Paul Schrader has often landed himself in controversies with his anti-political correctness takes. There have been instances when Schrader was asked to back down from social media during his film’s release. He continues his usual controversial takes by announcing a Frank Sinatra biopic starring Kevin Spacey. Schrader had defended the actor back in 2018 at the peak of the #MeToo movement. He wants to cast him now since Spacey was cleared of the charges against him.
The Card Counter director Paul Schrader wants to cast Kevin Spacey in his Frank Sinatra biopic
Schrader’s intention to fight against Cancel Culture could cost him his movie as no studio may be willing to work on a controversial project. Even if it gets taken up by a studio, Schrader’s film still has to compete with Martin Scorsese’s biopic of the late singer and actor.
Paul Schrader Wants To Bring Back...
The Card Counter director Paul Schrader wants to cast Kevin Spacey in his Frank Sinatra biopic
Schrader’s intention to fight against Cancel Culture could cost him his movie as no studio may be willing to work on a controversial project. Even if it gets taken up by a studio, Schrader’s film still has to compete with Martin Scorsese’s biopic of the late singer and actor.
Paul Schrader Wants To Bring Back...
- 5/10/2024
- by Hashim Asraff
- FandomWire
French distributor Arp has picked up all French rights Paul Schrader’s new film Oh, Canada ahead of its world premiere in competition in Cannes next month.
The feature stars Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli and Jacob Elordi.
Oh, Canada reunites Schrader with Gere, more than 40 years after their first collaboration on American Gigolo. Adapted from the Russell Banks novel Foregone, Oh, Canada sees Gere playing Leonard Fife, a famed American documentary filmmaker who fled to Canada as a young man to avoid the Vietnam War draft. Dying from cancer, he agrees to give a final interview where he promises to reveals his long-held secrets, speaking in front of his wife (Thurman), a devoted former student (Imperioli), and the film crew.
David Gonzales is the lead producer on Oh, Canada alongside Tiffany Boyle, Luisa Law, Scott Lastaiti and Meghan Hanlon. Arclight Films is handling international sales and WME Independent...
The feature stars Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Michael Imperioli and Jacob Elordi.
Oh, Canada reunites Schrader with Gere, more than 40 years after their first collaboration on American Gigolo. Adapted from the Russell Banks novel Foregone, Oh, Canada sees Gere playing Leonard Fife, a famed American documentary filmmaker who fled to Canada as a young man to avoid the Vietnam War draft. Dying from cancer, he agrees to give a final interview where he promises to reveals his long-held secrets, speaking in front of his wife (Thurman), a devoted former student (Imperioli), and the film crew.
David Gonzales is the lead producer on Oh, Canada alongside Tiffany Boyle, Luisa Law, Scott Lastaiti and Meghan Hanlon. Arclight Films is handling international sales and WME Independent...
- 4/30/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jacob Elordi is swapping eras and countries for Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada.” In the new feature, the Australian actor portrays Leonard Fife, a Vietnam War draft evader who restarts his life in Canada and becomes a documentarian. Richard Gere plays the older version of Elordi’s character as he reflects on his life while dying of cancer and gives one final interview to share his secret. The feature is an adaptation of late author Russell Banks’ 2021 novel “Foregone.” Banks and director Schrader previously collaborated on film “Affliction.”
“Oh, Canada” is premiering in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, marking Schrader’s return to the festival since 1988’s “Patty Hearst.” Schrader recently shared a photo with fellow auteurs Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, who will also be in attendance at the festival, with Coppola debuting “Megalopolis” and Lucas receiving an honorary Palme d’Or.
“Oh, Canada” itself also serves as a reunion of sorts,...
“Oh, Canada” is premiering in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, marking Schrader’s return to the festival since 1988’s “Patty Hearst.” Schrader recently shared a photo with fellow auteurs Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, who will also be in attendance at the festival, with Coppola debuting “Megalopolis” and Lucas receiving an honorary Palme d’Or.
“Oh, Canada” itself also serves as a reunion of sorts,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Reviews will have to wait till the Cannes Film Festival kicks off on May 14, but it’s not too early for a critic to weigh in on this year’s lineup — or how it looks on paper, at least, and what the selection might say about the state of things.
At the top of the press conference, festival director Thierry Frémaux noted that last year would be a tough edition to top. The two big winners of the 2023 competition, “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Zone of Interest,” went on to score Oscar best picture nominations, alongside Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The festival made strides toward gender parity, with nearly a third of the films in competition directed by women. And to complicate matters, Hollywood has since been hit by two production-stopping guild strikes, delaying films the studios might have sent to Cannes.
Judging by the titles unveiled today,...
At the top of the press conference, festival director Thierry Frémaux noted that last year would be a tough edition to top. The two big winners of the 2023 competition, “Anatomy of a Fall” and “Zone of Interest,” went on to score Oscar best picture nominations, alongside Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” The festival made strides toward gender parity, with nearly a third of the films in competition directed by women. And to complicate matters, Hollywood has since been hit by two production-stopping guild strikes, delaying films the studios might have sent to Cannes.
Judging by the titles unveiled today,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Paris, April 11 (Ians) Even as the Indian media celebrates the inclusion of Payal Kapadia’s first feature film in the competition section of the Cannes Film Festival, world cinema’s most prestigious event this year will bring together several iconic filmmakers, reports ‘Variety’.
The roster includes notable names such as Francis Ford Coppola with ‘Megalopolis’ starring Adam Driver, George Miller with ‘Furiosa’ featuring Anya Taylor-Joy, and ‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas, who will be feted with an honorary Palme d’Or.
Kevin Costner will also be on hand with the first installment of his Western epic, ‘Horizon, An American Saga’.
Some of the high-profile films in the pipeline for this year’s competition, according to ‘Variety’, include ‘Poor Things’ helmer Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Kinds of Kindness’, a stylised three-part story set in the present that reunites the Greek director with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe; Paul Schrader’s ‘Oh Canada’ with Richard Gere,...
The roster includes notable names such as Francis Ford Coppola with ‘Megalopolis’ starring Adam Driver, George Miller with ‘Furiosa’ featuring Anya Taylor-Joy, and ‘Star Wars’ creator George Lucas, who will be feted with an honorary Palme d’Or.
Kevin Costner will also be on hand with the first installment of his Western epic, ‘Horizon, An American Saga’.
Some of the high-profile films in the pipeline for this year’s competition, according to ‘Variety’, include ‘Poor Things’ helmer Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Kinds of Kindness’, a stylised three-part story set in the present that reunites the Greek director with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe; Paul Schrader’s ‘Oh Canada’ with Richard Gere,...
- 4/11/2024
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
It’ll soon be time to pack your tuxes and/or high heels and wonder “why the heck does it get so hot at 6:30 pm, just when I’m lining up for the 7:15 pm screening?” The eyes of the entertainment world will once again turn toward the French Riviera for the 77th Annual Cannes Film Festival.
The main slate announcement was made early Thursday morning, confirming many suspicions, and offering much excitement for hardcore cinephiles. For those with more mainstream tastes—and an eye toward what will still be in play come next year’s Oscars—here are some highlights.
Certainly, the biggest event screening will be the public’s first look at Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” a self-financed behemoth that he’s been dreaming about for decades. The director/vintner is a two-time winner of Cannes’s Palme D’Or—for “The Conversation” in 1974 and “Apocalypse Now...
The main slate announcement was made early Thursday morning, confirming many suspicions, and offering much excitement for hardcore cinephiles. For those with more mainstream tastes—and an eye toward what will still be in play come next year’s Oscars—here are some highlights.
Certainly, the biggest event screening will be the public’s first look at Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” a self-financed behemoth that he’s been dreaming about for decades. The director/vintner is a two-time winner of Cannes’s Palme D’Or—for “The Conversation” in 1974 and “Apocalypse Now...
