The 2024 Atx TV Festival will close out its 13th season with a celebration of TV icon Norman Lear, Variety can exclusively announce.
“Norman Lear’s TV for the People: Script Reading and Conversation” will honor the legendary television producer and activist, who died in December 2023, with a night of comedy and conversation. There will be two live script readings — one of the groundbreaking abortion episode from “Maude” and the second of a classic episode from “Good Times.” Guest actors will read for each role, including Katey Sagal (in the role of “Maude”), Phil Rosenthal (in the role of “Walter Findlay”), Danny Pino (in the role of “Dr. Arthur Harmon”), Dulé Hill (in the role of “James Evans Sr.”).
The script readings will be followed by a conversation with Lear’s former collaborators and friends discussing his approach to TV and his ability to use the sitcom format to have important conversations.
“Norman Lear’s TV for the People: Script Reading and Conversation” will honor the legendary television producer and activist, who died in December 2023, with a night of comedy and conversation. There will be two live script readings — one of the groundbreaking abortion episode from “Maude” and the second of a classic episode from “Good Times.” Guest actors will read for each role, including Katey Sagal (in the role of “Maude”), Phil Rosenthal (in the role of “Walter Findlay”), Danny Pino (in the role of “Dr. Arthur Harmon”), Dulé Hill (in the role of “James Evans Sr.”).
The script readings will be followed by a conversation with Lear’s former collaborators and friends discussing his approach to TV and his ability to use the sitcom format to have important conversations.
- 4/25/2024
- by Emily Longeretta
- Variety Film + TV
Heard Storytelling is launching a new, inspirational series of podcasts, where the power of spoken stories take centre stage.
The Manchester based spoken stories company specialises in creating safe and empowering opportunities to tell true stories out loud. They do this to create a platform for unheard voices, with the aim of bringing communities closer, making businesses better and ultimately deepening connections. Recent Heard exhibitions include Proud, a nationwide audio-visual exhibition that amplifies the voices of the Lgbtqia+ community, ‘Rise: Stories of Healing & Hope’, an outdoor exhibition commissioned by the Manchester Institute of Health and Performance (Mihp) to showcase the transformative impact of Mihp’s rehabilitation programmes, and ‘Take Heart’, an initiative to support Nuffield’s ‘Under Pressure’ campaign, in which Heard developed true stories of love with the community, culminating with a street art mural, a vibrant emblem of love, unity and storytelling’s power to connect.
Launching on February 27th,...
The Manchester based spoken stories company specialises in creating safe and empowering opportunities to tell true stories out loud. They do this to create a platform for unheard voices, with the aim of bringing communities closer, making businesses better and ultimately deepening connections. Recent Heard exhibitions include Proud, a nationwide audio-visual exhibition that amplifies the voices of the Lgbtqia+ community, ‘Rise: Stories of Healing & Hope’, an outdoor exhibition commissioned by the Manchester Institute of Health and Performance (Mihp) to showcase the transformative impact of Mihp’s rehabilitation programmes, and ‘Take Heart’, an initiative to support Nuffield’s ‘Under Pressure’ campaign, in which Heard developed true stories of love with the community, culminating with a street art mural, a vibrant emblem of love, unity and storytelling’s power to connect.
Launching on February 27th,...
- 2/27/2024
- Podnews.net
Showtime’s “Yellowjackets” has officially submitted 18 actors for Emmys consideration, and as part of the show’s campaign, the network has released several FYC posters for each character.
Melanie Lynskey, who earned a nomination last year for playing Shauna, will be joined by Tawny Cypress (Taissa), Juliette Lewis (Natalie) and Sophie Nélisse, who plays the teen version of Shauna, in outstanding lead actress.
Christina Ricci (Misty), Samantha Hanratty (Teen Misty), Courtney Eaton (Teen Lottie), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Teen Taissa), Lauren Ambrose (Adult Van), Sophie Thatcher (Teen Nat) and Simone Kessell (Adult Lottie) are among those vying for outstanding supporting actress. Both Eaton and Kessell are among the Aapi contenders. Should Kessell be recognized for her portrayal of Adult Lottie, she would be the first Pacific Islander to receive a nod in that category. Meanwhile, Kevin Alves (Teen Travis), Steven Krueger (Coach Ben), Elijah Wood (Walter) and Warren Kole (Jeff) will...
Melanie Lynskey, who earned a nomination last year for playing Shauna, will be joined by Tawny Cypress (Taissa), Juliette Lewis (Natalie) and Sophie Nélisse, who plays the teen version of Shauna, in outstanding lead actress.
Christina Ricci (Misty), Samantha Hanratty (Teen Misty), Courtney Eaton (Teen Lottie), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Teen Taissa), Lauren Ambrose (Adult Van), Sophie Thatcher (Teen Nat) and Simone Kessell (Adult Lottie) are among those vying for outstanding supporting actress. Both Eaton and Kessell are among the Aapi contenders. Should Kessell be recognized for her portrayal of Adult Lottie, she would be the first Pacific Islander to receive a nod in that category. Meanwhile, Kevin Alves (Teen Travis), Steven Krueger (Coach Ben), Elijah Wood (Walter) and Warren Kole (Jeff) will...
- 6/20/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Chicago – It’s summer camp time, and what better destination for budding cinephiles then Film Camp! Facets cinema a variety of film classes both in-person. virtual/online and hybrids for children/teens from ages eight to 17. For more information and tuition fees, click here.
Classes offered include Editing 101, Digital Animation, Storytelling with Scratch Animation, Advanced Storytelling with Scratch Animation, Advanced Editing, Zoom Filmmaking, Fun with Foley: Sound Effects & Design, and Facets’ flagship camp, Film 101. Camps will take place online, as hybrids, and in-person, the latter at Facets, located at 1517 W. Fullerton Avenue in Chicago. For all the camps, space will be limited and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Facets Summer Film Camp, June 23rd through August 27th, 2021
Photo credit: Facets.org
Facets is dedicated to creating platforms for thought-provoking films, important conversations, and community-driven education A landmark destination for generations of cinephiles, Facets inspires audiences to actively engage with film,...
Classes offered include Editing 101, Digital Animation, Storytelling with Scratch Animation, Advanced Storytelling with Scratch Animation, Advanced Editing, Zoom Filmmaking, Fun with Foley: Sound Effects & Design, and Facets’ flagship camp, Film 101. Camps will take place online, as hybrids, and in-person, the latter at Facets, located at 1517 W. Fullerton Avenue in Chicago. For all the camps, space will be limited and registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.
Facets Summer Film Camp, June 23rd through August 27th, 2021
Photo credit: Facets.org
Facets is dedicated to creating platforms for thought-provoking films, important conversations, and community-driven education A landmark destination for generations of cinephiles, Facets inspires audiences to actively engage with film,...
- 6/16/2021
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
“The Good Doctor” actor Nicholas Gonzalez says Latinx representation in media is often stereotyped, and even when it isn’t, the characters are only temporary.
“I was thankful to be … doing a very positive portrayal of a high-achieving cardiothoracic surgeon who happened to be Latino, which I think was a very good representation of the heights we can ascend to, those kinds of roles we’re talking about having, and they killed him,” the actor said during SAG-AFTRA’s Race & Storytelling: Through the Latino Lens virtual panel on Tuesday. “We don’t last.”
Moderated by “Good Day LA” anchor Amanda Salas, panelists also included actors Dan Bucatinsky and Nicholas Gonzalez, casting director Carla Hool, Broken English Productions president Jolene Rodriguez and “One Day at a Time” showrunner Gloria Calderon Kellett.
Latinx roles make up 3-5% of the lead parts in Hollywood despite making up around 17% of the overall United States population.
“I was thankful to be … doing a very positive portrayal of a high-achieving cardiothoracic surgeon who happened to be Latino, which I think was a very good representation of the heights we can ascend to, those kinds of roles we’re talking about having, and they killed him,” the actor said during SAG-AFTRA’s Race & Storytelling: Through the Latino Lens virtual panel on Tuesday. “We don’t last.”
