Because I’m old (or maybe I should go with “well-seasoned?”), I have fond memories of seeing Urban Legend on opening night in theaters somehow finding herself in the middle of the murder spree. And as her friends are offed one by one, it’s up to Natalie to try and put the pieces of the puzzle together and figure out just who is behind the urban legend-inspired massacre at Pendleton before she becomes another victim of the mysterious hooded maniac.
***Spoiler Warning: Generally, I don’t post a spoiler warning for films that have been out for several decades, but I do realize that not everyone has seen this one for some reason or another, so from here on out, I’m going to be diving into various aspects of Urban Legend that will reveal certain plot points. That being said, if you’re interested in retaining certain surprises to the film’s mystery,...
***Spoiler Warning: Generally, I don’t post a spoiler warning for films that have been out for several decades, but I do realize that not everyone has seen this one for some reason or another, so from here on out, I’m going to be diving into various aspects of Urban Legend that will reveal certain plot points. That being said, if you’re interested in retaining certain surprises to the film’s mystery,...
- 12/11/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Make sure you check the backseat of your car, because as Scream Factory announced during Comic-Con, they're bringing Urban Legend and Urban Legends: Final Cut to Blu-ray, and now they've revealed the extensive special features for both releases, including a 147-minute documentary, a new audio commentary, a bunch of new interviews, and more!
Press Release: Get ready to face your worst fears this November 20, 2018 when Scream Factory™ unleashes 90’s horror smash hit Urban Legend Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Blu-ray and its suspenseful follow-up Urban Legends: Final Cut Blu-ray. A must-have for loyal fans, movie collectors and horror enthusiasts, Urban Legend Collector’s Edition and Urban Legends: Final Cut contain special bonus content. Pre-order now at ShoutFactory.com
Directed by Jamie Blanks, Urban Legend stars Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Alicia Witt (TV’s The Exorcist), Rebecca Gayheart (Jawbreaker), Joshua Jackson (The Affair), Loretta Devine (Grey’s Anatomy), Tara Reid...
Press Release: Get ready to face your worst fears this November 20, 2018 when Scream Factory™ unleashes 90’s horror smash hit Urban Legend Collector’s Edition 2-Disc Blu-ray and its suspenseful follow-up Urban Legends: Final Cut Blu-ray. A must-have for loyal fans, movie collectors and horror enthusiasts, Urban Legend Collector’s Edition and Urban Legends: Final Cut contain special bonus content. Pre-order now at ShoutFactory.com
Directed by Jamie Blanks, Urban Legend stars Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club), Alicia Witt (TV’s The Exorcist), Rebecca Gayheart (Jawbreaker), Joshua Jackson (The Affair), Loretta Devine (Grey’s Anatomy), Tara Reid...
- 10/12/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
There's plenty of advice out there for aspiring filmmakers and cinematographers, some great, some garbage. With that in mind, Indiewire asked the cinematographers of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival what was the best and worst advice they ever received, as part of our How I Shot That series. Here is a selection of their responses: Best Advice: "Don't feel pressure to run to the frontline and film. Follow your gut instincts and get in and get out and only if it there are essential moments for you to tell your story." -- Cinematographer Rachel Beth Anderson ("E-Team") "Vilmos Zsigmond told me, 'Jim, nice guys finish first and when you are successful promise me that you will help the next person.'" -- Cinematographer James Chressanthis ("Cesar's Last Fast") "First and foremost: It's not a race. Enjoy the whole journey and be proud of yourself even when things aren't going your way.
