If you didn't see it in theaters or want to experience it again from the comfort of your couch (and perhaps in the warm glow of the lights from your Christmas tree), The Exorcist: Believer is coming to Digital on December 1st and 4K Uhd, Blu-ray, and DVD on December 19th via Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and we have a look at the cover art and full list of bonus features for the home media release, including a feature-length commentary with David Gordon Green, Ryan Turek, Peter Sattler, and Christopher Nelson:
Press Release: Universal City, California, November 27, 2023 – Discover what makes Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer horrifying with never-before-seen bonus content available on Digital December 1, 2023, and 4K Uhd, Blu-rayTM and DVD on December 19, 2023, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The all-new bonus content with cast and filmmaker interviews gives a behind-the-scenes look at making the film, including editing an exorcism,...
Press Release: Universal City, California, November 27, 2023 – Discover what makes Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer horrifying with never-before-seen bonus content available on Digital December 1, 2023, and 4K Uhd, Blu-rayTM and DVD on December 19, 2023, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The all-new bonus content with cast and filmmaker interviews gives a behind-the-scenes look at making the film, including editing an exorcism,...
- 11/30/2023
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
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The 2000s were full of remakes of beloved horror franchises. "Nightmare on Elm Street," "Friday the 13th," "Halloween," "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," and many more were reinvented for a new generation. There were enough of these that the idea of rebooting horror franchises became the main satire target of "Scream 4" — the best of that franchise's sequels. But despite how many of these there were, most failed to leave a lasting impact.
This is why it was so surprising that "Halloween" would find such big success with its second reboot — technically, it's third, if you count "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later." David Gordon Green reinvented the classic horror movie in a legacy sequel that served as a love letter to fans. As /Film critic Chris Evangelista described it back in 2018, the film is "a brutal, scary and sometimes funny...
The 2000s were full of remakes of beloved horror franchises. "Nightmare on Elm Street," "Friday the 13th," "Halloween," "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," and many more were reinvented for a new generation. There were enough of these that the idea of rebooting horror franchises became the main satire target of "Scream 4" — the best of that franchise's sequels. But despite how many of these there were, most failed to leave a lasting impact.
This is why it was so surprising that "Halloween" would find such big success with its second reboot — technically, it's third, if you count "Halloween H20: 20 Years Later." David Gordon Green reinvented the classic horror movie in a legacy sequel that served as a love letter to fans. As /Film critic Chris Evangelista described it back in 2018, the film is "a brutal, scary and sometimes funny...
- 11/18/2023
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
John Carpenter, perhaps true to his name, is a workmanlike director. He doesn't possess any outwardly striking, signature aesthetic habits or camera tricks that one may call "Carpenterian." However, he still possesses a subtle mastery of the craft that is uniquely his. He simply knows where to place a camera to most effectively get a shot, shoots it, and moves on. He is practical with no pretenses toward being an artist. This is the man who, at a horror convention, was once asked how he felt about other filmmakers remaking his movies and running the risk of tainting his original artistic vision. Carpenter said that he actually loves it when others remake his movies because he gets money without having to work. His philosophy to remakes is one of "pay me."
In Abbie Bernstein's new book "Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends," the authors...
In Abbie Bernstein's new book "Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends," the authors...
- 11/16/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
David Gordon Green's 2018 film "Halloween," which picks up the story of Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and slasher icon Michael Myers decades after the events of John Carpenter's original 1978 "Halloween," comes to an end when three generations of Laurie's family -- Laurie; her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer); and her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak) -- trap Michael in the basement of Laurie's home and ultimately burn it to the ground, thinking they killed him in the process. (Spoiler alert: They did not actually kill him.)
But that ending wasn't what the filmmakers initially cooked up. In the new book "Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends," author Abbie Bernstein spoke with several of the key creatives behind the making of the movie and got some details about what the initial ending would have included. Let's take a look at those details, and explore why that climactic...
But that ending wasn't what the filmmakers initially cooked up. In the new book "Halloween: The Official Making of Halloween, Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends," author Abbie Bernstein spoke with several of the key creatives behind the making of the movie and got some details about what the initial ending would have included. Let's take a look at those details, and explore why that climactic...
- 11/11/2023
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
Dp Michael Simmonds brought Dit Chandler Tucker onto the set of the second season of The Righteous Gemstones for three weeks to fix discrepancies between dailies and raw footage. However, after Michael saw how Chandler could provide top-level continuity between shots, scenes, and episodes by using recorded references in Silverstack Lab, Chandler was asked to stay on for the rest of the season. In this interview, Chandler sheds some light on his workflow, and what made it so valuable to the Dp.
Chandler Tucker is a New York City-based Dit, whose experience of color grading on the set of the second season of The Righteous Gemstones serves as a prime example of the usefulness and importance of the role of DITs.
He got his start in the film industry during a summer internship in Wilmington North Carolina while studying post-production at Unc-Chapel Hill. After graduation, he worked freelance on the...
Chandler Tucker is a New York City-based Dit, whose experience of color grading on the set of the second season of The Righteous Gemstones serves as a prime example of the usefulness and importance of the role of DITs.
He got his start in the film industry during a summer internship in Wilmington North Carolina while studying post-production at Unc-Chapel Hill. After graduation, he worked freelance on the...
- 11/9/2023
- by Mae McCreary
- Pomfort
A new sequel to the 1973 horror classic "The Exorcist" has been in the works since at least 2020, when Blumhouse and Morgan Creek Entertainment announced that "Halloween" reboot director David Gordon Green would head the project. Now, Universal Pictures has finally debuted the first footage of what is being officially called "The Exorcist: Believer" at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, giving audiences a taste of what to expect from the film.
"The Exorcist" series has always had a loose sense of continuity, so it's not surprising that "Believer" will choose to ignore the majority of the sequels that came before it. Technically speaking, the notoriously terrible "Exorcist II: The Heretic" is the only true direct follow-up to the original movie, and its general reputation as one of the worst horror film sequels ever made immediately put the then-burgeoning franchise in jeopardy. "The Exorcist III" is much better, but most of it plays out as a standalone film,...
"The Exorcist" series has always had a loose sense of continuity, so it's not surprising that "Believer" will choose to ignore the majority of the sequels that came before it. Technically speaking, the notoriously terrible "Exorcist II: The Heretic" is the only true direct follow-up to the original movie, and its general reputation as one of the worst horror film sequels ever made immediately put the then-burgeoning franchise in jeopardy. "The Exorcist III" is much better, but most of it plays out as a standalone film,...
