Exclusive: Physician turned #1 Nyt bestselling author Robin Cook is partnering with Euro Gang Entertainment, the entertainment company of Gianni Nunnari and Simon Horsman, on a pair of new projects for film and TV.
The first, Bellevue, will be a feature based on Cook’s forthcoming novel of the same name, which marks a departure for the author as a dark and atmospheric work of horror. Slated for publication in December, the book tells the story of Mitt, a first-year surgical resident at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. Mitt has a long and dark family history: his physicians’ forebears are guilty of grievous sins, extreme instances of medical malpractice committed at the very hospital where he now studies. Set against the gloom of supernatural haunting, and amidst gruesomely accurate surgical imagery, Bellevue is the story of supernatural vengeance for the sins of Mitt’s ancestors.
The second project being developed...
The first, Bellevue, will be a feature based on Cook’s forthcoming novel of the same name, which marks a departure for the author as a dark and atmospheric work of horror. Slated for publication in December, the book tells the story of Mitt, a first-year surgical resident at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. Mitt has a long and dark family history: his physicians’ forebears are guilty of grievous sins, extreme instances of medical malpractice committed at the very hospital where he now studies. Set against the gloom of supernatural haunting, and amidst gruesomely accurate surgical imagery, Bellevue is the story of supernatural vengeance for the sins of Mitt’s ancestors.
The second project being developed...
- 4/15/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“Donating sperm makes me feel good. Maybe it makes me feel wanted, and needed. Worth something to somebody else,” says Stefan, one of the subjects of “Spermworld,” the new FX on Hulu documentary that delves into the landscape of unregulated babymaking and just why prospective parents have sought out these unconventional solutions.
Director Lance Oppenheim went deep inside another distinctive community with his last documentary, “Some Kind of Heaven,” about The Villages in Florida. And there’s a throughline to Oppenheim’s films: They combine lushly saturated camera work with a narrator-free approach that lets subjects tell their own stories about their sometimes quixotic lives. That’s also the case with his next project, “Ren Faire,” a three-part HBO series about the Texas Renaissance Festival and its charismatic founder that premieres this summer.
Oppenheim fell into the world of prolific sperm donors through former New York Times reporter Nellie Bowles...
Director Lance Oppenheim went deep inside another distinctive community with his last documentary, “Some Kind of Heaven,” about The Villages in Florida. And there’s a throughline to Oppenheim’s films: They combine lushly saturated camera work with a narrator-free approach that lets subjects tell their own stories about their sometimes quixotic lives. That’s also the case with his next project, “Ren Faire,” a three-part HBO series about the Texas Renaissance Festival and its charismatic founder that premieres this summer.
Oppenheim fell into the world of prolific sperm donors through former New York Times reporter Nellie Bowles...
- 3/30/2024
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Like Lance Oppenheim‘s first feature, 2020’s Some Kind of Heaven, his follow-up Spermworld follows three nonfiction protagonists through a niche American context. Heaven focused on three residents of The Villages, a retirement community in Florida that’s the largest in the world, through cleanly composed, academy-ratio images of seniors who’ve self-selected to live in something like Back to the Future’s ’50s backlot suburbia writ large. Per its title and subject, Spermworld is a grimier follow-up in the wider 2.1 ratio, all sickly blue and green colors and degraded frame edges, following three main sperm donor subjects who tell themselves different stories about […]
The post Fluid(s) Filmmaking: Lance Oppenheim and Daniel Garber on Spermworld first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Fluid(s) Filmmaking: Lance Oppenheim and Daniel Garber on Spermworld first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/29/2024
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Like Lance Oppenheim‘s first feature, 2020’s Some Kind of Heaven, his follow-up Spermworld follows three nonfiction protagonists through a niche American context. Heaven focused on three residents of The Villages, a retirement community in Florida that’s the largest in the world, through cleanly composed, academy-ratio images of seniors who’ve self-selected to live in something like Back to the Future’s ’50s backlot suburbia writ large. Per its title and subject, Spermworld is a grimier follow-up in the wider 2.1 ratio, all sickly blue and green colors and degraded frame edges, following three main sperm donor subjects who tell themselves different stories about […]
The post Fluid(s) Filmmaking: Lance Oppenheim and Daniel Garber on Spermworld first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Fluid(s) Filmmaking: Lance Oppenheim and Daniel Garber on Spermworld first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/29/2024
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Exclusive: After strong start to 2024 with Masters of the Air and Dune Part 2, Oscar-nominee Austin Butler is looking to build on that success and is teaming up with another Oscar-nominated director. Sources tell Deadline Butler is set to star in Academy Award nominee Darren Aronofsky’s crime thriller Caught Stealing for Sony Pictures. The studio recently landed the package which is based on the book by Charlie Huston. The script will be written by Huston with Protozoa producing.
“I am excited to be teaming up with my old friends at Sony Pictures to bring Charlie’s adrenaline-soaked roller coaster ride to life. I can’t wait to start working with Austin and my family of NYC filmmakers,” said Aronofsky.
Written by and based on the books by Huston, Caught Stealing follows Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild...
“I am excited to be teaming up with my old friends at Sony Pictures to bring Charlie’s adrenaline-soaked roller coaster ride to life. I can’t wait to start working with Austin and my family of NYC filmmakers,” said Aronofsky.
Written by and based on the books by Huston, Caught Stealing follows Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild...
- 3/27/2024
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
While many companies were affected by shortages brought on by Covid-19’s disruption, some may not be top of mind when it comes to everyday commerce. Enter filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, whose latest work Spermworld depicts the evolution of sperm banks. There’s been high interest from potential parents for receiving the male sperm, and the limited regulations of in-person sperm banks (e.g. donors can’t give their sperm to more than 25 or 30 families) have made donors run their business online. After contributing to the New York Times article The Sperm Kings Have a Problem: Too Much Demand, Oppenheim has now crafted a mind-boggling moving-image companion piece with backing from the outlet.
The documentary profiles a trio of primary leads: mechanic Tyree, Lyft driver Steve, and arithmetic professor Ari “the Sperminator” Nagel as they form different types of relationships and family trees during their exchanges. Steve hopes to make things...
The documentary profiles a trio of primary leads: mechanic Tyree, Lyft driver Steve, and arithmetic professor Ari “the Sperminator” Nagel as they form different types of relationships and family trees during their exchanges. Steve hopes to make things...
- 3/20/2024
- by Edward Frumkin
- The Film Stage
Chilean director Cristóbal Valenzuela Berríos first learned about the True/False Film Festival, home to documentaries each spring, while attending a festival in Japan a few years ago. He recalls seeing multiple filmmakers wearing beanies emblazoned with the logo of the doc-only event.
Upon asking what the T/F stood for, he was puzzled to learn that people were repping a gathering dedicated to nonfiction cinema on the other side of the world: Columbia, Missouri. Witnessing such devotion gave True/False something of a legendary status in his mind, placing it high up on the list of festivals he eagerly wanted to experience.
This year, Valenzuela Berríos finally made it to the small college town with a big appetite for true stories. There, he screened his latest fascinatingly offbeat doc “Alien Island,” about a famous UFO case in Chile with a bizarre connection to the Pinochet dictatorship.