- 4/11/2024
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
This year’s 77th Cannes Film Festival will mark a meeting of the New Hollywood minds in France. Not only is George Lucas receiving the festival’s Honorary Palme d’Or, but filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and Paul Schrader are in the official Competition for the first time in decades.
While Schrader has gone the route of Venice for his “lonely man in a room” trilogy — “First Reformed,” “The Card Counter,” and “Master Gardener” all premiered in Italy — he’s at Cannes this year with “Oh, Canada.” The lineup was confirmed this morning by Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux. The contemplative drama about a tortured writer looking back on his years as a leftist who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War stars Jacob Elordi, Richard Gere, and Uma Thurman. Cue the flashbulbs for a buzzy Elordi red carpet moment. The “Euphoria” breakout was last seen...
While Schrader has gone the route of Venice for his “lonely man in a room” trilogy — “First Reformed,” “The Card Counter,” and “Master Gardener” all premiered in Italy — he’s at Cannes this year with “Oh, Canada.” The lineup was confirmed this morning by Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux. The contemplative drama about a tortured writer looking back on his years as a leftist who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War stars Jacob Elordi, Richard Gere, and Uma Thurman. Cue the flashbulbs for a buzzy Elordi red carpet moment. The “Euphoria” breakout was last seen...
- 4/11/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The first-look image of Sebastian Stan as a young, pre-tv star and pre-president Donald Trump in buzzy upcoming biopic “The Apprentice” has been revealed.
Ali Abbasi’s feature — which has just been announced as part of the 2024 Cannes main competition — charts Trump’s ascent to power through what is described as a “Faustian deal” with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn (seen in the still being portrayed by Jeremy Strong). As the synopsis reads, “‘The Apprentice’ is a dive into the underbelly of the American empire.”
The hot button film, written by Gabe Sherman and likely to cause a stir on both sides of the political fence, also stars Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump and Martin Donovan as Fred Trump Sr.
Producers include Daniel Bekerman for Scythia Films (Canada), Jacob Jarek for Profile Pictures (Denmark), Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde for Tailored Films (Ireland), Abbasi and Louis Tisne...
Ali Abbasi’s feature — which has just been announced as part of the 2024 Cannes main competition — charts Trump’s ascent to power through what is described as a “Faustian deal” with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn (seen in the still being portrayed by Jeremy Strong). As the synopsis reads, “‘The Apprentice’ is a dive into the underbelly of the American empire.”
The hot button film, written by Gabe Sherman and likely to cause a stir on both sides of the political fence, also stars Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump and Martin Donovan as Fred Trump Sr.
Producers include Daniel Bekerman for Scythia Films (Canada), Jacob Jarek for Profile Pictures (Denmark), Ruth Treacy and Julianne Forde for Tailored Films (Ireland), Abbasi and Louis Tisne...
- 4/11/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
In what looks to be another robust year in the making, the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival will bring together several iconic filmmakers, including Francis Ford Coppola with “Megalopolis” starring Adam Driver, George Miller with “Furiosa” starring Anya Taylor-Joy, as well as George Lucas who will be feted with an honorary Palme d’Or. Kevin Costner will also be on hand with the first installment of his Western epic “Horizon, an American Saga.”
Some of the high-profile films in the pipeline for this year’s competition include Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” a stylized three-part story set in the present that reunites the “Poor Things” helmer with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe; Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” with Richard Gere, based on a novel by the late Russell Banks (“Affliction”); Jacques Audiard’s musical melodrama “Emilia Perez” starring Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez; Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope” with...
Some of the high-profile films in the pipeline for this year’s competition include Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” a stylized three-part story set in the present that reunites the “Poor Things” helmer with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe; Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” with Richard Gere, based on a novel by the late Russell Banks (“Affliction”); Jacques Audiard’s musical melodrama “Emilia Perez” starring Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez; Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope” with...
- 4/11/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy, Ellise Shafer, Alex Ritman and Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Arclight Films will represent international sales at the EFM on Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada starring Richard Gere, Uma Thurman, Michael, and Jacob Elordi.
Schrader wrote and directed the film based on Russell Banks’s 2021 novel titled Foregone and reunites with Gere, who starred in the filmmaker’s seminal 1980 mystery drama American Gigolo
Oh, Canada depicts the story of famed documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife, an American leftist who fled to Canada as a young man to avoid the Vietnam War draft.
As Fife battles cancer in Montreal during his twilight years, he agrees to a final interview and makes a...
Schrader wrote and directed the film based on Russell Banks’s 2021 novel titled Foregone and reunites with Gere, who starred in the filmmaker’s seminal 1980 mystery drama American Gigolo
Oh, Canada depicts the story of famed documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife, an American leftist who fled to Canada as a young man to avoid the Vietnam War draft.
As Fife battles cancer in Montreal during his twilight years, he agrees to a final interview and makes a...
- 2/8/2024
- ScreenDaily
Arclight Films has boarded Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” starring Jacob Elordi and Richard Gere, and will launch sales at the upcoming European Film Market.
Along with Elordi and Gere, who worked with Schrader on his cult movie “American Gigolo” more than 40 years ago, the cast of “Oh Canada” also includes Michael Imperioli and Uma Thurman. WME Independent is co-repping domestic rights with Gonzales.
“Oh, Canada” is based on the 2021 searing novel “Foregone,” written by bestselling author Russell Banks. The film depicts the story of famed documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife, an American leftist who fled to Canada as a young man to avoid the Vietnam War draft.
“As Fife battles cancer in Montreal during his twilight years, he agrees to a final interview,” the film’s synopsis reads. “Intent on revealing his long-guarded secrets and demystifying his mythologized life, Fife’s shocking confession unfolds amidst the presence of his wife,...
Along with Elordi and Gere, who worked with Schrader on his cult movie “American Gigolo” more than 40 years ago, the cast of “Oh Canada” also includes Michael Imperioli and Uma Thurman. WME Independent is co-repping domestic rights with Gonzales.
“Oh, Canada” is based on the 2021 searing novel “Foregone,” written by bestselling author Russell Banks. The film depicts the story of famed documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife, an American leftist who fled to Canada as a young man to avoid the Vietnam War draft.
“As Fife battles cancer in Montreal during his twilight years, he agrees to a final interview,” the film’s synopsis reads. “Intent on revealing his long-guarded secrets and demystifying his mythologized life, Fife’s shocking confession unfolds amidst the presence of his wife,...
- 2/8/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Saltburn actor Jacob Elordi is said to be involved in a police investigation in New South Wales, Australia, following an alleged altercation with the Australian breakfast radio show producer Joshua Fox.
Local media reports that the altercation took place at the Clovelly Hotel in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, where Fox is said to have approached Elordi with a camera. Multiple reports state that Elordi asked Fox to turn his camera away and delete the footage. The radio producer refused, at which point the altercation escalated.
“Officers attached to Eastern Beaches Police Area Command are investigating after a man was allegedly assaulted outside a hotel in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs,” New South Wales police said in a statement to Deadline. “Police were told about 3.30 pm on Saturday 3 February 2024, a 32-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a 26-year-old man.”
The statement added: “The man did not sustain any injuries. Inquiries into the incident are continuing.
Local media reports that the altercation took place at the Clovelly Hotel in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, where Fox is said to have approached Elordi with a camera. Multiple reports state that Elordi asked Fox to turn his camera away and delete the footage. The radio producer refused, at which point the altercation escalated.
“Officers attached to Eastern Beaches Police Area Command are investigating after a man was allegedly assaulted outside a hotel in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs,” New South Wales police said in a statement to Deadline. “Police were told about 3.30 pm on Saturday 3 February 2024, a 32-year-old man was allegedly assaulted by a 26-year-old man.”
The statement added: “The man did not sustain any injuries. Inquiries into the incident are continuing.
