That was fast. Just five days ago, it was announced that Jeffrey Wright, whose credits include American Fiction, Westworld, Basquiat, Shaft, The Batman, and multiple James Bond and Hunger Games movies, was joining the cast of season 2 of the HBO series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us to play a character named Isaac. A character Wright provided the vocal performance for when he appeared in the video game The Last of Us Part II. Now Wright has been spotted on the set of The Last of Us season 2, and a spy pic gives us our first look at him in character now that he’s playing Isaac in the flesh:
First look at Oscar Nominated & Emmy Winner #JeffreyWright on the set of #TheLastofUs playing “Issac’s” #TheBatman #JamesBond Very easy to talk too, & super nice to fans. Was very nice signing autocards & photo’s,funko’s @yvrshootstweets @TheLastofUsNews @TLOUSource pic.
First look at Oscar Nominated & Emmy Winner #JeffreyWright on the set of #TheLastofUs playing “Issac’s” #TheBatman #JamesBond Very easy to talk too, & super nice to fans. Was very nice signing autocards & photo’s,funko’s @yvrshootstweets @TheLastofUsNews @TLOUSource pic.
- 5/29/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Production is underway on season 2 of the HBO series adaptation of the video game The Last of Us, and Deadline has just revealed the name of a cast member who will be joining the show in this new batch of episodes: Jeffrey Wright, whose credits include American Fiction, Westworld, Basquiat, Shaft, The Batman, and multiple James Bond and Hunger Games movies. Also on Wright’s list of credits is the video game The Last of Us Part II, where he provided the vocal performance for the character Isaac – and that’s the same character he’ll be playing on the HBO series.
Wright’s character Isaac is “the quietly powerful leader of a large militia group, known in the video game as the Washington Liberation Front, who sought liberty but instead has become mired in an endless war against a surprisingly resourceful enemy.“
The story of the The Last of Us...
Wright’s character Isaac is “the quietly powerful leader of a large militia group, known in the video game as the Washington Liberation Front, who sought liberty but instead has become mired in an endless war against a surprisingly resourceful enemy.“
The story of the The Last of Us...
- 5/24/2024
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Heatseeking filmmaker Olmo Schnabel has signed for representation with WME, and with Black Bear for management.
Schnabel’s breakout directorial effort “Pet Shop Days” played both the Venice International Film Festival and SXSW this cycle, scoring distribution from Utopia for a 2024 theatrical release. Starring Jack Irv, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe and Peter Sarsgaard, the film tells of a drug lord scion on the run from his powerful family. Slumming it in New York in a haze of sex and drugs, he seduces an equally lost young man and pulls him into the city’s underbelly.
The provocative debut also hit festivals in Chicago, Montclair, Morelia, Santa Barbara and Sarasota. Schnabel was also awarded the Leffest Lisboa Film Festival’s Tap Revelation Award.
Schnabel just wrapped “In the Hand of Dante” for production shop Twin, which stars Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler and Gal Gadot. The film is a...
Schnabel’s breakout directorial effort “Pet Shop Days” played both the Venice International Film Festival and SXSW this cycle, scoring distribution from Utopia for a 2024 theatrical release. Starring Jack Irv, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe and Peter Sarsgaard, the film tells of a drug lord scion on the run from his powerful family. Slumming it in New York in a haze of sex and drugs, he seduces an equally lost young man and pulls him into the city’s underbelly.
The provocative debut also hit festivals in Chicago, Montclair, Morelia, Santa Barbara and Sarasota. Schnabel was also awarded the Leffest Lisboa Film Festival’s Tap Revelation Award.
Schnabel just wrapped “In the Hand of Dante” for production shop Twin, which stars Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler and Gal Gadot. The film is a...
- 4/5/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Documentary fans have a lot to be excited about this month on HBO and Max. April begins with the premiere of The Synanon Fix, a docuseries that follows the rise and fall of the cult-like drug rehabilitation program Synanon. The documentary Brandy Hellville and the Cult of Fast Fashion takes a deep-dive into the controversial “one size fits most” clothing brand Brandy Mellville and the impact of fast fashion on the planet.
An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th looks at the surge of political violence and anti-government sentiment that led to the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, and the effects still felt nearly 30 years later. HBO is also returning with a second part to their popular docuseries The Jinx, with filmmakers continuing their investigation of Robert Durst.
But if documentaries aren’t your thing, there’s still plenty of popular films hitting Max in April, like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,...
An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th looks at the surge of political violence and anti-government sentiment that led to the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing, and the effects still felt nearly 30 years later. HBO is also returning with a second part to their popular docuseries The Jinx, with filmmakers continuing their investigation of Robert Durst.
But if documentaries aren’t your thing, there’s still plenty of popular films hitting Max in April, like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,...
- 4/1/2024
- by Brynnaarens
- Den of Geek
It's a new month, and HBO and Max will be showering their subscribers with gifts all April long! This month, the Wbd properties will welcome the arrival of unscripted projects like the premiere of Conan O’Brien’s new travel comedy series “Conan O’Brien Must Go” and the fourth season of the Emmy Award-winning drag-centric “We're Here.” Plus, Park Chan-wook and A24’s “The Sympathizer” limited series and the highly anticipated continuation of “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” will all be available to stream throughout the month.
Find out everything coming to Max this April, including The Streamable’s top picks to add to your watch list!
Sign Up $9.99+ / month Max.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Max in April 2024? “Alex Edelman: Just For Us” | Saturday, April 6
Filmed in front of a live audience at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre in August 2023, Alex Edelman brings his solo special,...
Find out everything coming to Max this April, including The Streamable’s top picks to add to your watch list!
Sign Up $9.99+ / month Max.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Max in April 2024? “Alex Edelman: Just For Us” | Saturday, April 6
Filmed in front of a live audience at Broadway’s Hudson Theatre in August 2023, Alex Edelman brings his solo special,...
- 4/1/2024
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki continues his investigation of convicted murderer Robert Durst in The Jinx – Part Two, a six-episode documentary series premiering on Max on April 21, 2024. The streaming service’s April lineup also includes the seven-episode limited series The Sympathizer, based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and starring Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr in multiple roles.
Comedian Alex Edelman hosts a brand new comedy special, and Conan O’Brien visits favorite fans from his podcast series in the four-episode unscripted series Conan O’Brien Must Go. The documentary series The Synanon Fix exploring the drug rehabilitation program joins Max’s lineup on April 1st. And the streaming service has set April premiere dates for the documentaries Brandy Hellville & The Cult Of Fast Fashion and An American Bombing: The Road To April 19th.
Series & Films Arriving On Max In April 2024
April 1
American Renegades (2018)
Basquiat (1996)
Black Swan (2010)
Body of Lies (2008)
Bridget Jones’s Diary...
Comedian Alex Edelman hosts a brand new comedy special, and Conan O’Brien visits favorite fans from his podcast series in the four-episode unscripted series Conan O’Brien Must Go. The documentary series The Synanon Fix exploring the drug rehabilitation program joins Max’s lineup on April 1st. And the streaming service has set April premiere dates for the documentaries Brandy Hellville & The Cult Of Fast Fashion and An American Bombing: The Road To April 19th.