“The filmmakers who...
Upon asking what the T/F stood for, he was puzzled to learn that people were repping a gathering dedicated to nonfiction cinema on the other side of the world: Columbia, Missouri. Witnessing such devotion gave True/False something of a legendary status in his mind, placing it high up on the list of festivals he eagerly wanted to experience.
This year, Valenzuela Berríos finally made it to the small college town with a big appetite for true stories. There, he screened his latest fascinatingly offbeat doc “Alien Island,” about a famous UFO case in Chile with a bizarre connection to the Pinochet dictatorship.
“The filmmakers who...
- 3/7/2024
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
Visit Films has acquired worldwide sales rights for “Realm of Satan,” the feature film debut of seasoned editor Scott Cummings. The film, a documentary about Satanists, will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, and also plays at Cph:dox. On its website, the festival warns potential viewers: “This film contains graphic sexual content.”
Cummings previously directed short film “Buffalo Juggalos,” which won the grand jury prize for live action short at AFI Fest. He has served as the editor on several films that premiered at Sundance including “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Monsters and Men,” “Menashe” and “Wendy.”
“Realm of Satan” is a portrait of Satanists in both everyday and extraordinary situations. Visit Films describes the film as “a ritualistic documentary that casts a spell on viewers, luring them into a mystical world of magic, mystery and misanthropy.”
“Realm of Satan”
Cummings worked in collaboration with members of the...
Cummings previously directed short film “Buffalo Juggalos,” which won the grand jury prize for live action short at AFI Fest. He has served as the editor on several films that premiered at Sundance including “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “Monsters and Men,” “Menashe” and “Wendy.”
“Realm of Satan” is a portrait of Satanists in both everyday and extraordinary situations. Visit Films describes the film as “a ritualistic documentary that casts a spell on viewers, luring them into a mystical world of magic, mystery and misanthropy.”
“Realm of Satan”
Cummings worked in collaboration with members of the...
- 1/8/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to The Stones and Brian Jones, a documentary about the “lost creative genius” who launched – and named – The Rolling Stones.
Acclaimed filmmaker Nick Broomfield directed the documentary, which Magnolia plans to release in theaters later this year.
“Featuring revealing interviews with all the main players and unseen archive released for the first time, The Stones and Brian Jones explores the creative musical genius of Jones, the key to the success of the band,” a release about the film notes, “and uncovers how the founder of what became the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world was left behind in the shadows of history.”
The Rolling Stones in London, May 4, 1963. L-r: Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts.
Jones assembled the Stones in 1962 as a blues-infused unit, playing rhythm and lead guitar alongside Keith Richards,...
Acclaimed filmmaker Nick Broomfield directed the documentary, which Magnolia plans to release in theaters later this year.
“Featuring revealing interviews with all the main players and unseen archive released for the first time, The Stones and Brian Jones explores the creative musical genius of Jones, the key to the success of the band,” a release about the film notes, “and uncovers how the founder of what became the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world was left behind in the shadows of history.”
The Rolling Stones in London, May 4, 1963. L-r: Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts.
Jones assembled the Stones in 1962 as a blues-infused unit, playing rhythm and lead guitar alongside Keith Richards,...
- 5/10/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
You could potentially argue that there weren’t that many breakout movies from the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival last year, at least not acquisition titles without distribution. But if you were going to mention one, at the very least, it would undoubtedly have to be “How To Blow Up A Pipeline,” an eco-terrorism thriller from director Daniel Goldhaber (“Cam,” “Some Kind of Heaven”).
Continue reading ‘How To Blow Up A Pipeline’ Trailer: Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Sasha Lane & More Star In Neon’s Acclaimed Eco Terrorist Thriller at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘How To Blow Up A Pipeline’ Trailer: Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Sasha Lane & More Star In Neon’s Acclaimed Eco Terrorist Thriller at The Playlist.
- 3/2/2023
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Click here to read the full article.
Neon has won the race to acquire How to Blow Up a Pipeline in one of the first major acquisitions from Toronto.
Featuring an ensemble cast including Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, Irene Bedard and Olive Jane Lorraine, the heist thriller had generated sizeable buzz among distributors The Hollywood Reporter had spoken to following its TIFF world premiere.
Based on Andreas Malm’s manifesto tackling the climate crisis, How To Blow Up A Pipeline was directed by Daniel Goldhaber (Cam), produced, co-written, and starring Ariela Barer (Runaways, Atypical), co-written by Jordan Sjol and edited by Daniel Garber (Cam, Some Kind of Heaven) and follows a crew of young environmental activists who execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline. It’s described as part high-stakes heist, part radical exploration of direct action as climate activism.
Neon has won the race to acquire How to Blow Up a Pipeline in one of the first major acquisitions from Toronto.
Featuring an ensemble cast including Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, Irene Bedard and Olive Jane Lorraine, the heist thriller had generated sizeable buzz among distributors The Hollywood Reporter had spoken to following its TIFF world premiere.
Based on Andreas Malm’s manifesto tackling the climate crisis, How To Blow Up A Pipeline was directed by Daniel Goldhaber (Cam), produced, co-written, and starring Ariela Barer (Runaways, Atypical), co-written by Jordan Sjol and edited by Daniel Garber (Cam, Some Kind of Heaven) and follows a crew of young environmental activists who execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline. It’s described as part high-stakes heist, part radical exploration of direct action as climate activism.
- 9/13/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Neon has acquired the North American rights to the thriller “How to Blow Up a Pipeline” out of the Toronto International Film Festival, where it world premiered in the auteur-driven Platform section.
Based on Andreas Malm’s manifesto tackling the climate crisis, the film is directed by Daniel Goldhaber (“Cam”); produced, co-written and stars Ariela Barer; co-written by Jordan Sjol and edited by Daniel Garber.
“How to Blow Up a Pipeline” follows a group of young environmental activists who set out to sabotage an oil pipeline in a timely thriller that’s described as “part high-stakes heist, part radical exploration of direct action as climate activism.”
The film features an all-star ensemble cast including Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, Irene Bedard and Olive Jane Lorraine.
Neon is planning a theatrical release.
The deal is one of the first out of Toronto,...
Based on Andreas Malm’s manifesto tackling the climate crisis, the film is directed by Daniel Goldhaber (“Cam”); produced, co-written and stars Ariela Barer; co-written by Jordan Sjol and edited by Daniel Garber.
“How to Blow Up a Pipeline” follows a group of young environmental activists who set out to sabotage an oil pipeline in a timely thriller that’s described as “part high-stakes heist, part radical exploration of direct action as climate activism.”
The film features an all-star ensemble cast including Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary, Irene Bedard and Olive Jane Lorraine.
Neon is planning a theatrical release.
The deal is one of the first out of Toronto,...