- 1/23/2014
- by Max O'Connell
- Indiewire
James Chressanthis has worked on numerous projects over the last several years as a cinematographer, including "The Watsons Go To Birmingham," "The Makeover," "The Music Man," "Life With Judy Garland," "Ghost Whisperer," and "Hide." His latest, "Cesar's Last Fast," directed by Richard Ray Perez & Lorena Parlee, is a documentary chronicling Cesar Chavez's 36-day water-only fast in 1988. It is screening at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Which cameras and lens did you use? Betacam, Panavision Genesis, Canon C300 & 5D, Arri Alexa and Canon C300 with Super 8mm, Arri 416 and Panavision Genesis, Arri Super16 SR3, 35mm Panavision. What was the most difficult shot in your movie and how did you pull it off? It was being unobtrusive and capturing the private moments, and the tremendous sacrifice of Cesar Chavez. His breaking of his fast with Ethel Kennedy was the most difficult moment: feeling the tremendous outpouring of emotions while clearly rendering the.
- 1/21/2014
- by Taylor Lindsay
- Indiewire
Update: Participant Media has confirmed Deadline’s scoop on the Cesar Chavez pic. Release appears below the original story. Exclusive: In a mid-six figure deal, Participant Media’s TV network Pivot is teaming with Univision to acquire Cesar’s Last Fast, the documentary about Cesar Chavez that will make its Sundance premiere tomorrow in the U.S. Feature Documentary category. The deal is the first major one after Participant and Univision last year formed a venture to acquire smart properties to air on both networks. The film covers the 36-day fast undertaken by Cesar Chavez to bring attention around the world to the dangers of the liberal use of pesticides on farm workers, their families and communities. The 1988 fast, in which Chavez only consumed water, was captured on film by filmmakers James Chressanthis, Richard Ray Perez and Lorena Parlee. It was one of the courageous acts that made Chavez an iconic advocate for farm workers.
- 1/18/2014
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline TV
Update: Participant Media has confirmed Deadline’s scoop on the Cesar Chavez pic. Release appears below the original story. Exclusive: In a mid-six figure deal, Participant Media’s TV network Pivot is teaming with Univision to acquire Cesar’s Last Fast, the documentary about Cesar Chavez that will make its Sundance premiere tomorrow in the U.S. Feature Documentary category. The deal is the first major one after Participant and Univision last year formed a venture to acquire smart properties to air on both networks. The film covers the 36-day fast undertaken by Cesar Chavez to bring attention around the world to the dangers of the liberal use of pesticides on farm workers, their families and communities. The 1988 fast, in which Chavez only consumed water, was captured on film by filmmakers James Chressanthis, Richard Ray Perez and Lorena Parlee. It was one of the courageous acts that made Chavez an iconic advocate for farm workers.
- 1/18/2014
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
It’s that time again. The biggest American film festival is upon us, and this year the Ioncinema crew will be descending on Park City with eight feet on the ground and eight eyes on Park City’s various and plentiful screens. Eric Lavallee, Nicholas Bell, Caitlin Coder and I will be covering just about every inch of this year’s festival here at Ioncinema.com, as well as on that ever increasingly vibrant instanews network – Twitter. Be sure to follow @ioncinema and, as stated above, my personal handle @Rectangular_Eye, as we’ll be tweeting throughout the festival with breaking news, reviews, and sightings, all the while trying to keep up with the massive amount of content sure to be coming from this year’s Sundance filmmakers themselves, most of which have their own Twitter accounts and are listed at length below (minus the world & short programs). Whether you...
- 1/16/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Part two in this year’s Sundance Twitterverse series, we are bringing you direct contact with most of next year’s Oscar short list. No one on this list is repped more than the No No: A Dockumentary (@dockumentary) crew, who are all sporting profile pics from the film on their feeds.
U.S. Documentary Competition
Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory – @AliveInsideFilm
Editor Manuel Tsingaris – @MTsingaris
Composer Itall Shur – @ItaalShur
All the Beautiful Things – @ATBThingsMovie
Director John Harkrider – @pathetic100
Captivated The Trials of Pamela Smart
Cinematographer Naiti Gámez – @naitigamez
The Case Against 8 – @TheCaseAgainst8
Co-Director Ben Cotner – @bcotner
Producer Rebekah Fergusson – @R_Films
Composer Blake Neely – @cowonthewall
Cesar’s Last Fast – @CesarsLastFast
Co-Director Richard Ray Perez – @BraveNewRick
Producer Molly O’Brien – @mobworks
Editor Lewis Erskine – @EditorSavant
Editor Carla Gutierrez – @CarlitaGu
Cinematographer James Chressanthis – @NoSubtitles
E-team - @ETeamFilm
Subject: Human Rights Watch – @hrw
Co-Director Katy Chevigny – @mightychevs
Co-Director...
