The action sequel set a record opening for Paramount in the territory.
Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (May 27-May 29) Total gross to date Week 1. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount) £11.2m £15.9m 1 2. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (Disney) £1.37m £37.7m 4 3. Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24) £486,829 £2.93m 3 4. Downton Abbey: A New Era (Universal)
£349,877 £13.3m 5 5. The Bob’s Burgers Movie (Disney) £346,592 £346,592 1
Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick has landed at the top of the UK-Ireland box office with an £11.2m three-day opening weekend – the highest opening of all-time for star Tom Cruise.
The highly anticipated sequel, released 36 years after 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, also...
Rank Film (distributor) Three-day gross (May 27-May 29) Total gross to date Week 1. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount) £11.2m £15.9m 1 2. Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness (Disney) £1.37m £37.7m 4 3. Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24) £486,829 £2.93m 3 4. Downton Abbey: A New Era (Universal)
£349,877 £13.3m 5 5. The Bob’s Burgers Movie (Disney) £346,592 £346,592 1
Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick has landed at the top of the UK-Ireland box office with an £11.2m three-day opening weekend – the highest opening of all-time for star Tom Cruise.
The highly anticipated sequel, released 36 years after 1986 blockbuster Top Gun, also...
- 5/30/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
‘Bob’s Burgers’, ‘Elizabeth: A Portrait In Parts’ competing with the blockbuster.
Long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick takes flight in 737 UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend through Paramount – the fifth widest opening of all time in the territory.
The number – coincidentally a significant one for the aviation industry – is also the third-widest opening for a 12A certificate film, behind Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker and No Time To Die.
Top Gun: Maverick is one of the last blockbusters that were originally scheduled for the pandemic months to hit cinemas. It was originally dated for July 12, 2019, before a delay to June 26, 2020 due filming certain action sequences.
Long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick takes flight in 737 UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend through Paramount – the fifth widest opening of all time in the territory.
The number – coincidentally a significant one for the aviation industry – is also the third-widest opening for a 12A certificate film, behind Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker and No Time To Die.
Top Gun: Maverick is one of the last blockbusters that were originally scheduled for the pandemic months to hit cinemas. It was originally dated for July 12, 2019, before a delay to June 26, 2020 due filming certain action sequences.
- 5/27/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Features: Harrison Ford (Narrator), Neil Armstrong, Mark Armstrong, Dave Scott, Gerry Griffin, Christopher Kraft | Directed by David Fairhead
In conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of humanity’s achievement of the moon landing in 1969, the world of late is currently inundated with cinema revolving around anything Apollo 11. Audiences were treated to a stunning portrait of Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle’s academy award-winning First Man in the latter half of 2018. This year audiences were once again treated to perhaps the most complete experience of the defining moment itself with Todd Douglas Miller’s masterful documentary Apollo 11. Two pieces of art that compliment both the extraordinary complex mission of landing man on the moon but also the blood, sweat and tears that pushed the three astronauts and the team to succeed.
To cap off an unofficial trilogy of sorts is David Fairhead’s Armstrong. A biopic of...
In conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of humanity’s achievement of the moon landing in 1969, the world of late is currently inundated with cinema revolving around anything Apollo 11. Audiences were treated to a stunning portrait of Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle’s academy award-winning First Man in the latter half of 2018. This year audiences were once again treated to perhaps the most complete experience of the defining moment itself with Todd Douglas Miller’s masterful documentary Apollo 11. Two pieces of art that compliment both the extraordinary complex mission of landing man on the moon but also the blood, sweat and tears that pushed the three astronauts and the team to succeed.
To cap off an unofficial trilogy of sorts is David Fairhead’s Armstrong. A biopic of...
- 7/26/2019
- by Jak-Luke Sharp
- Nerdly
To mark the release of Armstrong, out now, we’ve been given a merchandise bundle including an Armstrong poster signed by Mark Armstrong, Armstrong soundtrack, Foil from space (micro fragment -approx. 2mm- of genuine Apollo 11 Command Module “Columbia” flown kapton foil.), a Moon Rock Fragment, and a Blu-ray copy of Armstrong to give away.
