Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Am I Ok? (Stephanie Allyne and Tig Notaro)
A romantic comedy that functions best as a fable of friendship and self-reflection, Am I Ok? is the kind of lightweight, amiable movie that just barely earns the emotional beats at the heart of its story. Set in Los Angeles, it follows the converging life events of two best friends, Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno), soul sisters with opposite personalities who tell each other everything—except for the big secrets they’ve been harboring from each other. How they respond to hearing them fuels Stephanie Allyne and Tig Notaro’s gentle and wobbly feature debut. – Jake K-s. (full review)
Where to Stream: Max
Dad & Step-Dad (Tynan DeLong)
Following the stellar comedy Free Time,...
Am I Ok? (Stephanie Allyne and Tig Notaro)
A romantic comedy that functions best as a fable of friendship and self-reflection, Am I Ok? is the kind of lightweight, amiable movie that just barely earns the emotional beats at the heart of its story. Set in Los Angeles, it follows the converging life events of two best friends, Lucy (Dakota Johnson) and Jane (Sonoya Mizuno), soul sisters with opposite personalities who tell each other everything—except for the big secrets they’ve been harboring from each other. How they respond to hearing them fuels Stephanie Allyne and Tig Notaro’s gentle and wobbly feature debut. – Jake K-s. (full review)
Where to Stream: Max
Dad & Step-Dad (Tynan DeLong)
Following the stellar comedy Free Time,...
- 6/7/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
This year’s 77th Cannes Film Festival will mark a meeting of the New Hollywood minds in France. Not only is George Lucas receiving the festival’s Honorary Palme d’Or, but filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and Paul Schrader are in the official Competition for the first time in decades.
While Schrader has gone the route of Venice for his “lonely man in a room” trilogy — “First Reformed,” “The Card Counter,” and “Master Gardener” all premiered in Italy — he’s at Cannes this year with “Oh, Canada.” The lineup was confirmed this morning by Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux. The contemplative drama about a tortured writer looking back on his years as a leftist who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War stars Jacob Elordi, Richard Gere, and Uma Thurman. Cue the flashbulbs for a buzzy Elordi red carpet moment. The “Euphoria” breakout was last seen...
While Schrader has gone the route of Venice for his “lonely man in a room” trilogy — “First Reformed,” “The Card Counter,” and “Master Gardener” all premiered in Italy — he’s at Cannes this year with “Oh, Canada.” The lineup was confirmed this morning by Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux. The contemplative drama about a tortured writer looking back on his years as a leftist who fled to Canada to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War stars Jacob Elordi, Richard Gere, and Uma Thurman. Cue the flashbulbs for a buzzy Elordi red carpet moment. The “Euphoria” breakout was last seen...
- 4/11/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
It’s late at night, and I see a thriller called An Awful Thing Has Gone And Happened (2022). Settling back the brain kicks in thinking I may see gun battles, car chases, and maybe a love story with a dark twist. The title alone makes me think this may be something odd, I mean who makes a title like that unless you are To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995).
The film opens at night when one sees Augustus (John Dixon) wielding a large gun in a car trying to get up the courage. Over this, a screechy radio caller (Fiddling Leona) is going on about something totally different. Augustus mutters to himself, then gets out and trots to a spot where he digs up a cooler that is filled with money. Out of the darkness comes a figure that is revealed as Augustus’s father. Augustus is startled...
The film opens at night when one sees Augustus (John Dixon) wielding a large gun in a car trying to get up the courage. Over this, a screechy radio caller (Fiddling Leona) is going on about something totally different. Augustus mutters to himself, then gets out and trots to a spot where he digs up a cooler that is filled with money. Out of the darkness comes a figure that is revealed as Augustus’s father. Augustus is startled...
