Migos’ Quavo and Offset delivered a surprise performance, their first since Takeoff was killed on Nov. 1, 2022, at the BET Awards on Sunday.
Held at Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, the pair launched the set with “Hotel Lobby,” the song released by Unc and Phew aka Quavo and Takeoff in May of last year (Quavo is Takeoff’s uncle and the song appeared on their collaborative album, Only Built for Infinity Links). Takeoff’s recorded voice filled the theater while dramatic white laser lights flooded the room and an unoccupied spotlight...
Held at Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles, the pair launched the set with “Hotel Lobby,” the song released by Unc and Phew aka Quavo and Takeoff in May of last year (Quavo is Takeoff’s uncle and the song appeared on their collaborative album, Only Built for Infinity Links). Takeoff’s recorded voice filled the theater while dramatic white laser lights flooded the room and an unoccupied spotlight...
- 6/26/2023
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Wild Bunch International (Wbi) and Japan’s Gaga Corporation have announced that the two companies will again collaborate on international sales on Monster, directed by award-winning filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda.
Gaga will handle sales for Asian territories, while Wbi will handle worldwide territories excluding Asia. A promo will be available for buyers at the upcoming European Film Market (EFM) at Berlin film festival. The film has been widely tipped for selection at this year’s Cannes.
Wild Bunch and Gaga have teamed up for sales on several of Kore-eda’s titles, starting in 2011 with I Wish, which played at the Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals, and more recently Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018.
Monster is scheduled for release in Japan through Toho and Gaga on June 2, 2023. Scripted by Yuji Sakamoto (We Made A Beautiful Bouquet) and with with music by Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, the...
Gaga will handle sales for Asian territories, while Wbi will handle worldwide territories excluding Asia. A promo will be available for buyers at the upcoming European Film Market (EFM) at Berlin film festival. The film has been widely tipped for selection at this year’s Cannes.
Wild Bunch and Gaga have teamed up for sales on several of Kore-eda’s titles, starting in 2011 with I Wish, which played at the Toronto and San Sebastian film festivals, and more recently Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2018.
Monster is scheduled for release in Japan through Toho and Gaga on June 2, 2023. Scripted by Yuji Sakamoto (We Made A Beautiful Bouquet) and with with music by Oscar-winning composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, the...
- 2/2/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Portugal’s cash rebate scheme, introduced in 2018, is attracting major international productions and new production outfits and facilities, and providing significant leverage for domestic film and TV productions.
Shoots slowed during the pandemic, with several projects lensed in bubbles, but production is expected to surge in the second half of 2021.
The current cash rebate is tabbed at 25/30% of eligible production spend and may be upwardly revised in the near future.
€22.5 million ($27.5 million) in total cash rebate has been disbursed since 2018, roughly equally split between international shoots and 100% Portuguese productions and co-productions.
High-profile projects include Ira Sachs’ “Frankie,” with Isabelle Huppert, Richard Stanley’s “The Color Out of Space,” starring Nicolas Cage, Marco Pontecorvo’s “Fatima,” with Harvey Keitel, and three Bollywood pics. These projects have accessed cash rebate per pic varying between €631,000 and €1.9 million ($2.4 million) Portugal is also shaking up its production eco-system. Pubcaster Rtp has shifted from telenovelas to...
Shoots slowed during the pandemic, with several projects lensed in bubbles, but production is expected to surge in the second half of 2021.
The current cash rebate is tabbed at 25/30% of eligible production spend and may be upwardly revised in the near future.
€22.5 million ($27.5 million) in total cash rebate has been disbursed since 2018, roughly equally split between international shoots and 100% Portuguese productions and co-productions.
High-profile projects include Ira Sachs’ “Frankie,” with Isabelle Huppert, Richard Stanley’s “The Color Out of Space,” starring Nicolas Cage, Marco Pontecorvo’s “Fatima,” with Harvey Keitel, and three Bollywood pics. These projects have accessed cash rebate per pic varying between €631,000 and €1.9 million ($2.4 million) Portugal is also shaking up its production eco-system. Pubcaster Rtp has shifted from telenovelas to...
- 3/3/2021
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Russell T Davies, the creator of Channel 4 and HBO Max’s upcoming AIDS crisis series It’s A Sin, has spoken out about the importance of casting gay actors as gay characters.
Starring Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander, the series is already winning rave reviews and, during a publicity blitz ahead of its January 22 premiere in the UK, Davies made his feelings known about preserving authenticity on screen.
The A Very English Scandal writer told the Radio Times: “I’m not being woke about this… but I feel strongly that if I cast someone in a story, I am casting them to act as a lover, or an enemy, or someone on drugs or a criminal or a saint… they are not there to ‘act gay’ because ‘acting gay’ is a bunch of codes for a performance. It’s about authenticity, the taste of 2020.”
He added: “You wouldn’t...
Starring Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander, the series is already winning rave reviews and, during a publicity blitz ahead of its January 22 premiere in the UK, Davies made his feelings known about preserving authenticity on screen.
The A Very English Scandal writer told the Radio Times: “I’m not being woke about this… but I feel strongly that if I cast someone in a story, I am casting them to act as a lover, or an enemy, or someone on drugs or a criminal or a saint… they are not there to ‘act gay’ because ‘acting gay’ is a bunch of codes for a performance. It’s about authenticity, the taste of 2020.”
He added: “You wouldn’t...
- 1/12/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
As has been the Berlinale’s custom of years past, several early competition titles have been confirmed along with the 2019 opener, Lone Scherfig’s The Kindness of Strangers, which will also be competing. On the homegrown front, its with great excitement to note Angela Schanelec’s I Was At Home, But… has been confirmed as has Fatih Akin with The Golden Glove while Quebec’s Denis Cote is returning again with Ghost Town Anthology.
With Panorama and other sidebars announced (which includes Jayro Bustamente’s sophomore title Tremors) we look forward to additional possibilities in the competition. Left out of 2018 platforms but purportedly screened for Vladimir Putin in private is Andrey Konchalovsky’s latest, Sin, which seems a logical place (though the Russian auteur hasn’t competed for the Lion since 1992’s The Inner Circle).…...
With Panorama and other sidebars announced (which includes Jayro Bustamente’s sophomore title Tremors) we look forward to additional possibilities in the competition. Left out of 2018 platforms but purportedly screened for Vladimir Putin in private is Andrey Konchalovsky’s latest, Sin, which seems a logical place (though the Russian auteur hasn’t competed for the Lion since 1992’s The Inner Circle).…...