Directed by David Fairhead (Spitfire) Armstrong is the definitive life story of Neil Armstrong: from his childhood in rural Ohio, through his near death experiences in aerial combat in the Korean War, pushing the limits as an experimental test pilot through to those historic first steps on the Moon – and the unwanted celebrity status that ensued. In his own words David said “Telling this story is a documentary filmmaker’s dream. When Neil made his small step onto the lunar surface, it marked his transformation from mere man to global celebrity – something he spent the...
Directed by David Fairhead (Spitfire) Armstrong is the definitive life story of Neil Armstrong: from his childhood in rural Ohio, through his near death experiences in aerial combat in the Korean War, pushing the limits as an experimental test pilot through to those historic first steps on the Moon – and the unwanted celebrity status that ensued. In his own words David said “Telling this story is a documentary filmmaker’s dream. When Neil made his small step onto the lunar surface, it marked his transformation from mere man to global celebrity – something he spent the...
- 7/19/2019
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Nostalgia is one helluva drug. For instance, it can make you feel like there was actually a day when the entire United States banded together — just weeks after the Stonewall riots, and in the thick of the Vietnam War, supported by a president who would soon be on the verge of impeachment — in sheer fascination and pride over the news that a man had landed on the moon. At least, that’s the way the story goes in director David Fairhead’s new documentary, “Armstrong.”
To be honest, the idyll that the country was united on July 20, 1969, came (ironically) from the aforementioned President Richard Nixon himself, who phoned astronaut Neil Armstrong to congratulate him for his momentous moon arrival but especially for prompting a national day of celebration, complete with parades and other fanfare.
It’s an alluring sentiment that permeates the entire film, which almost deifies the eponymous rocketeer,...
To be honest, the idyll that the country was united on July 20, 1969, came (ironically) from the aforementioned President Richard Nixon himself, who phoned astronaut Neil Armstrong to congratulate him for his momentous moon arrival but especially for prompting a national day of celebration, complete with parades and other fanfare.
It’s an alluring sentiment that permeates the entire film, which almost deifies the eponymous rocketeer,...
- 7/10/2019
- by Candice Frederick
- The Wrap
The Apollo 11 Moon Landing mission made history with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin being the first humans to walk on the Moon. The story of the men and women who made this extraordinary feat happen will be told over and over, and the latest iteration of this comes from David Fairhead. Armstrong tells the story of Neil Armstrong as told by those who knew him growing up to those who knew him after his historic space mission.
The film had its premiere here in London this evening with Dara O’Briain, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, David Fairhead (director) and a Us astronaut Nicole Stott were on the red carpet, and we were there to meet them.
Colin Hart and Brent Hart were on the red carpet and conducted these interviews.
Armstrong is out in UK & Irish cinemas on the 12th of July.
Armstrong Premiere Interviews
Synopsis
Directed by David Fairhead, Armstrong is...
The film had its premiere here in London this evening with Dara O’Briain, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, David Fairhead (director) and a Us astronaut Nicole Stott were on the red carpet, and we were there to meet them.
Colin Hart and Brent Hart were on the red carpet and conducted these interviews.
Armstrong is out in UK & Irish cinemas on the 12th of July.
Armstrong Premiere Interviews
Synopsis
Directed by David Fairhead, Armstrong is...
- 7/3/2019
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
In today’s film news roundup, a Neil Armstrong documentary and “The Invisible Man” get release dates, “Forrest Gump” and “Saving Private Ryan” get re-released and Patrick Fugit gets cast.
Release Dates
Gravitas Ventures has bought worldwide rights to the Neil Armstrong documentary “Armstrong” and will open the film on July 12 in theaters and on demand, Variety has learned exclusively.
“Armstrong,” featuring the voice of Harrison Ford, is directed by David Fairhead (“Spitfire” and “Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo”), and produced by Gareth Dodds and Keith Haviland (“The Last Man on the Moon”). The film will open eight days before the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.