Series & Films Arriving On Max In April 2024
April 1
American Renegades (2018)
Basquiat (1996)
Black Swan (2010)
Body of Lies (2008)
Bridget Jones’s Diary...
- 3/29/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Fresh from his Oscar-nominated role in “American Fiction,” Jeffrey Wright has joined the cast of “High and Low.” The re-imagining of the Akira Kurosawa classic thriller is being directed by Spike Lee and will star Denzel Washington. Lee wrote the script with Alan Fox for the English-language adaptation of the story of a wealthy man dealing with a kidnapping. Production on the Apple Original Films starts this month.
In addition to Washington, “High and Low” also stars Ilfenesh Hadera (“Billions”). A24 will release the film theatrically before its global launch on Apple TV+.
The feature will be produced by Todd Black, who worked with Washington on “The Equalizer” films, for Escape Artists and Jason Michael Berman (“Air”) for Mandalay Pictures. In addition to directing, Lee will serve as executive producer through his 40 Acres And A Mule Filmworks. Mandalay’s Peter Guber will serve as executive producer, along with Juniper Productions’ Matthew Lindner,...
In addition to Washington, “High and Low” also stars Ilfenesh Hadera (“Billions”). A24 will release the film theatrically before its global launch on Apple TV+.
The feature will be produced by Todd Black, who worked with Washington on “The Equalizer” films, for Escape Artists and Jason Michael Berman (“Air”) for Mandalay Pictures. In addition to directing, Lee will serve as executive producer through his 40 Acres And A Mule Filmworks. Mandalay’s Peter Guber will serve as executive producer, along with Juniper Productions’ Matthew Lindner,...
- 3/19/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Sacha Baron Cohen and Chris Rock had the good sense to arrive early at the Jean-Michel Basquiat Made on Market Street exhibition at the Larry Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills.
They surveyed the 30 or so Basquiat art works in relative peace ,before the throng arrived.
Cohen tells me he came straight from writing something “for TV” that might shoot in Los Angeles or in London, he wasn’t sure. Interesting.
There may also be a film. But before anything else he’ll be seen along with Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville and Louis Partridge in Disclaimer, the TV drama thriller Alfonso Cuarón has written and directed for Apple TV+.
Jeffrey Wright at the Basquiat exhibition. Photo Bamigboye/Deadline.
Rock and Cohen had skedaddled with pal Guy Oseary to see Madonna by the time Oscar nominee Jeffrey Wright presented himself at the gallery. It was wholly appropriate that the American Fiction star be there.
They surveyed the 30 or so Basquiat art works in relative peace ,before the throng arrived.
Cohen tells me he came straight from writing something “for TV” that might shoot in Los Angeles or in London, he wasn’t sure. Interesting.
There may also be a film. But before anything else he’ll be seen along with Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville and Louis Partridge in Disclaimer, the TV drama thriller Alfonso Cuarón has written and directed for Apple TV+.
Jeffrey Wright at the Basquiat exhibition. Photo Bamigboye/Deadline.
Rock and Cohen had skedaddled with pal Guy Oseary to see Madonna by the time Oscar nominee Jeffrey Wright presented himself at the gallery. It was wholly appropriate that the American Fiction star be there.
- 3/8/2024
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Jeffrey Wright took home the award for best lead performance at the 2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards for his role in American Fiction.
When Wright made his way to the stage to accept the award from presenter Colman Domingo, he expressed how thrilled he was to receive the honor from the actor. “Wow, thank you, thank you. And to receive this from you, Colman, man…it’s just a beautiful gift,” he gushed.
The American Fiction star had one of the most candid, heartfelt speeches of the night.
“It’s funny, you go to these awards shows, [and] you kind of grow tired of them and then you get one and uh…kind of changes the vibe,” he joked, met with raucous laughter.
He recalled attending the Independent Spirit Awards back in 1997, when he was up for best debut performance for his starring role in Basquiat. “The first time I was here at the Independent Spirit Awards,...
When Wright made his way to the stage to accept the award from presenter Colman Domingo, he expressed how thrilled he was to receive the honor from the actor. “Wow, thank you, thank you. And to receive this from you, Colman, man…it’s just a beautiful gift,” he gushed.
The American Fiction star had one of the most candid, heartfelt speeches of the night.
“It’s funny, you go to these awards shows, [and] you kind of grow tired of them and then you get one and uh…kind of changes the vibe,” he joked, met with raucous laughter.
He recalled attending the Independent Spirit Awards back in 1997, when he was up for best debut performance for his starring role in Basquiat. “The first time I was here at the Independent Spirit Awards,...
- 2/26/2024
- by Tatiana Tenreyro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
When film and TV talents collide on the Santa Monica beach at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, anything can happen. Just ask “American Fiction” nominee Jeffrey Wright.
“The year I was nominated for ‘Basquiat,’ our producer Jon Kilik said, ‘Hey, do you want to meet Muhammad Ali?’” recalls Wright, up for the debut performance trophy at the 1997 ceremony, while the boxing champ was there with his doc “When We Were Kings.” “I pretty much skipped over a series of tables to say hello to him. Ali was an absolute personal hero and meeting him blew my mind. That was the beginning of a really gratifying relationship, because I ended up [playing photographer Howard Bingham] in the movie ‘Ali.’”
Wright, who had already won a Tony Award at that point, went on to more acclaim and glory in film and TV roles, this year receiving his first Oscar nomination for his performance in “American Fiction.
“The year I was nominated for ‘Basquiat,’ our producer Jon Kilik said, ‘Hey, do you want to meet Muhammad Ali?’” recalls Wright, up for the debut performance trophy at the 1997 ceremony, while the boxing champ was there with his doc “When We Were Kings.” “I pretty much skipped over a series of tables to say hello to him. Ali was an absolute personal hero and meeting him blew my mind. That was the beginning of a really gratifying relationship, because I ended up [playing photographer Howard Bingham] in the movie ‘Ali.’”
Wright, who had already won a Tony Award at that point, went on to more acclaim and glory in film and TV roles, this year receiving his first Oscar nomination for his performance in “American Fiction.
- 2/22/2024
- by Gregg Goldstein
- Variety Film + TV
Jeffrey Wright is one step closer to that Egot. In January, the D.C. born actor received his first career Oscar nomination for his leading role in the satirical comedy “American Fiction,” an industry recognition that was overdue after years of incredible Wright performances. Should he win come ceremony day, he’ll need a single Grammy to become one of the few elusive talents to complete showbiz’s preeminent grand slam.
Starting his career in theater, Wright earned both his Tony and Emmy awards with the same role: Belize, a nurse and former drag queen in Tony Kushner’s acclaimed two-part epic play “Angels in America.” Wright earned raves for his charisma onstage, and walked away with a Supporting Actor Tony at the 1994 ceremony when he was just 28. In 2003, Wright was the only actor from the play’s original Broadway cast to reprise his role in the HBO limited series adaptation.
Starting his career in theater, Wright earned both his Tony and Emmy awards with the same role: Belize, a nurse and former drag queen in Tony Kushner’s acclaimed two-part epic play “Angels in America.” Wright earned raves for his charisma onstage, and walked away with a Supporting Actor Tony at the 1994 ceremony when he was just 28. In 2003, Wright was the only actor from the play’s original Broadway cast to reprise his role in the HBO limited series adaptation.