- 12/31/2018
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Got a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Send any/all of the above to askausiello@tvline.com
Question: Can we get some juicy spoilers on the Flash/Supergirl crossover? —Cordell
Ausiello: Look (or listen?) for shout-outs to Cisco, Caitlin, S.T.A.R. Labs and Green Arrow in the March 28 event.
VideosThe Flash Races Over to Supergirl in First Crossover Teaser
Question: I am so happy Bones finally has a return date! Do you have any more scoop you can share with us about the second half of the season? —Cassidy
Ausiello: A paralyzed Hodgins...
Question: Can we get some juicy spoilers on the Flash/Supergirl crossover? —Cordell
Ausiello: Look (or listen?) for shout-outs to Cisco, Caitlin, S.T.A.R. Labs and Green Arrow in the March 28 event.
VideosThe Flash Races Over to Supergirl in First Crossover Teaser
Question: I am so happy Bones finally has a return date! Do you have any more scoop you can share with us about the second half of the season? —Cassidy
Ausiello: A paralyzed Hodgins...
- 3/17/2016
- TVLine.com
Agent Carter Finale: Bridget Regan Talks Peggy/Dottie Brawl, Black Widow Moves, ScarJo Ties and More
That Dottie Underwood is a real gas.
As Marvel’s Agent Carter closed its penultimate hour, the Soviet assassin carted a canister of the mysterious “Item 17″ taken from Howard Stark’s toy trove into a movie house, which soon enough turned into one murderous matinee.
RelatedSave the Dates: 60+ February/March Premieres, Returns and Finales
What’s next for Dottie and cohort Dr. Ivchenko, as the ABC freshman uncorks its finale Tuesday at 9/8c? TVLine spoke with busy, busy Bridget Regan about that, her similarly not-so-plain Jane role and more.
Tvline | Before you called, I had just remembered that you were in John Wick,...
As Marvel’s Agent Carter closed its penultimate hour, the Soviet assassin carted a canister of the mysterious “Item 17″ taken from Howard Stark’s toy trove into a movie house, which soon enough turned into one murderous matinee.
RelatedSave the Dates: 60+ February/March Premieres, Returns and Finales
What’s next for Dottie and cohort Dr. Ivchenko, as the ABC freshman uncorks its finale Tuesday at 9/8c? TVLine spoke with busy, busy Bridget Regan about that, her similarly not-so-plain Jane role and more.
Tvline | Before you called, I had just remembered that you were in John Wick,...
- 2/23/2015
- TVLine.com
Blake Shelton was the only coach with a steal going into the final part of the knockout rounds, and he used it to take Craig Wayne Boyd to the live rounds on The Voice.
Team Blake: Allison Bray vs. Taylor Brashears
Blake paired Allison Bray and Taylor Brashears in the hopes of narrowing down his country artists. Allison came into rehearsals with Dixie Chicks’ “Sin Wagon” wearing six-inch heels, which Taylor Swift thought were hindering her performance. After taking her shoes off, per Swift’s request, Allison was able to let loose onstage.
Taylor went for a different tone, choosing “Landslide,” hoping to show off a softer side to her voice. Taylor struggled with some notes during rehearsals, and Swift encouraged her to really connect to one person in the audience to sing to.
Gwen Stefani was impressed with Allison’s stage presence, but was blown away by Taylor’s intricate vocals.
Team Blake: Allison Bray vs. Taylor Brashears
Blake paired Allison Bray and Taylor Brashears in the hopes of narrowing down his country artists. Allison came into rehearsals with Dixie Chicks’ “Sin Wagon” wearing six-inch heels, which Taylor Swift thought were hindering her performance. After taking her shoes off, per Swift’s request, Allison was able to let loose onstage.
Taylor went for a different tone, choosing “Landslide,” hoping to show off a softer side to her voice. Taylor struggled with some notes during rehearsals, and Swift encouraged her to really connect to one person in the audience to sing to.
Gwen Stefani was impressed with Allison’s stage presence, but was blown away by Taylor’s intricate vocals.
- 11/4/2014
- Uinterview
It was the best of mentors, it was the worst of injustices for The Voice‘s final set of Season 7 Knockout Rounds.
On one hand: Can we get a “hip-hip hurrah!” to celebrate the keen insight and serious commitment displayed by megastar Taylor Swift as the Knockouts mentor for all four teams? You might want to shake, shake, shake the sound of her latest, crazy-ubiquitous hit single from your eardrums, but you’ve got to admit a future Voice cycle anchored by her and Pharrell Williams might be the only way Blake Shelton will ever get to take a season off.
On one hand: Can we get a “hip-hip hurrah!” to celebrate the keen insight and serious commitment displayed by megastar Taylor Swift as the Knockouts mentor for all four teams? You might want to shake, shake, shake the sound of her latest, crazy-ubiquitous hit single from your eardrums, but you’ve got to admit a future Voice cycle anchored by her and Pharrell Williams might be the only way Blake Shelton will ever get to take a season off.
- 11/4/2014
- TVLine.com
The forecast for Monday and Tuesday’s installment of The Voice (8/7c on NBC) calls for jaw-dropping singing with a high chance of unbearable tension.
Yep, the Season 7 Knockout Rounds are nigh, and TVLine has the exclusive on who’s going head-to-head — and what each hopeful will sing.
Not only that, but we’ve got first-look photos of 12 Knockout performances in the gallery below!
Here’s the skinny:
Team Adam
Alessandro Castronova (“Next to Me” by Emile Sande) Vs. Mia Pfirrman (“Human” by Christina Perri)
Chris Jamison (“[Sittin on] the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding) Vs. Blessing Offor (“Your Body...
Yep, the Season 7 Knockout Rounds are nigh, and TVLine has the exclusive on who’s going head-to-head — and what each hopeful will sing.
Not only that, but we’ve got first-look photos of 12 Knockout performances in the gallery below!
Here’s the skinny:
Team Adam
Alessandro Castronova (“Next to Me” by Emile Sande) Vs. Mia Pfirrman (“Human” by Christina Perri)
Chris Jamison (“[Sittin on] the Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding) Vs. Blessing Offor (“Your Body...