Moderated by “Good Day LA” anchor Amanda Salas, panelists also included actors Dan Bucatinsky and Nicholas Gonzalez, casting director Carla Hool, Broken English Productions president Jolene Rodriguez and “One Day at a Time” showrunner Gloria Calderon Kellett.
Latinx roles make up 3-5% of the lead parts in Hollywood despite making up around 17% of the overall United States population.
- 9/30/2020
- by Eli Countryman
- Variety Film + TV
Solveig Langeland’s Stuttgart-based sales agency Sola Media has sold CGI animated feature film “Moonbound” to multiple territories.
The film, directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi on a production budget of around $9 million, will be released in Germany and Austria by Little Dreams and Warner Bros. on 600 screens next year.
Among the buyers so far are France (Kmbo), Spain (Flins & Piniculas), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Hungary (Ads), Greece (Tanweer), Benelux (Paradiso), Norway (Storytelling) and Denmark (Angel Films).
Other territories include the former Yugoslavia (McF), Romania (Idea), Baltics (Acme), Poland (Forum Film), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Forum Film), Turkey (Filmarti), Israel (Filmhouse) and Middle East (Gulf Films).
The film follows the adventures of Peter, who sets out on a magical journey to the moon to rescue his little sister Anne, who was kidnapped by the evil Moon Man when she tried to help the beetle Mr. Zoomzeman to find his wife. Peter lands...
The film, directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi on a production budget of around $9 million, will be released in Germany and Austria by Little Dreams and Warner Bros. on 600 screens next year.
Among the buyers so far are France (Kmbo), Spain (Flins & Piniculas), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), Hungary (Ads), Greece (Tanweer), Benelux (Paradiso), Norway (Storytelling) and Denmark (Angel Films).
Other territories include the former Yugoslavia (McF), Romania (Idea), Baltics (Acme), Poland (Forum Film), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Forum Film), Turkey (Filmarti), Israel (Filmhouse) and Middle East (Gulf Films).
The film follows the adventures of Peter, who sets out on a magical journey to the moon to rescue his little sister Anne, who was kidnapped by the evil Moon Man when she tried to help the beetle Mr. Zoomzeman to find his wife. Peter lands...
- 6/25/2020
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
A panel of producers discussed the ways in which stories and narrative models will change in the wake of the pandemic in a webinar organised by Rome’s Mia Market. How will stories change? What forms will narrative and, therefore, production models take after the pandemic? It’s a question that’s often been asked during lockdown and it’s been talked about once again within the “Storytelling and Audiovisual Production in Post-Covid Italy” seminar, an event organised by the Mia, Rome’s International Audiovisual Market which brought together the CEO & Head of International Co-productions and Development at Fabula Pictures (part of the Federation Entertainment Group) Nicola De Angelis, Head of Development & Production at Rodeo Drive Francesca Di Donna, Giuseppe Saccà of Pepito Produzioni and CEO of Aurora TV Gian Andrea Pecorelli. The racial tensions which have flared in the wake of George Floyd’s death in America formed the basis of a reflection.
TrustNordisk has close several territory deals on “The Other Lamb,” Malgorzata Szumowska’s English-language debut, which competed at last year’s San Sebastian and played at Toronto.
Tackling patriarchy in a bold way, the Irish psychological drama revolves around a cult, called the Flock, and is told through the eyes of 15-year-old Selah, played by British up-and-comer Raffey Cassidy.
“The Other Lamb” was acquired for Latin America (California Filmes/Global Media Distribution), Ukraine and Russia, (Capella Films), Albania, Slovenia and other Eastern European territories (Cinemania Groupicon), Estonia (Estin Film), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Poland (Kino Swiat), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Lithuania (Scanorama / Kino Aljausas), Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg (September Film Rights), Hungary (Vertigo Media) and Romania (Zeradia Storytelling). UTA previously sold the film to IFC. Mubi has rights for the U.K. and Ireland.
Written by the award-winning Australian screenwriter Catherine S. McMullen, “The Other Lamb” follows the journey of...
Tackling patriarchy in a bold way, the Irish psychological drama revolves around a cult, called the Flock, and is told through the eyes of 15-year-old Selah, played by British up-and-comer Raffey Cassidy.
“The Other Lamb” was acquired for Latin America (California Filmes/Global Media Distribution), Ukraine and Russia, (Capella Films), Albania, Slovenia and other Eastern European territories (Cinemania Groupicon), Estonia (Estin Film), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Poland (Kino Swiat), Taiwan (Moviecloud), Lithuania (Scanorama / Kino Aljausas), Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg (September Film Rights), Hungary (Vertigo Media) and Romania (Zeradia Storytelling). UTA previously sold the film to IFC. Mubi has rights for the U.K. and Ireland.
Written by the award-winning Australian screenwriter Catherine S. McMullen, “The Other Lamb” follows the journey of...
- 2/22/2020
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
We came, we saw, we occasionally got altitude sickness and we watched a shitload of movies — this is what we do every January when we head out to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival, that annual mixer of hopeful first-time filmmakers, indie-cinema veterans, boundary-tweaking visual artists, industry movers and shakers, cine-curious locals, jaded critics and the odd Angeleno complaining about the cold.
The one common thread among this congregation is, and always has been, a dedicated love of the movies; you could throw a relentless need to see where the medium is headed,...
The one common thread among this congregation is, and always has been, a dedicated love of the movies; you could throw a relentless need to see where the medium is headed,...
- 2/3/2019
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
John Goodman shockingly never won an Emmy for his role as working-class father Dan Conner in “Roseanne” despite competing seven consecutive times as Best Comedy Actor for the ABC sitcom (1989-1995). He did eventually win as Best Drama Guest Actor in 2007 for “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” but now he could finally cash in that “Roseanne” Emmy I.O.U. with the upcoming series revival, premiering on Tuesday, March 27. But Goodman hasn’t only made a name for himself on TV. In honor of his return to the small screen, let’s take a look back at some of his best big-screen performances. Tour through our photo gallery above of Goodman’s 20 greatest films, ranked from worst to best.
Surprisingly (and criminally), not one of these roles brought Goodman an Oscar nomination. He did compete at the Golden Globes as Best Supporting Actor for “Barton Fink” (1991), but the academy...
Surprisingly (and criminally), not one of these roles brought Goodman an Oscar nomination. He did compete at the Golden Globes as Best Supporting Actor for “Barton Fink” (1991), but the academy...
- 3/27/2018
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
Junebug producer Mike Ryan and Phyllis Laing of Buffalo Gal Pictures among expert advisors.
Training and networking programme Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) has unveiled the 2017 schedule of training modules connecting international producers with a special emphasis on co-productions.
Tap is holding training modules in Berlin from June 21-24 and Halifax, Canada, from September 12-17, when participants will also attend as delegates the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners co-production market.
The programme provides networking and expert insight for film and TV producers from the Us, Canada and international markets.
This year’s experts include Mike Ryan of Greyshack Films (Junebug), Phyllis Laing of Buffalo Gal Pictures (Aloft), Canada Media Fund director of programme management Nathalie Clermont, German attorney Kai May, and Jeff Boone, manager of global scripted development at eOne Television USA.
Participating Us producers:
Allison Carter, Savage Rose; Reena Dutt, Painted Tree Productions & Off-Chance Productions; Kiara C Jones, Cultivated Films; Carolyn Mao; and Trevite Willis, [link...
Training and networking programme Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) has unveiled the 2017 schedule of training modules connecting international producers with a special emphasis on co-productions.
Tap is holding training modules in Berlin from June 21-24 and Halifax, Canada, from September 12-17, when participants will also attend as delegates the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners co-production market.
The programme provides networking and expert insight for film and TV producers from the Us, Canada and international markets.