- 2/7/2024
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Taraji P. Henson, Jeffrey Wright, Garrett Morris and Mara Brock Akil are the honorees of the 6th American Black Film Festival (ABFF) Honors.
The annual awards ceremony recognizes excellence in the motion picture and television industry. Actor and comedian Tommy Davidson will host the gala set to take place on Sunday, March 3rd at the Sls hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.
Henson will be presented with the Excellence in the Arts Award (Female) for her body of work, which includes Empire, Hidden Figures, and The Color Purple.
Wright will receive the Excellence in the Arts Award (Male) recognizing his body of work, which includes Basquiat, Westworld and American Fiction.
Morris, an actor, comedian, writer, singer, and the first Black cast member of Saturday Night Live, will be honored with the Hollywood Legacy Award.
Screenwriter and producer Akil of Girlfriends, The Game and Being Mary Jane, will receive the Industry Visionary Award.
The annual awards ceremony recognizes excellence in the motion picture and television industry. Actor and comedian Tommy Davidson will host the gala set to take place on Sunday, March 3rd at the Sls hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.
Henson will be presented with the Excellence in the Arts Award (Female) for her body of work, which includes Empire, Hidden Figures, and The Color Purple.
Wright will receive the Excellence in the Arts Award (Male) recognizing his body of work, which includes Basquiat, Westworld and American Fiction.
Morris, an actor, comedian, writer, singer, and the first Black cast member of Saturday Night Live, will be honored with the Hollywood Legacy Award.
Screenwriter and producer Akil of Girlfriends, The Game and Being Mary Jane, will receive the Industry Visionary Award.
- 1/25/2024
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
There’s a moment in Titus Kaphar’s “Exhibiting Forgiveness” that speaks volumes about how trauma — racial, historical, personal — can destroy a person, even as the scene barely offers an explicit word about it. Tarrell (André Holland), an artist who paints dreamy neon-rainbow-hued suburban fantasias, has reconnected with La’Ron (John Earl Jelks), the estranged father he hasn’t seen in 15 years. La’Ron, now gray and grizzled and homeless, is a recovering addict who was rarely around and, when he was, treated his son with a ruthless indifference that edged into violence. Tarrell still wants nothing to do with him, but he’s decided to interview La’Ron on camera to figure out what it was that made his father such an abusive lout.
He asks La’Ron about the first time he ever smoked crack. La’Ron tells the story, and on the surface there isn’t much...
He asks La’Ron about the first time he ever smoked crack. La’Ron tells the story, and on the surface there isn’t much...
- 1/21/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
While filming Basquiat, the 1996 film from director Julian Schnabel, Jeffrey Wright was tasked with slipping into the world of the artist Jean Michel Basquiat. If the nature of the role wasn’t creative enough, he was on set working alongside David Bowie, who was cast to play Andy Warhol. Soon, the lines between the different forms of art at play — film, music, painting — started to blur. During a recent appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Wright recalled Bowie playing unreleased music while on set.
“I remember one day we were...
“I remember one day we were...
- 1/19/2024
- by Larisha Paul
- Rollingstone.com
We had a question for Jeffrey Wright, but we knew we had to be careful with it. The star of Cord Jefferson‘s award-season darling, “American Fiction,” is in the running for a Best Actor Oscar nomination and has already won several critics’ group awards. And yet, since his breakout debut as the title character in the 1996 indie biopic “Basquiat,” title roles on the big screen seemed few and far between (emphasis on “seemed”).
Continue reading Jeffrey Wright Hasn’t Always Wanted The Spotlight But Then Came ‘American Fiction’ [Interview] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Jeffrey Wright Hasn’t Always Wanted The Spotlight But Then Came ‘American Fiction’ [Interview] at The Playlist.
- 12/19/2023
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Jeffrey Wright in American FictionImage: Claire Folger © 2023 Orion Releasing LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Jeffrey Wright is a busy guy. 2023 saw him in the biographical drama Rustin, the kitschy Wes Anderson film Asteroid City, and now the satirical American Fiction. These films come on the heels of the Robert Pattinson-led...
Jeffrey Wright is a busy guy. 2023 saw him in the biographical drama Rustin, the kitschy Wes Anderson film Asteroid City, and now the satirical American Fiction. These films come on the heels of the Robert Pattinson-led...
- 12/14/2023
- by Drew Gillis
- avclub.com
Jeffrey Wright began his distinguished career as a member of John Houseman‘s renowned Acting Company, touring the country performing Shakespeare and honing his craft. His stage breakthrough came with his co-starring role in the original production of “Angels in America” as the nurse Belize, a performance that won him a Tony Award and later an Emmy when Wright reprised it for the 2003 HBO miniseries adaptation.
That Tony win led to Wright starring in the title role of his first major film, “Basquiat,” directed by Julian Schnabel. His powerful performance led to a long and distinguished career as a character actor in film, where he worked with such acclaimed filmmakers as Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and John Singleton. During that time, Wright balanced his career with TV and stage appearances as well, earning a second Tony nomination for 2002’s “Topdog/Underdog,” and three Emmy nominations for his co-starring role in...
That Tony win led to Wright starring in the title role of his first major film, “Basquiat,” directed by Julian Schnabel. His powerful performance led to a long and distinguished career as a character actor in film, where he worked with such acclaimed filmmakers as Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and John Singleton. During that time, Wright balanced his career with TV and stage appearances as well, earning a second Tony nomination for 2002’s “Topdog/Underdog,” and three Emmy nominations for his co-starring role in...
- 12/10/2023
- by Tom O'Brien and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
As Jeffrey Wright and Taraji P. Henson sit down to discuss their acclaimed performances — as cantankerous novelist Thelonious “Monk” Ellison in “American Fiction” and sensuous singer Shug Avery in “The Color Purple” — Wright is eager to address one topic first: their shared hometown. It turns out both acting titans hail from Washington, D.C. “I’m wondering if we might be family,” Wright, an Emmy and Tony winner, jokes. But he’s truly curious about how growing up in the nation’s capital has informed Henson’s acting. She credits the city’s “tough audiences” — and her hard-earned diploma from Howard University — with giving her the thick skin she needed to create an iconic character like Cookie on “Empire,” as well as for her Oscar-nominated turn in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
Taraji P. Henson: I’ve been a student of your work for a very long time.
Taraji P. Henson: I’ve been a student of your work for a very long time.
- 12/9/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Jeffrey Wright began his distinguished career as a member of John Houseman‘s renowned Acting Company, touring the country performing Shakespeare and honing his craft. His stage breakthrough came with his co-starring role in the original production of “Angels in America” as the nurse Belize, a performance that won him a Tony Award and later an Emmy when Wright reprised it for the 2003 HBO miniseries adaptation.
That Tony win led to Wright starring in the title role of his first major film, “Basquiat,” directed by Julian Schnabel. His powerful performance led to a long and distinguished career as a character actor in film, where he worked with such acclaimed filmmakers as Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and John Singleton. During that time, Wright balanced his career with TV and stage appearances as well, earning a second Tony nomination for 2002’s “Topdog/Underdog,” and three Emmy nominations for his co-starring role in...