- 4/27/2023
- by Andrew Housman
- Slash Film
Director David Gordon Green’s sequel to the 1973 classic The Exorcist (watch it Here) – the first in what Green intends to be a trilogy of Exorcist sequels – had to begin its holiday break early in December when lead actor Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton) ran into an unspecified health issue and wasn’t able to continue working. But filming has since resumed, and cinematographer Michael Simmonds said a couple weeks ago that the movie was already 90 complete. As Green’s Exorcist heads into its final days of production, Deadline has revealed that Lidya Jewett (Nightbooks) is part of the cast.
Universal and Peacock paid an amount somewhere in the range of 400 million to acquire the rights to distribute this new Exorcist trilogy. Coming to us from Blumhouse Productions and Morgan Creek Entertainment, the films are being produced by Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James Robinson. Green, Danny McBride, and Couper Samuelson serve as executive producers.
Universal and Peacock paid an amount somewhere in the range of 400 million to acquire the rights to distribute this new Exorcist trilogy. Coming to us from Blumhouse Productions and Morgan Creek Entertainment, the films are being produced by Jason Blum, David Robinson, and James Robinson. Green, Danny McBride, and Couper Samuelson serve as executive producers.
- 2/2/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Last month, director David Gordon Green’s sequel to the 1973 classic The Exorcist (watch it Here) – the first in what Green intends to be a trilogy of Exorcist sequels – had to take a longer holiday break than expected when lead actor Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton) ran into an unspecified health issue and wasn’t able to continue working. Filming was expected to resume sometime this month, and cinematographer Michael Simmonds has confirmed to Syfy Wire that there isn’t much of the movie left to shoot. In fact, Simmonds said Green’s Exorcist is “90 percent done”.
Green previously directed a trilogy of Halloween sequels, and Simmonds was the cinematographer on those films as well. Simmonds said that the approach being taken to the new Exorcist movie is “completely different than Halloween. It’s certainly more suspenseful and claustrophobic and true to the original material. A Halloween movie is going to...
Green previously directed a trilogy of Halloween sequels, and Simmonds was the cinematographer on those films as well. Simmonds said that the approach being taken to the new Exorcist movie is “completely different than Halloween. It’s certainly more suspenseful and claustrophobic and true to the original material. A Halloween movie is going to...
- 1/19/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Pronouncements of finality by slasher franchises have always been amusingly premature. Final Chapters. Final Fridays. Final Nightmares: You can’t keep a good (or at least a profitable) slasher down for long. While Halloween Ends—the 13th film in the franchise—probably won’t be the last we ever see of Michael Myers, it certainly does feel like the conclusion of director David Gordon Green’s chapter of the story. Set four years after Halloween Kills, the new entry finds Myers long missing from Haddonfield and Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie Strode attempting to move on with her life. She’s relocated from her remote survivalist compound […]
The post “You Want To Avoid a Shot Looking Like a Fruit Salad”: Dp Michael Simmonds on Halloween Ends first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “You Want To Avoid a Shot Looking Like a Fruit Salad”: Dp Michael Simmonds on Halloween Ends first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/19/2022
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Pronouncements of finality by slasher franchises have always been amusingly premature. Final Chapters. Final Fridays. Final Nightmares: You can’t keep a good (or at least a profitable) slasher down for long. While Halloween Ends—the 13th film in the franchise—probably won’t be the last we ever see of Michael Myers, it certainly does feel like the conclusion of director David Gordon Green’s chapter of the story. Set four years after Halloween Kills, the new entry finds Myers long missing from Haddonfield and Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie Strode attempting to move on with her life. She’s relocated from her remote survivalist compound […]
The post “You Want To Avoid a Shot Looking Like a Fruit Salad”: Dp Michael Simmonds on Halloween Ends first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “You Want To Avoid a Shot Looking Like a Fruit Salad”: Dp Michael Simmonds on Halloween Ends first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/19/2022
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Where does one even begin with Halloween Kills? Is it paramount to speak of its content, which achieves the impossible of being so stretched out that it couldn’t feel more bloated? Or perhaps it’s important to focus on its structure, but that would assume there actually is one. Even attempting to approach it thematically is too much of a non-issue—any ideas it juggles never cohere. Halloween Kills seems to stem from thoughts of the system failing the innocent. That doesn’t work, however, when David Gordon Green’s latest completely fails its audience.
Picking up right where its 2018 predecessor ended, Cameron (Dylan Arnold) stumbles upon a hemorrhaging Officer Hawkins (Will Patton). Then the script, written by Scott Teems & Danny McBride & Green, immediately flashes back to right where the original Halloween ended. Young Hawkins (Thomas Mann) fatally wounds his partner (Jim Cummings) by accident while trying to apprehend...
Picking up right where its 2018 predecessor ended, Cameron (Dylan Arnold) stumbles upon a hemorrhaging Officer Hawkins (Will Patton). Then the script, written by Scott Teems & Danny McBride & Green, immediately flashes back to right where the original Halloween ended. Young Hawkins (Thomas Mann) fatally wounds his partner (Jim Cummings) by accident while trying to apprehend...
- 10/16/2021
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
Ramin Bahrani, Oscar-nominated writer/director of The White Tiger, discusses a few of his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The White Tiger (2021)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Chop Shop (2007)
99 Homes (2015)
The Boys From Fengkuei (1983)
The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985)
The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
La Terra Trema (1948)
Umberto D (1952)
Where Is The Friend’s Home? (1987)
Nomadland (2020)
The Runner (1984)
Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)
A Moment Of Innocence a.k.a. Bread And Flower Pot (1996)
The House Is Black (1963)
The Conversation (1974)
Mean Streets (1973)
Nashville (1975)
Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972)
The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Vagabond (1985)
Luzzu (2021)
Bait (2019)
Sweet Sixteen (2002)
Abigail’s Party (1977)
Meantime (1983)
Fish Tank (2009)
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Malcolm X (1992)
Nothing But A Man (1964)
Goodbye Solo (2008)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)
Dekalog (1989)
The Double Life Of Veronique...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
The White Tiger (2021)
Man Push Cart (2005)
Chop Shop (2007)
99 Homes (2015)
The Boys From Fengkuei (1983)
The Time To Live And The Time To Die (1985)
The Killing Of A Chinese Bookie (1976)
Bicycle Thieves (1948)
La Terra Trema (1948)
Umberto D (1952)
Where Is The Friend’s Home? (1987)
Nomadland (2020)
The Runner (1984)
Bashu, the Little Stranger (1989)
A Moment Of Innocence a.k.a. Bread And Flower Pot (1996)
The House Is Black (1963)
The Conversation (1974)
Mean Streets (1973)
Nashville (1975)
Aguirre, The Wrath Of God (1972)
The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Paris, Texas (1984)
Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962)
Vagabond (1985)
Luzzu (2021)
Bait (2019)
Sweet Sixteen (2002)
Abigail’s Party (1977)
Meantime (1983)
Fish Tank (2009)
Do The Right Thing (1989)
Malcolm X (1992)
Nothing But A Man (1964)
Goodbye Solo (2008)
The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)
Dekalog (1989)
The Double Life Of Veronique...
