In an exclusive interview with Variety, German maestro filmmaker Werner Herzog discussed his plans to lead the 3rd Film Accelerator program organized by Barcelona-based La Selva. Herzog and his long-time cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger will be on hand to guide the 25 directing and 25 cinematography aspirants who will pair up to create short films no longer than 10 mins in length.
On day one, he will give them a framework on which to base their project. “They’re not to come with a pre-formulated plan for their projects,” said Herzog, who revealed that he was lending his voice to “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho’s upcoming hand-drawn animated feature about deep-sea creatures.
This would not be the first time for Herzog, who has lent his distinguished gravelly voice to many other parts in the past, most notably in episodes of “The Simpsons,” “The Boondocks” as well as Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” and “Metalocalypse.
On day one, he will give them a framework on which to base their project. “They’re not to come with a pre-formulated plan for their projects,” said Herzog, who revealed that he was lending his voice to “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho’s upcoming hand-drawn animated feature about deep-sea creatures.
This would not be the first time for Herzog, who has lent his distinguished gravelly voice to many other parts in the past, most notably in episodes of “The Simpsons,” “The Boondocks” as well as Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” and “Metalocalypse.
- 4/15/2024
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Les Blank’s ‘Burden of Dreams’ Sees Werner Herzog Try to Push a 320-Ton Ship Up a Hill in the Jungle
On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Can Documentaries Make for Great Midnight Movies?
American documentaries are facing headwinds in awards. It’s not my area of expertise. But Anne Thompson’s predictions for the Best Documentary Feature race ahead of the 96th Oscars on Sunday explain the situation well.
“With the international membership now representing more than 20 percent of the total voters, this year all five documentary nominees were international,” Thompson wrote, tying the trend to numerous non-fiction films left without distributors at Sundance.
“As the top American film festival for docs, Sundance usually supplies...
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: Can Documentaries Make for Great Midnight Movies?
American documentaries are facing headwinds in awards. It’s not my area of expertise. But Anne Thompson’s predictions for the Best Documentary Feature race ahead of the 96th Oscars on Sunday explain the situation well.
“With the international membership now representing more than 20 percent of the total voters, this year all five documentary nominees were international,” Thompson wrote, tying the trend to numerous non-fiction films left without distributors at Sundance.
“As the top American film festival for docs, Sundance usually supplies...
- 3/9/2024
- by Alison Foreman and Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
In Jon Favreau's 2008 film "Iron Man," the title hero (Robert Downey Jr.) was assisted in his high-tech superhero lab by an artificially intelligent butler-like presence named J.A.R.V.I.S. Iron Man's digital butler not only wrangled the hero's complicated engineering projects, but also controlled the even-higher-tech devices in his lab. When Iron Man went out on patrol, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice could be heard inside his helmet. J.A.R.V.I.S. was voiced by Paul Bettany. As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continued to grow, so too did Iron Man's computerized friend. Eventually, J.A.R.V.I.S. was shunted into an indestructible android body and renamed Vision (also Bettany).
When Vision became sentient and autonomous, that meant Tony Stark had to program a new computer helper, and invented F.R.I.D.A.Y. (voiced by Kerry Condon...
When Vision became sentient and autonomous, that meant Tony Stark had to program a new computer helper, and invented F.R.I.D.A.Y. (voiced by Kerry Condon...
- 12/22/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Werner Herzog has had a remarkably varied and prolific career. Ever since working on his first short film, Herakles, back in 1961, he’s gone on to produce, write and direct more than 60 feature films and documentaries, including adventure-drama :a[Fitzcarraldo]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/fitzcarraldo-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}, historical epic :a[Aguirre, The Wrath Of God]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/aguirre-wrath-god-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}, the 1979 version of the classic blood-sucking tale, :a[Nosferatu The Vampyre]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/nosferatu-vampyre-review/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'}, and many, many more.
Also included in that huge filmography is a trip to a galaxy far, far away. Yes, Herzog is part of the :a[Star Wars]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/star-wars-timeline-chronological-order/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'} family too, having played The...
Also included in that huge filmography is a trip to a galaxy far, far away. Yes, Herzog is part of the :a[Star Wars]{href='https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/star-wars-timeline-chronological-order/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'} family too, having played The...
- 10/24/2023
- by Sophie Butcher
- Empire - Movies
Steven Caple, Jr.'s 2023 movie, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts," took place partly in Peru and was filmed in notable locations around the country. According to Andina, the Peruvian news agency, "Rise of the Beasts" was filmed partly in the lush jungles of San Martin where Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Optimus Primal (Ron Perlman) met to discuss tactics in taking down the wicked robot Scourge (Peter Dinklage). Other parts of "Beasts" were shot in Saqsayhuaman on the outskirts of the ancient city of Cusco, which is an enormous stone network of structures in the shape of a puma. It is one of Peru's most-visited locations. The filmmakers also filmed near the thousands of salt ponds of Maras, as well as near Macchu Picchu, the 15th-century Incan citadel you read all about in your fifth-grade geography class.
Naturally, the Peruvian tourism boards have begun offering "Transformers"-themed tours of Machu Picchu.
Naturally, the Peruvian tourism boards have begun offering "Transformers"-themed tours of Machu Picchu.
- 10/11/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Exclusive: Wavelength’s documentary Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer is proving a hot property. The Emmy-winning film production company headed by Jenifer Westphal today announced Shout! Studios has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, and MetFilm has acquired international rights.
Thomas von Steinaecker wrote and directed the documentary about Herzog, the legendary German filmmaker who has brought to life dozens of films including Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), and documentaries Grizzly Man (2005), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), and Meeting Gorbachev (2018). Von Steinaecker’s film “presents a comprehensive portrait of an iconic artist of our time and features interviews with Robert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman, Chloé Zhao, Christian Bale, and more,” according to a release. “With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare and never-before-seen archival material and in-depth interviews with the man himself and celebrated collaborators, we are given an exciting glimpse into his process and personal life.
Thomas von Steinaecker wrote and directed the documentary about Herzog, the legendary German filmmaker who has brought to life dozens of films including Aguirre, The Wrath of God (1972), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), Fitzcarraldo (1982), and documentaries Grizzly Man (2005), Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), and Meeting Gorbachev (2018). Von Steinaecker’s film “presents a comprehensive portrait of an iconic artist of our time and features interviews with Robert Pattinson, Nicole Kidman, Chloé Zhao, Christian Bale, and more,” according to a release. “With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into Herzog’s everyday life, rare and never-before-seen archival material and in-depth interviews with the man himself and celebrated collaborators, we are given an exciting glimpse into his process and personal life.
- 7/18/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Behrooz Karamizade’s Iranian drama “Empty Nets,” which has its international premiere in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, offers a sobering look at the increasingly difficult, sometimes hopeless lives of young working-class people in Iran as they strive for better lives.
Set on Iran’s northern Caspian Sea coast, the film follows Amir (Hamid Reza Abbasi), a young man who, desperate to marry his girlfriend Narges (Sadif Asgari), seeks work at a local fishery with the hope of earning enough money for an appropriate dowry and winning over her upper-class parents. Once there, illicit opportunities present themselves and he is soon drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of sturgeon poaching and the black market caviar trade.
The Iranian-German director, who grew up in Germany, says he always wanted to shoot his first feature film in Iran. “I’m very impressed by Iranian cinema and...
Set on Iran’s northern Caspian Sea coast, the film follows Amir (Hamid Reza Abbasi), a young man who, desperate to marry his girlfriend Narges (Sadif Asgari), seeks work at a local fishery with the hope of earning enough money for an appropriate dowry and winning over her upper-class parents. Once there, illicit opportunities present themselves and he is soon drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of sturgeon poaching and the black market caviar trade.
