News

The 2024 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival opened Nov. 8 with a screening of “Queen of the Ring,” writer-director Ash Avildsen’s biopic of female wrestler Mildred Burke starring Emily Bett Rickards, Josh Lucas, Walton Goggins and Gavin Casalegno. Marking the festival’s 39th year, the film commenced ten days of programming across seven South Florida venues, including the presentation of a Lifetime Achievement Award to costume designer Bob Mackie.

Speaking from the red carpet Friday night, Fliff chair Lisa Grigorian thrilled at this year’s programming. “We are so excited for this year’s festival,” Grigorian said. “We’ve got a hundred films from 35 countries — something for everybody.”

Attending the festival for the first time, “Queen of the Ring” costar Casalegno spoke about what resonated with him in Burke’s true life story. “I really wanted to make films that will make the world a better place, and I wanted to...

Peter Sarsgaard, the veteran character actor who has received some of the best notices of his career this year for his performance on the Apple TV+ drama series Presumed Innocent and in the Paramount film September 5, will receive the Newport Beach Film Festival’s Film Performance of the Year Award and record an episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast live in front of a festival audience, Nbff announced on Tuesday.

Sarsgaard’s award presentation and podcast recording will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 23, during the 25th edition of Nbff, which will run Oct. 17-24.

The fest also announced its film lineup, which includes 112 films from 19 countries, including 16 world premieres, 10 U.S. premieres, 16 North American premieres, 13 West Coast premieres and 10 Southern California Premieres

This year’s Nbff will open on Oct. 17 with the world premiere of Simon West’s Old Guy, with West and star Chrostoph Waltz in attendance,...

Elton John’s long time songwriting partner Bernie Taupin is to be the subject of a new feature length documentary, here are the details.

From their first hit Your Song to a string of classic albums and singles like Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, I’m Still Standing and many, many more, Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s partnership had led to them being one of the most prolific, successful and celebrated songwriting duos in the history of popular music.

They have been showered with every songwriting and music award under the sun, and in 2019 their friendship was wonderfully brought to the big screen in Rocketman, courtesy of director Dexter Fletcher, writer Lee Hall and the wonderful performances of Taron Egerton as John and Jamie Bell as Taupin. Last year, Taupin released his memoir Scattershot, which quickly became a bestseller.

Now, Taupin is to be the subject...

Bernie Taupin has spent his life telling stories through his lyrics. Now, his life story is being turned into a feature-length documentary. The currently untitled project will pull back the curtain on the man behind the music with commentary from Elton John, Ringo Starr, Annie Lennox, and more.

“Reticent as I am to scrutiny, this project has been enlightening both on an emotional and analytical level,” Taupin said in a statement. “The originality of all parties involved has made participating in it much easier as I loosen my grip on...

Network Entertainment has entered production on a new documentary celebrating the life and career of Bernie Taupin, the legendary lyricist best known for his longtime songwriting partnership with Egot winner Elton John.

Directed by Matthew Miele (Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion) and featuring newly commissioned interviews and archival content, the doc promises to offer a pulsating celebration of Bernie’s life, a deep dive into the roots of his creativity — including Bernie living his dream as a cowboy on the California coast, and a trip with Bernie back to Lincolnshire to capture his origin story, which is rooted within many of his songs that have become classics — and an insider’s look at his insatiable pursuit of sonic and visual art forms.

In addition to John, interviewees in the documentary will include Brandi Carlile, Alice Cooper, James Hetfield, Annie Lennox, Lulu, Gary Oldman, Ringo Starr, and Pete Townshend. Pic is produced...

For more than 60 years, Bob Mackie has reigned as the over-the-top couturier for Hollywood’s elite. After gaining attention as the costumer for The Carol Burnett Show, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and Cher’s solo variety show, the designer became the go-to choice for divas like Judy Garland, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Madonna and Elton John, and created clothes for 60 Barbies. In the process he won an impressive nine Emmys, a Tony and a Cfda lifetime achievement award, plus three Oscar nominations.

Now with a long-awaited documentary devoted to his life in showbiz, Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion, arriving this summer (a distribution deal has not yet been finalized), the so-called Sultan of Sequins, Rajah of Rhinestones and Guru of Glitter seems to be having yet another major moment, with his archival pieces worn today by the likes of Anya Taylor-Joy and Zendaya.