- 10/24/2014
- TVLine.com
Late as usual. People are attending Mipcom in Cannes and in November Afm in Santa Monica, and I’m only now getting around to writing about my own private Toronto. I chose films I would not be able to see soon in a theater near me and I chose films because my schedule permitted me to see them. Occasionally I chose films my friends were going to and that happened when my time was not demanding other things be done.
I wish I could have seen 100 other films too but for some reason or another I could not fit them in.
I moderated a wonderful panel (and we did blog on that!) on international film financing with Sffs’ Ted Hope, UTA’s Rena Ronson, Revolution’s Andrew Eaton, and Hollywood-based Cross Creek’s Brian Oliver, and Paul Miller, Head of Film Financing, from the Doha Film Institute, Qatar's first international organization dedicated to film financing, production, education and two film festivals.
I also spoke with Toronto Talent Lab filmmakers and then I filled my days with films – I did get an interview with Gloria’s director Sebastian Lelio and Berlin Best Actress winner Paulina Garcia and with Marcela Said, director of The Summer of Flying Fish but mostly I watched film after film after film – up to five a day, just like in the old days when I had to do it for my acquisitions jobs. This was pure pleasure. Friends would meet before the film, we would watch and disperse. And we would meet again at the cocktail hour or the dinner hour and then disperse again.
My partner Peter had lots of meetings with the Talent of Toronto from the Not Short on Shorts and the Talent Lab Mentoring Programs.
Parties like the Rotterdam-Screen International party gave us the chance to catch up with our Dutch friends whom we have not seen for the last two years. Ontario Media Development Corporation’s presenting the International Financing Forum luncheon gave us the chance to talk to lots of upcoming filmmakers and old friends again who were mentoring them. The panel Forty Years On: Women’s Film Festivals Today, moderated by Kay Armatage, former Tiff programmer, Professor Emeritus University of Toronto, and featuring Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies, NYC, Melissa Silverstein, Do-Fojnder an dArtistic Director of the Athena Film Festival in NYC and blogger of Women in Hollywood, So-In Hong, Director of Programming of the International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul had a rapport and didn’t hesitate to challenge each other. It felt like a party even though the subject was quite serious. The SXSW party was crowded as always, filled with everyone we could possibly know. It is always a great party we all want to attend.
One of the great dinners was that of The Creative Coalition Spotlight Awards Dinner honoring Alfre Woodard (12 Years a Slave), Hill Harper (1982, CSI: NY), Sharon Leal (1982), Matt Letscher (Scandal, The Carrie Diaries), Brenton Thwaites (Oculus, Maleficient), Tommy Oliver (1982, Kinyarwanda – I am a great fan of Tommy’s!), Tom Ortenberg (CEO, Open Road Films which has a coventure with Regal Theaters and AMC Theaters recently acquired by the richest man in China), and David Arquette (The Scream series). Our hostess, Robin Bronk is so welcoming and so dedicated to furthering the cause of universal education as a human right, education in the arts as a must. I admire her presence and her good work.
Here is a list of the great (and not so great, but never bad) films I got to see. I also list those I continue to hear about even now. I do not list all the films which were picked up during the festival and later. For that, you can go to SydneysBuzz.com and buy the Fall Rights Roundup 2013 and see all films whose rights were acquired (and announced) and by whom with links to all companies and Cinando for further research. For buyers it will, by deduction, show what is still available for Afm and for programmers, it will show who is in charge of the film for specific territories. The second edition will be issued two weeks after Afm.
One of the first films I saw and still retaining its place as one of my favorites was the documentary Finding Vivian Maier which begins with the discovery of photographs by an unknown woman named Vivian Maier by filmmaker John Maloof. As the mystery of this woman is uncovered, the audience is treated to her stunning work and the story of who she was.
One of my favorite films was by one of my favorite directors, Lucas Moodyson. We Are The Best (Isa: Trust Nordisk) was a great surprise, the story of three teeny-bopper punk-influenced girls who loved getting into unusual situations. It was loving and fun, darling and funny. I would take my children to see it and would delight in seeing it again. It was the biggest surprise for me. I can see why Magnolia snapped it up for the U.S. I thank programmer Steve Gravenstock for giving me the ticket for this film which I would have missed otherwise.
I had missed Jodorowsky’s Dune in Cannes. I am a great fan of El Topo and was eager to see this film. I was surprised at the elegance and skill of Jodorowsky in explaining his vision. Afterward, Gary Springer, our favorite publicist, arranged a wonderful reception at a classic comic book store where we loaded up on some fascinating graphic novels and Gary showed us his depiction on an old issue of Mad Magazine discussing the making of Jaws which he was in. picture here.
A totally unique and unexpected film about the African Diaspora, Belle, written and directed by Amma Asante was not talked about much to my surprise, perhaps because Fox Searchlight acquired all rights worldwide from Bankside before the festival. It is a stunningly beautiful British period piece of the 18th century about a mixed race aristocratic beauty.
My favorite film, on a par with The Patience Stone last year was Bobo (Isa: Wide) by Ines Oliveira starring Paula Garcia Aissato Indjai, produced by my friend Fernando Vendrell who gave me a ticket when I could not get one myself. This story of a woman who does nothing except go to work is forced to accept a claning woman and her young sister from Guinea-Bissau. Together they face down their demons. I love the cross-cultural understanding which results in their shared situations. I recently saw Mother of George and found the same warm connection across great cultural divides, though this one was of generations.
I wish I could have seen Pays Barbare/ Barbaric Land, the Italian/ French doc in Wavelengths about Mussolini’s attempted subjugation of Ethiopia (the only country in Africa never colonized). It sounds like great political poetry.
1982 which had previously won the prize of the jury I served on for Us Works in Progress held in July at the Champs Elysees Film Festival in Paris. It was deeply moving and disturbing film which depicts the shattering and the healing of a family. It also helps feed the pipeline begun with Lee Daniels producing Monster’s Ball who went on to direct to such films as Precious and The Butler. If the African American experience can continue to be expressed so eloquently by such filmmakers as Tommy Oliver, Rashaad Ernesto Green (Sundance 2012’s Gun Hill Road), Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere), then a film literate audience will foster greater growth of even more talent in the coming generation. While I didn’t see All Is By My Side by U.K.’s John Ridley which is about Jimi Hendrix nor (yet!) the most highly acclaimed film of the festival, 12 Years a Slave by U.K.’s Steve McQueen, but I would include them in this discussion of the African American Experience.
