Mary (Debra Winger) and Michael (Tracy Letts) are married. She has something going on the sly with an Irish novelist (Aidan Gillen); he's been sneaking around with a high-strung ballet teacher (Melora Walters). Both are counting the days until they can dissolve the union and move in with their new partners. Then, on the brink of separation, Mary and Michael decide they still turn each other on – and start cheating on their side dishes with each other.
That, in a tweet and a half, is the plot of The Lovers,...
That, in a tweet and a half, is the plot of The Lovers,...
- 5/4/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells exchange a quick look with each other before both yelling out, in perfect unison, "No!" and then start laughing hysterically. The two British actresses know they've probably answered a little too quickly, but given the nature of the project under discussion — the very reason that they are sitting together in the Bowery Hotel's lobby, sipping late-afternoon tea — they understand that it's natural to ask some rather personal questions.
The Best of 'The Newsroom,' Season One
After all, their HBO show Doll & Em (airing...
The Best of 'The Newsroom,' Season One
After all, their HBO show Doll & Em (airing...
- 3/20/2014
- Rollingstone.com
Created by "The Newsroom" star Emily Mortimer, "Doll & Em" is a British comedy that was acquired by HBO for a Wednesday, March 19th premiere. The series finds Mortimer and her real life best friend Dolly Wells ("The Mighty Boosh") playing fictionalized versions of themselves -- a star and the newly single childhood friend she hires to work as her personal assistant while shooting a film in L.A. Azazel Jacobs ("Terri," "Momma's Man") co-wrote the series with Mortimer and Wells and directed all six episodes in the season. HBO's released a first teaser for the series, which is reminiscent of a less aggressive "Curb Your Enthusiasm," below -- check it out:...
- 2/13/2014
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
As we wait for official word as to whether or not "The Newsroom" will be back for a third season (star Jeff Daniels' insistence doesn't count), Emily Mortimer, who plays Will McAvoy's producer and much-abused love interest MacKenzie McHale, has found herself another perch at HBO. The premium network has picked up the U.S. and Canadian rights to "Doll & Em," a six-episode half hour British comedy series starring Mortimer and fellow actress and real life best friend Dolly Wells ("The Mighty Boosh") as fictional versions of themselves. The pair wrote the series with filmmaker Azazel Jacobs ("Terri," "Momma's Man"), who directed the episodes. The series is about a British star (Mortimer) who invites her newly single childhood friend to work as her personal assistant when shooting a film in L.A. "Doll & Em" was produced by Mortimer's husband Alessandro Nivola ("Devil's Knot," "Junebug") under the couple's new banner King Bee Productions.
- 9/24/2013
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
As of Thursday, fans of Kino Lorber’s eclectic catalog can now watch its movies and shorts for free on Hulu. Kino Lorber has made available 35 of its 700-plus titles during limited windows on Hulu or its subscription service Hulu Plus, with plans to expand the number of films in the coming months. Among the films included in this launch are restored editions of “The Blue Angel,” Buster Keaton's “The General” and Fritz Lang's “The Complete Metropolis,” as well as “Le Quattro Volte,” “Momma's Man” and the French thriller “Army of Crime.” The documentaries “Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon,” “Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould,” “Two in the Wave” and “Videocracy” are also included in this first batch, along with 18 of Keaton’s short films. "Our presence on Hulu will allow us to present our selection of classic and art...
- 7/20/2012
- by Jay A. Fernandez
- Indiewire
The plight of modern-day masculinity is easily solved, according to pretty much every recent Hollywood comedy: don't grow up. Who – or what – is to blame?
Growing up sucks. Being young sucks too. Especially if you're a white American male. You need only look at the four heroes of American Pie: Reunion. Back in 1999, they were teenagers burdened by hormonal urges, peer-group humiliation and a lack of obliging sexual partners. Fast forward 13 years, and they've merely inherited a new set of burdens: careers, babies, young rivals and a lack of obliging sexual partners. These dudes got it so wrong.
To get it right, they should have watched just about every other Hollywood comedy of the past decade. There they'd have found the solution to the plight of American masculinity: don't grow up. Just stretch out that period between adolescence and parenthood to the extent it becomes a prolonged state of infantile bliss.
Growing up sucks. Being young sucks too. Especially if you're a white American male. You need only look at the four heroes of American Pie: Reunion. Back in 1999, they were teenagers burdened by hormonal urges, peer-group humiliation and a lack of obliging sexual partners. Fast forward 13 years, and they've merely inherited a new set of burdens: careers, babies, young rivals and a lack of obliging sexual partners. These dudes got it so wrong.
To get it right, they should have watched just about every other Hollywood comedy of the past decade. There they'd have found the solution to the plight of American masculinity: don't grow up. Just stretch out that period between adolescence and parenthood to the extent it becomes a prolonged state of infantile bliss.
- 5/10/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
by Craig Phillips
[The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival continues through May 3.]
The distinctly deadpan feature debut of Lebanese filmmaker Rania Attieh and her American co-director Daniel Garcia, Ok, Enough, Goodbye is a warm but not overly sentimental, low-key character comedy. Like the Middle Eastern answer to Azazel Jacobs' Momma's Man, the film concerns a 40-year-old schlub (Daniel Arzrouni) who still lives at home in Tripoli—a seaport city with a rich history dating back to the 14th century, which has since fallen on hard economic times.
