South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year, and everyone’s favourite foul-mouthed youngsters will be making the leap to 4K. Paramount Home Media Distribution has announced that they will release the South Park movie on 4K Ultra HD on June 13th, but if that’s not enough Matt Stone and Trey Parker goodness for you, Team America: World Police will also be released on that same date in Uhd goodness.
You can check out the cover art for each release below, as well as the special features which will be included.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Synopsis: “Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman sneak into an R-rated movie to see their favorite Canadian superstars. When their parents find out, they declare war on Canada. Now the boys have to stand up to their parents, stop World War III, and get Satan back to Hell before he destroys the world.
You can check out the cover art for each release below, as well as the special features which will be included.
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut Synopsis: “Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman sneak into an R-rated movie to see their favorite Canadian superstars. When their parents find out, they declare war on Canada. Now the boys have to stand up to their parents, stop World War III, and get Satan back to Hell before he destroys the world.
- 4/23/2024
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s pair of animated feature films — South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Team America: World Police — will receive 4K Ultra HD re-releases this year.
The duo’s 1999 South Park film, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2024, will be given a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray™ release on June 25th (pre-order here). The reissue feature bonus content like commentary from Parker and Stone, a music for “What Would Brian Boitano Do?”, theatrical trailers, and, for the first time, a “Sing-a-long” version of the film. The “Sing-a-long” version of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut will also be debuting in select theaters on June 23rd and June 26th, presented by Fathom Events.
2004’s Team America: World Police also receives the 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray™ treatment on June 25th (pre-order here). In addition to a digital copy of the film, the bonus re-release includes the uncensored and unrated...
The duo’s 1999 South Park film, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2024, will be given a 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray™ release on June 25th (pre-order here). The reissue feature bonus content like commentary from Parker and Stone, a music for “What Would Brian Boitano Do?”, theatrical trailers, and, for the first time, a “Sing-a-long” version of the film. The “Sing-a-long” version of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut will also be debuting in select theaters on June 23rd and June 26th, presented by Fathom Events.
2004’s Team America: World Police also receives the 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray™ treatment on June 25th (pre-order here). In addition to a digital copy of the film, the bonus re-release includes the uncensored and unrated...
- 4/22/2024
- by Paolo Ragusa
- Consequence - Film News
President Joe Biden mocked former president Donald Trump for boasting about how he won two golf trophies during an awards ceremony at the Trump International Golf Club last weekend.
“It is my great honor to be at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach tonight, Awards Night, to receive The Club Championship Trophy & The Senior Club Championship Trophy,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “I Won Both!”
“A large and golfing talented membership, a Great and difficult course, made the play very exciting,” he continued. “The qualifying and match play was amazing. A large and distinguished group will be there tonight. Very exciting, thank you!!!”
“Congratulations, Donald,” Biden wrote mockingly on X on March 24. “Quite the accomplishment.
Biden attached a screenshot of Trump’s post to his post.
The Trump campaign fired back at the current president in a statement in which they attacked their opponent’s physical capabilities.
“It is my great honor to be at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach tonight, Awards Night, to receive The Club Championship Trophy & The Senior Club Championship Trophy,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “I Won Both!”
“A large and golfing talented membership, a Great and difficult course, made the play very exciting,” he continued. “The qualifying and match play was amazing. A large and distinguished group will be there tonight. Very exciting, thank you!!!”
“Congratulations, Donald,” Biden wrote mockingly on X on March 24. “Quite the accomplishment.
Biden attached a screenshot of Trump’s post to his post.
The Trump campaign fired back at the current president in a statement in which they attacked their opponent’s physical capabilities.
- 3/29/2024
- by Alessio Atria
- Uinterview
There are two films Jodie Foster thinks everyone should watch in their lifetime, and one of them is Team America: World Police.
The actor recently chatted with Greta Lee for a new feature in Interview, during which the Past Lives star asked Foster what movie she thought every person needs to see: “Well, Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Foster answered, before adding: “Oh, and this is probably number one — the puppet movie Team America: World Police.”
Directed by South Park co-creator Trey Parker, 2004’s Team America follows a counterterrorist police force who must save the world from Kim Jong Il, encountering plenty of liberal Hollywood actors in the process. “A sense of humor is my touchstone, and I have a very dumb sense of humor,” Foster continued. “Sometimes with actors, even in the most dramatic circumstances, I like to laugh with them. I like to laugh about really intense things.
The actor recently chatted with Greta Lee for a new feature in Interview, during which the Past Lives star asked Foster what movie she thought every person needs to see: “Well, Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Foster answered, before adding: “Oh, and this is probably number one — the puppet movie Team America: World Police.”
Directed by South Park co-creator Trey Parker, 2004’s Team America follows a counterterrorist police force who must save the world from Kim Jong Il, encountering plenty of liberal Hollywood actors in the process. “A sense of humor is my touchstone, and I have a very dumb sense of humor,” Foster continued. “Sometimes with actors, even in the most dramatic circumstances, I like to laugh with them. I like to laugh about really intense things.
- 1/30/2024
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Film News
Jodie Foster Says ‘Team America: World Police’ Is Her ‘Number One’ Required Film Everyone Should See
Oscar-winning icon Jodie Foster is revealing her must-see films list…and let’s just say, it’s a little surprising.
The “Nyad” star said while in conversation with “Past Lives” actress Greta Lee for Interview magazine that she has two films she recommends everyone should watch. To note, Lee also appeared in Foster’s “Money Monster.”
Lee asked Foster, “What’s one movie you think everyone should see at least once?” to which Foster replied, “Well, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ Oh, and this is probably number one — the puppet movie ‘Team America: World Police.'”
“Team America: World Police” was a 2004 political satire film directed by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The film centered around an “Avengers” style group of counterterrorist police officers deemed Team America. The force accidentally destroys a slew of international landmarks while trying to take down real-life North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
The “Nyad” star said while in conversation with “Past Lives” actress Greta Lee for Interview magazine that she has two films she recommends everyone should watch. To note, Lee also appeared in Foster’s “Money Monster.”
Lee asked Foster, “What’s one movie you think everyone should see at least once?” to which Foster replied, “Well, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’ Oh, and this is probably number one — the puppet movie ‘Team America: World Police.'”
