Brian McConnachie, the Emmy-winning writer with the offbeat sense of humor who worked on Sctv Network and Saturday Night Live and appeared in Caddyshack and several films for Woody Allen, has died. He was 81.
McConnachie died Friday of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Venice, Florida, Michael Gerber, editor and publisher of The American Bystander, told The Hollywood Reporter. The duo relaunched the humor magazine in 2015 after McConnachie — an original staff member at National Lampoon — originally got it going in 1981.
“Every day, on every page, he has been our North Star,” Gerber said in a statement. “From his days at National Lampoon, Brian was ‘every comedy writer’s favorite comedy writer,’ crafting an unmistakable one-of-a-kind laid-back eccentricity that inspired generations.
“He is the only person I know who wrote for the Holy Trinity of Seventies Comedy — National Lampoon, SNL and Sctv. This speaks to not only his writing talent, but...
McConnachie died Friday of complications from Parkinson’s disease in Venice, Florida, Michael Gerber, editor and publisher of The American Bystander, told The Hollywood Reporter. The duo relaunched the humor magazine in 2015 after McConnachie — an original staff member at National Lampoon — originally got it going in 1981.
“Every day, on every page, he has been our North Star,” Gerber said in a statement. “From his days at National Lampoon, Brian was ‘every comedy writer’s favorite comedy writer,’ crafting an unmistakable one-of-a-kind laid-back eccentricity that inspired generations.
“He is the only person I know who wrote for the Holy Trinity of Seventies Comedy — National Lampoon, SNL and Sctv. This speaks to not only his writing talent, but...
- 1/9/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Long before he was entertaining audiences with "The Breakfast Club" and "Planes Trains and Automobiles," John Hughes was a staff writer for one of the most chaotic American counter-cultural (if you can call a Harvard humor magazine spin-off such) outlets of the 21st century. "National Lampoon" magazine, during its run from 1970-1998, traded in bawdy jokes and stinging parody, and no subject was safe. As former "Lampoon" editor Tony Hendra says in the documentary "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon": "It is the job of a satirist to make people in power uncomfortable." So they did, with social relevance...
The post John Hughes Wrote a National Lampoon Article That Launched His Career appeared first on /Film.
The post John Hughes Wrote a National Lampoon Article That Launched His Career appeared first on /Film.
- 3/24/2022
- by Anya Stanley
- Slash Film
Chicago – Composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein was one of the most influential music icons of the 20th Century, that is never in dispute. The latest doc on his life, “Bernstein’s Wall,” is a philosophical overview bio told by creator/director Douglas Tirola. The film, with a Q&a with the director, will screen at the Chicago Critics Film Festival on November 13th, click Lenny for details.
This is a bright and cerebral biography of composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein, one of the greatest classical music masters of the 20th Century. This force of nature rose from modest and non-musical roots that began by plinking on a piano at age ten to eventually became assistant conductor (and celebrity) at New York’s Philharmonic at age 25 in the 1940s. The key to his greatness was in his teaching method, engaging his audiences with stories of how classical music fits into our humanity. What...
This is a bright and cerebral biography of composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein, one of the greatest classical music masters of the 20th Century. This force of nature rose from modest and non-musical roots that began by plinking on a piano at age ten to eventually became assistant conductor (and celebrity) at New York’s Philharmonic at age 25 in the 1940s. The key to his greatness was in his teaching method, engaging his audiences with stories of how classical music fits into our humanity. What...
- 11/13/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Leonard Bernstein’s closeted sexuality provides a vaguely salacious hook for “Bernstein’s Wall,” a documentary about his life and achievements that devotes time to his liaisons with men before and during his marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre.
But with newly discovered archival footage, much of which Bernstein narrates himself, documentarian Douglas Tirola (“Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead”) creates an engaging overview of an artist and activist that throws down a considerable dramatic gauntlet — perhaps, more than anything, for the biopic of the composer and conductor that Bradley Cooper is currently cowriting, directing, producing and starring in for Netflix.
Its feverishly edited volume of concert footage and first-person interviews occasionally delivers a slightly dizzying chronology of Bernstein’s life and times, but Tirola does an exceptional job of showcasing the irrefutable truth that he contained a few more multitudes than most.
Starting with Bernstein’s Boston upbringing as the son of...
