In my opinion, the two greatest directors to emerge from the nexus of international cinema in the 1990s were both Scandinavian. One of them, Lars von Trier, became quite famous, for reasons both good and bad. The other director I’m speaking of never got famous, and his movies, even during his brief heyday, didn’t become art-house sensations. Yet for a time, Sweden’s Lukas Moodysson burned with an intoxicating flame.
He made three films of astonishing organic craft and humanistic purity: “Show Me Love” (1998), a shockingly lyrical love story about two high-school girls who fall for each other in a small town that didn’t look very tolerantly upon them; “Together” (2000), an ensemble comedy set in a sharehome commune in Stockholm in 1975 that is one of the only films that totally gets the counterculture; and “Lilya 4-ever” (2002), a haunting tragedy about a wayward girl in the former Soviet...
He made three films of astonishing organic craft and humanistic purity: “Show Me Love” (1998), a shockingly lyrical love story about two high-school girls who fall for each other in a small town that didn’t look very tolerantly upon them; “Together” (2000), an ensemble comedy set in a sharehome commune in Stockholm in 1975 that is one of the only films that totally gets the counterculture; and “Lilya 4-ever” (2002), a haunting tragedy about a wayward girl in the former Soviet...
- 9/24/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
The jokes will extend well past April 1st on HBO and HBO Max.
“Barry” returns for its fourth and final season. After the shocking Season 3 finale which saw Barry (Billy Hader) getting arrested and Cousineau (Henry Winkler) being hailed as a hero, there will be plenty of consequences for both. The dark comedy premieres on April 16 with two episodes.
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” will also bring plenty of laughs when it returns for its fourth season. The sketch comedy series premieres April 14.
On the drama side, the limited series “Love and Death” premieres on April 27. It’s based on the true story of Candy (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pat Montgomery (Patrick Fugit) and Betty (Lily Rabe) and Allan Gore (Jesse Plemons) – two churchgoing couples enjoying their small-town Texas life… until an extramarital affair leads somebody to pick up an axe.
For comic fans, the midseason premiere of the final season...
“Barry” returns for its fourth and final season. After the shocking Season 3 finale which saw Barry (Billy Hader) getting arrested and Cousineau (Henry Winkler) being hailed as a hero, there will be plenty of consequences for both. The dark comedy premieres on April 16 with two episodes.
“A Black Lady Sketch Show” will also bring plenty of laughs when it returns for its fourth season. The sketch comedy series premieres April 14.
On the drama side, the limited series “Love and Death” premieres on April 27. It’s based on the true story of Candy (Elizabeth Olsen) and Pat Montgomery (Patrick Fugit) and Betty (Lily Rabe) and Allan Gore (Jesse Plemons) – two churchgoing couples enjoying their small-town Texas life… until an extramarital affair leads somebody to pick up an axe.
For comic fans, the midseason premiere of the final season...
- 4/1/2023
- by Lawrence Yee
- The Wrap
With its list of new releases for April 2023, HBO Max is premiering the final episodes of two major shows.
First up is the continuation of Titans season 4 on April 13. Returning after a four month hiatus, these next six episodes will be the last go around for HBO Max’s gritty live-action DC series. Arriving three days later on HBO proper is the fourth and final season of Barry. Bill Hader and the rest of the Barry team wrote themselves into a fascinating corner with the conclusion of season 3. And judging by the first teasers for season 4, this final batch of episodes will indeed catch up with our favorite actor/hitman in prison.
Other TV shows of note this month include the Pete Davidson-starring animated series Fired on Mars on April 20 (light ’em up) the the Elizabeth Olsen-starring true crime story Love & Death on April 27.
HBO Max’s...
First up is the continuation of Titans season 4 on April 13. Returning after a four month hiatus, these next six episodes will be the last go around for HBO Max’s gritty live-action DC series. Arriving three days later on HBO proper is the fourth and final season of Barry. Bill Hader and the rest of the Barry team wrote themselves into a fascinating corner with the conclusion of season 3. And judging by the first teasers for season 4, this final batch of episodes will indeed catch up with our favorite actor/hitman in prison.
Other TV shows of note this month include the Pete Davidson-starring animated series Fired on Mars on April 20 (light ’em up) the the Elizabeth Olsen-starring true crime story Love & Death on April 27.
HBO Max’s...
