What will you ask the brilliant actor, author, cake decorator and star of new film A Family Affair?
Jane Asher has been on our screens for almost 73 years – her first role was aged five, in Mandy, and she turns 78 on 5 May. But it was aged 17 she really shot to big screen prominence, opposite Vincent Pryce in The Masque of the Red Death.
Then, two years later, in 1966, came Alfie, in which she plays a hitchhiker who becomes the latest in Michael Caine’s litany of conquests; in 1970 she was the lead in Jerzy Skolimowski’s suburban psychodrama Deep End.
Jane Asher has been on our screens for almost 73 years – her first role was aged five, in Mandy, and she turns 78 on 5 May. But it was aged 17 she really shot to big screen prominence, opposite Vincent Pryce in The Masque of the Red Death.
Then, two years later, in 1966, came Alfie, in which she plays a hitchhiker who becomes the latest in Michael Caine’s litany of conquests; in 1970 she was the lead in Jerzy Skolimowski’s suburban psychodrama Deep End.
- 5/4/2024
- by Guardian Film
- The Guardian - Film News
How does dance music sensation John Summit pregame his set at one of Las Vegas’ most popular nightclubs the Friday before the Super Bowl? Laying in bed, eating an airport sandwich.
But just because he’s horizontal doesn’t mean he’s unproductive. In fact, he’s spending his time cooking up something new that could be house music’s next smash hit — or at least a highlight of what his fans hear that night. “I try to make a new song for every set,” Summit, 29, says. “I usually make...
But just because he’s horizontal doesn’t mean he’s unproductive. In fact, he’s spending his time cooking up something new that could be house music’s next smash hit — or at least a highlight of what his fans hear that night. “I try to make a new song for every set,” Summit, 29, says. “I usually make...
- 3/21/2024
- by Waiss Aramesh
- Rollingstone.com
Marty Friedman has announced a new solo album, Drama, arriving May 17th. The former Megadeth guitarist has also offered up the lead single and album opener “Illumination.”
The six-and-a-half minute instrumental showcases Friedman’s many six-string talents, from jazz runs to neo-classical flourishes. A mellow, extended intro leads up to the track’s climatic guitar fireworks, with Friedman’s elegant solos backed by an ensemble that includes typical rock instrumentation, as well as cello and violin.
Friedman self-produced Drama, which was partially recorded at Newsin Audio Design in Italy, where Friedman had access to a plethora of vintage guitars and tones. Recording engineers include Luigi Stefanini, Frank Rosato, Takao Nakazato, Atsuo Akabae, and Kenjiro Naka. Alexander Backlund and Jay Ruston mixed the tracks, while Koji Tanaka handled the mastering at Victor Creative Media in Tokyo.
Of the 12 tracks on the album, two include vocals (“Dead of Winter” featuring Chris Brooks...
The six-and-a-half minute instrumental showcases Friedman’s many six-string talents, from jazz runs to neo-classical flourishes. A mellow, extended intro leads up to the track’s climatic guitar fireworks, with Friedman’s elegant solos backed by an ensemble that includes typical rock instrumentation, as well as cello and violin.
Friedman self-produced Drama, which was partially recorded at Newsin Audio Design in Italy, where Friedman had access to a plethora of vintage guitars and tones. Recording engineers include Luigi Stefanini, Frank Rosato, Takao Nakazato, Atsuo Akabae, and Kenjiro Naka. Alexander Backlund and Jay Ruston mixed the tracks, while Koji Tanaka handled the mastering at Victor Creative Media in Tokyo.
Of the 12 tracks on the album, two include vocals (“Dead of Winter” featuring Chris Brooks...
- 3/11/2024
- by Jon Hadusek
- Consequence - Music
Gordon Main’s apartheid-era documentary “London Recruits” has been tapped as the opening film at the sixth Joburg Film Festival, which takes place Feb. 27 – March 3 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The film sheds light on a pivotal moment in South Africa‘s history, when the struggle against the apartheid government in South Africa developed a new secret weapon. Oliver Tambo hatched a plan to infiltrate young British activists into the country, posing as tourists. Their mission, in the face of brutal lockdown by the racist regime, was to help inspire ordinary South Africans to join a liberation movement that would never give up till freedom was won.
The film is produced by Jacintha de Nobrega (“Deep End”), Robyn Slovo, Geoff Arbourne, Colin Charles (“The Surveyor”), James Barrett (“A Change in the Weather”) and Felix Gill (“78/52″). As Variety previously reported, XYZ Films is repping the doc’s North American sales.
Earlier this week,...
The film sheds light on a pivotal moment in South Africa‘s history, when the struggle against the apartheid government in South Africa developed a new secret weapon. Oliver Tambo hatched a plan to infiltrate young British activists into the country, posing as tourists. Their mission, in the face of brutal lockdown by the racist regime, was to help inspire ordinary South Africans to join a liberation movement that would never give up till freedom was won.
The film is produced by Jacintha de Nobrega (“Deep End”), Robyn Slovo, Geoff Arbourne, Colin Charles (“The Surveyor”), James Barrett (“A Change in the Weather”) and Felix Gill (“78/52″). As Variety previously reported, XYZ Films is repping the doc’s North American sales.
Earlier this week,...
- 2/14/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The Beatles‘ Rubber Soul is many things, but it’s not an album about Paul McCartney’s personal life. However, there are exceptions to every rule. One track from Rubber Soul is about Paul’s disillusionment with a 1960s movie star. Interestingly, Rubber Soul became a hit twice in the United Kingdom: once during the 1960s and once during the 1980s.
The Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul’ was inspired by an actor who put her career over her personal life
From 1963 to 1968, Paul dated actor Jane Asher. She was most known for her roles in movies like Alfie, The Masque of the Red Death, and Deep End. Similar to John Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono, Paul’s relationship with Asher left a big impact on The Beatles’ lyrics, including those for “I’m Looking Through You.” In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed butting heads with Asher.
The Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul’ was inspired by an actor who put her career over her personal life
From 1963 to 1968, Paul dated actor Jane Asher. She was most known for her roles in movies like Alfie, The Masque of the Red Death, and Deep End. Similar to John Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono, Paul’s relationship with Asher left a big impact on The Beatles’ lyrics, including those for “I’m Looking Through You.” In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed butting heads with Asher.
- 2/2/2024
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
Many of the most memorable moments of my life have revolved around cinema. (Let’s not debate whether that is a good thing.) And 2023 was no exception. There was a twentieth-anniversary screening of the mesmerizing Mulholland Drive at Buffalo’s North Park Theatre featuring a performance from the remarkable Rebekah Del Rio. That was a biggie, but many of my most indelible 2023 cinema memories include my children. In July, my wife and our two kiddos had a rare group cinema outing to Barbie on its opening day, and I have rarely seen my then-eight-year-old daughter more genuinely excited to dance the night away. A few weeks earlier my son was similarly pumped for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny—his first (and only) chance to see...
Many of the most memorable moments of my life have revolved around cinema. (Let’s not debate whether that is a good thing.) And 2023 was no exception. There was a twentieth-anniversary screening of the mesmerizing Mulholland Drive at Buffalo’s North Park Theatre featuring a performance from the remarkable Rebekah Del Rio. That was a biggie, but many of my most indelible 2023 cinema memories include my children. In July, my wife and our two kiddos had a rare group cinema outing to Barbie on its opening day, and I have rarely seen my then-eight-year-old daughter more genuinely excited to dance the night away. A few weeks earlier my son was similarly pumped for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny—his first (and only) chance to see...
- 12/20/2023
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
Paul McCartney revealed he came up with the melody of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” when he was at a movie star’s house. Paul had a very close relationship with that star. In retrospect, Paul wasn’t sure how long it took for him to finish writing “Yesterday.”
