Film critic Justin Chang has joined The New Yorker.
One of the most celebrated critics in the U.S., Chang has worked for several years at the Los Angeles Times where he’s published weekly reviews as well as longer-form essays, such as a deep dive on how “omission does not mean erasure” when it comes “Oppenheimer.” Before the L.A. Times, he worked for some years at Variety.
Chang is one of the top wordsmiths in film criticism today, devoted to sentence-level beauty in his writing that makes him a perfect fit for the New Yorker. He is also the most glorious and shameless pun-meister of the critical sphere, issuing his bon mots with abandon on Twitter/X. A recent example? “No Greta Gerwig in director or Greta Lee in lead actress, re-Greta-bly.” Though his all-time best may be referring to “Mektoub” director Abdellatif Kechiche as “a gluteus maximalist,” and...
One of the most celebrated critics in the U.S., Chang has worked for several years at the Los Angeles Times where he’s published weekly reviews as well as longer-form essays, such as a deep dive on how “omission does not mean erasure” when it comes “Oppenheimer.” Before the L.A. Times, he worked for some years at Variety.
Chang is one of the top wordsmiths in film criticism today, devoted to sentence-level beauty in his writing that makes him a perfect fit for the New Yorker. He is also the most glorious and shameless pun-meister of the critical sphere, issuing his bon mots with abandon on Twitter/X. A recent example? “No Greta Gerwig in director or Greta Lee in lead actress, re-Greta-bly.” Though his all-time best may be referring to “Mektoub” director Abdellatif Kechiche as “a gluteus maximalist,” and...
- 1/30/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt and Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
In the right light, the stuff of everyday life can be imbued with mystery. In these moments lives are not just commonplace, instead, they feel tied back to older, more grandiose legacies. In Continuity of Parks, Russian Director Zhenia Kazankina imagines the heroes of Greek mythology to be living in Moscow’s 850th Anniversary Park, located on the vast metropolis’ outskirts. Combining a keen sense of observation with carefully choreographed sequences, her oddball sensibility – previously witnessed in deadpan border hotel drama Rio – comes to the forefront, creating a fascinating exploration of what happens when the normal meets the otherworldly. Told almost entirely in the twilight hour, Theseus, Cerberus and Aphrodite carry on in a world that feels both natural and oddly managed, weaving a magical spell that neatly treads the line between fiction and documentary. For today’s Continuity of Parks premiere, we invited Kazankina back to Dn to talk...
- 5/15/2023
- by Redmond Bacon
- Directors Notes
It’s that time of year again: Keanu Reeves has a new film out. Cue the stampede. Every time the widely beloved 58-year-old actor hits the press trail for a new project, he is greeted with the same heady flurry of sexually charged hero worship. This week alone has seen the John Wick star endure an impromptu marriage proposal from a fan, and field questions about being the “internet’s boyfriend”. Reeves is not the only actor to experience this phenomenon, of course. Rather, he is part of a small substratum of typically middle-aged male celebrities on whom the internet has fixed its kaleidoscopically horny gaze. Pedro Pascal has been social media’s recent anointed obsession, thanks largely to his leading roles in The Last of Us and The Mandalorian. But there are also celebs like Oscar Isaac, Paul Rudd, Chris Pine, Lee Pace – the list goes on.
The way...
The way...
- 3/18/2023
- by Louis Chilton
- The Independent - Film
After searching for treasure in the Amazon and venturing to the far reaches of the galaxy, James Gray is returning home. Armageddon Time finds the director telling a partially autobiographical story as it relates to the life of Jewish family growing up in 1980s Queens. Led by Anne Hathaway, Jeremy Strong, Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, Tovah Feldshuh, Ryan Sell, and Anthony Hopkins, the film premiered at Cannes Film Festival and after a few fall festival stops, it’ll come to theaters in late October. Ahead of the release, the first trailer has now arrived.
David Katz said in his review, “It finds the specific in micro-gradations of the specific rather than suggest one family’s struggle represents anything more than itself. It’s a deeply observed New York story airing a middle-class Jewish family’s dirty laundry for all to see. The relevance of bringing up these more symbolic family...
David Katz said in his review, “It finds the specific in micro-gradations of the specific rather than suggest one family’s struggle represents anything more than itself. It’s a deeply observed New York story airing a middle-class Jewish family’s dirty laundry for all to see. The relevance of bringing up these more symbolic family...
- 9/6/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Film history places certain artists at pivotal points where everything changes – and sometimes, if those artists stick around long enough, when everything changes again.
Considering the passing of James Caan on Wednesday, it becomes clear that he was one of those artists. An actor who had an early breakthrough appearing opposite Olivia de Havilland, he went on to take key roles in films that would define the New Hollywood of the 1970s and played a role in the emergence of auteurs like Wes Anderson, James Gray and Michael Mann.
Born in the Bronx to German-Jewish immigrant parents, Caan played college football at Michigan State for two years before transferring to Hofstra. He never graduated, but he did befriend classmate Francis Ford Coppola, who would be one of the actor’s most essential collaborators. It was at Hofstra that Caan became interested in acting, eventually applying to and being accepted at...
Considering the passing of James Caan on Wednesday, it becomes clear that he was one of those artists. An actor who had an early breakthrough appearing opposite Olivia de Havilland, he went on to take key roles in films that would define the New Hollywood of the 1970s and played a role in the emergence of auteurs like Wes Anderson, James Gray and Michael Mann.
Born in the Bronx to German-Jewish immigrant parents, Caan played college football at Michigan State for two years before transferring to Hofstra. He never graduated, but he did befriend classmate Francis Ford Coppola, who would be one of the actor’s most essential collaborators. It was at Hofstra that Caan became interested in acting, eventually applying to and being accepted at...
- 7/7/2022
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
James Caan, the self-assured star who played Sonny Corleone in The Godfather and a rough-and-tumble athlete in Rollerball but had the self-assurance to showcase a sensitive side during his long career, has died. He was 82.
Caan died Wednesday night in Los Angeles, his rep Arnold Robinson told The Hollywood Reporter, confirming a post on the actor’s Twitter account. Neither he nor the family would reveal a cause of death.
Caan will best be remembered for his explosive performance as Sonny in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972). Mesmerizing as the volatile and confrontational eldest son and heir apparent to his family’s criminal empire, he earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
Caan almost didn’t get to play the part that would become his signature role. Paramount originally cast him as younger brother Michael and Carmine Caridi as Sonny. But Coppola,...
James Caan, the self-assured star who played Sonny Corleone in The Godfather and a rough-and-tumble athlete in Rollerball but had the self-assurance to showcase a sensitive side during his long career, has died. He was 82.
Caan died Wednesday night in Los Angeles, his rep Arnold Robinson told The Hollywood Reporter, confirming a post on the actor’s Twitter account. Neither he nor the family would reveal a cause of death.
Caan will best be remembered for his explosive performance as Sonny in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather (1972). Mesmerizing as the volatile and confrontational eldest son and heir apparent to his family’s criminal empire, he earned an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
Caan almost didn’t get to play the part that would become his signature role. Paramount originally cast him as younger brother Michael and Carmine Caridi as Sonny. But Coppola,...