But with newly discovered archival footage, much of which Bernstein narrates himself, documentarian Douglas Tirola (“Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead”) creates an engaging overview of an artist and activist that throws down a considerable dramatic gauntlet — perhaps, more than anything, for the biopic of the composer and conductor that Bradley Cooper is currently cowriting, directing, producing and starring in for Netflix.
Its feverishly edited volume of concert footage and first-person interviews occasionally delivers a slightly dizzying chronology of Bernstein’s life and times, but Tirola does an exceptional job of showcasing the irrefutable truth that he contained a few more multitudes than most.
Starting with Bernstein’s Boston upbringing as the son of...
- 9/2/2021
- by Todd Gilchrist
- The Wrap
Media executive Matty Simmons, a producer of the influential “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation” comedy movies, died Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was 93.
His daughter, Kate Simmons, announced the news on her Instagram account on Thursday.
“Yesterday I lost my hero,” she wrote, in part. “My dad had gone from the sharpest, healthiest 93 year old most people have encountered to abruptly having every imaginable issue except corona. What he did in a lifetime was legendary.”
Matty Simmons was a Brooklyn native and an executive VP at the Diners Club credit card company. He founded Twenty First Century Communications in 1967 with Len Mogel to publish countercultural magazine Cheetah, then went on to publish Weight Watchers and National Lampoon magazines.
The National Lampoon launched in 1970 as a spinoff of the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine, which led to the 1972 stage show “Lemmings” and “The National Lampoon Radio Hour.” Performers included...
His daughter, Kate Simmons, announced the news on her Instagram account on Thursday.
“Yesterday I lost my hero,” she wrote, in part. “My dad had gone from the sharpest, healthiest 93 year old most people have encountered to abruptly having every imaginable issue except corona. What he did in a lifetime was legendary.”
Matty Simmons was a Brooklyn native and an executive VP at the Diners Club credit card company. He founded Twenty First Century Communications in 1967 with Len Mogel to publish countercultural magazine Cheetah, then went on to publish Weight Watchers and National Lampoon magazines.
The National Lampoon launched in 1970 as a spinoff of the Harvard Lampoon humor magazine, which led to the 1972 stage show “Lemmings” and “The National Lampoon Radio Hour.” Performers included...
- 5/1/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Matty Simmons, a founder of the Diners Club credit card and Weight Watchers magazine who found his highest profile success after co-founding National Lampoon magazine and producing film offshoots including Animal House and the Vacation franchise, died Wednesday in Los Angeles following a brief, non-coronavirus-related illness. He was 93.
Simmons death was announced by his daughter Kate Simmons.
More from DeadlineJun Maeda Dies Of Covid-19: Obie Award-Winning Theater Set Designer Was 79Veteran Casting Director Cis Corman Remembered By "Best Friend" Barbra StreisandPeter H. Hunt Dies: Tony Award-Winning '1776' Director, Uncle Of Actress Helen Hunt Was 81
“Yesterday I lost my hero,” Kate Simmons wrote on Instagram. “My dad had gone from the sharpest, healthiest 93 year old most people have encountered to abruptly having every imaginable issue except corona.”
An author of nine books including the 2012 memoir Fat, Drunk, and Stupid: The Making of Animal House (St. Martins Press), Simmons made...
Simmons death was announced by his daughter Kate Simmons.
More from DeadlineJun Maeda Dies Of Covid-19: Obie Award-Winning Theater Set Designer Was 79Veteran Casting Director Cis Corman Remembered By "Best Friend" Barbra StreisandPeter H. Hunt Dies: Tony Award-Winning '1776' Director, Uncle Of Actress Helen Hunt Was 81
“Yesterday I lost my hero,” Kate Simmons wrote on Instagram. “My dad had gone from the sharpest, healthiest 93 year old most people have encountered to abruptly having every imaginable issue except corona.”
An author of nine books including the 2012 memoir Fat, Drunk, and Stupid: The Making of Animal House (St. Martins Press), Simmons made...
- 5/1/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Following the November 1 launch of Apple TV+, the streamer is realigning its executive ranks under toppers Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, combining development and current into a single-executive structure.
Kim Rozenfeld is leaving as head of current scripted programming and docu/unscripted content. He will return to his producing roots with a first-look deal at Apple for his company Half Full Productions.
