Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
The world came back in 2023. The box office, the labor strikes, the raging wars, the Who-declared end of official global emergency, the AI explosion. People were stir-crazy, anxious to act, be it in the name of violence or peace or productivity. It’s been a sobering reminder that life fully lived is defined by bedrock tragedy as much as triumph––that to enter back into open community with the rest of the world is to feel the effervescence of life flowing naturally again while simultaneously laying oneself bare to fresh devastation. It’s been a reminder of the duality of being: that real life is much wilder than the movies and yet the day-to-day is still defined by mundanity and monotony––the amassed in-between moments.
In those in-betweens,...
The world came back in 2023. The box office, the labor strikes, the raging wars, the Who-declared end of official global emergency, the AI explosion. People were stir-crazy, anxious to act, be it in the name of violence or peace or productivity. It’s been a sobering reminder that life fully lived is defined by bedrock tragedy as much as triumph––that to enter back into open community with the rest of the world is to feel the effervescence of life flowing naturally again while simultaneously laying oneself bare to fresh devastation. It’s been a reminder of the duality of being: that real life is much wilder than the movies and yet the day-to-day is still defined by mundanity and monotony––the amassed in-between moments.
In those in-betweens,...
- 1/8/2024
- by Luke Hicks
- The Film Stage
From Distant Voices, Still Lives to Benediction, the lyrical work of the late director was suffused with the ‘ecstasy’ of cinema – and his fraught Liverpool childhood
Last month, British cinema lost one of its greatest and most distinctive screen poets. From an astonishing trilogy of early short films (Children; Madonna and Child; Death and Transfiguration – all available on BFI Player) to his final feature, Benediction (2021), Terence Davies seamlessly blended personal recollections with wider universal truths. His subjects ranged from autobiographically inspired portraits of postwar working-class life in Liverpool to sweeping literary adaptations and intimate portraits of real-life authors, most remarkably the American poet Emily Dickinson, brilliantly played by Cynthia Nixon in A Quiet Passion, 2016. Yet each of his films felt deeply, distinctly personal. No wonder Jack Lowden, who played Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, told me that after immersing himself in his subject’s diaries in preparation for the role, he...
Last month, British cinema lost one of its greatest and most distinctive screen poets. From an astonishing trilogy of early short films (Children; Madonna and Child; Death and Transfiguration – all available on BFI Player) to his final feature, Benediction (2021), Terence Davies seamlessly blended personal recollections with wider universal truths. His subjects ranged from autobiographically inspired portraits of postwar working-class life in Liverpool to sweeping literary adaptations and intimate portraits of real-life authors, most remarkably the American poet Emily Dickinson, brilliantly played by Cynthia Nixon in A Quiet Passion, 2016. Yet each of his films felt deeply, distinctly personal. No wonder Jack Lowden, who played Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction, told me that after immersing himself in his subject’s diaries in preparation for the role, he...
- 11/4/2023
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
by Cláudio Alves
A moment ago, I knew exactly what I wanted to say to you. I have run through this letter in my mind so very often and I wanted to compose something eloquent, but the words just don't seem to be there.
So mused Hester Collyer in The Deep Blue Sea, and so I felt this past week, trying to articulate a fitting farewell to Terence Davies and failing to do so, over and over again. Words don't seem enough to describe what the filmmaker meant to me. Suddenly, my limitations as a writer became obvious, heavy on the soul, almost accusatory, for I can't seem to express what cinema lost on October 7th, 2023. It feels too big a calamity to encompass within a measly obituary. At the same time, this bruisedness that conquers me seems foolish, one of those idiocies of celebrity culture. How can I not...
A moment ago, I knew exactly what I wanted to say to you. I have run through this letter in my mind so very often and I wanted to compose something eloquent, but the words just don't seem to be there.
So mused Hester Collyer in The Deep Blue Sea, and so I felt this past week, trying to articulate a fitting farewell to Terence Davies and failing to do so, over and over again. Words don't seem enough to describe what the filmmaker meant to me. Suddenly, my limitations as a writer became obvious, heavy on the soul, almost accusatory, for I can't seem to express what cinema lost on October 7th, 2023. It feels too big a calamity to encompass within a measly obituary. At the same time, this bruisedness that conquers me seems foolish, one of those idiocies of celebrity culture. How can I not...
- 10/15/2023
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.The Deep Blue Sea.REMEMBERINGTerence Davies has died, aged 77. Michael Koresky, who wrote a monograph on Davies in 2014, penned a beautiful Sight & Sound obituary, in which he wrote that “no one made movies like Davies, who precisely sculpted out of a subjective past, creating films that glided on waves of contemplation and observation, inviting viewers to join him in the burnished darkness of a past about which he felt complex, contradictory feelings.” Last year, Dan Schindel wrote for Notebook about the role of poetry in Benediction (2022), and in 2012, Michael Guillen interviewed Davies about The Deep Blue Sea (2011). "The problem with film is that it's always in the eternal present,” says Davies. “But it's closest, I think, to music. You don't have to be a musician to follow a symphonic argument. If you love the music,...
- 10/11/2023
- MUBI
Gillian Anderson paid tribute to Terence Davies, the British filmmaker who directed one of her most acclaimed performances for “The House of Mirth,” crediting him with giving her “my first ‘proper’ film job.” Davies died on Oct. 7 at the age of 77 following a short illness.
“The House of Mirth,” an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel of the same name, saw Anderson portray Lily Bart, a tragic socialite whose quest for love and financial security leads her to ruin. Davies wrote the script, in addition to directing the film.
The role came to Anderson at a time when she was best known for portraying FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the paranormal series “The X-Files.” The film provided an opportunity for the actor to showcase her range with a meaty role in a period piece. It was also good news for Davies, with “The House of Mirth” representing a significant...
“The House of Mirth,” an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel of the same name, saw Anderson portray Lily Bart, a tragic socialite whose quest for love and financial security leads her to ruin. Davies wrote the script, in addition to directing the film.
The role came to Anderson at a time when she was best known for portraying FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the paranormal series “The X-Files.” The film provided an opportunity for the actor to showcase her range with a meaty role in a period piece. It was also good news for Davies, with “The House of Mirth” representing a significant...
- 10/9/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Terence Davies, the accomplished and thoughtful director behind such films as Distant Voices, Still Lives, The House Of Mirth and, most recently, Benediction, about World War II poet Siegfried Sassoon, had died. Davies, who began his career making autobiographical short films but switched to literary adaptations and dramas, which nevertheless kept an emotionally affecting through line. Dying at home after a short illness, Davies was 77.
Born in Liverpool to a large Catholic family (which informed much of his early film work), Davies spent a decade as a clerk before attending Coventry Drama School, and starting to make short films. He followed that up with the National Film School. His three initial shorts are Children, Madonna And Child and Death And Transfiguration all tackled autobiographical stories of emotion and religion.
When he started making feature films, his first two efforts, Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes were also inspired by his life,...
Born in Liverpool to a large Catholic family (which informed much of his early film work), Davies spent a decade as a clerk before attending Coventry Drama School, and starting to make short films. He followed that up with the National Film School. His three initial shorts are Children, Madonna And Child and Death And Transfiguration all tackled autobiographical stories of emotion and religion.
When he started making feature films, his first two efforts, Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes were also inspired by his life,...
- 10/8/2023
- by James White
- Empire - Movies
Filmmaker died after a short illness, according to his family.
Acclaimed UK filmmaker Terence Davies died today (October 7) aged 77 after a short illness, according to a social media post from his family.
Davies’ best known works include autobiographical films Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) and The Long Day Closes (1992); and literary adaptations The House Of Mirth (2000) with Gillian Anderson, which won the Bafta for best British film; and The Deep Blue Sea (2011) with Rachel Weisz.
