Xbox’s upcoming first-party game, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, is queued to finally be released this month. With the approaching date, Ninja Theory has finally revealed what kind of specs a PC player would require to even run the game, and some might find them to be absurd.
Hellblade 2 will be released May 21 on PC and Xbox Series S/X.
It has become a trend in recent times for game titles, especially Aaa, to be released without much optimization, and Hellblade 2 seems to take that a step further by demanding specifications that many players would consider ridiculous. It also explains why the information was kept hidden till now and has been finally announced just a few days before the launch.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 – Setting The Wrong Standards?
The release of Hellblade 2 is a big deal. With the evergrowing console wars, fueled by the exclusivity of Helldivers 2 on PS5, Ninja...
Hellblade 2 will be released May 21 on PC and Xbox Series S/X.
It has become a trend in recent times for game titles, especially Aaa, to be released without much optimization, and Hellblade 2 seems to take that a step further by demanding specifications that many players would consider ridiculous. It also explains why the information was kept hidden till now and has been finally announced just a few days before the launch.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 – Setting The Wrong Standards?
The release of Hellblade 2 is a big deal. With the evergrowing console wars, fueled by the exclusivity of Helldivers 2 on PS5, Ninja...
- 5/2/2024
- by Aaditya Chugh
- FandomWire
Quentin Tarantino did not go to film school, he did not even graduate from high school – his only real teachers were the movies themselves.
In 1988, he wrote Reservoir Dogs, a crime thriller about criminals who gather in an abandoned warehouse after a botched robbery. Reservoir Dogs was released in 1992 and immediately put Tarantino's name in the history of cinema. Reservoir Dogs was followed by other hits – Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill – each of which became cult in its own way.
Stephen King Says Kill Bill is Dull
However, Stephen King disagrees with the cult status of one of these movies, speaking rather harshly about Kill Bill:
“The blah movie was Kill Bill. […] Kill Bill isn't a benchmark of awfulness like Mars Attacks! or Mommie Dearest, it's just dully full of itself.”
In an Entertainment Weekly article, the writer discussed movies that matter and movies that don't. According to King,...
In 1988, he wrote Reservoir Dogs, a crime thriller about criminals who gather in an abandoned warehouse after a botched robbery. Reservoir Dogs was released in 1992 and immediately put Tarantino's name in the history of cinema. Reservoir Dogs was followed by other hits – Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill – each of which became cult in its own way.
Stephen King Says Kill Bill is Dull
However, Stephen King disagrees with the cult status of one of these movies, speaking rather harshly about Kill Bill:
“The blah movie was Kill Bill. […] Kill Bill isn't a benchmark of awfulness like Mars Attacks! or Mommie Dearest, it's just dully full of itself.”
In an Entertainment Weekly article, the writer discussed movies that matter and movies that don't. According to King,...
- 5/1/2024
- by zoe-wallace@startefacts.com (Zoe Wallace)
- STartefacts.com
While hopes for a fresh Watch Dogs release have been officially extinguished by Ubisoft, the recent release of Watch Dogs: Tokyo, a manga based on the premises of the popular franchise might just be enough to bring the fans together again and demand another video game release, based in world’s most crowded city this time around.
Watch Dogs: Tokyo is a new manga series
The new manga is exactly what many players needed at the time, especially those who have been following the game for a long time, and are disheartened by the discontinuation of the series’ production.
Watch Dogs: Tokyo – Is The Franchise Finally Coming Back?
It was nearly a decade ago that the first ever Watch Dogs title was released for gamers to enjoy, bringing with itself a lot of mechanics that were never seen before in the industry, and the potential for just as many to be introduced in the future.
Watch Dogs: Tokyo is a new manga series
The new manga is exactly what many players needed at the time, especially those who have been following the game for a long time, and are disheartened by the discontinuation of the series’ production.
Watch Dogs: Tokyo – Is The Franchise Finally Coming Back?
It was nearly a decade ago that the first ever Watch Dogs title was released for gamers to enjoy, bringing with itself a lot of mechanics that were never seen before in the industry, and the potential for just as many to be introduced in the future.
- 5/1/2024
- by Aaditya Chugh
- FandomWire
Welcome to our rundown of the most-watched branded YouTube videos of the week.
We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for the ranking.
And – as the name up above would imply – all the data comes from Gospel Stats. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here.
There’s some off-brand-color gold featured among the most viewed branded YouTube videos this week. And that’s not even the one produced by MrBeast. In the words of much-sponsored, YouTube veteran Phil DeFranco, let’s just jump into it.
#1 I Adopted 100 Dogs!
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Surfshark Vpn, Jinx, Spot Pet Insurance
Beast Philanthropy is a MrBeast off-shoot channel started by MrBeast himself Jimmy Donaldson...
We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for the ranking.
And – as the name up above would imply – all the data comes from Gospel Stats. If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel – and which brands are sponsoring what creators on YouTube – click here.
There’s some off-brand-color gold featured among the most viewed branded YouTube videos this week. And that’s not even the one produced by MrBeast. In the words of much-sponsored, YouTube veteran Phil DeFranco, let’s just jump into it.
#1 I Adopted 100 Dogs!
Channel: MrBeast
Brand: Surfshark Vpn, Jinx, Spot Pet Insurance
Beast Philanthropy is a MrBeast off-shoot channel started by MrBeast himself Jimmy Donaldson...
- 1/3/2024
- by Joshua Cohen
- Tubefilter.com
The morning after her Vanderpump Rules reunion packed a delectable punch on Bravo, Lisa Vanderpump is ready to reveal her next project: Hulu has ordered 10 episodes of Vanderpump Villa, a new unscripted confection that takes place at the reality star’s luxury French villa.
The show, which has no launch date for now, follows her hand-picked staff as they live and work together to navigate every extravagant desire of their well-to-do guests.
Vanderpump will executive produce. The show will be produced by Bunim/Murray Productions. Entertainment 360 is also attached as a producer.
Born and raised in London, Vanderpump is a businesswoman, TV personality, author and philanthropist. In addition to being a producer and television personality, Vanderpump and her husband, Ken Todd, have been entrenched in the restaurant and nightclub industry since they started their partnership over 30 years ago.
The show, which has no launch date for now, follows her hand-picked staff as they live and work together to navigate every extravagant desire of their well-to-do guests.
Vanderpump will executive produce. The show will be produced by Bunim/Murray Productions. Entertainment 360 is also attached as a producer.
Born and raised in London, Vanderpump is a businesswoman, TV personality, author and philanthropist. In addition to being a producer and television personality, Vanderpump and her husband, Ken Todd, have been entrenched in the restaurant and nightclub industry since they started their partnership over 30 years ago.
- 6/8/2023
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Following the successful recipe of the previous entries in the franchise, “Bungo Stray Dogs 4” came out 3 years after the previous one, while beginning with a story from the past before getting to the present.
on Crunchyroll
by clicking on the image below
The past story this time deals with Rampo, how he got to know Fukuzawa and how he ended up in the Armed Detective Agency. The three episodes arc mostly focuses on a specific case revolving around a stage play, which is eventually revealed as much more complicated than it initially seemed. The most interesting part, however, is seeing Rampo in his beginnings, being a truly imbalanced individual on the border of sociopathy, particularly because he could not understand that the people around him cannot realize and understand as much as he does. The way Fukuzawa acts as a father figure, while occasionally being out of his depth himself,...
on Crunchyroll
by clicking on the image below
The past story this time deals with Rampo, how he got to know Fukuzawa and how he ended up in the Armed Detective Agency. The three episodes arc mostly focuses on a specific case revolving around a stage play, which is eventually revealed as much more complicated than it initially seemed. The most interesting part, however, is seeing Rampo in his beginnings, being a truly imbalanced individual on the border of sociopathy, particularly because he could not understand that the people around him cannot realize and understand as much as he does. The way Fukuzawa acts as a father figure, while occasionally being out of his depth himself,...
- 6/8/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
With Father’s Day around the corner and Graduation season in full swing, we have rounded up gifts that will make sure to celebrate and show appreciation for the Dads and Grads in your life. This guide includes something for everyone. From audio-boosting speakers and jerky treats to gameplay gel blasters and golf gear, you will be sure to find the perfect gift!
Ready for the ultimate biohack?
Meet Mimio, the groundbreaking supplement that optimizes your cellular function to promote youthful energy, mood, and metabolism. Created by PhDs from clinical research,...
Ready for the ultimate biohack?
Meet Mimio, the groundbreaking supplement that optimizes your cellular function to promote youthful energy, mood, and metabolism. Created by PhDs from clinical research,...
- 5/22/2023
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
On April 27, 18-year-old streaming star iShowSpeed (real name Darren Watkins Jr.) released a music video called “Dogs,” which featured a guest appearance from Twitch record-breaker Kai Cenat. As it turns out, that video was a precursor to something much bigger: Cenat and Watkins will come together on Rumble to host a new program called The Kai ‘N Speed Show.
The two streamers will team up to host three shows on Rumble per month. According to the official home of The Kai ‘N Speed Show, the first of those broadcasts is slated for May 26. With two outspoken stars together in one room, there’s no telling what might happen on the show, but its hosts have already developed a strong rapport. A commenter on the “Dogs” music video remarked on how close Cenat and Watkins seem to be.
Watkins teased The Kai ‘N Speed Show by dropping a trailer on his YouTube channel.
The two streamers will team up to host three shows on Rumble per month. According to the official home of The Kai ‘N Speed Show, the first of those broadcasts is slated for May 26. With two outspoken stars together in one room, there’s no telling what might happen on the show, but its hosts have already developed a strong rapport. A commenter on the “Dogs” music video remarked on how close Cenat and Watkins seem to be.
Watkins teased The Kai ‘N Speed Show by dropping a trailer on his YouTube channel.
- 5/17/2023
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
The usually prolific Mac Demarco made fans wait an uncharacteristic four years before releasing his new album Five Easy Hot Dogs, earlier this year. On Friday, DeMarco made amends for the lengthy hiatus by data-dumping a half decade’s worth of unreleased music on streaming services.
DeMarco’s One Wayne G spans 199 songs stretching over nine hours. As an Instagram Stories post from Mac’s Record Label revealed, the compilation was named after NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, who starred for DeMarco’s hometown Edmonton Oilers in the Eighties.
Like the...
DeMarco’s One Wayne G spans 199 songs stretching over nine hours. As an Instagram Stories post from Mac’s Record Label revealed, the compilation was named after NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, who starred for DeMarco’s hometown Edmonton Oilers in the Eighties.
Like the...
- 4/21/2023
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Pedigree Foundation, a philanthropic organization that helps dogs find their forever homes, will host “The Love of Dogs” Benefit Concert on Wednesday, May 17th at 6:00pm at Marathon Music Works.
The concert event will hosted by syndicated country radio personality Shawn Parr and will include a cocktail reception, dinner, and exciting live/silent auction that will be followed by a Special Musical Performance by Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives – all to benefit Pedigree Foundation and its shelter and
rescue grants program.
Marty Stuart is a Country Music Hall of Famer, five-time Grammy-winner, and Ama Lifetime Achievement honoree. Stuart will release his new album, Altitude, just two days after the event on May 19th via Snakefarm. This is his first new album in more than six years. Late last year, Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and he celebrated his 50th...
The concert event will hosted by syndicated country radio personality Shawn Parr and will include a cocktail reception, dinner, and exciting live/silent auction that will be followed by a Special Musical Performance by Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives – all to benefit Pedigree Foundation and its shelter and
rescue grants program.
Marty Stuart is a Country Music Hall of Famer, five-time Grammy-winner, and Ama Lifetime Achievement honoree. Stuart will release his new album, Altitude, just two days after the event on May 19th via Snakefarm. This is his first new album in more than six years. Late last year, Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives were inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and he celebrated his 50th...
- 4/19/2023
- Look to the Stars
On Thursday, January 13, Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America East (Wgae) jointly announced their 2022 nominations for television and new media. Winners will be rewarded on Sunday, March 20 in a ceremony that also honors motion pictures. Read on for the complete list of 2022 Writers Guild Award nominations for TV, which includes a nice mix of new series (like Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building”) and established fare (like HBO’s “Succession”).
SEEReminder: Here’s who won last year’s WGA Awards
This year’s drama series contenders are “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Loki,” “The Morning Show,” “Succession” and “Yellowjackets.” Of these, only “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Morning Show” and “Succession” also showed up in the Episodic Drama category, which was rounded out by specific episodes of “1883,” “This Is Us” and “New Amsterdam.”
The comedy series nominees are “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Hacks,” “Only Murders in the Building,...
SEEReminder: Here’s who won last year’s WGA Awards
This year’s drama series contenders are “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Loki,” “The Morning Show,” “Succession” and “Yellowjackets.” Of these, only “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Morning Show” and “Succession” also showed up in the Episodic Drama category, which was rounded out by specific episodes of “1883,” “This Is Us” and “New Amsterdam.”
The comedy series nominees are “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Hacks,” “Only Murders in the Building,...
- 1/13/2022
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
We love these products, and we hope you do too. E! has affiliate relationships, so we may get a small share of the revenue from your purchases. Items are sold by the retailer, not E!. Let's not forget about the cutest of all Disney animated characters: the cats and dogs. These furry friends are being honored in the first-ever Disney Parks collection for pet owners with apparel, accessories and more. That means you can rock merch with Dug from Up!, Marie from The Aristocats and so many more of your favorite characters. So below, deck yourself and your pet out in the Reigning Cats and Dogs Collection from Shop Disney. Up next, blow your...
- 12/28/2020
- E! Online
"You're not humbling yourself, you're not learning, you're not even listening" Freestyle Digital Media has unveiled an official trailer for Gun and a Hotel Bible, an indie drama based on the original play of the same name. Filmmakers Raja Gosnell & Alicia Joy LeBlanc team up to tell this story of infidelity and anger. "Can Gideon sway Pete before he pulls the trigger? When all hope is lost, can the lost find hope?" It is a "provocative film" about a man on the verge of a violent act, and his encounter with a personified hotel bible. Starring Bradley Gosnell, Daniel Floren, and Mia Marcon. This seems like a compelling idea for a play, built around the incredible power of words to help calm people down. But it also seems to be a bit too obsessed with the bible and its words. But if they do make a difference, why not. Official...
