Back on the Strip is a comedy movie directed by Chris Spencer from a screenplay by Chris Daniel and Eric Spencer. The comedy movie follows the story of Merlin (Spence Moore II), who moves to Las Vegas in hopes of making it as a magician, but instead because of his good looks and great body gets recruited into the Black male strippers The Chocolate Chips. Back on the Strip also stars Wesley Snipes and Tiffany Haddish. So, if you loved Back on the Strip here are some similar movies you should watch next.
The Full Monty Credit – 20th Century Fox
Synopsis: Six unemployed men, inspired by a touring group of male strippers, decide they can make a small fortune by putting on a striptease show of their own-but with one small difference. They intend to go the “full monty” and strip completely naked! In this hilarious, heartfelt comedy, these six...
The Full Monty Credit – 20th Century Fox
Synopsis: Six unemployed men, inspired by a touring group of male strippers, decide they can make a small fortune by putting on a striptease show of their own-but with one small difference. They intend to go the “full monty” and strip completely naked! In this hilarious, heartfelt comedy, these six...
- 8/24/2023
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
Hollywood has been adapting Tom Clancy’s techno-thrillers for three decades-plus — with a handful of familiar faces playing the famous character of Jack Ryan, from Alec Baldwin to Ben Affleck. But how have critics on RottenTomatoes.com rated these adaptations?
“The Hunt for Red October” (1990)
Tomatometer: 89%
Tom Clancy’s first big-screen outing pitted CIA agent Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) against a mysterious Russian sub commander played by Sean Connery. As the L.A. Times critic Sheila Benson wrote: “You may not be limp from accumulated tension when this hunt is over, but its cautiously upbeat global message leaves a satisfying glow and it operates with a crackerjack premise.”
“Clear and Present Danger” (1994)
Tomatometer: 80%
In his second outing as Jack Ryan, Harrison Ford chases down a rogue CIA agent and a drug cartel. The New York Times’ Janet Maslin praises “another fast, gripping spy story with some good tricks up its sleeve,...
“The Hunt for Red October” (1990)
Tomatometer: 89%
Tom Clancy’s first big-screen outing pitted CIA agent Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin) against a mysterious Russian sub commander played by Sean Connery. As the L.A. Times critic Sheila Benson wrote: “You may not be limp from accumulated tension when this hunt is over, but its cautiously upbeat global message leaves a satisfying glow and it operates with a crackerjack premise.”
“Clear and Present Danger” (1994)
Tomatometer: 80%
In his second outing as Jack Ryan, Harrison Ford chases down a rogue CIA agent and a drug cartel. The New York Times’ Janet Maslin praises “another fast, gripping spy story with some good tricks up its sleeve,...
- 6/22/2023
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
There was a point in the mid-2000s when you couldn't go to a movie theater without seeing Will Ferrell headlining a major Hollywood comedy. He's at the heart of so many intensely quotable fan favorites that it's hard to keep track of them all, "Anchorman," "Step Brothers," "Elf," "Zoolander." The list goes on and on. Ferrell played a huge role in defining comedy for a generation, and it was evident that he would make that sort of impact from his breakout work on "Saturday Night Live," where he won over fans with his outrageous caricatures and his long-suffering straight-man roles.
Although Ferrell has been less of a presence in front of the camera in recent years, he's still going strong. Serving as a producer on projects as varied as "Succession," "The Menu," and "Hustlers," he has demonstrated a keen eye for hit projects. His acting profile is impressive as well.
Although Ferrell has been less of a presence in front of the camera in recent years, he's still going strong. Serving as a producer on projects as varied as "Succession," "The Menu," and "Hustlers," he has demonstrated a keen eye for hit projects. His acting profile is impressive as well.
- 5/6/2023
- by Audrey Fox
- Slash Film
Movie star Keanu Reeves is now both beloved and respected, but that wasn’t always the case. Early in his career, Reeves got typecast by Bill and Ted and struggled to get taken seriously in dramas. Action movies like Speed and The Matrix helped, but it’s only recently that Reeves has gotten the respect in the industry he deserves. Even Reeves can be a little self-critical about some of his early roles.
Keanu Reeves | Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Reeves was a guest on the Smartless podcast on March 27 after John Wick: Chapter 4 dominated the box office. Reflecting on one of his ‘90s roles, Reeves acknowledged some of his criticism was deserved.
The Keanu Reeves movie he thinks he might have deserved criticism for
Give Reeves credit. He never coasted on movie star roles. While he starred in blockbusters, he also did indie films like My Own Private Idaho and...
Keanu Reeves | Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Reeves was a guest on the Smartless podcast on March 27 after John Wick: Chapter 4 dominated the box office. Reflecting on one of his ‘90s roles, Reeves acknowledged some of his criticism was deserved.
The Keanu Reeves movie he thinks he might have deserved criticism for
Give Reeves credit. He never coasted on movie star roles. While he starred in blockbusters, he also did indie films like My Own Private Idaho and...
- 3/31/2023
- by Fred Topel
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
(Welcome to Best Actor Ever, an ongoing series where we explore the careers and performances of the greatest performers to ever grace the screen.)
We're only six articles into this series, and I've already violated my critic's creed by furthering one of the most egregious filmmaking fallacies in existence. While I stand wholeheartedly behind my selections of Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Cate Blanchett, Robert De Niro, and Viola Davis, these artists are venerated for capital-a acting. They play serious, complicated people beset by demons both personal and societal. Critics expect them to dazzle us, to shed inspiring or unsettling light on the human condition. For too many years, they did not expect them to make us laugh.
When Streep, after a decade-plus of electrifying dramatic performances, appeared in the 1989 dark comedy "She-Devil" opposite TV superstar Roseanne Barr, many critics felt she was slumming. Ditto De Niro in Martin Brest's 1988 buddy-comedy "Midnight Run.
We're only six articles into this series, and I've already violated my critic's creed by furthering one of the most egregious filmmaking fallacies in existence. While I stand wholeheartedly behind my selections of Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Cate Blanchett, Robert De Niro, and Viola Davis, these artists are venerated for capital-a acting. They play serious, complicated people beset by demons both personal and societal. Critics expect them to dazzle us, to shed inspiring or unsettling light on the human condition. For too many years, they did not expect them to make us laugh.
When Streep, after a decade-plus of electrifying dramatic performances, appeared in the 1989 dark comedy "She-Devil" opposite TV superstar Roseanne Barr, many critics felt she was slumming. Ditto De Niro in Martin Brest's 1988 buddy-comedy "Midnight Run.
- 3/2/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
The Seattle International Film Festival closed its 48th edition on Sunday by announcing its top honors, presenting awards at a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Seattle.
“Klondike,” a film following a family that lives on the tumultuous border of Russia and Ukraine in 2014, was awarded the grand jury prize within the festival’s official competition.
“For a work both tragically prophetic and universal in its impact, a ferocious and formalist vision of war that fuses humanism, black comedy and horror into a searing and original vision, we award the Grand Jury Prize to Maryna Er Gorbach’s ‘Klondike,'” said the jury, composed of Angel An, senior director of acquisitions at Roadside Attraction; David Ansen, lead programmer at the Palm Spring International Film Festival; and Matthew Campbell, artistic director of the Denver Film Society and the Denver Film Festival.
“Know Your Place,” a drama following two teenage...
“Klondike,” a film following a family that lives on the tumultuous border of Russia and Ukraine in 2014, was awarded the grand jury prize within the festival’s official competition.
“For a work both tragically prophetic and universal in its impact, a ferocious and formalist vision of war that fuses humanism, black comedy and horror into a searing and original vision, we award the Grand Jury Prize to Maryna Er Gorbach’s ‘Klondike,'” said the jury, composed of Angel An, senior director of acquisitions at Roadside Attraction; David Ansen, lead programmer at the Palm Spring International Film Festival; and Matthew Campbell, artistic director of the Denver Film Society and the Denver Film Festival.
“Know Your Place,” a drama following two teenage...
- 4/24/2022
- by J. Kim Murphy
- Variety Film + TV
Festival to run April 14-24.
Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) has announced the jury, industry mentors and New Works-in-Progress Forum films for the first in-person edition of the festival since 2019, set to run April 14-24.
Festival jury members who are also serving as industry mentors at the New Works-In-Progress Forum are: producer and CEO of Gamechanger Films Effie Brown; producer Kimberely Browning; former Nfb Animation Studio head Michael Fukishima; Summer Of Soul executive producer Marie Therese Guirgis; Dublin Film Festival Director Grainne Humphreys; and Sundance programmer Ania Trzebiatowska.
This year’s forum selections, curated by Kathleen McInnis, fall under two parts.
Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) has announced the jury, industry mentors and New Works-in-Progress Forum films for the first in-person edition of the festival since 2019, set to run April 14-24.
Festival jury members who are also serving as industry mentors at the New Works-In-Progress Forum are: producer and CEO of Gamechanger Films Effie Brown; producer Kimberely Browning; former Nfb Animation Studio head Michael Fukishima; Summer Of Soul executive producer Marie Therese Guirgis; Dublin Film Festival Director Grainne Humphreys; and Sundance programmer Ania Trzebiatowska.
This year’s forum selections, curated by Kathleen McInnis, fall under two parts.
- 4/7/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Six documentary and narrative industry mentors join select Siff audience to offer feedback on two projects.
Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) has announced the six industry mentors chosen for the virtual New Works-in-Progress Forum on April 15 and 16.
The 2021 Wip mentors for documentary are: funder-consultant Cecilia Lidin, film consultant Harry Vaughn, and producer Giedré Žickyté.
The 2021 Wip mentors for narrative are: journalist-programmer David Ansen, producer-distributor Sophie Mathisen, and film festival consultant and Screen International contributing editor, Nordic correspondent and former editor Wendy Mitchell.
The six industry mentors will combine with a select Siff audience to watch projects in the final stages of editing and provide feedback.
Seattle International Film Festival (Siff) has announced the six industry mentors chosen for the virtual New Works-in-Progress Forum on April 15 and 16.
The 2021 Wip mentors for documentary are: funder-consultant Cecilia Lidin, film consultant Harry Vaughn, and producer Giedré Žickyté.
The 2021 Wip mentors for narrative are: journalist-programmer David Ansen, producer-distributor Sophie Mathisen, and film festival consultant and Screen International contributing editor, Nordic correspondent and former editor Wendy Mitchell.
The six industry mentors will combine with a select Siff audience to watch projects in the final stages of editing and provide feedback.
- 4/13/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Palm Springs International Film Festival: Michael Lerman, Artistic Director InterviewedI caught up with a very, very busy Michael Lerman today, Christmas Eve. Asked what at the moment was occupying his mind he said he was making sure the juries were in place and that the Q&A schedule was on track.
The ten-day Festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, including 48 premieres from January 3–14, 2019.
The line-up includes a focus on cinema from France, India and Mexico, Premieres, Talking Pictures, Book to Screen, Special Presentations, Flos: Foreign Language Oscar Submissions, Gay!L.A., Local Spotlight, Modern Masters, True Stories, World Cinema Now, a 30-film retrospective of selections from past festivals (free screenings sponsored by Desert Care Network and National Endowment for the Arts), and more.
Sydney Levine: The Palm Springs Film Festival is often dubbed as “gays and grays”, is that your audience?
Michael Lerman: I have never heard that phrase before…...
The ten-day Festival will screen 223 films from 78 countries, including 48 premieres from January 3–14, 2019.
The line-up includes a focus on cinema from France, India and Mexico, Premieres, Talking Pictures, Book to Screen, Special Presentations, Flos: Foreign Language Oscar Submissions, Gay!L.A., Local Spotlight, Modern Masters, True Stories, World Cinema Now, a 30-film retrospective of selections from past festivals (free screenings sponsored by Desert Care Network and National Endowment for the Arts), and more.
Sydney Levine: The Palm Springs Film Festival is often dubbed as “gays and grays”, is that your audience?
Michael Lerman: I have never heard that phrase before…...
- 12/28/2018
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain and Disney’s 1950 animated Cinderella are among the 25 motion pictures that have been inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry. Wednesday’s additions to the registry, now in its 30th year, boosts the archive’s overall total to 750 movies selected for heir cultural, historic and aesthetic importance to the nation’s film heritage.
The Library’s total moving-image collection is at 1.3 million pieces. Select titles from 30 years of the registry are available online in the National Screening Room.
Also making the cut today (see the full list below) is the Paul Newman-starrer Hud, musicals My Fair Lady and On the Town, James L Brooks’ Broadcast News, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca, Kasi Lemmons’ 1997 indie Eve’s Bayou starring Samuel L. Jackson and the documentary Monterey Pop chronicling the seminal 1967 music festival.
In all,...
The Library’s total moving-image collection is at 1.3 million pieces. Select titles from 30 years of the registry are available online in the National Screening Room.
Also making the cut today (see the full list below) is the Paul Newman-starrer Hud, musicals My Fair Lady and On the Town, James L Brooks’ Broadcast News, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca, Kasi Lemmons’ 1997 indie Eve’s Bayou starring Samuel L. Jackson and the documentary Monterey Pop chronicling the seminal 1967 music festival.
In all,...
- 12/12/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
As is annual tradition, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has announced this year’s 25 film set to join the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Selected for their “cultural, historic and/or aesthetic importance,” the films picked range from such beloved actioners as “Die Hard,” childhood classic “The Goonies,” the seminal “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” and the mind-bending “Memento,” with plenty of other genres and styles represented among the list.
The additions span 1905 to 2000, and includes Hollywood blockbusters, documentaries, silent movies, animation, shorts, independent, and even home movies. The 2017 selections bring the number of films in the registry to 725.
“The selection of a film to the National Film Registry recognizes its importance to American cinema and the nation’s cultural and historical heritage,” Hayden said in an official statement. “Our love affair with motion pictures is a testament to their enduring power to enlighten, inspire and...
The additions span 1905 to 2000, and includes Hollywood blockbusters, documentaries, silent movies, animation, shorts, independent, and even home movies. The 2017 selections bring the number of films in the registry to 725.
“The selection of a film to the National Film Registry recognizes its importance to American cinema and the nation’s cultural and historical heritage,” Hayden said in an official statement. “Our love affair with motion pictures is a testament to their enduring power to enlighten, inspire and...
- 12/13/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Since 1989, the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress has been accomplishing the important task of preserving films that “represent important cultural, artistic and historic achievements in filmmaking.” From films way back in 1897 all the way up to 2004, they’ve now reached 725 films that celebrate our heritage and encapsulate our film history.
Today they’ve unveiled their 2017 list, which includes such Hollywood classics as Die Hard, Titanic, and Superman along with groundbreaking independent features like Yvonne Rainer’s Lives of Performers, Charles Burnett’s To Sleep with Anger, and Barbara Loden’s Wanda. Also making this list are a pair of Kirk Douglas-led features, Ace in the Hole and Spartacus, as well as Christopher Nolan’s Memento and more. Check out the full list below and you can watch some films on the registry for free here.
Ace in the Hole (aka Big Carnival) (1951)
Based on the infamous...
Today they’ve unveiled their 2017 list, which includes such Hollywood classics as Die Hard, Titanic, and Superman along with groundbreaking independent features like Yvonne Rainer’s Lives of Performers, Charles Burnett’s To Sleep with Anger, and Barbara Loden’s Wanda. Also making this list are a pair of Kirk Douglas-led features, Ace in the Hole and Spartacus, as well as Christopher Nolan’s Memento and more. Check out the full list below and you can watch some films on the registry for free here.
Ace in the Hole (aka Big Carnival) (1951)
Based on the infamous...
- 12/13/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
This year, some 500 filmmakers from 60 countries braved record temperatures to attend the 23rd annual Palm Springs International ShortFest (June 20-26), the largest short film festival and only short film market in North America. Psisf hosted 338 fiction and documentary shorts, 46 World Premieres, 12 International Premieres, 42 North American Premieres and 16 U.S. Premieres.
And more than 4,200 of the festival submissions were available in the Film Market for industry attendees to view online. Check out the complete lineup here.
Designated by AMPAS, BAFTA, and Bifa as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the festival gives its competition filmmakers a chance to secure $20,000 in cash prizes in 21 categories. The Panavision Best North American Short Award winner gets the use of a camera package valued at $60,000. Only the first-place winners in five categories are eligible to vie for an Academy Award nomination. Over 22 years, the Festival has presented 101 films that have...
And more than 4,200 of the festival submissions were available in the Film Market for industry attendees to view online. Check out the complete lineup here.
Designated by AMPAS, BAFTA, and Bifa as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the festival gives its competition filmmakers a chance to secure $20,000 in cash prizes in 21 categories. The Panavision Best North American Short Award winner gets the use of a camera package valued at $60,000. Only the first-place winners in five categories are eligible to vie for an Academy Award nomination. Over 22 years, the Festival has presented 101 films that have...
- 6/26/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
This year, some 500 filmmakers from 60 countries braved record temperatures to attend the 23rd annual Palm Springs International ShortFest (June 20-26), the largest short film festival and only short film market in North America. Psisf hosted 338 fiction and documentary shorts, 46 World Premieres, 12 International Premieres, 42 North American Premieres and 16 U.S. Premieres.
