For a festival traditionally not keen on animation, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee” has surprisingly garnered remarkable accolades. The Danish-French-Swedish-Norwegian production marked the first acquisition of Sundance (sold to Neon for seven figures!), and eventually closed out as the winner of this year’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. At the same time, however, maybe this is to be expected. Out of ten entries, three this year in the World Cinema: Documentary section concerned the plight of refugees. “Flee” truly stands out here, as it tells a story beyond refugee status.
“Flee” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
“Flee” recounts the years-long journey of an anonymous gay Afghan refugee (hereon referred to as Amin Nawabi). Nawabi seems to have it all. He is an accomplished academic with a postdoc waiting for him at Princeton University; his significant other is madly in love with him; and now,...
“Flee” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
“Flee” recounts the years-long journey of an anonymous gay Afghan refugee (hereon referred to as Amin Nawabi). Nawabi seems to have it all. He is an accomplished academic with a postdoc waiting for him at Princeton University; his significant other is madly in love with him; and now,...
- 3/4/2023
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Pressman died in Los Angeles on January 17.
Edward R. Pressman, the eminent independent producer of Wall Street, American Psycho and The Crow, has died aged 79.
The US producer died in Los Angeles on January 17. A statement said he “passed away peacefully surrounded by friends, family and members of the Pressman Film company”.
Producing more than 90 features over 50 years, Pressman was known for fostering renowned director-driven titles. Some of his best-known films include Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant, Terrence Malick’s Badlands, John Milius’ Conan the Barbarian, and Mary Harron’s American Psycho.
He had most...
Edward R. Pressman, the eminent independent producer of Wall Street, American Psycho and The Crow, has died aged 79.
The US producer died in Los Angeles on January 17. A statement said he “passed away peacefully surrounded by friends, family and members of the Pressman Film company”.
Producing more than 90 features over 50 years, Pressman was known for fostering renowned director-driven titles. Some of his best-known films include Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant, Terrence Malick’s Badlands, John Milius’ Conan the Barbarian, and Mary Harron’s American Psycho.
He had most...
- 1/18/2023
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Edward Pressman, the legendary producer of “Wall Street,” “The Crow” and “Conan the Barbarian,” has died, according to a rep for the Pressman family. Pressman was 79.
Pressman, who also produced “American Psycho” and “Bad Lieutenant,” died Tuesday night in Los Angeles. He was surrounded by family and friends and members of the Pressman Film company.
With over 90 diverse motion pictures produced over his 50+ year career, Pressman forged a career fostering renowned director-driven titles that pushed the envelope with originality and eclecticism. Pressman’s foremost specialty was discovering new talent and bringing new cinematic experiences to global audiences.
Also Read:
Hollywood’s Notable Deaths of 2022 (Photos)
Some of the notable directors Pressman has worked with include Oliver Stone, Abel Ferrara, Terrence Malick, John Milius, Mary Harron and Alex Proyas.
Pressman helped hone and broke out the first films of Brian DePalma (“Sisters” and “Phantom of the Paradise”), Terrence Malick (“Badlands”) and...
Pressman, who also produced “American Psycho” and “Bad Lieutenant,” died Tuesday night in Los Angeles. He was surrounded by family and friends and members of the Pressman Film company.
With over 90 diverse motion pictures produced over his 50+ year career, Pressman forged a career fostering renowned director-driven titles that pushed the envelope with originality and eclecticism. Pressman’s foremost specialty was discovering new talent and bringing new cinematic experiences to global audiences.
Also Read:
Hollywood’s Notable Deaths of 2022 (Photos)
Some of the notable directors Pressman has worked with include Oliver Stone, Abel Ferrara, Terrence Malick, John Milius, Mary Harron and Alex Proyas.
Pressman helped hone and broke out the first films of Brian DePalma (“Sisters” and “Phantom of the Paradise”), Terrence Malick (“Badlands”) and...
- 1/18/2023
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, the division run by Mike Darnell, is entering the feature documentary acquisitions market with its first big purchase – rights to Canadian true-con doc The Talented Mr. Rosenberg.
While the unit has produced documentaries such as HBO Max’s LGBTQ series Equal and Epix’s Charles Manson series Helter Skelter as well as an upcoming DC Comics doc, this marks the first time that it has picked up the global rights, outside of Canada, to a doc coming out of a market.
The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, which tells the story of Canadian jet-setting con artist Albert Rosenberg, who is described as a cross between Bernie Madoff and The Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev, recently premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.
Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, in association with its sibling Warner Horizon, will now shop it to broadcasters and streamers in the U.S. and internationally outside of Canada,...
While the unit has produced documentaries such as HBO Max’s LGBTQ series Equal and Epix’s Charles Manson series Helter Skelter as well as an upcoming DC Comics doc, this marks the first time that it has picked up the global rights, outside of Canada, to a doc coming out of a market.
The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, which tells the story of Canadian jet-setting con artist Albert Rosenberg, who is described as a cross between Bernie Madoff and The Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev, recently premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.
Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, in association with its sibling Warner Horizon, will now shop it to broadcasters and streamers in the U.S. and internationally outside of Canada,...
- 7/7/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
This review for “Dear Mr. Brody” was first published March 4 after its release on-demand and in U.S. theaters. It premieres Thursday on Discovery+.
At the dawn of the 1970s, the North Pole briefly faced some stiff competition as a wish repository from a floppy-haired, peace-loving, guitar-playing trust fund kid named Michael J. Brody. Heir to a margarine fortune, Brody announced shortly after his 21st birthday that he’d give away most of his 25 million to anyone who asked — as a gift for the needy, a sign of rich-in-life contentment (he’d just gotten married) and a down payment on more love in a wartorn, unequal world.
The largely forgotten story of the “hippie millionaire,” whose Scarsdale home, phone line, and Manhattan business address (all given out freely by Brody) were flooded with recipient hopefuls, is only part of the weird, wonderful and woeful retelling that is Keith Maitland’s engrossing documentary “Dear Mr. Brody.
At the dawn of the 1970s, the North Pole briefly faced some stiff competition as a wish repository from a floppy-haired, peace-loving, guitar-playing trust fund kid named Michael J. Brody. Heir to a margarine fortune, Brody announced shortly after his 21st birthday that he’d give away most of his 25 million to anyone who asked — as a gift for the needy, a sign of rich-in-life contentment (he’d just gotten married) and a down payment on more love in a wartorn, unequal world.
The largely forgotten story of the “hippie millionaire,” whose Scarsdale home, phone line, and Manhattan business address (all given out freely by Brody) were flooded with recipient hopefuls, is only part of the weird, wonderful and woeful retelling that is Keith Maitland’s engrossing documentary “Dear Mr. Brody.
