Susan Seidelman's 1985 comedy "Desperately Seeking Susan" is about an unhappy housewife named Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) who notices that two people appear to be communicating through mutually placed personal ads in her local newspaper. The correspondents are "Jim" and "Susan," and Roberta becomes involved in their progressing print-only drama. Audiences also see that Susan (Madonna) is an itinerant drifter who is having an affair with a mobster. She is involved in a crime drama of her own. All the same, Roberta manages to see a meeting between Susan and Jim from afar and then buys some of Susan's clothes after Susan sells them to a thrift store.
Naturally, through some exciting contrivances, Roberta is not only mistaken for Susan, but she hits her head and contracts amnesia, soon believing that she, too, is Susan. It's an exciting, high-concept comedy that introduced Madonna to the world and was inspired by Jacque...
Naturally, through some exciting contrivances, Roberta is not only mistaken for Susan, but she hits her head and contracts amnesia, soon believing that she, too, is Susan. It's an exciting, high-concept comedy that introduced Madonna to the world and was inspired by Jacque...
- 4/30/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Throughout the early 2000s, the rock ‘n’ roll film festival “Don’t Knock the Rock” was one of the highlights of any L.A.-based cinephile’s year, an impeccably assembled program of movies, live performances, and panels celebrating the intersection between rock ‘n’ roll and cinema. Created by writer-director Allison Anders and music supervisor Tiffany Anders, “Don’t Knock the Rock” was beloved for its determination to showcase difficult-to-see music documentaries and for the breadth and depth of its programming.
The festival last graced L.A. screens in 2016, but now it’s returning to Hollywood via the American Cinematheque with a line-up that’s one of the best ever. From May 23-27, “Don’t Knock the Rock” will screen an eclectic mix of documentaries, music-themed narrative films, and essential retrospective programs at the Cinematheque’s Los Feliz venue, with an added virtual component that will stream from May 23-July 31. Among the...
The festival last graced L.A. screens in 2016, but now it’s returning to Hollywood via the American Cinematheque with a line-up that’s one of the best ever. From May 23-27, “Don’t Knock the Rock” will screen an eclectic mix of documentaries, music-themed narrative films, and essential retrospective programs at the Cinematheque’s Los Feliz venue, with an added virtual component that will stream from May 23-July 31. Among the...
- 4/24/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
In 2004, Rolling Stone launched its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Tabulated from a massive vote that had artists, industry figures, and critics weighing in, the list has been a source of conversation, inspiration, and controversy for two decades. It’s one of the most popular, influential — and argued-over — features the magazine has ever done.
So we set out to make it even bigger, better, and fresher. In 2021, we completely overhauled our 500 Songs list, with a whole new batch of voters from all over the music map. Our new podcast,...
So we set out to make it even bigger, better, and fresher. In 2021, we completely overhauled our 500 Songs list, with a whole new batch of voters from all over the music map. Our new podcast,...
- 3/27/2024
- by Rob Sheffield
- Rollingstone.com
Ron Nyswaner will soon be traveling to New York to reunite with his Writers Guild of America East fellows for a grand occasion. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter, producer and showrunner has been selected to receive the Walter Bernstein Award at the 76th Writers Guild Awards at New York’s Edison Ballroom on April 14.
The honor — named after the late screenwriter who was blacklisted for his political views only to persevere and get his career back on track with such credits as Fail-Safe, Semi-Tough and Yanks — is presented to writers “who have demonstrated with creativity, grace and bravery a willingness to confront social injustice in the face of adversity,” per the organization.
Nyswaner has been doing that for pretty much his entire career. A prime example is Jonathan Demme’s 1993 film Philadelphia. Penned by Nyswaner, the Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington-starrer was the first major Hollywood film to dramatize the real-world...
The honor — named after the late screenwriter who was blacklisted for his political views only to persevere and get his career back on track with such credits as Fail-Safe, Semi-Tough and Yanks — is presented to writers “who have demonstrated with creativity, grace and bravery a willingness to confront social injustice in the face of adversity,” per the organization.
Nyswaner has been doing that for pretty much his entire career. A prime example is Jonathan Demme’s 1993 film Philadelphia. Penned by Nyswaner, the Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington-starrer was the first major Hollywood film to dramatize the real-world...
- 3/14/2024
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Patrick Swayze in 1989's Road House (United Artists) and Jake Gyllenhaal in 2024's Road House (Amazon MGM Studios)Image: The A.V. Club
Got Road House? This month Amazon’s Prime Video has two versions of the action movie: the 1989 original starring Patrick Swayze at peak Swayze-ness and the 2024 Doug Liman...
Got Road House? This month Amazon’s Prime Video has two versions of the action movie: the 1989 original starring Patrick Swayze at peak Swayze-ness and the 2024 Doug Liman...
- 2/28/2024
- by Robert DeSalvo
- avclub.com
Images of the 2023 National Film Registry selections
Home Alone, Love & Basketball, Apollo 13, 12 Years a Slave, and The Nightmare Before Christmas are among the 25 films chosen to be preserved by the Library of Congress National Film Registry. 2023’s selection also includes Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Lady and the Tramp, Desperately Seeking Susan, and Fame.
“Films are an integral piece of America’s cultural heritage, reflecting stories of our nation for more than 125 years. We are proud to add 25 diverse films to the National Film Registry as we preserve our history through film,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “We’re grateful to the film community for collaborating with the Library of Congress in our goal to preserve the heritage of cinema for generations to come.”
The new additions date back to 1921 and bring the total number of films included in the registry to 875. According to the Library of Congress,...
Home Alone, Love & Basketball, Apollo 13, 12 Years a Slave, and The Nightmare Before Christmas are among the 25 films chosen to be preserved by the Library of Congress National Film Registry. 2023’s selection also includes Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Lady and the Tramp, Desperately Seeking Susan, and Fame.
“Films are an integral piece of America’s cultural heritage, reflecting stories of our nation for more than 125 years. We are proud to add 25 diverse films to the National Film Registry as we preserve our history through film,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “We’re grateful to the film community for collaborating with the Library of Congress in our goal to preserve the heritage of cinema for generations to come.”
The new additions date back to 1921 and bring the total number of films included in the registry to 875. According to the Library of Congress,...
- 12/13/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
The Library of Congress announced the 25 features joining the National Film Registry for 2023, with titles including “12 Years a Slave,” “Home Alone,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” Selected films must be more than 10 years old and are selected each year for their cultural, historic or aesthetic significance to preserve the film heritage of the U.S.
The Library of Congress is not responsible for the physical preservation of the titles selected — many have already been preserved by copyright holders, filmmakers or other archives. For those that haven’t yet been preserved, the Library’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center works to make sure it will be — through ventures with other archives or studios or through its own preservation program.
The selected films encompass more than 100 years of history, including the earliest title of this year’s additions — the 1921 educational film “A Movie Trip Through Filmland.”
Hollywood studio...
The Library of Congress is not responsible for the physical preservation of the titles selected — many have already been preserved by copyright holders, filmmakers or other archives. For those that haven’t yet been preserved, the Library’s National Audio-Visual Conservation Center works to make sure it will be — through ventures with other archives or studios or through its own preservation program.
The selected films encompass more than 100 years of history, including the earliest title of this year’s additions — the 1921 educational film “A Movie Trip Through Filmland.”
Hollywood studio...
- 12/13/2023
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Just in time for the holidays, Chris Columbus’ Home Alone and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas have been unwrapped with 23 other cinematic sparklers for entry into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, it was announced Wednesday.
