But if the moviemaking miracles produced by Hollywood’s studio system are predestined — recycled IP inevitabilities that cost as much money as there are stars in the sky — indies are something greater.
Indie filmmaking is notoriously hard to define; combine the constantly shifting number known as “low budget” and another shifty goalpost, “independent,” and we’re partly there. Here’s another definition: It feels as if it’s willed into existence, both in the final story on screen and in the behind-the-scenes journey that explains how an auteur’s story got there. It was created because it had to be, rendered by talented and undaunted auteurs, through powerful visions and innovative commitment to craft. And finally, it’s introduced to equally ambitious audiences.
It’s in our name: IndieWire was founded in 1996 as an outlet...
Indie filmmaking is notoriously hard to define; combine the constantly shifting number known as “low budget” and another shifty goalpost, “independent,” and we’re partly there. Here’s another definition: It feels as if it’s willed into existence, both in the final story on screen and in the behind-the-scenes journey that explains how an auteur’s story got there. It was created because it had to be, rendered by talented and undaunted auteurs, through powerful visions and innovative commitment to craft. And finally, it’s introduced to equally ambitious audiences.
It’s in our name: IndieWire was founded in 1996 as an outlet...
- 1/3/2024
- by Alison Foreman and Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Updated: Just hours after this article was first posted, MGM+ announced it had acquired Alex Gibney’s “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon” and will air as a two-part docuseries on March 17 and March 24, 2024 at 9 p.m. Edt/Pdt.
It’s not too late to pick up a thoughtful gift for the people in your life, and that includes film distributors. While much of Hollywood is shutting down in advance of the holidays, plenty of cinema-loving elves are still toiling away in hopes of seeing their (very deserving) films land underneath the metaphorical tree.
And there are plenty of gifts to share, because even as the distribution landscape continues to shift and shape with startling regularity, some of the year’s most interesting and unique cinematic efforts are still looking for a home. In fact, we’ve got 18 of them wrapped and ready to go.
This holiday season,...
It’s not too late to pick up a thoughtful gift for the people in your life, and that includes film distributors. While much of Hollywood is shutting down in advance of the holidays, plenty of cinema-loving elves are still toiling away in hopes of seeing their (very deserving) films land underneath the metaphorical tree.
And there are plenty of gifts to share, because even as the distribution landscape continues to shift and shape with startling regularity, some of the year’s most interesting and unique cinematic efforts are still looking for a home. In fact, we’ve got 18 of them wrapped and ready to go.
This holiday season,...
- 12/6/2023
- by Kate Erbland and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
“One more time: animation is a medium, not a genre. Animation is film,” Guillermo del Toro said last year. IndieWire couldn’t agree more, and yet animation — an art form that requires the most precise control of the cinematic medium — is continually disrespected.
Infamously, 2022’s Best Animated Oscars presentation featured several jokes about the nominees that, in the words of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, framed “the five Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature as a corporate product for kids that parents must begrudgingly endure.” The directing duo called upon the Academy to do better by animation. And this year’s ceremony largely delivered, with less jokes that belittled animation as kiddy stuff and a sterling speech from del Toro himself for his acclaimed stop-motion feature adaptation of “Pinocchio.”
Pixar and Studio Ghibli tend to spring to mind first when discussing great animation, but there’s a world beyond those two giants.
Infamously, 2022’s Best Animated Oscars presentation featured several jokes about the nominees that, in the words of Phil Lord and Chris Miller, framed “the five Academy Award nominees for Best Animated Feature as a corporate product for kids that parents must begrudgingly endure.” The directing duo called upon the Academy to do better by animation. And this year’s ceremony largely delivered, with less jokes that belittled animation as kiddy stuff and a sterling speech from del Toro himself for his acclaimed stop-motion feature adaptation of “Pinocchio.”
Pixar and Studio Ghibli tend to spring to mind first when discussing great animation, but there’s a world beyond those two giants.
- 11/23/2023
- by Bill Desowitz and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Doug Jones, an independent film programmer with almost three decades of experience in film exhibition, contributed to the development of film culture across the U.S., and a former contributor to IndieWire, died November 2.
The news was announced on Instagram by Vidiots, the Los Angeles non-profit video store and cinema where Jones had worked as a buyer and programmer since May. On November 3, the video store announced that its screenings would be canceled through November 5, due to losing “a dear member” of its team. On November 4, it paid tribute directly to Jones.
“It breaks our heart to share that we have lost the great and wonderful Doug Jones, a beloved and indispensable member of the Vidiots family and a cornerstone of the global film programming community,” reads that statement posted on Vidiots’ Instagram account. “Doug is forever loved by his beautiful son and family, and an enormous network of devoted friends and colleagues.
The news was announced on Instagram by Vidiots, the Los Angeles non-profit video store and cinema where Jones had worked as a buyer and programmer since May. On November 3, the video store announced that its screenings would be canceled through November 5, due to losing “a dear member” of its team. On November 4, it paid tribute directly to Jones.
“It breaks our heart to share that we have lost the great and wonderful Doug Jones, a beloved and indispensable member of the Vidiots family and a cornerstone of the global film programming community,” reads that statement posted on Vidiots’ Instagram account. “Doug is forever loved by his beautiful son and family, and an enormous network of devoted friends and colleagues.
- 11/5/2023
- by Dana Harris-Bridson and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
IndieWire proudly announces that Deputy Managing Editor Ryan Lattanzio will join Editor-at-Large Anne Thompson as co-host of our long-running, popular weekly podcast series, “Screen Talk.” Launched in 2014, “Screen Talk” is a weekly dive behind the scenes of the latest industry news while debating and discussing new film and television releases. Thompson previously co-hosted “Screen Talk” with Eric Kohn, who joined filmmaker Harmony Korine’s multidisciplinary design collective Edglrd earlier this fall.
“It’s been a lot of fun to see Ryan grow his career and his voice at IndieWire,” said IndieWire Editor-in-Chief Dana Harris-Bridson. “I’m looking forward to hearing what he brings to ‘Screen Talk’ and his longtime partnership with Anne.”