The Iranian-German director, who grew up in Germany, says he always wanted to shoot his first feature film in Iran. “I’m very impressed by Iranian cinema and...
- 6/28/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
“For the most part, it is dramatic and fairly dark,” declares Alex Buono about the new limited category “Documentary Now!” has been moved to for the Emmy Awards. He continues, “There is a lot of murdery, dark, bleak storytelling in this category. I’m hoping there is room for a pretty silly absurdist comedy. His fellow showrunner Rhys Thomas adds, “We’re campaigning on a platform of joy, if you’re a fan of happiness you’ve got to vote for ‘Documentary Now!’” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
SEEEmmys shocker: ‘Documentary Now’ forced out of variety categories, into limited series categories [Exclusive]
“Documentary Now!” is an IFC and AMC+ comedy show, under the guise of a series featuring acclaimed documentaries. Dame Helen Mirren introduces each feature, which is a mockumentary parodying a real-life documentary. It means each episode has a distinct shooting style and story. The series was created by Fred Armisen,...
SEEEmmys shocker: ‘Documentary Now’ forced out of variety categories, into limited series categories [Exclusive]
“Documentary Now!” is an IFC and AMC+ comedy show, under the guise of a series featuring acclaimed documentaries. Dame Helen Mirren introduces each feature, which is a mockumentary parodying a real-life documentary. It means each episode has a distinct shooting style and story. The series was created by Fred Armisen,...
- 6/17/2023
- by Matt Noble
- Gold Derby
Claudia Squitieri with her mother Claudia Cardinale on Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo: “it’s one of her most adventurous experiences.” Photo: courtesy of Claudia Squitieri
In the second instalment with Claudia Squitieri we discuss more of the films her mother, Claudia Cardinale, starred in. Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Mick Jagger, Jason Robards, Thomas Mauch, My Best Fiend, and filming Fitzcarraldo; encountering Fernando Trueba (The Artist And Model) in Deauville and reconnecting with Jean Rochefort; Manoel de Oliveira and an “atmosphere of mysticality” during the making of Gebo and the Shadow with Jeanne Moreau and Michael Lonsdale, shot by Renato Berta; Blake Edwards and The Pink Panther, the problem with sequels and playing Roberto Benigni’s mother in Son Of The Pink Panther all came up in our conversation.
Claudia Squitieri from Paris on Roberto Benigni with Claudia Cardinale: “He was going “Claudia!!!!” Jumping around every time he saw my mother.
In the second instalment with Claudia Squitieri we discuss more of the films her mother, Claudia Cardinale, starred in. Werner Herzog, Klaus Kinski, Mick Jagger, Jason Robards, Thomas Mauch, My Best Fiend, and filming Fitzcarraldo; encountering Fernando Trueba (The Artist And Model) in Deauville and reconnecting with Jean Rochefort; Manoel de Oliveira and an “atmosphere of mysticality” during the making of Gebo and the Shadow with Jeanne Moreau and Michael Lonsdale, shot by Renato Berta; Blake Edwards and The Pink Panther, the problem with sequels and playing Roberto Benigni’s mother in Son Of The Pink Panther all came up in our conversation.
Claudia Squitieri from Paris on Roberto Benigni with Claudia Cardinale: “He was going “Claudia!!!!” Jumping around every time he saw my mother.
- 2/11/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Festival will also host tributes to Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang and late director Shinji Aoyama.
US director Julie Taymor is to preside over the international competition jury of Tokyo International Film Festival, which has also announced plans to revive the Akira Kurosawa Award and host tribute screenings to Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang and late Japanese director Shinji Aoyama.
The festival has unveiled highlights of its 35th edition, which will run October 24 to November 2, ahead of the announcement of its full line up on September 21.
Taymor is known for directing features such as Frida, Titus, Across The Universe and The Glorias...
US director Julie Taymor is to preside over the international competition jury of Tokyo International Film Festival, which has also announced plans to revive the Akira Kurosawa Award and host tribute screenings to Taiwan’s Tsai Ming-liang and late Japanese director Shinji Aoyama.
The festival has unveiled highlights of its 35th edition, which will run October 24 to November 2, ahead of the announcement of its full line up on September 21.
Taymor is known for directing features such as Frida, Titus, Across The Universe and The Glorias...
- 9/16/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
Werner Herzog’s career entered a renaissance when most directors his age slow down. After 2005’s “Grizzly Man” turned his distinctive Bavarian accent into a pop culture phenomenon, the director previously best known for German New Wave entries “Fitzcarraldo” and “Aguirre, Wrath of God” was suddenly both fodder for internet memes galore and a Hollywood actor playing villains in “The Mandalorian” and “Jack Reacher” (not to mention his voicework on multiple episodes of “The Simpsons”). Yet none of these strange twists got in the way of his main career as a filmmaker. “I’m plowing ahead,” he said in a conversation with IndieWire over Zoom this month.
Herzog turns 80 on September 5, when he’ll be attending the Telluride Film Festival, where one of the main venues bears his name. He assumed some kind of celebration was in the works. “I have no clue what to expect there,” he said, “but I’ll face it.
Herzog turns 80 on September 5, when he’ll be attending the Telluride Film Festival, where one of the main venues bears his name. He assumed some kind of celebration was in the works. “I have no clue what to expect there,” he said, “but I’ll face it.
- 9/2/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The movie business teaches you to be wary of big spenders. Broad Green came and went in a blur of miscalculated flops. Annapurna downsized after several reckless buying sprees and finally stopped acquiring movies altogether. Now comes whispers that Canadian investment studio Bron — which helped finance films like “Joker” and “Licorice Pizza” — is going down a similar path.
Sources tell me that the studio launched by husband-and-wife team Aaron and Brenda Gilbert in 2010 laid off several senior roles and will merge its film and TV divisions into a single unit. Rather than produce the live-action features, I’m told that Bron is now working to secure new corporate partners as it restructures its business model around its Bron Digital division. That means a renewed focus on animation and games designed to create new franchises, not the usual blend of blockbusters and A-list auteurs that it has supported in the past.
Sources tell me that the studio launched by husband-and-wife team Aaron and Brenda Gilbert in 2010 laid off several senior roles and will merge its film and TV divisions into a single unit. Rather than produce the live-action features, I’m told that Bron is now working to secure new corporate partners as it restructures its business model around its Bron Digital division. That means a renewed focus on animation and games designed to create new franchises, not the usual blend of blockbusters and A-list auteurs that it has supported in the past.
- 8/27/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The director of Spencer, Pablo Larraín, discusses a few of his favorite movies with host Josh Olson.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Spencer (2021)
Jackie (2016)
Tony Manero (2008)
Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) – David DeCoteau’s trailer commentary
Back To The Future (1985) – Tfh’s time-traveling quiz
Fitzcarraldo (1982) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Herzog guide
Burden of Dreams (1982)
Aguirre: The Wrath Of God (1972)
Paris, Texas (1984) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary
Barry Lyndon (1975) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Dr. Strangelove (1964) – Michael Lehman’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
A Woman Under The Influence (1974)
Salò, Or The 120 Days of Sodom (1975) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary
Theorem (1968)
Medea (1969)
Naked (1993)
Secrets And Lies (1996) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Vera Drake (2004)
Topsy-Turvy (1999)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
A History Of Violence (2005)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Master (2012)
Phantom Thread (2017) – Dennis...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Spencer (2021)
Jackie (2016)
Tony Manero (2008)
Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) – David DeCoteau’s trailer commentary
Back To The Future (1985) – Tfh’s time-traveling quiz
Fitzcarraldo (1982) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Herzog guide
Burden of Dreams (1982)
Aguirre: The Wrath Of God (1972)
Paris, Texas (1984) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary
Eyes Wide Shut (1999) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary
Barry Lyndon (1975) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
The Shining (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary
Dr. Strangelove (1964) – Michael Lehman’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
A Woman Under The Influence (1974)
Salò, Or The 120 Days of Sodom (1975) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary
Theorem (1968)
Medea (1969)
Naked (1993)
Secrets And Lies (1996) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Vera Drake (2004)
Topsy-Turvy (1999)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
A History Of Violence (2005)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Master (2012)
Phantom Thread (2017) – Dennis...
