Premiering at Sundance, documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, follows a Russian couple known for daredevil stunts
A new film on the death-defying illegal stunts by two high-profile “rooftoppers” has premiered at the Sundance film festival, attracting critical acclaim and comparisons to Free Solo, the Oscar-winning documentary on the climber Alex Honnold and Man on Wire, a Sundance hit 16 years ago on the urban tightrope walker Philippe Petit.
Skywalkers: A Love Story, which premiered on Thursday night at the Utah film festival, follows Russian couple, Angela Nikolau and Vanya Kuznetsov, who goes publicly by the name Ivan Beerkus, as they forge a romantic relationship while illegally summiting skyscrapers and filming their stunts for social media. The documentary opens in the middle of their headline-making attempt to climb Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – the world’s second-tallest building and heavily guarded during the final phase of its construction – while guards were distracted...
A new film on the death-defying illegal stunts by two high-profile “rooftoppers” has premiered at the Sundance film festival, attracting critical acclaim and comparisons to Free Solo, the Oscar-winning documentary on the climber Alex Honnold and Man on Wire, a Sundance hit 16 years ago on the urban tightrope walker Philippe Petit.
Skywalkers: A Love Story, which premiered on Thursday night at the Utah film festival, follows Russian couple, Angela Nikolau and Vanya Kuznetsov, who goes publicly by the name Ivan Beerkus, as they forge a romantic relationship while illegally summiting skyscrapers and filming their stunts for social media. The documentary opens in the middle of their headline-making attempt to climb Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – the world’s second-tallest building and heavily guarded during the final phase of its construction – while guards were distracted...
- 1/19/2024
- by Adrian Horton in Park City, Utah
- The Guardian - Film News
“Skywalkers: A Love Story” lends new meaning to the words “high anxiety.” It’s a documentary set in the world of rooftoopers, the new generation of daredevils who scale the tallest buildings they can find, climbing to the tips of skyscrapers and posting top-of-the-world footage of themselves on social media. Directed by Jeff Zimbalist (a former rooftopper himself), the film is brilliantly edited, and it’s full of amazing, terrifying, transfixing verité shots of figures walking on girders, sprawling on ledges, and scaling the spindly, often curved spires that shoot out of the tops of buildings, consisting up close of ladders in the form of precarious slats.
The movie puts us right up there with these outlaw thrill-seekers, and even if you don’t happen to possess a fear of heights, the images are so vivid in their vicarious immediacy that you may tilt your head ever so slightly one way or another,...
The movie puts us right up there with these outlaw thrill-seekers, and even if you don’t happen to possess a fear of heights, the images are so vivid in their vicarious immediacy that you may tilt your head ever so slightly one way or another,...
- 1/19/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Welcome to the world of documentaries, where real lives and real stories come to life on the screen. There’s something profoundly moving about witnessing the human experience captured through the lens of a camera – the raw emotions, the untold struggles, and the amazing moments that shape our lives. As a documentary enthusiast who believes in the power of storytelling, I’m excited to share with you a curated list of seven documentaries that offer a deep dive into the complexities of our existence.
Related: 10 Must-Watch Documentaries That Changed Public Perception
These documentaries are more than just films; they’re windows into the lives of individuals who have experienced the spectrum of human emotions and challenges. From the comfort of your couch, you’ll have the privilege of walking in their shoes, experiencing their journeys, and gaining insights that might just change your perspective on the world.
Each documentary on...
Related: 10 Must-Watch Documentaries That Changed Public Perception
These documentaries are more than just films; they’re windows into the lives of individuals who have experienced the spectrum of human emotions and challenges. From the comfort of your couch, you’ll have the privilege of walking in their shoes, experiencing their journeys, and gaining insights that might just change your perspective on the world.
Each documentary on...
- 10/25/2023
- by Pia Vermaak
- buddytv.com
With seven features to his name, Franco-Algerian director Rabah Ameur-Zaïmeche still remains relatively unknown to art-house moviegoers both at home and abroad.
And yet, ever since his 2001 debut, Wesh, Wesh, What’s Happening?, he’s been one of the most fascinating and consistently surprising auteurs to emerge from France these past two decades. Each new film, whether set in the present (Adhen) or past (The Smugglers’ Songs), the Paris banlieue (Wesh, Wesh) or an Algerian village (Bled Number One), adds something original to a body of work that is a perpetual experiment in narrative cinema, blurring the lines between fiction, documentary, reality, fantasy and history in ways few directors currently do.
His latest, The Temple Woods Gang (Le Gang des Bois du Temple), is ostensibly a crime thriller, with an English title that sounds like an old Western and a French title like that of an unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album.
And yet, ever since his 2001 debut, Wesh, Wesh, What’s Happening?, he’s been one of the most fascinating and consistently surprising auteurs to emerge from France these past two decades. Each new film, whether set in the present (Adhen) or past (The Smugglers’ Songs), the Paris banlieue (Wesh, Wesh) or an Algerian village (Bled Number One), adds something original to a body of work that is a perpetual experiment in narrative cinema, blurring the lines between fiction, documentary, reality, fantasy and history in ways few directors currently do.
His latest, The Temple Woods Gang (Le Gang des Bois du Temple), is ostensibly a crime thriller, with an English title that sounds like an old Western and a French title like that of an unreleased Wu-Tang Clan album.
- 2/15/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Joseph Gordon-Levitt first learned about Sundance Film Festival while he was making his big screen debut in 1992’s “A River Runs Through It.” That’s where the film’s director (and Sundance’s founder) Robert Redford gave him a T-shirt emblazoned with the festival’s moniker. But it wasn’t until he was a bit older that he fully understood the rebel spirit that has made Sundance a destination for indie auteurs and artists for decades.
“As a 14-year old, I started watching ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ ‘Sex Lies and Video Tape,’ ‘Swingers,’ ‘Sling Blade,’ ‘Big Night’ and all these movies that were coming through Sundance,” Gordon-Levitt remembers. “That was my thing in my adolescence. That was what I dreamed of doing.”
But getting up the mountain proved difficult. At that time, Gordon-Levitt was best known for his work in “3rd Rock From the Sun,” a broad comedy about a group of alien explorers.
“As a 14-year old, I started watching ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ ‘Sex Lies and Video Tape,’ ‘Swingers,’ ‘Sling Blade,’ ‘Big Night’ and all these movies that were coming through Sundance,” Gordon-Levitt remembers. “That was my thing in my adolescence. That was what I dreamed of doing.”
But getting up the mountain proved difficult. At that time, Gordon-Levitt was best known for his work in “3rd Rock From the Sun,” a broad comedy about a group of alien explorers.
- 1/19/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed the 28 titles selected for its Forum strand and the 26 projects at the Forum Expanded platform.
In the Forum strand, documentaries stand alongside personal essay films, while the films and installations that make up the Forum Expanded program revolve around political and personal legacies.
The festival takes place Feb. 16-26.
Forum Titles
“Allensworth”
by James Benning
U.S.
“Anqa”
by Helin Çelik
Austria/Spain
“About Thirty”
by Martin Shanly | with Martin Shanly, Camila Dougall, Paul Dougall, Esmeralds Escalante, Maria Soldi
Argentina
“Being in a Place – A Portrait of Margaret Tait”
by Luke Fowler | with Margaret Tait
U.K.