Among those also voted in: Dinner at Eight (1933), the seventh film from director George Cukor to be selected for preservation; Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan (1985); John Sayles’ Matewan (1987); James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991); Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet (1993); Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 (1995); Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball (2000) and Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (2000).
Then, there are the films with music central to their core: Lady and the Tramp (1955), Cruisin’ J-Town (1975), Passing Through (1977), Fame (1980) and the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom (2013).
This year’s picks span the years 1921 (the Kodak educational film A Movie Trip Through Filmland) to 2013 (20 Feet From Stardom and the lone Oscar...
Among those also voted in: Dinner at Eight (1933), the seventh film from director George Cukor to be selected for preservation; Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan (1985); John Sayles’ Matewan (1987); James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991); Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet (1993); Ron Howard’s Apollo 13 (1995); Gina Prince-Bythewood’s Love & Basketball (2000) and Spike Lee’s Bamboozled (2000).
Then, there are the films with music central to their core: Lady and the Tramp (1955), Cruisin’ J-Town (1975), Passing Through (1977), Fame (1980) and the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom (2013).
This year’s picks span the years 1921 (the Kodak educational film A Movie Trip Through Filmland) to 2013 (20 Feet From Stardom and the lone Oscar...
- 12/13/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
We ranked the 100 best movies of the ‘80s, and listed our favorite performances, scores, and anime of the decade. We interviewed Charles Burnett about his compromised masterpiece “My Brother’s Wedding,” Susan Seidelman about bringing a new kind of woman to the big screen, “Buddies” actor David Schachter about the first movie to tackle AIDS head-on, and went deep with Hal Hartley on the making of “The Unbelievable Truth.” Michael Giacchino waxing poetic on “Raiders of the Lost Ark?” Griffin Dunne reflecting on “After Hours?” The story of the Sundance Institute from the people who brought it to life? A true Day One exclusive.
We ran essays about the synth invasion of Hollywood scores, the uncomfortably comedic role that consent played in ’80s comedies, the birth of the steadicam, the ending of “Fatal Attraction,” and — of course — why “Streets of Fire” should’ve been the biggest rock musical of our lifetimes.
We ran essays about the synth invasion of Hollywood scores, the uncomfortably comedic role that consent played in ’80s comedies, the birth of the steadicam, the ending of “Fatal Attraction,” and — of course — why “Streets of Fire” should’ve been the biggest rock musical of our lifetimes.
- 8/18/2023
- by David Ehrlich, Kate Erbland and Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
“I wanted to tell stories about people who I wanted to watch on screen,” says Susan Seidelman, the director behind a number of landmark ‘80s films that range from the fearless punk drama “Smithereens” to the Madonna-led classic “Desperately Seeking Susan.” It was never much of a mystery as to who those people were: Over the course of a career that would continue to shape American culture for the rest of the 20th century and beyond (later credits include the pilot for “Sex and the City”), Seidelman has consistently focused her sharp lens on the changing place of women in American society, and the work she made in the 1980s helped fundamentally reshape our national self-image in ways that are still being felt today.
Seidelman came to the cinema after studying fashion at Drexel University, where a film appreciation class had reawakened the fierce love for genre films that...
Seidelman came to the cinema after studying fashion at Drexel University, where a film appreciation class had reawakened the fierce love for genre films that...
- 8/14/2023
- by Marya E. Gates
- Indiewire
The Writers Lab, supported by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, has revealed its ninth annual batch of participants.
With a devotion to developing scripted content written by women over the age of 40, the Lab, produced with New York Women in Film & Television, is known for its commitment to elevating the work of women screenwriters through mentorship, advocacy and exposure.
The participants of The Writers Lab 2023 are Louisa Kendrick Burton (“The Charge”), Shari Lynette Carpenter (“Translate”), Helena Cho (“The Last Buddha”), Marya Cohn (“Hurricane Season”), Lesley Fera (“Inconceivable”), Brooke Hemphill (“Apotcalypse”), Justina Ireland (“Bleeding Kansas”), Tricia Lee (“Good Chance”), Betsy Nagler (“Priceless”), Lisa Ramirez and Michele Noble (“Fifty”), Sarah Sinclair (“The Stratford Wife”) and Jill Twiss (“Bee”).
“Women over 40 make up 25% of the world population, and women over 50 control $19 billion, yet this demographic remains ignored by Hollywood and streamers. AI won’t change that — only women will,” said co-founder Elizabeth Kaiden.
With a devotion to developing scripted content written by women over the age of 40, the Lab, produced with New York Women in Film & Television, is known for its commitment to elevating the work of women screenwriters through mentorship, advocacy and exposure.
The participants of The Writers Lab 2023 are Louisa Kendrick Burton (“The Charge”), Shari Lynette Carpenter (“Translate”), Helena Cho (“The Last Buddha”), Marya Cohn (“Hurricane Season”), Lesley Fera (“Inconceivable”), Brooke Hemphill (“Apotcalypse”), Justina Ireland (“Bleeding Kansas”), Tricia Lee (“Good Chance”), Betsy Nagler (“Priceless”), Lisa Ramirez and Michele Noble (“Fifty”), Sarah Sinclair (“The Stratford Wife”) and Jill Twiss (“Bee”).
“Women over 40 make up 25% of the world population, and women over 50 control $19 billion, yet this demographic remains ignored by Hollywood and streamers. AI won’t change that — only women will,” said co-founder Elizabeth Kaiden.
- 8/3/2023
- by McKinley Franklin
- Variety Film + TV
It was more than a little heartening to see Roger Corman paid tribute by Quentin Tarantino at Cannes’ closing night. By now the director-producer-mogul’s imprint on cinema is understood to eclipse, rough estimate, 99.5% of anybody who’s touched the medium, but on a night for celebrating what’s new, trend-following, and manicured it could’ve hardly been more necessary. Thus I’m further heartened seeing the Criterion Channel will host a retrospective of Corman’s Edgar Allan Poe adaptations running eight films and aptly titled “Grindhouse Gothic,” though I might save the selections for October.
Centerpiece, though, is a hip hop series including Bill Duke’s superb Deep Cover, Ghost Dog, and numerous documentaries––among them Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, making Michael Rapaport a Criterion-approved auteur. Ten films starring Kay Francis and 21 Eurothrillers round out series; streaming premieres include the Dardenne brothers’ Tori and Lokita,...
Centerpiece, though, is a hip hop series including Bill Duke’s superb Deep Cover, Ghost Dog, and numerous documentaries––among them Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, making Michael Rapaport a Criterion-approved auteur. Ten films starring Kay Francis and 21 Eurothrillers round out series; streaming premieres include the Dardenne brothers’ Tori and Lokita,...
- 7/19/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
I honestly never expected Steven Spielberg in a Criterion Channel series––certainly not one that pairs him with Kogonada, anime, and Johnny Mnemonic––but so’s the power of artificial intelligence. Perhaps his greatest film (at this point I don’t need to tell you the title) plays with After Yang, Ghost in the Shell, and pre-Matrix Keanu in July’s aptly titled “AI” boasting also Spike Jonze’s Her, Carpenter’s Dark Star, and Computer Chess. Much more analog is a British Noir collection obviously carrying the likes of Odd Man Out, Night and the City, and The Small Back Room, further filled by Joseph Losey’s Time Without Pity and Basil Dearden’s It Always Rains on Sunday. (No two ways about it: these movies have great titles.) An Elvis retrospective brings six features, and the consensus best (Don Siegel’s Flaming Star) comes September 1.