A reporter once told Paul McCartney that The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ took a year to finish
During a 2009 interview with Clash, Paul was asked why it took a year to finish “Yesterday.” “Was it?” Paul said. “I don’t remember it taking a year.
“It must have been from when I actually had the melody to when I’d finished it all,” he added. “I dreamed the melody one day in London when I was staying at Jane Asher’s house, who was my girlfriend at the time, and I was staying there and I woke up one morning with the song in my head.
A reporter once told Paul McCartney that The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ took a year to finish
During a 2009 interview with Clash, Paul was asked why it took a year to finish “Yesterday.” “Was it?” Paul said. “I don’t remember it taking a year.
“It must have been from when I actually had the melody to when I’d finished it all,” he added. “I dreamed the melody one day in London when I was staying at Jane Asher’s house, who was my girlfriend at the time, and I was staying there and I woke up one morning with the song in my head.
- 11/29/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Paul McCartney revealed he came up with the melody of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” when he was at a movie star’s house. Paul had a very close relationship with that star. In retrospect, Paul wasn’t sure how long it took for him to finish writing “Yesterday.”
A reporter once told Paul McCartney that The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ took a year to finish
During a 2009 interview with Clash, a Paul was asked why it took a year to finish “Yesterday.” “Was it?” Paul said. “I don’t remember it taking a year.
“It must have been from when I actually had the melody to when I’d finished it all,” he added. “I dreamed the melody one day in London when I was staying at Jane Asher’s house, who was my girlfriend at the time, and I was staying there and I woke up one morning with the song in my head.
A reporter once told Paul McCartney that The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’ took a year to finish
During a 2009 interview with Clash, a Paul was asked why it took a year to finish “Yesterday.” “Was it?” Paul said. “I don’t remember it taking a year.
“It must have been from when I actually had the melody to when I’d finished it all,” he added. “I dreamed the melody one day in London when I was staying at Jane Asher’s house, who was my girlfriend at the time, and I was staying there and I woke up one morning with the song in my head.
- 11/29/2023
- by Matthew Trzcinski
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The National stopped by BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland recently to perform “Space Invader” and “Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces),” two highlights from their latest album Laugh Track.
The recently-renovated Alexandra Palace Theatre made a pretty good backdrop for The National, who are just a few weeks out from their surprise-released LP. “Space Invader” — which The National released back in August — filled up the auditorium with Matt Berninger’s booming vocals and the Dessner brothers’ sweeping shredding; meanwhile, “Deep End” offered a contrasting blast of high-energy. Both sound wonderful!
Watch The National perform “Space Invader” and “Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces)” on BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland below.
Laugh Track follows The National’s April 2023 album First Two Pages of Frankenstein.
The National Perform “Space Invader” and “Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces)” on Later… with Jools Holland: Watch
Abby Jones...
The recently-renovated Alexandra Palace Theatre made a pretty good backdrop for The National, who are just a few weeks out from their surprise-released LP. “Space Invader” — which The National released back in August — filled up the auditorium with Matt Berninger’s booming vocals and the Dessner brothers’ sweeping shredding; meanwhile, “Deep End” offered a contrasting blast of high-energy. Both sound wonderful!
Watch The National perform “Space Invader” and “Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces)” on BBC’s Later… with Jools Holland below.
Laugh Track follows The National’s April 2023 album First Two Pages of Frankenstein.
The National Perform “Space Invader” and “Deep End (Paul’s in Pieces)” on Later… with Jools Holland: Watch
Abby Jones...
- 10/16/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Music
To celebrate the release of Mark Cousins’ new documentary The Storms of Jeremy Thomas, a portrait of the Oscar-winning producer responsible for bringing to life films by David Cronenberg, Jonathan Glazer, Jim Jarmusch, Bernardo Bertolucci, Nagisa Ôshima, Jerzy Skolimowski, and many more, NYC’s Quad Cinema is fittingly paying tribute to his career with a fantastic retrospective.
“Jeremy Thomas Presents” kicks off today and runs through September 28 at Quad Cinema, with The Storms of Jeremy Thomas opening this Friday, September 22. As the retrospective commences, we’re pleased to exclusively share the trailer along with comments directly from Thomas looking back at the making of these iconic films.
Sexy Beast
I was sent a script with a Jonathan Glazer attached, called “Sexy Beast”. It was on a Friday night, and I read it over the weekend. The screenplay was brilliant, and on the Monday I bought it before anyone else could.
“Jeremy Thomas Presents” kicks off today and runs through September 28 at Quad Cinema, with The Storms of Jeremy Thomas opening this Friday, September 22. As the retrospective commences, we’re pleased to exclusively share the trailer along with comments directly from Thomas looking back at the making of these iconic films.
Sexy Beast
I was sent a script with a Jonathan Glazer attached, called “Sexy Beast”. It was on a Friday night, and I read it over the weekend. The screenplay was brilliant, and on the Monday I bought it before anyone else could.
- 9/18/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The National have returned with Laugh Track, a surprise new album that serves as “the second half of a double album” which began this past April with the band’s previous release, First Two Pages of Frankenstein. The new record is out now, and features appearances by Phoebe Bridgers, Rosanne Cash, and Bon Iver. Stream it below.
The band announced the album onstage this past weekend at their own Homecoming Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio. Last month, they shared the singles “Space Invader” and “Alphabet City,” which both appear on the new album, along with “Weird Goodbyes,” the single with Bon Iver that the band shared in August 2022. Earlier this year, the band hinted that “Weird Goodbyes” wouldn’t appear on Frankenstein, alluding to a “future home” for it. Now, we know what that “future home” is.
According to the press release, the songs on Laugh Track were written alongside those on Frankenstein,...
The band announced the album onstage this past weekend at their own Homecoming Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio. Last month, they shared the singles “Space Invader” and “Alphabet City,” which both appear on the new album, along with “Weird Goodbyes,” the single with Bon Iver that the band shared in August 2022. Earlier this year, the band hinted that “Weird Goodbyes” wouldn’t appear on Frankenstein, alluding to a “future home” for it. Now, we know what that “future home” is.
According to the press release, the songs on Laugh Track were written alongside those on Frankenstein,...
- 9/18/2023
- by Jo Vito
- Consequence - Music
Holly Humberstone is pretty sure her childhood home is haunted.
Sitting in an average-sized hotel room in New York’s Gramercy neighborhood, the 23-year-old songwriter gets excited discussing the home she grew up in, which is 3,000 miles away in Grantham, England. “There’s this huge basement and just spiders and frogs down there,” Humberstone says. “There’s this whole grim room in the cellar that has meat hooks and then gutters so all the blood can run.”
Humberstone and her three sisters let their imaginations run wild in the old...
Sitting in an average-sized hotel room in New York’s Gramercy neighborhood, the 23-year-old songwriter gets excited discussing the home she grew up in, which is 3,000 miles away in Grantham, England. “There’s this huge basement and just spiders and frogs down there,” Humberstone says. “There’s this whole grim room in the cellar that has meat hooks and then gutters so all the blood can run.”
Humberstone and her three sisters let their imaginations run wild in the old...
- 8/16/2023
- by Waiss Aramesh
- Rollingstone.com
Season 2 of young adult romance “Heartstopper” has arrived on Netflix, accompanied by a soundtrack filled with pop and rock. Adapted from Alice Oseman’s graphic novels, the new season continues the cute, queer, colorful and cartoon-embellished story.
Now that they are boyfriends, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) face the nuanced challenges of Nick’s decision to come out to his family and friends. Elle Argent (Yasmin Finney) and Tao Xu (William Gao) fight their own butterflies. Tara Jones (Corinna Brown) and Darcy Olsson (Kizzy Edgell) are back with their relationship road bumps — and let’s not forget our favorite bookworm, Isaac Henderson (Tobie Donovan).