“Armstrong” will include never-before-seen family home-movie footage and photos, showcasing Armstrong’s service as a fighter pilot in Korea, his test-pilot days, and the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions.
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Universal Pictures has set a March 13, 2020, release date for “The Invisible Man,...
Release Dates
Gravitas Ventures has bought worldwide rights to the Neil Armstrong documentary “Armstrong” and will open the film on July 12 in theaters and on demand, Variety has learned exclusively.
“Armstrong,” featuring the voice of Harrison Ford, is directed by David Fairhead (“Spitfire” and “Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo”), and produced by Gareth Dodds and Keith Haviland (“The Last Man on the Moon”). The film will open eight days before the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.
“Armstrong” will include never-before-seen family home-movie footage and photos, showcasing Armstrong’s service as a fighter pilot in Korea, his test-pilot days, and the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11 missions.
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Universal Pictures has set a March 13, 2020, release date for “The Invisible Man,...
- 5/21/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
A new documentary film about Neil Armstrong will use home videos shot by the man himself and unseen footage from Nasa to tell the celebrated U.S. astronaut’s life story. “Armstrong” is in production and will launch in 2019 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first moon landings.
The producers of “Armstrong,” Tin Goose Films, are well-versed in the subject of space exploration, having made feature documentaries “The Last Man on the Moon” and “Mission Control: The Unseen Heroes of Apollo,” which Variety called “an engrossing behind-the-scenes look at the flight controllers and support crews that helped America win the space race.”
“Armstrong” will deliver next spring. The documentary is one of a number of projects dealing with the 1969 lunar landing. Damien Chazelle’s “First Man,” which also centered on Armstrong, was released this year, and drama series “One Giant Leap,” produced by Mike Medavoy, is expected to...
The producers of “Armstrong,” Tin Goose Films, are well-versed in the subject of space exploration, having made feature documentaries “The Last Man on the Moon” and “Mission Control: The Unseen Heroes of Apollo,” which Variety called “an engrossing behind-the-scenes look at the flight controllers and support crews that helped America win the space race.”
“Armstrong” will deliver next spring. The documentary is one of a number of projects dealing with the 1969 lunar landing. Damien Chazelle’s “First Man,” which also centered on Armstrong, was released this year, and drama series “One Giant Leap,” produced by Mike Medavoy, is expected to...
- 12/5/2018
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Photo: Warner Bros).
Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts sequel worked its magic on moviegoers last weekend, ringing up $253.6 million worldwide as the Australian opening outshone the Us debut.
It was a buoyant frame in Oz, boosted by Trafalgar Releasing’s Burn the Stage: The Movie, while another alternate content release, Rialto’s Spitfire was less successful.
The Old Man & the Gun, which could be Robert Redford’s final screen role, is playing on limited screens in the Us but went out far wider here via eOne with modest results.
Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black reached $11.7 million after earning $74,000 in its ninth frame for Sony Pictures. Meanwhile Catherine Scott’s Backtrack Boys has generated $104,000 and Heath Davis’ comedy-drama Book Week has collected $34,000.
Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes, stole a respectable $52,000 on 15 screens and $161,000 including festival screenings and previews for Rialto.
Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts sequel worked its magic on moviegoers last weekend, ringing up $253.6 million worldwide as the Australian opening outshone the Us debut.
It was a buoyant frame in Oz, boosted by Trafalgar Releasing’s Burn the Stage: The Movie, while another alternate content release, Rialto’s Spitfire was less successful.
The Old Man & the Gun, which could be Robert Redford’s final screen role, is playing on limited screens in the Us but went out far wider here via eOne with modest results.
Bruce Beresford’s Ladies in Black reached $11.7 million after earning $74,000 in its ninth frame for Sony Pictures. Meanwhile Catherine Scott’s Backtrack Boys has generated $104,000 and Heath Davis’ comedy-drama Book Week has collected $34,000.
Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Shoplifters, which won the Palme d’Or in Cannes, stole a respectable $52,000 on 15 screens and $161,000 including festival screenings and previews for Rialto.
- 11/19/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
‘Mrs Lowry and Son.’
The arthouse market in Australia is alive and well but these days in concentrated largely on myriad film festivals, according to Rialto Distribution’s Kelly Rogers.
So Rogers and Lisa Garner, Rialto’s head of film, are aiming to fill a gap in the market for upmarket titles with cross-over potential.
“We’re looking for films and stories that we emotionally connect with and we can see have a clear audience – whatever the genre,” says Garner, who opened the Sydney office in February, taking over from Backlot Films.
“Yes the market is cluttered, but if a film emotionally engages and entertains an audience then the film will find its audience and level.
”As the market shifts and changes we generally buy films based on knowing there’s a strong audience, whether that’s in the theatrical arena or home entertainment or sometimes a film that could go either way.
The arthouse market in Australia is alive and well but these days in concentrated largely on myriad film festivals, according to Rialto Distribution’s Kelly Rogers.
So Rogers and Lisa Garner, Rialto’s head of film, are aiming to fill a gap in the market for upmarket titles with cross-over potential.
“We’re looking for films and stories that we emotionally connect with and we can see have a clear audience – whatever the genre,” says Garner, who opened the Sydney office in February, taking over from Backlot Films.
“Yes the market is cluttered, but if a film emotionally engages and entertains an audience then the film will find its audience and level.
”As the market shifts and changes we generally buy films based on knowing there’s a strong audience, whether that’s in the theatrical arena or home entertainment or sometimes a film that could go either way.
- 11/11/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
The film had a UK premiere last month in London.
Spitfire, a documentary about the iconic Second World War British aircraft, has secured a release in Australia and New Zealand through Rialto Distribution.
The film will open in New Zealand on September 6, with an Australian release date to be confirmed.
Rialto’s intention is to open in 50-70 screens in Australia, with the number for New Zealand to be decided.
Directed by Anthony Palmer and David Fairhead, Spitfire tells the story of the British aircraft the Supermarine ‘Spitfire’, which was a crucial part of the Battle of Britain during the Second World War,...
Spitfire, a documentary about the iconic Second World War British aircraft, has secured a release in Australia and New Zealand through Rialto Distribution.
The film will open in New Zealand on September 6, with an Australian release date to be confirmed.
Rialto’s intention is to open in 50-70 screens in Australia, with the number for New Zealand to be decided.
Directed by Anthony Palmer and David Fairhead, Spitfire tells the story of the British aircraft the Supermarine ‘Spitfire’, which was a crucial part of the Battle of Britain during the Second World War,...
- 8/7/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
"They say she was beautiful. A dream. But for all her good looks, she was also a killer." The story of the fighter plane and pilots that helped win the Battle of Britain in World War II. Spitfire is already playing in cinemas in the UK, but we haven't featured this trailer for it yet, so better late than never. David Fairhead & Ant Palmer's documentary Spitfire is an examination of the British fighter plane, that was used heavily by the British in WWII. It's also the plane that Tom Hardy flies in Dunkirk, for reference. Spitfire also explores how this extraordinary plane thrives today and how it has become an international icon. This film looks like much more than just a historical doc or an engineering doc, and there's some spectacular footage in this trailer alone. I'm really looking forward to catching up with this film, hopefully sometime soon.
- 8/1/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Released to mark the Raf’s centenary, this documentary brims with aerial footage of the plucky fighter that took on the might of the Luftwaffe
Post-Dunkirk and Darkest Hour, there will surely be more of these retrospectives on the horizon, harking back to an age when Britain laid claim to ruling waves and air alike.
David Fairhead and Ant Palmer’s documentary, released to mark the Raf’s centenary, bolsters its honourable core project – preserving the testimony of former Spitfire pilots – with material guaranteed to spike the pulse rates of aeronautical enthusiasts: footage of surviving Spits being wheeled out of museum storage; yards of scratchy combat film that underline how distant these halcyon days are; nuts-and-bolts analysis of the planes’ defensive strengths. Only belatedly does it consider whether these motorised killing machines might be as problematic as they are emblematic.
