Richard Lewis, the stand-up comedian who also starred alongside Larry David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” died Tuesday night at his Los Angeles home due to a heart attack, Variety has confirmed. He was 76.
Lewis announced last April he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from stand-up comedy. He most recently appeared in Season 12 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” currently airing on HBO.
In 2021, Lewis announced he would not appear in Season 11 of “Curb” in order to recover from three surgeries. He surprised viewers by returning to set for one Season 11 episode, telling Variety at the time, “When I walked in and they applauded, I felt like a million bucks. Larry doesn’t like to hug, and he hugged me and told me how happy he was after we shot our scene.”
Lewis, who played a semi-fictionalized version of himself throughout the 24 years of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” was known for his neurotic,...
Lewis announced last April he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and was retiring from stand-up comedy. He most recently appeared in Season 12 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” currently airing on HBO.
In 2021, Lewis announced he would not appear in Season 11 of “Curb” in order to recover from three surgeries. He surprised viewers by returning to set for one Season 11 episode, telling Variety at the time, “When I walked in and they applauded, I felt like a million bucks. Larry doesn’t like to hug, and he hugged me and told me how happy he was after we shot our scene.”
Lewis, who played a semi-fictionalized version of himself throughout the 24 years of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” was known for his neurotic,...
- 2/28/2024
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Jacqueline Novak’s comedy special “Jacqueline Novak: Get On Your Knees” will premiere on Netflix Jan. 23, 2024. The project is directed by Natasha Lyonne (“Poker Face”), who also serves as an executive producer.
Filmed at The Town Hall Theater in New York City, the special features the final performance of Novak’s touring stand-up show “Get On Your Knees,” which premiered in 2019 and sold out multiple times. This 90-minute “concert film-meets-comedy special” revolves around the blowjob and is described as “both raunchy and poignant, an unexpectedly philosophical, coming-of-age tale of triumph that pushes the boundaries of stand-up,” according to the press release.
“Never in my lifetime could I imagine seeing such a hilarious, rigorous, and gut tingling semiotic deconstruction of the phallus in the theatre,” praised “Emily in Paris” actor Jeremy O. Harris of “Get On Your Knees.” “This felt as if Andrea Dworkin and Spaulding Gray had a child they...
Filmed at The Town Hall Theater in New York City, the special features the final performance of Novak’s touring stand-up show “Get On Your Knees,” which premiered in 2019 and sold out multiple times. This 90-minute “concert film-meets-comedy special” revolves around the blowjob and is described as “both raunchy and poignant, an unexpectedly philosophical, coming-of-age tale of triumph that pushes the boundaries of stand-up,” according to the press release.
“Never in my lifetime could I imagine seeing such a hilarious, rigorous, and gut tingling semiotic deconstruction of the phallus in the theatre,” praised “Emily in Paris” actor Jeremy O. Harris of “Get On Your Knees.” “This felt as if Andrea Dworkin and Spaulding Gray had a child they...
- 12/7/2023
- by Valerie Wu
- Variety Film + TV
In 2014, my son’s mother and I took our 3-year-old Noah to Bali. I had judged a film contest with Ihg Hotels and they compensated me with points to use at any of their resorts.
After a while at their lovely InterContinental Bali on Jimbaran Bay at the southern tip of Bali, we yearned for a more offbeat jungle experience and discovered through Airbnb the astounding Green Village Bali, a sustainably built housing community near Ubud.
Before we even checked in, they assumed we were there to see Green School Bali, which we had never heard of. A quick, deep jungle walk later we entered into a clearing where massive twisted bamboo buildings poked through the trees like giant foraging dinosaurs. A small group was gathered with designer John Hardy, the school’s creator, who was about to start a rare personal tour of his school.
It was impossible not...
After a while at their lovely InterContinental Bali on Jimbaran Bay at the southern tip of Bali, we yearned for a more offbeat jungle experience and discovered through Airbnb the astounding Green Village Bali, a sustainably built housing community near Ubud.
Before we even checked in, they assumed we were there to see Green School Bali, which we had never heard of. A quick, deep jungle walk later we entered into a clearing where massive twisted bamboo buildings poked through the trees like giant foraging dinosaurs. A small group was gathered with designer John Hardy, the school’s creator, who was about to start a rare personal tour of his school.
It was impossible not...
- 8/30/2023
- by Josh Lucas, as told to Kathryn Romeyn
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bette Gordon’s fascinating 1983 film about a woman working in an adult movie theatre has a script by Kathy Acker and parts for Nan Goldin and Spalding Gray
The 1983 indie-underground New York movie Variety, directed by Bette Gordon and scripted by Kathy Acker, is re-released for its 40-year anniversary. It is a flawed but fascinating critique of the male gaze, the porn gaze, and the luxurious ordeal of guilty voyeurism. Gordon casts a female lead, flipping gender assumptions and turning the tables on the underworld quest-torments of Paul Schrader’s male heroes in the likes of Taxi Driver and Hardcore. Perhaps she was inspired by the mysterious inner life of the listless young woman played by Diahnne Abbott in Taxi Driver, working behind the porn-cinema concessions counter, irritated by Travis Bickle’s inquiries about what candy she has: “What you see is what we got.”
Actor and film-maker Sandy McLeod plays Christine,...
The 1983 indie-underground New York movie Variety, directed by Bette Gordon and scripted by Kathy Acker, is re-released for its 40-year anniversary. It is a flawed but fascinating critique of the male gaze, the porn gaze, and the luxurious ordeal of guilty voyeurism. Gordon casts a female lead, flipping gender assumptions and turning the tables on the underworld quest-torments of Paul Schrader’s male heroes in the likes of Taxi Driver and Hardcore. Perhaps she was inspired by the mysterious inner life of the listless young woman played by Diahnne Abbott in Taxi Driver, working behind the porn-cinema concessions counter, irritated by Travis Bickle’s inquiries about what candy she has: “What you see is what we got.”
Actor and film-maker Sandy McLeod plays Christine,...
- 8/8/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Directors interested in important, ambitious subject matter didn’t all go extinct with the rise of the Star Wars Generation. Roland Joffé’s first four features are powerful pictures that tell truths that we ought not to forget, with a couple of Award-winning gems right up front. The star power is here as well — Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Patrick Swayze. The deluxe collector’s box caps a presentation with new extras for each title: The Killing Fields, The Mission, Fat Man and Little Boy and City of Joy.
Directed by Roland Joffé
Region-Free Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator 194, 185, 186, 187
1984 – 1992 / Color / Street Date December 7, 2022 / 525 minutes cumulative / Available from / au 179.95
Starring: Sam Waterston, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich; Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons; Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz, Bonnie Bedelia, John Cusack; Patrick Swayze, Om Puri, Pauline Collins.
Cinematography: Chris Menges (2); Vilmos Zsigmond, Peter Biziou
Original Music: Mike Oldfield, Ennio Morricone (3)
Written by Bruce Robinson; Robert Bolt; Bruce Robinson,...
Directed by Roland Joffé
Region-Free Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator 194, 185, 186, 187
1984 – 1992 / Color / Street Date December 7, 2022 / 525 minutes cumulative / Available from / au 179.95
Starring: Sam Waterston, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich; Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons; Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz, Bonnie Bedelia, John Cusack; Patrick Swayze, Om Puri, Pauline Collins.
Cinematography: Chris Menges (2); Vilmos Zsigmond, Peter Biziou
Original Music: Mike Oldfield, Ennio Morricone (3)
Written by Bruce Robinson; Robert Bolt; Bruce Robinson,...
- 12/20/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Hasan Minhaj contains multitudes.
The comedian who hosted Netflix’s “Patriot Act” calls them “Instagram Hasan” and “iMessage Hasan.” In his new special, “The King’s Jester,” Minhaj describes getting swept up in the former, obsessed with virality and online clout at the cost of what really matters.
“There’s Twitter chatter, and there’s Irl chatter,” Minhaj told IndieWire via Zoom ahead of the “King’s Jester” premiere on Netflix. “And I think it’s important for us as performers, artists, and journalists to be able to discern between the two.”
He cites the Twitter headline of the day at the time — BuzzFeed’s Try Guys — and notes that this isn’t something affecting the day-to-day of most people in the country, including himself. A lot of what divides people is arbitrary; Minhaj believes in the power of comedy and shared experience to bring people together.
“One of the...
The comedian who hosted Netflix’s “Patriot Act” calls them “Instagram Hasan” and “iMessage Hasan.” In his new special, “The King’s Jester,” Minhaj describes getting swept up in the former, obsessed with virality and online clout at the cost of what really matters.
“There’s Twitter chatter, and there’s Irl chatter,” Minhaj told IndieWire via Zoom ahead of the “King’s Jester” premiere on Netflix. “And I think it’s important for us as performers, artists, and journalists to be able to discern between the two.”
He cites the Twitter headline of the day at the time — BuzzFeed’s Try Guys — and notes that this isn’t something affecting the day-to-day of most people in the country, including himself. A lot of what divides people is arbitrary; Minhaj believes in the power of comedy and shared experience to bring people together.
“One of the...
- 10/4/2022
- by Proma Khosla
- Indiewire
Jerrod Carmichael was sitting on Bo Burnham’s couch and realized it might be time to come out. “It just kind of hit me,” Carmichael said over the phone last week. “I felt like I had so much to say and standup just felt so immediate.”