Apple TV+ head of scripted development Matt Cherniss will now also oversee current scripted series. Molly Thompson, who joined Apple as Head of Documentaries in April, reporting to Rozenfeld, will continue to oversee documentary film and series programming, development and current.
Former Sony TV head of current programming Rozenfeld was one of the first executive hires after Van Amburg and Erlicht left Sony TV in 2017 to lead worldwide video programming for Apple.
Before joining Sony TV as Evp Current Programming in 2011, Rozenfeld was a scripted series producer based at ABC Studios,...
Kim Rozenfeld is leaving as head of current scripted programming and docu/unscripted content. He will return to his producing roots with a first-look deal at Apple for his company Half Full Productions.
Apple TV+ head of scripted development Matt Cherniss will now also oversee current scripted series. Molly Thompson, who joined Apple as Head of Documentaries in April, reporting to Rozenfeld, will continue to oversee documentary film and series programming, development and current.
Former Sony TV head of current programming Rozenfeld was one of the first executive hires after Van Amburg and Erlicht left Sony TV in 2017 to lead worldwide video programming for Apple.
Before joining Sony TV as Evp Current Programming in 2011, Rozenfeld was a scripted series producer based at ABC Studios,...
- 11/11/2019
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
The last 70 years or so of feminist theory and activism are definitely on the menu in “Bloodroot.” Douglas Tirola’s documentary pays fond tribute to the two women who’ve stayed the course throughout the nearly half-century history of the titular collectively owned vegetarian restaurant in Bridgeport, Conn. Their individual stories provide archetypal illustrations of how the women’s liberation movement impacted many in the 1970s, amid an ingratiating mix of cultural flashback, personality profile and armchair foodie travel. This should be a particularly popular item on the Lgbt festival circuit.
Raised in a time and milieu where “If you weren’t marriageable by the time you got out of college, you might as well commit suicide,” Selma Miriam and Noel Furie dutifully followed separate paths to suburban wedlock and child-rearing without quite realizing what they were missing. Still, they knew it was something. Miriam studied premed at Tufts until...
Raised in a time and milieu where “If you weren’t marriageable by the time you got out of college, you might as well commit suicide,” Selma Miriam and Noel Furie dutifully followed separate paths to suburban wedlock and child-rearing without quite realizing what they were missing. Still, they knew it was something. Miriam studied premed at Tufts until...
- 4/27/2019
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Molly Thompson has joined Apple’s upcoming streaming service as its head of documentaries.
Thompson previously founded A&E Indie Films, the feature film production unit of A+E Networks. She was also previously the head of documentary films for A+E Networks. Recent documentaries she has executive produced include “The Clinton Affair,” Charles Ferguson’s “Watergate” docuseries, “Studio 54,” and “City of Ghosts.” She was also an executive producer on celebrated documentaries like “Life, Animated,” “Cartel Land,” “Murderball,” and “Jesus Camp.”
She also executive produced Amir Bar-Lev’s “The Tillman Story” and Bart Layton’s “The Imposter,” as well as two narrative features for Lifetime Films. Those were “Lila & Eve,” starring Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez, and “Paris Can Wait,” starring Diane Lane and Alec Baldwin.
Additionally, Thompson served as executive producer on all feature films produced under the History Films banner, including Werner Herzog’s “Meeting Gorbachev” and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,...
Thompson previously founded A&E Indie Films, the feature film production unit of A+E Networks. She was also previously the head of documentary films for A+E Networks. Recent documentaries she has executive produced include “The Clinton Affair,” Charles Ferguson’s “Watergate” docuseries, “Studio 54,” and “City of Ghosts.” She was also an executive producer on celebrated documentaries like “Life, Animated,” “Cartel Land,” “Murderball,” and “Jesus Camp.”
She also executive produced Amir Bar-Lev’s “The Tillman Story” and Bart Layton’s “The Imposter,” as well as two narrative features for Lifetime Films. Those were “Lila & Eve,” starring Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez, and “Paris Can Wait,” starring Diane Lane and Alec Baldwin.
Additionally, Thompson served as executive producer on all feature films produced under the History Films banner, including Werner Herzog’s “Meeting Gorbachev” and “Cave of Forgotten Dreams,...
- 4/15/2019
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Apple has hired A&E IndieFilms founder Molly Thompson as Head of Documentaries.
Thompson, who also served as Head of Documentary films for A+E Networks, has executive produced such projects as The Clinton Affair; the docuseries Watergate; City of Ghosts; Life, Animated; Cartel Land; Murderball; and Jesus Camp.