- 12/22/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
So, How Was Your 2020 is a series in which our favorite entertainers answer our questionnaire about the music, culture and memorable moments that shaped their year. We’ll be rolling these pieces out throughout December.
Hayley Williams redefined her musical style with her debut solo album, Petals for Armor, released this past spring during the chaos of Covid-19 lockdown. Williams largely wrote the album in a self-imposed isolation, following a post-breakup stay at an intensive therapy retreat. The result is a soothing and inspired record that couldn’t have come at a better time,...
Hayley Williams redefined her musical style with her debut solo album, Petals for Armor, released this past spring during the chaos of Covid-19 lockdown. Williams largely wrote the album in a self-imposed isolation, following a post-breakup stay at an intensive therapy retreat. The result is a soothing and inspired record that couldn’t have come at a better time,...
- 12/1/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
Search ‘Martial Arts Movies’ on Amazon Prime and you’ll get over a thousand results ranging from the classics to the campy, to the critically acclaimed. It’s an overwhelming library for the uninitiated and the mother lode for stalwart fans of the genre. There are so many gems buried in Amazon Prime that digging out the favorites is dirty challenging work but extremely rewarding.
When it comes to martial arts, Amazon Prime has a killer Kung Fu collection. The ‘80s were the ‘Golden Era’ of Kung Fu films when Hong Kong film studios cranked out films faster than any grindhouse ever. Many Hong Kong filmmakers put out up to half a dozen films a year, and most have hundreds of credits on IMDb. This glut of Kung Fu films spread to every Chinatown ghetto theater on the planet. And like with horror, American networks broadcasted late night Kung Fu...
When it comes to martial arts, Amazon Prime has a killer Kung Fu collection. The ‘80s were the ‘Golden Era’ of Kung Fu films when Hong Kong film studios cranked out films faster than any grindhouse ever. Many Hong Kong filmmakers put out up to half a dozen films a year, and most have hundreds of credits on IMDb. This glut of Kung Fu films spread to every Chinatown ghetto theater on the planet. And like with horror, American networks broadcasted late night Kung Fu...
- 9/14/2020
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Students aboard a spaceship find homework and debates to be the least of their worries when they are forced to face off against deadly extraterrestrials in Devastation Class, the new novel from filmmakers Glen Zipper and Elaine Mongeon. The first installment in a planned trilogy, Devastation Class is now available from HarperCollins/Blink, and we've been provided with an excerpt to share with Daily Dead readers:
"From award-winning filmmakers Glen Zipper—known for creating the wildly popular Netflix series Dogs and producing such films as the Academy Award ® winning Undefeated and the critically acclaimed Showbiz Kids directed by Alex Winter (Bill & Ted Face The Music), currently streaming on HBO, and Elaine Mongeon— associate producer on notable films and series such as Magic Mike Xxl and Red Oaks and the director of cult short horror films for Warner Bros. and Hulu—comes the incredible new novel Devastation Class (HarperCollins/Blink, Hardcover,...
"From award-winning filmmakers Glen Zipper—known for creating the wildly popular Netflix series Dogs and producing such films as the Academy Award ® winning Undefeated and the critically acclaimed Showbiz Kids directed by Alex Winter (Bill & Ted Face The Music), currently streaming on HBO, and Elaine Mongeon— associate producer on notable films and series such as Magic Mike Xxl and Red Oaks and the director of cult short horror films for Warner Bros. and Hulu—comes the incredible new novel Devastation Class (HarperCollins/Blink, Hardcover,...
- 9/11/2020
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
"Dogs don't stand on two feet." Rlje has released an official US trailer for the extra kinky Bdsm film from Finland titled Dogs Don't Wear Pants, which first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year in the Directors' Fortnight sidebar. It also stopped by the Toronto Strasbourg, Sitges, and Helsinki Film Festivals last fall. Described as an "affecting and absurd dramedy", Dogs Don't Wear Pants is about a guilt-stricken widower who discovers that a demanding dominatrix might be able to give him the therapy he needs. A film about how brutal Bdsm and pup play might actually be the therapy certain people need. Starring Pekka Strang, Krista Kosonen, Ester Geislerová, Ilona Huhta, Jani Volanen, and Oona Airola. With so much funky and awkward footage, they can cut together such kinky and amusing trailers for this film. And even if you don't like Bdsm (or maybe you do?), you may be into this film anyway.
- 8/24/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
As a TV series, Psych is like one of those frozen yogurt chains where the wall is ringed with different flavors and you can keep pulling levers for whatever combination you want. There are the Shawn/Gus episodes, the “Shawn’s psychic lie is threatened” episodes, the increasingly genius and lovingly rendered (often ‘80s-tastic) tributes, and the ensemble classics where the whole cast is just a well-oiled machine after years of riffing off one another. You can have whatever flavor you want. And don’t even get me started on toppings.
Over its eight-year run, Psych interrogated its own premise, built out its supporting cast, let its characters play their favorite movie characters, and adapted its own internal mythology into trilogies that would make any movie-buff weep with appreciation. Here is a baker’s dozen of the most giggle-worthy, self-referential, surprisingly dramatic episodes of Psych.
Season 2 Episode 1: “American Duos...
Over its eight-year run, Psych interrogated its own premise, built out its supporting cast, let its characters play their favorite movie characters, and adapted its own internal mythology into trilogies that would make any movie-buff weep with appreciation. Here is a baker’s dozen of the most giggle-worthy, self-referential, surprisingly dramatic episodes of Psych.
Season 2 Episode 1: “American Duos...
- 7/14/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Earlier this month, Roger Waters told Rolling Stone that he recently sat down for a “peace summit” with his ex–Pink Floyd bandmates David Gilmour and Nick Mason that ultimately went nowhere. “I wrote out a sort of a plan because we’d come to something of a … I don’t really want to talk much about this,” he said. “But the plan didn’t go through.”
The plan didn’t involve any sort of reunion tour. “This was just, ‘Can we release the remastered vinyl version of Animals without...
The plan didn’t involve any sort of reunion tour. “This was just, ‘Can we release the remastered vinyl version of Animals without...
- 4/28/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Hey, "MacGyver" fans. We are back at you ,tonight, to give you guys a new spoiler rundown for the next, new episode 11 of MacGyver's current season 4 that's coming out next week. We were able to get our hands on the official press release for episode 11 from the good ole folks over at CBS. So, this episode 11 press release will certainly be our source for this spoiler session. Alright, we're going to stop wasting time and get right into it. Let's go. For starters, we've been informed that episode 11 is officially titled, "Psy-Op + Cell + Merchant + Birds." It sounds like episode 11 will feature some very interesting, intense, possible dramatic and action-filled scenes. In the new episode 11, MacGyver will be on a new mission. In this new mission, MacGyver will be trying to gain some trust and obtain new information on the next move of a top Codex operative named The Merchant.
- 4/18/2020
- by Andre Braddox
- OnTheFlix
In today’s TV news roundup, Variety has learned that Lisa Vanderpump will guest star in “American Housewife,” and Amazon Prime Video announced that the second season of “Homecoming” will premiere May 22.
Casting
Lisa Vanderpump will guest star on the May 6 episode of “American Housewife,“ Variety has learned exclusively. Vanderpump will appear as herself in the episode, which sees the Otto family visiting California on an all-expenses paid trip that overlaps with Katie’s (Katy Mixon) birthday. A former star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Vanderpump is also known for “Vanderpump Rules,” a stint on “Dancing with the Stars” and her dog rescue “Vanderpump Dogs.”
Dates
WarnerMedia has announced that all of its networks will air “Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate” simultaneously on April 14 at 7 p.m. As part of Sesame Workshop’s Caring for Each Other initiative to help families feel more connected in uncertain times, the...
Casting
Lisa Vanderpump will guest star on the May 6 episode of “American Housewife,“ Variety has learned exclusively. Vanderpump will appear as herself in the episode, which sees the Otto family visiting California on an all-expenses paid trip that overlaps with Katie’s (Katy Mixon) birthday. A former star of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Vanderpump is also known for “Vanderpump Rules,” a stint on “Dancing with the Stars” and her dog rescue “Vanderpump Dogs.”
Dates
WarnerMedia has announced that all of its networks will air “Sesame Street: Elmo’s Playdate” simultaneously on April 14 at 7 p.m. As part of Sesame Workshop’s Caring for Each Other initiative to help families feel more connected in uncertain times, the...
- 4/8/2020
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Stars: Andrew Kotting, Eden Kotting, MacGillivray, Iain Sinclair | Directed by Andrew Kotting
Andrew Kotting directs this curious experimental film with Anonymous Bosch (Edith Walks) working the cinematography. A reunion, too, between Iain Sinclair and Kotting, who have previously collaborated on the acclaimed Swandown, By Our Selves and Edith Walks. A work of artist, poet, dreamer, photographer, writer, filmmaker and, obviously, curator, The Whalebone Box isn’t something you’ve seen before, it’s… well… elsewhere.
The Whalebone Box introduces us to a box, made from whalebone and washed up on a beach, entangled in the nets of a fisherman. It’s said that the box has the ability to heal or change those who touch it. This curiosity begins a journey, with the box, which was given, over thirty years ago, to Iain Sinclair, a writer and filmmaker, is taken 800 miles from London to the Outer Hebrides, to be returned to sculptor Steve Dilworth,...
Andrew Kotting directs this curious experimental film with Anonymous Bosch (Edith Walks) working the cinematography. A reunion, too, between Iain Sinclair and Kotting, who have previously collaborated on the acclaimed Swandown, By Our Selves and Edith Walks. A work of artist, poet, dreamer, photographer, writer, filmmaker and, obviously, curator, The Whalebone Box isn’t something you’ve seen before, it’s… well… elsewhere.
The Whalebone Box introduces us to a box, made from whalebone and washed up on a beach, entangled in the nets of a fisherman. It’s said that the box has the ability to heal or change those who touch it. This curiosity begins a journey, with the box, which was given, over thirty years ago, to Iain Sinclair, a writer and filmmaker, is taken 800 miles from London to the Outer Hebrides, to be returned to sculptor Steve Dilworth,...
- 3/30/2020
- by Chris Cummings
- Nerdly
By the spring of 1980, Pink Floyd were one of the biggest bands in the world. Their four most recent albums (1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, 1975’s Wish You Were Here, 1977’s Animals, and 1979’s The Wall) sold by the millions and they packed stadiums across the globe whenever they toured. Seventies superstar bands like the Eagles and Led Zeppelin were running on fumes by this point and would split before the year ended, but Floyd had just started their ambitious Wall tour that was unlike anything rock fans had ever seen.
- 3/19/2020
- by Andy Greene
- Rollingstone.com
Jocelyn Moorhouse with Dop Martin McGrath on the ‘Wakefield’ set.
Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.
The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.
Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.
The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.
Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.
Jocelyn Moorhouse was shooting the ABC’s Stateless when Jungle Entertainment offered her the gig of set-up director of the ABC drama Wakefield.
The concept was unlike anything she’d ever heard of, centering on the interaction between staff and patients at a Blue Mountains psychiatric hospital, leavened with musical numbers and tap dancing, so she was hooked.
Brit Rudi Dharmalingam plays Nik, a gifted psych nurse in the eight-episode show created by Kristen Dunphy, who is the showrunner with Sam Meikle, produced by Shay Spencer and Ally Henville for Jungle Entertainment and BBC Studios.
The sanest person in a pretty crazy place, Nik is confronted by a dark secret from his past when a song gets stuck in his head.
Reuniting with the director after collaborating on the Seven Network’s Wanted, Geraldine Hakewill plays a psychiatrist, with Mandy McElhinney as the head nurse.
- 3/16/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
"The way he looks at people. It's like... he understands. He looks into your soul, and understands." Dogs, man, they're the best. I love dogs. I mean – I Love dogs. My favorite animal. Always the cuddliest. Always the cutest. Always your best friend. Always. We Don't Deserve Dogs is a new documentary film made by cinematographer / director Matthew Salleh; produced by Rose Tucker. It was set to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival this year, though it deserves to go well beyond just that festival. This film joins the pantheon of all-time great dog documentaries, including the likes of Los Reyes and the Netflix series Dogs. It is a huge breath of doggie heaven fresh air. I loved every last second of it, and can't wait to rewatch it whenever I need a boost. It's an extraordinary feel-good look at how amazing dogs are and how humans connect with them.
- 3/16/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
From VancouverFilm.Net, here is the Vancouver Film Production Update for January 2020, including "Arcadia", "Bonzo", "Omens" and a whole lot more:
Feature
Arcadia
Local Production Company: Gramercy Film Productions Inc.
Producer: Cecil O'Connor
Director: Colin Trevorrow
2/24/2020 - 3/6/2020
Untitled Graham King Project
Local Production Company: Cold Hut Production Ulc.
Producer: Nan Morales, Graham King
Director: Nora Fingscheidt
2/3/2020 - 4/9/2020
When Time Got Louder
Local Production Company: Lucky Labs Pictures Inc.
Producer: Jason Bourque, Ken Frith, Connie Cocchia
Director: Connie Cocchia
1/9/2020 - 1/31/2020
New Media Feature
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1/9/2020 - 1/31/2020
New Media Feature
Cats And Dogs 3
Local Production Company: Cats And Dogs Productions Ltd.
Director: Sean McNamara
1/13/2020 - 2/7/2020
Christmas Chronicles 2
Local Production Company: Maple Syrup Productions Ulc.
Producer: Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus
Director: Chris Columbus
10/21/2019 - 2/1/2020
Every Breath You Take
Local Production Company: Ebyt Productions Inc.
Producer: Kevin Leeson
Director: Vaughn Stein
12/5/2019 - 1/21/2020
TV Series
A Million Little Things - Season 2
Local Production Company: Stage 49 Ltd.