The locale has an air of sadness about it; not just war-torn malaise but a feeling for things lost between generations, palpably seeping into this household as a mother regrets that her son is such a loser. She speaks of wedding ceremonies and gowns she used to make, while her sociophobic son can't get a date with anyone other than a prostitute. The unnamed protagonist works in a bakery and doesn't otherwise get out much.
[The 55th San Francisco International Film Festival continues through May 3.]
The distinctly deadpan feature debut of Lebanese filmmaker Rania Attieh and her American co-director Daniel Garcia, Ok, Enough, Goodbye is a warm but not overly sentimental, low-key character comedy. Like the Middle Eastern answer to Azazel Jacobs' Momma's Man, the film concerns a 40-year-old schlub (Daniel Arzrouni) who still lives at home in Tripoli—a seaport city with a rich history dating back to the 14th century, which has since fallen on hard economic times.
The locale has an air of sadness about it; not just war-torn malaise but a feeling for things lost between generations, palpably seeping into this household as a mother regrets that her son is such a loser. She speaks of wedding ceremonies and gowns she used to make, while her sociophobic son can't get a date with anyone other than a prostitute. The unnamed protagonist works in a bakery and doesn't otherwise get out much.
- 5/1/2012
- GreenCine Daily
by Vadim Rizov
Terri sounds like a potentially unwatchable splicing together of two different kinds of movies: a Larry Clark cavalcade of teenagers with body issues and volatile hormones meets an uplifting crowd pleaser. The characters are stigmatized and/or isolated by their physical appearance and externalized mental problems. But having tackled the not-at-all funny topic of a grown man too paralyzed by a nameless fear to leave his parents' home in Momma's Man, director Azazel Jacobs has the appropriate slow rhythms and non-saccharine instincts to render unpleasant, difficult life moments in a tough-but-compassionate way.
At the forefront is awkwardly hulking Terri (Jacob Wysocki), an ungainly teen boy made daily sport of because of his size, whose best friend—seemingly by default—is obscenity-spouting Jd Chad (Bridger Zadina), who obsessively tears his hair out by the roots while waiting for his many disciplinary meetings, leaving a nasty bald streak on his head.
Terri sounds like a potentially unwatchable splicing together of two different kinds of movies: a Larry Clark cavalcade of teenagers with body issues and volatile hormones meets an uplifting crowd pleaser. The characters are stigmatized and/or isolated by their physical appearance and externalized mental problems. But having tackled the not-at-all funny topic of a grown man too paralyzed by a nameless fear to leave his parents' home in Momma's Man, director Azazel Jacobs has the appropriate slow rhythms and non-saccharine instincts to render unpleasant, difficult life moments in a tough-but-compassionate way.
At the forefront is awkwardly hulking Terri (Jacob Wysocki), an ungainly teen boy made daily sport of because of his size, whose best friend—seemingly by default—is obscenity-spouting Jd Chad (Bridger Zadina), who obsessively tears his hair out by the roots while waiting for his many disciplinary meetings, leaving a nasty bald streak on his head.
- 6/29/2011
- GreenCine Daily
My fantasy football team is named The Catalina Wine Mixer. Last year my annual New Year's Eve party was "Step Brothers"-themed. In other words, I'm a pretty big fan of actor John C. Reilly's work, particularly when he gets to flex his comedic muscles. So I was pretty excited to talk to Reilly about his new movie "Terri," directed by "Momma's Man" filmmaker Azazel Jacobs. The movie, which opens this Friday, is a low-key story about a troubled teenager (Jacob Wysocki) and the relationship he forms with the kind high school vice principal (Reilly) who takes an interest in his case. "Terri"'s warts-and-all depiction of the insanity of adolescence (and of life in general) is both funny and shocking, a refreshing change-of-pace for the coming-of-age genre, which produces so many boring, blandly nostalgic movies.
As an admirer of his work, I've spent a lot of time ruminating on Reilly's comedic charms.
As an admirer of his work, I've spent a lot of time ruminating on Reilly's comedic charms.
- 6/29/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
Director Azazel Jacobs' ("Momma's Man") perceptive coming-of-age dramedy, "Terri," charmed the pants off of audiences at Sundance earlier this year, where the film world premiered. It opens this Friday, July 1, in limited release. Jacobs provided indieWIRE with an exclusive scene from his film along with his thoughts on the shoot. Check it out below. The screenplay for "Terri" was written by Patrick deWitt, and one of the many reasons ...
- 6/29/2011
- Indiewire
Director Azazel Jacobs' ("Momma's Man") perceptive coming-of-age dramedy, "Terri," charmed the pants off of audiences at Sundance earlier this year, where the film world premiered. It opens this Friday, July 1, in limited release. Jacobs provided indieWIRE with an exclusive scene from his film along with his thoughts on the shoot. Check it out below. The screenplay for "Terri" was written by Patrick deWitt, and one of the many reasons ...
- 6/29/2011
- indieWIRE - People
Azazel Jacobs's 2008 drama "Momma's Man" centered on an adult retreating to his parents' house and yearning for the innocence of his teenage years. The director's latest feature, "Terri," centers on a teen fearing adulthood. Jacobs, working from a script by Patrick de Witt, takes a conventional coming-of-age story and does it proud, enlivening the plot with an almost experimental portrait of alienation and despair. [Editor's Note: This review was ...
