Tim Burton rose during a very peculiar time in popular culture. The terse, depressive adult dramas of the 1970s had given way to the ultra-slick, spectacle-heavy blockbusters of the 1980s as a new generation of adventure films entered the marketplace, helmed by precocious filmmakers who spent their youths in actual film schools. At the same time, the financial and cultural conservatism of the Reagan administration had amplified the voices of rebellious punkers and enterprising artistic weirdos who wanted nothing to do with the commercial world. The odd circumstances -- an increase of money paired with a general antiestablishment malaise -- were just right for anti-mainstream freaks to break into the public eye.
All of a sudden, filmmakers like David Lynch, Tobe Hooper, and Paul Verhoeven could make big hits, and Tim Burton could be embraced by the public at large. Burton, in particular, could not have risen to fame in any other epoch.
All of a sudden, filmmakers like David Lynch, Tobe Hooper, and Paul Verhoeven could make big hits, and Tim Burton could be embraced by the public at large. Burton, in particular, could not have risen to fame in any other epoch.
- 9/22/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
One of the most acclaimed films of 2004 is “Collateral,” starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith. Written by Stuart Beattie and directed by Michael Mann, the movie tells of a cab driver in nighttime Los Angeles who becomes the hostage of a contract killer. Released 20 years ago in August 2004, “Collateral” was a box office success, grossing $220 million worldwide on a $65 million budget. Read on for more about the “Collateral” 20th anniversary.
Most of the nation’s critics were positive on “Collateral.” Todd McCarthy in Variety wrote, “This intensely focused piece soars not only on the director’s precision-tooled style but also on the outstanding interplay between leads Cruise and Foxx.” Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film “a rare thriller that’s as much character study as sound and fury.” And Peter Travers in Rolling Stone said, “Mann hits a new peak, orchestrating action, atmosphere and...
Most of the nation’s critics were positive on “Collateral.” Todd McCarthy in Variety wrote, “This intensely focused piece soars not only on the director’s precision-tooled style but also on the outstanding interplay between leads Cruise and Foxx.” Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called the film “a rare thriller that’s as much character study as sound and fury.” And Peter Travers in Rolling Stone said, “Mann hits a new peak, orchestrating action, atmosphere and...
- 8/24/2024
- by Brian Rowe
- Gold Derby
Ranking a certain actor of director's work by their Rotten Tomatoes scores often throws up some surprises. For instance, Sean Connery's finest film, according to the site, is "Darby O'Gill and the Little People," and Hugh Jackman's actual best performance in 2013's "Prisoners" is ranked eighth on his Rotten Tomatoes page. Oh, and Tim Burton's highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes isn't even a movie he directed. In other words, the ubiquitous Tomatometer is not always the most accurate guide, especially when it comes to comparing an individual's Rt scores in a straightforward ranking.
Sometimes, though, taking a look at an actor's filmography on the review aggregator can highlight some of their lesser known roles — roles which are actually worthy of being at the top of the Rt rankings. Take frequent Burton collaborator Winona Ryder, for example, who first worked with the director on 1988's "Beetlejuice," in which...
Sometimes, though, taking a look at an actor's filmography on the review aggregator can highlight some of their lesser known roles — roles which are actually worthy of being at the top of the Rt rankings. Take frequent Burton collaborator Winona Ryder, for example, who first worked with the director on 1988's "Beetlejuice," in which...
- 8/23/2024
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Reader, you have been lied to! Film history is littered with unfairly maligned classics, whether critics were too eager to review the making of rather than the finished product, or they suffered from underwhelming ad campaigns or general disinterest. Let’s revise our takes on some of these films from wrongheaded to the correct opinion.
When Ridley Scott‘s “Blade Runner” was released in the summer of 1982, it met with lukewarm responses from audiences and, though there were outliers, largely mixed reviews. (Pauline Kael’s snide dismissal stuck in Scott‘s craw to the point that he continued to quote it in interviews 40 years later.) Scott had the last laugh, as it only took around 10 years for everyone to come around and acknowledge “Blade Runner” as a classic, and given how wrong the critics were initially one might think they would be careful about underestimating Scott again. Yet when Scott...
When Ridley Scott‘s “Blade Runner” was released in the summer of 1982, it met with lukewarm responses from audiences and, though there were outliers, largely mixed reviews. (Pauline Kael’s snide dismissal stuck in Scott‘s craw to the point that he continued to quote it in interviews 40 years later.) Scott had the last laugh, as it only took around 10 years for everyone to come around and acknowledge “Blade Runner” as a classic, and given how wrong the critics were initially one might think they would be careful about underestimating Scott again. Yet when Scott...
- 7/11/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Sean Penn rarely grants interviews — he and the press haven’t always gotten along, to say the least — but last week, at his home in Malibu, the venerated actor and filmmaker sat down with The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast for an in-depth conversation about his life, career and most recent project, Daddio, an indie, released last Friday, of which he is particularly proud.
Seated in a small, light-filled room that he recently re-designed himself, the walls of which are covered with photos of his late parents, his two children and himself alongside many of world figures he has encountered in his travels as an activist, Penn, sporting a shock of white hair, puffed on cigarettes, spoke softly and was far warmer than his reputation would suggest he’d be. At 63, thrice divorced and currently single, he seems to have found a measure of peace — at least when one...
Seated in a small, light-filled room that he recently re-designed himself, the walls of which are covered with photos of his late parents, his two children and himself alongside many of world figures he has encountered in his travels as an activist, Penn, sporting a shock of white hair, puffed on cigarettes, spoke softly and was far warmer than his reputation would suggest he’d be. At 63, thrice divorced and currently single, he seems to have found a measure of peace — at least when one...
- 7/3/2024
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Un Certain Regard jury of five in Xavier Dolan, Maïmouna Doucouré, Asmae El Moudir, Vicky Krieps, and Todd McCarthy offered a total of seven awards/mentions this year and as per our tradition, we were front row at the ceremony on the day before the closing of the 77th edition. This year, it is sixth generation Chinese filmmaker Guan Hu who landed the top prize of the section with Black Dog. Of the eighteen feature films in competition, a total of eight were up for the running for the Caméra d’or (Best Debut Feature) which was also claimed by Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel’s Armand.…...
- 6/1/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
The 2024 Cannes Film Festival was officially closed yesterday, on May 25, 2024, as the prizes for the movies and the actors were awarded at the closing ceremony. It was a very exciting and content-filled event, and we have also reported on numerous movies that had their premiere at Cannes, some of which were received well, while others… not so much. But, naturally, everyone wants to know who won and who lost at Cannes, and that is what we are going to report about in this article.
The article will be divided into two main sections. The first one will list all the juries at Cannes, since they are the ones who chose the winners at the film festival, so we think that it is only fair that you know who picked the winners. After that, we are going to list all the winners in each of the categories.
As we have said,...
The article will be divided into two main sections. The first one will list all the juries at Cannes, since they are the ones who chose the winners at the film festival, so we think that it is only fair that you know who picked the winners. After that, we are going to list all the winners in each of the categories.
As we have said,...
- 5/26/2024
- by Arthur S. Poe
- Fiction Horizon
The 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival concludes today with the Closing Ceremony and presentation of the coveted award, the Palme d’Or which was awarded to Sean Baker’s Anora, on Saturday, May 25.
The Jury, chaired by director Greta Gerwig was tasked with awarding the Palme d’Or to one of the 22 films in the Competition.
