French Canadian director Sophie Dupuis’ third feature, “Solo,” saunters past the usual questions of queer identity and acceptance we often see onscreen.
Instead, her film starring 26-year-old muse Théodore Pellerin dances headlong into the suffocating effects of toxic love, via an art form that’s all about liberation: drag.
The Toronto Film Festival premiere opens with a gorgeous, sinewy rising star of the Montreal drag scene (Pellerin) twirling across the stage to Abba’s “Voulez-Vous,” while the screen goes from black to neon shades of purple. As the scene bleeds into a montage of Simon, now out of drag and dancing under the club lights, the world of “Solo” widens to his fellow queens, his sister Maude (Alice Moreault), and a newbie performer who catches his eye, Oliver (Félix Maritaud). And, for a brief moment, it appears that the carefree Simon is destined to have it all: a passionate romance with the recent French arrival,...
Instead, her film starring 26-year-old muse Théodore Pellerin dances headlong into the suffocating effects of toxic love, via an art form that’s all about liberation: drag.
The Toronto Film Festival premiere opens with a gorgeous, sinewy rising star of the Montreal drag scene (Pellerin) twirling across the stage to Abba’s “Voulez-Vous,” while the screen goes from black to neon shades of purple. As the scene bleeds into a montage of Simon, now out of drag and dancing under the club lights, the world of “Solo” widens to his fellow queens, his sister Maude (Alice Moreault), and a newbie performer who catches his eye, Oliver (Félix Maritaud). And, for a brief moment, it appears that the carefree Simon is destined to have it all: a passionate romance with the recent French arrival,...
- 5/23/2024
- by Elaina Patton
- Indiewire
For the past three years, the American Cinematheque has presented “Bleak Week,” an annual festival devoted to the greatest films ever made about the darkest side of humanity. This year, the festival will not only be unspooling in Los Angeles June 1 – 7 — with special guests including Al Pacino, Lynne Ramsay, Charlie Kaufman, and Karyn Kusama — but will travel to New York for the first time with a week of screenings at the historic Paris Theater starting June 9.
“We are honored to co-present ‘Bleak Week: New York’ in partnership with one of the most beautiful movie palaces in the world,” Cinematheque artistic director Grant Moninger told IndieWire. “This year, over 10,000 people will attend ‘Bleak Week: Year 3’ in Los Angeles, proving that audiences are hungry for such powerful and confrontational cinema. Many people thought they were alone in their desire to explore films with uncomfortable truths, but the truth is that they are part of a large community,...
“We are honored to co-present ‘Bleak Week: New York’ in partnership with one of the most beautiful movie palaces in the world,” Cinematheque artistic director Grant Moninger told IndieWire. “This year, over 10,000 people will attend ‘Bleak Week: Year 3’ in Los Angeles, proving that audiences are hungry for such powerful and confrontational cinema. Many people thought they were alone in their desire to explore films with uncomfortable truths, but the truth is that they are part of a large community,...
- 5/23/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Ethan Coen has assembled a stellar cast for “Honey Don’t!,” his follow-up to this year’s “Drive-Away Dolls.”
Thirteen new actors have joined the cast of “Honey Don’t!” that already includes stars Chris Evans, Margaret Qualley, and Aubrey Plaza. Rounding out the ensemble are “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Charlie Day, “Bros” star and comedian Billy Eichner, and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” actress Talia Ryder, IndieWire has learned. Also joining the cast are Lera Abova, Jacnier, Gabby Beans, Kristin Connolly, Lena Hall, Don Swayze, Josh Pafchek, Kale Brown, Alexander Carstoiu, and Christin Antidormi.
“Honey Don’t!” is filming now in New Mexico and will be released by Focus Features, which also released “Drive-Away Dolls,” Ethan Coen’s first feature as a solo director separate from his brother Joel Coen. The new film is reportedly set in Bakersfield, California, with Evans playing a cult leader, Qualley portraying a private investigator, and Plaza as a mystery woman.
Thirteen new actors have joined the cast of “Honey Don’t!” that already includes stars Chris Evans, Margaret Qualley, and Aubrey Plaza. Rounding out the ensemble are “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star Charlie Day, “Bros” star and comedian Billy Eichner, and “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” actress Talia Ryder, IndieWire has learned. Also joining the cast are Lera Abova, Jacnier, Gabby Beans, Kristin Connolly, Lena Hall, Don Swayze, Josh Pafchek, Kale Brown, Alexander Carstoiu, and Christin Antidormi.
“Honey Don’t!” is filming now in New Mexico and will be released by Focus Features, which also released “Drive-Away Dolls,” Ethan Coen’s first feature as a solo director separate from his brother Joel Coen. The new film is reportedly set in Bakersfield, California, with Evans playing a cult leader, Qualley portraying a private investigator, and Plaza as a mystery woman.
- 4/19/2024
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Emerging as one of the great directors of the sensitives and complexities of youth with her three features thus far, It Felt Like Love, Beach Rats, and Never Rarely Sometimes Always, we’ve been waiting to see what filmmaker Eliza Hittman would tackle for her fourth feature. It’s now been unveiled thanks to an announcement on projects that Rooftop Films’ 2024 Filmmaker Fund will be supporting.
Titled Motherlove, Hittman’s fourth film will follow Ana, “a Georgian immigrant in Brooklyn, who takes a job caring for Lori, an elderly woman in Manhattan, where she is forced to navigate end of life issues and complex family dynamics, while haunted by the separation from her own young daughter whom she has left behind in Tbilisi, Georgia.”
The announcement also features a new documentary in the works from Debra Granik and Alex Mallis exploring the cannabis industry in NYC. Here’s a synopsis:...
Titled Motherlove, Hittman’s fourth film will follow Ana, “a Georgian immigrant in Brooklyn, who takes a job caring for Lori, an elderly woman in Manhattan, where she is forced to navigate end of life issues and complex family dynamics, while haunted by the separation from her own young daughter whom she has left behind in Tbilisi, Georgia.”
The announcement also features a new documentary in the works from Debra Granik and Alex Mallis exploring the cannabis industry in NYC. Here’s a synopsis:...
- 4/18/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Rooftop Films 2024 Filmmaker Fund winners have officially been unveiled, with buzzy titles like Eliza Hittman’s fourth feature “Motherlove” and Debra Granik and Alex Mallis’ collaborative documentary among the top titles.
This year, twenty-three cash and service grants will be provided to independent filmmakers to support the production of their next short or feature film, including two Rooftop Films Water Tower Feature Film cash grants, generously supported by the Laurence W. Levine Foundation. In the past 24 years, Rooftop Films has awarded over $2,300,000 in cash and services to notable films and filmmakers including Alex Ross Perry, Carlos López Estrada, Nikyatu Jusu, and David Lowery.
Among the 2024 grantees are Eliza Hittman for her highly-anticipated fourth feature film, “Motherlove,” and Debra Granik and Alex Mallis for their untitled collaborative documentary investigating the past, present, and future of legalized marijuana in New York state.
Hittman’s acclaimed third feature “Never Rarely Sometimes Always...
This year, twenty-three cash and service grants will be provided to independent filmmakers to support the production of their next short or feature film, including two Rooftop Films Water Tower Feature Film cash grants, generously supported by the Laurence W. Levine Foundation. In the past 24 years, Rooftop Films has awarded over $2,300,000 in cash and services to notable films and filmmakers including Alex Ross Perry, Carlos López Estrada, Nikyatu Jusu, and David Lowery.
Among the 2024 grantees are Eliza Hittman for her highly-anticipated fourth feature film, “Motherlove,” and Debra Granik and Alex Mallis for their untitled collaborative documentary investigating the past, present, and future of legalized marijuana in New York state.
Hittman’s acclaimed third feature “Never Rarely Sometimes Always...
