Watching Actor/Director Greg Cruttwell’s drama short Animals for the first time, I was struck and reminded that sometimes all a film needs to be is a strong screenplay activated by an equally powerful performance. That’s not to diminish the other filmic elements of Cruttwell’s film, it’s just that the writing and acting are what’s at the forefront here. This is a short film about a young man coming to terms with familial tragedy following a football match that is driven by an intricately written and emotionally charged monologue. It’s a really compelling piece of work from Cruttwell, who joins Dn below as we premiere Animals online to talk over the real-life story that sparked the idea for the short, the creative decision he made to tell this particular narrative through a monologue, and the task of finding an actor who could carry the film’s heaviest emotional moments.
- 3/19/2024
- by James Maitre
- Directors Notes
Welcome to another edition of Deadline’s International Disruptors, a feature where we shine a spotlight on key execs and companies outside of the U.S. shaking up the offshore marketplace. This week we’re talking with British indie film veteran Phil Hunt, who is the founder of a raft of companies including production outfit and film financier Head Gear, international sales business Bankside and, more recently, New Zealand and Australian distribution genre label (Yet) Another Monster Company.
Phil Hunt is not a conformist. From the moment he burst onto the British independent scene more than two decades ago with his microbudget productions Fast Food and Chunky Monkey – the former starring a young Gerard Butler and the latter an off-beat black comedy about a loner with a penchant for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Julie Andrews – it was clear that this was a guy who was not going to...
Phil Hunt is not a conformist. From the moment he burst onto the British independent scene more than two decades ago with his microbudget productions Fast Food and Chunky Monkey – the former starring a young Gerard Butler and the latter an off-beat black comedy about a loner with a penchant for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and Julie Andrews – it was clear that this was a guy who was not going to...
- 4/19/2023
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Jonny Tull is speaheading the intenational sales of football referee doc ‘In The Middle’.
UK production company Park The Bus has hired Jonny Tull, who heads distribution and exhibition outfit Tull Stories, to be film development and distribution director.
Tull will work with Park The Bus founder Greg Cruttwell on its slate of sports-related projects in tandem with the day-to-day operations of Tull Stories.
He is spearheading sales on documentary In The Middle, about the community of referees in grassroots football, directed by Cruttwell and released theatrically in the UK last month.
Park The Bus was founded in 2019 and produced...
UK production company Park The Bus has hired Jonny Tull, who heads distribution and exhibition outfit Tull Stories, to be film development and distribution director.
Tull will work with Park The Bus founder Greg Cruttwell on its slate of sports-related projects in tandem with the day-to-day operations of Tull Stories.
He is spearheading sales on documentary In The Middle, about the community of referees in grassroots football, directed by Cruttwell and released theatrically in the UK last month.
Park The Bus was founded in 2019 and produced...
- 4/18/2023
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Despite tales of harrassment by players (and spectators) this documentary is a feelgood look at being part of a community, getting stuck in – and picking up dog poo
You really don’t have to give two hoots about football to get a kick out of this documentary about grassroots referees. It’s an entertaining and affectionate tribute to the men and women who show up week in, week out for 40 quid (plus petrol for a big game). Chasing players around for 90 minutes in the rain isn’t the half of it: verbal abuse comes with the job, as well as spitting and assault from players and spectators, not to mention picking up dog poo off the pitch.
Director Greg Cruttwell does a terrific job assembling of a lineup of characters. Steve, a retired tube driver with a Benidorm tan, has been reffing for 25 years. Everyone moans about referees, he says,...
You really don’t have to give two hoots about football to get a kick out of this documentary about grassroots referees. It’s an entertaining and affectionate tribute to the men and women who show up week in, week out for 40 quid (plus petrol for a big game). Chasing players around for 90 minutes in the rain isn’t the half of it: verbal abuse comes with the job, as well as spitting and assault from players and spectators, not to mention picking up dog poo off the pitch.
Director Greg Cruttwell does a terrific job assembling of a lineup of characters. Steve, a retired tube driver with a Benidorm tan, has been reffing for 25 years. Everyone moans about referees, he says,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Co-founder recalls early lessons and its emergence as a major financier of indie filmmaking.
It is 20 years since UK advertising and music photographer Phil Hunt set up Head Gear Films.
The now booming production company and film financier is a major force in the Cannes market this year, involved in films including Mister Smith Entertainment’s He Went That Way, starring Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto, Altitude’s Sentinel, Gfm’s The Accursed and many others, including several titles from its sister company Bankside.
Back in 1998, Hunt had produced his first feature, Fast Food, a micro-budget movie made for £50,000, which...
It is 20 years since UK advertising and music photographer Phil Hunt set up Head Gear Films.
The now booming production company and film financier is a major force in the Cannes market this year, involved in films including Mister Smith Entertainment’s He Went That Way, starring Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto, Altitude’s Sentinel, Gfm’s The Accursed and many others, including several titles from its sister company Bankside.