- 4/1/2023
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Bill Hader stars in ‘Barry’ season 4 (Photograph by Merrick Morton/HBO)
Bill Hader returns for one final season of Barry and the popular sketch comedy A Black Lady Sketch Show kicks off its fourth season on HBO Max in April 2023. Additional highlights of the streaming service’s April lineup include the debut of Love & Death, a limited series starring Elizabeth Olsen and Patrick Fugit; season two of Somebody Somewhere with Bridget Everett; and the return of 100 Foot Wave for a second season.
In addition, the Titans mid-season premiere arrives on April 13. HBO Max offers this description of the fourth and final season’s remaining episodes: “The Titans – with the exception of Gar – are returned to the Temple of Trigon and rush to find Sebastian and Mother Mayhem before Sebastian summons Trigon. Along the way, they come across a prophecy that may require Kory to make a huge sacrifice to save the world.
Bill Hader returns for one final season of Barry and the popular sketch comedy A Black Lady Sketch Show kicks off its fourth season on HBO Max in April 2023. Additional highlights of the streaming service’s April lineup include the debut of Love & Death, a limited series starring Elizabeth Olsen and Patrick Fugit; season two of Somebody Somewhere with Bridget Everett; and the return of 100 Foot Wave for a second season.
In addition, the Titans mid-season premiere arrives on April 13. HBO Max offers this description of the fourth and final season’s remaining episodes: “The Titans – with the exception of Gar – are returned to the Temple of Trigon and rush to find Sebastian and Mother Mayhem before Sebastian summons Trigon. Along the way, they come across a prophecy that may require Kory to make a huge sacrifice to save the world.
- 3/31/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
In the final season of HBO Max’s “Barry,” premiering on April 16, Barry’s arrest for the murder of Cousineau’s girlfriend leads to a shocking conclusion. Barry (Bill Hader), a hitman who stumbles into acting, explores the dark, often comedic underbelly of both LA gangsters and Hollywood. Henry Winkler stars as Cousineau, Barry’s acting teacher and the man forced to confront the reality of his former student.
Watch the “Barry” season 4 trailer:
Another crime story will come to HBO Max in April, although this one is based on a true story. “Love & Death” revolves around the murder of Betty Gore (played by Lily Rabe) in a small Texas town in 1980. Her husband Alan (Jesse Plemons) has an affair with Candy (Elizabeth Olsen), who attends their church. Suddenly, the thrills turn deadly. Candy picks up an ax, whacks her rival over 40 times, and then claims self-defense. The new...
Watch the “Barry” season 4 trailer:
Another crime story will come to HBO Max in April, although this one is based on a true story. “Love & Death” revolves around the murder of Betty Gore (played by Lily Rabe) in a small Texas town in 1980. Her husband Alan (Jesse Plemons) has an affair with Candy (Elizabeth Olsen), who attends their church. Suddenly, the thrills turn deadly. Candy picks up an ax, whacks her rival over 40 times, and then claims self-defense. The new...
- 3/28/2023
- by Fern Siegel
- The Streamable
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "We Are the Best!"
Where You Can Stream It: Kanopy, Magnolia Selects.
The Pitch: Based on autobiographical the comic book "Never Goodnight" by Coco Moodyson, Lukas Moodyson's 2013 film "We Are the Best!" is one of the best films of its year. Sweet, upbeat, and joyous, "Best!" understands the golden time in early adolescence when one first discovers rebellion, and when one first realizes they can indeed hold a middle finger up to malfunctioning adult institutions and...
The post The Daily Stream: We Are the Best! is the Best appeared first on /Film.
The Movie: "We Are the Best!"
Where You Can Stream It: Kanopy, Magnolia Selects.
The Pitch: Based on autobiographical the comic book "Never Goodnight" by Coco Moodyson, Lukas Moodyson's 2013 film "We Are the Best!" is one of the best films of its year. Sweet, upbeat, and joyous, "Best!" understands the golden time in early adolescence when one first discovers rebellion, and when one first realizes they can indeed hold a middle finger up to malfunctioning adult institutions and...
The post The Daily Stream: We Are the Best! is the Best appeared first on /Film.
- 5/20/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Follow-up to international hit from 2000 is set to film in Sweden in August.
Swedish director Lukas Moodysson is readying a sequel to his international hit Together.