“It’s kind of weird,” the 85-year-old designer tells THR.

Exclusive: The disappearance of the mysterious figure who created Bitcoin is the subject of a CBC feature documentary.

Searching For Satoshi: The Mysterious Disappearance of the Bitcoin Creator comes from Paul Kemp Productions, with All3Media International producing in association and taking distribution rights. It will premiere on CBC’s doc strand ‘The Passionate Eye’ late this year.

Satoshi Nakamoto is the presumed pseudonym of the secretive inventor of Bitcoin. They launched the cryptocurrency in 2009, which spread like wildfire across the world and transformed the way many people interact with money and currencies. Less than two years after its inception, Nakamoto vanished, seemingly without a trace.

Searching For Satoshi is billed as “a global detective story” told in a cinematic style. The doc will explore clues Nakamoto left and identify five candidates who may be the enigmatic character, two dead and three alive. There will also be expert commentary from authors,...

In most major cities, history is the first thing to be obliterated. Whether you live in New York, Los Angeles, or any other metropolis, not a day goes by when an architectural wonder isn’t being razed or otherwise altered, a legacy forever changed in the name of “progress.” Such is the case with the famous Chelsea Hotel in New York City, a haven for poets, musicians, and other raconteurs of the ’60s and ’70s, including Patti Smith, Marilyn Monroe, and Dylan Thomas. What was once a location of creative inspiration is now a literal shell, slowly transforming into a chic hotel, with its long-term residents punted off into quiet corners where they can’t disturb anyone.

“Dreaming Walls: Inside the Chelsea Hotel” is less about where the hotel has been and more about where it’s headed. Directors Maya Duverdier and Amélie van Elmbt head into the Chelsea with...

A new documentary is in the works exploring the mysterious founder of Bitcoin and the larger state of cryptocurrency.

Director Matthew Miele will helm the project, titled “Finding Satoshi.” The film will investigate the origins of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, whose identity and invention remains secret.

Tucker Tooley, the veteran filmmaker behind movies like “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” and “Den of Thieves,” will produce. Bestselling author William Cohan will interview notable experts on the topic, as well as executive produce with Greg Renker. The film aims to be the most comprehensive work examining cryptocurrency to date.

“With Matthew at the helm and Bill’s investigative complexity and nuance added to the mix, we are thrilled to start the hunt for answers about Satoshi Nakamoto and examine the rise of perhaps the greatest challenge to our financial world order as we know it,” said Tooley.

Cohan...

Exclusive: The Matthew Miele-directed documentary Alan Pakula: Going For Truth is going out to distributors to give a posthumous appraisal of an understated filmmaker who directed some of the most seminal films of his era.

Pakula was killed in a freak accident in 1998, when a metal pipe was turned into a deadly projectile on the Long Island Expressway after a car in front him ran it over and sent it airborne. The object smashed through the windshield of Pakula’s black Volvo station wagon and struck him in the head, killing him instantly at age 70.

Pakula’s passing stunned Hollywood at the time. The film, which was first revealed by Deadline in 2017 and which played last fall at an AFI tribute to the director, celebrates the iconic works that Pakula left behind. That includes the films All The President’s Men, The Parallax View, Klute, Sophie’s Choice, Presumed Innocent, Consenting Adults and The Pelican Brief.

The AFI Fest said Monday that a pair of streaming-service movies have been added to the Gala mix for the Los Angeles film festival’s 2019 edition next month: Amazon’s The Aeronauts and Netflix’s The Two Popes. They join Clint Eastwood’s world premiere of Richard Jewell in the Gala lineup for the fest, which runs November 14-21 at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

The Two Popes, starring Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce, will screen November 18, with Amazon Studios’ The Aeronauts, toplined by Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, will screen November 19.

The festival also said today that director Alan J. Pakula will receive a fest Tribute that includes a screening of the documentary Alan Pakula: Going For the Truth from director Matthew Miele. The honor includes screenings of the Pakula-directed Klute, Sophie’s Choice and The Sterile Cuckoo.

It also has finalized its Special Screenings section featuring awards-season...

The American Film Institute has added “The Two Popes” and “The Aeronauts” as galas during the upcoming AFI Fest along with a tribute to the late director Alan Pakula.