“I’m thrilled to take the reins of co-hosting ‘Screen Talk’ alongside Anne, my friend and mentor of many years,” Lattanzio said. “Eric shaped such a great legacy for the podcast with his sharp week-by-week analyses and insights.
“It’s been a lot of fun to see Ryan grow his career and his voice at IndieWire,” said IndieWire Editor-in-Chief Dana Harris-Bridson. “I’m looking forward to hearing what he brings to ‘Screen Talk’ and his longtime partnership with Anne.”
“I’m thrilled to take the reins of co-hosting ‘Screen Talk’ alongside Anne, my friend and mentor of many years,” Lattanzio said. “Eric shaped such a great legacy for the podcast with his sharp week-by-week analyses and insights.
- 10/11/2023
- by IndieWire Staff
- Indiewire
Like witches, vampires, and zombies, ghosts can be scary as hell. But there is something about the stories of lingering dead spirits that can be both awe-inspiring and spooky at once. The often invisible presence of ghosts allows filmmakers to explore the unsettling aspects of character psychology through the use of sound and space. Some of the best ghost stories aren’t scary at all; instead, they liberate directors from the restrictions of space and time to mine spiritual and existential depths. It’s a genre that has attracted some of the medium’s greatest artists to create some of their finest work.
One of the great aspects of ghost stories are their ambiguity, how their presence reflects more on the humans who see them then the spectral beings themselves. Maybe the great, definitive ghost story in the literary world is Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw,” his 1898 novella...
One of the great aspects of ghost stories are their ambiguity, how their presence reflects more on the humans who see them then the spectral beings themselves. Maybe the great, definitive ghost story in the literary world is Henry James’ “The Turn of the Screw,” his 1898 novella...
- 9/30/2023
- by David Ehrlich, Alison Foreman and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Ghosts are ubiquitous and zombies have had their moments of dominance, but of all the classic horror monsters, vampires have the strongest claim for the greatest film legacy. The vampire genre is nearly as old as cinema itself, with F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu” scaring up audiences in 1922, followed by the countless iterations that came in its shadow. Every era and every filmmaking country has since taken up its own spins on the myth of the vampire, from Universal Studios’ “Dracula” series beginning with Tod Browning’s Bram Stoker adaptation in 1931, all the way up to Iranian-American director Ana Lily Amirpour’s indie feminist twist “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” in 2014.
2023 though, has not exactly been a banner year for brilliant takes on the horror genre’s most iconic creatures of the night. Sure, there have been plenty of movies starring vampires; it’s just that most of them haven’t been very good.
2023 though, has not exactly been a banner year for brilliant takes on the horror genre’s most iconic creatures of the night. Sure, there have been plenty of movies starring vampires; it’s just that most of them haven’t been very good.
- 9/20/2023
- by Alison Foreman and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
The third “Trolls” film is finally getting the band back together — Justin Timberlake’s former boy band, *Nsync, that is.
The latest trailer for “Trolls Band Together” features a preview of “Better Place” from *Nsync, the group’s first song in 20 years. The full track releases September 29 via RCA Records ahead of the film hitting theaters this November.
While Timberlake’s fellow *Nsync members have since gone on to their own film and TV careers, including most recently Joey Fatone’s hilarious turn in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” “Trolls Band Together,” well, gets the full band back together with members Timberlake, Fatone, Lance Bass, Jc Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick. *Nsync recently appeared together at the MTV VMAs to present the first award of the ceremony. Now, it’s clear the beloved ’90s group is back in a big way.
The official synopsis for “Trolls Band Together” reads: After...
The latest trailer for “Trolls Band Together” features a preview of “Better Place” from *Nsync, the group’s first song in 20 years. The full track releases September 29 via RCA Records ahead of the film hitting theaters this November.
While Timberlake’s fellow *Nsync members have since gone on to their own film and TV careers, including most recently Joey Fatone’s hilarious turn in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3,” “Trolls Band Together,” well, gets the full band back together with members Timberlake, Fatone, Lance Bass, Jc Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick. *Nsync recently appeared together at the MTV VMAs to present the first award of the ceremony. Now, it’s clear the beloved ’90s group is back in a big way.
The official synopsis for “Trolls Band Together” reads: After...
- 9/14/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Harmony Korine has been openly bored with movies as we know them since the first time that he directed one. Real ’90s kids remember when he went on “Late Show with David Letterman” to promote “Gummo,” and insisted to the befuddled host that “things need to change. We can make films differently.” Korine may not have been wrong on either score back in 1997, but he’s a hell of a lot more right today. We live in a time when Hollywood offerings have become more stale than ever, and traditional cinema is beset on all sides by new technologies, novel coronaviruses, and — in Korine’s case — even some of the same artists who’ve helped to push the medium forward over the last several decades.
And, in theory, there’s nothing wrong with that. The movies wouldn’t exist if not for the 19th century visionaries who recognized that photography...
And, in theory, there’s nothing wrong with that. The movies wouldn’t exist if not for the 19th century visionaries who recognized that photography...
- 9/2/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Harmony Korine has said he embraced AI technology for the making of his new experimental film Aggro Dr1ft which world premieres Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
“I think it’s a tool… I don’t necessarily think it’s an existential crisis. I think if you’re looking at it as a creative tool, it’s very exciting,” he told the press conference.
“We really saw it almost like the frosting on the cake. It’s just another layer. It’s another paintbrush. It’s another colour. It’s another way to integrate imagery and sounds and to kind of play with the form.”
Set against the backdrop of Miami’s criminal underbelly and revolving around a veteran hitman, the multi-layered film has been shot entirely through a thermal lens and has been likened to a video game by Korine rather than a traditional movie.
“I think it’s a tool… I don’t necessarily think it’s an existential crisis. I think if you’re looking at it as a creative tool, it’s very exciting,” he told the press conference.
“We really saw it almost like the frosting on the cake. It’s just another layer. It’s another paintbrush. It’s another colour. It’s another way to integrate imagery and sounds and to kind of play with the form.”
