The great actress Isabella Rossellini was the face of Lancôme beauty for more than a decade beginning in the early 1980s, but strangely, if you look back, rarely is she the lead in any of her iconic films.
Sometimes a shadow, sometimes on the periphery, a Rossellini character is nonetheless always knowing, from tragic lounge singer Dorothy Vallens in her then-partner David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” to ethereal beauty whisperer Lisle Von Rhuman in Robert Zemeckis’ “Death Becomes Her” and a wealthy Italian widow who dates below her station in David O. Russell’s “Joy.”
In Edward Berger’s papal potboiler “Conclave,” Rossellini has fewer lines than ever — and probably they could fit on one page — as Sister Agnes. Here is a glowering nun who has seen some shit. In the case of Berger’s English-language follow-up to Oscar-winning heavy-hitter “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Agnes is the eyes...
Sometimes a shadow, sometimes on the periphery, a Rossellini character is nonetheless always knowing, from tragic lounge singer Dorothy Vallens in her then-partner David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” to ethereal beauty whisperer Lisle Von Rhuman in Robert Zemeckis’ “Death Becomes Her” and a wealthy Italian widow who dates below her station in David O. Russell’s “Joy.”
In Edward Berger’s papal potboiler “Conclave,” Rossellini has fewer lines than ever — and probably they could fit on one page — as Sister Agnes. Here is a glowering nun who has seen some shit. In the case of Berger’s English-language follow-up to Oscar-winning heavy-hitter “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Agnes is the eyes...
- 10/24/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
A young woman leaving the care system returns to her childhood home is a strong directorial debut from acclaimed Irish actor Eva Birthistle
Irish actor Eva Birthistle has given successful performances in Ken Loach’s Ae Fond Kiss, Peter Greenaway’s Nightwatching, and David Keating’s Wake Wood. Now she pivots to directing, with this interesting and worthwhile debut feature, developed from her earlier 10-minute short from 2020, entitled Kathleen Was Here, about a vulnerable adult who was once in care, returning to her childhood home after the death of a mother who still haunts her thoughts.
Birthistle extends the mood-music of this earlier piece, repurposing the memory-flashback moments, hanging it on a psychological drama-thriller plot about a disturbing cuckoo-in-the-nest, complete with an almost Joe Eszterhas-level nailbiter ending. The plot machinations required to facilitate this are maybe a bit contrived, but it hangs together, and Birthistle directs the actors strongly and sympathetically.
Irish actor Eva Birthistle has given successful performances in Ken Loach’s Ae Fond Kiss, Peter Greenaway’s Nightwatching, and David Keating’s Wake Wood. Now she pivots to directing, with this interesting and worthwhile debut feature, developed from her earlier 10-minute short from 2020, entitled Kathleen Was Here, about a vulnerable adult who was once in care, returning to her childhood home after the death of a mother who still haunts her thoughts.
Birthistle extends the mood-music of this earlier piece, repurposing the memory-flashback moments, hanging it on a psychological drama-thriller plot about a disturbing cuckoo-in-the-nest, complete with an almost Joe Eszterhas-level nailbiter ending. The plot machinations required to facilitate this are maybe a bit contrived, but it hangs together, and Birthistle directs the actors strongly and sympathetically.
- 10/14/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Arianne Phillips, the costume designer for “Joker: Folie à Deux,” has provided insights into her work bringing Lady Gaga’s character to life. In the upcoming musical, Gaga plays Harley Quinn, starting as an obsessed fan of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) before transforming into the iconic character. Phillips faced the challenge of expanding the visual world from the first “Joker” film while honoring Mark Bridges’ Oscar-nominated costume design.
Phillips collaborated closely with Gaga to develop the character’s look throughout the story. In early scenes, Lady Gaga’s character is shown as an “underdeveloped, infantilized fan girl” through outfits like scrubs with a floral top. Phillips said this showed how the character was “obsessed with the Joker like a teenage girl — she’s a fan girl in a way that stunts her emotional growth.”
As the relationship develops, the costumes become more sophisticated, featuring sophisticated dresses and aggressive outfits. The...
Phillips collaborated closely with Gaga to develop the character’s look throughout the story. In early scenes, Lady Gaga’s character is shown as an “underdeveloped, infantilized fan girl” through outfits like scrubs with a floral top. Phillips said this showed how the character was “obsessed with the Joker like a teenage girl — she’s a fan girl in a way that stunts her emotional growth.”
As the relationship develops, the costumes become more sophisticated, featuring sophisticated dresses and aggressive outfits. The...
- 10/12/2024
- by Naser Nahandian
- Gazettely
Italian actress Isabella Rossellini will receive the European Achievement in World Cinema award, a lifetime achievement honor, at this year’s European Film Awards.
The Italian-American star, daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, was a successful fashion model — famously for French cosmetics brand Lancôme — before shifting into acting. Her first leading role came in the Taviani brothers’ drama The Meadow (1979), but her international breakout was David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986) in which she played the mysterious and tortured nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens. The performance, in which Rossellini also sang the film’s titular tune, won her the Independent Spirit Award for best female lead.
Over the next four decades, Rossellini carved out a unique career in cinema, moving between big-budget features — Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her (1992), Peter Weir’s Fearless (1993) — and independent auteur films, working with Peter Greenaway (2003’s The Tulse Luper Suitcases), Guy...
The Italian-American star, daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian film director Roberto Rossellini, was a successful fashion model — famously for French cosmetics brand Lancôme — before shifting into acting. Her first leading role came in the Taviani brothers’ drama The Meadow (1979), but her international breakout was David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986) in which she played the mysterious and tortured nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens. The performance, in which Rossellini also sang the film’s titular tune, won her the Independent Spirit Award for best female lead.
Over the next four decades, Rossellini carved out a unique career in cinema, moving between big-budget features — Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her (1992), Peter Weir’s Fearless (1993) — and independent auteur films, working with Peter Greenaway (2003’s The Tulse Luper Suitcases), Guy...
- 9/24/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Leo Woodall (One Day) and Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man) have signed on to star in Tuner, a new crime thriller directed by Oscar winner Daniel Roher (Navalny), for which Black Bear is launching sales at TIFF.
Written by Roher and Robert Ramsey, the film tells the story of a talented piano tuner whose life is turned upside down when he discovers that his meticulous skills for tuning pianos can equally be applied to cracking safes.
JoAnne Sellar and Lila Yacoub will produce, with production kicking off in Toronto in October. Debra Zane is the casting director. Black Bear will represent the international rights to the film while UTA Independent Film Group will rep the U.S. rights. Elevation Pictures is co-producing and will also release the film in Canada.
Breaking out with his role as Jack in the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus,...
Written by Roher and Robert Ramsey, the film tells the story of a talented piano tuner whose life is turned upside down when he discovers that his meticulous skills for tuning pianos can equally be applied to cracking safes.
JoAnne Sellar and Lila Yacoub will produce, with production kicking off in Toronto in October. Debra Zane is the casting director. Black Bear will represent the international rights to the film while UTA Independent Film Group will rep the U.S. rights. Elevation Pictures is co-producing and will also release the film in Canada.
Breaking out with his role as Jack in the second season of HBO’s The White Lotus,...
- 8/28/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier says working on an untitled animated feature with Belgium’s nWave Studios will take “more time than to do a fashion collection”.
Gaultier will be “artistic director” on the film, which Benoit Philippon will direct from a script by French writers Emilie Freche and Amanda Sthers.
Beginning in the countryside boutique of a former fashion model, the film will follow a clothes moth that dreams of becoming a fashion designer, and travels to Paris to launch a fashion show.
With a projected €25m budget, the film will be produced by Matthieu Zeller for nWave Studios,...