Post-Dunkirk and Darkest Hour, there will surely be more of these retrospectives on the horizon, harking back to an age when Britain laid claim to ruling waves and air alike.
David Fairhead and Ant Palmer’s documentary, released to mark the Raf’s centenary, bolsters its honourable core project – preserving the testimony of former Spitfire pilots – with material guaranteed to spike the pulse rates of aeronautical enthusiasts: footage of surviving Spits being wheeled out of museum storage; yards of scratchy combat film that underline how distant these halcyon days are; nuts-and-bolts analysis of the planes’ defensive strengths. Only belatedly does it consider whether these motorised killing machines might be as problematic as they are emblematic.
- 7/18/2018
- by Mike McCahill
- The Guardian - Film News
Gravitas Ventures boards feature doc.
Spitfire, the feature documentary about the renowned British fighter plane, has had its Us rights taken by Gravitas Ventures.
The film will have its Us premiere at the Eaa Airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin on July 23 and will subsequently have multiple screening events across the country at venues including museums and further air shows. It will also roll out digitally in the territory from July 27.
The news follows the doc’s UK premiere, which took place on July 9 in London. Altitude Films has UK rights and the film had a one-night special screening at 230 cinemas across...
Spitfire, the feature documentary about the renowned British fighter plane, has had its Us rights taken by Gravitas Ventures.
The film will have its Us premiere at the Eaa Airshow at Oshkosh, Wisconsin on July 23 and will subsequently have multiple screening events across the country at venues including museums and further air shows. It will also roll out digitally in the territory from July 27.
The news follows the doc’s UK premiere, which took place on July 9 in London. Altitude Films has UK rights and the film had a one-night special screening at 230 cinemas across...
- 7/18/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
British FIlm Company founder to focus on producing full time.
Steve Milne, the executive chairman of London post-production house Molinare, has left the company to focus full time on his production outfit British Film Company.
Milne was previously Molinare’s chief executive for seven years but left in 2010 to found his own production company and has since backed UK features including Journey’s End, Dad’s Army and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
He returned to Molinare in 2012 after it had been placed into administration, partnering with Julie Parmenter and Next Wave to buy the company’s assets and relaunch it,...
Steve Milne, the executive chairman of London post-production house Molinare, has left the company to focus full time on his production outfit British Film Company.
Milne was previously Molinare’s chief executive for seven years but left in 2010 to found his own production company and has since backed UK features including Journey’s End, Dad’s Army and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
He returned to Molinare in 2012 after it had been placed into administration, partnering with Julie Parmenter and Next Wave to buy the company’s assets and relaunch it,...
- 5/4/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: One of the most obvious but routinely encountered hazards for a growing distributor is over-reach: buying or marketing beyond your means. So far, that’s a pitfall UK outfit Altitude Films has avoided with aplomb.
Set up by former Optimum Releasing founder Will Clarke in 2012, the carefully managed integrated firm, comprising distribution, sales and production, is coming off its biggest year to date, despite the challenging UK landscape. Four movies crossed $1M for the distribution arm in 2017: Moonlight (which took a company record $6M), Loving Vincent ($1.4M), The Florida Project ($1.3M) and Lady Macbeth (1.1M). Six of the company’s top ten movies have been released in the last 12 months.
Much of the growing distribution slate is made up of rising UK talent (Michael Pearce’s Toronto drama Beast is released in around 70 screens this weekend), festival favorites and commercially-minded documentaries...
Set up by former Optimum Releasing founder Will Clarke in 2012, the carefully managed integrated firm, comprising distribution, sales and production, is coming off its biggest year to date, despite the challenging UK landscape. Four movies crossed $1M for the distribution arm in 2017: Moonlight (which took a company record $6M), Loving Vincent ($1.4M), The Florida Project ($1.3M) and Lady Macbeth (1.1M). Six of the company’s top ten movies have been released in the last 12 months.