- 2/5/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Though Master Gardener is appearing on best-of-2023 lists, Paul Schrader isn’t slowing down or resting on laurels. In October he finished shooting his 24th feature Oh, Canada, an adaptation of the novel by his friend (and Affliction writer) Russell Banks starring Richard Gere, Jacob Elordi, Uma Thurman, and Michael Imperioli. An American Gigolo reunion in the midst of Schrader’s late-career hot streak is enough to vault that into upper echelons of most-anticipated 2024 features, but excitement is doubled by a recent interview in Le Monde where arguably his greatest film gets invoked: “It’s the first time, since Mishima, that I’ve made a puzzle film. Or an assembly of scattered memories, heterogeneous formats, fragments.” And despite wrapping two months ago, a 91-minute cut (retaining every scene shot over 17 days) is already finished, now only awaiting a score by the group Phosphorescent.
But when do we see it? Schrader thinks Oh,...
But when do we see it? Schrader thinks Oh,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Kristine Froseth (The Buccaneers) has been set to star alongside Richard Gere and Jacob Elordi in Oh, Canada, the newest feature written and directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Schrader (First Reformed).
Based on the 2021 novel Foregone by the late Russell Banks, the film tells the story of Leonard Fife (Gere), a famed documentary filmmaker who takes stock of his life, with not long to go after being stricken with cancer at 80 years old. The most unreliable of narrators — and of men — Fife offers the viewer a look at his home life, as a draft dodging artist who abandoned one family for another, consistently evading any sense of responsibility for actions as he starts a new life in Canada.
As previously announced, Elordi plays a young Fife, seen from his late teens through his mid-twenties. Froseth shares 1968-set scenes with the Saltburn star as his second wife, the conservative Virginian Alicia,...
Based on the 2021 novel Foregone by the late Russell Banks, the film tells the story of Leonard Fife (Gere), a famed documentary filmmaker who takes stock of his life, with not long to go after being stricken with cancer at 80 years old. The most unreliable of narrators — and of men — Fife offers the viewer a look at his home life, as a draft dodging artist who abandoned one family for another, consistently evading any sense of responsibility for actions as he starts a new life in Canada.
As previously announced, Elordi plays a young Fife, seen from his late teens through his mid-twenties. Froseth shares 1968-set scenes with the Saltburn star as his second wife, the conservative Virginian Alicia,...
- 12/5/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Paul Schrader will not keep mum.
On Monday night, the filmmaker spoke at Santa Monica’s Aero Theatre between screenings of “First Reformed” (2017) and “The Card Counter” (2021). He’s been making the promo rounds of late, whether sharing his new digs on Facebook or being interviewed by New York Magazine or, most recently, The New Yorker.
His distributors often ask him to refrain from Facebook posting ahead of the release of his new film — in this case “Master Gardener”, starring the romantic triangle of Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, and Quintessa Swindell, which played well at Venice. It’s the concluding film in Schrader’s lonely-man-in-a-room trilogy, including “First Reformed” and “The Card Counter.” And yet the indefatigable Schrader is still posting, weighing in on A.I., among other things, and during the conversation, he also spoke about the tricky movie he’s written and now hopes Elisabeth Moss will star in and direct.
On Monday night, the filmmaker spoke at Santa Monica’s Aero Theatre between screenings of “First Reformed” (2017) and “The Card Counter” (2021). He’s been making the promo rounds of late, whether sharing his new digs on Facebook or being interviewed by New York Magazine or, most recently, The New Yorker.
His distributors often ask him to refrain from Facebook posting ahead of the release of his new film — in this case “Master Gardener”, starring the romantic triangle of Joel Edgerton, Sigourney Weaver, and Quintessa Swindell, which played well at Venice. It’s the concluding film in Schrader’s lonely-man-in-a-room trilogy, including “First Reformed” and “The Card Counter.” And yet the indefatigable Schrader is still posting, weighing in on A.I., among other things, and during the conversation, he also spoke about the tricky movie he’s written and now hopes Elisabeth Moss will star in and direct.
- 5/9/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI, and sign up for our weekly email newsletter by clicking here.Newsa new short from Pedro Almodóvar, Strange Way of Life, will make its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The film—coming soon to Mubi in Italy and Latin America—is a “western shot in the south of Spain” and stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Keep an eye on Notebook tomorrow for more Cannes updates as the festival unveils its official selection.In production news, Paul Schrader has finished writing an adaptation of a novel by Russell Banks; he plans to shoot it this summer with Richard Gere. (The full profile in Curbed is worth a read.)According to Ioncinema, Kiyoshi Kurosawa begins shooting a French-language remake of his 1998 film Serpent’s Path in May.Recommended VIEWINGSink into this two-hour interview with Béla Tarr,...
- 4/12/2023
- MUBI
Martin Scorsese urged Paul Schrader to keep working amid his wife’s health issues. Scorsese encouraged the “Taxi Driver” screenwriter to find a “balance” between aiding his wife, actress Mary Beth Hurt, with her Alzheimer’s diagnosis and continuing writing and directing.
“You have to strike a balance,” Scorsese told Schrader, as the “Master Gardener” director said to Curbed. “You can’t let her condition stop you from working.”
Schrader originally tried to care for Hurt in their Putnam County home but realized the care “needed to escalate” and relocated to assisted living facility Coterie Hudson Yards. “I started realizing that we’re not going to be able to take care of her anymore and wondering, ‘Where’s a good place?,'” Schrader recalled. “Am I going be left as the lonely old guy at the lake house, walking into walls, drinking? Is that going to be my fate?”
He added,...
“You have to strike a balance,” Scorsese told Schrader, as the “Master Gardener” director said to Curbed. “You can’t let her condition stop you from working.”
Schrader originally tried to care for Hurt in their Putnam County home but realized the care “needed to escalate” and relocated to assisted living facility Coterie Hudson Yards. “I started realizing that we’re not going to be able to take care of her anymore and wondering, ‘Where’s a good place?,'” Schrader recalled. “Am I going be left as the lonely old guy at the lake house, walking into walls, drinking? Is that going to be my fate?”
He added,...
- 4/7/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Enthusiasts of Paul Schrader’s Facebook are well aware he’s moved into a new Hudson Yards spot––I’d suggest this as essential viewing––and it’s subject of a fascinating, deeply moving profile in Curbed anchored around caring for his wife Mary Beth Hurt (try reading the last couple lines and not sighing) and which portrays someone who finds enviable degrees of focus in doing their work. Mentioned therein are a few new projects: no indication of the Puerto Rico-set feature he teased last fall, but word he’ll very soon stage a reunion from his most iconic writing-directing job.
If all goes well, Schrader is directing Richard Gere this summer for the first time since American Gigolo––or, had things had once gone to plan, The Walker––in an adaptation of an unnamed novel by Russell Banks, a personal friend and source for one of his best films,...
If all goes well, Schrader is directing Richard Gere this summer for the first time since American Gigolo––or, had things had once gone to plan, The Walker––in an adaptation of an unnamed novel by Russell Banks, a personal friend and source for one of his best films,...
- 4/7/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
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By Todd Garbarini
In January 1998 I attended a book signing in New York City emceed by author Russell Banks and film director Atom Egoyan. They were on hand to autograph copies of Mr. Banks’s 1991 novel, The Sweet Hereafter, which had been made into a 1997 film of the same name by Mr. Egoyan. Despite varying greatly, the novel and the film both concern the aftereffects of life in a small town in the Adirondacks when fourteen children die following an accident involving their school bus when it careens off a slippery, snow-covered road and sinks into the frozen waters of a nearby body of water. Mr. Egoyan claimed that he was inspired to make the film because, he felt, something terrible will happen to everyone at some point in his or her life, and they will need to find a way to move on.