Related: Cannes Film Festival: ‘Anora’ Wins Palme D’Or; ‘All We Imagine As Light’ Takes Grand Prize; ‘Emilia Perez’ Jury Prize & Best Actresses
The jury included Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, American actress Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green and Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, as well as Spanish director and screenwriter Juan Antonio Bayona, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino, Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu, and French actor and producer Omar Sy.
Related: ‘Emilia Pérez’ Cannes Film Festival Premiere Photos: Édgar Ramírez, Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña & More
Hu Guan’s drama Black Dog...
The Jury, chaired by director Greta Gerwig was tasked with awarding the Palme d’Or to one of the 22 films in the Competition.
Related: Cannes Film Festival: ‘Anora’ Wins Palme D’Or; ‘All We Imagine As Light’ Takes Grand Prize; ‘Emilia Perez’ Jury Prize & Best Actresses
The jury included Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, American actress Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green and Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, as well as Spanish director and screenwriter Juan Antonio Bayona, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino, Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu, and French actor and producer Omar Sy.
Related: ‘Emilia Pérez’ Cannes Film Festival Premiere Photos: Édgar Ramírez, Selena Gomez, Zoe Saldaña & More
Hu Guan’s drama Black Dog...
- 5/25/2024
- by Robert Lang
- Deadline Film + TV
The hype out of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, for those far-flung and on the ground, tells one story: This was among the weaker lineups in recent memory.
Sure, huge stories broke out of the festival, from Francis Ford Coppola’s distribution push for his self-funded, decades-in-the-making passion project “Megalopolis” to Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof fleeing his home country after being sentenced to eight years in prison, finally making it to Cannes with his new film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” This journey inspired the jury to award him and his film a Special Prize (Prix Spécial).
Elsewhere in the official selection, Un Certain Regard already handed out its prizes on Friday from a jury led by Xavier Dolan and including Maïmouna Doucouré, Asmae El Moudir, Vicky Krieps, and Todd McCarthy. Among the top winners were Roberto Minervini (“The Damned”) and Rungano Nyoni (“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”) tying for Best Director,...
Sure, huge stories broke out of the festival, from Francis Ford Coppola’s distribution push for his self-funded, decades-in-the-making passion project “Megalopolis” to Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof fleeing his home country after being sentenced to eight years in prison, finally making it to Cannes with his new film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.” This journey inspired the jury to award him and his film a Special Prize (Prix Spécial).
Elsewhere in the official selection, Un Certain Regard already handed out its prizes on Friday from a jury led by Xavier Dolan and including Maïmouna Doucouré, Asmae El Moudir, Vicky Krieps, and Todd McCarthy. Among the top winners were Roberto Minervini (“The Damned”) and Rungano Nyoni (“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”) tying for Best Director,...
- 5/25/2024
- by Harrison Richlin
- Indiewire
Guan Hu’s Black Dog has won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25).
It is the Cannes debut for Mr. Six director Guan and follows a former convict who forms an unlikely connection with the titular animal, as he clears stray dogs in his remote hometown on the edge of the Gobi desert before the 2008 Olympic Games. Playtime are handling international sales.
The jury prize went to The Story Of Souleymane from Boris Lojkine, back at the festival 10 years after his 2014 feature Hope, with the story of a...
It is the Cannes debut for Mr. Six director Guan and follows a former convict who forms an unlikely connection with the titular animal, as he clears stray dogs in his remote hometown on the edge of the Gobi desert before the 2008 Olympic Games. Playtime are handling international sales.
The jury prize went to The Story Of Souleymane from Boris Lojkine, back at the festival 10 years after his 2014 feature Hope, with the story of a...
- 5/24/2024
- ScreenDaily
Chinese director Hu Guan’s drama Black Dog snagged the top prize in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard sidebar on Friday night.
The drama, set on the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China, follows a man who returns home after a stint in jail and gets a job clearing a town of stray dogs before the Olympic Games. But he forms an unexpected bond with a black dog, and together, they embark on a new journey.
The film’s canine star won a pooch prize earlier in the day, scooping up the Grand Jury award at the Palm Dog.
For Un Certain Regard, the Jury Prize went to The Story Of Souleymane, Boris Lojkine’s Paris-set story of an African immigrant struggling to make a living and get legalized in the city of lights. Lead Abou Sangare also clinched one of the Un Certain Regard performance awards. The other...
The drama, set on the edge of the Gobi desert in Northwest China, follows a man who returns home after a stint in jail and gets a job clearing a town of stray dogs before the Olympic Games. But he forms an unexpected bond with a black dog, and together, they embark on a new journey.
The film’s canine star won a pooch prize earlier in the day, scooping up the Grand Jury award at the Palm Dog.
For Un Certain Regard, the Jury Prize went to The Story Of Souleymane, Boris Lojkine’s Paris-set story of an African immigrant struggling to make a living and get legalized in the city of lights. Lead Abou Sangare also clinched one of the Un Certain Regard performance awards. The other...
- 5/24/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chinese director Hu Guan’s drama Black Dog won the top prize in Cannes Un Certain Regard on Friday evening.
The Jury Prize went to Boris Lojkine’s Paris-set asylum-seeker tale The Story Of Souleymane.
Best Director went to in ex aequo to Roberto Minervini for U.S. civil war drama The Damned and Rungano Nyoni for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.
The Performance award went to Anasuya Sengupta for her performance as a young sex worker on the run in Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov’s India-set drama The Shameless, and Abou Sangare for his performance in Boris Lojkine’s The Story Of Souleymane as a young asylum seeker.
In other prizes, French director Louise Courvoisier won the Youth Prize for Holy Cow, while Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi was feted with a Special Mention for Nora.
This year’s jury was presided over by Canadian actor, director, screenwriter and producer Xavier Dolan,...
The Jury Prize went to Boris Lojkine’s Paris-set asylum-seeker tale The Story Of Souleymane.
Best Director went to in ex aequo to Roberto Minervini for U.S. civil war drama The Damned and Rungano Nyoni for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.
The Performance award went to Anasuya Sengupta for her performance as a young sex worker on the run in Bulgarian director Konstantin Bojanov’s India-set drama The Shameless, and Abou Sangare for his performance in Boris Lojkine’s The Story Of Souleymane as a young asylum seeker.
In other prizes, French director Louise Courvoisier won the Youth Prize for Holy Cow, while Saudi director Tawfik Alzaidi was feted with a Special Mention for Nora.
This year’s jury was presided over by Canadian actor, director, screenwriter and producer Xavier Dolan,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exactly ten years after the genre-mixing, canine-driven Hungarian thriller “White God” landed the Prix Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival, this year’s ceremony culminated in the same prize going to a somewhat corresponding title: Chinese director Guan Hu’s “Black Dog,” a fusion of western, film noir and offbeat comedy with a highly lovable mutt at its center. The film, about a damaged loner returning to his desert hometown after a spell in prison and finding a kindred spirit in an equally world-weary greyhound, beat 17 other titles to take the top prize in the festival’s second-most prestigious competitive section. (The festival’s Official Competition awards will be handed out tomorrow night.)
Jury president Xavier Dolan, the actor-auteur behind such films as “Mommy” and “Laurence Anyways,” commended Guan’s film for “its breathtaking poetry, its imagination, its precision [and] its masterful direction.” He echoed the enthusiasm of Variety critic Jessica Kiang,...
Jury president Xavier Dolan, the actor-auteur behind such films as “Mommy” and “Laurence Anyways,” commended Guan’s film for “its breathtaking poetry, its imagination, its precision [and] its masterful direction.” He echoed the enthusiasm of Variety critic Jessica Kiang,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival is many things: A prestigious platform for the best of world cinema, a massive industry event where film acquisitions get made, a testament to the French film industry’s classism and rampant sexual abuse. But more than anything, it’s one of the world’s greatest photo opps.