Titled Together 99 and produced by Memfis Film, the sequel takes place in 1999, 24 years after the first film.
Together 99 tells the story of a group of very different individuals who in 1975 lived in a commune called “Together”. Now it is 1999, and the collective has turned into the world’s smallest. The commune consists of only two people - Göran and Klasse. Feeling a bit lonely, the idea occurs of a reunion with their old friends.
Swedish director Lukas Moodysson is readying a sequel to his international hit Together.
Titled Together 99 and produced by Memfis Film, the sequel takes place in 1999, 24 years after the first film.
Together 99 tells the story of a group of very different individuals who in 1975 lived in a commune called “Together”. Now it is 1999, and the collective has turned into the world’s smallest. The commune consists of only two people - Göran and Klasse. Feeling a bit lonely, the idea occurs of a reunion with their old friends.
- 5/20/2022
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
A high school comedy about an Ozzy-obsessed outcast who ropes his only friend into forming a post-death metal duo called SkullFucker in order to win the Battle of the Bands (and prove his value to all of the popular kids in their Portland suburb), Peter Sollett’s “Metal Lords” is
Screenwriter D.B. Weiss may be a bonafide head-banger who’s spent most of his career trying to bring SkullFucker to the screen — the “Game of Thrones” co-creator first began shopping the script before he ever stepped foot in Westeros — but most of the story beats in this overfamiliar coming-of-age saga are as metal as the Imagine Dragons cover that SkullFucker’s rivals bust out during the climactic face-off. It isn’t until the third act that “Metal Lords” finally shreds with any of the rage against the machine frustration that’s fueled similar let’s start a band films like...
Screenwriter D.B. Weiss may be a bonafide head-banger who’s spent most of his career trying to bring SkullFucker to the screen — the “Game of Thrones” co-creator first began shopping the script before he ever stepped foot in Westeros — but most of the story beats in this overfamiliar coming-of-age saga are as metal as the Imagine Dragons cover that SkullFucker’s rivals bust out during the climactic face-off. It isn’t until the third act that “Metal Lords” finally shreds with any of the rage against the machine frustration that’s fueled similar let’s start a band films like...
- 4/8/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
It’s kind of been a minute since we heard from Swedish writer/director Lukas Moodysson, at least in the world of film. Known for his often tender, heartfelt, and yet uncompromising works generally centered around children or coming of age tales, Moodysson made his name with films like “Show Me Love” and “Lilya 4-ever.” His last film, however, was 2013’s exuberant teen/punk coming of age film “We Are the Best!” and it’s been mostly silence since—even for his career as a novelist (his last book is 2012).
Continue reading ‘Gösta’ Trailer: Lukas Moodysson Returns With A Heartwarming New Series For HBO at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Gösta’ Trailer: Lukas Moodysson Returns With A Heartwarming New Series For HBO at The Playlist.
- 8/27/2020
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
To begin with, a disclaimer: There are practically no 2019 titles on my Best of the Decade list, not because there weren’t a lot of great films this year, but because I haven’t had the opportunity to live with them for all that long. My Best of 2019 list was its own challenge to write, but this year’s movies are just too new for them to have knocked around in my central nervous system the way these earlier titles have. Film historians can debate the major movie-related events of the decade — the rise of streaming, the dominance of Disney — but these are the films took up residency with me and refuse to move out:
11-30 (alphabetically): “Anomalisa,” “Before Midnight,” “Bernie,” “Bridesmaids,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Certain Women,” “Clouds of Sils Maria,” “Ex Machina,” “Force Majeure,” “The Great Beauty,” “The Handmaiden,” “Happy Hour,” “Holy Motors,” “Leave No Trace,...
11-30 (alphabetically): “Anomalisa,” “Before Midnight,” “Bernie,” “Bridesmaids,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Certain Women,” “Clouds of Sils Maria,” “Ex Machina,” “Force Majeure,” “The Great Beauty,” “The Handmaiden,” “Happy Hour,” “Holy Motors,” “Leave No Trace,...
- 12/24/2019
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Gentle coming-of-age comedy-drama “Days of the Bagnold Summer,” which world premieres at Locarno Festival Wednesday, is the directorial feature debut of British actor Simon Bird, best known as the star of hit comedy series and movie franchise “The Inbetweeners.” Bird spoke to Variety in advance of the screening in Locarno’s Piazza Grande.