Gaultier will be “artistic director” on the film, which Benoit Philippon will direct from a script by French writers Emilie Freche and Amanda Sthers.
Beginning in the countryside boutique of a former fashion model, the film will follow a clothes moth that dreams of becoming a fashion designer, and travels to Paris to launch a fashion show.
With a projected €25m budget, the film will be produced by Matthieu Zeller for nWave Studios,...
- 6/14/2024
- ScreenDaily
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSThe Pill Pounder.The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival is known for audiences who talk back to the screen, but such rowdiness took a dark turn last weekend at a screening of Love Lies Bleeding (2024), during which homophobic and misogynistic taunts caused more than 60 attendees to walk out and then to stage a protest at the cinema door, which was broken up by the police.Italy’s right-wing government has left the country’s motion-picture industry stalled in uncertainty as they debate new regulations to tax incentives for film and television production, some of which may give preference to films “tied to Italy’s national identity.”Ten of thirteen IATSE locals now have tentative agreements with AMPTP. Talks...
- 4/17/2024
- MUBI
‘A deeply twisted shocker… You will never, ever, ever find a psychotic she-monster more blood-chilling than Susan Tyrrell’
Coming Soon
‘An excellent shocker… queasy and wildly ahead of its time… Susan Tyrrell delivers a character unlike any other in horror history’
Mondo Digital
‘Tyrrell steals the show… the sight of her… clutching a machete and chasing a poor unfortunate through a stormy night is once seen, never forgotten!… I heartedly recommend you seek out’
Hysteria Lives
One of the notorious 1980s video nasties Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker has been lauded as ‘Brilliantly insane’ (Cool Ass Cinema) and a ‘horror gem, well-crafted, ripe for analysis… should not go overlooked (Bloody Disgusting) and now, thanks to Severin Films, you can witness the film like never before. The company announces a brand-new Special Edition Dual 4K Uhd and Blu-ray is set for its UK release on 13th May 2024.
In a surprising change of direction,...
Coming Soon
‘An excellent shocker… queasy and wildly ahead of its time… Susan Tyrrell delivers a character unlike any other in horror history’
Mondo Digital
‘Tyrrell steals the show… the sight of her… clutching a machete and chasing a poor unfortunate through a stormy night is once seen, never forgotten!… I heartedly recommend you seek out’
Hysteria Lives
One of the notorious 1980s video nasties Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker has been lauded as ‘Brilliantly insane’ (Cool Ass Cinema) and a ‘horror gem, well-crafted, ripe for analysis… should not go overlooked (Bloody Disgusting) and now, thanks to Severin Films, you can witness the film like never before. The company announces a brand-new Special Edition Dual 4K Uhd and Blu-ray is set for its UK release on 13th May 2024.
In a surprising change of direction,...
- 4/17/2024
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
Werner Herzog has revealed he’s part of the voice cast of Bong Joon Ho’s forthcoming animated feature, according to Variety. The fully CGI animation is a deep-sea adventure, featuring creatures and humans, specifically following an invertebrate deep-sea fish who believes he’s suffering from spinal disk herniation. One can learn more here about the project.
Peter Greenaway has begun shooting his untitled new feature in Lucca, Italy, with Dustin Hoffman, Helen Hunt, and Sofia Boutella leading the story “of an intelligent man whose final big adventure is intended to be his death. He wants to make it elegant and sensible. Tidy, with as few loose ends as possible,” Deadline reports.
Following up Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright has set his next feature with the long-in-development Paramount remake of The Running Man, with Glen Powell set to star, Deadline notes, reportedly beating out the likes of Ryan Gosling,...
Peter Greenaway has begun shooting his untitled new feature in Lucca, Italy, with Dustin Hoffman, Helen Hunt, and Sofia Boutella leading the story “of an intelligent man whose final big adventure is intended to be his death. He wants to make it elegant and sensible. Tidy, with as few loose ends as possible,” Deadline reports.
Following up Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright has set his next feature with the long-in-development Paramount remake of The Running Man, with Glen Powell set to star, Deadline notes, reportedly beating out the likes of Ryan Gosling,...
- 4/15/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The latest film from UK director Peter Greenaway starring Dustin Hoffman and Helen Hunt has commenced principal photography in Italy.
The untitled feature is shooting on location in Lucca, Italy. The story, also penned by Greenaway, follows a writer preparing for his death.
Hoffman was announced to star in the project last year while, along with Hunt, other new cast members include Giacomo Gianniotti Jonno Davies and Laura Morante.
The project is produced by Switzerland’s Facing East Production with Jumpy Cow and Italian services company The Family.
Morgan Freeman was originally attached to star and produce the feature in 2019.
Greenaway is a Bafta-winning director,...
The untitled feature is shooting on location in Lucca, Italy. The story, also penned by Greenaway, follows a writer preparing for his death.
Hoffman was announced to star in the project last year while, along with Hunt, other new cast members include Giacomo Gianniotti Jonno Davies and Laura Morante.
The project is produced by Switzerland’s Facing East Production with Jumpy Cow and Italian services company The Family.
Morgan Freeman was originally attached to star and produce the feature in 2019.
Greenaway is a Bafta-winning director,...
- 4/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Dustin Hoffman and Helen Hunt have been cast in Peter Greenaway's new film.The pair are set to star in the British filmmaker's latest project which has started principal photography in Lucca, Italy.The story is based on Greenaway's original script and centres on an intelligent man called Jacob whose last big adventure is planned to be his own death. He wants to pass away in elegant, sensible and tidy fashion and leave behind as few loose ends as possible.Sofia Boutella, Giacomo Gianniotti, Jonno Davies and Laura Morante also have roles in the untitled picture – which marks Greenaway's first film since 2015.The 82-year-old director said: "The theme of this film is highly relevant and topical in these times, where the end-of-life topic is headline news on a daily basis. As such, I am very excited to be working with such an array of extraordinary actors and crew and...
- 4/12/2024
- by Alex Getting
- Bang Showbiz
Dustin Hoffman has signed on to star in a currently untitled Peter Greenaway movie alongside Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets) and Sofia Boutella (Kingsman).
Principal photography has commenced on location in Lucca, Italy. Greenaway directs from his own screenplay. The current synopsis reads: The story of an intelligent man whose final big adventure is intended to be his death. He wants to make it elegant and sensible. Tidy, with as few loose ends as possible.
The film’s cast is rounded out by Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey’s Anatomy), Jonno Davies (Kingsman: The Secret Service), and Laura Morante (Cherry On The Cake). The film is a Facing East Production and a Facing East presentation with Jumpy Cow Pictures. Executive Producers are Enrique Drescher, Daniel Fluri, Andres Kernen, Adrian Grabe, Saskia Boddeke, Ada Bonvini, Ivano Fucci and Marc Jacobson.
“The theme of this film is highly relevant and topical in these times,...
Principal photography has commenced on location in Lucca, Italy. Greenaway directs from his own screenplay. The current synopsis reads: The story of an intelligent man whose final big adventure is intended to be his death. He wants to make it elegant and sensible. Tidy, with as few loose ends as possible.
The film’s cast is rounded out by Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey’s Anatomy), Jonno Davies (Kingsman: The Secret Service), and Laura Morante (Cherry On The Cake). The film is a Facing East Production and a Facing East presentation with Jumpy Cow Pictures. Executive Producers are Enrique Drescher, Daniel Fluri, Andres Kernen, Adrian Grabe, Saskia Boddeke, Ada Bonvini, Ivano Fucci and Marc Jacobson.
“The theme of this film is highly relevant and topical in these times,...
- 4/12/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar-winners Helen Hunt and Dustin Hoffman have signed on to star in the new, still-untitled feature from British director Peter Greenaway (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover).
Principal photography for the film has begun in Lucca, Italy.