- 4/28/2022
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
A delightful meditation on childhood in the summer of 1969 set literally in the shadows of NASA’s central operations in Houston, Richard Linklater’s contemplative and vividly animated Apollo 10 ½ A Space Age Childhood reflects on the filmmaker’s own experiences. It captures the joy and wonder of childhood through the eyes of Stan, a ten-year-old who fantasizes about being recruited for “space camp” by NASA. His father (Bill Wise), a frugal but caring man, has uprooted his family from the city to a newly built suburban development in the shadow of the Astrodome and Astroworld amusement parks. Black’s adult narrator fills in the blanks for us with whimsical, nostalgic details that highlight just how dangerous childhood can be between abusive coaches, parents that thought nothing of allowing the kids to ride in the back of a pick-up truck at 70 miles an hour, and playing with explosives.
The first animated...
The first animated...
- 3/16/2022
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
If it weren’t for a chance encounter, the story of a 21-year-old margarine heir who pledged to give away his $25 million inheritance to anyone in need may have remained packed up in boxes forever.
Fifty years after Michael Brody Jr.’s announcement triggered an avalanche of letters from around the world, Melissa Robyn Glassman discovered the letters — unopened — in a Los Angeles storage unit belonging to the filmmaker Edward R. Pressman.
This trove of letters – approximately 30,000 in total – became the basis of the documentary “Dear Mr. Brody,” which is currently available on VOD and playing in select theaters.
Writer-director Keith Maitland said he was “immediately” drawn to the story, which unfolded over ten days in January 1970, when he began reading the letters.
“You’d open up these little novellas where people just unloaded their life and told you all about their family members and their wants and desires,” he told TheWrap.
Fifty years after Michael Brody Jr.’s announcement triggered an avalanche of letters from around the world, Melissa Robyn Glassman discovered the letters — unopened — in a Los Angeles storage unit belonging to the filmmaker Edward R. Pressman.
This trove of letters – approximately 30,000 in total – became the basis of the documentary “Dear Mr. Brody,” which is currently available on VOD and playing in select theaters.
Writer-director Keith Maitland said he was “immediately” drawn to the story, which unfolded over ten days in January 1970, when he began reading the letters.
“You’d open up these little novellas where people just unloaded their life and told you all about their family members and their wants and desires,” he told TheWrap.
- 3/9/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
A4 presents Kagonada’s second feature After Yang in limited release, the latest in the distributor’s varied indie slate ahead of wide-release horror slasher X on 3/18 and sci-fi adventure Everything Everywhere All At Once on 3/25 — which is also opening SXSW Film Festival.
This is a weekend where The Batman casts a long shadow, but the specialty market is also hungry for new content with moviegoers demonstrably, measurably, more willing to return to theaters in person.
A24 has been a strong voice in the pandemic-scarred cinema landscape. Green Knight, Zola and C’mon, C’mon helped juice the indie box office last year as odd Icelandic horror film Lamb and porno-themed Red Rocket became culty favorites. Other releases included The Humans, The Souvenir: Part II and Saint Maude. The distributor took three Oscar noms with Apple TV+ for The Tragedy of Macbeth. X as well as A24’s upcoming Bodies Bodies Bodies...
This is a weekend where The Batman casts a long shadow, but the specialty market is also hungry for new content with moviegoers demonstrably, measurably, more willing to return to theaters in person.
A24 has been a strong voice in the pandemic-scarred cinema landscape. Green Knight, Zola and C’mon, C’mon helped juice the indie box office last year as odd Icelandic horror film Lamb and porno-themed Red Rocket became culty favorites. Other releases included The Humans, The Souvenir: Part II and Saint Maude. The distributor took three Oscar noms with Apple TV+ for The Tragedy of Macbeth. X as well as A24’s upcoming Bodies Bodies Bodies...
- 3/4/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
By Glenn Dunks
Sometimes it is those brief moments in history that can offer the greatest glimpse at the changing state of a nation. Keith Maitland does just that with the story of Michael Brody Jr., a blip on the radar of pop culture by today’s standards, but who in 1970 at the age of 21—a self-proclaimed hippie millionaire, the heir to a large margarine fortune—caused pandemonium when he declared his intentions to give away his entire wealth to anybody who asked for it...
Sometimes it is those brief moments in history that can offer the greatest glimpse at the changing state of a nation. Keith Maitland does just that with the story of Michael Brody Jr., a blip on the radar of pop culture by today’s standards, but who in 1970 at the age of 21—a self-proclaimed hippie millionaire, the heir to a large margarine fortune—caused pandemonium when he declared his intentions to give away his entire wealth to anybody who asked for it...
- 3/4/2022
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
After Yang (kogonada)
Following his serenely stunning drama Columbus, video-essayist-turned-director kogonada headed to the future with After Yang. The gorgeous, moving drama about what makes up a family premiered at last year’s Cannes (where our own Rory O’Connor was mixed) and after a few tweaks recently landed at Sundance, where it received quite a rapturous response. Starring Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Justin H. Min, Sarita Choudhury, Haley Lu Richardson, and Clifton Collins Jr., it follows Farrell as Jake, a father who attempts to repair the malfunction Yang, an android that was a companion to his young daughter. In his second feature, kogonada perfectly depicts quite a seemingly realistic near-future while still retaining the peaceful artistic sensibilities of his debut.
After Yang (kogonada)
Following his serenely stunning drama Columbus, video-essayist-turned-director kogonada headed to the future with After Yang. The gorgeous, moving drama about what makes up a family premiered at last year’s Cannes (where our own Rory O’Connor was mixed) and after a few tweaks recently landed at Sundance, where it received quite a rapturous response. Starring Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja, Justin H. Min, Sarita Choudhury, Haley Lu Richardson, and Clifton Collins Jr., it follows Farrell as Jake, a father who attempts to repair the malfunction Yang, an android that was a companion to his young daughter. In his second feature, kogonada perfectly depicts quite a seemingly realistic near-future while still retaining the peaceful artistic sensibilities of his debut.
- 3/4/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Ed Pressman’s five decades of producing credits include everything from Terrence Malick’s “Badlands” to “Wall Street,” “The Crow,” Abel Ferrara’s “Bad Lieutenant” and the reimagining of the same title in another version directed by Werner Herzog. But nothing in his roster has been as singular as the story of the hippie billionaire at the center of “Dear Mr. Brody,” which opens this week, and its existence speaks to the long-tail success of a producer whose assets have accrued unique value with time.
In the ‘70s, Pressman came into possession of material that he knew would make a good movie: Tentatively called “The Last Flower Child” with Richard Dreyfuss in talks to star, the project would recount the bizarre saga of Michael Brody Jr., the 21-year-old heir to the Oleomargarine fortune who announced that he would give $25 million to anyone who asked. In the process of acquiring the rights to the project,...
In the ‘70s, Pressman came into possession of material that he knew would make a good movie: Tentatively called “The Last Flower Child” with Richard Dreyfuss in talks to star, the project would recount the bizarre saga of Michael Brody Jr., the 21-year-old heir to the Oleomargarine fortune who announced that he would give $25 million to anyone who asked. In the process of acquiring the rights to the project,...