That Tony win led to Wright starring in the title role of his first major film, “Basquiat,” directed by Julian Schnabel. His powerful performance led to a long and distinguished career as a character actor in film, where he worked with such acclaimed filmmakers as Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and John Singleton. During that time, Wright balanced his career with TV and stage appearances as well, earning a second Tony nomination for 2002’s “Topdog/Underdog,” and three Emmy nominations for his co-starring role in...
- 12/8/2023
- by Tom O'Brien, Chris Beachum and Misty Holland
- Gold Derby
Jeffrey Wright was in bed in Los Angeles when he got a text from producer Ben LeClair that some good news was coming his way. He woke up to find out that his new film “American Fiction,” adapted by TV writer-turned-director Cord Jefferson from the 2001 Percival Everett novel “Erasure,” had won the coveted People’s Choice Award at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. That award almost always guarantees a Best Picture Oscar nomination.
And, sure enough, the dramedy, which follows the story of Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, an academic author on the margins who writes a rebellious piece of satire that becomes a runaway bestseller, is making its way in this year’s Oscar race. Since TIFF, it’s picked up more audience awards at the Mill Valley and Middleburg Film Festivals, plus Gotham and Indie Spirit nominations, an IndieWire Honor for Jefferson and a Palm Springs Achievement Award for Wright.
And, sure enough, the dramedy, which follows the story of Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, an academic author on the margins who writes a rebellious piece of satire that becomes a runaway bestseller, is making its way in this year’s Oscar race. Since TIFF, it’s picked up more audience awards at the Mill Valley and Middleburg Film Festivals, plus Gotham and Indie Spirit nominations, an IndieWire Honor for Jefferson and a Palm Springs Achievement Award for Wright.
- 12/7/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Jeremy Pope conquered Broadway (and earned two Tony nominations in the same year) for work in Choir Boy and Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations. He earned an Emmy nomination for a starring role in Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood, and drew raves last year for his dramatic work on the big-screen in The Inspection. With his latest, the 31-year-old is shifting focus to photography as a way to investigate a childhood growing up as gay with a pastor father who also happened to be a professional bodybuilder. The result is a photo series called “Flex (bitch)” that challenges gender norms, finds Pope in drag for the first time and casts RuPaul’s Drag Race star Symone as a shirtless, masculine man puffing on a cigarette. Days before traveling to Miami to debut the series at Scope Art Show (where he’ll also sit for a...
- 12/5/2023
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hope Runs High has acquired U.S. rights to Augusto Sandino’s sophomore feature “A Vanishing Fog,” which won the SXSW Zeiss cinematography prize. The film is slated for an early 2024 opening in U.S. theaters. It’s the first feature to be shot in Colombia’s Sumapaz Páramo, the largest ecosystem of its kind in the world.
“In the middle of the staggering and endangered Sumapaz Paramo ecosystem; F, a solitary explorer, strives to protect the mystical and fragile land he inhabits, while caring for his ailing father,” the synopsis reads.
“Augusto Sandino’s incredible blend of playful surrealism and the overwhelming individuality of the environment in which the film is set has stayed with me since my first viewing. I believe his ability to balance visual scale, cinematic playfulness, and true heart make him an artist we should be engaging with frequently,” said Hope Runs High curator Taylor Purdee.
“In the middle of the staggering and endangered Sumapaz Paramo ecosystem; F, a solitary explorer, strives to protect the mystical and fragile land he inhabits, while caring for his ailing father,” the synopsis reads.
“Augusto Sandino’s incredible blend of playful surrealism and the overwhelming individuality of the environment in which the film is set has stayed with me since my first viewing. I believe his ability to balance visual scale, cinematic playfulness, and true heart make him an artist we should be engaging with frequently,” said Hope Runs High curator Taylor Purdee.
- 12/2/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay and Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
‘Tis the season to be streaming. And if you’re going to be streaming, consider streaming some independent films.
With the holidays approaching, streamers are predictably focusing their energy on stocking their libraries with Christmas and family films. As a result, there’s less great non-seasonal indies coming to Netflix, Hulu, Max, and the other major platforms this month than usual. That’s not to say there aren’t a few classics from yesteryear coming our way; Netflix is complimenting its new original “May December” with “Black Swan,” another film that sees Natalie Portman at her scariest. Paramount+ offers up two late ’90s and early ’00s gems with Sofia Coppola’s debut “The Virgin Suicides” and scrappy football charmer “Bend It Like Beckham.” On Prime Video, you can enjoy one of the 2010s best comedies, Andrew Bujalski’s “Support the Girls.” And on Max, you can check out “The Souvenir,...
With the holidays approaching, streamers are predictably focusing their energy on stocking their libraries with Christmas and family films. As a result, there’s less great non-seasonal indies coming to Netflix, Hulu, Max, and the other major platforms this month than usual. That’s not to say there aren’t a few classics from yesteryear coming our way; Netflix is complimenting its new original “May December” with “Black Swan,” another film that sees Natalie Portman at her scariest. Paramount+ offers up two late ’90s and early ’00s gems with Sofia Coppola’s debut “The Virgin Suicides” and scrappy football charmer “Bend It Like Beckham.” On Prime Video, you can enjoy one of the 2010s best comedies, Andrew Bujalski’s “Support the Girls.” And on Max, you can check out “The Souvenir,...
- 12/1/2023
- by Wilson Chapman
- Indiewire
Indie and art film producer Jon Kilik, unlike many, remains hopeful for the personal, mid-budget movie for grown-ups. “Those are the films directors love to make and audiences still love,” says Kilik, being feted this week at Poland’s Camerimage cinematography festival for work of special visual sensitivity.
Having flown in from a shoot in Rome, Kilik confesses he still loves being on set after a career spanning four decades, including work with Spike Lee, Julian Schnabel, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Jim Jarmusch and Oliver Stone.
His latest project filming in Europe, “In the Hand of Dante,” starring Gal Gadot and Oscar Isaac in a metaphorical journey through hell to paradise, is characteristic of Kilik’s lifelong passion for bringing challenging works of literature and art to the screen.
And he’s proven time and again that such films have an audience and are economically viable, he points out, if handled...
Having flown in from a shoot in Rome, Kilik confesses he still loves being on set after a career spanning four decades, including work with Spike Lee, Julian Schnabel, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Jim Jarmusch and Oliver Stone.
His latest project filming in Europe, “In the Hand of Dante,” starring Gal Gadot and Oscar Isaac in a metaphorical journey through hell to paradise, is characteristic of Kilik’s lifelong passion for bringing challenging works of literature and art to the screen.
And he’s proven time and again that such films have an audience and are economically viable, he points out, if handled...
- 11/19/2023
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
“This was three years ago, that I had a note from an executive on a script that I wrote that I needed to make a character ‘Blacker’,” director Cord Jefferson said at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles panel for American Fiction. “A lot of this is taken directly from my personal experience having worked in entertainment.”
Related: The Contenders Film: Los Angeles – Deadline’s Full Coverage
Jeffrey Wright, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross and Skyler Wright star in this scathing satire on the publishing industry and its treatment of serious works by Black writers. One of those writers is Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright). He travels back to his hometown of Boston to attend a book festival, but the turnout is low in favor of another book seminar with author Sinatra Golden’s (Rae) bestseller We Lives In Da Ghetto.