By Todd Garbarini
In January 1998 I attended a book signing in New York City emceed by author Russell Banks and film director Atom Egoyan. They were on hand to autograph copies of Mr. Banks’s 1991 novel, The Sweet Hereafter, which had been made into a 1997 film of the same name by Mr. Egoyan. Despite varying greatly, the novel and the film both concern the aftereffects of life in a small town in the Adirondacks when fourteen children die following an accident involving their school bus when it careens off a slippery, snow-covered road and sinks into the frozen waters of a nearby body of water. Mr. Egoyan claimed that he was inspired to make the film because, he felt, something terrible will happen to everyone at some point in his or her life, and they will need to find a way to move on.
- 4/3/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Toni Morrison, the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist who chronicled the black American experience, passed away Monday night at the age of 88. Her death, at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, was announced by her publisher, Alfred A. Knopf. The cause of death was complications of pneumonia, according to a spokesperson. (Via The New York Times.) The author of 11 novels, including “Beloved,” “Sula,” and “Song of Solomon,” Morrison became the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature in 1993.
Morrison’s biggest screen legacy was Jonathan Demme’s 1998 adaptation of “Beloved,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Set during the American Civil War, the story follows a former slave who is haunted by a poltergeist and visited by a reincarnation of her daughter. The film starred Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandie Newton, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design.
In June, Magnolia Pictures...
Morrison’s biggest screen legacy was Jonathan Demme’s 1998 adaptation of “Beloved,” which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Set during the American Civil War, the story follows a former slave who is haunted by a poltergeist and visited by a reincarnation of her daughter. The film starred Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, and Thandie Newton, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design.
In June, Magnolia Pictures...
- 8/6/2019
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders on filming Toni Morrison: "The camerawork that was done in Toni's home by the river, all of that was done by Mead Hunt." Photo: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
In the second instalment of my conversation with director/photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders he recalls memories of Tennessee Williams, Bette Davis, Orson Welles, and Ingmar Bergman, and relates an early Ernest Hemingway insight. We discuss Fran Lebowitz, Oprah Winfrey, Walter Mosley, and Russell Banks in Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am and his longtime cinematographer Graham Willoughby who became Morgan Neville's trusted Dp on.
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders: "When she says 'I highly recommend that you have a friend that wins a Nobel Prize!' Classic Fran Lebowitz." Photo: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Timothy credits his editor Johanna Giebelhaus for the clip from John M. Stahl's Imitation of...
In the second instalment of my conversation with director/photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders he recalls memories of Tennessee Williams, Bette Davis, Orson Welles, and Ingmar Bergman, and relates an early Ernest Hemingway insight. We discuss Fran Lebowitz, Oprah Winfrey, Walter Mosley, and Russell Banks in Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am and his longtime cinematographer Graham Willoughby who became Morgan Neville's trusted Dp on.
Timothy Greenfield-Sanders: "When she says 'I highly recommend that you have a friend that wins a Nobel Prize!' Classic Fran Lebowitz." Photo: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
Timothy credits his editor Johanna Giebelhaus for the clip from John M. Stahl's Imitation of...
- 6/27/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Leave it up to the great Toni Morrison to remind us of the very important lesson that black people should never look at themselves through the eyes of white people. Some might consider this obvious, but in today’s culture that lambasts the lack of diversity and representation in traditional media (i.e. white media), it bears repeating over and over. It is also the crux of the new documentary on the famed novelist, “Toni Morrison: The Pieces that I Am.”
It’s a funny thing too, because Timothy Greenfield-Sanders is a white director telling this story about a black icon. And throughout the entire film, he and editor Johanna Giebelhaus (“The Congressman”), who’s also white, piece together numerous archival interviews with Morrison by white journalists (Charlie Rose has apparently been a mainstay throughout the author’s career). So the optics surrounding Morrison’s message in the film are not great,...
It’s a funny thing too, because Timothy Greenfield-Sanders is a white director telling this story about a black icon. And throughout the entire film, he and editor Johanna Giebelhaus (“The Congressman”), who’s also white, piece together numerous archival interviews with Morrison by white journalists (Charlie Rose has apparently been a mainstay throughout the author’s career). So the optics surrounding Morrison’s message in the film are not great,...
- 6/17/2019
- by Candice Frederick
- The Wrap
Amanda director Mikhaël Hers: "Vincent Lacoste is naturally very intuitive and Stacy Martin, maybe due to her double nationality, is more cerebral, more rational as an actor."
Before the uniFrance and Film Society of Lincoln Center luncheon for the 24th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York - attended by the President of uniFrance Serge Toubiana and Executive Director of uniFrance Isabelle Giordano, Russell Banks, uniFrance’s American ambassador, Sophie Fillières, Agathe Bonitzer, Hélène Fillières, Emmanuel Mouret, Eva Husson, Pierre Salvadori, and Pio Marmaï - Amanda director/screenwriter Mikhaël Hers joined me for a conversation. We spoke about the roles of Vincent Lacoste, Isaure Multrier, Stacy Martin, Marianne Basler, Ophélia Kolb, and Greta Scacchi, dancing to Elvis Presley, film critic Serge Daney's book L'Amateur De Tennis and Mikhaël's love of tennis.
President of uniFrance, Serge Toubiana and Executive Director of uniFrance, Isabelle Giordano with Mikhaël Hers...
Before the uniFrance and Film Society of Lincoln Center luncheon for the 24th edition of Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in New York - attended by the President of uniFrance Serge Toubiana and Executive Director of uniFrance Isabelle Giordano, Russell Banks, uniFrance’s American ambassador, Sophie Fillières, Agathe Bonitzer, Hélène Fillières, Emmanuel Mouret, Eva Husson, Pierre Salvadori, and Pio Marmaï - Amanda director/screenwriter Mikhaël Hers joined me for a conversation. We spoke about the roles of Vincent Lacoste, Isaure Multrier, Stacy Martin, Marianne Basler, Ophélia Kolb, and Greta Scacchi, dancing to Elvis Presley, film critic Serge Daney's book L'Amateur De Tennis and Mikhaël's love of tennis.
President of uniFrance, Serge Toubiana and Executive Director of uniFrance, Isabelle Giordano with Mikhaël Hers...
- 3/19/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
President of uniFrance, Serge Toubiana, and I spoke about Robert Bresson's Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne, Jacques Rivette's La Religieuse, and how Diderot's language from Jacques the Fatalist shines in Emmanuel Mouret's Lady J. Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
At the Rendez-Vous With French Cinema luncheon on Park Avenue in New York, attended by the Executive Director of uniFrance, Isabelle Giordano; Russell Banks, uniFrance’s American ambassador for the festival; Sophie Fillières and Agathe Bonitzer (La Belle Et La Belle); Emmanuel Mouret (Lady J aka Mademoiselle De Joncquières); Hélène Fillières (Raising Colors); Pierre Salvadori and Pio Marmaï (The Trouble With You); Eva Husson (Girls Of The Sun); Judith Davis (Whatever Happened To My Revolution), and Mikhaël Hers (Amanda), I spoke with the President of uniFrance, Serge Toubiana, who was elected in 2017, replacing Jean-Paul Salomé.
Anne-Katrin Titze: This is your second edition of Rendez-Vous With French Cinema.
The Sweet Hereafter...
At the Rendez-Vous With French Cinema luncheon on Park Avenue in New York, attended by the Executive Director of uniFrance, Isabelle Giordano; Russell Banks, uniFrance’s American ambassador for the festival; Sophie Fillières and Agathe Bonitzer (La Belle Et La Belle); Emmanuel Mouret (Lady J aka Mademoiselle De Joncquières); Hélène Fillières (Raising Colors); Pierre Salvadori and Pio Marmaï (The Trouble With You); Eva Husson (Girls Of The Sun); Judith Davis (Whatever Happened To My Revolution), and Mikhaël Hers (Amanda), I spoke with the President of uniFrance, Serge Toubiana, who was elected in 2017, replacing Jean-Paul Salomé.