- 11/2/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Ben Rivers's Ghost Strata (2019) and Now, at Last! (2018) are exclusively showing October and November 2020 on Mubi in the series Ben Rivers: As Time Goes By.Above: Ghost StrataOver the course of nearly two decades, Ben Rivers has been called many things: a portraitist, a documentarian, an experimental ethnographer—even, in his own words, an “accidental anthropologist.” Early in his 2019 film Ghost Strata, a tarot reader points to a less remarked upon feature of Rivers’s work: “All your movies are about you,” she says, suggesting an autobiographical through-line in a filmography rarely acknowledged for its personal aspects.While a rereading of Rivers’s entire body of work is a fascinating proposition, one might look to Ghost Strata and another film he shot the same year, Now, at Last! (2018), for evidence of how these personal elements have manifested in the British director’s recent work. In Ghost Strata, a diary-like...
- 10/21/2020
- MUBI
John Williams is great and all, but there aren’t a ton of his iconic film scores that I might actually want to listen to while working out. For that, you need to turn to the rock stars, the guys who perform to 20,000 screaming people one night and then collaborate with David Fincher the next. They make the kind of scores that raise the eyebrows of writers at Pitchfork and inspire bedroom hipsters to go out and see an indie film that might otherwise never get an audience.
Trent Reznor
The Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor burst out onto the film score scene when he composed the icy, digitized beats for David Fincher’s “The Social Network” in 2010. He and his collaborator Atticus Ross won the Oscar that year, and he’s since had a wave of creativity on other Fincher films like “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “Gone Girl.
Trent Reznor
The Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor burst out onto the film score scene when he composed the icy, digitized beats for David Fincher’s “The Social Network” in 2010. He and his collaborator Atticus Ross won the Oscar that year, and he’s since had a wave of creativity on other Fincher films like “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “Gone Girl.
- 10/6/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Within the ranks of the great masters of cinema, the works of German director Werner Herzog stand out as perhaps one of the boldest body of work of a filmmaker. While still largely known for his collaborations with actors Klaus Kinski, Herzog’s work has moved far beyond masterpieces like “Fitzcarraldo” or “Nosferatu”, focusing on works of great thematic variety as feature films as well as documentaries. In his new work, “Family Romance, LLC” blends both feature film and documentary while telling the story of the real existing agency Family Romance, managed by Yuichi Ishii, who is also the star of the film. Through its various stories, some comedic, some more dramatic, Herzog explores the issue of modern relationships and lonesomeness in the 21st century.
“Family Romance, LLC” is screening at Nippon Connection 2020
For many years now “Family Romance, LLC” has been in business, offering the service of renting out...
“Family Romance, LLC” is screening at Nippon Connection 2020
For many years now “Family Romance, LLC” has been in business, offering the service of renting out...
- 6/16/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
The American Society of Cinematographers said Thursday that it will give this year’s Board of Governors Award to Werner Herzog. The prolific writer-director and occasional actor (Disney+’s The Mandalorian) will be honored January 25 at the 34th annual Asc Awards for Outstanding Achievement at Hollywood & Highland’s Ray Dolby Ballroom.
The Asc Board of Governors Award is given to industry stalwarts whose body of work has made significant and indelible contributions to cinema. It is reserved for filmmakers who have been champions for directors of photography and the visual art form.
The German-born Herzog has produced, written, and directed more than 70 feature and documentary films, with Oscar nominations for his documentary Encounters at the End of the World (2009) and an Emmy nom for Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997).
His credits at the vanguard of German cinema along with fellow filmmakers Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff include Aguirre, the Wrath of God...
The Asc Board of Governors Award is given to industry stalwarts whose body of work has made significant and indelible contributions to cinema. It is reserved for filmmakers who have been champions for directors of photography and the visual art form.
The German-born Herzog has produced, written, and directed more than 70 feature and documentary films, with Oscar nominations for his documentary Encounters at the End of the World (2009) and an Emmy nom for Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997).
His credits at the vanguard of German cinema along with fellow filmmakers Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Volker Schlöndorff include Aguirre, the Wrath of God...
- 1/9/2020
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
British music and film producer Nik Powell, who was among the Virgin Group co-founders with Richard Branson and became an influential force in U.K. cinema, producing more than 60 titles including Neil Jordan’s Oscar-winning “The Crying Game,” died Thursday at age 69.
The cause of death was an unspecified form of cancer, Britain’s National Film and Television School (Nfts) – which Powell headed for more than a decade – said in a statement. He died in Oxford surrounded by his family.
Born on November 4, 1950, in the small village of Great Kingshill, in Buckinghamshire, Powell started out running a record shop and was among the founding partners in 1972 of Virgin Records, which became one of the U.K.’s top recording labels before being sold to Emi 20 years later.
In 1983 Powell co-founded U.K. video label and production outfit Palace Pictures with Stephen Woolley. They produced a string of standout titles such...
The cause of death was an unspecified form of cancer, Britain’s National Film and Television School (Nfts) – which Powell headed for more than a decade – said in a statement. He died in Oxford surrounded by his family.
Born on November 4, 1950, in the small village of Great Kingshill, in Buckinghamshire, Powell started out running a record shop and was among the founding partners in 1972 of Virgin Records, which became one of the U.K.’s top recording labels before being sold to Emi 20 years later.
In 1983 Powell co-founded U.K. video label and production outfit Palace Pictures with Stephen Woolley. They produced a string of standout titles such...
- 11/7/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
“Chained for Life” opens with a long quotation from Pauline Kael, the point of which is difficult to disagree with: actors and actresses tend to be more beautiful than the rest of us. Though the reason for this phenomenon is simple enough — people enjoy looking at pretty things, including and especially other people — its effects tend to be more complicated.
One case in point is writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s film, which makes good on its epigraph by exploring our conception of beauty (among many other things) with unexpected tenderness — unexpected because, at first glance, it looks like an ill-advised riff on “Freaks” that could easily turn exploitative.
Alongside Jess Weixler (“It Chapter Two”), who’s one of countless thespians to demonstrate Kael’s point, the film stars Adam Pearson, a performer familiar both for his scene-stealing turn in “Under the Skin” and for a condition called neurofibromatosis, which covers his face in tumors.
One case in point is writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s film, which makes good on its epigraph by exploring our conception of beauty (among many other things) with unexpected tenderness — unexpected because, at first glance, it looks like an ill-advised riff on “Freaks” that could easily turn exploitative.
Alongside Jess Weixler (“It Chapter Two”), who’s one of countless thespians to demonstrate Kael’s point, the film stars Adam Pearson, a performer familiar both for his scene-stealing turn in “Under the Skin” and for a condition called neurofibromatosis, which covers his face in tumors.
- 9/10/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- The Wrap
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.
Amazing Grace (Sydney Pollack)
A time capsule that’s as fresh and powerful an experience as it must have been when recorded live in Watts in 1972, Amazing Grace is arguably one of the year’s most-anticipated films arriving after years of litigation and a fetal technical glitch that was resolved thanks to digital workflows. The film that exists, finished by producer Alan Elliot, bursts with intimacy and immediacy capturing a captivating and sublime performance by Aretha Franklin. In between the incredible artistry we discover and are introduced to several influences of Franklin’s including her father the minister and civil rights activist Cl Franklin who provides...