AFI had previously announced that the romantic drama “Queen & Slim” would launch the 33rd annual festival on Nov. 14 and close with the world premiere of Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson’s drama “The Banker” on Nov. 21. All galas will take place at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

Inspired by a true story, “The Two Popes” stars Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce as the future Pope Francis in a verbal battle of wits over the future direction of the Catholic Church. It will screen at the Chinese on Nov. 18. The film is produced by Netflix, which has scheduled a limited theatrical release on Nov. 27 in the U.S. prior to its release on streaming on Dec.

Festival runs from November 14-21.

AFI Fest top brass have rounded out the galas line-up with the addition of Netflix’s The Two Popes and The Aeronauts from Amazon Studios.

The Two Popes will screen on November 18 and stars Jonathan Pryce as Pope Francis and Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI. Fernando Meirelles directed the story about a series of conversations that took place between the two men in and around the Vatican in late 2012 and 2013.

Benedict, who would announce his shock resignation from the Papacy in February 2013, summoned Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio – who would later succeed him as...

Matthew Miele outside Bemelmans Bar in front of a John F Kennedy photo at The Carlyle Hotel, on Woody Allen: "He used to play at Michael's Pub and now he plays here ..." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

In the closing episode of my conversation with the Always At The Carlyle director Matthew Miele, we discuss preserving the past, Wes Anderson's Hannah And Her Sisters connection to Bobby Short, Bill Murray and Danny of The Carlyle pondering a catch phrase, Jackie O's Cobb salad, the paintings of Jan Weenix, George Clooney and a closet, the sin of enjoyment and Andrew Bolton, and an upcoming project on Alan J Pakula, the director of All The President's Men and Sophie's Choice, and producer of To Kill A Mockingbird.

Anjelica Huston, George Clooney, Rita Wilson, Harrison Ford, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Hamm, Jack Nicholson, Tommy Lee Jones, Alan Cumming, Sofia Coppola, Matthew Weiner, Naomi Campbell,...

Matthew Miele with Anne-Katrin Titze inside Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle on Wes Anderson: "I saw him walk through here while we were filming." Photo: Leigh Wolfson

Crazy About Tiffany's director Matthew Miele's latest documentary, Always At The Carlyle, is set to open today in New York just days after The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala celebration for Andrew Bolton's Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.

Anjelica Huston, George Clooney, Rita Wilson, Harrison Ford, Jeff Goldblum, Jon Hamm, Wes Anderson, Bill Murray, Jack Nicholson, Fran Lebowitz, Alan Cumming, Sofia Coppola, Naomi Campbell, Lenny Kravitz, Elaine Stritch, Nina Garcia, Paul Shaffer, Graydon Carter, Vera Wang, and Woody Allen are huge fans of The Carlyle Hotel and it is a post-gala celebration hotspot on each First Monday in May as shown in Always At The Carlyle.

Matthew Miele at Bemelmans Bar: "I think Wes hit it right on the head.

An abundance of new Specialty releases will roll into theaters and on-demand this weekend, including newcomers with Hollywood A-listers such as Sony Pictures Classics’ drama The Seagull, based on the Chekhov play and starring Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan and Elisabeth Moss. Olivia Holt, Skyler Gisondo, Kristin Chenoweth and Bruce Dern star in Cinedigm Entertainment’s comedy-romance Class Rank, making a day and date bow this weekend, while a cross-section of documentaries will open, hoping to tap some of the momentum of last weekend’s successful launch of non-fiction title Rbg. Good Deed Entertainment is opening Always At the Carlyle by Matthew Miele with a cast of stars effusing about the legendary Upper East Side New York hotel. Sara Driver’s Boom For Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat about the late artist’s pre-fame years in a now lost downtown Manhattan begins its run via Magnolia Pictures (which...

Having recently made feature-length gushes about the joys of Tiffany's and Bergdorf Goodman, Matthew Miele heads a few blocks uptown for Always at the Carlyle, another "documentary" that sees no reason to hide its advertorial nature. Pairing a long list of celebrity interviewees with the pleased-as-punch Carlyle Hotel staffers who serve them, the film celebrates one small corner of the world where this century's iteration of the Gilded Age still feels like its more refined predecessor. If the "one percent" have their own secret cable channel that's only accessible on platinum set-top boxes, this is what that channel shows at...