- 9/13/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
"We use magic from our hearts to make the world a better place." Madman Films has just unveiled the first official (Australian) trailer for the documentary film Calendar Girls, which initially premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The film profiles the dance troupe known as the "Calendar Girls" - Florida's most dedicated dance team for women over 60, shaking up the outdated image of "the little old lady," and calling for everyone to dance their hearts out, while they still can. Swedish co-directors Maria Loohufvud & Love Martinsen weave the dancers' personal stories with their colourful routines, shot in the bright Florida sunshine. An uplifting, joyous doc film featuring a female dance troupe with a difference: they’re 60+ and out to prove that age is just a number. Reviews at Sundance call it an "affectionate portrait" and an "engaging historical piece". This looks lovely but it also reminds me of Some Kind of Heaven.
- 4/6/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The Silence Of The Lambs The Silence Of The Lambs, 10pm, ITV4, Wednesday, February 22
Let's be honest, a glass of chianti has never looked quite the same since Anthony Hopkins slurped his Oscar-winning way through a line about it in Jonathan Demme's crime thriller. Although Brian Cox had already put in a memorable turn as sadistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, Hopkins put his own silky stamp on it with this intense performance that is reciprocated by Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling, who finds herself embroiled in a psychological wargame with the incarcerated murder as she tries to snare another monster. Much darker than your average Academy Award winner, Demme knows exactly what to show and what not to show to generate horror and tension. Chillingly effective even on a repeat watch.
Some Kind Of Heaven, Netflix
This quirky documentary may not be quite as good.
Let's be honest, a glass of chianti has never looked quite the same since Anthony Hopkins slurped his Oscar-winning way through a line about it in Jonathan Demme's crime thriller. Although Brian Cox had already put in a memorable turn as sadistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, Hopkins put his own silky stamp on it with this intense performance that is reciprocated by Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling, who finds herself embroiled in a psychological wargame with the incarcerated murder as she tries to snare another monster. Much darker than your average Academy Award winner, Demme knows exactly what to show and what not to show to generate horror and tension. Chillingly effective even on a repeat watch.
Some Kind Of Heaven, Netflix
This quirky documentary may not be quite as good.
- 2/21/2022
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Exclusive: Jake Carter and Travis Tammero have joined UTA as agents in the Independent Film Group division.
Carter will be based in the agency’s New York office, with Tammero working out of its headquarters in Los Angeles. Both will report to Jim Meenaghan and Rena Ronson, Partners and Co-Heads of the Independent Film Group.
“Rena, Jim and I are thrilled to welcome these highly regarded agents to our industry-leading Independent Film team,” said UTA Co-President, David Kramer. “Their broad experience will augment the team in a variety of ways and is especially key in helping to expand our rapidly growing documentary business.”
Carter comes to UTA from 30West, where he served as Vice President, overseeing production on critically acclaimed films including The Mauritanian, Destroyer, Late Night, Ben is Back, Some Kind of Heaven, and the upcoming Chris Pine thriller The Contractor. Prior to 30West, Carter worked at Black Bear Pictures,...
Carter will be based in the agency’s New York office, with Tammero working out of its headquarters in Los Angeles. Both will report to Jim Meenaghan and Rena Ronson, Partners and Co-Heads of the Independent Film Group.
“Rena, Jim and I are thrilled to welcome these highly regarded agents to our industry-leading Independent Film team,” said UTA Co-President, David Kramer. “Their broad experience will augment the team in a variety of ways and is especially key in helping to expand our rapidly growing documentary business.”
Carter comes to UTA from 30West, where he served as Vice President, overseeing production on critically acclaimed films including The Mauritanian, Destroyer, Late Night, Ben is Back, Some Kind of Heaven, and the upcoming Chris Pine thriller The Contractor. Prior to 30West, Carter worked at Black Bear Pictures,...
- 1/4/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The recently announced results of the 2021 U.S. census produced a number of headline takeaways: for example, the nation’s white population declined for the first time, Hispanics have become California’s largest ethnic group, and metropolitan areas were the beneficiary of declining population in over half of America’s smaller counties. And among those growing metropolitan areas, one, in Florida, stood out as the most quickly expanding: The Villages. Over the last decade, the over-55 retirement community saw its population increase by nearly 40%; it now encompasses 60,000 homes, with more on the way. Seeing The Villages show up in an official […]
The post “I Wanted To Find Real People Who Were Going Through Real Problems in an Unreal Place”: Lance Oppenheim on His Hulu-Screening Doc, Some Kind of Heaven first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Wanted To Find Real People Who Were Going Through Real Problems in an Unreal Place”: Lance Oppenheim on His Hulu-Screening Doc, Some Kind of Heaven first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/27/2021
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The recently announced results of the 2021 U.S. census produced a number of headline takeaways: for example, the nation’s white population declined for the first time, Hispanics have become California’s largest ethnic group, and metropolitan areas were the beneficiary of declining population in over half of America’s smaller counties. And among those growing metropolitan areas, one, in Florida, stood out as the most quickly expanding: The Villages. Over the last decade, the over-55 retirement community saw its population increase by nearly 40%; it now encompasses 60,000 homes, with more on the way. Seeing The Villages show up in an official […]
The post “I Wanted To Find Real People Who Were Going Through Real Problems in an Unreal Place”: Lance Oppenheim on His Hulu-Screening Doc, Some Kind of Heaven first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Wanted To Find Real People Who Were Going Through Real Problems in an Unreal Place”: Lance Oppenheim on His Hulu-Screening Doc, Some Kind of Heaven first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/27/2021
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
As the 2021 Cannes Film Festival arrived at its halfway point, filmmakers and industry insiders were eager to catch up with their colleagues, many of whom they hadn’t seen in over a year. On Sunday, IndieWire joined forces with The Gotham Film and Media Institute and sponsor Fiji Water for a rooftop toast to the American presence at the festival this year. The event took place atop Hotel 3.14, the former location of the Hotel Savoy, which once housed many Cannes attendees when the Palais des Festival was located further down the port.
The outdoor gathering was packed with familiar faces from the indie scene. Filmmakers in attendance included Sean Baker, whose latest feature “Red Rocket” marks his first entry into the festival’s Competition section, after “The Florida Project” premiered at Directors’ Fortnight in 2017. This year, that section is welcoming Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, who attended the party the...
The outdoor gathering was packed with familiar faces from the indie scene. Filmmakers in attendance included Sean Baker, whose latest feature “Red Rocket” marks his first entry into the festival’s Competition section, after “The Florida Project” premiered at Directors’ Fortnight in 2017. This year, that section is welcoming Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman, who attended the party the...
- 7/12/2021
- by IndieWire Staff
- Indiewire
The global perspective of Australian filmmakers will be on show at next month’s Revelation Perth International Film Festival, which carries the theme of ‘Distant but Connected’.
Highlights include the world premiere of Antonio Traverso’s documentary The Best Battle, in which the Curtin University lecturer explores the political street art of Chile’s capital during the 2019/2020 estallido social (social blast) that marked the remembrance of 1973.
The documentary program will also feature the Australian premiere of Garth De Bruno Austin’s The Last Horns of Africa, an Australian/South African co-production that follows the efforts to protect rhinos in South Africa’s Kruger Park.
Kiwi director Gaysorn Thavat’s The Justice of Bunny King, starring Essie Davis, will have its Australian premiere at the festival. Shot in Auckland, Davis stars opposite Thomasin McKenzie, playing a mother-of-two with a sketchy past and the world against her.