Back in 1998, Hunt had produced his first feature, Fast Food, a micro-budget movie made for £50,000, which...
- 5/20/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Co-founder recalls early lessons and its emergence as a major financier of indie filmmaking.
It is 20 years since UK advertising and music photographer Phil Hunt set up Head Gear Films.
The now booming production company and film financier is a major force in the Cannes market this year, involved in films including Mister Smith Entertainment’s He Went That Way, starring Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto, Altitude’s Sentinel, Gfm’s The Accursed and many others, including several titles from its sister company Bankside.
Back in 1998, Hunt had produced his first feature, Fast Food, a micro-budget movie made for £50,000, which...
It is 20 years since UK advertising and music photographer Phil Hunt set up Head Gear Films.
The now booming production company and film financier is a major force in the Cannes market this year, involved in films including Mister Smith Entertainment’s He Went That Way, starring Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto, Altitude’s Sentinel, Gfm’s The Accursed and many others, including several titles from its sister company Bankside.
Back in 1998, Hunt had produced his first feature, Fast Food, a micro-budget movie made for £50,000, which...
- 5/20/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Co-founder recalls early lessons and its emergence as a major financier of indie filmmaking.
It is 20 years since UK advertising and music photographer Phil Hunt set up Head Gear Films.
The now booming production company and film financier is a major force in the Cannes market this year, involved in films like Mister Smith Entertainment’s He Went That Way starring Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto, Altitude’s Sentinel, Gfm’s The Accursed and many others, including several titles from its sister company Bankside.
Back in 1998, Hunt had produced his first feature, Fast Food, a micro-budget movie made for £50,000, which...
It is 20 years since UK advertising and music photographer Phil Hunt set up Head Gear Films.
The now booming production company and film financier is a major force in the Cannes market this year, involved in films like Mister Smith Entertainment’s He Went That Way starring Jacob Elordi and Zachary Quinto, Altitude’s Sentinel, Gfm’s The Accursed and many others, including several titles from its sister company Bankside.
Back in 1998, Hunt had produced his first feature, Fast Food, a micro-budget movie made for £50,000, which...
- 5/20/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
The beautiful game stands in for deeper, more personal struggles as Greg Cruttwell’s engaging characters pour their hearts out
A big season, this, for Greg Cruttwell. Next month, the BFI revives Mike Leigh’s Naked, in which Cruttwell landed his most indelible acting gig as the yuppie scumbag Jeremy. This week, however, he resumes writer-director duties with this genial indie that casts Leigh alumni and TV stalwarts as football-crazed individuals, pouring their hearts out to a mostly static camera for 90 minutes, plus injury time. It is an innately theatrical proposition, like a fringe play that’s snuck in through the Odeon fire doors. Yet this is pretty sound stuff, engagingly performed: if not a resounding triumph for one medium over another, then the kind of honourable draw that sends everybody home reasonably happy.
Its tactics derive from the Alan Bennett playbook, revealing what first seem like eccentrically heightened passions,...
A big season, this, for Greg Cruttwell. Next month, the BFI revives Mike Leigh’s Naked, in which Cruttwell landed his most indelible acting gig as the yuppie scumbag Jeremy. This week, however, he resumes writer-director duties with this genial indie that casts Leigh alumni and TV stalwarts as football-crazed individuals, pouring their hearts out to a mostly static camera for 90 minutes, plus injury time. It is an innately theatrical proposition, like a fringe play that’s snuck in through the Odeon fire doors. Yet this is pretty sound stuff, engagingly performed: if not a resounding triumph for one medium over another, then the kind of honourable draw that sends everybody home reasonably happy.
Its tactics derive from the Alan Bennett playbook, revealing what first seem like eccentrically heightened passions,...
- 10/26/2021
- by Mike McCahill
- The Guardian - Film News
Our International Sales Agent (Isa) of the Day coverage has resumed for this year's Cannes Film Festival. We will feature successful, upcoming, innovative and trailblazing agents from around the world (during and after the festival) and cover the latest trends in sales and distribution. Beyond the numbers and deals, this segment will also share inspirational and unique stories of how these individuals have evolved and paved their way in the industry, and what they envision for the new waves in global cinema.
The London based Bankside Films is a newer company on the sales and distribution scene, but don't let it fool you. Its highly talented and experienced team makes this boutique sales agency a leader in the industry. The Bankside Films library consists of 35 films, aside from the titles it's currently selling, including Freeheld, Ashby, and Detour. This year has been its best year with the recent success of Belle, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Reid, Sarah Gadon, and Tom Wilkinson.
Co-Managing Director Hilary Davis shares more about her years and wealth of experience that helps to make Bankside Films a distinguished company in independent cinema, the company's background and latest films, and reflects on trends and changes in the industry:
How did Bankside Films begin?