- 3/3/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
It’s The Batman time. As such, there aren’t many studio pictures hitting theaters to combat the cowl this month. So, with Turning Red going to streaming, the time for counter programming through indie and foreign titles is here. Hopefully your local theaters comply. If not, there are a few below hitting VOD too. You can go to Gotham and still return home for something more low-key.
And there’s always Oscars catch-up with the last few nominees finding their way to digital and/or streaming this month. That also means the alternative poster game has begun to increase in the lead-up to March 27’s ceremony. Here are some of my faves from Needle Design, Eileen Steinbach, Haley Turnbull, and Scott Saslow:
A familial pose
There are so many sightlines in P+A’s poster for After Yang that it’s impossible not to find your way through the entirety of the page.
And there’s always Oscars catch-up with the last few nominees finding their way to digital and/or streaming this month. That also means the alternative poster game has begun to increase in the lead-up to March 27’s ceremony. Here are some of my faves from Needle Design, Eileen Steinbach, Haley Turnbull, and Scott Saslow:
A familial pose
There are so many sightlines in P+A’s poster for After Yang that it’s impossible not to find your way through the entirety of the page.
- 3/3/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
In 1970, Michael Brody Jr announced he would give away $25m, inspiring hundreds of thousands of letters. But as a new documentary shows, the story took an unlikely turn
What’s more poignant than an unopened letter, with all its needs unanswered and its expressions unseen? It’s a missive made for intrigue, as well as an invitation to voyeurism few could resist.
Small wonder director Keith Maitland and veteran film producer Ed Pressman centered their new documentary, Dear Mr Brody, on a trove of unread letters that came into Pressman’s possession and that he found so compelling, he has preserved them for more than five decades now. “Each letter is a life,” the producer said. “Opening them is like peeking behind a curtain into somebody’s private story,” Maitland added.
What’s more poignant than an unopened letter, with all its needs unanswered and its expressions unseen? It’s a missive made for intrigue, as well as an invitation to voyeurism few could resist.
Small wonder director Keith Maitland and veteran film producer Ed Pressman centered their new documentary, Dear Mr Brody, on a trove of unread letters that came into Pressman’s possession and that he found so compelling, he has preserved them for more than five decades now. “Each letter is a life,” the producer said. “Opening them is like peeking behind a curtain into somebody’s private story,” Maitland added.
- 3/2/2022
- by Jim Farber
- The Guardian - Film News
Not in fact a documentary about one of our most erudite film critics, Dear Mr. Brody uncovers the peculiar true tale of a hippie millionaire who wanted to give back. In January 1970, Michael Brody Jr., the 21-year-old heir to a margarine fortune, announced to the world that he would personally usher in a new era of peace and love by giving away his $25-million inheritance to anyone in need. Tower director Keith Maitland now captures the story in his latest documentary, which arrives in NY and LA theaters on March 4, followed by a Discovery+ debut.
John Fink said in his SXSW review, “Keith Maitland, who brought to animated life the University of Texas Tower shooting with the documentary Tower, brings the same immediacy to the moment in a film that simultaneously tells Brody’s story through archival materials and new interviews while tracking down a few of those who were seeking his help.
John Fink said in his SXSW review, “Keith Maitland, who brought to animated life the University of Texas Tower shooting with the documentary Tower, brings the same immediacy to the moment in a film that simultaneously tells Brody’s story through archival materials and new interviews while tracking down a few of those who were seeking his help.
- 2/23/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"A poignant investigation of universal dreams." Greenwich Ent. has released an official trailer for an indie documentary film called Dear Mr. Brody, made by acclaimed doc filmmaker Keith Maitland (best known for his doc Tower a few years ago). A documentary about Michael Brody Jr., a 21-year-old hippie millionaire who in 1970 promised to give away his $25M inheritance in an effort to usher in a new era of world peace. After the announcement, he was mobbed by the public, scrutinized by the press, and overwhelmed by the crush of personal letters responding to this extraordinary offer. Fifty years later, an enormous cache of these letters are discovered—unopened. It's about the "psychedelic journey of the hippie-millionaire who offered to solve the world's problems for the price of a postage stamp... and the everyday Americans who took him up on his offer." Sounds like a cautionary tale! I'm very curious to...
- 2/18/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
In 1970, Michael James Brody Jr., the 21-year-old heir to the Jelke Margarine fortune, went on television to announce that he would give away $25 million to anybody who asked him for money. The event took the country by storm — Brody essentially went viral, decades before social media was invented. He received thousands of letters, from everyone from young children to the elderly, asking him for money. The ill-conceived project quickly went awry when it became clear that Brody did not have nearly as much money to give away as he had suggested, and the entire saga was soon relegated to a weird trivia story.
But there is much more to the story than just Brody himself. “Dear Mr. Brody,” the new documentary from director Keith Maitland, explores the events in a new light. Watch the full trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.
Much like Maitland’s previous documentary, “Tower,” the documentary relies...
But there is much more to the story than just Brody himself. “Dear Mr. Brody,” the new documentary from director Keith Maitland, explores the events in a new light. Watch the full trailer, an IndieWire exclusive, below.
Much like Maitland’s previous documentary, “Tower,” the documentary relies...
- 2/17/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Imagine being the son of NBA great Dwyane Wade – one of the game’s all-time greats – and wanting to play basketball too.
That’s the reality for Zaire Wade, Dwyane’s eldest son, who was drafted last October by the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League. Zaire, who turns 20 on Friday, has got some skills like his father, who just turned 40.
“Now, when I ask him to play [1-on-1],” Zaire said in a recent interview, “he doesn’t want to play me no more. He says he’s too old.”
Joking aside, those are some big shoes to fill. The six-part documentary series Legacy: In the Shadow of Greatness, launching on the Discovery+ streaming platform on March 8, explores what it’s like to be the offspring of a famous athlete and, like your dad, wanting to excel in sport.
Jonathan Hock, winner of 11 Emmys, directs the series...
That’s the reality for Zaire Wade, Dwyane’s eldest son, who was drafted last October by the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League. Zaire, who turns 20 on Friday, has got some skills like his father, who just turned 40.
“Now, when I ask him to play [1-on-1],” Zaire said in a recent interview, “he doesn’t want to play me no more. He says he’s too old.”
Joking aside, those are some big shoes to fill. The six-part documentary series Legacy: In the Shadow of Greatness, launching on the Discovery+ streaming platform on March 8, explores what it’s like to be the offspring of a famous athlete and, like your dad, wanting to excel in sport.
Jonathan Hock, winner of 11 Emmys, directs the series...
- 2/3/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
What brings documentaries to life? For an increasing number of them, it’s colorful characters — literally. Animation is making docs more accessible to a wider audience, allowing filmmakers to dramatize scenes that can’t be shown with footage and bringing them into once-unimagined awards categories.
No film has demonstrated this more clearly than Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s refugee saga “Flee.” The Neon/Participant release made Oscar shortlists for both documentary feature and international feature film, won a Gotham Award for documentary and Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. But it also scored a Golden Globe nom and Boston, Chicago and Detroit critics group award wins for animated feature, paving the way for an Academy Award nomination in that category as well.