- 4/18/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Fallout is the most exciting Amazon Original dropping this month. From Westworld creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, this long-awaited adaptation of the popular video game franchise looks incredible, and is bound to be a hit among video game fans and newcomers alike. The series stars Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets), Walton Goggins (The Righteous Gemstones), and Aaron Clifton Moten (Disjointed).
Prime Video doesn’t have much else in the way of original offerings this month, aside from the return of Alex Rider on Freevee a few other films and TV series, but there are plenty of popular films joining the streaming service’s library. Cloverfield, Batman & Robin, Titanic, and The Notebook are just a few of the notable movies coming to Prime this month.
Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in April – Amazon originals are designated with an asterisk.
New on Amazon Prime Video – April 2024 April 1 Blaze...
Prime Video doesn’t have much else in the way of original offerings this month, aside from the return of Alex Rider on Freevee a few other films and TV series, but there are plenty of popular films joining the streaming service’s library. Cloverfield, Batman & Robin, Titanic, and The Notebook are just a few of the notable movies coming to Prime this month.
Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in April – Amazon originals are designated with an asterisk.
New on Amazon Prime Video – April 2024 April 1 Blaze...
- 4/1/2024
- by Brynnaarens
- Den of Geek
Ring in a new month with Freevee! In addition to library additions like 1999’s provocative teen drama “Cruel Intentions” and 2020’s festival hit “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the free Amazon streamer will both welcome back and say goodbye to its critically acclaimed espionage series “Alex Rider,” starring Otto Farrant, on April 5. Later in the month, the streamer’s new single-camera comedy “Dinner with the Parents,” starring Jon Glaser, Henry Hall, Dan Bakkedahl, Carol Kane, and more, will have its premiere.
Check out The Streamable’s top picks for what to watch on Freevee in April, and continue below to see all the titles and channels getting added to the streamer this month!
Watch Now Free amazonfreevee.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Freevee in April 2024? “Cruel Intentions” | Monday, April 1
The cult classic, which turned 25 earlier this month, arrives on the free streamer at the start of the month.
Check out The Streamable’s top picks for what to watch on Freevee in April, and continue below to see all the titles and channels getting added to the streamer this month!
Watch Now Free amazonfreevee.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Freevee in April 2024? “Cruel Intentions” | Monday, April 1
The cult classic, which turned 25 earlier this month, arrives on the free streamer at the start of the month.
- 3/29/2024
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
Alex Russell, whose writing credits include FX’s “Dave” and “The Bear” and Netflix’s “Beef,” is making his directorial debut with the upcoming thriller “Lurker,” starring and Théodore Pellerin (“Never Rarely Sometimes Always”) and Archie Madekwe (“Saltburn”).
Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic, Daniel Zolghadri and Zack Fox round out the cast of “Lurker,” which follows a retail employee (Pellerin) who infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom (Madekwe). As he gets closer to the budding music star, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
WME Independent will represent worldwide sales for the film, which begins shooting this spring.
Pellerin’s credits include Philippe Lesage’s “Genesis,” Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” and Joel Edgerton’s “Boy Erased.”
Last year Madekwe starred as Farleigh Start in Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” and as Jann Mardenborough in Sony’s “Gran Turismo.” His...
Havana Rose Liu, Sunny Suljic, Daniel Zolghadri and Zack Fox round out the cast of “Lurker,” which follows a retail employee (Pellerin) who infiltrates the inner circle of an artist on the verge of stardom (Madekwe). As he gets closer to the budding music star, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
WME Independent will represent worldwide sales for the film, which begins shooting this spring.
Pellerin’s credits include Philippe Lesage’s “Genesis,” Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” and Joel Edgerton’s “Boy Erased.”
Last year Madekwe starred as Farleigh Start in Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” and as Jann Mardenborough in Sony’s “Gran Turismo.” His...
- 3/25/2024
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Love Lies Bleeding, the latest thriller from Rose Glass, has energy and style to burn. Kristen Stewart stars as mousy gym worker Lou who falls hard and fast for sculpted bodybuilder Jackie (Katy O'Brian) after she stops off in her small town on the way to a competition in Vegas. The pair fall hard and fast for each other but Jackie’s increasing addiction to steroids coupled with Lou’s criminal family - headed by Ed Harris’ Lou Sr - create a powder keg that’s ready to blow. The film is set in the late-80s, a period reinforced by careful costuming from Olga Mill - who previously brought her skills to William Oldroyd’s Sixties-set Eileen. We caught up with the designer, who also has films including Hereditary and Never Rarely Sometimes Always on her CV, to talk...
- 3/7/2024
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Festival season 2024 is well underway, Insiders, as our team decamps to Berlin. That and plenty more news to report from around the world to follow. Jesse Whittock with you. Sign up for the Insider newsletter here.
Berlin Kicks Off
Protests on the red carpet: The build-up to the 74th Berlin Film Festival has been highly politicized and Thursday evening’s opening ceremony was no different. The ceremony began with a red carpet awash with political statements. The festival held what it described as a ‘Filmmakers for Democracy, Diversity, and Peaceful Togetherness’ demonstration featuring between 50 and 60 filmmakers. Meanwhile, a series of attendees used their time in front of media pens to display their own political messages. The most eye-catching included American filmmaker Eliza Hittman, last at Berlin with her Silver Bear-winning Never Rarely Sometimes Always, who had ‘ceasefire now’ stitched to the back of her dress. The message was a reference...
Berlin Kicks Off
Protests on the red carpet: The build-up to the 74th Berlin Film Festival has been highly politicized and Thursday evening’s opening ceremony was no different. The ceremony began with a red carpet awash with political statements. The festival held what it described as a ‘Filmmakers for Democracy, Diversity, and Peaceful Togetherness’ demonstration featuring between 50 and 60 filmmakers. Meanwhile, a series of attendees used their time in front of media pens to display their own political messages. The most eye-catching included American filmmaker Eliza Hittman, last at Berlin with her Silver Bear-winning Never Rarely Sometimes Always, who had ‘ceasefire now’ stitched to the back of her dress. The message was a reference...
- 2/16/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival officially kicked off Thursday evening with an eventful opening ceremony at the Berlinale Palast theater in the German capital.
After a divisive build-up to the fest, the opening ceremony was, in contrast, a relatively conventional affair. High-profile attendees included veteran German filmmakers Wim Wenders and Fatih Akin, Phantom Thread actress Vicky Krieps, and international jury president Lupita Nyong’o alongside her fellow jury members Brady Corbet, Ann Hui, Christian Petzold, Albert Serra, Jasmine Trinca and Oksana Zabuzhko.
The evening’s opening film was Small Things Like These, starring Cillian Murphy, who was in attendance with producer Matt Damon and co-star Emily Watson. Directed by Tim Mielants (Peaky Blinders), Small Things Like These is the first Irish film to open the Berlinale.
Related: ‘Small Things Like These’ Review: Cillian Murphy Plays A Father In Torment In ’80s-Set Irish Trauma Tale
Before the pic opened, the crowd inside the...
After a divisive build-up to the fest, the opening ceremony was, in contrast, a relatively conventional affair. High-profile attendees included veteran German filmmakers Wim Wenders and Fatih Akin, Phantom Thread actress Vicky Krieps, and international jury president Lupita Nyong’o alongside her fellow jury members Brady Corbet, Ann Hui, Christian Petzold, Albert Serra, Jasmine Trinca and Oksana Zabuzhko.
The evening’s opening film was Small Things Like These, starring Cillian Murphy, who was in attendance with producer Matt Damon and co-star Emily Watson. Directed by Tim Mielants (Peaky Blinders), Small Things Like These is the first Irish film to open the Berlinale.
Related: ‘Small Things Like These’ Review: Cillian Murphy Plays A Father In Torment In ’80s-Set Irish Trauma Tale
Before the pic opened, the crowd inside the...
- 2/15/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s a tale as old as time: a young musician leaves their life behind with a bag on their back and a burning desire to find inspiration away from society. Phoebe Nir’s “gonzo female desire musical” “Eco Village,” however, is far from your conventional Age of Aquarius funfair about a hippie-adjacent community in the woods.