Producer: Chris Smirnoff
Director: Daisy Von Scherler Mayer,...
- 12/31/2019
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
In a Parisian hotel suite in late November, Quentin Tarantino is hard at work. He is in town to launch the theatrical re-release of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, with a new cut that adds additional grace notes to the version released over the summer, and he’s on a mini European tour in support of the movie’s home entertainment release. But his next task is already at hand: a novel he is writing, for which the research is laid out on the desk in front of him. A handful of books alongside a writing pad crammed with notes in his familiar block handwriting.
There are other future plans afoot too, of course. Not least among them, the subject of his next—and possibly final—picture, and his recent personal news; he will soon become a father for the first time.
For now, though, Tarantino is content to reflect on this year. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood has been an outsized success for a non-franchise, R-rated release, grossing more than $370 million at the global box office and sparking endless debate. It has been the kind of hit that might only have been possible for a movie trailed as “the 9th from Quentin Tarantino”. Now it is a major Oscar player, with five Golden Globe nominations among a string of other plaudits.
Still, Tarantino understands that the landscape the movie released in is very different from the one that greeted Reservoir Dogs, his directorial debut, when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992. He is still able to make movies on his own terms, but over the course of a 90-minute discussion, he acknowledges that others aren’t so fortunate, and wonders whether he would be able to repeat the success of Dogs if it had been released in the current landscape of cinema.
First, though, with enough distance from the film’s release, Spoilers Abound as we talk about that ending.
Deadline: Let’s begin with the end. At the climax of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, after Cliff and Rick have saved the day, and Rick has been invited into Sharon Tate’s house for a drink, the camera rises up above the house, and Cielo Drive, and we are lifted out of the movie, away from this fantasy world in which these people survived the events of that night. Was that shot always key for you?
Quentin Tarantino: Oh, absolutely. I came up with that ending quite a few years ago. I had been working on this piece, little by little, in one way or another, for about seven years. I think sometime after Death Proof is when I first came up with the basic concept. And I came up with the idea for that last shot about five years ago. When I did, frankly, it blew me away. It was the thing that cemented that I was going to do this one of these days, because I had to film that.
It’s strange, I don’t have many examples of where I’m walking around with a shot in my head for five years; one literal shot that starts here and ends there. The shot that we did was exactly the way it had been in my head all that time.
Deadline: Was it hard to get that shot exactly right?
Tarantino: It wasn’t hard to execute it. The hard part was finding the house that would work for it. The gate had to be exactly where the gate was. You had to be able to go through the trees. I even wrote it in the script: “It goes through the trees.” You had to be able to do that, and then see into the parking lot and the entrance of the house. I even wanted that little welcome mat right there in the shot. But it also had to work out for the rest of the movie that Rick’s house would be right next door. Nothing we looked at was exactly that. There was this thing of, well, I can’t do what I wanted to do, but I could do this or that, so I’m looking at that.
Frankly, to tell you the truth, it was Bob Richardson, my cinematographer, and my first Ad Bill Clark, who found the house. They were like, “Look, they’re not coming up with the damn thing.” They got on Google Maps, and literally started driving through the Hollywood Hills on their own at the end of a day, and that’s how we found both of those houses. Without a location guy in the car, they just rang the bells. “Can we come in and look at your house?” They said yes, and we go, “This is it, this is the one.” Now, that other house worked out just fine; it happened to be for sale, so there wasn’t anybody living in it, and that wasn’t a problem. So, it was Bob and Bill, just knowing exactly what I wanted in my mind.
And by the way, the location manager, he found one magnificent location after another. But that shot wasn’t in his head in the way it was in Bob Richardson’s head. He knew exactly what it needed to be.
The weirdest thing about it, though, since it’s the end of the movie and I’d carried that shot around so long, we actually ended up doing that shot—I don’t know—maybe around week five or six. Something fairly early on in the process.
Deadline: How long were you up entirely?
Tarantino: I don’t even remember now. I think it was something like three and a half months. So it was week five or six when we did that shot, and it was a little deflating to do it that soon. It was like, shit, that’s the end. How could there be any movie left to do after that [laughs]?
Deadline: It’s arresting, and bittersweet, because we’ve been introduced to Sharon Tate with a light touch—the idea of this bright spirit and all the promise she had ahead. And we’re left with the reality: she was stolen from her own life, and from all of us.
Tarantino: Look, I think part of the way it works—and again, this was always in my head—is that, with the exception of Jay [Sebring], when the victims of that night come out and we see them all, it was always that we saw them from behind. They were like figurines. It’s like a cut-out of Sharon.
What I didn’t expect to happen to me, and the strange thing that gets me about it, is it’s not just Sharon. It’s Abigail [Folger] in that little robe. Her little blue robe became iconic to me, and so there’s something about Abi puttering out of the house in that little blue housecoat she was wearing that really gets me every time I see it.
Deadline: My understanding of the genesis of this was that there were two ideas. Rick and Cliff, and the relationship between a struggling actor and his long-time stuntman, and Sharon Tate and the backdrop of the summer of 1969 and the Manson family. Was there a lightbulb moment when those ideas collided?
Tarantino: Once I had that character of Cliff, it was a very quick leap to think, Well, what happens if they live on Cielo Drive? What if they lived next door to Roman and Sharon? Once I actually started thinking of it as a fully-fledged story, that came bizarrely easily. It was the first thing I came up with, actually, once I had that story. There were iterations of what could have happened but merging them together came very early on.
What started me thinking about this relationship between Rick and Cliff was witnessing an older actor on a movie. He came to me and said, “Look, I got a guy, a stunt guy. He’s been my stunt guy for the last decade or so. I haven’t busted your balls about this, because there’s nothing really for him to do, but you know that gag you have coming up on Thursday? He could do that. It’d be nice if we could throw that his way.” I’m like, “Sure, sure, sure.”
Deadline: How long ago did this happen?
Tarantino: This was about eight or nine years ago, something like that.
So, this guy came down, and you could tell that there was a time he was a perfect double for this actor, but you could also tell: that time had passed. It was also interesting, because this guy wasn’t working for me, he was working for the actor. But he was an interesting guy. I remember sitting on set, just looking across at them on the day this guy worked, and there was the actor—this old guy dressed in his outfit—sitting in a director’s chair next to this stunt guy dressed identically in the same costume. They were just sitting there, like I’m sure they’ve done for years on sets, just shooting the shit. It struck me: that’s an interesting relationship. It’s a relationship I’ve never seen dramatized before. I thought, If I ever do a movie about Hollywood, that could be a really interesting way inside it; to explore that relationship.
Deadline: It must have been something you’d read about, or known about before.
Tarantino: Well, frankly, I had never thought much about it before. Other than, alright, this cinematographer likes to work with this camera assistant. Or this director has this go-to Ad, and they’ve worked together a long time. Of course, I know about stuff like that, and I think it happens less now than it did before.
But yes, I was very much aware that there was Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, and there was Steve McQueen and Bud Ekins. I was aware of all that. But I had never really thought about it before.
Deadline: In hindsight, it seems like such fertile ground.
Tarantino: It’s funny, even telling you this story now, it seems so obvious. Why didn’t someone do this before? It’s so rich. Even the whole concept of the fact that, yeah, they’re buddies, but on the other hand, this guy is being paid to be there. And he’s being paid to do all the things the actor supposedly does, but he really risks his life doing this. And also, he’s being paid to be his friend. He’s paid to be on set, and talk to him, and help him out, and maybe run lines with him.
Deadline: And probably keep him out of trouble, too.
Tarantino: Exactly. Especially if there’s a drinking problem, which a lot of these guys had. So even talking about this now, it seems so obvious, but it was a little bit of a eureka moment.
Deadline: It’s a melancholic relationship here too: this isn’t Rick on his uppers, and Cliff tagging along for the ride. The ride is over. The fairground is moving on. You’ve dealt with melancholy quite a lot in your career; most especially in Jackie Brown. But you don’t seem like a very melancholic guy, so where does that come from?
Tarantino: Yeah, I’m not very melancholy, alright [laughs]. Life is pretty good. My life has been pretty charmed since I’ve been working here in Hollywood, so I don’t really have the right to be melancholy.
The thing about it is, if I didn’t throw Sharon into this story, it probably wouldn’t have been as melancholy. I don’t know what it would have been, but just putting her into it, and knowing that you’re heading towards that day—even if I stopped in February, even if I never got to August, you know August is going to happen—that, in itself, adds a sobering aspect to the film, especially in a film like this that doesn’t really have a story.
So, it was like, as I said, about four years of figuring out who Rick and Cliff were—between other projects. A little bit of it was doing research on Sharon and the Manson family, but really it was just figuring out who Rick and Cliff were. Part of that involved writing almost an entire film book about Rick. First, I had to know his career; his filmography, and every TV show he did. I needed to know that all fairly well. And then I had to get over that, so I wasn’t just shoving all that into the movie. Some people might say that’s exactly what I did, but I did have to get over it.
The way I did that was by writing it all out. I had enough of the Marvin scene—the scene with Al Pacino—to put on a one-act play. Any time I needed to figure out where Rick was, I would just write it through the Marvin scene. It was never going to be in the movie, but the way to find out about Rick was to have Marvin ask him questions. It was as thick as a novel by the time I was finished with it. Never to be in the movie, but just to understand Rick.
Then after, Ok, I know who these people are, the question became: what story do I want to tell? Now it was up to me. I had a couple of ideas early on that would have been more like an Elmore Leonard story. These guys were like Elmore Leonard guys any old way, and you could imagine them in one of his novels.
But then I thought, I don’t think I need a story. I think they’re strong enough on their own. I can do just a day in the life of Rick, a day in the life of Cliff, and a little bit a day in the life of Sharon, and just follow them during that February. I thought the characters were strong enough, and I thought the milieu I was creating was strong enough.
Deadline: You mentioned earlier that we all know what’s going to happen come August no matter what. Maybe that’s where the melancholy comes in, because we know we’re about to witness the death of that classic version of Hollywood, too. Or, at least, we think we will.
Tarantino: Yes, and the morbid thing about that was, once I realized it could be a day in the life, and started to write that, the murder that we know is going to happen was now operating as a dramatic motor to some degree. I don’t know if you feel it much the first day, but once we’re onto the second day, it’s like every single scene is getting you closer to August 8th. It was morbid, the fact that this real-life murder was pulling the characters along.
I was not unaware of that. I became aware through doing it, and I had to constantly ask myself, “Am I pulling this off? Because if I’m not, this could be in really bad taste.” Normally, I wouldn’t mind veering into bad taste, but in this case, it mattered to me. I didn’t want to exploit these victims. I don’t think I did that, but it was a question I kept having to ask myself.
Deadline: The optimism of the movie—and it’s there in that bittersweet final shot—is that, Ok, we know what happened on the night of August 8th/9th 1969. But the picture paints a hopeful “what if”. What if we could have lived in this moment forever?
Tarantino: The weird thing about thinking about that ending, and then doing it in the context of the movie, was that I wasn’t quite prepared for how I’d feel when it came. When it was just an idea in my head for a story I was writing, it was like, “Great, she’s saved, done.” But in the movie, when I watched it put together, it was like, “Ok, she’s saved… Dot, dot, dot.”
Because no, she’s not. It’s that ellipsis where you have to realize, she’s not saved. Things did not happen this way. To tell you the truth, I never thought about that during these five years I had that shot in my head. But, in context, you can’t help but turn the page.
Deadline: Let me go back to what you said about the Marvin scene, and how you wrote all these conversations out. I was on the set of Django Unchained, and I was given a script that had a lot more material in it than the movie that eventually came out. You talked then about how you treat your scripts as novels, that you adapt as you go. There is material in there you never intend to actually shoot. In that movie I remember an entire sequence with Broomhilda, and a slave auction.
Tarantino: Oh yeah, Broomhilda had a whole story and we didn’t even film it. It was just too much.
Deadline: It was there for the reader?
Tarantino: Yeah. Well, it’s funny. I think there was probably a time that we euphemistically thought we were going to shoot it. I can’t imagine how we ever thought we were going to make a movie that was watchable in a movie theater with this 20- to 25-minute section in it, but I would have put it into the script anyway just for the reader. We even tried to cast that, and we briefly thought about shooting it, but I’m always putting stuff into the script that I know probably will never see the light of day, but that makes the script better. It’s a reading experience, and as a reading experience, it makes it fuller.
But then there’s a whole lot of stuff where it’s like, Ok, I hope this makes it, but I don’t know. If I’m lucky enough to shoot this, and get it out of my system, maybe this scene makes it, and this one doesn’t. I can pretty much guess what’ll make it for 80% of the movie, but there’s 20% that I can’t guess. You’re always surprised. There’s a couple of scenes in Hollywood that I would have bet the farm would make it into the movie, but they didn’t. A whole little section that, to me, was at one time the soul of the movie—at least when we shot it—but now it’s gone.
Deadline: Can you say what it was?
Tarantino: The little girl [Julia Butters] had more things to do. She showed up a couple more times. Then, consequently, in the August section in the third act, I had this narrator come in, and he’s describing this and that, and then he describes about how Rick can’t afford Cliff anymore, and so he has to let him go. Tom Rothman had been reading the script, and he called me and goes, “Hey, Quentin, this whole part with the narrator saying Rick has to let Cliff go… That should be a scene. It shouldn’t be narration; it should be dramatized.” Believe it or not, as long as the movie was already, Tom Rothman was actually asking me to add a scene. He goes, “I think you should write that, and make it a scene between the two boys.”
So, I did. I think I even gave Brad [Pitt] and Leo [DiCaprio] a handwritten scene the day before we shot it, so they had it handwritten but not typed up. But they read it and were like, “Ok, here we go, let’s do this.” We banged it out, and they probably thought the scene would never make the movie, but it’s a terrific scene and it did end up being crucial.
It’s a heartbreaking process. It’s a little masochistic and heartbreaking to write this stuff that you’re really happy with, and then not put it in. But at the same time, it’s also really fortunate to be in a situation where I do get to shoot some of this stuff. We do get to get it out of our system. We get to play around, and have fun doing it, and it exists. If I ever want to do anything with it, that stuff still exists.