The critical success of this Danish/French/Swedish/Norwegian co-production is igniting interest in other animated docs at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, but this...
No film has demonstrated this more clearly than Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s refugee saga “Flee.” The Neon/Participant release made Oscar shortlists for both documentary feature and international feature film, won a Gotham Award for documentary and Sundance Film Festival’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. But it also scored a Golden Globe nom and Boston, Chicago and Detroit critics group award wins for animated feature, paving the way for an Academy Award nomination in that category as well.
The critical success of this Danish/French/Swedish/Norwegian co-production is igniting interest in other animated docs at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, but this...
- 1/21/2022
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
Topic Studios president Maria Zuckerman is a canny executive who can see over the horizon. In 2019, the New Yorker figured out that the Hollywood universe was expanding at such a rate that it was time to become a bicoastal content provider instead of a distributor-buyer. She left producing at HBO, where she had been happily ensconced for almost 20 years, and moved over to independent Topic Studios. She quickly saw a route to diversifying and expanding the company’s lineup, by backing, funding, and producing (at different levels) a wide range of independent features, building on the Oscar-winning “Spotlight” toward this past weekend’s opener, Pablo Larraín’s surreal Princess Diana drama “Spencer” (Neon), starring Oscar frontrunner Kristen Stewart.
“It’s a fiercely independent company,” Zuckerman said in an interview with IndieWire. That’s because owner First Look Media (Oscar-winning “Spotlight”) created a two-sided entity: the not-for-profit and the studio. “Our mission is to be profitable,...
“It’s a fiercely independent company,” Zuckerman said in an interview with IndieWire. That’s because owner First Look Media (Oscar-winning “Spotlight”) created a two-sided entity: the not-for-profit and the studio. “Our mission is to be profitable,...
- 11/8/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Topic Studios president Maria Zuckerman is a canny executive who can see over the horizon. In 2019, the New Yorker figured out that the Hollywood universe was expanding at such a rate that it was time to become a bicoastal content provider instead of a distributor-buyer. She left producing at HBO, where she had been happily ensconced for almost 20 years, and moved over to independent Topic Studios. She quickly saw a route to diversifying and expanding the company’s lineup, by backing, funding, and producing (at different levels) a wide range of independent features, building on the Oscar-winning “Spotlight” toward this past weekend’s opener, Pablo Larraín’s surreal Princess Diana drama “Spencer” (Neon), starring Oscar frontrunner Kristen Stewart.
“It’s a fiercely independent company,” Zuckerman said in an interview with IndieWire. That’s because owner First Look Media (Oscar-winning “Spotlight”) created a two-sided entity: the not-for-profit and the studio. “Our mission is to be profitable,...
“It’s a fiercely independent company,” Zuckerman said in an interview with IndieWire. That’s because owner First Look Media (Oscar-winning “Spotlight”) created a two-sided entity: the not-for-profit and the studio. “Our mission is to be profitable,...
- 11/8/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Miami film fans have an express pass to the best of the world’s film festivals at Miami Dade College’s eighth annual Miami Film Festival Gems, an offshoot of the Miami Film Festival. The Gems line-up expands to seven days this year (Nov. 4-10) and offers in-person screenings of lauded features selected from prestige festivals and international awards season contenders.
“We’re trying to capture the vibe of the moment,” says Jaie Laplante, Miami Film Festival’s executive director and co-director of programming. The festival programmers selected from the prizewinners and standouts of Cannes, Venice, Toronto, New York and other fests. The result is a Telluride-like experience where audiences, “see everything together in a concentrated period of time.”
Some titles will be available virtually as well.
“People are so excited about the line-up: all the films can be recommended,” says Lauren Cohen, Miami Gems co-director of programming.
Fest attendees...
“We’re trying to capture the vibe of the moment,” says Jaie Laplante, Miami Film Festival’s executive director and co-director of programming. The festival programmers selected from the prizewinners and standouts of Cannes, Venice, Toronto, New York and other fests. The result is a Telluride-like experience where audiences, “see everything together in a concentrated period of time.”
Some titles will be available virtually as well.
“People are so excited about the line-up: all the films can be recommended,” says Lauren Cohen, Miami Gems co-director of programming.
Fest attendees...
- 11/4/2021
- by Kathy A. McDonald
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Discovery+ is ramping up its feature doc slate with a range of new titles including a documentary about Michael Brody Jr., a hippie-millionaire and heir to a margarine fortune who publicly offered his $25-million inheritance to anyone in need in 1970.
The streamer has acquired the rights to Dear Mr. Brody, which is directed by Keith Maitland (Tower) and was an official selection at the Telluride Film Festival, as well as screening at SXSW and Tribeca Festival.
It has also picked up feature docs Set!, Dead Man’s Switch and Keep Sweet.
Dear Mr. Brody, which will be released theatrically by Greenwich Entertainment ahead of its streaming bow, will launch in winter 2022. It follows the complex story of Brody, who announced that he would be giving away his fortune in 1970. He and his wife became instant celebrities and they were mobbed by the public, scrutinized by the press, and overwhelmed...
The streamer has acquired the rights to Dear Mr. Brody, which is directed by Keith Maitland (Tower) and was an official selection at the Telluride Film Festival, as well as screening at SXSW and Tribeca Festival.
It has also picked up feature docs Set!, Dead Man’s Switch and Keep Sweet.
Dear Mr. Brody, which will be released theatrically by Greenwich Entertainment ahead of its streaming bow, will launch in winter 2022. It follows the complex story of Brody, who announced that he would be giving away his fortune in 1970. He and his wife became instant celebrities and they were mobbed by the public, scrutinized by the press, and overwhelmed...
- 10/1/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Slate includes Indecent exposure adaptation with The Bureau director Eric Rochant.
Eager to mine his back catalogue of IP, veteran US producer Ed Pressman is lining up local-language remakes of Bad Lieutenant, the crime drama he first made with Abel Ferrara nearly 30 years ago and subsequently remade with Werner Herzog.
Pressman, who joined son and Pressman Film VP of production Sam Pressman in Cannes this week to unveil the Evolver-Prologue VR collaboration with Terrence Malick, has lined up directors and local producing partners to adapt Bad Lieutenant in the UK, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Argentina.
Scripts are being written...
Eager to mine his back catalogue of IP, veteran US producer Ed Pressman is lining up local-language remakes of Bad Lieutenant, the crime drama he first made with Abel Ferrara nearly 30 years ago and subsequently remade with Werner Herzog.
Pressman, who joined son and Pressman Film VP of production Sam Pressman in Cannes this week to unveil the Evolver-Prologue VR collaboration with Terrence Malick, has lined up directors and local producing partners to adapt Bad Lieutenant in the UK, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Argentina.
Scripts are being written...
