Bad Grandmas will screen at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar, in ‘The Loop’) on Thursday November 2nd at 8pm. Tickets include a Sliff opening night reception. Ticket information can be found Here. Pam Grier, director/writer Srikant Chellappa, producer Dan Byington, and two of the film’s co-stars, Sally Eaton and Jilanne Klaus, will all be in attendance.
Sliff’s opening night features the world premiere of Bad Grandmas, a St. Louis-shot comedy by co-writer/director Srikant Chellappa and co-writer Jack Snyder, the team behind such polished productions as “Ghost Image” and “Fatal Call,” which were based locally but screened both nationally and internationally. Starring the late Florence Henderson (“The Brady Bunch”) in her final role and the legendary Pam Grier (“Jackie Brown”), “Bad Grandmas” recounts the misadventures of senior citizens Mimi (Henderson), Coralee (Grier), Bobbi (Susie Wall), and Virginia (Sally Eaton). The friends’ quiet life is upended when Bobbi’s son-in-law,...
Sliff’s opening night features the world premiere of Bad Grandmas, a St. Louis-shot comedy by co-writer/director Srikant Chellappa and co-writer Jack Snyder, the team behind such polished productions as “Ghost Image” and “Fatal Call,” which were based locally but screened both nationally and internationally. Starring the late Florence Henderson (“The Brady Bunch”) in her final role and the legendary Pam Grier (“Jackie Brown”), “Bad Grandmas” recounts the misadventures of senior citizens Mimi (Henderson), Coralee (Grier), Bobbi (Susie Wall), and Virginia (Sally Eaton). The friends’ quiet life is upended when Bobbi’s son-in-law,...
- 10/30/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
How often have you heard someone (usually a blurb whore, but sometimes someone you actually know) describe a movie as being “indescribable” or “unlike anything you’ve ever seen before”? And then you go see the alleged one-of-a-kind work and not only is it quite describable, it’s usually describable in terms of many things have come before or since. Not so Nobukhi Obayashi’s House (Hausu) (1977), a spirited, schlocky horror comedy that is so in tune with its own inexplicable wavelength of bizarre, cutie-pie and sometimes strangely lovely images as to make David Lynch look calculated and schematic in comparison. (The frightening images that are packed into Hausu’s bulging skin are as likely to inspire peals of laughter as fear, but laughter that may after a while begin to acquaint you with genuine madness.) Obayashi’s slapdash sensibility is firmly rooted in the explosively playful attitude of Japanese pop culture,...
- 10/21/2017
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
This week, we will be taking a look at Werner Herzog’s ‘Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans’. For the story behind the genesis of Canon Of Film, you can click here.
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans (2009)
Director: Werner Herzog
Screenplay: William Finkelstein
If there ever was a better example of how to show the old adage true that it’s not what the film is about but rather, how it’s about it… Abel Ferrara’s 1992 masterpiece ‘Bad Lieutenant‘, took place on the streets of New York and starred Harvey Keitel as a “bad lieutenant”. He wasn’t even given a name in the film. He did every drug he could, he pulled over women to sexually harass them, he screwed hookers, and gambled large amounts of money. In between, he tries to solve a crime, haphazardly involving the rape of a local nun. I met...
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans (2009)
Director: Werner Herzog
Screenplay: William Finkelstein
If there ever was a better example of how to show the old adage true that it’s not what the film is about but rather, how it’s about it… Abel Ferrara’s 1992 masterpiece ‘Bad Lieutenant‘, took place on the streets of New York and starred Harvey Keitel as a “bad lieutenant”. He wasn’t even given a name in the film. He did every drug he could, he pulled over women to sexually harass them, he screwed hookers, and gambled large amounts of money. In between, he tries to solve a crime, haphazardly involving the rape of a local nun. I met...
- 10/3/2017
- by David Baruffi
- Age of the Nerd
A few years ago, Eric Wareheim took a photo of his then-girlfriend's naked ass and sent it to an ice sculptor. Wareheim likes to throw raucous house parties "based on different parts of anatomy," he says. "I did one called Black Cock [black light and penis-themed]. Another one was Laser Boobs." The sculptor took Wareheim's photo and used it to carve an enormous ice butt, which became the centerpiece of an ass-focused party called Snow Booty. The sculpture had a canal carved into it that served as a conduit for booze, with its lower opening at the butt hole.
- 9/26/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. believes his cousin Michael Skakel was wrongfully convicted and spent 11 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. His book “Framed” investigated who might have really killed 15-year-old Martha Moxley in 1975, and has now been optioned by FX Productions to be developed as a multi-part TV series.
Skakel was arrested in 2000 for the murder and was later convicted, before being released on $1.2 million bail in 2013 when a Connecticut judge found that he had not received a fair trial because his counsel was ineffective. But at the end of 2016, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to reinstate his conviction.
A motion for reconsideration is now in the works, and Kennedy is optimistic that Skakel has a good chance of permanently going free. But he also believes a TV adaptation of “Framed” will expose the story to a wider audience, helping his case. “The more people...
Skakel was arrested in 2000 for the murder and was later convicted, before being released on $1.2 million bail in 2013 when a Connecticut judge found that he had not received a fair trial because his counsel was ineffective. But at the end of 2016, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to reinstate his conviction.
A motion for reconsideration is now in the works, and Kennedy is optimistic that Skakel has a good chance of permanently going free. But he also believes a TV adaptation of “Framed” will expose the story to a wider audience, helping his case. “The more people...
- 9/20/2017
- by Michael Schneider
- Indiewire
Prior to Labor Day weekend, I was given the opportunity to interview Nick Antosca who is the creator, showrunner and executive producer of Syfy’s horror television series, Channel Zero. While each season was a different story, I felt it necessary to watch the first season, Candle Cove, since I abandoned ship halfway through the season. As the show was airing on Syfy, I thought Candle Cove was interesting but, personally, I didn’t have much of a connection with the main character and the story seemed pretty basic. What I did think was that the imagery excelled it above something that would be, quite frankly, forgettable. It also seemed pretty unapologetic when it was dealing with a story that heavily involved children, I admired that as well.
I have read maybe a handful of creepypasta stories, which most of them are fabricated, overindulgent urban legends. There will always be...
I have read maybe a handful of creepypasta stories, which most of them are fabricated, overindulgent urban legends. There will always be...
- 9/20/2017
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
Caroline Preece Sep 1, 2017
The director of the excellent Patti Cake$ takes us through making and casting the movie...
Around this time every year there’s a low-budget indie release you’ve probably been hearing about for months. Sometimes it’s got a couple of faces you know in it, but often it’s a complete enigma on a cinema slate filled with summer remakes and blockbusters.
Patti Cake$ - the tale of an aspiring rapper living in dead-end New Jersey - is this year’s Sundance hit, and we’ve been speaking to director Geremy Jasper about making the film, casting an unknown as his lead, and why he doesn’t want to direct a Star Wars movie.
Danielle Macdonald is a real find - what was the audition process like for Patti and how did the role ultimately land with her?
There wasn’t actually an audition. I got...
The director of the excellent Patti Cake$ takes us through making and casting the movie...
Around this time every year there’s a low-budget indie release you’ve probably been hearing about for months. Sometimes it’s got a couple of faces you know in it, but often it’s a complete enigma on a cinema slate filled with summer remakes and blockbusters.
Patti Cake$ - the tale of an aspiring rapper living in dead-end New Jersey - is this year’s Sundance hit, and we’ve been speaking to director Geremy Jasper about making the film, casting an unknown as his lead, and why he doesn’t want to direct a Star Wars movie.
Danielle Macdonald is a real find - what was the audition process like for Patti and how did the role ultimately land with her?
There wasn’t actually an audition. I got...
- 8/31/2017
- Den of Geek
Losing It is a crazy surreal short film with a mesmerizing haunting and atmospheric vibe that is worth checking out. Especially if you enjoy films that kind of mess with your head. The film feels like it was heavily inspired by David Lynch. That's kind of how far out in left field that it is, but at the same time, it's still captivating.
The story centers around a nervous and awkward teen who is going to prom and there's an escalation of insanity as the film plays out. It really dives into some strange sinister stuff and it's one of those short films that you have to experience for yourself.
The movie obviously isn't for everyone, but I know some of you might enjoy it the insanity of it.
The story centers around a nervous and awkward teen who is going to prom and there's an escalation of insanity as the film plays out. It really dives into some strange sinister stuff and it's one of those short films that you have to experience for yourself.
The movie obviously isn't for everyone, but I know some of you might enjoy it the insanity of it.
- 8/5/2017
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
To get that one perfect shot, sometimes you have to go the extra mile. And if you’re Mimi Leder, who directed more episodes of “The Leftovers” than anyone else, you need your actors to trust you… with their life.
“I was terrified, but I was also mesmerized,” Leder said, remembering — with a laugh — shooting the scene where Justin Theroux put a plastic bag over his head and suffocated himself. “‘How long can I hold this before I kill Justin Theroux?’ And then I thought, ‘No, I don’t want to kill him. I love him too much.'”
Read More: The 20 Best-Directed TV Drama Series of the 21st Century, Ranked
The scene is just one of many iconic moments from the final season of one of television’s best series. Leder directed three of the final eight episodes and helmed every finale of the series, so to celebrate her impressive accomplishments,...
“I was terrified, but I was also mesmerized,” Leder said, remembering — with a laugh — shooting the scene where Justin Theroux put a plastic bag over his head and suffocated himself. “‘How long can I hold this before I kill Justin Theroux?’ And then I thought, ‘No, I don’t want to kill him. I love him too much.'”
Read More: The 20 Best-Directed TV Drama Series of the 21st Century, Ranked
The scene is just one of many iconic moments from the final season of one of television’s best series. Leder directed three of the final eight episodes and helmed every finale of the series, so to celebrate her impressive accomplishments,...
- 6/23/2017
- by Ben Travers
- Indiewire
Hello, readers! Welcome back for the another installment of one our featured columns here at Daily Dead, Deadly Dialogue: A Conversation on Cinema, in which we catch up with notable folks—both in front of and behind the camera—from the horror and sci-fi genres, to discuss the films that inspired them to become the artists they are today.
For February’s installment, I thought the timing was perfect to catch up with the directorial quartet behind Xx, considering it is Women in Horror Month and the anthology is making its way to select theaters and VOD on February 17th. Here’s what Jovanka Vuckovic, Karyn Kusama, Roxanne Benjamin, and Annie Clark had to say when asked about films or filmmakers that inspired them to follow their own creative paths.
Jovanka Vuckovic: I’ve been a horror fan my entire life, and every time I would finish watching a movie,...
For February’s installment, I thought the timing was perfect to catch up with the directorial quartet behind Xx, considering it is Women in Horror Month and the anthology is making its way to select theaters and VOD on February 17th. Here’s what Jovanka Vuckovic, Karyn Kusama, Roxanne Benjamin, and Annie Clark had to say when asked about films or filmmakers that inspired them to follow their own creative paths.
Jovanka Vuckovic: I’ve been a horror fan my entire life, and every time I would finish watching a movie,...
- 2/16/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Dimitri Kirsanoff's 1926 classic Ménilmontant, which is either a short feature or a very long short, is one of the great things. If you haven't already seen it, you have just been handed an urgent mission.Related to the impressionist school of Epstein, Dulac, amd Delluc, but not actually part of that gang or, seemingly, associated with any school, movement or company, Kirsanoff, an Estonian emigré, fashioned a silent film without intertitles that plays like an unholy mash-up of Chaplin and David Lynch.But little of Kirsanoff's other work is seen or discussed. A few lovely shorts are available on YouTube, but what became of him when he was absorbed into the film industry and had to become a professional?Le crâneur (The Hotshot) is the answer. It's a fifties crime movie inhabiting a world familiar to cinephiles from the movies of Jean-Pierre Melville, only the gangsters don't wear white...
- 2/16/2017
- MUBI
The nominations have been set for the 89th Academy Awards airing on February 26th! Who will crush it? Who will slink away awaiting for their chance next time? How many even care? I know that in a world with too much useless digital information and a political climate that seems ready to implode or explode (depending on your political leanings), perhaps we all need the escapism.
And what about the host? Jimmy Kimmel is way too vanilla. Given my political mood, please give me the caustic wit of Ricky Gervais, please!!! Only he can breathe some real life into to this turgid affair. The grandstanding, the political rants, well-meaning for real, but this is a night for pure escapism for the audience, n'cest pas? I mean, does anyone really care unless they really are talking odds?
Having lived and worked in Los Angeles and having attended plenty of award shows...
And what about the host? Jimmy Kimmel is way too vanilla. Given my political mood, please give me the caustic wit of Ricky Gervais, please!!! Only he can breathe some real life into to this turgid affair. The grandstanding, the political rants, well-meaning for real, but this is a night for pure escapism for the audience, n'cest pas? I mean, does anyone really care unless they really are talking odds?
Having lived and worked in Los Angeles and having attended plenty of award shows...