The outcome was a routine that eventually evolved into “Rothaniel,” the 35-year-old Carmichael’s mesmerizing and candid HBO special in which he announces he’s gay to an unsuspecting audience. The show, which Burnham directed, transcends the boundaries of the traditional comedy special many times over: It’s a shadowy, almost noir-like one-man show in which Carmichael invites the audience into his psyche, as he wrestles with his mother’s resistance to his sexuality and the broader sense of repression he’s felt in real time. Even the funny bits are tinged with melancholy and soul-searching wonder while Carmichael proves such a personal centerpiece...
The outcome was a routine that eventually evolved into “Rothaniel,” the 35-year-old Carmichael’s mesmerizing and candid HBO special in which he announces he’s gay to an unsuspecting audience. The show, which Burnham directed, transcends the boundaries of the traditional comedy special many times over: It’s a shadowy, almost noir-like one-man show in which Carmichael invites the audience into his psyche, as he wrestles with his mother’s resistance to his sexuality and the broader sense of repression he’s felt in real time. Even the funny bits are tinged with melancholy and soul-searching wonder while Carmichael proves such a personal centerpiece...
- 6/16/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Producer Scott Rudin will bring actor Dustin Hoffman to Broadway in a 2021 staging of Our Town, to be directed by Bartlett Sher (To Kill A Mockingbird).
Hoffman will play the role of the Stage Manager in the classic Thornton Wilder play, sources close to the production say.
The production will be Hoffman’s first Broadway role since his Tony Award-nominated performance of Shylock in 1989’s The Merchant of Venice. He played Willy Loman in an acclaimed 1984 revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, and appeared in several productions during the 1960s, including Jimmy Shine, The Subject Was Roses and A Cook for Mr. General.
Hoffman, most recently seen on screen in Noah Baumbach’s Netflix 2017 film The Meyerowitz Stories, won an Emmy Award for Volker Schlöndorff’s 1985 television adaptation of Death of a Salesman, costarring his Broadway revival castmates Kate Reid, John Malkovich and Stephen Lang.
Broadway Shutdown...
Hoffman will play the role of the Stage Manager in the classic Thornton Wilder play, sources close to the production say.
The production will be Hoffman’s first Broadway role since his Tony Award-nominated performance of Shylock in 1989’s The Merchant of Venice. He played Willy Loman in an acclaimed 1984 revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, and appeared in several productions during the 1960s, including Jimmy Shine, The Subject Was Roses and A Cook for Mr. General.
Hoffman, most recently seen on screen in Noah Baumbach’s Netflix 2017 film The Meyerowitz Stories, won an Emmy Award for Volker Schlöndorff’s 1985 television adaptation of Death of a Salesman, costarring his Broadway revival castmates Kate Reid, John Malkovich and Stephen Lang.
Broadway Shutdown...
- 6/30/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The director of Arlington Road, The Mothman Prophecies, Pearl Jam’s Jeremy and many more reflects on his career and some of the movies that made him.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Arlington Road (1999)
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Firewall (2006)
The Orphanage (2007)
Nostalgia (2018)
Avatar (2009)
Titanic (1997)
Chef (2014)
The Laundromat (2019)
Honeymoon In Vegas (1992)
Demonlover (2003)
Under The Sand (2000)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Under The Skin (2013)
The Great Beauty (2013)
Slap Shot (1977)
Network (1976)
Straw Dogs (1971)
The Pawnbroker (1964)
Star Wars (1977)
The Exorcist (1973)
Jaws (1975)
The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973)
All The President’s Men (1976)
Liquid Sky (1982)
The Brother From Another Planet (1984)
City Of Hope (1991)
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Snowpiercer (2013)
The Flintstones (1994)
Matinee (1993)
Batman (1989)
Transformers (2007)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Psycho (1960)
Psycho (1998)
Mandy (2018)
Phantom Thread (2017)
Magnolia (1999)
Boogie Nights (1997)
The Master (2012)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Mustang (2019)
Inherent Vice (2014)
The New World (2005)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
The Last Word (2017)
Cocaine Cowboys (2006)
The Burglar (1957)
What Lies Beneath...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Arlington Road (1999)
The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Firewall (2006)
The Orphanage (2007)
Nostalgia (2018)
Avatar (2009)
Titanic (1997)
Chef (2014)
The Laundromat (2019)
Honeymoon In Vegas (1992)
Demonlover (2003)
Under The Sand (2000)
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Under The Skin (2013)
The Great Beauty (2013)
Slap Shot (1977)
Network (1976)
Straw Dogs (1971)
The Pawnbroker (1964)
Star Wars (1977)
The Exorcist (1973)
Jaws (1975)
The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973)
All The President’s Men (1976)
Liquid Sky (1982)
The Brother From Another Planet (1984)
City Of Hope (1991)
Stop Making Sense (1984)
Snowpiercer (2013)
The Flintstones (1994)
Matinee (1993)
Batman (1989)
Transformers (2007)
A History Of Violence (2005)
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
Psycho (1960)
Psycho (1998)
Mandy (2018)
Phantom Thread (2017)
Magnolia (1999)
Boogie Nights (1997)
The Master (2012)
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The Mustang (2019)
Inherent Vice (2014)
The New World (2005)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
The Last Word (2017)
Cocaine Cowboys (2006)
The Burglar (1957)
What Lies Beneath...
- 4/21/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
One of rock’s great questions, a rung or two below Are You Experienced? and maybe Which One’s Pink? but still right up there, has got to be Why A Big Suit? David Byrne asked himself that in an early-mtv-era promo for Jonathan Demme’s brilliant Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, posing a query about an image – the angular frontman all Dada’d up in a gigantic gray, V-cut suit – that itself was a signature pose of the 1980s.
His answer had a bit to do with a love of geometric shapes but mostly reflected a desire to make his head seem small – a way, he suggested, of highlighting the physical, rather than the cerebral, in music. Of course the very contemplation of the matter funked things up more than a little; as, it turned out, shrunken heads are about as good at escaping attention as whispers.
His answer had a bit to do with a love of geometric shapes but mostly reflected a desire to make his head seem small – a way, he suggested, of highlighting the physical, rather than the cerebral, in music. Of course the very contemplation of the matter funked things up more than a little; as, it turned out, shrunken heads are about as good at escaping attention as whispers.
- 10/21/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Eric Pleskow, who ran United Artists, co-founded and led Orion Pictures and produced John Boorman’s Beyond Rangoon, died today in Westport, Ct. He was 95.
The Austria native also has served as president of the Vienna International Film Festival since 1998. The Viennale announced his death but did not provide any details:
Eric Pleskow (1924-2019)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our president and friend Eric Pleskow. pic.twitter.com/80dJc5J0p9
— Viennale (@Viennale) October 1, 2019
“His death is a great loss for all of us,” the Vienna fest said in a blog post.. “Eric had a fulfilled and long life and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of the Viennale, he has always carried us with his humor and foresight.”
Born on April 24, 1924, in Vienna, Pleskow and his family fled Europe via France days before...
The Austria native also has served as president of the Vienna International Film Festival since 1998. The Viennale announced his death but did not provide any details:
Eric Pleskow (1924-2019)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our president and friend Eric Pleskow. pic.twitter.com/80dJc5J0p9
— Viennale (@Viennale) October 1, 2019
“His death is a great loss for all of us,” the Vienna fest said in a blog post.. “Eric had a fulfilled and long life and we appreciated him as a longtime friend and companion of our festival. As president and patron of the Viennale, he has always carried us with his humor and foresight.”
Born on April 24, 1924, in Vienna, Pleskow and his family fled Europe via France days before...
- 10/1/2019
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
The annual Tibet House benefit is a New York City musical tradition, always well-curated by composer and downtown arts ambassador emeritus Philip Glass. The organization’s mission is to preserve, protect, promote and advance Tibetan culture — and with its focus on peace (inner and outer), meditation, healing and happiness, that mission couldn’t be more timely. So the event, billed as the 32nd annual (give or take a few; no one seems to recall exactly), was especially welcome this year. And as usual, the music captured the spirit of the moment.
- 2/8/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
Stars: John Goodman, David Byrne, Anne McEnroe, Spalding Gray, Jo Harvey Allen | Written by David Byrne, Stephen Tobolowsky, Beth Henley | Directed by David Byrne
I have a soft spot for weird movies made by music artists who’ve been thrown a bunch of money. I guess this is why I’m the one person who enjoys Prince’s Under the Cherry Moon. In 1986, following the success of Talking Heads’ 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, Warner Bros wanted another hit, so they gave virtually complete creative freedom to lead vocalist David Byrne.
The result is True Stories. It flunked at the box office, but that’s only because it’s unsellable: a truly unusual and infectiously joyous celebration of Americana and the power of the creative individual. Apparently inspired by the tall tales told in tabloid newspaper cuttings, the setting is the small town of Virgil, Texas, and the cast are the oddball citizens,...
I have a soft spot for weird movies made by music artists who’ve been thrown a bunch of money. I guess this is why I’m the one person who enjoys Prince’s Under the Cherry Moon. In 1986, following the success of Talking Heads’ 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, Warner Bros wanted another hit, so they gave virtually complete creative freedom to lead vocalist David Byrne.