U.S. Documentary Competition
Alive Inside: A Story of Music & Memory – @AliveInsideFilm
Editor Manuel Tsingaris – @MTsingaris
Composer Itall Shur – @ItaalShur
All the Beautiful Things – @ATBThingsMovie
Director John Harkrider – @pathetic100
Captivated The Trials of Pamela Smart
Cinematographer Naiti Gámez – @naitigamez
The Case Against 8 – @TheCaseAgainst8
Co-Director Ben Cotner – @bcotner
Producer Rebekah Fergusson – @R_Films
Composer Blake Neely – @cowonthewall
Cesar’s Last Fast – @CesarsLastFast
Co-Director Richard Ray Perez – @BraveNewRick
Producer Molly O’Brien – @mobworks
Editor Lewis Erskine – @EditorSavant
Editor Carla Gutierrez – @CarlitaGu
Cinematographer James Chressanthis – @NoSubtitles
E-team - @ETeamFilm
Subject: Human Rights Watch – @hrw
Co-Director Katy Chevigny – @mightychevs
Co-Director...
- 1/16/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Every year since 2000, the Jeonju International Film Festival has commissioned three short works for its Jeonju Digital Project and, about a month ago now, the festival announced it'd selected Raya Martin, Vimukthi Jayasundara and Ying Liang for this year's edition (you may remember the three directors' video messages). The 2011 films are still making the rounds, and in fact, when they screen tomorrow at Exit Art, two of them — Claire Denis's To the Devil and José Luis Guerín's Memories of a Morning, both 45 minutes — will be seeing their NYC premieres. The third is Jean-Marie Straub's An Heir (22 mins, image above). If you're planning on being there, you'll want to read Robert Koehler's dispatch from Locarno last summer, touching briefly on the Denis and Guerín films but really digging into the Straub.
Reading. "With the main focus on African and Asian cinema and documentary film, Camera Lucida no 7 also...
Reading. "With the main focus on African and Asian cinema and documentary film, Camera Lucida no 7 also...
- 2/28/2012
- MUBI
Generally speaking, stories about Hollywood personalities tend to focus on players with larger than life egos, who used their bravado to make things happen, or the stars whose luminous quailty made them legends. There is nothing that makes for a more page-turning read or a compelling documentary than juicy behind the scenes stories, and the outsized rumors that linger around them. But you won't find anything salacious in "No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos," which makes it all the more refreshing and endearing. This is the kind of Hollywood story we don't hear often enough, one of true friendship and collaboration, of two likeminded souls whose dedication to each other and respect for the craft made them true legends in the field.
If you don't know much about the personal lives of celebrated and revered cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, your appreciation of 'No Subtitles Necessary' will be even greater.
If you don't know much about the personal lives of celebrated and revered cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, your appreciation of 'No Subtitles Necessary' will be even greater.
- 2/27/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
DVD Release Date: Feb. 28, 2012
Price: DVD $19.95
Studio: Cinema Libre
The lives, careers and friendship of legendary Hungary-born cinematographers László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond are examined in the 2008 documentary No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos,
László Kovács (r.) and Vilmos Zsigmond focus on their work in No Subtitles Necessary.
Both survivors of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Kovács and Zsigmond immigrated in poverty to America in the late 1950s, helping each other up the ladder out of the underbelly of Hollywood all the while holding onto their dreams. After ten years of no-budget toil, Kovács’s camera broke Hollywood’s rules with Easy Rider, directed by Dennis Hopper. Suddenly in demand, he recommended Vilmos to both Peter Fonda and Robert Altman, where Zsigmond poured his “poetic realism” into Fonda’s 1971 The Hired Hand and Altman’s 1971 McCabe & Mrs. Miller. The two cinematographers quickly became the go-to camera guys of the New Hollywood, ultimately yielding some 140 credits between them,...