This year’s experts include Mike Ryan of Greyshack Films (Junebug), Phyllis Laing of Buffalo Gal Pictures (Aloft), Canada Media Fund director of programme management Nathalie Clermont, German attorney Kai May, and Jeff Boone, manager of global scripted development at eOne Television USA.
Participating Us producers:
Allison Carter, Savage Rose; Reena Dutt, Painted Tree Productions & Off-Chance Productions; Kiara C Jones, Cultivated Films; Carolyn Mao; and Trevite Willis, [link...
- 6/19/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Junebug producer Mike Ryan and Phyllis Laing of Buffalo Gal Pictures among expert advisors.
Training and networking programme Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) has unveiled the 2017 schedule of training modules connecting international producers with a special emphasis on co-productions.
Tap is holding training modules in Berlin from June 21-24 and Halifax, Canada, from September 12-17, when participants will also attend as delegates the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners co-production market.
The programme provides networking and expert insight for film and TV producers from the Us, Canada and international markets.
This year’s experts include Mike Ryan of Greyshack Films (Junebug), Phyllis Laing of Buffalo Gal Pictures (Aloft), Canada Media Fund director of programme management Nathalie Clermont, German attorney Kai May, and Jeff Boone, manager of global scripted development at eOne Television USA.
Participating Us producers:
Allison Carter, Savage Rose; Reena Dutt, Painted Tree Productions & Off-Chance Productions; Kiara C Jones, Cultivated Films; Carolyn Mao; and Trevite Willis, [link...
Training and networking programme Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap) has unveiled the 2017 schedule of training modules connecting international producers with a special emphasis on co-productions.
Tap is holding training modules in Berlin from June 21-24 and Halifax, Canada, from September 12-17, when participants will also attend as delegates the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners co-production market.
The programme provides networking and expert insight for film and TV producers from the Us, Canada and international markets.
This year’s experts include Mike Ryan of Greyshack Films (Junebug), Phyllis Laing of Buffalo Gal Pictures (Aloft), Canada Media Fund director of programme management Nathalie Clermont, German attorney Kai May, and Jeff Boone, manager of global scripted development at eOne Television USA.
Participating Us producers:
Allison Carter, Savage Rose; Reena Dutt, Painted Tree Productions & Off-Chance Productions; Kiara C Jones, Cultivated Films; Carolyn Mao; and Trevite Willis, [link...
- 6/19/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.
– Kino Lorber has acquired the North American rights to Bill Morrison’s “Dawson City: Frozen Time,” about the true history of a collection of 533 reels of film (representing 372 titles) dating from the 1910s to 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory. The film tells the unique history of a Canadian gold rush town and how cinema, capitalism and history intersect.
“Dawson City” had its world premiere at the 73rd Venice Film Festival and North American premiere at 2016 New York Film Festival. The film also played at the BFI/London Film Festival and the 2017 Rotterdam International Film Festival, and screened Thursday at the TCM...
– Kino Lorber has acquired the North American rights to Bill Morrison’s “Dawson City: Frozen Time,” about the true history of a collection of 533 reels of film (representing 372 titles) dating from the 1910s to 1920s, which were lost for over 50 years until being discovered buried in a sub-arctic swimming pool deep in the Yukon Territory. The film tells the unique history of a Canadian gold rush town and how cinema, capitalism and history intersect.
“Dawson City” had its world premiere at the 73rd Venice Film Festival and North American premiere at 2016 New York Film Festival. The film also played at the BFI/London Film Festival and the 2017 Rotterdam International Film Festival, and screened Thursday at the TCM...
- 4/7/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film and TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best film in theaters right now?”, can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: In dubious honor of “Fifty Shades Darker,” what is the most ridiculous sex scene from a movie?
Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC), Vulture/Film Comment
I’m sure others will easily top this, but I always think of Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone in the terrible 1994 action film “The Specialist,” having laboriously glossy, oiled, carefully pube-concealing, solemn, positionally exhausting intercourse while mouthing tedious expository dialogue in a shower that appears to be the size of a studio apartment. The 90s were a boom time for bad movie sex, and this is Hall of Fame level in that so much money, time and effort has gone...
This week’s question: In dubious honor of “Fifty Shades Darker,” what is the most ridiculous sex scene from a movie?
Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC), Vulture/Film Comment
I’m sure others will easily top this, but I always think of Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone in the terrible 1994 action film “The Specialist,” having laboriously glossy, oiled, carefully pube-concealing, solemn, positionally exhausting intercourse while mouthing tedious expository dialogue in a shower that appears to be the size of a studio apartment. The 90s were a boom time for bad movie sex, and this is Hall of Fame level in that so much money, time and effort has gone...
- 2/13/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
There's a twisted little reveal at the end of M. Night Shyamalan's multiple personalities horror flick, Split -- though, that shouldn't come as a surprise to fans of the director, as an Omg!-worthy twist in the final act of the film has become his calling card in Hollywood. (Which wasn't always the case, as -- twist! -- he also wrote the script for Stuart Little.) As for how it stacks up against the twists of Shyamalan films past, we won't divulge the ending of Split here, but...
Massive spoilers for all other M. Night Shyamalan films ahead.
For Shyamalan's part, his favorite of his twists is in Signs. "I don’t know why, I find it so spiritual," he told Et. "The guy who lost faith and then remembers what his wife said. Then, he looks around the room and sees that his wife was talking about this moment. It always...
Massive spoilers for all other M. Night Shyamalan films ahead.
For Shyamalan's part, his favorite of his twists is in Signs. "I don’t know why, I find it so spiritual," he told Et. "The guy who lost faith and then remembers what his wife said. Then, he looks around the room and sees that his wife was talking about this moment. It always...
- 1/18/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
The festival’s Zabaltegi strand is introducing a competition for the first time.
The 64th San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 16-24) has completed the line-up for its Zabaltegi-Tabakalera strand, which will be competitive for the first time.
New additions include sci-fi Midnight Special from Us filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud), which premiered at the Berlinale in February.
Todd Solondz comedy-drama Wiener-Dog, first seen at Sundance in January, has also been selected for the strand. It marks the third time the Us writer/director has been chosen for Zabaltegi, after presenting Happiness in 1998 and Storytelling in 2001.
As previously announced, Bertrand Tavernier’s Voyage A Travers Le Cinema Francais (A Journey Through French Cinema) will open the strand.
Other highlights include Gimme Danger, Jim Jarmusch’s documentary about Iggy Pop and The Stooges, which premired at Cannes in May.
Also in the line-up is Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues’s fifth feature O Ornitólogo (L’Ornithologue), playing in competition...
The 64th San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 16-24) has completed the line-up for its Zabaltegi-Tabakalera strand, which will be competitive for the first time.
New additions include sci-fi Midnight Special from Us filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud), which premiered at the Berlinale in February.
Todd Solondz comedy-drama Wiener-Dog, first seen at Sundance in January, has also been selected for the strand. It marks the third time the Us writer/director has been chosen for Zabaltegi, after presenting Happiness in 1998 and Storytelling in 2001.
As previously announced, Bertrand Tavernier’s Voyage A Travers Le Cinema Francais (A Journey Through French Cinema) will open the strand.
Other highlights include Gimme Danger, Jim Jarmusch’s documentary about Iggy Pop and The Stooges, which premired at Cannes in May.
Also in the line-up is Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues’s fifth feature O Ornitólogo (L’Ornithologue), playing in competition...
- 8/11/2016
- ScreenDaily
Todd Solondz has been exploring his animal side. Granted, the films that first placed him at the forefront of independent American auteur cinema – Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Happiness (1998), Storytelling (2001), and Palindromes (2004) – were well-acquainted with the bestial side of human behavior, offering unflinching and sometimes repulsive examinations of bullying, pedophilia, abortion activism, racial fetishization and the adhesive properties of semen. Since 2009’s Life During Wartime, a theoretical sequel to Happiness, Solondz has toned down the bad-boy transgressions of his first few films, allowing his humanist sympathies to rise to the surface. Building on the structural aspects […]...