Bankside Films was formed in January of 2007. We have Stephen Kelliher, who's our head of sales. Stephen and I were working at a company called Beyond Films, it was an Australian company, but we were the film division based in London. While we were there, we started a joint venture with Phil Hunt, whereby he funded a couple of minimum guarantees on our behalf. As a result, we started to put everything under one roof. We started talking about creating a company together, and it happened very quickly. In fact, we were able to transfer the last eight films that Stephen and I had been selling at Beyond Films into the new company. We started out with a small library, and we've been growing it ever since.
We are in the fortunate position of having access to funds, via our main investor, but our core business is international sales. I've been doing it for 32 years now. Stephen has been in the business for 20 years. It's a boutique style company, but we use all our contacts with financiers and filmmakers worldwide to invest in films and actually sell them.
Our library has about 35 titles. That's not including the films we're actively selling, which totals to about eight. We're always looking for English language projects by distinctive filmmakers (we don't do foreign language) of high quality that we believe will be able to sell. We look for films that are unique and of top quality, because that's what the buyers always want. Even if it's a story that's been told many times before, they always want some new slant to it.
What do you look for when considering projects?
We've always had our successes with the more outlandish, left field stories. Whenever we're considering a project, we always have that debate. What is the hook? What is going to appeal to the buyers? We have to think about all these things, and we have to keep a very keen eye on cast. Who's rising? Who's not? Who's good? It is a brutal business, and you're only as good as your last film.
We have to also keep an eye on what's working in the box office, which territories are strong, and which ones are going down. You know it's fascinating, because it gives you a worldview of how territories are doing and who's coming up in terms of countries and economies. You know they've been up and down, and up again.
I think Russia was coming up so strongly and quickly, but now it's declined a little bit. India and China have exploded. Brazil is very strong at the moment. It's always about North America, and the buyers always say to us, "Who's going to distribute your film in America?” so that's still a key country.
How are sales this year?
Our biggest success to date is with Belle, a film that has been a tipping point in our development and has just been released in North America. There's been a lot of press about it in the states. That's going to be released next month on the 13th of June in the UK. We sold that to Fox Searchlight worldwide, in what was a massive deal for us. Frankly, it's been the highlight of our careers, and it's enabled us to move on to the next steps.
We've had our best year ever, and every year in Bankside's development has been an improvement from the previous year. It's been a gradual and steady process of growth. We want to retain our boutique style, and we're never going to become one of these huge companies. That's not who we are. We want to retain that sense of really caring for each film, and remain producer friendly so they'll want to come back to us with their next films. It's hard to do repeat business, but you really build your business when you get the reputation for being very honest, but also very successful. We've spent our careers building our reputations in this way.
Please talk about some of your more recent films.
We've recently done a North American deal with Relativity Media for Hector and the Search for Happiness, which was launched in Berlin this year. It stars Simon Pegg and Toni Collette. That was one of the larger budget films that we worked on, and we invested money into that as well.
We're in post-production on a film called Backtrack, which is an Australian production staring Adrien Brody and Sam Neill. Stephen and I are quite well known in Australia because of our years of experience with Beyond Films. We always have an eye on what's happening in the Australian market, and that's how this film came to us.
Another film in post-production is called X + Y. It's by first time director Morgan Matthews, who has really made his name as a documentarian. He expanded what was a heartfelt documentary into a feature film. We're very pleased with the way it's going, and we're hoping to launch it later in the year. It stars Asa Butterfield and Sally Hawkins.
Please talk about your background.
When I graduated, I saw an advert for a job that said "Film Company. European Languages are an advantage." I could speak French, Italian and Spanish, so I went for the interview. It was the London office and European headquarters of Warner Brothers, and they offered me the job on the spot. That was it, and I was off! I couldn't believe that it was possible to watch films during the day for a job. It was almost too good to be true! I stayed there for 18 months, and then I went to Handmade Films, which was George Harrison's company, and I stayed there for fifteen years. It was the most wonderful company, because it was a production company that would fully finance and distribute films. I started there in 1984, and it was an amazing time. There were about four to five sales companies in London at the time, and now there are over 30. The business has changed so much over the years, but alll these experiences gave me the confidence to start Bankside.
What are some of the biggest changes that you've seen during your career?
There's just more of everything. There are more films, more companies, more producers, and more sellers. This is my 26th Cannes. I think about the past when we didn't have mobile phones. We just got the directions for meetings and stuck with our plans. There wasn't all this last minute "I'm here, where are you?" stuff. I think there's just been an explosion of activity. You see many more films from different cultures and countries. In Cannes, the selectors are so open to that. Look at the range of films in selection; it's quite amazing to see all the varied countries that have films in selection.