“The Bride”
by Myriam U. Birara | with Sandra Umulisa, Aline Amike, Daniel Gaga, Fabiola Mukasekuru, Beatrice Mukandayishimiye
Rwanda
“Cidade Rabat”
by Susana Nobre | with Raquel Castro, Paula Bárcia, Paula Só, Sara de Castro, Laura Afonso
Portugal/France
“De Facto”
by Selma Doborac | with Christoph Bach, Cornelius Obonya...
In the Forum strand, documentaries stand alongside personal essay films, while the films and installations that make up the Forum Expanded program revolve around political and personal legacies.
The festival takes place Feb. 16-26.
Forum Titles
“Allensworth”
by James Benning
U.S.
“Anqa”
by Helin Çelik
Austria/Spain
“About Thirty”
by Martin Shanly | with Martin Shanly, Camila Dougall, Paul Dougall, Esmeralds Escalante, Maria Soldi
Argentina
“Being in a Place – A Portrait of Margaret Tait”
by Luke Fowler | with Margaret Tait
U.K.
“The Bride”
by Myriam U. Birara | with Sandra Umulisa, Aline Amike, Daniel Gaga, Fabiola Mukasekuru, Beatrice Mukandayishimiye
Rwanda
“Cidade Rabat”
by Susana Nobre | with Raquel Castro, Paula Bárcia, Paula Só, Sara de Castro, Laura Afonso
Portugal/France
“De Facto”
by Selma Doborac | with Christoph Bach, Cornelius Obonya...
- 1/16/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
There must be few things more daunting to a filmmaker than taking on the mantle of directing a new James Bond movie. Bond movies are cinema’s equivalent of a Philippe Petit-level highwire balancing act. Over 25 films, fans have carved out an understanding of what they expect from 007. There must be action, adventure, romance, and a dash of comedy. Yet for all the expectations surrounding the world’s most famous secret agent, the recipe isn’t set in stone; in fact, it’s forever evolving.
Where once Bond might have been defined by the wry humor and slapstick gags of Roger Moore, the more modern 007 of Daniel Craig played it straight. Bond has been known to take forays into the world of science fiction, either in an attempt to match box office rivals like Star Wars or in an attempt to address the concerns of an ever evolving technological world.
Where once Bond might have been defined by the wry humor and slapstick gags of Roger Moore, the more modern 007 of Daniel Craig played it straight. Bond has been known to take forays into the world of science fiction, either in an attempt to match box office rivals like Star Wars or in an attempt to address the concerns of an ever evolving technological world.
- 11/26/2022
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Sir Ben Kingsley is one of the most acclaimed actors of his time. He's received countless accolades throughout his career and has graced both the silver screen and the stage with a wide variety of roles. It's pretty amazing how eclectic his selection of parts is. Here's someone who can play both the titular role in "Gandhi" and pop up as the silly bad guy in the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy "The Dictator."
Kingsley's most famous roles in films like "Bugsy," "House of Sand and Fog," and "Death and the Maiden" are often cited among his best, but his career is more complex than simply a list of accolades. While his early work distinguished him as someone who would leave behind a grand legacy, Kingsley is still a working actor that continues to pop up in new projects. Between his recurring role as Trevor Slattery in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
Kingsley's most famous roles in films like "Bugsy," "House of Sand and Fog," and "Death and the Maiden" are often cited among his best, but his career is more complex than simply a list of accolades. While his early work distinguished him as someone who would leave behind a grand legacy, Kingsley is still a working actor that continues to pop up in new projects. Between his recurring role as Trevor Slattery in the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
- 11/19/2022
- by Liam Gaughan
- Slash Film
Werner Herzog is the writer and director of nearly 80 films, not including the countless others that live inside his head. The brain’s astonishing capacity for such ideas – among many other things – is the subject of the German auteur’s latest documentary, “Theater of Thought,” which premiered at Telluride and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Herzog stopped by TheWrap and Shutterstock’s Interview and Portrait Studio at TIFF to discuss what he learned during the filmmaking process and more.
“There was always a deep fascination about what goes on in our minds: what makes us love, fall in love, hatred, language, architecture, our ideas, our movies, everything,” Herzog told Sharon Waxman, Editor and CEO of TheWrap. “And it’s all created in our brains.”
Also Read:
‘Corsage’ Star Vicky Krieps on Playing a ‘Princess Imprisoned in the Image of Being a Woman’ (Video)
Though Herzog considers himself a...
Herzog stopped by TheWrap and Shutterstock’s Interview and Portrait Studio at TIFF to discuss what he learned during the filmmaking process and more.
“There was always a deep fascination about what goes on in our minds: what makes us love, fall in love, hatred, language, architecture, our ideas, our movies, everything,” Herzog told Sharon Waxman, Editor and CEO of TheWrap. “And it’s all created in our brains.”
Also Read:
‘Corsage’ Star Vicky Krieps on Playing a ‘Princess Imprisoned in the Image of Being a Woman’ (Video)
Though Herzog considers himself a...
- 9/15/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
One of the greatest remaining bastions of Hollywood’s golden age, Musso & Frank has been beloved of everyone from Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe to Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones. The latest star to call herself a regular at the storied restaurant is North America’s premiere whistler, Molly Lewis. It’s a fitting match, as Lewis’s unique, wryly camp confection of tiki-bar blues is quite unlike anything else that’s been released since the heady days of the 1950s exotica boom. Lewis’s high-pitched birdsong is endlessly fascinating, sounding not unlike ear-piercing coloratura soprano Yma Sumac, who was the whistle-toned Ariana Grande of her day. Want a musician who seems like they might soundtrack Quentin Tarantino’s next movie? Molly Lewis is your woman.
I meet Lewis on a sticky summer’s evening at the infamous Los Angeles hideaway, ahead of the release of her second EP,...
I meet Lewis on a sticky summer’s evening at the infamous Los Angeles hideaway, ahead of the release of her second EP,...
- 9/11/2022
- by Leonie Cooper
- The Independent - Music
The Unifrance cocktail event at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, held in partnership with Variety, saw a heady mix of film executives and artists mingle at the sea terrace of the plush Excelsior hotel.
Presiding over proceedings was Unifrance executive director Daniela Elstner and artists present included director Romain Gavras and actor Ouassini Embarek, whose film “Athena” is in the main competition at the festival. Also attending were actor Swann Arlaud, César winner for “Bloody Milk” and “By the Grace of God,” who is at Venice with his new film “Beating Sun,” by Philippe Petit, who was also present; and filmmaker Audrey Diwan, who won the Venice Golden Lion last year for “Happening” and is serving on the jury this year.
Jean-Paul Salomé and Bertrand Faivre, the director and producer respectively of Horizons strand selection “The Sitting Duck,” were also present as was “The Blessed” filmmaker Sofia Djama, who...
Presiding over proceedings was Unifrance executive director Daniela Elstner and artists present included director Romain Gavras and actor Ouassini Embarek, whose film “Athena” is in the main competition at the festival. Also attending were actor Swann Arlaud, César winner for “Bloody Milk” and “By the Grace of God,” who is at Venice with his new film “Beating Sun,” by Philippe Petit, who was also present; and filmmaker Audrey Diwan, who won the Venice Golden Lion last year for “Happening” and is serving on the jury this year.
Jean-Paul Salomé and Bertrand Faivre, the director and producer respectively of Horizons strand selection “The Sitting Duck,” were also present as was “The Blessed” filmmaker Sofia Djama, who...
- 9/5/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Werner Herzog has spent much of his time on this Earth staring directly into one kind of abyss or another — the molten heart of a volcano, the melting ice sheets of the Antarctic, the empty hollow of a chicken’s soul — but on the brink of his 80th birthday, cinema’s most unflappable nihilist finally turns his attention to an abyss so impenetrable that it seems to be staring right back at him: The future. It’s the largest and most impenetrable void that Herzog has ever dared to explore, and the closer it gets, the harder it becomes for him to see himself in its reflection.