- 4/20/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
The Criterion Collection continues 2021 with a recently rediscovered classic, an established tenet of the conspiracy genre, a horribly underrepresented African filmmaker (evergreen), and two by Ramin Bahrani. Respectfully, those are: Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk; Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View; Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi; as well as Bahrani’s Chop Shop and Man Push Cart.
Check out the cover art and special features below, and see more on Criterion’s website.
New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Joyce Chopra, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-rayConversation among Chopra, author Joyce Carol Oates, and actor Laura Dern from the 2020 New York Film Festival, moderated by TCM host Alicia MaloneNew interview with ChopraNew interview with production designer David WascoKPFK Pacifica Radio interview with Chopra from 1985Joyce at 34 (1972), Girls at 12 (1975), and Clorae and Albie (1976), three short films by ChopraAudio reading of the 1966 Life magazine article “The Pied Piper of Tucson,...
Check out the cover art and special features below, and see more on Criterion’s website.
New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Joyce Chopra, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-rayConversation among Chopra, author Joyce Carol Oates, and actor Laura Dern from the 2020 New York Film Festival, moderated by TCM host Alicia MaloneNew interview with ChopraNew interview with production designer David WascoKPFK Pacifica Radio interview with Chopra from 1985Joyce at 34 (1972), Girls at 12 (1975), and Clorae and Albie (1976), three short films by ChopraAudio reading of the 1966 Life magazine article “The Pied Piper of Tucson,...
- 11/13/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Set over a day and night in New Orleans, Project Power (now streaming on Netflix) pivots on a hot new street drug called Power that you swallow like a pill and kaboom! You’re a superhero. Well, you’re a superhero for five minutes … and the damn thing can kill you. No pill creates the same result; it’s unique to each user. One customer may suddenly be able to run 45 mph, another can grow bulletproof skin, and still another can become invisible. If you want to buy a couple...
- 8/14/2020
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Cannes 2019 Shorts
Following last week’s batch of Cannes Critics’ Week shorts now available to stream, this week brings Directors’ Fortnight selections. Available for free through June 16, Festival Scope is now presenting seven short premieres from the Cannes sidebar, including Ariane Labed’s Olla, Pham Thien An’s prizewinner Stay Awake, Be Ready, and more.
Where to Watch: Festival Scope
Domino (Brian De Palma)
The latest from Brian De Palma hits film culture not unlike a moody son trudging to their graduation party at a parent’s behest, a master of big-screen compositions relegated to VOD for those who bother plunking down. That tussle between pedigree of...
Cannes 2019 Shorts
Following last week’s batch of Cannes Critics’ Week shorts now available to stream, this week brings Directors’ Fortnight selections. Available for free through June 16, Festival Scope is now presenting seven short premieres from the Cannes sidebar, including Ariane Labed’s Olla, Pham Thien An’s prizewinner Stay Awake, Be Ready, and more.
Where to Watch: Festival Scope
Domino (Brian De Palma)
The latest from Brian De Palma hits film culture not unlike a moody son trudging to their graduation party at a parent’s behest, a master of big-screen compositions relegated to VOD for those who bother plunking down. That tussle between pedigree of...
- 5/31/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Laurie Strode is back as is Michael Meyers! The sequel to the classic Halloween is coming to home video on January 15 and our friends at Universal Home Entertainment have provided us with one Blu-ray combo pack
To win this, all you have to do is describe for us your scariest Halloween night. Be truthful and detailed.
Submissions must be submitted by 11:59 p.m., Monday, January 14. Open only to residents in the Us and Canada. The decision of the ComicMix judges will be final.
Bonus Features ON4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD& Digital:
Deleted/Extended Scenes
Extended Shooting Range
Shower Mask
VisitoJog to a Hanging Dog
Allyson and Friends at SchooloCameron and Cops Don’t Mix
Deluxe Banh Mi CopsoSartain and Hawkins Ride Along Back in Haddonfield: Making Halloween
The Original Scream Queen
The Sound of Fear
Journey of the Mask
The Legacy of Halloween
The film will be available...
To win this, all you have to do is describe for us your scariest Halloween night. Be truthful and detailed.
Submissions must be submitted by 11:59 p.m., Monday, January 14. Open only to residents in the Us and Canada. The decision of the ComicMix judges will be final.
Bonus Features ON4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD& Digital:
Deleted/Extended Scenes
Extended Shooting Range
Shower Mask
VisitoJog to a Hanging Dog
Allyson and Friends at SchooloCameron and Cops Don’t Mix
Deluxe Banh Mi CopsoSartain and Hawkins Ride Along Back in Haddonfield: Making Halloween
The Original Scream Queen
The Sound of Fear
Journey of the Mask
The Legacy of Halloween
The film will be available...
- 1/9/2019
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’re highlighting the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Avengers: Infinity War
After toying with the mortality of its ensemble in every single film across its now 10-year franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally reached a point of no return. Another decade’s worth of teases would only further dilute each life-threatening set piece, and so just as the sweet kiss of death will come for us all, it, too, must come for our costume-donning stars. This being a Kevin Feige/Russo brothers production, however, it’s not all grimace-laden battle cries and dour squabbles. Rather, Infinity War, with its now meme-famous descriptor as the “most ambitious crossover event in movie history,” offers ample space...
Avengers: Infinity War
After toying with the mortality of its ensemble in every single film across its now 10-year franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally reached a point of no return. Another decade’s worth of teases would only further dilute each life-threatening set piece, and so just as the sweet kiss of death will come for us all, it, too, must come for our costume-donning stars. This being a Kevin Feige/Russo brothers production, however, it’s not all grimace-laden battle cries and dour squabbles. Rather, Infinity War, with its now meme-famous descriptor as the “most ambitious crossover event in movie history,” offers ample space...
- 12/28/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In his book Making Movies, Sidney Lumet wrote that he once asked fellow director Akira Kurosawa why he’d framed a shot in his period epic Ran in a particular way. Kurosawa replied that if he’d panned the camera an inch to the left he would’ve seen a Sony factory. Panning an inch to the right would’ve revealed an airport. I don’t know if Halloween cinematographer Michael Simmonds has read Lumet’s book, but after chatting with him I’m confident he would appreciate that anecdote. Simmonds, whose diverse credits range from the horror sequel Paranormal Activity 2 to the acclaimed documentary Project […]...