While Isabella Rossellini...
While Isabella Rossellini...
- 6/22/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "Basket Case"
Where You Can Stream It: The Criterion Channel, Tubi, Kanopy, Screambox, Arrow
The Pitch: Backed by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a group of scattered New York artists gathered in a room sometime in 1974 to talk. Their goal was to assemble a loosely organized art collective that would remain in artistic control of its own exhibitions and its own cable TV station. The resulting collective was called Collaborative Projects, or Colab for short. Colab proceeded to put on public variety performances with names like "Income and Wealth Show," "The Batman Show," and "Just Another A**hole Show." The Colab also sponsored a series of feature films that came to be known as the No Wave movement.
The Movie: "Basket Case"
Where You Can Stream It: The Criterion Channel, Tubi, Kanopy, Screambox, Arrow
The Pitch: Backed by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a group of scattered New York artists gathered in a room sometime in 1974 to talk. Their goal was to assemble a loosely organized art collective that would remain in artistic control of its own exhibitions and its own cable TV station. The resulting collective was called Collaborative Projects, or Colab for short. Colab proceeded to put on public variety performances with names like "Income and Wealth Show," "The Batman Show," and "Just Another A**hole Show." The Colab also sponsored a series of feature films that came to be known as the No Wave movement.
- 2/25/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
British author Fay Weldon, best known for “The Life and Loves of a She-Devil” and “The Cloning of Joanna May,” has died. She was 91.
Weldon’s agent tweeted a family statement on Wednesday. “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Fay Weldon (Cbe), author, essayist and playwright. She died peacefully this morning 4th January 2023.” A cause of death was not revealed.
Fay Weldon – Family Announcement.
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Fay Weldon (Cbe), author, essayist and playwright. She died peacefully this morning 4th January 2023. pic.twitter.com/1nsp4qHlHv
— Georgina Capel Assoc (@GeorginaCapel) January 4, 2023
Weldon’s works were adapted numerous times for the screen. “The Life and Loves of a She-Devil” (1983), where a woman who loses her husband to a romance novelist goes to extreme lengths to make their lives a misery, was adapted both as a multiple BAFTA-winning BBC...
Weldon’s agent tweeted a family statement on Wednesday. “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Fay Weldon (Cbe), author, essayist and playwright. She died peacefully this morning 4th January 2023.” A cause of death was not revealed.
Fay Weldon – Family Announcement.
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Fay Weldon (Cbe), author, essayist and playwright. She died peacefully this morning 4th January 2023. pic.twitter.com/1nsp4qHlHv
— Georgina Capel Assoc (@GeorginaCapel) January 4, 2023
Weldon’s works were adapted numerous times for the screen. “The Life and Loves of a She-Devil” (1983), where a woman who loses her husband to a romance novelist goes to extreme lengths to make their lives a misery, was adapted both as a multiple BAFTA-winning BBC...
- 1/4/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
William Lustig's 1980 film "Maniac" is one of the sweatiest, most brutal, most unpleasant grindhouse horror films of its decade on either side. Co-screenwriter Joe Spinell plays Frank Zito, a serial killer with a peculiar M.O. When he encounters his victims, mostly young women, he declares them to be too beautiful, with beauty being punishable by death. He then strangles his victims, strips them, scalps them (!), and carries his "souvenirs" back to his cramped New York apartment where he dresses mannequins in the clothes and "wigs." The film's gore effects were provided by horror movie maestro Tom Savini, who had previously worked on notable horror classics like "Friday the 13th," and with George Romero on "Dawn of the Dead" and "Martin." Savini would also go on to direct the 1990 remake of "Night of the Living Dead."
"Maniac" is bleak and unpleasant, but may also serve as the Platonic ideal of an exploitation movie.
"Maniac" is bleak and unpleasant, but may also serve as the Platonic ideal of an exploitation movie.
- 12/1/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
At the start of the shoot, she was a no one. By the end, she was a superstar. As the 80s cult classic starring Madonna as a gorgeous grifter returns, director Susan Seidelman recalls capturing the zeitgeist on a shoestring budget
Given that it launched the film careers of the then little known Rosanna Arquette, the entirely unknown Aidan Quinn and some singer called Madonna, 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan still stakes a good claim to be one of the canniest casting jobs of all time. And that’s before you get to the then even less known supporting actors: Laurie Metcalf as Arquette’s tacky sister-in-law! John Turturro as the cheesy club Mc! John Lurie barely visible as a saxophone-playing neighbour! Giancarlo Esposito in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role as a street salesman!
It’s an astonishing roll call of future talent from when they were still young and hungry in Manhattan.
Given that it launched the film careers of the then little known Rosanna Arquette, the entirely unknown Aidan Quinn and some singer called Madonna, 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan still stakes a good claim to be one of the canniest casting jobs of all time. And that’s before you get to the then even less known supporting actors: Laurie Metcalf as Arquette’s tacky sister-in-law! John Turturro as the cheesy club Mc! John Lurie barely visible as a saxophone-playing neighbour! Giancarlo Esposito in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it role as a street salesman!
It’s an astonishing roll call of future talent from when they were still young and hungry in Manhattan.
- 11/23/2022
- by Hadley Freeman
- The Guardian - Film News
Madonna memorably made her film debut in the 1985 comedy “Desperately Seeking Susan”, and a new interview with the movie’s director suggests that she has the son of the head of the movie’s studio to thank for it.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter‘s “It Happened in Hollywood” podcast, “Desperately Seeking Susan” director Susan Seidelman reveals the convoluted circumstances that led to Madonna’s casting in the film, in which she starred alongside Rosanna Arquette.
According to Seidelman, execs at Orion Pictures, which produced the film, was looking to give the role of hip NYC club kid Susan to a relatively unknown actor on the rise, with the likes of Kim Cattrall and Melanie Griffith considered. However, Seidelman kept hearing buzz about Madonna, who was then on the cusp of topping the pop charts with such hits as “Into the Groove” and “Like a Virgin” and...
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter‘s “It Happened in Hollywood” podcast, “Desperately Seeking Susan” director Susan Seidelman reveals the convoluted circumstances that led to Madonna’s casting in the film, in which she starred alongside Rosanna Arquette.
According to Seidelman, execs at Orion Pictures, which produced the film, was looking to give the role of hip NYC club kid Susan to a relatively unknown actor on the rise, with the likes of Kim Cattrall and Melanie Griffith considered. However, Seidelman kept hearing buzz about Madonna, who was then on the cusp of topping the pop charts with such hits as “Into the Groove” and “Like a Virgin” and...
- 10/11/2022
- by Brent Furdyk
- ET Canada
Click here to read the full article.
It was Madonna’s first starring role in a movie. And many say it is still her best.
The film was 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan, a hip comedy of errors set in the downtown New York club scene.
Madonna plays Susan, a scenester trailed by the mob after stealing a pair of valuable Egyptian earrings. Rosanna Arquette plays Roberta, a bored New Jersey housewife looking for a thrill who follows Susan after spotting her name in a personal ad.
According to the film’s director, Susan Seidelman, the studio, Orion, was eager to give a rising star the role of Susan, with everyone from Kim Cattrall to Melanie Griffith considered.
Seidelman, however, kept hearing about a charismatic singer named Madonna through downtown New York circles and was eager to give her a shot.
“I wasn’t that afraid to work with a musician,...
It was Madonna’s first starring role in a movie. And many say it is still her best.