That opacity is at the core of Herzog’s bemused and discursive “Theater of Thought,” His best hope: The human brain. Whatever the future holds, it will spring from the same folded bundle of tissue that got us to the present, and likewise...
That opacity is at the core of Herzog’s bemused and discursive “Theater of Thought,” His best hope: The human brain. Whatever the future holds, it will spring from the same folded bundle of tissue that got us to the present, and likewise...
- 9/4/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
When Werner Herzog makes a new documentary, you can always count on one of the most satisfyingly strange occurrences in nonfiction filmmaking: the dulcet Germanic tones of Mr. Herzog making odd connections and going deep into the mystic, even when he’s talking about science.
His new doc, “Theater of Thought,” doesn’t contain anything as wonderful as Herzog’s musings on prehistoric radioactive crocodiles in “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” or his dismissal of dogs too stupid to know about geologic history in “Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds.” But letting the 80-year-old Herzog loose to explore the human mind is predictably fertile territory, in which serious scientific inquiry must make room for questions like these, posed to various scientists and researchers by our director and interlocutor:
“Do fish have souls?”
“How stupid is Siri?”
“Does a mouse suspend disbelief?”
“Could a dying man send a message (through a computer-brain interface) that there is a heaven?...
His new doc, “Theater of Thought,” doesn’t contain anything as wonderful as Herzog’s musings on prehistoric radioactive crocodiles in “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” or his dismissal of dogs too stupid to know about geologic history in “Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds.” But letting the 80-year-old Herzog loose to explore the human mind is predictably fertile territory, in which serious scientific inquiry must make room for questions like these, posed to various scientists and researchers by our director and interlocutor:
“Do fish have souls?”
“How stupid is Siri?”
“Does a mouse suspend disbelief?”
“Could a dying man send a message (through a computer-brain interface) that there is a heaven?...
- 9/4/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
Having made a film on every continent, tireless searcher Werner Herzog keeps things stateside for Theater of Thought. Even so, he travels far, exploring one of the last great frontiers, the human brain, from a rich multitude of angles. The result is one of his most piercing inquiries yet.
In Silicon Valley and in the laboratories and conference rooms of academia, he speaks with more than two dozen people working at the forefront of neuroscience and neurotechnology, the catch-all term for cutting-edge inventions that link the nervous system to electronic and other devices. Herzog is the clear-eyed student — at times amazed and delighted, and, at others, skeptical and alarmed. Amid the cryostats and nanoparticles and fiber optics, the clunky gadgets and impenetrable-to-the-layperson diagrams, he summons a wry and lyrical mix of awe and foreboding.
Like his 2020 doc, Fireball, a film that studied meteors through chemistry,...
Having made a film on every continent, tireless searcher Werner Herzog keeps things stateside for Theater of Thought. Even so, he travels far, exploring one of the last great frontiers, the human brain, from a rich multitude of angles. The result is one of his most piercing inquiries yet.
In Silicon Valley and in the laboratories and conference rooms of academia, he speaks with more than two dozen people working at the forefront of neuroscience and neurotechnology, the catch-all term for cutting-edge inventions that link the nervous system to electronic and other devices. Herzog is the clear-eyed student — at times amazed and delighted, and, at others, skeptical and alarmed. Amid the cryostats and nanoparticles and fiber optics, the clunky gadgets and impenetrable-to-the-layperson diagrams, he summons a wry and lyrical mix of awe and foreboding.
Like his 2020 doc, Fireball, a film that studied meteors through chemistry,...
- 9/4/2022
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
White NoiseCOMPETITIONWhite Noise (Noah Baumbach)Il Signore Delle Formiche (Gianni Amelio)The Whale (Darren Aronofsky)L’Immensita (Emanuele Crialese)Saint Omer (Alice Diop)Blonde (Andrew Dominik)Tár (Todd Field)Love Life (Koji Fukada)Bardo, False Chronicle Of A Handful Of Truths (Alejandro G. Inarritu)Athena (Romain Gavras)Bones & All (Luca Guadagnino)The Eternal Daughter (Joanna Hogg)Beyond The Wall (Vahid Jalilvand)The Banshees Of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh)Argentina, 1985 (Santiago Mitre)Chiara (Susanna Nicchiarelli)Monica (Andrea Pallaoro)No Bears (Jafar Panahi)All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (Laura Poitras)A Couple (Frederick Wiseman)The Son (Florian Zeller)Our Ties (Roschdy Zem)Other People’s Children (Rebecca Zlotowski)Out Of COMPETITIONFictionThe Hanging Sun (Francesco Carrozzini)When The Waves Are Gone (Lav Diaz)Living (Oliver Hermanus)Dead For A Dollar (Walter Hill)Call Of God (Kim Ki-duk)Dreamin’ Wild (Bill Pohlad)Master Gardener (Paul Schrader)Siccità (Paolo Virzi)Pearl (Ti West)Don’t Worry Darling...
- 7/28/2022
- MUBI
Announced very early this morning, we’ve had some time to take the plunge into the lucky seven feature films (plus opener and closer) selections for the 2022 Venice Intl. Film Critics’ Week. Now in its 37th edition, section topper Beatrice Fiorentino favors European cinema this time out. The two filmmakers and titles we do recognize (we predicted them in our TIFF selections) from the selection we find Swann Arlaud and Sarah Adler starring in Tant que le soleil frappe by Philippe Petit (see pic above) and the debut feature by Yasmine Benkiran – her film Queens closes the section. Of course tomorrow is the big reveal and on Thursday we have Giornate degli Autori line-up.…...
- 7/25/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Venice Critics’ Week Unveils 2022 Selection
The 37th edition of Venice Critics’ Week has unveiled its 2022 line-up. Films in competition comprise Theo Montoya’s Anhell69 (Colombia), Philippe Petit’s Beating Sun (France), Isabella Carbonell’s Dogborn (Sweden) and David Wagner’s Eismayer (Austria), Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluscevic’s Have You Seen This Woman (Serbia), Niccolò Falsetti’s Margins (Italy) and Alex Schaad’s Skin Deep (Germany). Out of Competition, French director Florent Gouëlou’s Three Nights A Week is the opening film and French-Moroccan director Yasmine Benkiran’s Queens will close the section. There will also be a special screening of established Portuguese director Pedro Costa’s Blood. The parallel Venice section devoted mainly to first and second films runs from August 31 to September 10.
Sky Greenlights Ricky Hatton Documentary
Sky is to tell the story of champion British boxer Ricky Hatton in a doc from 14 Peaks producer Noah Media Group.
The 37th edition of Venice Critics’ Week has unveiled its 2022 line-up. Films in competition comprise Theo Montoya’s Anhell69 (Colombia), Philippe Petit’s Beating Sun (France), Isabella Carbonell’s Dogborn (Sweden) and David Wagner’s Eismayer (Austria), Dušan Zorić and Matija Gluscevic’s Have You Seen This Woman (Serbia), Niccolò Falsetti’s Margins (Italy) and Alex Schaad’s Skin Deep (Germany). Out of Competition, French director Florent Gouëlou’s Three Nights A Week is the opening film and French-Moroccan director Yasmine Benkiran’s Queens will close the section. There will also be a special screening of established Portuguese director Pedro Costa’s Blood. The parallel Venice section devoted mainly to first and second films runs from August 31 to September 10.