“Team America: World Police” was a 2004 political satire film directed by “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The film centered around an “Avengers” style group of counterterrorist police officers deemed Team America. The force accidentally destroys a slew of international landmarks while trying to take down real-life North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
- 11/30/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Nobody who runs into Pastor Seungeun Kim would ever suspect that he was one of the world’s top covert geopolitical operatives. The soft-spoken Korean man — whose wife’s first impression of him was that he looked like Kim Jong-il because of his large belly — seems like he has more in common with a dorky dad from a Geico commercial than Jack Ryan. But don’t be fooled by appearances: Pastor Kim is a straight-up badass. Over the past decade, he’s helped over 1,000 North Koreans escape to freedom — a jaw-droppingly impressive feat that should make every single person who watches “Beyond Utopia” question what they’ve done with their lives. If you have a family member looking to escape Kim Jong-un’s oppressive regime, he’s the guy you call.
Using his Rolodex of brokers, mercenaries, corrupt cops, and safehouses, he operates a pipeline that transports North Korean defectors...
Using his Rolodex of brokers, mercenaries, corrupt cops, and safehouses, he operates a pipeline that transports North Korean defectors...
- 1/27/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
North Korea is a place of fearsome fascination. It’s the most brutal regime on earth, led by a dynastic dictator, Kim Jong-un, who has proved to be even more ruthless and obsessed with nuclear weapons than his father, Kim Jong-il. We all have a certain vision of North Korea, a country sealed like a prison, cut off from the rest of the world by technology (or the absence of it). You could say it exists as a kind of ghost state, a totalitarian hellhole in lockdown. But when you watch Madeleine Gavin’s staggering documentary “Beyond Utopia,” which is about what really goes on in North Korea, and about a handful of desperate souls who attempt to defect from it, you see North Korea — the full nightmare of the place — as never before.
The filmmaker got ahold of forbidden footage that was smuggled out of the country, and in...
The filmmaker got ahold of forbidden footage that was smuggled out of the country, and in...
- 1/24/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Yoon Jong-bin shows how the sausage of diplomacy is made in this gripping, if sometimes gratuitous, 90s-set tale of North and South Korea espionage
Just last month, the leaders of North and South Korea made an historic step forward in peninsular relations, on both literal and figurative grounds. For the first time since the conclusion of the Korean war in 1953, a Supreme Leader , Kim Jong-un, set foot on Southern lands, meeting with President Moon Jae-in for a pledge to jointly work towards complete disarmament of all nuclear capabilities in the years to come. For a watching world, it was an inspiring moment during an age of international anxiety and uncertainty. But to make the sausage of diplomacy, some rather unsavoury meat must first have been churned.
The Spy Gone North, a new thriller from South Korea’s Yoon Jong-bin that premiered at Cannes out of competition, steps a couple decades...
Just last month, the leaders of North and South Korea made an historic step forward in peninsular relations, on both literal and figurative grounds. For the first time since the conclusion of the Korean war in 1953, a Supreme Leader , Kim Jong-un, set foot on Southern lands, meeting with President Moon Jae-in for a pledge to jointly work towards complete disarmament of all nuclear capabilities in the years to come. For a watching world, it was an inspiring moment during an age of international anxiety and uncertainty. But to make the sausage of diplomacy, some rather unsavoury meat must first have been churned.
The Spy Gone North, a new thriller from South Korea’s Yoon Jong-bin that premiered at Cannes out of competition, steps a couple decades...
- 5/12/2018
- by Charles Bramesco
- The Guardian - Film News
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSJia Zhangke's Ash is Purest White.Just in case you missed it, the multiple lineups for the various festivals at Cannes this year have been announced. You can find all of the announcements on Notebook: the 71st Cannes Film Festival, Directors' Fortnight, Critics Week, and Acid. Additionally, Cannes has also announced the jury tending to the official selection: Cate Blanchett (President), Chang Chen, Ava DuVernay, Robert Guédiguian, Khadja Nin, Léa Seydoux, Kristen Stewart, Denis Villeneuve, and Andrey Zvyagintsev. After a truly eventful life (which includes being kidnapped by Kim Jong-il) and phenomenal career in cinema, the Korean screen legend Choi Eun-hee has died. Screen International provides a thorough obituary.Czech New Wave luminary and New Hollywood transplant Miloš Forman has died. Duane Byrge honors the man and artist with an obituary for The Hollywood Reporter.
- 4/18/2018
- MUBI
It was a red-letter day on set at “Morning Joe,” Friday. In just about three minutes, show co-host Joe Scarborough and Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson bantered back and forth about how the Trump administration had taken a totalitarian tone — with free-floating comparisons to Stalin, Mao and the “dear leader.” “We’re in the Dear Leader phase of American history,” said Robinson through laughter, referencing the preferred moniker of the late North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. Also Read: 'Morning Joe' Slams Trump's Puerto Rico Trip: 'Utterly Devoid of Humanity or Grace' (Video) “What about that kid, and I...
- 10/6/2017
- by Jon Levine
- The Wrap
Game show icon Monty Hall, who co-created and hosted the original Let’s Make a Deal, has died of heart failure at the age of 96, the New York Times reports. He passed away on Saturday in his Beverly Hills, Calif. home.
Hall launched Let’s Make a Deal in 1963. It first premiered as part of NBC’s daytime line-up before moving to ABC in 1968, where it continued through 1976. A syndicated version of Deal aired on and off through the 1970s and 80s, before returning to NBC for a brief run from 1990-91. The show was eventually revived with host Wayne Brady...
Hall launched Let’s Make a Deal in 1963. It first premiered as part of NBC’s daytime line-up before moving to ABC in 1968, where it continued through 1976. A syndicated version of Deal aired on and off through the 1970s and 80s, before returning to NBC for a brief run from 1990-91. The show was eventually revived with host Wayne Brady...
- 9/30/2017
- TVLine.com
If Eminem got a PhD in English without sacrificing his hip-hop talent, he might have turned out something like Adam (Calum Worthy), the scrawny white hero of Joseph Kahn’s “Bodied.” Kahn’s long-awaited follow-up to his snarky teen slasher comedy “Detention” is a hyper-stylized rap satire that plays out like Scott Pilgrim stumbling into “8 Mile” and stealing the spotlight. Set in an assaultive world of underground rap battles in which Adam finds himself unexpectedly talented, “Bodied” delivers the provocative goods at an alarming rate, and boasts Eminem as an executive producer as if to embolden its point.