- 10/31/2018
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
In his book Making Movies, Sidney Lumet wrote that he once asked fellow director Akira Kurosawa why he’d framed a shot in his period epic Ran in a particular way. Kurosawa replied that if he’d panned the camera an inch to the left he would’ve seen a Sony factory. Panning an inch to the right would’ve revealed an airport. I don’t know if Halloween cinematographer Michael Simmonds has read Lumet’s book, but after chatting with him I’m confident he would appreciate that anecdote. Simmonds, whose diverse credits range from the horror sequel Paranormal Activity 2 to the acclaimed documentary Project […]...
- 10/31/2018
- by Matt Mulcahey
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
It’s been 40 years, several awful sequels, multiple reboots, a non sequitur spinoff and countless imitations since John Carpenter’s “Halloween” first stabbed the screen in 1978. To say that the brand has been diluted a little bit would be an exercise in understatement. Everyone knows serial killer Michael Myers, but everyone also knows he just hasn’t been himself in a while.
So it makes sense, in this nostalgia-driven era, to go back to the basics. Blumhouse has taken over the “Halloween” franchise, and they’ve enlisted celebrated director David Gordon Green (“Stronger”) to return Myers to his former glory. The new “Halloween,” which is confusingly and frustratingly titled just “Halloween,” ignores all of the failed follow-ups to the original slasher classic.
It also ignores all the good ones, because the bathwater was so apparently bad they decided to toss the baby out too. Green’s “Halloween” is a direct follow-up to Carpenter’s original,...
So it makes sense, in this nostalgia-driven era, to go back to the basics. Blumhouse has taken over the “Halloween” franchise, and they’ve enlisted celebrated director David Gordon Green (“Stronger”) to return Myers to his former glory. The new “Halloween,” which is confusingly and frustratingly titled just “Halloween,” ignores all of the failed follow-ups to the original slasher classic.
It also ignores all the good ones, because the bathwater was so apparently bad they decided to toss the baby out too. Green’s “Halloween” is a direct follow-up to Carpenter’s original,...
- 10/17/2018
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
Want to scream bloody murder? Then the new Halloween is the trick-or-treat frightfest for you. But, first, a leap of faith is required. You have to forget that there are already nine sequels and remakes of John Carpenter’s 1978 original — thankfully, director David Gordon Green and coscreenwriters Danny McBride and Jeff Fradley pretend those lame copies never existed (no loss there). To them, Halloween 2018 is the first sequel ever to Carpenter’s horror classic. It’s been 40 years since babysitter Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) got rocked by Ptsd when...
- 10/16/2018
- by Peter Travers
- Rollingstone.com
Horror sequels generally are not great, and that’s being charitable. Usually, they outright suck. So, it’s an absolute delight to see that David Gordon Green has defied the odds. Along with Danny McBride, Green has managed to honor the Halloween franchise, while also giving it a new spin. When Halloween hits theaters this week, it won’t just be another big hit for Jason Blum and Blumhouse, it’ll mark a rare cinematic achievement. Halloween, due in large part to Green and McBride, is one of the best horror sequels of all time. The competition may not be fierce, but it’s still high praise. This new version stands tall alongside the original, and that’s really saying something. Set four decades after the events of the original Halloween, this follow up erases all of the sequels that came before it, which is an excellent call. Here, Michael Myers is locked up,...
- 10/16/2018
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Over the course of my 11-year career, I’ve been lucky to cover some of my most highly anticipated films as a lifelong genre fan, but being able to write about Halloween (2018) easily ranks right up there as a top three moment for me as a horror journalist. While I may have grown up a Krueger Kid, my fascination with the Halloween series quickly grew to a fever pitch somewhere in my teens, and it’s easily the franchise I revisit most now as a “seasoned” genre geek. There have been a lot of brilliant horror films to come out this year, but David Gordon Green’s Halloween has quickly become my favorite movie-going event of 2018, especially after a second viewing, which really allowed me to get immersed in all the intricate homages and details peppered throughout this newest chapter in Michael Myer’s 40-year cinematic legacy.
When it was...
When it was...
- 9/21/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
John Carpenter’s original Halloween is a testament to how much can be achieved through narrative economy and moody stylization. The film’s pioneering use of Panaglide widescreen Pov and tracking shots, combined with its horrifying use of negative space, brought American suburbia into a more abstract realm of subterranean evil. It conjured an existentialism that seemed to get lost in subsequent sequels that spent most of their time fleshing out the more literal history of Michael and Haddonfield, Illinois when everything that needed to be said had already been done so formally. Exceptions, however, include the anthology-inspired third entry Season of the Witch, and Rob Zombie’s late 2000s remakes, which even when humanizing Michael through narrative—and doubling down on Halloween II’s lame twist about Laurie being Michael’s long-lost sister—managed to shake the franchise up in a valuable way with a much messier and feverishly psychosexual style.
- 9/10/2018
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
There's a killer idea circling this tricked-up teen thriller, which is more than you can say for most summer movies. But the idea never lands because Nerve lacks the, well, nerve to follow through on its convictions. These days, with Pokemon Go turning smartphone app users into digitally-led zombies, a film about a livestream online game that dares its users to risk their lives for likes, follows and cash rewards couldn't be more timely. Directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, who had us all questioning our web contacts with the 2010 documentary Catfish,...
- 7/27/2016
- Rollingstone.com
While the issue of gender disparity in the film industry remains a hot topic issue, when it comes to the approach of Sundance Film Fest programmers, I’d argue that its equal opportunity friendly when servicing original newbie filmmaker voices. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the likes of Elizabeth Wood being harnessed into a Park City chairlift seat. With a docu feature and three short films under her belt, Wood managed to find executive producers in Killer Films and Catfish’s Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman service her biographical debut. The filmmaker named the Christine Vachon produced Kids as a life altering film and from the sounds of it — this might be a shit disturbing title as well. With Jamie Marks Is Dead‘s Morgan Saylor in the lead, White Girls went into production in late 2014 and is currently in the mixing stages. Michael Simmonds (The Lunchbox) was...