We know what you're thinking: Why see a movie about a posh Manhattan hotel that most of us could never afford to stay in even for one night? It's not just the fascination of watching how the one-percent lives; it's because this storied 88-year-old hotel, filled with impossibly glamorous ghosts from the past, radiates an elegance that seems like an anomaly in this shallow age of Trump-style glitz. The Potus has been spied on the premises, only to be overheard saying, "This place is a joke." Unless style, sophistication and...

"If you're staying here, you feel like you made it." Good Deed Entertainment has released an official trailer for a documentary titled Always at The Carlyle, the latest from director Matthew Miele (of Harry Benson: Shoot First, Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's). The film profiles the famous hotel known as The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, located in NYC's Upper East Side at 76th Street near Central Park. This iconic, vintage hotel palace caters to the most prestigious guests from around the world, and it's a rare look inside with what looks like unprecedented access. There are also tons of famous people featured in the doc being interviewed about the hotel - George Clooney, Wes Anderson, Anjelica Huston, Vera Wang, Anthony Bourdain, Roger Federer, Sofia Coppola, and Jon Hamm. This does look very entertaining and very fascinating, I'm curious to check it out. It's cool that a documentary about a...

Exclusive: It’s been a long time coming, but finally someone is doing a feature documentary on the life of the great writer/director/producer Alan J. Pakula, the filmmaker whose work included classics To Kill a Mockingbird, All the President’s Men and Sophie’s Choice and who died tragically on the Long Island Expressway in 1998 at only 70 years old. The film has the blessing and participation of his widow Hannah Pakula and the Pakula family. Matthew Miele, whose Always at…...

Exclusive: Good Deed Entertainment has acquired North American distribution rights to Always at the Carlyle, Matthew Miele's feature documentary about Manhattan’s 87-year-old landmark and a residency for many prominent New Yorkers. The film has the full blessing of the hotel. Writer-director Miele (Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's, Crazy About Tiffany’s) will see his film released theatrically by Good Deed in 2018. Among those featured in the film are Woody Allen, George…...

In an age where we have gone so far as to add the word “selfies” to the Oxford Dictionary, Harry Benson: Shoot First is a vital reminder of what it’s really like to take a picture. Yes, it’s time to get on that soapbox. Put down your iPhone for a second, because directors Justin Bare and Matthew Miele have crafted a film that explores photography at its pinnacle of creativity — all via the life and work of a quirky Scottish man named Harry Benson.

Most of the world knows him for his iconic images of The Beatles (you know, those black and white shots of John, Paul, George, and Ringo going at it with pillows in the George V Hotel, seen below), but Benson’s career spans much further and wider than that. Harry Benson: Shoot First takes you through it all. From the cocaine left behind in...

See me! Feel me! Touch me! That’s a lyric from the Who's Tommy, but it also describes the sensations that swim in your head when you look at photos by Harry Benson. There's music in them, as well as spontaneity and heat; they're alive in ways still camera images rarely are. That vitality is an essential part of the great Scot himself, a livewire from Glasgow who just turned 87 without losing the sharp burr on his tongue, the green pocket squares that dot his jackets or the witty glint...

Photographer Harry Benson may be best known for his photos of The Beatles on their first trip to America in 1964, but there are very few notable people he hasn’t photographed. From world leaders to celebrities to The Royal Family, at 86 years old Benson is renowned as one of the most prolific photographers in the world. And now, Magnolia Pictures and directors Justin Bare and Matthew Miele give an inside look at Benson’s career in “Harry Benson: Shoot First,” a new documentary which is on its way to the big screen.

Continue reading Trailer For ‘Harry Benson: Shoot First’ Looks At The Life Of The Man Who Photographed The Beatles, Muhammad Ali, More at The Playlist.

"If I don't take a photograph, I've made a terrible mistake." Magnolia Pictures has debuted a trailer for a documentary titled Harry Benson: Shoot First, about the life and work of famed photographer Harry Benson. He gained notoriety in the 60s when he was assigned to shoot The Beatles during their inaugural trip to the United States in 1964. He has since gone on to photograph many famous musicians, politicians, and celebrities, and is still working today at age 86. There have been some superb docs about photographers recently (The Salt of the Earth, Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, Smash His Camera, Finding Vivian Maier are the best of the bunch) and this looks like yet another fantastic profile of a talented artist. Enjoy. Here's a trailer (+ poster) for Justin Bare & Matthew Miele's doc Harry Benson: Shoot First, on Apple: Harry Benson: Shoot First charts the illustrious career of the renowned...

