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Watch: Trailer For Rediscovered Dennis Hopper Documentary 'The American Dreamer'
36 minutes ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
There are few Hollywood icons that are both as magnetic and enigmatic as the late, great Dennis Hopper. And while there are plenty of ways for you to dive into the work of the actor, director, and artist, a newly rediscovered documentary has arrived that offers a window into the one of the most fascinating periods of Hopper's life. Directed by Lawrence Schiller and L.M. Kit Carson, "The American Friend" drops in on Hopper as he assembles his infamous "The Last Movie," a film which found Hopper battling a troubled production and his own demons in trying to complete it. The documentary is a look at Hopper during one of the most curious periods of life, and largely unseen for years, "The American Dream" is now going to be much more widely available. “Journeying to New Mexico with Kit to make 'The American Dreamer' with Dennis back in »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Sundance Review: Tim Sutton’s Haunting ‘Dark Night’ Is A Chilling Prelude To Violence
1 hour ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
In an unnamed U.S. suburban town, but somewhere clearly akin to a hellish limbo like South Florida, disparate people live their lives with varying degrees of duress, strain and disappointment. Glimpsed in lyrical fragments, slowly revealed over time, “Dark Night” unveils its seemingly random, unconnected cast of characters with a dispassionate lens. There’s a loner teenage outcast who plays too many video games and doesn’t have any Irl friends, there’s a latch-key kid skateboarder on the fringes of parental guidance, a disaffected Iraq War veteran struggling to bond with his family and grappling with Ptsd, a social-media obsessed would-be model, a twitchy drifter, an immigrant trying not to stand out, and many more, often moody, troubled or under emotional and financial desperation. But what binds and defines them most (all unknown, first-time actors) — aside from shared alienations, common appearances as social castoffs and collective exile within this purgatorial suburban-mall. »
- Rodrigo Perez
Sundance Review: Anna Rose Holmer's 'The Fits' Starring Royalty Hightower
1 hour ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
You have to be in a specific sort of mood, and in a peculiar frame of mind, to fully immerse yourself into a film like "The Fits" and walk away feeling like you've just seen something special. Actually, first-time feature film director Anna Rose Holmer draws a very thin line between "special" and "disposable." With her (undoubtedly unique) approach to the age-old genre of the coming-of-age story, she's either showing exceptional courage or completely exposing her lack of experience. It's a bit of both, but by the end of the film, one gets the impression that her way of getting her feet wet was to armstand dive straight into it, which should be admired even by those who aren't enticed to follow her into the water. There's vision here, clearly, and through the use of eye-catching frames and a standout score, "The Fits" works like magic as an experimental performance piece. »
- Nikola Grozdanovic
Watch: Dig Into The New Teaser For 'House Of Cards' Season 4
2 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
With a Presidential election in full swing, there's no better time for the return of "House Of Cards." Last time we left Frank Underwood, the small screen's nastiest politician was in the fight of his life to be re-elected. As this new teaser for the fourth season shows, he's still on the campaign trail. Read More: The Best And Worst Of 'House Of Cards' Season 3 As usual, Netflix is keeping details about the season's plot under lock and key, so it'll be interesting to see if the show picks up right where it left off or if it fast-forwards a few months. My guess is the latter. "House Of Cards" is back on March 4th. »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Daily | Sundance 2016 Index
2 hours ago | Keyframe | See recent Keyframe news »
We're indexing our entries gathering reviews of films premiering at Sundance. Updates are ongoing. Titles so far include Chad Hartigan's Morris from America, Chris Kelly's Other People, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's Swiss Army Man, Andrew Neel's Goat, Felix van Groeningen's Belgica, Kevin Macdonald's Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang, Kenneth Lonergan's Manchester by the Sea, Kelly Reichardt's Certain Women, Todd Solondz's Wiener-Dog, Whit Stillman's Love & Friendship, Werner Herzog's Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World and Matt Johnson's Operation Avalanche. » - David Hudson »