- 6/28/2023
- by Terry Sherwood
- Horror Asylum
by Cláudio Alves
The Comfort Of Strangers (1990) Paul Schrader
The last time we checked on the Criterion Channel's Erotic Thrillers collection, it was to consider the voyeuristic properties of late-80s cinema. Moving on to the next decade, let's get over the nineties in one go. During this era, the erotic thriller reached its apotheosis of influence and trashiness, gradually fading into obsolescence as the millennium approached. It was an epoch of Fatal Attraction copycats and prestige-infused sensuality, a final resurgence of neo-noir aspirations, the rise and fall of Joe Eszterhas, Sharon Stone's stardom, and direct-to-video sleaze. Criterion traces these arcs through eleven titles, spotlighting great cinema and irredeemable garbage with the same gusto…...
The Comfort Of Strangers (1990) Paul Schrader
The last time we checked on the Criterion Channel's Erotic Thrillers collection, it was to consider the voyeuristic properties of late-80s cinema. Moving on to the next decade, let's get over the nineties in one go. During this era, the erotic thriller reached its apotheosis of influence and trashiness, gradually fading into obsolescence as the millennium approached. It was an epoch of Fatal Attraction copycats and prestige-infused sensuality, a final resurgence of neo-noir aspirations, the rise and fall of Joe Eszterhas, Sharon Stone's stardom, and direct-to-video sleaze. Criterion traces these arcs through eleven titles, spotlighting great cinema and irredeemable garbage with the same gusto…...
- 6/6/2023
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Directed by David Lynch
On the occasion of the home video and streaming release of the newly remastered Inland Empire (for which we were lucky enough to chat with the man himself), Criterion has put together a fine tribute to David Lynch, also featuring Eraserhead (1977), Dune (1984), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Lost Highway (1997), and Mulholland Dr. (2001). Don’t sleep on the bonus features, including a new conversation between Laura Dern and Kyle Maclachlan. Also, set to arrive on April 1 is The Elephant Man (1980).
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons
French New Wave master Eric Rohmer’s 1990s project was Tales of the Four Seasons, all of which have now received new restorations. Following...
Directed by David Lynch
On the occasion of the home video and streaming release of the newly remastered Inland Empire (for which we were lucky enough to chat with the man himself), Criterion has put together a fine tribute to David Lynch, also featuring Eraserhead (1977), Dune (1984), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Lost Highway (1997), and Mulholland Dr. (2001). Don’t sleep on the bonus features, including a new conversation between Laura Dern and Kyle Maclachlan. Also, set to arrive on April 1 is The Elephant Man (1980).
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Eric Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons
French New Wave master Eric Rohmer’s 1990s project was Tales of the Four Seasons, all of which have now received new restorations. Following...
- 4/7/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Good news for those who wish to know what their Twitter feed’s jacking off to: the Criterion Channel are launching an erotic thriller series that includes De Palma’s Dressed to Kill and Body Double, the Wachowskis’ Bound, and so many other movies to stir up that ceaseless, fruitless “why do movies have sex scenes?” discourse. (Better or worse than middle-age film critics implying they have a hard-on? I’m so indignant at being forced to choose.) Similarly lurid, if not a bit more frightening, is a David Lynch retro that includes the Criterion editions of Lost Highway and Inland Empire (about which I spoke to Lynch last year), a series of shorts, and a one-month-only engagement for Dune, a film that should be there in perpetuity.
Retrospectives of Harold Lloyd, Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons, and shorts by Fanta Régina Nacro round out the big debuts,...
Retrospectives of Harold Lloyd, Rohmer’s Tales of the Four Seasons, and shorts by Fanta Régina Nacro round out the big debuts,...
- 3/20/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Click here to read the full article.
Just one year after wowing Venice critics with The Card Counter, Paul Schrader returns to the world’s oldest film festival with the latest iteration of his self-styled “man alone in a room” stories, Master Gardener.
Like the signature character studies before it – Taxi Driver (Robert De Niro), American Gigolo (Richard Gere), Light Sleeper (Willem Dafoe), First Reformed (Ethan Hawke) and The Card Counter (Oscar Isaac) — Master Gardner begins, naturally, with a socially disaffected man, alone in a room. This time, Schrader’s anguished protagonist with a mysterious past is played by Joel Edgerton, who stars opposite Sigourney Weaver and Quintessa Swindell.