- 6/29/2016
- by Michael Sicinski
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Of the seven feature films in his just under two decade filmography, Todd Solondz has landed in Park City twice with 1996’s Welcome to the Dollhouse (Grand Jury Prize Dramatic winner) and 2002’s Storytelling. In our books, Wiener-Dog is the most anticipated sequel for 2016 and perhaps the elusive Cannes Main Comp berth (Solondz has only shown in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight sections) will make this a Sundance longshot. Principal photography began in June with a zany cast comprised of Brie Larson, Danny DeVito, Ellen Burstyn, Julie Delpy, Greta Gerwig (see takes on the updated version of Heather Matarazzo’s Dawn character from Welcome to the Dollhouse), Zosia Mamet, Kieran Culkin, Michael James Shaw, Tracy Letts and Devin Druid (Louder Than Bombs). It’ll be fun to see where the Wiener family tree updates occur and to be expected a generous dose of discomfort and joy marinated in...
- 11/26/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Todd Solondz has indeed assembled a thoroughly Solondz-esque cast for his next film "Wiener-Dog." As previously announced, Julie Delpy and Greta Gerwig will lead an ensemble that now features Kieran Culkin, Danny DeVito, Brie Larson, Ellen Burstyn, Zosia Mamet and playwright Tracy Letts. The film tells several stories revolving around one particular dachshund who, according to Annapurna Pictures, "seems to be spreading comfort and joy." Let it be known that in Solondz's world grotesque yet lovable misanthropes, from "Happiness" to "Storytelling" and most recently "Dark Horse," all is never what it seems. Read More: Todd Solondz on 'Dark Horse' and His Career: 'Expectations work against me' One character returning from his cabinet of weirdos is Dawn Wiener (Gerwig), the unpopular, scrunchy-wearing, sourly nicknamed 7th grade suburbanite immortalized by Heather Matarazzo in 1995 cult black comedy "Welcome to the...
- 6/25/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Complete list of winners and nominees of the 2014 Grammy Awards, held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center on Sunday February 8. Winners will be updated as they're announced during the telecast and pre-telecast. Record Of The Year “Fancy,” Iggy Azalea Featuring Charli Xcx “Chandelier,” Sia **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” Sam Smith “Shake It Off,” Taylor Swift “All About That Bass,” Meghan Trainor Album Of The Year **Winner** “Morning Phase,” Beck “Beyoncé,” Beyoncé “X,” Ed Sheeran “In The Lonely Hour,” Sam Smith “Girl,” Pharrell Williams Song Of The Year “All About That Bass,” Kevin Kadish & Meghan Trainor, songwriters (Meghan Trainor) “Chandelier,” Sia Furler & Jesse Shatkin, songwriters (Sia) “Shake It Off,” Max Martin, Shellback & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift) **Winner** “Stay With Me (Darkchild Version),” James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith, songwriters (Sam Smith) “Take Me To Church,” Andrew Hozier-Byrne, songwriter (Hozier) Best New Artist Iggy Azalea Bastille Brandy Clark...
- 2/8/2015
- by Donna Dickens
- Hitfix
Two decades on from his breakout second feature, Todd Solondz is returning to the world of Welcome To The Dollhouse. He's putting together a sort-of sequel, Wiener-Dog, which will in part pick up the story of erstwhile downtrodden teenager Dawn Wiener. Greta Gerwig and Julie Delpy are in talks to star.'Wiener-Dog' was the unkind nickname given to the awkward Dawn in the original film, but this time around it has a double meaning. The follow-up will be an ensemble drama covering multiple characters, all of whose stories are linked by a life-changing dachshund. So there's some whimsy amid the angst, as you might predict from the writer/director who followed Dollhouse with Happiness and Storytelling. Dawn was famously played by the 11-year-old Indie Spirit award-winning Heather Matarazzo last time, but while Matarazzo is still acting and producing, THR confirms that she is definitely not involved in recreating her signature role.
- 10/24/2014
- EmpireOnline
This weekend marks the limited and VOD release of God Help the Girl, a musical from Stuart Murdoch, best known as the lead singer of Belle and Sebastian. God Help the Girl, which emerged out of a musical side project for Murdoch, follows three friends who start a band during a summer in Glasgow. It has, yes, been described as “twee,” a word now practically synonymous with Belle and Sebastian.
Belle and Sebastian’s music—cheery melodies paired with vivid, often melancholy lyrics—often feels cinematic, thanks to the band’s knack for weaving intricate mini-stories. In that way, it...
Belle and Sebastian’s music—cheery melodies paired with vivid, often melancholy lyrics—often feels cinematic, thanks to the band’s knack for weaving intricate mini-stories. In that way, it...
- 9/5/2014
- by Esther Zuckerman
- EW - Inside Movies
Belle and Sebastian honcho Stuart Murdoch's first foray into the world of film, God Help the Girl, will see release in theaters and on-demand on September 5th. The movie tells the story of Eve, an aspiring songwriter who meets fellow musicians James and Cassie during her first summer in Glasgow. Murdoch wrote and directed the film, and has now released a clip in which the trio's newly formed pop outfit performs one of Eve's songs for the first time.
"This is the first time that the three friends get together with the other musicians,...
"This is the first time that the three friends get together with the other musicians,...
- 8/15/2014
- Rollingstone.com
Belle & Sebastian lead singer Stuart Murdoch’s first feature film, God Help The Girl, is a musical with an indie rock soundtrack, so comparisons to another Sundance breakout – the 2007 Glen Hansard musical Once – are only natural. But in fact, Murdoch’s film has been in the works since before Once was even a glimmer in Dublin’s eye. Back in 2003, Murdoch started work on a song that came to him during a morning run. In between working on three Belle & Sebastian records and touring with the band, Murdoch began working on a series of songs that were released as a...
- 1/20/2014
- by Laura Hertzfeld
- EW - Inside Movies
Awgie-nominated scriptwriter Mia Tolhurst has died in Melbourne as a result of complications following heart surgery. She was 36.
Mia grew up in Launceston and got her first TV job in year 10 when she compiled a report for the ABC about her high school leavers. dinner.. She studied at Rmit and was awarded the Rmit Award in 1999 for the most outstanding student.
Early in her career she worked as a research consultant for Cinemedia, an associate producer for ABC Education online and project co-ordinator/writer. for the Village Roadshow/Network online entertainment service Scape.
Her screenwriting credits included Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (seasons 1 & 2), City Homicide and episodes of Neighbours. She was nominated for an Awgie in 2011 for her City Homicide episode Last Man Standing.
.Mia loved television, both working in it and watching it,. said her partner Andrew Barnett. .More than that, she was addicted to great stories. Story telling was...
Mia grew up in Launceston and got her first TV job in year 10 when she compiled a report for the ABC about her high school leavers. dinner.. She studied at Rmit and was awarded the Rmit Award in 1999 for the most outstanding student.
Early in her career she worked as a research consultant for Cinemedia, an associate producer for ABC Education online and project co-ordinator/writer. for the Village Roadshow/Network online entertainment service Scape.
Her screenwriting credits included Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (seasons 1 & 2), City Homicide and episodes of Neighbours. She was nominated for an Awgie in 2011 for her City Homicide episode Last Man Standing.
.Mia loved television, both working in it and watching it,. said her partner Andrew Barnett. .More than that, she was addicted to great stories. Story telling was...
- 11/8/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Tribeca’s 12th annual festival, running from April 17-28, recently announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections. According to Tribeca’s website, “The Spotlight section features 33 films — 21 narratives and 12 documentaries — that blur the lines of independent and mainstream filmmaking. Twenty-three films in the selection will have their world premieres at the Festival, a record number for the section.” See below for the official press release of this year’s lineup in all four categories.
2013 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Selections
For Spotlight, Midnight And New Storyscapes Sections, And Special Screenings
First-ever Storyscapes Section Showcases Innovative New Media Projects with Cross-platform Approaches to Storytelling
The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections, projects in the new Storyscapes section and Special Screenings. The 12th edition of the Festival will take place from April 17 to April 28 in New York City.