The first episode kicks off on a solid note with Maggie Rogers’ “Shatter” and Fitz and the Tantrums’ “Out of My League.” The 1975’s “The Sound” uplifts episode three after a stressful round of testing for the Year 11 students. Taylor Swift’s...
Now that they are boyfriends, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) and Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) face the nuanced challenges of Nick’s decision to come out to his family and friends. Elle Argent (Yasmin Finney) and Tao Xu (William Gao) fight their own butterflies. Tara Jones (Corinna Brown) and Darcy Olsson (Kizzy Edgell) are back with their relationship road bumps — and let’s not forget our favorite bookworm, Isaac Henderson (Tobie Donovan).
The first episode kicks off on a solid note with Maggie Rogers’ “Shatter” and Fitz and the Tantrums’ “Out of My League.” The 1975’s “The Sound” uplifts episode three after a stressful round of testing for the Year 11 students. Taylor Swift’s...
- 8/3/2023
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
XYZ Films will represent documentary “London Recruits” for North American sales, it was revealed at the ongoing Durban FilmMart.
Directed by Gordon Main, the film sheds light on a pivotal moment in South Africa’s history. In 1970, the struggle against the apartheid government in South Africa developed a new secret weapon. Oliver Tambo hatched a plan to infiltrate young British activists into the country, posing as tourists. Their mission, in the face of brutal lockdown by the racist regime, was to help inspire ordinary South Africans to join a liberation movement that would never give up till freedom was won.
To mark the partnership, Ronnie Kasrils, now 86, the former underground African National Congress (Anc) freedom fighter at the heart of the story, participated in detonating a bucket “leaflet bomb” outside the market hotel. These were the devices deployed in 1970 by amateur secret agents that Kasrils recruited in London on orders from Tambo.
Directed by Gordon Main, the film sheds light on a pivotal moment in South Africa’s history. In 1970, the struggle against the apartheid government in South Africa developed a new secret weapon. Oliver Tambo hatched a plan to infiltrate young British activists into the country, posing as tourists. Their mission, in the face of brutal lockdown by the racist regime, was to help inspire ordinary South Africans to join a liberation movement that would never give up till freedom was won.
To mark the partnership, Ronnie Kasrils, now 86, the former underground African National Congress (Anc) freedom fighter at the heart of the story, participated in detonating a bucket “leaflet bomb” outside the market hotel. These were the devices deployed in 1970 by amateur secret agents that Kasrils recruited in London on orders from Tambo.
- 7/23/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
If you’re looking to up the creep factor with your Fourth of July festivities, we’ve found the perfect pairing for your annual rewatches of holiday horror favorites like Jaws and I Know What You Did Last Summer — Anthony Sellitti’s terrifying short film, “Deep End“!
Check out Bloody Disgusting’s exclusive short debut below.
When an adventurous young boy (Cardin Benjamin) sneaks into a seemingly serene swimming pool on a hot summer day, he discovers what lurks beneath the surface is more terrifying than he ever could have imagined. Clocking under five minutes, this short aquatic horror film artfully evokes a timeless sense of summer nostalgia, while also tapping into the universal childhood memories of swimming in a pool, where the deep end and the unknown abyss beneath our feet filled our minds with fear.
If Jaws made you afraid of the ocean, “Deep End” will definitely make...
Check out Bloody Disgusting’s exclusive short debut below.
When an adventurous young boy (Cardin Benjamin) sneaks into a seemingly serene swimming pool on a hot summer day, he discovers what lurks beneath the surface is more terrifying than he ever could have imagined. Clocking under five minutes, this short aquatic horror film artfully evokes a timeless sense of summer nostalgia, while also tapping into the universal childhood memories of swimming in a pool, where the deep end and the unknown abyss beneath our feet filled our minds with fear.
If Jaws made you afraid of the ocean, “Deep End” will definitely make...
- 7/3/2023
- by Ari Drew
- bloody-disgusting.com
On May 16, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and New York City Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell held a press conference announcing that rappers Sheff G, real name Michael Williams, and Sleepy Hallow, real name Tegan Chambers, were arrested as part of a 32-person, 140-count gang indictment alleging murder, attempted murder, gun possession, and other crimes. Gonzales claimed that the men charged are members of the 8 Trey Crips and 9 Ways gangs, who collectively waged war on the Folk Nation Gangster Disciples and Icg Babiiez over...
- 5/25/2023
- by Andre Gee
- Rollingstone.com
The Bangles frontwoman Susanna Hoffs has announced a new album, a collection of covers called The Deep End. The project is out April 7th via Baroque Folk, while the first taste of the LP — a cover of The Rolling Stones’ 1966 track “Under My Thumb” — is available to stream now.
Produced by Peter Asher, The Deep End sees Hoffs tackle classics from the Stones, Squeeze, and Leslie Gore, as well as modern songs by artists like Ed Sheeran, Billie Eilish, and Brandy Clark. It arrives at the same time as The Bird Has Flown, the artist’s debut novel. Pre-orders for both the album and the book are ongoing.
While she admits to loving the Stones and “Under My Thumb” — “I’ve listened to that song on repeat since it came out in the mid-’60s,” she recalled in a statement — covering the track presented Hoffs with the opportunity to practice a little gender trouble.
Produced by Peter Asher, The Deep End sees Hoffs tackle classics from the Stones, Squeeze, and Leslie Gore, as well as modern songs by artists like Ed Sheeran, Billie Eilish, and Brandy Clark. It arrives at the same time as The Bird Has Flown, the artist’s debut novel. Pre-orders for both the album and the book are ongoing.
While she admits to loving the Stones and “Under My Thumb” — “I’ve listened to that song on repeat since it came out in the mid-’60s,” she recalled in a statement — covering the track presented Hoffs with the opportunity to practice a little gender trouble.
- 3/8/2023
- by Carys Anderson
- Consequence - Music
The Notebook Primer introduces readers to some of the most important figures, films, genres, and movements in film history.Women in Love.“British erotica” has long been considered an oxymoron, and this distinction is not entirely unfounded. While European auteurs like Jean-Luc Godard, Tinto Brass, Walerian Borowczyk, and Luis Buñuel were treating copulation as a springboard to philosophical ruminations, the British were paying to see Barbara Windsor’s bra popping off during an outdoor aerobics session in Carry On Camping (1969). Is this assessment fair? Well…yes and no. While many films point to a nation of buttoned-up prudes and furtive voyeurs, a deeper inspection reveals a colorful mosaic of sexual mores and shifting social values as film became an established part of life.Part of the challenge of defining British erotica lies with the difficulty of defining erotica itself. There’s enormous variability in the human response, and where some prefer explicit material,...
- 2/21/2023
- MUBI
Whether you’re a New York City native, a transplant, or just a two-day visitor to the sprawling metropolis, you’ve probably seen a struggling artist performing on the subway or a station platform. “Showtime, showtime, showtime!” street dancers often shout before flipping off the ceilings of the train cars and maneuvering around their poles. Going from “Showtime!” to stardom is rare, but Britanny Fousheé did give busking a shot, well before her 2022 breakout as the co-writer to one of the world’s biggest pop songs — Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit.
- 2/17/2023
- by Mankaprr Conteh
- Rollingstone.com
Exclusive: Eo, filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski’s Oscar-nominated tale about a wandering donkey, has found a streaming home.
The film will debut Tuesday on the Criterion Channel as a title for subscribers, and will be available the same day for purchase or rental on Apple, Amazon and Vudu.