Of the 21 countries that are...
Highlights include the world premiere of Antonio Traverso’s documentary The Best Battle, in which the Curtin University lecturer explores the political street art of Chile’s capital during the 2019/2020 estallido social (social blast) that marked the remembrance of 1973.
The documentary program will also feature the Australian premiere of Garth De Bruno Austin’s The Last Horns of Africa, an Australian/South African co-production that follows the efforts to protect rhinos in South Africa’s Kruger Park.
Kiwi director Gaysorn Thavat’s The Justice of Bunny King, starring Essie Davis, will have its Australian premiere at the festival. Shot in Auckland, Davis stars opposite Thomasin McKenzie, playing a mother-of-two with a sketchy past and the world against her.
Of the 21 countries that are...
- 6/1/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Those who imagine retirement communities as places mostly filled with folk moving from their perch watching daytime TV to a sun lounger and back again will be thinking again after paying a trip to Florida's The Villages with Lance Oppenheim's Some Kind Of Heaven.
This sprawling community of 150,000 residents and counting - which is also profiled in more detailed upcoming documentary The Bubble - is framed not as somewhere where those with enough money go to die but where they go to live their lives to the full and might be viewed less as the autumn of life than a second chance to throw themselves into a spring break mentality.
After setting the scene with some glimpses of the classes on offer - from rowing to golf buggy driving, the latter surely one of the most intrinsically comic creations on the planet - Oppenheim takes us inside the lives of a handful.
This sprawling community of 150,000 residents and counting - which is also profiled in more detailed upcoming documentary The Bubble - is framed not as somewhere where those with enough money go to die but where they go to live their lives to the full and might be viewed less as the autumn of life than a second chance to throw themselves into a spring break mentality.
After setting the scene with some glimpses of the classes on offer - from rowing to golf buggy driving, the latter surely one of the most intrinsically comic creations on the planet - Oppenheim takes us inside the lives of a handful.
- 5/12/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Built among the myriad lakes of central Florida, Orlando is renowned for its balmy climate and sprawling theme parks. Chief among them is Walt Disney World, that great simulacrum of spires, fountains and roller coasters. Opened in 1971, the park was Walt Disney’s passion project, especially the Epcot centre, which he visualized as a sort of Silent Running high-tech community. A decade later, the big ideas and even bigger facades of this American institution would inspire another man, Harold Schwartz, to realise his own project – The Villages.
Located just 45 miles northwest of Orlando, The Villages is the largest retirement community in the world. But this isn’t all beige décor and meals on wheels. It is a veritable theme park with 130,000 residents and more land than Manhattan Island. The theme in this case is not Mickey Mouse or Toy Story 2, but white picket Americana in the baby boomers’ image.
Located just 45 miles northwest of Orlando, The Villages is the largest retirement community in the world. But this isn’t all beige décor and meals on wheels. It is a veritable theme park with 130,000 residents and more land than Manhattan Island. The theme in this case is not Mickey Mouse or Toy Story 2, but white picket Americana in the baby boomers’ image.
- 5/4/2021
- by Jack Hawkins
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Though Marvel has decided to consolidate all of its cinematic universe offerings onto Disney+, some outliers still live on for other streaming services. In May 2021, Hulu is set to premiere the latest non-canon Marvel series.
The animated comedy Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. is set to premiere on May 21 and stars Patton Oswalt as the titular Marvel villain. Oswalt’s Modok is every bit the devious floating head that he’s depicted as in the comics. He’s also your every day family man and the show will take on the format of a workplace sitcom. Sounds kinda fun! It’s no wonder that M.O.D.O.K. is the last Hulu Marvel show standing.
In non-Marvel offerings this month, Shrill will debut its third and final season on May 7. This comedy based on Lindy West’s memoir and starring SNL‘s Aidy Bryant has been a consistently bright presence on the streaming scene since...
The animated comedy Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K. is set to premiere on May 21 and stars Patton Oswalt as the titular Marvel villain. Oswalt’s Modok is every bit the devious floating head that he’s depicted as in the comics. He’s also your every day family man and the show will take on the format of a workplace sitcom. Sounds kinda fun! It’s no wonder that M.O.D.O.K. is the last Hulu Marvel show standing.
In non-Marvel offerings this month, Shrill will debut its third and final season on May 7. This comedy based on Lindy West’s memoir and starring SNL‘s Aidy Bryant has been a consistently bright presence on the streaming scene since...
- 5/1/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Some Kind Of Heaven sells to Dogwoof in UK, Filmin in Spain, Ppcw in Hong Kong.
Magnolia Pictures International has reported brisk business on its virtual EFM sales slate with multiple territory sales on Sundance Midnight selection A Glitch In The Matrix, Held, Listen, When I’m Done Dying, and Some Kind Of Heaven.
Rights to A Glitch In The Matrix, Rodney Ascher’s documentary that explores the theory that humans exist within a vast simulation, have gone in Scandinavia, Baltics and Iceland (Nonstop), Cis (Capella Films), and Poland (Ale Kino +).
Magnolia Pictures released the film in the US on...
Magnolia Pictures International has reported brisk business on its virtual EFM sales slate with multiple territory sales on Sundance Midnight selection A Glitch In The Matrix, Held, Listen, When I’m Done Dying, and Some Kind Of Heaven.
Rights to A Glitch In The Matrix, Rodney Ascher’s documentary that explores the theory that humans exist within a vast simulation, have gone in Scandinavia, Baltics and Iceland (Nonstop), Cis (Capella Films), and Poland (Ale Kino +).
Magnolia Pictures released the film in the US on...
- 3/11/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Photo: 'Some Kind of Heaven'/Magnolia Pictures Social security is a bleak, pipelined dream that the younger generations view more as fantasy than future. Generation Z expects to pass onto the next plane of existence still burdened by credit card and university-created debt with little else to call their own. For the first time in my life, not being able to retire wasn’t the worry on my mind- ‘Some Kind of Heaven’ has managed to strike the fear of growing old in me. This tepid, mellow documentary was directed by the acclaimed Lance Oppenheim and followed four residents of America’s largest retirement home community: The Villages. Self-titled as the Disneyland for Retirees, The Villages is where the elderly come to truly live. Some residents claim it’s like going back to college, or experiencing a life you could only dream of, but ‘Some Kind of Heaven...
- 1/21/2021
- by Jordyn McEvoy
- Hollywood Insider - Substance & Meaningful Entertainment
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: A screening of Abel Gance's Napoléon at the Paramount Theatre Oakland in 2012. (Photo by San Francisco Silent Film Festival.)In partnership with the Cinémathèque Française and the French National Film Board, Netflix will be financing a new restoration of Abel Gance's 1927 silent epic Napoléon ahead of the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's death this summer. The film has been restored many times before, but this restoration aims to bring to life Gance's 7-hour "Apollo cut," named after the Apollo Theatre where the film screened in 1927. Beanpole filmmaker Kantemir Balagov has found his next project: An HBO series adaptation of the hit zombie video game series, The Last of Us. Bong Joon-ho will head the main jury of this year's Venice Film Festival, marking the first time a South Korean director has been picked...