With Adam learning to embrace racist and misogynist one-liners in his rise to hip-hop stardom, the movie might seem too crude for its own good, but “Bodied” — directed by an Asian American and largely starring people of color — has been designed to interrogate the very reaction provoked by its existence. It may be overlong and uneven,...
With Adam learning to embrace racist and misogynist one-liners in his rise to hip-hop stardom, the movie might seem too crude for its own good, but “Bodied” — directed by an Asian American and largely starring people of color — has been designed to interrogate the very reaction provoked by its existence. It may be overlong and uneven,...
- 9/8/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Last night on Real Time with Bill Maher, host Maher jokingly reminded a twitchy nuke-armed Kim Jong-il that “his good friend” Dennis Rodman lived in Los Angeles. He also took General John Kelly to task for “keeping Trump under control” and said that the Gop has devolved into a party that acts like the “crazy ex-girlfriend” to the Democrats with their troll-like actions and thoughtless governance. Maher had Richard Dawkins as his top-of-the-show interview guest and Jim Parsons as his mid-show interview guest, with Fareed Zakaria and Jon Meacham on his panel. He summed up the Gop in his New...read more...
- 8/12/2017
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
The veteran documentary-maker revisits a romantic interlude during a visit to North Korea in the 1950s, and the result is self-indulgent but undeniably fascinating
We are living through a mini-boom in documentaries about North Korea. Film-makers are getting into Pyongyang to shoot – clandestinely, semi-clandestinely and on various pretexts – those vast statues and eerie cityscapes. Werner Herzog’s Into the Inferno suggested the North Koreans’ defensive mindset had something to do with living in the shadow of a volcano, Mount Paektu. Norwegian director Morten Traavik told the extraordinary story of how obscure Slovenian art-rockers Laibach became the first Western band to play North Korea. Alvaro Longorio’s The Propaganda Game argued that North Korea is a zombie state, kept alive by the duplicitous interests of great powers, and Ross Adam and Robert Cannon’s The Lovers and the Despot is about the staggering true story of how in late 70s the...
We are living through a mini-boom in documentaries about North Korea. Film-makers are getting into Pyongyang to shoot – clandestinely, semi-clandestinely and on various pretexts – those vast statues and eerie cityscapes. Werner Herzog’s Into the Inferno suggested the North Koreans’ defensive mindset had something to do with living in the shadow of a volcano, Mount Paektu. Norwegian director Morten Traavik told the extraordinary story of how obscure Slovenian art-rockers Laibach became the first Western band to play North Korea. Alvaro Longorio’s The Propaganda Game argued that North Korea is a zombie state, kept alive by the duplicitous interests of great powers, and Ross Adam and Robert Cannon’s The Lovers and the Despot is about the staggering true story of how in late 70s the...
- 5/21/2017
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Nearly two weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother was fatally poisoned in a public airport by two women, authorities have determined that he was killed by Vx nerve agent – a rare and incredibly lethal chemical weapon.
The assassination of Kim Jong-nam has sparked worldwide intrigue – with each new development seemingly ripped from the storyline of a spy novel. It is widely believed that Kim Jong-un orchestrated the killing – the culmination of a rivalry that began when the 33-year-old dictator was still a child.
Jong-nam, 45, was reportedly assassinated by two women as he waited for his flight to...
The assassination of Kim Jong-nam has sparked worldwide intrigue – with each new development seemingly ripped from the storyline of a spy novel. It is widely believed that Kim Jong-un orchestrated the killing – the culmination of a rivalry that began when the 33-year-old dictator was still a child.
Jong-nam, 45, was reportedly assassinated by two women as he waited for his flight to...
- 2/24/2017
- by Lindsay Kimble
- PEOPLE.com
Under The Sun screens Friday January 27th through Sunday January 29th at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The movie starts at 7:30 all three evenings.
After years of negotiation the Russian director Vitaly Mansky was invited by the North Korean government to make a film about one girl and her family in the year she prepares to join the Children’s Union, on the ‘Day of the Shining Star’ (Kim Jong-Il’s birthday). “My father says that Korea is the most beautiful country…” says eight-year-old Zin-mi. And so it might seem as Mansky films her in joyous, patriotic school pageants and in dance class, or with her parents, eating delicious food in their picturesque apartment. But the government handlers supervising the production did not realize that Mansky kept filming even after they had shouted, “Cut.” Under The Sun is the jaw-dropping result.
The critics have been praising Under The Sun...
After years of negotiation the Russian director Vitaly Mansky was invited by the North Korean government to make a film about one girl and her family in the year she prepares to join the Children’s Union, on the ‘Day of the Shining Star’ (Kim Jong-Il’s birthday). “My father says that Korea is the most beautiful country…” says eight-year-old Zin-mi. And so it might seem as Mansky films her in joyous, patriotic school pageants and in dance class, or with her parents, eating delicious food in their picturesque apartment. But the government handlers supervising the production did not realize that Mansky kept filming even after they had shouted, “Cut.” Under The Sun is the jaw-dropping result.
The critics have been praising Under The Sun...
- 1/23/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
With AFI Fest just a few weeks away, film-festival season is nearly over for the year. In addition to Venice, Telluride and Toronto, another fest recently concluded: the 15th annual Pyongyang International Film Festival, to which the New York Times sent a correspondent. 60 movies from 21 countries comprised this year’s selection, with with 11 of them vying for the Best Torch Award.
Read More: Tricking the Government: How to Shoot a Documentary in North Korea
The main criterion for winning said prize, according to the Nyt: “how well they symbolized the festival’s official theme — ‘Independence, Peace and Friendship’ — and whether they articulated the ideology of juche, or self-reliance, developed by the country’s founding father, Kim Il-sung.” Kim Jong-il, the country’s Dear Leader who passed away five years ago, was a known cinephile, even going so far as to kidnap a South Korean filmmaker and actress so that they...
Read More: Tricking the Government: How to Shoot a Documentary in North Korea
The main criterion for winning said prize, according to the Nyt: “how well they symbolized the festival’s official theme — ‘Independence, Peace and Friendship’ — and whether they articulated the ideology of juche, or self-reliance, developed by the country’s founding father, Kim Il-sung.” Kim Jong-il, the country’s Dear Leader who passed away five years ago, was a known cinephile, even going so far as to kidnap a South Korean filmmaker and actress so that they...