Listen: 68-Minute Talk With 'Mississippi Grind' Directors Ryan Fleck And Anna Boden
2 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
The consensus at the moment seems to be that working in television is godsend for filmmakers, particularly those who can't get much traction in Hollywood. But what goes undiscussed is that the move to the small screen can be a waystation for those who still have a thirst to tell their own stories on the big screen. And it's that interesting perspective that filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden bring in their talk on "The Moment" podcast. Read More: Review: Underwhelming 'Mississippi Grind' starring Ryan Reynolds And Ben Mendelsohn In conversation with Brian Koppelman (the pair have worked on his show "Billions"), Fleck and Boden are candid about their disappointment that their latest film "Mississippi Grind," starring Ryan Reynolds and Ben Mendelsohn, wasn't better received (you can hear how it still stings a bit in their talk). The duo also talk about jumping into television (they've directed episodes »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Sundance Dispatch 3: Kate Plays Christine, Christine and The Land of the Enlightened
2 hours ago | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »
Sarasota TV journalist Christine Chubbuck shot herself live on-air in 1974 and died 14 hours later. The suicide footage exists on one two-inch tape, which is inaccessibly locked up in the vault of the former president of the Florida station (now part of ABC) Chubbuck worked at, so there are shades of Grizzly Man in Robert Greene’s Kate Plays Christine. The premise is that Kate Lyn Sheil’s preparing to play Chubbuck in a movie that will conclude with a recreation of the suicide, and the climactic question is whether the actress can go through with it. Scenes from this ostensible biopic (a fiction Greene uses to instigate the entire film; […] »
- Vadim Rizov
Daily | Sundance + Berlin 2016 | Andrew Neel’s Goat
2 hours ago | Keyframe | See recent Keyframe news »
"Brutal and harrowing as it is, there is something deeply sympathetic and sorrowful at work in director Andrew Neel’s frat hazing drama Goat," finds Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson. "Neel illustrates a world of homosocial bonding that is fueled by insecurity and anger, but he weaves in an affecting thread of pathos—we feel sorry for these boys as much as we revile them." The new feature starring Ben Schnetzer, Nick Jonas, Gus Halper, Danny Flaherty, Virginia Gardner, Jake Picking, Brock Yurich, Will Pullen, Austin Lyon, Eric Staves, Jamar Jackson and producer James Franco, is competing at Sundance—and we're gathering reviews. » - David Hudson »
Exclusive: Follow The Rules In This Clip From Pablo Larraín's Golden Globe Nominated 'The Club'
3 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
One filmmaker to pay close attention to at the moment is Pablo Larraín. The director behind "No" enters 2016 with a lot on his plate, including wrapping up "Neruda" starring Gael Garcia Bernal and gearing up to shoot "Jackie" with Natalie Portman. But arriving first is his Silver Bear winning, Golden Globe nominated "The Club," and today we have an exclusive clip from the film. Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2016 Starring Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farias, Antonia Zegers, and Jaime Vadell, the film follows four priests who live in a secluded town where they are atoning for this sins. But their sheltered world begins to fall apart with the arrival of an outsider. Here's the official synopsis: In a secluded house in a small seaside town live four unrelated men and the woman who tends to the house and their needs. All former priests, they have been sent to this »
- Edward Davis
“One Last Leap Towards Independence”: Director Richard Tanne | Southside With You
3 hours ago | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »
In every film, there is the story that you knew you were telling, the story the audience perceives. But there is always some other story, a secret story. It might be the result of your hidden motivations for making the film, or, instead, the result of themes that only became clear to you after you made the movie. It might be something very personal, or it might be a story you didn’t even know you were telling. What is your film’s secret story? Southside With You is ostensibly a love story. A simple boy meets girl kind of thing. But […] »
- Soheil Rezayazdi
Denis Villeneuve's 'Blade Runner 2' Starring Ryan Gosling & Harrison Ford Officially Starts Filming In July
3 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