- 7/7/2022
- by Chris Koseluk
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
James Caan, the Hollywood icon who portrayed Sonny Corleone in The Godfather and starred in films like Brian’s Song, Thief, and Misery, has died at the age of 82.
The actor’s family announced Caan’s death Thursday on social media. “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6,” the family tweeted.
“The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time. End of tweet.” (Caan,...
The actor’s family announced Caan’s death Thursday on social media. “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6,” the family tweeted.
“The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time. End of tweet.” (Caan,...
- 7/7/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Armageddon Time is the sort of film usually invoked as a “portrait of the nation” or “state of the union address,” something taking the temperature of a country—most likely the United States—at a particular time in history. But it’s also a work that makes self-consciousness a virtue: its wonderful writer-director, James Gray, is informed up to his eyes about the virtues and pitfalls of films like these, and here makes something so idiosyncratically his own but that audiences and critics might still mislabel with one of those aforementioned ideas.
It finds the specific in micro-gradations of the specific rather than suggest one family’s struggle represents anything more than itself. It’s a deeply observed New York story airing a middle-class Jewish family’s dirty laundry for all to see. The relevance of bringing up these more symbolic family struggles is this: Armageddon Time could well be one in a lesser guise,...
It finds the specific in micro-gradations of the specific rather than suggest one family’s struggle represents anything more than itself. It’s a deeply observed New York story airing a middle-class Jewish family’s dirty laundry for all to see. The relevance of bringing up these more symbolic family struggles is this: Armageddon Time could well be one in a lesser guise,...
- 5/20/2022
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
HBO Max picked up “Julia” for a second season on Thursday, the same day its Season 1 finale dropped on the streamer. With that good news, fans of the Julia Child scripted series can rest assured they will be learning more about The French Chef herself (played by Sarah Lancashire) and the people who made her the icon she is in Season 2, including Judith Light’s Blanche Knopf.
And there will be plenty to uncover about Blanche, the publisher of Child’s best-selling “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” books, in particular. The finale episode, titled “Chocolate Soufflé,” revealed the powerful co-founder and leader of publishing house Knopf is going blind, and only her mentee Judith Jones (Fiona Glascott), who was editor for Child, as well as novelists like John Updike at Knopf, knows about the dire situation.
Much like many other details depicted about these real-life people on the first season of “Julia,...
And there will be plenty to uncover about Blanche, the publisher of Child’s best-selling “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” books, in particular. The finale episode, titled “Chocolate Soufflé,” revealed the powerful co-founder and leader of publishing house Knopf is going blind, and only her mentee Judith Jones (Fiona Glascott), who was editor for Child, as well as novelists like John Updike at Knopf, knows about the dire situation.
Much like many other details depicted about these real-life people on the first season of “Julia,...
- 5/6/2022
- by Jennifer Maas
- Variety Film + TV
Paul Bogaards, the storied publicity and marketing exec at Alfred A. Knopf, will step down from his job after a 32-year career with the publishing house.
His departure, effective Jan. 1, 2022, was announced today by Reagan Arthur, EVP, Publisher, at Knopf.
“Paul’s unparalleled impact on scores of best-selling and now-classic books cannot be overstated,” Arthur said in a statement. “His passion, creativity, and savvy media instincts have not only burnished the Knopf ethos but also shaped the reading and bookselling world at large.”
Continued Arthur, “Paul has worked his one-of-a-kind magic on several of the biggest books of our time. Even just a partial list of authors is staggering and counts among them Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winners, celebrities, debut novelists, politicians, and chefs.” Among those authors: Andre Agassi, Lidia Bastianich, Ken Burns, Robert Caro, John Carreyrou, Julia Child, President Bill Clinton, Michael Crichton, Joan Didion, Bret Easton Ellis,...
His departure, effective Jan. 1, 2022, was announced today by Reagan Arthur, EVP, Publisher, at Knopf.
“Paul’s unparalleled impact on scores of best-selling and now-classic books cannot be overstated,” Arthur said in a statement. “His passion, creativity, and savvy media instincts have not only burnished the Knopf ethos but also shaped the reading and bookselling world at large.”
Continued Arthur, “Paul has worked his one-of-a-kind magic on several of the biggest books of our time. Even just a partial list of authors is staggering and counts among them Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winners, celebrities, debut novelists, politicians, and chefs.” Among those authors: Andre Agassi, Lidia Bastianich, Ken Burns, Robert Caro, John Carreyrou, Julia Child, President Bill Clinton, Michael Crichton, Joan Didion, Bret Easton Ellis,...
- 11/4/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
"The Witches of Eastwick" are back, baby! "Pleasure" director Ninja Thyberg has been tapped by Warner Bros. to remake the 1987 George Miller movie adapted from the John Updike novel of the same name. Miller's movie, which took great liberties with Updike's source material, followed three small-town women who all fall for a new guy in town, played by Jack Nicholson. As it turns out, the newcomer is the devil himself, and the three women realize they're actually witches.
Screen Daily has the news that Ninja Thyberg is set to write and direct a "Witches of Eastwick" remake for Warner Bros. Per the report, "Thyberg is about to...
The post Witches of Eastwick Remake in the Works appeared first on /Film.
Screen Daily has the news that Ninja Thyberg is set to write and direct a "Witches of Eastwick" remake for Warner Bros. Per the report, "Thyberg is about to...
The post Witches of Eastwick Remake in the Works appeared first on /Film.
- 8/25/2021
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
Warner Bros sets ‘The Witches Of Eastwick’ remake from ‘Pleasure’ director Ninja Thyberg (exclusive)
Thyberg is currently on the festival circuit.
Warner Bros has signed Swedish filmmaker Ninja Thyberg to write and direct a remake of George Miller’s 1987 fantasy-comedy The Witches Of Eastwick. Thyberg is presently on the festival circuit with her debut feature Pleasure.
The deal was signed last week for the project, which will shoot in the US at a date to-be-determined. Thyberg is about to start writing the script; it is not yet confirmed if her screenplay will be based on Miller’s version which was adapted by writer Michael Cristofer, or on John Updike’s 1984 novel of the same...
Warner Bros has signed Swedish filmmaker Ninja Thyberg to write and direct a remake of George Miller’s 1987 fantasy-comedy The Witches Of Eastwick. Thyberg is presently on the festival circuit with her debut feature Pleasure.
The deal was signed last week for the project, which will shoot in the US at a date to-be-determined. Thyberg is about to start writing the script; it is not yet confirmed if her screenplay will be based on Miller’s version which was adapted by writer Michael Cristofer, or on John Updike’s 1984 novel of the same...
- 8/24/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: HBO Max’s Julia Child drama Julia has found its publisher.
Judith Light will star as Blanche Knopf, co-founder of the Knopf publishing house. Knopf, who was married to publishing giant Alfred A. Knopf, is widely credited with bringing in Child’s hugely successful Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Knopf worked with a swath of top writers during her career including Sigmund Freud, Albert Camus, John Updike and Raymond Chandler as well as Child.
HBO Max picked up to series Julia in January after ordering a pilot. The eight-episode series sees Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire play Child with David Hyde Pierce as her husband Paul. The series is currently in production.