- 10/19/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Films about North Korea have an unfair advantage. The country is one of such baffling oddness that films told about it are often either tragic or outrageous, two extremes that make for memorable viewing. On the other hand, the nature of North Korea’s political situation means few films are indeed made about it. Titles like Solrun Hoaas’ Pyongyang Diaries in which the Australian filmmaker ventured to a North Korean film festival and gave us a glimpse of what it means to be a traveller in this land of fake smiles and concrete, and the giddy delight of Anna Broinowski’s Aim High in Creation in which she travels to North Korea to learn how to make propaganda films from the makers themselves.
This year we can add two more entertaining docs. Both are full of surprises that beggar belief at seemingly every turn: The Lovers and the Despot and Under the Sun.
This year we can add two more entertaining docs. Both are full of surprises that beggar belief at seemingly every turn: The Lovers and the Despot and Under the Sun.
- 9/27/2016
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
A documentary on Kim Jong-il’s bizarre abduction of a film director and his wife is fascinating but leaves you wanting more
Frustrated by the low quality of domestic film production, the North Korean dictator and movie buff Kim Jong-il took matters into his own hands. In 1978, he kidnapped a revered South Korean director, Shin Sang-ok, and his estranged actress wife, Choi Eun-hee, and forced them to make films in North Korea. It’s an extraordinary story, and almost enough to sustain this often engaging documentary. However, you find yourself wishing that the film-makers were able to offer more of an insight into day-to-day life within this most secretive of countries.
Continue reading...
Frustrated by the low quality of domestic film production, the North Korean dictator and movie buff Kim Jong-il took matters into his own hands. In 1978, he kidnapped a revered South Korean director, Shin Sang-ok, and his estranged actress wife, Choi Eun-hee, and forced them to make films in North Korea. It’s an extraordinary story, and almost enough to sustain this often engaging documentary. However, you find yourself wishing that the film-makers were able to offer more of an insight into day-to-day life within this most secretive of countries.
Continue reading...
- 9/25/2016
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
Sometimes, a story is literally too bewildering to really believe at first blush. Documentary cinema is chock full of these tales, which is partly what makes the art form so genuinely enthralling. Despite being more often than not rigid in its structure and form, a compelling, true life story can elevate even the most standard of non-fiction film. And that’s the case with the latest film from directors Rob Cannan and Ross Adam.
Entitled The Lovers and The Despot, Cannan and Adam introduce us to the husband and wife duo of South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-ok and his muse, actress Choi Eun-hee, who met while working on a film in the 1950s, and subsequently fell head over heels in love. However, things took a troubling turn in the late 1970s, when Choi was kidnapped in Hong Kong by a group of North Korean agents after working on a cavalcade of massively popular films.
Entitled The Lovers and The Despot, Cannan and Adam introduce us to the husband and wife duo of South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-ok and his muse, actress Choi Eun-hee, who met while working on a film in the 1950s, and subsequently fell head over heels in love. However, things took a troubling turn in the late 1970s, when Choi was kidnapped in Hong Kong by a group of North Korean agents after working on a cavalcade of massively popular films.
- 9/24/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
It wouldn’t be right to refer to “The Age of Shadows” as a “yarn.” Very loosely based on an explosive footnote in the history of Japanese-Korean relations, the latest full-bodied epic from “I Saw the Devil” director Kim Jee-woon sprouts such a labyrinthine story from a single incident that this chic (if convoluted) spy thriller would be more accurately described as a magical beanstalk. The cloak-and-dagger adventure is far too sprawling for its own good, and the air only grows thinner as the film propellers towards its underwhelming finale, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more lavishly staged staged chunk of pulp nonsense.
Not that fans of the filmmaker should be expecting anything else. A grind-house gore-hound who’s capable of elevating filth to the level of Hieronymus Bosch (or, depending on your perspective, lowering maximalist art straight into the sewers), Kim has always been attracted to...
Not that fans of the filmmaker should be expecting anything else. A grind-house gore-hound who’s capable of elevating filth to the level of Hieronymus Bosch (or, depending on your perspective, lowering maximalist art straight into the sewers), Kim has always been attracted to...
- 9/23/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
When the North Korean dictator wanted a film industry he simply abducted a successful South Korean film-maker and his wife, beginning this bizarre true story of grotesque abuse
At last: one of the most staggeringly strange cases of Stockholm syndrome in history – and surely the weirdest story ever to have emerged from world cinema – now has been given the serious documentary treatment. In the 1950s and 60s, producer-director Shin Sang-ok was the titan of South Korean cinema, but by the 70s his career was flagging. In North Korea, the dysfunctional communist princeling Kim Jong-il was obsessed with movies and conceived the bizarre notion of jump-starting his nation’s film industry by abducting Shin to work for him. This he did by instructing an agent to pose as a producer, luring Shin’s ex-wife Choi Eun-hee to Hong Kong with the promise of a role, kidnapping her and taking her to North Korea.
At last: one of the most staggeringly strange cases of Stockholm syndrome in history – and surely the weirdest story ever to have emerged from world cinema – now has been given the serious documentary treatment. In the 1950s and 60s, producer-director Shin Sang-ok was the titan of South Korean cinema, but by the 70s his career was flagging. In North Korea, the dysfunctional communist princeling Kim Jong-il was obsessed with movies and conceived the bizarre notion of jump-starting his nation’s film industry by abducting Shin to work for him. This he did by instructing an agent to pose as a producer, luring Shin’s ex-wife Choi Eun-hee to Hong Kong with the promise of a role, kidnapping her and taking her to North Korea.
- 9/22/2016
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Kim Jong-il loved movies. In fact, the late North Korean leader loved them so much that he despaired for his country’s sub-par cinematic output. (“Why do our movies have so much crying?” he once asked, without irony.) His solution: kidnap some talented people to make North Korean films look cool. Kim’s victims, director Shin Sang-ok and Shin’s ex-wife, the movie star Choi Eun-hee, were the perfect prey. They had been married and then divorced, had two adopted children, and were enjoying glamorous lives and flourishing film careers. Then in 1978, they disappeared, their story shocking South Korea. Robert Cannan and Ross.
- 9/22/2016
- by Dave White
- The Wrap
★★★☆☆Two subjects one would never expect to encounter in the same film; North Korea and cinephilia. They come together - bizarrely and fascinatingly - in Robert Cannan and Ross Adam's documentary The Lovers and the Despot. In 1978, celebrated South Korean actress Choi Eun-hee visited Hong-Kong to discuss what she believed to be the offer of a highly lucrative role. Instead, Choi was lured to a beach and kidnapped by North Korean agents, who whisked her off to North Korea under orders from then dear leader Kim Jong-il, one of her biggest fans.