I lived in Nice for a year when I was studying, and taught English in a school there. One evening, I took the train from Nice to Cannes during the festival. I was walking around and thought it was so interesting. I never imagined for a moment that I would return in a professional capacity, and now I've been coming back ever since. Seeing Nice from the plane yesterday really took me back to those days. Working in the film business almost feels like a destiny or a fate, especially with my success over the past year... It's just been incredible.
Learn more about the Bankside Films library here.
More About Bankside Films:
Based in London, Bankside is a leading international sales and film finance company for independent films. Founded in January 2007 by Phil Hunt, Hilary Davis, Stephen Kelliher, Greg Cruttwell and Compton Ross, the company offers a bespoke sales and executive producer service to production companies, representing between eight and ten films a year. Bankside¹s principals have built up strong relationships with international distributors and offer a consistent approach to the market with a wide range of genres and budgets. Since its inception, Bankside cash-flows pre-sales, tax credits and finances gap using its knowledge and extensive relationships with international financiers and distributors.
The London based Bankside Films is a newer company on the sales and distribution scene, but don't let it fool you. Its highly talented and experienced team makes this boutique sales agency a leader in the industry. The Bankside Films library consists of 35 films, aside from the titles it's currently selling, including Freeheld, Ashby, and Detour. This year has been its best year with the recent success of Belle, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sam Reid, Sarah Gadon, and Tom Wilkinson.
Co-Managing Director Hilary Davis shares more about her years and wealth of experience that helps to make Bankside Films a distinguished company in independent cinema, the company's background and latest films, and reflects on trends and changes in the industry:
How did Bankside Films begin?
Bankside Films was formed in January of 2007. We have Stephen Kelliher, who's our head of sales. Stephen and I were working at a company called Beyond Films, it was an Australian company, but we were the film division based in London. While we were there, we started a joint venture with Phil Hunt, whereby he funded a couple of minimum guarantees on our behalf. As a result, we started to put everything under one roof. We started talking about creating a company together, and it happened very quickly. In fact, we were able to transfer the last eight films that Stephen and I had been selling at Beyond Films into the new company. We started out with a small library, and we've been growing it ever since.
We are in the fortunate position of having access to funds, via our main investor, but our core business is international sales. I've been doing it for 32 years now. Stephen has been in the business for 20 years. It's a boutique style company, but we use all our contacts with financiers and filmmakers worldwide to invest in films and actually sell them.
Our library has about 35 titles. That's not including the films we're actively selling, which totals to about eight. We're always looking for English language projects by distinctive filmmakers (we don't do foreign language) of high quality that we believe will be able to sell. We look for films that are unique and of top quality, because that's what the buyers always want. Even if it's a story that's been told many times before, they always want some new slant to it.
What do you look for when considering projects?
We've always had our successes with the more outlandish, left field stories. Whenever we're considering a project, we always have that debate. What is the hook? What is going to appeal to the buyers? We have to think about all these things, and we have to keep a very keen eye on cast. Who's rising? Who's not? Who's good? It is a brutal business, and you're only as good as your last film.
We have to also keep an eye on what's working in the box office, which territories are strong, and which ones are going down. You know it's fascinating, because it gives you a worldview of how territories are doing and who's coming up in terms of countries and economies. You know they've been up and down, and up again.
I think Russia was coming up so strongly and quickly, but now it's declined a little bit. India and China have exploded. Brazil is very strong at the moment. It's always about North America, and the buyers always say to us, "Who's going to distribute your film in America?” so that's still a key country.
How are sales this year?
Our biggest success to date is with Belle, a film that has been a tipping point in our development and has just been released in North America. There's been a lot of press about it in the states. That's going to be released next month on the 13th of June in the UK. We sold that to Fox Searchlight worldwide, in what was a massive deal for us. Frankly, it's been the highlight of our careers, and it's enabled us to move on to the next steps.
We've had our best year ever, and every year in Bankside's development has been an improvement from the previous year. It's been a gradual and steady process of growth. We want to retain our boutique style, and we're never going to become one of these huge companies. That's not who we are. We want to retain that sense of really caring for each film, and remain producer friendly so they'll want to come back to us with their next films. It's hard to do repeat business, but you really build your business when you get the reputation for being very honest, but also very successful. We've spent our careers building our reputations in this way.
Please talk about some of your more recent films.
We've recently done a North American deal with Relativity Media for Hector and the Search for Happiness, which was launched in Berlin this year. It stars Simon Pegg and Toni Collette. That was one of the larger budget films that we worked on, and we invested money into that as well.
We're in post-production on a film called Backtrack, which is an Australian production staring Adrien Brody and Sam Neill. Stephen and I are quite well known in Australia because of our years of experience with Beyond Films. We always have an eye on what's happening in the Australian market, and that's how this film came to us.
Another film in post-production is called X + Y. It's by first time director Morgan Matthews, who has really made his name as a documentarian. He expanded what was a heartfelt documentary into a feature film. We're very pleased with the way it's going, and we're hoping to launch it later in the year. It stars Asa Butterfield and Sally Hawkins.