Amazing Grace (Sydney Pollack)
A time capsule that’s as fresh and powerful an experience as it must have been when recorded live in Watts in 1972, Amazing Grace is arguably one of the year’s most-anticipated films arriving after years of litigation and a fetal technical glitch that was resolved thanks to digital workflows. The film that exists, finished by producer Alan Elliot, bursts with intimacy and immediacy capturing a captivating and sublime performance by Aretha Franklin. In between the incredible artistry we discover and are introduced to several influences of Franklin’s including her father the minister and civil rights activist Cl Franklin who provides...
- 8/9/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Have you ever wondered what are the films that inspire the next generation of visionary filmmakers? As part of our monthly Ioncinephile profile this June, we ask the filmmaker (this month: Lila Avilés) to identify their all time top ten favorite films. Aviles’ The Chambermaid is receiving its release on Friday, June 26th at the Film Forum in New York City via the Kino Lorber folks. We have a list that exceeds the ten mark, so in no particular order, here are top fourteen films of all time as of June 2019.
Au Hasard Balthazar – Robert Bresson (1966)
Barry Lyndon – Stanley Kubrick (1975)
Drifting Clouds – Aki Kaurismäki (1996) / The Man Without a Past (2002)
Fanny and Alexander – Ingmar Bergman (1982)
Fitzcarraldo – Werner Herzog (1982)
In The Mood For Love – Wong Kar Wai (2000) / Days of Being Wild (1990)
La Ciénaga – Lucrecia Martel (2001)
Love Streams – John Cassavetes (1984)
Nostalgia – Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
The Salt of the Earth – Wim Wenders (2014)
Songs from the...
Au Hasard Balthazar – Robert Bresson (1966)
Barry Lyndon – Stanley Kubrick (1975)
Drifting Clouds – Aki Kaurismäki (1996) / The Man Without a Past (2002)
Fanny and Alexander – Ingmar Bergman (1982)
Fitzcarraldo – Werner Herzog (1982)
In The Mood For Love – Wong Kar Wai (2000) / Days of Being Wild (1990)
La Ciénaga – Lucrecia Martel (2001)
Love Streams – John Cassavetes (1984)
Nostalgia – Andrei Tarkovsky (1983)
The Salt of the Earth – Wim Wenders (2014)
Songs from the...
- 6/6/2019
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Italy’s Biografilm Festival, an event billed as a cinematic celebration of human lives, will pay tribute to Werner Herzog, whose Japanese-language film “Family Romance, LLC” will launch locally following its Cannes premiere, as will “Meeting Gorbachev,” his sit-down conversation with the former Soviet leader.
The prolific Herzog, 76, whose long career comprises feature films such as “Aguirre: The Wrath of God” and “Fitzcarraldo” and a slew of docs, including, more recently Netflix’s “Into the Inferno,” is expected to be on hand at the Bologna-based fest to receive its Celebration of Lives Award on June 10.
As previously announced, Biografilm, which will run June 7-17, is also celebrating Participant Media this year, in particular Diane Weyermann, head of the U.S. company’s documentary film and television unit, who will receive the fest’s Making it Real Award, honoring excellence in producing. The tribute to Participant will include the European premiere...
The prolific Herzog, 76, whose long career comprises feature films such as “Aguirre: The Wrath of God” and “Fitzcarraldo” and a slew of docs, including, more recently Netflix’s “Into the Inferno,” is expected to be on hand at the Bologna-based fest to receive its Celebration of Lives Award on June 10.
As previously announced, Biografilm, which will run June 7-17, is also celebrating Participant Media this year, in particular Diane Weyermann, head of the U.S. company’s documentary film and television unit, who will receive the fest’s Making it Real Award, honoring excellence in producing. The tribute to Participant will include the European premiere...
- 6/3/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Following an indigenous family torn apart by a marijuana boom, this arresting Colombian film combines magical realism with the epic sweep of The Godfather
With the dreamy, haunting masterpiece Embrace of the Serpent, Colombian director Ciro Guerra secured his country’s first Oscar nomination for best foreign language film. It was an astonishing movie, inverting the colonial themes of Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, presenting its mythical narrative from the perspective of the indigenous Amazonian tribespeople in the jungles of Vaupés.
Now, Guerra shares directorial credit with his long-time producer, Cristina Gallego, to tell a tale of “gangsters and spirits”, played out against the arresting backdrop of the La Guajira region of northern Colombia. Described by its creators as an investigation of “the great tragedy that would curse us forever; the great taboo that we are not allowed to discuss”, Birds of Passage revisits the birth of...
With the dreamy, haunting masterpiece Embrace of the Serpent, Colombian director Ciro Guerra secured his country’s first Oscar nomination for best foreign language film. It was an astonishing movie, inverting the colonial themes of Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo and Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, presenting its mythical narrative from the perspective of the indigenous Amazonian tribespeople in the jungles of Vaupés.
Now, Guerra shares directorial credit with his long-time producer, Cristina Gallego, to tell a tale of “gangsters and spirits”, played out against the arresting backdrop of the La Guajira region of northern Colombia. Described by its creators as an investigation of “the great tragedy that would curse us forever; the great taboo that we are not allowed to discuss”, Birds of Passage revisits the birth of...
- 5/19/2019
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Werner Herzog has a near-mythic presence in world cinema. The 76-year-old German director makes brutally authentic features — Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Fitzcarraldo — and, with the likes of Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, fantastically imaginative documentaries. "They are often fictions in disguise," Herzog says, in that ponderous Germanic monotone familiar from the countless voiceovers on his films that has become almost as famous as the filmmaker himself.
The fuzzy and fluid border between the real and the imagined has been a constant in Herzog’s work — as it is in his new ...
The fuzzy and fluid border between the real and the imagined has been a constant in Herzog’s work — as it is in his new ...
- 5/19/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Werner Herzog has a near-mythic presence in world cinema. The 76-year-old German director makes brutally authentic features — Aguirre, the Wrath of God, The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, Fitzcarraldo — and, with the likes of Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, fantastically imaginative documentaries. "They are often fictions in disguise," Herzog says, in that ponderous Germanic monotone familiar from the countless voiceovers on his films that has become almost as famous as the filmmaker himself.
The fuzzy and fluid border between the real and the imagined has been a constant in Herzog’s work — as it is in his new ...
The fuzzy and fluid border between the real and the imagined has been a constant in Herzog’s work — as it is in his new ...
- 5/19/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
For those raised on a diet of hot dogs and hamburgers, think back to the first time you ever heard of sushi, and the idea of eating raw fish. Werner Herzog’s “Family Romance, LLC” extends a comparably otherizing attitude to Japan’s niche rent-a-relative phenomenon, exposing for Western eyes a peculiar Tokyo-based company that caters to fulfilling nonsexual but undeniably intimate fantasies for its clientele. Weird? Yes, but so is the way Americans convince their kids to climb into the laps of white-bearded strangers in Santa costumes.
Homo sapiens are a strange species, and few capture that more satisfyingly than Herzog, even if this is clearly one of his minor works. Not quite 90 minutes, the film might actually be more effective at half the length. As is, it feels padded with slow-motion footage, long shots in which characters stare out in wordless contemplation, and an awkward dream sequence involving a gang of swordless samurai.
Homo sapiens are a strange species, and few capture that more satisfyingly than Herzog, even if this is clearly one of his minor works. Not quite 90 minutes, the film might actually be more effective at half the length. As is, it feels padded with slow-motion footage, long shots in which characters stare out in wordless contemplation, and an awkward dream sequence involving a gang of swordless samurai.