Sky Greenlights Ricky Hatton Documentary
Sky is to tell the story of champion British boxer Ricky Hatton in a doc from 14 Peaks producer Noah Media Group.
- 7/25/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Venice Critics’ Week, a sidebar festival that runs alongside the Venice International Film Festival, unveiled its 2022 lineup Monday.
Three Nights a Week, a French romantic comedy set in the world of drag queens from director Florent Gouëlou, will open this year’s Critics’ Week, with Queens, a feminist road movie set in Morocco from director Yasmine Benkiran, about a three women trying to reach the Atlantic coast ahead of the police, will close out the event. Both will screen out of competition.
The 2022 competition lineup includes seven feature debuts, among them the ecological drama Beating Sun from French director Philippe Petit, about a landscape architect determined to create a wild garden in the heart of downtown Marseille; the German psychological thriller Skin Deep from director Alex Schaad, whose plot revolves around the concept of gender identity; the Italian comedy Margins from Niccolò Falsetti,...
Venice Critics’ Week, a sidebar festival that runs alongside the Venice International Film Festival, unveiled its 2022 lineup Monday.
Three Nights a Week, a French romantic comedy set in the world of drag queens from director Florent Gouëlou, will open this year’s Critics’ Week, with Queens, a feminist road movie set in Morocco from director Yasmine Benkiran, about a three women trying to reach the Atlantic coast ahead of the police, will close out the event. Both will screen out of competition.
The 2022 competition lineup includes seven feature debuts, among them the ecological drama Beating Sun from French director Philippe Petit, about a landscape architect determined to create a wild garden in the heart of downtown Marseille; the German psychological thriller Skin Deep from director Alex Schaad, whose plot revolves around the concept of gender identity; the Italian comedy Margins from Niccolò Falsetti,...
- 7/25/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ten titles in the festival sidebar
Florent Gouelou’s French drama Three Nights A Week will open Venice International Film Critics’ Week, the sidebar of the Venice Film Festival, playing out-of-competition. Moroccan director Yasmine Benkiran’s Queens will close the selection, also out -of -competition.
The Critics’ Week competition is comprised of seven feature debuts, including including Niccolo Falsetti’s Margini from Italy and Theo Montoya’s Anhell69 from Colombia.
Dogborn by Swedish director Isabella Carbonell is the only film by a female director in the competition section.
The 10 titles were selected by a new committee from the Union of Italian Film Critics,...
Florent Gouelou’s French drama Three Nights A Week will open Venice International Film Critics’ Week, the sidebar of the Venice Film Festival, playing out-of-competition. Moroccan director Yasmine Benkiran’s Queens will close the selection, also out -of -competition.
The Critics’ Week competition is comprised of seven feature debuts, including including Niccolo Falsetti’s Margini from Italy and Theo Montoya’s Anhell69 from Colombia.
Dogborn by Swedish director Isabella Carbonell is the only film by a female director in the competition section.
The 10 titles were selected by a new committee from the Union of Italian Film Critics,...
- 7/25/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Queer romantic comedy “Three Nights a Week,” set amid the Parisian drag queen scene, will open the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week which has unveiled its lineup of nine titles, all of which are world premiers.
The section’s out-of-competition opener is directed by Florent Gouëlou who, besides having a master’s degree in cinema from La Sorbonne, is also a committed drag queen who performs every month on the Flèche d’Or stage in Paris.
Touted as the first European film on the glittering world of drag queens, “Three Nights” is the tale of 29-year-old Baptiste who is in a heterosexual relationship when he meets Cookie Kunty, a young drag queen from the Parisian scene who immediately mesmerizes him. Initially motivated by the idea of a photography project revolving around Cookie, he immerses himself into this world, eventually embarking upon a relationship with Quentin, the young man behind the drag queen.
The section’s out-of-competition opener is directed by Florent Gouëlou who, besides having a master’s degree in cinema from La Sorbonne, is also a committed drag queen who performs every month on the Flèche d’Or stage in Paris.
Touted as the first European film on the glittering world of drag queens, “Three Nights” is the tale of 29-year-old Baptiste who is in a heterosexual relationship when he meets Cookie Kunty, a young drag queen from the Parisian scene who immediately mesmerizes him. Initially motivated by the idea of a photography project revolving around Cookie, he immerses himself into this world, eventually embarking upon a relationship with Quentin, the young man behind the drag queen.
- 7/25/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
I first learned that “Roadrunner,” Morgan Neville’s documentary about the life and death of Anthony Bourdain, contains three sentences spoken by Bourdain that he never actually spoke out loud in the same way that you learn about a lot of things these days: by seeing an eruption of outrage about it on Twitter. The eruption immediately sent me to the New Yorker article in which Neville, the award-winning director of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and “20 Feet From Stardom,” first explained how he used AI technology to feed 10 hours of Bourdain voice recordings into a computer, which then simulated Bourdain’s reading of those sentences — every one of which he had, in fact, written.
The words weren’t faked; the sound of him speaking them was. This was characterized, on social media, as an ethical lapse, and my first reaction is to say that I don’t necessarily disagree.
The words weren’t faked; the sound of him speaking them was. This was characterized, on social media, as an ethical lapse, and my first reaction is to say that I don’t necessarily disagree.
- 7/18/2021
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
The Robert Zemeckis who made “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” shared Roald Dahl’s rare command of kid-enticing stories that dance on the knife’s edge between daydreams and nightmares. He would’ve been the perfect director for a tech-forward new adaptation of “The Witches,” Dahl’s subversively dark fantasy novel about a coven of child-eating ghouls who disguise themselves as well-off women and gather at a luxury English hotel in order to plot their final solution for disposing of the country’s youngsters (it involves lacing the chocolate supply with a potion that turns people into mice). Alas, the version of “The Witches” that’s coming to HBO Max this weekend was made by the Robert Zemeckis who directed “The Polar Express,” and he only knows how to scare children that severely by accident.
There’s something to be said for any movie capable of turning a kid’s lit...
There’s something to be said for any movie capable of turning a kid’s lit...
- 10/21/2020
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
A new channel arrived on Now TV last month called Sky Documentaries boasting a whole range of series and features. It’s a treasure trove of deep dives into a massive range of subjects, from sports to music, crime to scandal to important moments in history. There’re a load of great shows on the channel, and what you pick will surely depend on what you’re interested in but we’ve rounded up a least of really great docs to get you started.
We’ll keep this list updated and add more recommendations as they arrive.
McMillions (2020)
This six part series documents the massive fraud case surrounding the McDonalds Monopoly game from 1989 – 2001 whereby an employee of the agency that ran the promotion was stealing and selling on the top prize tickets. The doc is highly entertaining, introducing you to often larger than life characters as the FBI and an organized crime family get involved.
We’ll keep this list updated and add more recommendations as they arrive.
McMillions (2020)
This six part series documents the massive fraud case surrounding the McDonalds Monopoly game from 1989 – 2001 whereby an employee of the agency that ran the promotion was stealing and selling on the top prize tickets. The doc is highly entertaining, introducing you to often larger than life characters as the FBI and an organized crime family get involved.
- 6/10/2020
- by Rosie Fletcher
- Den of Geek
Documentaries that resonate deeply with audiences often do so on the strength of a compelling central character: the eccentric Little Edie from Grey Gardens, for instance, or the daring tightrope-walker Philippe Petit of Man on Wire, or the wrongly-convicted Randall Adams from The Thin Blue Line.