His other projects include documentary Of Time And City, which premiered at Cannes in 2008, and A Quiet Passion (2015), based on the life of Emily Dickinson.
His...
Acclaimed UK filmmaker Terence Davies died today (October 7) aged 77 after a short illness, according to a social media post from his family.
Davies’ best known works include autobiographical films Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988) and The Long Day Closes (1992); and literary adaptations The House Of Mirth (2000) with Gillian Anderson, which won the Bafta for best British film; and The Deep Blue Sea (2011) with Rachel Weisz.
His other projects include documentary Of Time And City, which premiered at Cannes in 2008, and A Quiet Passion (2015), based on the life of Emily Dickinson.
His...
- 10/7/2023
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
British director Terence Davies has died at the age of 77 after a short illness, his family announced in a post on his Instagram page. He was known for films including “Distant Voices, Still Lives,” “The House of Mirth,” and “A Quiet Passion.”
News of his death was shared on his official Instagram account.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Terence Davies, who died peacefully at home after a short illness, today on 7th October 2023,” the post reads.
The Liverpool native first broke onto the scene with a trio of short films called “The Terence Davies Trilogy,” which won numerous awards. His feature-length debut was 1988’s “Distant Voices, Still Lives,” an autobiographical film about a working class family in Liverpool.
His 2000 adaptation of “The House of Mirth” won acclaim, as did his 2011 film “The Deep Blue Sea” starring Rachel Weisz.
His last film was 2021’s “Benediction,...
News of his death was shared on his official Instagram account.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Terence Davies, who died peacefully at home after a short illness, today on 7th October 2023,” the post reads.
The Liverpool native first broke onto the scene with a trio of short films called “The Terence Davies Trilogy,” which won numerous awards. His feature-length debut was 1988’s “Distant Voices, Still Lives,” an autobiographical film about a working class family in Liverpool.
His 2000 adaptation of “The House of Mirth” won acclaim, as did his 2011 film “The Deep Blue Sea” starring Rachel Weisz.
His last film was 2021’s “Benediction,...
- 10/7/2023
- by Mike Roe
- The Wrap
Terence Davies, the critically beloved British writer-director who had his international art-house breakthrough with two deeply autobiographical films set in his native Liverpool, England, Distant Voices, Still Lives and The Long Day Closes, has died. He was 77.
Davies’ official Instagram account confirmed the news Saturday morning, noting that the filmmaker died peacefully at home after a short illness.
Much of Davies’ work is infused with personal emotional experience, reflecting in subtle ways on growing up as a gay, Catholic man in Liverpool in the 1950s and ’60s. The filmmaker directly addressed his childhood in his 2008 feature documentary, Of Time and the City.
Premiering to great acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival that year, the doc recalled both Davies’ own family life and that of the city, using archival footage, his own commentary voiceover, classical music tracks, film clips and excerpts from poetry and literature in an assemblage by turns caustically funny and melancholy,...
Davies’ official Instagram account confirmed the news Saturday morning, noting that the filmmaker died peacefully at home after a short illness.
Much of Davies’ work is infused with personal emotional experience, reflecting in subtle ways on growing up as a gay, Catholic man in Liverpool in the 1950s and ’60s. The filmmaker directly addressed his childhood in his 2008 feature documentary, Of Time and the City.
Premiering to great acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival that year, the doc recalled both Davies’ own family life and that of the city, using archival footage, his own commentary voiceover, classical music tracks, film clips and excerpts from poetry and literature in an assemblage by turns caustically funny and melancholy,...
- 10/7/2023
- by Christy Piña
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Terence Davies, the director of The Long Day Closes and Distant Voices, Still Lives, has died at 77, according to his official social media pages.
Davies died at his home after what was described as a short illness.
Davies directed several films that were considered among the best of the craft in his lifetime. They ranged from The Deep Blue Sea starring Rachel Weisz, to his debut feature, Distant Voices, a look at hs own working-class British upbringing.
His works included acclaim for films like A Quiet Passion, starring Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, and the Edith Wharton adaptation, House of Mirth, featuring Gillian Anderson.
At the center of his films was his discomfort with being gay, and the ennui of life.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Terence Davies (@terencedaviesofficial)...
Davies died at his home after what was described as a short illness.
Davies directed several films that were considered among the best of the craft in his lifetime. They ranged from The Deep Blue Sea starring Rachel Weisz, to his debut feature, Distant Voices, a look at hs own working-class British upbringing.
His works included acclaim for films like A Quiet Passion, starring Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, and the Edith Wharton adaptation, House of Mirth, featuring Gillian Anderson.
At the center of his films was his discomfort with being gay, and the ennui of life.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Terence Davies (@terencedaviesofficial)...
- 10/7/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Terence Davies, the British filmmaker known for “Distant Voices, Still Lives,” “The Deep Blue Sea” and “The Long Day Closes,” has died. He was 77.
The news of Davies’ death was shared on his official Instagram page: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Terence Davies, who died peacefully at home after a short illness, today on 7th October 2023.”
Davies was admired for his period films as well as his early autobiographical trilogy about growing up in Liverpool.
“Being in the past makes me feel safe because I understand that world,” he told the Guardian in 2022.
Though his films were widely recognized for their sensitive depictions of gay life, Catholicism and other frequent themes, they didn’t amass a huge number of awards, which he considered in his typically philosophical way. “It would have been nice to be acknowledged by Bafta. Again, there’s also part of...
The news of Davies’ death was shared on his official Instagram page: “It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Terence Davies, who died peacefully at home after a short illness, today on 7th October 2023.”
Davies was admired for his period films as well as his early autobiographical trilogy about growing up in Liverpool.
“Being in the past makes me feel safe because I understand that world,” he told the Guardian in 2022.
Though his films were widely recognized for their sensitive depictions of gay life, Catholicism and other frequent themes, they didn’t amass a huge number of awards, which he considered in his typically philosophical way. “It would have been nice to be acknowledged by Bafta. Again, there’s also part of...
- 10/7/2023
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Terence Davies, the Liverpool-born director of autobiographical memory pieces like “The Long Day Closes” and “Distant Voices, Still Lives,” has died. He was 77. The English filmmaker passed away peacefully in his home after a short illness on October 7, as confirmed on his official social media pages.
Davies directed several masterpieces in his lifetime, from the sorrowful “The Deep Blue Sea” starring Rachel Weisz as an eternally unhappy seeker of love to his debut feature “Distant Voices,” built on his own closeted working-class British upbringing. You could even say the same about his last film, “Benediction,” starring Jack Lowden as the queer poet Siegfried Sassoon, wrapped around by a coterie of Bright Young Things. He received great acclaim for films like “A Quiet Passion,” starring Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, as well as the Edith Wharton adaptation “House of Mirth,” led by Gillian Anderson. Serious actors loved working with him,...
Davies directed several masterpieces in his lifetime, from the sorrowful “The Deep Blue Sea” starring Rachel Weisz as an eternally unhappy seeker of love to his debut feature “Distant Voices,” built on his own closeted working-class British upbringing. You could even say the same about his last film, “Benediction,” starring Jack Lowden as the queer poet Siegfried Sassoon, wrapped around by a coterie of Bright Young Things. He received great acclaim for films like “A Quiet Passion,” starring Cynthia Nixon as the reclusive poet Emily Dickinson, as well as the Edith Wharton adaptation “House of Mirth,” led by Gillian Anderson. Serious actors loved working with him,...
- 10/7/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Lincoln Center
NYFF Revivals continues with Abraham’s Valley, The Dupes, Household Saints, Un rêve plus long que la nuit, and shorts by Man Ray.
Museum of the Moving Image
Reverse Shot celebrates its 20th anniversary with a months-long programming run, continuing Friday and Sunday with Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea on 35mm.