And more than 4,200 of the festival submissions were available in the Film Market for industry attendees to view online. Check out the complete lineup here.
Designated by AMPAS, BAFTA, and Bifa as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the festival gives its competition filmmakers a chance to secure $20,000 in cash prizes in 21 categories. The Panavision Best North American Short Award winner gets the use of a camera package valued at $60,000. Only the first-place winners in five categories are eligible to vie for an Academy Award nomination. Over 22 years, the Festival has presented 101 films that have...
And more than 4,200 of the festival submissions were available in the Film Market for industry attendees to view online. Check out the complete lineup here.
Designated by AMPAS, BAFTA, and Bifa as an award-qualifying festival, and accredited by the International Short Film Conference, the festival gives its competition filmmakers a chance to secure $20,000 in cash prizes in 21 categories. The Panavision Best North American Short Award winner gets the use of a camera package valued at $60,000. Only the first-place winners in five categories are eligible to vie for an Academy Award nomination. Over 22 years, the Festival has presented 101 films that have...
- 6/26/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Los Angeles Film Festival starts June 14 with Colin Trevorrow’s “The Book of Henry” as its opening-night film, but in its 23rd year the festival still hasn’t found its proper place on the film calendar.
Produced by Film Independent, Laff has always been something of a feathered fish. Some of this stems from its summer timeframe: It arrives at mid-year, more than two months before new awards contenders reveal themselves at Telluride and long after acquisitions festivals like Toronto and Sundance have done their work (with support from SXSW and Tribeca that follow) .
Laff has tried to make lemons into organic lemonade: Under the direction of recently departed Stephanie Allain, the Laff moved away from the quality international fare favored by former programmer David Ansen to embrace its indie roots and chase world premieres from under-represented demographics.
It’s a worthy-minded strategy, but the result was a lineup...
Produced by Film Independent, Laff has always been something of a feathered fish. Some of this stems from its summer timeframe: It arrives at mid-year, more than two months before new awards contenders reveal themselves at Telluride and long after acquisitions festivals like Toronto and Sundance have done their work (with support from SXSW and Tribeca that follow) .
Laff has tried to make lemons into organic lemonade: Under the direction of recently departed Stephanie Allain, the Laff moved away from the quality international fare favored by former programmer David Ansen to embrace its indie roots and chase world premieres from under-represented demographics.
It’s a worthy-minded strategy, but the result was a lineup...
- 6/14/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Los Angeles Film Festival starts June 14 with Colin Trevorrow’s “The Book of Henry” as its opening-night film, but in its 23rd year the festival still hasn’t found its proper place on the film calendar.
Produced by Film Independent, Laff has always been something of a feathered fish. Some of this stems from its summer timeframe: It arrives at mid-year, more than two months before new awards contenders reveal themselves at Telluride and long after acquisitions festivals like Toronto and Sundance have done their work (with support from SXSW and Tribeca that follow) .
Laff has tried to make lemons into organic lemonade: Under the direction of recently departed Stephanie Allain, the Laff moved away from the quality international fare favored by former programmer David Ansen to embrace its indie roots and chase world premieres from under-represented demographics.
It’s a worthy-minded strategy, but the result was a lineup...
Produced by Film Independent, Laff has always been something of a feathered fish. Some of this stems from its summer timeframe: It arrives at mid-year, more than two months before new awards contenders reveal themselves at Telluride and long after acquisitions festivals like Toronto and Sundance have done their work (with support from SXSW and Tribeca that follow) .
Laff has tried to make lemons into organic lemonade: Under the direction of recently departed Stephanie Allain, the Laff moved away from the quality international fare favored by former programmer David Ansen to embrace its indie roots and chase world premieres from under-represented demographics.
It’s a worthy-minded strategy, but the result was a lineup...
- 6/14/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
338 selected films represent 60 countries in the festival and film market that runs from June 20-26.
This year’s selection of shorts include the world premieres of The Dark Of Night directed by Robin Wright and starring Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell, Edmund The Magnificent starring Ian McKellen, and Martha Monster starring Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale.
Idris Elba stars in the world premiere of Kate Herron’s Five By Five, Kate Winslet stars in Kealan O’Rourke’s The Lost Letter, Helena Bonham Carter stars in the North American premiere of Paloma Baeza’s Poles Apart, while Toby Jones stars in the world premiere of Jonathan Schey’s The Entertainer.
First place winners in five categories will be eligible for Academy Award consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
ShortFest jurors include David Ansen, Lindsey Bahr, Kate Bosworth, Ian Durkin, Sam Lansky and Heidi Zwicker.
The 23rd Palm Springs International ShortFest will showcase...
This year’s selection of shorts include the world premieres of The Dark Of Night directed by Robin Wright and starring Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell, Edmund The Magnificent starring Ian McKellen, and Martha Monster starring Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale.
Idris Elba stars in the world premiere of Kate Herron’s Five By Five, Kate Winslet stars in Kealan O’Rourke’s The Lost Letter, Helena Bonham Carter stars in the North American premiere of Paloma Baeza’s Poles Apart, while Toby Jones stars in the world premiere of Jonathan Schey’s The Entertainer.
First place winners in five categories will be eligible for Academy Award consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).
ShortFest jurors include David Ansen, Lindsey Bahr, Kate Bosworth, Ian Durkin, Sam Lansky and Heidi Zwicker.
The 23rd Palm Springs International ShortFest will showcase...
- 6/9/2017
- ScreenDaily
The Stephanie Allain era of Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival is over.
The prolific producer (“Beyond the Lights”) is leaving her role of five years as director of the summer festival to spend more time on her first avocation. She will be replaced by another independent producer, Jennifer Cochis (“Smashed”), who for the past two years worked closely as Creative Director with Allain on all aspects of the festival.
Allain is currently in production on Justin Simien’s Netflix series “Dear White People,” in post-production on Gerard McMurray’s “Burning Sands” and prepping Clark Johnson’s “Juanita,” set to star Alfre Woodard.
Film Independent President Josh Welsh has watched Cochis move up from Senior Programmer to Creative Director, he said in a statement. Working with Allain, she was instrumental in “turning the Festival into a powerful platform for discovering new and diverse talent.”
Promoting Allain’s protege suggests...
The prolific producer (“Beyond the Lights”) is leaving her role of five years as director of the summer festival to spend more time on her first avocation. She will be replaced by another independent producer, Jennifer Cochis (“Smashed”), who for the past two years worked closely as Creative Director with Allain on all aspects of the festival.
Allain is currently in production on Justin Simien’s Netflix series “Dear White People,” in post-production on Gerard McMurray’s “Burning Sands” and prepping Clark Johnson’s “Juanita,” set to star Alfre Woodard.
Film Independent President Josh Welsh has watched Cochis move up from Senior Programmer to Creative Director, he said in a statement. Working with Allain, she was instrumental in “turning the Festival into a powerful platform for discovering new and diverse talent.”
Promoting Allain’s protege suggests...
- 10/14/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Stephanie Allain era of Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival is over.
The prolific producer (“Beyond the Lights”) is leaving her role of five years as director of the summer festival to spend more time on her first avocation. She will be replaced by another independent producer, Jennifer Cochis (“Smashed”), who for the past two years worked closely as Creative Director with Allain on all aspects of the festival.
Allain is currently in production on Justin Simien’s Netflix series “Dear White People,” in post-production on Gerard McMurray’s “Burning Sands” and prepping Clark Johnson’s “Juanita,” set to star Alfre Woodard.
Film Independent President Josh Welsh has watched Cochis move up from Senior Programmer to Creative Director, he said in a statement. Working with Allain, she was instrumental in “turning the Festival into a powerful platform for discovering new and diverse talent.”
Promoting Allain’s protege suggests...
The prolific producer (“Beyond the Lights”) is leaving her role of five years as director of the summer festival to spend more time on her first avocation. She will be replaced by another independent producer, Jennifer Cochis (“Smashed”), who for the past two years worked closely as Creative Director with Allain on all aspects of the festival.
Allain is currently in production on Justin Simien’s Netflix series “Dear White People,” in post-production on Gerard McMurray’s “Burning Sands” and prepping Clark Johnson’s “Juanita,” set to star Alfre Woodard.
Film Independent President Josh Welsh has watched Cochis move up from Senior Programmer to Creative Director, he said in a statement. Working with Allain, she was instrumental in “turning the Festival into a powerful platform for discovering new and diverse talent.”
Promoting Allain’s protege suggests...
- 10/14/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Short films from Kosovo, France, the Us and Switzerland are among the winners at the Palm Springs International ShortFest.