Sure, sure, everyone wants the Palme D’or. But even more people would kill to get seen on the iconic Cannes red carpet, and get their picture snapped by the hordes of press that camp on the Croisette. Some of the world’s most glamorous and beautiful celebrities can be seen on the steps outside the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès every year posing for the cameras, and while it’s not quite the fashion moment that the Met Gala is, it still offers a great opportunity for us pleebs to gawk at some particularly shiny stars in all of their finery.
Sure, sure, everyone wants the Palme D’or. But even more people would kill to get seen on the iconic Cannes red carpet, and get their picture snapped by the hordes of press that camp on the Croisette. Some of the world’s most glamorous and beautiful celebrities can be seen on the steps outside the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès every year posing for the cameras, and while it’s not quite the fashion moment that the Met Gala is, it still offers a great opportunity for us pleebs to gawk at some particularly shiny stars in all of their finery.
- 5/22/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Update: Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan, whose film “Mommy” received the Cannes Jury Prize in 2014, will head the jury of Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival.
Joining him on the jury will be “Cuties” director Maïmouna Doucouré, “The Mother of All Lies” helmer Asmae El Moudir, “Phantom Thread” actor Vicky Krieps and film critic Todd McCarthy.
“I am humbled and delighted to return to Cannes as President of the Un Certain Regard Jury,” he said in a statement. “Even more than making films myself, discovering the work of talented filmmakers has always been at the very heart of both my personal and professional journeys. I see, in this responsibility I’m assigned, the opportunity to focus with the members of the Un Certain Regard Jury on an essential aspect of the art of film : stories told truthfully.”
Dolan wrote, directed, produced and starred in his first feature “I Killed My Mother...
Joining him on the jury will be “Cuties” director Maïmouna Doucouré, “The Mother of All Lies” helmer Asmae El Moudir, “Phantom Thread” actor Vicky Krieps and film critic Todd McCarthy.
“I am humbled and delighted to return to Cannes as President of the Un Certain Regard Jury,” he said in a statement. “Even more than making films myself, discovering the work of talented filmmakers has always been at the very heart of both my personal and professional journeys. I see, in this responsibility I’m assigned, the opportunity to focus with the members of the Un Certain Regard Jury on an essential aspect of the art of film : stories told truthfully.”
Dolan wrote, directed, produced and starred in his first feature “I Killed My Mother...
- 4/24/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Canadian actor and filmmaker Xavier Dolan will be joined on this year’s Un Certain Regard Jury by French-Senegalese filmmaker Maïmouna Doucouré, Moroccan director Asmae El Moudir, German-Luxembourg actress Vicky Krieps, and American film critic and writer Todd McCarthy.
The jury will be in charge of awarding prizes for the Un Certain Regard sidebar. This year, 18 films have been selected, including eight first features. The 2023 Un Certain Regard top prize went to director Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature How to Have Sex. When the light breaks by Rúnar Rúnarsson will open the Un Certain Regard section on May 15.
A self-taught filmmaker, Dolan made his feature directorial debut at 19 with I Killed My Mother, an adaptation of his own short story, which was chosen to represent Canada at the Academy Awards. He followed up that film with the 2010 romantic drama Heartbeats, which brought him into the Un Certain Regard section...
The jury will be in charge of awarding prizes for the Un Certain Regard sidebar. This year, 18 films have been selected, including eight first features. The 2023 Un Certain Regard top prize went to director Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature How to Have Sex. When the light breaks by Rúnar Rúnarsson will open the Un Certain Regard section on May 15.
A self-taught filmmaker, Dolan made his feature directorial debut at 19 with I Killed My Mother, an adaptation of his own short story, which was chosen to represent Canada at the Academy Awards. He followed up that film with the 2010 romantic drama Heartbeats, which brought him into the Un Certain Regard section...
- 4/24/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Actress Vicky Krieps and filmmaker Maimouna Doucoure are among the jury members for the Un Certain Regard section of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Also joining are Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir, and American film critic and writer Todd McCarthy.
Xavier Dolan was announced as jury president earlier this year.
The quintet will watch 18 films as part of the Un Certain Regard selection, including eight debut films.
Last year’s Un Certain Regard jury, headed by John C. Reilly, awarded six prizes including the main award to Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex.
This year’s Un Certain Regard...
Also joining are Moroccan filmmaker Asmae El Moudir, and American film critic and writer Todd McCarthy.
Xavier Dolan was announced as jury president earlier this year.
The quintet will watch 18 films as part of the Un Certain Regard selection, including eight debut films.
Last year’s Un Certain Regard jury, headed by John C. Reilly, awarded six prizes including the main award to Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex.
This year’s Un Certain Regard...
- 4/24/2024
- ScreenDaily
Next week marks Charles Burnett’s 80th birthday, which the filmmaker will celebrate tonight in long-gestating style: by premiering the restoration of his “The Annihilation of Fish” in Los Angeles. Burnett first premiered the film at the 1999 Toronto International Film Festival, and for 25 years he’s struggled to get it in front of audiences.
“I’m curious, because it’s been locked away for a very long time for all sort of reasons and you sort of wonder if it’s still relevant, how audiences are going to take it,” Burnett told IndieWire on the eve of his birthday and tonight’s screening.
Tonight’s free screening is part of the UCLA Festival of Preservation, a full circle moment for Burnett, who learned his craft at UCLA’s film school. Fifty years later, his alma mater helped restore a film that, at times, looked like it might be locked in a Technicolor vault forever.
“I’m curious, because it’s been locked away for a very long time for all sort of reasons and you sort of wonder if it’s still relevant, how audiences are going to take it,” Burnett told IndieWire on the eve of his birthday and tonight’s screening.
Tonight’s free screening is part of the UCLA Festival of Preservation, a full circle moment for Burnett, who learned his craft at UCLA’s film school. Fifty years later, his alma mater helped restore a film that, at times, looked like it might be locked in a Technicolor vault forever.
- 4/5/2024
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
British actor Daniel Craig recently appeared on Broadway in “Macbeth” opposite Ruth Negga as his queen. He was first bitten by the acting bug at the age of six, when he made his debut in a primary school production of the musical “Oliver.” As an adult, Craig would initially be hired for supporting roles on the big screen. But he would eventually headline a major franchise – namely, the 007 films.
On October 14, 2005 MGM and Sony Pictures announced in London that Craig would take over the James Bond series with his first film being 2006’s “Casino Royale.” The action hero wore a tuxedo and a life jacket as he arrived via a Royal Navy speedboat. Some fans of the secret agent were a little leery about having a blond-haired and blue-eyed Bond and not a tall, dark and handsome iconic character. But Craig was widely praised by critics and former 007’s.
On October 14, 2005 MGM and Sony Pictures announced in London that Craig would take over the James Bond series with his first film being 2006’s “Casino Royale.” The action hero wore a tuxedo and a life jacket as he arrived via a Royal Navy speedboat. Some fans of the secret agent were a little leery about having a blond-haired and blue-eyed Bond and not a tall, dark and handsome iconic character. But Craig was widely praised by critics and former 007’s.
- 2/23/2024
- by Susan Wloszczyna, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
Mickey Cottrell, a veteran publicist for independent films known as a champion of filmmakers and actors, died Monday at the Motion Picture Hospital in Woodland Hills, his sister Suzy Cottrell confirmed. He was 79.