Roxy Cinema
The Double Life of Veronique, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, The Hills Have Eyes, and The Devil’s Rejects show on 35mm.
IFC Center
Frankenstein, The Holy Mountain, and Gregg Araki’s Nowhere play while Oldboy screens in a new restoration.
The post NYC Weekend Watch: NYFF Revivals, The Deep Blue Sea, The Double Life of Veronique & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
Lincoln Center
NYFF Revivals continues with Abraham’s Valley, The Dupes, Household Saints, Un rêve plus long que la nuit, and shorts by Man Ray.
Museum of the Moving Image
Reverse Shot celebrates its 20th anniversary with a months-long programming run, continuing Friday and Sunday with Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea on 35mm.
Roxy Cinema
The Double Life of Veronique, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, The Hills Have Eyes, and The Devil’s Rejects show on 35mm.
IFC Center
Frankenstein, The Holy Mountain, and Gregg Araki’s Nowhere play while Oldboy screens in a new restoration.
The post NYC Weekend Watch: NYFF Revivals, The Deep Blue Sea, The Double Life of Veronique & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
- 10/5/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
One could make -- and no doubt some resourceful Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have made -- a video about Loki (Tom Hiddleston) hooking up with different characters in the MCU using footage from Hiddleston's non-Marvel projects. The actor had a tragic affair with Rachel Weisz (Melina Vostokoff in "Black Widow") in "The Deep Blue Sea," played one-half of a pair of vampiric lovers along with Tilda Swinton (the McU's Ancient One) in "Only Lovers Left Alive," and starred as Hank Williams in "I Saw the Light," with the Scarlet Witch herself, Elizabeth Olsen, playing the late country music legend's wife. Hiddleston even had a fling with Elizabeth Debicki (Ayesha in the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films) in "The Night Manager," in addition to a non-zero amount of sexual tension with "Captain Marvel" actor Brie Larson in "Kong: Skull Island."
Tragically, Hiddleston did not romance Owen Wilson during the film they...
Tragically, Hiddleston did not romance Owen Wilson during the film they...
- 8/13/2023
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Less than a year after David Cronenberg’s “Crimes of the Future” made a splash at Cannes, one of the body-horror master’s most famous films is getting the streaming TV treatment. “Dead Ringers,” a six-episode remake of the Canadian filmmaker’s 1988 feature, will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on April 21, it was announced Tuesday. (TVLine first shared the news.)
Rachel Weisz stars in the series as Beverly and Elliot Mantle, two identical twin sisters who both work as gynecologists and operate a successful Obgyn clinic. In the original ’80s film, Beverly and Elliot were male twins portrayed by Jeremy Irons. Like the film, the series will explore Beverly and Elliot’s messy, co-dependent relationship, and how the tension it causes eventually pushes both to madness. Weisz is joined in the cast by Britne Oldford, Michael Chernus, Poppy Liu, and Jennifer Ehle.
The series was created and written Alice Birch,...
Rachel Weisz stars in the series as Beverly and Elliot Mantle, two identical twin sisters who both work as gynecologists and operate a successful Obgyn clinic. In the original ’80s film, Beverly and Elliot were male twins portrayed by Jeremy Irons. Like the film, the series will explore Beverly and Elliot’s messy, co-dependent relationship, and how the tension it causes eventually pushes both to madness. Weisz is joined in the cast by Britne Oldford, Michael Chernus, Poppy Liu, and Jennifer Ehle.
The series was created and written Alice Birch,...
- 2/14/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
English filmmaker Terence Davies, from painting working-class portraits to sketching urbane artistic figures like Emily Dickinson, has long been public about his discomfort with being gay and his feelings of banality toward life in general. He’s not an especially hopeful storyteller, from the closeted anguish of a Liverpool boy in “The Long Day Closes” to the suicidal Hester Collyer’s unquenchable thirst for passion in “The Deep Blue Sea.”
His pessimistic but searching sensibilities, always hungering for a redemption or answer that can’t be found and then resigning to that lack, find their purest expression in “Benediction.” The riotously well-penned but deeply despairing film is a portrait of World War I-era English poet Siegfried Sassoon, who lived a comfortably gay shadow life on the fringes of the Bright Young Things, settled into marriage in middle age, and died a late-minted Catholic, bereft, in 1967. He outlived many of his peers,...
His pessimistic but searching sensibilities, always hungering for a redemption or answer that can’t be found and then resigning to that lack, find their purest expression in “Benediction.” The riotously well-penned but deeply despairing film is a portrait of World War I-era English poet Siegfried Sassoon, who lived a comfortably gay shadow life on the fringes of the Bright Young Things, settled into marriage in middle age, and died a late-minted Catholic, bereft, in 1967. He outlived many of his peers,...
- 6/3/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Sometimes it’s like they read your mind—or just notice upcoming releases as you do. Whatever the case, I’m thrilled that the release of Terence Davies’ Benediction played (I assume!) some part in a full retro on the Criterion Channel this June, sad as I know that package will make me and anybody else who comes within ten feet of it. It’s among a handful of career retrospectives: they’ve also set a 12-film Judy Garland series populated by Berkeley and Minnelli, ten from Ulrike Ottinger, and four by Billy Wilder. But maybe their most adventurous idea in some time is a huge microbudget collection ranging from Ulmer’s Detour to Joel Potrykus’ Buzzard, fellow success stories—Nolan, Linklater, Jarmusch, Jia Zhangke—spread about.
Criterion Editions continue with Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight, Double Indemnity, and Seconds, while Chameleon Street, Karen Dalton: In My Own Time,...
Criterion Editions continue with Bertrand Tavernier’s Round Midnight, Double Indemnity, and Seconds, while Chameleon Street, Karen Dalton: In My Own Time,...
- 5/19/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The fourth edition of Animation Day, which is part of the Cannes Film Festival’s Market, will take place on May 22.
A one-day event aimed at the global animation filmmaking community, it is a joint initiative launched in 2019 by the Cannes Film Market and the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival, in partnership with Animation! Ventana Sur, the animation branch of Latin America’s leading film market.
This edition will kick off with the Annecy Goes to Cannes pitching sessions, featuring five works-in-progress projects at various stages of development. Attendees will also be able to attend a morning panel discussion entitled “What Is Adult Animation Film’s Strategy and Where Is It Headed?,” which will address the question of the animated film offer for adults, both in theaters and on smaller screens, as viewing habits evolve.
Panelists include Dutch-born French filmmaker Jan Kounen, who is also presenting his latest project “Epiphania” in the pitching sessions,...
A one-day event aimed at the global animation filmmaking community, it is a joint initiative launched in 2019 by the Cannes Film Market and the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival, in partnership with Animation! Ventana Sur, the animation branch of Latin America’s leading film market.
This edition will kick off with the Annecy Goes to Cannes pitching sessions, featuring five works-in-progress projects at various stages of development. Attendees will also be able to attend a morning panel discussion entitled “What Is Adult Animation Film’s Strategy and Where Is It Headed?,” which will address the question of the animated film offer for adults, both in theaters and on smaller screens, as viewing habits evolve.
Panelists include Dutch-born French filmmaker Jan Kounen, who is also presenting his latest project “Epiphania” in the pitching sessions,...
- 5/17/2022
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
"Friends may come, friends may go. Enemies are always faithful." Roadside Attractions has revealed the official US trailer for an indie film from the UK titled Benediction, the latest feature from award-winning British filmmaker Terence Davies. This first premiered at the 2021 Toronto Film Festival last fall, and it also played at last year's San Sebastián and London Film Festivals. The film tells the life story of English poet, writer and soldier Siegfried Sassoon - who struggled with the horrors of war of The Great War in England. His poetry was inspired by experiences on the Western Front, and he became one of the leading war poets of the era. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London's literary and stage world, he embarked on affairs with several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality. The cast features Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi...