The Spotlight...
2013 Tribeca Film Festival Announces Selections
For Spotlight, Midnight And New Storyscapes Sections, And Special Screenings
First-ever Storyscapes Section Showcases Innovative New Media Projects with Cross-platform Approaches to Storytelling
The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff) announced its feature film selections in the Spotlight and Midnight sections, projects in the new Storyscapes section and Special Screenings. The 12th edition of the Festival will take place from April 17 to April 28 in New York City.
The Spotlight...
- 3/28/2013
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
IFC announced that Hellgate and In Their Skin will be released to DVD on March 12th. Continue reading for details on both films and the official cover art:
Hellgate: On a visit to Bangkok, American Jeff (Cary Elwes, Saw, The Princess Bride), his Thai wife Sua and their son Kyle are hit by a truck as they drive to the home of Sua’s father. Jeff awakens from a coma six weeks later and learns that Sua and Kyle did not survive the crash. He also discovers he is able to see the specters of people who have died horribly. Seeking peace of mind, Jeff is led to a spiritual adviser (Oscar winner William Hurt, A History of Violence, Into the Wild, Kiss of the Spider Woman), who explains that these souls are trapped in a shadow world, forced to relive their own deaths for eternity – and that Jeff...
Hellgate: On a visit to Bangkok, American Jeff (Cary Elwes, Saw, The Princess Bride), his Thai wife Sua and their son Kyle are hit by a truck as they drive to the home of Sua’s father. Jeff awakens from a coma six weeks later and learns that Sua and Kyle did not survive the crash. He also discovers he is able to see the specters of people who have died horribly. Seeking peace of mind, Jeff is led to a spiritual adviser (Oscar winner William Hurt, A History of Violence, Into the Wild, Kiss of the Spider Woman), who explains that these souls are trapped in a shadow world, forced to relive their own deaths for eternity – and that Jeff...
- 2/21/2013
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Some quick DVD news has come in for two new titles from IFC Midnight, Hellgate and In Their Skin, and we have the artwork and the skinny on what you need to know. Look for both titles on March 12, 2013.
On a visit to Bangkok, American Jeff (Cary Elwes, Saw, The Princess Bride), his Thai wife Sua and their son Kyle are hit by a truck as they drive to the home of Sua's father. Jeff awakens from a coma six weeks later and learns that Sua and Kyle did not survive the crash. He also discovers he is able to see the specters of people who have died horribly. Seeking peace of mind, Jeff is led to a spiritual adviser (Oscar winner William Hurt, A History of Violence, Into the Wild, Kiss of the Spider Woman), who explains that these souls are trapped in a shadow world, forced to relive...
On a visit to Bangkok, American Jeff (Cary Elwes, Saw, The Princess Bride), his Thai wife Sua and their son Kyle are hit by a truck as they drive to the home of Sua's father. Jeff awakens from a coma six weeks later and learns that Sua and Kyle did not survive the crash. He also discovers he is able to see the specters of people who have died horribly. Seeking peace of mind, Jeff is led to a spiritual adviser (Oscar winner William Hurt, A History of Violence, Into the Wild, Kiss of the Spider Woman), who explains that these souls are trapped in a shadow world, forced to relive...
- 2/21/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Chicago – Movie theaters have rarely appeared as depressingly airless as they do in Todd Solondz’s “Dark Horse.” Rather than confront his adult responsibilities, pathological man-child Abe (Jordan Gelber) storms into the nearest multiplex for his daily consumption of media-fed inspirational escapism. He quietly mouths the answers to pre-movie questions projected in the otherwise vacant theater, as his words fall on nonexistent ears.
For financially strapped young adults forced to live at home well past their teenage years, Solondz’s latest scathing satire may be a horrifying externalization of their worst nightmares. As a cautionary tale, it is both pitilessly bleak and oddly humanistic. Gelber, an actor best known for starring in the Broadway smash, “Avenue Q,” is so inherently likable that he causes the audience to root for his unfortunate character—not to fulfill his undeserved dreams, but to come to his senses.
Blu-ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
For roughly the film’s first two acts,...
For financially strapped young adults forced to live at home well past their teenage years, Solondz’s latest scathing satire may be a horrifying externalization of their worst nightmares. As a cautionary tale, it is both pitilessly bleak and oddly humanistic. Gelber, an actor best known for starring in the Broadway smash, “Avenue Q,” is so inherently likable that he causes the audience to root for his unfortunate character—not to fulfill his undeserved dreams, but to come to his senses.
Blu-ray Rating: 3.5/5.0
For roughly the film’s first two acts,...
- 12/3/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In this guest posting, Mark Pollard picks out his pet peeves in the jargon-tastic world of branded entertainment
I recently caught myself asking someone to explain the term “content idea”. I didn’t ask because I believe an idea is an idea is an idea (for how to explain an idea, read here). I didn’t ask because jargon deployed to control and patronise people frustrates me. I asked because “content idea”, to this global media agency, meant “not a TV script” and I was stunned that this was the level of conversation in 2012. Everything is content.
My time in advertising agencies never led to a fetish for television commercials. What happened around them – and whether we could subvert the role of the television commercial from an end-point to a something-else-point that sat as a small piece of a bigger story unveiled elsewhere – interested me most.
I’ve watched the groundhog-day “Content is king (no,...
I recently caught myself asking someone to explain the term “content idea”. I didn’t ask because I believe an idea is an idea is an idea (for how to explain an idea, read here). I didn’t ask because jargon deployed to control and patronise people frustrates me. I asked because “content idea”, to this global media agency, meant “not a TV script” and I was stunned that this was the level of conversation in 2012. Everything is content.
My time in advertising agencies never led to a fetish for television commercials. What happened around them – and whether we could subvert the role of the television commercial from an end-point to a something-else-point that sat as a small piece of a bigger story unveiled elsewhere – interested me most.
I’ve watched the groundhog-day “Content is king (no,...
- 11/15/2012
- by Robin Hicks
- Encore Magazine
Mark Webber—whom I tend to remember from his starring role in Storytelling—is in talks to star in Im Global’s remake of the Thai thriller, 13: Game Of Death, just acquired by Dimension Films.
The remake is called Angry Little God and is about an engaged man who “receives a mysterious phone call informing him that he’s on a hidden camera gameshow where he can win over $6 million if he executes 13 tasks. He accepts the challenge, but quickly realises he’s in over his head and is trapped into horrors manipulated by unseen spectators.“
Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism) will direct a script he and David Birke adapted, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Kiki Miyake will produce.
If you didn’t already know, Mark Webber is actually a director in his own right, and I happened to see his first feature called Explicit Ills at a small film...
The remake is called Angry Little God and is about an engaged man who “receives a mysterious phone call informing him that he’s on a hidden camera gameshow where he can win over $6 million if he executes 13 tasks. He accepts the challenge, but quickly realises he’s in over his head and is trapped into horrors manipulated by unseen spectators.“
Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism) will direct a script he and David Birke adapted, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Kiki Miyake will produce.
If you didn’t already know, Mark Webber is actually a director in his own right, and I happened to see his first feature called Explicit Ills at a small film...
- 8/22/2012
- by Alvin
- FamousMonsters of Filmland
Ah, the dog days of summer. Links a’slowin’ down:
For this week’s Must Read, for Fandor, Jonathan Marlow interviews the usually very reticent Quay Brothers, divulging all kinds of details about their entire career, from their early days working as dishwashers in Philadelphia all the way up to their latest feature Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. (The image above, taken from the article, is of the Quay’s Street of Crocodiles.)The Brisbane Underground Film Festival muses on the notion of “forgiveness” in film, from Todd Solondz’s Storytelling to Lee Dong-Chang’s Secret Sunshine and more.Radio Mysterioso conducted an awesome podcast with Damon Packard regarding his new film about alien abduction/visitation theories, Foxfur. (One tip: The podcast player doesn’t show up for me on this page, so you might have to click through to the homepage to actually listen. Well worth finding it!)Alfred Eaker continues his Doris Wishman lovefest,...