- 2/6/2017
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
“Rick and Morty” fans who have been waiting patiently for over a year to see new episodes are going to have to hold on a bit longer.
Speaking Sunday night at the Sundance Film Festival, Dan Harmon – who created the show with Justin Roiland – took responsibility for Season 3’s tardiness. The show was originally expected to return in 2016, but has been pushed back – with no air date yet.
“I’m so sorry,” Harmon told the crowd at YouTube’s pop-up space in Park City, Utah, where he sat down with IndieWire for a chat about his career. “I don’t have a release date for Season 3. It’s not that I know it and I’m not allowed to say it; it’s [Adult Swim’s] domain. What I will tell you is it’s late because of us, it’s late because of me.”
Read More: ‘Rick and Morty’ Season Three Sneak...
Speaking Sunday night at the Sundance Film Festival, Dan Harmon – who created the show with Justin Roiland – took responsibility for Season 3’s tardiness. The show was originally expected to return in 2016, but has been pushed back – with no air date yet.
“I’m so sorry,” Harmon told the crowd at YouTube’s pop-up space in Park City, Utah, where he sat down with IndieWire for a chat about his career. “I don’t have a release date for Season 3. It’s not that I know it and I’m not allowed to say it; it’s [Adult Swim’s] domain. What I will tell you is it’s late because of us, it’s late because of me.”
Read More: ‘Rick and Morty’ Season Three Sneak...
- 1/23/2017
- by Michael Schneider
- Indiewire
Happy New Year! It's been a tumultuous year for me and for many of us of a certain age. I lost a brother. The world lost a slew of pop culture -- Carrie Fisher, Alan Richman, Craig Sager, John Glenn -- and music icons -- Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, George Michael, et al. One comfort for me was music and my rediscovery of vinyl. The warm, comforting sound of analog became my daily meditative fix. Quite literarily. Seeking out vinyl "nuggets" became a quest to help me deal with my own pain and depression. Chasing down albums that I owned thirty years, abadonded at the advent of those shiny new things called compact discs. Restorative analog power reigned o'er me. One of my chief caveats: I would not purchase anything on vinyl that I already owned on compact disc. Well, that rule didn't last long as I found comfort in...
- 12/31/2016
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
While almost no wrestler (or really, any performer) has the crossover appeal of Dwayne Johnson, it's genuinely surprising that more professional wrestlers have not hosted Saturday Night Live to this point. The best wrestlers and the best SNL hosts both have natural charisma and ability to perform live on national television. Throw in the fact that he's been excellent in comedic films such as Trainwreck, and John Cena makes for a natural if overdue appearance as host.
While Cena gave it his all throughout the episode, this turned out to...
While Cena gave it his all throughout the episode, this turned out to...
- 12/11/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Academy Award Submission for Nomination Best Foreign Language Film: Cuba: ‘The Companion’ Interview…
Academy Award Submission for Nomination Best Foreign Language Film: Cuba: ‘The Companion’ Interview with Pavel Giroud1988, Cuba, those infected with HIV or suffering from AIDS were given free room, board and medical treatment at a beautiful facility called “Los Cocos”. Except for the criminals who shared prison cells, the patients shared apartments with other patients. These apartments were so comfortable that some healthy people wanted to have AIDS so they could live in such conditions. But the patients were also treated as prisoners, living under military guard. One day a week they were allowed a day of freedom when they could leave the facility, but they had to have a companion assigned to be with them at all times.
“The Companion”/ “El acompañante” is a very Cuban film because the government’s treatment and control over the spread of AIDS was very particular to Cuba. The story is based on...
“The Companion”/ “El acompañante” is a very Cuban film because the government’s treatment and control over the spread of AIDS was very particular to Cuba. The story is based on...
- 11/5/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Distributor adds feature animation to Lff slate that also includes Toni Erdmann and Paterson.
UK distributor Soda Pictures has acquired Claude Barras’s debut feature animation My Life As A Courgette ahead of the film’s berth at the BFI London Film Festival (Lff)
The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight programme, is Switzerland’s submission to this year’s Oscar race.
The acquisition rounds out a strong looking line-up for Soda at this year’s Lff, with the company’s slate also featuring Cannes favourites Toni Erdmann and Paterson, as well as Terence Davies’ A Quiet Passion, documentary David Lynch: The Art Life, Marco Bellocchio’s Berenice Bejo-starring drama Sweet Dreams and French fantasy animation Phantom Boy.
The stop-motion feature tells the story of nine-year-old Icare, nicknamed Courgette, who has to find his way in an orphanage after his mother’s death, eventually being taken in by a policeman.
It is based...
UK distributor Soda Pictures has acquired Claude Barras’s debut feature animation My Life As A Courgette ahead of the film’s berth at the BFI London Film Festival (Lff)
The film, which premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight programme, is Switzerland’s submission to this year’s Oscar race.
The acquisition rounds out a strong looking line-up for Soda at this year’s Lff, with the company’s slate also featuring Cannes favourites Toni Erdmann and Paterson, as well as Terence Davies’ A Quiet Passion, documentary David Lynch: The Art Life, Marco Bellocchio’s Berenice Bejo-starring drama Sweet Dreams and French fantasy animation Phantom Boy.
The stop-motion feature tells the story of nine-year-old Icare, nicknamed Courgette, who has to find his way in an orphanage after his mother’s death, eventually being taken in by a policeman.
It is based...
- 10/7/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
MTV’s annual Video Music Awards are set to air this Sunday night, and — as usual — the film world couldn’t possibly care less. And that’s understandable. After all, we have enough award shows of our own to worry about, and the VMAs are better known for Britney Spears tongue-kissing Madonna (what a scandal!) than they are for celebrating great art.
But perhaps we’re being a bit too hasty and dismissive. The interplay between movies and music videos has been thoroughly documented, but a glance at the list of recent Vma winners is enough to suggest that relationship is growing stronger, and might even demand a greater degree of critical attention. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” director Francis Lawrence may not be receiving many accolades for his film work, but the clip he created for Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” won MTV’s highest honor. “Detention” was widely...
But perhaps we’re being a bit too hasty and dismissive. The interplay between movies and music videos has been thoroughly documented, but a glance at the list of recent Vma winners is enough to suggest that relationship is growing stronger, and might even demand a greater degree of critical attention. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” director Francis Lawrence may not be receiving many accolades for his film work, but the clip he created for Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” won MTV’s highest honor. “Detention” was widely...
- 8/25/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Les McCann & Eddie Harris - Swiss Movement (Atlantic, 1969)
I don't profess to have the deepest critical knowledge of jazz, especially with managing editor Steve Holtje being our resident expert, but I definitely have a deep appreciation. Regardless, Swiss Movement by Les McCann and Eddie Harris remains of one of my favorite live jazz albums. I just picked up a super-clean used copy of it at one of my favorite vinyl shops in Akron, Ohio.
The above track -- "Compared to What," written by Gene McDaniels, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in1969 -- was one of my favorite soul jazz tunes when I was just getting into jazz. And I still never tire of this timeless classic, nor the album. The rest of the set burns with the same ferocity sans vocals. And while I thought I knew everything about this album, I recently discovered that saxophonist Eddie Harris...
I don't profess to have the deepest critical knowledge of jazz, especially with managing editor Steve Holtje being our resident expert, but I definitely have a deep appreciation. Regardless, Swiss Movement by Les McCann and Eddie Harris remains of one of my favorite live jazz albums. I just picked up a super-clean used copy of it at one of my favorite vinyl shops in Akron, Ohio.
The above track -- "Compared to What," written by Gene McDaniels, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in1969 -- was one of my favorite soul jazz tunes when I was just getting into jazz. And I still never tire of this timeless classic, nor the album. The rest of the set burns with the same ferocity sans vocals. And while I thought I knew everything about this album, I recently discovered that saxophonist Eddie Harris...
- 8/20/2016
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
Tilda Cobham-Hervey in Girl Asleep (photo credit: Shane Reid).
I know this was originally a piece of theatre; what made you want to adapt it for the screen?
When we made the play we always knew we were going to make the film. The play is a standalone play, but it was a great chance to test the story out really thoroughly and learn about the storytelling before we shot the film.
Why did you decide to write a play to make a film?
We were doing a trilogy of works for teenagers in the Adelaide Festival, and Katrina [Sedgwick] and Amanda [Duthie] had seen some of that work and thought it would be a very interesting audience to make a Hive project for. The writer Matthew Whittet and I were in the very first Hive workshop. We started developing it as a film, pitched it to the Hive and we knew...
I know this was originally a piece of theatre; what made you want to adapt it for the screen?
When we made the play we always knew we were going to make the film. The play is a standalone play, but it was a great chance to test the story out really thoroughly and learn about the storytelling before we shot the film.
Why did you decide to write a play to make a film?
We were doing a trilogy of works for teenagers in the Adelaide Festival, and Katrina [Sedgwick] and Amanda [Duthie] had seen some of that work and thought it would be a very interesting audience to make a Hive project for. The writer Matthew Whittet and I were in the very first Hive workshop. We started developing it as a film, pitched it to the Hive and we knew...
- 8/2/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
My summer has been filled with deep loss. My younger brother David succumbed to major injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident on June 1st. Along with the comfort and love from my family and friends, music was a necessary daily elixir. Many nights I would listen to vinyl in my mother's home, albums I'd left there years ago, or a handful of new/used pieces I picked up at one of my favorite Akron, Oh vinyl shops.The ritual of cleaning each piece, placing it on the turntable, dropping the needle, studying the album art, reading the liner notes... it was a much-needed distraction. Here are three new pieces that have aided me in my latest life's journey.
Nick Cave - Push The Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd)
Mr. Cave lost his teenage son in a tragic accident last July and is set to release Skeleton Key in September, his...
Nick Cave - Push The Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd)
Mr. Cave lost his teenage son in a tragic accident last July and is set to release Skeleton Key in September, his...
- 8/1/2016
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
For all his experience as a producer and writer — most notably as the head of Focus Features, and most specifically as a longtime associate of Ang Lee — it was an odd choice on James Schamus‘ part to make a directorial debut in his late ’50s — and especially by adapting Philip Roth, whose psychologically dense prose, to name but one thing, has stifled those attempting book-to-screen translations. But no matter the author’s typically precise and internalized perspective, the text in question, Indignation, should be an easier work to slide into, in some part because its ’50s-college setting creates an atmosphere that could easily be brought to cinema. Here’s the good news: to view Schamus’ own Indignation is to again witness an understanding of time and place.
Even better was the act of interviewing him. The extent of Schamus’ experience and knowledge — it’s only so often you interview someone...
Even better was the act of interviewing him. The extent of Schamus’ experience and knowledge — it’s only so often you interview someone...
- 7/27/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Coming on the heels of the post-Scream slasher movie renaissance, director Geoffrey Wright’s 2000 effort Cherry Falls had a difficult journey to find an audience. Rejected for an R rating by the MPAA despite several rounds of cuts, the movie was unable to secure theatrical distribution and wound up premiering in an even more truncated form in the States on the USA Network in 2000 (it received a theatrical release overseas). Over the course of the next 15 years, though, the movie developed a well-deserved cult audience who recognized it for being one of the better slashers to come out of that second wave.
Someone is killing teenagers in Cherry Falls, Virginia. Sheriff Brent Marken (Michael Biehn) is desperate to catch the killer and protect his teenage daughter Jody (Brittany Murphy). She’s just broken up with her boyfriend (Gabriel Mann) and is feeling particularly vulnerable—even more so when she...
Someone is killing teenagers in Cherry Falls, Virginia. Sheriff Brent Marken (Michael Biehn) is desperate to catch the killer and protect his teenage daughter Jody (Brittany Murphy). She’s just broken up with her boyfriend (Gabriel Mann) and is feeling particularly vulnerable—even more so when she...
- 6/21/2016
- by Patrick Bromley
- DailyDead
The Guard and Calvary were two of my favorite films to release in their respective years. Both reel with a jet black sense of humor and western style morality play where various shades of grey face off in cessation. They also happen to be gorgeous, shot by Larry Smith (Gaffer/Chief electrician on Barry Lyndon/The Shining turned Only God Forgives/Bronson D.P) and composed in sickening symmetry. In short, I was ecstastic to meet the man behind it all, and his down to earth, silly, demeanor, ended up putting me at ease. John Michael McDonagh, talks about his third and bleakest feature film: War On Everyone.
Did anything, such as something in the media, provoke the start of War On Everyone?
There was no sort of big initializing point really. I guess having done The Guard with one kind of obnoxious cop, [that] I wanted to double down on that a little bit.
Did anything, such as something in the media, provoke the start of War On Everyone?
There was no sort of big initializing point really. I guess having done The Guard with one kind of obnoxious cop, [that] I wanted to double down on that a little bit.