The film stars Earl Cave – Nick Cave’s son – as an angry teen, Daniel, spending a frustratingly dull summer in his suburban town with his lonely single mom, Sue, played by Monica Dolan. Rob Brydon, Alice Lowe and Tamsin Greig deliver deliciously witty cameos.
The film was produced by Matthew James Wilkinson, one of the original producers of box-office smash “Yesterday,” who also produced Bird’s directorial debut, the short “Ernestine & Kit,” which premiered at SXSW in 2016.
“Bagnold Summer” is based on the graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, and was adapted for film by Bird’s wife Lisa Owens.
The film stars Earl Cave – Nick Cave’s son – as an angry teen, Daniel, spending a frustratingly dull summer in his suburban town with his lonely single mom, Sue, played by Monica Dolan. Rob Brydon, Alice Lowe and Tamsin Greig deliver deliciously witty cameos.
The film was produced by Matthew James Wilkinson, one of the original producers of box-office smash “Yesterday,” who also produced Bird’s directorial debut, the short “Ernestine & Kit,” which premiered at SXSW in 2016.
“Bagnold Summer” is based on the graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, and was adapted for film by Bird’s wife Lisa Owens.
- 8/14/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
After a six-year hiatus, Lukas Moodysson is back in the director’s chair with a 12-part TV series for HBO Europe. Any new work by Lukas Moodysson is going to be worth watching. His first television series, produced by HBO Europe, tackles many of the themes he has discussed in his seven narrative features, from 1998’s Fucking Åmål (aka Show Me Love) to his 2013 teen punk musical We Are the Best!, which played at the Venice Film Festival. The 12-part series Gösta is a comedy that mocks Swedish niceties, featuring stories about refugees, broken families, failed relationships and the desire to do good, with a particular focus on teen lives. Vilhelm Blomgren's character of Gösta is at the heart of each of the half-hour episodes. Gösta has just transferred to the small village of Småland, where he is starting his career as a psychiatrist. Gösta wants to be kind to.
No pulsating, psychedelic, pop-punk phantasmagoria ought to be as moving and smart as “We Are Little Zombies.” But Makoto Nagahisa’s explosively ingenious and energetic debut (imagine it as the spiritual offspring of Richard Lester and a Harajuku Girl) holds the high score for visual and narrative invention, as well as boasting a [insert gigantic-beating-heart Gif] and braaaains, too. The gonzo adventures of four poker-faced Japanese 13-year-olds who bond over their mutual lack of emotion following sudden orphanhood, it reimagines the old “stages of grief” thing as a progression through 13 erratic levels of a video game, complete with mini-games and side quests. And if its manic, 8-bit aesthetic seems hyperactively inappropriate for such a somber scenario — like it does grief wrong — that too, can be interpreted as a generous insight into the mourning process: Who among us, upon being bereaved, has ever believed they’re doing grief right?
Certainly, little Hikari (Keita Ninomiya) does not.
Certainly, little Hikari (Keita Ninomiya) does not.
- 6/21/2019
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
HBO Europe has released the first-look teaser trailer for Lukas Moodysson’s upcoming TV comedy series “Gosta.” The highly-anticipated show marks the acclaimed Swedish filmmaker’s first foray into television and was HBO’s first commissioned drama series out of Scandinavia.
The eponymous Gosta (Vilhelm Blomgren) is a 28-year old child psychologist who gets his first job in a small rural town. He wants to be the kindest person in the world and help everyone he meets, but sometimes it goes better than others. Amy Deasismont and Mattias Silvell also star as Gosta’s girlfriend and father, respectively. The trailer opens and closes with the three leads on a car journey.
The show was written and directed by Moodysson, with the trailer’s comedic tone akin to titles like 2000’s “Together” and 2013’s “We Are the Best!” among the director’s feature work. The first four 30-minute episodes will debut...
The eponymous Gosta (Vilhelm Blomgren) is a 28-year old child psychologist who gets his first job in a small rural town. He wants to be the kindest person in the world and help everyone he meets, but sometimes it goes better than others. Amy Deasismont and Mattias Silvell also star as Gosta’s girlfriend and father, respectively. The trailer opens and closes with the three leads on a car journey.
The show was written and directed by Moodysson, with the trailer’s comedic tone akin to titles like 2000’s “Together” and 2013’s “We Are the Best!” among the director’s feature work. The first four 30-minute episodes will debut...