For this week’s Must Read, for Fandor, Jonathan Marlow interviews the usually very reticent Quay Brothers, divulging all kinds of details about their entire career, from their early days working as dishwashers in Philadelphia all the way up to their latest feature Piano Tuner of Earthquakes. (The image above, taken from the article, is of the Quay’s Street of Crocodiles.)The Brisbane Underground Film Festival muses on the notion of “forgiveness” in film, from Todd Solondz’s Storytelling to Lee Dong-Chang’s Secret Sunshine and more.Radio Mysterioso conducted an awesome podcast with Damon Packard regarding his new film about alien abduction/visitation theories, Foxfur. (One tip: The podcast player doesn’t show up for me on this page, so you might have to click through to the homepage to actually listen. Well worth finding it!)Alfred Eaker continues his Doris Wishman lovefest,...
- 8/12/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
“Well, you wouldn’t be playing it like a little retarded kid, but yes, you would be acting youthful”
She was given the best lines in one of my very favorite films of the past couple of decades. If Mexican-born Lupe Ontiveras had only appeared in Chuck & Buck we would still be mourning the passing of a great cult movie actress for it was that film which she’ll be best known, and for which she won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting actress in 2000 as the children’s theater manager who befriends the man-child Buck (Mike White). She was the religious neighbor Nora, who Jack Nicholson tells to “Go sell crazy somewhere else!” in As Good As It Gets and she won a Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 2002 for Real Women Have Curves. Ms Ontiveras stood just 4’11″ and worked for many years as a social worker while taking acting roles.
She was given the best lines in one of my very favorite films of the past couple of decades. If Mexican-born Lupe Ontiveras had only appeared in Chuck & Buck we would still be mourning the passing of a great cult movie actress for it was that film which she’ll be best known, and for which she won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting actress in 2000 as the children’s theater manager who befriends the man-child Buck (Mike White). She was the religious neighbor Nora, who Jack Nicholson tells to “Go sell crazy somewhere else!” in As Good As It Gets and she won a Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 2002 for Real Women Have Curves. Ms Ontiveras stood just 4’11″ and worked for many years as a social worker while taking acting roles.
- 7/29/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Selena co-star Jacob Vargas pays tribute to Mexican-American actor's 'great contribution to film and TV'
Lupe Ontiveros, the Mexican-American star of As Good as it Gets and the TV show Desperate Housewives, has died of liver cancer. She was 69.
Born Guadalupe Moreno, Ontiveros's Hollywood career spanned four decades and included roles in the 80s classic The Goonies and the 2002 film Real Women Have Curves, for which she won a special jury prize at the Sundance film festival. In Selena, a drama based on the life of the late Tejano musician, she garnered critical acclaim for her performance as Yolanda Saldívar, the woman convicted of murdering the singer in 1995. Another big role came through Gregory Nava's El Norte (1983), in which she played Nacha, a maid who is tasked with looking after a young immigrant from Guatemala.
Jacob Vargas, who co-starred with Ontiveros in Selena, was with the actor shortly before she died.
Lupe Ontiveros, the Mexican-American star of As Good as it Gets and the TV show Desperate Housewives, has died of liver cancer. She was 69.
Born Guadalupe Moreno, Ontiveros's Hollywood career spanned four decades and included roles in the 80s classic The Goonies and the 2002 film Real Women Have Curves, for which she won a special jury prize at the Sundance film festival. In Selena, a drama based on the life of the late Tejano musician, she garnered critical acclaim for her performance as Yolanda Saldívar, the woman convicted of murdering the singer in 1995. Another big role came through Gregory Nava's El Norte (1983), in which she played Nacha, a maid who is tasked with looking after a young immigrant from Guatemala.
Jacob Vargas, who co-starred with Ontiveros in Selena, was with the actor shortly before she died.
- 7/27/2012
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Just as his films stand out with no comparison, there is no filmmaker like Todd Solondz. His films cover a wide range of topics, often forcing his audience to tackle taboos in ways that many people might find too uncomfortable. This is especially true with the contents of a strong filmography that encapsulates now seven movies, including Happiness (featuring a young and perverse Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Life During Wartime (a quasi-sequel to Happiness). His newest dark comedy, Dark Horse, about a man in his 30s with a severe case of arrested development, stars Jordan Gelber, Mia Farrow, Selma Blair, Christopher Walken, and Justin Bartha.
In person, Solondz is a one-of-a-kind, a very humble artist who is very careful with how he discusses his work. Of the filmmakers I have been lucky enough to interview, the pleasant Solondz remains a special kind of interview, in the best way possible. The last time we talked,...
In person, Solondz is a one-of-a-kind, a very humble artist who is very careful with how he discusses his work. Of the filmmakers I have been lucky enough to interview, the pleasant Solondz remains a special kind of interview, in the best way possible. The last time we talked,...
- 7/11/2012
- by Nick Allen
- The Scorecard Review
Director Todd Solondz has always been know for controversial themes in his films such as Life During Wartime (2009), Palindromes (2004) and Storytelling (2001), but in his latest film Dark Horse (2011), starring Jordan Gelber and Selma Blair, he has taken a more heart warming approach. CineVue met up with the Us filmmaker to discuss his latest feature, which premiered at last year's Venice International Film Festival.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 6/29/2012
- by CineVue
- CineVue
Chicago – The term “arrested development” could easily be applied not only to every character in a Todd Solondz picture, but every neurotic man-child currently populating the vast majority of Hollywood comedies. What makes Solondz’s films so distinctive is their unrelenting absence of sentiment. He doesn’t provide his characters with implausible happy endings, but he does view them through an empathetic lens.
Solondz’s latest film, “Dark Horse,” observes the potentially repellant character of Abe (Jordan Gelber), a 35-year-old man who is unwilling to put forth the effort to succeed in life. He has an office job, but it was given to him by his exasperated dad (Christopher Walken). He wants to be independent, but still lives with his parents. He asks a sullen woman, Miranda (Selma Blair, reprising her role from Solondz’s “Storytelling”), for her hand in marriage without making any attempt at courting her. He yearns for his dad’s approval,...
Solondz’s latest film, “Dark Horse,” observes the potentially repellant character of Abe (Jordan Gelber), a 35-year-old man who is unwilling to put forth the effort to succeed in life. He has an office job, but it was given to him by his exasperated dad (Christopher Walken). He wants to be independent, but still lives with his parents. He asks a sullen woman, Miranda (Selma Blair, reprising her role from Solondz’s “Storytelling”), for her hand in marriage without making any attempt at courting her. He yearns for his dad’s approval,...
- 6/25/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Selma Blair's own Hollywood story was one of missed chances and unhappy endings. But with two challenging new roles and a young family, she's finally found peace. She's even Charlie Sheen's therapist…
If we believe everything we see on screen, it has taken the last 15 years for Selma Blair to grow from her late teens to her early 20s. So long has she been playing the gullible ingénue, the hesitant high-school student, in films such as Cruel Intentions and Legally Blonde, it is as if time has stood still.
In reality the Hollywood actor is turning 40. When we meet, in the genteel gardens of the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, she is celebrating her birthday in two weeks. She could still pass for 25 in a pair of crisp white shorts and natty brogues, and she says she wears "white now more than ever – it's my favourite. I would just wear napkins.
If we believe everything we see on screen, it has taken the last 15 years for Selma Blair to grow from her late teens to her early 20s. So long has she been playing the gullible ingénue, the hesitant high-school student, in films such as Cruel Intentions and Legally Blonde, it is as if time has stood still.
In reality the Hollywood actor is turning 40. When we meet, in the genteel gardens of the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, she is celebrating her birthday in two weeks. She could still pass for 25 in a pair of crisp white shorts and natty brogues, and she says she wears "white now more than ever – it's my favourite. I would just wear napkins.