- 9/22/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Christophe Gans’ retrofitted retelling of the classic “Beauty and the Beast” fairy tale opens in appropriate fashion: With a pair of wide-eyed youngsters being read a fable from a distractingly large storybook. That their narrator is played by Lea Seydoux is the first indication that the tale will have a happy ending — after all, she’s telling her own story, that of the warm-hearted beauty Belle and the misunderstood Beast she came to love (and ultimately save). But Gans isn’t especially concerned with the outcome this coupling, instead reveling in overwrought and often bloated storytelling, lush details and some of the year’s most unnerving CGI. In this “Beauty and Beast,” the happy ending can’t come soon enough.
Read More: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Exclusive Clip: Vincent Cassel And Léa Seydoux Fall In Love In New French Adaptation Of Classic Fable
Gans’ script (written alongside Sandra Vo-Anh, in...
Read More: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Exclusive Clip: Vincent Cassel And Léa Seydoux Fall In Love In New French Adaptation Of Classic Fable
Gans’ script (written alongside Sandra Vo-Anh, in...
- 9/21/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Mexican filmmaker Michel Franco is obsessed — seemingly at the expense of all other subjects — with how people reconfigure their worldview in the wake of unimaginable tragedies. Michael Haneke is an obvious touchstone, but Franco is more interested in the healing process than he is whatever grim, bourgeois drama caused the wound in the first place.
His debut feature, 2009’s “Daniel & Ana,” watched in nervous horror as two siblings attempted to repair their relationship after being abducted and forced to have sex with one another. “After Lucia,” which won top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, is about a man who’s still reeling from his wife’s sudden death when their daughter becomes the victim of a high school sex tape scandal. “Chronic” may be the most delicate and restrained of Franco’s features to date, but in one key respect it’s also...
His debut feature, 2009’s “Daniel & Ana,” watched in nervous horror as two siblings attempted to repair their relationship after being abducted and forced to have sex with one another. “After Lucia,” which won top prize in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, is about a man who’s still reeling from his wife’s sudden death when their daughter becomes the victim of a high school sex tape scandal. “Chronic” may be the most delicate and restrained of Franco’s features to date, but in one key respect it’s also...
- 9/21/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Hollywood is full of unscrupulous, power-mad producers, but none of them could ever hold a candle to Kim Jong-il. Fondly remembered as a sociopathic dictator, the former “Dear Leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” was also a notorious cinephile who — even before his father bequeathed him supreme control of the country — actively tried to weaponize motion pictures in order to fortify ideology at home and bolster North Korea’s reputation abroad. He even wrote a book about film theory called “On the Art of the Cinema,” a revolutionary text which offers almost as much insight into movies as “The Art of the Deal” does into business.
Needless to say, when Kim required something to enhance the local industry, people tended to do whatever was necessary in order to make it happen; after all, “You’ll never eat in this town again” is a particularly dire threat in...
Needless to say, when Kim required something to enhance the local industry, people tended to do whatever was necessary in order to make it happen; after all, “You’ll never eat in this town again” is a particularly dire threat in...
- 9/21/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.
This Past Weekend:
Yikes. What a terrible weekend we just had, not only for the new movies released but also for the Weekend Warrior’s predictions. Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks’ Sully won its second weekend in a row with just under $22 million, but as far as the new movies, neither Lionsgate’s Blair Witch nor Universal’s Bridget Jones’s Baby did very well, putting the last nail in the coffin (hopefully) for sequels/remakes trying to play upon nostalgia that just isn’t there. (Good luck to the Rings movie opening next month!) Blair Witch ended up with $9.6 million to take second place and both Bridget Jones’s Baby and Oliver Stone’s Snowden ended up with around $8 million, so...
This Past Weekend:
Yikes. What a terrible weekend we just had, not only for the new movies released but also for the Weekend Warrior’s predictions. Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks’ Sully won its second weekend in a row with just under $22 million, but as far as the new movies, neither Lionsgate’s Blair Witch nor Universal’s Bridget Jones’s Baby did very well, putting the last nail in the coffin (hopefully) for sequels/remakes trying to play upon nostalgia that just isn’t there. (Good luck to the Rings movie opening next month!) Blair Witch ended up with $9.6 million to take second place and both Bridget Jones’s Baby and Oliver Stone’s Snowden ended up with around $8 million, so...
- 9/21/2016
- by Edward Douglas
- LRMonline.com
Contemporary filmmakers like Bong Joon-ho, Park Chan-wook, and Kim Ki-duk have landed South Korean movies in U.S. arthouses, but their success hasn’t yet led to much interest in the country’s rich cinematic history. One of the most overlooked figures in the West is Shin Sang-ok, a prolific director whose regular collaboration with his wife, actress Choi Eun-hee, produced at least one masterpiece: 1961’s romantic weepie The Houseguest And My Mother (sometimes called My Mother’s Tenant). Shin’s films are extremely difficult to see in the States, and one can only hope that The Lovers And The Despot, a new documentary about Shin and Choi, will help to change that. Unfortunately, this bland, incurious oral history focuses exclusively on what’s admittedly the most superficially fascinating chapter of their lives: the eight years they spent making movies together in North Korea, after Kim Jong-il had them ...
- 9/21/2016
- by Mike D'Angelo
- avclub.com
Mubi is showing Team America World Police in the United Kingdom from August 20 - September 18, 2016.“I repeat, we have no Intelligence!” —Lisa, Team America World Police“It’s triply redundant: We see a city landscape including the Arc de Triomphe; we’re told it’s Paris; and we’re told it’s Paris, France (not Paris, Maine).”—David Bordwell on The Bourne UltimatumIn case you missed it—and you weren’t alone—Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Team America World Police is about the magic of movies. Its opening image, a painting of Paris, makes neighbors of that city’s default metonyms; no matter that the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe are separated in real life by a half-hour walk and the River Seine. Adhering to the needs of spoon-fed geography, an inscription confirms that this is indeed Paris, France. And then, more text further satisfies the cliché of clarity,...