Soft hitting documentaries on luxury lifestyle products have become a small screen staple of late. They are second only to shock/horror sneering at benefit ‘scum’ in their profusion. It should follow then that Matthew Miele’s Crazy About Tiffany’s will find a broad and enthusiastic fan base upon its release. But something has gone sadly awry. […]

The post Crazy About Tiffany’s Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Tiffany & Co. in New York Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Rob Marshall, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin on Carey Mulligan's The Great Gatsby pearls, Mickey Rooney in Blake Edwards' Breakfast At Tiffany's, Truman Capote, Fran Lebowitz coming out of a Tiffany clock in Martin Scorsese's Public Speaking, a connection to Marcel Broodthaers, Woody Allen and Wes Anderson in The Carlyle and Gay Talese not after Anna Wintour's 2015 Costume Institute Met Gala (Andrew Rossi's The First Monday In May to open Tribeca), DJs Andrew & Andrew and what's next for Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf's director Matthew Miele.

The Great Gatsby director Baz Luhrmann: "I knew we could journey from Baz to China."

Who knew that the New York Yankees' logo, the interlocking N and Y, was conceived by Tiffany's, initially for a police medal? Or how much Steve Jobs loved his Tiffany lamp? Or that in 1886 Charles...

Director Matthew Miele: "And they said, 'Oh, Jessica Biel is going to be here.'" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Matthew Miele's lively Crazy About Tiffany's highlights Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard in Blake Edwards' Breakfast At Tiffany's, Fran Lebowitz commenting on Mickey Rooney, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin on Carey Mulligan's look in The Great Gatsby, Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Julia Roberts and George Clooney in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven, Rooney Mara and Kate Mara's father, Fifty Shades Of Grey's Sam Taylor-Johnson, Rob Marshall and Jerry Weintraub. Andy Tennant's Reese Witherspoon and Patrick Dempsey moment in Sweet Home Alabama, Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson in Gary Winnick's Bride Wars, Katie Couric, Jennifer Tilly on Elsa Peretti and Jean Schlumberger, Jessica Biel and stylists Estee Stanley, Kate Young, Jill Swid, Rachel Zoe, Elizabeth Saltzman shine, and some even dish Oscar red carpet dirt.

The distributor said on Thursday it had picked up the only authorised independent documentary on Tiffany & Co, Crazy About Tiffany’s.

Matthew Miele wrote and directed the film produced by Quixotic Endeavors. Jessica Biel, Katie Couric, Baz Luhrmann and celebrity stylists Kate Young and Rachel Zoe are among the talking heads.

Gravitas Ventures will release the film in the Us and Canada in select theatres and on demand on February 19, one day after special presentations via Tugg.

Crazy About Tiffany’s is part of a North American home entertainment package that Gravitas Ventures has licensed to FilmRise. The other titles are: Peace Officer, Requiem For The American Dream, The Kids Menu, Raven’s Touch, Last Man On The Moon, Why I’m Not On Facebook and Band Of Robbers.

Read More: Watch: Baz Luhrmann's 'The Get Down' Trailer Beautifully Blends '70s Soul Music and Modern Struggles Ever since it was immortalized by Audrey Hepburn over half a century ago, Tiffany & Co. remains the ultimate ideal in luxury and high fashion, both in New York City and around the world. However, few know what it is really like behind the scenes, but a brand new documentary is here to put all questions to rest. Directed by Matthew Miele ("Harry Benson: Shoot First"), "Crazy About Tiffany's" has been acquired by distributor Gravitas Ventures, who plans to release the film in select theaters and VOD on February 19. The film digs deep into the history and legacy of the famed jewelry store. It's impact on pop culture is covered through interviews with Baz Luhrmann Jessica Biel, Katie Couric and celebrity stylists Kate Young and Rachel Zoe. "It’s a...

The distributor has acquired world rights to Harry Benson: Shoot First and will commence international sales in Berlin next month. Separately, HBO Documentary Films has moved on upcoming Sundance premiere Jim: The James Foley Story.

Matthew Miele and Justin Bare wrote and directed Harry Benson: Shoot First, about the legendary photographer who rose to fame covering The Beatles’ first trip to the Us in 1964.

The film premiered at the 2015 Hamptons International Film Festival and will open theatrically later in the year.

Magnolia brokered the deal with Cinetic Media, which retains all remaining Us rights.