Thompson served as executive producer on all feature films produced under the History Films banner, including Werner Herzog’s Meeting Gorbachev — which will have its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival — and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Janet Tobias’ No Place on Earth, Errol Morris’ The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld, Douglas Tirola’s Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon and the Johnny Knoxville-produced Being Evel.
Among other projects, Thompson also Ep’d Amir Bar-Lev’s Emmy-winning The Tillman Story, Bart Layton’s BAFTA-winning The Imposter and two narrative features for Lifetime Films: Lila & Eve,...
Thompson, who also served as Head of Documentary films for A+E Networks, has executive produced such projects as The Clinton Affair; the docuseries Watergate; City of Ghosts; Life, Animated; Cartel Land; Murderball; and Jesus Camp.
Thompson served as executive producer on all feature films produced under the History Films banner, including Werner Herzog’s Meeting Gorbachev — which will have its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival — and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Janet Tobias’ No Place on Earth, Errol Morris’ The Unknown Known: The Life and Times of Donald Rumsfeld, Douglas Tirola’s Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon and the Johnny Knoxville-produced Being Evel.
Among other projects, Thompson also Ep’d Amir Bar-Lev’s Emmy-winning The Tillman Story, Bart Layton’s BAFTA-winning The Imposter and two narrative features for Lifetime Films: Lila & Eve,...
- 4/15/2019
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
American Pastoral (Ewan McGregor)
If my limited experience with Philip Roth adaptations is any indication, his novels deal in emotion. There are existential crises concerning identity involved, each a character study about life’s impact beyond the surface experiences propelling them forward. This isn’t something easily translated from page to screen when so much consists of internalized motivation. You must really look into the text, ignoring plot to...
American Pastoral (Ewan McGregor)
If my limited experience with Philip Roth adaptations is any indication, his novels deal in emotion. There are existential crises concerning identity involved, each a character study about life’s impact beyond the surface experiences propelling them forward. This isn’t something easily translated from page to screen when so much consists of internalized motivation. You must really look into the text, ignoring plot to...
- 1/27/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
This is definitely the time of year when film critic types (I’m sure you know who I mean) spend an inordinate amount of time leading up to awards season—and it all leads up to awards season, don’t it?—compiling lists and trying to convince anyone who will listen that it was a shitty year at the movies for anyone who liked something other than what they saw and liked. And ‘tis the season, or at least ‘thas (?) been in the recent past, for that most beloved of academic parlor games, bemoaning the death of cinema, which, if the sackcloth-and-ashes-clad among us are to be believed, is an increasingly detached and irrelevant art form in the process of being smothered under the wet, steaming blanket of American blockbuster-it is. And it’s going all malnourished from the siphoning off of all the talent back to TV, which, as everyone knows,...
- 1/9/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Just in time for a post-Christmas read, here’s a conversation with Charles Poekel, the writer/director of Christmas, Again, a wonderful little movie about a lonely Christmas tree salesman, played by Kentucker Audley.
Poekel’s been working in the industry for years, moving from documentary to narrative fiction in his directorial debut. We talk about that transition, owning a Christmas tree stand and making Christmas lights look like tiny Christmas trees. Check out the conversation below.
So you still have that tree stand where you filmed the movie?
Yeah, yeah. I think this is the last year I’m going to do it. I’m doing it still just kind of — well, I enjoy it. I kind of fell in love with it. But also for promotional tie-ins with the movie and that kind of stuff. So a lot of my customers are excited about the movie so that...
Poekel’s been working in the industry for years, moving from documentary to narrative fiction in his directorial debut. We talk about that transition, owning a Christmas tree stand and making Christmas lights look like tiny Christmas trees. Check out the conversation below.
So you still have that tree stand where you filmed the movie?
Yeah, yeah. I think this is the last year I’m going to do it. I’m doing it still just kind of — well, I enjoy it. I kind of fell in love with it. But also for promotional tie-ins with the movie and that kind of stuff. So a lot of my customers are excited about the movie so that...