Sofia Boutella (Kingsman), Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey’s Anatomy), Jonno Davies (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Laura Morante (The Son’s Room) co-star in the drama, the first feature from Greenaway since 2015’s Eisenstein in Guanajuato.
Based on Greenaway’s original script, the film is the story of an intelligent man whose final big adventure is intended to be his own death, which he wants to organize in an elegant, sensible and tidy manner, with as few loose ends as possible.
“The theme of this film is highly relevant and topical in these times, where the end-of-life topic is headline news on a daily basis,” said Greenaway. “As such, I am very excited...
Principal photography for the film has begun in Lucca, Italy.
Sofia Boutella (Kingsman), Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey’s Anatomy), Jonno Davies (Kingsman: The Secret Service) and Laura Morante (The Son’s Room) co-star in the drama, the first feature from Greenaway since 2015’s Eisenstein in Guanajuato.
Based on Greenaway’s original script, the film is the story of an intelligent man whose final big adventure is intended to be his own death, which he wants to organize in an elegant, sensible and tidy manner, with as few loose ends as possible.
“The theme of this film is highly relevant and topical in these times, where the end-of-life topic is headline news on a daily basis,” said Greenaway. “As such, I am very excited...
- 4/12/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
France’s Urban Distribution has shut its doors, the latest independent distributor to fold due to struggling ticket sales following the closure of Rezo Films’ distribution arm in March.
Urban Group’s thriving international sales and production divisions Urban Sales and Urban Factory will continue to operate, but its distribution arm, founded in 2011 by Frédéric Corvez and Mathieu Piazza, was officially liquidated on March 21.
Corvez confirmed the closure to Screen, explaining, “Over the years, we’ve seen our work come up against more and more obstacles” and citing the pandemic as an event that “undoubtedly transformed the industry”.
He described...
Urban Group’s thriving international sales and production divisions Urban Sales and Urban Factory will continue to operate, but its distribution arm, founded in 2011 by Frédéric Corvez and Mathieu Piazza, was officially liquidated on March 21.
Corvez confirmed the closure to Screen, explaining, “Over the years, we’ve seen our work come up against more and more obstacles” and citing the pandemic as an event that “undoubtedly transformed the industry”.
He described...
- 4/2/2024
- ScreenDaily
‘An underrated northern artist whose impact could have been greater given the right breaks. Cliff Twemlow’s story should provide encouragement to the current crop of British indie filmmakers. An essential watch’
*****
Starburst
‘Hugely entertaining documentary about a truly unique character… Jake West paints an affectionate portrait of a genuine one-off, whose work you’ll want to dive into once credits roll’
Dexerto
‘A fascinating man… Cliff absolutely deserves a place in the pantheon of low-budget, guerrilla-style filmmakers and hopefully this documentary will introduce him to an entirely new audience’
*****
Set the Tape
Following its successful festival run and ahead of its digital release in June 2024, Severin Films announces a UK theatrical tour of the acclaimed film Mancunian Man the Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow.
Tour dates:
3 March – Nottingham Broadway + Q&a with Jake West & David Gregory
13 March – Birmingham – Mockingbird Cinema + Q&a with Jake West
23 March – Exeter – Exeter Phoenix...
*****
Starburst
‘Hugely entertaining documentary about a truly unique character… Jake West paints an affectionate portrait of a genuine one-off, whose work you’ll want to dive into once credits roll’
Dexerto
‘A fascinating man… Cliff absolutely deserves a place in the pantheon of low-budget, guerrilla-style filmmakers and hopefully this documentary will introduce him to an entirely new audience’
*****
Set the Tape
Following its successful festival run and ahead of its digital release in June 2024, Severin Films announces a UK theatrical tour of the acclaimed film Mancunian Man the Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow.
Tour dates:
3 March – Nottingham Broadway + Q&a with Jake West & David Gregory
13 March – Birmingham – Mockingbird Cinema + Q&a with Jake West
23 March – Exeter – Exeter Phoenix...
- 3/13/2024
- by Peter 'Witchfinder' Hopkins
- Horror Asylum
On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: The Swan, The Twins, Their Wives, and Their Deaths
The line between midnight movies and arthouse cinema has always been blurrier than we might like to believe. Both niches exist to accommodate creators (and their fans) who crave something different from conventional Hollywood fare and are willing to seek out unorthodox screening options like festivals and independent theaters in order to scratch that itch. And while they have both produced plenty of forgettable fare from artists who became too comfortable existing in yesterday’s version of transgression — we’ve all...
First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.
Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.
The Pitch: The Swan, The Twins, Their Wives, and Their Deaths
The line between midnight movies and arthouse cinema has always been blurrier than we might like to believe. Both niches exist to accommodate creators (and their fans) who crave something different from conventional Hollywood fare and are willing to seek out unorthodox screening options like festivals and independent theaters in order to scratch that itch. And while they have both produced plenty of forgettable fare from artists who became too comfortable existing in yesterday’s version of transgression — we’ve all...
- 3/2/2024
- by Christian Zilko and Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
Blondie lead vocalist Debbie Harry opened up about her film career at International Film Festival Rotterdam.
“I am not really fluent in the film industry, but I have been fortunate to get scripts from the directors I admire and trust, and who scare me a little. It’s a small selection of interesting films that are a bit odd. I guess my oddness fits into that.”
Nothing was odder than David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome.”
“We didn’t know what ‘virtual’ was. We had no term [for it] back then. We didn’t know what my character was, but we knew who she was and what she was doing to others. I think Jimmy Woods had more of a problem with it than me. Let’s face it: Cronenberg is out there and always has been,” she said.
“There was no ending to the film and some people were getting pretty uptight about it.
“I am not really fluent in the film industry, but I have been fortunate to get scripts from the directors I admire and trust, and who scare me a little. It’s a small selection of interesting films that are a bit odd. I guess my oddness fits into that.”
Nothing was odder than David Cronenberg’s “Videodrome.”
“We didn’t know what ‘virtual’ was. We had no term [for it] back then. We didn’t know what my character was, but we knew who she was and what she was doing to others. I think Jimmy Woods had more of a problem with it than me. Let’s face it: Cronenberg is out there and always has been,” she said.
“There was no ending to the film and some people were getting pretty uptight about it.
- 1/28/2024
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Following part one of our 2024 preview, we’re counting down our 50 most-anticipated films of the year.
50. The Actor (Duke Johnson)
Duke Johnson, one half of the directing duo behind Anomalisa, makes his solo directorial (and live-action) debut with The Actor. For being based on the posthumously published novel from Donald E. Westlake, a synopsis points towards an amnesia thriller with André Holland as a New York City actor beaten and stranded in 1950s Ohio. Gemma Chan and Toby Jones co-star. As a state native I’m intrigued how they shot Budapest for small-town Ohio––the two don’t exactly scream perfect matches, but I won’t doubt the movie magic before I see it. Anomalisa was a wholly original stop-motion feature; we’re intrigued how Johnson continues that creativity in the live-action realm. – Caleb H.
49. Presence (Steven Soderbergh)
Steven Soderbergh has flirted with horror before––2018’s Unsane in particular nearly...
50. The Actor (Duke Johnson)
Duke Johnson, one half of the directing duo behind Anomalisa, makes his solo directorial (and live-action) debut with The Actor. For being based on the posthumously published novel from Donald E. Westlake, a synopsis points towards an amnesia thriller with André Holland as a New York City actor beaten and stranded in 1950s Ohio. Gemma Chan and Toby Jones co-star. As a state native I’m intrigued how they shot Budapest for small-town Ohio––the two don’t exactly scream perfect matches, but I won’t doubt the movie magic before I see it. Anomalisa was a wholly original stop-motion feature; we’re intrigued how Johnson continues that creativity in the live-action realm. – Caleb H.