In Honeyland, one of 15 feature documentaries still in contention for the Academy Awards, the indelible main character is Hatidze Muratova, a woman from a remote section of North Macedonia. There she lives a humble existence cultivating honey from wild bees and tending to her very old and infirm mother in the rudimentary hut they call home.
“Hatidze is a born star. We must say that. She really is,” filmmaker Tamara Kotevska observed at an event in March at New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center. “She said, ‘This is my biggest dream, that some journalist come one day and shoot me while I was walking on the hills.
In Honeyland, one of 15 feature documentaries still in contention for the Academy Awards, the indelible main character is Hatidze Muratova, a woman from a remote section of North Macedonia. There she lives a humble existence cultivating honey from wild bees and tending to her very old and infirm mother in the rudimentary hut they call home.
“Hatidze is a born star. We must say that. She really is,” filmmaker Tamara Kotevska observed at an event in March at New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center. “She said, ‘This is my biggest dream, that some journalist come one day and shoot me while I was walking on the hills.
- 12/23/2019
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Fabrizio Rongione and Stéphanie Cleau will head up the film’s cast; the Cnc will also support the feature debuts by Philippe Petit and Camille Ponsin. Three projects have been accepted during the third 2019 session of the Cnc’s first advance on receipts committee. Standing out among them is Andreas Fontana’s Azor, a predominantly Swiss production handled by Alina film with French partners Local Films (Nicolas Brevière) contributing up to 30%. Shooting will begin on 11 November in Argentina. The cast includes Belgian actor of Italian origins Fabrizio Rongione and Stéphanie Cleau (The Blue Room). Worth noting as well is the presence, in...
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday..
This past weekend saw the release of “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” the latest in a recent string of impressively strong and commercially successful biographical documentaries (other recent standouts include “Rbg” and “Won’t You Be my Neighbor?”).
This week’s question: What is the best biographical documentary ever made?
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for The Village Voice, /Film
The best and arguably most important documentaries ever made are complimentary pieces by Joshua Oppenheimer, “The Act of Killing” (2013) and “The Look of Silence (2015). They’re set against the backdrop of Indonesia’s 1965-66 genocide, believed to be sponsored by the C.I.A., but they’re each rooted in the lives of singular subjects and their diametrically opposed journeys.
The cleansing, of an estimated three million ethnic Chinese, changed the face of the nation in terrifying ways,...
This past weekend saw the release of “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Coda,” the latest in a recent string of impressively strong and commercially successful biographical documentaries (other recent standouts include “Rbg” and “Won’t You Be my Neighbor?”).
This week’s question: What is the best biographical documentary ever made?
Siddhant Adlakha (@SidizenKane), Freelance for The Village Voice, /Film
The best and arguably most important documentaries ever made are complimentary pieces by Joshua Oppenheimer, “The Act of Killing” (2013) and “The Look of Silence (2015). They’re set against the backdrop of Indonesia’s 1965-66 genocide, believed to be sponsored by the C.I.A., but they’re each rooted in the lives of singular subjects and their diametrically opposed journeys.
The cleansing, of an estimated three million ethnic Chinese, changed the face of the nation in terrifying ways,...
- 7/9/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The estate of Whitney Houston has officially announced that “Whitney,” an “intimate, definitive account of the superstar’s life and career,” will be released July 6. A powerhouse team of Oscar winners is at the helm of this documentary. Leading the charge is director, Kevin Macdonald, who won an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2000 (“One Day in September”). He earned further acclaim for his 2006 biopic on Ugandan President Idi Amin, “The Last King of Scotland,” for which Forest Whitaker took home the Oscar for Best Actor and his 2012 feature about reggae legend Bob Marley (“Marley”).
For “Whitney,” Macdonald was granted exclusive rights to a vault of unheard music and never-before-seen video footage spanning the entirety of the late singer’s legendary career. Co-producing the film is Simon Chinn, a creative force who has won Best Documentary at the Academy Awards twice. In 2008 he took home the golden statue for “Man on Wire,...
For “Whitney,” Macdonald was granted exclusive rights to a vault of unheard music and never-before-seen video footage spanning the entirety of the late singer’s legendary career. Co-producing the film is Simon Chinn, a creative force who has won Best Documentary at the Academy Awards twice. In 2008 he took home the golden statue for “Man on Wire,...
- 3/19/2018
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz can’t save this dramatisation of a tragic real-life yachting adventure from foundering
The somewhat dispiriting real-life story of Donald Crowhurst, the amateur sailor who in 1968-9 lost his pride, his mind and then his life in a single-handed yacht race to circumnavigate the world, has long exerted a fascination for film-makers. Nicolas Roeg once tried to film the story. In 2006, the documentary Deep Water explored the tragedy. And this big-budget take on the tale, buoyed up by the star power of Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz, was made at the same time as a smaller rival project, Crowhurst by Simon Rumley.
One can see the attraction of the story to director James Marsh: Crowhurst (Firth) has a similar maverick eccentricity and forceful self-belief to that of high-wire walker Philippe Petit, the subject of his documentary Man on Wire. But for all its technical prowess – the sound design,...
The somewhat dispiriting real-life story of Donald Crowhurst, the amateur sailor who in 1968-9 lost his pride, his mind and then his life in a single-handed yacht race to circumnavigate the world, has long exerted a fascination for film-makers. Nicolas Roeg once tried to film the story. In 2006, the documentary Deep Water explored the tragedy. And this big-budget take on the tale, buoyed up by the star power of Colin Firth and Rachel Weisz, was made at the same time as a smaller rival project, Crowhurst by Simon Rumley.
One can see the attraction of the story to director James Marsh: Crowhurst (Firth) has a similar maverick eccentricity and forceful self-belief to that of high-wire walker Philippe Petit, the subject of his documentary Man on Wire. But for all its technical prowess – the sound design,...
- 2/11/2018
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
Colin Firth embarks on nautical deception in this surprisingly compelling true-life drama…
I knew very little about Donald Crowhurst walking into The Mercy, and preserving that element of surprise might be the way to get the most out of James Marsh’s true-life drama. A casual Google will quickly throw up some of the finer details of Crowhurst’s story – so if Colin Firth’s latest is on your radar and you’re unfamiliar with what transpired then you may want to keep it that way. Of course, we’d dearly like you to stick around for this review, so bear with us while we navigate around a few spoilers of historical record.
We first meet Firth’s Crowhurst as he’s desperately trying to sell his nautical navigation device the Navicator. Punters won’t bite, and there’s a sense that his business is failing. Crowhurst himself is an amateur weekend sailor and,...
I knew very little about Donald Crowhurst walking into The Mercy, and preserving that element of surprise might be the way to get the most out of James Marsh’s true-life drama. A casual Google will quickly throw up some of the finer details of Crowhurst’s story – so if Colin Firth’s latest is on your radar and you’re unfamiliar with what transpired then you may want to keep it that way. Of course, we’d dearly like you to stick around for this review, so bear with us while we navigate around a few spoilers of historical record.
We first meet Firth’s Crowhurst as he’s desperately trying to sell his nautical navigation device the Navicator. Punters won’t bite, and there’s a sense that his business is failing. Crowhurst himself is an amateur weekend sailor and,...
- 2/6/2018
- Den of Geek
Welcome to another installment of Movies to Show My Son. This is the blog series were I discuss movies I can’t wait to show my son in the future. I’ll be covering my own personal experience with the movie, movie and life lessons I hope he will learn, and lastly my concerns about showing said film. This week’s film is Man on Wire.