- 6/28/2011
- Indiewire
One of the great things about John C. Reilly is that even after his success in films Hollywood hits such as "Talladega Nights," "Step Brothers," "Gangs of New York" or "Chicago," he's continued to toke chances on smaller independent films. This year, he's appeared in two festival favorites, "We Need to Talk About Kevin" which debuted at Cannes last month and "Terri," a critical smash that premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in January. Written and directed by Sundance vet Azazel Jacobs (2008's "Momma's Man"), "Terri" centers on the title character (Jacob Wysocki), a 15-year-old boy living with his ailing...
- 6/16/2011
- Hitfix
John C. Reilly is one of those actors who has been able to effortlessly move between both big productions and small ones throughout his career, and both comedies and dramas as well. Although he is now seen as Will Ferrell's partner in crime after starring in movies like Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, there was a time when he was best known for the P.T. Anderson films Boogie Nights and Magnolia. He's still very much an indie guy, and at this year's Sundance he appeared in two films and a short. We've already seen trailers for both Cedar Rapids [1] and Fight for Your Right Revisited [2], but now the trailer for a movie called Terri has turned up online as well. Directed by Azazel Jacobs (Momma's Man), it looks to be a fairly bittersweet story about an overweight teenager (Jacob Wysocki) who is struggling through high school. Reilly plays his guidance counselor,...
- 4/20/2011
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
The amazing thing about the Sundance Film Festival is that even the tiniest movie with no stars can sell out packed theaters one people start talking about them. That doesn't mean they'll be hits in theaters or sell to a distributor for millions, but for the handful of screenings they have at Sundance, they're playing to captivated crowds of hundreds or even thousands-- something immensely gratifying for independent filmmakers who work in obscurity and fight tooth and nail for every dollar of funding they ever get. And even though Azazel Jacobs' first film Momma's Man was a hit only among critics and the small audiences who saw it, and though his new film Terri featured only John C. Reilly and Creed Bratton as "stars" (and in supporting roles), Terri played to a sold-out Eccles Theater (capacity 1200) when I saw it last week. A few days later I got to...
- 2/1/2011
- cinemablend.com
"Azazel Jacobs's profile has grown steadily since he made his striking, black-and-white debut feature, Nobody Needs to Know, in 2003," writes Nick Dawson, introducing his interview for Filmmaker, where Jacobs also writes a bit about the biggest surprise he encountered while making Terri. "He followed it in 2005 with the delightfully quirky and inventive The GoodTimesKid, a film which found a devoted audience on the film festival circuit and was eventually released theatrically in 2007. Jacobs's third feature, Momma's Man, a poignant tale of adult regression into childhood, had its world premiere at Sundance. It became one of the hits of the 2008 festival, and played in theaters later that year to universal acclaim. Jacobs, the son of experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs, grew up in New York City and is now based in Los Angeles, and his first three features were all set in one or the other of those two cities. With Terri,...
- 1/27/2011
- MUBI
Azazel Jacobs's 2008 drama "Momma's Man" centered on an adult retreating to his parents' house and yearning for the innocence of his teenage years. The director's latest feature, "Terri," centers on a teen fearing adulthood. Jacobs, working from a script by Patrick de Witt, takes a conventional coming-of-age story and does it proud, enlivening the plot with an almost experimental portrait of alienation and despair. Set in a woodsy area ...
- 1/23/2011
- Indiewire
Here's the first Sundance line-up announcement, of the fiction and nonfiction feature competitions, both U.S. and world. A few things of interest, on first scan: Vera Farmiga's directorial debut "Higher Ground," in which she also stars; "The Ledge," which sounds like this year's try for "Buried"; Iñupiaq Arctic thriller "On the Ice"; "Terri," the new film from "Momma's Man" director; Michael Rapaport's doc on A Tribe Called Quest "Beats, Rhymes and Life"; doc about the beloved Muppet "Being Elmo"; "If A Tree Falls," a new film from "Street Fight"'s Marshall Curry; Paddy Considine's feature directorial debut "Tyrannosaur"; and "Vampire," the new film from Japan's Shunji Iwai, a favorite of mine.
Descriptions courtesy of the festival:
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Another Earth (Director: Mike Cahill; Screenwriters: Mike Cahill and Brit Marling) - On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy...
Descriptions courtesy of the festival:
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Another Earth (Director: Mike Cahill; Screenwriters: Mike Cahill and Brit Marling) - On the eve of the discovery of a duplicate Earth, a horrible tragedy...
- 12/1/2010
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
#43. Terri - Azazel Jacobs If new distrib outfitter Ato Pictures hope to give Azazel Jacobs’ Terri some pre-theatrical buzz, they might want to try the festival circuit by going the Park City or Austin route. Jacobs’ previous film, Momma's Man was a Sundance selection and he could come back for seconds especially with John C. Reilly toplining a picture that I feel might be this festival's World's Greatest Dad in terms of tone. The pic tells the story of a socially awkward and overweight teenage boy (Jacob Wysocki) who befriends a well-meaning high school Vice Principal (Reilly), who has his own share of insecurities. * Producers: Alison Dickey, Hunter Gray, Lynette Howell and Alex Orlovsky(Ioncinema.com Preview Page // IMDb Link)...
- 11/6/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Hot off the heels of acquiring "Casino Jack," Ato Pictures has bought up U.S. theatrical rights to Azazel Jacobs' "Terri," starring John C. Reilly and Jacob Wysocki (ABC Family's "Huge"). Jacobs is best known for the 2008 film "Momma's Man," that played at both the Sundance and New Directors/New Films festivals. He's also been named by Filmmaker Magazine as one of the 25 faces of Independent Film. Ato has slated Jacobs' ...