Cottrell had returned to Los Angeles in 2019 after living with his sister in Arkansas while he recovered from a stroke he suffered in 2016.
His sister remembered him on Facebook, writing, “My adorable, fun, critical, foodie, particular, brilliant, loving brother passed on to the next life early on New Year’s Day. He was smiling when he died. Mickey Cottrell will be missed by many.”
A fixture at film festivals, he was remembered by friends on Facebook as a generous and sassy raconteur, a devoted mentor, the “life of the party” who threw star-studded Sundance parties in the 1990s and an expert on gay Hollywood history.
Cottrell also acted in numerous small roles over the years, including turns...
Cottrell had returned to Los Angeles in 2019 after living with his sister in Arkansas while he recovered from a stroke he suffered in 2016.
His sister remembered him on Facebook, writing, “My adorable, fun, critical, foodie, particular, brilliant, loving brother passed on to the next life early on New Year’s Day. He was smiling when he died. Mickey Cottrell will be missed by many.”
A fixture at film festivals, he was remembered by friends on Facebook as a generous and sassy raconteur, a devoted mentor, the “life of the party” who threw star-studded Sundance parties in the 1990s and an expert on gay Hollywood history.
Cottrell also acted in numerous small roles over the years, including turns...
- 1/2/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Tom Wilkinson, the British actor who appeared in films including “The Full Monty,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” died Saturday in the U.K., the BBC reported. He was 75.
“It is with great sadness that the family of Tom Wilkinson announce that he died suddenly at home on December 30. His wife and family were with him,” the statement from his family to the BBC read.
He won a BAFTA for supporting actor for “The Full Monty,” in which he plays an unemployed steel worker who joins a male striptease dance group who decide to strip completely — “go the full Monty” — in order to make money. Wilkinson reprised his role as Gerald in “The Full Monty” for the recent Disney+ series which revisited the characters 26 years later.
Wilkinson was Oscar-nominated for his roles in “Michael Clayton,” in which he played an attorney who has a manic episode...
“It is with great sadness that the family of Tom Wilkinson announce that he died suddenly at home on December 30. His wife and family were with him,” the statement from his family to the BBC read.
He won a BAFTA for supporting actor for “The Full Monty,” in which he plays an unemployed steel worker who joins a male striptease dance group who decide to strip completely — “go the full Monty” — in order to make money. Wilkinson reprised his role as Gerald in “The Full Monty” for the recent Disney+ series which revisited the characters 26 years later.
Wilkinson was Oscar-nominated for his roles in “Michael Clayton,” in which he played an attorney who has a manic episode...
- 12/30/2023
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Culver City, Calif. – Continuing the fan-favorite and award-winning series—and as part of the upcoming 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures—Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is proud to debut six more beloved films from its library on 4K Ultra HD disc for the first time ever, exclusively within the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4, available February 13. This must-own set includes films with which audiences around the world have fallen in love: His Girl Friday, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Starman, Sleepless In Seattle and Punch-drunk Love. Each film is presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range, and five of the films have all-new Dolby Atmos mixes.
The six films in the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4 are only available on 4K Ultra HD disc within this special limited edition collector’s set. The collection includes a gorgeous hardbound 80-page book, featuring...
The six films in the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4 are only available on 4K Ultra HD disc within this special limited edition collector’s set. The collection includes a gorgeous hardbound 80-page book, featuring...
- 11/19/2023
- by ComicMix Staff
- Comicmix.com
“Sleepless in Seattle,” “Punch-Drunk Love” and four more films from Columbia Pictures will make their 4K Ultra HD debut Feb. 13, 2024, via Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Vol. 4, the latest installment in Sphe’s series of limited edition sets culling critical and commercial hits from the studio’s storied library, will feature Nora Ephron and Paul Thomas Anderson’s romantic comedies — along with Howard Hawks’ “His Girl Friday,” Stanley Kramer’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” Robert Benton’s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and John Carpenter’s “Starman.” In addition to more than 30 hours of legacy bonus content for each film, the set includes a bonus disc featuring the entirety of the 1986 “Starman” television series, as well as an 80-page hardbound book exploring the impact and legacy of the six films.
Matching its predecessors, the packaging for the set showcases the included titles, and opens to display...
Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Vol. 4, the latest installment in Sphe’s series of limited edition sets culling critical and commercial hits from the studio’s storied library, will feature Nora Ephron and Paul Thomas Anderson’s romantic comedies — along with Howard Hawks’ “His Girl Friday,” Stanley Kramer’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” Robert Benton’s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and John Carpenter’s “Starman.” In addition to more than 30 hours of legacy bonus content for each film, the set includes a bonus disc featuring the entirety of the 1986 “Starman” television series, as well as an 80-page hardbound book exploring the impact and legacy of the six films.
Matching its predecessors, the packaging for the set showcases the included titles, and opens to display...
- 11/17/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
Murderers abound in the cinema of David Fincher, yet up until now they’ve tended to operate on the margins or hardly appeared at all. Fincher returns with The Killer, premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival and a film that plays to his directorial strengths and artistry. Based on Alexis “Matz” Nolent and Luc Jacamon’s popular series of French comics from the late ’90s, The Killer is the first of Fincher’s crime stories to not only place the criminal at its center but to delight in the ruthless rationalizations of his inner mind.
It’s the latest chapter in Fincher’s long history with Netflix, and while easily suited to the streamer’s house aesthetic––episodic structure; quick, flashy titles; a color palette and tone that is never too light and never too dark––it brings together a perfect marriage of director and source material, offering...
It’s the latest chapter in Fincher’s long history with Netflix, and while easily suited to the streamer’s house aesthetic––episodic structure; quick, flashy titles; a color palette and tone that is never too light and never too dark––it brings together a perfect marriage of director and source material, offering...
- 9/3/2023
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
The 2023 Telluride Film Festival launched on Thursday with numerous world premieres – including the first public screenings of Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders,” George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin,” Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers,” and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” – but few had attendees buzzing like “Saltburn.” At least based on anecdotal evidence, the new film from “Promising Young Woman” filmmaker and Oscar winner Emerald Fennell was the evening’s hottest event, with a capacity crowd at the Palm theater all but vibrating before the film’s world premiere – and then left stunned in its aftermath.
Set primarily in 2006, “Saltburn” focuses on the unexpected friendship that forms between Oliver (Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan), a young Oxford student on scholarship, and Felix (“Euphoria” star Jacob Elordi), the wealthy big man on campus with whom Oliver takes an intense interest. The film draws its title from Felix’s family estate, where he spends the summer with Oliver.
Set primarily in 2006, “Saltburn” focuses on the unexpected friendship that forms between Oliver (Oscar nominee Barry Keoghan), a young Oxford student on scholarship, and Felix (“Euphoria” star Jacob Elordi), the wealthy big man on campus with whom Oliver takes an intense interest. The film draws its title from Felix’s family estate, where he spends the summer with Oliver.
- 9/1/2023
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
William Friedkin was, simply put, a legend.
His technical prowess, mastery of tone and commitment to storytelling were unparalleled. And so was his willingness to push the boundaries of what was acceptable. It wasn’t that he was merely challenging good taste; it was that he wanted to go beyond what had come before. And sometimes that made people very uncomfortable. Friedkin’s career is largely defined by this kind of artful provocation, and it makes his passing — especially in the current age of pre-packaged, vacuum-sealed mass entertainment — all the more devastating. We didn’t just lose one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation; we lost an outspoken advocate for the kind of movies they just don’t make anymore.