Julia, whose pilot was written by Daniel Goldfarb and directed by Charles McDougall, is inspired by Child’s extraordinary life and her long-running television series, The French Chef, which pioneered the popular cooking-show genre. Through Julia and her singular can-do spirit,...
Judith Light will star as Blanche Knopf, co-founder of the Knopf publishing house. Knopf, who was married to publishing giant Alfred A. Knopf, is widely credited with bringing in Child’s hugely successful Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Knopf worked with a swath of top writers during her career including Sigmund Freud, Albert Camus, John Updike and Raymond Chandler as well as Child.
HBO Max picked up to series Julia in January after ordering a pilot. The eight-episode series sees Happy Valley star Sarah Lancashire play Child with David Hyde Pierce as her husband Paul. The series is currently in production.
Julia, whose pilot was written by Daniel Goldfarb and directed by Charles McDougall, is inspired by Child’s extraordinary life and her long-running television series, The French Chef, which pioneered the popular cooking-show genre. Through Julia and her singular can-do spirit,...
- 6/28/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
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.
Rufus Wainwright, like many artists this year, was forced to reconfigure his plans after the coronavirus pandemic delayed the release date of his new album, Unfollow the Rules, his first proper pop effort since 2012. But the singer-songwriter didn’t let that hiccup slow him down at all: Even before the album’s belated arrival, he launched a daily livestream series,...
Rufus Wainwright, like many artists this year, was forced to reconfigure his plans after the coronavirus pandemic delayed the release date of his new album, Unfollow the Rules, his first proper pop effort since 2012. But the singer-songwriter didn’t let that hiccup slow him down at all: Even before the album’s belated arrival, he launched a daily livestream series,...
- 12/13/2020
- by Rolling Stone
- Rollingstone.com
Fresh off its first Emmy win for “I Know This Much Is True,” FilmNation Entertainment is continuing to drive into the TV space.
The company has acquired Ken Liu’s sci-fi short story “The Hidden Girl,” with the intention of adapting it into a series. Liu is attached to executive produce the project, which sources say is already in discussions with potential directors and showrunners.
News of the acquisition comes less than a month after Liu was announced as a consulting producer on David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo’s buzzy Netflix adaptation of “The Three-Body Problem.”
“The Hidden Girl” blends sci-fi and historical reality into a story set in a never-before-seen fantasy world derived from the cosmopolitan realities of Tang Dynasty China. In the story, a diverse group of women assassins travel through the fourth-dimension traversing space and time to kill their opponents, honor their professional code, and...
The company has acquired Ken Liu’s sci-fi short story “The Hidden Girl,” with the intention of adapting it into a series. Liu is attached to executive produce the project, which sources say is already in discussions with potential directors and showrunners.
News of the acquisition comes less than a month after Liu was announced as a consulting producer on David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo’s buzzy Netflix adaptation of “The Three-Body Problem.”
“The Hidden Girl” blends sci-fi and historical reality into a story set in a never-before-seen fantasy world derived from the cosmopolitan realities of Tang Dynasty China. In the story, a diverse group of women assassins travel through the fourth-dimension traversing space and time to kill their opponents, honor their professional code, and...
- 9/24/2020
- by Will Thorne
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: FilmNation Entertainment, producer of the Emmy-nominated HBO limited series I Know This Much Is True, is signaling a further push into television, signing a multi-year TV development fund deal with Wishmore (The Personal History of David Copperfield), the company owned and run by Greek film financier and producer Christos V. Konstantakopoulos. Wishmore is the sister company of Konstantakopoulos’s Faliro House, with whom FilmNation has had a successful film-focused development partnership for several years.
The multi-million dollar development investment will allow FilmNation Entertainment’s U.S. television division, led by President of Production Ben Browning, to expand its slate of high-profile television development properties, while simultaneously broadening Wishmore’s TV slate with series for the international marketplace. All funded projects, on which FilmNation will serve as a studio, are intended to be financed under the company’s existing credit facility. The studio’s focus remains on developing, producing and...
The multi-million dollar development investment will allow FilmNation Entertainment’s U.S. television division, led by President of Production Ben Browning, to expand its slate of high-profile television development properties, while simultaneously broadening Wishmore’s TV slate with series for the international marketplace. All funded projects, on which FilmNation will serve as a studio, are intended to be financed under the company’s existing credit facility. The studio’s focus remains on developing, producing and...
- 9/17/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Rosanne Cash has won the 2021 Edward MacDowell Medal, though the prize ceremony in her honor won’t take place until August 8th, 2021 due to the coronavirus.
Named after the composer Edward MacDowell, the MacDowell Medal honors artists who have made significant contributions to American culture. Previous winners include Georgia O’Keeffe, John Updike, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Didion, Philip Roth, David Lynch and more. Cash is the 61st recipient of the award.
“To be included in a list with Aaron Copland, Eudora Welty, Toni Morrison, and so many more distinguished artists, is...
Named after the composer Edward MacDowell, the MacDowell Medal honors artists who have made significant contributions to American culture. Previous winners include Georgia O’Keeffe, John Updike, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Didion, Philip Roth, David Lynch and more. Cash is the 61st recipient of the award.
“To be included in a list with Aaron Copland, Eudora Welty, Toni Morrison, and so many more distinguished artists, is...
- 5/18/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: FilmNation Entertainment continues to ramp up its television business, hiring former Marvel Television executive Courtney Saladino Gurney as its new Vice President, Television. In her new role, Gurney will source and develop material for the company, reporting to FilmNation’s Evp, Television Stefanie Berk.
“We are thrilled to welcome Courtney to FilmNation. With her vast knowledge and experience across multiple television brands, she is an exciting addition to the television team,” said Berk.
Saladino Gurney previously served as the Director of Original Programming for Marvel Television where she oversaw Marvel’s Helstrom for Hulu; Marvel’s Jessica Jones for Netflix; and Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger for Freeform. Prior to joining Marvel, she ran Film & Television development at Junction Entertainment for director Jon Turteltaub.
FilmNation’s growing television slate includes Derek Cianfrance’s upcoming limited series I Know This Much Is True, starring Mark Ruffalo for HBO; an adaption...
“We are thrilled to welcome Courtney to FilmNation. With her vast knowledge and experience across multiple television brands, she is an exciting addition to the television team,” said Berk.
Saladino Gurney previously served as the Director of Original Programming for Marvel Television where she oversaw Marvel’s Helstrom for Hulu; Marvel’s Jessica Jones for Netflix; and Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger for Freeform. Prior to joining Marvel, she ran Film & Television development at Junction Entertainment for director Jon Turteltaub.
FilmNation’s growing television slate includes Derek Cianfrance’s upcoming limited series I Know This Much Is True, starring Mark Ruffalo for HBO; an adaption...
- 3/5/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: FilmNation Entertainment is expanding its television slate with the acquisition of Susan Choi’s 2019 National Book Award winner Trust Exercise for development as a limited TV series, with Choi attached to pen the adaptation.
Based on the book, Trust Exercise the series is set in an American suburb in the early 1980s, where a group of students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble. When they eventually reconnect as adults, their world is upended and we realize that what we believe happened to them is not entirely true―though it’s not false, either.