- 3/22/2016
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Aaron Hunt)
- Cinelinx
It started with a single mental image: Two men in a car, driving down dark Southern backroads in the middle of the night, with no lights on. "I couldn't get it out of my head," writer-director Jeff Nichols says, squinting as the sunlight pours through the picture window in his Berlin hotel room. "It was this out-of-nowhere vision of guys going very, very fast, just booking it in a muscle car in the dead of night. It felt cool, you know, but for some reason, I thought: Well, this is a very sci-fi image.
- 3/17/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Stars: Jamie Gillis, Michael Gaunt, Tiffany Clark, Milton Ingley, George Payne, Samantha Fox, Tanya Lawson, Marilyn Gee, Tish Ambrose, Kelly Nichols, Nicole Bernard, Bobby Astyr | Written and Directed by Roger Watkins
“One man’s fantasy is another man’s reality!”
Finding himself with a debt that he just can’t pay off, Williams (Jamie Gillis, Dracula Sucks) is tasked by shady mafia-like Franklin (Michael Gaunt, Maraschino Cherry) with something of a retrieval mission to a mysterious warehouse containing three coloured rooms; a blue, a red and a black one, each housing a beautiful woman. Williams sends his associate Alan (George Payne, The Taming of Rebecca) to carry out the task on his behalf, but with balls of steel, Alan has taken the item for himself and has disappeared. This leads Williams to pursue him down a gaping glory… I mean rabbit hole. Frustrated and desperate, Williams visits a seedy, desolate...
“One man’s fantasy is another man’s reality!”
Finding himself with a debt that he just can’t pay off, Williams (Jamie Gillis, Dracula Sucks) is tasked by shady mafia-like Franklin (Michael Gaunt, Maraschino Cherry) with something of a retrieval mission to a mysterious warehouse containing three coloured rooms; a blue, a red and a black one, each housing a beautiful woman. Williams sends his associate Alan (George Payne, The Taming of Rebecca) to carry out the task on his behalf, but with balls of steel, Alan has taken the item for himself and has disappeared. This leads Williams to pursue him down a gaping glory… I mean rabbit hole. Frustrated and desperate, Williams visits a seedy, desolate...
- 2/17/2016
- by Mondo Squallido
- Nerdly
Even the miscasting of Jennifer Lawrence takes a backseat to the forced quirkiness, which David O. Russell cannot get his cast on the same page with. I’m “biast” (pro): love Jennifer Lawrence
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Oh no. Does David O. Russell have his first dud on his hands? I know lots of people aren’t thrilled with his 2004 film I Heart Huckabees (I like it), but for the first time since he realized that Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper belong onscreen together — theirs is a chemistry that will be the stuff of Hollywood legend, I have no doubt — the result is something that never quite gels. Russell isn’t wrong about Lawrence and Cooper: it’s only when they are paired up here that the movie comes alive. But they’re not paired up onscreen anywhere...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Oh no. Does David O. Russell have his first dud on his hands? I know lots of people aren’t thrilled with his 2004 film I Heart Huckabees (I like it), but for the first time since he realized that Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper belong onscreen together — theirs is a chemistry that will be the stuff of Hollywood legend, I have no doubt — the result is something that never quite gels. Russell isn’t wrong about Lawrence and Cooper: it’s only when they are paired up here that the movie comes alive. But they’re not paired up onscreen anywhere...
- 12/27/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
All Stepphy (Jane Levy) wants is to get out of her small town. In Bang Bang Baby, the 1960s-set musical that could easily be the result of David Lynch remaking Hairspray, getting as far away from her small town is an incredibly wise decision, as there’s a chemical leak at the local plant.
While a mysterious purple mist begins to permeate the town, Stepphy happens upon her chance at fulfilling her Hollywood-bound ambitions. Rock idol Bobby Shore (Justin Chatwin) is having a bit of car trouble just down the street from her house and – luck would have it – her father (Peter Stormare) owns the local chop shop.
Canadian director Jeffrey St. Jules’ Bang Bang Baby plays select theatres in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal starting on August 21. Before it hits theatres, Cineplex had the opportunity to chat with Chatwin about the film, his co-stars, and the very real origins of his vain heartthrob character,...
While a mysterious purple mist begins to permeate the town, Stepphy happens upon her chance at fulfilling her Hollywood-bound ambitions. Rock idol Bobby Shore (Justin Chatwin) is having a bit of car trouble just down the street from her house and – luck would have it – her father (Peter Stormare) owns the local chop shop.
Canadian director Jeffrey St. Jules’ Bang Bang Baby plays select theatres in Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal starting on August 21. Before it hits theatres, Cineplex had the opportunity to chat with Chatwin about the film, his co-stars, and the very real origins of his vain heartthrob character,...
- 8/21/2015
- by Sasha James
- Cineplex
Some films are an enigma. Some movies will not give up their secrets no matter how many times they are viewed. Parts of the puzzle are missing, all the pieces are not present so we can make an accurate determination as to what we are witnessing. And quite frankly I like that, done properly I love it. When you watch as many movies as I have the linear progression from point A to B and then to C and then the final credits can be a bit mundane after a while. I like movies that do not tell us everything, again, done properly I love them. Movies of this type expect you to stretch, to get outside your safety zone, you are expected to think about what you are seeing and feeling, there is some mystery just out of camera range.
Among the more enigmatic and puzzling movies I have...
Among the more enigmatic and puzzling movies I have...
- 8/17/2015
- by Sam Moffitt
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Paul Weedon chats to Brian Limond, aka Limmy, about comedy, gallows humour, and new book, Daft Wee Stories. Strong swearing ahead...
Warning: the following contains frequent strong swearing and content some readers may find er, offensive.
With a cult following that would make even the most mainstream of comedians jealous, Brian Limond, better known to his legion of fans as Limmy, has spent the past decade and a half building a reputation as one of the strangest, most bafflingly brilliant comedians currently working. With the release of his new book, Daft Wee Stories, we sat down for a lengthy chat with Glesga’s favourite son.
“I love saying terrible things,” Limmy exclaims with a wry smile. “Things that I think are terrible and I’ve gotten in to trouble in the past – just hearing it come out of my mouth or seeing it typed and seeing it out there – something...
Warning: the following contains frequent strong swearing and content some readers may find er, offensive.
With a cult following that would make even the most mainstream of comedians jealous, Brian Limond, better known to his legion of fans as Limmy, has spent the past decade and a half building a reputation as one of the strangest, most bafflingly brilliant comedians currently working. With the release of his new book, Daft Wee Stories, we sat down for a lengthy chat with Glesga’s favourite son.
“I love saying terrible things,” Limmy exclaims with a wry smile. “Things that I think are terrible and I’ve gotten in to trouble in the past – just hearing it come out of my mouth or seeing it typed and seeing it out there – something...
- 7/29/2015
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
While at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan on the heels of his panel for The Visit, his latest feature film which was co-produced by Blumhouse and will be arriving in theaters on September 11, 2015 courtesy of Universal Studios.
Here’s what Shyamalan had to say on making a movie completely off of Hollywood’s radar, confronting society’s fear of aging, working on his recent Fox TV series Wayward Pines, his approach to creating visual metaphors in all of his work and much more.
So what's it like making a movie in secret?
M. Night Shyamalan: It's been a little bit freeing, like when I write a screenplay too. I'm always very quiet about it. I don't tell anybody it, even family, and I just want to learn about the characters in the purest way that I can. When I can hit the colors,...
Here’s what Shyamalan had to say on making a movie completely off of Hollywood’s radar, confronting society’s fear of aging, working on his recent Fox TV series Wayward Pines, his approach to creating visual metaphors in all of his work and much more.
So what's it like making a movie in secret?
M. Night Shyamalan: It's been a little bit freeing, like when I write a screenplay too. I'm always very quiet about it. I don't tell anybody it, even family, and I just want to learn about the characters in the purest way that I can. When I can hit the colors,...
- 7/12/2015
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Lucio Fulci’s 1980 film The Beyond is largely regarded as his masterpiece, and it’s hard to disagree with that sentiment. The Italian filmmaker had a long and varied career working across a number of genres, including fantasy, westerns and, most famously and frequently, horror. The Beyond finds him in total control of both his obsessions and his abilities, blending his penchant for nightmare logic, abstract formalism and, of course, gushy, gushy gore. Fulci gotta Fulci.
It’s practically useless to try and explain the movie’s plot, as this isn’t a movie that’s contingent on story. Any attempt to understand what’s really going on will more than likely lead to further frustration; better to let the images and tone of the thing wash over you. It begins with the murder of a man at the hands of an angry mob, an event which opens one of...
It’s practically useless to try and explain the movie’s plot, as this isn’t a movie that’s contingent on story. Any attempt to understand what’s really going on will more than likely lead to further frustration; better to let the images and tone of the thing wash over you. It begins with the murder of a man at the hands of an angry mob, an event which opens one of...
- 4/20/2015
- by Patrick Bromley
- DailyDead
In the culminant moments of Kornél Mundruczó’s latest feature, an army made up of hundreds of angry mixed-breed dogs haunt the streets of Budapest deliberately targeting their human tormentors. Such visually riveting and thematically provocative sequence makes of “White God” one of the most daring revenge films in recent memory. Yet, Mundruczó’s audacious perspective goes beyond simply showing us what a group of oppressed creatures could be capable of doing if given the chance. His film touches on real social threats like xenophobia and people’s indifference to the suffering of others, whether humans or animals.
Crafted like a brutally visceral dark fairytale, “White God” showcases topnotch cinematic technique with strong social commentary in the form of powerful metaphors. The story centers on Lili (Zsófia Psotta), a teenage girl searching for her lost dog Hagen after her father abandons the animal fearful of a law that taxes people who own mixed-breed dogs. From that moment on the film juxtaposes Lili’s struggle to fit in the complex world of adolescent relationships and Hagen’s terrifying transformation into a savage killer. Not surprisingly the film won the Un Certain Regard Prize in Cannes earlier this year for it’s very unique point of view.
“White God” is Hungary’s official submission for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It will be released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures early next year. "White God" will also screen at the Sundance Film Festival 2015 in the Spotlight section.
Director Kornél Mundruczó was in L.A. recently and talked to us about his ferociously beautiful film.
Carlos Aguilar: This is an incredibly powerful film both in its imagery and in the themes it touches on. Particularly, it seems to me that it’s a metaphor for the power struggle between the people and the system. Those who have been marginalized suddenly rebel. Does this reflect your perception of Hungarian society and the issues the country faces?
Kornél Mundruczó: Freedom is too difficult for our nation sometimes. Politicians are usually the ones who have the power. Certainly living as part of a minority in Hungary is not easy. I tried to make this my most “Hungarian” film and to clearly criticize the society I live in. Then I recognized that at the same this is the most internationally appealing film I’ve made as well. Maybe this means that our fear is a common thing nowadays. It’s a contemporary fear. After the economic crisis there was an unfounded fear of all these different segments of the population, minorities, and refugees not only in Hungary but also all over Europe.
I fervently believe in equality. I believe we all share the world. We share the entire planet not only with humans but also with animals. We share the entire planet with them and humans easily forget that. Similarly, society and politicians easily forget that there should be equality amongst everyone. That's very scary, but that's why I'd like to use such unique characters for the film. This movie is a fairytale. It's not about realism at all. It looks realistic but it's much more about my personal view of the reality I'm living in. This movie is much closer to a David Lynch movie than to realism.
Aguilar: The film has a very unique cinematic language. It changes in tone and focus throughout the story. Where you inspired by any cinematic style or genre in particular?
Kornél Mundruczó: Eastern Europe has completely changed in the last 5 to 10 years. It's not slowly paced or filled with melancholy, we are not behind the Iron Curtain anymore. Now it's the complete opposite. It's fast, aggressive, and extreme. Of course, when I recognized this about Eastern Europe today I tried to find a new cinematic language. “White God” is a horror movie, a political satire, a fantasy, and a melodrama. All the post-Soviet ideas came together [Laughs]. That’s what I wanted to use as a cinematic language for this film. There are lots of twists and turns. It starts as a Disney movie or as Spielberg’s "E.T," then it turns into a social drama and a coming-of-age story, then it’s a thriller, and the very end is like a horror film.
Aguilar: Certainly your film is very layered and deals with numerous complex ideas. There is Lili’s story, which is the human perspective, and there is Hagen’s point of view, the dog’s story. Can you tell me about the writing process of merging these two sides to create something that shows how connected both worlds are?
Kornél Mundruczó: I decided to make this film because I was very moved by something I experienced while working on a stage project from a novel called Disgrace by a South African author named Coetzee. In the novel there is a woman who works in a dog shelter. I told the actors, “Let’s go to a dog shelter and see how it looks.” We went and I was standing there looking at the dog’s eyes. I felt such shame and I asked myself, “How can this happen? I’m also part of this system.” I felt like I had the responsibility to do something against this. That’s why I started working on this film.