Much of the growing distribution slate is made up of rising UK talent (Michael Pearce’s Toronto drama Beast is released in around 70 screens this weekend), festival favorites and commercially-minded documentaries...
- 4/26/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
You can feel the pull of contemporary sensitivities in Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo, when director David Fairhead sets up his lionization of Mission Control's buzz-cut, mostly white pioneers with an intro by two of the young women who do their jobs today. It isn't Fairhead's fault that the Nasa experts with a direct line to Buzz Aldrin et al were all dudes. Now, while a surprise Hollywood hit exposes the role of African-American "hidden figures" in the quest for space, Fairhead's straight-arrow documentary ensures that the better-known participants get more time in the spotlight while they can...
- 4/19/2017
- by John DeFore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gravitas Ventures has acquired worldwide rights to Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes Of Apollo, a documentary about the controllers and support teams inside Nasa’s Apollo space program who helped make it tick. The pic, which is making its world premiere next month at SXSW, will hit theaters and VOD on April 14. David Fairhead directed the docu, which was produced by Keith Haviland and Gareth Dodds. The trio was behind The Last Man On The Moon, the story of astronaut Gene…...
- 2/23/2017
- Deadline
Exclusive: The production and finance outfit is has also boarded the forthcoming Bert Trautmann feature.
UK production and finance outfit British Film Company, headed up by Moon co-producer Steve Milne, is working on a feature documentary about the iconic British aircraft the Supermarine ‘Spitfire’.
The film will chart the history of the plane, including first-hand accounts from veteran pilots. Aviation photographer John Dibbs is filming new footage with surviving Spitfires, while Ant Palmer and David Fairhead are directing.
British Film Company has also revealed that it is partnering with Munich-based Lieblingsfilm and London-based Zephyr Films on an English-language feature about famed German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, who died in 2013.
The $11m budget feature was launched at Cannes 2015. Marcus H. Rosenmuller is directing the biographical drama, producers are Chris Curling and Robert Marciniak.
Beta Cinema is acting as world sales agent and Square One Entertainment has taken German distribution rights. Principal photography is scheduled to get underway in Spring...
UK production and finance outfit British Film Company, headed up by Moon co-producer Steve Milne, is working on a feature documentary about the iconic British aircraft the Supermarine ‘Spitfire’.
The film will chart the history of the plane, including first-hand accounts from veteran pilots. Aviation photographer John Dibbs is filming new footage with surviving Spitfires, while Ant Palmer and David Fairhead are directing.
British Film Company has also revealed that it is partnering with Munich-based Lieblingsfilm and London-based Zephyr Films on an English-language feature about famed German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann, who died in 2013.
The $11m budget feature was launched at Cannes 2015. Marcus H. Rosenmuller is directing the biographical drama, producers are Chris Curling and Robert Marciniak.
Beta Cinema is acting as world sales agent and Square One Entertainment has taken German distribution rights. Principal photography is scheduled to get underway in Spring...
- 9/11/2016
- by tom.grater@screendaily.com (Tom Grater)
- ScreenDaily
[Premiere Screening: Friday, Jan. 21, 9:45 pm -- Broadway Centre Cinemas V, Salt Lake City]
If I am completely honest, I would say that the biggest surprise was getting into competition at Sundance! I took on The Flaw because it seemed like a really difficult project to pull off. The brief was to make a film about the fundamental underlying cause of the present economic crisis. The first problem was therefore to identify what that was, to get beyond the stories of Wall Street shenanigans (which were obviously a big part of what went wrong, but equally clearly not the whole story, since greed and stupidity are not 21st-century inventions) to the deeper forces (mis)shaping American capitalism.
In fact, I was not too worried about the content because I have discovered from experience that the process of making a documentary film — the months of research and thought, the privileged access (in this case to everyone from distressed homeowners to Wall Street insiders to the...