- 8/28/2016
- MUBI
The freedom-loving, indiscriminately destructive marionette heroes in Team America: World Police, the 2004 satirical comedy from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, have a full dance card when it comes to enemies. Not only do they have to contend with North Korean madman Kim Jong-Il, but they’re also menaced by the meddling, liberal Hollywood big shots of the Film Actors Guild, an organization whose roster includes such notables as George Clooney, Alec Baldwin, Sean Penn, and the whiny, constantly self-referencing Matt Damon. As voiced by Parker, Damon is such a dimwit that, much like Timmy from South Park, he seems inordinately fond of saying his own name out loud, drawing out the a sounds for maximum irritation.
Back when Team America came out 12 years ago, Damon had only appeared in two films based on the Jason Bourne character created by Robert Ludlum. Now that he’s ...
Back when Team America came out 12 years ago, Damon had only appeared in two films based on the Jason Bourne character created by Robert Ludlum. Now that he’s ...
- 7/29/2016
- by Joe Blevins
- avclub.com
To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.
Starting this month, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.
See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for July 2016
Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, July 8. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.
Wide
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Director: Jake Szymanski
Cast: Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Zac Efron
Synopsis: Two brothers place an online ad to find dates for a wedding and the ad goes viral.
The Secret Life of Pets
Director: Chris Renaud,...
Starting this month, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list below, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.
See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for July 2016
Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, July 8. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.
Wide
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
Director: Jake Szymanski
Cast: Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Zac Efron
Synopsis: Two brothers place an online ad to find dates for a wedding and the ad goes viral.
The Secret Life of Pets
Director: Chris Renaud,...
- 7/8/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
North Korean propaganda is so ripe for satire that its darker ramifications are often lost in the laughter. “Under the Sun” literally puts them in closeup, as Russian filmmaker Vitaly Manskiy’s gripping experimental documentary follows an eight-year-old child struggling within the constraints of the country’s suffocating ideology.
Ostensibly an authorized project showcasing the state’s ebullient youth, “Under the Sun” was shot from a script provided by the regime, and footage was subjected to daily scrutiny. But Manskiy nonetheless manages to fashion this material into an ominous indictment of the country’s brainwashing tactics and absurd self-regard, mostly by just letting the camera roll. The insanity speaks for itself.
Read More: Beyond ‘The Interview’: 6 Movies About North Korea You Can Watch Right Now
The scenario for “Under the Sun” contains the flimsiest of plots: Petite young Zin-Mi endures a series of routines in the process of joining the Children’s Union,...
Ostensibly an authorized project showcasing the state’s ebullient youth, “Under the Sun” was shot from a script provided by the regime, and footage was subjected to daily scrutiny. But Manskiy nonetheless manages to fashion this material into an ominous indictment of the country’s brainwashing tactics and absurd self-regard, mostly by just letting the camera roll. The insanity speaks for itself.
Read More: Beyond ‘The Interview’: 6 Movies About North Korea You Can Watch Right Now
The scenario for “Under the Sun” contains the flimsiest of plots: Petite young Zin-Mi endures a series of routines in the process of joining the Children’s Union,...
- 7/6/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The story chronicled in the new documentary The Lovers and the Despot sounds like a joke, which only makes the truth of it feel all the weirder and all the more horrifying. In 1978, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il abducted South Korean director Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee (who were estranged lovers) and forced them to help […]
The post ‘The Lovers and the Despot’ Trailer: One of the Most Unbelievable True Stories in Cinema History appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘The Lovers and the Despot’ Trailer: One of the Most Unbelievable True Stories in Cinema History appeared first on /Film.
- 6/20/2016
- by Jacob Hall
- Slash Film
If you thought that filmmakers would shy away from making films about North Korea and its dictator leaders after Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s “The Interview” instigated a devastating hack on Sony Pictures from the nation, you… thought mostly right. Hollywood scrambled to cancel a number of North Korea-themed projects, with a Gore Verbinski/Steve Carell […]
The post Watch The Trailer For Fascinating Kim Jong-Il Kidnap Doc ‘The Lovers & The Despot’ appeared first on The Playlist.
The post Watch The Trailer For Fascinating Kim Jong-Il Kidnap Doc ‘The Lovers & The Despot’ appeared first on The Playlist.
- 6/20/2016
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Called one of international cinema’s greatest love stories – and wildest – “The Lovers and the Despot” tells the true-life story of how South Korean filmmaker Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee, met and fell in love in post-war Korea. After a successful film career, they were both kidnapped by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il.
A big fan of the duo and obsessed with movies, Jong-il forced them to create features for his pleasure and to improve North Korea’s film business. During their imprisonment, Choi and Shin gained the dictator’s trust and made 17 feature films, all while planning their escape.
“Kim laughed out loud like a triumphant general,” says Choi in the trailer about her experience. “Like a puppet, I was told what to eat, I was even told what to wear.”
Read More: ‘The Lovers and the Despot’ Exclusive Poster: New Doc Follows Director-Actress Couple Kidnapped By Kim Jong-il...
A big fan of the duo and obsessed with movies, Jong-il forced them to create features for his pleasure and to improve North Korea’s film business. During their imprisonment, Choi and Shin gained the dictator’s trust and made 17 feature films, all while planning their escape.
“Kim laughed out loud like a triumphant general,” says Choi in the trailer about her experience. “Like a puppet, I was told what to eat, I was even told what to wear.”
Read More: ‘The Lovers and the Despot’ Exclusive Poster: New Doc Follows Director-Actress Couple Kidnapped By Kim Jong-il...
- 6/17/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Sometimes, stories of love, abduction, and espionage don’t have to be concocted by a screenwriter because they already exist. Directors Ross Adam and Robert Cannan (who made his debut in 2008 with Three Miles North of Molkom) have teamed up for the documentary The Lovers and the Despot, a bizarre story about an actress and director who are taken hostage by Kim Jong-il. Looking equal parts a tale of undying love and espionage thriller, the first trailer promises a story that is stranger than fiction.
Unfortunately, the film itself falls back onto tired documentary formulas, as we said in our review, “The doc still relies on a parade of basic interviews to tell its story, and presents them without an iota of imagination. Why have so few realized that this is the essence of telling instead of showing, that it is awfully difficult to make dramatically engaging, much less satisfying?...
Unfortunately, the film itself falls back onto tired documentary formulas, as we said in our review, “The doc still relies on a parade of basic interviews to tell its story, and presents them without an iota of imagination. Why have so few realized that this is the essence of telling instead of showing, that it is awfully difficult to make dramatically engaging, much less satisfying?...