Thankfully, Friedkin left behind a bounty of modern classics – movies that become richer, more rewarding, and, yes, more provocative, the more times you watch them. Here are seven of his most essential,...
His technical prowess, mastery of tone and commitment to storytelling were unparalleled. And so was his willingness to push the boundaries of what was acceptable. It wasn’t that he was merely challenging good taste; it was that he wanted to go beyond what had come before. And sometimes that made people very uncomfortable. Friedkin’s career is largely defined by this kind of artful provocation, and it makes his passing — especially in the current age of pre-packaged, vacuum-sealed mass entertainment — all the more devastating. We didn’t just lose one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation; we lost an outspoken advocate for the kind of movies they just don’t make anymore.
Thankfully, Friedkin left behind a bounty of modern classics – movies that become richer, more rewarding, and, yes, more provocative, the more times you watch them. Here are seven of his most essential,...
- 8/7/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
With “Asteroid City,” has Wes Anderson directed one of his best movies yet or is it a misstep in an otherwise lauded career? Is the new film, due out in June, a return to form after “The French Dispatch” or a disappointment following his 2021 ensemble anthology? Those are the questions critics are asking following the debut of “Asteroid City” at the Cannes Film Festival, where the response to Anderon’s new film seemingly traveled to the moon and back.
“Like any movie by Wes Anderson, ‘Asteroid City’ is the epitome of a Wes Anderson movie,” Indiewire critic David Ehrlich wrote in his rave review. “A film about a television program about a play within a play ‘about infinity and I don’t know what else’ (as one character describes it), this delightfully profound desert charmer — by far the director’s best effort since ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ and in some...
“Like any movie by Wes Anderson, ‘Asteroid City’ is the epitome of a Wes Anderson movie,” Indiewire critic David Ehrlich wrote in his rave review. “A film about a television program about a play within a play ‘about infinity and I don’t know what else’ (as one character describes it), this delightfully profound desert charmer — by far the director’s best effort since ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel,’ and in some...
- 5/24/2023
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
(Welcome to Did They Get It Right?, a series where we take a look at an Oscars category from yesteryear and examine whether the Academy's winner stands the test of time.)
Let's go back a few years to the 88th Academy Awards in 2016. Todd McCarthy's investigative journalist drama "Spotlight" took home Best Picture, but it was by no means a dominant force that evening. "Mad Max: Fury Road" walked away with the most awards that night with six, and "The Revenant" took home three, including Best Director and Best Actor. The only other award "Spotlight" won was for Best Original Screenplay. In the last ten years, it's the only film to win Best Picture with that low of an awards total.
Only three movies have won Best Picture without winning anything else, and they all came in the 1930s. It first happened at the 2nd Academy Awards with "The Broadway Melody...
Let's go back a few years to the 88th Academy Awards in 2016. Todd McCarthy's investigative journalist drama "Spotlight" took home Best Picture, but it was by no means a dominant force that evening. "Mad Max: Fury Road" walked away with the most awards that night with six, and "The Revenant" took home three, including Best Director and Best Actor. The only other award "Spotlight" won was for Best Original Screenplay. In the last ten years, it's the only film to win Best Picture with that low of an awards total.
Only three movies have won Best Picture without winning anything else, and they all came in the 1930s. It first happened at the 2nd Academy Awards with "The Broadway Melody...
- 4/29/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Movie star John Wayne himself saw a major turning point in his career when Red River came about. He played Thomas Dunson, who was significantly older than the actor’s real-life age. Nevertheless, Wayne delivered a powerful performance in Red River, claiming it to be the first time he considered himself a “real actor.” While filming, the Western film star went on an awful bear-hunting trip that especially soured his co-star, Montgomery Clift.
‘Red River’ actor John Wayne went on a bear-hunting trip L-r: Montgomery Clift as Matt Garth and John Wayne as Thomas Dunson | John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images
Todd McCarthy’s Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood explored some of the most memorable moments while filming Red River alongside major stars, such as Wayne and Clift. Director Howard Hawks’ son, David, shared his favorite memory when it came to a bear-hunting trip that he took alongside the two lead actors.
‘Red River’ actor John Wayne went on a bear-hunting trip L-r: Montgomery Clift as Matt Garth and John Wayne as Thomas Dunson | John Kobal Foundation/Getty Images
Todd McCarthy’s Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood explored some of the most memorable moments while filming Red River alongside major stars, such as Wayne and Clift. Director Howard Hawks’ son, David, shared his favorite memory when it came to a bear-hunting trip that he took alongside the two lead actors.
- 4/2/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Movie star Keanu Reeves is now both beloved and respected, but that wasn’t always the case. Early in his career, Reeves got typecast by Bill and Ted and struggled to get taken seriously in dramas. Action movies like Speed and The Matrix helped, but it’s only recently that Reeves has gotten the respect in the industry he deserves. Even Reeves can be a little self-critical about some of his early roles.
Keanu Reeves | Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Reeves was a guest on the Smartless podcast on March 27 after John Wick: Chapter 4 dominated the box office. Reflecting on one of his ‘90s roles, Reeves acknowledged some of his criticism was deserved.
The Keanu Reeves movie he thinks he might have deserved criticism for
Give Reeves credit. He never coasted on movie star roles. While he starred in blockbusters, he also did indie films like My Own Private Idaho and...
Keanu Reeves | Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Reeves was a guest on the Smartless podcast on March 27 after John Wick: Chapter 4 dominated the box office. Reflecting on one of his ‘90s roles, Reeves acknowledged some of his criticism was deserved.
The Keanu Reeves movie he thinks he might have deserved criticism for
Give Reeves credit. He never coasted on movie star roles. While he starred in blockbusters, he also did indie films like My Own Private Idaho and...
- 3/31/2023
- by Fred Topel
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
John Wayne and Montgomery Clift were both monumental actors that had a true impact on Hollywood and the field of cinema. However, they had contrasting images and represented an entirely different type of movie star. It played out wonderfully on the silver screen in Red River, but one of the most surprising behind-the-scenes facts is that they were each paid the same amount in a “startling” sum for a newcomer.
John Wayne and Montgomery Clift faced off in ‘Red River’ L-r: John Wayne as Thomas Dunson and Montgomery Clift as Matt Garth | United Artists/Getty Images
Howard Hawks’ Red River hit theaters in 1948, putting Wayne and Clift against one another with their opposing characters. The story follows a stubborn Texas cattle ranch owner named Thomas Dunson (Wayne). He takes his job quite seriously, and has the help of his trailhand (Walter Brennan) and his protégé, Matt Garth (Clift), who Dunson...
John Wayne and Montgomery Clift faced off in ‘Red River’ L-r: John Wayne as Thomas Dunson and Montgomery Clift as Matt Garth | United Artists/Getty Images
Howard Hawks’ Red River hit theaters in 1948, putting Wayne and Clift against one another with their opposing characters. The story follows a stubborn Texas cattle ranch owner named Thomas Dunson (Wayne). He takes his job quite seriously, and has the help of his trailhand (Walter Brennan) and his protégé, Matt Garth (Clift), who Dunson...
- 3/30/2023
- by Jeff Nelson
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Growing up, I knew Sarah Polley as both Beverly Cleary's lively, imaginative heroine, Ramona Geraldine Quimby in the 1980s "Ramona" TV series, and then as the equally spirited Sara Stanley on the '90s Canadian (and Disney Channel) TV period drama staple, "Road to Avonlea." Nowadays, of course, Polley is better known for her celebrated efforts as a writer-director on the relationship dramas "Away from Her" and "Take This Waltz." Her latest venture behind the camera, "Women Talking," has even secured a Best Picture nod at the 2023 Academy Awards ceremony, in addition to landing Polly a nomination for her adapted screenplay.