Set against the backdrop of Miami’s criminal underbelly and revolving around a veteran hitman, the multi-layered film has been shot entirely through a thermal lens and has been likened to a video game by Korine rather than a traditional movie.
- 9/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
“Everyone is kind of based in this film,” offered Harmony Korine. “They’re all just… based.”
The form-shattering filmmaker and visual artist behind works like Kids and Spring Breakers is at the Venice Film Festival — where his directorial debut Gummo premiered back in 1997 — to unveil Aggro Dr1ft, his experimental new feature, shot entirely in infrared, about a tormented assassin (Jordi Mollà, Korine’s Miami neighbor) on a trippy journey to kill a wicked crime lord. Rapper Travis Scott pops up as a fellow killer onboard a yacht.
Aggro Dr1ft...
The form-shattering filmmaker and visual artist behind works like Kids and Spring Breakers is at the Venice Film Festival — where his directorial debut Gummo premiered back in 1997 — to unveil Aggro Dr1ft, his experimental new feature, shot entirely in infrared, about a tormented assassin (Jordi Mollà, Korine’s Miami neighbor) on a trippy journey to kill a wicked crime lord. Rapper Travis Scott pops up as a fellow killer onboard a yacht.
Aggro Dr1ft...
- 9/2/2023
- by Marlow Stern
- Rollingstone.com
Harmony Korine arrived at the Venice Film Festival press conference for his latest film, “Aggro Dr1ft,” wearing a devilish mask inspired by the movie with a cigar in hand.
Korine was joined by “Aggro Dr1ft” visual effects artist Joao Rosa and Eric Kohn, the newly announced head of film strategy and development at his company Edglrd. All three sported horned masks with bee-like eyes — Korine’s was yellow while Rosa wore a white mask and Kohn donned a black one. Throughout the conference, Korine mimed taking puffs of his cigar.
“We’re wearing the masks because they’re comfortable,” Korine joked. “It’s giving me a scalp massage.”
In addition to discussing “Aggro Dr1ft” — an experimental action film shot entirely in infrared photography that stars Jordi Mollà and rapper Travis Scott as deadly assassins — Korine also elaborated on his goals for Edglrd, which focuses not only on film but also tech and design.
Korine was joined by “Aggro Dr1ft” visual effects artist Joao Rosa and Eric Kohn, the newly announced head of film strategy and development at his company Edglrd. All three sported horned masks with bee-like eyes — Korine’s was yellow while Rosa wore a white mask and Kohn donned a black one. Throughout the conference, Korine mimed taking puffs of his cigar.
“We’re wearing the masks because they’re comfortable,” Korine joked. “It’s giving me a scalp massage.”
In addition to discussing “Aggro Dr1ft” — an experimental action film shot entirely in infrared photography that stars Jordi Mollà and rapper Travis Scott as deadly assassins — Korine also elaborated on his goals for Edglrd, which focuses not only on film but also tech and design.
- 9/2/2023
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Eric Kohn is leaving Indiewire after nearly 17 years for a new gig.
Beginning August 30, the veteran journalist, film critic and columnist will be joining Harmony Korine’s Edglrd. As the Head of Film Strategy and Development, Kohn will help the filmmaker develop films from emerging and established artists for the multidisciplinary design collective.
Most recently named VP, Editorial Strategy and Executive Editor at IndieWire, Kohn began his IndieWire career as a critic focusing on reviews straight out of film festivals.
“I’m really excited to be working with Eric Kohn. He has great insight and adventurous tastes. I can’t wait to see the projects he develops at Edglrd. We are very happy to have him here with us. He also runs marathons, which I find equally impressive,” said Harmony Korine.
As previously reported in TheWrap, Korine spoke to GQ about how he saw the future as movies that can be experienced like video games.
Beginning August 30, the veteran journalist, film critic and columnist will be joining Harmony Korine’s Edglrd. As the Head of Film Strategy and Development, Kohn will help the filmmaker develop films from emerging and established artists for the multidisciplinary design collective.
Most recently named VP, Editorial Strategy and Executive Editor at IndieWire, Kohn began his IndieWire career as a critic focusing on reviews straight out of film festivals.
“I’m really excited to be working with Eric Kohn. He has great insight and adventurous tastes. I can’t wait to see the projects he develops at Edglrd. We are very happy to have him here with us. He also runs marathons, which I find equally impressive,” said Harmony Korine.
As previously reported in TheWrap, Korine spoke to GQ about how he saw the future as movies that can be experienced like video games.
- 8/30/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Edglrd, the new multidisciplinary design collective founded by filmmaker and artist Harmony Korine, has named Eric Kohn as Head of Strategy and Development, Film. Kohn comes to Edglrd from his position as VP Editorial Strategy and Executive Editor at IndieWire, where he has worked for more than 16 years. Kohn will officially assume the role August 30.
Kohn joins Edglrd’s assembly of global creatives as they work to develop new methods that hasten the
creation and distribution of art and media. This fall, Edglrd will open Korine’s newest film, Aggro Dr1ft, which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 3 before screening at the Toronto and New York film festivals along with other key international stops. Additionally, the studio has plans to release original films, design objects, games and fashion lines that showcase the breadth of the collective’s practice.
“I’m really excited to be working with Eric Kohn.
Kohn joins Edglrd’s assembly of global creatives as they work to develop new methods that hasten the
creation and distribution of art and media. This fall, Edglrd will open Korine’s newest film, Aggro Dr1ft, which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival on September 3 before screening at the Toronto and New York film festivals along with other key international stops. Additionally, the studio has plans to release original films, design objects, games and fashion lines that showcase the breadth of the collective’s practice.
“I’m really excited to be working with Eric Kohn.
- 8/30/2023
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
After almost 17 years on staff at IndieWire as writer, reporter, one-time chief critic, and columnist, Eric Kohn is leaving to join Edglrd, the new multidisciplinary design collective founded by filmmaker and artist Harmony Korine, as Head of Film Strategy and Development. In the new job, which begins August 30, Kohn will focus on developing new films from emerging and established talent for the experimental creative studio.