- 5/18/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Film Bridge International has entered into a two-picture production deal with Dublin-based Merlin Films headed by Kieran Corrigan and Deliverance director, John Boorman. Film Bridge founder and CEO Ellen Wander will partner with Corrigan and Boorman to produce two features, heist thriller Underground and gritty action thriller Assassins Club. Boorman, whose latest work as director was 2015’s Queen & Country, will helm the former with Stephen Saint Leger (Vikings) on the latter. Worldwide sales will be handled by Wander in Cannes. Underground is set in Boston where an Irish mob family is struggling to get out of the business, but is tempted by the discovery of an abandoned tunnel beneath Tiffany & Co. Assassins Club centers on a man offered a contract to kill seven people from around the globe. The targets, in turn, are also assassins with contracts to kill him. The only way out is to leave a...
- 5/14/2019
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Acclaimed German director Werner Herzog will be honored with a lifetime achievement honor by the European Film Academy.
The director of Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Grizzly Man (2005) will receive the lifetime honor at the 32nd European Film Awards on Dec. 7 in Berlin.
Herzog has written, produced and directed more than 70 feature and documentary films and has collected a trophy case of awards, including a Berlinale Silver Bear for his 1968 debut Signs of Life, a best director honor in Cannes for Fitzcarraldo and an Oscar nomination for the 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World.
Surprisingly, he ...
The director of Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Grizzly Man (2005) will receive the lifetime honor at the 32nd European Film Awards on Dec. 7 in Berlin.
Herzog has written, produced and directed more than 70 feature and documentary films and has collected a trophy case of awards, including a Berlinale Silver Bear for his 1968 debut Signs of Life, a best director honor in Cannes for Fitzcarraldo and an Oscar nomination for the 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World.
Surprisingly, he ...
- 5/13/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Acclaimed German director Werner Herzog will be honored with a lifetime achievement honor by the European Film Academy.
The director of Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Grizzly Man (2005) will receive the lifetime honor at the 32nd European Film Awards on Dec. 7 in Berlin.
Herzog has written, produced and directed more than 70 feature and documentary films and has collected a trophy case of awards, including a Berlinale Silver Bear for his 1968 debut Signs of Life, a best director honor in Cannes for Fitzcarraldo and an Oscar nomination for the 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World.
Surprisingly, he ...
The director of Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972), Fitzcarraldo (1982) and Grizzly Man (2005) will receive the lifetime honor at the 32nd European Film Awards on Dec. 7 in Berlin.
Herzog has written, produced and directed more than 70 feature and documentary films and has collected a trophy case of awards, including a Berlinale Silver Bear for his 1968 debut Signs of Life, a best director honor in Cannes for Fitzcarraldo and an Oscar nomination for the 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World.
Surprisingly, he ...
- 5/13/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Throughout his career, Werner Herzog has shared a deep connection with his daring explorer subjects, be it with “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” “Fitzcarraldo,” “Little Dieter Needs to Fly,” or “Grizzly Man.” That’s again true with “Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin,” the prolific filmmaker’s heartfelt documentary tribute to his celebrated writer friend, who passed away from AIDS in 1989. Duplicating many of Chatwin’s most notable journeys, Herzog evokes the late English wanderer’s restless soul and curious fascination with profound issues that have long captivated the director. Following its Tribeca Film Festival world premiere, this sincere homage should entice adventurous viewers when it premieres on BBC Two later this year.
Channeling Chatwin, whom he rightfully dubs a “kindred spirit,” Herzog embarks on a “similar erratic quest” for the “nature of human existence” in “Nomad.” He begins with a trip to the Patagonia cave where Chatwin’s...
Channeling Chatwin, whom he rightfully dubs a “kindred spirit,” Herzog embarks on a “similar erratic quest” for the “nature of human existence” in “Nomad.” He begins with a trip to the Patagonia cave where Chatwin’s...
- 5/2/2019
- by Nick Schager
- Variety Film + TV
The verteran German director was giving a masterclass at Nyon’s Visions du Reel festival.
German director Werner Herzog voiced his reluctant support of film piracy during a masterclass at Switzerland’s documentary-focused Visions du Réel International Film Festival in Nyon which closed on April 13.
¨Piracy has been the most successful form of distribution worldwide,” said Herzog in response to a comment from Ukrainian producer Illia Gladshtein of Phalanstery Films. Gladshtein said he was only able to access the filmmaker’s works via illegal Torrent sites in Ukraine.
“If you don’t get [films] through Netflix or state-sponsored television in your country,...
German director Werner Herzog voiced his reluctant support of film piracy during a masterclass at Switzerland’s documentary-focused Visions du Réel International Film Festival in Nyon which closed on April 13.
¨Piracy has been the most successful form of distribution worldwide,” said Herzog in response to a comment from Ukrainian producer Illia Gladshtein of Phalanstery Films. Gladshtein said he was only able to access the filmmaker’s works via illegal Torrent sites in Ukraine.
“If you don’t get [films] through Netflix or state-sponsored television in your country,...
- 4/16/2019
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Jay Douglas, the former Svp Acquisitions at Anchor Bay Entertainment and the driving force behind the company’s late 1990s rise as a “Criterion Collection for cult films,” has died. He was 65.
Douglas died of an apparent heart attack on Tuesday in Green Valley, Az, according to former associates and social media postings by his family.
Douglas joined the upstart Anchor Bay in 1995 and over the next decade his passions came to define the company’s eclectic library of genre films, off-kilter cinema curiosities, lost classics, obscure gems, and, most especially, unforgettable horror movies of any and every quality level.
During the rise of VHS and then DVD, Anchor Bay became a powerhouse name in genre circles and renowned for giving quality treatment to movies that others dismissed as too scruffy, silly, sordid, or strange to deserve a second look much less a second life. The library also found room for television artifacts,...
Douglas died of an apparent heart attack on Tuesday in Green Valley, Az, according to former associates and social media postings by his family.
Douglas joined the upstart Anchor Bay in 1995 and over the next decade his passions came to define the company’s eclectic library of genre films, off-kilter cinema curiosities, lost classics, obscure gems, and, most especially, unforgettable horror movies of any and every quality level.
During the rise of VHS and then DVD, Anchor Bay became a powerhouse name in genre circles and renowned for giving quality treatment to movies that others dismissed as too scruffy, silly, sordid, or strange to deserve a second look much less a second life. The library also found room for television artifacts,...
- 3/1/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s a meeting for the ages. In one corner, the architect of Perestroika. In the other, the director who nearly tamed Klaus Kinski.
“Meeting Gorbachev,” a nonfiction film documenting a series of interviews between filmmaker Werner Herzog and Mikhail Gorbachev, has been acquired by the Orchard. The indie distributor plans to release the film theatrically in 2019. “Meeting Gorbachev” premiered at the 2018 Telluride Film Festival and played at the Toronto International Film Festival. It is directed by Herzog and his longtime collaborator André Singer.
Herzog, famous for “Fitzcarraldo” and “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” interviewed Gorbachev on three separate occasions over six months. He captured the last leader of the Soviet Union’s thoughts on peace and history.
“’Meeting Gorbachev’ is an enthralling look back at a fascinating leader and diplomat, all the more impactful based on what the world looks like today,” said Paul Davidson, the Orchard’s Evp of film and television.
“Meeting Gorbachev,” a nonfiction film documenting a series of interviews between filmmaker Werner Herzog and Mikhail Gorbachev, has been acquired by the Orchard. The indie distributor plans to release the film theatrically in 2019. “Meeting Gorbachev” premiered at the 2018 Telluride Film Festival and played at the Toronto International Film Festival. It is directed by Herzog and his longtime collaborator André Singer.
Herzog, famous for “Fitzcarraldo” and “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” interviewed Gorbachev on three separate occasions over six months. He captured the last leader of the Soviet Union’s thoughts on peace and history.
“’Meeting Gorbachev’ is an enthralling look back at a fascinating leader and diplomat, all the more impactful based on what the world looks like today,” said Paul Davidson, the Orchard’s Evp of film and television.
