This review for “Dear Mr. Brody” was first published March 4 after its release on-demand and in U.S. theaters. It premieres Thursday on Discovery+.
At the dawn of the 1970s, the North Pole briefly faced some stiff competition as a wish repository from a floppy-haired, peace-loving, guitar-playing trust fund kid named Michael J. Brody. Heir to a margarine fortune, Brody announced shortly after his 21st birthday that he’d give away most of his 25 million to anyone who asked — as a gift for the needy, a sign of rich-in-life contentment (he’d just gotten married) and a down payment on more love in a wartorn, unequal world.
The largely forgotten story of the “hippie millionaire,” whose Scarsdale home, phone line, and Manhattan business address (all given out freely by Brody) were flooded with recipient hopefuls, is only part of the weird, wonderful and woeful retelling that is Keith Maitland’s engrossing documentary “Dear Mr. Brody.
At the dawn of the 1970s, the North Pole briefly faced some stiff competition as a wish repository from a floppy-haired, peace-loving, guitar-playing trust fund kid named Michael J. Brody. Heir to a margarine fortune, Brody announced shortly after his 21st birthday that he’d give away most of his 25 million to anyone who asked — as a gift for the needy, a sign of rich-in-life contentment (he’d just gotten married) and a down payment on more love in a wartorn, unequal world.
The largely forgotten story of the “hippie millionaire,” whose Scarsdale home, phone line, and Manhattan business address (all given out freely by Brody) were flooded with recipient hopefuls, is only part of the weird, wonderful and woeful retelling that is Keith Maitland’s engrossing documentary “Dear Mr. Brody.
- 4/28/2022
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
If it weren’t for a chance encounter, the story of a 21-year-old margarine heir who pledged to give away his $25 million inheritance to anyone in need may have remained packed up in boxes forever.
Fifty years after Michael Brody Jr.’s announcement triggered an avalanche of letters from around the world, Melissa Robyn Glassman discovered the letters — unopened — in a Los Angeles storage unit belonging to the filmmaker Edward R. Pressman.
This trove of letters – approximately 30,000 in total – became the basis of the documentary “Dear Mr. Brody,” which is currently available on VOD and playing in select theaters.
Writer-director Keith Maitland said he was “immediately” drawn to the story, which unfolded over ten days in January 1970, when he began reading the letters.
“You’d open up these little novellas where people just unloaded their life and told you all about their family members and their wants and desires,” he told TheWrap.
Fifty years after Michael Brody Jr.’s announcement triggered an avalanche of letters from around the world, Melissa Robyn Glassman discovered the letters — unopened — in a Los Angeles storage unit belonging to the filmmaker Edward R. Pressman.
This trove of letters – approximately 30,000 in total – became the basis of the documentary “Dear Mr. Brody,” which is currently available on VOD and playing in select theaters.
Writer-director Keith Maitland said he was “immediately” drawn to the story, which unfolded over ten days in January 1970, when he began reading the letters.
“You’d open up these little novellas where people just unloaded their life and told you all about their family members and their wants and desires,” he told TheWrap.
- 3/9/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
A4 presents Kagonada’s second feature After Yang in limited release, the latest in the distributor’s varied indie slate ahead of wide-release horror slasher X on 3/18 and sci-fi adventure Everything Everywhere All At Once on 3/25 — which is also opening SXSW Film Festival.
This is a weekend where The Batman casts a long shadow, but the specialty market is also hungry for new content with moviegoers demonstrably, measurably, more willing to return to theaters in person.
A24 has been a strong voice in the pandemic-scarred cinema landscape. Green Knight, Zola and C’mon, C’mon helped juice the indie box office last year as odd Icelandic horror film Lamb and porno-themed Red Rocket became culty favorites. Other releases included The Humans, The Souvenir: Part II and Saint Maude. The distributor took three Oscar noms with Apple TV+ for The Tragedy of Macbeth. X as well as A24’s upcoming Bodies Bodies Bodies...
This is a weekend where The Batman casts a long shadow, but the specialty market is also hungry for new content with moviegoers demonstrably, measurably, more willing to return to theaters in person.
A24 has been a strong voice in the pandemic-scarred cinema landscape. Green Knight, Zola and C’mon, C’mon helped juice the indie box office last year as odd Icelandic horror film Lamb and porno-themed Red Rocket became culty favorites. Other releases included The Humans, The Souvenir: Part II and Saint Maude. The distributor took three Oscar noms with Apple TV+ for The Tragedy of Macbeth. X as well as A24’s upcoming Bodies Bodies Bodies...
- 3/4/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Ed Pressman’s five decades of producing credits include everything from Terrence Malick’s “Badlands” to “Wall Street,” “The Crow,” Abel Ferrara’s “Bad Lieutenant” and the reimagining of the same title in another version directed by Werner Herzog. But nothing in his roster has been as singular as the story of the hippie billionaire at the center of “Dear Mr. Brody,” which opens this week, and its existence speaks to the long-tail success of a producer whose assets have accrued unique value with time.
In the ‘70s, Pressman came into possession of material that he knew would make a good movie: Tentatively called “The Last Flower Child” with Richard Dreyfuss in talks to star, the project would recount the bizarre saga of Michael Brody Jr., the 21-year-old heir to the Oleomargarine fortune who announced that he would give $25 million to anyone who asked. In the process of acquiring the rights to the project,...
In the ‘70s, Pressman came into possession of material that he knew would make a good movie: Tentatively called “The Last Flower Child” with Richard Dreyfuss in talks to star, the project would recount the bizarre saga of Michael Brody Jr., the 21-year-old heir to the Oleomargarine fortune who announced that he would give $25 million to anyone who asked. In the process of acquiring the rights to the project,...
- 3/3/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
It’s The Batman time. As such, there aren’t many studio pictures hitting theaters to combat the cowl this month. So, with Turning Red going to streaming, the time for counter programming through indie and foreign titles is here. Hopefully your local theaters comply. If not, there are a few below hitting VOD too. You can go to Gotham and still return home for something more low-key.
And there’s always Oscars catch-up with the last few nominees finding their way to digital and/or streaming this month. That also means the alternative poster game has begun to increase in the lead-up to March 27’s ceremony. Here are some of my faves from Needle Design, Eileen Steinbach, Haley Turnbull, and Scott Saslow:
A familial pose
There are so many sightlines in P+A’s poster for After Yang that it’s impossible not to find your way through the entirety of the page.
And there’s always Oscars catch-up with the last few nominees finding their way to digital and/or streaming this month. That also means the alternative poster game has begun to increase in the lead-up to March 27’s ceremony. Here are some of my faves from Needle Design, Eileen Steinbach, Haley Turnbull, and Scott Saslow:
A familial pose
There are so many sightlines in P+A’s poster for After Yang that it’s impossible not to find your way through the entirety of the page.
- 3/3/2022
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
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