FilmNation’s Hannah Getts brought Choi’s book in to the company. Getts will oversee the series with Stefanie Berk, FilmNation Entertainment Evp, Television. FilmNation Entertainment will produce.
Published April 9 by Macmillan, Trust Exercise has been listed on The New York Times Critics...
Based on the book, Trust Exercise the series is set in an American suburb in the early 1980s, where a group of students at a highly competitive performing arts high school struggle and thrive in a rarified bubble. When they eventually reconnect as adults, their world is upended and we realize that what we believe happened to them is not entirely true―though it’s not false, either.
FilmNation’s Hannah Getts brought Choi’s book in to the company. Getts will oversee the series with Stefanie Berk, FilmNation Entertainment Evp, Television. FilmNation Entertainment will produce.
Published April 9 by Macmillan, Trust Exercise has been listed on The New York Times Critics...
- 12/12/2019
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Glen Basner lives to make deals.
Be it Toronto or Cannes, Sundance or Afm, you’ll find the FilmNation founder in the throes of negotiations over pricing and marketing plans, schmoozing and working every angle to nail the best pact. Director Armando Iannucci, who worked with FilmNation on the upcoming “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” recalls seeing Basner in action after he presented the Charles Dickens adaptation to potential buyers at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival.
“He was running from booth to booth, having all these conversations, and he just kind of lit up with this infectious smile,” says Iannucci. “Fundamentally, all of the things he’s doing on the business side are borne out of a love of film. That what makes him so good at what he does.”
Basner will be on hand at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival for the world premiere of “David Copperfield,” with Dev Patel in the title role,...
Be it Toronto or Cannes, Sundance or Afm, you’ll find the FilmNation founder in the throes of negotiations over pricing and marketing plans, schmoozing and working every angle to nail the best pact. Director Armando Iannucci, who worked with FilmNation on the upcoming “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” recalls seeing Basner in action after he presented the Charles Dickens adaptation to potential buyers at the 2018 Berlin Film Festival.
“He was running from booth to booth, having all these conversations, and he just kind of lit up with this infectious smile,” says Iannucci. “Fundamentally, all of the things he’s doing on the business side are borne out of a love of film. That what makes him so good at what he does.”
Basner will be on hand at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival for the world premiere of “David Copperfield,” with Dev Patel in the title role,...
- 9/4/2019
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The House of the Seven Gables
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1940 / 1:33:1 / 89 Min.
Starring Margaret Lindsay, Vincent Price, George Sanders
Written by Lester Cole
Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner
Directed by Joe May
In 1940’s The House of the Seven Gables, Margaret Lindsay transforms from sunny romantic to stone-faced recluse in the blink of an eye – her startling performance gives a 20th century hot foot to Universal’s 19th century melodrama.
Published in 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel is set during the new era of enlightenment – a superstitious few may resist but the wheels of change are turning – just not fast enough for the Pyncheon family, a seemingly cursed dynasty plagued by corruption and cruelty.
Lindsay plays Hepzibah Pyncheon whose lover Clifford has been framed by his brother Jaffrey for the death of their father. A cold-blooded fop maintaining the family’s avaricious tradition, Jaffrey covets the distinctly gabled ancestral home and its hidden treasures.
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1940 / 1:33:1 / 89 Min.
Starring Margaret Lindsay, Vincent Price, George Sanders
Written by Lester Cole
Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner
Directed by Joe May
In 1940’s The House of the Seven Gables, Margaret Lindsay transforms from sunny romantic to stone-faced recluse in the blink of an eye – her startling performance gives a 20th century hot foot to Universal’s 19th century melodrama.
Published in 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel is set during the new era of enlightenment – a superstitious few may resist but the wheels of change are turning – just not fast enough for the Pyncheon family, a seemingly cursed dynasty plagued by corruption and cruelty.
Lindsay plays Hepzibah Pyncheon whose lover Clifford has been framed by his brother Jaffrey for the death of their father. A cold-blooded fop maintaining the family’s avaricious tradition, Jaffrey covets the distinctly gabled ancestral home and its hidden treasures.
- 5/11/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis (2012) is showing November 24 – December 23 and Maps to the Stars (2014) from November 25 – December 24, 2018 on Mubi in the United Kingdom. Of the many grotesqueries and monsters that have appeared in the films of David Cronenberg—the brain-blowing psychics of Scanners; the fecal parasites that turn their hosts in violent lunatics in Shivers; the parthenogenetic bastard spawn of a deranged mother in The Brood; Dead Ringers’ drug-addled gynecologist identical twin brothers; the somatic video game system that plugs into your spine in eXistenZ, et cetera—none seems more ghastly, or more disturbing, than his depiction of the rich. They are nefarious, narcissistic, affluent malefactors who saunter through their own little solipsistic worlds, free from the proletarian notion of reality, with its petty consequences, its pitiable poor. In Cosmopolis (2012) and Maps to the Stars (2014), his pasquinades of the rich, Cronenberg remains as savage as in his body-horror films; but instead of violations of the flesh,...
- 12/4/2018
- MUBI
Patricia Clarkson is drawn into a black hole of murder, murk and existential angst in this adaptation of Martin Amis’s Night Train
Carol Morley’s Out of Blue is an intriguing and perplexing creation, starting with that title, from which the word “the” seems to have been removed, making what’s on offer sound like an impressionist painting or a classic jazz album, or some slangily described phenomenon of theoretical physics. It’s a lugubrious quasi-noir mystery set in modern-day New Orleans, starring a charismatic Patricia Clarkson as Detective Mike Hoolihan; a movie that sometimes seems papier-mâchéd together with layers of mannerism and pastiche, floating along like a two-hour dream sequence.
Morley has adapted Martin Amis’s 1997 novel Night Train, a hardboiled genre homage about a careworn female police officer tackling a homicide case so uniquely disturbing that it brings her to the edge of a breakdown. Amis had...
Carol Morley’s Out of Blue is an intriguing and perplexing creation, starting with that title, from which the word “the” seems to have been removed, making what’s on offer sound like an impressionist painting or a classic jazz album, or some slangily described phenomenon of theoretical physics. It’s a lugubrious quasi-noir mystery set in modern-day New Orleans, starring a charismatic Patricia Clarkson as Detective Mike Hoolihan; a movie that sometimes seems papier-mâchéd together with layers of mannerism and pastiche, floating along like a two-hour dream sequence.
Morley has adapted Martin Amis’s 1997 novel Night Train, a hardboiled genre homage about a careworn female police officer tackling a homicide case so uniquely disturbing that it brings her to the edge of a breakdown. Amis had...
- 9/8/2018
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Here is another major clue that This Is Us will be delving into the story of Jack’s tour of duty in Vietnam next season. Renowned Vietnam journalist and author Tim O’Brien (The Things They Carried) has joined the hit NBC family drama as consultant for the upcoming third season.
O’Brien is best known for his The Things They Carried, a collection of semi-autobiographical stories inspired by his experiences in the Vietnam War published in 1990. He was drafted during the Vietnam war and served from 1969 to 1970.