Kohn will be sorely missed. A respected journalist who made an impact on film culture, Kohn shared an expansive enthusiasm for movies, independent cinema, and the future of emerging entertainment technology. Most recently named VP, Editorial Strategy and Executive Editor at IndieWire, Kohn started his IndieWire career as a sofa-hopping freelance critic delivering reviews at festivals like Sundance and Cannes.
Kohn said he was inspired by meeting indie heroes such as Bingham Ray. “He was compelled not just by the business but by a passion for the medium itself,...
Kohn will be sorely missed. A respected journalist who made an impact on film culture, Kohn shared an expansive enthusiasm for movies, independent cinema, and the future of emerging entertainment technology. Most recently named VP, Editorial Strategy and Executive Editor at IndieWire, Kohn started his IndieWire career as a sofa-hopping freelance critic delivering reviews at festivals like Sundance and Cannes.
Kohn said he was inspired by meeting indie heroes such as Bingham Ray. “He was compelled not just by the business but by a passion for the medium itself,...
- 8/30/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
When you’re putting together a list of the biggest taboos in Western culture, death itself might not make the cut. But it should: North Americans and Europeans are chronically averse to facing death. Too many of us quietly believe if we follow the right workout regimen, eat enough kale, and take the right expensive supplements we may just live forever. It’s a predictable belief for our youth-obsessed culture. So the intrigue of zombie movies is that this genre forces us to confront death face-to-face. Or rather, death confronts us, looking to scoop out our brains and have us join its ranks.
Sometimes, zombies can bear larger metaphors on their disintegrating shoulders — for our increasingly wired yet increasingly isolated post-internet world, say, as in “Shaun of the Dead.” But sometimes zombies are just zombies: walking corpses who shuffle around and remind us that, even if we’re never somehow reanimated,...
Sometimes, zombies can bear larger metaphors on their disintegrating shoulders — for our increasingly wired yet increasingly isolated post-internet world, say, as in “Shaun of the Dead.” But sometimes zombies are just zombies: walking corpses who shuffle around and remind us that, even if we’re never somehow reanimated,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Editor’s Note: This story was originally posted on July 23, 2017, and has been updated multiple times since.
Few cinematic moments can burn themselves into an audience’s psyche better than a good sex scene. They can shock, arouse, or simply capture human beauty in ways that cinema is uniquely positioned to do. Sex scenes don’t have to define the movies they appear in, but they’re often the parts you remember the most.
The nature of sex scenes are constantly evolving, as the prevalence of intimacy coordinators and increased concern for performers’ safety in Hollywood is hopefully making regrettable sex scenes a thing of the past. That has allowed sexy cinema to flourish, with plenty of tantalizing movies hitting the multiplex in recent years. With that in mind, it felt like the right time to compile some of the best additions to the sexy film canon.
Our list of...
Few cinematic moments can burn themselves into an audience’s psyche better than a good sex scene. They can shock, arouse, or simply capture human beauty in ways that cinema is uniquely positioned to do. Sex scenes don’t have to define the movies they appear in, but they’re often the parts you remember the most.
The nature of sex scenes are constantly evolving, as the prevalence of intimacy coordinators and increased concern for performers’ safety in Hollywood is hopefully making regrettable sex scenes a thing of the past. That has allowed sexy cinema to flourish, with plenty of tantalizing movies hitting the multiplex in recent years. With that in mind, it felt like the right time to compile some of the best additions to the sexy film canon.
Our list of...
- 8/17/2023
- by Christian Zilko, Samantha Bergeson and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Whether or not you agree with Quentin Tarantino’s unsparing assertion that “’80s cinema is, along with the ’50s, the worst era in Hollywood history,” there’s a curiously undeniable truth to his follow-up statement: “Matched only by now! Matched only by the current era.” Revisiting the defining movies of the ’80s from our current perspective at the height of Barbenheimer summer, two things become abundantly clear.
The first is that modern Hollywood would probably need a Barbenheimer every month in order to equal the creative output of a studio system that used to be capable of releasing “Blade Runner” and “The Thing” on the same night as if it were just another Friday. The second is that, in a wide variety of different ways both negative and not, the ’80s provide a perfect match for the movies of our current moment — if not the current moment itself.
Perhaps that...
The first is that modern Hollywood would probably need a Barbenheimer every month in order to equal the creative output of a studio system that used to be capable of releasing “Blade Runner” and “The Thing” on the same night as if it were just another Friday. The second is that, in a wide variety of different ways both negative and not, the ’80s provide a perfect match for the movies of our current moment — if not the current moment itself.
Perhaps that...
- 8/14/2023
- by IndieWire Staff
- Indiewire
It goes without saying that movie music has come a mighty long way in the last 100 years or so, but the first two decades of the 21st century have nevertheless been an extraordinarily active and evolutionary stretch of time for film scores. Without discounting the bold and formative achievements of old masters like Bernard Hermann and Toru Takemitsu, it’s fair to say that the rise of independent cinema and the challenge of the digital age have provoked a true paradigm shift in how we think about musical accompaniment.
Rock and avant-garde musicians like Jonny Greenwood and Mica Levi have used narrative projects as inspiration to explore new facets of their genius, while more traditional composers such as Alexandre Desplat and Carter Burwell have risen to the challenge by delivering the most beautiful work of their careers. Indeed, some of the very best movie scores in recent memory (including the...
Rock and avant-garde musicians like Jonny Greenwood and Mica Levi have used narrative projects as inspiration to explore new facets of their genius, while more traditional composers such as Alexandre Desplat and Carter Burwell have risen to the challenge by delivering the most beautiful work of their careers. Indeed, some of the very best movie scores in recent memory (including the...
- 8/10/2023
- by Wilson Chapman, David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland and Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
In this time of geekery and craft reigning supreme, film critics and academics no longer reject horror movies with the knee-jerk certainty some once did. But even now the specter of “elevated horror” (see that concept’s lambasting in Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s “Scream 5”) looms over discussions of artier explorations of dread and terror — Ari Aster’s “Midsommar,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” Rose Glass’ “Saint Maud” — that are clearly distinguished from, well, non-elevated horror. The general gist is that these exceptions to the “horror is bad” rule engage your brain more than just showing brains: eaten by zombies or splattered against the wall.