- 7/10/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Criterion Channel’s July 2021 Lineup Includes Wong Kar Wai, Neo-Noir, Art-House Animation & More
The July lineup at The Criterion Channel has been revealed, most notably featuring the new Wong Kar Wai restorations from the recent box set release, including As Tears Go By, Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love, 2046, and his shorts Hua yang de nian hua and The Hand.
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
Also among the lineup is a series on neo-noir with Body Double, Manhunter, Thief, The Last Seduction, Cutter’s Way, Brick, Night Moves, The Long Goodbye, Chinatown, and more. The channel will also feature a spotlight on art-house animation with work by Marcell Jankovics, Satoshi Kon, Ari Folman, Don Hertzfeldt, Karel Zeman, and more.
With Jodie Mack’s delightful The Grand Bizarre, the landmark doc Hoop Dreams, Orson Welles’ take on Othello, the recent Oscar entries Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and You Will Die at Twenty, and much more,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
“Dear Mr. Brody” isn’t as formally daring as writer-director Keith Maitland’s documentary debut, “Tower,” but it nonetheless boasts plenty of nonfiction flourishes — most notably, dramatic recreations of some of the thousands of unopened letters that were sent to Michael Brody Jr. in 1970 after the 21-year-old promised that he’d give away $25 million to anyone and everyone who asked. Brody’s wild Warholian 15 minutes of fame are the nominal center of attention of this fascinating doc, which has gotten considerable documentary exposure in a pandemic year. Yet its most fascinating focus are those typed and handwritten correspondences, which allow for
The heir to the Jelke margarine empire, Brody made headlines when — after marrying his wife Renee in whirlwind fashion, and chartering a 747 to return them home from their Hawaii honeymoon — he began making public pledges to donate his entire fortune. Brody claimed that his generosity sprang from a desire...
The heir to the Jelke margarine empire, Brody made headlines when — after marrying his wife Renee in whirlwind fashion, and chartering a 747 to return them home from their Hawaii honeymoon — he began making public pledges to donate his entire fortune. Brody claimed that his generosity sprang from a desire...
- 6/11/2021
- by Nick Schager
- Variety Film + TV
Long before the days of going viral with a scam to share wealth with whomever retweets a comment, there was Michael J. Brody Jr., an Oleomargarine heir and alleged hippie millionaire who pledged to give away his wealth without thinking through an orderly process. Surrounding himself by “yes” men, he becomes a subject of fascination on news programs in the New York City area, eventually capturing the attention of producer Ed Pressman, who takes ownership of the letters as research for a future narrative film about Brody.
Keith Maitland, who brought to animated life the University of Texas Tower shooting with the documentary Tower, brings the same immediacy to the moment in a film that simultaneously tells Brody’s story through archival materials and new interviews while tracking down a few of those who were seeking his help. Melissa Robyn Glassman, former assistant to Ed Pressman, has the task of...
Keith Maitland, who brought to animated life the University of Texas Tower shooting with the documentary Tower, brings the same immediacy to the moment in a film that simultaneously tells Brody’s story through archival materials and new interviews while tracking down a few of those who were seeking his help. Melissa Robyn Glassman, former assistant to Ed Pressman, has the task of...
- 3/28/2021
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
For a festival traditionally not keen on animation, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee” has surprisingly garnered remarkable accolades. The Danish-French-Swedish-Norwegian production marked the first acquisition of Sundance (sold to Neon for seven figures!), and eventually closed out as the winner of this year’s World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. At the same time, however, maybe this is to be expected. Out of ten entries, three this year in the World Cinema: Documentary section concerned the plight of refugees. “Flee” truly stands out here, as it tells a story beyond refugee status.
Flee is screening at Sundance
“Flee” recounts the years-long journey of an anonymous gay Afghan refugee (hereon referred to as Amin Nawabi). Nawabi seems to have it all. He is an accomplished academic with a postdoc waiting for him at Princeton University; his significant other is madly in love with him; and now, he just needs to make...
Flee is screening at Sundance
“Flee” recounts the years-long journey of an anonymous gay Afghan refugee (hereon referred to as Amin Nawabi). Nawabi seems to have it all. He is an accomplished academic with a postdoc waiting for him at Princeton University; his significant other is madly in love with him; and now, he just needs to make...
- 2/5/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
Focusing as much on bystanders to a historical event as on its central character, documentarian Keith Maitland follows up his brilliant (and Emmy-winning) Tower with Dear Mr. Brody, another inventive look at a fifty year-old piece of American history: In January 1970, a 21 year-old “hippie millionaire” announced to the media that he intended to give his money away to anyone who’d ask for it. The total obscurity of this episode today lends an element of suspense to the doc, which sometimes prioritizes capturing a moment’s spirit over nailing down facts. But suffice it to say things didn’t ...
- 9/17/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Focusing as much on bystanders to a historical event as on its central character, documentarian Keith Maitland follows up his brilliant (and Emmy-winning) Tower with Dear Mr. Brody, another inventive look at a fifty year-old piece of American history: In January 1970, a 21 year-old “hippie millionaire” announced to the media that he intended to give his money away to anyone who’d ask for it. The total obscurity of this episode today lends an element of suspense to the doc, which sometimes prioritizes capturing a moment’s spirit over nailing down facts. But suffice it to say things didn’t ...
- 9/17/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Michael James Brody Jr.’s legacy is not widely known today, in part because it’s so tough to parse. In 1970, the shaggy-haired 21-year-old heir to the Jelke oleomargarine fortune publicly declared his intention to give away his millions to anyone who asked, inviting a flood of letters and impassioned pleas from around the country. Three years later, he was dead by his own hand.
Brody was a hippie millionaire devoted to saving the world, but he was also a mentally ill drug addict with a Messiah complex. That conflict remains a messy tangle of questions 50 years later, but director Keith Maitland’s enlightening documentary “Dear Mr. Brody” works through the paradox, suggesting that the tragedy of Brody’s fate is matched by the window into the American dream catalyzed by his offer.
Brody’s story has many layers, and Maitland sometimes struggles to unite the disparate pieces. The heir...
Brody was a hippie millionaire devoted to saving the world, but he was also a mentally ill drug addict with a Messiah complex. That conflict remains a messy tangle of questions 50 years later, but director Keith Maitland’s enlightening documentary “Dear Mr. Brody” works through the paradox, suggesting that the tragedy of Brody’s fate is matched by the window into the American dream catalyzed by his offer.
Brody’s story has many layers, and Maitland sometimes struggles to unite the disparate pieces. The heir...
- 9/1/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Exclusive: The Telluride Film Festival was expected to start next week on September 3 and play, as usual, all through the Labor Day weekend. Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic curtailed those plans and the festival was forced to cancel this year’s edition. However, Telluride did put out the schedule of films that had been selected, and on September 11 will host a “drive-in” screening at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena of the new Fox Searchlight film, Nomadland starring Frances McDormand directed by Chloe Zhao. And they actively hope that some of the other films on their list find an audience, and in some cases even distribution in order to find that audience.