- 1/20/2021
- MUBI
While moviegoers cope with being shut indoors, HBO Max has a film that could have you feeling even more stir-crazy. “Locked Down” sequesters audiences for nearly two hours with an unhappy couple (played by Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor), who vent for a time, before hatching a plan to steal a huge diamond from Harrods. While hardly the antidote for confinement, it’s a creative response to the limitations Covid has placed on the world — which extends to how the film was shot, with big names like Ben Stiller and Ben Kingsley supplying cameos via Zoom.
With plenty of indoor time ahead on this long holiday weekend, why not fill it with a new movie or two? Amazon has timed the Prime Video release of Regina King’s acclaimed “One Night in Miami…” to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The film — which imagines a 1964 reunion of old friends Cassius Clay,...
With plenty of indoor time ahead on this long holiday weekend, why not fill it with a new movie or two? Amazon has timed the Prime Video release of Regina King’s acclaimed “One Night in Miami…” to Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The film — which imagines a 1964 reunion of old friends Cassius Clay,...
- 1/16/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
You couldn’t ask for a richer documentary subject than the Villages, the massive, Florida-based retirement community that’s home to over a 120,000 senior citizens and functions as its own self-contained, self-sustaining AARPverse. What started as a mobile-home park in the 1970s began to develop into an ever-expanding set of properties that catered to giving folks a luxurious, resort-style experience throughout their autumn years. (If it sounds familiar, it’s probably because of the role it played in the 2020 Presidential campaigns.) The fact that it’s been dubbed “Disneyworld for...
- 1/15/2021
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Lance Oppenheim’s debut feature, Some Kind of Heaven, follows a small group of residents in Central Florida’s The Villages, America’s largest—and most notorious—retirement community. Following several superb short films, the 24-year-old director brings a mature generosity towards his subjects that veers beyond easy humor to create a profound portrait of a place that carries plenty of preconceived notions.I spoke to Oppenheim and Some Kind of Heaven editor Daniel Garber at the True/False Film Fest in Columbia, Missouri in March, right before the start of Covid-19 lockdowns. Rather than discussing the film’s newfound prescience, we talked about their experience on location, bringing out humor in the edit, and outside references on the film.Notebook: I’m sure you’re getting annoyed with people bringing up your age, because they do it as if it’s inconceivable that you’d make a good movie.
- 1/15/2021
- MUBI
Retirement communities are often considered to be the pinnacle of a good time for many senior citizens, as the neighborhoods allow the residents to embark on their journeys of retirement with blissful optimism. However, there are some inhabitants who end up living on the margins of the communities’ marketed fantasy, as they struggle to find […]
The post Video Interview: Lance Oppenheim Talks Some Kind of Heaven (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Video Interview: Lance Oppenheim Talks Some Kind of Heaven (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 1/15/2021
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
More than 130,000 people live in The Villages, the world’s largest retirement community, a central Florida bubble that may as well be heaven on Earth. Lance Oppenheim’s documentary “Some Kind of Heaven” says that outright in its title. But heaven isn’t paradise: Sure, fountains burst forth on palatial grounds filled with golf courses, swimming pools, and music venues. Much of the aging crowd likes to party. Within the boundaries of the four characters at the center of Oppenheim’s debut, however, late-in-life utopia doesn’t come easy.
With its vibrant sun-soaked tapestry and whimsical characters committed to an idyllic fantasy, “Some Kind of Heaven” plays like a companion piece to “The Beach Bum,” or perhaps adds some fragment to its expanded universe. At the same time, there’s an element of executive producer Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” to Oppenheim’s melancholic portrait of aging men and women keen on capturing the rascally,...
With its vibrant sun-soaked tapestry and whimsical characters committed to an idyllic fantasy, “Some Kind of Heaven” plays like a companion piece to “The Beach Bum,” or perhaps adds some fragment to its expanded universe. At the same time, there’s an element of executive producer Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” to Oppenheim’s melancholic portrait of aging men and women keen on capturing the rascally,...
- 1/14/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
What could be wrong with spending your retirement years in a kind of candy-colored, sun-drenched utopia where you can enjoy a second youth, partying at dance clubs, performing on cheer squads and going to margarita parties?
That’s the question posed by “Some Kind of Heaven,” a documentary about life in The Villages, the world’s largest retirement community, near Orlando, Fla. With 120,000 residents, The Villages offer a massive array of recreation activities to disconcertingly homogeneous — mostly conservative and mostly white — population.
But while news articles about the Villages tend to gawk at the sexual antics and political divisions among the residents, with their Trump banner-bedecked golf cart rallies, Florida filmmaker Lance Oppenheim focused instead on the deeply personal stories of a few residents for whom the idyllic setting wasn’t quite as idyllic. After temporarily taking up residence in The Villages to film off and on for 18 months, Oppenheim...
That’s the question posed by “Some Kind of Heaven,” a documentary about life in The Villages, the world’s largest retirement community, near Orlando, Fla. With 120,000 residents, The Villages offer a massive array of recreation activities to disconcertingly homogeneous — mostly conservative and mostly white — population.
But while news articles about the Villages tend to gawk at the sexual antics and political divisions among the residents, with their Trump banner-bedecked golf cart rallies, Florida filmmaker Lance Oppenheim focused instead on the deeply personal stories of a few residents for whom the idyllic setting wasn’t quite as idyllic. After temporarily taking up residence in The Villages to film off and on for 18 months, Oppenheim...
- 1/14/2021
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
The Darren Aronofksy-produced documentary Some Kind of Heaven explores the Baby Boomer mecca that is the Villages and asks: what happens when fantasy becomes a nightmare?
In the Villages, central Florida’s sprawling, master-planned retirement community billed as “Disneyland for seniors”, there is one ubiquitous presence: the golf cart. The hybrid transport abounds within the Baby Boomer mecca that’s now bigger than Manhattan, zipping among the complex’s lush golf courses and filling its miniaturized parking spots.
The cart is nearly a character unto itself in Some Kind of Heaven, Lance Oppenheim’s sly, remarkably open-hearted documentary on the Villages – it darts along postcard sunsets, past signs for “Florida’s friendliest home town”, circles town squares and loops in a synchronized cart parade. The cart serves both a utilitarian purpose – it’s a safer mode of transport than a car, especially as most residents travel small distances – and the...
In the Villages, central Florida’s sprawling, master-planned retirement community billed as “Disneyland for seniors”, there is one ubiquitous presence: the golf cart. The hybrid transport abounds within the Baby Boomer mecca that’s now bigger than Manhattan, zipping among the complex’s lush golf courses and filling its miniaturized parking spots.
The cart is nearly a character unto itself in Some Kind of Heaven, Lance Oppenheim’s sly, remarkably open-hearted documentary on the Villages – it darts along postcard sunsets, past signs for “Florida’s friendliest home town”, circles town squares and loops in a synchronized cart parade. The cart serves both a utilitarian purpose – it’s a safer mode of transport than a car, especially as most residents travel small distances – and the...
- 1/14/2021
- by Adrian Horton
- The Guardian - Film News
Blumhouse has acquired the rights to The New York Times’ story about Miriam Rodríguez, the Mexican mother who fearlessly tracked down the kidnappers who abducted and murdered her daughter, Karen.