In a restrained and beguiling performance, Edgerton plays Narvel Roth, the meticulous horticulturist of Gracewood Gardens, the sprawling botanical estate of the wealthy dowager, Mrs. Haverhill, chillingly inhabited by Weaver. As we meet him, Narvel is as fastidiously devoted to tending...
Just one year after wowing Venice critics with The Card Counter, Paul Schrader returns to the world’s oldest film festival with the latest iteration of his self-styled “man alone in a room” stories, Master Gardener.
Like the signature character studies before it – Taxi Driver (Robert De Niro), American Gigolo (Richard Gere), Light Sleeper (Willem Dafoe), First Reformed (Ethan Hawke) and The Card Counter (Oscar Isaac) — Master Gardner begins, naturally, with a socially disaffected man, alone in a room. This time, Schrader’s anguished protagonist with a mysterious past is played by Joel Edgerton, who stars opposite Sigourney Weaver and Quintessa Swindell.
In a restrained and beguiling performance, Edgerton plays Narvel Roth, the meticulous horticulturist of Gracewood Gardens, the sprawling botanical estate of the wealthy dowager, Mrs. Haverhill, chillingly inhabited by Weaver. As we meet him, Narvel is as fastidiously devoted to tending...
- 9/2/2022
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Venice Film Festival will honor U.S. director and screenwriter Paul Schrader, a key figure of New Hollywood cinema, with its 2022 Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
Schrader wrote Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” and “The Last Temptation of Christ” and co-wrote “Raging Bull.” He has directed dozens of films, including “American Gigolo,” “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters,” “The Comfort of Strangers” and “First Reformed.” The director was in Venice last year with “The Card Counter,” starring Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish, which has been a critical and box office success.
In accepting the honor Schrader stated: “I am deeply honored. Venice is the Lion of my heart.”
Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera in a statement praised Schrader for having “revolutionized the imagination, aesthetics, and language of American film,” starting in the late 1960s.
“It is not an exaggeration to affirm that he is one of the most important American filmmakers of his generation,...
Schrader wrote Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” and “The Last Temptation of Christ” and co-wrote “Raging Bull.” He has directed dozens of films, including “American Gigolo,” “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters,” “The Comfort of Strangers” and “First Reformed.” The director was in Venice last year with “The Card Counter,” starring Oscar Isaac and Tiffany Haddish, which has been a critical and box office success.
In accepting the honor Schrader stated: “I am deeply honored. Venice is the Lion of my heart.”
Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera in a statement praised Schrader for having “revolutionized the imagination, aesthetics, and language of American film,” starting in the late 1960s.
“It is not an exaggeration to affirm that he is one of the most important American filmmakers of his generation,...
- 5/4/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Paul Schrader, who received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Zurich Film Festival on Friday, is planning to start shooting thriller “Master Gardener” in February, with Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver starring, and the third role to be played by a young woman of color. Zendaya was his first choice, but they couldn’t agree on the fee, he told an audience at the Swiss festival.
“Master Gardener” is about a horticulturist torn between two women, one old enough to be his mother and the other young enough to be his daughter.
“I was thinking about that guy, but then two women showed up. He is having romantic relations with both, but what I liked the most is that now, they can talk to each other. What would happen in ‘Taxi Driver’ if Cybill Shepherd and Jodie Foster went out to get coffee?”
At Zurich, Schrader presented his drama “The Card Counter,...
“Master Gardener” is about a horticulturist torn between two women, one old enough to be his mother and the other young enough to be his daughter.
“I was thinking about that guy, but then two women showed up. He is having romantic relations with both, but what I liked the most is that now, they can talk to each other. What would happen in ‘Taxi Driver’ if Cybill Shepherd and Jodie Foster went out to get coffee?”
At Zurich, Schrader presented his drama “The Card Counter,...