After finding Percival Everett’s Erasure in...
Related: The Contenders Film: Los Angeles – Deadline’s Full Coverage
Jeffrey Wright, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross and Skyler Wright star in this scathing satire on the publishing industry and its treatment of serious works by Black writers. One of those writers is Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright). He travels back to his hometown of Boston to attend a book festival, but the turnout is low in favor of another book seminar with author Sinatra Golden’s (Rae) bestseller We Lives In Da Ghetto.
After finding Percival Everett’s Erasure in...
- 11/18/2023
- by Ryan Fleming
- Deadline Film + TV
The Criterion Channel is closing the year out with a bang––they’ve announced their December lineup. Among the highlights are retrospectives on Yasujiro Ozu (featuring nearly 40 films!), Ousmane Sembène, Alfred Hitchcock (along with Kent Jones’ Hitchcock/Truffaut), and Parker Posey. Well-timed for the season is a holiday noir series that includes They Live By Night, Blast of Silence, Lady in the Lake, and more.
Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988
An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...
Other highlights are the recent restoration of Abel Gance’s La roue, an MGM Musicals series with introduction by Michael Koresky, Helena Wittmann’s riveting second feature Human Flowers of Flesh, the recent Sundance highlight The Mountains Are a Dream That Call To Me, the new restoration of The Cassandra Cat, Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar, Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, and more.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Terry Gilliam, 1988
An American in Paris, Vincente Minnelli,...
- 11/13/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
As the irascible New Yorker unveils his new velvet paintings, he talks about global disasters, sending Trump a resignation speech via Ivanka – and teaching Johnny Depp how to paint
Julian Schnabel is agitated. The artist and director has just walked into his new exhibition at the Pace gallery in Manhattan and is fixated on the folding table I’m standing behind. “What’s that?” he asks the PR person. “It’s … a table,” she replies. “I thought you could sit at it for the interview?” Schnabel looks appalled at the very idea. The table, he explains, is blocking the paintings. It’s upset the equilibrium of the room. It needs to be moved immediately.
Schnabel – who shot to fame with his smashed plate paintings in the early 80s then found success as a director with films such as Basquiat, Before Night Falls and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, does...
Julian Schnabel is agitated. The artist and director has just walked into his new exhibition at the Pace gallery in Manhattan and is fixated on the folding table I’m standing behind. “What’s that?” he asks the PR person. “It’s … a table,” she replies. “I thought you could sit at it for the interview?” Schnabel looks appalled at the very idea. The table, he explains, is blocking the paintings. It’s upset the equilibrium of the room. It needs to be moved immediately.
Schnabel – who shot to fame with his smashed plate paintings in the early 80s then found success as a director with films such as Basquiat, Before Night Falls and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, does...
- 9/26/2023
- by Arwa Mahdawi
- The Guardian - Film News
A scrappy urban tale of misspent young adulthood, Olmo Schnabel’s “Pet Shop Days” evokes the blown-out, stolen-shot 16mm character studies of 1990s independent cinema, as well as the bohemian oeuvre of painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, his father. This isn’t attributable merely to the fact that the younger Schnabel includes a scene in which his characters watch Julian’s 1996 “Basquiat,” whose themes and aloof tone — not to mention the events of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s actual life — would seem an obvious inspiration for his first feature. But in a contemporary absence of true New York stories told by filmmakers with seemingly more moxie than money, newcomer Schnabel distinguishes himself with a debut that feels tactile, real and suitably off-putting as he attempts to capture the sensibilities (if not always common sense) of twentysomethings.
Dario Yazbek Bernal (of Netflix’s “House of Flowers”) plays Alejandro, a spoiled, rebellious young adult...
Dario Yazbek Bernal (of Netflix’s “House of Flowers”) plays Alejandro, a spoiled, rebellious young adult...
- 9/3/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
Asake has established himself as the best new artist on the Nigerian pop scene, thanks to an innovative street-pop sound that fuses choir-like, crowded backing vocals with traditional Nigerian melodies and amapiano rhythms. Last year, he made three appearances on Rolling Stone’s Best Afropop songs of 2022 list, with “Sungba (Remix),” “Joha,” and his show-stealing feature on Fireboy Dml’s “Bandana.” Less than a year since his highly acclaimed debut, Mr. Money With the Vibe, the singer-songwriter has delivered his sophomore LP, Work of Art, which is easily the most...
- 6/20/2023
- by Madzadza Miya
- Rollingstone.com
Oscar®-winning filmmaker Jordan Peele unleashes his latest spine-tingling thriller with Nope, a mysterious sci-fi pop nightmare available to own for the first time as a Collector’s Edition on Digital September 20, 2022 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on October 25, 2022 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, this “spellbinder that keeps pushing boundaries” will have you never looking at clouds the same way ever again. The exclusive Collector’s Edition comes filled with more than 90 minutes of never-before-seen bonus content, including a revealing documentary that dives deep into the film’s rich DNA and Peele’s extraordinary vision; an exploration into the conception, design and execution of entity “Jean Jacket”; deleted scenes, a gag reel and more taking audiences behind the scenes of the out-of-this-world adventure.
https://www.uphe.com/movies/nope
Featuring an incredibly talented and dynamic ensemble cast, Nope is written, directed and...
https://www.uphe.com/movies/nope
Featuring an incredibly talented and dynamic ensemble cast, Nope is written, directed and...
- 9/16/2022
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
“Cyrano” star Kelvin Harrison Jr. will next embody American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in a new project from director Julius Onah.
Harrison and Onah previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed drama “Luce,” which nabbed best male lead and best director nominations at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Developed and financed by Endeavor Content, the biographical film, titled “Samo Lives,” will celebrate the life, career and impact of the groundbreaking New York-born, Haitian-Puerto Rican American artist whose seminal paintings and street art defined the Neo-expressionism arts movement of the 1980s.
In 1983, Basquiat became the youngest artist to exhibit at the Whitney Biennial in New York, at just 22 years old. The acclaimed artist died on August 12, 1988 at the age of 27, but his work continues to make a great impact on the art world. At a Sotheby’s auction in 2017, Basquiat’s painting “Untitled” sold for $110.5 million, becoming one of the most expensive paintings...
Harrison and Onah previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed drama “Luce,” which nabbed best male lead and best director nominations at the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Developed and financed by Endeavor Content, the biographical film, titled “Samo Lives,” will celebrate the life, career and impact of the groundbreaking New York-born, Haitian-Puerto Rican American artist whose seminal paintings and street art defined the Neo-expressionism arts movement of the 1980s.
In 1983, Basquiat became the youngest artist to exhibit at the Whitney Biennial in New York, at just 22 years old. The acclaimed artist died on August 12, 1988 at the age of 27, but his work continues to make a great impact on the art world. At a Sotheby’s auction in 2017, Basquiat’s painting “Untitled” sold for $110.5 million, becoming one of the most expensive paintings...
- 1/5/2022
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
In the late ’80s, Jeffrey Wright was finishing up his studies at Amherst College, dividing his time between acting, lacrosse, and a political science degree. In the midst of all that, he got the chance to study with James Baldwin. The writer was a literary icon by the time he arrived at the liberal arts college to teach in the humanities department, and Wright landed a spot in Baldwin’s lecture.