- 9/29/2010
- Indiewire
Olivia Crocicchia ("Rescue Me") has joined the indie comedy "Terri" for Silverwood Films says The Hollywood Reporter.
Author Patrick deWitt penned the script which centers on an obese 14-year-old boy in a small town as he struggles to adjust to his difficult life. Crocicchia plays a pretty but sad girl who helps him cope.
John C. Reilly, Jacob Wysocki and Mary Anne McGarry also star. Patrick deWitt ("Ablutions") penned the script.
Azazel Jacobs ("Momma's Man") directs and shooting kicked off last week in Los Angeles. Alex Orlovsky, Lynette Howell, David Guy Levy and Alison Dickey are producing.
Author Patrick deWitt penned the script which centers on an obese 14-year-old boy in a small town as he struggles to adjust to his difficult life. Crocicchia plays a pretty but sad girl who helps him cope.
John C. Reilly, Jacob Wysocki and Mary Anne McGarry also star. Patrick deWitt ("Ablutions") penned the script.
Azazel Jacobs ("Momma's Man") directs and shooting kicked off last week in Los Angeles. Alex Orlovsky, Lynette Howell, David Guy Levy and Alison Dickey are producing.
- 7/14/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
"Rescue Me" actress Olivia Crocicchia has been cast in the indie comedy "Terri," opposite John C. Reilly.
Directed by Azazel Jacobs, "Terri" centers on a large 14-year-old boy in a small town as he struggles to adjust to his difficult life. Crocicchia will play Heather, a pretty but sad girl who helps Terri cope with a frequently hostile world.
The film was written by novelist Patrick deWitt ("Ablutions"). Producers include Alex Orlovsky and Lynette Howell ("Half Nelson"), Hunter Gray ("Voy a Explotar") and Alison Dickey ("Piggie"). David Guy Levy ("August") is an executive producer.
The Silverwood Films-alo Productions-Verisimilitude production began shooting last week in Los Angeles.
Repped by Vanguard Management Group, Crocicchia plays the younger daughter of Denis Leary's character on FX's "Rescue Me." She also stars in the indie drama "The Wheeler Boys," which screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and has a role in...
Directed by Azazel Jacobs, "Terri" centers on a large 14-year-old boy in a small town as he struggles to adjust to his difficult life. Crocicchia will play Heather, a pretty but sad girl who helps Terri cope with a frequently hostile world.
The film was written by novelist Patrick deWitt ("Ablutions"). Producers include Alex Orlovsky and Lynette Howell ("Half Nelson"), Hunter Gray ("Voy a Explotar") and Alison Dickey ("Piggie"). David Guy Levy ("August") is an executive producer.
The Silverwood Films-alo Productions-Verisimilitude production began shooting last week in Los Angeles.
Repped by Vanguard Management Group, Crocicchia plays the younger daughter of Denis Leary's character on FX's "Rescue Me." She also stars in the indie drama "The Wheeler Boys," which screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and has a role in...
- 7/13/2010
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Yes, we're excited to see "Iron Man 2," "Inception" and God help us, "Predators." But what we're really looking forward to spending a few hours in the company of an undertaking Bill Murray ("Get Low"), an Italian-speaking Tilda Swinton ("I Am Love") and a toga-wearing Rachel Weisz ("Agora") in the comfort of air-conditioned theater over the next three months. (Either that or we'll be enjoying them from the comfort of home online, on demand or on DVD.)
There are no less than 114 independently produced movies arriving in theaters this summer to compete with the big studio blockbusters and we've compiled this helpful guide that covers all of them. Yet realizing that the latest arthouse and foreign fare is subject to changing dates, particularly if you don't live in Los Angeles or New York, we've also included links to follow the films on Twitter, Facebook and release schedules where available, so...
There are no less than 114 independently produced movies arriving in theaters this summer to compete with the big studio blockbusters and we've compiled this helpful guide that covers all of them. Yet realizing that the latest arthouse and foreign fare is subject to changing dates, particularly if you don't live in Los Angeles or New York, we've also included links to follow the films on Twitter, Facebook and release schedules where available, so...
- 5/11/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
A paradigmatic New York indie of the kind that cannot be accused of star-slumming or dependie bloat, Azazel Jacobs' "Momma's Man" tells an incremental tale of modern regression, and as such it is patient and stinging. Mikey (Matt Boren), a flabby thirtysomething man of undefined profession, gets laid over in New York and bunks in his aging parents' loft instead of waiting at the airport. At least we're told so -- the next day Mikey invents a few more excuses to linger in the house in which he grew up instead of going home to his wife and child in California. The days pass, his enabling mother (Flo Jacobs, the director's mother) caters to him sympathetically (her priceless first note left at the breakfast table tells him there's cereal, there's fruit, "put fruit in the cereal"), his distant father (Ken Jacobs, Azazel's father) wonders silently what the hell's going on,...
- 5/12/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
Azazel Jacobs' Momma's Man, which premiered at Sundance in 2008 and was rescued from the ashes of ThinkFilm by Kino for a theatrical release last summer -- is finally out on DVD today. The package features a pretty impressive slate of extras, including Momma's Family, described as a 42 minute "featurette on the clash realities that takes place in Momma's Azazel Jacobs returns to the set of the film and can't leave"; Capitalism: Child Labor, a 2006 short by Azazel's father (and Momma's co-star) Ken Jacobs; plus deleted scenes and an audio conversation with the Jacobs family. Kino's site has buying information; you ca ...