- 4/13/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
After a flurry of films with 2011’s The Deep Blue Sea, 2015’s Sunset Song, and 2016’s A Quiet Passion, British director Terence Davies is finally back this year with Benediction. Capturing the life of World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon, starring Jack Lowden, he was known for his epic, satirical poems detailing trench warfare and the horrors of a war in which he fought bravely but spoke out against. He was also a closeted gay man in Britain, where those in power considered his sexual identity a crime. The U.K. trailer has now dropped ahead of a release there while we’re awaiting a U.S. release from Roadside Attractions.
C.J. Prince said in his review, “Time is everything in a Terence Davies film. In Benediction, his biopic about English poet Siegfried Sassoon (Jack Lowden), he eventually covers his subject’s marriage to Hester Gatty (Kate Phillips). There...
C.J. Prince said in his review, “Time is everything in a Terence Davies film. In Benediction, his biopic about English poet Siegfried Sassoon (Jack Lowden), he eventually covers his subject’s marriage to Hester Gatty (Kate Phillips). There...
- 2/11/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
On Friday, December 3, Lady Gaga was announced as the New York Film Critics Circle Awards winner for Best Actress for her performance in “House of Gucci.” She plays Patrizia Reggiani, the real-life woman who was convicted of murdering her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci. NYFCC is one of the most prominent critics groups in the country, so does this boost Gaga’s chances for an Oscar nomination?
The Gotham critics’ choice winner hasn’t been nominated at the Oscars for the last three years in a row. NYFCC picks Regina Hall, Lupita Nyong’o, and Sidney Flanigan were snubbed by the actors branch of the academy.
Prior to this losing streak, eight of the nine NYFCC Best Actress winners went on to receive Oscar nominations: Meryl Streep, Annette Bening, Streep again, Cate Blanchett, Marion Cotillard, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, and Ronan again. Of those, Streep (for “Iron Lady”) and Blanchett ended up winning the Oscar.
The Gotham critics’ choice winner hasn’t been nominated at the Oscars for the last three years in a row. NYFCC picks Regina Hall, Lupita Nyong’o, and Sidney Flanigan were snubbed by the actors branch of the academy.
Prior to this losing streak, eight of the nine NYFCC Best Actress winners went on to receive Oscar nominations: Meryl Streep, Annette Bening, Streep again, Cate Blanchett, Marion Cotillard, Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, and Ronan again. Of those, Streep (for “Iron Lady”) and Blanchett ended up winning the Oscar.
- 12/3/2021
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
No more pencils, no more books… it’s time for the critics’ awards’ dirty looks.
The first of the two most vital precursors of the awards season will be handed out – National Board of Review on Thursday followed by New York Film Critics on Friday.
After a pandemic year that brought unclear frontrunners and differing eligibility calendars, the two groups, in addition to Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which will announce on Dec. 12, all are coming off a year where their top film picks failed to garner nearly any Oscar love – “Da 5 Bloods” (NBR), “First Cow” (NYFCC) and “Small Axe” (Lafca). In the case of the latter two, it was the first time in their histories that their selection for best film failed to get a single Oscar nom.
So what will be their darling this year?
NYFCC loves deep and rich narratives and rarely falls for the presumed Academy frontrunner,...
The first of the two most vital precursors of the awards season will be handed out – National Board of Review on Thursday followed by New York Film Critics on Friday.
After a pandemic year that brought unclear frontrunners and differing eligibility calendars, the two groups, in addition to Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which will announce on Dec. 12, all are coming off a year where their top film picks failed to garner nearly any Oscar love – “Da 5 Bloods” (NBR), “First Cow” (NYFCC) and “Small Axe” (Lafca). In the case of the latter two, it was the first time in their histories that their selection for best film failed to get a single Oscar nom.
So what will be their darling this year?
NYFCC loves deep and rich narratives and rarely falls for the presumed Academy frontrunner,...
- 12/1/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Roadside Attractions has snapped up North American rights to Terence Davies’ well-received TIFF and London Film Festival drama Benediction.
Jack Lowden (Dunkirk) stars as WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon, alongside Peter Capaldi, Geraldine James, Kate Phillips, Gemma Jones, Calam Lynch, Anton Lesser, Jeremy Irvine, Ben Daniels, Lia Williams, Jude Akuwudike, Suzanne Bertish and Simon Russell Beale.
Following its world premiere at TIFF and its berth at San Sebastian where it won the Jury Prize, the film is debuting in the UK tonight at the London Film Festival.
Roadside, which struck the deal with UK sales firm Bankside, plans to release the film theatrically in spring 2022.
Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Davies, the biopic explores the turbulent life of WWI poet Sassoon. The writer and soldier was a complex man who survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery but who became...
Jack Lowden (Dunkirk) stars as WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon, alongside Peter Capaldi, Geraldine James, Kate Phillips, Gemma Jones, Calam Lynch, Anton Lesser, Jeremy Irvine, Ben Daniels, Lia Williams, Jude Akuwudike, Suzanne Bertish and Simon Russell Beale.
Following its world premiere at TIFF and its berth at San Sebastian where it won the Jury Prize, the film is debuting in the UK tonight at the London Film Festival.
Roadside, which struck the deal with UK sales firm Bankside, plans to release the film theatrically in spring 2022.
Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Davies, the biopic explores the turbulent life of WWI poet Sassoon. The writer and soldier was a complex man who survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery but who became...
- 10/15/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Searchlight Pictures and Beyond Fest announced today the World Premiere of Scott Cooper’s new horror thriller Antlers as the October 11th Closing Night selection of the 2021 Beyond Fest, presented in partnership with the American Cinematheque. Watch the Scry trailer:
The premiere will launch a series of events leading up to the October 29th domestic theatrical release of the film, including a “Fantastic Fest Presents” Special Screening with Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in San Francisco and Austin on October 11th; the International Premiere at the 54th Sitges International Film Festival (Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya) on October 13th; Closing Night of the 12th Annual Telluride Horror Show on October 17th ; and a special Drive-In Screening at the 57th Chicago International Film Festival on October 15th. Additionally Scott Cooper will host a horror retrospective in conjunction with Beyond Fest and the American Cinematheque this fall.
Antlers comes from the visionary...
The premiere will launch a series of events leading up to the October 29th domestic theatrical release of the film, including a “Fantastic Fest Presents” Special Screening with Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in San Francisco and Austin on October 11th; the International Premiere at the 54th Sitges International Film Festival (Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya) on October 13th; Closing Night of the 12th Annual Telluride Horror Show on October 17th ; and a special Drive-In Screening at the 57th Chicago International Film Festival on October 15th. Additionally Scott Cooper will host a horror retrospective in conjunction with Beyond Fest and the American Cinematheque this fall.
Antlers comes from the visionary...
- 9/23/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Scott Cooper’s horror thriller “Antlers” is finally ready to trot.
The Searchlight Pictures release, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, will bow as the closing night film of the annual Beyond Fest. After, it will continue rolling out at global genre festivals, including Fantastic Fest, the Telluride Horror Show and Sitges Film Festival.
The tour will conclude with a domestic theatrical release on Oct. 29.
“I made ‘Antlers’ as a communal theatrical experience for cinema lovers,” said director and co-writer Cooper. “I can’t think of a more apt series of screenings to launch our film before audiences across the globe — audiences whom I hope share an appreciation for horror films with a different perspective on our everyday fears and ancestral mythology.”
Cooper, whose credits include “Hostiles” and “Crazy Heart,” helms the pic, produced by Guillermo del Toro, David S. Goyer (“The Night House”) and J. Miles Dale of the upcoming “Nightmare Alley.