After almost four months in theaters, the film continues to bring in audiences. It is expected to cross 1 million at the North American box office within the next week. The film has been playing exclusively in theaters to this point and has offered hope for the specialty sector, which has not seen the across-the-board rebound in attendance enjoyed by horror films and studio tentpoles.
This is the second release for Sideshow, the distributor behind Drive My Car, a similarly long-simmering theatrical title which earned nominations last year in multiple Oscar categories, including Best Picture. Sideshow and Janus Films boarded Eo last June after...
The film will debut Tuesday on the Criterion Channel as a title for subscribers, and will be available the same day for purchase or rental on Apple, Amazon and Vudu.
After almost four months in theaters, the film continues to bring in audiences. It is expected to cross 1 million at the North American box office within the next week. The film has been playing exclusively in theaters to this point and has offered hope for the specialty sector, which has not seen the across-the-board rebound in attendance enjoyed by horror films and studio tentpoles.
This is the second release for Sideshow, the distributor behind Drive My Car, a similarly long-simmering theatrical title which earned nominations last year in multiple Oscar categories, including Best Picture. Sideshow and Janus Films boarded Eo last June after...
- 2/16/2023
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Il Buco (Michelangelo Frammartino)
With Il Buco, Michelangelo Frammartino returns to the Calabrian countryside 12 years after Le Quattro Volte. Oscillating between a shepherd slowly dying and a nearby cave-diving expedition, Frammartino and cinematographer Renata Berta capture the movement inside their static frames with elegance. A soccer ball is kicked back and forth over the cave entrance, upping the stakes of an errant kick, burning magazine pages float down into the darkness illuminating the cave depths for the explorers and the audience—Il Buco is an experiential ode to death as the final frontier. – Caleb H.
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Contemporary Japan
A new series focusing on recent(ish) Japanese cinema features exclusive streaming homes for films by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hirokazu Koreeda,...
Il Buco (Michelangelo Frammartino)
With Il Buco, Michelangelo Frammartino returns to the Calabrian countryside 12 years after Le Quattro Volte. Oscillating between a shepherd slowly dying and a nearby cave-diving expedition, Frammartino and cinematographer Renata Berta capture the movement inside their static frames with elegance. A soccer ball is kicked back and forth over the cave entrance, upping the stakes of an errant kick, burning magazine pages float down into the darkness illuminating the cave depths for the explorers and the audience—Il Buco is an experiential ode to death as the final frontier. – Caleb H.
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Contemporary Japan
A new series focusing on recent(ish) Japanese cinema features exclusive streaming homes for films by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Hirokazu Koreeda,...
- 1/6/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Click here to read the full article.
Polish auteur’s Jerzy Skolimowski’s latest film, Eo, which follows the adventures of a mule who is stubborn and wise and free-spirited, has been chosen by Poland as its contender for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Eo debuted in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and the Soundtrack Award. The Polish film will also have a North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, before going onto to the New York Film Festival.
Skolimowski (Deep End, Moonlighting) directed the drama about a nomadic gray donkey named Eo. After leaving a traveling circus, Eo begins a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside, experiencing cruelty and kindness in equal measure.
On those travels, the donkey meets a cast of characters played by Lorenzo Zurzolo and Isabelle Huppert, among others. Ewa Piaskowska and Skolimowski wrote and produced the movie.
Polish auteur’s Jerzy Skolimowski’s latest film, Eo, which follows the adventures of a mule who is stubborn and wise and free-spirited, has been chosen by Poland as its contender for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Eo debuted in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Jury Prize and the Soundtrack Award. The Polish film will also have a North American premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, before going onto to the New York Film Festival.
Skolimowski (Deep End, Moonlighting) directed the drama about a nomadic gray donkey named Eo. After leaving a traveling circus, Eo begins a trek across the Polish and Italian countryside, experiencing cruelty and kindness in equal measure.
On those travels, the donkey meets a cast of characters played by Lorenzo Zurzolo and Isabelle Huppert, among others. Ewa Piaskowska and Skolimowski wrote and produced the movie.
- 8/30/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In one of analytic philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein’s most widely shared quotes, he mused that “if a lion could talk, we would not understand him.” The barrier of language and gulf of understanding between man and animal is the subject of the quite wondrous Eo, a true surprise from the great Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski, now enjoying his mid-80s. It is adapted—freely inspired may be a better term—from Robert Bresson’s iconic 1966 film Au Hasard Balthazar; from Eo’s opening minutes any memory or sense of that masterpiece’s forbidding stature is banished—we’re dealing with quite a different animal here. No, it isn’t as good. But it’s different, and a companion piece that flatters both that film and itself.
For Bresson—a cruel moralist, but definitely not a sadist—the donkey Balthazar was meant to unveil the human capacity for sin; with intensely...
For Bresson—a cruel moralist, but definitely not a sadist—the donkey Balthazar was meant to unveil the human capacity for sin; with intensely...
- 5/20/2022
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
During the pandemic, no major film festival was all shook up more than Cannes, forced to cancel the 2019 event and shifting dates to mid-summer for an overstocked comeback event the following year. Now, this all-important showcase for global art cinema looks to be finding its feet again, thanks to a diverse lineup that includes everything from Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” to the directorial debut of his granddaughter, Riley Keough, whose “Beast” (co-directed by Gina Gammell) is set on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Sounding optimistic at the press conference on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, artistic director Thierry Frémaux announced new films from George Miller (“Three Thousand Years of Longing”), David Cronenberg (“Crimes of the Future”), Kelly Reichardt (”Showing Up”) and James Gray (“Armageddon Time”) in the official selection.
Accompanied by outgoing festival president Pierre Lescure, Frémaux announced the opening film, Michel Hazanvicius’ “Final Cut,” which had originally been selected for Sundance,...
Sounding optimistic at the press conference on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, artistic director Thierry Frémaux announced new films from George Miller (“Three Thousand Years of Longing”), David Cronenberg (“Crimes of the Future”), Kelly Reichardt (”Showing Up”) and James Gray (“Armageddon Time”) in the official selection.
Accompanied by outgoing festival president Pierre Lescure, Frémaux announced the opening film, Michel Hazanvicius’ “Final Cut,” which had originally been selected for Sundance,...
- 4/14/2022
- by Peter Debruge and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The swinging sixties came to a bleakly comic end with Jerzy Skolimowski’s undeservedly obscure 1970 British-German coproduction, a strikingly original study of obsession that descends into disturbing psycho-drama. John Moulder-Brown plays a repressed, near-infantile teenage bathhouse attendant who nurses a bizarre fixation with his enigmatic co-worker. No surprise really, considering that co-worker is played by auburn-haired Jane Asher at her most mysteriously seductive. A favorite of director David Lynch, who said, “There’s never been a color movie I’ve freaked out about, except one, this thing called Deep End which had great art direction”.
The post Deep End appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Deep End appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 9/1/2021
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Due to its persistent on-screen presence, the swimming pool can be taken for granted; but beneath the surface it is cinema’s Jungian friend, representing secrets lying underneath. It exudes glamour and danger, shifting beyond conscious realms. It is a key to transformation, coming of age tales and renewed relationships. It is a status symbol and whether or not the pool is intact says a lot about the mood of the film and the state of its characters. Away from states of intensity, the swimming pool emerges on screen as a signifier of a time to unwind and to forget life past the poolside. The films featured in this mix show how the pool alludes mysterious symbolism and sexual awakening; murder, lust, and love brush shoulders as sun kissed babes in bikinis whisper sweet truths or uncover deadly secrets (such as the strange swimming pool activities in Three Women or...
- 8/23/2021
- MUBI
After a hiatus where New York’s theaters closed during the pandemic, we’re delighted to announce the return of NYC Weekend Watch, our weekly round-up of repertory offerings. While many theaters are still focused on a selection of new releases, a handful of worthwhile repertory screenings are taking place.