It’s incredible to see these animals there. They are there to die. When I talked to one of my writing partners, Kata Wéber, I told her, “I want to make a very radical movie about one dog in Budapest. “ She said, “That’s not enough” and I asked her, “Why not?” She replied, “They are in these shelters because of society, so we need to show the society behind this to mirror their experiences. This society is creating monsters. The animals are not monsters because they want to be. “
It was Kata’s idea to make the main character an innocent girl. She is in a state in between. She is not a child but not yet an adult. We decided to create a story about the friendship between the girl and the dog. In the real world these dogs’ stories end in a dog shelter were they are killed, no one comes to rescue them. Once they are there they get two weeks to live and then they can be killed. That’s the law. Therefore, I thought, “Ok, we have to “kill” the dog at the end of the movie because that’s the reality.” Then Kata said, “No, we have to root for the dogs. Let’s do a revenge story from the dog’s perspective. The dogs are the ones that have morals. Society has no morals. Let’s give the morals to the dogs.” Our two main were to build a story about friendship and then make it into a huge dog revolution against society or against bad humans. This creates the dark fairytale tone.
Aguilar: The dogs represent freedom of all those oppressed whether it’s animals or human unjustly treated. Hagen becomes a symbol for humanity without being human.
Kornél Mundruczó: Absolutely. I wanted to use a good hero who had high morals and who makes good decisions. In a normal film such a character can easily become pathetic or boring, but with a dog you can have an interesting hero. I felt that the dogs are more human than we are. This is why I was able to use a sort of classic narrative structure. Hagen, our main dog, is like Humphrey Bogart [Laughs]. Today if you have a hero like Humphrey Bogart people would find him silly because we are not as naïve anymore, but if it’s a dog I think it works.
Aguilar: I think it also works because the main human character is a young girl who is not cynical. She hasn’t been poisoned by the system yet.
Kornél Mundruczó: Yes, she hasn’t lost her innocence. She is on the edge of losing it. She is on the border between adulthood and childhood. I know the film is thought of as a “dog movie” and that might be the most interesting part, but for me the life of this little girl is absolutely important. She is like me. She is much more me than the dog. I’m not as heroic as the dog. I’m just a human [Laughs].
Aguilar: We believe that animals need humans to fight for them, but in your film it’s different, the dogs fight for themselves. Was it important for you to show the animals perspective prominently? In a sense you are giving them a voice.
Kornél Mundruczó: Yes. We actually had two mandates while making the film: we only used mixed-breed dogs and we didn’t use any CGI. We chose to do this so we could see the dogs’ own emotions. What you see in the film are their real emotions. I think that’s what blows people away. It’s different from a human illustrating the image of an animal or manufacturing what an animal thinks or feels. For example, in the film “Life of Pi” by Ang Lee the tiger is the idea of a tiger created by a human. It’s not better or worse than using a real animal, but it’s just totally different. I wanted to do the opposite and show what a dog’s real emotions look like. If you look into their eyes you recognize something you know in a being that’s unknown to you and through this you become closer.
Aguilar: How exciting or frightening was to wok with the dogs, which I assume can be unpredictable actors? Was losing control to an extent difficult for you?
Kornél Mundruczó: I’m such a control freak that it was difficult at the beginning [Laughs]. I think in the end in turned into a sort of therapy. It made me better personally because I learned a lot about me. Trust is better than control and I trusted the animals. We rotated between shooting one week and the following week we would dedicate it exclusively to working with the dogs. We adapted the screenplay as we went on taking into account what the dogs were or were not able to do. It was great to see that two species, humans and dogs, can cooperate in one project. [Laughs].
Aguilar: Tell me about those amazing sequences in which we see the dogs running while through the streets of Budapest. What where the challenges of creating such impressive images?
Kornél Mundruczó: Working with 280 dogs was very difficult. We tried to socialize them to avoid any fights, and they seemed to enjoy being together. They are just like actors. We were very careful not to harm any of them. They were all trained. It was difficult because of all the fences and diverse elements in the scenes. We had 50 trainers on set and 6 cameras. It was a huge set. We shot the film in 55 days, 40 with the dogs, and 15 for all of the human scenes. We had these huge, expensive scenes with the dogs and the other scenes we shot them like you would in a very low budget film. Sometimes we would do 3 or 4 scenes a day with the human actors like in a soap opera, just in a total hurry “ Come on, come on, let’s do it.” [Laughs]. All the money went to the dogs. They were the starts. [Laughs] They had their own budget, they had their specific times to rest, and they were fed regularly. They were the real stars.
Aguilar: You mention this is your most “Hungarian” film, but how has it connected with audiences abroad in countries with similar issues?
Kornél Mundruczó: The film has been very well received in Europe. Fear doesn’t only exist in Hungary, even if we are a very strange country and quiet extreme in terms of how we react to social and economic problems. Our system is slowly becoming closer to the Putin system more than to the Western European system, which is very strange. Still, everywhere in Europe and around the world people understand what this film is about. I was in Mexico recently for the Morelia Film Festival, and people there also understood the film as I intended. Mexicans know about colonization, about being a minority, or being the underdog. Regarding the U.S, I feel like the audience here is a little bit more naïve. “White God” is a emotionally strong film and I hope it can touch Americans as well. I always wonder if people will stay in the theater for the entire film because it’s tough to watch at times. If the stay to see the whole film they usually like it. I know some scenes in the film are hard to look at, but it’s important for me to tell the truth.
Aguilar: The violence in “White God” might be an issue for some people, but I feel it’s worse not to face it or to shy away from it.
Kornél Mundruczó: Yes. It’s strange what people react to because if you watch the news on TV you are exposed to tons of hours of brutal images filled with violence. On the other hand, all these issues are part of our lives and if you don’t face it you can’t solve it. Some people prefer to pretend they live in another world where they don’t have to face any real problems. I hope violence is not a problem for American audiences to see the film. The audience in the U.K. liked the film very much. Hopefully we have a similar reaction here.
Aguilar: In your film the dogs rebel against those humans that have hurt them, do you think film can be a tool to ignite social change? Not necessarily to rebel but to create awareness and think about certain issues.
Kornél Mundruczó: Absolutely. My film is about a rebel, which in this case the dog. I think this is a very simple moral story but it’s still important to retell these moral stories. When it comes to art it is always very important to know from which perspective you are looking at something, It’s also interesting to see how a society reacts to stories or films like this and what results from this reaction.
Aguilar: Films with social commentary sometimes have difficulties finding audiences because some moviegoers prefer to think of cinema as entertainment rather than something more intellectually stimulating.
Kornél Mundruczó: That’s true but can you imagine a Kubrick movie without the social commentary component, or Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” without the last half hour? I love films by Fassbinder, Douglas Sirk, or Bergman, but they can really be brutal sometimes. They are absolute tragedies. We’ve been dealing with tragedies since the Greeks, and tragedies make you think. That’s their function. I think I’m very classical in that sense in terms of my films. Watching dramas one can have a catharsis because they help you understand all the contradictions in this world and you might think “This is how the world is, but I would like to make it a better world.” When I was young and even know, I feel like I have a catharsis with certain films or novels and I think “Now I understand more about my reality than I did yesterday because of this piece of art.” This is the miracle of great art and why it has worked since the Greeks thousands of years ago.
Aguilar: You won the Un Certain Regard Prize in Cannes and “White God” is now representing Hungary at the Academy Awards. Tell about this journey with the film.
Kornél Mundruczó: All of this is always unexpected. I was so surprised and very proud after winning that prize in Cannes, but the most important thing for me was that the audience came to see the film. They had two extra screenings at Cannes and they were both sold out as well. We also won four other awards at other festivals, but I’m totally a virgin when it comes to the Oscars [Laughs]. None of my previous films had been selected by the Hungarian committee to represent the country at the Oscars. I’m very happy that they have given me their trust to represent Hungary, but you just never know what’s going to happen. In a sense is like being a first time filmmaker. It’s all very new.
Crafted like a brutally visceral dark fairytale, “White God” showcases topnotch cinematic technique with strong social commentary in the form of powerful metaphors. The story centers on Lili (Zsófia Psotta), a teenage girl searching for her lost dog Hagen after her father abandons the animal fearful of a law that taxes people who own mixed-breed dogs. From that moment on the film juxtaposes Lili’s struggle to fit in the complex world of adolescent relationships and Hagen’s terrifying transformation into a savage killer. Not surprisingly the film won the Un Certain Regard Prize in Cannes earlier this year for it’s very unique point of view.
“White God” is Hungary’s official submission for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It will be released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures early next year. "White God" will also screen at the Sundance Film Festival 2015 in the Spotlight section.
Director Kornél Mundruczó was in L.A. recently and talked to us about his ferociously beautiful film.
Carlos Aguilar: This is an incredibly powerful film both in its imagery and in the themes it touches on. Particularly, it seems to me that it’s a metaphor for the power struggle between the people and the system. Those who have been marginalized suddenly rebel. Does this reflect your perception of Hungarian society and the issues the country faces?
Kornél Mundruczó: Freedom is too difficult for our nation sometimes. Politicians are usually the ones who have the power. Certainly living as part of a minority in Hungary is not easy. I tried to make this my most “Hungarian” film and to clearly criticize the society I live in. Then I recognized that at the same this is the most internationally appealing film I’ve made as well. Maybe this means that our fear is a common thing nowadays. It’s a contemporary fear. After the economic crisis there was an unfounded fear of all these different segments of the population, minorities, and refugees not only in Hungary but also all over Europe.
I fervently believe in equality. I believe we all share the world. We share the entire planet not only with humans but also with animals. We share the entire planet with them and humans easily forget that. Similarly, society and politicians easily forget that there should be equality amongst everyone. That's very scary, but that's why I'd like to use such unique characters for the film. This movie is a fairytale. It's not about realism at all. It looks realistic but it's much more about my personal view of the reality I'm living in. This movie is much closer to a David Lynch movie than to realism.
Aguilar: The film has a very unique cinematic language. It changes in tone and focus throughout the story. Where you inspired by any cinematic style or genre in particular?
Kornél Mundruczó: Eastern Europe has completely changed in the last 5 to 10 years. It's not slowly paced or filled with melancholy, we are not behind the Iron Curtain anymore. Now it's the complete opposite. It's fast, aggressive, and extreme. Of course, when I recognized this about Eastern Europe today I tried to find a new cinematic language. “White God” is a horror movie, a political satire, a fantasy, and a melodrama. All the post-Soviet ideas came together [Laughs]. That’s what I wanted to use as a cinematic language for this film. There are lots of twists and turns. It starts as a Disney movie or as Spielberg’s "E.T," then it turns into a social drama and a coming-of-age story, then it’s a thriller, and the very end is like a horror film.
Aguilar: Certainly your film is very layered and deals with numerous complex ideas. There is Lili’s story, which is the human perspective, and there is Hagen’s point of view, the dog’s story. Can you tell me about the writing process of merging these two sides to create something that shows how connected both worlds are?
Kornél Mundruczó: I decided to make this film because I was very moved by something I experienced while working on a stage project from a novel called Disgrace by a South African author named Coetzee. In the novel there is a woman who works in a dog shelter. I told the actors, “Let’s go to a dog shelter and see how it looks.” We went and I was standing there looking at the dog’s eyes. I felt such shame and I asked myself, “How can this happen? I’m also part of this system.” I felt like I had the responsibility to do something against this. That’s why I started working on this film.
It’s incredible to see these animals there. They are there to die. When I talked to one of my writing partners, Kata Wéber, I told her, “I want to make a very radical movie about one dog in Budapest. “ She said, “That’s not enough” and I asked her, “Why not?” She replied, “They are in these shelters because of society, so we need to show the society behind this to mirror their experiences. This society is creating monsters. The animals are not monsters because they want to be. “
It was Kata’s idea to make the main character an innocent girl. She is in a state in between. She is not a child but not yet an adult. We decided to create a story about the friendship between the girl and the dog. In the real world these dogs’ stories end in a dog shelter were they are killed, no one comes to rescue them. Once they are there they get two weeks to live and then they can be killed. That’s the law. Therefore, I thought, “Ok, we have to “kill” the dog at the end of the movie because that’s the reality.” Then Kata said, “No, we have to root for the dogs. Let’s do a revenge story from the dog’s perspective. The dogs are the ones that have morals. Society has no morals. Let’s give the morals to the dogs.” Our two main were to build a story about friendship and then make it into a huge dog revolution against society or against bad humans. This creates the dark fairytale tone.
Aguilar: The dogs represent freedom of all those oppressed whether it’s animals or human unjustly treated. Hagen becomes a symbol for humanity without being human.
Kornél Mundruczó: Absolutely. I wanted to use a good hero who had high morals and who makes good decisions. In a normal film such a character can easily become pathetic or boring, but with a dog you can have an interesting hero. I felt that the dogs are more human than we are. This is why I was able to use a sort of classic narrative structure. Hagen, our main dog, is like Humphrey Bogart [Laughs]. Today if you have a hero like Humphrey Bogart people would find him silly because we are not as naïve anymore, but if it’s a dog I think it works.
Aguilar: I think it also works because the main human character is a young girl who is not cynical. She hasn’t been poisoned by the system yet.