49. Presence (Steven Soderbergh)
Steven Soderbergh has flirted with horror before––2018’s Unsane in particular nearly...
- 1/8/2024
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Helen Hunt and Dustin Hoffman are leading the cast for Peter Greenaway’s new movie: more on it here.
We haven’t seen too much of Dustin Hoffman since his excellent turn in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories which was a Netflix must-watch movie back in 2017 when it released.
He’s been up to stuff, and Hoffman has made a couple of smaller indie films in the years since but he’s about to step back into the spotlight, not least because he is set to appear in Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola’s high-profile return to filmmaking that we imagine will be releasing next year.
It has also been announced that Hoffman will be working with the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway, whose artsy projects don’t usually feature Hollywood icons in them.
Fellow Oscar-winner Helen Hunt has also joined the cast of Lucca Mortis which according to Variety has...
We haven’t seen too much of Dustin Hoffman since his excellent turn in Noah Baumbach’s The Meyerowitz Stories which was a Netflix must-watch movie back in 2017 when it released.
He’s been up to stuff, and Hoffman has made a couple of smaller indie films in the years since but he’s about to step back into the spotlight, not least because he is set to appear in Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola’s high-profile return to filmmaking that we imagine will be releasing next year.
It has also been announced that Hoffman will be working with the British filmmaker Peter Greenaway, whose artsy projects don’t usually feature Hollywood icons in them.
Fellow Oscar-winner Helen Hunt has also joined the cast of Lucca Mortis which according to Variety has...
- 12/12/2023
- by Dan Cooper
- Film Stories
One year after his 80th birthday and with a new lease on life, Peter Greenaway’s begun shooting his first feature since 2015’s Eisenstein in Guanajuato with a cast that suggests your parents might see it at their local arthouse. Per Variety, Dustin Hoffman and Helen Hunt will lead Lucca Mortis, wherein the former plays a “New York writer (Hoffman), who in 2001, following the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, takes a sabbatical to visit Lucca in search of his distant Italian origins.” Hunt’s role remains unlisted.
Greenaway’s film is expected to draw “a sort of parallelism between the Twin Towers and the towers of Lucca,” exactly the kind of overweening metaphor that could yield something oddly profound. And his longstanding interest in architecture seems key to this project: Lucca Mortis is expected to use 25 locations, “some in private historic buildings” because a €15 million budget can...
Greenaway’s film is expected to draw “a sort of parallelism between the Twin Towers and the towers of Lucca,” exactly the kind of overweening metaphor that could yield something oddly profound. And his longstanding interest in architecture seems key to this project: Lucca Mortis is expected to use 25 locations, “some in private historic buildings” because a €15 million budget can...
- 12/11/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Oscar winners Dustin Hoffman and Helen Hunt are attached to star in Peter Greenaway’s drama “Lucca Mortis,” which has started filming in the Tuscan city of Lucca.
The new film by the 81-year-old iconoclastic British filmmaker and artist — known for arthouse hits such as “The Draughtsman’s Contract,” “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover” and “The Pillow Book” — is the tale of a New York writer (Hoffman), who in in 2001, following the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, takes a sabbatical to visit Lucca in search of his distant Italian origins. “Lucca Mortis” creates a sort of parallelism between the Twin Towers and the towers of Lucca, according to the Tuscany Film Commission website. Other details, including Hunt’s role, are being kept under wraps.
Tuscany Film Commission head Stefania Ippoliti said cameras started rolling earlier this month in Lucca, which is known for its medieval walls and towers,...
The new film by the 81-year-old iconoclastic British filmmaker and artist — known for arthouse hits such as “The Draughtsman’s Contract,” “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover” and “The Pillow Book” — is the tale of a New York writer (Hoffman), who in in 2001, following the attack on the Twin Towers in New York, takes a sabbatical to visit Lucca in search of his distant Italian origins. “Lucca Mortis” creates a sort of parallelism between the Twin Towers and the towers of Lucca, according to the Tuscany Film Commission website. Other details, including Hunt’s role, are being kept under wraps.
Tuscany Film Commission head Stefania Ippoliti said cameras started rolling earlier this month in Lucca, which is known for its medieval walls and towers,...
- 12/11/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
“Standing here and talking about my film is the only way I can feel I am doing something,” said Mohamed Jabaly.
An emotional Mohamed Jabaly unveiled his new feature doc Life Is Beautiful in the international competition at IDFA on Monday. The premiere came as the Palestinian director said his relatives in Gaza have been displaced by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“For me, standing here and talking about my film is the only way I can feel I am doing something. I could just hide inside the room and decide not to talk,” said Jabaly of the decision to go ahead with his screening.
An emotional Mohamed Jabaly unveiled his new feature doc Life Is Beautiful in the international competition at IDFA on Monday. The premiere came as the Palestinian director said his relatives in Gaza have been displaced by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“For me, standing here and talking about my film is the only way I can feel I am doing something. I could just hide inside the room and decide not to talk,” said Jabaly of the decision to go ahead with his screening.
- 11/15/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Greenaway is being honoured at this week’s IDFA festival in Amsterdam.
Peter Greenaway is not a face to normally be found at a creative documentary festival like International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
However, the director of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover (1989) and A Zed And Two Noughts (1985), both screening at the festival as part of a Greenaway retrospective, has always blurred genre boundaries.
His work combines elements of art history, anthropology and magical realism - and he has made both documentaries and mockumentaries. Greenaway lives in the Netherlands and has strong Dutch connections. Perhaps, then,...
Peter Greenaway is not a face to normally be found at a creative documentary festival like International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA).
However, the director of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover (1989) and A Zed And Two Noughts (1985), both screening at the festival as part of a Greenaway retrospective, has always blurred genre boundaries.
His work combines elements of art history, anthropology and magical realism - and he has made both documentaries and mockumentaries. Greenaway lives in the Netherlands and has strong Dutch connections. Perhaps, then,...
- 11/14/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
There's a wonderful little indie distributor based in NYC called Zeitgeist Films, founded in 1988. If you're a die-hard cinephile, you probably already recognize the name. They've supported amazing filmmakers and little films that deserve to be seen in US art house cinemas. From their website, they explain Zeitgeist as: "Distributed over 200 of the finest independent films from the U.S. and around the world including the early works of Todd Haynes, Christopher Nolan, François Ozon, Laura Poitras, Atom Egoyan and the Quay Brothers. Their catalog has also included films from the world's most outstanding filmmakers: Agnes Varda, Guy Maddin, Olivier Assayas, Jia Zhang-ke, Abbas Kiarostami, Derek Jarman, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Peter Greenaway, Philippe Garrel, Yvonne Rainer, Jan Svankmajer, Margarethe Von Trotta, Andrei Zyvagintsev and Raoul Peck." To celebrate their 35th anniversary, Metrograph is hosting screenings of some of their finest gems. "We're particularly looking forward to reuniting with some of...
- 11/6/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
This year’s edition of the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) will open with the world premiere of “A Picture to Remember” by Olga Chernykh. The film, which received the support of the IDFA Bertha Fund in 2022, is a deeply personal account of the ongoing war in Ukraine and its violent history, seen through the prism of three generations of women.
The full program for the festival’s 36th edition was announced earlier today by IDFA’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia, who stated the festival’s opening film is “both personal and political,” adding that “the director does not shy away from trying to build a cinematic world with fragile elements. The courage and originality of the film’s approach opens up to a much larger worldview.”
Before announcing this year’s full lineup, Nyrabia took a moment to acknowledge the current Israel-Hamas war: “To us, respecting the human...
The full program for the festival’s 36th edition was announced earlier today by IDFA’s artistic director Orwa Nyrabia, who stated the festival’s opening film is “both personal and political,” adding that “the director does not shy away from trying to build a cinematic world with fragile elements. The courage and originality of the film’s approach opens up to a much larger worldview.”