I caught one of those films, the fascinating new documentary Dear Mr. Brody, which was to have had its world premiere at Telluride and was planning to use that showcase to entice buyers. Cinetic is selling it and is just...
I caught one of those films, the fascinating new documentary Dear Mr. Brody, which was to have had its world premiere at Telluride and was planning to use that showcase to entice buyers. Cinetic is selling it and is just...
- 8/27/2020
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Three weeks after a spike in coronavirus cases forced the Telluride Film Festival team to cancel its 2020 event, organizers have announced the lineup that would have been.
“The Show,” as the festival refers to its annual feature program, planned to include “Ammonite,” a love story co-starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; “The Rider” director Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland”; contemporary Western “Concrete Cowboy” with Idris Elba; and Roger Michell’s heist movie “The Duke,” with Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent — all four of which will make their premieres at Venice or Toronto instead.
But many of the films in the documentary-heavy lineup were not selected for either of those festivals, which explains why Telluride executive director Julie Huntsinger felt it was important to share their selections. The Telluride team typically keeps their selections secret until the day before the festival, which takes place over Labor Day weekend in the small Colorado community.
“The Show,” as the festival refers to its annual feature program, planned to include “Ammonite,” a love story co-starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan; “The Rider” director Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland”; contemporary Western “Concrete Cowboy” with Idris Elba; and Roger Michell’s heist movie “The Duke,” with Helen Mirren and Jim Broadbent — all four of which will make their premieres at Venice or Toronto instead.
But many of the films in the documentary-heavy lineup were not selected for either of those festivals, which explains why Telluride executive director Julie Huntsinger felt it was important to share their selections. The Telluride team typically keeps their selections secret until the day before the festival, which takes place over Labor Day weekend in the small Colorado community.
- 8/3/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
It was announced last month that the Telluride Film Festival made the decision to cancel their event this year due to the ongoing pandemic and the more intimate nature of their festival. As Cannes did earlier this summer, they’ve now gone ahead and revealed what would’ve screened at this year’s edition.
Featuring tributes to Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, and Chloé Zhao, their new films were set to screen––Ammonite, The Father, and Nomadland, respectively––as well as new work by Werner Herzog, Liz Garbus, Gia Coppola, Gianfranco Rosi, and more. There was also a new documentary featuring interviews by Tarkovsky titled Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer.
“I know other festivals can do this and will pull it off great, and it’s very beneficial to their individual communities,” executive director Julie Huntsinger told THR. “But what we do is so about human intimacy. For us, it’s that alchemy.
Featuring tributes to Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, and Chloé Zhao, their new films were set to screen––Ammonite, The Father, and Nomadland, respectively––as well as new work by Werner Herzog, Liz Garbus, Gia Coppola, Gianfranco Rosi, and more. There was also a new documentary featuring interviews by Tarkovsky titled Andrey Tarkovsky. A Cinema Prayer.
“I know other festivals can do this and will pull it off great, and it’s very beneficial to their individual communities,” executive director Julie Huntsinger told THR. “But what we do is so about human intimacy. For us, it’s that alchemy.
- 8/3/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Telluride Film Festival Announces Lineup Despite Cancellation Of This Year’s Labor Day Weekend Event
Following in the footsteps of Cannes, which was forced to cancel its famous film festival in May but still went on to reveal what its schedule would have been anyway, the Telluride Film Festival on Monday released its own lineup. The films would have been presented over Labor Day weekend September 3-7, but the fest was canceled last month after trying to hang on for some version of its former self in light of the pandemic.
Similar to what other fests have programmed such as Kate Winslet-starrer Ammonite, Idris Elba in Concrete Cowboys and director Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland starring Frances McDormand, the list is similar to the eclectic, film-centric nature of Telluride minus some of the starrier Oscar campaign-driven films that have put the fest on the must-stop list for Academy Award hopefuls for much of this century.
Telluride will have a branded event on September 11, when it...
Similar to what other fests have programmed such as Kate Winslet-starrer Ammonite, Idris Elba in Concrete Cowboys and director Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland starring Frances McDormand, the list is similar to the eclectic, film-centric nature of Telluride minus some of the starrier Oscar campaign-driven films that have put the fest on the must-stop list for Academy Award hopefuls for much of this century.
Telluride will have a branded event on September 11, when it...
- 8/3/2020
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
“We still want to… bring attention to these brilliant films.”
The Telluride Film Festival, which was supposed to run September 3-7 but was cancelled due to Covid-19, has revealed the films that would’ve been selected this year.
“Though we aren’t able to present our program in-person as planned, we still want to announce the lineup to bring attention to these brilliant films,” said Telluride executive director Julie Huntsinger. “We’ve listed everything we know about screening opportunities so that audiences may watch as many of these films as possible. The festival will continue to do everything in its...
The Telluride Film Festival, which was supposed to run September 3-7 but was cancelled due to Covid-19, has revealed the films that would’ve been selected this year.
“Though we aren’t able to present our program in-person as planned, we still want to announce the lineup to bring attention to these brilliant films,” said Telluride executive director Julie Huntsinger. “We’ve listed everything we know about screening opportunities so that audiences may watch as many of these films as possible. The festival will continue to do everything in its...
- 8/3/2020
- by 1101184¦Orlando Parfitt¦38¦
- ScreenDaily
There will be no Telluride Film Festival this Labor Day in Colorado, but the programmers have unveiled what this year’s selections would have been. Much like the Cannes Film Festival’s 2020 lineup, this year’s Telluride films can at least carry the imprimatur of the festival as we head into the fall circuit. The 47th edition of the Telluride Film Festival was scheduled for September 3-7. See the full lineup, as revealed on Monday, below.
The idea in presenting the Telluride selections is to recommend the best in film this year in hopes that audiences will seek out these movies at other fall festivals (or what remains of them) down the line. With the 2021 Academy Awards pushed way out to April 25, there’s at once less pressure on these films to perform for awards but also a crush of movies backlogged since quarantine hit, making for a competitive season.
The idea in presenting the Telluride selections is to recommend the best in film this year in hopes that audiences will seek out these movies at other fall festivals (or what remains of them) down the line. With the 2021 Academy Awards pushed way out to April 25, there’s at once less pressure on these films to perform for awards but also a crush of movies backlogged since quarantine hit, making for a competitive season.
- 8/3/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Animation is often a medium that tackles the core tenets of reality. The latest project from “BoJack Horseman” producers Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob-Waksberg looks to be doing that on a lofty and sweeping scale. “Undone,” the newest animated series for Amazon Prime Video, follows the consciousness of Alma (Rosa Salazar) as she navigates an expansive mental universe.
The first two episodes of the series will debut for audiences at the Atx Festival in Austin this weekend, and the series is slated to join the Amazon Prime Video family of programming later this year.
The official synopsis for the series explains that Alma’s life is an ordinary one “until a near fatal accident induces visions of her late father, Jacob. Through these persistent visions he urges her to tap into a mysterious ability that allows her to travel through space and time with the hopes of preventing his untimely death.