- 5/16/2019
- by Robert Mitchell
- Variety Film + TV
AFI Fest isn’t thought of as an acquisition festival, as most of its offerings are either world premieres about to enter awards season or high-profile selections from Cannes and Venice. Explore the program a bit, however, and you’ll discover any number of under-the-radar titles that have yet to find a home. That’s unsurprising, given how crowded the fall festival season has been, but dealmakers should seek out these worthy titles before it’s too late.
“Amateurs”
Gabriela Pichler’s debut as writer-director, the youth-in-revolt dramedy “Eat Sleep Die,” never got a theatrical release. That was a shame, and it’d be just as much of a disappointment if her follow-up met the same fate. Working from an appropriately zany premise — a small Swedish town attempts to woo a German superstore company into opening a new location via a promotional video — Pichler delivers clever scenarios and a surprising...
“Amateurs”
Gabriela Pichler’s debut as writer-director, the youth-in-revolt dramedy “Eat Sleep Die,” never got a theatrical release. That was a shame, and it’d be just as much of a disappointment if her follow-up met the same fate. Working from an appropriately zany premise — a small Swedish town attempts to woo a German superstore company into opening a new location via a promotional video — Pichler delivers clever scenarios and a surprising...
- 11/19/2018
- by Michael Nordine, Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
At a time when freedom of expression titters on the brink in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, there’s something thrillingly contemporary about Kirill Serebrennikov’s Soviet-set musical drama. Early 1980s St. Petersburg proves a breeding ground of underground music as rebellion, however tacit, emerges in home-grown rock and punk. Leto’s melancholic ode to rough-and-ready counterculture proves ever more relevant as Serebrennikov, himself an avant-garde theater director, remains under house arrest in Moscow.
Serebrennikov gives us a fictionalized version of his youth in urban Leningrad–as it was then known–shot in cool monochrome amid dimly lit apartments and the grotty confines of a bohemian side on the Soviet margins. In a blistering opening sequence, we see that in a microcosm: a handheld camera follows a posse of girls as they climb through a toilet window to the back of Soviet rock concert. Inside the crowd can only sit and...
Serebrennikov gives us a fictionalized version of his youth in urban Leningrad–as it was then known–shot in cool monochrome amid dimly lit apartments and the grotty confines of a bohemian side on the Soviet margins. In a blistering opening sequence, we see that in a microcosm: a handheld camera follows a posse of girls as they climb through a toilet window to the back of Soviet rock concert. Inside the crowd can only sit and...
- 9/26/2018
- by Ed Frankl
- The Film Stage
Six-part thriller follows the hunt for a network of hackers.
HBO Europe has revealed its first international co-production, Hackerville, which it is making with German company TNT Serie.
The six-part thriller is a Germany-Romania co-production and is about a network of hackers and the investigators tracking them down.
Created by Ralph Martin and Joerg Winger from Ufa Fiction, the series will be produced by Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days and Beyond The Hills) and Tudor Reu through Mobra Films.
The story will open with the hacking of a major German bank and will follow cyber crime expert Lisa Metz as she works with investigators in her hometown of Timisoara in an attempt to catch the perpetrators. Igor Cobileanski (Umbre) and Anca Miruna Lazarescu (That Trip We Took With Dad) will direct, with Winger and Johnathan Young amongst the executive producers.
HBO Europe will premiere Hackerville across its territories in Central Europe, Scandinavia and Spain, with...
HBO Europe has revealed its first international co-production, Hackerville, which it is making with German company TNT Serie.
The six-part thriller is a Germany-Romania co-production and is about a network of hackers and the investigators tracking them down.
Created by Ralph Martin and Joerg Winger from Ufa Fiction, the series will be produced by Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days and Beyond The Hills) and Tudor Reu through Mobra Films.
The story will open with the hacking of a major German bank and will follow cyber crime expert Lisa Metz as she works with investigators in her hometown of Timisoara in an attempt to catch the perpetrators. Igor Cobileanski (Umbre) and Anca Miruna Lazarescu (That Trip We Took With Dad) will direct, with Winger and Johnathan Young amongst the executive producers.
HBO Europe will premiere Hackerville across its territories in Central Europe, Scandinavia and Spain, with...
- 2/16/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
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