The film was 1985’s Desperately Seeking Susan, a hip comedy of errors set in the downtown New York club scene.
Madonna plays Susan, a scenester trailed by the mob after stealing a pair of valuable Egyptian earrings. Rosanna Arquette plays Roberta, a bored New Jersey housewife looking for a thrill who follows Susan after spotting her name in a personal ad.
According to the film’s director, Susan Seidelman, the studio, Orion, was eager to give a rising star the role of Susan, with everyone from Kim Cattrall to Melanie Griffith considered.
Seidelman, however, kept hearing about a charismatic singer named Madonna through downtown New York circles and was eager to give her a shot.
“I wasn’t that afraid to work with a musician,...
- 10/11/2022
- by Seth Abramovitch
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Despite the accolades, sometimes a film that we are big on and seemingly has a very bright future ahead will, for a variety of reasons, fail to connect with U.S distributor gatekeepers. A play of words on the 1985 Susan Seidelman film, our Desperately Seeking Studio feature is our way of putting the spotlight on one unique gem that is so deserving of connecting with audiences. It’s our way of saying, “Hey, it’s not too late, what about this?!” This month we put the focus back on: Agustina San Martín‘s To Kill the Beast.…...
- 8/29/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Not long after attending my first Cannes Film Festival almost 35 years ago, I was still green and naïve enough to ask long-time Cannes attendees why the famed French fest held such a powerful place in the pecking order of international film gatherings. The late Richard Corliss, Time magazine’s peerless and beloved film critic, answered warmly and succinctly, with his own more worldly query: “Would you rather be in Germany in the winter or the South of France in the spring?”
Corliss had a point, but in the decades since I’ve tucked my own couple of dozen Cannes fests under my belt, I’ve compiled my own list of reasons why Cannes remains the one film festival that people who’ve never been to a film festival have heard about and wish they could go to, and know that if a film has scored there, it must be worth their time.
Corliss had a point, but in the decades since I’ve tucked my own couple of dozen Cannes fests under my belt, I’ve compiled my own list of reasons why Cannes remains the one film festival that people who’ve never been to a film festival have heard about and wish they could go to, and know that if a film has scored there, it must be worth their time.
- 5/11/2022
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
America has officially celebrated Women’s History month since the 1980s when a feminist surge for equal job opportunities and education blossomed out of local celebrations and the International Women’s Day holiday, as well as Women’s History Week. And for the entire month of March, the streaming service HBO Max is celebrating Women’s History Month with programming devoted entirely to stories about women.
HBO Max is stacked with movies and shows that show complex female leads, and along with their spotlight page offerings, HBO is offering a first ever in-app trivia experience to celebrate the event. The HBO Max Women’s History Month Trivia tray allows fans to discover entertainment milestones that all involve women. To reveal the answer, viewers can simply click or tap the tile.
HBO Max has curated a list of films, TV shows and documentaries that reflect empowering and challenging female characters, overlooked and underrated performances,...
HBO Max is stacked with movies and shows that show complex female leads, and along with their spotlight page offerings, HBO is offering a first ever in-app trivia experience to celebrate the event. The HBO Max Women’s History Month Trivia tray allows fans to discover entertainment milestones that all involve women. To reveal the answer, viewers can simply click or tap the tile.
HBO Max has curated a list of films, TV shows and documentaries that reflect empowering and challenging female characters, overlooked and underrated performances,...
- 3/2/2022
- by Dessi Gomez
- The Wrap
Sally Kellerman, who was Oscar nominated for her supporting role as Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan in Robert Altman’s “Mash” feature film, died Thursday in Woodland Hills, Calif. She was 84.
Her publicist Alan Eichler confirmed her death, and her daughter Claire added that she had been suffering from dementia for the past five years.
Among her other roles were a cameo in Altman’s “The Player,” a professor in Rodney Dangerfield’s “Back to School” and a Starfleet officer in the “Star Trek” episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
The willowy blonde actress with the characteristically throaty voice appeared in two Altman films in 1970; the other was the more experimental “Brewster McCloud,” in which she starred with Bud Cort and Michael Murphy. In this film, which did not have a conventional narrative, Kellerman played Louise, the mother of Cort’s bewinged character, Brewster.
She next starred opposite Alan Arkin...
Her publicist Alan Eichler confirmed her death, and her daughter Claire added that she had been suffering from dementia for the past five years.
Among her other roles were a cameo in Altman’s “The Player,” a professor in Rodney Dangerfield’s “Back to School” and a Starfleet officer in the “Star Trek” episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
The willowy blonde actress with the characteristically throaty voice appeared in two Altman films in 1970; the other was the more experimental “Brewster McCloud,” in which she starred with Bud Cort and Michael Murphy. In this film, which did not have a conventional narrative, Kellerman played Louise, the mother of Cort’s bewinged character, Brewster.
She next starred opposite Alan Arkin...
- 2/24/2022
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Kate Beckinsale Still Hoping for an ‘Underworld’-‘Blade’ Crossover Movie: ‘What a Duo That Would Be’
Welcome to this week’s “Just for Variety.”
Kate Beckinsale is “highly” doubtful that another “Underworld” will be made, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t up for playing Selene in a sixth movie. “I really wanted them to do an ‘Underworld’-‘Blade’ mashup. What a duo that would be,” she told me at the premiere of her action thriller “Jolt” at the San Vicente Bungalows. “I would definitely do that, but I think they just wanted to reboot ‘Blade’ as ‘Blade’ so they didn’t go for it.” Beckinsale also revealed that it wouldn’t be hard for her to slip into Selene’s signature black leather pants because she still has a pair. “I know exactly where they are,” she said. “You never know who you want to impress.”
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Cynthia Erivo has not only never played the Hollywood Bowl — she’s never even been to the...
Kate Beckinsale is “highly” doubtful that another “Underworld” will be made, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t up for playing Selene in a sixth movie. “I really wanted them to do an ‘Underworld’-‘Blade’ mashup. What a duo that would be,” she told me at the premiere of her action thriller “Jolt” at the San Vicente Bungalows. “I would definitely do that, but I think they just wanted to reboot ‘Blade’ as ‘Blade’ so they didn’t go for it.” Beckinsale also revealed that it wouldn’t be hard for her to slip into Selene’s signature black leather pants because she still has a pair. “I know exactly where they are,” she said. “You never know who you want to impress.”
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Cynthia Erivo has not only never played the Hollywood Bowl — she’s never even been to the...
- 7/21/2021
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
The founder and program director of the Etheria Film Festival, Heidi Honeycutt, discusses her favorite films from women filmmakers with Josh and Joe.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Destroyer (1988)
Army of the Dead (2021)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine recommendation
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Wonder Woman (2017)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary
The Wild Bunch (1969) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Joe Dante’s review
The Women (1939) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
The Opposite Sex (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Women (2008)
Halloween (1978) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary, Alex Kirschenbaum’s series and timeline power rankings, Randy Fuller’s wine recommendation
Valley Girl (1983) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
Valley Girl (2020)
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Wicker Man (2006)
Mandy (2018)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
Clueless (1995)
Legally Blonde (2001)
The Craft (1996)
Runaway...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Destroyer (1988)
Army of the Dead (2021)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine recommendation
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Wonder Woman (2017)
The Dirty Dozen (1967) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary
The Wild Bunch (1969) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Joe Dante’s review
The Women (1939) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
The Opposite Sex (1956) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Women (2008)
Halloween (1978) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary, Alex Kirschenbaum’s series and timeline power rankings, Randy Fuller’s wine recommendation
Valley Girl (1983) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
Valley Girl (2020)
The Wicker Man (1973)
The Wicker Man (2006)
Mandy (2018)
Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982) – Karyn Kusama’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary
Clueless (1995)
Legally Blonde (2001)
The Craft (1996)
Runaway...