- 12/7/2018
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Before Frances Ford Coppola battled the elements for “Apocalypse Now” and Werner Herzog dragged a steamship up a hill in “Fitzcarraldo,” Dennis Hopper concocted a Hollywood project so bizarre and ambitious it nearly destroyed his career. He couldn’t have picked a more appropriate topic to put it all on the line: “The Last Movie,” Hopper’s 1971 directorial follow-up to the success of “Easy Rider,” starred the actor as a disgruntled stunt coordinator on location in the Andes Mountains who grows disillusioned with filmmaking and attempts to abandon the industry.
But the ghosts of cinema continue to haunt him, once he’s drawn back to the Peruvian village where the movie was shot to find the natives attempting to make their own imaginary movie — except they’re using cameras and microphones made of sticks, and swapping simulated violence for the real deal. This absurd twist takes on a frantic, disorienting quality,...
But the ghosts of cinema continue to haunt him, once he’s drawn back to the Peruvian village where the movie was shot to find the natives attempting to make their own imaginary movie — except they’re using cameras and microphones made of sticks, and swapping simulated violence for the real deal. This absurd twist takes on a frantic, disorienting quality,...
- 8/2/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Happy birthday Mick Jagger! The Rolling Stones frontman turns 75 today, and he hasn’t lost a step of his swagger in all that time. But after decades of rocking out, he’s found more than a few choice TV and movie moments throughout his career, everything from numerous cameos and hosting stints on “SNL” to working with directors like the Maysles Brothers and Werner Herzog. Check out some of his other greatest licks below:
One of the first, unvarnished, humble looks at The Rolling Stones came in the 1970 documentary “Gimme Shelter.” The Maysles Brothers documented the Stones’ attempt to stage a massive free concert attended by 300,000 people, and things went poorly. The concert doc footage shows the band raw and rowdy in a way you wouldn’t see them today, but the harrowing moment comes when Jagger watches back in astonishment footage of a man in the crowd pulling out a gun during the performance.
One of the first, unvarnished, humble looks at The Rolling Stones came in the 1970 documentary “Gimme Shelter.” The Maysles Brothers documented the Stones’ attempt to stage a massive free concert attended by 300,000 people, and things went poorly. The concert doc footage shows the band raw and rowdy in a way you wouldn’t see them today, but the harrowing moment comes when Jagger watches back in astonishment footage of a man in the crowd pulling out a gun during the performance.
- 7/26/2018
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Happy Friday the 13th. Making movies proves that Murphy’s Law is a real and horrifying thing. These 13 films were struck by chaos, misfortune — and in some cases even death, during their production. Some became massive blunders while others became cult favorites famous for their notorious development.
Over the course of the making of the Poltergeist trilogy, four cast members died. The most shocking was 12-year-old Heather O’Rourke, who died of septic shock at age 12.
No one was seriously hurt during filming of The Omen. but chaos seemed to surround everyone involved. Star Gregory Peck and screenwriter David Seltzer had their flights struck by lightning on way to filming. Director Richard Donner‘s hotel was bombed by the Ira, and members of the crew were caught in a car crash.
Francis Ford Coppola was tempting fate when he decided to film Apocalypse Now during monsoon season. Big mistake. The monsoon destroyed multiple sets, Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack during filming, and Coppola was so stressed he reportedly threatened to kill himself.
“The Exorcist” is one of the most infamous cursed movies of all time. Nine people died during the shoot, and it is said that a fire destroyed large portions of the set. The story of the film’s production is just as eerie as that of the film itself.
“Fitzcarraldo”
Dysentery. Injuries. Fights among the crew. Nothing seemed to go right during the filming of “Fitzcarraldo.” The story concerns hauling a boat over a hill, which the crew literally accomplished, but not without the same nightmarish difficulty as is depicted in the film. And in the end, director Werner Herzog looked as mad and overly driven as its hero. Check out the documentary “Burden of Dreams” for more.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
Bad luck ran amok in Middle Earth during the filming of “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.” DVD interviews revealed that multiple actors and stuntmen suffered injuries while shooting the film’s elaborate fight sequences. The worst was Viggo Mortensen, who broke his toe and chipped his tooth while filming.
Read original story 13 Cursed Movies for Friday the 13th, From ‘Poltergeist’ to ‘The Crow’ (Photos) At TheWrap...
Over the course of the making of the Poltergeist trilogy, four cast members died. The most shocking was 12-year-old Heather O’Rourke, who died of septic shock at age 12.
No one was seriously hurt during filming of The Omen. but chaos seemed to surround everyone involved. Star Gregory Peck and screenwriter David Seltzer had their flights struck by lightning on way to filming. Director Richard Donner‘s hotel was bombed by the Ira, and members of the crew were caught in a car crash.
Francis Ford Coppola was tempting fate when he decided to film Apocalypse Now during monsoon season. Big mistake. The monsoon destroyed multiple sets, Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack during filming, and Coppola was so stressed he reportedly threatened to kill himself.
“The Exorcist” is one of the most infamous cursed movies of all time. Nine people died during the shoot, and it is said that a fire destroyed large portions of the set. The story of the film’s production is just as eerie as that of the film itself.
“Fitzcarraldo”
Dysentery. Injuries. Fights among the crew. Nothing seemed to go right during the filming of “Fitzcarraldo.” The story concerns hauling a boat over a hill, which the crew literally accomplished, but not without the same nightmarish difficulty as is depicted in the film. And in the end, director Werner Herzog looked as mad and overly driven as its hero. Check out the documentary “Burden of Dreams” for more.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
Bad luck ran amok in Middle Earth during the filming of “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.” DVD interviews revealed that multiple actors and stuntmen suffered injuries while shooting the film’s elaborate fight sequences. The worst was Viggo Mortensen, who broke his toe and chipped his tooth while filming.
Read original story 13 Cursed Movies for Friday the 13th, From ‘Poltergeist’ to ‘The Crow’ (Photos) At TheWrap...
- 4/12/2018
- by Wrap Staff
- The Wrap
Director Sandi Tan puts together a magical documentary about an unrealised film project that celebrates the power of youth and friendship
An unexpected delight, this documentary about Singapore’s only hipsters making one of its only independent films in the early 90s is a highlight of the Sundance programme. First-time director Sandi Tan revisits a time when she and a group of pretentious visionaries shot a feature length film also called Shirkers, the story of an 18-year-old killer roaming the streets having adventures. The result is a joyous and funny recollection of a youth when anything felt possible – and it could be a big hit if it gets the wide distribution it deserves.
Tan’s original film project was a cross between Heathers and Godard and it looks stunning, but we see it only in snatches and hear no original audio. This is because at the emotional heart of the...
An unexpected delight, this documentary about Singapore’s only hipsters making one of its only independent films in the early 90s is a highlight of the Sundance programme. First-time director Sandi Tan revisits a time when she and a group of pretentious visionaries shot a feature length film also called Shirkers, the story of an 18-year-old killer roaming the streets having adventures. The result is a joyous and funny recollection of a youth when anything felt possible – and it could be a big hit if it gets the wide distribution it deserves.
Tan’s original film project was a cross between Heathers and Godard and it looks stunning, but we see it only in snatches and hear no original audio. This is because at the emotional heart of the...
- 1/25/2018
- by Charlie Phillips
- The Guardian - Film News
35 years after “Fitzcarraldo,” Werner Herzog is returning to the Amazon. He isn’t going alone: 48 filmmakers will follow the one-of-a-kind auteur into the jungle for “Filming in Peru with Werner Herzog,” a 10-day workshop put together by Black Factory Cinema. One hopes their ordeal isn’t as arduous as those faced both on and offscreen in “Fitzcarraldo” and “Aguirre, the Wrath of God.”