Price: DVD $19.95
Studio: Cinema Libre
The lives, careers and friendship of legendary Hungary-born cinematographers László Kovács and Vilmos Zsigmond are examined in the 2008 documentary No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos,
László Kovács (r.) and Vilmos Zsigmond focus on their work in No Subtitles Necessary.
Both survivors of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Kovács and Zsigmond immigrated in poverty to America in the late 1950s, helping each other up the ladder out of the underbelly of Hollywood all the while holding onto their dreams. After ten years of no-budget toil, Kovács’s camera broke Hollywood’s rules with Easy Rider, directed by Dennis Hopper. Suddenly in demand, he recommended Vilmos to both Peter Fonda and Robert Altman, where Zsigmond poured his “poetic realism” into Fonda’s 1971 The Hired Hand and Altman’s 1971 McCabe & Mrs. Miller. The two cinematographers quickly became the go-to camera guys of the New Hollywood, ultimately yielding some 140 credits between them,...
- 2/20/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
By Bob Fisher
HollywoodNews.com: James Chressanthis, Asc will be traveling to Vladistock and Moscow, in Russia, and to Mongolia in September and October, where he will be screening his extraordinary documentary “No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos” at American embassies and other venues, including film festivals. The documentary that Chressanthis produced and directed chronicles the lives and careers of legendary cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs, Asc and Vilmos Zsigmond, Asc. The screenings are part of the American Documentary Showcase, a cooperative venture sponsored by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State and the University Film & Video Association. Chressanthis produced and directed this remarkable documentary as an act of passion. His narrative cinematography credits include “The Ghost Whisperer” television series, and the award-winning telefilms “Four Minutes,” “Living Proof, 3: The Dale Earnheart Story,” “The Reagans” and “The Music Man.” Chressanthis met Kovacs and Zsigmond during the dawn of his career.
HollywoodNews.com: James Chressanthis, Asc will be traveling to Vladistock and Moscow, in Russia, and to Mongolia in September and October, where he will be screening his extraordinary documentary “No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo and Vilmos” at American embassies and other venues, including film festivals. The documentary that Chressanthis produced and directed chronicles the lives and careers of legendary cinematographers Laszlo Kovacs, Asc and Vilmos Zsigmond, Asc. The screenings are part of the American Documentary Showcase, a cooperative venture sponsored by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State and the University Film & Video Association. Chressanthis produced and directed this remarkable documentary as an act of passion. His narrative cinematography credits include “The Ghost Whisperer” television series, and the award-winning telefilms “Four Minutes,” “Living Proof, 3: The Dale Earnheart Story,” “The Reagans” and “The Music Man.” Chressanthis met Kovacs and Zsigmond during the dawn of his career.
- 6/25/2010
- by Bob Fisher
- Hollywoodnews.com
A new documentary about film-maker Vilmos Zsigmond shows the risks he took filming secret footage of Soviet troops in Hungary
The visionary Hungarian-born cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond does not care, I suspect, to dwell in the emotional terrain of the past. Perhaps the roots of that lie in the dying embers of 1956, when Soviet troops invaded his homeland and crushed the Hungarian revolution. To look back then, as he fled Budapest with clandestinely shot footage, would have meant death. "We had to be careful," Zsigmond says, "because the Russians had killed people just for taking still photographs."
Zsigmond's life is the subject of a warmly received documentary by James Chressanthis called No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos, which has just reached Los Angeles. The Laszlo in question is the late, great cinematographer László Kovács, Zsigmond's spiritual brother and companion on that fateful flight to the Austrian border more than half a century ago,...
The visionary Hungarian-born cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond does not care, I suspect, to dwell in the emotional terrain of the past. Perhaps the roots of that lie in the dying embers of 1956, when Soviet troops invaded his homeland and crushed the Hungarian revolution. To look back then, as he fled Budapest with clandestinely shot footage, would have meant death. "We had to be careful," Zsigmond says, "because the Russians had killed people just for taking still photographs."