- 5/5/2009
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
Last year's award-winning success of Azazel Jacob's Momma's Man at the IndieLisboa Film Festival solidified Lisbon's status as a rewarding new festival avenue for emerging American independent film. This year they seem to be building upon that relationship, with a program that reads like a who's who of current U.S. indies, including Lance Hammer's Ballast, Barry Jenkin's Medicine For Melancholy, Sean Baker's Prince of Broadway, Josh Safdie's The Pleasure of Being Robbed, and Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy. It's surprising to find so many strong American indies in a European festival; it'd even be surprising to find so many in an American one (as a quick comparison, the San Francisco Film Festival showed only two of the five works above,...
- 5/2/2009
- by Jason Sanders
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
It was a really nice evening last night at the new Cooper Square Hotel where actress Katie Holmes hosted an Ifp 30th Anniversary Spring Event. The event was co-chaired by producer Hunter Gray (Memorial Day, Zero Bridge, Momma's Man, Half Nelson, pictured at right) and producer Anthony Bregman (Synecdoche, New York, Sleep Dealer, Friends with Money, and Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini's upcoming The Extra Man, which stars Holmes, pictured at left). In his remarks, Bregman talked about Holmes's long history with independent and specialty films, including roles in The Ice Storm, Go, Thank You for Smoking and Pieces of April. I'd add to that her part in one challenging studio film, Wonder Boys, which is a movie that keeps getting...
- 4/27/2009
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The trio of New York Times critics (Manohla Dargis, A.O. Scott and Stephen Holden) have weighed in with their own nominations for the year's best in movies with their selections for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Original and Adapted Screenplays. Quickly glancing through the list I see Manohla Dargis loved Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (at least the acting) and is the only one that gave The Dark Knight any love. Thankfully Slumdog Millionaire wasn't "nominated" for anything other than a lone Adapted Screenplay notice from A.O. Scott. Happy-Go-Lucky saw plenty of attention and believe it or not, there isn't one film all three could agree on for Best Picture with Wall-e and Happy-Go-Lucky being the front-runners as they were mentioned twice - Dargis was the main reason for this as her selections didn't show up on either Stephen Holden or A.
- 1/3/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
This is the season for critics to turn out lists of the best mov ies of the year. Un fortunately, many consist of highly publicized, big-budget movies that opened between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, while ignoring earlier films.
In other words, critics let studio publicists tell them which movies deserve to be on their lists. As usual, I try to avoid this end-of-year syndrome. Here it goes:
1. "In The City Of Sylvia" (Jose Luis Guerin, France/Spain): Follow that woman! Minimalist romancer riffs on "Last Year at Marienbad."
2. "Wendy And Lucy" (Kelly Reichardt,...
In other words, critics let studio publicists tell them which movies deserve to be on their lists. As usual, I try to avoid this end-of-year syndrome. Here it goes:
1. "In The City Of Sylvia" (Jose Luis Guerin, France/Spain): Follow that woman! Minimalist romancer riffs on "Last Year at Marienbad."
2. "Wendy And Lucy" (Kelly Reichardt,...
- 12/21/2008
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
By Matt Singer
It feels completely appropriate in a year of incredible financial turmoil, particularly in the independent film sector, that so many good movies were made about people teetering on the edge of economic extinction. My own list features two such films, without even getting around to "Slumdog Millionaire," "Frozen River" or the small but immensely powerful "Shotgun Stories." Movie stars were feeling the pinch, too: in the semiautobiographical "Jcvd," audiences saw faded action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme resorting to begging his agent for money to pay for his divorce.
Stars, and studios too. Even before the bottom fell out of the economy, Hollywood studios were beginning to shutter their indie divisions; Paramount eliminated Vantage, Warner Brothers closed Picturehouse and Warner Independent and absorbed New Line. It wasn't much better for smaller distributors: David O. Russell's upcoming "Nailed" was in the news all summer because its production kept...
It feels completely appropriate in a year of incredible financial turmoil, particularly in the independent film sector, that so many good movies were made about people teetering on the edge of economic extinction. My own list features two such films, without even getting around to "Slumdog Millionaire," "Frozen River" or the small but immensely powerful "Shotgun Stories." Movie stars were feeling the pinch, too: in the semiautobiographical "Jcvd," audiences saw faded action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme resorting to begging his agent for money to pay for his divorce.
Stars, and studios too. Even before the bottom fell out of the economy, Hollywood studios were beginning to shutter their indie divisions; Paramount eliminated Vantage, Warner Brothers closed Picturehouse and Warner Independent and absorbed New Line. It wasn't much better for smaller distributors: David O. Russell's upcoming "Nailed" was in the news all summer because its production kept...
- 12/19/2008
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
by indieWIRE (December 13, 2008) Editor's Note: This is part of a daily December series that will feature new or previously published interviews and profiles of some of the year's best filmmakers, writers, actors and actresses.
Azazel Jacobs' "Momma's Man" took a rare approach to filmmaking. Jacobs cast his real parents, Ken and Flo Jacobs, as the parents of Mikey (Matt Boren), a thirtysomething husband and father who takes an extended vacation in his parent's apartment. Shot in actual the New York City loft of his parents, Jacobs' "Momma's Man" was well-received when it premiered earlier this year at Sundance.