- 12/28/2015
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Is Sundance big enough for two Christines? It certainly would be a ballsy festival move and a trip as a cinephile to see, compare and admire two filmmakers’ perspectives and unique prisms on Miss Chubbuck. After Kati with an I (2010), Fake It So Real (2012) and Actress (2014), Robert Greene continues to tweak how we come to relate with the nonfiction form. Presented at the Sheffield Doc/Fest last April, Tribeca Film Institute and Cph:forum, Kate Plays Christine is likely going to see indie actress Kate Lyn Sheil morph into something special.
Gist: This film follows actor Kate Lyn Sheil preparing to play the role of Christine Chubbuck, a Florida television host who committed suicide on air in 1974.
Production Co./Producers: Susan Bedusa and Douglas Tirola (Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon).
Prediction: U.S Documentary section.
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic). Tbd (international)
More 2016 Sundance...
Gist: This film follows actor Kate Lyn Sheil preparing to play the role of Christine Chubbuck, a Florida television host who committed suicide on air in 1974.
Production Co./Producers: Susan Bedusa and Douglas Tirola (Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon).
Prediction: U.S Documentary section.
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available. Tbd (domestic). Tbd (international)
More 2016 Sundance...
- 11/24/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon
Directed by Douglas Tirola
United States, 2015
The words “National Lampoon” might mean different things depending on your generation: a magazine, Animal House, Saturday Night Live, a still-ongoing spate of raunchy films, that publication that you always get confused with Mad Magazine.
Douglas Tirola’s vivacious documentary neatly puts that history into perspective, in a fast-paced paean that celebrates the magazines vulgarity.
Tracing the history from its founding at Harvard, through the golden years, and into a mostly dismal, occasionally tragic ending, Tirola’s film uses a whole lot of comics straight from the magazine, sometimes in animated form, to punctuate and, effectively, illustrate the rise and fall of a mini-empire. Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead is often hilarious, if for no other reason then just from the old drawings themselves, which have remarkable staying power and prescience.
Part of the point...
Directed by Douglas Tirola
United States, 2015
The words “National Lampoon” might mean different things depending on your generation: a magazine, Animal House, Saturday Night Live, a still-ongoing spate of raunchy films, that publication that you always get confused with Mad Magazine.
Douglas Tirola’s vivacious documentary neatly puts that history into perspective, in a fast-paced paean that celebrates the magazines vulgarity.
Tracing the history from its founding at Harvard, through the golden years, and into a mostly dismal, occasionally tragic ending, Tirola’s film uses a whole lot of comics straight from the magazine, sometimes in animated form, to punctuate and, effectively, illustrate the rise and fall of a mini-empire. Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead is often hilarious, if for no other reason then just from the old drawings themselves, which have remarkable staying power and prescience.
Part of the point...
- 10/13/2015
- by Neal Dhand
- SoundOnSight
Attention comedy geeks everywhere! To paraphrase a literary classic, this new documentary feature lets us all “look back in laughter” at one of the most influential humor magazines of the last fifty years. Actually its legacy reaches on past its newstand existence. Yes, it’s been absent from newsstands (there’s still a few of them left) for nearly twenty years. But, to paraphrase again, we’ve come “not to bury this magazine, but to praise it”. And to recall the chuckles and the mini-empire it spawned. Of course, this wasn’t the first humor publication. Puck paved the way decades before. Then Mad magazine shook up the staid 1950’s. But by 1970, that mag had somewhat settled into a (still entertaining) routine, poking fun at suburbia, and wasn’t connecting with the “counter-culture”. Younger “baby boomers” wanted their humor to have a sharper edge, to reflect the “hippie” spirit, and...
- 10/9/2015
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (Douglas Tirola)
While the last few decades or so of National Lampoon’s output has been less than stellar, their influence through their humor magazine and films such as the original Vacation and Animal House can still be felt today. For those curious about the formation of the group and their rise to ubiquitous status, a new documentary looks to provide the behind-the-scenes story.
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead (Douglas Tirola)
While the last few decades or so of National Lampoon’s output has been less than stellar, their influence through their humor magazine and films such as the original Vacation and Animal House can still be felt today. For those curious about the formation of the group and their rise to ubiquitous status, a new documentary looks to provide the behind-the-scenes story.