Zsigmond's life is the subject of a warmly received documentary by James Chressanthis called No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos, which has just reached Los Angeles. The Laszlo in question is the late, great cinematographer László Kovács, Zsigmond's spiritual brother and companion on that fateful flight to the Austrian border more than half a century ago,...
- 11/12/2009
- by Jeremy Kay
- The Guardian - Film News
LeVar Burton's "Reach for Me" took home the best feature film award and the best of the festival award at the 10th anniversary Lake Arrowhead Film Festival, which concluded Sunday.
At the fest's awards luncheon at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, director Joe Dante received the award for Special Achievement in the Art of Independent Filmmaking.
Other awards were presented to Georgina Lightning's "Older Than America," which received the June Lockhart Special Achievement in Film Award, and James Chressanthis' "Laszlo and Vilmos: No Subtitles Necessary" was presented with a Special Recognition Award.
Chris McDonald served as the host for the ceremony, with Seymour Cassel, Charlie Robinson, Barry Primus, Cynthia Stevenson, Brett Cullen and Chris Mulkey all serving as presenters.
At the fest's awards luncheon at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, director Joe Dante received the award for Special Achievement in the Art of Independent Filmmaking.
Other awards were presented to Georgina Lightning's "Older Than America," which received the June Lockhart Special Achievement in Film Award, and James Chressanthis' "Laszlo and Vilmos: No Subtitles Necessary" was presented with a Special Recognition Award.
Chris McDonald served as the host for the ceremony, with Seymour Cassel, Charlie Robinson, Barry Primus, Cynthia Stevenson, Brett Cullen and Chris Mulkey all serving as presenters.
J. F. Lawton's "Jackson" will serve as opening-night film of the 10th annual Lake Arrowhead Film Festival, to be held at the Lake Arrowhead Resort & Spa from April 2-5. Barry Primus and Charlie Robinson, who star in the film as two bums whose lives are affected by a $20 bill, will attend the opening.
The lineup also includes such features as Francesco Lucente's "Badland," LeVar Burton's "Reach for Me," Duane Crichton's "Saving God" and Charles Evered's "Adopt a Sailor" and such short films as Chris Jones' "Gone Fishing" and Peter Beigen's "Ceremonies of the Horsemen."
Cinematographer Wally Pfister will present an award to fellow cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond and the late Lazslo Kovacs, which Zsigmond will accept on their behlf. The two filmmakers are the subject of James Chressanthis' documentary "No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos."
At the fest's Friday night gala, Jim Thebaut will receive the...
The lineup also includes such features as Francesco Lucente's "Badland," LeVar Burton's "Reach for Me," Duane Crichton's "Saving God" and Charles Evered's "Adopt a Sailor" and such short films as Chris Jones' "Gone Fishing" and Peter Beigen's "Ceremonies of the Horsemen."
Cinematographer Wally Pfister will present an award to fellow cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond and the late Lazslo Kovacs, which Zsigmond will accept on their behlf. The two filmmakers are the subject of James Chressanthis' documentary "No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos."
At the fest's Friday night gala, Jim Thebaut will receive the...
- 3/11/2009
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ray Dennis Steckler, the maverick producer/director/writer/actor/cinematographer (and-and-and) who created such cult flicks as The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-up Zombies!!? (1964) and The Thrill Killers (1964), died Wednesday night at age 70. At the beginning of his nearly half-century career, the rebel moviemaker was a fixture at Fairway International, the Burbank-based indie film company established by Arch Hall, Sr.
Steckler began as a camera assistant on Fairway’s caveman-on-the-loose-in-Palm-Springs campfest Eegah (1962) and then directed their next feature Wild Guitar the same year. Using his frequent nom de screen “Cash Flagg,” he also co-starred in the latter as the thuggish henchman of a record company executive (Hall Sr.).