HBO Documentary Films has acquired Us TV rights to Brian Oakes’ documentary Jim: The James Foley Story ahead of its world premiere in Park City later this month. The film follows the life of the Us journalist beheaded by Isis in 2014. Eva Lipman, George Kunhardt and Teddy Kunhardt produced and Peter Kunhardt served as executive producer. Cinetic Media brokered...

Maybe you're not familiar with the name, but Harry Benson is responsible for photographs of the most important iconoclast figures of the last century. Benson's photographs have become a prominent part of the visual lexicon of the 20th century. When The Beatles came to America in 1964, for instance, he brought us candid images of the iconic group. Benson also brought some of the darker moments in history to print, including mages of Robert Kennedy's lifeless body, which marked the end of an era.  "Harry Benson: Shoot First" is the documentary portrait of the legendary photographer, directed by Justin Bare and Matthew Miele. The documentary had its premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival last year and has now found a formidable home at Magnolia. The company will be handling worldwide distribution rights to the film, which features interviews from politicos, actors, filmmakers and sports stars, from Donald Trump to Dan Rather,...

Tiffany & Co., the world famous luxury jeweler founded in 1837 in New York City, will be the focus of an authorized documentary directed by Matthew Miele (Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf - currently available on Netflix). The film will chronicle how founder Charles Lewis Tiffany and his staff transformed the small stationary and gift store into the multinational Tiffany & Co, an arbiter of taste and style in the fashion industry. The yet to be titled film will be distributed by Cinetic Media in Spring 2015. Along with their iconic engagement rings, Tiffany's sterling silver, china, crystal, stationery, fragrances and fashion accessories are sold around the world. The company is still headquartered in New York and it's anchor 5th Avenue store houses The Tiffany Yellow Diamond, a 128...

The story of those iconic blue boxes and the beautiful items held within is making its way to the big screen. An authorized documentary about famed jewelry company Tiffany & Co. will be directed by Matthew Miele, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. Photos: Top Ten: Tiffany & Co. Blue Book Ball The film, which will be packaged and sold by Cinetic Media, will chronicle how Charles Lewis Tiffany and the people behind-the-scenes transformed a small stationery and gift shop founded in 1837 into the global phenomenon known as Tiffany & Co.  The doc will be released

read more...

This Ain't California | Nebraska | Frozen | Kill Your Darlings | Oldboy | Powder Room | Homefront | Getaway | The Patience Stone | Big Bad Wolves | Black Nativity | Floating Skyscrapers | Klown | Rough Cut | A Long Way From Home | Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf's

This Ain't California (Tbc)

(Marten Perseil, 2012, Ger) 90 mins

Just as its East German teen subjects took skateboarding behind the Iron Curtain, so this "documentary" smuggles faked footage into its true 1980s history. The result is a fascinating parallel pop-cultural history with a moving (but imaginary) human centre. Working out what's true and what's not only adds to the fun.

Nebraska (15)

(Alexander Payne, 2013, Us) Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb. 115 mins

Stubborn old Dern and son take a quixotic road trip back into family, and American, history.

Frozen (PG)

(Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, 2013, Us) Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, Idina Menzel. 108 mins

Disney's classy, sparkly assault on the Christmas holidays, with wintry vistas, musical numbers and a sister-powered fairytale.

★★★☆☆Just as Miranda Priestly admonishes her assistant Andy at the end of The Devil Wears Prada (2006), it seems that everybody does indeed want "to be like us". However, if you can't afford the lifestyle of a fashion mag editor, the next best thing it seems is to live it vicariously through films like Matthew Miele's Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's (2013). Films such as Lagerfeld Confidential (2007) have lain bare the lives of the people who clothe the elite (in that case Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld), whilst The September Issue (2009) and Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011) have shown us where dreams come from.

Catch the fashion store documentary Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf's the same time as it arrives in cinemas - in Sky Store. The fashion world's great and good - from Tom Ford to Joan Rivers - explain the attraction of New York rag trade mecca Bergdorf Goodman. Highlights include the annual creation of the Christmas window display as director Matthew Miele charts the rise of the Fifth Avenue couture citadel from lowly tailor's shop to an aspirational kingdom where even Georgio Armani and Alexander McQueen fought to get in.