Anthology Film Archives
Breathe easy: Anthology is back, marking their resurrection with screenings of Paul Sharits’ dual-projection Razor Blades.
Paris Theater
Yet another return! To coincide with The Forty-Year-Old Version, filmmaker Radha Blank has organized a series of her influences: Cassavetes on Friday, Wilder and Tap on Saturday, Waiting for Guffman and The Last Detail on Sunday.
Museum of the Moving Image
2001 shows on 70mm this Friday, Dcp on Sunday, while Eyes Wide Shut and Fear and Desire have screenings; on the non-Kubrick front, Ran and The Age of Innocence have screenings.
Film at Lincoln Center
Mo’ Better Blues...
Anthology Film Archives
Breathe easy: Anthology is back, marking their resurrection with screenings of Paul Sharits’ dual-projection Razor Blades.
Paris Theater
Yet another return! To coincide with The Forty-Year-Old Version, filmmaker Radha Blank has organized a series of her influences: Cassavetes on Friday, Wilder and Tap on Saturday, Waiting for Guffman and The Last Detail on Sunday.
Museum of the Moving Image
2001 shows on 70mm this Friday, Dcp on Sunday, while Eyes Wide Shut and Fear and Desire have screenings; on the non-Kubrick front, Ran and The Age of Innocence have screenings.
Film at Lincoln Center
Mo’ Better Blues...
- 8/5/2021
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
From Screenrant: The titles are aimed at global streaming audiences and are led by Hungry Souls, produced by Eric Khoo’s Zhao Wei Films. Three of the four series are supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (Imda) and its initiative to produce “streaming first” premium scripted series for global audiences.
“2021 is a year for us here at Cj Enm Hk to expand our local language productions for the global streaming audience,” said Michael Jung, managing director of Cj Enm Hong Kong. “Apart from our existing production operation in Thailand, we also want to do more premium scripted content in Mandarin and Bahasa languages.”
The three Singaporean-led series were co-developed and co-created with local production partners and Cj Enm Hk is bringing a team of producers from Korea as creative consultants for each series.
Set against the cultural traditions of the Hungry Ghost Festival – aka the Lunar Seventh Month when restless,...
“2021 is a year for us here at Cj Enm Hk to expand our local language productions for the global streaming audience,” said Michael Jung, managing director of Cj Enm Hong Kong. “Apart from our existing production operation in Thailand, we also want to do more premium scripted content in Mandarin and Bahasa languages.”
The three Singaporean-led series were co-developed and co-created with local production partners and Cj Enm Hk is bringing a team of producers from Korea as creative consultants for each series.
Set against the cultural traditions of the Hungry Ghost Festival – aka the Lunar Seventh Month when restless,...
- 6/17/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
As a teenager, Leah Kate used to spend time each week trying to get the music industry to notice her. She would Google the names of her favorite artists’ producers, track down their emails, and send them Voice Notes; she’d email music publishers — “literally blast them with shit” — and none of it seemed to work.
Now, more than a decade later, that dynamic has reversed. After daily streams of her single “Fuck Up the Friendship” recently bounded from around 2,000 to around 140,000, labels are now aggressively pursuing Kate, bombarding her with DMs,...
Now, more than a decade later, that dynamic has reversed. After daily streams of her single “Fuck Up the Friendship” recently bounded from around 2,000 to around 140,000, labels are now aggressively pursuing Kate, bombarding her with DMs,...
- 12/16/2020
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Regional Mexican music has had a swelling influence in the U.S. in 2020, with artists like Natanael Cano and like Los Dos Carnales landing in the upper ranks of the albums and artists charts. The latest proof: Rising Regional Mexican group Porte Diferente leads the October Breakthrough 25 Chart, which ranks the fastest-rising up-and-coming artists by their growth in on-demand audio streams.
The foursome from Fort Worth, Texas, composed of lead singer Brayan Andrade, Miguel Medina, Enrique Macias and Miguel Salazar, have been steadily gaining streams through 2020, but it was their sophomore album,...
The foursome from Fort Worth, Texas, composed of lead singer Brayan Andrade, Miguel Medina, Enrique Macias and Miguel Salazar, have been steadily gaining streams through 2020, but it was their sophomore album,...
- 11/5/2020
- by Emily Blake
- Rollingstone.com
Lykke Li teams with Oscar-winning producer Ludwig Göransson for the new song “Bron,” her first-ever single in her native Swedish and her first new music in over a year.
Translated as “The Bridge” in English, the song sees Lykke Li contemplating a recent heartbreak and convincing herself that she must move on. “I’m crushed/But I won’t cry more tears/Because I cannot forgive,” she sings in Swedish. “You go after me/But I won’t stay/Let me go.” Göransson, the producer/composer behind Black Panther and...
Translated as “The Bridge” in English, the song sees Lykke Li contemplating a recent heartbreak and convincing herself that she must move on. “I’m crushed/But I won’t cry more tears/Because I cannot forgive,” she sings in Swedish. “You go after me/But I won’t stay/Let me go.” Göransson, the producer/composer behind Black Panther and...
- 10/9/2020
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
” You perverted little monster!”
Director Jerzy Skolimowski’s Deep End (1970) starring John Moulder-Brown and Jane Asher screens Sunday, November 3rd at Webster University’s Moor Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave)at 7:30pm. A Facebook invite for the film can be found Here
In the late 60s and early 70s, it looked like Skolimowski might pick up where Jean-Luc Godard left off when he fell down the rabbit hole of Marxist filmmaking, and Deep End is perhaps the clearest evidence of why people thought this. The plot hinges on an obsession on the part of Mike (John Moulder-Brown), a 15-year-old new hire at a moldy pool, for Susan, a twentysomething pool employee who is hip and enigmatic in a way that Mike will never be. Featuring a memorable supporting performance by Diana Dors and use of the classic track “Mother Sky” by the Krautrock band Can (which was written for this...
Director Jerzy Skolimowski’s Deep End (1970) starring John Moulder-Brown and Jane Asher screens Sunday, November 3rd at Webster University’s Moor Auditorium(470 E Lockwood Ave)at 7:30pm. A Facebook invite for the film can be found Here
In the late 60s and early 70s, it looked like Skolimowski might pick up where Jean-Luc Godard left off when he fell down the rabbit hole of Marxist filmmaking, and Deep End is perhaps the clearest evidence of why people thought this. The plot hinges on an obsession on the part of Mike (John Moulder-Brown), a 15-year-old new hire at a moldy pool, for Susan, a twentysomething pool employee who is hip and enigmatic in a way that Mike will never be. Featuring a memorable supporting performance by Diana Dors and use of the classic track “Mother Sky” by the Krautrock band Can (which was written for this...
- 10/31/2019
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Lykke Li has tapped Skrillex and Ty Dolla $ign to remix her ode to late-night longing, “Two Nights,” which will appear on her forthcoming Ep, Still Sad Still Sexy, out July 26th via RCA Records.
The original “Two Nights” — which featured Portland rapper Aminé and appeared on Lykke Li’s 2018 album So Sad So Sexy — was a sparse electro brooder that made ample use of negative space. The new remix finds Skrillex putting his signature spin on the track, beefing up the percussion and filling in that space with synths...
The original “Two Nights” — which featured Portland rapper Aminé and appeared on Lykke Li’s 2018 album So Sad So Sexy — was a sparse electro brooder that made ample use of negative space. The new remix finds Skrillex putting his signature spin on the track, beefing up the percussion and filling in that space with synths...
- 7/11/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Bavaria Studios — often described as the heart of the Bavaria Film group — may be one of Europe’s largest and most state-ofthe-art film and television production facilities, but it also boasts an illustrious past that long ago cemented its place in cinematic history.