I also think there’s a quality to my movies where they’re bursting at the seams with material, and part of the making of the movie is sifting through it all. So yeah, I’m not just writing a normal script and shooting that script, and when we do all the pages, we’re done. Every movie is an erstwhile novel adaptation. And by the way, there’s a reason why people write scripts as a blueprint to be executed. I always make fun of it, but there’s a very good reason they do that, and it’s the way most people do it. They don’t do it my cockamamie way.
Deadline: Even out of Cannes, it made me curious what you would do with that material. The timing for The Hateful Eight landing on Netflix in episodic form made me wonder if there were darlings you’d killed on Hollywood that you might one day also return to.
Tarantino: To me, that version on Netflix wasn’t all that different. Hateful Eight was already a long movie anyway, and the way I looked at it was, well, this is a play. I haven’t been to the theater in years where the play wasn’t at least three hours long. That’s the standard for a real play. I figured that for this movie as a play—especially the way I was doing it with an intermission and everything—that was par for the course.
Deadline: It was a change of form, though.
Tarantino: It was a change of form, but at the same time… Well, yes, it was a change of form. I had to rejigger the chapters a little bit to make it work, but they were already in chapters to some degree.
With The Hateful Eight, the timing was literally a situation where Netflix offered me that option, so it was like, if they’re offering me that option, and they’re even going to pay extra for it, well, I have all this stuff, I can do it, let me see if I like it. And I did, and I did like it. I thought it was an interesting way to watch the movie.
Deadline: All the movies you’ve made lately have been pretty big in terms of scale and scope. What keeps you engaged? What keeps your enthusiasm going as you’re on the road to making and releasing a movie on this scale?
Tarantino: Look, if I were doing really turgid dramas, or minimalistic pieces, it might not be that important to me. I think most of my stuff is really, really funny. There are laughs. And sometimes I’ll call them comedies, sometimes I won’t, but even if they’re not officially comedies, I think they have as many laughs as any comedy released that year, if not more. I’m hearing laughs all through the writing of it, and I’m hearing laughs when we do the scene, I’m hearing laughs when we cut it together, and I definitely hear laughs when I get a reaction from an audience. They’re not just sitting there, glazing over.
That’s my way of testing it out. That’s the reward for me, more than anything else. To sit in a theater and hear them chuckle at this line or that line. To laugh about this, and then to feel the tension when Cliff goes to Spahn Ranch. All of a sudden, the theater goes really quiet, you know what I mean? That’s the payoff. That’s the reward.
Deadline: It would be easy to have the kind of oversized success you’ve had in your career and then exhale. Not try as hard.
Tarantino: I do feel I’ve gotten a lot more jaded over the not quite 30 years I’ve been doing this than I was in the first six years of the ’90s, when I first came out. Nevertheless, the joy and the fun of making movies, and of seeing them up on the screen with a bunch of people who could do anything they wanted to do that day, and what they decided to do was pay money to come and see my movie… That’s exciting.
Deadline: You started out in a fertile period for independent cinema in the early ’90s. It was a rich—and perhaps a more optimistic—world to debut in.
Tarantino: Yeah. I always imagined that, if I was going to break into movies, I would be breaking through in independent cinema, but that was before there was a legitimate independent cinema to break into. There were always those three or four movies a year that really broke through and became a thing. Even if it only played for a week or two weeks at one of the Laemmle theaters in Santa Monica or something, and it had a little ad in the Los Angeles Times, and it got a review in The New York Times, the La Times and La Weekly, that would have been good enough.
None of us knew, that year of ’92, when we went to Sundance, that a good majority of the films that would be premiering at Sundance would be the harbinger for an entire movement. That most of us were going to get released over the next year. Even that other movies, that got turned down for Sundance that year, like Laws of Gravity, would find releases. Or even that, the way alternative music was taking off at that time, independent cinema would be taking off right alongside it. That they would become bedfellows.
Deadline: How do you look at the landscape today, then? You’re a celluloid guy. I don’t even know if there’s a way for a debut director now to get the money to make a 35mm film and actually get it onto a big screen.
Tarantino: Well, some guys do. It’s a fallacy that it’s less expensive [to shoot digital]. You’ll spend money somewhere, so you could spend it there, on film.
I think the sad part is that a lot of filmmakers today just don’t care. They’re happy it’s digital because then the cinematographer isn’t so much in charge, and they’re in charge. They’ve been shooting digital, making movies on their phone and in short films, and so that’s what they’re comfortable with. They’re probably intimidated or scared. “How are we going to get an image? If we don’t have enough lights, is this going to be bad?” We were all scared of that too, but we had to wear the big boy pants and plow ahead anyway.
The independent market for cinema that did exist doesn’t exist anymore. It doesn’t exist the way it did when it was thriving in the ’90s, but it doesn’t even exist in the way I described it in the late ’80s, where, yeah, maybe your movie played for only one or two weeks, but it had a foothold. It owned that little real estate in the newspaper. It was playing at the Loz Feliz 2, or the Music Hall, or even one of the shoebox theaters at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. There were a lot of movies I saw that never played everywhere else but in Cinema 6 or something in the Beverly Center.
Deadline: You can’t even play at the Beverly Center anymore. That theater has gone.
Tarantino: Yeah, but that was the place. It was that newspaper ad, it was a piece of real estate. You saw their little poster, the title treatment, and it was like, “I’m here!” Now, a newspaper ad means nothing. Now it’s just lost in this or that or the other.
And, oddly enough, those movies are still being made. When you read the Los Angeles Times on a Friday, you have the big new comedy—or whatever, two movies that make the front page as far as the reviews are concerned—and then you turn the page just before you get to the TV listings, and there’s seven or eight capsule reviews for films I’ve never heard of. And sometimes they star known people. I’ve never heard of them, there’s no ad corresponding to them, and I don’t even know where some of these theaters are. What are all these movies, and where are they going?
I even felt that about seven or eight years ago. I was on the Sundance jury and I watched all the films at Sundance that year because I was on the jury. We had some movies like Frozen River. That was the movie that won, so that played. The movie Ballast; that won something, and that ended up getting a theatrical release. There was another that played, and I can’t even remember the name of it right now. It takes place in the ’90s, and Ben Kingsley is a pot-smoking therapist.
Deadline: Oh, The Wackness.
Tarantino: Yeah, The Wackness. That played and there were a couple of others, but back in the ’90s, getting into Sundance was a thing. That was the holy grail. So we watched all these movies at Sundance, the premier American independent festival, and they had named people like Winona Ryder and Paul Giamatti and all those people in them, and I never heard from most of those movies again. I never even saw them show up on cable. I thought, Ok, it’ll be on Showtime 4 or something like that, but no, I never saw them. They never got a theatrical release, and they literally got the pinnacle of what the goal was for independent cinema in the ’90s. They just disappeared.
Deadline: Does it make us dinosaurs for hoping that movies exist and have a life in the theatrical space rather than just appearing one day on streaming and disappearing the next?
Tarantino: A streaming platform is one thing, but those movies I’m talking about? I don’t think they’re appearing on streaming platforms either. When you read those little capsule reviews, the critics all seem pretty snotty about them, but they’ll describe interesting-sounding stories, or an interesting take on a genre. You’ll think, Maybe this guy doesn’t like it, but it sounds like a cool movie. Maybe I won’t see it this week at the San Gabriel blah-blah-blah, but I’ll see it when it comes on cable. And then I never see it show up on cable. And those are the ones that actually got a theatrical release.
Deadline: If the 29-year-old Quentin Tarantino were starting his career tomorrow, with Reservoir Dogs, do you think that movie would break out?
Tarantino: I’ve thought about that a lot. I think the movie is a good movie, but I think at its heart what it has going for it is the Tim Roth/Michael Madsen aspect of it. If I had guys of that caliber—who they were then, now—I think that would be a thing. I could actually see Reservoir Dogs being picked up by one of the smaller divisions of the studios or something. I’m being optimistic about that, but I’ve thought about it, and it’s like, no, the market that existed, that took me under its wing and actually gave me a platform to do my movies… That market doesn’t exist anymore.
When it came to Reservoir Dogs, the film I wanted to emulate as far as what I hoped it would do, and the success it might get, and how it would stand out from the crowd, was Blood Simple. That was my jumping-off point. I didn’t know if I was going to get the reviews that Blood Simple got, but I remembered that ad, and I trucked down to the Beverly Center to see it. It’s an independent film, but it had a genre base. It was doing genre in its own way. That’s what I was hoping to emulate. What the Coen brothers did with Blood Simple.
Deadline: When Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood came out, it spawned a million think pieces, many of which seemed to blithely ignore the context for what you were presenting. But it was also the motion picture event of the year. How gratifying was it to see it become this kind of phenomenon all its own in a world of superhero pictures and franchises?
Tarantino: It felt wonderful. Look, I think a lot of us making movies are facing a dark night of the soul. I know I am, and so are a lot of us who make movies, where movies were one thing to us, and they were this one thing for a long time. We are wondering if we’ll still be doing it this way 15 years from now. And my guess is not. I don’t know what it’s going to be like 15 years from now, but I don’t think this way will be the way.
Even more important than that, at the end of the day—and it’s sad, but it’s also how things change—you’re just talking about a delivery system for how people see stuff. Now, I think it is more than that, but you can reduce it to that if you’re talking about the bigger question I’ve heard many people pontificate on, on podcast after podcast. That’s the question of, do movies matter anymore? Are movies important? Are movies part of the conversation?
The thing about it is, there was a time—and it lasted for my entire life—where movies were at the center of the zeitgeist. A movie would hit, and become popular, and it would be at the center of the conversation. It would be the conversation. And then there were also the movies that opened in theaters and the critics didn’t quite get them, and they didn’t do so well at the box office, but five years later, after they’d been on cable and everything, the movies might as well have been big smashes because everyone has seen them and is quoting them. They become part of the fabric.
So, the question of do movies matter is a big question, and people are pontificating about that in print and in conversations in coffee houses and on podcasts the world over. That’s all depressing, but what’s not depressing is when you make a movie and—all that being said—you are part of the conversation. There was an undeniable fact that, for the first four weeks of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood playing in its theatrical engagement, everybody was talking about it. It was in the conversation. Everybody was talking about it.
You’re being very sweet about a lot of the snotty think pieces that came out in the wake of the movie, but it took me a long time to realize something. I didn’t feel like this before, and I would get mad at those things. Now, some of those pieces, yes, I think they’re being incredibly unfair in a lot of ways. But they’re not hurting me. They’re actually, in their own, ass-backwards way, helping me. They are keeping the conversations alive. They are creating an argument about the movie. And frankly, maybe more important than a conversation is an argument. If you’re going to have an argument, you need somebody on the opposing side. So, I might think they’re dicks—and definitely, I think some of them were very, very unfair—but they were helping me in their own way, because the movie was worth fighting about. The movie was worth the arguments.
It was all a little less painful to me on this movie, those think pieces. Because to me, some of them—not all of them, but some of them—had their interesting points, and you could give them their due and everything. And many of them, they revealed exactly where they were coming from in the piece. Their unfairness was right there. They revealed it, and they were actually rather naked in their bias.
Deadline: Margot Robbie told me the other day that she had gone to the Bruin, which is the theater her Sharon watches The Wrecking Crew at in the movie, to see Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. She said it was late into the run, there were only a handful of people there, and she sat in almost the exact same seat that Sharon does.
Tarantino: I talked to her about that! Well, I haven’t talked to her about it since she did it, but I talked her into doing it [laughs]. I was like, “Have you ever done that?” She had some version of it, but not exactly what Sharon does in the movie. I go, “Well, Margot, it’s playing at the Bruin right now. You could go next week, on a Wednesday afternoon for the 2 o’clock show, and you could literally do what Sharon does.” She was like, “Oh my God, I think I’ll do that.” So, I knew she was going to do it.
Deadline: I didn’t ask if she’d put her feet up on the seat in front.
Tarantino: Knowing her, she probably did [laughs].
Deadline: But she said it was fascinating to watch the people watching the movie and hear how they were reacting to it.
Tarantino: Hear the laughs and all that stuff? Yeah.
Deadline: That’s something you’ve been doing since the beginning of your career, right?
Tarantino: Oh yeah. Sharon’s basically me in that situation. I’ve even done that at the Bruin. I remember the first thing of mine to play at the Bruin was True Romance. It was actually kind of funny, because I was already a little known when True Romance came out, because of Reservoir Dogs. I wasn’t worldwide known, but some hip people knew who I was.
So, I was on a date, and we show up at the Bruin. Not during the daytime; they were getting ready for an evening show. I thought to myself—and not because I’m cheap—but I thought, Well, I did write this movie. So, I talk to the manager, and I go, “Look, I wrote this film. Do I have to pay?” He goes, “What do you mean you wrote it?” I go over to the poster and I go, “See? That’s my name, Quentin Tarantino. That’s me.” He goes, “How do I know it’s you?” I go, “Well, I can show you my driver’s license.”
And then my date proceeds to work out the deal with the manager. I’m standing there, listening to them argue, and all of a sudden, some people come up to me, and they recognize me. I’m over there by the poster, and these people come up and go, “Oh, you’re Quentin Tarantino. Reservoir Dogs is one of my favorite movies. Will you sign my autograph?” I start signing the autograph.
My date, meanwhile, is still negotiating with the manager of the Bruin. And then he’s like, “Wait a minute. What’s all this going on?” She goes, “Those are his fans! He’s signing autographs for his fans. That shows you who he is.”
Deadline: Did you get in?
Tarantino: Yeah [laughs]. The guy’s grumbling like, “Yeah, sure, go in, but how was I supposed to know you wrote the damn thing?”...
There are other future plans afoot too, of course. Not least among them, the subject of his next—and possibly final—picture, and his recent personal news; he will soon become a father for the first time.