The Searchlight Pictures release, delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, will bow as the closing night film of the annual Beyond Fest. After, it will continue rolling out at global genre festivals, including Fantastic Fest, the Telluride Horror Show and Sitges Film Festival.
The tour will conclude with a domestic theatrical release on Oct. 29.
“I made ‘Antlers’ as a communal theatrical experience for cinema lovers,” said director and co-writer Cooper. “I can’t think of a more apt series of screenings to launch our film before audiences across the globe — audiences whom I hope share an appreciation for horror films with a different perspective on our everyday fears and ancestral mythology.”
Cooper, whose credits include “Hostiles” and “Crazy Heart,” helms the pic, produced by Guillermo del Toro, David S. Goyer (“The Night House”) and J. Miles Dale of the upcoming “Nightmare Alley.
- 9/23/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
In multiple interviews over the years, British filmmaker Terence Davies has baldly stated that being gay has ruined his life: “I hate it, I’ll go to my grave hating it … it has killed part of my soul,” he said in 2011, adding that his sexuality is the reason he remains single and celibate. Davies’ professed loneliness and sensitivity has bled through many of his films, wistfully entrenched as they often are in an unattainable past, most recently in a series of female-centered character studies: his swooningly melodramatic, cut-glass adaptation of Terence Rattigan’s “The Deep Blue Sea,” his amber-cast farm drama “Sunset Song” and his mannered, internalized Emily Dickinson portrait “A Quiet Passion.” Yet Davies has never directly addressed homosexuality in his oeuvre, for all its queer undercurrents; that it’s so openly and sensually a part of his intricate, intensely felt new film “Benediction” is the first of its many surprises.
- 9/19/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
From a pair of dreamy memoirs about his formative years, an archival documentary that excavated the city in which those years were spent (“Of Time and the City”), and swooning adaptations of the novels and plays that allowed him to make sense of his own wounded soul (“The Deep Blue Sea”), Liverpudlian auteur Terence Davies has established himself as one of the most achingly personal of master filmmakers; this despite his adamant belief that his personal life is “really boring.”
In a 2017 interview with IndieWire, the ever-confessional ex-Catholic insisted he’s “terrified of the world.” Davies spoke about his bitterness at being gay, conceded he’s “too self-conscious” for sex, and repeated a familiar line that any biography written about him would be a leaflet rather than a book. And yet the Emily Dickinson movie that Davies was there to promote is perhaps the most illuminating evidence that all of his films are ultimately self-portraits.
In a 2017 interview with IndieWire, the ever-confessional ex-Catholic insisted he’s “terrified of the world.” Davies spoke about his bitterness at being gay, conceded he’s “too self-conscious” for sex, and repeated a familiar line that any biography written about him would be a leaflet rather than a book. And yet the Emily Dickinson movie that Davies was there to promote is perhaps the most illuminating evidence that all of his films are ultimately self-portraits.
- 9/13/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Time is everything in a Terence Davies film. In Benediction, his biopic about English poet Siegfried Sassoon (Jack Lowden), he eventually covers his subject’s marriage to Hester Gatty (Kate Phillips). There’s a shot of the couple standing still, facing the camera as they pose for a wedding photo (a shot that tends to pop up throughout the director’s filmography). The camera flashes, we see the black-and-white photo, and then a fade transitions us to the future, where it rests on their bedside while Hester looks at their newborn child. The sequence is an encapsulation of what Davies does best: observing life with one’s head facing backwards, the cumulative weight of the past bearing down on every moment of the present.
Benediction shows how Sassoon got to that point in his life and beyond, hopping back and forth from his younger days to his older self (played...
Benediction shows how Sassoon got to that point in his life and beyond, hopping back and forth from his younger days to his older self (played...
- 9/12/2021
- by C.J. Prince
- The Film Stage
Terence Davies, that most meticulous of auteurs, returns to the Toronto International Film Festival with “Benediction,” a lush biopic of Siegfried Sassoon, the poet and decorated veteran who became an outspoken critic of World War I. The film should be catnip for Davies admirers. It’s another beautifully composed portrait of genius, repression and loneliness, and a film that compliments his last cinematic outing “A Quiet Passion,” the acclaimed 2016 drama about Emily Dickinson.
“Benediction” stars Jack Lowden as Sassoon and charts his tortured romances with male lovers such as the screen star Ivor Novello, his break with the ruling class over the conduct of the war, as while as his later embrace of religion. Ahead of the film’s debut on Sept. 12, Davies spoke with Variety about what draws him to a project, his hatred for films based on Jane Austen novels and his general amazement that he has managed...
“Benediction” stars Jack Lowden as Sassoon and charts his tortured romances with male lovers such as the screen star Ivor Novello, his break with the ruling class over the conduct of the war, as while as his later embrace of religion. Ahead of the film’s debut on Sept. 12, Davies spoke with Variety about what draws him to a project, his hatred for films based on Jane Austen novels and his general amazement that he has managed...
- 9/7/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The 69th San Sebastian Film Festival has confirmed its first crop of Competition titles, including Terence Davies’ Benediction starring Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi.
The movie chronicles different moments in the life of Siegfried Sassoon, a soldier and anti-war poet who survived the First World War. This will be British director Davies’ third time competing for the Golden Shell – San Seb’s top award – following The Deep Blue Sea in 2011 and Sunset Song in 2015.
Also on the early list is the latest film from Lucile Hadzihalilovic, who previously bagged the San Seb New Directors Award with her debut, Innocence, in 2004, while her second feature, Evolution, landed the Special Jury Prize in the Official Selection in 2015. She returns this year with Earwig. Based on the novel by Brian Catling, it tells the story of Albert, a man employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice.
Claudia Llosa, winner...
The movie chronicles different moments in the life of Siegfried Sassoon, a soldier and anti-war poet who survived the First World War. This will be British director Davies’ third time competing for the Golden Shell – San Seb’s top award – following The Deep Blue Sea in 2011 and Sunset Song in 2015.
Also on the early list is the latest film from Lucile Hadzihalilovic, who previously bagged the San Seb New Directors Award with her debut, Innocence, in 2004, while her second feature, Evolution, landed the Special Jury Prize in the Official Selection in 2015. She returns this year with Earwig. Based on the novel by Brian Catling, it tells the story of Albert, a man employed to look after Mia, a girl with teeth of ice.
Claudia Llosa, winner...
- 7/19/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The 69th edition of the festival will run from September 17-25.
Features from Terence Davies and Lucile Hadzihalilovic will play in the Official Selection of the 69th San Sebastian Film Festival (September 17-25), which has announced its first titles today.
Davies will compete for the Golden Shell for best film with Benediction, his biopic of soldier and anti-war poet Siegfried Sassoon, which shot last autumn starring Screen Star of Tomorrow 2014 Jack Lowden, alongside Simon Russell Beale and Peter Capaldi.
French director Hadzihalilovic’s third feature Earwig is based on Brian Catling’s novel of the same name, and tells the...
Features from Terence Davies and Lucile Hadzihalilovic will play in the Official Selection of the 69th San Sebastian Film Festival (September 17-25), which has announced its first titles today.
Davies will compete for the Golden Shell for best film with Benediction, his biopic of soldier and anti-war poet Siegfried Sassoon, which shot last autumn starring Screen Star of Tomorrow 2014 Jack Lowden, alongside Simon Russell Beale and Peter Capaldi.
French director Hadzihalilovic’s third feature Earwig is based on Brian Catling’s novel of the same name, and tells the...
- 7/19/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Mubi has unveiled their lineup for next month, featuring the exclusive streaming premiere of Frederick Wiseman’s masterful documentary City Hall, the late Monte Hellman’s final film Road to Nowhere, a trio of works by Stephen Cone, two films by Alain Resnais, the multi-month series Sex, Truth, and Videotape: French Feminist Activism, and Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant.