The result is True Stories. It flunked at the box office, but that’s only because it’s unsellable: a truly unusual and infectiously joyous celebration of Americana and the power of the creative individual. Apparently inspired by the tall tales told in tabloid newspaper cuttings, the setting is the small town of Virgil, Texas, and the cast are the oddball citizens,...
- 1/29/2019
- by Rupert Harvey
- Nerdly
True Stories
Blu ray
Criterion
1986 / 1.85:1 / 89 Min. / Street Date – November 27, 2018
Starring David Byrne, John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz, Pops Staples
Cinematography by Ed Lachman
Directed by David Byrne
A concert film filmed over four nights at the Pantages Theater in 1983, Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense has the redemptive quality of a classic noir – as Talking Heads’ music churns from slow simmer to barn-burning tent-show revival, band leader David Byrne contends with his own Hollywood style character arc – at movie’s end the “tense and nervous” loner has reclaimed his soul in more ways than one.
The success of Demme’s film lead to Byrne’s next incarnation, as a movie director and oddball tour guide investigating a small southwestern town in 1986’s True Stories. Animated by unpredictable mood swings, quirky tempos and cosmopolitan naiveté, it’s the cinematic equivalent of a Talking Heads song.
After an introductory film within a...
Blu ray
Criterion
1986 / 1.85:1 / 89 Min. / Street Date – November 27, 2018
Starring David Byrne, John Goodman, Swoosie Kurtz, Pops Staples
Cinematography by Ed Lachman
Directed by David Byrne
A concert film filmed over four nights at the Pantages Theater in 1983, Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense has the redemptive quality of a classic noir – as Talking Heads’ music churns from slow simmer to barn-burning tent-show revival, band leader David Byrne contends with his own Hollywood style character arc – at movie’s end the “tense and nervous” loner has reclaimed his soul in more ways than one.
The success of Demme’s film lead to Byrne’s next incarnation, as a movie director and oddball tour guide investigating a small southwestern town in 1986’s True Stories. Animated by unpredictable mood swings, quirky tempos and cosmopolitan naiveté, it’s the cinematic equivalent of a Talking Heads song.
After an introductory film within a...
- 12/15/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
“Have you been here before?” David Byrne asks, his eyes widening as he sits in a conference room inside the Criterion Collection’s New York office. It’s like Willy Wonka’s factory for film buffs. Behind him are posters for classic films like Milos Forman’s Black Peter and Federico Fellini’s Juliet of the Spirits, printed in their original languages. To his right, there’s a bookshelf filled with multiple volumes of defunct cinephile magazines from England. “I love the film library and all the stuff they do,...
- 11/26/2018
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
At its best, the land of writer-director Nicole Holofcener is a sly and invigorating place — wittier than life, full of human surprise, grounded in the ways that happiness and heartache dance together. Her movies can be deceptively light, but she crafts each one with acerbic affection, and in a highly personal and selective way. It’s my feeling, too, that she has only grown as an artist. “Friends with Money” (2006) presented a slew of characters so weirdly sympathetic in their middle-class avarice that they popped off screen, and in “Enough Said” (2013), Holofcener figured out how to do what no previous filmmaker had: She got James Gandolfini to give a marvelous performance that shed any last vestige of his Tony Soprano aura.
Holofcener’s new movie, “The Land of Steady Habits,” is the first one she has made based on material that she didn’t originate herself. You can see why:...
Holofcener’s new movie, “The Land of Steady Habits,” is the first one she has made based on material that she didn’t originate herself. You can see why:...
- 9/13/2018
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Anybody’s Woman by Bette Gordon (1981)
Starring Nancy Reilly and Spalding Gray
In the 1970s, filmmaker Bette Gordon was associated with the Structuralist style of experimental filmmaking. For example, there is a review in the first issue of Idiolects of a screening event she shared with James Benning at the Millennium Film Workshop on June 12, 1976. The only film of Gordon’s noted in the review was Noyes (1976). Both Gordon and Benning were teaching filmmaking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison at the time. (A letter by Gordon in the 2nd issue of Idiolects takes umbrage at the mostly negative review.)
Anybody’s Woman represents Gordon’s shift into narrative filmmaking in the 1980s while not totally abandoning her experimental film roots. The film is clearly not a traditional narrative, but is a collection of short monologues — delivered on and off screen — interspersed with purely visual sequences of mostly New York City’s seedy Times Square neighborhood.
Starring Nancy Reilly and Spalding Gray
In the 1970s, filmmaker Bette Gordon was associated with the Structuralist style of experimental filmmaking. For example, there is a review in the first issue of Idiolects of a screening event she shared with James Benning at the Millennium Film Workshop on June 12, 1976. The only film of Gordon’s noted in the review was Noyes (1976). Both Gordon and Benning were teaching filmmaking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison at the time. (A letter by Gordon in the 2nd issue of Idiolects takes umbrage at the mostly negative review.)
Anybody’s Woman represents Gordon’s shift into narrative filmmaking in the 1980s while not totally abandoning her experimental film roots. The film is clearly not a traditional narrative, but is a collection of short monologues — delivered on and off screen — interspersed with purely visual sequences of mostly New York City’s seedy Times Square neighborhood.
- 4/8/2018
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Above: Us festival one sheet for Hal (Amy Scott, USA, 2018). Designed by Midnight Marauder.One of the best and most inventive movie poster designers currently at work, the L.A.-based artist known as Midnight Marauder should be no stranger to followers of my Movie Poster of the Day Tumblr and annual top 10 lists. A graphic designer for some 20 years, Mm a.k.a. Emmanuel, has been designing movie posters for the past five years. He has had two very fruitful collaborations in that time, first with Terrence Malick for whom he has designed a number of posters, most notably the teaser for Knight of Cups, and more recently with the great Berlin-based Italian illustrator Tony Stella with whom he has been producing beautiful alternative posters for films like The Phantom Thread. Together they also designed the poster for the 50th anniversary release of The Great Silence, which opens in theaters today.
- 3/30/2018
- MUBI
A key member of the Man of Action creative collective, Steven T. Seagle has thrilled viewers and readers alike for years with projects ranging from the Ben 10 TV series to the spooky Camp Midnight graphic novel. For his latest project, Seagle takes readers on a personal journey through multiple cultures in Get Naked, a new graphic essay collection that combines Seagle's impactful prose with illustrations from artists around the globe. With Get Naked now in comic shops and bookstores, we caught up with Seagle to discuss what he learned about how people view nakedness in diverse cultures around the world compared to how Americans feel about it, what he hopes readers will take away from his new personal collection, and much more.
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Steven, and congratulations on your new graphic essay collection, Get Naked. When and how did you originally...
Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Steven, and congratulations on your new graphic essay collection, Get Naked. When and how did you originally...
- 2/14/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
We’re all still reeling from the death of Jonathan Demme, one of the most unpredictable, open-hearted and by all accounts best loved of American filmmakers. I was surprised to learn that he was 73 when he died because he, and his films, always seemed so youthful. The fact that his swansong was the beautifully exuberant Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids only added to that impression of vitality.Many of the posters for Demme’s films are as well known as the films themselves: the Dali-esque death’s head moth for Silence of the Lambs; the cutout of Spalding Gray’s head bobbing in a flat plane of blue for Swimming to Cambodia; an upside-down Jeff Daniels on Something Wild; Pablo Ferro’s Strangelove-esque titles over the Big Suit for Stop Making Sense. And of his later films I particularly like the screen-print look of Man From Plains. But the posters for Demme’s early films,...
- 5/1/2017
- MUBI
Jonathan Demme's death at the age of 73 prompted an outpouring of online memorials from film lovers who remembered the Oscar-winning director for his varied career: everything from the chilling, intelligent thriller The Silence of the Lambs to the brittle 2008 indie drama Rachel Getting Married. But for music fans, those highlights don't even scratch the surface of what cemented his legacy.
It's not hyperbole to say that Demme was arguably the greatest concert filmmaker ever – look at the number of them that he made, the range of artists he chronicled...
It's not hyperbole to say that Demme was arguably the greatest concert filmmaker ever – look at the number of them that he made, the range of artists he chronicled...
- 4/26/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director of The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, and much more, died Wednesday at age of 73.
Demme’s varied career not only covered feature films; he was an accomplished director of concert films and documentaries as well, working with an equally diverse array of talent, from Oprah Winfrey and Laura Dern to Justin Timberlake and Spalding Gray.
As news of the filmmaker’s death continues to spread, celebrities and influencers within the entertainment industry have begun sharing their reactions on social media. See a selection of remembrances below
Very sad to hear of...
Demme’s varied career not only covered feature films; he was an accomplished director of concert films and documentaries as well, working with an equally diverse array of talent, from Oprah Winfrey and Laura Dern to Justin Timberlake and Spalding Gray.
As news of the filmmaker’s death continues to spread, celebrities and influencers within the entertainment industry have begun sharing their reactions on social media. See a selection of remembrances below
Very sad to hear of...
- 4/26/2017
- by Dan Heching
- PEOPLE.com
Jonathan Demme, the Oscar-winning director of Philadelphia and The Silence of the Lambs and the filmmaker who revolutionized concert movies with his 1984 Talking Heads movie Stop Making Sense, died Wednesday morning from esophegal cancer. He was 73.
"Sadly, I can confirm that Jonathan passed away early this morning in his Manhattan apartment, surrounded by his wife, Joanne Howard, and three children," Demme's rep said in a statement.