Read More:Werner Herzog’s Film School Advice: 6 Crucial Lessons From a Master to His Pupils
The workshop begins on May 1, 2018 and lasts until the 11th, with each participant developing a short film under Herzog’s tutelage; upon completion, Herzog will select the best work for potential inclusion at international festivals. He’s taught similar courses before, often under less conventional circumstances than most workshops, but never in the same location as his two masterworks from 1972 and 1982.
It isn’t for first-timers, however. The workshop’s...
Read More:Werner Herzog’s Film School Advice: 6 Crucial Lessons From a Master to His Pupils
The workshop begins on May 1, 2018 and lasts until the 11th, with each participant developing a short film under Herzog’s tutelage; upon completion, Herzog will select the best work for potential inclusion at international festivals. He’s taught similar courses before, often under less conventional circumstances than most workshops, but never in the same location as his two masterworks from 1972 and 1982.
It isn’t for first-timers, however. The workshop’s...
- 12/14/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Reel-Important People is a monthly column that highlights those individuals in or related to the movies who have left us in recent weeks. Below you'll find names big and small and from all areas of the industry, though each was significant to the movies in his or her own way. Peter Baldwin (1931-2017) - Actor, Director. He appears in the movies Stalag 17, The Ten Commandments, I Married a Monster from Outer Space, The Mattei Affair,The Tin Star and in addition to directing mostly television he helmed the movie Meet Wally Sparks. He died on November 19. (THR) Peter Berling (1934-2017) - German Actor. He co-starred in the Werner Herzog movies Fitzcarraldo, Cobra Verde and Aguirre, the Wrath of God, as well as Martin...
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- 12/1/2017
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
In a war film, what’s the difference between nasty exploitation and just plain honest reportage? André De Toth made tough-minded action films with the best of them, and this nail-biting commando mission with Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport is simply superb, one of those great action pictures that’s not widely screened. To its credit it’s not ‘feel good’ enough to be suitable for Memorial Day TV marathons.
Play Dirty
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews.
Cinematography: Edward Scaife
Film Editor: Jack Slade
Art Direction: Tom Morahan, Maurice Pelling
Original Music: Michel Legrand
Written by Lotte Colin, Melvyn Bragg, from a story by George Marton
Produced by Harry Saltzman
Directed by André De Toth
Some movies that were ignored when new now seem far more important, perhaps due to the tenor of times.
Play Dirty
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews.
Cinematography: Edward Scaife
Film Editor: Jack Slade
Art Direction: Tom Morahan, Maurice Pelling
Original Music: Michel Legrand
Written by Lotte Colin, Melvyn Bragg, from a story by George Marton
Produced by Harry Saltzman
Directed by André De Toth
Some movies that were ignored when new now seem far more important, perhaps due to the tenor of times.
- 10/24/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This week, we will be taking a look at Werner Herzog’s ‘Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans’. For the story behind the genesis of Canon Of Film, you can click here.
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans (2009)
Director: Werner Herzog
Screenplay: William Finkelstein
If there ever was a better example of how to show the old adage true that it’s not what the film is about but rather, how it’s about it… Abel Ferrara’s 1992 masterpiece ‘Bad Lieutenant‘, took place on the streets of New York and starred Harvey Keitel as a “bad lieutenant”. He wasn’t even given a name in the film. He did every drug he could, he pulled over women to sexually harass them, he screwed hookers, and gambled large amounts of money. In between, he tries to solve a crime, haphazardly involving the rape of a local nun. I met...
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans (2009)
Director: Werner Herzog
Screenplay: William Finkelstein
If there ever was a better example of how to show the old adage true that it’s not what the film is about but rather, how it’s about it… Abel Ferrara’s 1992 masterpiece ‘Bad Lieutenant‘, took place on the streets of New York and starred Harvey Keitel as a “bad lieutenant”. He wasn’t even given a name in the film. He did every drug he could, he pulled over women to sexually harass them, he screwed hookers, and gambled large amounts of money. In between, he tries to solve a crime, haphazardly involving the rape of a local nun. I met...
- 10/3/2017
- by David Baruffi
- Age of the Nerd
*Sigh* — Not a day goes by that I don’t miss my escaped brontosaurus. This wonder movie of the silent era, which pits five intrepid explorers against Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fantastic South American plateau where marvelous animals from the dawn of time still live. Blackhawk Films and Lobster’s latest digital restoration includes footage never before seen, in original tints; it’s dedicated to film restorer David Shepard.
The Lost World
Deluxe Blu-ray Edition
Flicker Alley
1925 / Color / 1:37 Silent Ap / 110 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Wallace Beery, Lloyd Hughes, Bessie Love, Lewis Stone, Alma Bennett, Arthur Hoyt, Margaret McWade, Bull Montana, Frank Finch Smiles, Jules Cowles, George Bunny, Leo White.
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson
Writing credits: Marion Fairfax from the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
New Music Score: Robert Israel
Technical Director: Willis O’Brien, assistants & effects men Marcel Delgado, Ralph Hammeras, Fred Jackman, Devereaux Jennings, Hans Koenekamp,...
The Lost World
Deluxe Blu-ray Edition
Flicker Alley
1925 / Color / 1:37 Silent Ap / 110 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Wallace Beery, Lloyd Hughes, Bessie Love, Lewis Stone, Alma Bennett, Arthur Hoyt, Margaret McWade, Bull Montana, Frank Finch Smiles, Jules Cowles, George Bunny, Leo White.
Cinematography: Arthur Edeson
Writing credits: Marion Fairfax from the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
New Music Score: Robert Israel
Technical Director: Willis O’Brien, assistants & effects men Marcel Delgado, Ralph Hammeras, Fred Jackman, Devereaux Jennings, Hans Koenekamp,...
- 9/4/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The 2017 Locarno Film Festival recently wrapped its 70th edition, where several aspiring film critics participated in the latest edition of the Locarno Critics Academy, an international workshop to educate promising writers in the craft and discipline of contemporary film criticism. This year’s participants will contribute essays on highlights from the festival. Here’s an overview of their backgrounds and interests.
Name: Jaime Grijalba Gómez
Age: 27
Twitter handle: @jaimegrijalba
Home: Santiago de Chile, Chile.
Cinematic area of expertise: Chilean cinema, film festivals, horror cinema
Best movie you’ve seen in 2017: El mar la mar
Favorite book (or piece of writing) about film: Bresson’s “Notes on the Cinematographer”
I’m taking part in the Locarno Critics Academy because… I want to think that criticism today still has a role that goes beyond those interested in film or in making them. It has a role in society, and I want to find it.
Name: Jaime Grijalba Gómez
Age: 27
Twitter handle: @jaimegrijalba
Home: Santiago de Chile, Chile.
Cinematic area of expertise: Chilean cinema, film festivals, horror cinema
Best movie you’ve seen in 2017: El mar la mar
Favorite book (or piece of writing) about film: Bresson’s “Notes on the Cinematographer”
I’m taking part in the Locarno Critics Academy because… I want to think that criticism today still has a role that goes beyond those interested in film or in making them. It has a role in society, and I want to find it.
- 8/15/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The thirteenth edition of Santiago International Film Festival, Sanfic (August 20–27, 2017), the largest film festival in Chile, will present more than 100 international and Chilean films, including productions shown and awarded in festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice. Among the feature films will be 7 world and 14 Latin American premieres.
Sanfic (Santiago International Film Festival) is opening the festival to international press this year with Variety Dailies and important international guests for their Sanfic Industry section. Guest attending include Kim Yutani (Sundance programmer), Javier Martin (Berlinale delegate), Molly O ́Keefe (Tribeca Film Institute — fiction features) and Estrella Araiza (Industry director of Guadalajara Iff), to name a few. Matt Dillon is its special guest along with the renowned director of photography Rainer Klausmann.