Kornél Mundruczó: Yes, she hasn’t lost her innocence. She is on the edge of losing it. She is on the border between adulthood and childhood. I know the film is thought of as a “dog movie” and that might be the most interesting part, but for me the life of this little girl is absolutely important. She is like me. She is much more me than the dog. I’m not as heroic as the dog. I’m just a human [Laughs].
Aguilar: We believe that animals need humans to fight for them, but in your film it’s different, the dogs fight for themselves. Was it important for you to show the animals perspective prominently? In a sense you are giving them a voice.
Kornél Mundruczó: Yes. We actually had two mandates while making the film: we only used mixed-breed dogs and we didn’t use any CGI. We chose to do this so we could see the dogs’ own emotions. What you see in the film are their real emotions. I think that’s what blows people away. It’s different from a human illustrating the image of an animal or manufacturing what an animal thinks or feels. For example, in the film “Life of Pi” by Ang Lee the tiger is the idea of a tiger created by a human. It’s not better or worse than using a real animal, but it’s just totally different. I wanted to do the opposite and show what a dog’s real emotions look like. If you look into their eyes you recognize something you know in a being that’s unknown to you and through this you become closer.
Aguilar: How exciting or frightening was to wok with the dogs, which I assume can be unpredictable actors? Was losing control to an extent difficult for you?
Kornél Mundruczó: I’m such a control freak that it was difficult at the beginning [Laughs]. I think in the end in turned into a sort of therapy. It made me better personally because I learned a lot about me. Trust is better than control and I trusted the animals. We rotated between shooting one week and the following week we would dedicate it exclusively to working with the dogs. We adapted the screenplay as we went on taking into account what the dogs were or were not able to do. It was great to see that two species, humans and dogs, can cooperate in one project. [Laughs].
Aguilar: Tell me about those amazing sequences in which we see the dogs running while through the streets of Budapest. What where the challenges of creating such impressive images?
Kornél Mundruczó: Working with 280 dogs was very difficult. We tried to socialize them to avoid any fights, and they seemed to enjoy being together. They are just like actors. We were very careful not to harm any of them. They were all trained. It was difficult because of all the fences and diverse elements in the scenes. We had 50 trainers on set and 6 cameras. It was a huge set. We shot the film in 55 days, 40 with the dogs, and 15 for all of the human scenes. We had these huge, expensive scenes with the dogs and the other scenes we shot them like you would in a very low budget film. Sometimes we would do 3 or 4 scenes a day with the human actors like in a soap opera, just in a total hurry “ Come on, come on, let’s do it.” [Laughs]. All the money went to the dogs. They were the starts. [Laughs] They had their own budget, they had their specific times to rest, and they were fed regularly. They were the real stars.
Aguilar: You mention this is your most “Hungarian” film, but how has it connected with audiences abroad in countries with similar issues?
Kornél Mundruczó: The film has been very well received in Europe. Fear doesn’t only exist in Hungary, even if we are a very strange country and quiet extreme in terms of how we react to social and economic problems. Our system is slowly becoming closer to the Putin system more than to the Western European system, which is very strange. Still, everywhere in Europe and around the world people understand what this film is about. I was in Mexico recently for the Morelia Film Festival, and people there also understood the film as I intended. Mexicans know about colonization, about being a minority, or being the underdog. Regarding the U.S, I feel like the audience here is a little bit more naïve. “White God” is a emotionally strong film and I hope it can touch Americans as well. I always wonder if people will stay in the theater for the entire film because it’s tough to watch at times. If the stay to see the whole film they usually like it. I know some scenes in the film are hard to look at, but it’s important for me to tell the truth.
Aguilar: The violence in “White God” might be an issue for some people, but I feel it’s worse not to face it or to shy away from it.
Kornél Mundruczó: Yes. It’s strange what people react to because if you watch the news on TV you are exposed to tons of hours of brutal images filled with violence. On the other hand, all these issues are part of our lives and if you don’t face it you can’t solve it. Some people prefer to pretend they live in another world where they don’t have to face any real problems. I hope violence is not a problem for American audiences to see the film. The audience in the U.K. liked the film very much. Hopefully we have a similar reaction here.
Aguilar: In your film the dogs rebel against those humans that have hurt them, do you think film can be a tool to ignite social change? Not necessarily to rebel but to create awareness and think about certain issues.
Kornél Mundruczó: Absolutely. My film is about a rebel, which in this case the dog. I think this is a very simple moral story but it’s still important to retell these moral stories. When it comes to art it is always very important to know from which perspective you are looking at something, It’s also interesting to see how a society reacts to stories or films like this and what results from this reaction.
Aguilar: Films with social commentary sometimes have difficulties finding audiences because some moviegoers prefer to think of cinema as entertainment rather than something more intellectually stimulating.
Kornél Mundruczó: That’s true but can you imagine a Kubrick movie without the social commentary component, or Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” without the last half hour? I love films by Fassbinder, Douglas Sirk, or Bergman, but they can really be brutal sometimes. They are absolute tragedies. We’ve been dealing with tragedies since the Greeks, and tragedies make you think. That’s their function. I think I’m very classical in that sense in terms of my films. Watching dramas one can have a catharsis because they help you understand all the contradictions in this world and you might think “This is how the world is, but I would like to make it a better world.” When I was young and even know, I feel like I have a catharsis with certain films or novels and I think “Now I understand more about my reality than I did yesterday because of this piece of art.” This is the miracle of great art and why it has worked since the Greeks thousands of years ago.
Aguilar: You won the Un Certain Regard Prize in Cannes and “White God” is now representing Hungary at the Academy Awards. Tell about this journey with the film.
Kornél Mundruczó: All of this is always unexpected. I was so surprised and very proud after winning that prize in Cannes, but the most important thing for me was that the audience came to see the film. They had two extra screenings at Cannes and they were both sold out as well. We also won four other awards at other festivals, but I’m totally a virgin when it comes to the Oscars [Laughs]. None of my previous films had been selected by the Hungarian committee to represent the country at the Oscars. I’m very happy that they have given me their trust to represent Hungary, but you just never know what’s going to happen. In a sense is like being a first time filmmaker. It’s all very new.
- 4/3/2015
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Sydney's Buzz
The world is upside down, or as David Lynch puts it: "The world is wild at heart and weird on top." The countries that are peace keepers are also the biggest manufacturers of weapons and the most profitable industries are the ones that are destroying this planet. One percent of the population owns more than the other ninety-nine together. Our system is fundamentally unjust. That is a fact and many of today's urgent problems are obliging us to examine the very framework of our society.When you scroll through the programme of this year's Human Rights Watch Film Festival (Hrwff), you cannot but notice that most of the 16 films, except for John Stewart's directing debut Rosewater, a film about the life of the Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, are documentaries. They are bringing us unknown stories from all over the world and they point to issues concerning violations of human rights.
- 3/18/2015
- by Ana Sturm
- MUBI
Allison Burnett is a rarity in Hollywood. He is not just a successful Hollywood screenwriter, a respected novelist, and a published critic and poet, but also a film director. His new film, Ask Me Anything, which he wrote and directed based on his own novel Undiscovered Gyrl, was released two weeks ago in selected theaters and on all digital platforms. It stars Martin Sheen, Christian Slater, Justin Long, and, in the lead role, luminous newcomer Britt Robertson. Recently I sat down with Allison in his Los Angeles home to discuss the challenges of indie filmmaking in general, as well as the difficulties with his leading lady that has caught the attention of the national media.
Dusty Wright: You wrote and directed Red Meat in 1996 and then did not direct again until Ask Me Anything. What took you so long to tackle directing again?
Alilson Burnett: To me the great allure of directing is creative control.
Dusty Wright: You wrote and directed Red Meat in 1996 and then did not direct again until Ask Me Anything. What took you so long to tackle directing again?
Alilson Burnett: To me the great allure of directing is creative control.
- 1/9/2015
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
What a year in rock music! There, I said it. Too much to take in. Like a rowboat taking in more water than I can bail out. I keep getting new music recommended to me by friends, publicists, old lovers, dudes on subways, songs blasting in hipster boutiques; freakin' new music was everywhere. I got tipped to U.K. acts such as punk rockers Sleaford Mods, poetry rapper Kate Tempest, and folkster Jake Bugg; there was a new pop rock opus by Dan Wilson, and soulful Brooklynite Selena Garcia, and much more. I could barely compile my "best of/favorites of 2014" list knowing that I'll probably discover even more music after I've completed it. But here goes...my ten favorite tracks from 2014, a few essential reissues, and my ten favorite albums, yes, albums, like on real heavy duty vinyl, with two sides and everything.
Singles:
"Brother" - Selena Garcia...
Singles:
"Brother" - Selena Garcia...
- 1/1/2015
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
You’re going to see a weird viral video today. It’s going to make you scrunch up your eyebrows, lean in close to your screen, then lean far, far away—and when it’s all over, you’ll wonder if you’ve transcended this mortal plane altogether. It’s called Too Many Cooks and it aired on Adult Swim at 4 a.m. for a week straight at the end of October—wedged somewhere between infomercials and insomnia. Squidbillies writer Chris "Casper" Kelly is the man behind the late-night spoof, which begins as a harmless parody of cheesy '80s...
- 11/7/2014
- by Marc Snetiker
- EW.com - PopWatch
brouillard passage #14
Dear Fern,
Many of the features you have told me about I have subsequently seen and very much like: Ferrara's tender, banal Pasolini (with a fantastic lead performance by Willem Dafoe, and, as you so justly pointed out, a truly moving homage with Ninetto Davoli), and the eccentric structural romantic comedy from Johnnie To, Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2. Two of the best films at Toronto, so far. Maybe I will return to these films later in the festival to tell you more of what I thought, but first somethings you may not have seen.
The much-anticipated shorts programs of the Wavelengths section wrapped up two nights ago and was presided over as always by indomitable programmer Andréa Picard—practically a cult figure in the festival world these days—who year after year has made it the most distinctive, the most personal, and the most engaged and engaging section at Tiff.
Dear Fern,
Many of the features you have told me about I have subsequently seen and very much like: Ferrara's tender, banal Pasolini (with a fantastic lead performance by Willem Dafoe, and, as you so justly pointed out, a truly moving homage with Ninetto Davoli), and the eccentric structural romantic comedy from Johnnie To, Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2. Two of the best films at Toronto, so far. Maybe I will return to these films later in the festival to tell you more of what I thought, but first somethings you may not have seen.
The much-anticipated shorts programs of the Wavelengths section wrapped up two nights ago and was presided over as always by indomitable programmer Andréa Picard—practically a cult figure in the festival world these days—who year after year has made it the most distinctive, the most personal, and the most engaged and engaging section at Tiff.
- 9/15/2014
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
The new issue of Cineaste is out, featuring interviews with Joaquim Pinto (What Now? Remind Me) and Andrew Rossi (Ivory Tower). Also in today's roundup of news and views: Henry K. Miller on 1963 as a watershed year for film criticism; an interview with Armond White; Michael Koresky on Terence Davies; David Bordwell looks back on the evolution of archives; Fabrice du Welz (Alleluia) revisits a moment in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon; R. Emmet Sweeney writes about Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past; Bob Fosse on All That Jazz; a trailer for a David Lynch exhibition—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 9/4/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
The new issue of Cineaste is out, featuring interviews with Joaquim Pinto (What Now? Remind Me) and Andrew Rossi (Ivory Tower). Also in today's roundup of news and views: Henry K. Miller on 1963 as a watershed year for film criticism; an interview with Armond White; Michael Koresky on Terence Davies; David Bordwell looks back on the evolution of archives; Fabrice du Welz (Alleluia) revisits a moment in Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon; R. Emmet Sweeney writes about Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past; Bob Fosse on All That Jazz; a trailer for a David Lynch exhibition—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 9/4/2014
- Keyframe
That Obscure Object Of Desire screens tonight at Bam as part of their Buñuel retrospective, July 11 - August 14).
Pauline Kael may have dubbed David Lynch “the first popular surrealist,” but the honor is more accurately bestowed upon Spanish maestro Luis Buñuel. Though his Salvador Dalí collaboration, Un chien andalou (1929), is regarded as a touchstone of the movement, it was not until later in his career that Buñuel would exploit the very meaning of the surreal, brashly straying from his contemporaries’ aesthetically driven impulses. With the respectively never-ending and never-beginning dinner parties of his elliptical masterpieces The Exterminating Angel (1962) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), Buñuel’s breed of Surrealism drew itself so close to the upper middle-class quotidian, it became far more subversive than any old melting clock. The conceptual hysteria of his films is in turn grounded by a simplified mise-en-scène; the surroundings are such that any outlandish yarn appears rooted in reality.
Pauline Kael may have dubbed David Lynch “the first popular surrealist,” but the honor is more accurately bestowed upon Spanish maestro Luis Buñuel. Though his Salvador Dalí collaboration, Un chien andalou (1929), is regarded as a touchstone of the movement, it was not until later in his career that Buñuel would exploit the very meaning of the surreal, brashly straying from his contemporaries’ aesthetically driven impulses. With the respectively never-ending and never-beginning dinner parties of his elliptical masterpieces The Exterminating Angel (1962) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), Buñuel’s breed of Surrealism drew itself so close to the upper middle-class quotidian, it became far more subversive than any old melting clock. The conceptual hysteria of his films is in turn grounded by a simplified mise-en-scène; the surroundings are such that any outlandish yarn appears rooted in reality.