Based on Miriam Toews' 2018 novel of the same name (which was itself inspired by horrifying real-life events), "Women Talking" takes place in an isolated Mennonite colony circa 2010. When it's discovered the men have been drugging and sexually assaulting the community's women in their sleep, the local authorities intervene,...
Based on Miriam Toews' 2018 novel of the same name (which was itself inspired by horrifying real-life events), "Women Talking" takes place in an isolated Mennonite colony circa 2010. When it's discovered the men have been drugging and sexually assaulting the community's women in their sleep, the local authorities intervene,...
- 2/16/2023
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Cohen Media Group has acquired all North American distribution rights to filmmaker Mark Cousins’ Alfred Hitchcock doc My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock.
The film premiered at Telluride and examines the Psycho and Vertigo director’s vast body of work, exploring his techniques, themes and obsessions. The plan is for a theatrical release later this year.
Cousins, who utilizes actor and impressionist Alistair McGowan to portray Hitch in voiceover, connects the stylistic dots running through the director’s 50-plus films, from revered classics like North by Northwest, Psycho and Rear Window to less frequently discussed but intriguing works such as The Paradine Case, Sabotage and more, stretching all the way back to his silent films.
The deal, announced by Cohen Media Group Chairman and CEO Charles S. Cohen, was negotiated by Cmg Senior Vice President Robert Aaronson and Cleo Veger, Head Sales at London-based film sales company Dogwoof.
Among positive reviews,...
The film premiered at Telluride and examines the Psycho and Vertigo director’s vast body of work, exploring his techniques, themes and obsessions. The plan is for a theatrical release later this year.
Cousins, who utilizes actor and impressionist Alistair McGowan to portray Hitch in voiceover, connects the stylistic dots running through the director’s 50-plus films, from revered classics like North by Northwest, Psycho and Rear Window to less frequently discussed but intriguing works such as The Paradine Case, Sabotage and more, stretching all the way back to his silent films.
The deal, announced by Cohen Media Group Chairman and CEO Charles S. Cohen, was negotiated by Cmg Senior Vice President Robert Aaronson and Cleo Veger, Head Sales at London-based film sales company Dogwoof.
Among positive reviews,...
- 2/8/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The first time Cecil B. DeMille parted the waters of the Red Sea, to film the 1923 version of The Ten Commandments, he did it at Seal Beach, CA, just 30 miles down the Pacific coast from Santa Monica. Three decades later, when Paramount Pictures decided to remake the Old Testament tale in Technicolor and VistaVision, the same director returned to do it again, only this time on location on the Sinai Peninsula with thousands of extras provided by the Egyptian army — no matter that the country’s military was rather busy with urgent geopolitical matters at the time. Both versions were massive hits, with the remake serving as the capper to DeMille’s illustrious career.
Related Story Take Two: Hammond And McCarthy Talk The Highs And Lows Of A Sundance That Was A Welcome Return To Normal Related Story Sphinx Head From Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Ten Commandments' Unearthed Related Story 'A.
Related Story Take Two: Hammond And McCarthy Talk The Highs And Lows Of A Sundance That Was A Welcome Return To Normal Related Story Sphinx Head From Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Ten Commandments' Unearthed Related Story 'A.
- 2/2/2023
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
When Robert Pattinson was asked during the press run for "The Batman" about his favorite Dark Knight movie moments, he singled out Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" and called the 1992 sequel to 1989's "Batman," "a masterpiece" as well as "terrifying" and "one of the most disturbing things [he'd] ever seen." And I gotta say, I agree. "Batman Returns" is a masterpiece, and it seems it's only now getting the widespread recognition it deserves.
But when the movie first debuted, it was an entirely different story. Not only did it cause a backlash among kids and parents who evidently felt it wasn't kid-friendly enough, many critics felt Batman was sidelined in favor of the movie's other larger-than-life characters: Danny DeVito's Penguin, Michelle Pfieffer's Catwoman, and Christopher Walken's Max Shreck. Todd McCarthy wrote in Variety at the time, that Batman seemed "of limited interest" to Burton and screenwriter Daniel Waters. Even...
But when the movie first debuted, it was an entirely different story. Not only did it cause a backlash among kids and parents who evidently felt it wasn't kid-friendly enough, many critics felt Batman was sidelined in favor of the movie's other larger-than-life characters: Danny DeVito's Penguin, Michelle Pfieffer's Catwoman, and Christopher Walken's Max Shreck. Todd McCarthy wrote in Variety at the time, that Batman seemed "of limited interest" to Burton and screenwriter Daniel Waters. Even...
- 1/2/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Click here to read the full article.
The current awards season marks a decade since Anne Hathaway, a contender this year for her role in James Gray’s Armageddon Time, took home a wealth of supporting actress awards — including the BAFTA, Golden Globe, SAG Award and Oscar — for her turn as Fantine in Les Misérables. The actress had already established herself as a movie star in such films as The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada and Brokeback Mountain, and she scored her first Oscar nomination, for best actress, with 2008’s Rachel Getting Married.
Oscar gold would arrive five years later, with Tom Hooper’s big screen adaptation of the stage musical, in which Hathaway, as a starving sex worker, erodes onscreen, losing her hair and teeth, croaking out the heartbreaking “I Dreamed a Dream” before dying. Her performance was hailed as a standout among an all-star cast led by...
The current awards season marks a decade since Anne Hathaway, a contender this year for her role in James Gray’s Armageddon Time, took home a wealth of supporting actress awards — including the BAFTA, Golden Globe, SAG Award and Oscar — for her turn as Fantine in Les Misérables. The actress had already established herself as a movie star in such films as The Princess Diaries, The Devil Wears Prada and Brokeback Mountain, and she scored her first Oscar nomination, for best actress, with 2008’s Rachel Getting Married.
Oscar gold would arrive five years later, with Tom Hooper’s big screen adaptation of the stage musical, in which Hathaway, as a starving sex worker, erodes onscreen, losing her hair and teeth, croaking out the heartbreaking “I Dreamed a Dream” before dying. Her performance was hailed as a standout among an all-star cast led by...
- 1/1/2023
- by Hilton Dresden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We’re fast approaching the end of the third year of Covid and it’s clear by now, if it wasn’t before, that filmgoing will never be the same. The habit is gone, everyone has become accustomed to checking out films at home rather than in theaters, it’s unclear what films people are actually seeing and what they think of them, and it’s evident that most people have, with certain exceptions, simply lost the incentive to mobilize, to actually get off their butts and plunk them down in a theater to see a movie. For a life-long film fanatic as well as a critic for more than a few decades, I’m dismayed that it’s all come to this, but I can’t pretend otherwise, that I don’t see the writing — and the images — on the wall.
Related Story Pete Hammond's 10, Ok 11, Best Movies...
Related Story Pete Hammond's 10, Ok 11, Best Movies...
- 12/29/2022
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
As 2022 draws to an end, Deadline’s critics have each chosen their top three movies of the year to hail from abroad. Some were festival world premieres, and some have made the International Feature Oscar shortlist. Donkeys certainly made a splash, including in one 2020 French title that only saw U.S. release this year.