- 9/25/2015
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
[Editor's Note: This post is presented in partnership with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand in support of Indie Film Month. Today's pick, "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead," is available now On Demand. Need help finding a movie to watch? Let TWC find the best fit for your mood here.] Told through interviews with its key staff and illustrated with hundreds of images from the magazine itself, "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of The National Lampoon," gives fans an inside look at what made The National Lampoon work. Earlier this year, Indiewire met up with Tirola at Sundance where "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead" premiered. We caught up by phone recently to talk about the film, which hits theaters, On Demand and iTunes today. Read More: Indiewire's Ultimate Guide to Documentary Filmmaking How long did it take you to make the film? It took about four years. I always measure it by saying that I started and finished...
- 9/25/2015
- by Paula Bernstein
- Indiewire
As the days get darker and the cold winds of Autumn approach, it’s time to look ahead at the upcoming movies set to hit cinemas this Fall.
The huge slate includes the return of the Jedis, the rebirth of Frankenstein and a new age of Good Dinosaurs. These movies will take audiences to a Galaxy Far, Far Away, on a voyage to Mars and to the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest.
Here’s our list of the 2015 Fall movies that we can’t wait to see!
September
The Visit (Sept 11)
Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious series) welcome you to Universal Pictures’ The Visit. Shyamalan returns to his roots with the terrifying story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip.
The huge slate includes the return of the Jedis, the rebirth of Frankenstein and a new age of Good Dinosaurs. These movies will take audiences to a Galaxy Far, Far Away, on a voyage to Mars and to the summit of the world’s highest mountain, Everest.
Here’s our list of the 2015 Fall movies that we can’t wait to see!
September
The Visit (Sept 11)
Writer/director/producer M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and producer Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious series) welcome you to Universal Pictures’ The Visit. Shyamalan returns to his roots with the terrifying story of a brother and sister who are sent to their grandparents’ remote Pennsylvania farm for a weeklong trip.
- 9/3/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"We can do anything we want!" Magnolia Pictures has unveiled an official trailer for Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead, a documentary telling The Story of the National Lampoon, the comedy magazine from the 60s. This fantastic and funny documentary takes a look at one of the original comedy magazines that started it all, featuring John Belushi, Chevy Chase and many others. We featured the original poster for this film (seen below) and reviewed it at Sundance this year (read Ethan's glowing review). Some of the appearances in the trailer include Judd Apatow and John Landis, but mostly it's all about the magazine covers and art they show. I'm still amazed at some of what they got away with. You don't want to miss this! The trailer for Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon, via YouTube: Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of National Lampoon is directed by...
- 7/31/2015
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
While this weekend's "Vacation" doesn't come stamped with the National Lampoon brand, it definitely continues a lineage. Not only is it the latest installment in a series that started in 1983, it's the revival of a certain kind of anarchic spirit that was first launched not on the big screen, but in the bawdy pages of a magazine. And a documentary is coming along to share the history of this comedy landmark. "Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story Of The National Lampoon" (read our review) brings together famous faces like Judd Apatow, Kevin Bacon, Chevy Chase, John Goodman, Bill Murray, and more to tell the story of the little comedy rag that could, which soon became a big and sometimes controversial success that carried over to many media platforms. Here's the official synopsis: From the 1970s thru the 1990s, there was no hipper, no more outrageous comedy in print than The National Lampoon,...
- 7/31/2015
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
The deal for Sundance 2015 selection Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story Of The National Lampoon excludes television rights.
Douglas Tirola’s documentary charts the rise and fall of the iconic comedy magazine that ran from the 1970’s to the 1990’s. Tirola and Mark Monroe wrote the film.
History Films in association with Sky financed and produced Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story Of The National Lampoon, while Tirola and his 4th Row Films partner Susan Bedusa served as individual producers.
Molly Thompson, Dirk Hoogstra, John Battsek and Celia Taylor served as executive producers.
Magnolia brokered the deal with Cinetic Media, which is in talks with buyers for TV rights.
Douglas Tirola’s documentary charts the rise and fall of the iconic comedy magazine that ran from the 1970’s to the 1990’s. Tirola and Mark Monroe wrote the film.
History Films in association with Sky financed and produced Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story Of The National Lampoon, while Tirola and his 4th Row Films partner Susan Bedusa served as individual producers.
Molly Thompson, Dirk Hoogstra, John Battsek and Celia Taylor served as executive producers.
Magnolia brokered the deal with Cinetic Media, which is in talks with buyers for TV rights.
- 7/6/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Neil Armfield.s Holding the Man, Simon Stone.s The Daughter, Jeremy Sims. Last Cab to Darwin and Jen Peedom.s feature doc Sherpa will have their world premieres at the Sydney Film Festival.