- 6/17/2016
- by Mike Mazzanti
- The Film Stage
The new documentary "The Lovers and the Despot" follows the romance between film director Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee, the "Brangelina" of '70s South Korea. Though they were a glamorous couple, fame eventually took its toll on their relationship, but it also resulted in a strange twist of fate. The two eventually were kidnapped by the North Korean regime and forced to play along with a bizarre filmmaking project courtesy of dictator Kim Jong-il, a big fan of the Shin and Choi. Amidst their imprisonment and torture, the two eventually rekindled their romance and realize that making movies is their only way to escape the ugly reality of their fate. Check out the poster above. Read More: Sundance Review: Kim Jong-Il Kidnaps A Filmmaking Couple In Documentary ‘The Lovers And The Despot’ "The Lovers & The Despot" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It also screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival,...
- 5/12/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Glitzy Hollywood events have their share of wince-worthy moments. There was the time Paul Thomas Anderson spoke at the Spirit Awards and noted that one of the event’s sponsors should be boycotted because they lost his luggage. There was Sacha Baron Cohen, promoting The Dictator on the Oscars red carpet, dumping what he said were the ashes of deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il all over Ryan Seacrest’s tux jacket, telling the stunned interviewer that if asked who he…...
- 5/11/2016
- Deadline
[[tmz:video id="0_jm1f3mta"]] Despite nuclear tensions, a group of American runners traveled to North Korea this past weekend to compete in the Pyongyang marathon ... and TMZ Sports has the incredible footage. It all went down on Saturday -- when 1,000 foreign runners from all over the world gathered in front of roughly 70,000 people at Rungrado 1st of May Stadium ... the largest stadium in the world. One of those people was Brian Sloan -- an American entrepreneur who created the...
- 4/14/2016
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
First, he dumped ashes on Ryan Seacrest, and now Sacha Baron Cohen is locking up Matt Lauer. During an appearance on Today on Wednesday, Cohen - in character as The Brothers Grimsby's Nobby - convinced Lauer to let him handcuff him. Initially resistant ("No, not in a million years ... I am not putting myself in handcuffs with you," Lauer said), Cohen eventually prevailed and began showing the host how to get out of handcuffs using only butter and a paper clip. Cohen initially failed to unlock the cuffs under his 10-second deadline, citing that the lack of "English butter" lead to the mishap.
- 3/9/2016
- by Lindsay Kimble, @lekimble
- PEOPLE.com
Reunited and it feels so good! But maybe let Ryan Seacrest finish talking to Lady Gaga first? Sacha Baron Cohen briefly interrupted the E!'s host's interview with the singer at the 2016 Oscars Sunday, three years after he famously tossed fake ashes at him at the annual event, when he was dressed as his character from The Dictator. He had said they were the ashes of Kim Jong-il. Baron Cohen later apologized for the stunt. "Just want to give you a hug," he told Seacrest at Sunday's Oscars, while dressed in a black tux. "Suit's looking good." "Hi Lady Gaga," he said. "What's in his hands? Check his...
- 2/29/2016
- E! Online
It’s astonishing that the story of Shin Sang-ok and Choi Eun-hee has not made it onto movie screens before now, whether as a documentary or a work of fiction. In 1978 Shin, a South Korean film director, and Choi, his actress ex-wife, were both kidnapped by North Korean agents and taken to Pyongyang on the direct order of Kim Jong-il. The brutal dictator was also a dedicated cinephile, and he was displeased with the quality of his state’s film industry. For a real-life supervillain, the obvious solution to such a problem was to abduct some outside talent and put it to work.
Shin and Choi spent years being imprisoned and constantly surveilled, ultimately making films for Kim and even falling back in love before making a dramatic vehicular escape in Austria. Every single element reads like it sprung from the mind of a Hollywood hack. And yet it all happened.
Shin and Choi spent years being imprisoned and constantly surveilled, ultimately making films for Kim and even falling back in love before making a dramatic vehicular escape in Austria. Every single element reads like it sprung from the mind of a Hollywood hack. And yet it all happened.
- 1/30/2016
- by Daniel Schindel
- The Film Stage
The Park City deal flow erupted on Friday led by Paramount Home Media’s $2.25m worldwide rights play for Us Dramatic Competition entry Goat.
Andrew Neel directed the gritty drama about hazing, which will get a day-and-date VOD launch with Viacom stablemate MTV securing the first TV window.
A third party will handle theatrical distribution to the film starring Nick Jonas. CAA represented the filmmakers.
Other Sundance Film Festival deals announced on Friday included:
Sony Pictures Classics acquired Us and Asia on John Krasinski’s Premieres family comedy The Hollars starring the director and Anna Kendrick. Wme Global represented the filmmakers.
Universal has swooped on most of world rights to Matthew Ross’ Premieres drama Frank & Lola starring Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots. CAA and Preferred Content represented the filmmakers and Arclight handles international rights.
Magnolia picked up the world on Rob Cannan and Ross Adam’s World Cinema Documentary Competition entry The Lovers And The Despot and will...
Andrew Neel directed the gritty drama about hazing, which will get a day-and-date VOD launch with Viacom stablemate MTV securing the first TV window.
A third party will handle theatrical distribution to the film starring Nick Jonas. CAA represented the filmmakers.
Other Sundance Film Festival deals announced on Friday included:
Sony Pictures Classics acquired Us and Asia on John Krasinski’s Premieres family comedy The Hollars starring the director and Anna Kendrick. Wme Global represented the filmmakers.
Universal has swooped on most of world rights to Matthew Ross’ Premieres drama Frank & Lola starring Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots. CAA and Preferred Content represented the filmmakers and Arclight handles international rights.
Magnolia picked up the world on Rob Cannan and Ross Adam’s World Cinema Documentary Competition entry The Lovers And The Despot and will...
- 1/29/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Park City deal flow erupted on Friday led by Paramount Home Media’s $2.25m worldwide rights play for Us Dramatic Competition entry Goat.
Andrew Neel directed the gritty drama about hazing, which will get a day-and-date VOD launch with Viacom stablemate MTV securing the first TV window.
A third party will handle theatrical distribution to the film starring Nick Jonas. CAA represented the filmmakers.