Please talk about your background.
When I graduated, I saw an advert for a job that said "Film Company. European Languages are an advantage." I could speak French, Italian and Spanish, so I went for the interview. It was the London office and European headquarters of Warner Brothers, and they offered me the job on the spot. That was it, and I was off! I couldn't believe that it was possible to watch films during the day for a job. It was almost too good to be true! I stayed there for 18 months, and then I went to Handmade Films, which was George Harrison's company, and I stayed there for fifteen years. It was the most wonderful company, because it was a production company that would fully finance and distribute films. I started there in 1984, and it was an amazing time. There were about four to five sales companies in London at the time, and now there are over 30. The business has changed so much over the years, but alll these experiences gave me the confidence to start Bankside.
What are some of the biggest changes that you've seen during your career?
There's just more of everything. There are more films, more companies, more producers, and more sellers. This is my 26th Cannes. I think about the past when we didn't have mobile phones. We just got the directions for meetings and stuck with our plans. There wasn't all this last minute "I'm here, where are you?" stuff. I think there's just been an explosion of activity. You see many more films from different cultures and countries. In Cannes, the selectors are so open to that. Look at the range of films in selection; it's quite amazing to see all the varied countries that have films in selection.
I lived in Nice for a year when I was studying, and taught English in a school there. One evening, I took the train from Nice to Cannes during the festival. I was walking around and thought it was so interesting. I never imagined for a moment that I would return in a professional capacity, and now I've been coming back ever since. Seeing Nice from the plane yesterday really took me back to those days. Working in the film business almost feels like a destiny or a fate, especially with my success over the past year... It's just been incredible.
Learn more about the Bankside Films library here.
More About Bankside Films:
Based in London, Bankside is a leading international sales and film finance company for independent films. Founded in January 2007 by Phil Hunt, Hilary Davis, Stephen Kelliher, Greg Cruttwell and Compton Ross, the company offers a bespoke sales and executive producer service to production companies, representing between eight and ten films a year. Bankside¹s principals have built up strong relationships with international distributors and offer a consistent approach to the market with a wide range of genres and budgets. Since its inception, Bankside cash-flows pre-sales, tax credits and finances gap using its knowledge and extensive relationships with international financiers and distributors.
- 5/27/2014
- by Erin Grover
- Sydney's Buzz
'We spent weeks in that big house entirely in character – just being really horrible to each other'
Mike Leigh, director
Naked was my big international breakthrough. I'd never had a film in Cannes before – and in 1993, I won best director and David Thewlis took best actor for his extraordinary performance as Johnny. At first, though, the film was called Untitled '92. I was starting to anticipate the millennium: it was obvious it was going to be a big deal, but I didn't know how to treat the subject. I could have made a science-fiction film. But I realised the character of Johnny – a frustrated, idealist drifter who's hacked off with the world – would be a very interesting vehicle for millennial preoccupations.
We prepared for the film in an old office block in Marylebone, London. David was living in Soho, endlessly reading Nostradamus and all the other things Johnny was into.
Mike Leigh, director
Naked was my big international breakthrough. I'd never had a film in Cannes before – and in 1993, I won best director and David Thewlis took best actor for his extraordinary performance as Johnny. At first, though, the film was called Untitled '92. I was starting to anticipate the millennium: it was obvious it was going to be a big deal, but I didn't know how to treat the subject. I could have made a science-fiction film. But I realised the character of Johnny – a frustrated, idealist drifter who's hacked off with the world – would be a very interesting vehicle for millennial preoccupations.
We prepared for the film in an old office block in Marylebone, London. David was living in Soho, endlessly reading Nostradamus and all the other things Johnny was into.
- 11/19/2013
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
Today's film news is going to lasso the moon
On the site today
• It's a Wonderful Life to get sequel treatment
• Toxicology tests suggests Brittany Murphy may have ingested poison
• Christian Bale offers Ben Affleck advice over Bat-urination
• Alan Turing's niece questions accuracy of upcoming biopic
• James Cameron reveals Avatar almost didn't get made
• Alex Cox is writing about The Parallax View and 1970s conspiracy movies
• Cine-files bigs up the Phoenix in Dingle, Co Kerry
• Quiz: in homage to Scarlett Johannson's role in Her, it's guess the voice
• Q&A with our one-minute film competition winner Fin McMorran. (The winning film is called Heat; go on, take a look.)
You may have missed
• Disney banned Walt Disney from smoking in Saving Mr Banks
• Mike Leigh and Greg Cruttwell on making Naked
• Al Pacino as the vampire Lestat? Which alternative casting would you most like to see?
• Fifty-year battle over James...