Nir’s feature debut is adapted from her eponymous Off-Broadway play and has its world premiere in the Bright Future strand of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Speaking exclusively with Variety, the playwright-turned-filmmaker says the film came out of a wish to be honest about how it feels to fall madly in love with someone who is bad for you.
In the film, “Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always” breakout Sidney Flanigan is Robin, a musician who hitchhikes to the titular village run by Ursula (indie veteran Lindsay Burdge) in search of pastures new. Instead...
Nir’s feature debut is adapted from her eponymous Off-Broadway play and has its world premiere in the Bright Future strand of the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Speaking exclusively with Variety, the playwright-turned-filmmaker says the film came out of a wish to be honest about how it feels to fall madly in love with someone who is bad for you.
In the film, “Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always” breakout Sidney Flanigan is Robin, a musician who hitchhikes to the titular village run by Ursula (indie veteran Lindsay Burdge) in search of pastures new. Instead...
- 1/31/2024
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Director Scott Cummings has an editing background, having cut together indie treats including Beach Rats, Monsters And Men and Never Rarely Sometimes Always, so it’s fair to say he knows a fair bit about the importance of the connection and juxtaposition between images and, by extension, between moods. He brings this playfully to the fore in this hybrid documentary - made “in collaboration with” the Church of Satan, which offers snapshots from the daily lives of your average (and perhaps less than average) Satanist, that span from the domestic to the dramatic. Participants range all the way up to the current high priest and high priestess of the church.
The Devil, you might say, is in the details, as in various households, Church of Satan paraphernalia including skulls and the like, nestles alongside a Playbill for Phantom of the Opera or an Elvis statuette. Elsewhere a goat plate appears to be.
The Devil, you might say, is in the details, as in various households, Church of Satan paraphernalia including skulls and the like, nestles alongside a Playbill for Phantom of the Opera or an Elvis statuette. Elsewhere a goat plate appears to be.
- 1/22/2024
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Visit Films has acquired worldwide sales rights for “Realm of Satan,” the feature film debut of seasoned editor Scott Cummings. The film, a documentary about Satanists, will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, and also plays at Cph:dox. On its website, the festival warns potential viewers: “This film contains graphic sexual content.”
Cummings previously directed short film “Buffalo Juggalos,” which won the grand jury prize for live action short at AFI Fest. He has served as the editor on several films that premiered at Sundance including “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Monsters and Men,” “Menashe” and “Wendy.”
“Realm of Satan” is a portrait of Satanists in both everyday and extraordinary situations. Visit Films describes the film as “a ritualistic documentary that casts a spell on viewers, luring them into a mystical world of magic, mystery and misanthropy.”
“Realm of Satan”
Cummings worked in collaboration with members of the...
Cummings previously directed short film “Buffalo Juggalos,” which won the grand jury prize for live action short at AFI Fest. He has served as the editor on several films that premiered at Sundance including “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Monsters and Men,” “Menashe” and “Wendy.”
“Realm of Satan” is a portrait of Satanists in both everyday and extraordinary situations. Visit Films describes the film as “a ritualistic documentary that casts a spell on viewers, luring them into a mystical world of magic, mystery and misanthropy.”
“Realm of Satan”
Cummings worked in collaboration with members of the...
- 1/8/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
It’s almost time again for me to pack my bags and head to Park City, Utah, for the 2024 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. The last few years have been challenging for the fest, with the 2021 and 2022 editions only being online due to the pandemic. The 2023 edition was a hybrid version that sported a few high-profile debuts, including A24’s horror hit Talk to Me, but overall was a bit of a modest year in terms of stuff that broke out. However, 2024 seems to be a high-end year for the fest, with tons of big stars on the way to the festival, including Pedro Pascal, Kristen Stewart (there with two movies), Sebastian Stan, Woody Harrelson and many more.
It’s always interesting to note the trend in storytelling at this famous indie fest. In recent years, the pandemic weighed highly on the fest, with many films acknowledging the toll it took,...
It’s always interesting to note the trend in storytelling at this famous indie fest. In recent years, the pandemic weighed highly on the fest, with many films acknowledging the toll it took,...
- 12/6/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Providing our first glimpse at the next year in cinema, the 2024 Sundance Film Festival has unveiled its lineup of 82 films, eight episodic titles, and New Frontier interactive experiences. Taking place January 18–28, 2024, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from January 25–28, 2024, the festival celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Notable highlights in this year’s edition includes Steven Soderbergh’s new Lucy Liu-led feature Presence, Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart, Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Freaky Tales starring Pedro Pascal, the Zellners’ Sasquatch Sunset, Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, Handling the Undead starring Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie, the Saoirse Ronan-led The Outrun, Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, Nathan Silver’s Between the Temples starring Jason Schwartzman, Brett Story and Stephan Maing’s Amazon Labor Union documentary Union,...
Notable highlights in this year’s edition includes Steven Soderbergh’s new Lucy Liu-led feature Presence, Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding starring Kristen Stewart, Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s Freaky Tales starring Pedro Pascal, the Zellners’ Sasquatch Sunset, Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, Handling the Undead starring Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie, the Saoirse Ronan-led The Outrun, Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain, Nathan Silver’s Between the Temples starring Jason Schwartzman, Brett Story and Stephan Maing’s Amazon Labor Union documentary Union,...
- 12/6/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Long-time editor (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) and director (Buffalo Juggalos – short) Scott Cummings and a talent to watch in Haley Elizabeth Anderson (Sundance short Pillars) are two of filmmakers grabbing the half dozen spots allocated in the Next section – which used to be in the ten film range. Here are the selections:
Desire Lines / U.S.A. — Past and present collide when an
Iranian American trans man time-travels through an LGBTQ+ archive on a dizzying and erotic quest to
unravel his own sexual desires.…...
Desire Lines / U.S.A. — Past and present collide when an
Iranian American trans man time-travels through an LGBTQ+ archive on a dizzying and erotic quest to
unravel his own sexual desires.…...
- 12/6/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
For the past decade-and-a-half, cinematographer Sean Price Williams has been a staple of the New York indie-film scene, lensing features for (naming just a handful) the Safdie brothers, Alex Ross Perry, Michael Almereyda, Robert Greene.
The Sweet East finds Williams moving to the director’s chair with a script from film critic Nick Pinkerton. Deliberately provocative and very funny, The Sweet East begins with a Pizzagate sequence that separates high-schooler Lillian from her classmates in D.C. From there she drifts throughout the Northeast, mingling with a cast of outsiders who all take a special, often sexual interest in her, among them a disorganized band of Antifa-esque punks, an over-eager filmmaking duo (Ayo Edebiri and playwright Jeremy O. Harris), and closeted Neo-Nazi academic Lawrence (Simon Rex).
Fans of Pinkerton’s film criticism and Twitter account will be pleased by the wordsmithery of his dialogue, especially Lawrence’s extended monologues on...
The Sweet East finds Williams moving to the director’s chair with a script from film critic Nick Pinkerton. Deliberately provocative and very funny, The Sweet East begins with a Pizzagate sequence that separates high-schooler Lillian from her classmates in D.C. From there she drifts throughout the Northeast, mingling with a cast of outsiders who all take a special, often sexual interest in her, among them a disorganized band of Antifa-esque punks, an over-eager filmmaking duo (Ayo Edebiri and playwright Jeremy O. Harris), and closeted Neo-Nazi academic Lawrence (Simon Rex).
Fans of Pinkerton’s film criticism and Twitter account will be pleased by the wordsmithery of his dialogue, especially Lawrence’s extended monologues on...
- 12/1/2023
- by Caleb Hammond
- The Film Stage
The New York Film Critics Circle is so determined to be one of the first groups to weigh in with its picks for the best of the year that the date of its decision-making keeps getting advanced. But how much influence does it have on the last group to be heard from — the motion picture academy which will reveal the Oscar winners 101 days from now on March 10, 2024? Let’s take a look back at the last dozen years of the NYFCC picks — that’s how far you have to go to find the last instance of this group’s Best Picture repeating at the Oscars — and see how well (or not), these early kudos previewed the Academy Awards overall.