- 11/26/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Red Knot
Directed by: Scott Cohen
Written by: Scott Cohen
Starring: Olivia Thirlby, Vincent Kartheiser, Billy Campbell
USA, 2014
A peaceful marvel of a drama studying an unraveling marriage on the brink of fading before it even started, Scott Cohen’s Red Knot sets in motion stifling inner conflicts against a beautiful backdrop of Antarctic landscape. Olivia Thirlby and Vincent Kartheiser star in the picture that took home the Fipresci Grand Jury prize at the Seattle International Film Festival. Stunning and grand in scope, the film may be too simplified for big multiplexes yet demand the respect of art houses. Absolutely dazzling to look at, the derailing love story of Peter and Chloe is overshadowed by the impression set forth by the Antarctic. Surely in the wheelhouse of the art photographer, Red Knot will be remembered purely for its cinematography. Like pulling over the side of the road and soaking in a beautiful sight,...
Directed by: Scott Cohen
Written by: Scott Cohen
Starring: Olivia Thirlby, Vincent Kartheiser, Billy Campbell
USA, 2014
A peaceful marvel of a drama studying an unraveling marriage on the brink of fading before it even started, Scott Cohen’s Red Knot sets in motion stifling inner conflicts against a beautiful backdrop of Antarctic landscape. Olivia Thirlby and Vincent Kartheiser star in the picture that took home the Fipresci Grand Jury prize at the Seattle International Film Festival. Stunning and grand in scope, the film may be too simplified for big multiplexes yet demand the respect of art houses. Absolutely dazzling to look at, the derailing love story of Peter and Chloe is overshadowed by the impression set forth by the Antarctic. Surely in the wheelhouse of the art photographer, Red Knot will be remembered purely for its cinematography. Like pulling over the side of the road and soaking in a beautiful sight,...
- 12/25/2014
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
The prospect of watching an 86-minute flick set almost entirely at sea might not suit every cinematic palette, especially those who were unable to sit through The Blair Witch Project without a brown paper bag handy. Luckily, the shaky camerawork and found footage amateurishness are absent here as Scott Cohen’s impressive directorial debut, Red Knot, prides itself on a flawless visual presentation.
Newlyweds Peter (Vincent Kartheiser) and Chloe (Olivia Thirlby) are at the centre of this isolated Antarctic expedition tale. Instead of a scantily-clad stint on a sun-kissed beach that most newlyweds choose for their honeymoon, this pair opts for the cold, icy pull of an Arctic journey. At the behest of Peter, Chloe agrees to join her husband on a research vessel out of Argentina, bound for the South Pole. His aspirations as a writer twinned with his love of famous travel writers seemingly take first place over a lusty getaway.
Newlyweds Peter (Vincent Kartheiser) and Chloe (Olivia Thirlby) are at the centre of this isolated Antarctic expedition tale. Instead of a scantily-clad stint on a sun-kissed beach that most newlyweds choose for their honeymoon, this pair opts for the cold, icy pull of an Arctic journey. At the behest of Peter, Chloe agrees to join her husband on a research vessel out of Argentina, bound for the South Pole. His aspirations as a writer twinned with his love of famous travel writers seemingly take first place over a lusty getaway.
- 12/10/2014
- by Gem Seddon
- We Got This Covered
Irrfan Khan in Ritesh Batra’s “Dabba” ( Lunchbox)
Ritesh Batra’s debut Dabba (Lunchbox) received unanimous praise from major trade publications Variety and Screen.
Variety critic Jay Weissberg termed it “An indie Indian pic with the crossover appeal of Monsoon Wedding” while Screen Critic Fionnuala Halligan wrote: “this is certain to woo international arthouse crowds who have been waiting for an authentic crossover Indian title.”
Excerpts from Variety Review:
A feel-good movie that touches the heart while steering clear of expectation, The Lunchbox signals a notable debut from tyro helmer-scripter Ritesh Batra. The ingredients on their own are nearly fail-proof, yet it’s the way Batra combines food with an epistolary romance between a nearly retired number cruncher and a neglected wife that hits all the right tastebuds. An indie Indian pic with the crossover appeal of Monsoon Wedding, it’s sure to be gobbled up by audience-friendly fests before heading into niche cinemas.
Ritesh Batra’s debut Dabba (Lunchbox) received unanimous praise from major trade publications Variety and Screen.
Variety critic Jay Weissberg termed it “An indie Indian pic with the crossover appeal of Monsoon Wedding” while Screen Critic Fionnuala Halligan wrote: “this is certain to woo international arthouse crowds who have been waiting for an authentic crossover Indian title.”
Excerpts from Variety Review:
A feel-good movie that touches the heart while steering clear of expectation, The Lunchbox signals a notable debut from tyro helmer-scripter Ritesh Batra. The ingredients on their own are nearly fail-proof, yet it’s the way Batra combines food with an epistolary romance between a nearly retired number cruncher and a neglected wife that hits all the right tastebuds. An indie Indian pic with the crossover appeal of Monsoon Wedding, it’s sure to be gobbled up by audience-friendly fests before heading into niche cinemas.
- 5/20/2013
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Ramin Bahrani, the best new American director of recent years, has until now focused on outsiders in this country: A pushcart operator from Pakistan, a Hispanic street orphan in New York, a cab driver from Senegal working in Winston-Salem. Nc. His much-awaited new film, "At Any Price," is set in the Iowa heartland and is about two American icons: A family farmer and a race car driver. It plays Sunday and Monday in the Toronto Film Festival. This is a brave, layered film that challenges the wisdom of victory at any price. Both of its central characters would slip easily into conventional plot formulas, but Bahrani looks deeply into their souls and finds so much more. He finds a father and a son who are both challenged to question the assumptions on which they have based their lives. Yet this is not a "message picture," its theme is never spelled out,...
- 9/9/2012
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
Chicago – James Marsh’s much talked-about documentary, “Project Nim,” is one of the saddest films of 2011, charting the mishandling of a chimpanzee by well-meaning but misguided humans. Nim Chimpsky was the simian subject of a widely publicized ’70s-era experiment created by Professor Herbert Terrace. His goal was to discover if a chimp could speak in complete sentences via sign language.
Just as Marsh’s 2008 Oscar-winner, “Man on Wire,” seamlessly blended archival footage and interviews with reenactments to create a narrative with the tone and pace of a thriller, the director applies the same cinematic style to “Nim.” The chimp’s life was so complicated that a linear plot line certainly makes the most sense. We meet the human subjects in the order that they came and went in Nim’s life and their on-camera testimonials are admirably honest but often infuriating.
DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0
After shooting his mother with a tranquilizer,...
Just as Marsh’s 2008 Oscar-winner, “Man on Wire,” seamlessly blended archival footage and interviews with reenactments to create a narrative with the tone and pace of a thriller, the director applies the same cinematic style to “Nim.” The chimp’s life was so complicated that a linear plot line certainly makes the most sense. We meet the human subjects in the order that they came and went in Nim’s life and their on-camera testimonials are admirably honest but often infuriating.