- 7/13/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Maya Singer and Rebecca Hall in Morgan Spector and Maya Singer’s Mother!!, a Tribeca Film Festival highlight
Three highlights of the 20th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival With/In program of shorts (with music by Mark Adler) are Jonathan Cake’s life-affirming Touching, starring Julianne Nicholson, Iggy Cake, Phoebe Cake, and Jonathan; Bart Freundlich’s Intersection, starring Julianne Moore, Talia Balsam, and Don Cheadle, and Morgan Spector and Maya Singer’s Mother!!, starring Rebecca Hall, Maya Singer, and Morgan Spector.
During my conversation with Maya Singer, who is also the screenwriter of Mother!!, we spoke about how Bong Joon-ho’s Mother and Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! inspired the title Mother!!, formative fantasies, such as Madonna in Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan and Anne of Green Gables, consulting cinematographer Zach Kuperstein, and the work of Batsheva Hay.
Anne-Katrin Titze with Maya Singer on the title: “I was like,...
Three highlights of the 20th edition of the Tribeca Film Festival With/In program of shorts (with music by Mark Adler) are Jonathan Cake’s life-affirming Touching, starring Julianne Nicholson, Iggy Cake, Phoebe Cake, and Jonathan; Bart Freundlich’s Intersection, starring Julianne Moore, Talia Balsam, and Don Cheadle, and Morgan Spector and Maya Singer’s Mother!!, starring Rebecca Hall, Maya Singer, and Morgan Spector.
During my conversation with Maya Singer, who is also the screenwriter of Mother!!, we spoke about how Bong Joon-ho’s Mother and Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! inspired the title Mother!!, formative fantasies, such as Madonna in Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan and Anne of Green Gables, consulting cinematographer Zach Kuperstein, and the work of Batsheva Hay.
Anne-Katrin Titze with Maya Singer on the title: “I was like,...
- 7/3/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
For a certain generation of women, director Susan Seidelman’s second feature, “Desperately Seeking Susan,” is a formative text, an indelible record of New York in the ‘80s, from Madonna’s iconic hair bow to Rosanna Arquette’s spirited performance as the lead. With its cast of New York underground habitués, and fizzy pace set to the tune of Madonna’s “Into the Groove,” “Desperately Seeking Susan” was a fashion-forward change of pace from the teen comedies and slick action fare of the time.
Seidelman’s first feature, the scrappy microbudget “Smithereens,” shocked everyone when it was selected as one of the first American independent films to be accepted into official competition at the Cannes Film Festival. With a cast that included proto-punk rocker Richard Hell, the 1982 “Smithereens” captured the East Village in all its grungy, pre-gentrification glory, and has become a cult classic.
A die-hard New Yorker, Seidelman never felt comfortable in Hollywood.
Seidelman’s first feature, the scrappy microbudget “Smithereens,” shocked everyone when it was selected as one of the first American independent films to be accepted into official competition at the Cannes Film Festival. With a cast that included proto-punk rocker Richard Hell, the 1982 “Smithereens” captured the East Village in all its grungy, pre-gentrification glory, and has become a cult classic.
A die-hard New Yorker, Seidelman never felt comfortable in Hollywood.
- 3/16/2021
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Film transformations aren’t all about eyebrow-plucking and wearing a nice dress – they’re also about flying and prosthetics
Out with the old, in with the new: suburban housewife puts on groovy jacket and learns that life isn’t all picket fences and ironing. In Susan Seidelman’s 1985 comedy, bored Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) lives vicariously through enigmatic drifter Susan (Madonna), whose messages she reads in the personal ads. Her obsession leads to an appropriation of Susan’s lacy, trashy aesthetic – and liberation.
Amazon Prime Video (£)...
Out with the old, in with the new: suburban housewife puts on groovy jacket and learns that life isn’t all picket fences and ironing. In Susan Seidelman’s 1985 comedy, bored Roberta (Rosanna Arquette) lives vicariously through enigmatic drifter Susan (Madonna), whose messages she reads in the personal ads. Her obsession leads to an appropriation of Susan’s lacy, trashy aesthetic – and liberation.
Amazon Prime Video (£)...
- 1/1/2021
- by Fiona Sturges
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor known for his film roles in Desperately Seeking Susan and Crocodile Dundee
The actor Mark Blum, who has died aged 69 from complications of the coronavirus, gave a memorable performance in the screwball comedy Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) as a harried, unfaithful hot-tub salesman plunged into New York’s grungy bohemian underbelly when his wife goes missing. Searching for her, he teams up with the devil-may-care Susan, played by Madonna in her first major film role, and is exposed to her wayward, outrageous lifestyle.
Blum’s screen test with the singer followed a similar pattern. After first mistaking her for a bike messenger in the waiting room, he was invited by the director Susan Seidelman to rehearse a scene in which their characters are dancing and talking in a nightclub.
The actor Mark Blum, who has died aged 69 from complications of the coronavirus, gave a memorable performance in the screwball comedy Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) as a harried, unfaithful hot-tub salesman plunged into New York’s grungy bohemian underbelly when his wife goes missing. Searching for her, he teams up with the devil-may-care Susan, played by Madonna in her first major film role, and is exposed to her wayward, outrageous lifestyle.
Blum’s screen test with the singer followed a similar pattern. After first mistaking her for a bike messenger in the waiting room, he was invited by the director Susan Seidelman to rehearse a scene in which their characters are dancing and talking in a nightclub.
- 3/29/2020
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Mark Blum with Madonna in Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan
Mark Blum died yesterday in New York at the age of 69 from coronavirus complications. He starred opposite Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn, and Madonna in Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan and had a recurring role as the character Union Bob in the series Mozart In The Jungle, created by Roman Coppola, Alex Timbers, Paul Weitz, and Jason Schwartzman. His film work includes Peter Faiman’s Crocodile Dundee and he was a constant presence on the Off Broadway stage, in plays such as Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery.
Blum was the Director of the Uta Hagen Institute’s Hagen Core Training at Hb Studio. On Tuesday the theatre community lost four-time Tony Award winning playwright Terrence McNally to Covid-19.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio just announced at his press conference that there are now 21,873 coronavirus positives and 365 deaths reported in the city.
Mark Blum died yesterday in New York at the age of 69 from coronavirus complications. He starred opposite Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn, and Madonna in Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan and had a recurring role as the character Union Bob in the series Mozart In The Jungle, created by Roman Coppola, Alex Timbers, Paul Weitz, and Jason Schwartzman. His film work includes Peter Faiman’s Crocodile Dundee and he was a constant presence on the Off Broadway stage, in plays such as Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery.
Blum was the Director of the Uta Hagen Institute’s Hagen Core Training at Hb Studio. On Tuesday the theatre community lost four-time Tony Award winning playwright Terrence McNally to Covid-19.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio just announced at his press conference that there are now 21,873 coronavirus positives and 365 deaths reported in the city.
- 3/27/2020
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
CNN premiered the first episode in Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s six-part summer series “The Movies” Sunday night, 84 minutes devoted to the 1980s. Subsequent installments cover the 90s and post-2000 and then turn back to the 70s, 60s, and the bulk of core film history — 1930-1950 — crammed into the finale. Silent film, it seems, was not worth a mention.