Rodriguez — who went on to become a prominent human rights activist, helping to imprison 10 members of the local cartel in San Fernando — was shot and killed in front of her home on Mother’s Day in 2017. Blumhouse won the rights to the Times story, titled “She Stalked Her Daughter’s Killers Across Mexico, One by One,” which spawned an immediate bidding war after it was published on Dec. 13.
Azam Ahmed, the story’s writer, will produce the project alongside Caitlin Roper, the Nyt’s executive producer for scripted projects, and Blumhouse’s Jason Blum. Ahmed has served as The New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean since 2015. In 2019, Ahmed reported a series on the homicide crisis in Latin America,...
Rodriguez — who went on to become a prominent human rights activist, helping to imprison 10 members of the local cartel in San Fernando — was shot and killed in front of her home on Mother’s Day in 2017. Blumhouse won the rights to the Times story, titled “She Stalked Her Daughter’s Killers Across Mexico, One by One,” which spawned an immediate bidding war after it was published on Dec. 13.
Azam Ahmed, the story’s writer, will produce the project alongside Caitlin Roper, the Nyt’s executive producer for scripted projects, and Blumhouse’s Jason Blum. Ahmed has served as The New York Times bureau chief for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean since 2015. In 2019, Ahmed reported a series on the homicide crisis in Latin America,...
- 12/22/2020
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Cinema Eye Honors (Ceh) announced the nominees for its 14th annual awards on December 10, raising the profile of three contenders in the Documentary Feature Oscar derby. Garrett Bradley‘s “Time,” Victor Kossakovsky‘s “Gunda,” and Alexander Nanau‘s “Collective” all reaped bids for Best Documentary Feature, Direction and Editing.
“Time” leads the Ceh’s nominees with six overall, including Debut, Score and Audience Choice. “Gunda” added Cinematography to its tally for four overall, equal to the four for “Collective” which added Production. The other two films nominated for Feature are Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss‘s “Boys State” and Kirsten Johnson‘s “Dick Johnson Is Dead.”
In the last five years the group has matched with the academy’s documentary branch on three nominees, including a nomination and win last year for the eventual Oscar champ “American Factory.” With that precedent in mind, we might expect three of Ceh’s...
“Time” leads the Ceh’s nominees with six overall, including Debut, Score and Audience Choice. “Gunda” added Cinematography to its tally for four overall, equal to the four for “Collective” which added Production. The other two films nominated for Feature are Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss‘s “Boys State” and Kirsten Johnson‘s “Dick Johnson Is Dead.”
In the last five years the group has matched with the academy’s documentary branch on three nominees, including a nomination and win last year for the eventual Oscar champ “American Factory.” With that precedent in mind, we might expect three of Ceh’s...
- 12/11/2020
- by John Benutty
- Gold Derby
The influential Cinema Eye Honors nominations, voted on by documentary filmmakers, help to narrow the wide field for documentary awards contenders. Amazon Studios release “Time,” Garrett Bradley’s poetic black-and-white portrait of one family’s struggle through years of incarceration, leads the field with six nominations, including Outstanding Feature, Direction, Editing, Score and Debut.
Garnering four nominations: Alexander Nanau’s Romanian health system exposé “Collective” (Magnolia), Victor Kossakovsky’s story of a mother pig, “Gunda” (Neon), and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) with four.
With three nominations each: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” (Apple), Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix), Liz Garbus’ series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO), Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian Oscar submission “Notturno” (Super Ltd), and Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics).
Per usual, prolific Netflix leads all distributors/broadcasters with thirteen nominations, while HBO Documentary Films grabbed ten,...
Garnering four nominations: Alexander Nanau’s Romanian health system exposé “Collective” (Magnolia), Victor Kossakovsky’s story of a mother pig, “Gunda” (Neon), and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) with four.
With three nominations each: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” (Apple), Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix), Liz Garbus’ series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO), Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian Oscar submission “Notturno” (Super Ltd), and Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics).
Per usual, prolific Netflix leads all distributors/broadcasters with thirteen nominations, while HBO Documentary Films grabbed ten,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The influential Cinema Eye Honors nominations, voted on by documentary filmmakers, help to narrow the wide field for documentary awards contenders. Amazon Studios release “Time,” Garrett Bradley’s poetic black-and-white portrait of one family’s struggle through years of incarceration, leads the field with six nominations, including Outstanding Feature, Direction, Editing, Score and Debut.
Garnering four nominations: Alexander Nanau’s Romanian health system exposé “Collective” (Magnolia), Victor Kossakovsky’s story of a mother pig, “Gunda” (Neon), and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) with four.
With three nominations each: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” (Apple), Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix), Liz Garbus’ series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO), Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian Oscar submission “Notturno” (Super Ltd), and Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics).
Per usual, prolific Netflix leads all distributors/broadcasters with thirteen nominations, while HBO Documentary Films grabbed ten,...
Garnering four nominations: Alexander Nanau’s Romanian health system exposé “Collective” (Magnolia), Victor Kossakovsky’s story of a mother pig, “Gunda” (Neon), and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) with four.
With three nominations each: Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” (Apple), Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson is Dead” (Netflix), Liz Garbus’ series “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark” (HBO), Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian Oscar submission “Notturno” (Super Ltd), and Michael Dweck & Gregory Kershaw’s “The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics).
Per usual, prolific Netflix leads all distributors/broadcasters with thirteen nominations, while HBO Documentary Films grabbed ten,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” which follows a family through decades of the father’s incarceration, leads all films in nominations for the 14th annual Cinema Eye Honors, a New York-based award established to honor all facets of nonfiction filmmaking.
“Time” received six nominations, including one in the Outstanding Nonfiction Feature category. There, it will compete with “Boys State,” “Collective,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead” and “Gunda.”
“Collective,” “Gunda” and “Welcome to Chechnya” each received four nominations, while “Boys State,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” “Notturno” and “The Truffle Hunters” landed three each.
“Time” is now the only film to be nominated in the top category by the Cinema Eye Honors, the IDA Documentary Awards, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards, and also receive a spot on Doc NYC’s “Short List” of awards contenders. “Gunda” was honored by four of the five groups,...
“Time” received six nominations, including one in the Outstanding Nonfiction Feature category. There, it will compete with “Boys State,” “Collective,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead” and “Gunda.”
“Collective,” “Gunda” and “Welcome to Chechnya” each received four nominations, while “Boys State,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” “Notturno” and “The Truffle Hunters” landed three each.
“Time” is now the only film to be nominated in the top category by the Cinema Eye Honors, the IDA Documentary Awards, the Critics Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards, and also receive a spot on Doc NYC’s “Short List” of awards contenders. “Gunda” was honored by four of the five groups,...
- 12/10/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Some Kind Of Heaven, Assassins also spark sales.
Magnolia Pictures International has announced further key territory sales from the virtual AFM on Portuguese Oscar submission Listen, as well as deals on Sundance documentaries Some Kind Of Heaven and Assassins.
Lorna Lee Torres and her team closed deals on Listen with Lucky Red for Italy, Fenix Filmes for Brazil, and Gulf for Middle East.