DVD Rating: 4.5/5.0
After shooting his mother with a tranquilizer,...
- 2/20/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
#24. Untitled Ramin Bahrani Drama Director: Ramin BahraniWriter(s): Bahrani and Hallie Elizabeth Newton Producers: Killer Films' Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Treehouse Films' Justin Nappi and Kevin Turen with Teddy Schwarzman, Distributor: Rights Available The Gist: This centers on an enterprising farmer (Dennis Quaid) whose plans to expand cause conflict with his wife and sons - he clashes with his race car-driving son (Zac Efron) because he’d like the boy to follow in his career footsteps. Clancy Brown plays a rival farmer...(more) Cast: Zac Efron, Dennis Quaid, Heather Graham, Clancy Brown, Kim Dickens and Red West List Worthy Reasons...: Haven't been this excited for a farm-related drama since the Blu-Ray release of Days of Heaven. It'll be interesting to see how Bahrani and his wingman Dp Michael Simmonds tackle a project which is bigger in production value than his previous three indie gems. With Man Push Cart and Goodbye Solo,...
- 1/8/2012
- IONCINEMA.com
Director Tod Williams leads MTV News through some of the film's trickier aspects.
By Eric Ditzian
"Paranormal Activity 2"
Photo: Paramount Pictures
Late in August, MTV News took you behind the scenes on a low-budget horror flick called "The Last Exorcism," revealing the secrets behind its special effects and how the actress who played the demonically possessed main character managed to contort her body in such crazy ways.
Now, we're back with another low-budget horror flick about demonic possession: "Paranormal Activity 2," a follow-up to last year's out-of-nowhere blockbuster. The film once again is presented as found material — security-cam footage and home videos shot by a family whose home becomes haunted by a very unfriendly demon with an eye on their baby boy.
Director Tod Williams popped by the MTV Newsroom on Friday (October 22) to share five things you need to know about "Paranormal Activity 2" (beware of mild spoilers...
By Eric Ditzian
"Paranormal Activity 2"
Photo: Paramount Pictures
Late in August, MTV News took you behind the scenes on a low-budget horror flick called "The Last Exorcism," revealing the secrets behind its special effects and how the actress who played the demonically possessed main character managed to contort her body in such crazy ways.
Now, we're back with another low-budget horror flick about demonic possession: "Paranormal Activity 2," a follow-up to last year's out-of-nowhere blockbuster. The film once again is presented as found material — security-cam footage and home videos shot by a family whose home becomes haunted by a very unfriendly demon with an eye on their baby boy.
Director Tod Williams popped by the MTV Newsroom on Friday (October 22) to share five things you need to know about "Paranormal Activity 2" (beware of mild spoilers...
- 10/22/2010
- MTV Movie News
Director Tod Williams leads MTV News through some of the film's trickier aspects.
By Eric Ditzian
"Paranormal Activity 2"
Photo: Paramount Pictures
Late in August, MTV News took you behind the scenes on a low-budget horror flick called "The Last Exorcism," revealing the secrets behind its special effects and how the actress who played the demonically possessed main character managed to contort her body in such crazy ways.
Now, we're back with another low-budget horror flick about demonic possession: "Paranormal Activity 2," a follow-up to last year's out-of-nowhere blockbuster. The film once again is presented as found material — security-cam footage and home videos shot by a family whose home becomes haunted by a very unfriendly demon with an eye on their baby boy.
Director Tod Williams popped by the MTV Newsroom on Friday (October 22) to share five things you need to know about "Paranormal Activity 2" (beware of mild spoilers...
By Eric Ditzian
"Paranormal Activity 2"
Photo: Paramount Pictures
Late in August, MTV News took you behind the scenes on a low-budget horror flick called "The Last Exorcism," revealing the secrets behind its special effects and how the actress who played the demonically possessed main character managed to contort her body in such crazy ways.
Now, we're back with another low-budget horror flick about demonic possession: "Paranormal Activity 2," a follow-up to last year's out-of-nowhere blockbuster. The film once again is presented as found material — security-cam footage and home videos shot by a family whose home becomes haunted by a very unfriendly demon with an eye on their baby boy.
Director Tod Williams popped by the MTV Newsroom on Friday (October 22) to share five things you need to know about "Paranormal Activity 2" (beware of mild spoilers...
- 10/22/2010
- MTV Music News
#19. Look, Stranger Director: Arielle JavitchCast: Anamaria Marinca, Tom Burke, Valentina Berisa Distributor: Rights Available. Buzz: I'm always keeping tabs on the folk that are featured among Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces. Javitch made the grade this year, and her feature debut employs one of the best European actresses working today in Marinca, and Ramin Bahrani's Dp in Michael Simmonds. The Gist: An elegant, spare and powerful telling of one young woman's journey through a wartorn landscape in an effort to get back home. Tiff Schedule: Saturday September 11 7:00:00 Pm AMC 9 Monday September 13 9:30:00 Pm AMC 7 Saturday September 18 10:00:00 Am AMC 4 ...
- 9/8/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
My first thought was that this is a joke. I received an email linking me to a YouTube video called "Plastic Bay By Ramin Bahrani," and in the email I was told that it stars filmmaker Werner Herzog. Certainly it'd be a kind of mixed parody of the hated scene from American Beauty and the minimal realist films of Bahrani, and feature yet another faked Herzogian German accent. But wait, why would anyone lampoon that "most beautiful" plastic bag scene again after more than a decade? And who would think anyone would get a spoof of Bahrani, particularly by name?
The video was real. Is real. I mean ... it's a real short film by Bahrani featuring Herzog narrating the existential thoughts of a plastic bag throughout its life, from supermarket birth to ... well, I'll let you see where the adventure takes him. Oh, and another bonus: there's a score by Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Ros.
The video was real. Is real. I mean ... it's a real short film by Bahrani featuring Herzog narrating the existential thoughts of a plastic bag throughout its life, from supermarket birth to ... well, I'll let you see where the adventure takes him. Oh, and another bonus: there's a score by Kjartan Sveinsson of Sigur Ros.
- 3/24/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
- Cinematical
Ramin Bahrani speaks clearly and assertively. He knows what he wants; even more admirably, he seems to know exactly why he wants it. He can easily go on at length about a subject, but never lapses into rambling.
It's late January, and Bahrani is speaking to me by phone from his home in Brooklyn. The 2000s have recently ended, and there aren't many American directors whose work better encapsulates the shifts, as much aesthetic as cultural, that occurred during that decade than Bahrani. It should also be said that there aren't many people who are better to talk about a director's "working life" with than Bahrani, as all of his films have been set at the point where life and work intersect, whether it's Ahmad's everyday humiliations as a cart vendor in Man Push Cart (and the ghost of the music career he abandoned), Ale's junkyard home in Chop Shop,...