See 2023 New York Film Critics Circle Awards: ‘Killers of the Flower Moon wins Best Picture, Actress
Last year, the New Yorkers teared up over “Tar,” awarding it both Best Picture and...
See 2023 New York Film Critics Circle Awards: ‘Killers of the Flower Moon wins Best Picture, Actress
Last year, the New Yorkers teared up over “Tar,” awarding it both Best Picture and...
- 11/29/2023
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) has signed on to star opposite Sofia Yepes in The Low End Theory, an indie thriller based on Yepes’ story, which she co-wrote with director Francisco Ordoñez.
Others new to the pic announced early last year, which has now wrapped production, include Ser Anzoategui (Vida), Jackie Quinones (Miles Away), J.R. Villareal (Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion) and Da’Vone McDonald (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Previously announced cast includes Rene Rosado (The Connors), Eddie Martinez (The Sinner), Ricky Russert, and Scotty Tovar (Empire). Also starring is rapper and cannabis mogul Berner, creator of the billion-dollar Cookies brand, who will additionally compose the film’s original soundtrack.
Billed as a film noir set in the Latinx and LGBTQ+ world of Los Angeles, The Low End Theory centers on Raquel (Yepes), an aspiring beats producer in the low-budget hip-hop world moonlighting as a drug money launderer,...
Others new to the pic announced early last year, which has now wrapped production, include Ser Anzoategui (Vida), Jackie Quinones (Miles Away), J.R. Villareal (Ultra Violet & Black Scorpion) and Da’Vone McDonald (Forgetting Sarah Marshall). Previously announced cast includes Rene Rosado (The Connors), Eddie Martinez (The Sinner), Ricky Russert, and Scotty Tovar (Empire). Also starring is rapper and cannabis mogul Berner, creator of the billion-dollar Cookies brand, who will additionally compose the film’s original soundtrack.
Billed as a film noir set in the Latinx and LGBTQ+ world of Los Angeles, The Low End Theory centers on Raquel (Yepes), an aspiring beats producer in the low-budget hip-hop world moonlighting as a drug money launderer,...
- 11/27/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Sterling K. Brown and Talia Ryder will be honored with acting awards at the 46th Denver Film Festival this weekend.
Brown will receive the Excellence in Acting Award for his performance in Cord Jefferson’s satirical drama “American Fiction,” which opened the festival on Nov. 3. A second screening has been added for Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. Mst, where Brown — a three-time Emmy winner, who also starred in IFC’s “Biosphere” earlier this year — will participate in a conversation with writer, producer and podcast host Larry Wilmore.
Ryder will be on hand on Nov. 12 during the Denver Film Festival awards ceremony to accept the Rising Star Award for her role in Sean Prince Williams’ drama “The Sweet East,” which is a part of the festival’s official selection. She will also engage in a conversation after the screening of her film.
Brown and Ryder’s honors were added following the resolution...
Brown will receive the Excellence in Acting Award for his performance in Cord Jefferson’s satirical drama “American Fiction,” which opened the festival on Nov. 3. A second screening has been added for Nov. 11 at 10 a.m. Mst, where Brown — a three-time Emmy winner, who also starred in IFC’s “Biosphere” earlier this year — will participate in a conversation with writer, producer and podcast host Larry Wilmore.
Ryder will be on hand on Nov. 12 during the Denver Film Festival awards ceremony to accept the Rising Star Award for her role in Sean Prince Williams’ drama “The Sweet East,” which is a part of the festival’s official selection. She will also engage in a conversation after the screening of her film.
Brown and Ryder’s honors were added following the resolution...
- 11/10/2023
- by Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Ethos Entertainment, the L.A.-based talent management company recently launched by Christina Gualazzi and Matt Goldman, has entered into a new joint venture with the NY-based production company Picture Farm, helmed by partners Ben Freedman, Chris Bren, and Dion Sapp.
Through the partnership, the companies will team on the development and production of a wide range of projects, including scripted and non-scripted TV series, as well as features, commercials, and digital content, the idea being that cross-collaboration and knowledge-sharing will unlock growth opportunities for all involved. The Jv stems from an earlier working relationship formed during production on Black Market with Michael K. Williams, the critically acclaimed Vice TV docuseries, produced by Freedman, Sapp, and Goldman, which won two Realscreen Awards.
Said Ethos Entertainment’s Gualazzi, “By joining forces with Picture Farm, we can offer our clients a wider range of excellence in not only talent management but...
Through the partnership, the companies will team on the development and production of a wide range of projects, including scripted and non-scripted TV series, as well as features, commercials, and digital content, the idea being that cross-collaboration and knowledge-sharing will unlock growth opportunities for all involved. The Jv stems from an earlier working relationship formed during production on Black Market with Michael K. Williams, the critically acclaimed Vice TV docuseries, produced by Freedman, Sapp, and Goldman, which won two Realscreen Awards.
Said Ethos Entertainment’s Gualazzi, “By joining forces with Picture Farm, we can offer our clients a wider range of excellence in not only talent management but...
- 11/6/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
More than 90 feature films showcasing the best in U.S. moviemaking will take center stage next month at Poland’s American Film Festival (Aff), whose 14th edition takes place Nov. 7 – 12 in Wrocław, Poland.
Founded in 2010 as the sister event of the long-running New Horizons Film Festival, the Aff bills itself as the first film event in Central Europe solely devoted to the works of contemporary and classic American cinema.
In putting together the program for the 14th edition, festival director Ula Śniegowska says she and the programming team spent the past year “scouting the festivals and trying to get our hands on the pulse of what’s happening in American auteur and independent film.” The festival, which includes titles that have premiered at Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Cannes and other leading fests, is similar in spirit to France’s long-running Deauville American Film Festival, which mounted its 49th edition this year.
Founded in 2010 as the sister event of the long-running New Horizons Film Festival, the Aff bills itself as the first film event in Central Europe solely devoted to the works of contemporary and classic American cinema.
In putting together the program for the 14th edition, festival director Ula Śniegowska says she and the programming team spent the past year “scouting the festivals and trying to get our hands on the pulse of what’s happening in American auteur and independent film.” The festival, which includes titles that have premiered at Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Cannes and other leading fests, is similar in spirit to France’s long-running Deauville American Film Festival, which mounted its 49th edition this year.
- 10/24/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Bi-continental production outfit Lspg (Luca Severi Production Group) has boarded “Eco Village,” a gonzo musical comedy led by Sidney Flanigan, the star of Sundance and Berlinale prize winner “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” Nearing completion, the project is eyeing a festival launch early next year.
Marking the feature debut of playwright Phoebe Nir – who adapted her own Off-Broadway play – the off-kilter film follows a young drifter (played by actor-musician Flanigan) who makes her way first onto an anarchic and uninhibited artists colony, and then into the thrall of the utopia’s manipulative leader, played by Lindsay Burdge (of “Thirst Street” and “Her Smell”).
The filmmaker describes her 16mm project as an “[honest depiction of] the agonies and ecstasies of female desire, inspired by the memory of my tumble down the rabbit hole of first love (or was it lust?) in an idealistic hippie commune where jealousy and rage churned quietly beneath the surface.”
Theresa Rebeck and Linda Gray produced,...
Marking the feature debut of playwright Phoebe Nir – who adapted her own Off-Broadway play – the off-kilter film follows a young drifter (played by actor-musician Flanigan) who makes her way first onto an anarchic and uninhibited artists colony, and then into the thrall of the utopia’s manipulative leader, played by Lindsay Burdge (of “Thirst Street” and “Her Smell”).