The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.
Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.
Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.
As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...
The festival program unveiled today includes 33 world premieres (including 22 shorts) and 135 Australian premieres (with 18 shorts) among 251 titles from 68 countries.
Among the other premieres will be Daina Reid.s The Secret River, Ruby Entertainment's. ABC-tv miniseries starring Oliver Jackson Cohen and Sarah Snook, and three Oz docs, Marc Eberle.s The Cambodian Space Project — Not Easy Rock .n. Roll, Steve Thomas. Freedom Stories and Lisa Nicol.s Wide Open Sky.
Festival director Nashen Moodley boasted. this year.s event will be far larger than 2014's when 183 films from 47 countries were screened, including 15 world premieres. The expansion is possible in part due to the addition of two new screening venues in Newtown and Liverpool.
As previously announced, Brendan Cowell...
- 5/6/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
New work from William Monahan, Henry Hobson, Adrián García Bogliano and Neil Labute are among the Spotlight, Midnight and Special Screening selections announced on Thursday.
Tribeca Film Festival top brass announced the Spotlight section of 40 films comprising 23 narratives and 17 documentaries.
Twenty-four are world premieres, among them Monahan’s thriller Mojave, Labute’s Dirty Weekend and Henry Hobson’s zombie drama Maggie that Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions snapped up before Toronto before pulling the premiere.
Bogliano’s Here Comes The Devil follow-up Scherzo Diabolico plays in Midnight and is one of four world premieres in the five-strong genre strand.
Special Screenings include the world premiere of documentary Mary J. Blige – The London Sessions (pictured).
Work In Progress screenings include LoveTrue, the latest documentary from 2011 Best Documentary Feature Award winner Alma Har’el. Patrick Creadon, who directed 2011 entry Wordplay, will show a cut of All Work, All Play, which centres on the world of video game arena competitions.
“The Spotlight...
Tribeca Film Festival top brass announced the Spotlight section of 40 films comprising 23 narratives and 17 documentaries.
Twenty-four are world premieres, among them Monahan’s thriller Mojave, Labute’s Dirty Weekend and Henry Hobson’s zombie drama Maggie that Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions snapped up before Toronto before pulling the premiere.
Bogliano’s Here Comes The Devil follow-up Scherzo Diabolico plays in Midnight and is one of four world premieres in the five-strong genre strand.
Special Screenings include the world premiere of documentary Mary J. Blige – The London Sessions (pictured).
Work In Progress screenings include LoveTrue, the latest documentary from 2011 Best Documentary Feature Award winner Alma Har’el. Patrick Creadon, who directed 2011 entry Wordplay, will show a cut of All Work, All Play, which centres on the world of video game arena competitions.
“The Spotlight...
- 3/5/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
New work from William Monahan, Henry Hobson, Adrián García Bogliano and Neil Labute are among the Spotlight, Midnight and Special Screening selections announced on Thursday.
Tribeca Film Festival top brass announced the Spotlight section of 40 films comprising 23 narratives and 17 documentaries.
Twenty-four are world premieres, among them Monahan’s thriller Mojave, Labute’s Dirty Weekend and Henry Hobson’s zombie drama Maggie that Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions snapped up before Toronto before pulling the premiere.
Bogliano’s Here Comes The Devil follow-up Scherzo Diabolico plays in Midnight and is one of four world premieres in the five-strong genre strand.
Special Screenings include the world premiere of documentary Mary J. Blige – The London Sessions (pictured).
Work In Progress screenings include LoveTrue, the latest documentary from 2011 Best Documentary Feature Award winner Alma Har’el. Patrick Creadon, who directed 2011 entry Wordplay, will show a cut of All Work, All Play, which centres on the world of video game arena competitions.
“The Spotlight...
Tribeca Film Festival top brass announced the Spotlight section of 40 films comprising 23 narratives and 17 documentaries.
Twenty-four are world premieres, among them Monahan’s thriller Mojave, Labute’s Dirty Weekend and Henry Hobson’s zombie drama Maggie that Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions snapped up before Toronto before pulling the premiere.
Bogliano’s Here Comes The Devil follow-up Scherzo Diabolico plays in Midnight and is one of four world premieres in the five-strong genre strand.
Special Screenings include the world premiere of documentary Mary J. Blige – The London Sessions (pictured).