First of all, this series is not targeted at erudite cinephiles who know their film history. Any self-respecting TCM watcher is too sophisticated for this breezy look at “The Movies.” Clearly the producers are trying to draw younger audiences who might be vaguely familiar with some of the movies here, from Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” to Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull.” (Both directors are on hand to comment.) Snobby old Hollywood lovers sometimes forget that for today’s 18-year-old film fan devouring classic films made before they were born,...
First of all, this series is not targeted at erudite cinephiles who know their film history. Any self-respecting TCM watcher is too sophisticated for this breezy look at “The Movies.” Clearly the producers are trying to draw younger audiences who might be vaguely familiar with some of the movies here, from Steven Spielberg’s “E.T.” to Martin Scorsese’s “Raging Bull.” (Both directors are on hand to comment.) Snobby old Hollywood lovers sometimes forget that for today’s 18-year-old film fan devouring classic films made before they were born,...
- 7/10/2019
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Celine Danhier with Joel Coen and Ethan Coen at the table behind us at The Odeon on the evolution of Blank City: "James Nares said 'Let me call Jim Jarmusch.' It was really like that. And then at the same time I had the music scenes and I interviewed Pat Place." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Celine Danhier's all-hands-on-deck Blank City, edited to perfection by Vanessa Roworth, enters the world of the No Wave and Cinema of Transgression. We see and hear about the work of Bette Gordon, Casandra Stark Mele, Charlie Ahearn, Michael Oblowitz, Nick Zedd, Sara Driver, Susan Seidelman, Maripol, Patti Astor, Eric Mitchell, Beth B, Vivienne Dick, Vincent Gallo, John Lurie, Steve Buscemi, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lizzie Borden, Amos Poe, John Waters, James Nares, Jim Jarmusch, Anders Grafstrom, Richard Kern, Ann Magnuson, James Chance, Lydia Lunch, Pat Place, Becky Johnston, Adele Bertei, Scott B, Tommy Turner, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Kemra Pfahler,...
Celine Danhier's all-hands-on-deck Blank City, edited to perfection by Vanessa Roworth, enters the world of the No Wave and Cinema of Transgression. We see and hear about the work of Bette Gordon, Casandra Stark Mele, Charlie Ahearn, Michael Oblowitz, Nick Zedd, Sara Driver, Susan Seidelman, Maripol, Patti Astor, Eric Mitchell, Beth B, Vivienne Dick, Vincent Gallo, John Lurie, Steve Buscemi, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lizzie Borden, Amos Poe, John Waters, James Nares, Jim Jarmusch, Anders Grafstrom, Richard Kern, Ann Magnuson, James Chance, Lydia Lunch, Pat Place, Becky Johnston, Adele Bertei, Scott B, Tommy Turner, Tessa Hughes-Freeland, Kemra Pfahler,...
- 4/24/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
In just two weeks, a cinematic haven will launch. After the demise of FilmStruck left cinephiles in a dark depression, The Criterion Channel has stepped up to the plate to launch their own separate service coming to the U.S. and Canada on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Roku, iOS, and Android and Android TV devices. Now, after giving us a taste of what is to come with their Movies of the Week, they’ve unveiled the staggeringly great lineup for their first month.
Along with the Criterion Collection and Janus Films’ library of 1,000 feature films, 350 shorts, and 3,500 supplementary features–including trailers, introductions, behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, video essays, commentary tracks, and rare archival footage–the service will also house films from Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate, IFC Films, Kino Lorber, Cohen Media, Milestone Film and Video, Oscilloscope, Cinema Guild, Strand Releasing, Shout Factory, Film Movement,...
Along with the Criterion Collection and Janus Films’ library of 1,000 feature films, 350 shorts, and 3,500 supplementary features–including trailers, introductions, behind-the-scenes documentaries, interviews, video essays, commentary tracks, and rare archival footage–the service will also house films from Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate, IFC Films, Kino Lorber, Cohen Media, Milestone Film and Video, Oscilloscope, Cinema Guild, Strand Releasing, Shout Factory, Film Movement,...
- 3/25/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.Recommended VIEWINGFinally, it’s here: Netflix’s trailer for their restoration and reconstruction of Orson Welles' final and previously unfinished The Other Side of the Wind, starring John Huston and Peter Bogdanovich.A dreamy, sun-bathed trailer for Carlos Reygadas's Our Time, about a Mexican family that raises fighting bulls, and a young horse trainer who enters and disrupts their lives. The Venice-bound film is Reygadas's first since his 2012 Post Tenebras Lux. Behold, the official trailer for Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria, cut with an erratic rhythm that blurs the line between violent bodily contortions and interpretive dance. The film has been acquired by Mubi to show in UK cinemas on November 16.The trailer for Rialto Pictures's new 4K restoration of Jean-Pierre Melville's little-seen When You Read This Letter (1953). The film, which...
- 8/29/2018
- MUBI
Everyone remembers the best among the scrappy 1980s films that started American “indie film” in earnest — particularly those over-stylized, wink-wink comedies by Jim Jarmusch, Susan Seidelman, Alexandre Rockwell, and so on that were among the movement’s most influential early successes. Similarly, few could forget how much fun “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction” were, revitalizing the crime-caper genre with wit and outsized directorial personality.
What we’d prefer to forget is just how many labored comedy quirkfests and effortfully wiseass capers the above films “inspired” for years afterward — wannabe movies straining for the same qualities without any original inspiration, failing to find their own voice while deliberately or unconsciously mimicking somebody else’s. The majority of these pale imitations wound up a blip on the Sundance Festival radar — if they were lucky — then were forgotten ever after.
Unfortunately, those happily buried cinematic memories come rolling back with the arrival of “Blue Iguana,...
What we’d prefer to forget is just how many labored comedy quirkfests and effortfully wiseass capers the above films “inspired” for years afterward — wannabe movies straining for the same qualities without any original inspiration, failing to find their own voice while deliberately or unconsciously mimicking somebody else’s. The majority of these pale imitations wound up a blip on the Sundance Festival radar — if they were lucky — then were forgotten ever after.
Unfortunately, those happily buried cinematic memories come rolling back with the arrival of “Blue Iguana,...
- 8/24/2018
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Gr8ter Days Terence Stamp makes rare Us appearance to talk about this career and push his new memoir. The great actor is about to turn 80...
Tfe ...so he's still too young for this 100 Oldest Living Oscar Nominees list.
THR Movie attendance has been steadily rising in Russia but the UK and France remain the top European movie markets
/Film Hmmm, The upcoming Disney spectacle Nutcracker and the Four Realms will now have two directors credited after reshoots. Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) will be credited after the original director Lasse Hallström
Vulture Director Susan Seidelman on her 80s NYC classics Smithereens and Desperately Seeking Susan
Mnpp Luca Guadagnino has shown Suspiria to Quentin Tarantino who loved it
Moviemaker Paul Schrader on our selfish legacy and environmental disaster (Do Not Read If You Haven't Yet Seen First Reformed)
Playbill if you're in NYC in the second half of...
Tfe ...so he's still too young for this 100 Oldest Living Oscar Nominees list.