Ana Rocha de Sousa’s Venice Horizons-winning drama previously sold in Canada (Films we Like) and Spain (Maximus Entertainment).
Lúcia Moniz and Ruben Garcia play a Portuguese couple in London fighting to keep custody of their children,...
Magnolia Pictures International has announced further key territory sales from the virtual AFM on Portuguese Oscar submission Listen, as well as deals on Sundance documentaries Some Kind Of Heaven and Assassins.
Lorna Lee Torres and her team closed deals on Listen with Lucky Red for Italy, Fenix Filmes for Brazil, and Gulf for Middle East.
Ana Rocha de Sousa’s Venice Horizons-winning drama previously sold in Canada (Films we Like) and Spain (Maximus Entertainment).
Lúcia Moniz and Ruben Garcia play a Portuguese couple in London fighting to keep custody of their children,...
- 12/3/2020
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week, […]
The post This Week In Trailers: Some Kind of Heaven, Alabama Snake, Little Fish, Sing Me A Song, The Human Factor appeared first on /Film.
The post This Week In Trailers: Some Kind of Heaven, Alabama Snake, Little Fish, Sing Me A Song, The Human Factor appeared first on /Film.
- 11/28/2020
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
Maybe I’m strange, but the idea of a retirement home is pretty damn nice. Even though I’m decades away from that fate, having a place described as a luxurious, college-like atmosphere to live out my twilight years sounds…lovely. But if I’m to believe “Some Kind of Heaven,” the illusion is about to be destroyed.
Read More: 2020 Fall Film Preview: 40 Most Anticipated Films To Watch
As seen in the trailer for “Some Kind of Heaven,” a new documentary coming soon from director Lance Oppenheim, even one of the most revered and beautiful retirement communities has a seedy underbelly.
Continue reading ‘Some Kind Of Heaven’ Trailer: Darren Aronofsky-Produced Doc Looks At The Underbelly Of A Luxury Retirement Home at The Playlist.
Read More: 2020 Fall Film Preview: 40 Most Anticipated Films To Watch
As seen in the trailer for “Some Kind of Heaven,” a new documentary coming soon from director Lance Oppenheim, even one of the most revered and beautiful retirement communities has a seedy underbelly.
Continue reading ‘Some Kind Of Heaven’ Trailer: Darren Aronofsky-Produced Doc Looks At The Underbelly Of A Luxury Retirement Home at The Playlist.
- 11/19/2020
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
Sprawling across 30-plus miles, housing 115,000 people, featuring 12 golf courses, and countless restaurants—the Villages is the biggest 55+ retirement community in the world. It’s a ripe subject for a documentary treatment, and Lance Oppenheim’s Some Kind of Heaven use this central Florida enclave regularly nicknamed “Disneyland for Retirees” as a pretext for its subject matter.
A portrait of four residents looking for their own version of happiness within this community in the vein of Errol Morris, it’s less about this storied backdrop than how the many amenities and opportunities available intersect with these people’s hopes and dreams. There’s Anne and Reggie, a couple who are struggling with Reggie’s increasing dependence on psychedelics; Barbara, a widow who’s looking for second love; and Dennis, an 82-year-old bachelor living out a van and looking for a caretaker for his remaining years.
Our Sundance reviewer praised the formal approach,...
A portrait of four residents looking for their own version of happiness within this community in the vein of Errol Morris, it’s less about this storied backdrop than how the many amenities and opportunities available intersect with these people’s hopes and dreams. There’s Anne and Reggie, a couple who are struggling with Reggie’s increasing dependence on psychedelics; Barbara, a widow who’s looking for second love; and Dennis, an 82-year-old bachelor living out a van and looking for a caretaker for his remaining years.
Our Sundance reviewer praised the formal approach,...
- 11/19/2020
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
"You come here to live, you don't come here to pass away." Magnolia Pictures has revealed the first trailer for an acclaimed documentary titled Some Kind of Heaven, which originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It also played at tons of other festivals including Rotterdam, New Zealand, Florida, Atlanta, and Visions du Réel. This doc is produced by Darren Aronofsky, and it looks phenomenal. Behind the gates of a palm tree-lined fantasyland, four residents of America's largest retirement community, The Villages, Florida, strive to find solace and meaning. The film is an "inside look" at the The Villages, America's largest retirement community – a massive, self-contained utopia located in Central Florida. I love the way this is shot! The 4:3 presentation and all of the snazzy cinematography gives it an entirely unique vérité look and feel that makes this doc stand out from so many others. Don't skip this!
- 11/19/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Opening in theaters and on demand January 15, 2021 from Magnolia Pictures is the debut feature from documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, Some Kind of Heaven. Featured in Filmmaker‘s 2019 25 New Faces, Oppenheim makes documentaries that are as attuned to their subjects’ interior lives — their fears, dreams, insecurities and aspirations — as to their physical surroundings. “How fantasy informs the way people live their lives, the camera has to do the same,” he told me when I interviewed him. “The only way to get into these people’s lives and their stories is to accurately depict the headspace they are […]
The post Trailer Watch: Lance Oppenheim's Some Kind of Heaven first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Lance Oppenheim's Some Kind of Heaven first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 11/19/2020
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Opening in theaters and on demand January 15, 2021 from Magnolia Pictures is the debut feature from documentary filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, Some Kind of Heaven. Featured in Filmmaker‘s 2019 25 New Faces, Oppenheim makes documentaries that are as attuned to their subjects’ interior lives — their fears, dreams, insecurities and aspirations — as to their physical surroundings. “How fantasy informs the way people live their lives, the camera has to do the same,” he told me when I interviewed him. “The only way to get into these people’s lives and their stories is to accurately depict the headspace they are […]
The post Trailer Watch: Lance Oppenheim's Some Kind of Heaven first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Lance Oppenheim's Some Kind of Heaven first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 11/19/2020
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
by Stephen Tronicek
For one weekend of the year, the party/college town of Columbia is flooded with cinephiles, film critics, and the documentarians. This is the True/False Film Festival or as the service workers call it: “Hell week.” All joking aside, the atmosphere is quite infectious. People young and old buzz around the circle of closely-knit venues to find the best in this year’s crop of documentary cinema. Thankfully, after exploiting the free parking space my friend’s aunt kindly lent me, I witnessed three profound documentaries about the passage of time and the existential ramifications of getting older.
The first two, Some Kind of Heaven and So Late So Soon, are more closely bonded. They both concern people in the twilight of their lives attempting to make sense of the meaning of their lives and their relationships with others. Some Kind of Heaven, directed by Lance Oppenheim...
For one weekend of the year, the party/college town of Columbia is flooded with cinephiles, film critics, and the documentarians. This is the True/False Film Festival or as the service workers call it: “Hell week.” All joking aside, the atmosphere is quite infectious. People young and old buzz around the circle of closely-knit venues to find the best in this year’s crop of documentary cinema. Thankfully, after exploiting the free parking space my friend’s aunt kindly lent me, I witnessed three profound documentaries about the passage of time and the existential ramifications of getting older.