Anne-Katrin Titze: This is your second edition of Rendez-Vous With French Cinema.
The Sweet Hereafter...
- 3/5/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
President of uniFrance Serge Toubiana and Russell Banks, uniFrance’s American ambassador for Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, will introduce François Truffaut’s The 400 Blows Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Bertrand Tavernier is no longer able to attend New York's Rendez-Vous With French Cinema for his conversation with Russell Banks. He has been replaced by Paul Schrader.
Sophie Fillières and Agathe Bonitzer (When Margaux Meets Margaux), Emmanuel Mouret (Mademoiselle de Joncquières), Judith Davis (Whatever Happened to My Revolution), Hélène Fillières (Raising Colors), Pierre Salvadori and Pio Marmaï (The Trouble with You) have been confirmed for the New French Comedies discussion.
Catherine Deneuve with Executive Director of uniFrance Isabelle Giordano Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Eva Husson (Girls Of The Sun), Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang), Brady Corbet (Vox Lux), and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (A Prayer Before Dawn) will participate in Filming Abroad.
“It is a great honour to have Russell Banks as our American ambassador...
Bertrand Tavernier is no longer able to attend New York's Rendez-Vous With French Cinema for his conversation with Russell Banks. He has been replaced by Paul Schrader.
Sophie Fillières and Agathe Bonitzer (When Margaux Meets Margaux), Emmanuel Mouret (Mademoiselle de Joncquières), Judith Davis (Whatever Happened to My Revolution), Hélène Fillières (Raising Colors), Pierre Salvadori and Pio Marmaï (The Trouble with You) have been confirmed for the New French Comedies discussion.
Catherine Deneuve with Executive Director of uniFrance Isabelle Giordano Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Eva Husson (Girls Of The Sun), Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang), Brady Corbet (Vox Lux), and Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (A Prayer Before Dawn) will participate in Filming Abroad.
“It is a great honour to have Russell Banks as our American ambassador...
- 2/26/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Jeannette, L'Enfance De Jeanne D'Arc and Ma Loute director Bruno Dumont will present Coincoin And The Extra-Humans Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
New York's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema opens with Pierre Salvadori's The Trouble With You (nine César Award nominations), starring Adèle Haenel and Pio Marmaï with Audrey Tautou, Vincent Elbaz, and Damien Bonnard, preceded by Clément Cogitore's Les Indes galantes. Eva Husson, Élodie Bouchez, Mia Hansen-Løve, Sophie Fillières, Hélène Fillières, Judith Davis, Mikhaël Hers, Emmanuel Mouret, Sébastien Marnier, and Bruno Dumont are are expected to attend.
Bertrand Tavernier free talk with Russell Banks Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Sandrine Kiberlain and Agathe Bonitzer in When Margaux Meets Margaux (La Belle Et La belle); Vincent Lacoste, Isaure Multrier, and Greta Scacchi in Mikhaël Hers' Amanda; Cécile de France, Edouard Baer, and Laure Calamy in Emmanuel Mouret's Mademoiselle de Joncquières (The Art of Seduction), and The Trouble With You (En Liberté!) - give some...
New York's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema opens with Pierre Salvadori's The Trouble With You (nine César Award nominations), starring Adèle Haenel and Pio Marmaï with Audrey Tautou, Vincent Elbaz, and Damien Bonnard, preceded by Clément Cogitore's Les Indes galantes. Eva Husson, Élodie Bouchez, Mia Hansen-Løve, Sophie Fillières, Hélène Fillières, Judith Davis, Mikhaël Hers, Emmanuel Mouret, Sébastien Marnier, and Bruno Dumont are are expected to attend.
Bertrand Tavernier free talk with Russell Banks Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Sandrine Kiberlain and Agathe Bonitzer in When Margaux Meets Margaux (La Belle Et La belle); Vincent Lacoste, Isaure Multrier, and Greta Scacchi in Mikhaël Hers' Amanda; Cécile de France, Edouard Baer, and Laure Calamy in Emmanuel Mouret's Mademoiselle de Joncquières (The Art of Seduction), and The Trouble With You (En Liberté!) - give some...
- 2/15/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Toni Morrison’s artistic, cultural and historical legacies are by now firmly established, which doesn’t prevent “Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am” from revealing them anew and setting them out in an appreciative, and appropriate, package. An eloquent nonfiction biopic that travels creatively through the past, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ film is enlivened both by its own storytelling dexterity and by the participation of its subject, who at 87 years old remains as warm, vibrant and insightful as ever. With recent big-name docs about Fred Rogers and Ruth Bader Ginsberg proving the enormous appetite for such offerings, its fortunes seem considerable after its Sundance premiere.
The doc begins with Morrison recalling how she learned “words have power” from her grandfather, whose constant re-reading of the Bible during an era when it was illegal for African-Americans to be literate was a “revolutionary act” that opened her eyes to prose’s capacity to move,...
The doc begins with Morrison recalling how she learned “words have power” from her grandfather, whose constant re-reading of the Bible during an era when it was illegal for African-Americans to be literate was a “revolutionary act” that opened her eyes to prose’s capacity to move,...
- 1/29/2019
- by Nick Schager
- Variety Film + TV
Veteran French helmer Bertrand Tavernier (“The French Minister”) is curating a 15-film retrospective of films by Henri Decoin (1890-1969), a larger-than-life character who before directing his first feature, at the age of 43, was an Olympic swimmer, Wwi pilot, sports journalist and novelist.
Decoin is one of the three directors – alongside Jean Grémillon and Max Ophuls – featured in the first episode of Tavernier’s “My Journeys Through French Cinema,” a follow-up project to his documentary “My Journey Through French Cinema”.
Tavernier believes that Decoin left a decisive mark on Gallic cinema due to the fluidity of his directing style, inspired in part by his sojourn in Hollywood in 1938, his innovative exploration of genres such as crime, espionage thrillers, historical sagas and psychological dramas, his remarkable adaptations of novels by George Simenon and his notable collaboration with actors such as Jean Gabin, Louis Jouvet and his second wife, Danielle Darrieux.
The retrospective...
Decoin is one of the three directors – alongside Jean Grémillon and Max Ophuls – featured in the first episode of Tavernier’s “My Journeys Through French Cinema,” a follow-up project to his documentary “My Journey Through French Cinema”.
Tavernier believes that Decoin left a decisive mark on Gallic cinema due to the fluidity of his directing style, inspired in part by his sojourn in Hollywood in 1938, his innovative exploration of genres such as crime, espionage thrillers, historical sagas and psychological dramas, his remarkable adaptations of novels by George Simenon and his notable collaboration with actors such as Jean Gabin, Louis Jouvet and his second wife, Danielle Darrieux.
The retrospective...
- 10/18/2018
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Paul Schrader's Light Sleeper (1992) is showing June 9 - July 9, 2018 in the United States.Light SleeperPopularly known as the screenwriter of Taxi Driver (1976), Paul Schrader’s work in cinema extends well beyond this seminal collaboration with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, from his beginnings as a film critic to his continued career as a director. When asked how his background as a critic influenced his work as a filmmaker he uses a telling example to outline the two modes of approaching the cinematic medium. Responding cautiously, he explains that for him the analytical impulses of the critic may be"as much for good as bad, maybe in fact more for bad. Because a critic in many ways is like a medical examiner. You know, you open up the cadaver, and you want to see how and why it lived. And a writer, a filmmaker, is, on the other hand,...
- 7/6/2018
- MUBI
After “Winter’s Bone” received four Oscar nominations, including one for then-discovery Jenifer Lawrence, nobody thought it would take eight years for Debra Granik’s next feature to hit screens — except maybe Debra Granik. She knows her movies are about people who aren’t easy to see.