The first two episodes of the series will debut for audiences at the Atx Festival in Austin this weekend, and the series is slated to join the Amazon Prime Video family of programming later this year.
The official synopsis for the series explains that Alma’s life is an ordinary one “until a near fatal accident induces visions of her late father, Jacob. Through these persistent visions he urges her to tap into a mysterious ability that allows her to travel through space and time with the hopes of preventing his untimely death.
- 6/7/2019
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
The Church of the SubGenius may not be a household name across the country, but beginning in the early 1970s, a pair of enterprising Texas-area satirists turned one wildly overt religious experiment into a genuine phenomenon. That evolving story forms the foundation of “J.R. ‘Bob’ Dobbs and the Church of the SubGenius,” a documentary that’s set to play this month’s SXSW Film Festival.
The film is the directorial debut of Sandy K. Boone, who’s served as an executive producer on films like the Ethan Hawke-directed “Blaze,” Keith Maitland’s recounting of the 1966 University of Texas-Austin shooting “Tower,” and Louis Black and Karen Bernstein’s 2016 cinematic profile “Richard Linklater — Dream is Destiny.”
The “Church of the SubGenius” doc features interviews with a number of notable Texans and people who have memories of the church, including Linklater himself, plus Nick Offerman, Penn Jillette, Gerald Casale, and the late Margaret Moser.
The film is the directorial debut of Sandy K. Boone, who’s served as an executive producer on films like the Ethan Hawke-directed “Blaze,” Keith Maitland’s recounting of the 1966 University of Texas-Austin shooting “Tower,” and Louis Black and Karen Bernstein’s 2016 cinematic profile “Richard Linklater — Dream is Destiny.”
The “Church of the SubGenius” doc features interviews with a number of notable Texans and people who have memories of the church, including Linklater himself, plus Nick Offerman, Penn Jillette, Gerald Casale, and the late Margaret Moser.
- 3/5/2019
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Produced collaboratively by the Detroit Free Press and community institutions, 12th and Clairmount is a rare immersive look at Detroit during the unrest of 1967, the same time period chronicled through the lens of the Algers Hotel massacre in Kathryn Bigelow’s horrific Detroit. Directed by Brian Kaufman with the assistance of longtime beat reporters, the film tells the story of common Detroit residents of color as the city experiences white flight to the suburbs. Kaufman chooses to tell the story through 400 reels of 16mm home movie footage donated by families, news footage, newspaper clippings, voice-over, and crude drawings. The drawings, which look as if they were provided by the paper’s courtroom sketch artist, don’t create as polished a portrait as a film like Keith Maitland’s Tower.
12th and Clairmount, despite its name, isn’t focused on a single event. Rather it’s a commemorative film in which...
12th and Clairmount, despite its name, isn’t focused on a single event. Rather it’s a commemorative film in which...
- 11/21/2017
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
When everyone has a gun…no one’s in control.
It’s kind of amazing to me that every film that features a gun (let alone a full stockade of guns) is not a horror movie. In 2017 alone, over four thousand human beings have been killed as a result of a firearm. When John Wick unsheathes his Glock 26 and rampages through the club popping one headshot after another, we should be fleeing to the exits rather than shoveling the next load of popcorn into our face. Have we simply built an immunity to ballistic violence? Has the trauma of the nightly news numbed our compassion, or have we reached peak saturation on tragedy. “Tonight on News 7, another horrible event we must ignore to maintain our sanity.”
Ten years after a gunman stormed the Virginia Tech campus killing 32 individuals and wounding 17 others, I found myself flinching during the trailer for Ben Wheatley’s latest film, Free Fire...
It’s kind of amazing to me that every film that features a gun (let alone a full stockade of guns) is not a horror movie. In 2017 alone, over four thousand human beings have been killed as a result of a firearm. When John Wick unsheathes his Glock 26 and rampages through the club popping one headshot after another, we should be fleeing to the exits rather than shoveling the next load of popcorn into our face. Have we simply built an immunity to ballistic violence? Has the trauma of the nightly news numbed our compassion, or have we reached peak saturation on tragedy. “Tonight on News 7, another horrible event we must ignore to maintain our sanity.”
Ten years after a gunman stormed the Virginia Tech campus killing 32 individuals and wounding 17 others, I found myself flinching during the trailer for Ben Wheatley’s latest film, Free Fire...
- 4/19/2017
- by Brad Gullickson
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
The Bfg (Steven Spielberg)
CGI loses the day in Steven Spielberg’s The Bfg, a partly motion-captured, eco-minded adaptation of Roald Dahl’s adored children’s book that leans so heavily on green-screen trickery that even Mark Rylance’s kind eyes — squinting out from that computer-generated abyss — can’t save it from mediocrity. The plotline of a friendly, dream-blowing giant who takes an orphaned girl under his wing has...
The Bfg (Steven Spielberg)
CGI loses the day in Steven Spielberg’s The Bfg, a partly motion-captured, eco-minded adaptation of Roald Dahl’s adored children’s book that leans so heavily on green-screen trickery that even Mark Rylance’s kind eyes — squinting out from that computer-generated abyss — can’t save it from mediocrity. The plotline of a friendly, dream-blowing giant who takes an orphaned girl under his wing has...
- 4/7/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
This Week in Home Video‘They’re Playing With Fire’ Blends Bloody Violence and T&A Thrills to Surprising EffectPlus 13 more new releases to watch at home this week on Blu-ray/DVD.
Welcome to this week in home video! Click the title to buy a Blu-ray/DVD from Amazon and help support Fsr in the process!
Pick of the WeekThey’re Playing With Fire [Kl Studio Classics]
What is it? A sexy college professor seduces her student, and then people start dying horrible deaths.
Why see it? I’ve been a Sybil Danning fan for more years than I care to recall, but somehow this one slipped past me before now. I’m not sure what teen me would have thought, but as an adult I’m in awe of just how off the rails it gets from its very clear T&A origin. From the cover to the copy the film sells itself as just another sex flick, but...
Welcome to this week in home video! Click the title to buy a Blu-ray/DVD from Amazon and help support Fsr in the process!
Pick of the WeekThey’re Playing With Fire [Kl Studio Classics]
What is it? A sexy college professor seduces her student, and then people start dying horrible deaths.
Why see it? I’ve been a Sybil Danning fan for more years than I care to recall, but somehow this one slipped past me before now. I’m not sure what teen me would have thought, but as an adult I’m in awe of just how off the rails it gets from its very clear T&A origin. From the cover to the copy the film sells itself as just another sex flick, but...
- 3/21/2017
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
A fateful day is re-examined by its survivors, whose stories are told via a brilliant narrative arrangement, and the use of animated recreations is only one aspect of it. The Texas tower shootings put our present, everyday reign of violent terror in a humanist context. It’s not exploitative — the killer’s name is barely mentioned. It works, it’s riveting, and its positive message is one of calm sanity. Highly recommended.