Here are Deadline critics’ top international films of 2022, based on their respected individual opinions (in alphabetical order by title):
All Quiet On The Western Front
The last time Erich Maria Remarque’s classic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front was made as a theatrical motion picture was nearly a century ago, in 1930. It took home Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. Can history repeat itself? I wouldn’t bet against it as this official...
Here are Deadline critics’ top international films of 2022, based on their respected individual opinions (in alphabetical order by title):
All Quiet On The Western Front
The last time Erich Maria Remarque’s classic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front was made as a theatrical motion picture was nearly a century ago, in 1930. It took home Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. Can history repeat itself? I wouldn’t bet against it as this official...
- 12/29/2022
- by Pete Hammond, Todd McCarthy, Valerie Complex, Damon Wise, Anna Smith and Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
It seems this time of year every critic is going to weigh in with their 10 Best List for something or other. It is what we do at the end of the year, and 2022 is no different. And as I always do, I cheated. So sue me.
In what has turned out to be a very good year, I think, for movies, considering the sad state of box office success for the more ambitious and adult-aimed films out there, it has been heartening in this still-pandemic-affected era to see the Hollywood studios so heavily in the game of producing quality crowd-pleasers that also are good enough and deserving enough to make any of these lists — unless you are one of those grumpy critic-types who only go for the most obscure anti-entertainments out there. That ain’t me. I like to cheer on what I call movie movies, and I don’t...
In what has turned out to be a very good year, I think, for movies, considering the sad state of box office success for the more ambitious and adult-aimed films out there, it has been heartening in this still-pandemic-affected era to see the Hollywood studios so heavily in the game of producing quality crowd-pleasers that also are good enough and deserving enough to make any of these lists — unless you are one of those grumpy critic-types who only go for the most obscure anti-entertainments out there. That ain’t me. I like to cheer on what I call movie movies, and I don’t...
- 12/28/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: In October, Breaking Glass Pictures acquired Mario Martone’s Nostalgia, Italy’s entry for the Best International Feature Oscar for North America, and today we have a first look at the official trailer (check it out above).
The drama kicked off its festival run in the Cannes competition last May, and will next play at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Breaking Glass will release in U.S. cinemas on January 20, 2023.
Based on the novel by Ermanno Rea, Nostalgia stars Pierfrancesco Favino (The Traitor), who received a Best European Actor nomination at the recent European Film Awards for his performance as Felice Lasco, a middle-aged Neapolitan who returns to his bustling hometown after having lived in Egypt for 40 years. Once back in the city, Felice is caught up in a lifetime of loose ends as his criminal youth slowly catches up with him.
Martone directed and co-wrote the film...
The drama kicked off its festival run in the Cannes competition last May, and will next play at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Breaking Glass will release in U.S. cinemas on January 20, 2023.
Based on the novel by Ermanno Rea, Nostalgia stars Pierfrancesco Favino (The Traitor), who received a Best European Actor nomination at the recent European Film Awards for his performance as Felice Lasco, a middle-aged Neapolitan who returns to his bustling hometown after having lived in Egypt for 40 years. Once back in the city, Felice is caught up in a lifetime of loose ends as his criminal youth slowly catches up with him.
Martone directed and co-wrote the film...
- 12/20/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
First nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars with the 2012 film “The Gatekeepers,” director Dror Moreh could return to the awards race 10 years later with “The Corridors of Power.” The new film from Showtime combines in-depth interviews with rare archival footage and CGI animations to examine how American leaders have responded to reports of genocide, war crimes and mass atrocities after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Among those interviewed are five figures who served as Secretary of State: James Baker, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. In his review for The Washington Post, Michael O’Sullivan describes the effectiveness of the interviews: “The discussions that take place on camera, in tastefully appointed suites, are frank and often offer fascinating insights into these dilemmas. But it is the sharply jarring — and dismayingly repetitive — footage of carnage that will stay with you long after the echoes of the...
Among those interviewed are five figures who served as Secretary of State: James Baker, Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. In his review for The Washington Post, Michael O’Sullivan describes the effectiveness of the interviews: “The discussions that take place on camera, in tastefully appointed suites, are frank and often offer fascinating insights into these dilemmas. But it is the sharply jarring — and dismayingly repetitive — footage of carnage that will stay with you long after the echoes of the...
- 11/30/2022
- by John Benutty
- Gold Derby
British actor Daniel Craig recently appeared on Broadway in “Macbeth” opposite Ruth Negga as his queen. He was first bitten by the acting bug at the age of six, when he made his debut in a primary school production of the musical “Oliver.” As an adult, Craig would initially be hired for supporting roles on the big screen. But he would eventually headline a major franchise – namely, the 007 films.
On October 14, 2005 MGM and Sony Pictures announced in London that Craig would take over the James Bond series with his first film being 2006’s “Casino Royale.” The action hero wore a tuxedo and a life jacket as he arrived via a Royal Navy speedboat. Some fans of the secret agent were a little leery about having a blond-haired and blue-eyed Bond and not a tall, dark and handsome iconic character. But Craig was widely praised by critics and former 007’s.
On October 14, 2005 MGM and Sony Pictures announced in London that Craig would take over the James Bond series with his first film being 2006’s “Casino Royale.” The action hero wore a tuxedo and a life jacket as he arrived via a Royal Navy speedboat. Some fans of the secret agent were a little leery about having a blond-haired and blue-eyed Bond and not a tall, dark and handsome iconic character. But Craig was widely praised by critics and former 007’s.
- 11/23/2022
- by Susan Wloszczyna and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
A new crop of prestige titles plant a flag at the arthouse in limited release this weekend from Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All to Jerzy Skolimowski’s Eo, to Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection. Greenwich Entertainment opens doc Love, Charlie: The Rise And Fall Of Charlie Trotter IFC Films presents Bad Axe and Cohen Media Group is taking a swing at Fernando Trueba’s Memories Of My Father.
A host of other specialty releases are holding over even as She Said from Universal Pictures and The Menu from Searchlight Pictures open wide. Juggernaut Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in week two. It’s getting crowded here. Sony Pictures Classics just said it will push a November 25 release date for The Son back to Jan., citing “a marketplace that appears to be getting more overcrowded daily.” (It’s keeping the Nov. date for a one-week only qualifying run.)
But that...
A host of other specialty releases are holding over even as She Said from Universal Pictures and The Menu from Searchlight Pictures open wide. Juggernaut Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in week two. It’s getting crowded here. Sony Pictures Classics just said it will push a November 25 release date for The Son back to Jan., citing “a marketplace that appears to be getting more overcrowded daily.” (It’s keeping the Nov. date for a one-week only qualifying run.)
But that...
- 11/18/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: In a deal with True Colours, Breaking Glass Pictures has acquired North American rights to Mario Martone’s Nostalgia, Italy’s entry for the Best International Feature Oscar. The drama debuted in the Cannes competition last May, and Breaking Glass will continue its festival run in the U.S. through the end of the year with theatrical rollout set for early 2023.
Based on the novel by Ermanno Rea, Nostalgia stars Pierfrancesco Favino (The Traitor) as the middle-aged Felice Lasco, who returns to a bustling Naples after having lived in Egypt for 40 years. Once back, he is caught up in memories of a distant life spent in his hometown, as his criminal youth slowly catches up with him. Alongside Favino, the film stars Francesco Di Leva, Tommaso Ragno, Aurora Quattrocchi and Sofia Essaidi.
In his review, Deadline’s Todd McCarthy wrote the film “has the fantastic advantage of a densely...