Before announcing this year’s full lineup, Nyrabia took a moment to acknowledge the current Israel-Hamas war: “To us, respecting the human...
- 10/18/2023
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Michael Gambon, the Irish-born actor knighted for his storied career on the stage and screen and who gained admiration from a new generation of moviegoers with his portrayal of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight “Harry Potter” films, has died. He was 82.
A statement by his family, issued by his publicist Thursday, said the actor died following “a bout of pneumonia.”
“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside,” his family said.
Read More: Back To Hogwarts! Where To Watch All The ‘Harry Potter’ Movies
While the “Potter” role raised Gambon’s international profile and found him a huge audience, he had long been recognized as one of Britain’s leading actors. His work spanned TV, theatre and radio, and he starred in dozens of...
A statement by his family, issued by his publicist Thursday, said the actor died following “a bout of pneumonia.”
“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside,” his family said.
Read More: Back To Hogwarts! Where To Watch All The ‘Harry Potter’ Movies
While the “Potter” role raised Gambon’s international profile and found him a huge audience, he had long been recognized as one of Britain’s leading actors. His work spanned TV, theatre and radio, and he starred in dozens of...
- 9/28/2023
- by Becca Longmire
- ET Canada
Michael Gambon in Peter Greenaway's The Cook, The Thief, His Wife And Her Lover
Michael Gambon, once a towering presence on the British stage, and a man much admired for his performances in film, has died at the age of 82. He had recently been hospitalised with pneumonia but passed away peacefully with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his side, according to a family statement.
Gambon, a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre company, was highly praised for his interpretations of Ayckbourn and Beckett characters, and won three Olivier awards for his stage work. He was forced to retire in 2015 when memory loss led to him struggling with his lines. Announcing at the time that he had no intention of giving up acting altogether, He remained active in film for another four years.
Best known to younger generations for his portrayal of the wizard Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films,...
Michael Gambon, once a towering presence on the British stage, and a man much admired for his performances in film, has died at the age of 82. He had recently been hospitalised with pneumonia but passed away peacefully with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his side, according to a family statement.
Gambon, a member of Laurence Olivier's National Theatre company, was highly praised for his interpretations of Ayckbourn and Beckett characters, and won three Olivier awards for his stage work. He was forced to retire in 2015 when memory loss led to him struggling with his lines. Announcing at the time that he had no intention of giving up acting altogether, He remained active in film for another four years.
Best known to younger generations for his portrayal of the wizard Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Michael Gambon, the Irish-English actor best known for his role as Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in six of the “Harry Potter” movies, has died, Variety has confirmed. He was 82.
“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon,” his family said in a statement. “Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia.”
While it is easier for a character actor, often working in supporting roles, to rack up a large number of credits than it is for lead actors, Gambon was enormously prolific, with over 150 TV or film credits in an era when half that number would be impressive and unusual — and this for a man whose body of stage work was also prodigious.
He played two real kings of England: King Edward VII in “The Lost Prince” (2003) and his son, King George V,...
“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon,” his family said in a statement. “Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia.”
While it is easier for a character actor, often working in supporting roles, to rack up a large number of credits than it is for lead actors, Gambon was enormously prolific, with over 150 TV or film credits in an era when half that number would be impressive and unusual — and this for a man whose body of stage work was also prodigious.
He played two real kings of England: King Edward VII in “The Lost Prince” (2003) and his son, King George V,...
- 9/28/2023
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Gambon appeared as Albus Dumbledore in six ‘Harry Potter’ films.
Michael Gambon, the Irish-English actor who excelled in Shakespeare productions and found later acclaim as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, has died aged 82.
Gambon died in hospital following a bout of pneumonia.
A statement issued on behalf of his wife Anne Gambon and their son Fergus Gambon read,
“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia. Michael was 82. We ask that...
Michael Gambon, the Irish-English actor who excelled in Shakespeare productions and found later acclaim as Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, has died aged 82.
Gambon died in hospital following a bout of pneumonia.
A statement issued on behalf of his wife Anne Gambon and their son Fergus Gambon read,
“We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon. Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia. Michael was 82. We ask that...
- 9/28/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Programme includes ‘top 10’ films selected by director Wang Bing and selection of Peter Greenaway films.
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has revealed the first 50 titles for this year’s edition, running Nov 8 to Nov 19.
As part of a previously announced Wang Bing retrospective, the director has been invited to programme his “top 10”. The films he has selected are all Chinese and all date from 1999 or later.
They are: Before the Flood (2005) directed by Yifan Li, Yu YanBing’ai (2007) by Yan Feng; Born in Beijing (2011) by Li Ma; Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan; The Next Life (2011) by Jian Fan...
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has revealed the first 50 titles for this year’s edition, running Nov 8 to Nov 19.
As part of a previously announced Wang Bing retrospective, the director has been invited to programme his “top 10”. The films he has selected are all Chinese and all date from 1999 or later.
They are: Before the Flood (2005) directed by Yifan Li, Yu YanBing’ai (2007) by Yan Feng; Born in Beijing (2011) by Li Ma; Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan; The Next Life (2011) by Jian Fan...
- 9/20/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Acclaimed director Wang Bing, this year’s guest of honor at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, will be using his IDFA platform to highlight nonfiction cinema of his native China.
The festival, which runs from Nov. 8-19, announced the 10 films Bing has selected to be screened at IDFA – one of the perquisites of being named guest of honor. Among the documentaries he’s choosing to highlight are Old Men (1999), directed by Lina Yang; Wheat Harvest (2008), directed by Tong Xu, and IDFA Bertha Fund-supported Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan, “documenting the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.” (Scroll to see Bing’s full top 10 list).
Director Wang Bing attends the Cannes Film Festival May 19, 2023.
The documentaries chosen by Bing “and their politics are subtle in their film language,” IDFA noted in a release, “representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.
The festival, which runs from Nov. 8-19, announced the 10 films Bing has selected to be screened at IDFA – one of the perquisites of being named guest of honor. Among the documentaries he’s choosing to highlight are Old Men (1999), directed by Lina Yang; Wheat Harvest (2008), directed by Tong Xu, and IDFA Bertha Fund-supported Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan, “documenting the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.” (Scroll to see Bing’s full top 10 list).
Director Wang Bing attends the Cannes Film Festival May 19, 2023.
The documentaries chosen by Bing “and their politics are subtle in their film language,” IDFA noted in a release, “representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.
- 9/19/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Chinese documentarian Wang Bing and UK filmmaker and artist Peter Greenaway will be honored at the 36th International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), running from November 8 to 19.
Wang has been invited as the edition’s Guest of Honor, while Greenaway will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.
As part of its celebration of Wang, IDFA will screen his ground-breaking 2002 work Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks as well as his more recent films Man in Black and Youth (Spring), which both premiered to acclaim in Cannes this year. The latter title, which revolves around Chinese garment workers, was recently acquired by Icarus for North America.
The Wang program also includes Alone (2012), ’Til Madness Do Us Part (2013), and Mrs. Fang (2017).
The director will give a masterclass and has also been invited to compile the festival’s annual Top 10, which will...
Wang has been invited as the edition’s Guest of Honor, while Greenaway will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.
As part of its celebration of Wang, IDFA will screen his ground-breaking 2002 work Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks as well as his more recent films Man in Black and Youth (Spring), which both premiered to acclaim in Cannes this year. The latter title, which revolves around Chinese garment workers, was recently acquired by Icarus for North America.
The Wang program also includes Alone (2012), ’Til Madness Do Us Part (2013), and Mrs. Fang (2017).
The director will give a masterclass and has also been invited to compile the festival’s annual Top 10, which will...
- 8/30/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Netherlands festival sets three focus programmes.