The Palm Springs International ShortFest has given its Best of Festival Award to Daniel Mulloly’s Home (pictured), from Kosovo, and its Grand Jury Award to Vincent Maury’s Minh Tâm, from France.
Nearly 20 other shorts from the 327 that screened at the event, which bills itself as the largest short film festival and only short film market in North America, also won awards.
The winner of the Best of Festival award gets a $5,000 cash prize and may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration. The Grand Jury award comes with a $2,000 cash prize.
The jury – comprising David Ansen, Jeremy Boxer, Zorianna Kit, Molly Parker, Rachel Samuels and Alison Willmore – gave ShortFest’s Panavision Best North American Short award to La Laguna, from Mexico...
The Palm Springs International ShortFest has given its Best of Festival Award to Daniel Mulloly’s Home (pictured), from Kosovo, and its Grand Jury Award to Vincent Maury’s Minh Tâm, from France.
Nearly 20 other shorts from the 327 that screened at the event, which bills itself as the largest short film festival and only short film market in North America, also won awards.
The winner of the Best of Festival award gets a $5,000 cash prize and may be eligible to submit their film to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for Oscar consideration. The Grand Jury award comes with a $2,000 cash prize.
The jury – comprising David Ansen, Jeremy Boxer, Zorianna Kit, Molly Parker, Rachel Samuels and Alison Willmore – gave ShortFest’s Panavision Best North American Short award to La Laguna, from Mexico...
- 6/27/2016
- ScreenDaily
The transition of Film Independent’s Los Angeles Film Festival continues. Geographically, the fest has moved away from downtown to multiple Arclight locations. Opening night in Hollywood, Ricardo de Montreuil’s coming-of-age East L.A. drama “Lowriders,” starring Demián Bichir and Theo Rossi as father and estranged ex-con son, signaled the fest’s mission: Provide a diverse program directed by rising filmmakers: among the 42 competition films, 87% are first-and-second-timers, 43% are women and 38% are people of color, while 90% of the 58 total festival films are world premieres.
Developed by Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, “Lowriders” (written by Cheo Hodari Coker, Joshua Beirne-Golden, Elgin James, and Justin Tipping), finally got made when the budget dropped—under Universal’s low-budget producing partner, Jason Blum—from $20 million to $5 million. The grittiness helps the scruffy, colorful movie, which Laff head Stephanie Allain loved for being “so Los Angeles, so culturally rich,” she told the Arclight crowd. “Made by filmmakers of color, ‘Lowriders’ embodies our mission.” (The film will go out under a Universal label that remains to be seen, per Blum.)
Since Allain took over in 2014, the festival has lost some of its key programming talent (David Ansen, Doug Jones, Maggie McKay); the sprawling program is now commandeered by film professor Roya Rastegar (Bryn Mawr College). Very much in charge is Laff’s high-powered director, studio-trained producer Allain (“Boyz ‘n the Hood,” “Hustle & Flow”), who has pulled her friend Elvis Mitchell into a role as year-round “curator,” which basically means hosting Q & As at Film Independent-programmed events at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
As Laff becomes more local, eclectic, multi-cultural, and interactive, the Laff seeks to occupy a niche and grow its audience via a more populist, less international festival.
Truth is, only a few top-ranked film festivals a year are must-attend destinations packed with high-end world premieres and star attendees. Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Venice, New York, and Telluride top the list. So there’s some logic to opting out of that competitive arena. Increasingly, fests like Tribeca and SXSW are pushing outside the area of indie film to create alluring events for audiences, from interactive transmedia showcases and TV series premieres to high-profile panels, Q & As, and “Master Classes.” So it makes sense to brand Laff with an identifiable niche.
Giving people awards and tributes is another route pursued by awards-friendly fests like Santa Barbara and Palm Springs, hence Saturday Laff will award “Selma” director Ava DuVernay as well as her distribution company Array Releasing (her own “Middle of Nowhere” plus “Ashes and Embers,” “Mississippi Damned,” “Kinyarwanda,” and “Restless City”) with the annual Spirit of Independence Award given to members of the independent film community who “advance the cause of independent film and champion creative freedom.” Last year, Array bought La Film Festival Us Fiction award-winner “Out of My Hand” for distribution, along with “Ayanda.”
Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”) is the 2016 Festival’s Guest Director; he’s offering a master class on sound design for “Creed.” And Nate Parker hosted a screening of Sundance Oscar contender “Birth of a Nation.” This weekend also brings a panel of women cinematographers.
The question is whether Allain’s quest for diversity will coincide with choosing the best movies, ones that create buzz for must-see titles—so far, actress Amber Tamblyn’s directing debut, “Paint It Black,” debuting Friday night at Lacma, has earned the most advance word of mouth. Established fest circuit titles such as Roger Ross Williams’ autism doc “Life, Animated,” closing night border film “Desierto” from Jonás Cuarón (“Gravity”), starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Mike Birbliglia and Ira Glass’s latest collaboration, improv comedy “Don’t Think Twice,” starring Keegan-Michael Key, are all worth seeing.
But for many of the unknown titles unspooling this week, audiences and buyers will just have to check them out and spread the word, good or bad. Otherwise, they’ll disappear into the ether.
Here are Indiewire’s Laff picks so far.
Related stories2016 Los Angeles Film Festival Awards: 'Heis (chronicles)', 'Blood Stripe' & 'Political Animals' Win BigThe TV Director's Hurdle: Why A Small-Screen Actor Is Making An Indie Feature To Get His Foot In The DoorFilm Independent Announces The 10 Projects Selected for Fast Track and Recipient Of Alfred P. Sloan Grant...
Developed by Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer, “Lowriders” (written by Cheo Hodari Coker, Joshua Beirne-Golden, Elgin James, and Justin Tipping), finally got made when the budget dropped—under Universal’s low-budget producing partner, Jason Blum—from $20 million to $5 million. The grittiness helps the scruffy, colorful movie, which Laff head Stephanie Allain loved for being “so Los Angeles, so culturally rich,” she told the Arclight crowd. “Made by filmmakers of color, ‘Lowriders’ embodies our mission.” (The film will go out under a Universal label that remains to be seen, per Blum.)
Since Allain took over in 2014, the festival has lost some of its key programming talent (David Ansen, Doug Jones, Maggie McKay); the sprawling program is now commandeered by film professor Roya Rastegar (Bryn Mawr College). Very much in charge is Laff’s high-powered director, studio-trained producer Allain (“Boyz ‘n the Hood,” “Hustle & Flow”), who has pulled her friend Elvis Mitchell into a role as year-round “curator,” which basically means hosting Q & As at Film Independent-programmed events at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
As Laff becomes more local, eclectic, multi-cultural, and interactive, the Laff seeks to occupy a niche and grow its audience via a more populist, less international festival.
Truth is, only a few top-ranked film festivals a year are must-attend destinations packed with high-end world premieres and star attendees. Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Venice, New York, and Telluride top the list. So there’s some logic to opting out of that competitive arena. Increasingly, fests like Tribeca and SXSW are pushing outside the area of indie film to create alluring events for audiences, from interactive transmedia showcases and TV series premieres to high-profile panels, Q & As, and “Master Classes.” So it makes sense to brand Laff with an identifiable niche.
Giving people awards and tributes is another route pursued by awards-friendly fests like Santa Barbara and Palm Springs, hence Saturday Laff will award “Selma” director Ava DuVernay as well as her distribution company Array Releasing (her own “Middle of Nowhere” plus “Ashes and Embers,” “Mississippi Damned,” “Kinyarwanda,” and “Restless City”) with the annual Spirit of Independence Award given to members of the independent film community who “advance the cause of independent film and champion creative freedom.” Last year, Array bought La Film Festival Us Fiction award-winner “Out of My Hand” for distribution, along with “Ayanda.”
Ryan Coogler (“Fruitvale Station”) is the 2016 Festival’s Guest Director; he’s offering a master class on sound design for “Creed.” And Nate Parker hosted a screening of Sundance Oscar contender “Birth of a Nation.” This weekend also brings a panel of women cinematographers.
The question is whether Allain’s quest for diversity will coincide with choosing the best movies, ones that create buzz for must-see titles—so far, actress Amber Tamblyn’s directing debut, “Paint It Black,” debuting Friday night at Lacma, has earned the most advance word of mouth. Established fest circuit titles such as Roger Ross Williams’ autism doc “Life, Animated,” closing night border film “Desierto” from Jonás Cuarón (“Gravity”), starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Mike Birbliglia and Ira Glass’s latest collaboration, improv comedy “Don’t Think Twice,” starring Keegan-Michael Key, are all worth seeing.