"I am heartbroken to lose a friend, a mentor, a guy so singular and dynamic you’d have to design a hurricane to contain him,...
"Sadly, I can confirm that Jonathan passed away early this morning in his Manhattan apartment, surrounded by his wife, Joanne Howard, and three children," Demme's rep said in a statement.
"I am heartbroken to lose a friend, a mentor, a guy so singular and dynamic you’d have to design a hurricane to contain him,...
- 4/26/2017
- Rollingstone.com
Michael Moore is fucking terrified.
He knows that Hillary Clinton is way up in the polls, but he remembers the huge lead she had in the polls on the morning of the Michigan primary earlier this year, a primary that she ultimately lost to Bernie Sanders. He knows that it’s going to be difficult for Donald J. Trump to be elected President with such a small percentage of the female vote — and the black vote, and the brown vote, and the Asian vote, and the gay vote, and the Jewish vote, and the college-educated vote and the cuck vote — but he was shaken to his core by the summer’s Brexit referendum, and he strongly believes that any Democrats who are already dancing in the end zone are doing their part to help usher America’s whiniest billionaire into the Oval Office. He was a Bernie supporter from day one,...
He knows that Hillary Clinton is way up in the polls, but he remembers the huge lead she had in the polls on the morning of the Michigan primary earlier this year, a primary that she ultimately lost to Bernie Sanders. He knows that it’s going to be difficult for Donald J. Trump to be elected President with such a small percentage of the female vote — and the black vote, and the brown vote, and the Asian vote, and the gay vote, and the Jewish vote, and the college-educated vote and the cuck vote — but he was shaken to his core by the summer’s Brexit referendum, and he strongly believes that any Democrats who are already dancing in the end zone are doing their part to help usher America’s whiniest billionaire into the Oval Office. He was a Bernie supporter from day one,...
- 10/19/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Four episodes were provided prior to broadcast.
Returning to IFC this fall is one of the most peculiar, inventive comedies on TV, the veritable documentary spoof factory Documentary Now! Created by SNL MVPs Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and their ever-loving godfather Lorne Michaels, the show found its niche on the “always on, slightly off” cable network by spoofing some of the most popular documentaries of all time, appealing to the indie-minded set while providing enough surface-level humor to appease fans of their famous late-night shenanigans. The show’s first season goofed on classics like The Thin Blue Line, Grey Gardens and Nanook of the North, and now the comedy triumvirate is back with a new lineup of 20-minute spoofs.
The new one-off episodes each have unique charms, from “Globesman,” a take on Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin’s Salesman, to “Bunker,” a timely homage (considering the...
Returning to IFC this fall is one of the most peculiar, inventive comedies on TV, the veritable documentary spoof factory Documentary Now! Created by SNL MVPs Fred Armisen, Bill Hader, Seth Meyers, and their ever-loving godfather Lorne Michaels, the show found its niche on the “always on, slightly off” cable network by spoofing some of the most popular documentaries of all time, appealing to the indie-minded set while providing enough surface-level humor to appease fans of their famous late-night shenanigans. The show’s first season goofed on classics like The Thin Blue Line, Grey Gardens and Nanook of the North, and now the comedy triumvirate is back with a new lineup of 20-minute spoofs.
The new one-off episodes each have unique charms, from “Globesman,” a take on Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin’s Salesman, to “Bunker,” a timely homage (considering the...
- 9/14/2016
- by Bernard Boo
- We Got This Covered
IFC’s “Documentary Now!” returns for Season 2 on September 14, but you don’t have to wait until then for your first look.
IndieWire has an exclusive sneak peek at posters for two of the spoof docs this season. The first is “Globesman,” which is inspired by the 1969 documentary “Salesman” about door-to-door bible salesmen. Fred Armisen and Bill Hader’s version follows businessmen who are trying to sell globes to people who prefer atlases.
Take a look:
Read More: ‘Documentary Now!’: Fred Armisen and Bill Hader Break Down Season 2 Docs Spoofed
The next sneak peek is “Parker Gail’s Location Is Everything,” which is inspired by Jonathan Demme’s film “Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia.” This time, Hader stars as Parker Gail, who laments the loss of his New York City apartment.
Check out the key art:
“Documentary Now!” returns for Season 2 on Wednesday, September 14 at 10pm on IFC.
IndieWire has an exclusive sneak peek at posters for two of the spoof docs this season. The first is “Globesman,” which is inspired by the 1969 documentary “Salesman” about door-to-door bible salesmen. Fred Armisen and Bill Hader’s version follows businessmen who are trying to sell globes to people who prefer atlases.
Take a look:
Read More: ‘Documentary Now!’: Fred Armisen and Bill Hader Break Down Season 2 Docs Spoofed
The next sneak peek is “Parker Gail’s Location Is Everything,” which is inspired by Jonathan Demme’s film “Spalding Gray’s Swimming to Cambodia.” This time, Hader stars as Parker Gail, who laments the loss of his New York City apartment.
Check out the key art:
“Documentary Now!” returns for Season 2 on Wednesday, September 14 at 10pm on IFC.
- 9/7/2016
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Fred Armisen and Bill Hader spoof the Talking Heads, D.A. Pennebaker, the Maysles Brothers and more in the new trailer for Season Two (or "Season 51") of Documentary Now!
The clip opens with host Helen Mirren reintroducing the "long-running" documentary showcase and offers a peak at Hader and Armisen's absurd parodies. Among the highlights are the duo's expertly retro takes on the Maysles' Salesman, in which Hader and Armisen play inept globe salesmen ("It says 'Bermuba' instead of 'Bermuda,'" a young boy points out).
The trailer finds Armisen and Hader...
The clip opens with host Helen Mirren reintroducing the "long-running" documentary showcase and offers a peak at Hader and Armisen's absurd parodies. Among the highlights are the duo's expertly retro takes on the Maysles' Salesman, in which Hader and Armisen play inept globe salesmen ("It says 'Bermuba' instead of 'Bermuda,'" a young boy points out).
The trailer finds Armisen and Hader...
- 8/25/2016
- Rollingstone.com
IFC announced at its press day for the Television Critics Association on Sunday that its spoof series “Documentary Now!” will return for its second season September 14 at 10pm.
The second season continues the series’ winning formula of paying homage to well-known documentary films, but with a Fred Armisen and Bill Hader twist. Each episode, Dame Helen Mirren acts as host to introduce the faux docs.
The six lucky films that get the “Documentary Now!” treatment this season are as follows:
Inspiration: “The War Room”
Spoof: “The Bunker” — A 1990s gubernatorial race shot by camcorder is as gloriously low-rent and ethically dubious as can be expected.
Hader plays a campaign manager named Teddy Redbones, who has echoes of Hader’s impersonation of James Carville. “Teddy Redbones is different. He just wants to win,” the actor told the TCA. “He’s this super insane campaign guy. He keeps forgetting [his client’s] name. It doesn...
The second season continues the series’ winning formula of paying homage to well-known documentary films, but with a Fred Armisen and Bill Hader twist. Each episode, Dame Helen Mirren acts as host to introduce the faux docs.
The six lucky films that get the “Documentary Now!” treatment this season are as follows:
Inspiration: “The War Room”
Spoof: “The Bunker” — A 1990s gubernatorial race shot by camcorder is as gloriously low-rent and ethically dubious as can be expected.
Hader plays a campaign manager named Teddy Redbones, who has echoes of Hader’s impersonation of James Carville. “Teddy Redbones is different. He just wants to win,” the actor told the TCA. “He’s this super insane campaign guy. He keeps forgetting [his client’s] name. It doesn...
- 7/31/2016
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
Bob Hawk is the Pierre Rissient of American Independent Films. Pierre was for French cinema what Bob is to American independent cinema. When he discovered a film and told Cannes about it, Cannes programmed it. Those who know Pierre and those who know Bob know that their influence cannot be quantified by the number of films they have fostered in one way or another. Bob’s influence extends in innumerable ways throughout the independent film world. Independent films are Bob Hawk's life, and now his life is an independent film.
After the thrill of watching the documentary “Film Hawk” by Jj Garvine and Tai Parquet whose first, ever-so-shocking film “Keeping the Peace” in 2009 was about the brutal and first such beheading in Iraq, I was whisked off to lunch with Bob and the filmmakers Jj Garvine and Tai Parquet. It seemed as if our lunch were a continuation of the film, so alive and vivid was the film and so full of references and ideas was our conversation.
We immediately began a non-stop talk of passionate love for movies. Bob showed me the tee shirt he wore just for our lunch, a Filmmaker Magazine tee from the early days when Indiewire’s offices were upstairs in the Filmmaker offices. In all the scenes of this film, his tee shirts are remarkable for titles he primarily has worked on or been somehow attached to. He must have hundreds of such mementos of his life.
So how did you make this film? I finally asked, because even if this is “the usual sort of question we get” according to Jj, it is really of interest to me.
Jj and Tai ‘s first film, “Keeping The Peace”, premiered and won the Audience Award at the 2009 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and went on to be selected for the PBS Pov "United States of Documentaries” series. They are often indistinguishable themselves in their simultaneously answering questions or commenting on the talk. “We decided to make this movie on the day before his 74th birthday when we all went to the IFC Center in New York to see the Spalding Gray movie by Steven Soderbergh. We had a three hour dinner and learned so much about Bob. We then met Soderbergh. Going home we thought his life would make a great story. We knew him because he helped us with our film ‘Keeping the Peace’ but we had never talked about anything but the movie at that time. We said to him, ‘What if we made a short about your life?’ He said ‘What?’ And that was it.