The star of Eegah and Wild Guitar, Arch Hall Jr. knew Steckler from the Fairway days until what was his final public appearance on November 14, 2008: a special Los Angeles County Museum of Art screening of No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos,...
Steckler began as a camera assistant on Fairway’s caveman-on-the-loose-in-Palm-Springs campfest Eegah (1962) and then directed their next feature Wild Guitar the same year. Using his frequent nom de screen “Cash Flagg,” he also co-starred in the latter as the thuggish henchman of a record company executive (Hall Sr.).
The star of Eegah and Wild Guitar, Arch Hall Jr. knew Steckler from the Fairway days until what was his final public appearance on November 14, 2008: a special Los Angeles County Museum of Art screening of No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos,...
- 1/9/2009
- Fangoria
Martin Scorsese, Dennis Hopper, Mark Rydell, Owen Roizman and Haskell Wexler are among the film industry veterans slated to be interviewed for inclusion in a new documentary about two of the community's most influential directors of photography, Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond.
In production, Laszlo & Vilmos: The Story of Two Refugees Who Changed the Look of American Cinema is being written and helmed by director of photography James Chressanthis.
While living in Budapest during their youth, Kovacs and Zsigmond famously documented events of the Hungarian Revolution and carried the film on a risky, dangerous journey across the Austrian border. They arrived in the U.S. as political refugees from Hungary in February 1956 and went on to become prominent DPs.
Kovacs' credits include Paper Moon and Easy Rider; Zsigmond's credits include Close Encounters of the Third Kind to The Deer Hunter.
The pair influenced Chressanthis while he was an AFI film student and when he served as an intern on the Zsigmond-lensed The Witches of Eastwick.
Chressanthis recalled that one day Zsigmond called for a long lunch, as it was the 30th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution.
In production, Laszlo & Vilmos: The Story of Two Refugees Who Changed the Look of American Cinema is being written and helmed by director of photography James Chressanthis.
While living in Budapest during their youth, Kovacs and Zsigmond famously documented events of the Hungarian Revolution and carried the film on a risky, dangerous journey across the Austrian border. They arrived in the U.S. as political refugees from Hungary in February 1956 and went on to become prominent DPs.
Kovacs' credits include Paper Moon and Easy Rider; Zsigmond's credits include Close Encounters of the Third Kind to The Deer Hunter.
The pair influenced Chressanthis while he was an AFI film student and when he served as an intern on the Zsigmond-lensed The Witches of Eastwick.
Chressanthis recalled that one day Zsigmond called for a long lunch, as it was the 30th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution.
- 6/18/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
She may have lived nearly half her life in the spotlight, but there's still some video of the late Anna Nicole Smith that you haven't seen.
Documentary producer Ashley Wells Lewis has culled three hours of unseen footage of Smith, who died last week, into an 80-minute docu that's being offered to broadcast and cable networks. The footage was shot in Lewis' Malibu home in May 1993 after the producer befriended Smith, who stayed at her guest house several times.
The docu, shot by cinematographer James Chressanthis (CBS' Ghost Whisperer), features the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year discussing such topics as her son, Daniel, who died in September, and future husband J. Howard Marshall, who died in 1995. She also sings in character as her idol Marilyn Monroe.
"It shows a genuine, sweet, innocent side of her that we've never seen before," said Lewis, whose credits include A Bridge for the Children and Voices That Care.
The Smith project is repped by Rebel Entertainment Partners.
Documentary producer Ashley Wells Lewis has culled three hours of unseen footage of Smith, who died last week, into an 80-minute docu that's being offered to broadcast and cable networks. The footage was shot in Lewis' Malibu home in May 1993 after the producer befriended Smith, who stayed at her guest house several times.
The docu, shot by cinematographer James Chressanthis (CBS' Ghost Whisperer), features the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year discussing such topics as her son, Daniel, who died in September, and future husband J. Howard Marshall, who died in 1995. She also sings in character as her idol Marilyn Monroe.