On the site today
• It's a Wonderful Life to get sequel treatment
• Toxicology tests suggests Brittany Murphy may have ingested poison
• Christian Bale offers Ben Affleck advice over Bat-urination
• Alan Turing's niece questions accuracy of upcoming biopic
• James Cameron reveals Avatar almost didn't get made
• Alex Cox is writing about The Parallax View and 1970s conspiracy movies
• Cine-files bigs up the Phoenix in Dingle, Co Kerry
• Quiz: in homage to Scarlett Johannson's role in Her, it's guess the voice
• Q&A with our one-minute film competition winner Fin McMorran. (The winning film is called Heat; go on, take a look.)
You may have missed
• Disney banned Walt Disney from smoking in Saving Mr Banks
• Mike Leigh and Greg Cruttwell on making Naked
• Al Pacino as the vampire Lestat? Which alternative casting would you most like to see?
• Fifty-year battle over James...
- 11/19/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
In the past few years I've fallen in love with Mike Leigh's work. The first film of his I saw was 2004's Vera Drake, a dark and disturbing picture that doesn't necessarily represent the side of Leigh I love, but is nonetheless a powerful film. It wasn't until Happy-Go-Lucky in 2008 that I saw my second Leigh feature and the sheer lust for life that was exhibited in that film from Sally Hawkins' performance to Leigh's script won me over. Since then I've enjoyed Secrets and Lies, Topsy-Turvy, Another Year and now Naked as Criterion has upgraded their 2005 DVD edition to a beautiful Blu-ray transfer, that allows for Leigh's direction and script to shine along with powerful performances and Dick Pope's wonderful cinematography.
However, I won't be quick to recommend Naked as a blind buy. This film is an alt-Happy-Go-Lucky and hues closer to Vera Drake in its darker tone as Johnny,...
However, I won't be quick to recommend Naked as a blind buy. This film is an alt-Happy-Go-Lucky and hues closer to Vera Drake in its darker tone as Johnny,...
- 7/19/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Rank the week of July 12th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Arthur
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #5711
Times Ranked: 827
Win Percentage: 52%
Top-20 Rankings: 6
Directed By: Jason Winer
Starring: Russell Brand • Helen Mirren • Greta Gerwig • Jennifer Garner • Luis Guzman
Genres: Comedy • Farce
Rank This Movie
The Lincoln Lawyer
(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #2807
Times Ranked: 1535
Win Percentage: 55%
Top-20 Rankings: 6
Directed By: Brad Furman
Starring: Matthew McConaughey • Marisa Tomei • Ryan Phillippe • William H. Macy • John Leguizamo
Genres: Drama • Psychological Thriller • Thriller
Rank This Movie
Rango
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #595
Times Ranked: 5790
Win Percentage: 38%
Top-20 Rankings: 18
Directed By: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp • Isla Fisher • Abigail Breslin • Ned Beatty • Alfred Molina
Genres: Action • Adventure • Animation • Comedy • Family-Oriented Adventure • Family-Oriented Comedy • Western
Rank This Movie
Insidious
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2010)
Flickchart Ranking: #3119
Times Ranked: 1785
Win Percentage: 52%
Top-20 Rankings: 6
Directed By: James Wan...
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #5711
Times Ranked: 827
Win Percentage: 52%
Top-20 Rankings: 6
Directed By: Jason Winer
Starring: Russell Brand • Helen Mirren • Greta Gerwig • Jennifer Garner • Luis Guzman
Genres: Comedy • Farce
Rank This Movie
The Lincoln Lawyer
(DVD and Blu-ray | R | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #2807
Times Ranked: 1535
Win Percentage: 55%
Top-20 Rankings: 6
Directed By: Brad Furman
Starring: Matthew McConaughey • Marisa Tomei • Ryan Phillippe • William H. Macy • John Leguizamo
Genres: Drama • Psychological Thriller • Thriller
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Rango
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #595
Times Ranked: 5790
Win Percentage: 38%
Top-20 Rankings: 18
Directed By: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Johnny Depp • Isla Fisher • Abigail Breslin • Ned Beatty • Alfred Molina
Genres: Action • Adventure • Animation • Comedy • Family-Oriented Adventure • Family-Oriented Comedy • Western
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Insidious
(DVD and Blu-ray | PG13 | 2010)
Flickchart Ranking: #3119
Times Ranked: 1785
Win Percentage: 52%
Top-20 Rankings: 6
Directed By: James Wan...
- 7/12/2011
- by Jonathan Hardesty
- Flickchart
LONDON -- U.K.-based production and finance banner Head Gear Films has absorbed the management team of Beyond Films in kickstarting new international sales outfit Bankside Films, Head Gear said Tuesday.
Head Gear founders -- Phil Hunt, Greg Cruttwell and Compton Ross -- pacted with Beyond veterans Hilary Davis and Stephen Kelliher in co-founding the new unit.
Davis becomes co-managing director of Bankside, with Kelliher taking on the role of director, sales and marketing.