The fashion world's great and good - from Tom Ford to Joan Rivers - explain the attraction of New York rag trade mecca Bergdorf Goodman. Highlights include the annual creation of the Christmas window display as director Matthew Miele charts the rise of the Fifth Avenue couture citadel from lowly tailor's shop to an aspirational kingdom where even Georgio Armani and Alexander McQueen fought to get in.

Glenn here. After decades of trying to attain the same critical and cultural awareness as feature films, it appears documentaries are now suffering from a case of too much of a good thing. We’re in a day and age where documentaries are so common that it’s impossible for the Academy’s documentary branch to keep up. Apparently 151 docos have been submitted - an average of three a week! - for this year’s Oscars and just like Diane Keaton, something’s gotta give.

Last year the Academy set up a secret online forum of sorts for documentary branchmembers so they could post recommendations of titles to help whittle down the number of contenders. “Nobody’s recommended that anthopological documentary about North Atlantic fishermen? Fine, I’ll just watch Blackfish.” I like the idea in concept, but Leviathan was highly acclaimed so what then? Admittedly, it would be nice...

Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week

"The Great Gatsby"

What's It About? Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann's reinterpretation of the famous F. Scott Fitzgerald Depression-era novel is a glamorous and audacious one. The film follows the original story of the Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), mysterious millionaire who throws the most epic parties New York City has ever seen. His new neighbor Nick Caraway (Tobey Maguire) writes about the love and deceit surrounding Gatsby and his old love Daisy Buchanan (Carrie Mulligan) that spins out of control into tragedy.

Watch: Baz Luhrmann takes you behind the scenes of "Gatsby" (Video)

Why We're In: Blending the modern with the classic, Luhrmann's "Gatsby" both showcases the glitter and glamour of the 1920s alongside a modern pop music score. With extravagant CGI and music from Jay-z to Lana Del Ray, "The Great Gatsby" is unlike any of the film adaptations before it. While Luhramann's...

Documentary films often tell us the facts about a particular subject. They can be political or religious, or perhaps based on an idea that most people cannot wrap their minds around. But sometimes, you get lucky and see a film that lets you behind the scenes of something most people only dream about. That's how I felt about Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's, opening Friday in Austin.

I may not know much about fashion, but having a fashion merchandising major/style guru for a sister, I had a little bit of knowledge under my belt -- certainly enough to appreciate a good movie about fashion. The trailer had enticed me, clearly riddled with various designers talking about how getting to show their line at the esteemed Bergdorf Goodman's was the highlight of their career. Writer/director Matthew Miele takes his viewers not only into the heart of the store, but...

It’s the most mythic of all American emporiums – and the scene of many an ultimate fashion fantasy. Now audiences get a rarified chance to peek behind the backroom doors and into the reality of the fascinating inner workings and fabulous untold stories from Bergdorf Goodman’s iconic history in Matthew Miele’s Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf’S.

The legend, the parties, the fashion idols, the windows, the women, the buyers and shoppers – and most of all, the quintessentially American dreams of New York’s high-fashion hot-spot – all come to life in an ode to a realm where creativity and commerce reign equally supreme. With a light touch, Miele explores not just the glamour but the passion behind the daily creation of this luxury mecca in a film as dynamic, lush and intimate as the store itself.

The documentary features Giorgio Armani, Candice Bergen, Manolo Blahnik, Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs,...

Chicago – Watch out folks, the one percenters are fighting back. After the rabble of the 99 forced their way into Occupy Wall Street territory, the true rulers of America are pushing back in the only way they know how…by shopping. “Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s” is a gloriously vain documentary about a legendary shopping experience in Manhattan. What, The Gap wasn’t available?

Rating: 3.5/5.0

To be fair, this is a harmless celebration of the store Bergdorf Goodman, a place where the highest level of fashion designers sell their wares to drape the nouveau and old money riche. One of the participants offer that yes, this is expensively priced finery, but it gives the dreamers “something to aspire to.” And essentially, they are right. Money changes everything, and no one knows what they would do with it, once it is obtained. Even the freaking counter culture maven Yoko Ono is...

Filmmaker Matthew Miele credited powerful childhood memories of family trips into Manhattan to see the beautifully designed Fifth Avenue store windows as the spark behind his documentary Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s, a holistic look at the lush fashion retailer and its iconic place in culture and retail commerce. Miele reached out to a former colleague who was one of the Goodman descendants to help open some doors at the store. He initially wanted to make a drama about a Bergdorf’s window dresser. Already something of a hybrid artist with previous projects as a screenwriter-for-hire in Los Angeles, editor of the book “Lit Riffs” and the director of indie docs and features including the 2000 comedy Everything’s Jake, Miele quickly saw a new opportunity.