On the subject of Africa, where last Sundance God Loves Uganda shocked and upset me, this year Mission Congo (Cinephil) revealed much of the same cultural divide only these two films show the negative impact of the Christian right upon already besieged Africans. What is done in the name of a righteous G-d is cause for dialogue and oversight.
Israel and the Middle East
No major turmoil or denunciations this year (Thank G-d, Allah, or whoever She may be). Katriel Schory, head of the Israeli Film Fund told me that if I could only see one film, then it should be Bethlehem which is the country’s submission for Academy Award Consideration for the Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It was a sad and clear eyed microcosmic view of the issues of trust and betrayals played out among every level of the society. People compared it to Omar by Hany Abu-Assad,the filmmaker of a favorite of mine, Paradise Now, but I did not see Omar.
Rags and Tatters at first seemed like a documentary, and does have doc footage, but it is a circular story that ends where it began but with much more understanding of the chaotic events in Cairo. Really worth watching.
Latino
Of the Latino films two Chilean films, Gloria (Chile) and The Summer of Flying Fish (Review), were accompanied by interviews which you can read on my previous blogs here and here. El Mudo from Peru by the Vega brothers was in the odd vien of their previous film, October. Not sure at the end just what the film was saying…
Toronto Film Fest Programmer Diana Sanchez’s official count of Latino films in the festival is 16. Of these, 5 are by women; 30% is a strong number. Venezuela and Chile are strong with year with two films each. Two other films might have been chosen except they went to San Sebastian for their world premieres. Especially hot this year was Mexico. 4 films are here but she might have chosen 10 if she could have. Costa Rica is making a showing with All About the Feathers and Central America is making more movies. There is lots of industry buzz coming from the good pictures from Brazil like A Wolf at the Door from Sao Paolo production
She is not counting Gravity by Alfonso Cuaron as as Latino film but as a U.S. film.
And Our White Society
The Dinner (Isa: Media Luna) by Menno Meyjes ♀ (Isa: Media Luna), a Dutch film deals with the personal and political as two families disintegrate when the affluent sons kill a homeless woman. Deeply disturbing social issues on the other side of the spectrum from those of 1982 and yet very much the same. How a society can foster such dissonance in class structure today which results in the disintegration of family and even a nation’s political life is, as I said, deeply disturbing. Based on the N.Y. Times best selling book which sold over 650,000 in The Netherlands, and is published in 22 countries, it stars four of Holland’s most renowned actors, Jacob Derwig, Thekla Reuten, Daan Schuurmans, and Kim van Kooten. This is a story that could be remade in America and still maintain its strength. The writer-director Menno Meyjes wrote the Academy Award nominee The Color Purple and collaborated with director Steven Speilberg on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 2008 he directed Manolete with Penelope Cruz and Adrien Brody.
The Last of Robin Hood was a romp which thrilled us because Peter Belsito, my own dear husband, had a moment on screen (as the director of Errol Flynn’s last film Cuban Rebel Girls). He got the part because he had had an equally small role in the original Cuban Rebel Girls when it filmed in Cuba in 1959, four months after the Revolution. He happened to be there on vacation with his family including his 18 year old sister and his crazy aunt because Puerto Rico was full that year and Cuba had plenty of room. Directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland invited him to play in their film. The film actually had more meaning than merely a romp as it revealed what lays below the June-September love affair between Errol Flynn and 15 year old Beverly Aadland, the nature of fame (“a religion in this godless country” to quote Flynn himself) and ambition. Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandan and Dakota Fanning were all great in the repertoire piece.
Can a Song Save Your Life? garnered great praise as the film that followed the simple pure Once. I found it a bit flat though it kept my interest enough that I was not contemplating leaving. But it lacked the simplicity of Once.
Fading Gigolo proves that a Woody Allen Film is a Genre. John Turturro makes a Woody Allen middle-aged man fantasy of a wished for love affair with a Hasidic woman. Turturro is always lovable on screen, but his directing has something inauthentic about it…the only authentic thing was the twice-stated thought that somewhere in his heritage he was really Jewish. When I saw his previous film Passione, about Italians and passion, the opening song, being one of the first Cuban songs I ever heard, turned me off because again, it was inauthentic. It was Cuban, not Italian. I think he is not comfortable in his Italian guise.
Other films at Tiff I have seen previously:
Only Lovers Left Alive by Jim Jarmusch (Isa: HanWay, U.S. Spc). If you can see it as a dream of night, then the vampires dreaminess might appeal to you. I personally was ready to fall into my own stupor after watching this 123 minute movie of Vampires who have seen it all. Zzzzzz.
Don Jon is sexy and sweet. Scarlett Johansson is a superb comedienne, equal to Claudette Colbert in this film about two totally media mesmerized young lovers. ___ and his father are also great straight men. I loved this film, so funny and sweet and all about sex. Loved it!
Borgman Darkest humor, or is it humor? Creepy and definitely engrossing. Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam at his best. This is the Netherlands' Official Academy Awards Submission.
What I hear was good:
Aside from the ones that got snapped up for lots of money and are covered in all the trades already, there are films which I keep hearing about even now and will see:
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
12 Years a Slave (Isa: Summit, U.S. Fox Searchlight)
The Lunchbox (Isa: The Match Factory)
Prisoners (Isa: Summit/ Lionsgate, U.S.: Warner Bros)
Dallas Buyers Clubs (Isa: Voltage, U.S. Focus Features)
Life of Crime (Isa: Hyde Park, U.S.: )
A Touch of Sin (Isa: MK2, U.S. Kino Lorber)
Gravity (Isa: Warner Bros. U.S. Warner Bros.)
Enough Said (Isa: Fox Searchlight, U.S. Fox Searchlight)
La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) (Isa: Pathe, U.S. Criterion) Italy’s submission for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film
Violette (Isa: Doc & Film, U.S.: ?)
Omar (Isa: The Match Factory, U.S.: ?)
Le Passe (The Past) (Isa: Memento, U.S. Spc) Iran’s submission for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
To the Wolf (Isa: Pascale Ramonda)
The Selfish Giant (Isa: Protagonist, U.S. IFC)
At Berkeley by Frederick Wiseman (Isa: Doc & Film, U.S. Zipporah)
The Unknown Known (Isa: Entertainment One, U.S. Radius-twc)
Ain’t Misbehavin (Un Voyager) by Marcel Ophuls (Isa: Wide House)
Faith Connections by Pan Nalin (Isa: Cite Films). This Indian French film, produced by Raphael Berduo among others is written about here.