“Film Hawk” itself is a broad swatch of a life well-lived with honesty and integrity. Surrounded by loving family and friends – although he and his brother as boys fought hard and often with each other as they grew up in very different ways. Bob veered toward art and his brother toward sports. Bob knew at an early age he was gay but his brother was strictly sports and girls. They were the sons of a minister, a minister who preached love. Their mother was a copy editor and proofreader – initially of insurance documents -- and Bob credits her with his own love for editing and proofreading. He proofread auction catalogs and the Sharper Image catalog at one point in his life.
Bob: “My mother, who lived to be 97, was a proofreader to the end. She edited and proofed the monthly newsletter of the home in which she lived in good health until she died. In fact, she proofread the April edition of the home’s newsletter, the very month she died.”
He did not like having to be the exemplary son of a minister and he had a stutter. At one point, hearing his father’s oratorical voice in the church, he realized there was a thin line between the church and theater and he choose theater as a young child and he credits his father for his love of dramaturgy and theater.
When he acted, his stutter disappeared and so he acted, though he much preferred working behind the scenes.
Our conversation switched between talk of film and talk of Bob the man. For he is incredibly full of love and life, a man whose boundaries include public and private love and film in one full embrace.
Bob grew up loud and proud, working as a techie Off Broadway in New York City. Even as a high school student he often went to New York City and explored both live theater and underground movies like Jean Genet’s “Un Chant d’Amour” and Kenneth Anger’s “Scorpio Rising”. Those were the predecessors to independent movies, he says.
Eventually he moved to stage managing in San Francisco where he met filmmaker Rob Epstein and contributed his thoughts to the seminal gay-themed documentary “Word Is Out”, made by a film collective that included Rob.
Tai: “Bob was an activist and that led him to film. In 1976 ,when the five hour rough cut of “Word is Out” was previewed for the public in a work-in-progress screening, Bob’s notes as a member of the audience were volumes of comments. In 1978 when Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed by another supervisor, he and Rob, with whom he had become friends, both knew a film had to be made, but it took five years of grassroots fundraising.
Bob: “Rob and producer Richard Schmiechen initially went to Kqed, San Francisco’s public television station, but they turned it down, saying the story was too local. So they went to Wnet in New York, who provided funding for a one hour version. Then we realized that ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’ needed to be a feature, so we went again to Wnet and they gave us the additional money. This was the first film I worked on, as print media researcher and archivist.”
Jj: “Bob researched not only Harvey Milk but the whole era.”
Bob: “I had volumes -- over 600 news and magazine articles -- all organized by 20 main topics like Harvey Milk, George Moscone, Trial, Verdict, Riot, Gay Climate, Dan White and they were cross referenced, so when we had to speak about any subject, we had it ready.”
Says Tai , “Bob’s emphasis is always on storytelling. He even has a sense of arc in his copy editing.”
Tai thought he was a great writer, but Bob is not so sure.
Says Jj : “Bob is not good at original copy because he’s such an editor himself.”
Bob: “Yes, when I write, I feel my editor self looking over my shoulder.”
“The weakness of some narrative indies is that the filmmakers are so eager to shoot that they do not fully develop the script beforehand.”
So Bob is the articulate but silent spokesman for indies, always behind the scenes, editing and tightening scripts, reading copy and imperceptibly influencing a vast body of independent film today.
Tai: “He is like a drop of water in a small stream which he knows runs to the sea and which affects the very water of the ocean.
“Bob is not about connections. He’s about connection.”
There was so much research done for Film Hawk, you must have worked very hard.
Jj: We just listened to Bob and followed all the leads he gave us.
Tai: “Bob is not associated as strictly ‘gay’ or for gay films only. You can see that in his long term relationship to ‘Brothers McMullen’ in the film, but homosexuality is as intrinsic to him as is his whole childhood. He is secure in himself as a person”.
Bob Hawk’s keen insights and feedback became the precious wind that provided flight for many filmmakers. This fiery, eccentric fairy Godfather of indie film not only battled depression, but was the first to discover and champion the talents of Kevin Smith (“Clerks”, “Chasing Amy”), Edward Burns (“The Brothers McMullen”, “Purple Violets”), Ira Sachs (“Keep The Lights On”, “Love Is Strange”) and Scott McGehee and David Siegel (“The Deep End”, “What Maisie Knew”).
Here are what a few have to say about him:
"I didn't ever consider myself an artist, I was just a guy who wanted to make ‘Clerks’, until Bob Hawk started talking about it."
- Kevin Smith
"Bob was always there to encourage me. Bob is a friend and a mentor"
- Ed Burns
With his 30+ year Sundance presence - including work as consultant, programmer, moderator, juror, and impassioned viewer - usually seated front-row and often asking the first question (as in the case of the “Sex, Lies and Videotape” world premiere) Bob deserves kudos and honors and yet has never sought the spotlight for himself.
Not only is this a film about film, but about a man who is as intrinsic to indie films as is the drop of water in a stream that goes into the ocean, but this film should also stand up in educational venues – whether about filmmaking or about standing proud as a gay man in the world.
In many ways this film recalls the classic “Bill Cunningham” that Zeitgeist had such success with in that both films are quintessentially New York films about men whose calling is their life-long love; each is a living example of the importance of love for one’s self and for one’s life lived with passion. “Film Hawk” deserves to be seen at the IFC Center, in the center of New York.
Bob grew up in that time in the 50s when to be gay meant very little to society. Gay men married, had children and if they were lucky they did not find their dual role in life unsettling. He was just at the edge and realized he did not have to go the marriage route and have children, and so he went the art route and his children are numerous.
Bob will be speaking at the Berlinale Queer Academy during the 30th Anniversary of the Teddy Awards and a clip of the film will accompany him. He is also receiving a Maverick of the Year Award from Cinequest this month.
After the thrill of watching the documentary “Film Hawk” by Jj Garvine and Tai Parquet whose first, ever-so-shocking film “Keeping the Peace” in 2009 was about the brutal and first such beheading in Iraq, I was whisked off to lunch with Bob and the filmmakers Jj Garvine and Tai Parquet. It seemed as if our lunch were a continuation of the film, so alive and vivid was the film and so full of references and ideas was our conversation.
We immediately began a non-stop talk of passionate love for movies. Bob showed me the tee shirt he wore just for our lunch, a Filmmaker Magazine tee from the early days when Indiewire’s offices were upstairs in the Filmmaker offices. In all the scenes of this film, his tee shirts are remarkable for titles he primarily has worked on or been somehow attached to. He must have hundreds of such mementos of his life.
So how did you make this film? I finally asked, because even if this is “the usual sort of question we get” according to Jj, it is really of interest to me.
Jj and Tai ‘s first film, “Keeping The Peace”, premiered and won the Audience Award at the 2009 Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and went on to be selected for the PBS Pov "United States of Documentaries” series. They are often indistinguishable themselves in their simultaneously answering questions or commenting on the talk. “We decided to make this movie on the day before his 74th birthday when we all went to the IFC Center in New York to see the Spalding Gray movie by Steven Soderbergh. We had a three hour dinner and learned so much about Bob. We then met Soderbergh. Going home we thought his life would make a great story. We knew him because he helped us with our film ‘Keeping the Peace’ but we had never talked about anything but the movie at that time. We said to him, ‘What if we made a short about your life?’ He said ‘What?’ And that was it.
“Film Hawk” itself is a broad swatch of a life well-lived with honesty and integrity. Surrounded by loving family and friends – although he and his brother as boys fought hard and often with each other as they grew up in very different ways. Bob veered toward art and his brother toward sports. Bob knew at an early age he was gay but his brother was strictly sports and girls. They were the sons of a minister, a minister who preached love. Their mother was a copy editor and proofreader – initially of insurance documents -- and Bob credits her with his own love for editing and proofreading. He proofread auction catalogs and the Sharper Image catalog at one point in his life.
Bob: “My mother, who lived to be 97, was a proofreader to the end. She edited and proofed the monthly newsletter of the home in which she lived in good health until she died. In fact, she proofread the April edition of the home’s newsletter, the very month she died.”
He did not like having to be the exemplary son of a minister and he had a stutter. At one point, hearing his father’s oratorical voice in the church, he realized there was a thin line between the church and theater and he choose theater as a young child and he credits his father for his love of dramaturgy and theater.
When he acted, his stutter disappeared and so he acted, though he much preferred working behind the scenes.
Our conversation switched between talk of film and talk of Bob the man. For he is incredibly full of love and life, a man whose boundaries include public and private love and film in one full embrace.
Bob grew up loud and proud, working as a techie Off Broadway in New York City. Even as a high school student he often went to New York City and explored both live theater and underground movies like Jean Genet’s “Un Chant d’Amour” and Kenneth Anger’s “Scorpio Rising”. Those were the predecessors to independent movies, he says.
Eventually he moved to stage managing in San Francisco where he met filmmaker Rob Epstein and contributed his thoughts to the seminal gay-themed documentary “Word Is Out”, made by a film collective that included Rob.