"It shows a genuine, sweet, innocent side of her that we've never seen before," said Lewis, whose credits include A Bridge for the Children and Voices That Care.
The Smith project is repped by Rebel Entertainment Partners.
- 2/16/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Film review: 'Judas Kiss' Night of the Kissing 'Judas' /New Orleans crime noir flick marches smartly
In addition to betrayal, "Judas Kiss" is packed with decadence, treachery, kinky sex and malfeasance. It's a hard noir-thriller, as twisted as a Jim Thompson tale, and it should lock in solid appreciation for fans of the genre as well as those who like their entertainment with a sharp, sardonic edge.
Lurid and labyrinthian, the tale is aptly set in modern-day New Orleans, where a small-time band of perps sets out to kidnap a wealthy computer mogul (Greg Wise). The venture criminals in this tawdry case include sex-crazed lovers Junior (Simon Baker-Denny) and Coco (Carla Gugino), a freaky techie, Lizard (Gil Bellows), and a hotheaded strong-arm named Ruben (Til Schweiger). During the crime in which they bag-and-gag their victim, there's a snag: Coco shoots a woman who appears unexpectedly at the scene. Unfortunately for our gang of four, the woman that Coco has plugged happens to be the wife of a U.S. senator. The heat, locals and feds, is on.
For the locals, there's reluctant detective Friedman (Alan Rickman), and for the feds, there's eat-nails-for-breakfast agent Hawkins (Emma Thompson).
As expected, cooperation between federal and local is not without its burrs, but in this squalid case the duo seem to be cut out of the same cloth: Both are insomniacs, both are Thompson aficionados and both are living alone, not contentedly. In short, they're attracted to each other, though neither will openly admit it. They banter, each winning points and, all the while, winning each other's admiration.
Writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez has carved out a bright and inventive piece of genre fare, a lethal noir thriller with all the complexity, ambiguity and amorality of a down-and-dirty pulper. It's a dicey tale, combustively intercut between the youthful criminals and the middle-aged lawfolk.
On the criminal side, all things sizzle, while on the enforcement side, we see they tend to percolate. Gutierrez has created credible characters, from crazies to cruddies. Admittedly, we sorts who have come to fritter away too much time wading through noir writers will spot the ultimate baddest guy right off. Still, Gutierrez's take on noir is juicy and jagged -- highly entertaining and involving.
The performances are dead-on, beginning with Rickman, whose weary-alchy turn as the detective is perfectly weathered. With her hot Southern twang, Thompson steps out of her carriage onto the mean streets with spicy aplomb.
On the bad side, Gugino is outstanding as the small-town girl with steamy ambitions, and Baker-Denny is well-cast as her manic mentor. As Lizard, Bellows is appropriately slithery, while Schweiger's hair-trigger turn is positively chilling.
Supporting performances are superb, most prominently the one from Hal Holbrook, who shows an iciness one wouldn't expect. Philip Baker Hall sends shivers into us with his moment as a well-connected goombah.
Technical contributions reek with just the right atmospherics. Cinematographer James Chressanthis' sultry colors and composer Christopher Young's smudgy sounds are just the right sinister tones.
JUDAS KISS
Key Entertainment
in association with Bandeira Entertainment
A Flynn/Simchowitz production
Credits: Producers: Beau Flynn, Stefan Simchowitz, Jonathan King; Screenwriter, director: Sebastian Gutierrez; Story: Sebastian Gutierrez, Deanna Fuller; Executive producers: Matthias Emcke, Thomas Augsberger, Molly Madden, Daniel Rappaport; Co-producers: Carla Gugino, Elaine Dysinger; Director of photography: James Chressanthis; Production designer: Jerry Fleming; Editor: Howard Smith; Costume designer: Denise Wingate; Music: Christopher Young; Music supervisors: Sonya Chang, Lynn Geller; Casting: Nancy Mayor. Cast: Sadie Hawkins: Emma Thompson; Dave Friedman: Alan Rickman; Coco: Carla Gugino; Junior Armstrong: Simon Baker-Denny; Ruben: Til Schweiger; Lizard: Gil Bellows; Ben Dyson: Greg Wise; Senator Hornbeck: Hal Holbrook; Poppy Malavero: Philip Baker Hall. No MPAA rating. Color/stereo. Running time -- 98 minutes.