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) will showcase the careers of Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing, and the UK’s Peter Greenaway at the 2023 edition in November.
Wang Bing is the 2023 IDFA guest of honour and the festival will screen a curated selection of his work, including 2002’s Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks, and this year’s Cannes titles Man In Black and Youth (Spring).
In a masterclass session, Wang Bing will also discuss 10 contemporary films by Chinese filmmakers, as a way of investigating the social and political history of the country, and the language of cinema.
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) will showcase the careers of Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing, and the UK’s Peter Greenaway at the 2023 edition in November.
Wang Bing is the 2023 IDFA guest of honour and the festival will screen a curated selection of his work, including 2002’s Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks, and this year’s Cannes titles Man In Black and Youth (Spring).
In a masterclass session, Wang Bing will also discuss 10 contemporary films by Chinese filmmakers, as a way of investigating the social and political history of the country, and the language of cinema.
- 8/30/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing is this year’s Guest of Honor at IDFA, which holds its 36th edition from Nov. 8 to 19 in Amsterdam. IDFA is also honoring filmmaker and artist Peter Greenaway with a Lifetime Achievement Award, a selective retrospective and an extensive on-stage talk.
IDFA will highlight Wang’s “innovative prowess” – in the festival’s words – through a curated selection of his work. His masterpiece “Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks” (2002) heralded a new era for Chinese documentary film, “granting viewers an organic view of contemporary China free from any exotic gaze.”
IDFA is also screening Wang’s “Man in Black” and “Youth (Spring),” two films that premiered earlier this year in Cannes, and which “demonstrate the filmmaker’s vision and capacity for innovation,” IDFA said.
Other film screenings will be “Alone” (2012), “’Til Madness Do Us Part” (2013), and “Mrs. Fang” (2017).
Wang will also give an indepth Master Talk.
IDFA will highlight Wang’s “innovative prowess” – in the festival’s words – through a curated selection of his work. His masterpiece “Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks” (2002) heralded a new era for Chinese documentary film, “granting viewers an organic view of contemporary China free from any exotic gaze.”
IDFA is also screening Wang’s “Man in Black” and “Youth (Spring),” two films that premiered earlier this year in Cannes, and which “demonstrate the filmmaker’s vision and capacity for innovation,” IDFA said.
Other film screenings will be “Alone” (2012), “’Til Madness Do Us Part” (2013), and “Mrs. Fang” (2017).
Wang will also give an indepth Master Talk.
- 8/30/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
British Cinematographer Peter Biziou, known for his work on pics like The Truman Show and Mississippi Burning, is the recipient of the lifetime achievement award this year at Poland’s Camerimage film festival.
Biziou was born in 1944 in Bangor, Caernarvonshire County, Wales. His family had been evacuated during the Second World War. His father was the cinematographer and special effects artist Leon Bijou who worked with Richard Thorpe on Ivanhoe (1952) and Adrian Lyne on Foxes (1980).
Beyond The Truman Show, Biziou’s credits include Monthy Python’s Life of Brian, Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981), Nine ½ Weeks Lyne (1986), Unfaithful (2002), and A World Apart (1987). Biziou has also lensed pics including Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), City of Joy (1992), Damage (1992), Richard III (1995), Ladies in Lavender (2004), Derailed (2005), and Mississippi Burning (1998), for which he won the Best Cinematography Oscar.
Peter Biziou
Biziou is set to attend the fest held in Torun, Poland, to accept the award...
Biziou was born in 1944 in Bangor, Caernarvonshire County, Wales. His family had been evacuated during the Second World War. His father was the cinematographer and special effects artist Leon Bijou who worked with Richard Thorpe on Ivanhoe (1952) and Adrian Lyne on Foxes (1980).
Beyond The Truman Show, Biziou’s credits include Monthy Python’s Life of Brian, Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981), Nine ½ Weeks Lyne (1986), Unfaithful (2002), and A World Apart (1987). Biziou has also lensed pics including Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), City of Joy (1992), Damage (1992), Richard III (1995), Ladies in Lavender (2004), Derailed (2005), and Mississippi Burning (1998), for which he won the Best Cinematography Oscar.
Peter Biziou
Biziou is set to attend the fest held in Torun, Poland, to accept the award...
- 7/19/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Carlos Reygadas is currently in production on his sixth feature film, Estela de sombra. We suspect that filming in taking place in his native Mexico. We had reported that Reygadas had received some coin and could possibly film portions of his next film in Poland. We conclude that the titled next project Wake of Umbra and Estela de sombra are one of the same – when translated it means “trail of shadow.”
Cristina Velasco who was a producer on Peter Greenaway’s Eisenstein in Guanajuato, and more recently Michel Franco’s last Venice preemed pair in New Order (2020) and Sundown (2021) will produce for Paloma Negra Films.…...
Cristina Velasco who was a producer on Peter Greenaway’s Eisenstein in Guanajuato, and more recently Michel Franco’s last Venice preemed pair in New Order (2020) and Sundown (2021) will produce for Paloma Negra Films.…...
- 7/17/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Peter Greenaway studied as a painter and worked for 15 years as a film editor for the Central Office of Information, the U.K. government’s marketing and communications agency, so it’s no surprise that his early films tend to prioritize visual and structural elements over their slender narratives. In fact, the earliest of his films often have no narrative at all. Intervals, from 1969, consists of footage of Venetian backstreets and alleyways accompanied by various sound sources (including stray snatches of Vivaldi) that lend each interval its own distinct tenor. This short also introduces an abiding Greenaway obsession: the abecedarian sequence (here a disembodied voice can be heard rattling off their ABCs in Italian).
Bucolic and beautifully shot, 1973’s H Is for House carries Greenaway’s preoccupation with alphabetical lists even further. Narrator Colin Cantlie, who provides voiceover work for four subsequent Greenaway films, articulates a series of increasingly improbable items...
Bucolic and beautifully shot, 1973’s H Is for House carries Greenaway’s preoccupation with alphabetical lists even further. Narrator Colin Cantlie, who provides voiceover work for four subsequent Greenaway films, articulates a series of increasingly improbable items...
- 7/13/2023
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
The 2023 Cherry Orchard Festival, running from June – July 2023 across the nation, presents Polina Osetinskaya at 92Ny on June 10, 2023 at 8pm at 1395 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10128. As part of her North American tour, Osetinskaya will perform some of the most enduring musical masterpieces in history featured in some of the world’s greatest films. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit https://www.92ny.org/event/polina-osetinskaya-piano.
Polina Osetinskaya
Polina Osetinskaya makes a triumphant solo return to the United States, after a critically acclaimed appearance at Carnegie Hall with Maxim Vengerov in October 2022. With her signature virtuosity, Osetinskaya brings to life seminal works by Bach, Handel and Rameau, from epic films such as Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon,” and others. The dramatic qualities of the music, which had once enhanced the pivotal moments in these great films,...
Polina Osetinskaya
Polina Osetinskaya makes a triumphant solo return to the United States, after a critically acclaimed appearance at Carnegie Hall with Maxim Vengerov in October 2022. With her signature virtuosity, Osetinskaya brings to life seminal works by Bach, Handel and Rameau, from epic films such as Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather,” Anthony Minghella’s “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon,” and others. The dramatic qualities of the music, which had once enhanced the pivotal moments in these great films,...
- 6/6/2023
- by Music Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Music
Brazilian drama marks the directorial debut feature of Lillah Halla.
AX1 Entertainment has secured UK and Ireland distribution rights to Power Alley, the debut feature of Brazilian director Lillah Halla that is playing in Cannes Critics’ Week, in a deal with Berlin-based M-Appeal.
The feature has also been picked up for Denmark by Ost for Paradis.