Tai: “Bob was an activist and that led him to film. In 1976 ,when the five hour rough cut of “Word is Out” was previewed for the public in a work-in-progress screening, Bob’s notes as a member of the audience were volumes of comments. In 1978 when Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed by another supervisor, he and Rob, with whom he had become friends, both knew a film had to be made, but it took five years of grassroots fundraising.
Bob: “Rob and producer Richard Schmiechen initially went to Kqed, San Francisco’s public television station, but they turned it down, saying the story was too local. So they went to Wnet in New York, who provided funding for a one hour version. Then we realized that ‘The Times of Harvey Milk’ needed to be a feature, so we went again to Wnet and they gave us the additional money. This was the first film I worked on, as print media researcher and archivist.”
Jj: “Bob researched not only Harvey Milk but the whole era.”
Bob: “I had volumes -- over 600 news and magazine articles -- all organized by 20 main topics like Harvey Milk, George Moscone, Trial, Verdict, Riot, Gay Climate, Dan White and they were cross referenced, so when we had to speak about any subject, we had it ready.”
Says Tai , “Bob’s emphasis is always on storytelling. He even has a sense of arc in his copy editing.”
Tai thought he was a great writer, but Bob is not so sure.
Says Jj : “Bob is not good at original copy because he’s such an editor himself.”
Bob: “Yes, when I write, I feel my editor self looking over my shoulder.”
“The weakness of some narrative indies is that the filmmakers are so eager to shoot that they do not fully develop the script beforehand.”
So Bob is the articulate but silent spokesman for indies, always behind the scenes, editing and tightening scripts, reading copy and imperceptibly influencing a vast body of independent film today.
Tai: “He is like a drop of water in a small stream which he knows runs to the sea and which affects the very water of the ocean.
“Bob is not about connections. He’s about connection.”
There was so much research done for Film Hawk, you must have worked very hard.
Jj: We just listened to Bob and followed all the leads he gave us.
Tai: “Bob is not associated as strictly ‘gay’ or for gay films only. You can see that in his long term relationship to ‘Brothers McMullen’ in the film, but homosexuality is as intrinsic to him as is his whole childhood. He is secure in himself as a person”.
Bob Hawk’s keen insights and feedback became the precious wind that provided flight for many filmmakers. This fiery, eccentric fairy Godfather of indie film not only battled depression, but was the first to discover and champion the talents of Kevin Smith (“Clerks”, “Chasing Amy”), Edward Burns (“The Brothers McMullen”, “Purple Violets”), Ira Sachs (“Keep The Lights On”, “Love Is Strange”) and Scott McGehee and David Siegel (“The Deep End”, “What Maisie Knew”).
Here are what a few have to say about him:
"I didn't ever consider myself an artist, I was just a guy who wanted to make ‘Clerks’, until Bob Hawk started talking about it."
- Kevin Smith
"Bob was always there to encourage me. Bob is a friend and a mentor"
- Ed Burns
With his 30+ year Sundance presence - including work as consultant, programmer, moderator, juror, and impassioned viewer - usually seated front-row and often asking the first question (as in the case of the “Sex, Lies and Videotape” world premiere) Bob deserves kudos and honors and yet has never sought the spotlight for himself.
Not only is this a film about film, but about a man who is as intrinsic to indie films as is the drop of water in a stream that goes into the ocean, but this film should also stand up in educational venues – whether about filmmaking or about standing proud as a gay man in the world.
In many ways this film recalls the classic “Bill Cunningham” that Zeitgeist had such success with in that both films are quintessentially New York films about men whose calling is their life-long love; each is a living example of the importance of love for one’s self and for one’s life lived with passion. “Film Hawk” deserves to be seen at the IFC Center, in the center of New York.
Bob grew up in that time in the 50s when to be gay meant very little to society. Gay men married, had children and if they were lucky they did not find their dual role in life unsettling. He was just at the edge and realized he did not have to go the marriage route and have children, and so he went the art route and his children are numerous.
Bob will be speaking at the Berlinale Queer Academy during the 30th Anniversary of the Teddy Awards and a clip of the film will accompany him. He is also receiving a Maverick of the Year Award from Cinequest this month.
- 2/16/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
This documentary about the oddball musician may not satisfy completists, but it’s still a fascinating run-through of Zappa’s greatest – and weirdest – moments
My wife can handle my snoring and my tendency to forget to do the dishes, but all bets are off when I drag out my Frank Zappa albums. To the great many people who just can’t stand the man’s music, it is an antic mess of arpeggios, endless guitar solos, puerile baby noises, irritating musique concrète and vulgar lyrics. (I’ll agree to a lot of this, and that’s coming from a diehard fan.) German director Thorsten Schütte’s documentary Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words would finally, I think, get her to understand just what it is that I love about the foul-mouthed mustachioed freak. That is, if I could ever convince her to watch it.
Like Steven Soderbergh’s documentary on Spalding Gray,...
My wife can handle my snoring and my tendency to forget to do the dishes, but all bets are off when I drag out my Frank Zappa albums. To the great many people who just can’t stand the man’s music, it is an antic mess of arpeggios, endless guitar solos, puerile baby noises, irritating musique concrète and vulgar lyrics. (I’ll agree to a lot of this, and that’s coming from a diehard fan.) German director Thorsten Schütte’s documentary Eat That Question: Frank Zappa In His Own Words would finally, I think, get her to understand just what it is that I love about the foul-mouthed mustachioed freak. That is, if I could ever convince her to watch it.
Like Steven Soderbergh’s documentary on Spalding Gray,...
- 1/26/2016
- by Jordan Hoffman
- The Guardian - Film News
This article was originally published in the “Documentary Voices” section of the Nominations/SAG/Globes issue of TheWrap’s magazine. Over the last five decades, few voices in music, art and performance have been quite as distinctive and rich as Laurie Anderson’s. The 68-year-old Illinois-born, New York-based artist has been an idiosyncratic and inspiring presence since the ’70s, with a brief touch of pop stardom when her single “O Superman” made it to No.2 in England in 1981, along with collaborations with the likes of William S. Burroughs, Spalding Gray, Brian Eno, Philip Glass and her late husband, Lou Reed.
- 12/23/2015
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
I’ve only got a few heroes, and over 90 percent of them are dead from suicides or drug overdoses: Ian Curtis. John Belushi. Spalding Gray. and Chris Farley. I’ve always been a sucker for Farley. He seemed to have a darkness just under the surface, perhaps more than Belushi. I totally get what it’s like to be the “funny fat guy.” I’ve been that my entire life. I know what it’s like to have those insecurities. Those worries. To always want to impress or make others laugh or be happy. I get that. I get all of that.
Maybe that’s why while watching I Am Chris Farley, I got kinda’ emotional. At a handful of points during this incredible documentary (produced by Spike, the “dude’s channel” of record), there were moments of pure emotion watching guys like David Spade, Adam Sandler and countless others...
Maybe that’s why while watching I Am Chris Farley, I got kinda’ emotional. At a handful of points during this incredible documentary (produced by Spike, the “dude’s channel” of record), there were moments of pure emotion watching guys like David Spade, Adam Sandler and countless others...
- 9/1/2015
- by Robert Ottone
- JustPressPlay.net
The Sundance Institute has selected nine projects to participate in its 2014 Theatre Lab that runs from July 7-27 at the Sundance Resort in Utah.
The projects selected for the 2014 Sundance Institute Lab are:
Caught, dir Tba;
Ghost Supper (Spalding Gray, You’re Invited, Too), dir Leigh Silverman;
The Good Book, dir Lisa Peterson;
The Last Of The Little Hours, dir Annie Baker;
Posterity, dir Doug Wright;
Skeleton Crew, dir Kamilah Forbes;
So Go The Ghosts Of Mexico, Part Two, dir Lee Sunday Evans;
T., dir James MacDonald; and
Bed by Sheila Callaghan (playwright-in-residence).
The Lab supports emerging and established playwrights and directors developing new work for the stage.
“Development opportunities for independent artists are exceedingly rare and yet critical to the success of their projects and careers,” said Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam (pictured). “Our Lab model offers an independent-minded environment for artists to engage with their work, ask questions, build text and...
The projects selected for the 2014 Sundance Institute Lab are:
Caught, dir Tba;
Ghost Supper (Spalding Gray, You’re Invited, Too), dir Leigh Silverman;
The Good Book, dir Lisa Peterson;
The Last Of The Little Hours, dir Annie Baker;
Posterity, dir Doug Wright;
Skeleton Crew, dir Kamilah Forbes;
So Go The Ghosts Of Mexico, Part Two, dir Lee Sunday Evans;
T., dir James MacDonald; and
Bed by Sheila Callaghan (playwright-in-residence).
The Lab supports emerging and established playwrights and directors developing new work for the stage.
“Development opportunities for independent artists are exceedingly rare and yet critical to the success of their projects and careers,” said Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam (pictured). “Our Lab model offers an independent-minded environment for artists to engage with their work, ask questions, build text and...
- 4/24/2014
- ScreenDaily
Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week
"Gravity"
What's It About? A routine space walk goes horribly awry when space debris smashes into the shuttle, leaving a medical engineer (Sandra Bullock) and an astronaut (George Clooney) a mere 90 minutes to make it to the International Space Station.
Why We're In: Even though you won't be getting the whole IMAX 3D experience of being alone in space with Sandy Bullock, you'll still feel crazy anxious about the fate of her character. Plus, Alfonso Cuarón and his crew have snagged tons of awards and Oscar nominations for this sci-fi chiller.