- 8/8/2014
- by Sarah Salovaara
- MUBI
Director: Richard Ayoade; Screenwriters: Richard Ayoade; Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Chris O'Dowd, Paddy Considine, Avi Korine; Running time: 93 mins; Certificate: 15
Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic 1846 novella, Richard Ayoade's stunning take on The Double cements his reputation as a director of distinct style and absorbing substance following his impressive debut Submarine. He creates a nightmarish world full of dream logic that's simultaneously seductive and claustrophobic, mirroring the split personality (and body) of Jesse Eisenberg's disturbed protagonist.
The basic premise is a simple but intriguing one, as lonely, unappreciated office worker Simon (Eisenberg) is driven slowly insane by the appearance of his doppelgänger James (also Eisenberg). This lookalike is the polar opposite of Simon in terms of personality, wooing his crush Hannah (Mia Wasikowska) and dazzling his superiors with plagiarised work. As resentment grows and tensions soar, Simon feels increasingly compelled to betray his meek nature and take action.
Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic 1846 novella, Richard Ayoade's stunning take on The Double cements his reputation as a director of distinct style and absorbing substance following his impressive debut Submarine. He creates a nightmarish world full of dream logic that's simultaneously seductive and claustrophobic, mirroring the split personality (and body) of Jesse Eisenberg's disturbed protagonist.
The basic premise is a simple but intriguing one, as lonely, unappreciated office worker Simon (Eisenberg) is driven slowly insane by the appearance of his doppelgänger James (also Eisenberg). This lookalike is the polar opposite of Simon in terms of personality, wooing his crush Hannah (Mia Wasikowska) and dazzling his superiors with plagiarised work. As resentment grows and tensions soar, Simon feels increasingly compelled to betray his meek nature and take action.
- 4/4/2014
- Digital Spy
Susan Kouguell speaks with director Aaron Brookner on his journey of re-mastering and re-leasing the documentary on William Burroughs, Burroughs: The Movie (1983) directed by his uncle, Howard Brookner, and Smash the Control Machine the feature documentary that tells the story of Aaron Brookner’s investigation into the mysterious life and missing films of Howard Brookner, who died of AIDS at age 34 in 1989 on the cusp of fame. Howard Brookner’s films also include Bloodhounds on Broadway (1989) and Robert Wilson and The Civil Wars (1987).
Born in New York City, Aaron Brookner began his career working on Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes and Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity before making the award-winning documentary short The Black Cowboys (2004). His first feature documentary was a collaboration with writer Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront), and his film, The Silver Goat (2012) was the first feature created exclusively for iPad, released as an App and downloaded across 24 countries, making it into the top 50 entertainment apps in the UK and Czech Republic.
The re-mastered print of Burroughs: The Movie will have its premier University of Indiana’s Burroughs 100th birthday event on February 6th, 2014.
Susan Kouguell: On your Kickstarter site you wrote:
“Howard Brookner directed three films before his death in 1989 from AIDS at the age of thirty-four. In the final year of his life he wrote:
If I live on it is in your memories and the films I made.
It was this quote that inspired me, Howard's nephew and enthusiastic Burroughsian, to search for the missing print of his first film, Burroughs: The Movie. After a long search I found the only print in good condition and embarked on a project to digitally remaster it and make it available to the public.”
This has been both a personal and artistic journey for you. When did this journey begin?
Aaron Brookner: It probably began when Howard died, originally. My lasting memories of him were of watching him make his final movie Bloodhounds on Broadway on the set, hanging out together and rough-housing, walking around downtown, the secret handshake and spoken greeting we had, the cool toys from Japan he brought me, messing around with video cameras, trips down to Miami, and oddly enough the Rolling Stones 3D halftime show during the 1989 Super Bowl.
But I also had seen him in a hospital bed. I had been to the AIDS ward. I was over at his apartment quite a bit during his final few months of life. Watched his funeral. And I was seven. Kids know everything that’s going on around them even when they don’t. I guess this was the case and that making Smash the Control Machine is some sort of way to articulate my childlike perspective on the story, as an adult. It’s also a way to satisfy my curiosity.
Howard, I’ve found out, in some weird cinematic way, left clues all over the world really, which show how he lived, and what he lived. He documented everything.
A few years ago when I started the search for the Burroughs: The Movie print, I started to find all these pieces to his puzzle. Not to mention his films! So I went all the way and committed to gathering up everything and telling his story, which has brought me into contact with the people who knew him best -- and survived him -- who each knew a completely different yet same Howard. It’s amazing to watch Howard come to life in the eyes of someone that knew him, through the stories they recall.
It’s been a very interesting journey, and still is. It was a hard one to start, obviously, because of the awful tragedy looming at the end, and I was sensitive to not want to stir this back up for the people who really suffered his death, but the feeling has really changed. There is so much life and joy of living and making movies that transcends through Howard’s work which I’ve discovered, and in the people who knew him best; that this feeling of life and art really trumps death and AIDS, and a lot of the political bulls--t that fueled that fire, and this is a good feeling, and sort of what I hope to bring out in my film.
Sk: You successfully raised more than the requested budget with Kickstarter to fund your film. Talk about the pros and cons of using this crowdsourcing resource.
Ab: A big pro is that you skip all the gatekeepers, which saves a lot of time. You go straight to the audience and in the case of remastering Howard’s Burroughs: The Movie film there was pretty straightforward thinking behind it. I thought if enough people know about this film and want it back, or if they want it for the first time, they’ll help me deliver. If not, so be it.
A con, and I don’t know if I’d call it a con or just the reality, is that you’re never getting something for nothing; you’ve got a lot of work to do to run a crowd-funding campaign. It’s great if there’s an audience for your project, but how are they gonna hear about it?! My partner, Paula Vaccaro, and I spent months working on this day and night, not knowing if we’d even succeed. A little stressful...but overall I think it’s amazing that crowd-sourcing exists, and that it can work. It’s also a pretty great exercise in clearly communicating what you want to do and why, and what’s the plan for how.
Sk: Smash the Control Machine, the film you are making on Howard’s story and the search for his lost work was selected in its early stages for the Berlinale. What was that experience like for you?
Ab: In a lot of ways it was like the Burroughs: The Movie Kickstarter experience, in that first of all, it was a great endorsement and support to have, and that it certainly helped to streamline the concept and see what worked and what didn’t.
We were specifically selected to the Talent Project Market at Berlinale as the only documentary of 10 total films from around the world. It was a few very intense and focused days like a workshop on all the different angles around your film, that as a creator you might not be thinking about -- like what your pitch is going to be and how to pitch for that matter -- to what are the comparable going numbers around and how an international co-production might work. It’s great to learn this because then, after the workshop days, you’re sitting at a table where film market people are coming to meet you and talk to you, and you kind of understand where they are coming from, so you’re confident in talking about your project, and knowing what’s good or not good for it.
Sk: Do you have any international partners with whom you are working?
Ab: The main production company for the film is Pinball London, which is mainly based in London, UK, our other partners are of course the executive producer of the film, Jim Jarmusch, producer Sara Driver in New York City, the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Talent Project Market, (who have been invaluable allies of the film) the Jerome Foundation, Media Program (the European Union’s main audiovisual development program (http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/index_en.htm), the Independent Filmmaker Project in NYC, which runs our fiscal sponsorship campaign and supports the film with knowledge and an amazing network, and the generous support of other partners, such as the Arnie Glassman Foundation and private individual donors. We’re currently having conversations with other co-producers, distributors, transmedia partners, as well as sales companies from Us and EU but I can’t go into more details at this stage.
Sk: Film director Jim Jarmusch, who worked with Howard, is your executive producer. His features Permanent Vacation and Stranger Than Paradise, were influential works not only to the downtown New York City art film scene, but to the wider independent/art film movement. You mentioned that through this filmmaking process you have been exposed to the art and film created during this time and its staying power. Please elaborate.
Ab: New York City in the late 1970s was really the last place and time where two generations of artists overlapped and met and fed off each other. They lived in the same neighborhood, did the same drugs, went to the same clubs, and in some cases slept with the same people. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, much as they were artistic innovators for the way they completely broke the rules of literature, were also pioneering in the way they were open about their homosexuality and the way they put in their work.
Writer Brad Gooch, Howard’s long-time partner, told me that his and Howard’s was the first generation who really got to live openly when they got to New York. All the first love straight people get to experience in high school, gay men (and women) were experiencing at age twenty-five in downtown NYC against this epic backdrop of all sorts of art and space and time to create it. This sexual liberation really fed into the art scene. It was political without having a message, just by being.
The films that Jim Jarmusch and others were making at this time, they sort of applied the total lack of respect for rules that Burroughs and Ginsberg had laid in literature, and applied it to cinema. They took what they saw around them and put it in their work. And in the case of Howard making Burroughs: The Movie, with Jim and also Tom Dicillo who was doing camera, he went straight to the source. Howard decided not only am I going to apply the lack of rules, rule to movie-making, I’m gonna turn the camera on this moment in time as it’s really happening. I mean it’s incredible. They’re filming Burroughs at home, working out his speech to protest Proposition 6 in 1978, which Burroughs then incorporates into his reading at the Nova Convention -- to a packed-to-the-rafters theatre filled with 20 and 30-year-olds. Howard and his crew actually shot this.
There is just so much truth that shines through this work, and the work of that time like in Jarmusch’s films, and I think it’s because you had new artists’ energy directly side by side with the source. It was exceptionally rare, I think, historically, where one generation of artists so directly influenced another, only with the newer generation using a different medium, which of course was film.
Sk: You discovered more than 35 hours of film Howard shot from 1978-1983 that was stored in Burroughs’ bunker for 30 years. These reels include footage of Andy Warhol, Burroughs and Howard in the Chelsea Hotel, Allen Ginsberg, Frank Zappa and Patti Smith. How did you learn about this footage?
Ab: James Grauerholz, who was very close friends with my uncle and co-produced Burroughs: The Movie, who is William Burroughs’ heir, early on when I was looking for a print of the film sent me a detailed inventory of everything Howard had stored in the bunker (Burroughs’ NYC residence). I looked at the list and my jaw dropped. Howard had finished Burroughs: The Movie with the BBC (who provided completion funds) in 1983. Sometime later they shipped back these giant trunks of all of Howard’s rushes, outtakes, workprints, and negative rolls. Howard didn’t have a permanent residence at that time because he was traveling the globe making his next film on theatre director , who was preparing six different international plays around the world to all come together for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. So Howard got these trunks of his films and asked Burroughs if he could stash it in the back room of the Bunker. And there it sat undisturbed for 30 years! After Burroughs died, John Giorno, who lived above the bunker, decided to keep it as a sort of museum to William. And of course along with Burroughs’ hat, canes, and spices from 1978, are Howard’s films.
Sk: What condition are the reels?
Ab: The negatives look great. The work-prints are all kind of pink, which happens to color film over time, but this is fixable with a good colorist as per example:
There’s a tiny bit of shrinkage, as photochemical film will shrink over time, but it is very minimal considering 30 years with no climate and humidity control. Only one roll was lost completely to severe water damage. It’s very fortunate really so much of it survived. It was a race against the clock. Film is a living breathing organic material.
Sk: How were you able to access them? Where was/is the bunker?
It was a complicated battle. I fought, with support, a dedicated fight that lasted for well over a year. It was extremely anxiety-provoking, as every day there was a potential risk these precious films could have been destroyed. For all I knew there could have been vinegar in the cans, which happens to deteriorated film. There was a lot of faith involved, a bit like the Kickstarter campaign. You can image what Hurricane Sandy did to my nervous system. It was indeed a race against the clock with all sorts of obstacles, and so stressful I had to document it to cope, and because it really illustrated an issue that’s central to my film, which is: What happens to the work created by artists when they are gone? And this is key to artists who died of AIDS as they generally did not have the time or resources to prepare for their legacy. So, now that is a part of my film. There was a more or less happy ending. But you’ll have to see the film to get the story! The Bunker is on the Bowery in NYC.
Sk: With some of the clips you’ve shown me, this is quite a treasure trove that captures an important history.
Ab: There is a definite staying power of the art from that time because of its authenticity, and also because of New York City; these film rolls capture what New York City was like! So much space. Desolate downtown streets. Gritty details. It’s just pure beautiful decay. No one watching you. It looks like artistic paradise. And I’ve seen Howard’s rental contract for his loft on Prince and Bowery: $100/month!
Sk: Film preservation is vital, and as you mentioned, it’s a race against the clock before more films are lost.