Hunt, who will co-manage the startup arm, said that setting up the new sales unit was part of an overall strategy to build "a vertically integrated film business."
"Expanding in 2006 from producing to a financing arm and now with the launch of the sales company, we are delighted to have attracted such leaders in their field as Hilary and Stephen To head up our new division," Hunt said.
Joining them at Bankside is former Beyond executive Antonio Salas, who takes up the reins as sales and acquisitions assistant, and Maria Carrion, who will coordinate acquisitions for the new company while continuing in her duties as Head Gear production boss.
Head Gear founders -- Phil Hunt, Greg Cruttwell and Compton Ross -- pacted with Beyond veterans Hilary Davis and Stephen Kelliher in co-founding the new unit.
Davis becomes co-managing director of Bankside, with Kelliher taking on the role of director, sales and marketing.
Hunt, who will co-manage the startup arm, said that setting up the new sales unit was part of an overall strategy to build "a vertically integrated film business."
"Expanding in 2006 from producing to a financing arm and now with the launch of the sales company, we are delighted to have attracted such leaders in their field as Hilary and Stephen To head up our new division," Hunt said.
Joining them at Bankside is former Beyond executive Antonio Salas, who takes up the reins as sales and acquisitions assistant, and Maria Carrion, who will coordinate acquisitions for the new company while continuing in her duties as Head Gear production boss.
BERLIN -- An oil man, a music-loving indie producer and an actor-turned-screenwriter all based in the United Kingdom might seem like an unlikely trio to back an up-and-coming Berlin-based Mexican director. But this triumvirate comprises London-based independent production and financing operation Head Gear, which produced Jorge Ramirez-Suarez's Rabbit on the Moon, set to unspool here Friday in a Special Screening. Run by producer Phil Hunt and multihyphenate Greg Cruttwell and backed by cash from Scotland-based oil man Compton Ross, Head Gear persuaded high-end U.K. sales and financing house Capitol Films to pitch international sales on Rabbit during the European Film Market.
- 2/16/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tap those bongos now for "George, George, George of the Jungle," as Disney's vine-swinging, long-haired inhabitant of the deep bush catapults into action in this deliriously daffy family film, starring Brendan Fraser as the good-hearted but accident-prone George. The word-of-mouth beat will travel far and wide as Buena Vista should tap a roar of approval among kids, as well as we more subversive taller people, for this brainy dumb-stuff.
From the fertile and slyly satiric imagination of the late Jay Ward, who developed the "George of the Jungle" characters into a memorable late-1960s cartoon series, the screenwriting duo of Dana Olsen and Audrey Wells has sagely transmogrified "George" to a contemporary jungle man, replete with many of the same problems the modern male is confronted with -- namely the incursions of the civilized world. To George's '90s treehouse abode come not explorers and slavers but, rather, a pair of rich twits (Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church), a Brahmin couple from San Francisco who are on a prenuptial safari. Goosed with some daffy, albeit prototypical comic characters such as two dunderheaded poachers and some devilishly deadpan guides who are great levelers of the simple safari folks' pretensions, "George" is a nimble blend of high-flying farce and screwy social satire.
For the film scholars in attendance too young to have savored the delights of such ancient comedy classics as "Crocodile Dundee II", there's even a high-wire, farcical midsection where George is swept away to the City by the Bay when the uppity Ursula decides he is the man for her. While Ursula tries to outfit George in the finery and ways of her tony upbringing, he of course takes a more direct approach to the mores and nuances of San Francisco high life. Most wonderfully, it's snooty San Francisco that takes it on the chin in this breezy send-up of modern-day life.
Will George escape San Francisco unscathed by the unnatural ways and odd conventions of 20th century sophistication? Will he swing freely with this honor and integrity intact among his good friends the wise Ape, the tookie tookie bird and his trusty elephant, Shep? What will gentle George learn about love? Without tipping off the plot to all the development people out there who can't figure out where the "whammy" points are, let's just say that it's George, not that Greek muscleman, who will most likely emerge as Disney's most potent and likable summer hero.
Since it's not our policy to bray negatively on a movie that boasts an elephant that scampers and bounds around like a big puppy, we'll merely mention that the visual special effects under the supervision of Tim Landry are expert and inspired. In fact, director Sam Weisman's balancing act between the zany story and the clever technical contributions is sharp and sweet. Best of all, credit to Fraser for his high-flying, good-hearted performance as gentle, heroic George.
Cast a net of praise also around Mann and Church for their nutty performances as the ultra-snooty couple and to John Cleese for his Tory-ish voicing of an ape named Ape. The other players are a similarly inspired and off-the-wall bunch, including Richard Roundtree as a condescending guide and, of course, the tweedle-dumb and tweedle-dumber comic bad-guy duo of Greg Cruttwell and Abraham Benrubi.