The filmmaker describes her 16mm project as an “[honest depiction of] the agonies and ecstasies of female desire, inspired by the memory of my tumble down the rabbit hole of first love (or was it lust?) in an idealistic hippie commune where jealousy and rage churned quietly beneath the surface.”
Theresa Rebeck and Linda Gray produced,...
- 10/9/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
As a former child dancer, maybe it shouldn’t surprise anyone that 21-year-old Talia Ryder moved so gracefully into singing, directing and acting. But don’t make her choose just one. “I really like making things, whether that’s acting, directing, choreography or all of the above,” she says.
Since her 2020 film debut in the Sundance abortion drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the Indie Spirit nominee has brought her naturalistic acting to “West Side Story,” “Master,” “Do Revenge” and “Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between.” She returns to the festival circuit with “Dumb Money,” Craig Gillespie’s comedy about the 2021 GameStop stock craze, which had a TIFF Gala premiere Sept. 8. and begins its theatrical rollout Sept. 15.
“It was such an insane moment in time,” says Ryder, who was interviewed before the SAG-AFTRA strike. “Everyone was on their phones, and I felt involved in that story — a good friend was pretty invested in it,...
Since her 2020 film debut in the Sundance abortion drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” the Indie Spirit nominee has brought her naturalistic acting to “West Side Story,” “Master,” “Do Revenge” and “Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between.” She returns to the festival circuit with “Dumb Money,” Craig Gillespie’s comedy about the 2021 GameStop stock craze, which had a TIFF Gala premiere Sept. 8. and begins its theatrical rollout Sept. 15.
“It was such an insane moment in time,” says Ryder, who was interviewed before the SAG-AFTRA strike. “Everyone was on their phones, and I felt involved in that story — a good friend was pretty invested in it,...
- 9/9/2023
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović is debuting her follow-up to Cannes Camera d’Or-winning “Murina.”
The acclaimed writer-director, who was nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards, helms Miu Miu short film “Stane,” part of the brand’s “Women’s Tales” campaign. “Stane” premiered at the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate Degli Autori on September 3.
The official synopsis reads: A complex construction site, New York’s skyline in the distance, and fresh betrayal. Stane is in charge on-site, soon to inherit the family business from her father, who built it up as a Croatian immigrant also building the American dream. But Stane’s marriage is under threat of demolition. What ensues is a public reckoning between traditional, patriarchal expectations made upon wives versus Stane’s own pain and anger. But Stane is building her own life story though — outside of the permission of men.
Writer-director Kusijanović said in a press statement, “In...
The acclaimed writer-director, who was nominated for three Film Independent Spirit Awards, helms Miu Miu short film “Stane,” part of the brand’s “Women’s Tales” campaign. “Stane” premiered at the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate Degli Autori on September 3.
The official synopsis reads: A complex construction site, New York’s skyline in the distance, and fresh betrayal. Stane is in charge on-site, soon to inherit the family business from her father, who built it up as a Croatian immigrant also building the American dream. But Stane’s marriage is under threat of demolition. What ensues is a public reckoning between traditional, patriarchal expectations made upon wives versus Stane’s own pain and anger. But Stane is building her own life story though — outside of the permission of men.
Writer-director Kusijanović said in a press statement, “In...
- 9/6/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Utopia has acquired North American rights to “The Sweet East,” a contemporary travelogue that marks the feature directing debut of Sean Price Williams. The sale comes after the film debuted at Director’s Fortnight during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
Williams has a reputation as one of the most talented cinematographers in the independent film space, having previously worked with the likes of the Safdie Brothers, Alex Ross Perry, Michael Almereyda, Abel Ferrara and Albert Maysles. Here, he brings a script by cult film critic Nick Pinkerton to the screen.
Critics hailed the film as fresh and often funny, while praising the performance of Talia Ryder, who played a key supporting role in “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” In “The Sweet East,” she plays Lillian, who runs away while on a school trip, encountering everyone from white supremacists and Islamic radicals to neo-punks and woke avant-gardists. The film also stars Simon Rex...
Williams has a reputation as one of the most talented cinematographers in the independent film space, having previously worked with the likes of the Safdie Brothers, Alex Ross Perry, Michael Almereyda, Abel Ferrara and Albert Maysles. Here, he brings a script by cult film critic Nick Pinkerton to the screen.
Critics hailed the film as fresh and often funny, while praising the performance of Talia Ryder, who played a key supporting role in “Never Rarely Sometimes Always.” In “The Sweet East,” she plays Lillian, who runs away while on a school trip, encountering everyone from white supremacists and Islamic radicals to neo-punks and woke avant-gardists. The film also stars Simon Rex...
- 7/27/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
In The Sweet East, a high school senior take a journey through fame, exploitation, and Delaware. Working from a script co-written with the influential critic Nick Pinkerton, Sean Price Williams’ punky directorial debut boasts both the cinematographer’s signature aesthetic and Pinkerton’s idiosyncratic, roguish worldview. Premiering this week in Directors’ Fortnight, The Sweet East––seemingly taking cues from John Waters––is cinema at its most playfully facetious, infectiously puerile, and flagrantly transgressive, and an early highlight of a Cannes Film Festival that, near its midway point, has been somewhat short on provocation.
The Sweet East stars a brilliant Talia Ryder as the Californian Alice in Williams and Pinkerton’s dirty East Coast Wonderland. In her first lead role since breaking out in Never Rarely Sometimes Always, she plays Lillian (one of many nods to D.W. Griffith), a faux-ingénue with a knack for ending up in dicey situations and an...
The Sweet East stars a brilliant Talia Ryder as the Californian Alice in Williams and Pinkerton’s dirty East Coast Wonderland. In her first lead role since breaking out in Never Rarely Sometimes Always, she plays Lillian (one of many nods to D.W. Griffith), a faux-ingénue with a knack for ending up in dicey situations and an...
- 5/21/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Impulsive, young, naïve — it’s common to speak of America in such terms. Even with almost 250 years under its belt, the country can’t compete with the centuries-long histories of other empires. Descriptions focus on flaws, unrealized visions and the broken promises of the oft-cited American Dream. Sean Price Williams is keenly aware of America’s reputation, and uses his beautiful but tedious directorial debut The Sweet East to find pride in it. Both satire and patriotic statement, the picaresque adventure of Lillian (Never Rarely Sometimes Always star Talia Ryder) paints a sardonic but ultimately uninteresting portrait of America and its cultish factions.
Like most protagonists of stories like this one, Lillian is listless and a bit unmoored. The film opens with an audio of the Pledge of Allegiance before cutting to a scene of post-coital bliss between Lillian and Troy (Jack Irv). Her character is one of few words.
Like most protagonists of stories like this one, Lillian is listless and a bit unmoored. The film opens with an audio of the Pledge of Allegiance before cutting to a scene of post-coital bliss between Lillian and Troy (Jack Irv). Her character is one of few words.
- 5/18/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A post-ironic picaresque born from a take-no-prisoners attitude so oppressive that it soon becomes its own kind of jail, Sean Price Williams’ “The Sweet East” amounts to something more than just a series of semi-connected trolls. But this sniveling little satire of modern American thought is never funnier or more sure of itself than when it makes you feel like an asshole for taking it too seriously.
Consider the film’s opening few minutes, which appear to tee up a lo-fi but legibly familiar sex comedy set on a high school trip to Washington, D.C., until things, uh, take a turn. We first meet Lillian as she lies in a hotel bed next to a blond mouth-breather who plays with his used condom like it’s a party balloon and brags about how he’s going to be a star. Later, after reuniting with the rest of her grade,...
Consider the film’s opening few minutes, which appear to tee up a lo-fi but legibly familiar sex comedy set on a high school trip to Washington, D.C., until things, uh, take a turn. We first meet Lillian as she lies in a hotel bed next to a blond mouth-breather who plays with his used condom like it’s a party balloon and brags about how he’s going to be a star. Later, after reuniting with the rest of her grade,...