Personal Memories:
In the article centered on The King of Kong I mentioned how I was reluctant to get into the medium of documentaries. That film helped me realize just how darn entertaining a documentary can actually be, while Man on Wire demonstrated the power of documentary film making.
This was another film that got on my radar due to podcasting. When I was looking for podcast counting down their top films of the 00’s (because at that time I was obsessed with seeing...
Personal Memories:
In the article centered on The King of Kong I mentioned how I was reluctant to get into the medium of documentaries. That film helped me realize just how darn entertaining a documentary can actually be, while Man on Wire demonstrated the power of documentary film making.
This was another film that got on my radar due to podcasting. When I was looking for podcast counting down their top films of the 00’s (because at that time I was obsessed with seeing...
- 6/5/2017
- by Dan Clark
- Nerdly
As a company, IMAX is all about creating a singular experience you can't get anywhere else. They've done that with movies using massive screens, epic sound, and crystal clear image quality, but now they're branching out into virtual reality and they're looking to bring that same experience-driven mindset to a newer medium. Earlier this week, IMAX invited me and some other press members to the company's already-operational flagship Vr Centre in Los Angeles for a presentation of their plans and to let us play some games and experience some Vr for ourselves. Read on to find out how it all went down.
The L.A. Centre is already open, but IMAX has announced that they'll be opening centers in New York, California, and Shanghai over the next few months during what they're calling the "pilot phase." Essentially everything they're doing in relation to Vr right now is going to be...
The L.A. Centre is already open, but IMAX has announced that they'll be opening centers in New York, California, and Shanghai over the next few months during what they're calling the "pilot phase." Essentially everything they're doing in relation to Vr right now is going to be...
- 2/17/2017
- by Ben Pearson
- GeekTyrant
At first glance, there is little about Snowden that would seem to distinguish it from some of this year’s other “I’m not sure there’s a movie in that true story” based-on-a-true-story movies like Sully and Deepwater Horizon, especially in the wake of the Wikileaks film The Fifth Estate or the exceptional documentary Citizenfour. But Snowden has a secret weapon, and it’s one that I wasn’t expecting: a fully-engaged and on-his-game Oliver Stone. And when Oliver Stone is on his game and fully engaged, there are few filmmakers who are more interesting or provocative. I have been a fan of his work for most of the time I have been a film fan, even before I knew fully who he was. I was drawn to films he had written, and when he made the jump to directing full-time with the back-to-back accomplishment of Salvador and Platoon,...
- 9/16/2016
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Joseph Gordon-Levitt talks taking on the role of SnowdenJoseph Gordon-Levitt talks taking on the role of SnowdenJim Slotek, Cineplex Magazine9/13/2016 9:02:00 Am
Two of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s recent projects have seen him play real-life figures who performed extreme acts of courage.
“Both of whom broke the law,” the actor adds with a laugh over the phone from Los Angeles.
One would be Philippe Petit, the Frenchman who walked a tightrope between the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in 1974, and whom Gordon-Levitt played in last fall’s Robert Zemeckis movie The Walk.
The other is Edward Snowden, the world’s most famous whistleblower, in Oliver Stone’s Snowden, which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival before opening across the country on September 16th. “I admire both, but Snowden admittedly is the much more controversial of the two figures, especially nowadays,” Gordon-Levitt says.
Snowden’s tightrope walk, of course,...
Two of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s recent projects have seen him play real-life figures who performed extreme acts of courage.
“Both of whom broke the law,” the actor adds with a laugh over the phone from Los Angeles.
One would be Philippe Petit, the Frenchman who walked a tightrope between the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in 1974, and whom Gordon-Levitt played in last fall’s Robert Zemeckis movie The Walk.
The other is Edward Snowden, the world’s most famous whistleblower, in Oliver Stone’s Snowden, which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival before opening across the country on September 16th. “I admire both, but Snowden admittedly is the much more controversial of the two figures, especially nowadays,” Gordon-Levitt says.
Snowden’s tightrope walk, of course,...
- 9/13/2016
- by Jim Slotek, Cineplex Magazine
- Cineplex
facebook
twitter
google+
The Academy Awards are this weekend - but how do you actually go about winning one? Plus: some Oscar predictions.
Whether or not you believe they’re still relevant, the Oscars are undeniably the biggest event in the Hollywood calendar. I am fascinated by them, what intrigues me most is the general consensus that this process is a game of strategy and if you want to win, you have to know the rules. But actors and directors don’t have time to work this out for themselves, they’re far too busy and important. I however am not.
Therefore I have poured over lists of Oscar winners for more time than is healthy in order to determine exactly what it takes to win one of these much desired awards. I’m going to give you the tried and tested formulai for how to win Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Picture.
google+
The Academy Awards are this weekend - but how do you actually go about winning one? Plus: some Oscar predictions.
Whether or not you believe they’re still relevant, the Oscars are undeniably the biggest event in the Hollywood calendar. I am fascinated by them, what intrigues me most is the general consensus that this process is a game of strategy and if you want to win, you have to know the rules. But actors and directors don’t have time to work this out for themselves, they’re far too busy and important. I however am not.
Therefore I have poured over lists of Oscar winners for more time than is healthy in order to determine exactly what it takes to win one of these much desired awards. I’m going to give you the tried and tested formulai for how to win Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Picture.
- 2/24/2016
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Following a heated bidding war, Universal has snatched up rights for a new, as-yet-untitled musical comedy, with The Hollywood Reporter learning that the studio has already cast two prominent stars in Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Hail, Caesar! star Channing Tatum.
Reports indicate that the concept for the new project first came to light under Gordon-Levitt, who will produce via his hitRECord Films banner. Other talent involved at this early stage include producers Marc Platt and Adam Siegel, along with Channing Tatum himself, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan on behalf of Free Association. Details are scarce as to which direction Universal is steering the untitled project, and whether it’s being eyed as a potential franchise in the vein of the studio’s lucrative Pitch Perfect.
Aside from showcasing their musical (read: miming) talents on Spike’s popular Lip Sync Battle, Gordon-Levitt and Tatum first starred opposite one another in Iraq war drama Stop-Loss in 2008. Since then,...
Reports indicate that the concept for the new project first came to light under Gordon-Levitt, who will produce via his hitRECord Films banner. Other talent involved at this early stage include producers Marc Platt and Adam Siegel, along with Channing Tatum himself, Reid Carolin and Peter Kiernan on behalf of Free Association. Details are scarce as to which direction Universal is steering the untitled project, and whether it’s being eyed as a potential franchise in the vein of the studio’s lucrative Pitch Perfect.
Aside from showcasing their musical (read: miming) talents on Spike’s popular Lip Sync Battle, Gordon-Levitt and Tatum first starred opposite one another in Iraq war drama Stop-Loss in 2008. Since then,...
- 2/5/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
facebook
twitter
google+
We’re seeing big cinema releases almost every weekend now. But is this a good thing?
Do you remember during 2014, where lots of fans stubbornly declared Captain America: The Winter Soldier the best film of that summer despite its opening in March/April? It was joined by The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in trying to steal a march on the competition, but clearly when you think big blockbusters, they’re associated with a certain time of year. And given how for the studios, summer season occupies a full third of the year from May to August, and Christmas the sweet period from November all the way through to New Year, that should be plenty of room for the Avengers, Star Wars and Jurassic Parks of the world, right?
Except that there are plenty more 'tentpoles' (big releases to prop up the studio’s bottom line) being made and...
google+
We’re seeing big cinema releases almost every weekend now. But is this a good thing?