How can films that fire your adrenal glands, send shivers down your spine, raise goosebumps, and quicken your breath — that inspire such an intense physical reaction — also be cerebral experiences? The answer is obvious enough. Viewers forget all the time that, as Anna Karina...
How can films that fire your adrenal glands, send shivers down your spine, raise goosebumps, and quicken your breath — that inspire such an intense physical reaction — also be cerebral experiences? The answer is obvious enough. Viewers forget all the time that, as Anna Karina...
- 8/10/2023
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
HollyShorts Film Festival, the Oscar-qualifying celebration of short films, has announced the jury lineup for its 2023 edition.
The 18-person jury includes Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”), Sam Worthington (“Avatar”), Zoey Deutch (“Not Okay”), Alexandra Shipp (“Barbie”), Josh Whitehouse (“Daisy Jones & the Six”), Christina Chong (“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”), Nelu Handa (“Run the Burbs” showrunner) and Jaime Ray Newman (“Skin”). Variety international correspondent K.J. Yossman and Eric Kohn, executive editor and chief critic of IndieWire, will also serve on the jury.
Other industry professionals on the jury include Tom Berkeley and Ross White, whose film “An Irish Goodbye” won last year’s Oscar for best live-action short film; Aneil Kara, whose film “The Long Goodbye” won the Oscar in 2022; as well as short film Oscar nominees Pamela Ribon (“My Year of Dicks”) and Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby (“The Flying Sailor”). Two-time Oscar winner Joanna Quinn (“Affairs of...
The 18-person jury includes Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”), Sam Worthington (“Avatar”), Zoey Deutch (“Not Okay”), Alexandra Shipp (“Barbie”), Josh Whitehouse (“Daisy Jones & the Six”), Christina Chong (“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”), Nelu Handa (“Run the Burbs” showrunner) and Jaime Ray Newman (“Skin”). Variety international correspondent K.J. Yossman and Eric Kohn, executive editor and chief critic of IndieWire, will also serve on the jury.
Other industry professionals on the jury include Tom Berkeley and Ross White, whose film “An Irish Goodbye” won last year’s Oscar for best live-action short film; Aneil Kara, whose film “The Long Goodbye” won the Oscar in 2022; as well as short film Oscar nominees Pamela Ribon (“My Year of Dicks”) and Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby (“The Flying Sailor”). Two-time Oscar winner Joanna Quinn (“Affairs of...
- 8/2/2023
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Queer movies and TV shows are all well and good, but arguably even more important is the existence of great LGBTQ documentaries. Fiction can help provide great representation and tell moving queer stories, but documentary does something else entirely: it preserves entire communities’ stories as snapshots in humanity’s kaleidoscopic history.
Documentary filmmaking has (almost) always been a relative safe haven for LGBTQ cinema, particularly smaller, experimental docs created by independent filmmakers. For years, mainstream films largely sanitized and ignored the LGBTQ community — but the documentary format allowed queer people to capture the truths of their lives that went otherwise undepicted. Great LGBTQ documentaries stretch back as far as 1967, with “Portrait of Jason”: a fascinating profile of a gay nightclub performer. Other early greats provided the first mainstream depictions of vibrant gay subcultures, like 1991 ballroom doc “Paris Is Burning” or 1967’s drag film “The Queen.” And still others provided...
Documentary filmmaking has (almost) always been a relative safe haven for LGBTQ cinema, particularly smaller, experimental docs created by independent filmmakers. For years, mainstream films largely sanitized and ignored the LGBTQ community — but the documentary format allowed queer people to capture the truths of their lives that went otherwise undepicted. Great LGBTQ documentaries stretch back as far as 1967, with “Portrait of Jason”: a fascinating profile of a gay nightclub performer. Other early greats provided the first mainstream depictions of vibrant gay subcultures, like 1991 ballroom doc “Paris Is Burning” or 1967’s drag film “The Queen.” And still others provided...
- 7/27/2023
- by Wilson Chapman and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” stars Cillian Murphy as the famed scientist whose Manhattan Project gave us the nuclear bomb. The movie both follows Oppenheimer’s successful 1945 Trinity Test and its fallout, when the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki left him stricken with guilt and determined to do something about it. Nolan’s filmmaking gets inside his subject’s head and his fears of nuclear annhiliation. The filmmaker has said that he wishes more people were aware of that danger today — but does his movie occupy that same perspective? IndieWire’s David Ehrlich and Eric Kohn traded some thoughts on the matter, with a little extra perspective on Barbenheimer for good measure.
Warning: There are a few spoilers in this conversation.
Eric Kohn: J. Robert Oppenheimer built the most powerful weapon in human history and, after it decimated thousands of lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, spent the rest of his life condemning its use.
Warning: There are a few spoilers in this conversation.
Eric Kohn: J. Robert Oppenheimer built the most powerful weapon in human history and, after it decimated thousands of lives in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, spent the rest of his life condemning its use.
- 7/23/2023
- by Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
This weekend sees the release of Greta Gerwig’s wildly anticipated “Barbie,” the ambitious neon pink comedy from the Oscar-nominated filmmaker. That much is clear, but defining the core audience for “Barbie” isn’t so simple. The movie is somehow both a story of the beloved child’s toy and a satire of its cultural impact. It’s rated PG-13, but draws on a commercial product most closely associated with childhood. It stars decidedly grown-up performers Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, but it’s about a world in which Barbie and Ken dolls are real. It’s produced by Mattel, but it’s co-written by Noah Baumbach. So, who is this film for?
IndieWire’s Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn, and David Ehrlich all recently saw “Barbie,” and they’ve got some ideas as to how to answer all that, and more.
Kate Erbland: Let’s parse this: It’s a “Barbie” movie,...