- 5/18/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Five TV directors will reveal secrets behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2023 Emmy Awards contenders. They will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Thursday, May 18, at 4:00 p.m. Pt; 7:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Daniel Montgomery and a roundtable chat with all of the group together.
RSVP today to our entire ongoing contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
Accused (Fox)
Synopsis: Chronicles ordinary people getting caught up in extraordinary situations, where one wrong turn leads to another, until it’s too late to turn back.
Bio: Marlee Matlin is an Oscar winner for “Children of a Lesser God” and Emmy nominee for “Picket Fences,” “Seinfeld,” “The Practice” and...
RSVP today to our entire ongoing contenders panel series by clicking here to book your free reservation. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
Accused (Fox)
Synopsis: Chronicles ordinary people getting caught up in extraordinary situations, where one wrong turn leads to another, until it’s too late to turn back.
Bio: Marlee Matlin is an Oscar winner for “Children of a Lesser God” and Emmy nominee for “Picket Fences,” “Seinfeld,” “The Practice” and...
- 5/11/2023
- by Chris Beachum and Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The Match Factory has acquired international sales rights on U.S. cinematographer and filmmaker Sean Price Williams’s feature directorial debut The Sweet East ahead of its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight in May.
Written by the film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton, the movie is described as a picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the United States undertaken by Lillian, a high school senior from South Carolina who gets her first glimpse of the wider world on a class trip to Washington, D.C.
Separated from her schoolmates, she embarks on a fractured fairy tale travelogue into America, where she is granted access to a variety of the strange factions that proliferate the present-day unreality of contemporary life.
Williams’s credits as a cinematographer include Owen Kline’s Funny Pages (2022), Abel Ferrara’s Zeros and Ones (2021), Michael Almereyda’s Tesla (2020), Alex Ross Perry...
Written by the film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton, the movie is described as a picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the United States undertaken by Lillian, a high school senior from South Carolina who gets her first glimpse of the wider world on a class trip to Washington, D.C.
Separated from her schoolmates, she embarks on a fractured fairy tale travelogue into America, where she is granted access to a variety of the strange factions that proliferate the present-day unreality of contemporary life.
Williams’s credits as a cinematographer include Owen Kline’s Funny Pages (2022), Abel Ferrara’s Zeros and Ones (2021), Michael Almereyda’s Tesla (2020), Alex Ross Perry...
- 4/21/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Film is directorial debut of prolific cinematographer Sean Price Williams.
The Match Factory has boarded Sean Price Williams’ The Sweet East which world premieres next month in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
Written by the film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton, it is the first feature film directed by cinematographer Price Williams, whose credits Owen Kline’s Funny Pages (2022), Abel Ferrara’s Zeros and Ones (2021), Michael Almereyda’s Tesla (2020), Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell (2018) and the Safdie brothers Good Time (2017).
The Sweet East is billed as picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the US undertaken by Lillian,...
The Match Factory has boarded Sean Price Williams’ The Sweet East which world premieres next month in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
Written by the film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton, it is the first feature film directed by cinematographer Price Williams, whose credits Owen Kline’s Funny Pages (2022), Abel Ferrara’s Zeros and Ones (2021), Michael Almereyda’s Tesla (2020), Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell (2018) and the Safdie brothers Good Time (2017).
The Sweet East is billed as picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the US undertaken by Lillian,...
- 4/21/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
The Match Factory has boarded Sean Price Williams’s “The Sweet East,” which has its world premiere in the Directors’ Fortnight sidebar of the Cannes Film Festival in May.
It is the first feature film directed by Price Williams, the cinematographer of Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages” (2022), Abel Ferrara’s “Zeros and Ones” (2021), Michael Almereyda’s “Tesla” (2020), Alex Ross Perry’s “Her Smell” (2018) and the Safdies’ “Good Time” (2017).
The screenplay is by film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton.
“The Sweet East” is a picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. undertaken by Lillian, a high school senior from South Carolina, who gets her first glimpse of the wider world on a class trip to Washington, D.C.
“Separated from her schoolmates, she embarks on a fractured fairy-tale travelogue into America, where she is granted access to a variety of the strange factions...
It is the first feature film directed by Price Williams, the cinematographer of Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages” (2022), Abel Ferrara’s “Zeros and Ones” (2021), Michael Almereyda’s “Tesla” (2020), Alex Ross Perry’s “Her Smell” (2018) and the Safdies’ “Good Time” (2017).
The screenplay is by film critic and programmer Nick Pinkerton.
“The Sweet East” is a picaresque journey through the cities and woods of the Eastern seaboard of the U.S. undertaken by Lillian, a high school senior from South Carolina, who gets her first glimpse of the wider world on a class trip to Washington, D.C.
“Separated from her schoolmates, she embarks on a fractured fairy-tale travelogue into America, where she is granted access to a variety of the strange factions...
- 4/21/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Rooftop Films has announced the recipients of their 2023 Filmmakers Fund grants. A total of 21 cash and service grants will be awarded to a variety of independent filmmakers to support the production of their next short or feature film. Four Rooftop Films Water Tower Feature Film cash grants will be exclusively awarded with support from the Laurence W. Levine Foundation.
Rooftop Filmmakers Fund grants are made accessible to Rooftop Films alumni directors who have had their work screened during the annual Sumer Series in New York City. This years grantees include a demographic of over 60% women, 30% people of color and 10% people a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We’re unbelievably excited about the projects we’ve had the privilege of helping to fund this year! Every single one of these filmmakers approach their subjects in ways that are wholly unique to their style and vision, and we can’t wait to see the finished works,...
Rooftop Filmmakers Fund grants are made accessible to Rooftop Films alumni directors who have had their work screened during the annual Sumer Series in New York City. This years grantees include a demographic of over 60% women, 30% people of color and 10% people a part of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We’re unbelievably excited about the projects we’ve had the privilege of helping to fund this year! Every single one of these filmmakers approach their subjects in ways that are wholly unique to their style and vision, and we can’t wait to see the finished works,...
- 4/6/2023
- by McKinley Franklin
- Variety Film + TV
For movie nerds like yours truly who grew up in the late 90s and early 2000s on films like Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation and Rob Schmidt’s Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, an outrageous horror comedy with nods to QAnon is an easy movie to love. Thankfully, Dutch Southern’s quirky Only the Good Survive rises the occasion. In the days before streaming, this SXSW premiere feels like one of those late-night movies about which word spread amongst kids around your high school lunch table.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always break-out Sidney Flanigan plays Brea, an adopted young woman separated from her sister who is in search of both her family and a family. She finds herself on the wrong side of an interrogation table as the local sheriff for this backwater, Cole Mack (played by ’90s indie film staple Fred Weller), tries piecing together the sordid state of...
Never Rarely Sometimes Always break-out Sidney Flanigan plays Brea, an adopted young woman separated from her sister who is in search of both her family and a family. She finds herself on the wrong side of an interrogation table as the local sheriff for this backwater, Cole Mack (played by ’90s indie film staple Fred Weller), tries piecing together the sordid state of...
- 3/25/2023
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
(Welcome to Best Actor Ever, an ongoing series where we explore the careers and performances of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen.)
There is not an actor in the history of moving pictures who has been more egregiously taken for granted by her industry than Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Critics have always had her back. The New York Times' Janet Maslin got it from the jump when she singled Leigh out as "the only thing worth seeing" in her film debut "Eyes of a Stranger." The better-than-average 1981 slasher film set the tone for Leigh's career in that she plays a victim. Her character is a blind-deaf mute whose condition was brought on by being kidnapped and raped at an early age. The 19-year-old Leigh projects sweetness and innocence, but this young woman is all serrated edges. Because she isn't just a victim. She's a survivor.
Roger Ebert was also an early admirer of Leigh,...