As a special addition in addition to the regular programming listed below, the new restoration of Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris will be available as a free presentation celebrating Juneteenth, from June 18-19. Timed with the release of his latest gem Undine, a Christian Petzold retrospective continues with his earlier, essential films Yella, Barbara, Ostwärts, and The Warm Money.
Check out the lineup below, with links to reviews where available, and get 30 days of Mubi for free here. One can also check back for our new streaming picks every Friday here.
As a special addition in addition to the regular programming listed below, the new restoration of Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris will be available as a free presentation celebrating Juneteenth, from June 18-19. Timed with the release of his latest gem Undine, a Christian Petzold retrospective continues with his earlier, essential films Yella, Barbara, Ostwärts, and The Warm Money.
Check out the lineup below, with links to reviews where available, and get 30 days of Mubi for free here. One can also check back for our new streaming picks every Friday here.
- 5/19/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Helen McCrory, the award-winning Peaky Blinders actress who also appeared in His Dark Materials and the Harry Potter and James Bond film franchises, died today in London. She was 52.
McCrory’s husband, the Billions actor Damian Lewis, announced her death on Twitter. He said she died peacefully at home after a “heroic battle” with cancer.
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery
“She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now, Little One, into the air, and thank you,” added Lewis. Below is his statement in full:
pic.twitter.com/gSx8ib9PY9
— Damian Lewis (@lewis_damian) April 16, 2021
McCrory was a hugely accomplished and in-demand performer, with stellar credits across stage and screen. She is perhaps best known for playing Aunt Polly in BBC drama Peaky Blinders, keeping...
McCrory’s husband, the Billions actor Damian Lewis, announced her death on Twitter. He said she died peacefully at home after a “heroic battle” with cancer.
Showbiz & Media Figures We’ve Lost In 2021 – Photo Gallery
“She died as she lived. Fearlessly. God we love her and know how lucky we are to have had her in our lives. She blazed so brightly. Go now, Little One, into the air, and thank you,” added Lewis. Below is his statement in full:
pic.twitter.com/gSx8ib9PY9
— Damian Lewis (@lewis_damian) April 16, 2021
McCrory was a hugely accomplished and in-demand performer, with stellar credits across stage and screen. She is perhaps best known for playing Aunt Polly in BBC drama Peaky Blinders, keeping...
- 4/16/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: BAFTA winner Simon Russell Beale (The Hollow Crown) and BAFTA-nominee Nikki Amuka-Bird (Nw) have joined the cast of The Imitation Game scribe Graham Moore’s directorial debut The Outfit.
As we previously revealed, starring in the film are Oscar winner Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies), Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner), Zoey Deutch (Set It Up) and Johnny Flynn (Emma).
The crime-drama, which recently wrapped production in London, follows Leonard (Rylance), an English tailor who used to craft suits on London’s world-famous Savile Row. But after a personal tragedy, he’s ended up in Chicago, operating a small tailor shop in a rough part of town where he makes beautiful clothes for the only people around who can afford them: a family of vicious gangsters.
Oscar-winner Moore is directing from his own screenplay which is co-written with actor-writer Johnathan McClain (Mad Men).
Producers are Ben Browning for FilmNation Entertainment,...
As we previously revealed, starring in the film are Oscar winner Mark Rylance (Bridge Of Spies), Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner), Zoey Deutch (Set It Up) and Johnny Flynn (Emma).
The crime-drama, which recently wrapped production in London, follows Leonard (Rylance), an English tailor who used to craft suits on London’s world-famous Savile Row. But after a personal tragedy, he’s ended up in Chicago, operating a small tailor shop in a rough part of town where he makes beautiful clothes for the only people around who can afford them: a family of vicious gangsters.
Oscar-winner Moore is directing from his own screenplay which is co-written with actor-writer Johnathan McClain (Mad Men).
Producers are Ben Browning for FilmNation Entertainment,...
- 4/9/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Nine years after directing Meryl Streep to an Oscar for “The Iron Lady,” director Phyllida Lloyd has returned with her new Amazon film “Herself.” It stars Clare Dunne, who also co-wrote the film, as a single mother whose struggles with the housing system emboldens her to build her own house. Things become complicated when her abusive ex-husband returns to attain custody of their children. Critics have made “Herself” the best-reviewed film of Lloyd’s career, with special praise for Dunne’s revelatory performance.
“Herself” is already making a splash ahead of its Dec. 30 release, with Dunne picking up a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actress and the film earning recognition from multiple festivals. If the momentum continues, one awards show that could take special notice is the Golden Globes. The group has been very kind to Lloyd’s past films, giving two nominations to “Mamma Mia!” and a...
“Herself” is already making a splash ahead of its Dec. 30 release, with Dunne picking up a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actress and the film earning recognition from multiple festivals. If the momentum continues, one awards show that could take special notice is the Golden Globes. The group has been very kind to Lloyd’s past films, giving two nominations to “Mamma Mia!” and a...
- 12/31/2020
- by Kevin Jacobsen
- Gold Derby
One of our greatest working directors has wrapped production on his latest film. Following 2011’s The Deep Blue Sea, 2015’s Sunset Song, and 2016’s A Quiet Passion, British director Terence Davies was set to begin shooting Benediction, about World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon, earlier this year, but the pandemic halted plans. He was able to recently resume and now the film has wrapped.
Led by Jack Lowden he plays Sassoon, marking Davies’ second biopic of a poet, immediately following his Emily Dickinson film. Sassoon was known for his epic, satirical poems detailing trench warfare and the horrors of a war in which he fought bravely but spoke out against. He was also a closeted gay man in Britain, where those in power considered his sexual identity a crime.
The film, which has debuted its first image above via Deadline, also stars Peter Capaldi as Sassoon in his older years,...
Led by Jack Lowden he plays Sassoon, marking Davies’ second biopic of a poet, immediately following his Emily Dickinson film. Sassoon was known for his epic, satirical poems detailing trench warfare and the horrors of a war in which he fought bravely but spoke out against. He was also a closeted gay man in Britain, where those in power considered his sexual identity a crime.
The film, which has debuted its first image above via Deadline, also stars Peter Capaldi as Sassoon in his older years,...
- 11/2/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Premium VOD debut of United Artists’ “Bill & Ted Face the Music” topped charts from the moment it debuted August 28. As a mid-budget title that’s thriving at $19.99, it could be as important as “Tenet” in determining the shape of movie distribution. “Bill & Ted” didn’t see much theatrical play, but given its day-and-date debut it also didn’t have the option. About 1,000 independent theaters did play the title, where by our estimate it grossed around $1.1 million, or around $1,000 per theater.
That’s not a lot, but it’s better than Searchlight’s theater-only flop “The Personal History of David Copperfield.” Based on those two performances, UA made the right move: Searchlight devoted marketing spend to a disappointheatrical release that now must wait until November before it can play VOD.
“Bill & Ted” was first on all three possible charts. “Fatima” (Picturehouse), the other new PVOD entry, appeared on two.
That’s not a lot, but it’s better than Searchlight’s theater-only flop “The Personal History of David Copperfield.” Based on those two performances, UA made the right move: Searchlight devoted marketing spend to a disappointheatrical release that now must wait until November before it can play VOD.
“Bill & Ted” was first on all three possible charts. “Fatima” (Picturehouse), the other new PVOD entry, appeared on two.
- 8/31/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
On a weekend with some semblance of indoor theatrical moviegoing, the VOD and streaming charts hit maximum inconsistency. Among our four top-10 VOD rankings: Four different titles placed #1 and 25 movies occupied 40 total positions. Only “The Tax Collector” (#1 FandangoNow) and “The Silencing” (#1 AppleTV) made all four lists.