Based on the novel by Ermanno Rea, Nostalgia stars Pierfrancesco Favino (The Traitor) as the middle-aged Felice Lasco, who returns to a bustling Naples after having lived in Egypt for 40 years. Once back, he is caught up in memories of a distant life spent in his hometown, as his criminal youth slowly catches up with him. Alongside Favino, the film stars Francesco Di Leva, Tommaso Ragno, Aurora Quattrocchi and Sofia Essaidi.
In his review, Deadline’s Todd McCarthy wrote the film “has the fantastic advantage of a densely...
- 10/18/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione and Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Gang Dong-Won, the South Korean actor whose credits include the Train to Busan sequel Peninsula and most recently the Hirokazu Kore-eda-directed Broker, which premiered in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, has signed with Range Media Partners.
He continues to be repped by CAA.
Related Story Range Media Partners Signs Emmy-Nominated 'Blade' Scribe Stacy Osei-Kuffour Related Story Danny Treibatch Joins Range Media Partners Digital Department As A Partner Related Story Range Media Partners Hires Thomas Daley As Co-President Of International Division
In Kore-eda’s first Korean-language film, Gang plays one of a pair of men who scheme to sell abandoned babies to new families. Things escalate when ahead of their latest attempt, the abandon child’s mother opts to join them on their excursion.
Deadline’s Todd McCarthy...
He continues to be repped by CAA.
Related Story Range Media Partners Signs Emmy-Nominated 'Blade' Scribe Stacy Osei-Kuffour Related Story Danny Treibatch Joins Range Media Partners Digital Department As A Partner Related Story Range Media Partners Hires Thomas Daley As Co-President Of International Division
In Kore-eda’s first Korean-language film, Gang plays one of a pair of men who scheme to sell abandoned babies to new families. Things escalate when ahead of their latest attempt, the abandon child’s mother opts to join them on their excursion.
Deadline’s Todd McCarthy...
- 10/7/2022
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers' "I Love Trouble" was supposed to be a throwback rom-com in the mold of a Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn classic. The pairing of Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts as a couple of quarrelsome newspaper reporters seemed relatively promising. Roberts was one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood at the time, while Nolte was two years removed from being named People's Sexiest Man Alive. This duo was nothing if not photogenic. Surely, they could generate enough chemistry to keep movie theaters packed throughout the summer of 1994. The erstwhile movie magazine Premiere was bullish enough on the film to predict it would be the fifth highest grossing movie of the season. It felt like a can't-miss proposition.
But miss is exactly what it did. The 45 million film opened to a paltry 7.9 million in late June, barely finishing fifth ahead of Mike Nichols' "Wolf," which was...
But miss is exactly what it did. The 45 million film opened to a paltry 7.9 million in late June, barely finishing fifth ahead of Mike Nichols' "Wolf," which was...
- 9/22/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
The Banshees of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh’s return to the Venice Film Festival after 2017’s triumphant Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, had its world premiere Monday night, getting the biggest response from fest audience so far this year with a 15-minute standing ovation.
McDonagh and stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were in the audience for the debut of Searchlight Pictures’ reunion of the In Bruges trio. The response was enough to force a delay in the next world premiere screening tonight, the anticipated Don’t Worry Darling.
Venice Film Festival: Deadline’s Complete Coverage
This is Oscar winner McDonagh’s first feature set in his native Ireland. It takes place in 1923 on the fictional island of Inisherin, and follows lifelong pals Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship. A stunned Pádraic, aided by his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon...
McDonagh and stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were in the audience for the debut of Searchlight Pictures’ reunion of the In Bruges trio. The response was enough to force a delay in the next world premiere screening tonight, the anticipated Don’t Worry Darling.
Venice Film Festival: Deadline’s Complete Coverage
This is Oscar winner McDonagh’s first feature set in his native Ireland. It takes place in 1923 on the fictional island of Inisherin, and follows lifelong pals Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson), who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship. A stunned Pádraic, aided by his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon...
- 9/5/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Romain Gavras’ immersive modern tragedy Athena just had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, receiving a 4 1/2-minute standing ovation in the process.
The French film had people applauding and whooping from the start of the end credits before the crowd stood for the ovation.
The kinetic story begins just after the death of a young boy, in unexplained circumstances, throwing his three brothers and the whole of the eponymous Athena housing project outside Paris into chaos.
Venice Film Festival Photo Gallery: Chalamet, Blanchett, Iñárritu & More
In a star-making turn, Dali Benssalah plays Abdel, a soldier in the French army who is called back from the frontline after the death of his youngest brother following an alleged police altercation, and finds his family torn apart. Caught between his younger brother Karim’s (Sami Slimane) desire for revenge and the criminal dealings of his older brother Moktar (Ouassini Embarek), he...
The French film had people applauding and whooping from the start of the end credits before the crowd stood for the ovation.
The kinetic story begins just after the death of a young boy, in unexplained circumstances, throwing his three brothers and the whole of the eponymous Athena housing project outside Paris into chaos.
Venice Film Festival Photo Gallery: Chalamet, Blanchett, Iñárritu & More
In a star-making turn, Dali Benssalah plays Abdel, a soldier in the French army who is called back from the frontline after the death of his youngest brother following an alleged police altercation, and finds his family torn apart. Caught between his younger brother Karim’s (Sami Slimane) desire for revenge and the criminal dealings of his older brother Moktar (Ouassini Embarek), he...
- 9/2/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Alejandro G Iñárritu‘s three-hour-long opus Bardo (False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths) received a warm reception at its Venice Film Festival world premiere on Thursday night. Six minutes of applause began inside the Sala Grande as the credits rolled, with attendees standing for the Oscar winning filmmaker for about four of those.
Written by Iñárritu and Nicolás Giacobone, Bardo is billed as a nostalgic comedy set against an epic personal journey. It chronicles the story of a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships, the folly of his memories as well as the past of his country — all the while seeking answers in his past to reconcile who he is in the present.
This has been called Iñárritu’s most personal work to date, and also marks a return to Mexico. The...
Written by Iñárritu and Nicolás Giacobone, Bardo is billed as a nostalgic comedy set against an epic personal journey. It chronicles the story of a renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker who returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships, the folly of his memories as well as the past of his country — all the while seeking answers in his past to reconcile who he is in the present.
This has been called Iñárritu’s most personal work to date, and also marks a return to Mexico. The...
- 9/2/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Todd Field’s Tár clearly struck a chord with the world premiere audience inside the Venice Film Festival’s Sala Grande tonight. The movie was given a standing ovation of more than six minutes, which was only halted when the film team filtered out.
Cate Blanchett, who was in the house, stars in a buzzed about performance as the eponymous conductor who is the first female chief conductor of a major German orchestra. The character is at the height of, and grappling with, her genius while swimming in the abyss of it and the toll it takes on those closest to her.
Venice Film Festival 2022 Photos
This is Field’s return to the big screen after a 16-year stretch since Little Children. Blanchett earlier today commented that it is a “rare and special moment when Todd decides to leave his house and make movie.”
She also earlier spoke of...
Cate Blanchett, who was in the house, stars in a buzzed about performance as the eponymous conductor who is the first female chief conductor of a major German orchestra. The character is at the height of, and grappling with, her genius while swimming in the abyss of it and the toll it takes on those closest to her.
Venice Film Festival 2022 Photos
This is Field’s return to the big screen after a 16-year stretch since Little Children. Blanchett earlier today commented that it is a “rare and special moment when Todd decides to leave his house and make movie.”
She also earlier spoke of...
- 9/1/2022
- by Nancy Tartaglione and Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
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