But for many of the unknown titles unspooling this week, audiences and buyers will just have to check them out and spread the word, good or bad. Otherwise, they’ll disappear into the ether.
Here are Indiewire’s Laff picks so far.
Related stories2016 Los Angeles Film Festival Awards: 'Heis (chronicles)', 'Blood Stripe' & 'Political Animals' Win BigThe TV Director's Hurdle: Why A Small-Screen Actor Is Making An Indie Feature To Get His Foot In The DoorFilm Independent Announces The 10 Projects Selected for Fast Track and Recipient Of Alfred P. Sloan Grant...
- 6/3/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
This year, controversy over the repeated snubbing of African-American actors from the Oscars has once again dominated headlines.Twenty years ago, a special report in People examined diversity in the movie industry and labeled Hollywood's "continued exclusion of African-Americans" as "a national disgrace".The report was reexamined five years later in a follow up exposé, and while People uncovered encouraging signs of improvement, the African-American actors interviewed made it clear they felt the industry still had a long way to go.Now, another fifteen years later, and with calls to boycott the award show gaining traction, the original article appears...
- 1/22/2016
- by Michael Miller, @write_miller
- PEOPLE.com
This year, controversy over the repeated snubbing of African-American actors from the Oscars has once again dominated headlines.Twenty years ago, a special report in People examined diversity in the movie industry and labeled Hollywood's "continued exclusion of African-Americans" as "a national disgrace".The report was reexamined five years later in a follow up exposé, and while People uncovered encouraging signs of improvement, the African-American actors interviewed made it clear they felt the industry still had a long way to go.Now, another fifteen years later, and with calls to boycott the award show gaining traction, the original article appears...
- 1/22/2016
- by Michael Miller, @write_miller
- PEOPLE.com
6 Reasons Why Michael Cimino Will Never Work in Hollywood Again 13 Ways to Keep Smart Movie Fans Happy 9 Foreign Language Oscar Semi-Finalists: Who Has Them, Where You Can See Them The 9 Women You Meet in Woody Allen Movies 10 Things You Might Not Know About Pixar's 'Inside Out' The Anarchy of Influence: On 'Fight Club,' 'Mr. Robot,' and 'The Leftovers' (Video) Bernard Rose on Directing: "Your Life Will Be Sucked into an Awful Black Hole" David Ansen Surveys Toronto 2015, from Blocked 'Amazing Grace' to Glossily Mainstream 'The Danish Girl' The Dirty Business Behind 'The Tribe,' From an Oscar Scandal to Deaf Teen Hollywood Divas The Dramatic Story Behind Satyajit Ray's 50s Masterpiece 'The Apu Trilogy' Elizabeth Banks Saves Brian Wilson as 'Love & Mercy' Hero Melinda Ledbetter (Exclusive Video) Exclusive: Horror Hit 'It Follows' Reveals Challenges of Theatrical vs. VOD George Miller and...
- 12/29/2015
- by TOH!
- Thompson on Hollywood
Running January 1-11, Palm Springs annually offers a robust showcase for the Foreign Language Oscar contenders, which will be announced on December 18. Many remain at large on the distribution market while others, including such expected buzzy titles as "Son of Saul," "The Clan," "Viva," "The Second Mother," "Mustang" and "A War" have had or will have qualifying runs in the Us this season. This year ex-Newsweek critic David Ansen joins the festival as lead programmer. Read More: 81 Foreign Language Oscar Contenders and Frontrunners Opening night will be 50s thriller "The Fencer," both a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film and Finland’s Best Foreign Language Oscar submission. A young fencer, while hiding from the Russian secret police, becomes a physical education teacher in an Estonian village. Other foreign films in the Special Presentations program include Jaco...
- 12/17/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Cheers to Film Independent which has finally abandoned its downtown experiment for summer's La Film Festival in favor of a new home with La's most successful theaters, ArcLight Cinemas, spread around the city, in different neighborhoods. Non-profit Film Independent, which produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards as well as the Festival, will mount the 22nd edition of the La Film Festival (June 1 – June 9, 2016) at ArcLight Cinemas, including popular ArcLight Hollywood and the brand new ArcLight Santa Monica. The Festival headquarters will be at ArcLight Culver City. Under the leadership of Stephanie Allain, the La Film Festival has been pursuing a mission to showcase diversity and innovation, with mixed results in attendance so far. Having lost veteran programmers David Ansen (now at the Palm Springs Film Festival), Maggie McKay (now at Aspen) and Doug Jones (running a theater in Williamstown, Ma), Allain is promoting protege Roya Rastegar...
- 11/3/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
"What is it to be human, to ache, to be alive?" asks the lead character in the new trailer for animated feature "Anomalisa," from two directors, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and stop-motion master Duke Johnson. The R-rated feature broke out at the fall festivals and was scooped up by Paramount Pictures, which harbors high hopes for the movie, even though it starts off with a jarring "fuck," signaling that this felt puppet movie is Not a family picture. The couple at the center of this story are voiced by David Thewlis and Jennifer Jason Leigh; all the other identical characters are handled by Tom Noonan. David Ansen, in his Toronto review, describes “Anomalisa” as Kaufman's "most emotionally direct movie." It's a straightforwardly simple and relatable story about Michael Stone, a brainy, married, British, L.A.-based motivational speaker on customer relations who's a tad bored and depressed, who checks into a.
- 11/2/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
David Ansen is moving back East, SoCal-style. After four years as Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Film Festival, he will head down the 10 Freeway to the desert to become Lead Programmer for the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Working with a half-dozen other programmers under Artistic Director Helen du Toit, the former Newsweek movie critic will be tasked with acquiring films for the upcoming festivals from U.S.-based distribution outlets and international…...
- 9/3/2015
- Deadline
As seems de rigueur for former film critics, David Ansen will foray once again into film festival programming. The erstwhile Newsweek critic who left his La Film Festival Artistic Director post in 2014 will now serve as Lead Programmer for the Palm Springs International Film Festival (January 1-11), which launches many of the 2016 foreign Oscar contenders. He will work with six other programmers under the direction of the fest's Artistic Director, Helen du Toit, acquiring films from distribution outlets and sales companies, and looking at submissions as a member of the selection committee. Read More: David Ansen's Departure from Los Angeles Film Festival Signals New Direction for Fest Are film festivals the next best step for film critics? After five years at La Film Festival, Ansen was succeeded by former New York Times writer Elvis Mitchell as year-round curator of Laff. Variety's Scott Foundas directed programming at Lincoln Center and...
- 9/3/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Film critic Claudia Puig, who took a buyout at USA Today this year after 15 years at the paper, has landed quickly on her feet as Program Director at the Napa Valley Film Festival (November 11-15). She will serve as a consulting programming director and industry liaison for 2015, and then take on full responsibilities at the beginning of the 2016 festival planning cycle. Are film festivals the next best step for film critics who leave, or are forced from, their posts? Though he stepped down last year, David Ansen served five years at the Los Angeles Film Festival; Scott Foundas was a program director at Lincoln Center, and a member of the New York Film Festival selection committee, before heading to Variety, then Amazon. Other key festivals to land programmers include Ashland and Aspen. Napa Valley also unveils its competition lineup. Directors of the Narrative and Documentary features will participate in Nvff’s Artists-in-Residence Program,...
- 8/11/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
As co-directors George Eldred and Laura Thielen exit from Colorado's Aspen Film this month after a twenty-year tenure, after an exhaustive search their replacement as artistic director of the non-profit, who will program Aspen Filmfest, Aspen Shortsfest and Academy Screenings, is Maggie Mackay. Until last year, Mackay was Senior Programmer of Film Independent's Los Angeles Film Festival. She first joined Film Independent in 2003, working closely with Laff programmers Rachel Rosen and Doug Jones, who subsequently left to join the San Francisco International Film Festival and Massachusetts' Images Cinema, respectively. She also worked with Laff artistic director David Ansen, and after his 2014 exit focused on her long-term gig as Film Independent's Director of Nominations for the Spirit Awards as well as an Laff showcase for high school shorts. “We are lucky to have such a wonderful asset to the arts community...
- 8/6/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
What a treat I gave myself. I went to the Billy Wilder Theater to see Director Dorothy Arzner’s films “The Wild Party” (1929, Paramount) and “Anybody’s Woman” (1930, Paramount) as restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, in cooperation with Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures.
And as good as these two films were (fantastic!), the audience was just as good. I saw our old friend Alan Howard with his friends David Ansen and Mary Corey, my best friend during our oh-so-long-ago freshman year at Brandeis. A perfect segue into the film “The Wild Party” Clara Bow’s first sound feature. I had never seen Clara Bow before, nor had I seen a Dorothy Arzner film. And I had only seen Mary Corey once since we both left Brandeis after our freshman year and went our separate ways.