“Not everyone is assigned the same beat,” Granik said in Cannes, where “Leave No Trace” played Directors Fortnight. “I happen to be more on the periphery. Not everyone can do the same five zip codes. American film isn’t just film and glamor and fame and the lives of people who are fortunate financially. Those aren’t the only stories in this vast nation. That’s my mandate.”
Granik, who made her debut in 2004 with “Down To the Bone,” developed a number of promising projects that never came to fruition. Among them were “American High Life,” a semi-autobiographical HBO series created by writer...
“Not everyone is assigned the same beat,” Granik said in Cannes, where “Leave No Trace” played Directors Fortnight. “I happen to be more on the periphery. Not everyone can do the same five zip codes. American film isn’t just film and glamor and fame and the lives of people who are fortunate financially. Those aren’t the only stories in this vast nation. That’s my mandate.”
Granik, who made her debut in 2004 with “Down To the Bone,” developed a number of promising projects that never came to fruition. Among them were “American High Life,” a semi-autobiographical HBO series created by writer...
- 6/26/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
After “Winter’s Bone” received four Oscar nominations, including one for then-discovery Jenifer Lawrence, nobody thought it would take eight years for Debra Granik’s next feature to hit screens — except maybe Debra Granik. She knows her movies are about people who aren’t easy to see.
“Not everyone is assigned the same beat,” Granik said in Cannes, where “Leave No Trace” played Directors Fortnight. “I happen to be more on the periphery. Not everyone can do the same five zip codes. American film isn’t just film and glamor and fame and the lives of people who are fortunate financially. Those aren’t the only stories in this vast nation. That’s my mandate.”
Granik, who made her debut in 2004 with “Down To the Bone,” developed a number of promising projects that never came to fruition. Among them were “American High Life,” a semi-autobiographical HBO series created by writer...
“Not everyone is assigned the same beat,” Granik said in Cannes, where “Leave No Trace” played Directors Fortnight. “I happen to be more on the periphery. Not everyone can do the same five zip codes. American film isn’t just film and glamor and fame and the lives of people who are fortunate financially. Those aren’t the only stories in this vast nation. That’s my mandate.”
Granik, who made her debut in 2004 with “Down To the Bone,” developed a number of promising projects that never came to fruition. Among them were “American High Life,” a semi-autobiographical HBO series created by writer...
- 6/26/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Filmmaker Debra Granik earned an impressive four Oscar nominations for 2010's "Winter's Bone," including best picture, actress (Jennifer Lawrence), supporting actor (John Hawkes) and adapted screenplay. Clearly all the talent on display in 2004's "Down to the Bone," which boosted the career of Vera Farmiga, was not a flash in the pan. What was the deliberate New York filmmaker, who works closely with producer-writer Anne Rossellini, going to do next? Well, she pursued several promising projects that have yet to come to fruition. Among them were "American High Life," a possible HBO series created by young writer Nicki Paluga, and Granik's film version of Russell Banks' novel "Rule Of The Bone," marking the third part of her unofficial osteo-trilogy, about an abused 14-year-old Jamaican-American who turns to drugs, gets kicked out of his home, and returns to Jamaica to find his father. Banks was optimistic that a cast of unknowns and names would.
- 10/7/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
'Affliction' movie: Nick Nolte as the troubled police officer Wade Whitehouse. 'Affliction' movie: Great-looking psychological drama fails to coalesce Set in a snowy New Hampshire town, Affliction could have been an excellent depiction of a dysfunctional family's cycle of violence and how that is accentuated by rapid, destabilizing socioeconomic changes. Unfortunately, writer-director Paul Schrader's 1998 film doesn't quite reach such heights.* Based on a novel by Russell Banks (who also penned the equally snowy The Sweet Hereafter), Schrader's Affliction relies on a realistic wintry atmosphere (courtesy of cinematographer Paul Sarossy) to convey the deadness inside the story's protagonist, the middle-aged small-town sheriff Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte). The angst-ridden Wade is intent on not ending up like his abusive, alcoholic father, Glen (James Coburn), while inexorably sliding down that very path. Making matters more complicated, Wade must come to terms with the fact that his ex-wife, Lillian (Mary Beth Hurt), will never return to him,...
- 8/25/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
All week long our writers will debate: Which was the greatest film year of the past half century. Check here for a complete list of our essays. Just one glance at the Oscar nominees for 1998 might make it seem less a questionable choice for “best year in film” — and more an insane one. Instead of a 1974 – The Godfather II, The Conversation, Chinatown, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, etc – or even a 1994, where Shawshank, Quiz Show, and Pulp Fiction lost to Gump – you choose a year where the Oscars would allow Roberto Benigni to climb atop both the figurative and literal chairs of the Shrine? Fine, step away from the Oscars. Would you still celebrate a year that saw not one, but two movies about asteroids threatening the Earth? A year that saw such scars carved across cinematic history as Patch Adams, My Giant, Stepmom, and Krippendorf’s Tribe? It bears repeating: Krippendorf’S Tribe?...
- 4/27/2015
- by Michael Oates Palmer
- Hitfix
New York Film Festival is in its final week and here is Glenn on Debra Granik's documentary 'Stray Dog'.
Debra Granik’s last film was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award and catapulted its lead star into super-stardom. Naturally, she hasn’t made a film since. Just like Patty Jenkins, Kimberly Peirce, Courtney Hunt and more, it appears newfound success doesn’t necessarily breed an open door (or open checkbook) to future career possibilities for many female directors. We were recently talking about this in regards to Kimberly Reed, but artists tend to find a way to release their creativity, and so while Granik wasn't able (or at least hasn’t yet managed) to get adaptations of Russell Banks’ novel Rule of the Bone or a signposted HBO series off the ground, she has taken on the reigns of a documentary, a first for the Tennessee native.
Debra Granik’s last film was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award and catapulted its lead star into super-stardom. Naturally, she hasn’t made a film since. Just like Patty Jenkins, Kimberly Peirce, Courtney Hunt and more, it appears newfound success doesn’t necessarily breed an open door (or open checkbook) to future career possibilities for many female directors. We were recently talking about this in regards to Kimberly Reed, but artists tend to find a way to release their creativity, and so while Granik wasn't able (or at least hasn’t yet managed) to get adaptations of Russell Banks’ novel Rule of the Bone or a signposted HBO series off the ground, she has taken on the reigns of a documentary, a first for the Tennessee native.
- 10/7/2014
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
Filmmaker Debra Granik earned an impressive four Oscar nominations for 2010's "Winter's Bone," including best picture, actress (Jennifer Lawrence), supporting actor (John Hawkes) and adapted screenplay. Clearly all the talent on display in 2004's "Down to the Bone," which boosted the career of Vera Farmiga, was not a flash in the pan. What was the deliberate New York filmmaker, who works closely with producer-writer Anne Rossellini, going to do next? Well, she pursued several promising projects that have yet to come to fruition. Among them were "American High Life," a possible HBO series created by young writer Nicki Paluga, and Granik's film version of Russell Banks' novel "Rule Of The Bone," marking the third part of her unofficial osteo-trilogy, about an abused 14-year-old Jamaican-American who turns to drugs, gets kicked out of his home, and returns to Jamaica to find his father. Banks was optimistic that a...
- 10/2/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Novelist Russell Banks is helping rally support for the revival of a film festival in New York’s Adirondack Mountains, part of a longer-term effort to make the resort town of Lake Placid a hub for film-making. The Lake Placid Film Forum started about 15 years ago, when a local crowd packed the downtown Palace Theatre for a screening and panel discussion of “The Sweet Hereafter,” a 1997 film adaptation of Mr. Banks’s 1991 novel about an Adirondack community that comes apart...