Work In Progress screenings include LoveTrue, the latest documentary from 2011 Best Documentary Feature Award winner Alma Har’el. Patrick Creadon, who directed 2011 entry Wordplay, will show a cut of All Work, All Play, which centres on the world of video game arena competitions.
“The Spotlight...
- 3/5/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
New work from William Monahan, Henry Hobson, Adrián García Bogliano and Neil Labute are among the Spotlight, Midnight and Special Screening selections announced on Thursday.
Tribeca Film Festival top brass announced the Spotlight section of 40 films comprising 23 narratives and 17 documentaries.
Twenty-four are world premieres, among them Monahan’s thriller Mojave, Labute’s Dirty Weekend and Henry Hobson’s zombie drama Maggie that Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions snapped up before Toronto before pulling the premiere.
Bogliano’s Here Comes The Devil follow-up Scherzo Diabolico plays in Midnight and is one of four world premieres in the five-strong genre strand.
Special Screenings include the world premiere of documentary Mary J. Blige – The London Sessions (pictured).
Work In Progress screenings include LoveTrue, the latest documentary from 2011 Best Documentary Feature Award winner Alma Har’el. Patrick Creadon, who directed 2011 entry Wordplay, will show a cut of All Work, All Play, which centres on the world of video game arena competitions.
“The Spotlight...
Tribeca Film Festival top brass announced the Spotlight section of 40 films comprising 23 narratives and 17 documentaries.
Twenty-four are world premieres, among them Monahan’s thriller Mojave, Labute’s Dirty Weekend and Henry Hobson’s zombie drama Maggie that Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions snapped up before Toronto before pulling the premiere.
Bogliano’s Here Comes The Devil follow-up Scherzo Diabolico plays in Midnight and is one of four world premieres in the five-strong genre strand.
Special Screenings include the world premiere of documentary Mary J. Blige – The London Sessions (pictured).
Work In Progress screenings include LoveTrue, the latest documentary from 2011 Best Documentary Feature Award winner Alma Har’el. Patrick Creadon, who directed 2011 entry Wordplay, will show a cut of All Work, All Play, which centres on the world of video game arena competitions.
“The Spotlight...
- 3/5/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon
Written by Douglas Tirola & Mark Monroe
Directed by Douglas Tirola
USA | UK, 2015
The new documentary Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon takes us back to the birth of the ultimate problem child, the National Lampoon magazine. Arrested development and controlled substances aside, the Lampoon crew shepherded comedy from its antiseptic television roots through the youth counterculture and back into the mainstream again. It was unfiltered anarchy; vulgar, subversive, and hilarious. Get ready to laugh, feel ashamed for laughing, and then laugh some more.
The list of alumni from National Lampoon reads like a who’s who of comedy royalty. Belushi, Chase, Ramis, Radner, Guest, Murray… and those are just the performers. That doesn’t include all the writers and illustrators toiling behind the scenes of each fevered edition. Writers like co-founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard,...
Written by Douglas Tirola & Mark Monroe
Directed by Douglas Tirola
USA | UK, 2015
The new documentary Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon takes us back to the birth of the ultimate problem child, the National Lampoon magazine. Arrested development and controlled substances aside, the Lampoon crew shepherded comedy from its antiseptic television roots through the youth counterculture and back into the mainstream again. It was unfiltered anarchy; vulgar, subversive, and hilarious. Get ready to laugh, feel ashamed for laughing, and then laugh some more.
The list of alumni from National Lampoon reads like a who’s who of comedy royalty. Belushi, Chase, Ramis, Radner, Guest, Murray… and those are just the performers. That doesn’t include all the writers and illustrators toiling behind the scenes of each fevered edition. Writers like co-founders Doug Kenney and Henry Beard,...
- 2/5/2015
- by J.R. Kinnard
- SoundOnSight
Many people today don’t realize it, but much of modern comedy was born at the National Lampoon. John Hughes, Al Jean, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, John Landis, Ivan Reitman and John Belushi are just some of the famous names who got their start through something related to the once-popular humor magazine, created in 1970. Drunk […]
The post ‘Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon’ Is a Must-Watch for Anyone Who Loves Pop Culture [Sundance 2015] appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon’ Is a Must-Watch for Anyone Who Loves Pop Culture [Sundance 2015] appeared first on /Film.
- 1/31/2015
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
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