Azazel Jacobs' "Momma's Man" took a rare approach to filmmaking. Jacobs cast his real parents, Ken and Flo Jacobs, as the parents of Mikey (Matt Boren), a thirtysomething husband and father who takes an extended vacation in his parent's apartment. Shot in actual the New York City loft of his parents, Jacobs' "Momma's Man" was well-received when it premiered earlier this year at Sundance.
- 12/14/2008
- by peter
- indieWIRE - People
London -- In a country that loves a movie with political content, Oliver Stone's "W." is sure to ignite healthy debate when today's Italian premiere kicks off the nine-day Turin Film Festival.
The timing certainly couldn't be better, coming little more than two weeks after a U.S. presidential election that still has Europe buzzing.
But Barack Obama's election to the White House was arguably less surprising -- and certainly less controversial -- than this year's lineup, which is completely void of Italian films.
Arguably the country's third most prominent film festival, after Venice and Rome, the Northern Italian film jamboree will come to a close with "The Edge of Love," directed by John Maybury.
Under the watchful eye of filmmaker Nanni Moretti, now in his second year as artistic director, the festival has no Italian films because, according to Moretti, there simply weren't any titles that were up to snuff.
The timing certainly couldn't be better, coming little more than two weeks after a U.S. presidential election that still has Europe buzzing.
But Barack Obama's election to the White House was arguably less surprising -- and certainly less controversial -- than this year's lineup, which is completely void of Italian films.
Arguably the country's third most prominent film festival, after Venice and Rome, the Northern Italian film jamboree will come to a close with "The Edge of Love," directed by John Maybury.
Under the watchful eye of filmmaker Nanni Moretti, now in his second year as artistic director, the festival has no Italian films because, according to Moretti, there simply weren't any titles that were up to snuff.
- 11/20/2008
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rome -- The 26th Turin Film Festival on Friday released a lineup completely void of Italian films but heavy on U.S. and European productions.
Second-year artistic director Nanni Moretti -- who revealed the lineup to a packed house at the Nuovo Sacher, the Rome cinema he owns -- did his best to avoid comparisons to the just-completed Rome International Film Festival, but the Italian press is sure to highlight the differences.
The Rome event was criticized for a lineup that in many ways was a photo negative of the program Moretti released Friday, with six Italian films featured and just one from the U.S.
Moretti said that the U.S. writers' strike, which had an impact on the lineups in Venice, Rome and elsewhere, also played a role in shaping Turin's lineup. Though three of the 15 films in the lineup have American DNA, all are low-budget affairs: Azazel Jacobs' "Momma's Man,...
Second-year artistic director Nanni Moretti -- who revealed the lineup to a packed house at the Nuovo Sacher, the Rome cinema he owns -- did his best to avoid comparisons to the just-completed Rome International Film Festival, but the Italian press is sure to highlight the differences.
The Rome event was criticized for a lineup that in many ways was a photo negative of the program Moretti released Friday, with six Italian films featured and just one from the U.S.
Moretti said that the U.S. writers' strike, which had an impact on the lineups in Venice, Rome and elsewhere, also played a role in shaping Turin's lineup. Though three of the 15 films in the lineup have American DNA, all are low-budget affairs: Azazel Jacobs' "Momma's Man,...
- 11/7/2008
- by By Eric J. Lyman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Q&A with Azazel Jacobs, Writer and Director of Momma's Man Momma's Man is the story of Mikey, a grown man from California who visits his parents in New York, who still live in the apartment where he grew up, and for some reason, seems reluctant to return home to his wife and child.
For such a small, unassuming film, Momma's Man boasts a strong pedigree. Writer-director Azazel Jacobs is the son of legendary experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs; the film was shot largely inside the amazing, compact New York apartment of Ken and his wife Flo; and the film shares producers with Half Nelson and Sugar, two films at the forefront of what's been called the "New American Realism" by the New York Times. [Half Nelson topped Paste's list of the best films of 2006, and both Sugar and Momma's Man were two of our favorite finds at this year's Sundance festival.]...
For such a small, unassuming film, Momma's Man boasts a strong pedigree. Writer-director Azazel Jacobs is the son of legendary experimental filmmaker Ken Jacobs; the film was shot largely inside the amazing, compact New York apartment of Ken and his wife Flo; and the film shares producers with Half Nelson and Sugar, two films at the forefront of what's been called the "New American Realism" by the New York Times. [Half Nelson topped Paste's list of the best films of 2006, and both Sugar and Momma's Man were two of our favorite finds at this year's Sundance festival.]...
- 10/10/2008
- Pastemagazine.com
Directors Arthur Dong, Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Chris Eska, Clark Gregg, Davis Guggenheim and Freida Lee Mock are among the participants in Film Independent's fourth annual Filmmaker Forum, which will be held Sept. 26-28 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.
Producer Ted Hope will deliver this year's keynote address at the three-day event, which focusses on the latest developments in independent filmmaking.
The forum will kick off on Sept. 26 with a screening of Rian Anderson's "The Brothers Bloom," followed by a Q&A with producer Ram Bergman and other members of the creative team and a reception in the DGA atrium.
On Sept. 27 and 28, panel discussions will be held on such topics as "Finding the Financial Sweet Spot"; "What's Up Doc?"; "The Micro Budget Film as a Calling Card; New Tools for Audience Building; The Cost of Cutting Corners: Production Dos and Don'ts"; "Keeping Your Documentary on...
Producer Ted Hope will deliver this year's keynote address at the three-day event, which focusses on the latest developments in independent filmmaking.