It somehow never occurred to me that Dorothy Arzner would have a particular point of view as a woman; but she certainly did. Lesbian herself, she made women’s films about women and men who were always slightly slighted by her, but with a loving touch. These were the opening films to the Dorothy Arzner Retrospective held in the Billy Wilder Theater of the Armand Hammer Museum. Alison Anders will present August 30th’s film “The Red Kimon” and “Old Ironsides” . The series runs until September 18. Do yourself a favor and catch at least one of these historic films by a historic director…an anomaly perhaps still yet to be surpassed.
"The Wild Party" (1929)
In “The Wild Party” Clara Bow plays Stella is an inveterate partier at an all-girl college. She is tough – when drunken men molest her and her friends and even kidnap her to rape her – she fights. When a favorite classmate is implicated in a scandal, Stella heroically defends her friend's reputation at the expense of her own. Rich with pre-Code delights (including furtive, "innocent" bed-hopping with college professors), one may easily detect the film's insistence on the supremacy of female friendships.
Clara Bow, the “It” Girl, in my mind was a live Betty Boop; what the “it” meant in her nickname was not clear though I knew it had something to do with sexy. Actually, her breakthrough film was entitled “It”. She is a wonderful comedian and her expressive eyes and face rule the screen; she was America’s first sex symbol. She won a photo beauty contest which launched her movie career that would eventually number 58 films, from 1922 to 1933.
Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. Producer: E. Lloyd Sheldon. Director: Dorothy Arzner. Screenwriter: E. Lloyd Sheldon. Based on a story by Warner Fabian. Cinematographer: Victor Milner. Editor: Otto Lovering. With: Clara Bow, Fredric March, Marceline Day, Shirley O’Hara, Adrienne Doré. 35mm, b/w, 77 min.
Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by the Myra Reinhard Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Jodie Foster, in cooperation with Universal Studios.
"Anybody's Woman" (1930)
“Anybody’s Woman” holds lots of surprises including the title itself. The cheesy out-of-work chorine Pansy Gray (Ruth Chatterton) accepts an irresponsible marriage proposal from Neil Dunlap (Clive Brook), an intoxicated but elegant upper crust attorney, and winds up in high society, to the horror of her newfound "family." Reforming her dissolute husband and striving to be an honest social success, Pansy is compromised by the flirtations of several men, including Neil's most important client, for which she is denounced as a seductress.
As David described Clive Brook as stiff and Mary defended his acting because the role called for such a stiff actor, Kevin Thomas was introduced to David and joined our little group; the talk veered into other directions and so did I. But I want to say that Paul Lukas, the Hungarian born actor held a very special place in this film; elegant but vulgar, open and mysterious, he was able to play the thin line of a slightly compromised but sincere character. He went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor for “Watch on the Rhine” in 1948.
Ruth Chatterton herself began as a chorus girl at age 14 so her role must have felt very natural to her. She became a Broadway star with "Daddy Long Legs" in 1914 and appeared in various shows before moving to Hollywood in 1925. As her film career faded in the late 1930s, she returned to the stage in revivals, and radio and TV performances, including "Hamlet." In the 1950s, she began a successful writing career. She was nominted twice for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She had no children.
Paramount Publix Corp. Director: Dorothy Arzner. Screenwriter: Zoë Akins, Doris Anderson. Cinematographer: Charles Lang. Editor: Jane Loring. With: Ruth Chatterton, Clive Brook, Paul Lukas. 35mm, b/w, 80 min.
Read about this film series in the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.
The UCLA Film Archive is pleased to commemorate the indispensable career of director Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979) as part of a year-long commemoration of our own 50th Anniversary. This retrospective features six Archive restorations of Arzner's work, which have helped to spur scholarship into and retrospectives of the director's remarkable achievements. The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television is also proud to claim Arzner as a former professor. A remarkable and nearly unique figure in American film history, Arzner forged a career characterized by an individual worldview, and a strong, recognizable voice. She was also, not incidentally, the sole female director in the studio era to sustain a directing career, working in that capacity for nearly two decades and helming 20 features—conspicuously, still a record in Hollywood. Distinguished as a storyteller with penetrating insight into women's perspectives and experiences, Arzner herself emphatically made the point that only a woman could offer such authority and authenticity. At a time when the marginalization of women directors in the American film establishment is still actively debated, we celebrate Dorothy Arzner, and the Archive's long association with her legacy.
Special thanks to: Peggy Alexander, Curator—Performing Arts Special Collections, UCLA Library; Gayle Nachlis, Kirsten Schaffer—Women in Film, Los Angeles.
And as good as these two films were (fantastic!), the audience was just as good. I saw our old friend Alan Howard with his friends David Ansen and Mary Corey, my best friend during our oh-so-long-ago freshman year at Brandeis. A perfect segue into the film “The Wild Party” Clara Bow’s first sound feature. I had never seen Clara Bow before, nor had I seen a Dorothy Arzner film. And I had only seen Mary Corey once since we both left Brandeis after our freshman year and went our separate ways.
It somehow never occurred to me that Dorothy Arzner would have a particular point of view as a woman; but she certainly did. Lesbian herself, she made women’s films about women and men who were always slightly slighted by her, but with a loving touch. These were the opening films to the Dorothy Arzner Retrospective held in the Billy Wilder Theater of the Armand Hammer Museum. Alison Anders will present August 30th’s film “The Red Kimon” and “Old Ironsides” . The series runs until September 18. Do yourself a favor and catch at least one of these historic films by a historic director…an anomaly perhaps still yet to be surpassed.
"The Wild Party" (1929)
In “The Wild Party” Clara Bow plays Stella is an inveterate partier at an all-girl college. She is tough – when drunken men molest her and her friends and even kidnap her to rape her – she fights. When a favorite classmate is implicated in a scandal, Stella heroically defends her friend's reputation at the expense of her own. Rich with pre-Code delights (including furtive, "innocent" bed-hopping with college professors), one may easily detect the film's insistence on the supremacy of female friendships.
Clara Bow, the “It” Girl, in my mind was a live Betty Boop; what the “it” meant in her nickname was not clear though I knew it had something to do with sexy. Actually, her breakthrough film was entitled “It”. She is a wonderful comedian and her expressive eyes and face rule the screen; she was America’s first sex symbol. She won a photo beauty contest which launched her movie career that would eventually number 58 films, from 1922 to 1933.
Paramount Famous Lasky Corp. Producer: E. Lloyd Sheldon. Director: Dorothy Arzner. Screenwriter: E. Lloyd Sheldon. Based on a story by Warner Fabian. Cinematographer: Victor Milner. Editor: Otto Lovering. With: Clara Bow, Fredric March, Marceline Day, Shirley O’Hara, Adrienne Doré. 35mm, b/w, 77 min.
Restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding provided by the Myra Reinhard Family Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Jodie Foster, in cooperation with Universal Studios.
"Anybody's Woman" (1930)
“Anybody’s Woman” holds lots of surprises including the title itself. The cheesy out-of-work chorine Pansy Gray (Ruth Chatterton) accepts an irresponsible marriage proposal from Neil Dunlap (Clive Brook), an intoxicated but elegant upper crust attorney, and winds up in high society, to the horror of her newfound "family." Reforming her dissolute husband and striving to be an honest social success, Pansy is compromised by the flirtations of several men, including Neil's most important client, for which she is denounced as a seductress.
As David described Clive Brook as stiff and Mary defended his acting because the role called for such a stiff actor, Kevin Thomas was introduced to David and joined our little group; the talk veered into other directions and so did I. But I want to say that Paul Lukas, the Hungarian born actor held a very special place in this film; elegant but vulgar, open and mysterious, he was able to play the thin line of a slightly compromised but sincere character. He went on to win the Oscar for Best Actor for “Watch on the Rhine” in 1948.
Ruth Chatterton herself began as a chorus girl at age 14 so her role must have felt very natural to her. She became a Broadway star with "Daddy Long Legs" in 1914 and appeared in various shows before moving to Hollywood in 1925. As her film career faded in the late 1930s, she returned to the stage in revivals, and radio and TV performances, including "Hamlet." In the 1950s, she began a successful writing career. She was nominted twice for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She had no children.
Paramount Publix Corp. Director: Dorothy Arzner. Screenwriter: Zoë Akins, Doris Anderson. Cinematographer: Charles Lang. Editor: Jane Loring. With: Ruth Chatterton, Clive Brook, Paul Lukas. 35mm, b/w, 80 min.
Read about this film series in the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal.