THR Movie attendance has been steadily rising in Russia but the UK and France remain the top European movie markets
/Film Hmmm, The upcoming Disney spectacle Nutcracker and the Four Realms will now have two directors credited after reshoots. Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger) will be credited after the original director Lasse Hallström
Vulture Director Susan Seidelman on her 80s NYC classics Smithereens and Desperately Seeking Susan
Mnpp Luca Guadagnino has shown Suspiria to Quentin Tarantino who loved it
Moviemaker Paul Schrader on our selfish legacy and environmental disaster (Do Not Read If You Haven't Yet Seen First Reformed)
Playbill if you're in NYC in the second half of...
- 7/6/2018
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
New York is the city that never sleeps, and with so many events and activities each week across all five boroughs, it can be hard to know what’s actually worthwhile. Here are the events New York City actors should have on their radars this week. “Movies With a View” returns with a female gaze.Movies With a View, the annual outdoor screening series, returns to Brooklyn Bridge Park beginning July 12, with a decidedly 2018 point of view. More specifically, every film selected for the series will be directed by a woman, beginning with the Susan Seidelman-helmed “Desperately Seeking Susan.” Ongoing through Aug. 30 every Thursday evening, other flicks include “Paris Is Burning,” “Bend it Like Beckham,” and “Wonder Woman.” (Free) Spend Thursday in the park with Broadway.There is but one time of year during which Broadway and the outdoors come together and it’s back beginning July 12. Broadway in Bryant Park,...
- 7/6/2018
- backstage.com
Darya Zhuk talks about her film ’Crystal Swan’ which opens the East of the West competition on Saturday (June 30).
Director Darya Zhuk reveals why she wanted to return to the hopeful, optimistic time of 1990s Belarus for her debut film Crystal Swan which opens Karlovy Vary’s East of the West competition on Saturday (June 30).
Crystal Swan is about a young woman growing up in post-Soviet Belarus in the 1990s. Alina Nasibullina plays a wannabe DJ who dreams of moving to the Us but makes a tiny error on her visa application throwing her plans into disarray. It is the...
Director Darya Zhuk reveals why she wanted to return to the hopeful, optimistic time of 1990s Belarus for her debut film Crystal Swan which opens Karlovy Vary’s East of the West competition on Saturday (June 30).
Crystal Swan is about a young woman growing up in post-Soviet Belarus in the 1990s. Alina Nasibullina plays a wannabe DJ who dreams of moving to the Us but makes a tiny error on her visa application throwing her plans into disarray. It is the...
- 6/28/2018
- by Laurence Boyce
- ScreenDaily
It’s the 20th anniversary of “Sex and the City,” which debuted June 6, 1998, under lots of pressure. Pay cabler HBO needed a tentpole hit to replace its popular “The Larry Sanders Show,” which was ending after six seasons. Some pundits were skeptical about the new series, but in an April 27, 1998, interview with Variety, HBO exec Chris Albrecht predicted success: “It has a great female point of view and that’s something we don’t have a lot of.”
The series, created by Darren Star based on Candace Bushnell’s newspaper columns, centered on four women in their mid-30s and older, as they dealt with work, romance, sex, health, fashion and life. But the core of the show always remained the friendship among the quartet. It became a huge hit, and when “The Sopranos” debuted six months later, HBO got an unprecedented one-two punch, with comedy and drama series that...
The series, created by Darren Star based on Candace Bushnell’s newspaper columns, centered on four women in their mid-30s and older, as they dealt with work, romance, sex, health, fashion and life. But the core of the show always remained the friendship among the quartet. It became a huge hit, and when “The Sopranos” debuted six months later, HBO got an unprecedented one-two punch, with comedy and drama series that...
- 5/18/2018
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
John and Matthew are watching every single live-action film starring Meryl Streep.
#16 — Mary Fisher, a frivolous romance novelist who steals the husband of a dowdy housewife.
John: For such a tepid and unruly film, She-Devil enjoys quite an outsized reputation. Considered by many to be the nadir of Streep’s early career and one of her worst performances, She-Devil is also a Streep turn that is often reblogged context-free online, which makes sense when one considers its outre, Gif-ready moments of ironic femininity and gaudy Real Housewives of Long Island aesthetic that some might consider ahead of its time. Having seen these images of Streep’s Mary Fisher before watching the film, I had anticipated fun kitsch or perhaps even smart camp. Roseanne’s film debut! Susan Seidelman with a budget! Meryl’s comedy vehicle to silence the critics! But these are promises that She-Devil most certainly does not keep.
#16 — Mary Fisher, a frivolous romance novelist who steals the husband of a dowdy housewife.
John: For such a tepid and unruly film, She-Devil enjoys quite an outsized reputation. Considered by many to be the nadir of Streep’s early career and one of her worst performances, She-Devil is also a Streep turn that is often reblogged context-free online, which makes sense when one considers its outre, Gif-ready moments of ironic femininity and gaudy Real Housewives of Long Island aesthetic that some might consider ahead of its time. Having seen these images of Streep’s Mary Fisher before watching the film, I had anticipated fun kitsch or perhaps even smart camp. Roseanne’s film debut! Susan Seidelman with a budget! Meryl’s comedy vehicle to silence the critics! But these are promises that She-Devil most certainly does not keep.
- 4/19/2018
- by John Guerin
- FilmExperience
In 1983, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, along with Media Study/Buffalo, created a touring retrospective of avant-garde films, primarily feature-length ones and a few shorts, which they called “The American New Wave 1958-1967.” To accompany the tour, a hefty catalog was produced that included notes on the films, essays by film historians and critics, writings by major underground film figures and more.
The retrospective was created at a time when financially viable independent filmmaking was on the rise, such as films made by John Sayles, Wayne Wang and Susan Seidelman. According to the co-curators of the retrospective, Melinda Ward and Bruce Jenkins, the objective of the tour was to:
provide a more adequate picture than conventional history affords us of a rare period of American cinematic invention and thereby prepare a coherent critical and historical context for the reception of the new work by the current generation of independent filmmakers.
The retrospective was created at a time when financially viable independent filmmaking was on the rise, such as films made by John Sayles, Wayne Wang and Susan Seidelman. According to the co-curators of the retrospective, Melinda Ward and Bruce Jenkins, the objective of the tour was to:
provide a more adequate picture than conventional history affords us of a rare period of American cinematic invention and thereby prepare a coherent critical and historical context for the reception of the new work by the current generation of independent filmmakers.
- 11/25/2017
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
When Greta Gerwig’s already-lauded “Lady Bird” hits limited release later this week, the actress-writer-director will join a long line of other female filmmakers who used their directorial debut (this one is Gerwig’s solo directorial debut, just for clarity’s sake) to not only launch their careers, but make a huge mark while doing it. Gerwig’s Saoirse Ronan-starring coming-of-age tale is an instant classic, and one that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has enjoyed Gerwig’s charming work as a screenwriter in recent years, bolstered by her ear for dialogue and her love of complicated and complex leading ladies.
While Hollywood still lags when it comes to offering up opportunities to its most talented female filmmakers, many of them have overcome the dismal stats to deliver compelling, interesting, and unique first features. In short, they’re good filmmakers who made good movies,...
While Hollywood still lags when it comes to offering up opportunities to its most talented female filmmakers, many of them have overcome the dismal stats to deliver compelling, interesting, and unique first features. In short, they’re good filmmakers who made good movies,...
- 11/1/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
According to Page Six,Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, Spike Lee and Susan Seidelman are all pushing for New Yorkers to vote for their movieto be shown on September 13 as part of theOne Film, One New York contest.