But Wright had so much going on that he never actually made it to any of the classes, and Baldwin died a few months later.
“It was one of the biggest regrets of my life,” Wright said in an interview, some 35 years later, while sitting on a park bench at the Telluride Film Festival. “I’ve had a profound relationship to his work for as long as I can remember, to what he means to American literature and American political thinking.
But Wright had so much going on that he never actually made it to any of the classes, and Baldwin died a few months later.
“It was one of the biggest regrets of my life,” Wright said in an interview, some 35 years later, while sitting on a park bench at the Telluride Film Festival. “I’ve had a profound relationship to his work for as long as I can remember, to what he means to American literature and American political thinking.
- 10/26/2021
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Has Jeffrey Wright worked nonstop since he fell in love with acting in college in the late 1980s? It seems like it. From indie hits to blockbusters to weighty TV series to Broadway, the actor, who can next be seen in Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch,” will justifiably be honored with Variety’s Legend and Groundbreaker award at the Newport Beach Film Festival, which this year runs from Oct. 21-28.
The actor’s early career includes such projects as Lorraine Hans-berry’s “Les Blancs” and Sean O’Casey’s “Juno and the Paycock” at the Arena Theater; “The Playboy of the West Indies” and “Search and Destroy” at Yale Rep; but it was 1993’s “Angels in America: Perestroika” and “Millennium Approaches” that really supercharged his career. He won Tony and Drama Desk awards for “Perestroika.”
Wright started out at Amherst College as a political science major. He grew up in Washington,...
The actor’s early career includes such projects as Lorraine Hans-berry’s “Les Blancs” and Sean O’Casey’s “Juno and the Paycock” at the Arena Theater; “The Playboy of the West Indies” and “Search and Destroy” at Yale Rep; but it was 1993’s “Angels in America: Perestroika” and “Millennium Approaches” that really supercharged his career. He won Tony and Drama Desk awards for “Perestroika.”
Wright started out at Amherst College as a political science major. He grew up in Washington,...
- 10/21/2021
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
The sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art, closed to the public under the evening midtown sky in New York City, was witness to the first glimmers of a chic summer return for the art world on Thursday. For the first time since the pandemic, MoMA held its first in-person event, a private evening sponsored by Chanel, and presented as a part of the Tribeca Festival, celebrating the formative painter and fillmaker Julian Schnabel’s 25th anniversary remastering of “Basquiat.”
“Art, family, friends—that’s what we’ve missed for 15 months,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder, CEO, and executive chair of Tribeca Enterprises, gesturing to Schnabel, a longtime partner to Tribeca. “It is a privilege to be here among brilliant friends.”
Over drinks before the screening, Rosenthal shared stories of Tribeca’s long partnership with Schnabel, who Rosenthal picked as one of the festival’s first jurors 20 years ago.
“I...
“Art, family, friends—that’s what we’ve missed for 15 months,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder, CEO, and executive chair of Tribeca Enterprises, gesturing to Schnabel, a longtime partner to Tribeca. “It is a privilege to be here among brilliant friends.”
Over drinks before the screening, Rosenthal shared stories of Tribeca’s long partnership with Schnabel, who Rosenthal picked as one of the festival’s first jurors 20 years ago.
“I...
- 6/18/2021
- by Michael Appler
- Variety Film + TV
You couldn’t escape the symbolism and the symmetry Thursday evening in New York at the 25th anniversary screening of Basquiat, the impressionistic 1996 film biography of the late Brooklyn-born Black artist and quintessential ‘80’s downtown figure, directed by the artist Julian Schnabel.
Newly remastered in black-and-white, it was presented as part of the Tribeca Festival with the support of longtime sponsor Chanel. As dusk began to fall in the midtown sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art, a crowd of art-world figures, young actresses in the Paris fashion house’s finery and festival regulars all seemed a little surprised to be there and ...
Newly remastered in black-and-white, it was presented as part of the Tribeca Festival with the support of longtime sponsor Chanel. As dusk began to fall in the midtown sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art, a crowd of art-world figures, young actresses in the Paris fashion house’s finery and festival regulars all seemed a little surprised to be there and ...
- 6/18/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
You couldn’t escape the symbolism and the symmetry Thursday evening in New York at the 25th anniversary screening of Basquiat, the impressionistic 1996 film biography of the late Brooklyn-born Black artist and quintessential ‘80’s downtown figure, directed by the artist Julian Schnabel.
Newly remastered in black-and-white, it was presented as part of the Tribeca Festival with the support of longtime sponsor Chanel. As dusk began to fall in the midtown sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art, a crowd of art-world figures, young actresses in the Paris fashion house’s finery and festival regulars all seemed a little surprised to be there and ...
Newly remastered in black-and-white, it was presented as part of the Tribeca Festival with the support of longtime sponsor Chanel. As dusk began to fall in the midtown sculpture garden of the Museum of Modern Art, a crowd of art-world figures, young actresses in the Paris fashion house’s finery and festival regulars all seemed a little surprised to be there and ...
- 6/18/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Tribeca Film Festival and Chanel have teamed to present Art Is New York/New York Is Art. The program invited more than 60 artists to contribute original sketches inspired by the relationship between art and New York City. The works will be posted on vacated storefronts throughout lower Manhattan.
Contributing artists include Julian Schnabel, Kiki Smith, Dustin Yellin, Nate Lowman, Swoon, Chuck D, Matthew Modine, Christopher Walken, Donna Ferrato, Aurel Schmidt, Kalup Linzy, Don Gummer and Sophie Matisse. A short film released in conjunction with Art Is New York/New York Is Art features Schnabel, Chuck D and Ferrato.
“Tribeca’s longstanding partnership with Chanel in supporting human expression through art is deeply rooted in the spirit of the festival. Their commitment to honoring the boldness and authenticity of artists is palpable,” Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Festival, said in a statement released Monday morning.
Contributing artists include Julian Schnabel, Kiki Smith, Dustin Yellin, Nate Lowman, Swoon, Chuck D, Matthew Modine, Christopher Walken, Donna Ferrato, Aurel Schmidt, Kalup Linzy, Don Gummer and Sophie Matisse. A short film released in conjunction with Art Is New York/New York Is Art features Schnabel, Chuck D and Ferrato.
“Tribeca’s longstanding partnership with Chanel in supporting human expression through art is deeply rooted in the spirit of the festival. Their commitment to honoring the boldness and authenticity of artists is palpable,” Jane Rosenthal, co-founder and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Festival, said in a statement released Monday morning.
- 6/7/2021
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
It is hard to know where to begin and what to say first when it comes to Dennis Hopper, both on screen and off. As an actor he began in the late 50s with small roles in films like Rebel Without A Cause (1955) and numerous TV performances. James Dean was a hero and friend to Hopper. A great way to view Rebel Without A Cause is to watch Hopper’s intense studying of and admiration for Dean on screen in that film. Hopper was witness to so many periods of American culture, a complex masculine figure much like his friend and contemporary Harry Dean Stanton, the whiskey, cigarettes and American highway mythology follows his legacy. This mix scratches the surface of an iconic figure of 20th-century popular culture and a great artist, it is a time capsule with no linear trajectory, bending back and forth across genre and feeling.Coming...