- 6/25/2012
- by Jane Mulkerrins
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – Todd Solondz has always been prone to making films about people that most filmmakers wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. His characters crave love but are the opposite of lovable. They inspire the sort of laughter spawned not from amusement but from discomfort, sadness, and occasionally, recognition. It’s refreshing to see characters utterly devoid of pre-packaged, studio-approved appeal.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
In many ways, “Dark Horse” is the morose flip side of Judd Apatow’s lighthearted comedies about overgrown man-children whose arrested development is signified by their large collections of action figures and unfamiliarity with female reproductive organs. These guys don’t have a whole lot going for them, but they’re still able to attract gorgeous women with their neurotic sweetness. Though Apatow’s films are far more insightful than most Hollywood rom-coms, their plot arcs have more in common with escapism than the real world.
Read Matt...
Rating: 3.5/5.0
In many ways, “Dark Horse” is the morose flip side of Judd Apatow’s lighthearted comedies about overgrown man-children whose arrested development is signified by their large collections of action figures and unfamiliarity with female reproductive organs. These guys don’t have a whole lot going for them, but they’re still able to attract gorgeous women with their neurotic sweetness. Though Apatow’s films are far more insightful than most Hollywood rom-coms, their plot arcs have more in common with escapism than the real world.
Read Matt...
- 6/22/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
“I want to want you,” says the cripplingly depressed Miranda (Selma Blair) to her suitor with excruciating honesty. The coddled, overweight Abe (Jordan Gelber), a compulsive collector who still lives at home with his parents (Mia Farrow and Christopher Walken), will take what he can get. “That’s enough for me,” he breathes. In Todd Solondz’s Dark Horse, the queasy tale of a 35-year-old man-child who decides to add a wife to his possessions, the writer-director’s dialogue is as sharp as ever, each line an arrow poisoned with sincerity.
Known for colorful, stylized, cynical films including Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Happiness (1998), Storytelling (2001), Palindromes (2004) and the masterful Life During Wartime (2009), Solondz makes movies populated by anti-heroes and -heroines that include bullies, pedophiles, and housewives. He has the ability to zero in on the insecurities, weaknesses and existential loneliness of a Robert Altman-like stable of characters with merciless X-ray vision.
Known for colorful, stylized, cynical films including Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995), Happiness (1998), Storytelling (2001), Palindromes (2004) and the masterful Life During Wartime (2009), Solondz makes movies populated by anti-heroes and -heroines that include bullies, pedophiles, and housewives. He has the ability to zero in on the insecurities, weaknesses and existential loneliness of a Robert Altman-like stable of characters with merciless X-ray vision.
- 6/7/2012
- by Livia Bloom
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Parent Trapped: Solondz Does Arrested Development
The latest from provocative filmmaker Todd Solondz, Dark Horse, seems deceptively simple, already touted as one of his most accessible films. However, although this film’s subject matter may be more comfortable for mass consumption than past Solondz films, its simplicity is only skin deep and its nightmarish melancholy isn’t as simple to casually term as more or less accessible. While it’s not Solondz’s strongest or best feature, it’s an earnestly rendered film and it is of course, filmed with his offbeat, trademark style.
The dark horse of the narrative is Abe (Jordan Gelber), a man-child suffering from an overt case of arrested development. He lives with his parents (Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow) and wastes everyone’s time in a prime position at his father’s business, and is often reminded that he failed to manage to do anything with his life.
The latest from provocative filmmaker Todd Solondz, Dark Horse, seems deceptively simple, already touted as one of his most accessible films. However, although this film’s subject matter may be more comfortable for mass consumption than past Solondz films, its simplicity is only skin deep and its nightmarish melancholy isn’t as simple to casually term as more or less accessible. While it’s not Solondz’s strongest or best feature, it’s an earnestly rendered film and it is of course, filmed with his offbeat, trademark style.
The dark horse of the narrative is Abe (Jordan Gelber), a man-child suffering from an overt case of arrested development. He lives with his parents (Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow) and wastes everyone’s time in a prime position at his father’s business, and is often reminded that he failed to manage to do anything with his life.
- 6/4/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
As Todd Solondz explains, Dark Horse is a different kind of take on the Judd Apatow celebration of the Manchild. It’s a bit more aggressive, a lot more realistic, and complex in the way that fans have come to expect from the director of Welcome to the Dollhouse and Palindromes. Set beyond cheerful pop music, the film follows Jordan Gelber, looking a lot like Jeff Garlin, as he attempts to navigate what he views as a cruel, unfair world in the yellow hummer his parents bought for him. He discovers something like love with the depressed Miranda (a differently-named character reprised by Selma Blair from Storytelling), and he struggles (often hilariously) to understand a world shifting around him. Fortunately, Solondz took some time out to discuss his take on later-life childhood, how to respond to fans who laugh at child-rape, and how the indie filmmaking world has changed since the 1990s. Download...
- 5/24/2012
- by Cole Abaius
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Todd Solondz returns this summer with a brand new film, and while it looks like the director behind behind such controversial fare as "Welcome To The Dollhouse," "Happiness" and "Storytelling" is going a bit more mainstream, don't be fooled. Containing his usual wry observational wit and incisive viewpoint, "Dark Horse" finds him once again exploring some fascinating characters trying to find their place in the world. And we've got the exclusive premiere of the trailer to give a taste of what's in store.
Led by Jordan Gelber, a character actor who has appeared on shows like “Boardwalk Empire” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” the story centers on a thirtysomething man still living with his parents (Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow), and working for his father; Gelber's character seeks out a relationship with a woman in a similar state of arrested development (Selma Blair) in an attempt to shed his...
Led by Jordan Gelber, a character actor who has appeared on shows like “Boardwalk Empire” and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” the story centers on a thirtysomething man still living with his parents (Christopher Walken and Mia Farrow), and working for his father; Gelber's character seeks out a relationship with a woman in a similar state of arrested development (Selma Blair) in an attempt to shed his...
- 5/8/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
It truly is the Year of Adele, as the British singer took home every Grammy she was for which she was nominated, totaling six wins altogether, including Album, Record and Song of the Year. Foo Fighters were second for total wins, with five, followed by the absent Kanye West with four wins.
The complete list of winners:
Album Of The Year:
21 -- Adele
Wasting Light -- Foo Fighters
Born This Way -- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans -- Bruno Mars
Loud -- Rihanna
Record Of The Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" -- Adele
"Holocene" -- Bon Iver
"Grenade" -- Bruno Mars
"The Cave" -- Mumford & Sons
"Firework" -- Katy Perry
Best New Artist: (artist/producer)
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: (songwriter)
"All Of The Lights" -- Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters
(Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and...
The complete list of winners:
Album Of The Year:
21 -- Adele
Wasting Light -- Foo Fighters
Born This Way -- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans -- Bruno Mars
Loud -- Rihanna
Record Of The Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" -- Adele
"Holocene" -- Bon Iver
"Grenade" -- Bruno Mars
"The Cave" -- Mumford & Sons
"Firework" -- Katy Perry
Best New Artist: (artist/producer)
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: (songwriter)
"All Of The Lights" -- Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters
(Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and...
- 2/13/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Carnival recently played at the International Film Festival Rotterdam
Carnival is a special piece for those who are interested in Indian cinema, being an experimental feature, coming from Madhuja Mukherjee, a video artist, who so far has been known for installations. What can that mean for a movie that is supposed to tell a story, a fictional story, but in the mean time be an experiment with “Fiction and Fact”, “Story telling & Plot”, “Sound & Silence”, “Abstraction & Words”, “Moving Images and Trapped Moments”, “The Profound and the Profane” as the director states?
It can mean that one has to go past the plot. It’s not enough to understand that there is a boy called Babu who returns to his hometown, Kolkata, because his mother died. It’s not anymore about what one tells, not even how it’s being told, but about how a state of being or a feeling can be transmitted.