The forum will kick off on Sept. 26 with a screening of Rian Anderson's "The Brothers Bloom," followed by a Q&A with producer Ram Bergman and other members of the creative team and a reception in the DGA atrium.
On Sept. 27 and 28, panel discussions will be held on such topics as "Finding the Financial Sweet Spot"; "What's Up Doc?"; "The Micro Budget Film as a Calling Card; New Tools for Audience Building; The Cost of Cutting Corners: Production Dos and Don'ts"; "Keeping Your Documentary on...
- 9/18/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review originally appeared in slightly different form during Sundance 2008. For further thoughts on Momma's Man and the work of Azazel Jacobs, see these notes on his recent BAM retrospective. When a filmmaker casts his own parents as parents––in a film about an adult and his relationship to his parents upon returning to his childhood home, a film which said filmmaker shoots *in* his childhood home––you’d expect (or maybe fear) that the result would be meta-personal to the point of solipsism. But what’s really surprising about Azazel Jacob’s Momma’s Man,</em ...
- 8/22/2008
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
It's time to stop calling Azazel Jacobs a "promising" filmmaker. With "Momma's Man," Jacobs achieves the promise.
The deeply affecting "Momma's Man" goes far inside John Cassavetes territory. Mikey (Matt Boren) visits his doting parents during a business trip to New York, leaving his wife and child back in California.
Comes time to go home, he encounters two problems. His airline, All American Sky, bumps him (nothing surprising there). Worse, some strange mental paralysis keeps him from leaving his parents' home, a cluttered Chambers Street loft.
The deeply affecting "Momma's Man" goes far inside John Cassavetes territory. Mikey (Matt Boren) visits his doting parents during a business trip to New York, leaving his wife and child back in California.
Comes time to go home, he encounters two problems. His airline, All American Sky, bumps him (nothing surprising there). Worse, some strange mental paralysis keeps him from leaving his parents' home, a cluttered Chambers Street loft.
- 8/22/2008
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
For his third feature, Momma's Man, micro-budget filmmaker Azazel Jacobs shoots in his boyhood home, and has his parents Flo and Ken—the latter a legend of avant-garde cinema—playing, essentially, themselves. Then he casts Matt Boren as their grown son, an L.A.-based husband and father who flies into New York City on business, stays with his parents, and has a hard time leaving. Initially, Boren claims he's having trouble with his flight out. Then he starts cooking up vague, defensive excuses for his wife, like "Do you know what it's like to watch your parents get old?" Eventually, he stops trying to explain himself at all, and just settles into long days of playing with toys, picking at his guitar, and calling up old friends to see if they remember the person he used to be. Momma's Man is a comedy of sorts, though to Jacobs' credit,...
- 8/21/2008
- by Noel Murray
- avclub.com
With the movie opening in New York tomorrow, Kino has posted a trailer for Azazel Jacobs' Momma's Man on YouTube. If you haven't seen the film, I think this clip is a pretty strong encapsulation of its overall mashup of slapstick and melancholy. Also, the reviews a starting to roll in, and J. Hoberman's got a must-read take <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-08-19/film/childhood-in-momma-s ...
- 8/21/2008
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
By Aaron Hillis
Last December, I met filmmaker Azazel Jacobs at a coffee shop just down the street from the Tribeca loft he grew up in, and where his parents . avant-garde cinema icon Ken Jacobs and longtime collaborator Flo . still rent. Though he now lives in L.A.'s Echo Park neighborhood, Aza was back in NYC for final tweaking on his third feature, "Momma's Man," before its unveiling at Sundance '08. The reason for our meeting was mostly professional, as Benten Films (a DVD label I run with film blogger Andrew Grant) had fallen in love with Jacobs' previous film, "The GoodTimesKid," starring his real-life girlfriend Sara Diaz, "I'm Going to Explode" writer/director Gerardo Naranjo, and himself. (Benten will release "The GoodTimesKid" in early 2009, so let the shilling stop here).
Several months later, after a distribution deal with ThinkFilm fell through and Kino picked up the slack, "Momma's Man...
Last December, I met filmmaker Azazel Jacobs at a coffee shop just down the street from the Tribeca loft he grew up in, and where his parents . avant-garde cinema icon Ken Jacobs and longtime collaborator Flo . still rent. Though he now lives in L.A.'s Echo Park neighborhood, Aza was back in NYC for final tweaking on his third feature, "Momma's Man," before its unveiling at Sundance '08. The reason for our meeting was mostly professional, as Benten Films (a DVD label I run with film blogger Andrew Grant) had fallen in love with Jacobs' previous film, "The GoodTimesKid," starring his real-life girlfriend Sara Diaz, "I'm Going to Explode" writer/director Gerardo Naranjo, and himself. (Benten will release "The GoodTimesKid" in early 2009, so let the shilling stop here).
Several months later, after a distribution deal with ThinkFilm fell through and Kino picked up the slack, "Momma's Man...
- 8/20/2008
- by Aaron Hillis
- ifc.com
By Neil Pedley
This week finds Shakespeare meeting Sexy Jesus, a crash course in Czech history alongside a totalitarian demolition derby, apocalyptic sea monsters and Fred Durst trying to get in touch with his fuzzy side.