Civil Rights (?)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
12 Years a Slave (Isa: Summit, U.S. Fox Searchlight)
Belle (Isa: Bankside, all rights sold to Fox Searchlight)
Lgbt
Kill Your Darlings: The youthful finding of himself by Alan Ginsburg as he enters Colombia University and meets Lucien Carr, Jack Kerouac and Alan Bourroughs revolves around a murder which actually happened. The period veracity and Daniel Radcliffe’s acting carry the film into a fascinating character study. (U.S. Spc)
Dallas Buyers Club (Isa: Voltage, U.S. Focus Features)
Tom a la ferme / Tom at the Farm by Xavier Dolan Isa: MK2, U.S.:)
L’Armee du salut/ Salvation Army by Abdellah Taia (Isa: - U.S.:-)
Eastern Boys (Isa: Films Distribution)
Pelo Malo/ Bad Hair (FiGa Films)
The Dog (Producer Rep: Submarine)
Ignasi M. (Isa: Latido)
Gerontophilia (Isa: MK2, U.S. Producer Rep: Filmoption)...
I wish I could have seen 100 other films too but for some reason or another I could not fit them in.
I moderated a wonderful panel (and we did blog on that!) on international film financing with Sffs’ Ted Hope, UTA’s Rena Ronson, Revolution’s Andrew Eaton, and Hollywood-based Cross Creek’s Brian Oliver, and Paul Miller, Head of Film Financing, from the Doha Film Institute, Qatar's first international organization dedicated to film financing, production, education and two film festivals.
I also spoke with Toronto Talent Lab filmmakers and then I filled my days with films – I did get an interview with Gloria’s director Sebastian Lelio and Berlin Best Actress winner Paulina Garcia and with Marcela Said, director of The Summer of Flying Fish but mostly I watched film after film after film – up to five a day, just like in the old days when I had to do it for my acquisitions jobs. This was pure pleasure. Friends would meet before the film, we would watch and disperse. And we would meet again at the cocktail hour or the dinner hour and then disperse again.
My partner Peter had lots of meetings with the Talent of Toronto from the Not Short on Shorts and the Talent Lab Mentoring Programs.
Parties like the Rotterdam-Screen International party gave us the chance to catch up with our Dutch friends whom we have not seen for the last two years. Ontario Media Development Corporation’s presenting the International Financing Forum luncheon gave us the chance to talk to lots of upcoming filmmakers and old friends again who were mentoring them. The panel Forty Years On: Women’s Film Festivals Today, moderated by Kay Armatage, former Tiff programmer, Professor Emeritus University of Toronto, and featuring Debra Zimmerman, Executive Director of Women Make Movies, NYC, Melissa Silverstein, Do-Fojnder an dArtistic Director of the Athena Film Festival in NYC and blogger of Women in Hollywood, So-In Hong, Director of Programming of the International Women’s Film Festival in Seoul had a rapport and didn’t hesitate to challenge each other. It felt like a party even though the subject was quite serious. The SXSW party was crowded as always, filled with everyone we could possibly know. It is always a great party we all want to attend.
One of the great dinners was that of The Creative Coalition Spotlight Awards Dinner honoring Alfre Woodard (12 Years a Slave), Hill Harper (1982, CSI: NY), Sharon Leal (1982), Matt Letscher (Scandal, The Carrie Diaries), Brenton Thwaites (Oculus, Maleficient), Tommy Oliver (1982, Kinyarwanda – I am a great fan of Tommy’s!), Tom Ortenberg (CEO, Open Road Films which has a coventure with Regal Theaters and AMC Theaters recently acquired by the richest man in China), and David Arquette (The Scream series). Our hostess, Robin Bronk is so welcoming and so dedicated to furthering the cause of universal education as a human right, education in the arts as a must. I admire her presence and her good work.
Here is a list of the great (and not so great, but never bad) films I got to see. I also list those I continue to hear about even now. I do not list all the films which were picked up during the festival and later. For that, you can go to SydneysBuzz.com and buy the Fall Rights Roundup 2013 and see all films whose rights were acquired (and announced) and by whom with links to all companies and Cinando for further research. For buyers it will, by deduction, show what is still available for Afm and for programmers, it will show who is in charge of the film for specific territories. The second edition will be issued two weeks after Afm.
One of the first films I saw and still retaining its place as one of my favorites was the documentary Finding Vivian Maier which begins with the discovery of photographs by an unknown woman named Vivian Maier by filmmaker John Maloof. As the mystery of this woman is uncovered, the audience is treated to her stunning work and the story of who she was.
One of my favorite films was by one of my favorite directors, Lucas Moodyson. We Are The Best (Isa: Trust Nordisk) was a great surprise, the story of three teeny-bopper punk-influenced girls who loved getting into unusual situations. It was loving and fun, darling and funny. I would take my children to see it and would delight in seeing it again. It was the biggest surprise for me. I can see why Magnolia snapped it up for the U.S. I thank programmer Steve Gravenstock for giving me the ticket for this film which I would have missed otherwise.
I had missed Jodorowsky’s Dune in Cannes. I am a great fan of El Topo and was eager to see this film. I was surprised at the elegance and skill of Jodorowsky in explaining his vision. Afterward, Gary Springer, our favorite publicist, arranged a wonderful reception at a classic comic book store where we loaded up on some fascinating graphic novels and Gary showed us his depiction on an old issue of Mad Magazine discussing the making of Jaws which he was in. picture here.
A totally unique and unexpected film about the African Diaspora, Belle, written and directed by Amma Asante was not talked about much to my surprise, perhaps because Fox Searchlight acquired all rights worldwide from Bankside before the festival. It is a stunningly beautiful British period piece of the 18th century about a mixed race aristocratic beauty.
My favorite film, on a par with The Patience Stone last year was Bobo (Isa: Wide) by Ines Oliveira starring Paula Garcia Aissato Indjai, produced by my friend Fernando Vendrell who gave me a ticket when I could not get one myself. This story of a woman who does nothing except go to work is forced to accept a claning woman and her young sister from Guinea-Bissau. Together they face down their demons. I love the cross-cultural understanding which results in their shared situations. I recently saw Mother of George and found the same warm connection across great cultural divides, though this one was of generations.