In other deals announced on Friday:
Sony Pictures Classics acquired Us and Asia on John Krasinski’s Premieres family comedy The Hollars starring the director and Anna Kendrick. Wme Global represented the filmmakers.Universal has swooped on most of world rights to Matthew Ross’ Premieres drama Frank & Lola starring Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots. CAA and Preferred Content represented the filmmakers and Arclight handles international rights.Magnolia picked up the world on Rob Cannan and Ross Adam’s World Cinema Documentary Competition entry The Lovers And The Despot and will commence international...
Andrew Neel directed the gritty drama about hazing, which will get a day-and-date VOD launch with Viacom stablemate MTV securing the first TV window.
A third party will handle theatrical distribution to the film starring Nick Jonas. CAA represented the filmmakers.
In other deals announced on Friday:
Sony Pictures Classics acquired Us and Asia on John Krasinski’s Premieres family comedy The Hollars starring the director and Anna Kendrick. Wme Global represented the filmmakers.Universal has swooped on most of world rights to Matthew Ross’ Premieres drama Frank & Lola starring Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots. CAA and Preferred Content represented the filmmakers and Arclight handles international rights.Magnolia picked up the world on Rob Cannan and Ross Adam’s World Cinema Documentary Competition entry The Lovers And The Despot and will commence international...
- 1/29/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Park City trickle is turning into a stream as Paramount Home Media acquired worldwide rights to the Us Dramatic Competition entry in a deal valued at $2.25m, one of at least four festival deals that emerged on Friday.
Magnolia picked up the world on World Cinema Documentary Competition entry The Lovers And The Despot, while A24 took North American rights to the polarising Us Dramatic Competition selection Swiss Army Man and Music Box and Netflix partnered on North American rights to Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You.
Goat, a gritty drama about hazing, will get a day-and-date VOD launch and Viacom stablemate MTV will get the first TV window.
A third party will handle theatrical distribution to the film starring Nick Jonas. Andrew Neel directed. CAA represented the filmmakers.
Magnolia Pictures brokered its worldwide rights deal on The Lovers And The Despot with Submarine Entertainment.
Rob Cannan and Ross Adam directed the story about the kidnappings...
Magnolia picked up the world on World Cinema Documentary Competition entry The Lovers And The Despot, while A24 took North American rights to the polarising Us Dramatic Competition selection Swiss Army Man and Music Box and Netflix partnered on North American rights to Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You.
Goat, a gritty drama about hazing, will get a day-and-date VOD launch and Viacom stablemate MTV will get the first TV window.
A third party will handle theatrical distribution to the film starring Nick Jonas. Andrew Neel directed. CAA represented the filmmakers.
Magnolia Pictures brokered its worldwide rights deal on The Lovers And The Despot with Submarine Entertainment.
Rob Cannan and Ross Adam directed the story about the kidnappings...
- 1/29/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Park City trickle is turning into a stream as Paramount Home Media acquired worldwide rights to the Us Dramatic Competition entry in a deal valued at $2.25m, one of at least four festival deals that emerged on Friday.
Magnolia picked up the world on World Cinema Documentary Competition entry The Lovers And The Despot, while A24 took North American rights to the polarising Us Dramatic Competition selection Swiss Army Man and Music Box and Netflix partnered on North American rights to Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You.
Goat, a gritty drama about hazing, will get a day-and-date VOD launch and Viacom stablemate MTV will get the first TV window.
A third party will handle theatrical distribution to the film starring Nick Jonas. Andrew Neel directed. CAA represented the filmmakers.
Magnolia Pictures brokered its worldwide rights deal on The Lovers And The Despot with Submarine Entertainment.
Rob Cannan and Ross Adam directed the story about the kidnappings...
Magnolia picked up the world on World Cinema Documentary Competition entry The Lovers And The Despot, while A24 took North American rights to the polarising Us Dramatic Competition selection Swiss Army Man and Music Box and Netflix partnered on North American rights to Norman Lear: Just Another Version Of You.
Goat, a gritty drama about hazing, will get a day-and-date VOD launch and Viacom stablemate MTV will get the first TV window.
A third party will handle theatrical distribution to the film starring Nick Jonas. Andrew Neel directed. CAA represented the filmmakers.
Magnolia Pictures brokered its worldwide rights deal on The Lovers And The Despot with Submarine Entertainment.
Rob Cannan and Ross Adam directed the story about the kidnappings...
- 1/29/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Read: Sundance Exclusive: Clip From ‘The Lovers And The Despot’ Goes Over The Border Into North Korea Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the documentary "The Lovers and the Despot," which saw its premiere this week at the Sundance Film Festival. Co-directors Rob Cannan ("Three Miles North of Molkom") and Ross Adams' stranger-than-fiction documentary chronicles the bizarre circumstances in which filmmaker Shin Sang-ok and actress Choi Eun-hee, South Korea's darling celebrity couple, were kidnapped and forced to be Kim Jong-il's personal filmmakers. While imprisoned and planning their escape, the filmmaking duo was forced to produce 17 movies for the film-obsessed despot. But while working for the megalomaniacal leader, the cunning couple began fostering a trusting relationship with the dictator as a means of gaining an opportunity to flee back to their native South Korea. "Rob and Ross have captured a...
- 1/29/2016
- by Riyad Mammadyarov
- Indiewire
Magnolia Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Rob Cannan and Ross Adam’s The Lovers And The Despot, a documentary that tells the true story behind the kidnappings of a celebrated South Korean actress and her director ex-husband by late North Korean dictator and film fanatic Kim Jong-il, who made them his personal filmmakers. The pic bowed this week at the Sundance Film Festival and will get a theatrical release this year after it plays in Berlin, where Magnolia…...
- 1/29/2016
- Deadline
We’re a little over a year from the semi-aborted release of “The Interview,” Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s comedy that passed almost instantly into legend when (supposedly) North Korean hackers attacked the film’s backers Sony in retribution for the film’s satirical portrait, and fictional killing of, the country’s dictatorial leader Kim Jong-Un. So it’s perhaps a little surprising to see another movie premiering at Sundance that hits similar territory: again focusing on a North Korean leader (Kim’s late father Kim Jong-Il) and his infatuation with celebrity, touched with some espionage and dark humor. The difference this time is that Rob Cannan and Ross Adam’s film “The Lovers And The Despot” tells an entirely true story. Read More: The 30 Most Anticipated Films Of The 2016 Sundance Film Festival It’s one that you might be familiar with in the broad strokes, but likely not in this kind of detail.
- 1/27/2016
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
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