There is not an actor in the history of moving pictures who has been more egregiously taken for granted by her industry than Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Critics have always had her back. The New York Times' Janet Maslin got it from the jump when she singled Leigh out as "the only thing worth seeing" in her film debut "Eyes of a Stranger." The better-than-average 1981 slasher film set the tone for Leigh's career in that she plays a victim. Her character is a blind-deaf mute whose condition was brought on by being kidnapped and raped at an early age. The 19-year-old Leigh projects sweetness and innocence, but this young woman is all serrated edges. Because she isn't just a victim. She's a survivor.
Roger Ebert was also an early admirer of Leigh,...
- 3/24/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
Making a movie with your own child is perilous enough at a time when the media, which is stuffed with them, has decided that “nepo babies” are the latest blight on the eco-system of filmmaking. It’s even more of a risk when your private life has been splashed all over the tabloids, and the facts of that controversy — man leaves wife and kids to start a new family with a younger woman — are a key part of that movie. But whether or not Ewan McGregor and his daughter Clara saw the film as a chance for family therapy, or whether they even thought about these things at all, Emma Westenberg’s affecting, slow-burn debut leaves all that kind of real-world baggage firmly at the door.
It’s a shame that it follows so soon after Aftersun, but the truth is, You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder doesn’t share...
It’s a shame that it follows so soon after Aftersun, but the truth is, You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder doesn’t share...
- 3/12/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
One of the best things about film festivals is arguably the pre-festival programming website. They often don't have a lot of details about what you can expect from a certain movie, which can sometimes be used to a film's advantage. A movie's description can be the most thread-bare description possible, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's all it has to offer. What lies beyond those two or three sentences could be something that shouldn't be relegated to tiny theaters and hushed whispers.
When you look at the SXSW Film & TV Festival program, you'll find the description of "Only The Good Survive" only really describes part of the movie. Sure, it does center around a back-and-forth confrontation between a young drifter (Sidney Flanigan) and a lots-of-nonsense sheriff (Frederick Weller). That might not be the most original of ideas, but the way that writer-director Dutch Southern portrays this twisty crime caper certainly is.
When you look at the SXSW Film & TV Festival program, you'll find the description of "Only The Good Survive" only really describes part of the movie. Sure, it does center around a back-and-forth confrontation between a young drifter (Sidney Flanigan) and a lots-of-nonsense sheriff (Frederick Weller). That might not be the most original of ideas, but the way that writer-director Dutch Southern portrays this twisty crime caper certainly is.
- 3/11/2023
- by Erin Brady
- Slash Film
Start fitting Daniel Brühl for a pair of big black sunglasses and a ponytail. The German star has signed on to play the late fashion designer, and style icon, Karl Lagerfeld in the new Disney+ series, Kaiser Karl, Disney announced Thursday.
Brühl, most recently seen in Edward Berger’s nine-time Oscar nominated All Quiet on the Western Front for Netflix, will play the young Lagerfeld in the series, which tracks his rise in the French fashion world in the early 1970s.
Arnaud Valois (Bpm (Beats per Minute)) and Alex Lutz (Vortex) will play Lagerfeld’s fashion rivals Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, with Quebec actor Théodore Pellerin (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) playing Largerfeld’s love interest Jacques de Bascher. Agnès Jaoui (Singing Jailbirds) plays Gaby Aghion, the founder of the Chloé fashion brand, one of the first to recognize Lagerfeld’s talent.
Gaumont and Jour Premier are producing the six-part series for Disney+ France.
Brühl, most recently seen in Edward Berger’s nine-time Oscar nominated All Quiet on the Western Front for Netflix, will play the young Lagerfeld in the series, which tracks his rise in the French fashion world in the early 1970s.
Arnaud Valois (Bpm (Beats per Minute)) and Alex Lutz (Vortex) will play Lagerfeld’s fashion rivals Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, with Quebec actor Théodore Pellerin (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) playing Largerfeld’s love interest Jacques de Bascher. Agnès Jaoui (Singing Jailbirds) plays Gaby Aghion, the founder of the Chloé fashion brand, one of the first to recognize Lagerfeld’s talent.
Gaumont and Jour Premier are producing the six-part series for Disney+ France.
- 3/9/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It might be obvious to say, but a film getting nominated for an Oscar doesn’t automatically make it good.
In fact, there have been many deserving movies over the years that were somehow overlooked by the Academy.
It’s easy to assume that certain releases don’t get nominated because they’re not what Oscar voters would usually go for, but there have been some surprises in the past.
For example, pretty much every new superhero film earns a nomination thanks to the technical or makeup categories, while random animated films are acknowledged most likely because of the low number on offer in a certain year.
This means films likem say, DC’s Suicide Squad may get mauled by the critics, but they still gain recognition from the Academy (it went on to win).
This is even more ridiculous when you consider that classics such as Don’t Look Now...
In fact, there have been many deserving movies over the years that were somehow overlooked by the Academy.
It’s easy to assume that certain releases don’t get nominated because they’re not what Oscar voters would usually go for, but there have been some surprises in the past.
For example, pretty much every new superhero film earns a nomination thanks to the technical or makeup categories, while random animated films are acknowledged most likely because of the low number on offer in a certain year.
This means films likem say, DC’s Suicide Squad may get mauled by the critics, but they still gain recognition from the Academy (it went on to win).
This is even more ridiculous when you consider that classics such as Don’t Look Now...
- 3/3/2023
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - Film
Italy’s Kino Produzioni, the indie shingle that co-produced 2022 Berlin Golden Bear winner “Alcarràs,” is ramping up production with new films by emerging Italian filmmakers Carlo Sironi, Laura Luchetti and Irene Dionisio, as well as also Dutch director Michiel Van Erp and Argentine filmmakers María Alché and Benjamín Naishtat.
“We reached a turning point last year that started out well with the ‘Alcarràs’ victory,” said Kino chief Giovanni Pompili, speaking at the EFM. He noted that in 2022, the Rome-based outfit shot four films, “which for us was pretty challenging, but worked out well.”
Meanwhile, the Kino team has grown. Producer Lara Costa-Calzado, who has been working for a decade between the U.S. and Europe on films such as Eliza Hittman’s Silver Bear winner “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Sally Potter’s “The Roads Not Taken” and Halina Rejin’s “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” has joined Kino as head of production.
“We reached a turning point last year that started out well with the ‘Alcarràs’ victory,” said Kino chief Giovanni Pompili, speaking at the EFM. He noted that in 2022, the Rome-based outfit shot four films, “which for us was pretty challenging, but worked out well.”
Meanwhile, the Kino team has grown. Producer Lara Costa-Calzado, who has been working for a decade between the U.S. and Europe on films such as Eliza Hittman’s Silver Bear winner “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” Sally Potter’s “The Roads Not Taken” and Halina Rejin’s “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” has joined Kino as head of production.
- 2/18/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Even before last year’s Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade, a recent international surge in films about abortion rights and the endangerment thereof — from period pieces like “Happening” to present-day portraits like “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” — almost seemed to anticipate such a devastating blow. In America in particular, where talk of abortion access has always been snarled up in extreme religious rhetoric and eternal red-blue division, it has never been a subject to be treated complacently. Urgent and unvarnished, Tracy Droz Tragos’ documentary “Plan C” is an early entry in what might be considered post-Roe cinema, focusing less on pro-choice ideology than on the practicalities of ensuring choice in a system increasingly stacked against the idea.
Having premiered at Sundance last month — with SXSW next on its festival tour — “Plan C” arrives seven years after Tragos’ Emmy-nominated documentary “Abortion: Stories Women Tell,” which centered the individual narratives of...
Having premiered at Sundance last month — with SXSW next on its festival tour — “Plan C” arrives seven years after Tragos’ Emmy-nominated documentary “Abortion: Stories Women Tell,” which centered the individual narratives of...
- 2/16/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović’s Murina has garnered her a DGA nomination for first-time feature — an honor she also won at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. That’s in large part because of her willingness to face her greatest fears in the name of her art. “I’m terrified of the water,” she says. “I needed to make a movie underwater, because I really wanted to tap into the fear. It’s important to include your fears in your work.”