The other two #1 positions were taken by 2013 Jason Statham-starrer “Homefront” (Google Play), likely boosted by its bargain $3.99 price. At Spectrum, “The Deep Blue Sea 3” took the top spot as it moved off premium pricing.
Among the titles that debuted last Friday, “The Vanished,” directed by actor Peter Facinelli and starring Thomas Jane and Anne Heche as parents searching for their daughter, scored best. It was in second or third place at three sites (Spectrum ends its chart before Friday releases). The higher-profile “Tesla” from Michael Almereyda starring Ethan Hawke debuted at #2 at Apple TV, a platform that often presages later success at other sites.
The other two #1 positions were taken by 2013 Jason Statham-starrer “Homefront” (Google Play), likely boosted by its bargain $3.99 price. At Spectrum, “The Deep Blue Sea 3” took the top spot as it moved off premium pricing.
Among the titles that debuted last Friday, “The Vanished,” directed by actor Peter Facinelli and starring Thomas Jane and Anne Heche as parents searching for their daughter, scored best. It was in second or third place at three sites (Spectrum ends its chart before Friday releases). The higher-profile “Tesla” from Michael Almereyda starring Ethan Hawke debuted at #2 at Apple TV, a platform that often presages later success at other sites.
- 8/24/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***There are some films where, lacking access to one's own personal cinematheque, one has to speculate. For example, some of Fox's fifties films, shot in CinemaScope as all movies at that studio had to be, have never been made available in widescreen formats. Richard Fleischer was one the directors who adapted zestfully to that format, so it's a crying shame that Crack in the Mirror (1960) seems to exist only in blurry, 4:3 TV recordings. His other Orson Welles film, Compulsion (1959), is a cracker.Anatole Litvak's...
- 8/20/2020
- MUBI
Canada and the U.S. are in different worlds when it comes to Covid-19. The northern neighbor is good to go for most theaters (with safety measures in play). And with that, the country went its own way this weekend with two wide releases.
“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” took top spot for all theaters in both countries, grossing around $910,000 in 300 theaters. The Russell Crowe-starring thriller “Unhinged” was #2 with about $580,000 on 284 screens. “Peninsula,” the Korean “Train to Busan” sequel, made $119,000 in 45 theaters. This opens in 115 U.S. theaters this Friday.
In 2015, “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water” opened to $55 million ion North America, and Canada generally earns about 10 percent of the two-country total. If the new SpongeBob” opened in North America in a world without Covid, we might factor in a falloff of interest in the franchise over five years; a reasonable guess might be a...
“The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” took top spot for all theaters in both countries, grossing around $910,000 in 300 theaters. The Russell Crowe-starring thriller “Unhinged” was #2 with about $580,000 on 284 screens. “Peninsula,” the Korean “Train to Busan” sequel, made $119,000 in 45 theaters. This opens in 115 U.S. theaters this Friday.
In 2015, “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water” opened to $55 million ion North America, and Canada generally earns about 10 percent of the two-country total. If the new SpongeBob” opened in North America in a world without Covid, we might factor in a falloff of interest in the franchise over five years; a reasonable guess might be a...
- 8/17/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
“The Tax Collector” and “The Secret Garden” both showed strong VOD debuts Friday while taking different routes to success. Set among rival Los Angeles gangs, David Ayers’ “The Tax Collector” stars Shia Labeouf and placed #1 at Apple TV and FandangoNow, and #5 at Amazon (Spectrum’s charting period ended before it was available.) “The Secret Garden,” the fourth adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic story of an orphan girl who finds escape in a magical garden, took the top spot at Amazon and fourth at FandangoNow.
With a non-premium price of $6.99, “The Tax Collector,” distributor Rlje self-reports that it has first weekend rentals over $2 million and played at 129 theaters (mainly drive-ins), where it grossed $309,964. That’s first place among new releases; according to incomplete grosses on Comscore, “The Empire Strikes Back” was #1 overall. But Comscore doesn’t show 34 of the theaters that played “The Tax Collector.” We also don’t...
With a non-premium price of $6.99, “The Tax Collector,” distributor Rlje self-reports that it has first weekend rentals over $2 million and played at 129 theaters (mainly drive-ins), where it grossed $309,964. That’s first place among new releases; according to incomplete grosses on Comscore, “The Empire Strikes Back” was #1 overall. But Comscore doesn’t show 34 of the theaters that played “The Tax Collector.” We also don’t...
- 8/10/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
With less than three weeks before U.S. theaters reopen August 21, major studios have slowed their PVOD releases. With the promise of reopening comes a shot at a profitable theatrical life, but the PVOD revolution continued apace with Liongate’s “The Secret: Dare to Dream.” It immediately reached as high as #1 on VOD charts on Friday.
The film is the very definition of a high-concept presale: A self-help book published in 2006, “The Secret” was an Oprah Winfrey Club title that sold 30 million copies. Directed by Andy Tennant (“Hitch”), it stars Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas. Gravitas Ventures and Roadside Attractions acquired it last November, and planned an April theatrical release. After the theaters closed, it moved to Roadside partner Lionsgate, which has a dedicated VOD division. It opened July 31 on PVOD at $19.99.
On FandangoNow, it landed immediately as #1 and holds the slot for the full week, despite having only three days of release.
The film is the very definition of a high-concept presale: A self-help book published in 2006, “The Secret” was an Oprah Winfrey Club title that sold 30 million copies. Directed by Andy Tennant (“Hitch”), it stars Katie Holmes and Josh Lucas. Gravitas Ventures and Roadside Attractions acquired it last November, and planned an April theatrical release. After the theaters closed, it moved to Roadside partner Lionsgate, which has a dedicated VOD division. It opened July 31 on PVOD at $19.99.
On FandangoNow, it landed immediately as #1 and holds the slot for the full week, despite having only three days of release.
- 8/3/2020
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Editors’ Note: With full acknowledgment of the big-picture implications of a pandemic that already has claimed thousands of lives, cratered global economies and closed international borders, Deadline’s Coping With Covid-19 Crisis series is a forum for those in the entertainment space grappling with myriad consequences of seeing a great industry screech to a halt. The hope is for an exchange of ideas and experiences, and suggestions on how businesses and individuals can best ride out a crisis that doesn’t look like it will abate any time soon. If you have a story, email mike@deadline.com.
Acclaimed Brit filmmaker Terence Davies, known for movies including Distant Voices, Still Lives, The House of Mirth and The Deep Blue Sea, was only three days from start of shoot on passion project Benediction when the film was shut down due to the coronavirus. Writer-director Davies, who is 74, had been in development...
Acclaimed Brit filmmaker Terence Davies, known for movies including Distant Voices, Still Lives, The House of Mirth and The Deep Blue Sea, was only three days from start of shoot on passion project Benediction when the film was shut down due to the coronavirus. Writer-director Davies, who is 74, had been in development...
- 3/27/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
In honor of Rachel Weisz's 50th birthday this weekend, we’re revisiting The Deep Blue Sea with a bonus entry in the "Almost There" series. Here's Cláudio Alves...
To portray depression compellingly is a great challenge for any actor. The danger in in authentic internalization is becoming a dull and an uninteresting subject for the camera, an unsolvable cipher. On the other hand, attempts at creating entertainment out of a depressed person is a good way to fall into the perilous pit of superficiality. Mental health issues are thus transformed into walls that block the audience's emotional investment or colorful quirks with no relation to reality. It's a difficult tight rope but some great thespians can walk it. More importantly, some can do it and make it look easy.
Such is the case of Rachel Weisz who came close to a nomination for Best Actress in 2012 thanks to her...