For now, though, Tarantino is content to reflect on this year. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood has been an outsized success for a non-franchise, R-rated release, grossing more than $370 million at the global box office and sparking endless debate. It has been the kind of hit that might only have been possible for a movie trailed as “the 9th from Quentin Tarantino”. Now it is a major Oscar player, with five Golden Globe nominations among a string of other plaudits.
Still, Tarantino understands that the landscape the movie released in is very different from the one that greeted Reservoir Dogs, his directorial debut, when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1992. He is still able to make movies on his own terms, but over the course of a 90-minute discussion, he acknowledges that others aren’t so fortunate, and wonders whether he would be able to repeat the success of Dogs if it had been released in the current landscape of cinema.
First, though, with enough distance from the film’s release, Spoilers Abound as we talk about that ending.
Deadline: Let’s begin with the end. At the climax of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, after Cliff and Rick have saved the day, and Rick has been invited into Sharon Tate’s house for a drink, the camera rises up above the house, and Cielo Drive, and we are lifted out of the movie, away from this fantasy world in which these people survived the events of that night. Was that shot always key for you?
Quentin Tarantino: Oh, absolutely. I came up with that ending quite a few years ago. I had been working on this piece, little by little, in one way or another, for about seven years. I think sometime after Death Proof is when I first came up with the basic concept. And I came up with the idea for that last shot about five years ago. When I did, frankly, it blew me away. It was the thing that cemented that I was going to do this one of these days, because I had to film that.
It’s strange, I don’t have many examples of where I’m walking around with a shot in my head for five years; one literal shot that starts here and ends there. The shot that we did was exactly the way it had been in my head all that time.
Deadline: Was it hard to get that shot exactly right?
Tarantino: It wasn’t hard to execute it. The hard part was finding the house that would work for it. The gate had to be exactly where the gate was. You had to be able to go through the trees. I even wrote it in the script: “It goes through the trees.” You had to be able to do that, and then see into the parking lot and the entrance of the house. I even wanted that little welcome mat right there in the shot. But it also had to work out for the rest of the movie that Rick’s house would be right next door. Nothing we looked at was exactly that. There was this thing of, well, I can’t do what I wanted to do, but I could do this or that, so I’m looking at that.
Frankly, to tell you the truth, it was Bob Richardson, my cinematographer, and my first Ad Bill Clark, who found the house. They were like, “Look, they’re not coming up with the damn thing.” They got on Google Maps, and literally started driving through the Hollywood Hills on their own at the end of a day, and that’s how we found both of those houses. Without a location guy in the car, they just rang the bells. “Can we come in and look at your house?” They said yes, and we go, “This is it, this is the one.” Now, that other house worked out just fine; it happened to be for sale, so there wasn’t anybody living in it, and that wasn’t a problem. So, it was Bob and Bill, just knowing exactly what I wanted in my mind.
And by the way, the location manager, he found one magnificent location after another. But that shot wasn’t in his head in the way it was in Bob Richardson’s head. He knew exactly what it needed to be.
The weirdest thing about it, though, since it’s the end of the movie and I’d carried that shot around so long, we actually ended up doing that shot—I don’t know—maybe around week five or six. Something fairly early on in the process.
Deadline: How long were you up entirely?
Tarantino: I don’t even remember now. I think it was something like three and a half months. So it was week five or six when we did that shot, and it was a little deflating to do it that soon. It was like, shit, that’s the end. How could there be any movie left to do after that [laughs]?
Deadline: It’s arresting, and bittersweet, because we’ve been introduced to Sharon Tate with a light touch—the idea of this bright spirit and all the promise she had ahead. And we’re left with the reality: she was stolen from her own life, and from all of us.
Tarantino: Look, I think part of the way it works—and again, this was always in my head—is that, with the exception of Jay [Sebring], when the victims of that night come out and we see them all, it was always that we saw them from behind. They were like figurines. It’s like a cut-out of Sharon.
What I didn’t expect to happen to me, and the strange thing that gets me about it, is it’s not just Sharon. It’s Abigail [Folger] in that little robe. Her little blue robe became iconic to me, and so there’s something about Abi puttering out of the house in that little blue housecoat she was wearing that really gets me every time I see it.
Deadline: My understanding of the genesis of this was that there were two ideas. Rick and Cliff, and the relationship between a struggling actor and his long-time stuntman, and Sharon Tate and the backdrop of the summer of 1969 and the Manson family. Was there a lightbulb moment when those ideas collided?
Tarantino: Once I had that character of Cliff, it was a very quick leap to think, Well, what happens if they live on Cielo Drive? What if they lived next door to Roman and Sharon? Once I actually started thinking of it as a fully-fledged story, that came bizarrely easily. It was the first thing I came up with, actually, once I had that story. There were iterations of what could have happened but merging them together came very early on.
What started me thinking about this relationship between Rick and Cliff was witnessing an older actor on a movie. He came to me and said, “Look, I got a guy, a stunt guy. He’s been my stunt guy for the last decade or so. I haven’t busted your balls about this, because there’s nothing really for him to do, but you know that gag you have coming up on Thursday? He could do that. It’d be nice if we could throw that his way.” I’m like, “Sure, sure, sure.”
Deadline: How long ago did this happen?
Tarantino: This was about eight or nine years ago, something like that.
So, this guy came down, and you could tell that there was a time he was a perfect double for this actor, but you could also tell: that time had passed. It was also interesting, because this guy wasn’t working for me, he was working for the actor. But he was an interesting guy. I remember sitting on set, just looking across at them on the day this guy worked, and there was the actor—this old guy dressed in his outfit—sitting in a director’s chair next to this stunt guy dressed identically in the same costume. They were just sitting there, like I’m sure they’ve done for years on sets, just shooting the shit. It struck me: that’s an interesting relationship. It’s a relationship I’ve never seen dramatized before. I thought, If I ever do a movie about Hollywood, that could be a really interesting way inside it; to explore that relationship.
Deadline: It must have been something you’d read about, or known about before.
Tarantino: Well, frankly, I had never thought much about it before. Other than, alright, this cinematographer likes to work with this camera assistant. Or this director has this go-to Ad, and they’ve worked together a long time. Of course, I know about stuff like that, and I think it happens less now than it did before.
But yes, I was very much aware that there was Burt Reynolds and Hal Needham, and there was Steve McQueen and Bud Ekins. I was aware of all that. But I had never really thought about it before.
Deadline: In hindsight, it seems like such fertile ground.
Tarantino: It’s funny, even telling you this story now, it seems so obvious. Why didn’t someone do this before? It’s so rich. Even the whole concept of the fact that, yeah, they’re buddies, but on the other hand, this guy is being paid to be there. And he’s being paid to do all the things the actor supposedly does, but he really risks his life doing this. And also, he’s being paid to be his friend. He’s paid to be on set, and talk to him, and help him out, and maybe run lines with him.
Deadline: And probably keep him out of trouble, too.
Tarantino: Exactly. Especially if there’s a drinking problem, which a lot of these guys had. So even talking about this now, it seems so obvious, but it was a little bit of a eureka moment.
Deadline: It’s a melancholic relationship here too: this isn’t Rick on his uppers, and Cliff tagging along for the ride. The ride is over. The fairground is moving on. You’ve dealt with melancholy quite a lot in your career; most especially in Jackie Brown. But you don’t seem like a very melancholic guy, so where does that come from?
Tarantino: Yeah, I’m not very melancholy, alright [laughs]. Life is pretty good. My life has been pretty charmed since I’ve been working here in Hollywood, so I don’t really have the right to be melancholy.
The thing about it is, if I didn’t throw Sharon into this story, it probably wouldn’t have been as melancholy. I don’t know what it would have been, but just putting her into it, and knowing that you’re heading towards that day—even if I stopped in February, even if I never got to August, you know August is going to happen—that, in itself, adds a sobering aspect to the film, especially in a film like this that doesn’t really have a story.
So, it was like, as I said, about four years of figuring out who Rick and Cliff were—between other projects. A little bit of it was doing research on Sharon and the Manson family, but really it was just figuring out who Rick and Cliff were. Part of that involved writing almost an entire film book about Rick. First, I had to know his career; his filmography, and every TV show he did. I needed to know that all fairly well. And then I had to get over that, so I wasn’t just shoving all that into the movie. Some people might say that’s exactly what I did, but I did have to get over it.
The way I did that was by writing it all out. I had enough of the Marvin scene—the scene with Al Pacino—to put on a one-act play. Any time I needed to figure out where Rick was, I would just write it through the Marvin scene. It was never going to be in the movie, but the way to find out about Rick was to have Marvin ask him questions. It was as thick as a novel by the time I was finished with it. Never to be in the movie, but just to understand Rick.
Then after, Ok, I know who these people are, the question became: what story do I want to tell? Now it was up to me. I had a couple of ideas early on that would have been more like an Elmore Leonard story. These guys were like Elmore Leonard guys any old way, and you could imagine them in one of his novels.
But then I thought, I don’t think I need a story. I think they’re strong enough on their own. I can do just a day in the life of Rick, a day in the life of Cliff, and a little bit a day in the life of Sharon, and just follow them during that February. I thought the characters were strong enough, and I thought the milieu I was creating was strong enough.
Deadline: You mentioned earlier that we all know what’s going to happen come August no matter what. Maybe that’s where the melancholy comes in, because we know we’re about to witness the death of that classic version of Hollywood, too. Or, at least, we think we will.
Tarantino: Yes, and the morbid thing about that was, once I realized it could be a day in the life, and started to write that, the murder that we know is going to happen was now operating as a dramatic motor to some degree. I don’t know if you feel it much the first day, but once we’re onto the second day, it’s like every single scene is getting you closer to August 8th. It was morbid, the fact that this real-life murder was pulling the characters along.
I was not unaware of that. I became aware through doing it, and I had to constantly ask myself, “Am I pulling this off? Because if I’m not, this could be in really bad taste.” Normally, I wouldn’t mind veering into bad taste, but in this case, it mattered to me. I didn’t want to exploit these victims. I don’t think I did that, but it was a question I kept having to ask myself.
Deadline: The optimism of the movie—and it’s there in that bittersweet final shot—is that, Ok, we know what happened on the night of August 8th/9th 1969. But the picture paints a hopeful “what if”. What if we could have lived in this moment forever?
Tarantino: The weird thing about thinking about that ending, and then doing it in the context of the movie, was that I wasn’t quite prepared for how I’d feel when it came. When it was just an idea in my head for a story I was writing, it was like, “Great, she’s saved, done.” But in the movie, when I watched it put together, it was like, “Ok, she’s saved… Dot, dot, dot.”
Because no, she’s not. It’s that ellipsis where you have to realize, she’s not saved. Things did not happen this way. To tell you the truth, I never thought about that during these five years I had that shot in my head. But, in context, you can’t help but turn the page.
Deadline: Let me go back to what you said about the Marvin scene, and how you wrote all these conversations out. I was on the set of Django Unchained, and I was given a script that had a lot more material in it than the movie that eventually came out. You talked then about how you treat your scripts as novels, that you adapt as you go. There is material in there you never intend to actually shoot. In that movie I remember an entire sequence with Broomhilda, and a slave auction.
Tarantino: Oh yeah, Broomhilda had a whole story and we didn’t even film it. It was just too much.
Deadline: It was there for the reader?
Tarantino: Yeah. Well, it’s funny. I think there was probably a time that we euphemistically thought we were going to shoot it. I can’t imagine how we ever thought we were going to make a movie that was watchable in a movie theater with this 20- to 25-minute section in it, but I would have put it into the script anyway just for the reader. We even tried to cast that, and we briefly thought about shooting it, but I’m always putting stuff into the script that I know probably will never see the light of day, but that makes the script better. It’s a reading experience, and as a reading experience, it makes it fuller.
But then there’s a whole lot of stuff where it’s like, Ok, I hope this makes it, but I don’t know. If I’m lucky enough to shoot this, and get it out of my system, maybe this scene makes it, and this one doesn’t. I can pretty much guess what’ll make it for 80% of the movie, but there’s 20% that I can’t guess. You’re always surprised. There’s a couple of scenes in Hollywood that I would have bet the farm would make it into the movie, but they didn’t. A whole little section that, to me, was at one time the soul of the movie—at least when we shot it—but now it’s gone.
Deadline: Can you say what it was?
Tarantino: The little girl [Julia Butters] had more things to do. She showed up a couple more times. Then, consequently, in the August section in the third act, I had this narrator come in, and he’s describing this and that, and then he describes about how Rick can’t afford Cliff anymore, and so he has to let him go. Tom Rothman had been reading the script, and he called me and goes, “Hey, Quentin, this whole part with the narrator saying Rick has to let Cliff go… That should be a scene. It shouldn’t be narration; it should be dramatized.” Believe it or not, as long as the movie was already, Tom Rothman was actually asking me to add a scene. He goes, “I think you should write that, and make it a scene between the two boys.”
So, I did. I think I even gave Brad [Pitt] and Leo [DiCaprio] a handwritten scene the day before we shot it, so they had it handwritten but not typed up. But they read it and were like, “Ok, here we go, let’s do this.” We banged it out, and they probably thought the scene would never make the movie, but it’s a terrific scene and it did end up being crucial.
It’s a heartbreaking process. It’s a little masochistic and heartbreaking to write this stuff that you’re really happy with, and then not put it in. But at the same time, it’s also really fortunate to be in a situation where I do get to shoot some of this stuff. We do get to get it out of our system. We get to play around, and have fun doing it, and it exists. If I ever want to do anything with it, that stuff still exists.
I also think there’s a quality to my movies where they’re bursting at the seams with material, and part of the making of the movie is sifting through it all. So yeah, I’m not just writing a normal script and shooting that script, and when we do all the pages, we’re done. Every movie is an erstwhile novel adaptation. And by the way, there’s a reason why people write scripts as a blueprint to be executed. I always make fun of it, but there’s a very good reason they do that, and it’s the way most people do it. They don’t do it my cockamamie way.
Deadline: Even out of Cannes, it made me curious what you would do with that material. The timing for The Hateful Eight landing on Netflix in episodic form made me wonder if there were darlings you’d killed on Hollywood that you might one day also return to.