"Cthulhu"
Director Dan Gildark certainly isn't lacking for confidence. Whereas most first-time filmmakers would turn to the well-worn territory of twentysomethings and their quirky quarterlife crises for subject matter, Gildark has opted to tackle H.P Lovecraft's sprawling, heady, quasi-religious mythos from the short story "Shadow over Innsmouth" instead. Jason Cottle stars as Russ, a history professor who returns home to Oregon to execute his late mother's will and discovers his father is the leader of the coastal town's apocalyptic cult that centers on the fabled Cthulhu, an extraterrestrial deity that exists in a state of torpor at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. When Russ learns a mass sacrifice may be in the offing,...
This week finds Shakespeare meeting Sexy Jesus, a crash course in Czech history alongside a totalitarian demolition derby, apocalyptic sea monsters and Fred Durst trying to get in touch with his fuzzy side.
"Cthulhu"
Director Dan Gildark certainly isn't lacking for confidence. Whereas most first-time filmmakers would turn to the well-worn territory of twentysomethings and their quirky quarterlife crises for subject matter, Gildark has opted to tackle H.P Lovecraft's sprawling, heady, quasi-religious mythos from the short story "Shadow over Innsmouth" instead. Jason Cottle stars as Russ, a history professor who returns home to Oregon to execute his late mother's will and discovers his father is the leader of the coastal town's apocalyptic cult that centers on the fabled Cthulhu, an extraterrestrial deity that exists in a state of torpor at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. When Russ learns a mass sacrifice may be in the offing,...
- 8/18/2008
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
At age 35, with just three features under his belt, Azazel Jacobs seems like an unlikely candidate for a retrospective, but if such an endeavor pumps up the profile of his first two, lesser-seen films whilst effectively promoting his soon-to-be-released Momma's Man, I'm not going to argue against it. BAM will devote five nights of programming to Jacobs this week, with all three of his features shown alongside two films selected by the director: the 1980 Clash vehicle Rude Boy, and Aki Kaurismaki's La Vie de Boheme. The series opens tonight with a screening of Jacobs' second film, The GoodTim ...
- 8/11/2008
- by Karina Longworth
- Spout
Like father, like son. The hot indie director of the moment is Azazel Jacobs, whose dad, Ken Jacobs, happens to be a legendary experimental film maker.
Now it's Azazel's turn. He's on the receiving end of a retro at Bam Rose Cinemas in the run-up to the Aug. 22 opening (at the Angelika) of his third and most accomplished film, "Momma's Man," which garnered positive buzz at Sundance.
The mini-fest, tomorrow through Friday, comprises "Momma's Man" as well as Azazel Jacobs' first two...
Now it's Azazel's turn. He's on the receiving end of a retro at Bam Rose Cinemas in the run-up to the Aug. 22 opening (at the Angelika) of his third and most accomplished film, "Momma's Man," which garnered positive buzz at Sundance.
The mini-fest, tomorrow through Friday, comprises "Momma's Man" as well as Azazel Jacobs' first two...
- 8/10/2008
- by By V.A. MUSETTO
- NYPost.com
NEW YORK -- ThinkFilm has acquired North American rights to one of the more offbeat films from January's Sundance Film Festival, the darkly comic drama Momma's Man.
Writer-director Azazel Jacobs' feature centers on a Los Angeles father (Matt Boren) who visits his parents on a New York business trip and decides to stay, leaving his wife and child behind. He quickly reverts to his childhood ways.
The director cast his real-life parents, noted avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs and Flo Jacobs, as the fictional parents.
The acquisition reunites ThinkFilm with Half Nelson and "Man" producers Alex Orlovsky and Hunter Gray and exec producer Paul Mezey.
The Sundance Spectrum section premiere will be featured in the Film Society of Lincoln Center/Museum of Modern Art's New Directors/New Films series on March 28, with a theatrical release to follow.
ThinkFilm's Mark Urman, Randy Manis and Ben Stambler negotiated the deal, with Cinetic Media repping the filmmakers.
Writer-director Azazel Jacobs' feature centers on a Los Angeles father (Matt Boren) who visits his parents on a New York business trip and decides to stay, leaving his wife and child behind. He quickly reverts to his childhood ways.
The director cast his real-life parents, noted avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs and Flo Jacobs, as the fictional parents.
The acquisition reunites ThinkFilm with Half Nelson and "Man" producers Alex Orlovsky and Hunter Gray and exec producer Paul Mezey.
The Sundance Spectrum section premiere will be featured in the Film Society of Lincoln Center/Museum of Modern Art's New Directors/New Films series on March 28, with a theatrical release to follow.
ThinkFilm's Mark Urman, Randy Manis and Ben Stambler negotiated the deal, with Cinetic Media repping the filmmakers.
- Less than a week ago when I mentioned we should see a flurry of post-Sundance deals (indie distributors snapping up titles from U.S. Drama and Spectrum sections) I wasn't necessarily thinking of the smaller projects - THR reports that the Alex Orlovsky and Hunter Gray-produced and Paul Mezey exec produced micro-budgeted writer-director Azazel Jacobs' Momma's Man is now a Th!NKFilm property. Jacob's (pictured above) cast his real-life parents, noted avant-garde filmmakers Ken Jacobs and Flo Jacobs, as the fictional parents. Sounding like a softer version of the French film (Tanguy) where an adult child does not want to leave the nest - this sees a holiday visit with parents extend itself when Mikey (Matt Boren) is headed to the airport to return to his wife and newborn baby. Except he doesn’t board the plane. Instead he returns to his parents’ loft in lower Manhattan,
- 3/4/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
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