Tower
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
2016 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 82 96 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 34.95
Starring: Violett Beane, Louie Arnette, Blair Jackson, Monty Muir, Chris Doubek, Reece Everett Ryan, Josephine McAdam, Aldo Ordoñez, Vicky Illk, John Fitch, Karen Davidson, Jeremy Brown.
Cinematography: Keith Maitland, Sarah Wilson
Film Editor: Austin Reedy
Original Music: Osei Essed
Produced by Megan Gilbride, Keith Maitland
Directed by Keith Maitland
Advance publicity on Keith Maitland’s Tower set me against it from the start.
Tower
Blu-ray
Kino Lorber
2016 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 82 96 min. / Street Date March 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 34.95
Starring: Violett Beane, Louie Arnette, Blair Jackson, Monty Muir, Chris Doubek, Reece Everett Ryan, Josephine McAdam, Aldo Ordoñez, Vicky Illk, John Fitch, Karen Davidson, Jeremy Brown.
Cinematography: Keith Maitland, Sarah Wilson
Film Editor: Austin Reedy
Original Music: Osei Essed
Produced by Megan Gilbride, Keith Maitland
Directed by Keith Maitland
Advance publicity on Keith Maitland’s Tower set me against it from the start.
- 3/21/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The documentary Tower recounts the day in 1966 that a sniper on the University of Texas Tower killed 14 people and wounded dozens more. The film includes archival footage, interviews with those who were present and animated recreations of the event. In this interview, director/producer Keith Maitland and Dp Sarah Wilson talk about the making of the film which receives its broadcast premiere on PBS on Tuesday, February 14th. Filmmaker: How did you become filmmakers? Maitland: I started off in narrative filmmaking, working on other people’s movies, and right around the time I met Sarah — we’ve been together 13 years […]...
- 2/13/2017
- by Michael Murie
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Mixing animation, film and verbatim accounts, this bold memorial of the first school massacre in Texas in 1966 is compelling and terribly sad
Keith Maitland’s Tower is a bold dive into the past. It’s a collage mixing rotoscope animation, in the style of Bob Sabiston and Richard Linklater, with dramatic reconstruction and verbatim testimony. It immerses you in the bad dream that was Us history’s first “school massacre”: the University of Texas (Ut) Tower shooting. In the summer of 1966, former marine Charles Whitman went up to the observation deck on the 28th floor of the Ut Tower and opened fire, killing 14 people and injuring 31, before being shot dead by two officers and one deputised civilian. Maitland has interviewed dozens of witnesses, and got actors to speak their words to camera as these eyewitnesses’ younger selves and enact key dramatic moments in digitally captured rotoscope, mixing in genuine...
Keith Maitland’s Tower is a bold dive into the past. It’s a collage mixing rotoscope animation, in the style of Bob Sabiston and Richard Linklater, with dramatic reconstruction and verbatim testimony. It immerses you in the bad dream that was Us history’s first “school massacre”: the University of Texas (Ut) Tower shooting. In the summer of 1966, former marine Charles Whitman went up to the observation deck on the 28th floor of the Ut Tower and opened fire, killing 14 people and injuring 31, before being shot dead by two officers and one deputised civilian. Maitland has interviewed dozens of witnesses, and got actors to speak their words to camera as these eyewitnesses’ younger selves and enact key dramatic moments in digitally captured rotoscope, mixing in genuine...
- 2/2/2017
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
One of 2016’s best documentaries is another look at a seminal moment in America’s struggle with crime and violence. Like many previous docs, it’s an examination of a mass murder. Now basic cable TV channels (and network “newsmagazines”) are filled with such, now almost commonplace, events. What makes this film unique is the subject, namely the very first mass shooting just over fifty years ago. The other aspect that makes this work is special is its approach and use of a high-tech upgrade of a movie device that dates back over 90 years. This enables the film makers to expertly transport us to that hot summer day in 1966, as a madman spewed death from the top of a college Tower.
Director Keith Maitland, like many documentarians, makes use of archival news footage and radio recordings to convey the horror of Charles Whitman’s rampage at the University of Texas.
Director Keith Maitland, like many documentarians, makes use of archival news footage and radio recordings to convey the horror of Charles Whitman’s rampage at the University of Texas.
- 1/19/2017
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Keith Maitland says he had concerns when approaching survivors of the August 1966 mass shooting at the University of Texas about making his PBS documentary, Tower, as to how they would feel about being turned into “a cartoon.” “When you make the decision to call somebody out of the blue and say you want to talk to them about the worst thing that has happened to you and I’m going to turn it into a cartoon … you’re bound to ruffle some feathers or turn people off,” he…...
- 1/17/2017
- Deadline
Keith Maitland says he had concerns when approaching survivors of the August 1966 mass shooting at the University of Texas about making his PBS documentary, Tower, as to how they would feel about being turned into “a cartoon.” “When you make the decision to call somebody out of the blue and say you want to talk to them about the worst thing that has happened to you and I’m going to turn it into a cartoon … you’re bound to ruffle some feathers or turn people off,” he…...
- 1/17/2017
- Deadline TV
PBS’s new Independent Lens documentary “Tower” explores the country’s first school shooting at the University of Texas in 1966, but survivor Claire Wilson James says there’s one detail the film gets wrong. James praised director Keith Maitland for his commitment to telling the survivors’ stories honestly and accurately, but “I wish he had gotten my dress right,” she said jokingly. The film, inspired by a story about the shooting that appeared in Texas Monthly, titled “96 Minutes,” combines animation and interviews with survivors to re-create the events of that day. But despite his thorough research, Maitland said his budget and time.
- 1/16/2017
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
“Hidden Figures,” “Jackie” and “La La Land” emerged as major award contenders at the Costume Designers Guild Awards, to be held on February 21 in Beverly Hills.
The feature film category is split into three sections: contemporary, period and fantasy, with Deborah Cook nominated for the stop-motion animation movie “Kubo and the Two Strings” in the fantasy category. The first animated movie to earn a Cdg nomination, “Kubo” is nominated for the puppet costumes made for the movie.
Read More: Cinema Eye Honors 2017: The Best Things Winners Kirsten Johnson, Keith Maitland, Clay Tweel and More Said
The other films nominated in the category are “Doctor Strange,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Costume designer Colleen Atwood earned nominations for both “Fantastic Beasts” and “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.”
The contemporary category nominations went to “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie,...
The feature film category is split into three sections: contemporary, period and fantasy, with Deborah Cook nominated for the stop-motion animation movie “Kubo and the Two Strings” in the fantasy category. The first animated movie to earn a Cdg nomination, “Kubo” is nominated for the puppet costumes made for the movie.
Read More: Cinema Eye Honors 2017: The Best Things Winners Kirsten Johnson, Keith Maitland, Clay Tweel and More Said
The other films nominated in the category are “Doctor Strange,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Costume designer Colleen Atwood earned nominations for both “Fantastic Beasts” and “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.”
The contemporary category nominations went to “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie,...
- 1/12/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
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