Marc Shaiman's zesty music, braced by the jaunty theme song, has enough bounce and pizazz to launch a score of toe-tappers' conventions.
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE
Buena Vista
Walt Disney Pictures
Producers David Hoberman,
Jordan Kerner, Jon Avnet
Director Sam Weisman
Screenwriters Dana Olsen, Audrey Wells
Story Dana Olsen
Based upon characters created by Jay Ward
Director of photography Thomas Ackerman
Production designer Stephen Marsh
Editors Stuart Pappe, Roger Bondelli
Music Marc Shaiman
Executive producer C. Tad Devlin
Visual effects supervisor Tim Landry
Co-producer Lou Arkoff
Costume designer Lisa Jensen
Casting Amanda Mackey Johnson,
Cathy Sandrich
Production sound David Kelson
Color/stereo
Cast:
George Brendan Fraser
Ursula Stanhope Leslie Mann
Lyle Van de Groot Thomas Haden Church
Kwame Richard Roundtree
Max Greg Cruttwell
Thor Abraham Benrubi
Beatrice Stanhope Holland Taylor
Betsy Kelly Miller
Arthur Stanhope John Bennett Perry
Voice of Ape John Cleese
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
From the fertile and slyly satiric imagination of the late Jay Ward, who developed the "George of the Jungle" characters into a memorable late-1960s cartoon series, the screenwriting duo of Dana Olsen and Audrey Wells has sagely transmogrified "George" to a contemporary jungle man, replete with many of the same problems the modern male is confronted with -- namely the incursions of the civilized world. To George's '90s treehouse abode come not explorers and slavers but, rather, a pair of rich twits (Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church), a Brahmin couple from San Francisco who are on a prenuptial safari. Goosed with some daffy, albeit prototypical comic characters such as two dunderheaded poachers and some devilishly deadpan guides who are great levelers of the simple safari folks' pretensions, "George" is a nimble blend of high-flying farce and screwy social satire.
For the film scholars in attendance too young to have savored the delights of such ancient comedy classics as "Crocodile Dundee II", there's even a high-wire, farcical midsection where George is swept away to the City by the Bay when the uppity Ursula decides he is the man for her. While Ursula tries to outfit George in the finery and ways of her tony upbringing, he of course takes a more direct approach to the mores and nuances of San Francisco high life. Most wonderfully, it's snooty San Francisco that takes it on the chin in this breezy send-up of modern-day life.
Will George escape San Francisco unscathed by the unnatural ways and odd conventions of 20th century sophistication? Will he swing freely with this honor and integrity intact among his good friends the wise Ape, the tookie tookie bird and his trusty elephant, Shep? What will gentle George learn about love? Without tipping off the plot to all the development people out there who can't figure out where the "whammy" points are, let's just say that it's George, not that Greek muscleman, who will most likely emerge as Disney's most potent and likable summer hero.
Since it's not our policy to bray negatively on a movie that boasts an elephant that scampers and bounds around like a big puppy, we'll merely mention that the visual special effects under the supervision of Tim Landry are expert and inspired. In fact, director Sam Weisman's balancing act between the zany story and the clever technical contributions is sharp and sweet. Best of all, credit to Fraser for his high-flying, good-hearted performance as gentle, heroic George.
Cast a net of praise also around Mann and Church for their nutty performances as the ultra-snooty couple and to John Cleese for his Tory-ish voicing of an ape named Ape. The other players are a similarly inspired and off-the-wall bunch, including Richard Roundtree as a condescending guide and, of course, the tweedle-dumb and tweedle-dumber comic bad-guy duo of Greg Cruttwell and Abraham Benrubi.
Marc Shaiman's zesty music, braced by the jaunty theme song, has enough bounce and pizazz to launch a score of toe-tappers' conventions.
GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE
Buena Vista
Walt Disney Pictures
Producers David Hoberman,
Jordan Kerner, Jon Avnet
Director Sam Weisman
Screenwriters Dana Olsen, Audrey Wells
Story Dana Olsen
Based upon characters created by Jay Ward
Director of photography Thomas Ackerman
Production designer Stephen Marsh
Editors Stuart Pappe, Roger Bondelli
Music Marc Shaiman
Executive producer C. Tad Devlin
Visual effects supervisor Tim Landry
Co-producer Lou Arkoff
Costume designer Lisa Jensen
Casting Amanda Mackey Johnson,
Cathy Sandrich
Production sound David Kelson
Color/stereo
Cast:
George Brendan Fraser
Ursula Stanhope Leslie Mann
Lyle Van de Groot Thomas Haden Church
Kwame Richard Roundtree
Max Greg Cruttwell
Thor Abraham Benrubi
Beatrice Stanhope Holland Taylor
Betsy Kelly Miller
Arthur Stanhope John Bennett Perry
Voice of Ape John Cleese
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 7/14/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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