If I am completely honest, I would say that the biggest surprise was getting into competition at Sundance! I took on The Flaw because it seemed like a really difficult project to pull off. The brief was to make a film about the fundamental underlying cause of the present economic crisis. The first problem was therefore to identify what that was, to get beyond the stories of Wall Street shenanigans (which were obviously a big part of what went wrong, but equally clearly not the whole story, since greed and stupidity are not 21st-century inventions) to the deeper forces (mis)shaping American capitalism.
In fact, I was not too worried about the content because I have discovered from experience that the process of making a documentary film — the months of research and thought, the privileged access (in this case to everyone from distressed homeowners to Wall Street insiders to the...
- 1/19/2011
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
This review was written for the theatrical release of "In the Shadow of the Moon".The really surprising thing is that no one has made this film before. Thank goodness someone finally did, for the dozen men it celebrates -- the only human beings to have stood on an alien world -- won't be with us forever.
"In the Shadow of the Moon" unites 10 of the 12 astronauts who flew on nine Apollo missions and descended to the moon between 1968 and 1972 along with remastered archival footage from NASA, much never seen before. The value of this film, not just to moviegoers today but to future generations, is simply enormous.
Documentaries these days tend toward doom and gloom, so "Moon" is a welcome relief. The movie is about an uncontrovertibly glorious moment in U.S. history. ThinkFilm should see a nice run in art houses and perhaps beyond. The Discovery Films and Film 4 production is sure-fire TV and a collector's item on DVD for any space and history buff. If anything, when the film ends, you feel a bit like Olivier Twist, the boy who cried out for "more."
President Kennedy laid out the challenge for his country and for NASA in a speech to Congress in 1961, when he said that the U.S. intended to put a man on the moon by decade's end. It proved politically and psychologically vital to the national well being to successfully meet the late president's challenge. Assassinations, the Cold War, Vietnam, student protests and the civil rights agitation left the country in a surly mood. Here was something Americans as a people could get right. And they did.
Director David Sington achieves a rising sense of tension despite the fact that every viewer knows the outcome. He has superbly mixed astute interviews with the men who rode those rockets to glory with space footage that in many instances is jaw-dropping. From reams of footage, he has selected meaningful shots of the men in those tiny capsules and footage of the spacecraft doing its Herculean tasks. And by synching 16mm rolls shot in Mission Control with 16-track audio recordings of the mission controllers' voices, he has the viewer inside the beating, earthly heart of the mission.
You would expect highly educated men like astronauts to offer sagacious commentary, but what a surprise to encounter such wonderful characters. Mike Collins is chatty, witty and -- dare we say it -- so down to earth. Alan Bean is all emotions, loving the fact he had the "Right Stuff", as Tom Wolfe's book and the subsequent movie insisted, but admitting he was "one of the most fearful astronauts."
Buzz Aldrin has a touch of the poet and can see the meta in the physics. Jim Lovell, the calm commander of the near-miraculous Apollo 13 recovery, is the soul of equanimity and bemusement. Dave Scott is professorial though fully engaged. Edgar Mitchell has a touch of Zen, seeing in his own molecules, fashioned from a primordial stew of chemicals after the Big Bang a "connectedness, a oneness" between himself and space.
Conspicuously absent is the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, the most reclusive and publicity shy of the astronaut corps.
Sington and editor David Fairhead impose a solid structure, giving the race to get to the moon in the final months of 1969 priority up to the moment of the lunar landing, the most watched event on television in history. Then he rushes forward to future missions including the near disaster of Apollo 13, only to backtrack to the first moon walk and the tricky matter of Armstrong and Aldrin getting off the moon in their lunar module and back to Collins in the mother ship.