Exclusive: Go behind-the-scenes on "Gravity" (Video)
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"Tess" (Criterion)
What's It About? Roman Polanski's take on Thomas Hardy's classic novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" is a Victorian drama about a lower class peasant (Nastassja Kinski) who runs into all sorts of trouble when her father discovers...
"Gravity"
What's It About? A routine space walk goes horribly awry when space debris smashes into the shuttle, leaving a medical engineer (Sandra Bullock) and an astronaut (George Clooney) a mere 90 minutes to make it to the International Space Station.
Why We're In: Even though you won't be getting the whole IMAX 3D experience of being alone in space with Sandy Bullock, you'll still feel crazy anxious about the fate of her character. Plus, Alfonso Cuarón and his crew have snagged tons of awards and Oscar nominations for this sci-fi chiller.
Exclusive: Go behind-the-scenes on "Gravity" (Video)
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week
"Tess" (Criterion)
What's It About? Roman Polanski's take on Thomas Hardy's classic novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" is a Victorian drama about a lower class peasant (Nastassja Kinski) who runs into all sorts of trouble when her father discovers...
- 2/25/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
After a pair of edgy indies and a Palme d’Or to boot, Steven Soderbergh was given his first opportunity to bed down with the studio system and take advantage of the much deeper pockets that such an opportunity affords, but no one expected that under the watch of Universal the young auteur would make the polished and saccharine King of the Hill his first project. Adapted from A. E. Hotchner’s depression era memoir of the same title in which a preadolescent boy named Aaron is faced with the harsh realities of true poverty, Soderbergh’s first studio effort remains a wholesome oddity within a filmography that seems increasingly chameleonic, but rarely sentimental. After the subversion of Sex, Lies, and Videotape and the experimentalism of the bio-pic Kafka, the chances that his next film would boast the fluffiness of a made for TV afternoon special about how hard it...
- 2/25/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
When a filmmaker creates a period piece, the audience will expect certain details to be highlighted as an effort of world-building and cinematic magic. They are commonly referred to as costume dramas, a display of a large amount of money pumped into costume and set design to amaze modern audiences in their plight for historicity. With The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann was able to milk our infatuation to the point that several men’s fashion designers crafted clothing lines around the film. There are anywhere from one to three big pictures like this each year that will flaunt their stars in period-perfect garb, take home their Best Picture Oscar, and fall into obscurity. What may rescue many of these films is their ability to not simply match the look of the past, but its feeling, the atmosphere of the times that helps audiences relate to characters long dead and presented in unimaginable circumstances.
- 11/26/2013
- by Zach Lewis
- SoundOnSight
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 25, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Jesse Bradford is King of the Hill.
The 1993 drama King of the Hill represented the first Hollywood studio production for Steven Soderbergh (Contagion), whose independent debut, sex, lies, and videotape, had won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival a few years earlier.
Set in St. Louis during the Depression, King of the Hill follows the daily struggles of a resourceful and imaginative adolescent (Bring It On’s Jesse Bradford) who, after his tubercular mother is sent to a sanatorium, must survive on his own in a run-down hotel during his salesman father’s long business trips.
An evocative period piece about growing up, the film is faithfully adapted from the memoir by the novelist A. E. Hotchner. Among the ever versatile Soderbergh’s most touching and surprising films, it features a strong supporting cast that includes...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Jesse Bradford is King of the Hill.
The 1993 drama King of the Hill represented the first Hollywood studio production for Steven Soderbergh (Contagion), whose independent debut, sex, lies, and videotape, had won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival a few years earlier.
Set in St. Louis during the Depression, King of the Hill follows the daily struggles of a resourceful and imaginative adolescent (Bring It On’s Jesse Bradford) who, after his tubercular mother is sent to a sanatorium, must survive on his own in a run-down hotel during his salesman father’s long business trips.
An evocative period piece about growing up, the film is faithfully adapted from the memoir by the novelist A. E. Hotchner. Among the ever versatile Soderbergh’s most touching and surprising films, it features a strong supporting cast that includes...
- 11/20/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Members of the influential New York ensemble explain what prompted them finally to tackle the bard – and why Richard Burton's 1964 version was an inspiration
Before Punchdrunk, or Complicite, or Forced Entertainment, or any other experimental theatre company you can name, there was New York's Wooster Group, an avant-garde ensemble legendary not just for the work it has made since the 1970s, but also for the love affairs and betrayals that have coloured its history. As former member Willem Dafoe has put it: "You become accomplices in life. There's a terrific power in that. The other side is, there's no place to run."
Since 1974 the company has worked out of the Performing Garage in Soho – a Manhattan neighbourhood once characterised by derelict lofts and heroin dealers and now given over to Prada boutiques and cupcake-centric cafes. This year they're bringing one of their most successful shows ever – a remixed Hamlet...
Before Punchdrunk, or Complicite, or Forced Entertainment, or any other experimental theatre company you can name, there was New York's Wooster Group, an avant-garde ensemble legendary not just for the work it has made since the 1970s, but also for the love affairs and betrayals that have coloured its history. As former member Willem Dafoe has put it: "You become accomplices in life. There's a terrific power in that. The other side is, there's no place to run."
Since 1974 the company has worked out of the Performing Garage in Soho – a Manhattan neighbourhood once characterised by derelict lofts and heroin dealers and now given over to Prada boutiques and cupcake-centric cafes. This year they're bringing one of their most successful shows ever – a remixed Hamlet...
- 8/10/2013
- by Hermione Hoby
- The Guardian - Film News
Steven Soderbergh is one of the most prolific filmmakers of our era. Though his early retirement is immanent, he’s released more films – and a greater variety of films – in his twenty-three years of directing than some filmmakers helm in a lifetime. Since bursting on the American independent film scene in 1989 with sex, lies, and videotape, Soderbergh has made studio blockbusters and micro-budget experiments, strange remakes and films that blur the line between narrative and documentary, not to mention semi-biopics of public figures as diverse as Spalding Gray, Che Guevara, Erin Brockovich, and Channing Tatum. He’s been a leader in exploring the possibilities of new digital filmmaking technologies, and it seems there isn’t a genre or scale of filmmaking that he hasn’t yet touched. He’s even made a film that you’ll never see. Last week, the trailer for Side Effects, Soderbergh’s last theatrical film and his penultimate film project (the final...
- 11/8/2012
- by Landon Palmer
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Chicago – From Toulouse-Lautrec in “Moulin Rouge” and Luigi in “Super Mario Bros.” to Sid in “Ice Age” and Chi-Chi in “To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar,” John Leguizamo has made a career out of playing a wide array of colorful and challenging roles. In 2010, the actor made a celebrated return to the stage and tackled his trickiest role to date: himself.
In “Ghetto Klown,” Leguizamo dug deep into his own tumultuous past, examining everything from his early journeys through Hollywood to his troubled relationship with his father. Ben De Jesus’s PBS documentary, “Tales from the Ghetto Klown” offers a candid look at the performer’s creative process as he writes the show, workshops it in snow-bound Chicago, garners cheers and mixed reviews on Broadway and spends a year transforming it into a Spanish-language show for Columbian audiences. Hollywood Chicago spoke with Leguizamo about the challenges and benefits of tackling such personal material,...
In “Ghetto Klown,” Leguizamo dug deep into his own tumultuous past, examining everything from his early journeys through Hollywood to his troubled relationship with his father. Ben De Jesus’s PBS documentary, “Tales from the Ghetto Klown” offers a candid look at the performer’s creative process as he writes the show, workshops it in snow-bound Chicago, garners cheers and mixed reviews on Broadway and spends a year transforming it into a Spanish-language show for Columbian audiences. Hollywood Chicago spoke with Leguizamo about the challenges and benefits of tackling such personal material,...
- 9/23/2012
- by [email protected] (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
I won't even try to connect the dots on this installment of my journey through Criterions vaults except to say that, once again, it has proven true. I have never seen a Criterion film that didn't challenge me and leave me better for the experience of having sorted through it. Granted I haven't seen Salo (1975) (insert cynical smile). This journey included old favorites, more Chaplin education, a long overdue journey through two of Whit Stillman's most well known and highly regarded films and an extraordinary introduction to the poignant stories/story of the master monologist Spalding Gray. I am indeed richer for this installment of Meeting The Criterion. Harold And Maude BluRay Oh Ashby, how is it people still ask Hal who? The man directed,...
- 8/26/2012
- Screen Anarchy
Netflix has narrowed down the release window for the new season of "Arrested Development" -- and there's a chance fans may get more episodes than initially advertised.
The cult-classic comedy, which hasn't been on the air since 2006, will return in the spring of 2013, Netflix says. It hasn't set a specific date yet, but that's at least a more concrete time than "sometime in 2013."
Netflix's deal with "Arrested" creator Mitch Hurwitz was initially for 10 episodes, but star David Cross says he thinks it may stretch to 13 (a company spokesperson says there will be "at least 10").
"There's too much story," Cross tells Rolling Stone. "Some characters will have two-parters. Everybody sort of participates, sometimes in a bigger way and sometimes in a tiny little thread that goes through everybody else's stories."
Cross also says fans can expect a big dose of the multifaceted storytelling "Arrested Development" excelled at during its three-year run on Fox.
The cult-classic comedy, which hasn't been on the air since 2006, will return in the spring of 2013, Netflix says. It hasn't set a specific date yet, but that's at least a more concrete time than "sometime in 2013."