Ab: This is a huge issue. Hundreds of thousands of films that maybe aren’t necessarily directly on the Hollywood radar are really in danger of being lost forever. You got time working against you because film deteriorates. You got money working against you because it costs a lot to keep climate and humidity-controlled vaults. Traditionally, labs all had vaults, but labs are closing. If not very nearly all closed. So it comes down to institutions and their funding, space and ability. You also got technology working against you. How many people out there know how to fix a film splice or thread a projector, or read camera roll code? And how many people will know this in 30 years? Who’s going to know how to fix the old film machines that stopped seeing use decades ago? It really needs attention because we’re looking at a century of film facing extinction.
Robert Wilson is a majorly important figure in the theatre and art world. Most people don’t know about Howard’s second feature documentary, which took the audience inside Robert Wilson’s creative process, and emotional process of making his work. I know this because I found part of these original film rolls packed into unmarked Igloo picnic containers stashed in the supply room behind the toilet in an archive in Hamburg.
Sk: When and where will Smash the Control Machine have its premiere?
Ab: The film is currently in early production and there is a very strong element of unpredictability in this story, making deadlines pretty impossible. But, Berlinale really gave us great support at a very early stage, and it would be a very nice honor to premier the film with them in 2015. But we will need to keep working and see what unfolds. There is a long year ahead.
Sk: What are the distribution plans for Burroughs: The Movie and Smash the Control Machine ?
Ab: For Burroughs: The Movie, we’ll be unveiling the remastered Dcp (Digital Cinema Package) of the film at University of Indiana’s Burroughs 100th birthday event on February 6th, followed by other Burroughs events throughout the year, such as at the Ica in London and the Photographer’s Gallery for their William Burroughs/Andy Warhol/David Lynch show.
The New York City premier will happen next fall at the New York Film Festival -- where the film first screened in 1983(!) -- possibly followed by a theatrical re-release and DVD/Blu-ray sale towards the end of the year. (Those who pledged for a DVD through our Kickstarter campaign however, will be sent their own copies of the film shortly.)
I’m also putting together a video art/sound installation piece from some of the never before seen material, that will show along with the film at Bafici in April, and likely in New York and London if not elsewhere. And we’re putting together a record with All Tomorrow’s Parties, using much of the never before heard audio from Howard’s Burroughs archive, to be sampled by select musicians.
For Smash the Control Machine: There are various plans I can’t discuss at this stage. What I can say is that our distribution will be tied to other impactful activities and events. I am working closely to build partnerships with those who care about the subjects of the film and the themes. Gentrification, Gay history, art legacy lost to AIDS. There are many great ways to distribute this film along these lines, as well as having a commercial release. My producer, PaulaVaccaro, and I are working hard to make sure this is tied up with whatever the film will do out there.
Sk: What advice do you have for aspiring documentary filmmakers?
Ab: Sometimes the best story for a film is right under your nose!
Breaking News: We are now working together with Janus Films and Criterion Collection for the distribution of Burroughs: The Movie. We are still creating a plan for the film although we know we will do a theatrical run in the Us sometime after the re-launch at the Nyff
See the Trailer Here
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com .
Born in New York City, Aaron Brookner began his career working on Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes and Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity before making the award-winning documentary short The Black Cowboys (2004). His first feature documentary was a collaboration with writer Budd Schulberg (On the Waterfront), and his film, The Silver Goat (2012) was the first feature created exclusively for iPad, released as an App and downloaded across 24 countries, making it into the top 50 entertainment apps in the UK and Czech Republic.
The re-mastered print of Burroughs: The Movie will have its premier University of Indiana’s Burroughs 100th birthday event on February 6th, 2014.
Susan Kouguell: On your Kickstarter site you wrote:
“Howard Brookner directed three films before his death in 1989 from AIDS at the age of thirty-four. In the final year of his life he wrote:
If I live on it is in your memories and the films I made.
It was this quote that inspired me, Howard's nephew and enthusiastic Burroughsian, to search for the missing print of his first film, Burroughs: The Movie. After a long search I found the only print in good condition and embarked on a project to digitally remaster it and make it available to the public.”
This has been both a personal and artistic journey for you. When did this journey begin?
Aaron Brookner: It probably began when Howard died, originally. My lasting memories of him were of watching him make his final movie Bloodhounds on Broadway on the set, hanging out together and rough-housing, walking around downtown, the secret handshake and spoken greeting we had, the cool toys from Japan he brought me, messing around with video cameras, trips down to Miami, and oddly enough the Rolling Stones 3D halftime show during the 1989 Super Bowl.
But I also had seen him in a hospital bed. I had been to the AIDS ward. I was over at his apartment quite a bit during his final few months of life. Watched his funeral. And I was seven. Kids know everything that’s going on around them even when they don’t. I guess this was the case and that making Smash the Control Machine is some sort of way to articulate my childlike perspective on the story, as an adult. It’s also a way to satisfy my curiosity.
Howard, I’ve found out, in some weird cinematic way, left clues all over the world really, which show how he lived, and what he lived. He documented everything.
A few years ago when I started the search for the Burroughs: The Movie print, I started to find all these pieces to his puzzle. Not to mention his films! So I went all the way and committed to gathering up everything and telling his story, which has brought me into contact with the people who knew him best -- and survived him -- who each knew a completely different yet same Howard. It’s amazing to watch Howard come to life in the eyes of someone that knew him, through the stories they recall.
It’s been a very interesting journey, and still is. It was a hard one to start, obviously, because of the awful tragedy looming at the end, and I was sensitive to not want to stir this back up for the people who really suffered his death, but the feeling has really changed. There is so much life and joy of living and making movies that transcends through Howard’s work which I’ve discovered, and in the people who knew him best; that this feeling of life and art really trumps death and AIDS, and a lot of the political bulls--t that fueled that fire, and this is a good feeling, and sort of what I hope to bring out in my film.
Sk: You successfully raised more than the requested budget with Kickstarter to fund your film. Talk about the pros and cons of using this crowdsourcing resource.
Ab: A big pro is that you skip all the gatekeepers, which saves a lot of time. You go straight to the audience and in the case of remastering Howard’s Burroughs: The Movie film there was pretty straightforward thinking behind it. I thought if enough people know about this film and want it back, or if they want it for the first time, they’ll help me deliver. If not, so be it.
A con, and I don’t know if I’d call it a con or just the reality, is that you’re never getting something for nothing; you’ve got a lot of work to do to run a crowd-funding campaign. It’s great if there’s an audience for your project, but how are they gonna hear about it?! My partner, Paula Vaccaro, and I spent months working on this day and night, not knowing if we’d even succeed. A little stressful...but overall I think it’s amazing that crowd-sourcing exists, and that it can work. It’s also a pretty great exercise in clearly communicating what you want to do and why, and what’s the plan for how.
Sk: Smash the Control Machine, the film you are making on Howard’s story and the search for his lost work was selected in its early stages for the Berlinale. What was that experience like for you?
Ab: In a lot of ways it was like the Burroughs: The Movie Kickstarter experience, in that first of all, it was a great endorsement and support to have, and that it certainly helped to streamline the concept and see what worked and what didn’t.
We were specifically selected to the Talent Project Market at Berlinale as the only documentary of 10 total films from around the world. It was a few very intense and focused days like a workshop on all the different angles around your film, that as a creator you might not be thinking about -- like what your pitch is going to be and how to pitch for that matter -- to what are the comparable going numbers around and how an international co-production might work. It’s great to learn this because then, after the workshop days, you’re sitting at a table where film market people are coming to meet you and talk to you, and you kind of understand where they are coming from, so you’re confident in talking about your project, and knowing what’s good or not good for it.
Sk: Do you have any international partners with whom you are working?
Ab: The main production company for the film is Pinball London, which is mainly based in London, UK, our other partners are of course the executive producer of the film, Jim Jarmusch, producer Sara Driver in New York City, the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Talent Project Market, (who have been invaluable allies of the film) the Jerome Foundation, Media Program (the European Union’s main audiovisual development program (http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/index_en.htm), the Independent Filmmaker Project in NYC, which runs our fiscal sponsorship campaign and supports the film with knowledge and an amazing network, and the generous support of other partners, such as the Arnie Glassman Foundation and private individual donors. We’re currently having conversations with other co-producers, distributors, transmedia partners, as well as sales companies from Us and EU but I can’t go into more details at this stage.
Sk: Film director Jim Jarmusch, who worked with Howard, is your executive producer. His features Permanent Vacation and Stranger Than Paradise, were influential works not only to the downtown New York City art film scene, but to the wider independent/art film movement. You mentioned that through this filmmaking process you have been exposed to the art and film created during this time and its staying power. Please elaborate.
Ab: New York City in the late 1970s was really the last place and time where two generations of artists overlapped and met and fed off each other. They lived in the same neighborhood, did the same drugs, went to the same clubs, and in some cases slept with the same people. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, much as they were artistic innovators for the way they completely broke the rules of literature, were also pioneering in the way they were open about their homosexuality and the way they put in their work.
Writer Brad Gooch, Howard’s long-time partner, told me that his and Howard’s was the first generation who really got to live openly when they got to New York. All the first love straight people get to experience in high school, gay men (and women) were experiencing at age twenty-five in downtown NYC against this epic backdrop of all sorts of art and space and time to create it. This sexual liberation really fed into the art scene. It was political without having a message, just by being.
The films that Jim Jarmusch and others were making at this time, they sort of applied the total lack of respect for rules that Burroughs and Ginsberg had laid in literature, and applied it to cinema. They took what they saw around them and put it in their work. And in the case of Howard making Burroughs: The Movie, with Jim and also Tom Dicillo who was doing camera, he went straight to the source. Howard decided not only am I going to apply the lack of rules, rule to movie-making, I’m gonna turn the camera on this moment in time as it’s really happening. I mean it’s incredible. They’re filming Burroughs at home, working out his speech to protest Proposition 6 in 1978, which Burroughs then incorporates into his reading at the Nova Convention -- to a packed-to-the-rafters theatre filled with 20 and 30-year-olds. Howard and his crew actually shot this.
There is just so much truth that shines through this work, and the work of that time like in Jarmusch’s films, and I think it’s because you had new artists’ energy directly side by side with the source. It was exceptionally rare, I think, historically, where one generation of artists so directly influenced another, only with the newer generation using a different medium, which of course was film.
Sk: You discovered more than 35 hours of film Howard shot from 1978-1983 that was stored in Burroughs’ bunker for 30 years. These reels include footage of Andy Warhol, Burroughs and Howard in the Chelsea Hotel, Allen Ginsberg, Frank Zappa and Patti Smith. How did you learn about this footage?
Ab: James Grauerholz, who was very close friends with my uncle and co-produced Burroughs: The Movie, who is William Burroughs’ heir, early on when I was looking for a print of the film sent me a detailed inventory of everything Howard had stored in the bunker (Burroughs’ NYC residence). I looked at the list and my jaw dropped. Howard had finished Burroughs: The Movie with the BBC (who provided completion funds) in 1983. Sometime later they shipped back these giant trunks of all of Howard’s rushes, outtakes, workprints, and negative rolls. Howard didn’t have a permanent residence at that time because he was traveling the globe making his next film on theatre director , who was preparing six different international plays around the world to all come together for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. So Howard got these trunks of his films and asked Burroughs if he could stash it in the back room of the Bunker. And there it sat undisturbed for 30 years! After Burroughs died, John Giorno, who lived above the bunker, decided to keep it as a sort of museum to William. And of course along with Burroughs’ hat, canes, and spices from 1978, are Howard’s films.
Sk: What condition are the reels?
Ab: The negatives look great. The work-prints are all kind of pink, which happens to color film over time, but this is fixable with a good colorist as per example:
There’s a tiny bit of shrinkage, as photochemical film will shrink over time, but it is very minimal considering 30 years with no climate and humidity control. Only one roll was lost completely to severe water damage. It’s very fortunate really so much of it survived. It was a race against the clock. Film is a living breathing organic material.
Sk: How were you able to access them? Where was/is the bunker?
It was a complicated battle. I fought, with support, a dedicated fight that lasted for well over a year. It was extremely anxiety-provoking, as every day there was a potential risk these precious films could have been destroyed. For all I knew there could have been vinegar in the cans, which happens to deteriorated film. There was a lot of faith involved, a bit like the Kickstarter campaign. You can image what Hurricane Sandy did to my nervous system. It was indeed a race against the clock with all sorts of obstacles, and so stressful I had to document it to cope, and because it really illustrated an issue that’s central to my film, which is: What happens to the work created by artists when they are gone? And this is key to artists who died of AIDS as they generally did not have the time or resources to prepare for their legacy. So, now that is a part of my film. There was a more or less happy ending. But you’ll have to see the film to get the story! The Bunker is on the Bowery in NYC.
Sk: With some of the clips you’ve shown me, this is quite a treasure trove that captures an important history.
Ab: There is a definite staying power of the art from that time because of its authenticity, and also because of New York City; these film rolls capture what New York City was like! So much space. Desolate downtown streets. Gritty details. It’s just pure beautiful decay. No one watching you. It looks like artistic paradise. And I’ve seen Howard’s rental contract for his loft on Prince and Bowery: $100/month!