The Brazil-set drama follows a young volleyball player who is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Seeking an abortion, in a country where the procedure is illegal, she becomes the target of a fundamentalist group determined to stop her at any cost. The cast is led by Ayomi Domenica,...
AX1 Entertainment has secured UK and Ireland distribution rights to Power Alley, the debut feature of Brazilian director Lillah Halla that is playing in Cannes Critics’ Week, in a deal with Berlin-based M-Appeal.
The feature has also been picked up for Denmark by Ost for Paradis.
The Brazil-set drama follows a young volleyball player who is faced with an unwanted pregnancy. Seeking an abortion, in a country where the procedure is illegal, she becomes the target of a fundamentalist group determined to stop her at any cost. The cast is led by Ayomi Domenica,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Peter Greenaway is the one who turned down “Roger Rabbit.”
The “Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover” provocateur claimed in a new interview with Vulture that he was the first director approached to take on 1988’s live-action/animated hybrid classic “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”
“There were people knocking on my door all the time,” Greenaway said. “And looking back, do you remember a film called ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ I was the first director asked to actually film that. Would you believe that? I found that absolutely extraordinary.”
He continued, “I think that was because of a Hollywood agent who didn’t really understand my cinema at all. God bless him. But I was the name to conjure with for six months. So he threw me in there, and I managed to be one of the first directors to actually read the script.”
Eventually, Robert Zemeckis helmed the...
The “Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover” provocateur claimed in a new interview with Vulture that he was the first director approached to take on 1988’s live-action/animated hybrid classic “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”
“There were people knocking on my door all the time,” Greenaway said. “And looking back, do you remember a film called ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’ I was the first director asked to actually film that. Would you believe that? I found that absolutely extraordinary.”
He continued, “I think that was because of a Hollywood agent who didn’t really understand my cinema at all. God bless him. But I was the name to conjure with for six months. So he threw me in there, and I managed to be one of the first directors to actually read the script.”
Eventually, Robert Zemeckis helmed the...
- 5/3/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
From its opening moments, of a girl jumping rope while counting and naming the stars in the nighttime sky, Peter Greenaway’s Drowning by Numbers is perhaps the most direct illustration of the filmmaker’s key thematic and aesthetic interest in ascribing structure to a chaotic universe. Throughout, the film slowly counts from one to 100 via a combination of character dialogue and visual markers sprinkled in frames like an elaborate game of I Spy. In deadpan voiceovers, a young boy also elaborates the byzantine rules of made-up games whose goals seem altogether too banal to be worth their complexity.
The plot that strings together these playful games involves three women, each named Cissie Colpitts, who drown their husbands and enlist the help of a coroner, Madgett (Bernard Hill), to cover up the crimes. In a relatively light preamble to the darker feminist revenge drama of Greenaway’s subsequent The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover...
The plot that strings together these playful games involves three women, each named Cissie Colpitts, who drown their husbands and enlist the help of a coroner, Madgett (Bernard Hill), to cover up the crimes. In a relatively light preamble to the darker feminist revenge drama of Greenaway’s subsequent The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover...
- 5/1/2023
- by Jake Cole
- Slant Magazine
Bob Goody, veteran British stage and screen actor and co-writer of 1985 BBC1 comedy Wilderness Road, has died at age 71.
He passed away March 5 after a long battle with cancer that he chronicled in a book of verse.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story AMC Shareholders Approve Key Measures That Would Help Company Raise Fresh Cash, Convert Ape Units Related Story UTA Signs Cecillia Aldarondo, Filmmaker Behind SXSW-Premiering Documentary 'You Were My First Boyfriend'
Born in Brighton in 1951, Goody trained at Rada and became known as a charismatic actor and poet. He fronted his own ITV children’s sketch show, Smith & Goody, in the 1980s with writer and comedian Mel Smith before penning Wilderness Road, a sitcom set in a seedy London pub, with Richard Cottan.
Goody’s TV acting roles included appearances in Bleak House, EastEnders, Lovejoy, the Lock Stock and Two...
He passed away March 5 after a long battle with cancer that he chronicled in a book of verse.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story AMC Shareholders Approve Key Measures That Would Help Company Raise Fresh Cash, Convert Ape Units Related Story UTA Signs Cecillia Aldarondo, Filmmaker Behind SXSW-Premiering Documentary 'You Were My First Boyfriend'
Born in Brighton in 1951, Goody trained at Rada and became known as a charismatic actor and poet. He fronted his own ITV children’s sketch show, Smith & Goody, in the 1980s with writer and comedian Mel Smith before penning Wilderness Road, a sitcom set in a seedy London pub, with Richard Cottan.
Goody’s TV acting roles included appearances in Bleak House, EastEnders, Lovejoy, the Lock Stock and Two...
- 3/14/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Times are tough. What is left to desire when we are feeling drained? No matter – life is a journey with all the flavours to meet our palates. Life is a feast, and how it tastes is how we experience the full spectrum of desires – mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. Let’s escape to our delicious desires!
The Hong Kong Arts Centre (Hkac)’s signature programmes Opening House and Late Night Series – Art X, with the theme “Craving for…” to kick off 2023, present a full-day journey with diverse arts and culture on 25 March, 2023 (Saturday). Three food-related films will infuse your day with surprises and imagination: Heavy Craving – awarded at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, The Zen Diary – latest film starring Sawada Kenji and Matsu Takako, and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover – a sight and sound feast with Peter Greenaway, Michael Nyman and Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Tickets are available at www.
The Hong Kong Arts Centre (Hkac)’s signature programmes Opening House and Late Night Series – Art X, with the theme “Craving for…” to kick off 2023, present a full-day journey with diverse arts and culture on 25 March, 2023 (Saturday). Three food-related films will infuse your day with surprises and imagination: Heavy Craving – awarded at the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, The Zen Diary – latest film starring Sawada Kenji and Matsu Takako, and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover – a sight and sound feast with Peter Greenaway, Michael Nyman and Jean-Paul Gaultier.
Tickets are available at www.
- 3/7/2023
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
This post contains spoilers for "Hereditary" and "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover."
Ari Aster became a big name in horror in 2018 with "Hereditary," but he'd had some practice at upsetting audiences by that point. All the way back in 2011, he caused a stir with his short film "The Strange Thing About The Johnsons," which focuses on a boy who sexually abuses his father over the course of his life. Aster said the film came from "an idea that sprouted between [him] and a few friends" about "taboos that weren't even taboos because they were so unfathomable." The short formed his thesis while studying at the American Film Institute's graduate school, and has since become infamous online as one of those films people claim they wish they never saw.
Aster brought that penchant for exploring deeply disturbing subject matter to "Hereditary," his first feature film. Depicting the disintegration...
Ari Aster became a big name in horror in 2018 with "Hereditary," but he'd had some practice at upsetting audiences by that point. All the way back in 2011, he caused a stir with his short film "The Strange Thing About The Johnsons," which focuses on a boy who sexually abuses his father over the course of his life. Aster said the film came from "an idea that sprouted between [him] and a few friends" about "taboos that weren't even taboos because they were so unfathomable." The short formed his thesis while studying at the American Film Institute's graduate school, and has since become infamous online as one of those films people claim they wish they never saw.
Aster brought that penchant for exploring deeply disturbing subject matter to "Hereditary," his first feature film. Depicting the disintegration...
- 2/19/2023
- by Joe Roberts
- Slash Film
Having its world premiere at the Intl. Film Festival Rotterdam, Georden West’s directorial debut “Playland” is an interdisciplinary film about the titular establishment, Boston’s oldest gay bar. “I was volunteering at an MIT event, like an archive hackathon, and I learned about People Before Highways, which was a grassroots movement against urban renewal and the construction of a highway through the middle of Boston, and they were successful,” says West of how they first came across the bones for the film. “I think it is a story of what happens when government intervention is very successful in a fringe subculture in erasing it. So I became quite impassioned, and that’s what led me initially to the archive to dig at the history project.”