Carnival is a special piece for those who are interested in Indian cinema, being an experimental feature, coming from Madhuja Mukherjee, a video artist, who so far has been known for installations. What can that mean for a movie that is supposed to tell a story, a fictional story, but in the mean time be an experiment with “Fiction and Fact”, “Story telling & Plot”, “Sound & Silence”, “Abstraction & Words”, “Moving Images and Trapped Moments”, “The Profound and the Profane” as the director states?
It can mean that one has to go past the plot. It’s not enough to understand that there is a boy called Babu who returns to his hometown, Kolkata, because his mother died. It’s not anymore about what one tells, not even how it’s being told, but about how a state of being or a feeling can be transmitted.
- 2/6/2012
- by Boglarka Nagy
- DearCinema.com
The nominees have been announced for the 54th annual Grammy Awards. Kanye West leads the nominations with seven; Adele, Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars each garner six nods; and Lil Wayne and Skrillex each are up for five awards. The Grammys air live on CBS Feb. 12, 2012.
Album Of The Year:
21 -- Adele
Wasting Light -- Foo Fighters
Born This Way -- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans -- Bruno Mars
Loud -- Rihanna
Record Of The Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" -- Adele
"Holocene" -- Bon Iver
"Grenade" -- Bruno Mars
"The Cave" -- Mumford & Sons
"Firework" -- Katy Perry
Best New Artist: (artist/producer)
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: (songwriter)
"All Of The Lights" -- Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters
(Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie)
"The Cave" -- Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Country Winston,...
Album Of The Year:
21 -- Adele
Wasting Light -- Foo Fighters
Born This Way -- Lady Gaga
Doo-Wops & Hooligans -- Bruno Mars
Loud -- Rihanna
Record Of The Year:
"Rolling In The Deep" -- Adele
"Holocene" -- Bon Iver
"Grenade" -- Bruno Mars
"The Cave" -- Mumford & Sons
"Firework" -- Katy Perry
Best New Artist: (artist/producer)
The Band Perry
Bon Iver
J. Cole
Nicki Minaj
Skrillex
Song Of The Year: (songwriter)
"All Of The Lights" -- Jeff Bhasker, Malik Jones, Warren Trotter and Kanye West, songwriters
(Kanye West, Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie)
"The Cave" -- Ted Dwane, Ben Lovett, Marcus Mumford and Country Winston,...
- 12/1/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: “The Artist” shouldn’t work in 2011.
At a time when giants of the cinematic art form such as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are experimenting with cutting-edge 3D technology, Michel Hazanavicius turns back the clock, delivering a black-and-white, predominantly silent ode to Hollywood’s Golden Age.
The story involves legendary silent film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) being pushed out of the spotlight by the arrival of the “talkies.” But it also rekindles in audiences all of the whimsical reasons they flock to the movies.
“The Artist” has been charming audiences since Cannes, and continued winning over fans at AFI Fest in Los Angeles this week. Hazavanicius and I started with that meaningful screening when we sat down for a lengthy chat, where we got into Frank Capra films, the visual panache of the Coen Brothers, Mary Pickford’s legacy and the joy of winning multiple Audience Awards.
Hollywoodnews.com: “The Artist” shouldn’t work in 2011.
At a time when giants of the cinematic art form such as Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese are experimenting with cutting-edge 3D technology, Michel Hazanavicius turns back the clock, delivering a black-and-white, predominantly silent ode to Hollywood’s Golden Age.
The story involves legendary silent film star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) being pushed out of the spotlight by the arrival of the “talkies.” But it also rekindles in audiences all of the whimsical reasons they flock to the movies.
“The Artist” has been charming audiences since Cannes, and continued winning over fans at AFI Fest in Los Angeles this week. Hazavanicius and I started with that meaningful screening when we sat down for a lengthy chat, where we got into Frank Capra films, the visual panache of the Coen Brothers, Mary Pickford’s legacy and the joy of winning multiple Audience Awards.
- 11/11/2011
- by Sean O'Connell
- Hollywoodnews.com
★★★★☆ It's tempting to say that Todd Solondz's seventh feature, Dark Horse (2011) - starring Justin Bartha, Selma Blair and Zachary Booth - is something of a departure, but in truth it never really escapes the universe of Planet Solondz. Once again we are planted firmly in a universe of uncomfortable misery, with characters who are neither particularly pleasant nor nice, and with Dark Horse Solondz has once again succeeded in creating a world of neuroses and angst.
The film begins with a wedding scene, an exuberant of celebration of life and love, but the fleeting happiness is only there to be contrasted with the grim fate of those involved. Abe (Jordan Gelber) and Miranda (Blair) sit in a corner and although Abe gallantly offers to dance, Miranda assures him this is not going to work. Abe is an unpleasant, immature, selfish piece of work, sponging off his long-suffering parents (the...
The film begins with a wedding scene, an exuberant of celebration of life and love, but the fleeting happiness is only there to be contrasted with the grim fate of those involved. Abe (Jordan Gelber) and Miranda (Blair) sit in a corner and although Abe gallantly offers to dance, Miranda assures him this is not going to work. Abe is an unpleasant, immature, selfish piece of work, sponging off his long-suffering parents (the...
- 10/15/2011
- by Daniel Green
- CineVue
Todd Solondz's tale of mismatched lovers strikes a familiar pitch-black note, but lacks the biting wit of Happiness or Storytelling
No one stages a bad party like director Todd Solondz. He's your host with the most desperate and needy revellers, the worst decor, the most agonising social faux-pas. I staggered out of Dark Horse wondering whether the drinks had been dosed with ground glass and the balloons inflated with poison gas. I also felt I had attended maybe one too many of these sour little soirees.
Dark Horse opens with what might be the signature Solondz intro: an overdressed, under-stimulated couple, seated at a fancy table, surrounded by chatter; he more interested in her than she is in him. He, in this case, is Abe (Jordan Gelber), a blustering thirtysomething underachiever, "too old for American Idol" and employed at his father's company where he spends his days buying Thundercats...
No one stages a bad party like director Todd Solondz. He's your host with the most desperate and needy revellers, the worst decor, the most agonising social faux-pas. I staggered out of Dark Horse wondering whether the drinks had been dosed with ground glass and the balloons inflated with poison gas. I also felt I had attended maybe one too many of these sour little soirees.
Dark Horse opens with what might be the signature Solondz intro: an overdressed, under-stimulated couple, seated at a fancy table, surrounded by chatter; he more interested in her than she is in him. He, in this case, is Abe (Jordan Gelber), a blustering thirtysomething underachiever, "too old for American Idol" and employed at his father's company where he spends his days buying Thundercats...
- 9/5/2011
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
If you’re unfamiliar with the work of Todd Solondz, you’re in for a weird treat. His films include Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness, Storytelling, and the awesome Palindromes. When you’re not in a depressed mood, watch them. His latest film is called Dark Horse and will likely follow the theme of strange relationships and weird human interaction.
The film is slated to premiere at the Toronoto International Film Festival, where we get our first (surprisingly brief) clip:
Dark Horse stars newcomer Jordan Gelber, Christopher Walken, Mia Farrow, Selma Blair, Zachary Booth and Donna Murphy. Here is the official synopsis:
A thirtysomething guy with arrested development (Justin Bartha) falls for a thirtysomething girl with arrested development (Selma Blair), but moving out of his junior high school bedroom proves too much and tragedy ensues.
Anyone else a Solondz fan? Which film was your favorite?
Related articles you might like:Watch:...
The film is slated to premiere at the Toronoto International Film Festival, where we get our first (surprisingly brief) clip:
Dark Horse stars newcomer Jordan Gelber, Christopher Walken, Mia Farrow, Selma Blair, Zachary Booth and Donna Murphy. Here is the official synopsis:
A thirtysomething guy with arrested development (Justin Bartha) falls for a thirtysomething girl with arrested development (Selma Blair), but moving out of his junior high school bedroom proves too much and tragedy ensues.
Anyone else a Solondz fan? Which film was your favorite?
Related articles you might like:Watch:...
- 8/3/2011
- by Catherine
- Movie Gnome
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