- 5/17/2021
- MUBI
Flying Lotus, Flamagra
One might think of Flamagra as Ellison’s Apocalypse Now, or The Wall — it shows an artist at the height of their power, able to realize their most over-the-top imaginings, delivering a sprawling near-masterpiece teetering at the brink of overkill. The cast is full on: jazz fusion icon Herbie Hancocke ancock and P-Funk mastermind George Clinton represent for the old school; Solange, Tierra Whack, Anderson Paak, and Shabazz Palaces’ Ishmael Butler provide varying shades of the new. Will Hermes
Cate Le Bon, Reward
Cate Le Bon’s fifth studio album,...
One might think of Flamagra as Ellison’s Apocalypse Now, or The Wall — it shows an artist at the height of their power, able to realize their most over-the-top imaginings, delivering a sprawling near-masterpiece teetering at the brink of overkill. The cast is full on: jazz fusion icon Herbie Hancocke ancock and P-Funk mastermind George Clinton represent for the old school; Solange, Tierra Whack, Anderson Paak, and Shabazz Palaces’ Ishmael Butler provide varying shades of the new. Will Hermes
Cate Le Bon, Reward
Cate Le Bon’s fifth studio album,...
- 6/3/2019
- by Will Hermes, Angie Martoccio, Daniela Tijerina, Jonathan Bernstein, Elias Leight, Jon Dolan, Danny Schwartz and Sarah Grant
- Rollingstone.com
Mary Harron speaks about Charles Manson with the detached empathy of a psychiatrist. In discussions with Matt Smith, who transforms wildly from the Prince Philip we know and love to hate on “The Crown” into the famed cult leader in “Charlie Says,” Harron’s new film, the director emphasized Manson’s tough upbringing. Manson was institutionalized from a young age, having “grown up in prison” from the age of 12. He was raped and beaten up due to the fact that he was “small and weedy.” Her insights about him are intensely precise, displaying an almost intimate knowledge of this larger than life figure’s innermost psyche.
“[Manson] learned to survive by manipulating others,” said Harron. “He was, in some ways, completely feral. He was animal in his instincts, because he’d grown up, for the vast majority of his life, in a place of danger. And so, like a wild animal,...
“[Manson] learned to survive by manipulating others,” said Harron. “He was, in some ways, completely feral. He was animal in his instincts, because he’d grown up, for the vast majority of his life, in a place of danger. And so, like a wild animal,...
- 5/10/2019
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Chicago r&b poet Jamila Woods generated her first major who is she?! moment beside Chance the Rapper in the “Sunday Candy” video by Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment; her LP debut Heavn answered that question a year later with a personal set of gospel-tinged rap-soul hybrids. Her new Legacy! Legacy! views the personal through a lens of cultural history. Songs are named for giants: “Miles,” “Zora,” “Eartha,” “Baldwin,” “Basquiat,” and if the connections aren’t always obvious, they’re always inspired.
Take “Zora,” which quotes folk singer Malvina Reynolds...
Take “Zora,” which quotes folk singer Malvina Reynolds...
- 5/9/2019
- by Will Hermes
- Rollingstone.com
During pre-production on “At Eternity’s Gate,” director Julian Schnabel gave Benoit Delhomme an unusual directive that inadvertently transformed the film’s aesthetic. He told the Dp to put on a pair of shoes and pants to be worn by Willem Dafoe as painter Vincent Van Gogh and film his own feet walking through a field of wheat reminiscent of the artist’s series of paintings.
“We needed the shot before the harvest,” says Delhomme, who found a suitable wheat field in Scotland. “I thought, ‘What should I use for that?’ I needed a very small camera I could hold in my hand … just a bare box with a lens.”
Delhomme’s choice: the lightweight and compact Red Helium 8K digital camera.
“When I shot my feet I thought, ‘What a freedom I have. I could make a film like this, because I can go everywhere I want with this box in my hand,...
“We needed the shot before the harvest,” says Delhomme, who found a suitable wheat field in Scotland. “I thought, ‘What should I use for that?’ I needed a very small camera I could hold in my hand … just a bare box with a lens.”
Delhomme’s choice: the lightweight and compact Red Helium 8K digital camera.
“When I shot my feet I thought, ‘What a freedom I have. I could make a film like this, because I can go everywhere I want with this box in my hand,...
- 2/15/2019
- by Shalini Dore
- Variety Film + TV
From “Labyrinth” to “The Prestige,” David Bowie’s onscreen roles added another dimension to a legendary career.
“The Man Who Fell to Earth”
Bowie’s first leading role was in 1976’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth” as an alien who comes to Earth to bring water back to his home planet. Bowie later admitted he was abusing cocaine while filming the movie.
“The Hunger”
Starring alongside Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon, Bowie played a vampire in the 1983 cult classic “The Hunger.”
“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”
An adaptation of the Laurens van der Post novel “The Seed and the Sower,” 1983’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” starred Bowie as a Pow held in a Japanese internment camp during WWII.
“Labyrinth” (1986)
Bowie’s most iconic on-screen role was as the big-haired Goblin King Jareth in Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” in 1986. In addition to starring in the film alongside Jennifer Connelly, Bowie also composed all of the music.
“The Man Who Fell to Earth”
Bowie’s first leading role was in 1976’s “The Man Who Fell to Earth” as an alien who comes to Earth to bring water back to his home planet. Bowie later admitted he was abusing cocaine while filming the movie.
“The Hunger”
Starring alongside Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon, Bowie played a vampire in the 1983 cult classic “The Hunger.”
“Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence”
An adaptation of the Laurens van der Post novel “The Seed and the Sower,” 1983’s “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” starred Bowie as a Pow held in a Japanese internment camp during WWII.
“Labyrinth” (1986)
Bowie’s most iconic on-screen role was as the big-haired Goblin King Jareth in Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” in 1986. In addition to starring in the film alongside Jennifer Connelly, Bowie also composed all of the music.
- 1/8/2019
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
Gary Oldman narrates a visual history of David Bowie’s 1974 Diamond Dogs Tour in this exclusive clip from the upcoming David Bowie Is mobile app that turns the acclaimed museum exhibit into an augmented reality experience.
The 1974 trek featured an amalgamation of “contemporary music and theatre several years ahead of its time” as Bowie worked with “a stellar lineup of theatrical collaborators quite unlike that of any previous rock tour,” Oldman says in the David Bowie Is app. The app allows users to comb through hand-drawn stage sketches and wardrobe...
The 1974 trek featured an amalgamation of “contemporary music and theatre several years ahead of its time” as Bowie worked with “a stellar lineup of theatrical collaborators quite unlike that of any previous rock tour,” Oldman says in the David Bowie Is app. The app allows users to comb through hand-drawn stage sketches and wardrobe...
- 1/4/2019
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
People who follow movies know that “At Eternity’s Gate,” which opened the Camerimage film festival and traces the tragic final two years in the life of Vincent van Gogh, is a film about a painter directed by another painter: Julian Schnabel, a successful New York artist who has also now helmed five features. Less well known is the fact that Schnabel’s cinematographer on his latest picture is also a painter: Benoit Delhomme, a French Dp probably best known for “The Theory of Everything,” who paints whenever he’s not shooting.