“Tim has been a writing hero of mine since college,” said This Is Us creator and executive producer Dan Fogelman. “I’ve written more papers on The Things They Carried than I am comfortable sharing. It was incredibly intimidating bringing him into our room to discuss a Vietnam plot line – and it was even more rewarding. I’ve never said this before,...
O’Brien is best known for his The Things They Carried, a collection of semi-autobiographical stories inspired by his experiences in the Vietnam War published in 1990. He was drafted during the Vietnam war and served from 1969 to 1970.
“Tim has been a writing hero of mine since college,” said This Is Us creator and executive producer Dan Fogelman. “I’ve written more papers on The Things They Carried than I am comfortable sharing. It was incredibly intimidating bringing him into our room to discuss a Vietnam plot line – and it was even more rewarding. I’ve never said this before,...
- 6/18/2018
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Michelle Pfeiffer’s new film “Where is Kyra” has been getting strong reviews for the actress and marks the first time in many years that she has had a leading role in an awards caliber feature film. Pfeiffer plays an unemployed woman desperately trying to survive while she cares for her sick mother.
Pfeiffer has had a nearly 40-year career on screen and has managed to overcome being known at first just for her looks. While her beauty was prominently on display in many of her first roles she quickly became more than just a pretty face and plunged herself into deeper and more complex roles. Pfeiffer’s first professional acting job was on a TV series version of the film “Animal House” called “Delta House.” Her character on the TV show was referred to simply as “The Bombshell.” This debut hardly signaled the arrival of an actress good enough...
Pfeiffer has had a nearly 40-year career on screen and has managed to overcome being known at first just for her looks. While her beauty was prominently on display in many of her first roles she quickly became more than just a pretty face and plunged herself into deeper and more complex roles. Pfeiffer’s first professional acting job was on a TV series version of the film “Animal House” called “Delta House.” Her character on the TV show was referred to simply as “The Bombshell.” This debut hardly signaled the arrival of an actress good enough...
- 4/12/2018
- by Robert Pius
- Gold Derby
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Blu ray
Twilight Time
1969 / 1:85 / 105 Min. / Street Date January 29, 2018
Starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliot Gould, Dyan Cannon
Cinematography by Charles Lang
Written by Paul Mazursky, Larry Tucker
Music by Quincy Jones
Edited by Stuart H. Pappé
Produced by M.J. Frankovich, Larry Tucker
Directed by Paul Mazursky
John Updike and Philip Roth, those faithful chroniclers of American infidelity, had a kindred spirit in director Paul Mazursky. Employing a double-edged sword tempered with Updike’s Protestant angst and Roth’s hair-shirt humor, Mazursky served up 1969’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a shrewd and ultimately compassionate satire about lovelorn narcissists.
As it stumbled toward that decade’s finish line, 1969 found much of the counterculture in pursuit of a new Age of Aquarius (Fonda and Hopper were famously “searching for America” in that same year’s Easy Rider). Self help centers servicing those troubled souls began to spring up...
Blu ray
Twilight Time
1969 / 1:85 / 105 Min. / Street Date January 29, 2018
Starring Natalie Wood, Robert Culp, Elliot Gould, Dyan Cannon
Cinematography by Charles Lang
Written by Paul Mazursky, Larry Tucker
Music by Quincy Jones
Edited by Stuart H. Pappé
Produced by M.J. Frankovich, Larry Tucker
Directed by Paul Mazursky
John Updike and Philip Roth, those faithful chroniclers of American infidelity, had a kindred spirit in director Paul Mazursky. Employing a double-edged sword tempered with Updike’s Protestant angst and Roth’s hair-shirt humor, Mazursky served up 1969’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a shrewd and ultimately compassionate satire about lovelorn narcissists.
As it stumbled toward that decade’s finish line, 1969 found much of the counterculture in pursuit of a new Age of Aquarius (Fonda and Hopper were famously “searching for America” in that same year’s Easy Rider). Self help centers servicing those troubled souls began to spring up...
- 2/27/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Exclusive: John Updike's controversial Rabbit, Run novels are to be adapted for television after War and Peace producer Lookout Point optioned the rights. The BBC Worldwide-backed production company has brought on board Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones's Diary writer Andrew Davies to pen the remake. Davies will adapt Updike's four novels, which tell the story of former high school basketball player Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, who escapes his small-town life, where he’s…...
- 2/5/2018
- Deadline TV
Valar morghulis. All men must die. Might as well read some excellent books before then.
This summer, George R.R. Martin and a slew of other authors and celebrities will lend their voices and passion to “The Great American Read,” an eight-part PBS television competition that celebrates books. PBS made the announcement at the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday.
Much like Martin’s “Game of Thrones” series, ultimately there can only be one victor, and the series will conclude when the public selects “America’s Best-Loved Book” based on votes.
Read More:‘Game of Thrones’ Prequels Won’t Premiere Until At Least 2020, HBO Boss Confirms
Although Martin may seem to have a leg up on the competition, there’s no guarantee that any of his “Game of Thrones” books will even make it to the 100 best-loved novels list for consideration. While his novels may have inspired one of today’s most popular TV series,...
This summer, George R.R. Martin and a slew of other authors and celebrities will lend their voices and passion to “The Great American Read,” an eight-part PBS television competition that celebrates books. PBS made the announcement at the Television Critics Association press tour on Tuesday.
Much like Martin’s “Game of Thrones” series, ultimately there can only be one victor, and the series will conclude when the public selects “America’s Best-Loved Book” based on votes.
Read More:‘Game of Thrones’ Prequels Won’t Premiere Until At Least 2020, HBO Boss Confirms
Although Martin may seem to have a leg up on the competition, there’s no guarantee that any of his “Game of Thrones” books will even make it to the 100 best-loved novels list for consideration. While his novels may have inspired one of today’s most popular TV series,...
- 1/16/2018
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Alexander Payne’s ambitious new comic fantasy has ideas to spare but a condescending tone and a disastrous racial caricature leave a bitter taste in the mouth
There was a time when Alexander Payne was, as far as the critical majority was concerned, close to unassailable in the ranks of modern American auteurs. His 1996 debut, Citizen Ruth, earned only a niche following, but the five features that followed, from 1999’s sourball classroom satire Election through to 2013’s mournful father-son comedy Nebraska, earned him a reputation as a kind of jaundiced observational poet of sad-sack America, a body of work bound by grim-faced humour, mundane tragedy and white male heroes with scarcely any heroic virtues at all. It’s a run that has netted him two Oscars, a flood of other honours, and repeated critical comparisons to Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges and even John Updike. David Thomson himself gushed: “Payne is...
There was a time when Alexander Payne was, as far as the critical majority was concerned, close to unassailable in the ranks of modern American auteurs. His 1996 debut, Citizen Ruth, earned only a niche following, but the five features that followed, from 1999’s sourball classroom satire Election through to 2013’s mournful father-son comedy Nebraska, earned him a reputation as a kind of jaundiced observational poet of sad-sack America, a body of work bound by grim-faced humour, mundane tragedy and white male heroes with scarcely any heroic virtues at all. It’s a run that has netted him two Oscars, a flood of other honours, and repeated critical comparisons to Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges and even John Updike. David Thomson himself gushed: “Payne is...