I wish I could have seen Pays Barbare/ Barbaric Land, the Italian/ French doc in Wavelengths about Mussolini’s attempted subjugation of Ethiopia (the only country in Africa never colonized). It sounds like great political poetry.
1982 which had previously won the prize of the jury I served on for Us Works in Progress held in July at the Champs Elysees Film Festival in Paris. It was deeply moving and disturbing film which depicts the shattering and the healing of a family. It also helps feed the pipeline begun with Lee Daniels producing Monster’s Ball who went on to direct to such films as Precious and The Butler. If the African American experience can continue to be expressed so eloquently by such filmmakers as Tommy Oliver, Rashaad Ernesto Green (Sundance 2012’s Gun Hill Road), Ava DuVernay (Middle of Nowhere), then a film literate audience will foster greater growth of even more talent in the coming generation. While I didn’t see All Is By My Side by U.K.’s John Ridley which is about Jimi Hendrix nor (yet!) the most highly acclaimed film of the festival, 12 Years a Slave by U.K.’s Steve McQueen, but I would include them in this discussion of the African American Experience.
On the subject of Africa, where last Sundance God Loves Uganda shocked and upset me, this year Mission Congo (Cinephil) revealed much of the same cultural divide only these two films show the negative impact of the Christian right upon already besieged Africans. What is done in the name of a righteous G-d is cause for dialogue and oversight.
Israel and the Middle East
No major turmoil or denunciations this year (Thank G-d, Allah, or whoever She may be). Katriel Schory, head of the Israeli Film Fund told me that if I could only see one film, then it should be Bethlehem which is the country’s submission for Academy Award Consideration for the Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It was a sad and clear eyed microcosmic view of the issues of trust and betrayals played out among every level of the society. People compared it to Omar by Hany Abu-Assad,the filmmaker of a favorite of mine, Paradise Now, but I did not see Omar.
Rags and Tatters at first seemed like a documentary, and does have doc footage, but it is a circular story that ends where it began but with much more understanding of the chaotic events in Cairo. Really worth watching.
Latino
Of the Latino films two Chilean films, Gloria (Chile) and The Summer of Flying Fish (Review), were accompanied by interviews which you can read on my previous blogs here and here. El Mudo from Peru by the Vega brothers was in the odd vien of their previous film, October. Not sure at the end just what the film was saying…
Toronto Film Fest Programmer Diana Sanchez’s official count of Latino films in the festival is 16. Of these, 5 are by women; 30% is a strong number. Venezuela and Chile are strong with year with two films each. Two other films might have been chosen except they went to San Sebastian for their world premieres. Especially hot this year was Mexico. 4 films are here but she might have chosen 10 if she could have. Costa Rica is making a showing with All About the Feathers and Central America is making more movies. There is lots of industry buzz coming from the good pictures from Brazil like A Wolf at the Door from Sao Paolo production
She is not counting Gravity by Alfonso Cuaron as as Latino film but as a U.S. film.
And Our White Society
The Dinner (Isa: Media Luna) by Menno Meyjes ♀ (Isa: Media Luna), a Dutch film deals with the personal and political as two families disintegrate when the affluent sons kill a homeless woman. Deeply disturbing social issues on the other side of the spectrum from those of 1982 and yet very much the same. How a society can foster such dissonance in class structure today which results in the disintegration of family and even a nation’s political life is, as I said, deeply disturbing. Based on the N.Y. Times best selling book which sold over 650,000 in The Netherlands, and is published in 22 countries, it stars four of Holland’s most renowned actors, Jacob Derwig, Thekla Reuten, Daan Schuurmans, and Kim van Kooten. This is a story that could be remade in America and still maintain its strength. The writer-director Menno Meyjes wrote the Academy Award nominee The Color Purple and collaborated with director Steven Speilberg on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 2008 he directed Manolete with Penelope Cruz and Adrien Brody.
The Last of Robin Hood was a romp which thrilled us because Peter Belsito, my own dear husband, had a moment on screen (as the director of Errol Flynn’s last film Cuban Rebel Girls). He got the part because he had had an equally small role in the original Cuban Rebel Girls when it filmed in Cuba in 1959, four months after the Revolution. He happened to be there on vacation with his family including his 18 year old sister and his crazy aunt because Puerto Rico was full that year and Cuba had plenty of room. Directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland invited him to play in their film. The film actually had more meaning than merely a romp as it revealed what lays below the June-September love affair between Errol Flynn and 15 year old Beverly Aadland, the nature of fame (“a religion in this godless country” to quote Flynn himself) and ambition. Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandan and Dakota Fanning were all great in the repertoire piece.
Can a Song Save Your Life? garnered great praise as the film that followed the simple pure Once. I found it a bit flat though it kept my interest enough that I was not contemplating leaving. But it lacked the simplicity of Once.
Fading Gigolo proves that a Woody Allen Film is a Genre. John Turturro makes a Woody Allen middle-aged man fantasy of a wished for love affair with a Hasidic woman. Turturro is always lovable on screen, but his directing has something inauthentic about it…the only authentic thing was the twice-stated thought that somewhere in his heritage he was really Jewish. When I saw his previous film Passione, about Italians and passion, the opening song, being one of the first Cuban songs I ever heard, turned me off because again, it was inauthentic. It was Cuban, not Italian. I think he is not comfortable in his Italian guise.
Other films at Tiff I have seen previously:
Only Lovers Left Alive by Jim Jarmusch (Isa: HanWay, U.S. Spc). If you can see it as a dream of night, then the vampires dreaminess might appeal to you. I personally was ready to fall into my own stupor after watching this 123 minute movie of Vampires who have seen it all. Zzzzzz.
Don Jon is sexy and sweet. Scarlett Johansson is a superb comedienne, equal to Claudette Colbert in this film about two totally media mesmerized young lovers. ___ and his father are also great straight men. I loved this film, so funny and sweet and all about sex. Loved it!
Borgman Darkest humor, or is it humor? Creepy and definitely engrossing. Dutch filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam at his best. This is the Netherlands' Official Academy Awards Submission.