Do you remember during 2014, where lots of fans stubbornly declared Captain America: The Winter Soldier the best film of that summer despite its opening in March/April? It was joined by The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in trying to steal a march on the competition, but clearly when you think big blockbusters, they’re associated with a certain time of year. And given how for the studios, summer season occupies a full third of the year from May to August, and Christmas the sweet period from November all the way through to New Year, that should be plenty of room for the Avengers, Star Wars and Jurassic Parks of the world, right?
Except that there are plenty more 'tentpoles' (big releases to prop up the studio’s bottom line) being made and...
- 1/17/2016
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays high-wire artist Philippe Petit in The Walk, the Frenchman who crossed between the two World Trade Centers towers in 1974. The Robert Zemeckis film is very entertaining and a real nail-biter with an enjoyable performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, but The Walk failed to capture audiences in North America with a take of only $10 million. Gordon-Levitt talked to us about The Walk not performing well at the box office, and what really counts when it comes to his movies.
The Walk is now on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download. It's worth checking out.
Read More ...
The Walk is now on Blu-ray, DVD and digital download. It's worth checking out.
Read More ...
- 1/9/2016
- by info@cinemovie.tv (Lupe Rodriguez Haas)
- CineMovie
Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.
The Complete Lady Snowblood (Toshiya Fujita)
A young woman (Meiko Kaji), trained from childhood as an assassin and hell-bent on revenge for the murders of her father and brother and the rape of her mother, hacks and slashes her way to gory satisfaction in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Japan. Rampant with inventive violence and spectacularly choreographed swordplay, Toshiya Fujita’s pair of influential cult classics Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance are bloody, beautiful extravaganzas composed of...
The Complete Lady Snowblood (Toshiya Fujita)
A young woman (Meiko Kaji), trained from childhood as an assassin and hell-bent on revenge for the murders of her father and brother and the rape of her mother, hacks and slashes her way to gory satisfaction in turn-of-the-twentieth-century Japan. Rampant with inventive violence and spectacularly choreographed swordplay, Toshiya Fujita’s pair of influential cult classics Lady Snowblood and Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance are bloody, beautiful extravaganzas composed of...
- 1/5/2016
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's streaming on Netflix, we've got you covered.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"Sicario"
Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Victor Garber star in this sharp, critically acclaimed (93 percent certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!) drug war thriller, which is out on Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand on January 5. Blu-ray bonus featurettes include "Stepping into Darkness: The Visual Design of Sicario," "Blunt, Brolin & Benicio: Portraying the Characters of Sicario," "Battle Zone: The Origins of Sicario," and "A Pulse from the Desert: The Score of Sicario."
"The Walk"
Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Philippe Petit take a wild walk on a wire between the Twin Towers. The bio-drama from director Robert Zemeckis co-stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale, and Ben Schwartz. The Blu-ray and DVD both include the "Pillars of Support" featurette,...
New on DVD and Blu-ray
"Sicario"
Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Victor Garber star in this sharp, critically acclaimed (93 percent certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!) drug war thriller, which is out on Blu-ray, DVD, and On Demand on January 5. Blu-ray bonus featurettes include "Stepping into Darkness: The Visual Design of Sicario," "Blunt, Brolin & Benicio: Portraying the Characters of Sicario," "Battle Zone: The Origins of Sicario," and "A Pulse from the Desert: The Score of Sicario."
"The Walk"
Watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Philippe Petit take a wild walk on a wire between the Twin Towers. The bio-drama from director Robert Zemeckis co-stars Sir Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale, and Ben Schwartz. The Blu-ray and DVD both include the "Pillars of Support" featurette,...
- 1/4/2016
- by Gina Carbone
- Moviefone
2015 was a year of wonderfully amazing movies. This is the second year in a row for me where there were so many great films that I couldn’t contain my list to only ten films, so I came up with a list of 15, which was still kind of difficult to do!
There’s a good mix of movies on my list, featuring different genres ranging from big budget films to smaller indie movies. Interestingly enough, there are no Marvel films that made my list this year. This is the first time since 2008 when Iron Man was released that's been the case! I enjoyed both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, but there were a lot of better films that were released this year.
I believe that these are all must-see movies, so if you haven’t seen any of them, please take the time to do so. They will not disappoint.
There’s a good mix of movies on my list, featuring different genres ranging from big budget films to smaller indie movies. Interestingly enough, there are no Marvel films that made my list this year. This is the first time since 2008 when Iron Man was released that's been the case! I enjoyed both Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, but there were a lot of better films that were released this year.
I believe that these are all must-see movies, so if you haven’t seen any of them, please take the time to do so. They will not disappoint.
- 12/30/2015
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
facebook
twitter
google+
Rosario Dawson, Hugh Jackman and Blake Lively lead our look at 2015's best under the radar acting performances in film...
This article contains mild spoilers for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. We've kept these as vague as possible, but if you haven't seen the film yet, you might wish to skip the entry pertaining to that.
2015 was a particularly exemplary year for all kinds of movies, but particularly in genre and blockbuster cinema. When there's so much to talk about, it's inevitable that some of the really good stuff gets lost in the mix of awards season chatter, but that's especially true when there's still some residual stigma about movies outside of the 'worthy' release schedule that will arrive in UK cinemas between now and the Academy Awards ceremony in February.
There are a couple of likely breakthrough geek movies for this year's Oscars, in the...
google+
Rosario Dawson, Hugh Jackman and Blake Lively lead our look at 2015's best under the radar acting performances in film...
This article contains mild spoilers for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. We've kept these as vague as possible, but if you haven't seen the film yet, you might wish to skip the entry pertaining to that.
2015 was a particularly exemplary year for all kinds of movies, but particularly in genre and blockbuster cinema. When there's so much to talk about, it's inevitable that some of the really good stuff gets lost in the mix of awards season chatter, but that's especially true when there's still some residual stigma about movies outside of the 'worthy' release schedule that will arrive in UK cinemas between now and the Academy Awards ceremony in February.
There are a couple of likely breakthrough geek movies for this year's Oscars, in the...
- 12/30/2015
- by simonbrew
- Den of Geek
On Sunday, December 20th the St. Louis Film Critics Association released their annual best of the year awards.
Here is the official press release with the list of winners:
St. Louis Film Critics Announce 2015 Awards
“Spotlight,” “The Revenant” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” top winners
For Immediate Release
“Spotlight,” “The Revenant” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” were the top winners in this year’s St. Louis Film Critics Association 2015 Awards, announced Sunday.
“Spotlight,” a drama about the Boston Globe investigation of pedophile priests, won Best Film, Director – Tom McCarthy and Original Screenplay, written by Josh Singer and McCarthy.
“The Revenant,” based on Hugh Glass’s wilderness survival story, was also recognized with three — Leonardo DiCaprio – Best Actor, Emmanuel Lubezki – Cinematography and Scene – Hugh being mauled by the grizzly bear.
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” the fourth installment in the futuristic action thriller, received three — Best Editing, Visual Effects and Art Direction.
Here is the official press release with the list of winners:
St. Louis Film Critics Announce 2015 Awards
“Spotlight,” “The Revenant” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” top winners
For Immediate Release
“Spotlight,” “The Revenant” and “Mad Max: Fury Road” were the top winners in this year’s St. Louis Film Critics Association 2015 Awards, announced Sunday.
“Spotlight,” a drama about the Boston Globe investigation of pedophile priests, won Best Film, Director – Tom McCarthy and Original Screenplay, written by Josh Singer and McCarthy.