- 12/18/2017
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
Ray Bradbury adapted to the screen is always something to check out; this Jack Smight- directed trio of stories bound together by a mystery man wearing the graffiti of the title at least works up a little ethereal-cereal excitement. Husband and wife Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom spout ominous dialogue as they face various futuristic threats.
The Illustrated Man
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, Robert Drivas, Don Dubbins, Jason Evers, Tim Weldon, Christine Matchett
Cinematography: Philip H. Lathrop
Art Direction: Joel Schiller
Film Editor: Archie Marshek
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Howard B. Kreitsek from the book by Ray Bradbury
Produced by Howard B. Kreitsek, Ted Mann
Directed by Jack Smight
Ray Bradbury must have had some frustrating times as a screenwriter, although the three times I saw him in person he never...
The Illustrated Man
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, Robert Drivas, Don Dubbins, Jason Evers, Tim Weldon, Christine Matchett
Cinematography: Philip H. Lathrop
Art Direction: Joel Schiller
Film Editor: Archie Marshek
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Howard B. Kreitsek from the book by Ray Bradbury
Produced by Howard B. Kreitsek, Ted Mann
Directed by Jack Smight
Ray Bradbury must have had some frustrating times as a screenwriter, although the three times I saw him in person he never...
- 9/12/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Judith Jones, the editor who changed the world of at-home cooking with her discovery of Julia Child, recovered Anne Frank’s diary from a reject pile, and edited the works of cookbook and literary giants alike, passed away on Wednesday.
According to her stepdaughter, Bronwyn Dunne, her death was the result of complications from Alzheimer’s. Jones died at home in Walden, Vt. at the age of 93.
More than five decades in the publishing industry resulted in a culinary legacy — a distinct change from the rather unexciting cuisine she grew up eating. Born on March 10, 1994, in Vermont, Jones wrote in her 2007 memoir,...
According to her stepdaughter, Bronwyn Dunne, her death was the result of complications from Alzheimer’s. Jones died at home in Walden, Vt. at the age of 93.
More than five decades in the publishing industry resulted in a culinary legacy — a distinct change from the rather unexciting cuisine she grew up eating. Born on March 10, 1994, in Vermont, Jones wrote in her 2007 memoir,...
- 8/2/2017
- by Sam Gillette
- PEOPLE.com
Sean Wilson Aug 4, 2017
Yes, Star Wars. But what about all the great John Williams scores from less famous movies? Here are 15 of them...
Cinema's most esteemed and popular film composer, John Williams, turned 85 this year (you might have seen the recent spectacular BBC Proms concert in his honour). Careers don't come more astonishing than that of Williams, nominated for 50 Academy Awards which puts him second only to Walt Disney for the most ever.
See related What does Iron Fist tell us about Marvel's Defenders? The Defenders: recapping Netflix's Marvel universe so far The Defenders: brand new images released
However it's all too tempting to boil Williams' career down to the more obvious highlights: Star Wars, the Indy trilogy, Superman, E.T., Jurassic Park and the like. In truth, he's a far more versatile composer than many like to give him credit for, and he's much more than just a big themes guy.
Yes, Star Wars. But what about all the great John Williams scores from less famous movies? Here are 15 of them...
Cinema's most esteemed and popular film composer, John Williams, turned 85 this year (you might have seen the recent spectacular BBC Proms concert in his honour). Careers don't come more astonishing than that of Williams, nominated for 50 Academy Awards which puts him second only to Walt Disney for the most ever.
See related What does Iron Fist tell us about Marvel's Defenders? The Defenders: recapping Netflix's Marvel universe so far The Defenders: brand new images released
However it's all too tempting to boil Williams' career down to the more obvious highlights: Star Wars, the Indy trilogy, Superman, E.T., Jurassic Park and the like. In truth, he's a far more versatile composer than many like to give him credit for, and he's much more than just a big themes guy.
- 8/1/2017
- Den of Geek
A extensive look at all those movies James Franco directed.
James Franco has done a lot of things, we’ve heard. Following a successful turn on Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks and a well-received starring spot on a TNT biopic on James Dean, he turned immediately to a litany of pursuits: from playwriting and English degrees to painting and directing no less than ten feature-lengths. The latter project interested me. Were they any good? In Franco’s Rolling Stone profile last year, Jonah Weiner ran around a thesaurus of words like “dizzying,” “indefatigable“ and, wait for it, “multihyphenate” to describe his subject but none of those words mean very much. Paul Klee painted over a thousand paintings in the penultimate last year of his life. So could I. So what?
“What did we do to deserve James Franco?,” asked Rex Reed in a slightly different era. Back then, even the The Guardian agreed with Jared Kushner...
James Franco has done a lot of things, we’ve heard. Following a successful turn on Judd Apatow’s Freaks and Geeks and a well-received starring spot on a TNT biopic on James Dean, he turned immediately to a litany of pursuits: from playwriting and English degrees to painting and directing no less than ten feature-lengths. The latter project interested me. Were they any good? In Franco’s Rolling Stone profile last year, Jonah Weiner ran around a thesaurus of words like “dizzying,” “indefatigable“ and, wait for it, “multihyphenate” to describe his subject but none of those words mean very much. Paul Klee painted over a thousand paintings in the penultimate last year of his life. So could I. So what?
“What did we do to deserve James Franco?,” asked Rex Reed in a slightly different era. Back then, even the The Guardian agreed with Jared Kushner...
- 4/13/2017
- by Andrew Karpan
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Golden Exits. © Sean Price Williams“No soul or locale is too humble,” John Updike wrote, “to be the site of entertaining and instructive fiction.” Which is a good thing for Nick, the nominal hero of Alex Ross Perry’s new film Golden Exits. The mild, meek, nearly-fifty archivist, played with greying dignity by former Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz, lives a pinched and incapacious existence, toiling ten hours a day hunched behind the desk of a basement office only a few blocks away from his Brooklyn apartment. It’s a spartan, closed-loop life, and Nick thinks it’s “thrilling”—which it becomes for a time, when a 25-year-old assistant arrives from Australia and threatens to disrupt it. Golden Exits is about that threat. Or more precisely, it is a film about what happens when order and routine are besieged by the promise of change—when the life one has accepted is beleaguered by temptation,...
- 2/26/2017
- MUBI
Just in case you've been living in the Upside Down, let me get you up to speed: Stranger Things Season 2 is officially happening. And as revealed by the show's unreasonably-attractive creators the Duffer Brothers, the new episodes will be set a year after the events of the first season, which would place the characters squarely in the latter days of 1984 (Season 1 took place between November and December of 1983). While that's not a whole lot later, it's still enough time for a massive number of pop-culture and consumer products to have been introduced in the interim, from film to TV to music to technology. So what, pray tell, will Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Nancy, Jonathan and Steve (but not Barb, obvs) be using, watching, wearing, reading and listening to in the new season that wouldn't have been available to them in the prior timeline because they didn't exist yet? For those curious...
- 9/1/2016
- by Chris Eggertsen
- Hitfix
Forty-six years on, few people remember (or even care) that the 1970 Kentucky Derby was won by a horse called Dust Commander. And yet, the legacy of that particular race continues to loom large — not because of what happened at Churchill Downs, but because Hunter S. Thompson was there to write about it.