It's late January, and Bahrani is speaking to me by phone from his home in Brooklyn. The 2000s have recently ended, and there aren't many American directors whose work better encapsulates the shifts, as much aesthetic as cultural, that occurred during that decade than Bahrani. It should also be said that there aren't many people who are better to talk about a director's "working life" with than Bahrani, as all of his films have been set at the point where life and work intersect, whether it's Ahmad's everyday humiliations as a cart vendor in Man Push Cart (and the ghost of the music career he abandoned), Ale's junkyard home in Chop Shop,...
- 2/18/2010
- MUBI
Robert Siegel could have made a documentary using me for Big Fan. I suspect it would have been cheaper to follow me around for an entire football season and watch me dedicate my entire life to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Much like Patton Oswalt’s Paul, I spend my entire week thinking about the next game with the excitement of a win, or the disappointment of a loss racking my mind all week. In addition, my Terrible Towel follows me everywhere, every day of the season and that includes non-game days. Safely, not safety, I can say I got a nice kick out of Siegel’s film as he crafts what it’s like to be a die-hard fan of a sports team. From one fan to another, he hit the nail right on the head.
Before the meat of the story is discussed, the focus will be on how Siegel crafted this story.
Before the meat of the story is discussed, the focus will be on how Siegel crafted this story.
- 9/18/2009
- by Philip Barrett
- Atomic Popcorn
By Christopher Stipp
The Archives, Right Here
I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right Here for free.
And now, you can follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
Patton Oswalt - Interview
Patton Oswalt wrote an excellent and impassioned thought piece about the recent Watchmen film and, in the same article, had a lot to say about the culture of geeks/nerds. He is one of us, if there is such a moniker that could somehow be conferred on to someone, and Patton has had the kind of career many other actors and performers only wish they could. On a stage, in front of the camera, behind a microphone in a recording booth Patton has conquered every medium put before him. Primarily known for his...
The Archives, Right Here
I was able to sit down for a couple of years and pump out a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right Here for free.
And now, you can follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
Patton Oswalt - Interview
Patton Oswalt wrote an excellent and impassioned thought piece about the recent Watchmen film and, in the same article, had a lot to say about the culture of geeks/nerds. He is one of us, if there is such a moniker that could somehow be conferred on to someone, and Patton has had the kind of career many other actors and performers only wish they could. On a stage, in front of the camera, behind a microphone in a recording booth Patton has conquered every medium put before him. Primarily known for his...
- 9/8/2009
- by Christopher Stipp
Release Date: Aug. 28
Director/Writer: Robert D. Siegel
Cinematographer: Michael Simmonds
Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, Marcia Jean Kurtz
Studio/Run Time: First Independent Features, 85 mins.
Wrestler writer’s directorial debut shows promise
Before Robert Siegel wrote The Wrestler for Darren Aronofsky, he wrote a screenplay called Big Fan about a Staten Island parking-lot attendant who spends his nights and weekends obsessing over the New York Giants and their star linebacker. And before that, Siegel edited satirical newspaper The Onion, which may explain why both of his dramatic screenplays are built on deep currents of absurdity—it’s in his blood.
Director/Writer: Robert D. Siegel
Cinematographer: Michael Simmonds
Starring: Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Rapaport, Marcia Jean Kurtz
Studio/Run Time: First Independent Features, 85 mins.
Wrestler writer’s directorial debut shows promise
Before Robert Siegel wrote The Wrestler for Darren Aronofsky, he wrote a screenplay called Big Fan about a Staten Island parking-lot attendant who spends his nights and weekends obsessing over the New York Giants and their star linebacker. And before that, Siegel edited satirical newspaper The Onion, which may explain why both of his dramatic screenplays are built on deep currents of absurdity—it’s in his blood.
- 8/28/2009
- Pastemagazine.com
- Tons of stuff out on DVD worth watching, collecting, seeing for the first time, seeing for a second time and seeing for one time only (Duplicity). We begin with one of the best pictures of the year in Ramin Bahrani's Goodbye Solo (which comes equipped with a commentary track from the filmmaker and cinematographer Michael Simmonds). After bringing out films such as Branded to Kill, Criterion continues their further interest with a 5 film box set from Japan's Nikkatsu Noir period (I'll let their page do the heavy talking). Whit Stillman receives more Cc treatment, this time for his The Last Days of Disco and the one that is definitely worth checking out is Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (check out the clip on the Criterion site). The Last Days of Disco New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Whit Stillman Audio
- 8/25/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
Goodbye Solo, a Movie Well Worth WatchingBy Kevin FakhriIf your head is swollen by all the CG action packed Hollywood movies and need to get away from it all, Watch Ramin Bahrani's latest masterpiece "
Total Videos: (4)
Total Images: (1)');">Goodbye Solo" in which he tells the story of a Senegalese cab driver and his relationship with people around him, including a special passenger.Ramin Bahrani's attempt to dazzle audiences started with "
Total Videos: (1)
Total Images: (1)');">Man Push Cart"; a night in the life of a Pakistani vendor who sells coffee from his push cart. Then he told us the story of a Latino street orphan in "
Total Videos: (1)
Total Images: (1)');">chop shop", and now in his third creation he tells us about a Senegalese cabbie. Bahrani is one of those rare directors who can pull us out of the fantasy world, plant us back into reality,...
Total Videos: (4)
Total Images: (1)');">Goodbye Solo" in which he tells the story of a Senegalese cab driver and his relationship with people around him, including a special passenger.Ramin Bahrani's attempt to dazzle audiences started with "
Total Videos: (1)
Total Images: (1)');">Man Push Cart"; a night in the life of a Pakistani vendor who sells coffee from his push cart. Then he told us the story of a Latino street orphan in "
Total Videos: (1)
Total Images: (1)');">chop shop", and now in his third creation he tells us about a Senegalese cabbie. Bahrani is one of those rare directors who can pull us out of the fantasy world, plant us back into reality,...