To portray depression compellingly is a great challenge for any actor. The danger in in authentic internalization is becoming a dull and an uninteresting subject for the camera, an unsolvable cipher. On the other hand, attempts at creating entertainment out of a depressed person is a good way to fall into the perilous pit of superficiality. Mental health issues are thus transformed into walls that block the audience's emotional investment or colorful quirks with no relation to reality. It's a difficult tight rope but some great thespians can walk it. More importantly, some can do it and make it look easy.
Such is the case of Rachel Weisz who came close to a nomination for Best Actress in 2012 thanks to her...
- 3/8/2020
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
Siegfried Sassoon biopic to begin shooting next month.
Bankside Films has taken worldwide sales rights to Terence Davies’ upcoming biopic Benediction, which will see Jack Lowden star as First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon.
The London-based sales agent will be introducing the project to buyers for the first time at the European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin this week.
Shooting is set to begin in March in the West Midlands on the film, which will explore the turbulent life of Sassoon – a war poet who survived the horrors of the Western Front and was decorated for his bravery but who...
Bankside Films has taken worldwide sales rights to Terence Davies’ upcoming biopic Benediction, which will see Jack Lowden star as First World War poet Siegfried Sassoon.
The London-based sales agent will be introducing the project to buyers for the first time at the European Film Market (Efm) in Berlin this week.
Shooting is set to begin in March in the West Midlands on the film, which will explore the turbulent life of Sassoon – a war poet who survived the horrors of the Western Front and was decorated for his bravery but who...
- 2/21/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
British director Terence Davies had quite a previous decade with three stellar dramas: 2011’s The Deep Blue Sea, 2015’s Sunset Song, and 2016’s A Quiet Passion. After a brief respite he’s now preparing his next feature Benediction for a shoot this spring and has found his lead.
Jack Lowden has been cast as World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon, marking Davies’ second biopic of a poet, immediately following his Emily Dickinson film. Sassoon was known for his epic, satirical poems detailing trench warfare and the horrors of a war in which he fought bravely but spoke out against. He was also a closeted gay man in Britain, where those in power considered his sexual identity a crime.
Lowden tells Cineuropa, “Sassoon had this huge life, and Terence has got it all down.” Davies added, “He knew everybody – in the 20th century, there isn’t a single person you can...
Jack Lowden has been cast as World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon, marking Davies’ second biopic of a poet, immediately following his Emily Dickinson film. Sassoon was known for his epic, satirical poems detailing trench warfare and the horrors of a war in which he fought bravely but spoke out against. He was also a closeted gay man in Britain, where those in power considered his sexual identity a crime.
Lowden tells Cineuropa, “Sassoon had this huge life, and Terence has got it all down.” Davies added, “He knew everybody – in the 20th century, there isn’t a single person you can...
- 1/21/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
UK casting experts Jina Jay and Shaheen Baig helped craft the course.
The UK’s National Film and Television School (Nfts) is to launch a casting certificate course, believed to be the first of its kind from a major film school.
The 24-week evening course will begin in September 2020 and has been set up to meet growing demand within the industry and boost inclusivity in casting.
The course has been curated by London-based casting directors Jina Jay and Shaheen Baig. Jay has worked on projects including Black Mirror, The Night Manager and The Grand Budapest Hotel while Baig has cast on Peaky Blinders,...
The UK’s National Film and Television School (Nfts) is to launch a casting certificate course, believed to be the first of its kind from a major film school.
The 24-week evening course will begin in September 2020 and has been set up to meet growing demand within the industry and boost inclusivity in casting.
The course has been curated by London-based casting directors Jina Jay and Shaheen Baig. Jay has worked on projects including Black Mirror, The Night Manager and The Grand Budapest Hotel while Baig has cast on Peaky Blinders,...
- 12/6/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
After his first four films–Crazy Heart, Out of the Furnace, Black Mass, and Hostiles–fell into the prestige drama territory, Scott Cooper is loosening up a bit for his next feature, diving into full-on horror with Antlers. Produced by Guillermo del Toro, Fox Searchlight have now debuted the first trailer ahead of an early 2020 release.
The film follows a small-town Oregon teacher (Keri Russell) and her brother (Jesse Plemons), the local sheriff, who discover that a young student (Jeremy T. Thomas) is harboring a dangerous secret with frightening consequences. Shot by Florian Hoffmeister, cinematographer of Terence Davies’ Sunset Song and The Deep Blue Sea, the trailer has no shortage of compelling imagery.
Also starring Jt Corbitt, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, and Amy Madigan, see the trailer and poster below.
Antlers opens in early 2020.
The film follows a small-town Oregon teacher (Keri Russell) and her brother (Jesse Plemons), the local sheriff, who discover that a young student (Jeremy T. Thomas) is harboring a dangerous secret with frightening consequences. Shot by Florian Hoffmeister, cinematographer of Terence Davies’ Sunset Song and The Deep Blue Sea, the trailer has no shortage of compelling imagery.
Also starring Jt Corbitt, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, and Amy Madigan, see the trailer and poster below.
Antlers opens in early 2020.
- 8/20/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
“If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it”- Song of Solomon from Toni Morrison our Beloved
If you are a Black woman who reads, you carry with you a quote by Toni Morrison that has done the work of saving your life, making you feel whole and seen. Yet, we have no visual representation, film or television adaptation, that truly captures all that she means to us – to the world.
This morning, I awoke to the news of her death and as I’ve been toiling away on my own film and TV work, I had to come out of the woodshed to write about one of the greatest writing influences of my life. Ms. Morrison ticks all of the boxes. She tightened and strengthened my backbone so that I could face the world, bravely, in my darker skin. I can’t name another author that delighted...
If you are a Black woman who reads, you carry with you a quote by Toni Morrison that has done the work of saving your life, making you feel whole and seen. Yet, we have no visual representation, film or television adaptation, that truly captures all that she means to us – to the world.
This morning, I awoke to the news of her death and as I’ve been toiling away on my own film and TV work, I had to come out of the woodshed to write about one of the greatest writing influences of my life. Ms. Morrison ticks all of the boxes. She tightened and strengthened my backbone so that I could face the world, bravely, in my darker skin. I can’t name another author that delighted...
- 8/6/2019
- by Tanya Steele
- Indiewire
Joseph Baxter Apr 3, 2019
The long-planned Black Widow solo movie is finally getting off the ground, and is in talks with Rachel Weisz to co-star.
For years, we’ve been hearing about a prospective Black Widow solo movie showcasing Scarlett Johansson’s Marvel Cinematic Universe character, a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff. Indeed, had plans been more expedient, it would have been the first female-led feature for the Marvel Studios branding; an honor that would ultimately go to the Brie Larson-led Captain Marvel. However, after years of inertia, things appear to be moving quickly for the Black Widow project, which is now rapidly announcing cast members!
While it was just reported that Stranger Things and Hellboy star David Harbour was cast for the Black Widow movie, a subsequent report from Variety has revealed that Oscar winning actress Rachel Weisz is now in talks for what is being called a key role in the film.
The long-planned Black Widow solo movie is finally getting off the ground, and is in talks with Rachel Weisz to co-star.
For years, we’ve been hearing about a prospective Black Widow solo movie showcasing Scarlett Johansson’s Marvel Cinematic Universe character, a.k.a. Natasha Romanoff. Indeed, had plans been more expedient, it would have been the first female-led feature for the Marvel Studios branding; an honor that would ultimately go to the Brie Larson-led Captain Marvel. However, after years of inertia, things appear to be moving quickly for the Black Widow project, which is now rapidly announcing cast members!
While it was just reported that Stranger Things and Hellboy star David Harbour was cast for the Black Widow movie, a subsequent report from Variety has revealed that Oscar winning actress Rachel Weisz is now in talks for what is being called a key role in the film.
- 4/3/2019
- Den of Geek
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