IndieWire’s Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn, and David Ehrlich all recently saw “Barbie,” and they’ve got some ideas as to how to answer all that, and more.
Kate Erbland: Let’s parse this: It’s a “Barbie” movie,...
- 7/21/2023
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
What makes a sex scene sexy? More to the point, what makes a sex scene good? That’s become an especially thorny question in recent years, with detailed accounts of what goes on behind the scenes of movies we love complicating our relationship with their most memorable moments. And though we’re ever so slowly moving away from the male gaze serving as the default perspective on love, sex, and everything between, there’s still a long way to go.
That is, if sex scenes still appear in movies at all. They do, but with greater infrequency, certainly in Hollywood studio productions. Though many think-pieces have been written about “the death of the sex scene” there’s still been a lot to celebrate over the last 23 years. A number of sex-positive, LGBTQ-friendly, and otherwise forward-thinking filmmakers have directed scenes that are as steamy as they are moving. There’s nothing...
That is, if sex scenes still appear in movies at all. They do, but with greater infrequency, certainly in Hollywood studio productions. Though many think-pieces have been written about “the death of the sex scene” there’s still been a lot to celebrate over the last 23 years. A number of sex-positive, LGBTQ-friendly, and otherwise forward-thinking filmmakers have directed scenes that are as steamy as they are moving. There’s nothing...
- 7/20/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio, Christian Zilko and Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
[Editor’s Note: The following story contains major spoilers for “John Wick: Chapter 4.”]
John Wick is dead, right?
“John Wick: Chapter 4” director Chad Stahelski spoke to Empire magazine about the ending originally shot for the film, which indicated to audiences that John Wick was very much still alive. In the final theatrical version, John Wick appears to die on the steps of the Basilica of Sacré Coeur while ruminating on his family. Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne’s characters are then seen looking over his grave — implying Reeves’ character has died without ever explicitly showing so.
“We had a different ending,” Stahelski said. “[The theatrical ending] was the ending Keanu and I wanted, but we shot a different ending. We shot an ending where you actually saw John Wick at the end of the movie. So it was very clear that he was still alive. The audiences we tested with absolutely preferred the ambiguous ending.”
Stahelski continued, “We didn’t feel like we...
John Wick is dead, right?
“John Wick: Chapter 4” director Chad Stahelski spoke to Empire magazine about the ending originally shot for the film, which indicated to audiences that John Wick was very much still alive. In the final theatrical version, John Wick appears to die on the steps of the Basilica of Sacré Coeur while ruminating on his family. Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne’s characters are then seen looking over his grave — implying Reeves’ character has died without ever explicitly showing so.
“We had a different ending,” Stahelski said. “[The theatrical ending] was the ending Keanu and I wanted, but we shot a different ending. We shot an ending where you actually saw John Wick at the end of the movie. So it was very clear that he was still alive. The audiences we tested with absolutely preferred the ambiguous ending.”
Stahelski continued, “We didn’t feel like we...
- 7/7/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
TCM Reborn: Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Martin Scorsese to Guide Channel Programming
Filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Paul Thomas Anderson will help guide programming decisions and curation at Turner Classic Movies (TCM) as advisors after IndieWire first reported that the trio called Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav about their concerns at the network after a string of recent layoffs.
The guidance of TCM will be a collaboration between the three titan filmmakers, and they’ll also provide guidance on the interstitial programming, such as the host intros and outros in between the films. A source also says Scorsese, Spielberg, and Anderson have a formal arrangement as volunteers with the company but will not be taking a salary.
TCM vet Charles “Charlie” Tabesh will remain at the network and will report to Warner Bros. executives Michael de Luca and Pamela Abdy, who were previously reported to be overseeing programming and creative content at TCM. The two film chiefs are filmmaker-friendly and...
The guidance of TCM will be a collaboration between the three titan filmmakers, and they’ll also provide guidance on the interstitial programming, such as the host intros and outros in between the films. A source also says Scorsese, Spielberg, and Anderson have a formal arrangement as volunteers with the company but will not be taking a salary.
TCM vet Charles “Charlie” Tabesh will remain at the network and will report to Warner Bros. executives Michael de Luca and Pamela Abdy, who were previously reported to be overseeing programming and creative content at TCM. The two film chiefs are filmmaker-friendly and...
- 6/28/2023
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
It was just after Thanksgiving last year that we received the exciting news that Paul Thomas Anderson––who turns 53 today––was set to embark on his tenth narrative feature this summer. While a few casting call details provided insight into what we may expect, the project has otherwise been shrouded in secrecy as expected, despite some baseless rumors he could be adapting Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland. While production has been delayed due to the WGA strike, we have our first notable update in some time.
Buried in a piece on the ongoing battle to save TCM from David Zaslav’s profit-hungry, anti-art ethos––recently slashing about 70 jobs at TCM, cutting the staff from 90 to 20, yet still ludicrously promises not much will change at the channel––IndieWire‘s Eric Kohn reports that Paul Thomas Anderson is set to reteam with Warner Bros. on his next project. Last working with the studio...
Buried in a piece on the ongoing battle to save TCM from David Zaslav’s profit-hungry, anti-art ethos––recently slashing about 70 jobs at TCM, cutting the staff from 90 to 20, yet still ludicrously promises not much will change at the channel––IndieWire‘s Eric Kohn reports that Paul Thomas Anderson is set to reteam with Warner Bros. on his next project. Last working with the studio...
- 6/26/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool” shocked Sundance audiences with its neon-tinged story of psychological torture at a hedonistic resort. But even with all of the murdered clones and dog collars, the version that audiences saw was considerably tamer than what Cronenberg originally shot.
When his Nc-17 director’s cut was released in March, fans were shocked to see a much more explicit version of a sex scene between Gabi (Mia Love) and James (Alexander Skarsgård) that featured full frontal nudity from Skarsgård. At a Q&a moderated by IndieWire’s Eric Kohn following a screening of the directors cut, Cronenberg opened up about the provocative new scene and why it had to be cut.