- 8/27/2017
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
In a career that began with “sex lies and videotape” in 1989, “Logan Lucky” is Steven Soderbergh’s 26th theatrical release. It will extend his record as the top-grossing American director to come out of the independent scene in its formative years — a period we’ll define as 1975 (Joan Micklin Silver’s “Hester Street”) through 1992 (Quentin Tarantino’s debut, “Reservoir Dogs”).
To be clear, Soderbergh’s an outlier; his billion-dollar box office dwarfs every other indie filmmaker. However, looking at the performance of his contemporaries who got their start in that indie film movement, you may be surprised at who’s on the list. (Note: “Outside wide release” means less than 1,000 screens. Also, the list doesn’t include directors like Sam Raimi and Abel Ferrara, who have independent roots but were not discovered via the film festival/arthouse pathway, or Alan Rudolph, another significant ’80s figure; he started in horror films in the early ’70s.
To be clear, Soderbergh’s an outlier; his billion-dollar box office dwarfs every other indie filmmaker. However, looking at the performance of his contemporaries who got their start in that indie film movement, you may be surprised at who’s on the list. (Note: “Outside wide release” means less than 1,000 screens. Also, the list doesn’t include directors like Sam Raimi and Abel Ferrara, who have independent roots but were not discovered via the film festival/arthouse pathway, or Alan Rudolph, another significant ’80s figure; he started in horror films in the early ’70s.
- 8/19/2017
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
What is the quintessential New York City film? The city’s own Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment is eager to know, and has launched a new citywide campaign — in tandem with the New York Times — to “unite New Yorkers around one great film.” The initiative, known as “One Film, One New York” is inspired by the success of its recent “One Book, One New York” campaign, which asked citizens to pick a favorite book to then “read together” as a city.
“We are thrilled to be launching this program to unite New Yorkers around one film, and provide the opportunity for all New Yorkers to watch it for free on the same night,” said Media and Entertainment Commissioner Julie Menin in an official statement. “Film has the power to bring people together and to spark a civic conversation. These five films all raise important themes in their respective genres,...
“We are thrilled to be launching this program to unite New Yorkers around one film, and provide the opportunity for all New Yorkers to watch it for free on the same night,” said Media and Entertainment Commissioner Julie Menin in an official statement. “Film has the power to bring people together and to spark a civic conversation. These five films all raise important themes in their respective genres,...
- 8/1/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
It comes as little surprise that Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs are a lot of fun to be around, laughing easily and finishing each other sentences when it comes to talking about their work. And there’s a lot of work to talk about, particularly their feature film debut, the Sony comedy “Rough Night.” Aniello directed the hard-r female-centric feature from the pair’s screenplay – they’re often splitting duties this way, though Aniello emerged early on as the director – which also features Downs in a supporting role.
Read More: ‘Rough Night’: Filmmaker Lucia Aniello Breaks Into the Male-Dominated R-Rated Comedy — Watch
Written as a spec script, “Rough Night” sparked a minor bidding war in the spring of 2015 when Sony Pictures picked up their then-untitled screenplay (the film later appeared on the Black List that same year). “Rough Night” follows a motley group of old friends, reunited for...
Read More: ‘Rough Night’: Filmmaker Lucia Aniello Breaks Into the Male-Dominated R-Rated Comedy — Watch
Written as a spec script, “Rough Night” sparked a minor bidding war in the spring of 2015 when Sony Pictures picked up their then-untitled screenplay (the film later appeared on the Black List that same year). “Rough Night” follows a motley group of old friends, reunited for...
- 6/15/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Metrograph
Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant‘s collaborations are highlighted in a series that brings Notorious, Suspicion, and To Catch a Thief on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively.
Prints of Max Ophüls‘ Letter from an Unknown Woman and Alan Arkin‘s Little Murders play on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
A print of James and the Giant Peach...
Metrograph
Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant‘s collaborations are highlighted in a series that brings Notorious, Suspicion, and To Catch a Thief on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively.
Prints of Max Ophüls‘ Letter from an Unknown Woman and Alan Arkin‘s Little Murders play on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
A print of James and the Giant Peach...
- 8/18/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Starting Friday at The Metrograph in New York City, one of the truly great American independent features from the early 1980s is getting a much overdue reevaluation, thanks to a new restoration from an equally great, and underrated, boutique film distributor.
Best known for their horror and genre releases under their Scream Factory banner, Shout Factory is making a heavy push into the repertory world, with a new restoration of Susan Seidelman’s masterful 1982 feature, Smithereens. Seidelman’s directing debut, Smithereens is an odyssey into early ‘80s New York, a world of punk rock, pimps and lost dreams. The first ever American indie to play in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, the film tells the story of Wren, a streetwise woman living in a New York City that at once feels like a dystopian wasteland akin to an urban Mad Max and yet has an alluring energy and vitality that feels all but lost.
Best known for their horror and genre releases under their Scream Factory banner, Shout Factory is making a heavy push into the repertory world, with a new restoration of Susan Seidelman’s masterful 1982 feature, Smithereens. Seidelman’s directing debut, Smithereens is an odyssey into early ‘80s New York, a world of punk rock, pimps and lost dreams. The first ever American indie to play in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, the film tells the story of Wren, a streetwise woman living in a New York City that at once feels like a dystopian wasteland akin to an urban Mad Max and yet has an alluring energy and vitality that feels all but lost.
- 7/29/2016
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Since any New York cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Museum of Modern Art
Leo McCarey and the great Gaumont series are continuing their ongoing retrospectives, both of which make for a densely packed lineup.
Metrograph
Relive your traumatized childhood with “This Is PG?!” Jaws, Temple of Doom, and Poltergeist are but a few of the first weekend’s titles.
Helen DeWitt will present a print of Seven Samurai on Sunday.
Museum of Modern Art
Leo McCarey and the great Gaumont series are continuing their ongoing retrospectives, both of which make for a densely packed lineup.
Metrograph
Relive your traumatized childhood with “This Is PG?!” Jaws, Temple of Doom, and Poltergeist are but a few of the first weekend’s titles.
Helen DeWitt will present a print of Seven Samurai on Sunday.
- 7/29/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Girl Talk is a weekly look at women in film — past, present and future.
Susan Seidelman had just completed her first feature when the Cannes Film Festival came calling. In 1982, Seidelman wasn’t yet 30; she was only a few years out of film school and had only a single feature under her belt. But that didn’t matter to the world’s most well-regarded festival. They wanted Seidelman’s “Smithereens,” and the ensuing reception for the film — a punk-infused dark comedy about the bohemian underworld of New York City featuring a not entirely likable lead character — didn’t just change Seidelman’s life; it changed the way American independent cinema was received around the world.
“Smithereens,” shot guerilla-style around the city with a cast and crew made up of many of the filmmaker’s Nyu classmates, marked a sea change for Cannes: It was the first American independent feature had...
Susan Seidelman had just completed her first feature when the Cannes Film Festival came calling. In 1982, Seidelman wasn’t yet 30; she was only a few years out of film school and had only a single feature under her belt. But that didn’t matter to the world’s most well-regarded festival. They wanted Seidelman’s “Smithereens,” and the ensuing reception for the film — a punk-infused dark comedy about the bohemian underworld of New York City featuring a not entirely likable lead character — didn’t just change Seidelman’s life; it changed the way American independent cinema was received around the world.
“Smithereens,” shot guerilla-style around the city with a cast and crew made up of many of the filmmaker’s Nyu classmates, marked a sea change for Cannes: It was the first American independent feature had...
- 7/28/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
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