How did you and Julian originally connect?
A few years ago I was shooting “Salomé,” an experimental film that Al Pacino was directing. Julian was a friend of Pacino and came to the set. I loved Julian as a painter and I loved his film “Basquiat,” which was about a painter. At the end of the day he said to me,...
How did you and Julian originally connect?
A few years ago I was shooting “Salomé,” an experimental film that Al Pacino was directing. Julian was a friend of Pacino and came to the set. I loved Julian as a painter and I loved his film “Basquiat,” which was about a painter. At the end of the day he said to me,...
- 11/16/2018
- by Peter Caranicas
- Variety Film + TV
When you see “At Eternity’s Gate,” which opens Nov. 16, sit back and sink into Willem Dafoe’s remarkable performance as the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh. This is not Kirk Douglas in 1956’s “Lust for Life” or last year’s animated “Loving Vincent.” Fimmaker Julian Schnabel, an artist himself who previously cast the actor in 1996’s “Basquiat” and 2010’s “Miral,” places his star and us in the middle of the rustic French countryside with paint, brush and easel. At one point, Dafoe covers his face with dirt, becoming one with the outdoors. We see nature through his gaze, as he thickly slathers paint on his canvas to create a visceral work of art.
At 63, Dafoe is far older than the tortured Vincent, who died from suicide at 37. But, at some point, you will think that with his chiseled cheekbones and perceptive eyes, “Of course, he should have embodied this misunderstood genius long ago.
At 63, Dafoe is far older than the tortured Vincent, who died from suicide at 37. But, at some point, you will think that with his chiseled cheekbones and perceptive eyes, “Of course, he should have embodied this misunderstood genius long ago.
- 10/29/2018
- by Susan Wloszczyna
- Gold Derby
Julian Schnabel’s portrait of Vincent van Gogh’s artistically illuminated but mentally dark final period, “At Eternity’s Gate,” has world premiered positively at the Venice Film Festival where the artist and director spoke to Variety about making this movie about a painter that intends to be stand-out in the genre.
You’ve directed a film about a painter before — “Basquiat” — but this one’s a lot more about painting and, as Venice director Alberto Barbera has said, it “gets into van Gogh’s head.” Is that something you set out to do?
I [initially] didn’t want to make a movie about van Gogh….It had been insistently proposed to me, but the script was full of cliches, and I just thought it was a burden. Then the idea came to me that one way to do it would be to look at Van Gogh’s paintings; the feeling...
You’ve directed a film about a painter before — “Basquiat” — but this one’s a lot more about painting and, as Venice director Alberto Barbera has said, it “gets into van Gogh’s head.” Is that something you set out to do?
I [initially] didn’t want to make a movie about van Gogh….It had been insistently proposed to me, but the script was full of cliches, and I just thought it was a burden. Then the idea came to me that one way to do it would be to look at Van Gogh’s paintings; the feeling...
- 9/5/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Julian Schnabel’s “At Eternity’s Gate,” which stars Willem Dafoe as artist Vincent van Gogh, will serve as the closing-night attraction at the 2018 New York Film Festival, the Film Society of Lincoln Center announced on Wednesday.
The film also stars Oscar Isaac, Rupert Friend, Mathieu Amalric and Mads Mikkelsen. It will make its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall at the festival on Friday, October 12. CBS Films acquired the film earlier this year and plans an awards-qualifying fall release.
Schnabel is a painter and director whose previous films include “Basquiat,” Before Night Falls” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” He has not made a feature since 2010’s “Miral.”
Also Read: Alfonso Cuarón's 'Roma' to Screen as New York Film Festival Centerpiece
In the press release announcing the selection, Nyff director and selection committee chair Kent Jones said, “‘At Eternity’s Gate’ is such a surprising film,...
The film also stars Oscar Isaac, Rupert Friend, Mathieu Amalric and Mads Mikkelsen. It will make its North American premiere at Alice Tully Hall at the festival on Friday, October 12. CBS Films acquired the film earlier this year and plans an awards-qualifying fall release.
Schnabel is a painter and director whose previous films include “Basquiat,” Before Night Falls” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” He has not made a feature since 2010’s “Miral.”
Also Read: Alfonso Cuarón's 'Roma' to Screen as New York Film Festival Centerpiece
In the press release announcing the selection, Nyff director and selection committee chair Kent Jones said, “‘At Eternity’s Gate’ is such a surprising film,...
- 8/1/2018
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This story about Jeffrey Wright first appeared in the Comedy/Drama/Actors issue of TheWrap’s Emmy magazine.
Jeffrey Wright has spent the better part of Season 2 of “Westworld” looking dazed and confused. But to be fair, his onscreen alter ego, Bernard Lowe, has been struggling to piece together a chaotic stream of memories that began the night Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) shot and killed park creator Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) in the first season’s finale–not to mention grappling with the realization he is an android and deciding whether to join the robot “host” uprising against the humans.
So confused might actually not be a strong enough word for what Wright is portraying in the second installment of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s HBO sci-fi series.
“Bernard is trying to rebuild himself mechanically, but he’s also trying to rebuild his relationship to this newly created world...
Jeffrey Wright has spent the better part of Season 2 of “Westworld” looking dazed and confused. But to be fair, his onscreen alter ego, Bernard Lowe, has been struggling to piece together a chaotic stream of memories that began the night Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) shot and killed park creator Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) in the first season’s finale–not to mention grappling with the realization he is an android and deciding whether to join the robot “host” uprising against the humans.
So confused might actually not be a strong enough word for what Wright is portraying in the second installment of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s HBO sci-fi series.
“Bernard is trying to rebuild himself mechanically, but he’s also trying to rebuild his relationship to this newly created world...
- 6/20/2018
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
All hail the notorious Rbg. As Cannes premieres titles that will fill specialized release calendars, Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopic “Rbg” made the top 10 — and in just 180 theaters.
Also opening were “The Seagull” and “Beast,” neither of which rose to the level of standout in their initial results. Several other niche titles, led by “Boom for Real,” a new documentary on artist Jean-Michael Basquiat showed initial interest. Directed by Sara Driver, it is one of several standout current specialized titles directed by women, a significant parallel to the Palais protest Saturday in Cannes.
In addition to “Rbg,” co-directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In” is performing ahead of most recent subtitled films. “Revenge” from Coralie Fargeat had strong success in its initial streaming dates along with some theatrical play. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” is settling in for a decent run, while Lynne Ramsey’s...
Also opening were “The Seagull” and “Beast,” neither of which rose to the level of standout in their initial results. Several other niche titles, led by “Boom for Real,” a new documentary on artist Jean-Michael Basquiat showed initial interest. Directed by Sara Driver, it is one of several standout current specialized titles directed by women, a significant parallel to the Palais protest Saturday in Cannes.
In addition to “Rbg,” co-directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen, Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In” is performing ahead of most recent subtitled films. “Revenge” from Coralie Fargeat had strong success in its initial streaming dates along with some theatrical play. Chloe Zhao’s “The Rider” is settling in for a decent run, while Lynne Ramsey’s...
- 5/13/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
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