The Summit starring Ricardo Darín, Dolores Fonzi and Erica Rivas, with an appearance of Christian Slater and renowned Chilean actors Paulina Garcia and Alfredo Castro
The opening film of the...
Sanfic (Santiago International Film Festival) is opening the festival to international press this year with Variety Dailies and important international guests for their Sanfic Industry section. Guest attending include Kim Yutani (Sundance programmer), Javier Martin (Berlinale delegate), Molly O ́Keefe (Tribeca Film Institute — fiction features) and Estrella Araiza (Industry director of Guadalajara Iff), to name a few. Matt Dillon is its special guest along with the renowned director of photography Rainer Klausmann.
The Summit starring Ricardo Darín, Dolores Fonzi and Erica Rivas, with an appearance of Christian Slater and renowned Chilean actors Paulina Garcia and Alfredo Castro
The opening film of the...
- 7/30/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Engel also co-founded UK distributor New Wave Films.
Art-house “trailblazer” Pamela Engel, known for co-founding distributor Artificial Eye and programming London cinemas including the Lumiere, Chelsea Cinema, Camden Plaza and the Renoir, has died aged 82.
A huge figure in the UK’s independent film business, Engel’s death has sparked messages of praise across the distribution and exhibition sectors.
Born Pamela Balfry in 1934, the UK executive started out in the late 1950s as a secretary for then Sight and Sound editor Penelope Houston.
She would go on to work as an assistant to Richard Roud at the London and New York Film Festivals before joining Derek Hill’s art-house venue Essential Cinema in the late 1960s.
Odyssey
Balfry and first husband Andi Engel established distributor Artificial Eye in 1976, thus “beginning an odyssey of distribution and exhibition unlikely ever to be surpassed,” in the words of former London Film Festival director Sheila Whitaker.
Despite separating...
Art-house “trailblazer” Pamela Engel, known for co-founding distributor Artificial Eye and programming London cinemas including the Lumiere, Chelsea Cinema, Camden Plaza and the Renoir, has died aged 82.
A huge figure in the UK’s independent film business, Engel’s death has sparked messages of praise across the distribution and exhibition sectors.
Born Pamela Balfry in 1934, the UK executive started out in the late 1950s as a secretary for then Sight and Sound editor Penelope Houston.
She would go on to work as an assistant to Richard Roud at the London and New York Film Festivals before joining Derek Hill’s art-house venue Essential Cinema in the late 1960s.
Odyssey
Balfry and first husband Andi Engel established distributor Artificial Eye in 1976, thus “beginning an odyssey of distribution and exhibition unlikely ever to be surpassed,” in the words of former London Film Festival director Sheila Whitaker.
Despite separating...
- 7/17/2017
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
They don’t make ’em like this any more, and the original TV spots for James Gray’s accurate retelling of history almost didn’t know how to sell it. Charlie Hunnam spends his life trying to solve a riddle of the Peruvian rainforest, in between fighting in WW1 and dealing with class prejudice. Yup, one could say the picture was filmed in a ‘classic’ style . . . can a show like that find an audience these days?
The Lost City of Z
Blu-ray
Broadgreen / Amazon Studios
2016 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 141 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / 34.99
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Edward Ashley, Angus Macfadyen, Ian McDiarmid, Clive Francis, Murray Melvin.
Cinematography: Darious Khondji
Film Editor:John Axelrad, Lee Haugen
Original Music: Christopher Spelman
From the book by David Grann
Produced by Dede Gardner, James Gray, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner
Written for the Screen and Directed by James Gray
More...
The Lost City of Z
Blu-ray
Broadgreen / Amazon Studios
2016 / Color / 2:39 widescreen / 141 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / 34.99
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Edward Ashley, Angus Macfadyen, Ian McDiarmid, Clive Francis, Murray Melvin.
Cinematography: Darious Khondji
Film Editor:John Axelrad, Lee Haugen
Original Music: Christopher Spelman
From the book by David Grann
Produced by Dede Gardner, James Gray, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner
Written for the Screen and Directed by James Gray
More...
- 7/11/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
As the gay love story Loev – a film made in secret because of India’s strict laws on homosexuality – hits Netflix, here’s a look back at other private productions
That perennial bard of the crazed overreacher, Werner Herzog, has described the process of guerrilla film-making as “the sacred right of trespass”. The German director, who has taught classes in forging documents and picking locks as part of his Rogue Film School, once used a fake shooting permit to pass over the border between Peru and Ecuador while a war was being carried out between the two countries during the shooting of his surreal 1982 adventure drama Fitzcarraldo. As Netflix releases Loev, an Indian romance about two gay men that was shot surreptitiously over just 16 days to avoid breaking the country’s strict laws on homosexuality, here are six more movies that were filmed in secret.
Related: When big-screen reunions work...
That perennial bard of the crazed overreacher, Werner Herzog, has described the process of guerrilla film-making as “the sacred right of trespass”. The German director, who has taught classes in forging documents and picking locks as part of his Rogue Film School, once used a fake shooting permit to pass over the border between Peru and Ecuador while a war was being carried out between the two countries during the shooting of his surreal 1982 adventure drama Fitzcarraldo. As Netflix releases Loev, an Indian romance about two gay men that was shot surreptitiously over just 16 days to avoid breaking the country’s strict laws on homosexuality, here are six more movies that were filmed in secret.
Related: When big-screen reunions work...
- 5/2/2017
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Simon Brew Apr 28, 2017
The actors whose role in a film was shot, but chopped out of the final cut...
Yep, I know. I’ve read lists like this too, and I know that Eric Stoltz was cut out of Back To The Future. If it’s all well and good, I’ll leave that example out.
See related Alien 5 to ignore Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection Alien 5: will it ever happen?
What I’ve tried to find here is a mix of reasonably known and less known instances of an actor being cut out of a film after they’ve filmed sequences for it. I’ve also tried to get to the reason they were left out as well.
Whilst all this may still sound like an exercise in clickbait, being cut out of a production does have a consequence beyond ego hurting a bit. For the side effect...
The actors whose role in a film was shot, but chopped out of the final cut...
Yep, I know. I’ve read lists like this too, and I know that Eric Stoltz was cut out of Back To The Future. If it’s all well and good, I’ll leave that example out.
See related Alien 5 to ignore Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection Alien 5: will it ever happen?
What I’ve tried to find here is a mix of reasonably known and less known instances of an actor being cut out of a film after they’ve filmed sequences for it. I’ve also tried to get to the reason they were left out as well.
Whilst all this may still sound like an exercise in clickbait, being cut out of a production does have a consequence beyond ego hurting a bit. For the side effect...
- 4/24/2017
- Den of Geek
What is it about the jungle that lures in filmmakers like a siren song? Over the years, auteurs like Werner Herzog (Fitzcarraldo), Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now), and Peter Weir (The Mosquito Coast) have married the untold beauty of unexplored lands with the obsession that borders on insanity exemplified by protagonists who go deeper into […]
The post ‘The Lost City of Z’ Review: James Gray Journeys to the Jungle and Returns With a Great Film appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘The Lost City of Z’ Review: James Gray Journeys to the Jungle and Returns With a Great Film appeared first on /Film.
- 4/17/2017
- by Josh Spiegel
- Slash Film
Legendary director Werner Herzog is known for his sometimes fanatical commitment to his films, including moving a 320-ton steamship over a hill in the Amazon for 1982’s “Fitzcarraldo” — and the way he puts his characters in some of the most extreme and dire situations imaginable (have you seen “Grizzly Man”?). His latest film, “Salt and Fire,” is no different, as it has one of the protagonists trapped in a vast salt flat with two blind boys. But the director himself said he’s not scared of those situations — or anything at all — when asked about his fears by...
- 4/8/2017
- by Matt Pressberg
- The Wrap
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