- 8/24/2009
- Films N Movies
- Currently in the fine-tuning the script and financing stages of his Untitled Western period pic, and now in the post Goodbye Solo phase (the theatrical run is in it's final weeks/month with the DVD release coming out this August 25th), Ramin Bahrani will be making a trip out the Venice Film Festival for two reasons: he is one of three members on the international jury for first works, and second, he'll be presenting a short film entitled, Plastic Bag which will premiere as the opening night film of Corto Cortissimo (the short film section). For those lucky enough to be in the city of canals and rubber boots, you might want to circle the date and time of the 7th of September at 17:00 at Sala Perla. The eighteen minute short takes place in a not too distant future, where a Plastic Bag goes on an epic journey
- 8/16/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
- An accurate, sometimes unnerving portrait of fanaticism, I think many of the Sundance critic confreres that I discussed screenwriter Robert Siegel's directorial debut with, were as equally pleasantly surprised by the quality of the picture. What was often referenced was the film's tone - there is a point in Big Fan where one feels that it will go into Taxi Driver-esque territory. It was a picture I was strongly considered adding to my best of Sundance leftovers (films that did not get picked up) and if I were to write the same piece today, I'd have reason not to include it. Note: Siegel is the writer behind The Wrestler. Today, an independent label that I'm hoping can stay in the game to market the sometimes unmarketable (they just released Gigantic), First Independent Pictures announced the acquisition of Big Fan for an eventual “late summer to early fall” release as reported by Indiewire.
- 4/28/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
I have lived more than nine months of my life in Boulder, Colorado, one week at a time. Here I am again. Here more than anywhere else I have heard for the first time about more new things, met more fascinating people who have nothing to do with the movies, learned more about debate, and trained under fire to think on my feet. So please don't zone out on me because I use the zzzzz-inducing term "Conference on World Affairs."
For 61 years, this annual meeting at the University of Colorado has persuaded a very mixed bag of people to travel to Boulder at their own expense, appear with each other on panels not of their choosing, live with local hosts who volunteer their homes, speak spontaneously on topics they learn about only after they arrive, are driven around town by volunteers, fed at lunch by the university, and in the...
For 61 years, this annual meeting at the University of Colorado has persuaded a very mixed bag of people to travel to Boulder at their own expense, appear with each other on panels not of their choosing, live with local hosts who volunteer their homes, speak spontaneously on topics they learn about only after they arrive, are driven around town by volunteers, fed at lunch by the university, and in the...
- 4/14/2009
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
A cursory look at the filmography of writer-director Ramin Bahrani -- and by "cursory," I mean one not involving actually viewing any of his films -- will suggest to many that he's the kind of filmmaker who specializes in the oft-dreaded Movie That Is Good For You. His films invariably deal with cross-cultural exchange, or lack thereof; his characters are strangers in strange (albeit torn-from-today's-headlines) lands. They are immigrants looking for ways of belonging, foreigners trying to make peace with their obscure pasts and other species of societal outcasts. A possible précis for Bahrani's latest picture, "Goodbye Solo," wouldn't have to try terribly hard to make it sound like a cross between "Driving Miss Daisy" and Kiarostami's "A Taste of Cherry." The picture, set in Winston-Salem (where Bahrani himself was born) tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a cheery Senegalese cab driver named Solo (Souleymane Sy Savane) and a super-gruff,...
- 3/25/2009
- by Glenn Kenny
- ifc.com
Ramin Bahrani is the new great American director. After three films, each a master work, he has established himself as a gifted, confident filmmaker with ideas that involve who and where we are at this time. His films pay great attention to ordinary lives that are not so ordinary at all. His subjects so far have been immigrants working hard to make a living in America. His fourth film, now in preparation, will be a Western. His hero will be named Tom. Well, he couldn't very well be named Huckleberry.
The Old West, too, was a land of immigrants, many of them speaking no English. But Bahrani never refers to his characters as immigrants. They are new Americans, climbing the lower rungs of the economic ladder. There is the Pakistani in "Man Push Cart," who operates a coffee-and-bagel wagon in Manhattan. The Latino kid in "Chop Shop," surviving in a...
The Old West, too, was a land of immigrants, many of them speaking no English. But Bahrani never refers to his characters as immigrants. They are new Americans, climbing the lower rungs of the economic ladder. There is the Pakistani in "Man Push Cart," who operates a coffee-and-bagel wagon in Manhattan. The Latino kid in "Chop Shop," surviving in a...
- 3/25/2009
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
- Many would say that at this year's Academy Awards got the documentary film category "right". The "right" doc film won and even the final nominees were worthy mentions. But all this doesn't make the Cinema Eye Honors mission less "important". Now in their second year and with eleven categories, a quirky film such as Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg receives a little bit more acknowledgement before disappearing on shelves, those who edit and photograph doc films have any evening reserved all to themselves and newbies to docu filmmaking world have a shot at getting some cred and mingle with the right crowd. The ceremonies take place on Sunday, we'll be reporting on who the winners are from the categories below. Make sure to check out their newly designed website. Outstanding Achievement In Production Henry Kaiser - Encounters At The End Of The World Simon Chinn - Man On Wire
- 3/24/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
Fox Searchlight's "The Wrestler" was named best feature at the 2009 Film Independent's Spirit Awards. It also scored trophies for actor Mickey Rourke and cinematograper Maryse Alberti.
"The thing I love about the Spirit Awards is every film here is a passion piece; we all bled to get to this room," director-producer Darren Aronofksy said as he accepted the award with fellow producer Scott Franklin at the free-wheeling ceremony held Saturday in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.
"I realized while doing special effects on a space movie that I really loved working with actors more than anything else," Aronofsky said about his decision to make a movie about a washed-up wrestler trying to reclaim his life.
In the weekend's first showdown between Rourke and "Milk's" Sean Penn, it was Rourke who triumphed as best male lead.
In a raucous acceptance speech, in which he freely lobbed...
"The thing I love about the Spirit Awards is every film here is a passion piece; we all bled to get to this room," director-producer Darren Aronofksy said as he accepted the award with fellow producer Scott Franklin at the free-wheeling ceremony held Saturday in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.
"I realized while doing special effects on a space movie that I really loved working with actors more than anything else," Aronofsky said about his decision to make a movie about a washed-up wrestler trying to reclaim his life.
In the weekend's first showdown between Rourke and "Milk's" Sean Penn, it was Rourke who triumphed as best male lead.
In a raucous acceptance speech, in which he freely lobbed...
- 2/21/2009
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
- For me Big Fan is the culmination of my viewing experiences of the past week: original film ideas that overall works in several areas. The quality of films in this year's batch is surprisingly good. The writer behind The Wrestler continues his examination of the lineage between between pro sports and those somehow connected to these worlds. First-time filmmaker Robert Siegel was on hand with his leftover crew (producers) at the Eccles for a late in the week screening. Mostly a comedy, Big Fan actually goes into darker matters of the psyche and the protagonist comes across as a good person who like many tailgaters loses focus on what is more important in life. Dp Michael Simmonds does a great job once again adding layers of grit to a character who is not as happy-go-lucky as first presented. ...
- 1/26/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
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