Commenting on the ensemble-based format of the film, West says they were “interested in something that was polyphonic. Following a single protagonist through an...
Commenting on the ensemble-based format of the film, West says they were “interested in something that was polyphonic. Following a single protagonist through an...
- 1/26/2023
- by Rafa Sales Ross
- Variety Film + TV
Peter Greenaway in The Greenaway Alphabet.On the occasion of its 40th anniversary, Peter Greenaway’s second feature The Draughtsman’s Contract (1982) has received a handsome 4K restoration courtesy of the British Film Institute. The film established the Welsh filmmaker’s penchants for carefully staged tableaus, fearless eroticism, baroque violence, and a devilish sense of humor. All of these preoccupations would carry his work over the subsequent decades, evinced in films like A Zed and Two Noughts (1985), The Pillow Book (1996), and his best-known title The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989). In more recent years, he’s embraced the infinite canvas of digital filmmaking with more vivaciousness than most filmmakers a fraction of his age. In works like Eisenstein in Guanajuato (2015) and Goltzius and the Pelican Company (2012), he thrusts his characters into gleeful unreality—impossibly deep backdrops and overlaid projections, pictures within pictures, surreal montage, and much more.
- 12/5/2022
- MUBI
Peter Greenaway thinks cinema needs to start “thinking big, and desperately,” if it wants to start looking fundamentally different than it did in 1895. The erudite Welsh filmmaker best known for “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and His Lover” has always taken an ironic stance toward the state of filmmaking — though he’s not ready to declare its time of death.
In fact, as revealed in our recent interview timed to the 4K rerelease of 1982’s “The Draughtsman’s Contract” now making the theatrical rounds, he’s rather chipper about cinema’s prospects.
“The Draughtsman’s Contract was made in 1982, and a hell of a lot has happened to cinema in those times,” Greenaway said over the phone. His second film after the 1980 mockumentary “The Falls,” “Draughtsman’s” is a bawdy murder mystery set in rural England about a cocksure artist who agrees to make 12 landscape paintings for a woman...
In fact, as revealed in our recent interview timed to the 4K rerelease of 1982’s “The Draughtsman’s Contract” now making the theatrical rounds, he’s rather chipper about cinema’s prospects.
“The Draughtsman’s Contract was made in 1982, and a hell of a lot has happened to cinema in those times,” Greenaway said over the phone. His second film after the 1980 mockumentary “The Falls,” “Draughtsman’s” is a bawdy murder mystery set in rural England about a cocksure artist who agrees to make 12 landscape paintings for a woman...
- 12/5/2022
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
NYC Weekend Watch is our weekly round-up of repertory offerings.
Film at Lincoln Center
The rarely screened Japanese director Yoshimitsu Morita is given his first-ever New York retrospective.
Museum of the Moving Image
The director Paweł Łoziński (who we recently talked to) is subject of a new retrospective, while a series on director’s cuts includes Ishtar and Brazil.
Film Forum
As a 4K restoration of Peter Greenaway’s The Draughtsman’s Contract begins, two great pieces of Vibe Cinema—The Last Waltz and Paris, Texas—have showings; A Night at the Opera plays Sunday.
Anthology Film Archives
Films by Jean-Luc Godard’s Dziga Vertov Group are subject of a new series.
Roxy Cinema
E.T. plays on 35mm, while a retrospective of Ondi Timoner includes the great documentary Dig! and the director’s cut of Mapplethorpe.
IFC Center
The Evil Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth,...
Film at Lincoln Center
The rarely screened Japanese director Yoshimitsu Morita is given his first-ever New York retrospective.
Museum of the Moving Image
The director Paweł Łoziński (who we recently talked to) is subject of a new retrospective, while a series on director’s cuts includes Ishtar and Brazil.
Film Forum
As a 4K restoration of Peter Greenaway’s The Draughtsman’s Contract begins, two great pieces of Vibe Cinema—The Last Waltz and Paris, Texas—have showings; A Night at the Opera plays Sunday.
Anthology Film Archives
Films by Jean-Luc Godard’s Dziga Vertov Group are subject of a new series.
Roxy Cinema
E.T. plays on 35mm, while a retrospective of Ondi Timoner includes the great documentary Dig! and the director’s cut of Mapplethorpe.
IFC Center
The Evil Dead, Night of the Living Dead, Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth,...
- 12/1/2022
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Sony has rounded out its cast for The Equalizer 3, with Eugenio Mastrandrea (From Scratch), Remo Girone (Ford v Ferrari), Sonia Ammar (Scream), Daniele Perrone (Baaria), Andrea Scarduzio (Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One) and Andrea Dodero (Blocco 181) signing on for roles.
The actors join an ensemble led by Denzel Washington which also includes Dakota Fanning, and Gaia Scodellaro, as previously announced.
While the film’s plot is being kept under wraps, it’s the third in an action series centered on Washington’s vigilante Robert McCall, from director Antoine Fuqua. The first released in 2014 earned over 194M worldwide, spurring a 2018 sequel that grossed over 190M worldwide.
Slated for release in theaters on September 1, 2023, The Equalizer 3 was written by Richard Wenk. Producers include Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Washington, Fuqua, Clayton Townsend, Alex Siskin, Steve Tisch, Tony Eldridge and Michael Sloan.
Mastrandrea can currently be seen opposite Zoe Saldana...
The actors join an ensemble led by Denzel Washington which also includes Dakota Fanning, and Gaia Scodellaro, as previously announced.
While the film’s plot is being kept under wraps, it’s the third in an action series centered on Washington’s vigilante Robert McCall, from director Antoine Fuqua. The first released in 2014 earned over 194M worldwide, spurring a 2018 sequel that grossed over 190M worldwide.
Slated for release in theaters on September 1, 2023, The Equalizer 3 was written by Richard Wenk. Producers include Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Washington, Fuqua, Clayton Townsend, Alex Siskin, Steve Tisch, Tony Eldridge and Michael Sloan.
Mastrandrea can currently be seen opposite Zoe Saldana...
- 11/23/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Greenaway’s arch tale of sexual and political manipulation has not lost its power to bewilder and compel
After 40 years, here is a re-release of a classic product of the British Film Institute and Channel 4, in the era when they high-mindedly sponsored non-commercial artistry. If anything, Peter Greenaway’s film looks more brilliant, more uncompromisingly cerebral and more exasperating than ever. Watching it again, I found myself thinking of Congreve, Dangerous Liaisons and The Wicker Man.
This was Greenaway’s breakthrough; it startled and entranced British audiences and European audiences even more so, with its rich, weird mix of luscious costumes and theatricality, emotionless line-readings, austerely inert staging, opaque plotting, mad elegance and mysterious eroticism. (It’s a distant cousin to the “chateau artporn” of the previous decade.) And all with Michael Nyman’s score chugging relentlessly away, like a violin bow sawing into your skull.
After 40 years, here is a re-release of a classic product of the British Film Institute and Channel 4, in the era when they high-mindedly sponsored non-commercial artistry. If anything, Peter Greenaway’s film looks more brilliant, more uncompromisingly cerebral and more exasperating than ever. Watching it again, I found myself thinking of Congreve, Dangerous Liaisons and The Wicker Man.
This was Greenaway’s breakthrough; it startled and entranced British audiences and European audiences even more so, with its rich, weird mix of luscious costumes and theatricality, emotionless line-readings, austerely inert staging, opaque plotting, mad elegance and mysterious eroticism. (It’s a distant cousin to the “chateau artporn” of the previous decade.) And all with Michael Nyman’s score chugging relentlessly away, like a violin bow sawing into your skull.
- 11/10/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.