- 10/4/2021
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
“I have decided to keep a journal. Not in a word program or digital file, but in longhand, writing every word out so that every inflection of penmanship, every word chosen, scratched out, revised, is recorded. To set down all my thoughts and the simple events of my day factually and without hiding anything. When writing about oneself, one should show no mercy. I will keep this diary for one year; 12 months. And at the end of that time, it will be destroyed. Shredded, then burnt. The experiment will be over.” Searching narration binds Paul Schrader’s work, the lone ranger facing a crisis of faith, unable to shake off the past. The above dialogue introduces Ethan Hawke’s Reverend Ernst Toller at the beginning of First Reformed (2017). Schrader’s characters share their own folklore and throughout this mix their tales come and go. The lyrics take on the form of character too,...
- 9/9/2021
- MUBI
Festival
The 17th Zurich Film Festival (Sept. 23-Oct. 3) will honor Paul Schrader for his life’s work, which includes the screenplays for Martin Scorsese‘s “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull” and “The Last Temptation of Christ,” and the films he directed, including “American Gigolo,” “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters,” “The Comfort of Strangers” and “First Reformed.”
Schrader will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in person at Zurich Convention Center on Oct. 1 before presenting his new film “The Card Counter,” which bowed at the Venice Film Festival. He will also deliver a masterclass.
“I am pleased to be honored by a very hip film festival in the beautiful city of Zurich,” said Schrader. “I have many fond memories and friends there, and am appreciative that this honor will allow me to visit those”.
“It is a dream for me as a cinephile to pay homage to Paul Schrader at the Zff.
The 17th Zurich Film Festival (Sept. 23-Oct. 3) will honor Paul Schrader for his life’s work, which includes the screenplays for Martin Scorsese‘s “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull” and “The Last Temptation of Christ,” and the films he directed, including “American Gigolo,” “Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters,” “The Comfort of Strangers” and “First Reformed.”
Schrader will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in person at Zurich Convention Center on Oct. 1 before presenting his new film “The Card Counter,” which bowed at the Venice Film Festival. He will also deliver a masterclass.
“I am pleased to be honored by a very hip film festival in the beautiful city of Zurich,” said Schrader. “I have many fond memories and friends there, and am appreciative that this honor will allow me to visit those”.
“It is a dream for me as a cinephile to pay homage to Paul Schrader at the Zff.
- 9/7/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
In today’s Global Bulletin, the National Theatre shares details on its upcoming “Romeo and Juliet” feature adaptation, HBO Europe and ITV commission documentaries on Covid-19 and the Irish mother and baby home scandal respectively, Tim picks up Discovery Plus in Italy, Oble acquires Start series “Gold Diggers” and “A Good Man” to sell globally and Channel 4 announces three new digital series for its E4 platform.
Theater
One day after announcing new deputy director Clint Dyer, the National Theatre has dropped a first-look image of its upcoming production of “Romeo and Juliet,” produced as a feature film to be broadcast on Sky Arts and PBS this April.
Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley will play the young star-crossed lovers, as seen in the image of the couple as they meet on Juliet’s balcony in front of a full moon.
Further casting has been announced as well, with Olivier Award...
Theater
One day after announcing new deputy director Clint Dyer, the National Theatre has dropped a first-look image of its upcoming production of “Romeo and Juliet,” produced as a feature film to be broadcast on Sky Arts and PBS this April.
Josh O’Connor and Jessie Buckley will play the young star-crossed lovers, as seen in the image of the couple as they meet on Juliet’s balcony in front of a full moon.
Further casting has been announced as well, with Olivier Award...
- 1/27/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Bad Vacations
I imagine your summer plans didn’t go as expected, but in at least a few films in a new Criterion Channel series, some characters have it worse off than having to quarantine inside. Titled Bad Vacations, the collection includes Bonjour tristesse (Otto Preminger, 1958), La collectionneuse (Éric Rohmer, 1967), The Deep (Peter Yates, 1977), House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977), Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, 1978), The Green Ray (Eric Rohmer, 1986), The Comfort of Strangers (Paul Schrader, 1990), The Sheltering Sky (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1990), Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997), Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat, 2001), La Ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001), Unrelated (Joanna Hogg, 2007), and Sightseers (Ben Wheatley, 2012).