A coming-of-age story, Murina follows Julija, a teenager living on a remote island in Croatia with her domineering father and subservient mother. When her dad’s wealthy friend Javier (Cliff Curtis) comes to stay with the family, tensions rise as he offers Julija a possible exit out of her abusive household.
Kusijanović grew up spending summers on a similar isle, passing her days exploring its rocky beaches. She made a similarly aquatic-focused short film,...
A coming-of-age story, Murina follows Julija, a teenager living on a remote island in Croatia with her domineering father and subservient mother. When her dad’s wealthy friend Javier (Cliff Curtis) comes to stay with the family, tensions rise as he offers Julija a possible exit out of her abusive household.
Kusijanović grew up spending summers on a similar isle, passing her days exploring its rocky beaches. She made a similarly aquatic-focused short film,...
- 2/14/2023
- by Hilton Dresden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The International Film Festival Rotterdam presented lauded French cinematographer Hélène Louvart with the Robby Müller Award on Sunday. A collaboration between IFFR, the Netherlands Society of Cinematographers (Nsc) and Andrea Müller-Schirmer, Müller’s wife, the award was founded in 2020, two years after his death, and aims to honor image-makers who have “created an authentic, credible and emotionally striking visual language throughout their oeuvre.”
To mark the special occasion, Louvart presented a masterclass at IFFR, guiding an eager audience through some of her work in films by Win Wenders, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Alice Rohrwacher. The director was also gifted a video containing loving testimonials by some of the aforementioned directors plus others such as Karim Aïnouz, Léonor Serraille and Eliza Hittman. Rohrwacher’s words were a highlight, with the filmmaker finishing her praise of Louvart by saying she loved her dear friend, with whom she collaborated in all of her films “more than cinema.
To mark the special occasion, Louvart presented a masterclass at IFFR, guiding an eager audience through some of her work in films by Win Wenders, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Alice Rohrwacher. The director was also gifted a video containing loving testimonials by some of the aforementioned directors plus others such as Karim Aïnouz, Léonor Serraille and Eliza Hittman. Rohrwacher’s words were a highlight, with the filmmaker finishing her praise of Louvart by saying she loved her dear friend, with whom she collaborated in all of her films “more than cinema.
- 1/30/2023
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival proved to be the last major movie event before Covid-19 knocked the Earth off its axis. More than merely washing the bad taste of Cats out of our mouths, the fest — which ran from Jan. 23 to Feb. 2 — showcased a plethora of exciting (sorta) independent films and emerging talents. Audiences took in stirring documentaries like Dick Johnson Is Dead and Boys State, breakout turns from Aubrey Plaza (Black Bear) and Taylour Paige (Zola), and future awards-hopefuls Promising Young Woman and Never Rarely Sometimes Always. But one film stood out among the pack,...
- 1/26/2023
- by Marlow Stern
- Rollingstone.com
Although trans rights are now the subject of a simmering culture war in America and the U.K., that conflict is largely predicated on the increasing visibility of trans women at a time where self-id is controversially becoming the norm. Stories of trans men, however, tend to go under the radar, and this remarkable New York-set debut from Chilean-Serbian director Vuk Lungulov-Klotz goes some way to redressing that imbalance. Featuring a pitch-perfect performance from Puerto Rican/Greek actor Lío Mehiel, so far mostly known for the Apple show WeCrashed and a number of shorts, U.S. Dramatic Competition entry Mutt feels like an important but — for reasons about to be explained — perhaps interstitial film in the history of LGBTQ+ cinema, being fully cognizant of the fact that it is set and was made in a between-time that reflects the lead character’s existential sense of limbo.
Its strength is that...
Its strength is that...
- 1/26/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
The Sundance Institute has today named the jurors who will preside over awards for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The 16-person lineup features everyone from Coda star Marlee Matlin to We Need To Talk About Cosby‘s W. Kamau Bell, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton and actor-comedian Jim Gaffigan.
Matlin will assess the awards potential amongst titles in U.S. Documentary Competition with Slave Play creator Jeremy O. Harris and Never Rarely Sometimes Always filmmaker Eliza Hittman. Bell, meanwhile, will oversee U.S. Documentary Competition, being joined in that arena by filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz (A Thousand Cuts) and editor Carla Gutiérrez (Julia).
While Wild Nights with Emily filmmaker Madeleine Olnek will preside alone over the Next section, Cretton has been assigned to the Short Film Program Competition, being joined there by artist-filmmaker Deborah Stratman and Marie-Louise Khondji, who founded the free streaming platform,...
Matlin will assess the awards potential amongst titles in U.S. Documentary Competition with Slave Play creator Jeremy O. Harris and Never Rarely Sometimes Always filmmaker Eliza Hittman. Bell, meanwhile, will oversee U.S. Documentary Competition, being joined in that arena by filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz (A Thousand Cuts) and editor Carla Gutiérrez (Julia).
While Wild Nights with Emily filmmaker Madeleine Olnek will preside alone over the Next section, Cretton has been assigned to the Short Film Program Competition, being joined there by artist-filmmaker Deborah Stratman and Marie-Louise Khondji, who founded the free streaming platform,...
- 1/11/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
In Peacock’s true-crime drama “A Friend of the Family,” Bob Broberg (Colin Hanks) pleads with his wife Mary Ann (Anna Paquin) to help him understand her egregious lapse in judgment. “Don’t you have better sense? It doesn’t make any sense…why would you do such a thing?” Those also happen to be the questions bandied about on Twitter when “Abducted in Plain Sight,” a 2017 documentary about the Brobergs, went viral after landing on Netflix. According to what passes for consensus on social media, while the Brobergs endured a horrible ordeal, they bear most of the responsibility because of the unconscionable decisions they made.
“A Friend of the Family” is written with an acute awareness of the backlash that met the Brobergs after they shared how they were manipulated and nearly destroyed by a malignant narcissist. It begins with a statement from the Brobergs daughter Jan, the primary victim in the story,...
“A Friend of the Family” is written with an acute awareness of the backlash that met the Brobergs after they shared how they were manipulated and nearly destroyed by a malignant narcissist. It begins with a statement from the Brobergs daughter Jan, the primary victim in the story,...
- 10/5/2022
- by Joshua Alston
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Making way-too-long, way-too-late indirect scripted adaptations of shoddily made Netflix true crime documentaries wouldn’t seem like a winning business plan. But six months after informally turning Tiger King into the almost unwatchably hammy Joe vs. Carole, Peacock has given the limited series treatment to 2019’s Abducted in Plain Sight.
Abducted in Plain Sight — one of those Netflix releases that come without any promotion, are all anybody discusses for three days and then are never mentioned again — was simultaneously tedious and tawdry. At only 91 minutes, it was either infuriatingly repetitive or repetitively infuriating, and the idea that Peacock’s A Friend of the Family was going to tell Jan Broberg’s harrowingly bizarre story in nine hours caused me immediate trepidation.
Based on six episodes sent to critics, A Friend of the Family is simultaneously doomed by that structural choice and close to a best-case scenario.
Making way-too-long, way-too-late indirect scripted adaptations of shoddily made Netflix true crime documentaries wouldn’t seem like a winning business plan. But six months after informally turning Tiger King into the almost unwatchably hammy Joe vs. Carole, Peacock has given the limited series treatment to 2019’s Abducted in Plain Sight.
Abducted in Plain Sight — one of those Netflix releases that come without any promotion, are all anybody discusses for three days and then are never mentioned again — was simultaneously tedious and tawdry. At only 91 minutes, it was either infuriatingly repetitive or repetitively infuriating, and the idea that Peacock’s A Friend of the Family was going to tell Jan Broberg’s harrowingly bizarre story in nine hours caused me immediate trepidation.
Based on six episodes sent to critics, A Friend of the Family is simultaneously doomed by that structural choice and close to a best-case scenario.
- 10/5/2022
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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