Lurid and labyrinthian, the tale is aptly set in modern-day New Orleans, where a small-time band of perps sets out to kidnap a wealthy computer mogul (Greg Wise). The venture criminals in this tawdry case include sex-crazed lovers Junior (Simon Baker-Denny) and Coco (Carla Gugino), a freaky techie, Lizard (Gil Bellows), and a hotheaded strong-arm named Ruben (Til Schweiger). During the crime in which they bag-and-gag their victim, there's a snag: Coco shoots a woman who appears unexpectedly at the scene. Unfortunately for our gang of four, the woman that Coco has plugged happens to be the wife of a U.S. senator. The heat, locals and feds, is on.
For the locals, there's reluctant detective Friedman (Alan Rickman), and for the feds, there's eat-nails-for-breakfast agent Hawkins (Emma Thompson).
As expected, cooperation between federal and local is not without its burrs, but in this squalid case the duo seem to be cut out of the same cloth: Both are insomniacs, both are Thompson aficionados and both are living alone, not contentedly. In short, they're attracted to each other, though neither will openly admit it. They banter, each winning points and, all the while, winning each other's admiration.
Writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez has carved out a bright and inventive piece of genre fare, a lethal noir thriller with all the complexity, ambiguity and amorality of a down-and-dirty pulper. It's a dicey tale, combustively intercut between the youthful criminals and the middle-aged lawfolk.
On the criminal side, all things sizzle, while on the enforcement side, we see they tend to percolate. Gutierrez has created credible characters, from crazies to cruddies. Admittedly, we sorts who have come to fritter away too much time wading through noir writers will spot the ultimate baddest guy right off. Still, Gutierrez's take on noir is juicy and jagged -- highly entertaining and involving.
The performances are dead-on, beginning with Rickman, whose weary-alchy turn as the detective is perfectly weathered. With her hot Southern twang, Thompson steps out of her carriage onto the mean streets with spicy aplomb.
On the bad side, Gugino is outstanding as the small-town girl with steamy ambitions, and Baker-Denny is well-cast as her manic mentor. As Lizard, Bellows is appropriately slithery, while Schweiger's hair-trigger turn is positively chilling.
Supporting performances are superb, most prominently the one from Hal Holbrook, who shows an iciness one wouldn't expect. Philip Baker Hall sends shivers into us with his moment as a well-connected goombah.
Technical contributions reek with just the right atmospherics. Cinematographer James Chressanthis' sultry colors and composer Christopher Young's smudgy sounds are just the right sinister tones.
JUDAS KISS
Key Entertainment
in association with Bandeira Entertainment
A Flynn/Simchowitz production
Credits: Producers: Beau Flynn, Stefan Simchowitz, Jonathan King; Screenwriter, director: Sebastian Gutierrez; Story: Sebastian Gutierrez, Deanna Fuller; Executive producers: Matthias Emcke, Thomas Augsberger, Molly Madden, Daniel Rappaport; Co-producers: Carla Gugino, Elaine Dysinger; Director of photography: James Chressanthis; Production designer: Jerry Fleming; Editor: Howard Smith; Costume designer: Denise Wingate; Music: Christopher Young; Music supervisors: Sonya Chang, Lynn Geller; Casting: Nancy Mayor. Cast: Sadie Hawkins: Emma Thompson; Dave Friedman: Alan Rickman; Coco: Carla Gugino; Junior Armstrong: Simon Baker-Denny; Ruben: Til Schweiger; Lizard: Gil Bellows; Ben Dyson: Greg Wise; Senator Hornbeck: Hal Holbrook; Poppy Malavero: Philip Baker Hall. No MPAA rating. Color/stereo. Running time -- 98 minutes.
- 9/22/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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