There are many arguments to be made against even the mere idea of a "Blade Runner" sequel. Ridley Scott's 1982 movie is an inarguable classic, a pinnacles of the science-fiction genre and a neo-noir nonpareil. Frankly, a followup could only pale by comparison. But Alcon Entertainment are doing everything it can to get fans to let their guard down. First, the studio hired Denis Villeneuve ("Sicario," "Prisoners") to direct, then landed Ryan Gosling to star opposite the returning Harrison Ford. Those three names alone would be enough to get me to watch any movie, but … "Blade Runner 2?" Let's just say I'm curious to see where it goes. Read More: What 'Blade Runner 2' Can Learn From Successful Sci-Fi Sequels Alcon has officially announced that production will be begin in July, with Warner Bros. distributing the picture stateside and Sony around the globe. No word yet on an exact release date, »
- Kevin Jagernauth
5 Questions for Dark Night Director Tim Sutton
3 hours ago | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »
After essaying lost teenagers in his poetic debut picture, Pavilion, and a creatively-blocked soul singer in his compelling follow-up, Memphis, New York-based independent filmmaker Tim Sutton ventures into considerably darker terrain with Dark Night, which premiered yesterday at Sundance in its Next section. Loosely based on the Aurora theater shootings of 2012, in which a gunman killed 12 and wounded 70 moviegoers attending a screening of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, Dark Night depicts the moments around such an event, using suspense and foreshadowing to meditate on American violence and spectatorship. Below, Sutton answers five questions about his intention […] »
- Scott Macaulay
George Miller Says Another DVD Release Of 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Is Coming With Black-And-White Version, Commentary, More
3 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
As his fans surely know, George Miller has said of his Oscar-contending "Mad Max: Fury Road" that "the best version of this movie is black and white." Indeed, this rendition has been cut and is ready to go, but if you bought the movie on Blu-ray in September, you did not find it there. According to the director, that's because Warner Bros. is planning a double dip release with more features coming, including the version Miller really wants you to see. Read More: Review: George Miller's 'Mad Max: Fury Road' Starring Charlize Theron & Tom Hardy "The best version of 'Fury Road' was what we called a 'slash dupe': a cheap, black-and-white version of the movie for the composer. Something about it seemed more authentic and elemental. So I asked Eric Whipp, the ['Fury Road'] colorist, 'can I see some scenes in black and white with quite a bit of contrast? »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Charlotte Rampling Clarifies Oscar Controversy Comments, Chris Rock Rewriting Opening Monologue For Awards Show
4 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
As controversy continues to swirl around the Academy Awards ceremony next month, many have been wondering if Chris Rock will step down as Oscar host, but he's instead using the opportunity for what promises to be a helluva opening to the show. Speaking with Et, Academy Awards producer Reginald Hudlin revealed that Rock will address the ongoing concerns around the Oscars. "Chris is hard at work. He and his writing staff locked themselves in a room. As things got a little provocative and exciting, he said, 'I'm throwing out the show I wrote and writing a new show,'" he said, adding: "You should expect [#OscarsSoWhite jokes]. And, yes, the Academy is ready for him to do that. They're excited about him doing that. They know that's what we need. They know that's what the public wants, and we deliver what the people want." Read More: Consider This: Is #OscasrSoWhite A Symptom »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Park City Critic’s Notebook: Suicide Watch
4 hours ago | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »
Sundance went into a frenzy over the weekend over flatulent corpses and new corporate money. While the rash of walkouts that greeted the world premiere of Swiss Army Man, in which the remains of Harry Potter pass gas and gets a boner for a significant amount of the running time, was the festival’s most significant viral moment thus far, on the business end of things Amazon Studios and Netflix are proving to be the most muscular and hungry distributors at the festival. Amazon acquired well received new films from indie film veterans Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester By the Sea, of which early notices […] »
- Brandon Harris
Interview: Cinematographer Ed Lachman Talks Romantic World Of 'Carol,' Werner Herzog, ‘I’m Not There’ & More