Netflix's deal with "Arrested" creator Mitch Hurwitz was initially for 10 episodes, but star David Cross says he thinks it may stretch to 13 (a company spokesperson says there will be "at least 10").
"There's too much story," Cross tells Rolling Stone. "Some characters will have two-parters. Everybody sort of participates, sometimes in a bigger way and sometimes in a tiny little thread that goes through everybody else's stories."
Cross also says fans can expect a big dose of the multifaceted storytelling "Arrested Development" excelled at during its three-year run on Fox.
- 8/24/2012
- by [email protected]
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Here’s a first look at All Is Lost. Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions, Academy Award-winner Robert Redford, and Academy Award-nominated writer/director J.C. Chandor (Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Margin Call) jointly announced that principal photography has wrapped on the open water thriller All Is Lost at Baja Studios in Rosarito, Mexico. Chandor wrote and directed the film, and Redford stars in a solo performance of one man lost at sea and his battle against the elements to stay alive. Before The Door Pictures. Neal Dodson and Washington Square Films. Anna Gerb are producing.
“After an intense two months of shooting on the water, we.re headed home and have finished production on schedule,. said Dodson and Gerb. .Jc is making an audacious film with a brave performance at its center.”
The director of photography is Frankie DeMarco and the editor is Pete Beaudreau, both of whom collaborated with Chandor on Margin Call.
“After an intense two months of shooting on the water, we.re headed home and have finished production on schedule,. said Dodson and Gerb. .Jc is making an audacious film with a brave performance at its center.”
The director of photography is Frankie DeMarco and the editor is Pete Beaudreau, both of whom collaborated with Chandor on Margin Call.
- 8/8/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
By Allen Gardner
The Samurai Trilogy (Criterion) Director Hiroshi Inagaki’s sprawling epic filmed from 1954-56 is an early Japanese Technicolor masterpiece, rivaling the scope of filmmakers like David Lean and Luchino Visconti. Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s greatest actor, stars as real-life swordsman, artist and writer Musashi Miyamoto, following his growth from callow youth to disciplined warrior. The three films: the Oscar winning “Musashi Miyamoto,” “Duel at Ichijoji Temple,” and “Duel at Ganryu Island” are an incredible story of human growth, tender love and sublime, blood-soaked action. Not to be missed. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Interviews with translator and historian William Scott Wilson; Trailers. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
The 39 Steps (Criterion) Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 story of spies, conspiracies and sexual tension put him on the map on both sides of the Pond. Robert Donat stars as an innocent thrust into a deadly plot alongside a cool blonde (Madeleine Carroll...
The Samurai Trilogy (Criterion) Director Hiroshi Inagaki’s sprawling epic filmed from 1954-56 is an early Japanese Technicolor masterpiece, rivaling the scope of filmmakers like David Lean and Luchino Visconti. Toshiro Mifune, Japan’s greatest actor, stars as real-life swordsman, artist and writer Musashi Miyamoto, following his growth from callow youth to disciplined warrior. The three films: the Oscar winning “Musashi Miyamoto,” “Duel at Ichijoji Temple,” and “Duel at Ganryu Island” are an incredible story of human growth, tender love and sublime, blood-soaked action. Not to be missed. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Interviews with translator and historian William Scott Wilson; Trailers. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
The 39 Steps (Criterion) Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 story of spies, conspiracies and sexual tension put him on the map on both sides of the Pond. Robert Donat stars as an innocent thrust into a deadly plot alongside a cool blonde (Madeleine Carroll...
- 7/9/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Master monologist Spalding Gray, a proven stage and part time screen actor, as well as the man behind such cinematic creations as Swimming To Cambodia, Monster In A Box, and Gray’s Anatomy, unfortunately perished in New York’s East River after a long and troubled bout with depression in 2004. Paying tribute to his friend and colleague, director Steven Soderbergh pieced together And Everything Is Going Fine, an autobiography of sorts, concocted of snippets from Gray’s many monologues, interviews, and home videos he left behind. A stirring, often funny film like this would never be possible to construct about most artists, but Gray’s unique creative expression was almost always an outpouring of personal experience, that when edited down to a single narrative, is basically his life’s story.
Like his light touch direction on Gray’s Anatomy, Soderbergh never interjects here. He allows Gray to tell his own story,...
Like his light touch direction on Gray’s Anatomy, Soderbergh never interjects here. He allows Gray to tell his own story,...
- 7/3/2012
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Gray's Anatomy Directed by Steven Soderbergh Written by Spalding Gray Starring: Spalding Gray With Stephen Soderbergh on the verge of retiring from filmmaking, one has to wonder how somebody with such an amount of creative freedom could ever feel uninspired or suffocated by the limitations of their chosen medium. He's the guy who popularized the "one for me, one for them" modus operandi and within it, has seemed to have found his rhythm. In the mid-nineties, Soderbergh faced a similar dilemma in which he overcame an artistic slump by rebuilding himself with two experiments; Schizopolis and Gray's Anatomy. While they both fall under the "one for me" category, Gray's Anatomy is fairly accessible and wholly entertaining as Soderbergh attempts to transform Spalding Gray's squeamish tale of a rare ocular affliction into something resembling Errol Morris meets Dario Argento. The story begins as Spalding, having just turned 50, discovers a problem...
- 7/1/2012
- by Jay C.
- FilmJunk
This week on Operation Kino we're waxing our chests and strapping on G-strings, as we review the new Steven Soderbergh/Channing Tatum male stripper movie Magic Mike. From there we look over the year so far, pointing out our favorite and least favorite movies of the year so far, along with some of our favorite surprises. Before any of that, though, there's a lightning round inspired by the hotness of the Magic Mike cast, plus tidbits, in which Da7e tackles the depiction of women in Girls and The Legend of Korra, David talks up the Steven Soderbergh documentary about Spalding Gray called And Everything Is Going Fine, Katey praises the new indie release Beasts of the Southern Wild, and Patches is surprised to love Seth MacFarlane's Ted. We end, as always, with your lightning round answers for dessert. Take a listen below and find your downloading options; for...
- 6/29/2012
- cinemablend.com
When Spalding Gray committed suicide in January of 2004 (after watching the film Big Fish), he left behind as extensive and detailed a record of his thinking leading up to that decision as perhaps anyone who has ever come to that conclusion. Gifted screenwriter, playwright and actor, Gray distinguished himself primarily through his monologues, in which he spoke frankly and casually of his own life experience, much of it dealing with his own struggles with depression. Steven Soderbergh directed one of these himself (Gray's Anatomy), so it seems only fitting that he would want to revisit this footage after his friend's death. Even if the reasoning behind his suicide was never mysterious (precluding the need to resolve any unanswered questions), Soderbergh's assembly serves as an appropriately autobiographical eulogy, in which the man himself dictates both his life story and its ultimate meaning.
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- 6/28/2012
- by Anders Nelson
- JustPressPlay.net
A masterful craftsman even when directing fluff, Steven Soderbergh remains one of the more fascinating American filmmakers working today, continually demonstrating an ability to handle wide-ranging projects without blatantly phoning it in. His last two years of releases have included a documentary on monologuist Spalding Gray ("And Everything Is Going Fine"), an apocalyptic ensemble drama ("Contagion") and a martial arts extravaganza ("Haywire"). His latest, "Magic Mike," has much in common with previous Soderbergh efforts in that it glides along at a terrifically entertaining pace. The opposite of camp, "Magic Mike" is conventionally jolly despite appearances to the contrary. Only Soderbergh could turn a movie about male strippers into a universal crowdpleaser. "Magic Mike" has received plenty of pre-release hype for drawing its story from lead man Channing Tatum's early career experiences as a stripper before his...
- 6/27/2012
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Above: Via Them Heavy People, the late, great, Rainer Werner Fassbinder whose retrospective is currently traveling from city to city.
News.
Countless critics have been sharing their thoughts on the life & work of Andrew Sarris, who passed away on June 20th, 2012. Visit both Fandor and Indiewire's gateways to these often personal and heartfelt remembrances. Also make sure to read David Bordwell's comprehensive tribute. Tremendous news for those on Team Verhoeven: His long awaited, often stymied film about Jesus Christ has, against all odds, finally landed funding. For those who know Paul Verhoeven, and even more so for those who have encountered his book Jesus of Nazareth, you're well aware we're in store for something subversive and controversial. A new film blog has launched entitled Photogénie, thus far featuring coverage of Il Cinema Ritrovato. From their mission statement:
"At photogenie.be, we want to combine a sense of wonderment with keen analyses.
News.
Countless critics have been sharing their thoughts on the life & work of Andrew Sarris, who passed away on June 20th, 2012. Visit both Fandor and Indiewire's gateways to these often personal and heartfelt remembrances. Also make sure to read David Bordwell's comprehensive tribute. Tremendous news for those on Team Verhoeven: His long awaited, often stymied film about Jesus Christ has, against all odds, finally landed funding. For those who know Paul Verhoeven, and even more so for those who have encountered his book Jesus of Nazareth, you're well aware we're in store for something subversive and controversial. A new film blog has launched entitled Photogénie, thus far featuring coverage of Il Cinema Ritrovato. From their mission statement:
"At photogenie.be, we want to combine a sense of wonderment with keen analyses.
- 6/27/2012
- MUBI
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