Tarantino: To me, that version on Netflix wasn’t all that different. Hateful Eight was already a long movie anyway, and the way I looked at it was, well, this is a play. I haven’t been to the theater in years where the play wasn’t at least three hours long. That’s the standard for a real play. I figured that for this movie as a play—especially the way I was doing it with an intermission and everything—that was par for the course.
Deadline: It was a change of form, though.
Tarantino: It was a change of form, but at the same time… Well, yes, it was a change of form. I had to rejigger the chapters a little bit to make it work, but they were already in chapters to some degree.
With The Hateful Eight, the timing was literally a situation where Netflix offered me that option, so it was like, if they’re offering me that option, and they’re even going to pay extra for it, well, I have all this stuff, I can do it, let me see if I like it. And I did, and I did like it. I thought it was an interesting way to watch the movie.
Deadline: All the movies you’ve made lately have been pretty big in terms of scale and scope. What keeps you engaged? What keeps your enthusiasm going as you’re on the road to making and releasing a movie on this scale?
Tarantino: Look, if I were doing really turgid dramas, or minimalistic pieces, it might not be that important to me. I think most of my stuff is really, really funny. There are laughs. And sometimes I’ll call them comedies, sometimes I won’t, but even if they’re not officially comedies, I think they have as many laughs as any comedy released that year, if not more. I’m hearing laughs all through the writing of it, and I’m hearing laughs when we do the scene, I’m hearing laughs when we cut it together, and I definitely hear laughs when I get a reaction from an audience. They’re not just sitting there, glazing over.
That’s my way of testing it out. That’s the reward for me, more than anything else. To sit in a theater and hear them chuckle at this line or that line. To laugh about this, and then to feel the tension when Cliff goes to Spahn Ranch. All of a sudden, the theater goes really quiet, you know what I mean? That’s the payoff. That’s the reward.
Deadline: It would be easy to have the kind of oversized success you’ve had in your career and then exhale. Not try as hard.
Tarantino: I do feel I’ve gotten a lot more jaded over the not quite 30 years I’ve been doing this than I was in the first six years of the ’90s, when I first came out. Nevertheless, the joy and the fun of making movies, and of seeing them up on the screen with a bunch of people who could do anything they wanted to do that day, and what they decided to do was pay money to come and see my movie… That’s exciting.
Deadline: You started out in a fertile period for independent cinema in the early ’90s. It was a rich—and perhaps a more optimistic—world to debut in.
Tarantino: Yeah. I always imagined that, if I was going to break into movies, I would be breaking through in independent cinema, but that was before there was a legitimate independent cinema to break into. There were always those three or four movies a year that really broke through and became a thing. Even if it only played for a week or two weeks at one of the Laemmle theaters in Santa Monica or something, and it had a little ad in the Los Angeles Times, and it got a review in The New York Times, the La Times and La Weekly, that would have been good enough.
None of us knew, that year of ’92, when we went to Sundance, that a good majority of the films that would be premiering at Sundance would be the harbinger for an entire movement. That most of us were going to get released over the next year. Even that other movies, that got turned down for Sundance that year, like Laws of Gravity, would find releases. Or even that, the way alternative music was taking off at that time, independent cinema would be taking off right alongside it. That they would become bedfellows.
Deadline: How do you look at the landscape today, then? You’re a celluloid guy. I don’t even know if there’s a way for a debut director now to get the money to make a 35mm film and actually get it onto a big screen.
Tarantino: Well, some guys do. It’s a fallacy that it’s less expensive [to shoot digital]. You’ll spend money somewhere, so you could spend it there, on film.
I think the sad part is that a lot of filmmakers today just don’t care. They’re happy it’s digital because then the cinematographer isn’t so much in charge, and they’re in charge. They’ve been shooting digital, making movies on their phone and in short films, and so that’s what they’re comfortable with. They’re probably intimidated or scared. “How are we going to get an image? If we don’t have enough lights, is this going to be bad?” We were all scared of that too, but we had to wear the big boy pants and plow ahead anyway.
The independent market for cinema that did exist doesn’t exist anymore. It doesn’t exist the way it did when it was thriving in the ’90s, but it doesn’t even exist in the way I described it in the late ’80s, where, yeah, maybe your movie played for only one or two weeks, but it had a foothold. It owned that little real estate in the newspaper. It was playing at the Loz Feliz 2, or the Music Hall, or even one of the shoebox theaters at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles. There were a lot of movies I saw that never played everywhere else but in Cinema 6 or something in the Beverly Center.
Deadline: You can’t even play at the Beverly Center anymore. That theater has gone.
Tarantino: Yeah, but that was the place. It was that newspaper ad, it was a piece of real estate. You saw their little poster, the title treatment, and it was like, “I’m here!” Now, a newspaper ad means nothing. Now it’s just lost in this or that or the other.
And, oddly enough, those movies are still being made. When you read the Los Angeles Times on a Friday, you have the big new comedy—or whatever, two movies that make the front page as far as the reviews are concerned—and then you turn the page just before you get to the TV listings, and there’s seven or eight capsule reviews for films I’ve never heard of. And sometimes they star known people. I’ve never heard of them, there’s no ad corresponding to them, and I don’t even know where some of these theaters are. What are all these movies, and where are they going?
I even felt that about seven or eight years ago. I was on the Sundance jury and I watched all the films at Sundance that year because I was on the jury. We had some movies like Frozen River. That was the movie that won, so that played. The movie Ballast; that won something, and that ended up getting a theatrical release. There was another that played, and I can’t even remember the name of it right now. It takes place in the ’90s, and Ben Kingsley is a pot-smoking therapist.
Deadline: Oh, The Wackness.
Tarantino: Yeah, The Wackness. That played and there were a couple of others, but back in the ’90s, getting into Sundance was a thing. That was the holy grail. So we watched all these movies at Sundance, the premier American independent festival, and they had named people like Winona Ryder and Paul Giamatti and all those people in them, and I never heard from most of those movies again. I never even saw them show up on cable. I thought, Ok, it’ll be on Showtime 4 or something like that, but no, I never saw them. They never got a theatrical release, and they literally got the pinnacle of what the goal was for independent cinema in the ’90s. They just disappeared.
Deadline: Does it make us dinosaurs for hoping that movies exist and have a life in the theatrical space rather than just appearing one day on streaming and disappearing the next?
Tarantino: A streaming platform is one thing, but those movies I’m talking about? I don’t think they’re appearing on streaming platforms either. When you read those little capsule reviews, the critics all seem pretty snotty about them, but they’ll describe interesting-sounding stories, or an interesting take on a genre. You’ll think, Maybe this guy doesn’t like it, but it sounds like a cool movie. Maybe I won’t see it this week at the San Gabriel blah-blah-blah, but I’ll see it when it comes on cable. And then I never see it show up on cable. And those are the ones that actually got a theatrical release.
Deadline: If the 29-year-old Quentin Tarantino were starting his career tomorrow, with Reservoir Dogs, do you think that movie would break out?
Tarantino: I’ve thought about that a lot. I think the movie is a good movie, but I think at its heart what it has going for it is the Tim Roth/Michael Madsen aspect of it. If I had guys of that caliber—who they were then, now—I think that would be a thing. I could actually see Reservoir Dogs being picked up by one of the smaller divisions of the studios or something. I’m being optimistic about that, but I’ve thought about it, and it’s like, no, the market that existed, that took me under its wing and actually gave me a platform to do my movies… That market doesn’t exist anymore.
When it came to Reservoir Dogs, the film I wanted to emulate as far as what I hoped it would do, and the success it might get, and how it would stand out from the crowd, was Blood Simple. That was my jumping-off point. I didn’t know if I was going to get the reviews that Blood Simple got, but I remembered that ad, and I trucked down to the Beverly Center to see it. It’s an independent film, but it had a genre base. It was doing genre in its own way. That’s what I was hoping to emulate. What the Coen brothers did with Blood Simple.
Deadline: When Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood came out, it spawned a million think pieces, many of which seemed to blithely ignore the context for what you were presenting. But it was also the motion picture event of the year. How gratifying was it to see it become this kind of phenomenon all its own in a world of superhero pictures and franchises?
Tarantino: It felt wonderful. Look, I think a lot of us making movies are facing a dark night of the soul. I know I am, and so are a lot of us who make movies, where movies were one thing to us, and they were this one thing for a long time. We are wondering if we’ll still be doing it this way 15 years from now. And my guess is not. I don’t know what it’s going to be like 15 years from now, but I don’t think this way will be the way.
Even more important than that, at the end of the day—and it’s sad, but it’s also how things change—you’re just talking about a delivery system for how people see stuff. Now, I think it is more than that, but you can reduce it to that if you’re talking about the bigger question I’ve heard many people pontificate on, on podcast after podcast. That’s the question of, do movies matter anymore? Are movies important? Are movies part of the conversation?
The thing about it is, there was a time—and it lasted for my entire life—where movies were at the center of the zeitgeist. A movie would hit, and become popular, and it would be at the center of the conversation. It would be the conversation. And then there were also the movies that opened in theaters and the critics didn’t quite get them, and they didn’t do so well at the box office, but five years later, after they’d been on cable and everything, the movies might as well have been big smashes because everyone has seen them and is quoting them. They become part of the fabric.
So, the question of do movies matter is a big question, and people are pontificating about that in print and in conversations in coffee houses and on podcasts the world over. That’s all depressing, but what’s not depressing is when you make a movie and—all that being said—you are part of the conversation. There was an undeniable fact that, for the first four weeks of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood playing in its theatrical engagement, everybody was talking about it. It was in the conversation. Everybody was talking about it.
You’re being very sweet about a lot of the snotty think pieces that came out in the wake of the movie, but it took me a long time to realize something. I didn’t feel like this before, and I would get mad at those things. Now, some of those pieces, yes, I think they’re being incredibly unfair in a lot of ways. But they’re not hurting me. They’re actually, in their own, ass-backwards way, helping me. They are keeping the conversations alive. They are creating an argument about the movie. And frankly, maybe more important than a conversation is an argument. If you’re going to have an argument, you need somebody on the opposing side. So, I might think they’re dicks—and definitely, I think some of them were very, very unfair—but they were helping me in their own way, because the movie was worth fighting about. The movie was worth the arguments.
It was all a little less painful to me on this movie, those think pieces. Because to me, some of them—not all of them, but some of them—had their interesting points, and you could give them their due and everything. And many of them, they revealed exactly where they were coming from in the piece. Their unfairness was right there. They revealed it, and they were actually rather naked in their bias.
Deadline: Margot Robbie told me the other day that she had gone to the Bruin, which is the theater her Sharon watches The Wrecking Crew at in the movie, to see Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. She said it was late into the run, there were only a handful of people there, and she sat in almost the exact same seat that Sharon does.
Tarantino: I talked to her about that! Well, I haven’t talked to her about it since she did it, but I talked her into doing it [laughs]. I was like, “Have you ever done that?” She had some version of it, but not exactly what Sharon does in the movie. I go, “Well, Margot, it’s playing at the Bruin right now. You could go next week, on a Wednesday afternoon for the 2 o’clock show, and you could literally do what Sharon does.” She was like, “Oh my God, I think I’ll do that.” So, I knew she was going to do it.
Deadline: I didn’t ask if she’d put her feet up on the seat in front.
Tarantino: Knowing her, she probably did [laughs].
Deadline: But she said it was fascinating to watch the people watching the movie and hear how they were reacting to it.
Tarantino: Hear the laughs and all that stuff? Yeah.
Deadline: That’s something you’ve been doing since the beginning of your career, right?
Tarantino: Oh yeah. Sharon’s basically me in that situation. I’ve even done that at the Bruin. I remember the first thing of mine to play at the Bruin was True Romance. It was actually kind of funny, because I was already a little known when True Romance came out, because of Reservoir Dogs. I wasn’t worldwide known, but some hip people knew who I was.
So, I was on a date, and we show up at the Bruin. Not during the daytime; they were getting ready for an evening show. I thought to myself—and not because I’m cheap—but I thought, Well, I did write this movie. So, I talk to the manager, and I go, “Look, I wrote this film. Do I have to pay?” He goes, “What do you mean you wrote it?” I go over to the poster and I go, “See? That’s my name, Quentin Tarantino. That’s me.” He goes, “How do I know it’s you?” I go, “Well, I can show you my driver’s license.”
And then my date proceeds to work out the deal with the manager. I’m standing there, listening to them argue, and all of a sudden, some people come up to me, and they recognize me. I’m over there by the poster, and these people come up and go, “Oh, you’re Quentin Tarantino. Reservoir Dogs is one of my favorite movies. Will you sign my autograph?” I start signing the autograph.
My date, meanwhile, is still negotiating with the manager of the Bruin. And then he’s like, “Wait a minute. What’s all this going on?” She goes, “Those are his fans! He’s signing autographs for his fans. That shows you who he is.”
Deadline: Did you get in?
Tarantino: Yeah [laughs]. The guy’s grumbling like, “Yeah, sure, go in, but how was I supposed to know you wrote the damn thing?”...
- 12/18/2019
- by Joe Utichi
- Deadline Film + TV
It is hard not to be entertained by QT8: The First Eight, a feature-length documentary chronicling the first eight films written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, featuring interviews with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Kurt Russell, Jamie Foxx, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The clips are a reminder of the still-startling brilliance of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, the slow-burn sensuality of Jackie Brown, and the two-part powerhouse that is Kill Bill. Significant time is spent on Inglorious Bastards and Django Unchained, and two films most in need of reappraisal—Death Proof and The Hateful Eight—are given proper respect.
As the title lays out, do not, however, expect insight into Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood as the ninth film from Tarantino is barely mentioned. Considering that Hollywood might be the finest film of his career, one imagines a supplement to the documentary might already be around the corner.
As the title lays out, do not, however, expect insight into Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood as the ninth film from Tarantino is barely mentioned. Considering that Hollywood might be the finest film of his career, one imagines a supplement to the documentary might already be around the corner.