"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved," Thompson's account of the race for Scanlan's Monthly, is the subject of Gonzo @ the Derby, a highly entertaining new entry in Espn's 30 For 30 Shorts series. (You can view the film here.
"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved," Thompson's account of the race for Scanlan's Monthly, is the subject of Gonzo @ the Derby, a highly entertaining new entry in Espn's 30 For 30 Shorts series. (You can view the film here.
- 5/11/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Love is in the air for Viola Davis!
The How to Get Away with Murder star and Golden Globe winner shared a "Happy Valentine's Day!" snap of herself on Sunday night that takes fans inside her weekend vow renewal ceremony with Julius Tennon, her husband since 2003.
"We are most alive when we're in love." -John Updike Happy Valentine's Day!
A photo posted by Viola Davis (@violadavis) on Feb 14, 2016 at 10:07pm Pst
Davis, 50, is carrying an impressive floral bouquet and an elegant sleeveless cream dress in the Instagram photo. Tennon is wearing a complementary off-white suit and matching smile,...
The How to Get Away with Murder star and Golden Globe winner shared a "Happy Valentine's Day!" snap of herself on Sunday night that takes fans inside her weekend vow renewal ceremony with Julius Tennon, her husband since 2003.
"We are most alive when we're in love." -John Updike Happy Valentine's Day!
A photo posted by Viola Davis (@violadavis) on Feb 14, 2016 at 10:07pm Pst
Davis, 50, is carrying an impressive floral bouquet and an elegant sleeveless cream dress in the Instagram photo. Tennon is wearing a complementary off-white suit and matching smile,...
- 2/15/2016
- by Lanford Beard, @lanfordbeard
- People.com - TV Watch
Love is in the air for Viola Davis! The How to Get Away with Murder star and Golden Globe winner shared a "Happy Valentine's Day!" snap of herself on Sunday night that takes fans inside her weekend vow renewal ceremony with Julius Tennon, her husband since 2003. "We are most alive when we're in love." -John Updike Happy Valentine's Day! A photo posted by Viola Davis (@violadavis) on Feb 14, 2016 at 10:07pm Pst Davis, 50, is carrying an impressive floral bouquet and an elegant sleeveless cream dress in the Instagram photo. Tennon is wearing a complementary off-white suit and matching smile,...
- 2/15/2016
- by Lanford Beard, @lanfordbeard
- PEOPLE.com
The tale of a talented singer and his part in the Elvis-is-alive myth is stranger than fiction, and comes with a sad, shocking ending
John Updike’s comment about celebrity being a mask that eats into the face occurred to me watching this desperately sad film. It is the story of Jimmy Ellis, a singer from Alabama who was cursed with having a voice identical to that of Elvis Presley. He travelled to Nashville and tried to break into the music business – but found that everyone was only interested in his eerie soundalike resemblance to the King. Poignantly, he even released a single entitled I’m Not Trying to Be Like Elvis.
Related: Orion review: the reluctant Elvis-alike turned pretender to the King's throne
Continue reading...
John Updike’s comment about celebrity being a mask that eats into the face occurred to me watching this desperately sad film. It is the story of Jimmy Ellis, a singer from Alabama who was cursed with having a voice identical to that of Elvis Presley. He travelled to Nashville and tried to break into the music business – but found that everyone was only interested in his eerie soundalike resemblance to the King. Poignantly, he even released a single entitled I’m Not Trying to Be Like Elvis.
Related: Orion review: the reluctant Elvis-alike turned pretender to the King's throne
Continue reading...
- 9/24/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Something that struck me about the New York Times obituary of E. L. Doctorow was its emphasis on the late novelist’s narrators: “Deploying, in different books, the unreliable narrator, the stream-of-consciousness narrator, the omniscient narrator and multiple narrators, Mr. Doctorow was one of contemporary fiction’s most restless experimenters.” Indeed, he could do it all, including “time travel,” the other quality the Times emphasized, quoting a 2000 interview in which Doctorow said, “Someone said to me once that my books can be arranged in rough chronological order to indicate one man’s sense of 120 years of American life.” He would extend that range in 2005 with his Civil War novel The March, which won two of the year’s four big literary prizes and earned the praise of John Updike, who confessed to having been a Doctorow skeptic until then, especially because of the way he made “puppets” of real historical...
- 7/23/2015
- by Christian Lorentzen
- Vulture
Mad Max: Fury Road is one of those sequels many were hoping would become a reality, yet few actually believed would see the light of day. The continuation of what is undoubtedly Australia's most popular film franchise at last comes to the big screen in a dark yet sprawling apocalyptic action piece just ripe for summertime audiences.
Without question the biggest plus in Mad Max: Fury Road was in bringing back the series' original director, George Miller. The director made his name helming the previous movies in the franchise before creating one of the most unpredictable filmographies in Hollywood, with features ranging from Lorenzo's Oil (1992) to Happy Feet (2006). However, no choice Miller made in his post-Mad Max days remained as standout as his first Hollywood outing, The Witches of Eastwick (1987).
Based on a novel by John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick centered on three women (Cher, Susan Sarandon and...
Without question the biggest plus in Mad Max: Fury Road was in bringing back the series' original director, George Miller. The director made his name helming the previous movies in the franchise before creating one of the most unpredictable filmographies in Hollywood, with features ranging from Lorenzo's Oil (1992) to Happy Feet (2006). However, no choice Miller made in his post-Mad Max days remained as standout as his first Hollywood outing, The Witches of Eastwick (1987).
Based on a novel by John Updike, The Witches of Eastwick centered on three women (Cher, Susan Sarandon and...
- 5/14/2015
- by Frank Calvillo
- Slackerwood
Thom Yorke, what the hell are you doing there? You don't belong there. A headshot of the Radiohead frontman graces the cover of a self-help book that deals with marital and sexual problems, which was translated from English to Persian and is being sold in Iran. The photo surfaced online this week and has gone viral. Also featured on the cover: Late U.S. author John Updike, writer of the writer of the Rabbit series and The Witches of Eastwick novel, and an unidentified man. The cover stars have not commented. Iranian user @Nix_Nikooo tweeted a pic of the cover earlier this month. Iranian journalist Sobhan Hassanvand also shared the photo saying, "A pic of @radiohead's...
- 5/13/2015
- E! Online
Maria Lassnig MoMA PS1 Through May 25, 2014
"Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not." Protagoras, quoted in Plato's Theaetetus
"Both the motor and sensory homunculi usually appear as a small man superimposed over the top of the precentral or postcentral gyrus, for motor and sensory, respectively. The homunculus is oriented with feet medial and shoulders lateral on top of both the precentral and the postcentral gyrus (for both motor and sensory). The man's head is depicted upside down in relation to the rest of the body such that the forehead is closest to the shoulders. The lips, hands, feet and sex organs have more sensory neurons than other parts of the body, so the homunculus has correspondingly large lips, hands, feet, and genitals. The motor homunculus is very similar to the sensory homunculus, but differs in several ways.