Film pioneer Peter Ostermayr founded the studios, originally known as Münchener Lichtspielkunst, in 1919. Six years later, a young Alfred Hitchcock arrived at the site in Grünwald, south of Munich, to shoot his first film, “The Pleasure Garden.”
It was renamed Bavaria Film in 1932 by new owners. A decade later, Germany’s Nazi government merged it into the Ufa-Film group along with several other companies. Productions continued at the studios in the post-war era and Bavaria was eventually reprivatized in 1956.
A number of high-profile U.S. pics shot there during that time, including Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory” with Kirk Douglas in 1957. Douglas returned the following...
Film pioneer Peter Ostermayr founded the studios, originally known as Münchener Lichtspielkunst, in 1919. Six years later, a young Alfred Hitchcock arrived at the site in Grünwald, south of Munich, to shoot his first film, “The Pleasure Garden.”
It was renamed Bavaria Film in 1932 by new owners. A decade later, Germany’s Nazi government merged it into the Ufa-Film group along with several other companies. Productions continued at the studios in the post-war era and Bavaria was eventually reprivatized in 1956.
A number of high-profile U.S. pics shot there during that time, including Stanley Kubrick’s “Paths of Glory” with Kirk Douglas in 1957. Douglas returned the following...
- 1/31/2019
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Listen to this week’s YouTube Music Playlist here.
Halsey, “Without Me”
Sounds like: A textbook diss for a toxic ex
Perfect for: Establishing your romantic boundaries and your self-worth
Last year, with Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, Halsey gave us a script-flipping take on Romeo & Juliet — and she’s still all about tortured romance on her first solo single since then. “Put you right back on your feet/Just so you could take advantage of me,” she sings on this cool club-pop kiss-off to a toxic ex. In a statement, she said simply,...
Halsey, “Without Me”
Sounds like: A textbook diss for a toxic ex
Perfect for: Establishing your romantic boundaries and your self-worth
Last year, with Hopeless Fountain Kingdom, Halsey gave us a script-flipping take on Romeo & Juliet — and she’s still all about tortured romance on her first solo single since then. “Put you right back on your feet/Just so you could take advantage of me,” she sings on this cool club-pop kiss-off to a toxic ex. In a statement, she said simply,...
- 10/12/2018
- by Brittany Spanos
- Rollingstone.com
Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter V has been a white whale for hip-hop enthusiasts since 2014, so it was surprising last month when the rapper Young Thug predicted that the long-awaited album was sure to fall short. “I’m Wayne’s biggest fan,” Young Thug wrote, “but [Tha Carter V] not goin’ to be harder than Harder.” That’s Drip Harder, the debut full-length from rising Atlanta rappers Lil Baby and Gunna.
These two agile, melodic-minded MCs already have close to an album’s worth of songs together spread across various mixtapes; they’re on the radio right now,...
These two agile, melodic-minded MCs already have close to an album’s worth of songs together spread across various mixtapes; they’re on the radio right now,...
- 10/8/2018
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Lykke Li performed “Sex Money Feelings Die” from her fourth studio album, So Sad So Sexy, during Late Night With Seth Meyers on Monday.
Bathed in soft red and blue light, Li opened the song about trying to kill the pain of yearning for an emotional connection that’s unrequited while singing in profile. “Sex, money, feelings die,” Lykke Li sang, backed by a three-piece band and four backup singers. “Baby don’t you cry.”
So Sad So Sexy is Lykke Li’s first studio album in four years, following 2014’s I Never Learn,...
Bathed in soft red and blue light, Li opened the song about trying to kill the pain of yearning for an emotional connection that’s unrequited while singing in profile. “Sex, money, feelings die,” Lykke Li sang, backed by a three-piece band and four backup singers. “Baby don’t you cry.”
So Sad So Sexy is Lykke Li’s first studio album in four years, following 2014’s I Never Learn,...
- 9/11/2018
- by Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Swedish songstress Lykke Li’s 2008 debut album ushered her onto the music scene at around the same time that countrywoman Robyn’s finely crafted alt-pop began making waves, and it was perhaps inevitable that they’d be frequently lumped into similar categories. But after three albums and life changes like a move to Los Angeles, a death (her mother) and a birth (her son), she’d tired of that distinctively Swedish sound and longed to embrace the hip-hop and R&B sounds that her partner Jeff Bhasker (the Grammy-winning producer who’s collaborated with artists from Kanye West and Mark Ronson to Harry Styles) has long worked with. In advance of this album, she basically cautioned fans that it would be different.
And while “So Sad So Sexy” features a wide palette of sounds and beats that at times make her previous work sound stodgy, the good news is that...
And while “So Sad So Sexy” features a wide palette of sounds and beats that at times make her previous work sound stodgy, the good news is that...
- 6/8/2018
- by Jem Aswad
- Variety Film + TV
Four years after the release of her most recent album “I Never Learn,” Swedish songstress Lykke Li dropped two new songs, “Deep End” and “Hard Rain.” The songs are the first tracks to emerge from her long-percolating fourth album “So Sad So Sexy”. The album is due on June 8 on RCA Records — Li’s first release with the label.
“Hard Rain,” which is being promoted as the single, was produced by 2016 Grammy producer of the year Jeff Bhasker, Malay and T-Minus. “Hard Rain” was produced by Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij.
The songs mark a stylistic departure for the singer, incorporating elements of the Swedish-pop sound of her previous albums with a more hip-hop/alt-r&B-leaning production.
A rather confusing line in the press release announcing the songs reads “Prior to recording this album, Lykke was busy nurturing liv, her love-child with Andrew Wyatt, Björn Yttling, Pontus Winnberg and Jeff Bhasker,...
“Hard Rain,” which is being promoted as the single, was produced by 2016 Grammy producer of the year Jeff Bhasker, Malay and T-Minus. “Hard Rain” was produced by Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij.
The songs mark a stylistic departure for the singer, incorporating elements of the Swedish-pop sound of her previous albums with a more hip-hop/alt-r&B-leaning production.
A rather confusing line in the press release announcing the songs reads “Prior to recording this album, Lykke was busy nurturing liv, her love-child with Andrew Wyatt, Björn Yttling, Pontus Winnberg and Jeff Bhasker,...
- 4/19/2018
- by Jem Aswad
- Variety Film + TV
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Films by Costa, Hou, Renoir, and Varda screen as part of “Nyff Revivals.” Also part of Nyff is a 24-film Robert Mitchum retrospective.
Quad Cinema
The great, hugely expansive Harry Dean Stanton retro continues.
Metrograph
A series of Chinatown-set films will screen, as does Skolimowski’s Deep End.
Museum of...
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Films by Costa, Hou, Renoir, and Varda screen as part of “Nyff Revivals.” Also part of Nyff is a 24-film Robert Mitchum retrospective.
Quad Cinema
The great, hugely expansive Harry Dean Stanton retro continues.
Metrograph
A series of Chinatown-set films will screen, as does Skolimowski’s Deep End.
Museum of...
- 9/28/2017
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
A forgotten oddity from the early 1970s is Jacques Demy’s English language mounting of The Pied Piper, a rather bleak but mostly unequivocal version of the famed Grimm Bros. fairy tale about a titular piper who infamously lured the children of Hamelin to their assumed deaths after being rebuffed by the townsfolk when he similarly rid the town of plague carrying rats.
Set in the 1300s of northern Germany, this UK production blends bits of Robert Browning’s famed poem of the legend into the film, but the end result is unusually straightforward and unfussy, considering Demy’s predilection for inventive, colorful musicals, such as the classic confections The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort. The stunt casting of Donovan as the piper generates a certain amount of interest, although he’s whittled down to a supporting character amongst a cast of master character actors like Donald Pleasence, John Hurt, Peter Vaughan, and child star Jack Wild.