What I hear was good:
Aside from the ones that got snapped up for lots of money and are covered in all the trades already, there are films which I keep hearing about even now and will see:
Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
12 Years a Slave (Isa: Summit, U.S. Fox Searchlight)
The Lunchbox (Isa: The Match Factory)
Prisoners (Isa: Summit/ Lionsgate, U.S.: Warner Bros)
Dallas Buyers Clubs (Isa: Voltage, U.S. Focus Features)
Life of Crime (Isa: Hyde Park, U.S.: )
A Touch of Sin (Isa: MK2, U.S. Kino Lorber)
Gravity (Isa: Warner Bros. U.S. Warner Bros.)
Enough Said (Isa: Fox Searchlight, U.S. Fox Searchlight)
La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty) (Isa: Pathe, U.S. Criterion) Italy’s submission for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film
Violette (Isa: Doc & Film, U.S.: ?)
Omar (Isa: The Match Factory, U.S.: ?)
Le Passe (The Past) (Isa: Memento, U.S. Spc) Iran’s submission for Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
To the Wolf (Isa: Pascale Ramonda)
The Selfish Giant (Isa: Protagonist, U.S. IFC)
At Berkeley by Frederick Wiseman (Isa: Doc & Film, U.S. Zipporah)
The Unknown Known (Isa: Entertainment One, U.S. Radius-twc)
Ain’t Misbehavin (Un Voyager) by Marcel Ophuls (Isa: Wide House)
Faith Connections by Pan Nalin (Isa: Cite Films). This Indian French film, produced by Raphael Berduo among others is written about here.
Civil Rights (?)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
12 Years a Slave (Isa: Summit, U.S. Fox Searchlight)
Belle (Isa: Bankside, all rights sold to Fox Searchlight)
Lgbt
Kill Your Darlings: The youthful finding of himself by Alan Ginsburg as he enters Colombia University and meets Lucien Carr, Jack Kerouac and Alan Bourroughs revolves around a murder which actually happened. The period veracity and Daniel Radcliffe’s acting carry the film into a fascinating character study. (U.S. Spc)
Dallas Buyers Club (Isa: Voltage, U.S. Focus Features)
Tom a la ferme / Tom at the Farm by Xavier Dolan Isa: MK2, U.S.:)
L’Armee du salut/ Salvation Army by Abdellah Taia (Isa: - U.S.:-)
Eastern Boys (Isa: Films Distribution)
Pelo Malo/ Bad Hair (FiGa Films)
The Dog (Producer Rep: Submarine)
Ignasi M. (Isa: Latido)
Gerontophilia (Isa: MK2, U.S. Producer Rep: Filmoption)...
- 10/8/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Two time BAFTA winner Gary Oldman hopes to add Ralph Fiennes and Benedict Cumberbatch to his second directorial effort, Flying Horse. Oldman has collaborated with both actors in the past as he co-starred with Cumberbatch in the intriguing but overly complex drama Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (for which Oldman was a Best Actor nominee at the Oscars) and with Fiennes in the Harry Potter series.
Flying Horse, which was written by Oldman, is a biopic of photographer Eadweard James Muybridge. While Muybridge’s accomplishments and contributions to film would provide plenty of material alone, the movie will center primarily on the relentless media gossip surrounding his personal life.
In addition to making great strides in his photography work, Muybridge was accused of murdering a theater critic, Harry Larkyns, who he suspected was having an affair with his wife. Fiennes would take the role of Muybridge opposite Cumberbatch as the deceitful critic Larkyns.
Flying Horse, which was written by Oldman, is a biopic of photographer Eadweard James Muybridge. While Muybridge’s accomplishments and contributions to film would provide plenty of material alone, the movie will center primarily on the relentless media gossip surrounding his personal life.
In addition to making great strides in his photography work, Muybridge was accused of murdering a theater critic, Harry Larkyns, who he suspected was having an affair with his wife. Fiennes would take the role of Muybridge opposite Cumberbatch as the deceitful critic Larkyns.
- 6/14/2013
- by Katherine Kranz
- We Got This Covered
2 Autumns, 3 Winters
Film Movement has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Sebastien Betbeder's "2 Autumns, 3 Winters." The story follows two friends in their early-thirties over two falls and three winters, as one falls in love while the other has a stroke.
Blood Ties
Lionsgate has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Guillaume Canet’s English-language directorial debut "Blood Ties" in a $2 million deal. Lionsgate's Roadside Attractions will release the film, a remake of "Les Liens Du Sang," which follows two brothers, one a cop and one an ex-con. Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Zoé Saldana, James Caan, Matthias Schoenaerts and Mila Kunis star.
Blue Is The Warmest Color
Sundance Selects has acquired U.S. rights to Abdellatif Kechiche's French-language drama "Blue Is the Warmest Color" starring Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos. The story deals with a young girl's first love and includes explicit lesbian sex scenes. It has also drawn rave reviews at Cannes.
Film Movement has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Sebastien Betbeder's "2 Autumns, 3 Winters." The story follows two friends in their early-thirties over two falls and three winters, as one falls in love while the other has a stroke.
Blood Ties
Lionsgate has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Guillaume Canet’s English-language directorial debut "Blood Ties" in a $2 million deal. Lionsgate's Roadside Attractions will release the film, a remake of "Les Liens Du Sang," which follows two brothers, one a cop and one an ex-con. Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Marion Cotillard, Zoé Saldana, James Caan, Matthias Schoenaerts and Mila Kunis star.
Blue Is The Warmest Color
Sundance Selects has acquired U.S. rights to Abdellatif Kechiche's French-language drama "Blue Is the Warmest Color" starring Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos. The story deals with a young girl's first love and includes explicit lesbian sex scenes. It has also drawn rave reviews at Cannes.
- 5/25/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Full credit for this concept belongs to Mark Kermode…
Given the law of averages, it’s fairly common that as film fans we’re far more likely to run into a stinker than we are a new classic, or worse still a underwhelming slice of anti-climax that promised so much more. Quite often that leaves us deciphering a mess and hanging on to small morsels of consolation from an ultimately wasted couple of hours.
The end result of this is that you, on occasion, may stumble across a disproportionately good turn from the only actor in the movie who seemed to be taking their work seriously. You could make a legitimate claim that this is far more worthy than excellent acting in Oscar bait, but such feats are so often ignored and dismissed along with its mediocre surround.
Here is a run down of ten such performances, a rare moment...
Given the law of averages, it’s fairly common that as film fans we’re far more likely to run into a stinker than we are a new classic, or worse still a underwhelming slice of anti-climax that promised so much more. Quite often that leaves us deciphering a mess and hanging on to small morsels of consolation from an ultimately wasted couple of hours.