“The MPAA has only one objective rule, and that’s no hard cocks,” Cronenberg said. “Everything else is a mind-fuckingly weird, infuriating, subjective quagmire that you have to navigate with them, no offense to the MPAA.
When his Nc-17 director’s cut was released in March, fans were shocked to see a much more explicit version of a sex scene between Gabi (Mia Love) and James (Alexander Skarsgård) that featured full frontal nudity from Skarsgård. At a Q&a moderated by IndieWire’s Eric Kohn following a screening of the directors cut, Cronenberg opened up about the provocative new scene and why it had to be cut.
“The MPAA has only one objective rule, and that’s no hard cocks,” Cronenberg said. “Everything else is a mind-fuckingly weird, infuriating, subjective quagmire that you have to navigate with them, no offense to the MPAA.
- 6/24/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
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
Paul Schrader might not have seen the memes, but the Oscar winner is calling “Asteroid City” the most Wes Anderson film ever.
The “Master Gardener” director took to Facebook to praise Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” comparing it to Alain Resnais’ surreal 1961 French New Wave classic “Last Year at Marienbad.”
“The most Wes Anderson film Wes Anderson has made. And for that reason, the best,” Schrader wrote of “Asteroid City,” now in theaters. “He has distilled his design-driven anti-empathy film style to its essence. It’s hard to find a comparable film. The one that comes to mind is ‘Last Year at Marienbad.'”
Schrader added, “I’m heartened that it opened so well, though not quite sure why.”
Fellow auteur Guillermo del Toro similarly took to Twitter to express his admiration for Anderson’s vision.
“Unique signature – What started as an Ashby-esque rhythm and a Demy-esque image design mix, has evolved,...
The “Master Gardener” director took to Facebook to praise Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” comparing it to Alain Resnais’ surreal 1961 French New Wave classic “Last Year at Marienbad.”
“The most Wes Anderson film Wes Anderson has made. And for that reason, the best,” Schrader wrote of “Asteroid City,” now in theaters. “He has distilled his design-driven anti-empathy film style to its essence. It’s hard to find a comparable film. The one that comes to mind is ‘Last Year at Marienbad.'”
Schrader added, “I’m heartened that it opened so well, though not quite sure why.”
Fellow auteur Guillermo del Toro similarly took to Twitter to express his admiration for Anderson’s vision.
“Unique signature – What started as an Ashby-esque rhythm and a Demy-esque image design mix, has evolved,...
- 6/20/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
In addition to waxing rhapsodic about Elia Kazan in his interview with IndieWire’s Eric Kohn, Wes Anderson talked about just why he was so drawn to portraying the 1950s. As the rave reviews for the film have indicated, it’s a time period uniquely suited to Anderson’s meticulous aesthetic.
And that’s a style that fans seem hellbent on replicating themselves, via the palest of imitations, through TikTok videos that show off their creators attempting “The Wes Anderson Challenge.” Symmetrical compositions, intense color coordination, shoebox diorama-like use of the frame and depth of field. All there. All not nearly as good as anything Anderson can do himself. Each imitation is more obvious than the last: And as Kohn indicated in his piece, these imitations are not something Anderson himself ever pays attention to.
Now the director’s opened up a little bit more about his dismissal of the...
And that’s a style that fans seem hellbent on replicating themselves, via the palest of imitations, through TikTok videos that show off their creators attempting “The Wes Anderson Challenge.” Symmetrical compositions, intense color coordination, shoebox diorama-like use of the frame and depth of field. All there. All not nearly as good as anything Anderson can do himself. Each imitation is more obvious than the last: And as Kohn indicated in his piece, these imitations are not something Anderson himself ever pays attention to.
Now the director’s opened up a little bit more about his dismissal of the...
- 6/19/2023
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
From the WGA strike and a possible SAG one around the corner to the changing nature of the streaming marketplace, the industry has never been at a more tangled crossroads. These were just a few of the subjects that came up during a Thursday Q&a session at a live recording of IndieWire’s weekly podcast Screen Talk, as Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson fielded questions from a movie-savvy audience.
But first, they talked about “The Flash.” The superhero behemoth opens this week, complete with a messy history of its own, with star Ezra Miller juggling several controversies that made some wonder if the movie releasable at all. However, Warner Bros. charged ahead, keeping Miller out of its press tour but still allowing them to make an appearance at the premiere.
“They weren’t going to throw Ezra Miller under the bus,” Thompson said. “They couldn’t afford to do it.
But first, they talked about “The Flash.” The superhero behemoth opens this week, complete with a messy history of its own, with star Ezra Miller juggling several controversies that made some wonder if the movie releasable at all. However, Warner Bros. charged ahead, keeping Miller out of its press tour but still allowing them to make an appearance at the premiere.
“They weren’t going to throw Ezra Miller under the bus,” Thompson said. “They couldn’t afford to do it.
- 6/16/2023
- by Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Guillermo del Toro is sticking to his art form, regardless of “assholes” in Hollywood.
The Oscar winner called out the film industry for being “geared toward grinding out shit and destroying your art” during the Annecy animation festival (via The Hollywood Reporter). Del Toro revealed that five of his projects were turned down by studios in the last two months.
“They still say no to me,” the “Nightmare Alley” director said. “In the last two months, they said no to five of my projects. So it doesn’t go away. Making movies is eating a sandwich of shit. There’s always shit, just sometimes you get a little more bread with yours.”
He added, “The rate of productivity against your efforts will remain frustratingly difficult, and frustratingly long. And you will always encounter assholes. But have faith in the stories you want to tell and wait until someone wants to buy them.
The Oscar winner called out the film industry for being “geared toward grinding out shit and destroying your art” during the Annecy animation festival (via The Hollywood Reporter). Del Toro revealed that five of his projects were turned down by studios in the last two months.
“They still say no to me,” the “Nightmare Alley” director said. “In the last two months, they said no to five of my projects. So it doesn’t go away. Making movies is eating a sandwich of shit. There’s always shit, just sometimes you get a little more bread with yours.”
He added, “The rate of productivity against your efforts will remain frustratingly difficult, and frustratingly long. And you will always encounter assholes. But have faith in the stories you want to tell and wait until someone wants to buy them.