The UCLA Film Archive is pleased to commemorate the indispensable career of director Dorothy Arzner (1897-1979) as part of a year-long commemoration of our own 50th Anniversary. This retrospective features six Archive restorations of Arzner's work, which have helped to spur scholarship into and retrospectives of the director's remarkable achievements. The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television is also proud to claim Arzner as a former professor. A remarkable and nearly unique figure in American film history, Arzner forged a career characterized by an individual worldview, and a strong, recognizable voice. She was also, not incidentally, the sole female director in the studio era to sustain a directing career, working in that capacity for nearly two decades and helming 20 features—conspicuously, still a record in Hollywood. Distinguished as a storyteller with penetrating insight into women's perspectives and experiences, Arzner herself emphatically made the point that only a woman could offer such authority and authenticity. At a time when the marginalization of women directors in the American film establishment is still actively debated, we celebrate Dorothy Arzner, and the Archive's long association with her legacy.
Special thanks to: Peggy Alexander, Curator—Performing Arts Special Collections, UCLA Library; Gayle Nachlis, Kirsten Schaffer—Women in Film, Los Angeles.
- 8/3/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
As Film Independent's 21st Los Angeles Film Festival gets under way at La Live downtown with the June 10th opening of Paul Weitz's Sundance hit comedy "Grandma," starring the incomparable Lily Tomlin, the big question surrounding this year's program is whether festival director Stephanie Allain's new vision for the selection (booked by a new, less experienced programming team led by Roya Rastegar) will lure audiences. Read: David Ansen's Departure from Laff Signals New Direction for the Festival The fourth festival under producer Allain ("Beyond the Lights") has taken a dramatic turn. While there are plenty of Cannes, SXSW and Sundance hits such as Ken Loach’s "Jimmy’s Hall," "Diary of a Teenage Girl," "Infinitely Polar Bear," and Russell Brand doc "Brand: A Second Coming," among the 45 world premieres there are fewer galas with...
- 6/9/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
As expected, the 21st Los Angeles Film Festival, which will take place June 10 – June 18, 2015, returning to downtown location L.A. Live, has made several new hires to replace outgoing programmers David Ansen and Doug Jones. Festival Director Stephanie Allain has added new members to the programming team led by Film Independent Curator Elvis Mitchell--her protege Roya Rastegar is Associate Director of Programming and Curated Content and Jennifer Cochis is Senior Programmer. The last senior programmer of the old festival team, Maggie Mackay, who also produces the Indie Spirits, is still on board. These women will be doing the labor-intensive slog work of tracking, chasing and culling through films in support of Mitchell, a well-regarded interviewer of celebrities (on Kcrw FM and at Lacma's Film Independent series) who will also be sampling more wares at various film festivals. Allain will look to him to deliver...
- 11/6/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Robin Williams, age 63, after having checked into rehab in June, was found dead by hanging himself Monday, according to police in Marin County, Calif. In a statement his publicist Mara Buxbaum said the actor had been "battling severe depression of late." The full police statement is below. Gifted with amazing improvisational dexterity, Williams' skills ranged from live standup and TV comedy to precise dramatic acting. “The mystery is in the motion: What miracle of the synapses got him from point A to point Z?," wrote David Ansen in Newsweek. "At once a satirist, a comedian and a superb actor, this one-man repertory company dashes from mask to mask, voice to voice, like a man possessed by comic demons." Those demons pursued him off-screen, alas, as Williams admitted to bouts of drug and alcohol abuse, and was open about his fight to stay clean and sober. "Robin was a lightning storm...
- 8/12/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Following Los Angeles Film Festival artistic director David Ansen out the door was Film Independent and Laff programming veteran Doug Jones, who swiftly landed a new gig. He's moving to Williamstown, Ma as the new executive director of the Images Cinema, a venerable downtown single-screen theater. In September he replaces Sandra Thomas, who has resigned after 12 years. Jones is looking forward to taking over the renovated art house cinema, which plays first-run indies and foreign films as well as classic repertory cinema, bringing in talent for Q & As. He wants to try some new ideas and programming initiatives. Jones has two decades of experience at film festivals and arts nonprofits. He's currently associate programmer for the Philadelphia Film Festival, and prior to his dozen years at Laff and Film Independent, he was Film and Video Programmer at the San Francisco International Film Festival and San Francisco Film Society, and earned his exhibition.
- 8/2/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The top stories of the week from Toh! Features: 9 Films to See in Theaters or Stream at Home This Weekend, From "I Origins" to "The Immigrant" Career Watch: Stealth Rising Star Jason Clarke Breaks Out in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Akira Kurosawa Talk Film, Writing and "Rhapsody in August" in 1991 Why The Beatles Matter to the Future of Repertory Film Festivals: David Ansen's Departure from Los Angeles Film Festival Signals New Direction for Fest Films That Popped at Karlovy Vary, from Live Bjork and Primal Behavior to Tracking a Revolution Interviews: Debra Granik on the Demand for the Salacious, "for fast, cheap and out of control" "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" Author Peter Biskind Looks Back at the New Hollywood Screen Talk: Festival Updates, Fall Hopefuls, New Openers from Woody Allen to Zach Braff, Fox vs. Time Warner News: Nathan Rabin Is Sorry He.
- 7/19/2014
- by TOH!
- Thompson on Hollywood
After five years at Film Independent's Los Angeles Film Festival, Artistic Director David Ansen, ex-critic of Newsweek, is leaving the festival to return to writing. Also exiting is ace programmer Doug Jones, who takes 12 years of institutional memory with him. Very much in charge is Laff's high-powered director, studio-trained producer Stephanie Allain ("Boyz 'n the Hood," "Hustle & Flow"), who is pulling her friend Elvis Mitchell into a more prominent role as year-round "curator." Another ex-critic, Mitchell has become an interviewer of celebrities (on Kcrw FM and at Lacma's Film Independent series) who is himself a celebrity. He's given credit for bringing to Lacma Jason Reitman's hugely popular live reads. Does Mitchell do the labor-intensive slog work of tracking, chasing and culling through films? No, but this new job will give him an incentive to sample more wares at various film festivals. Will he manage the Laff programmers? Unlikely. Allain.
- 7/14/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Film Independent top brass announced on Thursday (10) a restructuring of the programming team as Los Angeles Film Festival artistic director David Ansen steps down by mutual agreement and the role of Elvis Mitchell is expanded.
Mitchell now assumes the newly created year-round position of Film Independent curator, whereby all Film Independent’s exhibition programmes – the Los Angeles Film Festival, Film Independent at Lacma, and all other programming initiatives – will fall under his remit.
“I’m grateful to David for bringing his critical eye and international taste,” said Los Angeles Film Festival director Stephanie Allain. “Unifying the festival and our year-round programming under Elvis’ remarkable vision will facilitate Film Independent’s mission to support a community of diverse, innovative and unique-minded artists.”
“These five years as artistic director of the Los Angeles Film Festival have given me great joy, and I’m very proud of the way the festival has grown since our nmove downtown,” said Ansen, the...
Mitchell now assumes the newly created year-round position of Film Independent curator, whereby all Film Independent’s exhibition programmes – the Los Angeles Film Festival, Film Independent at Lacma, and all other programming initiatives – will fall under his remit.
“I’m grateful to David for bringing his critical eye and international taste,” said Los Angeles Film Festival director Stephanie Allain. “Unifying the festival and our year-round programming under Elvis’ remarkable vision will facilitate Film Independent’s mission to support a community of diverse, innovative and unique-minded artists.”
“These five years as artistic director of the Los Angeles Film Festival have given me great joy, and I’m very proud of the way the festival has grown since our nmove downtown,” said Ansen, the...
- 7/10/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Elvis Mitchell has been named to the new position of year-round Film Independent Curator, in a restructuring that will find him taking the reins of the Los Angeles Film Festival from departing artistic director David Ansen. The moves were announced on Thursday by Film Independent, the non-profit organization that runs the festival and the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Also read: ‘Birdman’ To Open Venice Film Festival Mitchell, a former film critic and the host of the Kcrw radio program “The Treatment,” had been serving as curator of Film Independent's programming at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The new position will expand.
- 7/10/2014
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
George Clooney, David O. Russell and Don Cheadle have received the Spirit of Independence Award in the past from the Los Angeles Film Festival – but when it comes to honoring folks who've given a boost to independent film, it's hard to quibble with this year's decision to salute the less visible but more influential Tom Bernard and Michael Barker of Sony Pictures Classics. As co-presidents of Spc, Bernard and Barker “really have set the gold standard for independent distribution,” Laff artistic director David Ansen said in his introduction to the award presentation at the downtown Los Angeles festival on...