The end result of this is that you, on occasion, may stumble across a disproportionately good turn from the only actor in the movie who seemed to be taking their work seriously. You could make a legitimate claim that this is far more worthy than excellent acting in Oscar bait, but such feats are so often ignored and dismissed along with its mediocre surround.
Here is a run down of ten such performances, a rare moment...
- 7/2/2012
- by Scott Patterson
- SoundOnSight
Kill List (18)
(Ben Wheatley, 2011, UK) Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Michael Smiley, Emma Fryer. 95 mins
Who knew there was a missing link between Mike Leigh, Andy McNab and The Wicker Man? That's how unpredictable this macabre and outlandish tale is, but it unfolds in a credible modern-day Britain scarred by foreign wars and domestic recession. Circumstances lead a blokey hitman and his partner to accept a dodgy new assignment – and by the time they start asking questions, it's too late.
Attenberg (18)
(Athina Rachel Tsangari, 2010, Gre) Ariane Labed, Vangelis Mourikis, Evangelina Randou. 97 mins
Fans of Dogtooth will be ready for another prime dose of Greek oddness. Beneath the animal impersonations, silly walks and bad sex lies an intelligent, intimate study of human behaviour.
Fright Night (15)
(Craig Gillespie, 2011, Us) Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant. 106 mins
A teen vampire horror remake that benefits from superior effects, a shrewd Las Vegas setting, and some lively comedy.
(Ben Wheatley, 2011, UK) Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring, Michael Smiley, Emma Fryer. 95 mins
Who knew there was a missing link between Mike Leigh, Andy McNab and The Wicker Man? That's how unpredictable this macabre and outlandish tale is, but it unfolds in a credible modern-day Britain scarred by foreign wars and domestic recession. Circumstances lead a blokey hitman and his partner to accept a dodgy new assignment – and by the time they start asking questions, it's too late.
Attenberg (18)
(Athina Rachel Tsangari, 2010, Gre) Ariane Labed, Vangelis Mourikis, Evangelina Randou. 97 mins
Fans of Dogtooth will be ready for another prime dose of Greek oddness. Beneath the animal impersonations, silly walks and bad sex lies an intelligent, intimate study of human behaviour.
Fright Night (15)
(Craig Gillespie, 2011, Us) Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant. 106 mins
A teen vampire horror remake that benefits from superior effects, a shrewd Las Vegas setting, and some lively comedy.
- 9/2/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Dominic Monaghan rose to prominence as the young hobbit called Meriadoc ('Merry') Brandybuck in The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, before going on to appear in cult TV show Lost.
He played the electricity-manipulating mutant Chris Bradley, codenamed Bolt, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and more recently starred as the scientific genius Simon Campos in sci-fi series FlashForward, which is now out on DVD.
Dominic, 33, who was born in Berlin and moved to Britain with his parents when he was 11, speaks here about FlashForward, Lost and his new film Soldiers of Fortune as well as giving his views on the big-screen version of The Hobbit.
He admits he'd love to have played Bilbo Baggins in the two-part Tolkien adaptation. Athough it has today emerged that Martin Freeman has landed that role, Dominic still hopes he could return as Meriadoc if the second Hobbit film bridges the gap to the first Lord of the Rings movie.
He played the electricity-manipulating mutant Chris Bradley, codenamed Bolt, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and more recently starred as the scientific genius Simon Campos in sci-fi series FlashForward, which is now out on DVD.
Dominic, 33, who was born in Berlin and moved to Britain with his parents when he was 11, speaks here about FlashForward, Lost and his new film Soldiers of Fortune as well as giving his views on the big-screen version of The Hobbit.
He admits he'd love to have played Bilbo Baggins in the two-part Tolkien adaptation. Athough it has today emerged that Martin Freeman has landed that role, Dominic still hopes he could return as Meriadoc if the second Hobbit film bridges the gap to the first Lord of the Rings movie.
- 10/22/2010
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Rhames, Polley rise for 'Dead'
Ving Rhames and Sarah Polley are in final negotiations to star in Universal Pictures/Strike Entertainment's horror feature Dawn of the Dead for director Zack Snyder. The project, a reinvention of the 1978 horror film of the same name, goes into production next month. Written by James Gunn, Dead is about a mysterious plague that causes the newly dead to rise from their graves and begin to eat the living. During the chaos, a core group of remaining humans takes refuge in a shopping mall. These include a young nurse (Polley), the police-uniformed Kenneth (Rhames), a mall employee who works at Best Buy, a gangbanger and his pregnant Russian girlfriend. Strike's Marc Abraham and Eric Newman will produce Dead with the film's rights holder Richard P. Rubenstein. Tom Bliss is executive producing. Rhames, repped by ICM, next stars in the Barry Levinson-directed comedy Envy and the indie feature Sin. Polley, repped by WMA, is best known for her work in such films as The Sweet Hereafter, Go, Guinevere and The Weight of Water.
- 5/9/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Washington, King linking up with 'Charles'
Regina King and Kerry Washington have been cast in Crusader Entertainment's biopic Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story, with Jamie Foxx to star as the legendary musician and Mark Rydell directing. Production begins at the end of March. A domestic distributor is expected to come aboard the project shortly, with Warner Bros. Pictures emerging as a top contender. Charles, penned by Jimmy White, follows Charles' rags-to-riches story from his poor beginnings in Albany, Ga., to his rise through the music industry while battling racism, drug use and love problems. Charles, now 72, lost his sight to glaucoma at age 6. King has been cast as Charles' outrageous mistress Margie Hendrix. She comes to Charles as a singer who joins his band, begins an affair with him, has his baby and later overdoses. Washington will play Charles' wife, Della, a singer who stands by her man and tries to hold their family together despite Charles' womanizing and drug use. Crusader, led by president Howard Baldwin, has a first-look distribution deal at Paramount Pictures. The production company optioned Charles' life rights nearly two years ago, with Foxx boarding the project in May. King, repped by the Gersh Agency and manager John Carrabino, next stars is Revolution Studios' Daddy Day Care and MGM's Legally Blonde 2: Red White & Blonde Washington, repped by Abrams Artists Agency and manager Catherine Atkinson at Washington Square Arts, next stars in Paramount Pictures' Against the Ropes, Miramax Films/Lakeshore Entertainment's The Human Stain, and the indie features The United States of Leland and Sin.
- 2/28/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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