Notably, The Pied Piper is one of the few Demy films not to be built around a strong, beautiful female lead, which may also explain why there’s no center point in the film. Cathryn Harrison (daughter of Rex, who starred in Louis Malle’s Black Moon) and a gone-to-seed Diana Dors (though not featured as memorably as her swarthy turn in Skolimowski’s Deep End) are the tiny flecks of feminine representation. It was also not Demy’s first English language production, as he’d made a sequel to his New Wave entry Lola (1961) with 1969’s Los Angeles set Model Shop. So what compelled him to make this departure, which premiered in-between two of his most whimsical Catherine Deneuve titles (Donkey Skin; A Slightly Pregnant Man) is perhaps the film’s greatest mystery.
Cultural familiarity with the material tends to work against our expectations. At best, Donovan is a mere supporting accent, popping up to supply mellow, anachronistic music at odd moments before the dramatic catalyst involving his ability to conjure rats with music arrives. Prior to his demeaning, Demy’s focus is mostly on the omnipotent and aggressive power of the corrupting church (Peter Vaughan’s Bishop) and Donald Pleasence’s greedy town leader, whose son (a sniveling John Hurt) is more intent on starting wars and making counterfeit gold to pay his gullible minions than stopping the encroaching plague. Taking the brunt of their violence is the Jewish alchemist, Melius (Michael Hordern), who is wise enough to know the rats have something to do with the spread of the disease. Demy uses his tragic demise to juxtapose the piper’s designs on the children.
While Hurt and Pleasance are entertaining as a toxic father and son, Demy seems estranged from anyone resembling a protagonist. Donovan is instantly forgettable, and the H.R. Pufnstuf and Oliver! child star Jack Wild gets upstaged by a wild mop of hair and a pronounced limp (which explains why he isn’t entranced along with the other children), and the film plays as if Donovan’s role might have been edited down in post. The script was the debut of screenwriters Andrew Birkin (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, 2006) and Mark Peploe (The Passenger, 1975; The Last Emperor, 1987) who would both go on to write a number of offbeat auteur entries.
Disc Review:
Kino Lorber releases this obscurity as part of their Studio Classics label, presented in 1.66:1. Picture and sound quality are serviceable, however, the title would have greatly benefitted from a restoration. Dp Peter Suschitzky’s frames rightly capture the period, including some awesomely creepy frescoes housing Pleasence and son, but the color sometimes seems faded or stripped from some sequences. Kino doesn’t include any extra features.
Final Thoughts:
More of a curio piece for fans of Demy, The Pied Piper mostly seems a missed opportunity of the creepy legend.
Film Review: ★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
Disc Review: ★★★/☆☆☆☆☆
The post The Pied Piper | Blu-ray Review appeared first on Ioncinema.com.
Set in the 1300s of northern Germany, this UK production blends bits of Robert Browning’s famed poem of the legend into the film, but the end result is unusually straightforward and unfussy, considering Demy’s predilection for inventive, colorful musicals, such as the classic confections The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and The Young Girls of Rochefort. The stunt casting of Donovan as the piper generates a certain amount of interest, although he’s whittled down to a supporting character amongst a cast of master character actors like Donald Pleasence, John Hurt, Peter Vaughan, and child star Jack Wild.
Notably, The Pied Piper is one of the few Demy films not to be built around a strong, beautiful female lead, which may also explain why there’s no center point in the film. Cathryn Harrison (daughter of Rex, who starred in Louis Malle’s Black Moon) and a gone-to-seed Diana Dors (though not featured as memorably as her swarthy turn in Skolimowski’s Deep End) are the tiny flecks of feminine representation. It was also not Demy’s first English language production, as he’d made a sequel to his New Wave entry Lola (1961) with 1969’s Los Angeles set Model Shop. So what compelled him to make this departure, which premiered in-between two of his most whimsical Catherine Deneuve titles (Donkey Skin; A Slightly Pregnant Man) is perhaps the film’s greatest mystery.
Cultural familiarity with the material tends to work against our expectations. At best, Donovan is a mere supporting accent, popping up to supply mellow, anachronistic music at odd moments before the dramatic catalyst involving his ability to conjure rats with music arrives. Prior to his demeaning, Demy’s focus is mostly on the omnipotent and aggressive power of the corrupting church (Peter Vaughan’s Bishop) and Donald Pleasence’s greedy town leader, whose son (a sniveling John Hurt) is more intent on starting wars and making counterfeit gold to pay his gullible minions than stopping the encroaching plague. Taking the brunt of their violence is the Jewish alchemist, Melius (Michael Hordern), who is wise enough to know the rats have something to do with the spread of the disease. Demy uses his tragic demise to juxtapose the piper’s designs on the children.
While Hurt and Pleasance are entertaining as a toxic father and son, Demy seems estranged from anyone resembling a protagonist. Donovan is instantly forgettable, and the H.R. Pufnstuf and Oliver! child star Jack Wild gets upstaged by a wild mop of hair and a pronounced limp (which explains why he isn’t entranced along with the other children), and the film plays as if Donovan’s role might have been edited down in post. The script was the debut of screenwriters Andrew Birkin (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, 2006) and Mark Peploe (The Passenger, 1975; The Last Emperor, 1987) who would both go on to write a number of offbeat auteur entries.
Disc Review:
Kino Lorber releases this obscurity as part of their Studio Classics label, presented in 1.66:1. Picture and sound quality are serviceable, however, the title would have greatly benefitted from a restoration. Dp Peter Suschitzky’s frames rightly capture the period, including some awesomely creepy frescoes housing Pleasence and son, but the color sometimes seems faded or stripped from some sequences. Kino doesn’t include any extra features.
Final Thoughts:
More of a curio piece for fans of Demy, The Pied Piper mostly seems a missed opportunity of the creepy legend.
Film Review: ★★½/☆☆☆☆☆
Disc Review: ★★★/☆☆☆☆☆
The post The Pied Piper | Blu-ray Review appeared first on Ioncinema.com.
- 5/3/2017
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Houda Benyamina [pictured], Jessica Hausner and Rebecca Daly among directors due to attend the festival.
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
- 11/8/2016
- ScreenDaily
Houda Benyamina [pictured], Jessica Hausner and Rebecca Daly among directors due to attend the festival.
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
The Les Arcs European Film Festival will champion female filmmakers at its eighth edition unfolding in the heart of the French Alps Dec 10-17.
A sidebar titled The New Women of Cinema will screen features by 10 female directors including Houda Benyamina’s Caméra d’Or-winning Divines, Rebecca Daly’s Mammal and Rachel Lang’s Baden Baden.
Older titles such as Jessica Hausner’s Lourdes, Agnes Kocsis’ Fresh Air and Nanouk Leopold’s Brownian Movement are also included in the line-up
The initiative is an extension of the festival’s Femme de Cinema award introduced in 2013, the recipients of which have included Bosnian director Jamila Zbanic and Poland’s Małgorzata Szumowska.
Alongside the screenings, there will also be a presentation on a specially-commissioned study of emerging female directors, as well as round-tables and a master-class by one of the attending female directors.
The programme...
- 11/8/2016
- ScreenDaily
When Quentin Tarantino got a plane earlier this month, traveling to the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon, France it wasn’t just for a meet and greet. In addition to preparing for a masterclass talk, the director selected fourteen films from 1970 to screen at the festival — Arthur Hiller’s “Love Story,” Jerzy Skolimowski‘s “Deep End,” Dario Argento’s “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage,” Anatole Litvak‘s “The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun,” Eric Rohmer‘s “Claire’s Knee,” Claude Chabrol’s “The Butcher,” John Huston‘s “The Kremlin Letter,” Billy Wilder’s “The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes,” Bob Rafelson’s “Five Easy Pieces,” William Wyler‘s “The Liberation of L.B.