- 12/3/2019
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
Dogs, they're great companions, even better viral video stars and just generally lovable fluff balls. They're also Netflix's newest stars in the appropriate titled documentary series Dogs. The six-part series had a trailer drop in late October that probably made you cry, so yeah, buckle up for the full thing when it drops Friday, Nov. 16 on Netflix. Where exactly did the idea for Dogs come from? Glen Zipper, the show's developer and executive producer, said his life changed in 2003 when he met a pup. He was working as a criminal prosecutor and knew it was not what he wanted to be doing. Enter the dog. "Skinny, with big, splotchy patches of his hair missing, he was in the care of some kids who had...
- 11/16/2018
- E! Online
In creating their new Netflix docuseries “Dogs,” Glen Zipper and Amy Berg wanted to put something positive into the world at a tumultuous time.
“There is obviously a huge divide in our country right now and there is very little that people on both sides of the aisle agree on [but] dogs are something that everybody can agree on,” Zipper tells Variety. “So we’re just hoping that everybody’s love for dogs is something that can start a conversation.”
As for any documentary, both Zipper and Berg stressed the importance of finding “characters” to follow. Some of theirs just happened to walk on four legs.
“A lot of the stories that we found were more about dogs that did amazing things — sometimes funny things, sometimes cool things — but that wasn’t really the show we were making,” Zipper says. “We were making a show about the bond between human beings and dogs,...
“There is obviously a huge divide in our country right now and there is very little that people on both sides of the aisle agree on [but] dogs are something that everybody can agree on,” Zipper tells Variety. “So we’re just hoping that everybody’s love for dogs is something that can start a conversation.”
As for any documentary, both Zipper and Berg stressed the importance of finding “characters” to follow. Some of theirs just happened to walk on four legs.
“A lot of the stories that we found were more about dogs that did amazing things — sometimes funny things, sometimes cool things — but that wasn’t really the show we were making,” Zipper says. “We were making a show about the bond between human beings and dogs,...
- 11/15/2018
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
Samantha Bee released a series of "Soothing Voter Guides" on YouTube to prepare Americans to go to the polls on Nov. 6.
There are four variations to choose from — "Dogs," "Kitties," "Vistas" and "Desserts."
In each video, Bee covers such voting essentials as how to find local polling locations, how to register for an absentee ballot and how to file a provisional ballot.
The core difference between the videos is what appears onscreen in the background. The "Dogs" and "Kitties" guides feature animals of each species playing in slow-motion,...
There are four variations to choose from — "Dogs," "Kitties," "Vistas" and "Desserts."
In each video, Bee covers such voting essentials as how to find local polling locations, how to register for an absentee ballot and how to file a provisional ballot.
The core difference between the videos is what appears onscreen in the background. The "Dogs" and "Kitties" guides feature animals of each species playing in slow-motion,...
- 11/2/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Netflix has released the first trailer for a new documentary series they have produced called Dogs and if you love dogs then this is a series you want want to miss!
The docu-series is a tribute to dogs and it tells six stories of canines and their human friends. For those of you who get easily emotional over animals, you might want to get yourself a box of tissues before watching this trailer because it will probably make you cry.
Here’s the synopsis for the series:
An elegant, engaging and cinematic verite documentary series celebrating the deep emotional bonds between people and their beloved four-legged best friends. The series tracks six incredible stories from across the globe including Syria, Japan, Costa Rica, Italy and the Us—each proving that the unconditional love one feels for their dog is a beautiful universal truth.
Dogs will take audiences on an “inspirational journey exploring the remarkable,...
The docu-series is a tribute to dogs and it tells six stories of canines and their human friends. For those of you who get easily emotional over animals, you might want to get yourself a box of tissues before watching this trailer because it will probably make you cry.
Here’s the synopsis for the series:
An elegant, engaging and cinematic verite documentary series celebrating the deep emotional bonds between people and their beloved four-legged best friends. The series tracks six incredible stories from across the globe including Syria, Japan, Costa Rica, Italy and the Us—each proving that the unconditional love one feels for their dog is a beautiful universal truth.
Dogs will take audiences on an “inspirational journey exploring the remarkable,...
- 10/31/2018
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Dogs! They’re the best! Human beings are terrible, various wild animals are fine, and cats are okay, I guess. But canines reign supreme, without question. They’re adorable, goofy, energetic nap-monsters who love you unconditionally and are genuinely happy to see you when you come home. What’s not to love? Netflix’s new docu-series Dogs is devoted to […]
The post ‘Dogs’ Trailer: Netflix Wants To Make You Cry Over Some Very Good Dogs appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Dogs’ Trailer: Netflix Wants To Make You Cry Over Some Very Good Dogs appeared first on /Film.
- 10/29/2018
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
In this time of division, one thing that most people can agree on is the value of a good pet story. Drawing from tales of furry companions all over the globe, Netflix’s new doc series “Dogs” is looking to warm audiences’ hearts just in time for the end of fall.
Each episode of the series chronicles a separate true story about the relationship between humans and the dogs in their life. As the newest trailer shows, these chapters span four different continents, spanning from Syria to Japan. Some focus on dogs who have effectively become children for families in need, some focus on getting beloved companions out of war zones, and others center on the way that dogs can help make life easier for people with disabilities.
The series comes from prolific doc producer Glen Zipper and the versatile Amy Berg, whose previous work has included directing the Oscar-winning...
Each episode of the series chronicles a separate true story about the relationship between humans and the dogs in their life. As the newest trailer shows, these chapters span four different continents, spanning from Syria to Japan. Some focus on dogs who have effectively become children for families in need, some focus on getting beloved companions out of war zones, and others center on the way that dogs can help make life easier for people with disabilities.
The series comes from prolific doc producer Glen Zipper and the versatile Amy Berg, whose previous work has included directing the Oscar-winning...
- 10/29/2018
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Man's best friend is getting a documentary series on Netflix. That's right, the streaming platform that riveted you with Making a Murderer and The Keepers is turning its attention on your four-legged furry friend with Dogs, a new six-part docu-series. Dogs features a variety of award-winning directors helming various episodes. The series tracks six stories from across the globe, including Syria, Japan, Costa Rica, Italy and the United States. Each episode tells the story of a different dog. See the trailer above. It's Ok if you cried. We did too. Glen Zipper developed Dogs, and Amy Berg and Zipper serve as executive producers on the series. Here's what you need to know about the...
- 10/29/2018
- E! Online
“Dogs,” a new docuseries from Glen Zipper and Amy Berg, is set to premiere globally on Netflix November 16.
Variety has also exclusively obtained the first trailer, which you can watch below.
The six-episode series tracks six individual stories “celebrating the deep emotional bonds between people and their beloved four-legged friends” from countries including Syria, Japan, Costa Rica, Italy and the United States.
“Dogs don’t just make us feel loved, dogs make us feel safe,” says Zipper. “In the world we live in today, no matter how divided we are, we should take care to realize how much dogs mean to all of us, and how our bond with them can help bring us together.”
The first episode, directed by Heidi Ewing, follows an 11-year-old girl who suffers from traumatic seizures and her certified therapy dog, Rory.
Berg directs the second episode, in which a man named Ayham who fled...
Variety has also exclusively obtained the first trailer, which you can watch below.
The six-episode series tracks six individual stories “celebrating the deep emotional bonds between people and their beloved four-legged friends” from countries including Syria, Japan, Costa Rica, Italy and the United States.
“Dogs don’t just make us feel loved, dogs make us feel safe,” says Zipper. “In the world we live in today, no matter how divided we are, we should take care to realize how much dogs mean to all of us, and how our bond with them can help bring us together.”
The first episode, directed by Heidi Ewing, follows an 11-year-old girl who suffers from traumatic seizures and her certified therapy dog, Rory.
Berg directs the second episode, in which a man named Ayham who fled...
- 10/29/2018
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
I will never get enough of When Animals Attack films; I’ve covered quite a few and I see no need to stop my quest for creative critter murder, be they big, small, land based, or aquatic. So it’s about time I turned my attention towards man’s best friend taking a bite (or twelve) of revenge with the imaginatively titled Dogs (1976), a fun and bloody romp through a southwestern state.
Released right in time for the Fourth of July, Dogs (Aka Slaughter) did not do for canines what Jaws did for sharks, even though it has its own Ignorant Authority Figure character on deck; it seems that audiences that year still wanted behemoths like Brucie, which William Girdler’s Grizzly offered with a big old bear hug at the box office. No, our feature offers a more insular suburban nightmare – one in which the domesticated turn deadly.
We...
Released right in time for the Fourth of July, Dogs (Aka Slaughter) did not do for canines what Jaws did for sharks, even though it has its own Ignorant Authority Figure character on deck; it seems that audiences that year still wanted behemoths like Brucie, which William Girdler’s Grizzly offered with a big old bear hug at the box office. No, our feature offers a more insular suburban nightmare – one in which the domesticated turn deadly.
We...
- 10/20/2018
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
The March 23rd release of Wes Anderson’s new stop-motion film Isle of Dogs is quickly approaching. The marketing via Fox Searchlight has been making the rounds and it is quite unique. This five-minute clip features various actors talking about their characters and the process of making the film animated as their on-screen counterparts. This is a beautiful and interesting way to promote a movie by adding depth to what can often feel like generic studio interviews.
Isle of Dogs is Wes Anderson’s followup to the 2014 hit The Grand Budapest Hotel. This marks the second time Anderson has dabbled in the stop-motion world, after 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. Like him or not, Anderson has delivered a unique feel and vision to his films since his 1996 debut Bottle Rocket.
The casts of Anderson’s films are always as extensive as they are prestigious, and Dogs is no exception. There’s...
Isle of Dogs is Wes Anderson’s followup to the 2014 hit The Grand Budapest Hotel. This marks the second time Anderson has dabbled in the stop-motion world, after 2009’s Fantastic Mr. Fox. Like him or not, Anderson has delivered a unique feel and vision to his films since his 1996 debut Bottle Rocket.
The casts of Anderson’s films are always as extensive as they are prestigious, and Dogs is no exception. There’s...
- 3/17/2018
- by Peter Towe
- Age of the Nerd
Godless wins Special Jury Prize and Best Actress.Scroll down for the full list of winners
Turkish director Mehmet Can Mertoğlu’s Album has won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20).
The comedy, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes in May, follows a middle class Turkish couple who try to cover up the forgery of their family history.
The decision was made by a jury led by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman. The award comes with a prize of $18,000 (€16,000).
Album producer Yoel Meranda commented when receiving the award: “Many people here know that most of the stuff that helped this film get made happened in Sarajevo. It started in Sarajevo, and it’s amazing that we have completed this circle.”
Ralitza Petrova’s Godless was awarded two prizes: the Special Jury prize and Best Actress for lead Irena Ivanova.
The Bulgarian-French-Danish...
Turkish director Mehmet Can Mertoğlu’s Album has won the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Feature Film at this year’s Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20).
The comedy, which premiered in Critics’ Week at Cannes in May, follows a middle class Turkish couple who try to cover up the forgery of their family history.
The decision was made by a jury led by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman. The award comes with a prize of $18,000 (€16,000).
Album producer Yoel Meranda commented when receiving the award: “Many people here know that most of the stuff that helped this film get made happened in Sarajevo. It started in Sarajevo, and it’s amazing that we have completed this circle.”
Ralitza Petrova’s Godless was awarded two prizes: the Special Jury prize and Best Actress for lead Irena Ivanova.
The Bulgarian-French-Danish...
- 8/20/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
Radu Jude’s Scarred Hearts among titles; In Focus strand also revealed.
Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20) has unveiled its competition and in focus titles ahead of the launch of its 22nd edition next month.
The eight features in competition include two world premieres: Ivan Marinović’s debut The Black Pin; and Lukas Valenta Rinner’s A Decent Woman.
The Black Pin, from Montenegro director Marinovic, centres on a priest who finds himself at odds with the other inhabitants of his small, rural parish when he opposes a large property sale. Serbian Vladimir Vasiljević is co-producing.
Austrian filmmaker Rinner, whose Parabellum won the special jury prize at Jeonju and was up for Rotterdam’s Tiger Award in 2015, returns with A Decent Woman, the story of a housemaid working in an exclusive gated community on the outskirts of Buenos Aires who embarks on a journey of sexual liberation at a nudist swingers club.
After winning...
Sarajevo Film Festival (Aug 12-20) has unveiled its competition and in focus titles ahead of the launch of its 22nd edition next month.
The eight features in competition include two world premieres: Ivan Marinović’s debut The Black Pin; and Lukas Valenta Rinner’s A Decent Woman.
The Black Pin, from Montenegro director Marinovic, centres on a priest who finds himself at odds with the other inhabitants of his small, rural parish when he opposes a large property sale. Serbian Vladimir Vasiljević is co-producing.
Austrian filmmaker Rinner, whose Parabellum won the special jury prize at Jeonju and was up for Rotterdam’s Tiger Award in 2015, returns with A Decent Woman, the story of a housemaid working in an exclusive gated community on the outskirts of Buenos Aires who embarks on a journey of sexual liberation at a nudist swingers club.
After winning...
- 7/20/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Gallery: Pictures from the closing night and awards ceremony of the 15th Transilvania film festival; festival hands out industry development prizes.
Romanian director Bogdan Mirică’s feature debut Dogs (Câini) was the winner of the Transilvania Trophy at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) which came to a close yesterday (June 5).
The thriller about a young man from the big city coming to a remote village to sell the land he inherited from his grandfather had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes last month and is being handled internationally by Bac Films International.
The co-production between Marcela Ursu’s 42 Km Film, French producer Elie Meirovitz’s Ez Films and Bulgaria’s Stephan Komanderev’s Argo Film is the fourth Romanian film to win the top prize in Cluj-Napoca after Cristian Mungiu’s Occident at the first edition of Tiff in 2002, followed by two films by Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East...
Romanian director Bogdan Mirică’s feature debut Dogs (Câini) was the winner of the Transilvania Trophy at the 15th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) which came to a close yesterday (June 5).