- 6/14/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Wes Anderson is ready to defend his friend and frequent collaborator Bill Murray despite the actor’s multiple accusations of harassment. While Geena Davis voiced allegations against Murray in her memoir Dying of Politeness, saying the actor behaved inappropriately on the 1990 film Quick Change set, a formal complaint against the Ghostbuster is making significant waves. In the complaint, a young woman alleges Murray behaved inappropriately on the set of Aziz Ansari’s Being Mortal. When news about the complaint surfaced, Murray blamed the “changing state of comedy” for his offensive actions.
“I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way,” Murray told CNBC when the news broke. “The company, the movie studio, wanted to do the right thing, so they wanted to check it all out, investigate it, and so they stopped the production. But as of now, we’re talking and we’re trying...
“I did something I thought was funny, and it wasn’t taken that way,” Murray told CNBC when the news broke. “The company, the movie studio, wanted to do the right thing, so they wanted to check it all out, investigate it, and so they stopped the production. But as of now, we’re talking and we’re trying...
- 6/12/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Wes Anderson is standing by Bill Murray amid sexual misconduct claims against the actor.
After numerous harassment accusations and a formal complaint on the “Being Mortal” set, Murray chalked up his behavior to the changing state of comedy in the current culture. He added that he is hoping to “make peace with it.”
“Asteroid City” filmmaker and frequent Murray collaborator Anderson told IndieWire’s Eric Kohn that the allegations against Murray will in no way impact their working relationship.
“My experience with Bill is so extensive. Bill was such a great supporter of me from the very beginning,” Anderson said. “I don’t want to speak about somebody else’s experience, but he’s really part of my family. You know, he’s my daughter’s godfather. In fact, he actually baptized her. He’s the one who splashed the water.”
They have worked together on films including “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,...
After numerous harassment accusations and a formal complaint on the “Being Mortal” set, Murray chalked up his behavior to the changing state of comedy in the current culture. He added that he is hoping to “make peace with it.”
“Asteroid City” filmmaker and frequent Murray collaborator Anderson told IndieWire’s Eric Kohn that the allegations against Murray will in no way impact their working relationship.
“My experience with Bill is so extensive. Bill was such a great supporter of me from the very beginning,” Anderson said. “I don’t want to speak about somebody else’s experience, but he’s really part of my family. You know, he’s my daughter’s godfather. In fact, he actually baptized her. He’s the one who splashed the water.”
They have worked together on films including “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,...
- 6/12/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Netflix may get most of the attention, but it’s hardly a one-stop shop for cinephiles looking to stream essential classic and contemporary films. Each of the prominent streaming platforms caters to its own niche of film obsessives.
From the boundless wonders of the Criterion Channel to the new frontiers of streaming offered by the likes of Disney+ and Max, IndieWire’s monthly guide highlights the best of what’s coming to every major streamer, with an eye toward exclusive titles that may help readers decide which of these services is right for them.
Here is your guide for June 2023.
Christian Blauvelt, Jude Dry, David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn, and Steph Green contributed to this article.
From the boundless wonders of the Criterion Channel to the new frontiers of streaming offered by the likes of Disney+ and Max, IndieWire’s monthly guide highlights the best of what’s coming to every major streamer, with an eye toward exclusive titles that may help readers decide which of these services is right for them.
Here is your guide for June 2023.
Christian Blauvelt, Jude Dry, David Ehrlich, Eric Kohn, and Steph Green contributed to this article.
- 6/9/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The last few years have not only brought LGBTQ films and stories further into the mainstream, but queer movies have dominated awards seasons and found commercial success in unlikely places.
Lydia Tár — played by “Carol” star and esteemed lesbian (adjacent?) icon Cate Blanchett — dominated the 2022 Oscars race and became a well-worn touchstone in the year’s critical film and cancel culture conversations. The summer before that, Billy Eichner and Nicholas Stoller made history with Universal Pictures’ “Bros,” among the first ever gay rom-coms funded by a major studio: an important victory — even if that film did go, uh, soft at the box office.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg on another banner year for queer film: at least one win in a hard-fought cultural movement, seemingly poised to face new challenges in the not-so-distant future.
New Queer Cinema was a major influence on the indie film boom of the ’90s,...
Lydia Tár — played by “Carol” star and esteemed lesbian (adjacent?) icon Cate Blanchett — dominated the 2022 Oscars race and became a well-worn touchstone in the year’s critical film and cancel culture conversations. The summer before that, Billy Eichner and Nicholas Stoller made history with Universal Pictures’ “Bros,” among the first ever gay rom-coms funded by a major studio: an important victory — even if that film did go, uh, soft at the box office.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg on another banner year for queer film: at least one win in a hard-fought cultural movement, seemingly poised to face new challenges in the not-so-distant future.
New Queer Cinema was a major influence on the indie film boom of the ’90s,...
- 6/1/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio, Jude Dry and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
With Cannes done and dusted and the heavy-hitting autumn quartet of Venice, Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF still a few months off, what’s a film festival fan to do during the dog days of summer? With New York City’s own Tribeca Festival now firmly ensconced in the summer months after moving off its traditional spring dates in 2021, movie lovers both in the city and beyond can enjoy the annual event’s prodigious programming, thanks to a combination of in-person and virtual programming.
The 2023 edition will kick off June 7 with the North American premiere of “Kiss the Future,” a documentary following the story of a community of underground musicians and creatives throughout the nearly four-year-long siege of Sarajevo, as well as the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.
A special 30th-anniversary screening of “A Bronx Tale” will close the fest on June 17. After the movie, the film...
The 2023 edition will kick off June 7 with the North American premiere of “Kiss the Future,” a documentary following the story of a community of underground musicians and creatives throughout the nearly four-year-long siege of Sarajevo, as well as the 1997 U2 concert celebrating the liberation of the Bosnian capital.
A special 30th-anniversary screening of “A Bronx Tale” will close the fest on June 17. After the movie, the film...
- 6/1/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
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