At last! A documentary about that underexposed group: the 1 percenters in their lair. In Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's, the storied store is presented in cinematic terms as ex-screenwriter Matthew Miele watches decorator David Hoey madly creating window displays of phantasmagorical "installation art" that moves. The film's climax is the famous annual holiday unveiling as the hoi polloi press their noses against the glass. Yet the long-term employees fascinate more than the clothes: They are beautiful gargoyles, true freaks of fashion. We don't get interviews with non-celeb shoppers of the reticent monied class, but designers Manolo Blahnik, Jason Wu, Patricia Field, and others each give their rendition of "What Bergdorf's Meant to Me." Vera Wang nails it: Being obsessive is a g...

Glossy Emptiness; Fashion’s Greatest Church

The measure of success used in the fashion industry is unlike any used in other commercial art. Rather than massive popularity and accessibility, exclusivity is the name of the game. And exclusive Bergdorf’s Goodman-one of the oldest high-end retailer in New York- is. Matthew Miele’s Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s examines the crucial role of this singular store has had in shaping how America, and the world, experiences fashion.

The story of this mythical establishment not only correlates with, but also defines the trends and designers that have set the basis of style for the past century. A parade of personalities, not only from the fashion world but from TV and Film as well, describe their experiences as costumers, admirers, or aspiring designers trying to get their lines inside the exuberant halls that adorn the interior of the building on 5th Avenue.

Matthew Miele's documentary "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's" comes out May 3rd, via eOne Films, and seems to be something of a reverential tribute to the titular Manhattan fashion. A glossy and glamorous celebration of fashion and shopping, the film features an interview line-up that includes Diane Von Furstenberg, Georgina Chapman, Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar De La Renta, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs and Christian Louboutin. Below you can check out an exclusive clip from the film, in which Bobbi Brown Cosmetics founder Bobbi Brown talks about her rise to inclusion in the extremely exclusive store.

“Being able to shop at Bergdorf-Goodman is an aphrodisiac.” — celebrity stylist Robert Verdi

The one-of-a-kind mecca of materialism at the corner of Manhattan’s 5th Avenue and 58th Street is practically an erotic destination for society’s wealthiest and most stylish personalities. But for other mere mortals, the store’s magnificent window displays are the closest they’ll get to the fabulous designs inside — 1.5 million walk by and gawk each week.

Director Matthew Miele followed David Hoey, Bergdorf-Goodman’s senior director of visual presentation, and his team during their holiday window preparations in 2011 as part of his documentary about the store’s legendary mystique,...

Few industries lend themselves as naturally to film as the fashion world, being as it is so full of beautiful clothing, eccentric personalities and mind-boggling excess. All three of these things are on prominent display in the trailer for director Matthew Miele's upcoming documentary, "Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's." For more trailers, be sure to visit Indiewire's Indie Trailer Page. It's a very reverent affair, with Diane Von Furstenberg, Georgina Chapman, Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar De La Renta, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs and Christian Louboutin being trotted out in front of the camera to talk about the American dream and the thrill of shopping. So if you're into that, "Bergdorf's" promises a pretty comprehensive overview of the titular Manhattan emporium. It's also curiously narrated by character actor William Fichtner, taking a quick break from playing sordid police detectives to tell you about Bergdorf Goodman's rise from a modest tailor shop...

See photos from Matthew Miele's Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's. Distributed by eOne Films, the documentary opens May 3rd, 2013 in New York City, and expands to other cities after that. Included are Karl Lagerfeld, Oscar De La Renta, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Diane Von Furstenberg, Georgina Chapman, Christian Louboutin, Linda Fargo, Betty Halbreich, and David Hoey. It’s the most mythic of all American emporiums – a one-of-a-kind Manhattan institution where over the last century, the view of fashion has been transformed into modern art. But behind Bergdorf Goodman’s magical window displays lies a very real world where the rich and famous wield their power and eccentricity, where young and talented designers have their dreams granted and denied, and where money and ambition co-mingle with radical ideas of beauty and provocative style. Now, for the first time, audiences get a chance to peek inside this world, as Matthew Miele...