- 6/17/2014
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Clint Eastwood hasn't hit it big on the Oscar circuit in some time. Films like "Changeling," "Invictus" and "Hereafter" scored the casual nomination here or there, but his last Best Picture nominee came nearly a decade ago with "Letters from Iwo Jima." Will "Jersey Boys" change all of that? We'll know if the adaptation of the Tony Award-winning musical has that kind of muscle sooner rather than later, as the film has been announced as the closing night premiere of this year's Los Angeles Film Festival. "It’s exciting to see Eastwood still tackling new forms," Laff Artistic Director David Ansen said. "His deft, rousing translation of ‘Jersey Boys’ from stage to screen is further confirmation of his amazing, ageless talent." Also announced Tuesday are special gala presentations of Ira Sachs' "Love is Strange" and Justin Simien's "Dear White People," both hits when they bowed at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
- 5/6/2014
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
The Los Angeles Film Festival (Laff) is gearing up for a bow this June, having already announced Bong Joon-ho's "Snowpiercer" as the opening night premiere. Today Film Independent, which puts on the fest, announced this year's guest director and a special honor for two all-timers in the indie game. First off, "The Kids Are All Right" helmer Lisa Cholodenko has been tapped as Guest Director for the 20th annual. Past Guest Directors have included David O. Russell, Kathryn Bigelow, William Friedkin, Guillermo Del Toro and Alfonso Cuarón. Cholodenko will attend the 13th annual Filmmaker Retreat at the Parker Palm Springs, a gathering of festival filmmakers and honored artists. "Lisa's work exemplifies our mission of supporting artists who are diverse, innovative and have a unique point of view," Laff Director Stephanie Allen said. "We're lucky to have her share her insights and process with us at our annual retreat." Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Classics...
- 4/9/2014
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
The filmmaker behind hit The Kids Are All Right will be in situ at the Los Angeles Film Festival, set to run from June 11-19.
Previous guest directors include David O Russell, Kathryn Bigelow, William Friedkin, Guillermo Del Toro and recent Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón.
Spc chiefs Tom Bernard and Michael Barker will receive The Spirit Of Independence Award and present a film from their library and discuss their work with festival artistic director David Ansen.
Laff will present a series of Master Classes, kicking off with composer Atticus Ross, who will perform an original electronic soundscape created for the festival and discuss his creative process scoring films such as The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
The festival’s annual celebration of women’s achievements in film will focus on Women Who Call the Shots: Women Directors and Showrunners. A panel will feature Nicole Holofcener, Marta Kauffman and Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Sidebar La Muse...
Previous guest directors include David O Russell, Kathryn Bigelow, William Friedkin, Guillermo Del Toro and recent Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón.
Spc chiefs Tom Bernard and Michael Barker will receive The Spirit Of Independence Award and present a film from their library and discuss their work with festival artistic director David Ansen.
Laff will present a series of Master Classes, kicking off with composer Atticus Ross, who will perform an original electronic soundscape created for the festival and discuss his creative process scoring films such as The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
The festival’s annual celebration of women’s achievements in film will focus on Women Who Call the Shots: Women Directors and Showrunners. A panel will feature Nicole Holofcener, Marta Kauffman and Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Sidebar La Muse...
- 4/8/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Lisa Cholodenko, the filmmaker behind hit The Kids Are All Right will be in situ at the Los Angeles Film Festival, set to run from June 11-19.
Previous guest directors include David O Russell, Kathryn Bigelow, William Friedkin, Guillermo Del Toro and recent Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón.
Spc chiefs Tom Bernard and Michael Barker will receive The Spirit Of Independence Award and present a film from their library and discuss their work with festival artistic director David Ansen.
Laff will present a series of Master Classes, kicking off with composer Atticus Ross, who will perform an original electronic soundscape created for the festival and discuss his creative process scoring films such as The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
The festival’s annual celebration of women’s achievements in film will focus on Women Who Call the Shots: Women Directors and Showrunners. A panel will feature Nicole Holofcener, Marta Kauffman and Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Sidebar La Muse...
Previous guest directors include David O Russell, Kathryn Bigelow, William Friedkin, Guillermo Del Toro and recent Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón.
Spc chiefs Tom Bernard and Michael Barker will receive The Spirit Of Independence Award and present a film from their library and discuss their work with festival artistic director David Ansen.
Laff will present a series of Master Classes, kicking off with composer Atticus Ross, who will perform an original electronic soundscape created for the festival and discuss his creative process scoring films such as The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
The festival’s annual celebration of women’s achievements in film will focus on Women Who Call the Shots: Women Directors and Showrunners. A panel will feature Nicole Holofcener, Marta Kauffman and Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Sidebar La Muse...
- 4/8/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
It's been a long, strange trip for Bong Joon-ho's beleaguered English language debut, Snowpiercer. What was one of the most anticipated films of 2013 became one of its most missed opportunities when it failed to secure a release date on The Weinstein Company's release slate. Recently, HitFix came forward with the news that the film would be opening the Los Angeles Film Festival on Wednesday, June 11th. David Ansen, the Artistic Director for the Festival, made this statement when promoting the film's presence: As fans of 'The Host' and 'Mother' know, Bong takes popular genres to a visionary new level. Here he puts us on a speeding train in a frozen post-apocalyptic future.and treats us to a wild, funny and darkly provocative ride. You've never seen anything quite like it! Mr. Ansen's enthusiasm is shared by many a genre fan who have been waiting for this movie since the first...
- 4/7/2014
- cinemablend.com
The last time we were talking about Bong Joon-ho's "Snowpiercer" was about eight months ago when word surfaced that Harvey Weinstein was looking to cut 20 minutes out of the film ahead of its North American release. It had already played quite well in South Korea and picked up a fair share of raves across Asia and at this and that foreign film festival. The film will be released Stateside on June 27, but word comes today that it will see its official Us premiere two weeks earlier as the opening night presentation at the Los Angeles Film Festival on Wednesday, June 11. The festival, produced by Film Independent, will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and Artistic Director for the fest, David Ansen, expressed his excitement over the selection via press release. "As fans of 'The Host' and 'Mother' know, Bong takes popular genres to a visionary new level," Ansen said.
- 4/1/2014
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Hitfix
Claudia Eller, Variety editor-in-chief, film, has made a big hire: Newsweek/Daily Beast journalist Ramin Setoodeh as New York film editor. According to Variety, which is trying to catch up with tech-savvy rival trades The Hollywood Reporter and its new owner Jay Penske's own Deadline, Setoodeh will cover the movie business and media not only as a reporter but via videos and webcasts. They also plan for him to promote the brand via television appearances on news shows such CNN, MSNBC and “Today.” Setoodeh is a nine-year Newsweek veteran with two years at Tina Brown's online site The Daily Beast. He is also an Oscar watcher and co-hosted with film critic David Ansen Newsweek’s annual Oscar nominees roundtable. Setoodeh gained some notoriety for going undercover and auditioning for “American Idol.” On one of his Web series he interviewed Channing Tatum and Chris Evans on their early acting jobs.
- 9/9/2013
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 19th edition of the Los Angeles Film Festival kicked off ten days of screenings and events Thursday night (our recommendations are below) with Pedro Almodovar's sexily escapist romp "I'm So Excited" (review here), which played well for the North American premiere crowd downtown at La Live. The Spanish auteur was on hand in a splendid lime suit, shilling for Hollywood roles for his cast--"They speak good English!"--and hanging at the rooftop after party with Nastassja Kinski, John Lithgow, fest artistic director David Ansen, and Guillermo del Toro, who clearly enjoyed an opportunity to hang with his Spanish-speaking peeps. While the film is a lot of fun and played well in Spain--the title implies not only enthusiasm but sexual arousal--Almodovar admitted that he turned Spain's "catastrophe into a party, to which you are invited. There is a technical problem and we don't know what to do and...
- 6/14/2013
- by Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Los Angeles Film Festival has lined up its opening night film. I’m So Excited!, the latest from Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (Talk to Her, Volver), will kick off the festival on June 13.
Film Independent, which produces the L.A. Film Festival, announced the opening night selection on Wednesday. The festival will be the North American premiere of I’m So Excited!, following openings across Europe last month. A U.S. release date is set for June 28.
Film Independent describes I’m So Excited! as “the story of a varied group of people in a precarious situation aboard a...
Film Independent, which produces the L.A. Film Festival, announced the opening night selection on Wednesday. The festival will be the North American premiere of I’m So Excited!, following openings across Europe last month. A U.S. release date is set for June 28.
Film Independent describes I’m So Excited! as “the story of a varied group of people in a precarious situation aboard a...
- 4/10/2013
- by Emily Rome
- EW - Inside Movies
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