Sk: Film preservation is vital, and as you mentioned, it’s a race against the clock before more films are lost.
Ab: This is a huge issue. Hundreds of thousands of films that maybe aren’t necessarily directly on the Hollywood radar are really in danger of being lost forever. You got time working against you because film deteriorates. You got money working against you because it costs a lot to keep climate and humidity-controlled vaults. Traditionally, labs all had vaults, but labs are closing. If not very nearly all closed. So it comes down to institutions and their funding, space and ability. You also got technology working against you. How many people out there know how to fix a film splice or thread a projector, or read camera roll code? And how many people will know this in 30 years? Who’s going to know how to fix the old film machines that stopped seeing use decades ago? It really needs attention because we’re looking at a century of film facing extinction.
Robert Wilson is a majorly important figure in the theatre and art world. Most people don’t know about Howard’s second feature documentary, which took the audience inside Robert Wilson’s creative process, and emotional process of making his work. I know this because I found part of these original film rolls packed into unmarked Igloo picnic containers stashed in the supply room behind the toilet in an archive in Hamburg.
Sk: When and where will Smash the Control Machine have its premiere?
Ab: The film is currently in early production and there is a very strong element of unpredictability in this story, making deadlines pretty impossible. But, Berlinale really gave us great support at a very early stage, and it would be a very nice honor to premier the film with them in 2015. But we will need to keep working and see what unfolds. There is a long year ahead.
Sk: What are the distribution plans for Burroughs: The Movie and Smash the Control Machine ?
Ab: For Burroughs: The Movie, we’ll be unveiling the remastered Dcp (Digital Cinema Package) of the film at University of Indiana’s Burroughs 100th birthday event on February 6th, followed by other Burroughs events throughout the year, such as at the Ica in London and the Photographer’s Gallery for their William Burroughs/Andy Warhol/David Lynch show.
The New York City premier will happen next fall at the New York Film Festival -- where the film first screened in 1983(!) -- possibly followed by a theatrical re-release and DVD/Blu-ray sale towards the end of the year. (Those who pledged for a DVD through our Kickstarter campaign however, will be sent their own copies of the film shortly.)
I’m also putting together a video art/sound installation piece from some of the never before seen material, that will show along with the film at Bafici in April, and likely in New York and London if not elsewhere. And we’re putting together a record with All Tomorrow’s Parties, using much of the never before heard audio from Howard’s Burroughs archive, to be sampled by select musicians.
For Smash the Control Machine: There are various plans I can’t discuss at this stage. What I can say is that our distribution will be tied to other impactful activities and events. I am working closely to build partnerships with those who care about the subjects of the film and the themes. Gentrification, Gay history, art legacy lost to AIDS. There are many great ways to distribute this film along these lines, as well as having a commercial release. My producer, PaulaVaccaro, and I are working hard to make sure this is tied up with whatever the film will do out there.
Sk: What advice do you have for aspiring documentary filmmakers?
Ab: Sometimes the best story for a film is right under your nose!
Breaking News: We are now working together with Janus Films and Criterion Collection for the distribution of Burroughs: The Movie. We are still creating a plan for the film although we know we will do a theatrical run in the Us sometime after the re-launch at the Nyff
See the Trailer Here
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and presents international seminars. Author of Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays! and The Savvy Screenwriter, she is chairperson of Su-City Pictures East, LLC, a consulting company founded in 1990 where she works with over 1,000 writers, filmmakers, and executives worldwide. www.su-city-pictures.com .
- 1/29/2014
- by Susan Kouguell
- Sydney's Buzz
Writer and director Jose Prendes (The Haunting of Whaley House) has announced his next film, the serial killer mind-bender: The Divine Tragedies, which is based loosely on the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case of 1924, and tells the tale of Charles Brubaker, played by Graham Denman (The Haunting of Whaley House) and his half-brother Thomas Lo Bianco, played by Jon Kondelik (Airplane Vs. Volcano), who concoct a deadly game to test their superior intelligence against the dimwitted masses.
“It’s a serial killer film, but unlike anything you’ve ever seen before,” says director Prendes. “I know people always say that, but I really think the film will back me up. It’s American Psycho meets Videodrome, by way of John Carpenter. I wanted to make something that would really surprise people. Not just in a gory way, which is easy, but in a beautiful way. The same way a...
“It’s a serial killer film, but unlike anything you’ve ever seen before,” says director Prendes. “I know people always say that, but I really think the film will back me up. It’s American Psycho meets Videodrome, by way of John Carpenter. I wanted to make something that would really surprise people. Not just in a gory way, which is easy, but in a beautiful way. The same way a...
- 1/29/2014
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Think of all the great films you've seen in the past 15 years – chances are James Schamus was behind them. The Hollywood player talks about big gambles, snobbery – and getting fired
I meet James Schamus the morning the Oscar nominations are announced, news of which he received with mixed emotions: cheering for the success of Dallas Buyers Club, a film he stewarded as head of Focus Pictures, and which garnered six nominations; and swallowing the somewhat bitter pill of it coming three months after he was unceremoniously fired. "We're going out with a bang." He grins.
We are in a Dominican restaurant around the corner from Schamus's office in New York, which he hired after leaving Focus. For the first time in almost 25 years, the 54-year-old is answering his own phone and has a staff of zero. Renting the office, which his creative partner, Ang Lee, helped him find, was an...
I meet James Schamus the morning the Oscar nominations are announced, news of which he received with mixed emotions: cheering for the success of Dallas Buyers Club, a film he stewarded as head of Focus Pictures, and which garnered six nominations; and swallowing the somewhat bitter pill of it coming three months after he was unceremoniously fired. "We're going out with a bang." He grins.
We are in a Dominican restaurant around the corner from Schamus's office in New York, which he hired after leaving Focus. For the first time in almost 25 years, the 54-year-old is answering his own phone and has a staff of zero. Renting the office, which his creative partner, Ang Lee, helped him find, was an...
- 1/29/2014
- by Emma Brockes
- The Guardian - Film News
The past few days hase seen my inbox fill up with all sorts of Indie Beat stories and that's a great thing! So today, I've rounded them all up into one convenient spot for you to enjoy. So come inside to check out some movie trailers, posters, release dates, and more from the world of independent film!
Here at Cinelinx we like to talk about all aspects of filmmaking and movie news. To that end, we have Indie Beat where we highlight some of the latest news, trailers, and PR releases from the indie filmmaker scene. So if you're an independent filmmaker and want some coverage on our site, be sure to drop us a line at jordan@cinelinx.com .
* The first official trailer for the Danish zombie apocalypse movie, Escaping the Dead, has been released.
The film has its starting point in a typical day for the lead character,...
Here at Cinelinx we like to talk about all aspects of filmmaking and movie news. To that end, we have Indie Beat where we highlight some of the latest news, trailers, and PR releases from the indie filmmaker scene. So if you're an independent filmmaker and want some coverage on our site, be sure to drop us a line at jordan@cinelinx.com .
* The first official trailer for the Danish zombie apocalypse movie, Escaping the Dead, has been released.
The film has its starting point in a typical day for the lead character,...
- 1/28/2014
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Jordan Maison)
- Cinelinx
Some films are terrifying, some are kind of startling, and others are just plain weird. Jose Pendres' new flick, The Divine Tragedies, looks to be all of those and then some. Read on for artwork and more.
From the Press Release
Writer/director Jose Prendes (The Haunting of Whaley House) announces his next film, the serial killer mind-bender: The Divine Tragedies.
Based loosely on the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case of 1924, it tells the tale of Charles Brubaker (played by Graham Denman, The Haunting of Whaley House) and his half-brother Thomas Lo Bianco (played by Jon Kondelik, Airplane Vs. Volcano), who concoct a deadly game to test their superior intelligence against the dimwitted masses. This game will eventually lead to murder, and when Genevieve, a beautiful single mother, enters their lives, they finally find the perfect girl for their first kill. But problems arise when they quickly discover that Detective Homer Gaul,...
From the Press Release
Writer/director Jose Prendes (The Haunting of Whaley House) announces his next film, the serial killer mind-bender: The Divine Tragedies.
Based loosely on the famous Leopold and Loeb murder case of 1924, it tells the tale of Charles Brubaker (played by Graham Denman, The Haunting of Whaley House) and his half-brother Thomas Lo Bianco (played by Jon Kondelik, Airplane Vs. Volcano), who concoct a deadly game to test their superior intelligence against the dimwitted masses. This game will eventually lead to murder, and when Genevieve, a beautiful single mother, enters their lives, they finally find the perfect girl for their first kill. But problems arise when they quickly discover that Detective Homer Gaul,...
- 1/24/2014
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
You know the drill. A couple of days ago I hit you with Chapter One of this unranked list of my favorite films from 2013. Now I’m back with Chapter Two. Whether or not this will serve as the conclusion to my list remains to be seen. I keep remembering titles I saw earlier in the year that demand inclusion, so we’ll see how it goes. Either way, here are some more movies from 2013 that you should put in your eyeballs. If you missed Chapter One of this list, you can reference it, here.
Toad Road
Artsplotation Films had a hell of a year, as far as I’m concerned. They gave us the gnarly Wither, the equally gnarly Hidden in the Woods and of course, the cerebral Toad Road. I hadn’t really heard word one about this film, until review copies started going out. After that, almost...
Toad Road
Artsplotation Films had a hell of a year, as far as I’m concerned. They gave us the gnarly Wither, the equally gnarly Hidden in the Woods and of course, the cerebral Toad Road. I hadn’t really heard word one about this film, until review copies started going out. After that, almost...
- 1/4/2014
- by Shawn Savage
- The Liberal Dead
Think silent films reached a high point with The Artist? The pre-sound era produced some of the most beautiful, arresting films ever made. From City Lights to Metropolis, Guardian and Observer critics pick the 10 best
• Top 10 teen movies
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• Top 10 animated movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. City Lights
City Lights was arguably the biggest risk of Charlie Chaplin's career: The Jazz Singer, released at the end of 1927, had seen sound take cinema by storm, but Chaplin resisted the change-up, preferring to continue in the silent tradition. In retrospect, this isn't so much the precious behaviour of a purist but the smart reaction of an experienced comedian; Chaplin's films rarely used intertitles anyway, and though it is technically "silent", City Lights is very mindful of it own self-composed score and keenly judged sound effects.
At its heart,...
• Top 10 teen movies
• Top 10 superhero movies
• Top 10 westerns
• Top 10 documentaries
• Top 10 movie adaptations
• Top 10 animated movies
• More Guardian and Observer critics' top 10s
10. City Lights
City Lights was arguably the biggest risk of Charlie Chaplin's career: The Jazz Singer, released at the end of 1927, had seen sound take cinema by storm, but Chaplin resisted the change-up, preferring to continue in the silent tradition. In retrospect, this isn't so much the precious behaviour of a purist but the smart reaction of an experienced comedian; Chaplin's films rarely used intertitles anyway, and though it is technically "silent", City Lights is very mindful of it own self-composed score and keenly judged sound effects.
At its heart,...
- 11/22/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
(Source)
Gay singer-songwriter Eli Lieb racks up YouTube views with what can only be described as astounding consistency. His videos of original compositions like “Place of Paradise” and “Young Love” (which featured a hunky male paramour) are bona fide smashes, and he’s had a similarly huge response to his covers of Adele‘s “Someone Like You” and “Skyfall,” Rihanna‘s “Stay,” and Lana Del Rey‘s “Born to Die” and “Young and Beautiful.” On Sunday alone he tallied 300,000 views on his new cover of Miley Cyrus‘ “Wrecking Ball,” thanks in part to Pretty Little Liars‘ Lucy Hale, who Instagrammed her shock at his gorgeous voice.
Lieb has lived in La for the past five months, but he’s a proud native of Fairfield, Iowa where he grew up practicing Transcendental Meditation, a practice espoused by film director David Lynch, who visits the town frequently. Certainly Lieb has lived a one-of-a-kind life,...
Gay singer-songwriter Eli Lieb racks up YouTube views with what can only be described as astounding consistency. His videos of original compositions like “Place of Paradise” and “Young Love” (which featured a hunky male paramour) are bona fide smashes, and he’s had a similarly huge response to his covers of Adele‘s “Someone Like You” and “Skyfall,” Rihanna‘s “Stay,” and Lana Del Rey‘s “Born to Die” and “Young and Beautiful.” On Sunday alone he tallied 300,000 views on his new cover of Miley Cyrus‘ “Wrecking Ball,” thanks in part to Pretty Little Liars‘ Lucy Hale, who Instagrammed her shock at his gorgeous voice.
Lieb has lived in La for the past five months, but he’s a proud native of Fairfield, Iowa where he grew up practicing Transcendental Meditation, a practice espoused by film director David Lynch, who visits the town frequently. Certainly Lieb has lived a one-of-a-kind life,...
- 10/7/2013
- by Louis Virtel
- The Backlot
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