The first two, Some Kind of Heaven and So Late So Soon, are more closely bonded. They both concern people in the twilight of their lives attempting to make sense of the meaning of their lives and their relationships with others. Some Kind of Heaven, directed by Lance Oppenheim...
- 3/6/2020
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The draws of living inside The Villages, the largest over-55 retirement community in the country, are readily apparent. For the nearly 115,000 veterans planted within the insulated Floridian suburban sprawl, there is no reason to be bored with life. Its complex contains golf courses and pickleball courts, swimming pools and volleyball beaches, acting and dance classes and plenty of tricked out golf carts. The sherbert sunset backdrops each night suggest this place is paradise.
That’s how some of its residents describe life in Some Kind of Heaven, Lance Oppenheim’s exploration of—and long fascination with—this central Florida bastion of elderly living. Though retirement communities generally portend life slowing down, many that plan to finish their days there are only just getting started. “You come here to live, and you never have to leave,” says one local. As seen in an opening montage, residents row and synchronize swim and...
That’s how some of its residents describe life in Some Kind of Heaven, Lance Oppenheim’s exploration of—and long fascination with—this central Florida bastion of elderly living. Though retirement communities generally portend life slowing down, many that plan to finish their days there are only just getting started. “You come here to live, and you never have to leave,” says one local. As seen in an opening montage, residents row and synchronize swim and...
- 2/1/2020
- by Jake Kring-Schreifels
- The Film Stage
Those nostalgic for the fond portraits of eccentric Americana in Errol Morris’ early work — and pretty much everyone else — will be delighted by “Some Kind of Heaven.” Lance Oppenheim’s first feature is
This highly entertaining documentary captures the near-surrealism of a prefab senior playground, while also finding some poignant human interest in focusing on a few personalities for whom the concept isn’t quite working. It should be an appealing item for niche programmers in various formats, from pubcasters to streaming services, with limited theatrical release possible.
An opening production-number montage of a few of The Villages’ many colorful recreational clubs and activities — which include not just synchronized swimming but synchronized golf-cart driving — sets a whimsical tenor. Indeed, much what goes on here seems to involve public performance, with cheer squads and karate deemed appropriate recreation for the resident aging baby boomers. “It’s like going off to college,...
This highly entertaining documentary captures the near-surrealism of a prefab senior playground, while also finding some poignant human interest in focusing on a few personalities for whom the concept isn’t quite working. It should be an appealing item for niche programmers in various formats, from pubcasters to streaming services, with limited theatrical release possible.
An opening production-number montage of a few of The Villages’ many colorful recreational clubs and activities — which include not just synchronized swimming but synchronized golf-cart driving — sets a whimsical tenor. Indeed, much what goes on here seems to involve public performance, with cheer squads and karate deemed appropriate recreation for the resident aging baby boomers. “It’s like going off to college,...
- 1/31/2020
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: As they sort through offers on their three Sundance films Shirley, Some Kind of Heaven and Summertime, Los Angeles Media Fund principals Jeffrey Soros and Simon Horsman are broadening the company footprint with increasingly ambitious feature films, scripted and unscripted series, and Broadway productions.
They’ve just set Oscar-winner Jodie Foster to direct an untitled drama based on the Seymour Reit book The Day They Stole the Mona Lisa. The film is being fully financed by Lamf.
“This happened in 1911, and it was the thing that made the Mona Lisa so famous,” Soros told Deadline while in Park City. “It was developed by Phoenix, which is still involved, but we have got a whole new script that Bill Wheeler is writing for Jodie Foster to direct. This is in the mold of The Thomas Crown Affair, with The Sting also a plot device comp. It is a fun story,...
They’ve just set Oscar-winner Jodie Foster to direct an untitled drama based on the Seymour Reit book The Day They Stole the Mona Lisa. The film is being fully financed by Lamf.
“This happened in 1911, and it was the thing that made the Mona Lisa so famous,” Soros told Deadline while in Park City. “It was developed by Phoenix, which is still involved, but we have got a whole new script that Bill Wheeler is writing for Jodie Foster to direct. This is in the mold of The Thomas Crown Affair, with The Sting also a plot device comp. It is a fun story,...
- 1/29/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The Sundance Film Festival has launched the careers of some extraordinary directors—among them, Steven Soderbergh in 1989 with Sex, Lies and Videotape, Quentin Tarantino in 1992 with Reservoir Dogs, and Darren Aronofsky in 1998 with Pi.
Aronofsky returned to Sundance this year as producer of Some Kind of Heaven, a documentary that heralds the arrival of another exceptional young directing talent, Lance Oppenheim.
“He’s…[five months] out of undergraduate [school] and he’s sitting at Sundance,” remarked Aronofsky, joining the Gen Z director outside the DoubleTree Hotel in Park City. “It took me nine years to get to Sundance and I think it just bodes well about a lot of exciting things we’re going to see from Lance in the future…There’s really a tremendous potential with him.”
Some Kind of Heaven, a production of Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures and The New York Times, premiered at Sundance on Sunday, Oppenheim’s 24th birthday.
Aronofsky returned to Sundance this year as producer of Some Kind of Heaven, a documentary that heralds the arrival of another exceptional young directing talent, Lance Oppenheim.
“He’s…[five months] out of undergraduate [school] and he’s sitting at Sundance,” remarked Aronofsky, joining the Gen Z director outside the DoubleTree Hotel in Park City. “It took me nine years to get to Sundance and I think it just bodes well about a lot of exciting things we’re going to see from Lance in the future…There’s really a tremendous potential with him.”
Some Kind of Heaven, a production of Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures and The New York Times, premiered at Sundance on Sunday, Oppenheim’s 24th birthday.
- 1/28/2020
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The Museum of Modern Art has unveiled its full festival lineup of 28 features and shorts for Doc Fortnight 2020, its annual showcase of the best of nonfiction film, on Monday. The list includes the latest works from the likes of Michael Almereyda, Terrence Nance, Denis Côté, Sky Hopinka, Lucretia Martel, Akosua Adoma Owusu, Ben Rivers, Lynn Sachs, Kazuhiro Soda, Roger Ross Williams, Maya Khoury and the Abounaddara Collective.
Now in its 19th year, Doc Fortnight will run from February 5 to 19, 2020, and will include 12 world premieres, 17 North American premieres, and 14 Us premieres from 38 countries. Doc Fortnight 2020 opens with the New York premiere of “Crip Camp,” a portrait of Camp Jened—a camp for disabled teenagers near Woodstock, New York, that thrived in the late 1960s and ’70s—which established a close-knit community of campers who would become pioneering disability advocates. The film is co-directed and produced by Nicole Newnham and James Lebrecht,...
Now in its 19th year, Doc Fortnight will run from February 5 to 19, 2020, and will include 12 world premieres, 17 North American premieres, and 14 Us premieres from 38 countries. Doc Fortnight 2020 opens with the New York premiere of “Crip Camp,” a portrait of Camp Jened—a camp for disabled teenagers near Woodstock, New York, that thrived in the late 1960s and ’70s—which established a close-knit community of campers who would become pioneering disability advocates. The film is co-directed and produced by Nicole Newnham and James Lebrecht,...
- 1/6/2020
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
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