Continue reading Quentin Tarantino Dives Into 1970s Cinema In Full Masterclass Talk From 2016 Lumière Film Festival at The Playlist.
Continue reading Quentin Tarantino Dives Into 1970s Cinema In Full Masterclass Talk From 2016 Lumière Film Festival at The Playlist.
- 10/18/2016
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Cannes head will be live-narrating his archive film Lumière! at the festival.
Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux was a guest of the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) this weekend but his visit was not connected to his role as the head of the biggest and most glamorous festival in the world.
Double-hatted Frémaux was in town instead as managing director of France’s Institut Lumière in Lyon, devoted to the work of cinema pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière and film heritage in general, which he oversees when not preparing Cannes.
He flew into Toronto do a live narration of his film Lumière! pulling together some 100 short films shot by the Lumière brothers from 1895 to 1905, which are rarely shown on the big screen today.
He spearheaded the film, producing alongside compatriot director Bertrand Tavernier (who is president of the Institut Lumière), to mark the 120th anniversary of cinema in France in 2015.
“Louis Lumière and his operators shot nearly...
Cannes Film Festival chief Thierry Frémaux was a guest of the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff) this weekend but his visit was not connected to his role as the head of the biggest and most glamorous festival in the world.
Double-hatted Frémaux was in town instead as managing director of France’s Institut Lumière in Lyon, devoted to the work of cinema pioneers Auguste and Louis Lumière and film heritage in general, which he oversees when not preparing Cannes.
He flew into Toronto do a live narration of his film Lumière! pulling together some 100 short films shot by the Lumière brothers from 1895 to 1905, which are rarely shown on the big screen today.
He spearheaded the film, producing alongside compatriot director Bertrand Tavernier (who is president of the Institut Lumière), to mark the 120th anniversary of cinema in France in 2015.
“Louis Lumière and his operators shot nearly...
- 9/11/2016
- ScreenDaily
The 73rd Venice International Film Festival will award its Golden Lion awards for lifetime achievement to French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski.
The festival noted that it plans to start awarding two Golden Lions for career achievement at each edition of the festival, starting this year. One will be to a director and one to an actor.
Belmondo is well known for films such as Breathless, Pierrot le Fou (which competed in Venice in 1965), Hit Man, That Man From Rio and The Professional.
Venice festival director Alberto Barbera said: “Thanks to his fascinating face, irresistible charm and extraordinary versatility, he has played roles in dramas, adventure movies and even comedies, making him a star who is universally respected, by engagé directors and escapist cinema alike.”
Skolimowski has enjoyed a 50-year career including his early Polish trilogy of Rysopis, Walkover and Barrier; The Departure; Deep End; The Shout; Moonlighting and Essential Killing (which won a special...
The festival noted that it plans to start awarding two Golden Lions for career achievement at each edition of the festival, starting this year. One will be to a director and one to an actor.
Belmondo is well known for films such as Breathless, Pierrot le Fou (which competed in Venice in 1965), Hit Man, That Man From Rio and The Professional.
Venice festival director Alberto Barbera said: “Thanks to his fascinating face, irresistible charm and extraordinary versatility, he has played roles in dramas, adventure movies and even comedies, making him a star who is universally respected, by engagé directors and escapist cinema alike.”
Skolimowski has enjoyed a 50-year career including his early Polish trilogy of Rysopis, Walkover and Barrier; The Departure; Deep End; The Shout; Moonlighting and Essential Killing (which won a special...
- 7/14/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
★★★★☆ It proves hard to define the tone of Jerzy Skolimowski's Deep End, which flopped upon its initial release in 1970 only to undergo significant re-evaluation years later. Ostensibly a saucy, knockabout swimming pool romp, it develops into a surreal dive into the waters of destructive sexuality. Skolimowski was working in the UK after falling foul of the censors in his native Poland, and he brought an off-kilter perspective of unfamiliarity to bear on London with this grimy coming-of-age yarn. It's set in a seedy city filled with lecherous eyes - a city on a muddy come-down from the fantasies of the swinging sixties, though nobody has thought to tell its grotesquely amorous inhabitants.
- 4/18/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Welcome to the DC Weekly, where every week we cover the land of DC comics, TV, and movies. Be it random bits of news, TV show reactions, or miscellaneous reviews, editorials, or speculation, you can be sure to get your DC fix here!
This Week is post Batman v Superman week, and with that, we have a clever update from the "official" Instagram of LexCorp, and in an interview, Zack Snyder talks about how the death of Robin shaped Ben Affleck's version of Bruce Wayne. From there, we delve into some serious spoiler territory, asking questions about how Batman v Superman has set up the DC Extended Universe!
But before all that, if you have yet to listen to our spoiler-filled review and discussion of Batman v Superman, I highly recommend you do. We believe it to be a fairly balanced assessment of the film and all its strengths and weaknesses.
This Week is post Batman v Superman week, and with that, we have a clever update from the "official" Instagram of LexCorp, and in an interview, Zack Snyder talks about how the death of Robin shaped Ben Affleck's version of Bruce Wayne. From there, we delve into some serious spoiler territory, asking questions about how Batman v Superman has set up the DC Extended Universe!
But before all that, if you have yet to listen to our spoiler-filled review and discussion of Batman v Superman, I highly recommend you do. We believe it to be a fairly balanced assessment of the film and all its strengths and weaknesses.
- 3/31/2016
- by Joseph Medina
- LRMonline.com
The last thing I saw at the 2015 Camerimage Film Festival was Jerzy Skolimowski‘s 11 Minutes, which I was fortunate enough to enter with almost no pre-existing knowledge of. The surprise, shock, and joy that came from this experience were all strong enough for me to recommend a) the film and b) entering said film with a similar lack of awareness.
This, of course, means you’d be best-served avoiding everything until it arrives in just two weeks — including a U.S. trailer that gives away particulars of its amazing climax. (Just don’t click play! It’s that easy!) Or perhaps you’ll end up disliking it as much as our critic out of Venice, who said, “An emperor’s new clothes of technical virtuosity, veteran Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s latest is a frenetic, kinetic, but largely insipid speed through the lives of ostensibly random people in modern day Warsaw.
This, of course, means you’d be best-served avoiding everything until it arrives in just two weeks — including a U.S. trailer that gives away particulars of its amazing climax. (Just don’t click play! It’s that easy!) Or perhaps you’ll end up disliking it as much as our critic out of Venice, who said, “An emperor’s new clothes of technical virtuosity, veteran Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski’s latest is a frenetic, kinetic, but largely insipid speed through the lives of ostensibly random people in modern day Warsaw.
- 3/25/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
A lot can happen in eleven minutes. It can mean the difference between sleeping in and missing your bus to work. You could use that time to listen to Led Zeppelin's "In My Time Of Dying." It's also the length of time that could lead you to overcooking your pasta. But for director Jerzy Skolimowski, "11 Minutes" is the framework of his upcoming movie. Starring Richard Dormer, Paulina Chapko, Wojciech Mecwaldowski, Dawid Ogrodnik, and Andrzej Chyra, the movie presents its slices of narrative in eleven-minute segments, all of them overlapping and interlocking in a town square in Warsaw. Here's the synopsis: In the span of eleven tense minutes, a whirlwind of interlocking tales of life in the surveillance age unfold in this stylish, propulsive thriller from acclaimed director Jerzy Skolimowski (Deep End, Essential Killing). In a city square in Warsaw, a sleazy film director “auditions” a married actress in a...
- 3/24/2016
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
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