Along the way, the movie uncovers an astonishing clip of a prerecorded TV address by President Nixon to the nation in case the astronauts were unable to leave the lunar surface. The music from Philip Sheppard, which underscores the great space footage, is just right from popular to classical notes.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
ThinkFilm
A ThinkFilm, Discovery Films and Film 4 presentation in association with Dox Prods. and Passion Pictures
Credits:
Director: David Sington
Producer: Duncan Copp
Executive producers: Simon Andreae, John Battsek, Julie Goldman, Louisa Bolch, Hamish Mykura, David McNab, Billy Campbell, Andrea Meditch, Jane Root, Jeff Haslet
Director of photography: Clive North
Music: Philip Sheppard
Co-producer/assistant director: Christopher Riley
Editor: David Fairhead
Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating PG...
"In the Shadow of the Moon" unites 10 of the 12 astronauts who flew on nine Apollo missions and descended to the moon between 1968 and 1972 along with remastered archival footage from NASA, much never seen before. The value of this film, not just to moviegoers today but to future generations, is simply enormous.
Documentaries these days tend toward doom and gloom, so "Moon" is a welcome relief. The movie is about an uncontrovertibly glorious moment in U.S. history. ThinkFilm should see a nice run in art houses and perhaps beyond. The Discovery Films and Film 4 production is sure-fire TV and a collector's item on DVD for any space and history buff. If anything, when the film ends, you feel a bit like Olivier Twist, the boy who cried out for "more."
President Kennedy laid out the challenge for his country and for NASA in a speech to Congress in 1961, when he said that the U.S. intended to put a man on the moon by decade's end. It proved politically and psychologically vital to the national well being to successfully meet the late president's challenge. Assassinations, the Cold War, Vietnam, student protests and the civil rights agitation left the country in a surly mood. Here was something Americans as a people could get right. And they did.
Director David Sington achieves a rising sense of tension despite the fact that every viewer knows the outcome. He has superbly mixed astute interviews with the men who rode those rockets to glory with space footage that in many instances is jaw-dropping. From reams of footage, he has selected meaningful shots of the men in those tiny capsules and footage of the spacecraft doing its Herculean tasks. And by synching 16mm rolls shot in Mission Control with 16-track audio recordings of the mission controllers' voices, he has the viewer inside the beating, earthly heart of the mission.
You would expect highly educated men like astronauts to offer sagacious commentary, but what a surprise to encounter such wonderful characters. Mike Collins is chatty, witty and -- dare we say it -- so down to earth. Alan Bean is all emotions, loving the fact he had the "Right Stuff", as Tom Wolfe's book and the subsequent movie insisted, but admitting he was "one of the most fearful astronauts."
Buzz Aldrin has a touch of the poet and can see the meta in the physics. Jim Lovell, the calm commander of the near-miraculous Apollo 13 recovery, is the soul of equanimity and bemusement. Dave Scott is professorial though fully engaged. Edgar Mitchell has a touch of Zen, seeing in his own molecules, fashioned from a primordial stew of chemicals after the Big Bang a "connectedness, a oneness" between himself and space.
Conspicuously absent is the first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, the most reclusive and publicity shy of the astronaut corps.
Sington and editor David Fairhead impose a solid structure, giving the race to get to the moon in the final months of 1969 priority up to the moment of the lunar landing, the most watched event on television in history. Then he rushes forward to future missions including the near disaster of Apollo 13, only to backtrack to the first moon walk and the tricky matter of Armstrong and Aldrin getting off the moon in their lunar module and back to Collins in the mother ship.
Along the way, the movie uncovers an astonishing clip of a prerecorded TV address by President Nixon to the nation in case the astronauts were unable to leave the lunar surface. The music from Philip Sheppard, which underscores the great space footage, is just right from popular to classical notes.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
ThinkFilm
A ThinkFilm, Discovery Films and Film 4 presentation in association with Dox Prods. and Passion Pictures
Credits:
Director: David Sington
Producer: Duncan Copp
Executive producers: Simon Andreae, John Battsek, Julie Goldman, Louisa Bolch, Hamish Mykura, David McNab, Billy Campbell, Andrea Meditch, Jane Root, Jeff Haslet
Director of photography: Clive North
Music: Philip Sheppard
Co-producer/assistant director: Christopher Riley
Editor: David Fairhead
Running time -- 100 minutes
MPAA rating PG...
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