- 9/9/2014
- by Laura Bird
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Atom Egoyan's masterpiece omits the auteur's usual visual quirks, and plays this tragic tale (relatively) Geoffrey Boycott straight. Ian Holm plays an ambulance-chasing lawyer who is charged with winning compensation for 14 families who have lost their child as a result of a bus accident on an icy road in small-town British Columbia. Once there the solemn lawyer, whose own daughter is a drug addict, unearths terrible secrets in the community. A bold, immensely moving adaptation of Russell Banks's novel.
- 9/13/2013
- The Independent - Film
★★★★☆ Throughout his early career, Canadian independent filmmaker Atom Egoyan repeatedly zeroed in on the effects of loss upon those left behind. This theme received its most pronounced treatment in his most critically heralded piece, The Sweet Hereafter (1997), which now arrives on DVD and Blu-ray from UK distributors Artificial Eye. Starring Brit Ian Holm, Bruce Greenwood and Sarah Polley, and based on a novel by Russell Banks, it is the thoughtful exploration of an isolated community during the aftermath of a tragic school bus accident that tears a whole class of children from their devastated families.
Arriving in this snowy township is ambulance-chasing lawyer Mitchell Stevens (Holm) who is there to urge a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the mourning parents. He visits them in turn and slowly begins to convince them to support his legal campaign which all ultimately rests on the deposition of wheelchair-bound teenage survivor Nicole (Polley). This...
Arriving in this snowy township is ambulance-chasing lawyer Mitchell Stevens (Holm) who is there to urge a class-action lawsuit on behalf of the mourning parents. He visits them in turn and slowly begins to convince them to support his legal campaign which all ultimately rests on the deposition of wheelchair-bound teenage survivor Nicole (Polley). This...
- 9/10/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 21, 2013
Price: DVD $29.99
Studio: Zeitgeist
One of the many photographs seen in Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters.
The 2012 documentary Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters chronicles the work of acclaimed Brooklyn-born photographer.
With his filmmaker-like sense of visual composition, Crewdson has created some of the most striking and gorgeously haunting pictures of the past two decades. His meticulously mounted, large-scale images offer strong narratives of small-town American life—elaborately detailed moviescapes crystallized into a single frame. While the photographs are staged with crews that rival many feature film productions, Crewdson takes inspiration as much from his own dreams and fantasies as the worlds of Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, Edward Hopper and Diane Arbus. Crewdson’s imagery has also infiltrated the pop culture landscape—including his memorable ads for HBO’s Six Feet Under and his album art for the band Yo La Tengo.
Directed by Ben Shapiro and shot...
Price: DVD $29.99
Studio: Zeitgeist
One of the many photographs seen in Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters.
The 2012 documentary Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters chronicles the work of acclaimed Brooklyn-born photographer.
With his filmmaker-like sense of visual composition, Crewdson has created some of the most striking and gorgeously haunting pictures of the past two decades. His meticulously mounted, large-scale images offer strong narratives of small-town American life—elaborately detailed moviescapes crystallized into a single frame. While the photographs are staged with crews that rival many feature film productions, Crewdson takes inspiration as much from his own dreams and fantasies as the worlds of Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, Edward Hopper and Diane Arbus. Crewdson’s imagery has also infiltrated the pop culture landscape—including his memorable ads for HBO’s Six Feet Under and his album art for the band Yo La Tengo.
Directed by Ben Shapiro and shot...
- 5/6/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Del Toro's haunted-house flick to get a new cast member? According to a Variety report, this year's Oscar-nominated actress Jessica Chastain (for Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty) is in "final negotiations" to become the latest addition to the cast of filmmaker Guillermo del Toro's haunted-house movie Crimson Peak. If her signature does end up in the dotted line, Chastain will be featured next to Pacific Rim / Queer as Folk's Charlie Hunnam, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug / Star Trek Into Darkness' Benedict Cumberbatch, and one of Chastain's The Help co-stars: Emma Stone. Needless to say, for that to happen all of the aforementioned names must actually end up in the film. As per Justin Kroll's Variety article, the plot of the Legendary Pictures horror film (possibly to be handled by Universal Pictures) remains unknown. Could GdT's latest turn out to be Robert Wise's The Haunting...
- 4/6/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The author on why his novel How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is a 'secular Sufi love poem' and why some fans of The Reluctant Fundamentalist would like more 'drugs and sex'
Mohsin Hamid loves to play with narrative voices. From the multiple storytellers in his first novel, Moth Smoke, to the book-long monologue of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the skill has won the novelist acclaim. But finding his own voice was not so easy.
Hamid was just three, and a "fluent Urdu conversationalist", when his parents moved from Pakistan to California. One day his mother found him on a neighbour's doorstep weeping and surrounded by other children. They began asking his mother, in the offensive terms of the day, whether he was "retarded" – if that was why he couldn't speak. For the next month he refused to utter a word – and when he did finally talk, "it was in English,...
Mohsin Hamid loves to play with narrative voices. From the multiple storytellers in his first novel, Moth Smoke, to the book-long monologue of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, the skill has won the novelist acclaim. But finding his own voice was not so easy.
Hamid was just three, and a "fluent Urdu conversationalist", when his parents moved from Pakistan to California. One day his mother found him on a neighbour's doorstep weeping and surrounded by other children. They began asking his mother, in the offensive terms of the day, whether he was "retarded" – if that was why he couldn't speak. For the next month he refused to utter a word – and when he did finally talk, "it was in English,...
- 3/27/2013
- by Homa Khaleeli
- The Guardian - Film News
Ben Shapiro’s excellent Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters, opens tomorrow at Film Forum through Zeitgeist Films. The following interview was originally published on the eve of its SXSW Film Festival premiere.
Photographer Gregory Crewdson is renowned for his elaborately-staged photographs, huge in scope, size, and ambition. So filmmaker Benjamin Shapiro had his work cut out for him when he set out nearly a decade ago to follow Crewdson and demystify the artist’s process. But the biggest surprise of Shapiro’s long-awaited film is just how open, eloquent, and down-to-earth Crewdson is when discussing his art. Crewdson allows the audience unrestricted access to his shoots (not to mention his personal life), even taking us along as he searches for locations, subjects, and inspiration. Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters is a refreshingly frank look at the artistic process, as comprehensive and lovingly realized as the work it pays tribute to.
Filmmaker: When...
Photographer Gregory Crewdson is renowned for his elaborately-staged photographs, huge in scope, size, and ambition. So filmmaker Benjamin Shapiro had his work cut out for him when he set out nearly a decade ago to follow Crewdson and demystify the artist’s process. But the biggest surprise of Shapiro’s long-awaited film is just how open, eloquent, and down-to-earth Crewdson is when discussing his art. Crewdson allows the audience unrestricted access to his shoots (not to mention his personal life), even taking us along as he searches for locations, subjects, and inspiration. Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters is a refreshingly frank look at the artistic process, as comprehensive and lovingly realized as the work it pays tribute to.
Filmmaker: When...
- 10/29/2012
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Given that the source material was once described by Truman Capote with the immortal epithet "That's not writing, that's typing," and has generally been considered as "unfilmable," it's not surprising that it's taken the best part of half-a-century to make a film of Jack Kerouac's beat classic "On the Road." Plans were in the works as early as the publication date in 1957 (Kerouac wanted to co-star in the film with Marlon Brando), and documentarian D.A. Pennebaker came close, but it's Francis Ford Coppola who's been the driving force, developing the project since the release of "Apocalypse Now" in 1979.
And finally, the film has been finished, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival last week, thanks to Coppola, who ended up producing the film, and Walter Salles, the director of "The Motorcycle Diaries." The helmer has assembled an impressive cast, including Sam Riley as Sal Paradise, Garret Hedlund as Dean Moriarty,...