“The Revenant,” based on Hugh Glass’s wilderness survival story, was also recognized with three — Leonardo DiCaprio – Best Actor, Emmanuel Lubezki – Cinematography and Scene – Hugh being mauled by the grizzly bear.
“Mad Max: Fury Road,” the fourth installment in the futuristic action thriller, received three — Best Editing, Visual Effects and Art Direction.
- 12/21/2015
- by Jim Batts
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"The Walk," which recreates Philippe Petit's amazing high-wire act across the World Trade Center Twin Towers in 1974, has been shortlisted for the VFX Oscar. And on Tuesday it was the subject of a special case study on virtual production held at Sony for a joint tech committee comprised of the Asc, Adg, Ves, the Previs Society, the PGA and the Icg. Indeed, final 28-minute balancing act over New York City was a virtual production wonder, overseen by VFX supervisor Kevin Baillie of Atomic Fiction, who has collaborated with Robert Zemeckis since his pioneering performance capture crusade. Read More: "Nyff Opens with Thrilling 'The Walk' in Spectacular 3D" In fact, Zemeckis’ original intention was to make "The Walk" as a performance-captured animated feature. But that was before Disney closed down his ImageMovers studio. However, he still got Petit to don the mo-cap suit and virtually pantomime his legendary high-wire balancing act as part of an.
- 12/17/2015
- by Bill Desowitz
- Thompson on Hollywood
This story originally appeared in The Race Begins issue of TheWrap’s Oscar magazine. Robert Zemeckis‘ dazzling 3D IMAX drama “The Walk” looks as if it easily cost nine figures, but the film’s visual effects supervisor swears it was nothing of the sort. “We made this film for $35 million in 43 days,” said Kevin Baillie of the vertigo-inducing movie, which re-creates high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s 1974 walk between the World Trade Center buildings (and hopes to rebottle the Oscar lightning that struck the 2008 Petit Man On Wire.” “How did they come so far so frugally without falling on their faces?...
- 12/8/2015
- by Tim Appelo
- The Wrap
If you didn't get a chance to see Robert Zemeckis' The Walk in IMAX 3D, you really missed out on something special. The Walk was an incredibly visually stunning film, and it was easily one of the greatest cinematic experiences of the year. Watching the movie on your TV just will not carry the same weight or awesomeness that it had on the big screen. This film affected me in a way that no other film has before in terms of feeling anxiety and profusely sweaty palms. I watched the movie in IMAX 3D three times while it was in theaters, forcing people to go see it who didn't want to. Of course, after they saw it they were blown away by the experience.
There's a lot of work that went into bringing the story of Philippe Petit to life and his 1974 high-wire walk across the twin towers. It...
There's a lot of work that went into bringing the story of Philippe Petit to life and his 1974 high-wire walk across the twin towers. It...
- 12/4/2015
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Director Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk is an absolute nail-biter, gripping not only because of the event it portrays – Philippe Petit’s harrowing 1974 high wire walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Center – but because it recreates the buildings involved with astonishing realism. It’s impossible to see them and not be reminded of how they were destroyed, never mind the genuine sense of vertigo you feel as Joseph Gordon-Levitt (or depending on the shot, his…...
- 12/4/2015
- Deadline
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has come to embody the everyman for modern audiences. As the hopeless romantic in (500) Days of Summer (2009), the cancer patient in 50/50 (2011), or the naïve cop in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), his subtle charm and likable demeanor have fallen in line with the iconic average Joes of yesteryear. In the past decade alone, he’s gone from child star to indie A-lister (Brick [2005]) to big budget B-player (Inception [2010]), raking in critical acclaim and a rabid fan base of followers. But barring a few indie turns (Mysterious Skin [2004], Looper [2012]), the actor had yet to break out of his nice guy box and grab mainstream cinema by the throat. That is, until now. Inhabiting high wire walker Philippe Petit, The Walk presents viewers with Gordon-Levitt: the charismatic outsider and spark plug showman. Baptism under wire, if you will.
Petit, a French street performer in the 1970s, developed a pipe dream that...
Petit, a French street performer in the 1970s, developed a pipe dream that...
- 11/30/2015
- by Danilo Castro
- CinemaNerdz
Stx Entertainment
Isn’t it great when a movie surprises you, coming out of nowhere to deliver unexpected thrills, laughs or tears when everything you’d seen or read suggested it was going to be a monumental stinker? These 15 movies confounded expectations to prove that, as cinema lovers, we should try and be as open-minded as possible when approaching any film.
Yes, the year isn’t over yet, but there’s really no need to wait for the likes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Joy or The Hateful Eight, because everyone assumes those movies are all going to be at least good if not great (and if they’re not, they’ll end up on a whole other list altogether), and is there really any chance of Alvin and the Chimpmunks: Road Chip being anything above two-star (though we admittedly said just that about some of these films)?
This...
Isn’t it great when a movie surprises you, coming out of nowhere to deliver unexpected thrills, laughs or tears when everything you’d seen or read suggested it was going to be a monumental stinker? These 15 movies confounded expectations to prove that, as cinema lovers, we should try and be as open-minded as possible when approaching any film.
Yes, the year isn’t over yet, but there’s really no need to wait for the likes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Joy or The Hateful Eight, because everyone assumes those movies are all going to be at least good if not great (and if they’re not, they’ll end up on a whole other list altogether), and is there really any chance of Alvin and the Chimpmunks: Road Chip being anything above two-star (though we admittedly said just that about some of these films)?
This...
- 11/29/2015
- by Jack Pooley
- Obsessed with Film
One of the more puzzling box-office failures of the year is Robert Zemeckis‘ The Walk, an often thrilling and moving feat of visual effects and genuine emotion, as detailed in our review. Barely crossing the $10 million domestic mark, it’s a shame many won’t get the opportunity to experience it in it intended IMAX presentation, but we imagine it’ll gain some life as it gets discovered in the years to come.
Zemeckis’ experimentation with CGI and motion-capture led to perhaps the detriment of overall quality with some of his earlier films this century, but The Walk beautifully reimagines Philippe Petit’s infamous 1974 walk across the World Trade Center towers.
Today we have a visual effects breakdown for Rodeo, which showcases some of the build-up to the event (we imagine a behind-the-scenes of the actual walk will wait for the Blu-ray, though some can be seen here). With nearly...
Zemeckis’ experimentation with CGI and motion-capture led to perhaps the detriment of overall quality with some of his earlier films this century, but The Walk beautifully reimagines Philippe Petit’s infamous 1974 walk across the World Trade Center towers.
Today we have a visual effects breakdown for Rodeo, which showcases some of the build-up to the event (we imagine a behind-the-scenes of the actual walk will wait for the Blu-ray, though some can be seen here). With nearly...
- 11/28/2015
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Read More: Nyff: How 'The Walk' Reflects Fears of Moviegoing's Future Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is bringing Robert Zemeckis' thrilling biopic "The Walk" to Digital HD December 22 and Two-Disc 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray and DVD January 5, meaning anyone who missed the dazzling recreation of Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the Twin Towers can now bring the high-flying act into the comfort of their own home this holiday season. The biopic stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Petit, a young street performer who brings together a band of unlikely recruits to achieve a wire walk between the World Trade Center towers. With little more than nerve and blind ambition, Petit and his ragtag crew overcome daunting physical obstacles, betrayals, countless close calls and overwhelming odds to beat the system and execute their mad plan. Sir Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, James Badge Dale and Ben Schwartz co-star.
- 11/23/2015
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.