The thriller about a young man from the big city coming to a remote village to sell the land he inherited from his grandfather had its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard section in Cannes last month and is being handled internationally by Bac Films International.
The co-production between Marcela Ursu’s 42 Km Film, French producer Elie Meirovitz’s Ez Films and Bulgaria’s Stephan Komanderev’s Argo Film is the fourth Romanian film to win the top prize in Cluj-Napoca after Cristian Mungiu’s Occident at the first edition of Tiff in 2002, followed by two films by Corneliu Porumboiu (12:08 East...
- 6/6/2016
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Juries revealed for Un Certain Regard, Short Films & Cinéfondation and Caméra d’or.
Swiss actress Marthe Keller is to preside over the Un Certain Regard jury at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22). Keller is still perhaps best known for her role opposite Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man (1976) and will next be seen in Joachim Lafosse’s After Love, which will play in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
The jury, which will consider 18 films in competition, includes: Mexican filmmaker Diego Luno, who stars in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Rogue One; Ruben Ostlund, the Swedish director of Un Certain Regard jury prize winner Force Majeure (2014); and French actress Céline Sallette, perhaps best known for roles in Rust And Bone (2012) and TV series The Returned.
The winners will be announced on May 21.
Un Certain RegardInversion, Behnam Behzadi (Iran)Apprentice, Boo Junfeng (Singapore)The Stopover, Delphine Coulin & Muriel Coulin (France)The Dancer, Stéphanie Di Giusto (France...
Swiss actress Marthe Keller is to preside over the Un Certain Regard jury at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival (May 11-22). Keller is still perhaps best known for her role opposite Dustin Hoffman in Marathon Man (1976) and will next be seen in Joachim Lafosse’s After Love, which will play in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
The jury, which will consider 18 films in competition, includes: Mexican filmmaker Diego Luno, who stars in the upcoming Star Wars spin-off Rogue One; Ruben Ostlund, the Swedish director of Un Certain Regard jury prize winner Force Majeure (2014); and French actress Céline Sallette, perhaps best known for roles in Rust And Bone (2012) and TV series The Returned.
The winners will be announced on May 21.
Un Certain RegardInversion, Behnam Behzadi (Iran)Apprentice, Boo Junfeng (Singapore)The Stopover, Delphine Coulin & Muriel Coulin (France)The Dancer, Stéphanie Di Giusto (France...
- 4/28/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Late last week, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled their lineup at long last. The upcoming 2016 incarnation of the fest looks to be a potentially strong one, with some Cannes favorites returning alongside a whole bunch of possible awards contenders. There’s no guarantees that the festival translates to Oscar, but we almost always can get a contender or two from the group. Whether they can turn into nominees or not is another thing, but the potential is certainly there. You’ll be able to see the full Cannes lineup below, but before that, I’ll be looking over the list for a few films to really look forward to first. Then, you can take a gander at all of the titles set to unspool soon at the fest. Here we go… From what I can tell, the bigger Academy Award players, assuming the reception over in the South of France warrants it,...
- 4/18/2016
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Competition titles include Nicolas Windng Refn’s The Neon Demon [pictured], Jeff Nichols’ Loving and Xavier Dolan It’s Only The End Of The World.
The Cannes Film Festival unveiled the Official Selection for its 69th edition today at a packed press conference in Paris.
European heavyweights Pedro Almodovar, the Dardenne brothers and Ken Loach are among 20 filmmakers set to compete for the Palme d’Or.
There were few surprises in Competition – aside from the inclusion of Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann, the first German film in Competition since Wim Wenders’s Palermo Shooting in 2008 – and the news that this year’s Palme d’Or winner will be the closing film.
The more exploratory Un Certain Regard section, however, welcomed a number of newcomers including Romanian director Bogdan Mirica’s Dogs, Us filmmaker Michael O’Shea’s The Transfiguration, and Personal Affairs (Omor Shakhsiya) by Maha Haj, a Palestinian citizen of Israel.
Cannes Film Festival general...
The Cannes Film Festival unveiled the Official Selection for its 69th edition today at a packed press conference in Paris.
European heavyweights Pedro Almodovar, the Dardenne brothers and Ken Loach are among 20 filmmakers set to compete for the Palme d’Or.
There were few surprises in Competition – aside from the inclusion of Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann, the first German film in Competition since Wim Wenders’s Palermo Shooting in 2008 – and the news that this year’s Palme d’Or winner will be the closing film.
The more exploratory Un Certain Regard section, however, welcomed a number of newcomers including Romanian director Bogdan Mirica’s Dogs, Us filmmaker Michael O’Shea’s The Transfiguration, and Personal Affairs (Omor Shakhsiya) by Maha Haj, a Palestinian citizen of Israel.
Cannes Film Festival general...
- 4/14/2016
- ScreenDaily
The competition line-up for our most-anticipated cinema-related event of the year has arrived. With a jury headed up by George Miller, early this morning, the 2016 Cannes Film Festival announced their slate. The competition line-up includes some of our most-anticipated films of the year, including the Dardennes‘ The Unknown Girl, Olivier Assayas‘ Personal Shopper, Andrea Arnold‘s American Honey, Jim Jarmusch‘s Paterson, Paul Verhoeven‘s Elle, Park Chan-wook‘s The Handmaiden, and many more.
Playing out of competition is the previously announced Cafe Society from Woody Allen, as well as Steven Spielberg‘s The Bfg, Jodie Foster‘s Money Monster, Shane Black‘s The Nice Guys, and Na Hong-jin‘s mystery thriller Goksung. Some notable titles in the Un Certain Regard section include the Studio Ghibli-backed Red Turtle and Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s After the Storm.
Check out the full line-up below, along with new stills at the end of the post.
Playing out of competition is the previously announced Cafe Society from Woody Allen, as well as Steven Spielberg‘s The Bfg, Jodie Foster‘s Money Monster, Shane Black‘s The Nice Guys, and Na Hong-jin‘s mystery thriller Goksung. Some notable titles in the Un Certain Regard section include the Studio Ghibli-backed Red Turtle and Hirokazu Kore-eda‘s After the Storm.
Check out the full line-up below, along with new stills at the end of the post.
- 4/14/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The line-up of the 69th Cannes Film Festival in full.
At a press conference this morning, Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure revealed 49 films selected for inclusion in this year’s festival, set to run May 11-22.
The annoncement was delayed by a peaceful protest at the Ugc Normandie movie theatre on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. A tweet from the festival said: “Due to an intervention of Entertaintement workers, the announcement of the Selection is slightly delayed. Stay with us!”
As previously announced, Woody Allen’s Café Society will open the festival on May 11.
Also previously announced, the competition jury will be presided over by Australian director George Miller, whose Oscar-winning Mad Max: Fury Road received its world premiere at Cannes last year.
Competition
Jury chair: George Miller
Toni Erdmann, Maren Ade (Germany)Julieta, Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)American Honey, Andrea Arnold (UK)Personal Shopper, Olivier Assayas (France)The Unknown Girl (La Fille Inconnue), Jean-Pierre Dardenne & [link...
At a press conference this morning, Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux and president Pierre Lescure revealed 49 films selected for inclusion in this year’s festival, set to run May 11-22.
The annoncement was delayed by a peaceful protest at the Ugc Normandie movie theatre on the Champs-Elysees in Paris. A tweet from the festival said: “Due to an intervention of Entertaintement workers, the announcement of the Selection is slightly delayed. Stay with us!”
As previously announced, Woody Allen’s Café Society will open the festival on May 11.
Also previously announced, the competition jury will be presided over by Australian director George Miller, whose Oscar-winning Mad Max: Fury Road received its world premiere at Cannes last year.
Competition
Jury chair: George Miller
Toni Erdmann, Maren Ade (Germany)Julieta, Pedro Almodóvar (Spain)American Honey, Andrea Arnold (UK)Personal Shopper, Olivier Assayas (France)The Unknown Girl (La Fille Inconnue), Jean-Pierre Dardenne & [link...
- 4/14/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Appointment of former eOne exec comes as Paris company eyes expansion into larger European-financed, English-language productions.
Former eOne international sales executive Marie Garrett is joining the sales team of Bac Films, the Paris-based company has announced.
Garrett began her sales career at Studiocanal in Paris before being recruited to eOne’s sales operation in London by former boss Harold van Lier, shortly after he became president of its international film division in 2013.
During her time there, Garrett worked on films such as the Oscar-winning Spotlight, Trumbo and Captain Fantastic.
Bac Films head of international sales Gilles Sousa said Garrett’s appointment was part of the company’s planned move into bigger budget, European-financed, English language co-productions.
He said the company had hired Garrett for her experience at studio style companies such as Studiocanal and eOne as well as her international background.
“She’s a perfect fit to sell Bac’s evolving slate,” said Sousa.
Garrett...
Former eOne international sales executive Marie Garrett is joining the sales team of Bac Films, the Paris-based company has announced.
Garrett began her sales career at Studiocanal in Paris before being recruited to eOne’s sales operation in London by former boss Harold van Lier, shortly after he became president of its international film division in 2013.
During her time there, Garrett worked on films such as the Oscar-winning Spotlight, Trumbo and Captain Fantastic.
Bac Films head of international sales Gilles Sousa said Garrett’s appointment was part of the company’s planned move into bigger budget, European-financed, English language co-productions.
He said the company had hired Garrett for her experience at studio style companies such as Studiocanal and eOne as well as her international background.
“She’s a perfect fit to sell Bac’s evolving slate,” said Sousa.
Garrett...
- 4/4/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Appointment of former eOne exec comes as Paris company eyes expansion into larger European-financed, English-language productions.
Former eOne international sales executive Marie Garrett is joining the sales team of Bac Films, the Paris-based company has announced.
Garrett began her sales career at Studiocanal in Paris before being recruited to eOne’s sales operation in London by former boss Harold van Lier, shortly after he became president of its international film division in 2013.
During her time there, Garrett worked on films such as the Oscar-winning Spotlight, Trumbo and Captain Fantastic.
Bac Films head of international sales Gilles Sousa said Garrett’s appointment was part of the company’s planned move into bigger budget, European-financed, English language co-productions.
He said the company had hired Garrett for her experience at studio style companies such as Studiocanal and eOne as well as her international background.
“She’s a perfect fit to sell Bac’s evolving slate,” said Sousa.
Garrett...
Former eOne international sales executive Marie Garrett is joining the sales team of Bac Films, the Paris-based company has announced.
Garrett began her sales career at Studiocanal in Paris before being recruited to eOne’s sales operation in London by former boss Harold van Lier, shortly after he became president of its international film division in 2013.
During her time there, Garrett worked on films such as the Oscar-winning Spotlight, Trumbo and Captain Fantastic.
Bac Films head of international sales Gilles Sousa said Garrett’s appointment was part of the company’s planned move into bigger budget, European-financed, English language co-productions.
He said the company had hired Garrett for her experience at studio style companies such as Studiocanal and eOne as well as her international background.
“She’s a perfect fit to sell Bac’s evolving slate,” said Sousa.
Garrett...
- 4/4/2016
- ScreenDaily
Screen rounds up the films from across the globe that could launch at Cannes…
With less than a month to go until the Cannes Film Festival announces its line-up at its annual Paris press conference on April 14, Screen looks at what could make it into Official Selection and the parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.
UK and Ireland
The UK could have one of its strongest Cannes for years with hot favourites for a competition slot including Andrea Arnold’s Shia Labeouf-starring Us road movie American Honey and Ken Loach’s gritty Northern England-set drama I, Daniel Blake. It would be Loach’s 12th time in competition.
Ben Wheatley is also reportedly gunning for an Official Selection slot for his 1970s Boston-set, gangland thriller Free Fire, potentially Out of Competition or in Midnight Screenings. He was last in Cannes with Sightseers in Directors’ Fortnight.
Other UK hopefuls include Stephen Frears’ Florence Foster Jenkins and Indian...
With less than a month to go until the Cannes Film Festival announces its line-up at its annual Paris press conference on April 14, Screen looks at what could make it into Official Selection and the parallel sections of Directors’ Fortnight and Critics’ Week.
UK and Ireland
The UK could have one of its strongest Cannes for years with hot favourites for a competition slot including Andrea Arnold’s Shia Labeouf-starring Us road movie American Honey and Ken Loach’s gritty Northern England-set drama I, Daniel Blake. It would be Loach’s 12th time in competition.
Ben Wheatley is also reportedly gunning for an Official Selection slot for his 1970s Boston-set, gangland thriller Free Fire, potentially Out of Competition or in Midnight Screenings. He was last in Cannes with Sightseers in Directors’ Fortnight.
Other UK hopefuls include Stephen Frears’ Florence Foster Jenkins and Indian...
- 3/21/2016
- ScreenDaily
By Lee Pfeiffer
The good folks at Scorpion Entertainment have done it again by producing first rate special collector's DVD and Blu-ray editions of a film that most critics dismissed as second rate at the time of its initial release. In this case, the film is "Dogs", which was unleashed (if you pardon the pun) on theaters in 1976, an era in which audiences went mad for movies about animals waging war on humanity. The modestly-budgeted production was shot in southern California on the outskirts of San Diego, with some key scenes filmed at Southwestern University. Directed by Burt Brinckerhoff, who went on to become a popular director of hit TV series, the film is set in an unnamed college in an unnamed town in an unnamed state. Suffice it to say that the area is fairly rural and the townspeople all seem to have connections to the local university. A bearded,...
The good folks at Scorpion Entertainment have done it again by producing first rate special collector's DVD and Blu-ray editions of a film that most critics dismissed as second rate at the time of its initial release. In this case, the film is "Dogs", which was unleashed (if you pardon the pun) on theaters in 1976, an era in which audiences went mad for movies about animals waging war on humanity. The modestly-budgeted production was shot in southern California on the outskirts of San Diego, with some key scenes filmed at Southwestern University. Directed by Burt Brinckerhoff, who went on to become a popular director of hit TV series, the film is set in an unnamed college in an unnamed town in an unnamed state. Suffice it to say that the area is fairly rural and the townspeople all seem to have connections to the local university. A bearded,...
- 1/21/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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