"Man is the measure of all things: of things which are, that they are, and of things which are not, that they are not." Protagoras, quoted in Plato's Theaetetus
"Both the motor and sensory homunculi usually appear as a small man superimposed over the top of the precentral or postcentral gyrus, for motor and sensory, respectively. The homunculus is oriented with feet medial and shoulders lateral on top of both the precentral and the postcentral gyrus (for both motor and sensory). The man's head is depicted upside down in relation to the rest of the body such that the forehead is closest to the shoulders. The lips, hands, feet and sex organs have more sensory neurons than other parts of the body, so the homunculus has correspondingly large lips, hands, feet, and genitals. The motor homunculus is very similar to the sensory homunculus, but differs in several ways.
- 4/2/2014
- by bradleyrubenstein
- www.culturecatch.com
In the late spring of 1983, when John Updike’s reputation as a writer had reached a pinnacle with Rabbit Is Rich (which won all three major book awards and earned him a second Time cover), a journalist named William Ecenbarger pitched an idea to the editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday magazine. The reporter wanted to write about the relationship between Updike’s fiction and the geography of Berks County, Pennsylvania—what Updike called, with possessive emphasis, “my home turf.” Ecenbarger planned to visit the city of Reading, where Updike was born; Shillington, the small town on the outskirts of Reading where he lived until he was 13; and Plowville, 11 miles into the countryside, where he languished in frustrated rural isolation until he left for college. From these three places Updike had drawn the material that launched his career: Plowville became Firetown, and Reading became Alton (or Brewer in the Rabbit...
- 3/26/2014
- by Adam Begley
- Vulture
Philip Seymour Hoffman was not an easy interview. He could be brusque or uninterested. He was not the kind of star who tries to bond with journalists. But a few years ago I caught a glimpse of who Hoffman was not as an actor but as a man, and a bit of advice he gave me changed my life.
At the Sundance Film Festival in 2007, my wife, Jill, and I were invited to a dinner for Tamara Jenkins’ drama The Savages, starring Hoffman and Laura Linney. We were seated across from Hoffman, and had been warned that he was not...
At the Sundance Film Festival in 2007, my wife, Jill, and I were invited to a dinner for Tamara Jenkins’ drama The Savages, starring Hoffman and Laura Linney. We were seated across from Hoffman, and had been warned that he was not...
- 2/6/2014
- by Anthony Breznican
- EW - Inside Movies
Lining up in crisp winter air is part of the Sundance experience, but film after film repays the wait
The former mining town of Park City, Utah, sits in a steep mountain valley surrounded by ski-runs. At night these runs are illuminated by chains of silver lights and start gleaming in the darkness like ice slides from Valhalla. An intrepid skier could conceivably slalom all the way from the summit to come crashing into the cinemas of the Sundance film festival. Except that first they'd have to walk the line.
The line is everywhere at Sundance. Outside each venue sits a big plastic marquee and inside each marquee is a caterpillar of delegates, trailing back and forth inside the metal stands. It is not uncommon to queue for up to an hour for a screening and woe betide the latecomer because too bad, they're probably not getting in.
This constant...
The former mining town of Park City, Utah, sits in a steep mountain valley surrounded by ski-runs. At night these runs are illuminated by chains of silver lights and start gleaming in the darkness like ice slides from Valhalla. An intrepid skier could conceivably slalom all the way from the summit to come crashing into the cinemas of the Sundance film festival. Except that first they'd have to walk the line.
The line is everywhere at Sundance. Outside each venue sits a big plastic marquee and inside each marquee is a caterpillar of delegates, trailing back and forth inside the metal stands. It is not uncommon to queue for up to an hour for a screening and woe betide the latecomer because too bad, they're probably not getting in.
This constant...
- 1/26/2014
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Witches are fantastic cinema fodder – they can portray all of the evil, the nastiness and the spite of being a supernatural villain. This aspect of witchery is seen in films such as The Witches and The Wizard of Oz. Then we have the other side of the coin – supposed ‘witches’ as victims during all of the witch finding perpetrated by various characters like Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General. Witch finding was a terribly cruel and vicious operation in which thousands of people were killed for no good reason other than to satisfy bloodlust and religious zeal.
There are a wide form of films about witches out there. This starts with Benjamin Christensen’s silent movie Häxan, through to the art house with Dreyer’s Day of Wrath. There are a lot of horror films like Mark of the Devil and Mask of Satan that deal with witchcraft up to teen movies like The Craft.
There are a wide form of films about witches out there. This starts with Benjamin Christensen’s silent movie Häxan, through to the art house with Dreyer’s Day of Wrath. There are a lot of horror films like Mark of the Devil and Mask of Satan that deal with witchcraft up to teen movies like The Craft.
- 12/27/2013
- by Clare Simpson
- Obsessed with Film
In a role tailor-made for his devilish charms, Jack Nicholson plays the mysterious newcomer whose arrival at a picture-perfect New England town has a bewitching effect on three single women - Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer. Deliciously sexy performances, a mischievous script and John Williams' delightful score cast a spell on this potent adaptation of author John Updike's adult fairytale.
- 12/5/2013
- Sky Movies
Observer film critic Philip French explores the dreamlike qualities of the cinema
From early in the 20th century, cinemas became prominent features of the urban landscape and later, in the form of drive-ins, of the American countryside. As the late John Updike observed in his poem Movie House:
No windows intrude real light
Into this temple of shades, and the size of it,
The size of the great rear wall measures
The breadth of the dreams we have there.
It dwarfs the village bank,
Out looms the town hall,
And even in its decline
Makes the bright-ceilinged supermarket seem mean.
Very soon cinemas began to appear in the films themselves, as dream palaces to escape the world, trysting places for lovers, temporary refuges for fugitives, secret rendezvous for spies, or just places in which to work, most suggestively as that key cultural figure, the projectionist.
Gangster John Dillinger was ambushed...
From early in the 20th century, cinemas became prominent features of the urban landscape and later, in the form of drive-ins, of the American countryside. As the late John Updike observed in his poem Movie House:
No windows intrude real light
Into this temple of shades, and the size of it,
The size of the great rear wall measures
The breadth of the dreams we have there.
It dwarfs the village bank,
Out looms the town hall,
And even in its decline
Makes the bright-ceilinged supermarket seem mean.
Very soon cinemas began to appear in the films themselves, as dream palaces to escape the world, trysting places for lovers, temporary refuges for fugitives, secret rendezvous for spies, or just places in which to work, most suggestively as that key cultural figure, the projectionist.
Gangster John Dillinger was ambushed...
- 12/2/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Martin Amis, author of London Fields and Money, has long since ranked among the most highly regarded novelists of his generation, and stood, since the passing of John Updike, as our greatest novelist-critic. The use of "our" there, of course, is deliberate: Having recently moved from his native Great Britain to the proudly vulgar New York, he is now one of the city's most esteemed writers in residence. On November 4, Amis presents a screening of Roman Polanski's Macbeth at BAMcinématek. I spoke to Amis on the phone about Polanski, Shakespeare, and the nature of adaptations. Twenty years ago, in the introduction to Visiting Mrs. Nabokov, you wrote that “Roman Polanski no longer makes interesting films.” Do you still think that&rsq...
- 10/30/2013
- Village Voice
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