And finally, the film has been finished, premiering at the Cannes Film Festival last week, thanks to Coppola, who ended up producing the film, and Walter Salles, the director of "The Motorcycle Diaries." The helmer has assembled an impressive cast, including Sam Riley as Sal Paradise, Garret Hedlund as Dean Moriarty,...
- 5/27/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Given that “Winter's Bone” helmer Debra Granik has supplied star turns to not only Jennifer Lawrence but Vera Farmiga as well, it's surprising to see her name mentioned still on so few projects. Luckily however, change is in the wind, and since Granik dropped her “Pippi Longstockings” adaptation from her slate, she's been announced to direct an adaptation of Russell Banks' “Rule of the Bone,” and now's she set to shoot an upcoming pilot for HBO.
Thompson on Hollywood reports Granik has signed on to direct the pilot for “This American Highlife,” with hopes to run into series with the cable channel, who has unfortunately made news recently for axing off compelling shows left and right. The project is being produced by Granik and Michael London (“The Visitor”), and follows a career-minded woman as she travels back to her poverty-stricken hometown in the Midwest. Young writer Nicki Paluga created the project,...
Thompson on Hollywood reports Granik has signed on to direct the pilot for “This American Highlife,” with hopes to run into series with the cable channel, who has unfortunately made news recently for axing off compelling shows left and right. The project is being produced by Granik and Michael London (“The Visitor”), and follows a career-minded woman as she travels back to her poverty-stricken hometown in the Midwest. Young writer Nicki Paluga created the project,...
- 5/7/2012
- by Charlie Schmidlin
- The Playlist
While he didn't get the win in 2011, Denis Villeneuve's Oscar nominated "Incendies" put the helmer on the map, Hollywood called and he suddenly found a few more options on his plate. Last year, he came on board the long developing Black List script "Prisoners" (which recently landed a lead in Hugh Jackman) as well as an adaptation of Russell Banks' "The Darling" with Jessica Chastain linked to a role. And then last month, he also put an adaptation of Joe Sacco's "Footsteps In Gaza" on his pile. But it's a new project that looks like it will go first.
Variety reports that Jake Gyllenhaal and Villeneuve will take on "An Enemy," a thriller based on the book by literary genius José Saramago. Adapted by Javier Gullón, the story follows a man who rents a DVD only to discover that one of the minor characters -- who isn't...
Variety reports that Jake Gyllenhaal and Villeneuve will take on "An Enemy," a thriller based on the book by literary genius José Saramago. Adapted by Javier Gullón, the story follows a man who rents a DVD only to discover that one of the minor characters -- who isn't...
- 3/19/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Photographer Gregory Crewdson is renowned for his elaborately-staged photographs, huge in scope, size, and ambition. So filmmaker Benjamin Shapiro had his work cut out for him when he set out nearly a decade ago to follow Crewdson and demystify the artist’s process. But the biggest surprise of Shapiro’s long-awaited film is just how open, eloquent, and down-to-earth Crewdson is when discussing his art. Crewdson allows the audience unrestricted access to his shoots (not to mention his personal life), even taking us along as he searches for locations, subjects, and inspiration. Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters is a refreshingly frank look at the artistic process, as comprehensive and lovingly realized as the work it pays tribute to.
Filmmaker: When did you first discover Gregory Crewdson’s art? What about it inspired you to make this film?
Shapiro: I first discovered Gregory Crewdson when I filmed him for the PBS series...
Filmmaker: When did you first discover Gregory Crewdson’s art? What about it inspired you to make this film?
Shapiro: I first discovered Gregory Crewdson when I filmed him for the PBS series...
- 3/5/2012
- by Dan Schoenbrun
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Last year, the New Zealand Film Archive and the National Film Preservation Foundation announced that they'd discovered a tinted print of The White Shadow (1924), "an atmospheric melodrama starring Betty Compson, in a dual role as twin sisters — one angelic and the other 'without a soul.' With mysterious disappearances, mistaken identity, steamy cabarets, romance, chance meetings, madness, and even the transmigration of souls, the wild plot crams a lot into six reels." As David Sterritt noted in that announcement, though he was only 24 at the time, "Alfred Hitchcock wrote the film's scenario, designed the sets, edited the footage, and served as assistant director to Graham Cutts, whose professional jealousy toward the gifted upstart made the job all the more challenging."
Today, Farran Nehme, Marilyn Ferdinand and Roderick Heath have announced that their third For the Love Film blogathon, running from May 13 through 18, will be a fund-raising drive to rouse up...
Today, Farran Nehme, Marilyn Ferdinand and Roderick Heath have announced that their third For the Love Film blogathon, running from May 13 through 18, will be a fund-raising drive to rouse up...
- 2/1/2012
- MUBI
Quebecois filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has always been one of French-speaking Canada's most exciting filmmaking talents, thanks to the likes of "Maelström" and "Polytechnique," both of which won him Genie awards for Best Director, but last year saw him really start to make waves internationally with his Oscar-nominated drama "Incendies." That film saw him leap up Hollywood directorial wish-lists, with the filmmaker becoming attached to the long-gestating Black List script "Prisoners," while late last year saw reports that he'd be teaming up with Jessica Chastain for an adaptation of Russell Banks' novel "The Darling." But he's just added one more film to those competing to be his next one, and from the subject matter alone, it has the potential to be even more incendiary than, well, "Incendies." Screen Daily report that Villeneuve is now attached to direct an adaptation of Joe Sacco's 2009 graphic...
- 2/1/2012
- The Playlist
Here are a few interesting and/or noteworthy projects that were recently added to IMDbPro's database of development titles:
American Darling – Jessica Chastin's star continues to rise in 2012. The actress, who recently signed on for Katheryn Bigelow's upcoming Osama Bin Laden thriller, is also reportedly set to team up with Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the Russell Banks novel about a New England woman's life in Liberia from the mid-1970s to the early '90s.
Black Dog, Red Dog – James Franco stars in and produces this feature based on poet Stephen Dobyns' award-winning book of the same name.
Heck – MGM has tapped About a Boy's Chris Weitz has to rewrite an adaptation of Dale E. Basye's humorous modern-day spin on Dante’s Inferno, featuring two kids navigating their way through purgatory after a camping excursion goes terribly wrong.
Untitled Wim Wenders Architecture Documentary – German auteur Wim Wenders is following up his dance documentary, Pina, with another 3-D project, this time focusing on more stationary subjects – architecture.
Los Wildcats del Norte – Filmmaker Thom Eberhardt (Night of the Comet) teams up with writer Christine Vasquez (Naked Fear) to develop this drama about a group of young musicians who set out to play the bars of northern New Mexico.
American Darling – Jessica Chastin's star continues to rise in 2012. The actress, who recently signed on for Katheryn Bigelow's upcoming Osama Bin Laden thriller, is also reportedly set to team up with Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the Russell Banks novel about a New England woman's life in Liberia from the mid-1970s to the early '90s.
Black Dog, Red Dog – James Franco stars in and produces this feature based on poet Stephen Dobyns' award-winning book of the same name.
Heck – MGM has tapped About a Boy's Chris Weitz has to rewrite an adaptation of Dale E. Basye's humorous modern-day spin on Dante’s Inferno, featuring two kids navigating their way through purgatory after a camping excursion goes terribly wrong.
Untitled Wim Wenders Architecture Documentary – German auteur Wim Wenders is following up his dance documentary, Pina, with another 3-D project, this time focusing on more stationary subjects – architecture.
Los Wildcats del Norte – Filmmaker Thom Eberhardt (Night of the Comet) teams up with writer Christine Vasquez (Naked Fear) to develop this drama about a group of young musicians who set out to play the bars of northern New Mexico.
- 1/6/2012
- by Eric Greene
- IMDbPro News
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