5 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
Pick a period and he’ll nail the look; choose an emotion and he’ll layer it visually. Over a 40-year career, cinematographer Ed Lachman has developed a story-driven approach to the films he’s shot, stemming from his beginnings in European cinema with Wim Wenders, Jean-Luc Godard, and under DPs Sven Nykvist and Vittorio Storraro. He’s also joined with American auteurs, like frequent collaborator Todd Haynes (“Far From Heaven”, “I’m Not There”), Steven Soderbergh (“The Limey”, “Erin Brockovich”) and Sofia Coppola (“The Virgin Suicides”), each time delivering occasionally experimental period pieces. Read More: Retrospective: The Films Of Todd Haynes The Playlist's recent feature on Lachman’s work acknowledged his influence, as did the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: his latest film, Haynes’ drama “Carol” (our review), earned Lachman his second Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography (after “Far From Heaven” in 2003). Based on Patricia Highsmith’s. »
- Charlie Schmidlin
Five Questions with The Birth of a Nation Director Nate Parker
5 hours ago | Filmmaker Magazine - Blog | See recent Filmmaker Magazine news »
For his debut as a feature film writer and director, Nate Parker has told the story of a personal hero: Nat Turner. The Birth of a Nation is also the first major fiction film about Turner, the leader of an infamous 1831 slave rebellion. Parker himself stars as Turner, having appeared in more than 20 films to date, including Red Hook Summer, The Great Debaters and Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. Below, Parker speaks with Filmmaker about his film’s eye-catching title, Turner’s legacy and what he hopes modern audiences take away from this story. The Birth of a Nation premieres in the U.S Dramatic Competition at […] »
- Soheil Rezayazdi
Watch: The Truth Is Unleashed In New Trailer For 'Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice'
5 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
While Marvel seems to have its game plan nailed down when it comes to promoting its movies, Warner Bros. tends to take a throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach for its aborning DC Extended Universe. So after two brand new TV spots with bits of new footage, even more info as to the events of "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice" has been unveiled in a fresh trailer. Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2016 You know the drill by now: it's Batman versus Superman, with Lex Luthor pulling the strings behind the scenes. Meanwhile, it seems that according to this trailer, Wonder Woman will take a flight at some point to Gotham and/or Metropolis to join in the action. "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice" arrives on March 25th. »
- Kevin Jagernauth
Daily | Sundance 2016 | Matt Johnson’s Operation Avalanche
5 hours ago | Keyframe | See recent Keyframe news »
In 2013, Matt Johnson's The Dirties won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Feature at Slamdance. Now Johnson's at Sundance, his Operation Avalanche premiering in the Next program. And it's "essentially The Dirties 2.0," writes Ben Umstead at Twitch. "Again, Matt Johnson plays Matt Johnson. Owen Williams plays Owen Williams. Again, this is a faux-documentary. But this time, they aren't high school nerds in the 2000s, they're the best and brightest from top Ivy league schools, recruited by the C.I.A. in 1967." It gets complicated. We're collecting reviews as they come in. » - David Hudson »
Watch: 58-Minute Documentary Director Roundtable With Alex Gibney, Michael Moore, Amy Berg, Liz Garbus And More
5 hours ago | The Playlist | See recent The Playlist news »
In THR's latest roundtable talk, some of the premier documentarians of 2015 reflect on the state of their chosen form. Michael Moore ("Where To Invade Next"), Alex Gibney ("Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief" and "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine"), Amy Berg ("Janis: Little Girl Blue," "Prophet's Prey"), Kirby Dick ("The Hunting Ground"), Liz Garbus ("What Happened, Miss Simone?") and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi ("Meru") sit down to chat for a fascinating talk. Read More: Amy Berg's Brutally Unsettling 'Prophet's Prey' When discussing documentaries, it's easy to forget that for all the stories about the tough production of "The Revenant," these filmmakers are also dealing with situations that could very easily turn dangerous. "Well, yeah, I'm afraid. But I reached a certain point where I had to just stop being afraid, and I got rid of the »
- Kevin Jagernauth
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