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Epicentro (Hubert Sauper)
“This is utopia, bright and burning.
Bad Vacations
I imagine your summer plans didn’t go as expected, but in at least a few films in a new Criterion Channel series, some characters have it worse off than having to quarantine inside. Titled Bad Vacations, the collection includes Bonjour tristesse (Otto Preminger, 1958), La collectionneuse (Éric Rohmer, 1967), The Deep (Peter Yates, 1977), House (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977), Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, 1978), The Green Ray (Eric Rohmer, 1986), The Comfort of Strangers (Paul Schrader, 1990), The Sheltering Sky (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1990), Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997), Fat Girl (Catherine Breillat, 2001), La Ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel, 2001), Unrelated (Joanna Hogg, 2007), and Sightseers (Ben Wheatley, 2012).
Where to Stream: The Criterion Channel
Epicentro (Hubert Sauper)
“This is utopia, bright and burning.
- 8/28/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There are plenty of disturbing films in the world. One of them is a 1990 release, directed by Paul Schrader and written by Harold Pinter in an adaptation of the book by Ian McEwan. The film in question is The Comfort of Strangers, the latest disturbing film I'm trying to wrap my head around, and it's out this week on Blu-ray and DVD from the Criterion Collection. Mary and Colin are a well-bred couple that seemingly have no issues...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 8/21/2020
- Screen Anarchy
With films and TV shows constantly disappearing from Netflix, Hulu, and even Disney+, and titles constantly changing streaming platforms as new ones come to take a piece of the Streaming Wars pie, physical media is more important than ever. And when it comes to physical media, there are few things better than a good Criterion Collection release, so it’s a good thing that they’ve just announced their August releases.
Continue reading ‘The Comfort Of Strangers,’ ‘The Complete Films Of Agnès Varda’ & More Join The Criterion Collection In August at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Comfort Of Strangers,’ ‘The Complete Films Of Agnès Varda’ & More Join The Criterion Collection In August at The Playlist.
- 5/16/2020
- by Rafael Motamayor
- The Playlist
Dramatizations of the life of playwright Oscar Wilde usually dwell on his sentence to prison with hard labor for homosexuality. The films “Oscar Wilde” and “The Trials of Oscar Wilde,” both of which came out in 1960, put the emphasis on his downfall, as did the biopic “Wilde” from 1997 and numerous theatrical productions, such as “Gross Indecency.”
Rupert Everett played Wilde in a revival of David Hare’s play “The Judas Kiss” in 2012 in London, and now he returns to the role in “The Happy Prince,” which he also wrote and directed. Everett shows little sense of how to structure his material, or how to shoot it, or even sometimes how to act it, but he does have one key element that sees him through: keen insight into Wilde’s world and character. And this insight gets him pretty far here.
“The Happy Prince” begins with title cards explaining who Wilde...
Rupert Everett played Wilde in a revival of David Hare’s play “The Judas Kiss” in 2012 in London, and now he returns to the role in “The Happy Prince,” which he also wrote and directed. Everett shows little sense of how to structure his material, or how to shoot it, or even sometimes how to act it, but he does have one key element that sees him through: keen insight into Wilde’s world and character. And this insight gets him pretty far here.
“The Happy Prince” begins with title cards explaining who Wilde...
- 10/8/2018
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
There are powerhouse movies that knock you for a loop and take weeks to recover from – and then there is Paul Schrader's First Reformed. Not only is this faith-in-crisis drama one of the legendary writer-director's most incendiary films ever, it's one of the year's very best – a cinematic whirlwind that leaves you both exhilarated and spent. Like the screenplays he wrote for Martin Scorsese (notably Taxi Driver) and the tormented works he's made about the wages of sin (Hardcore, American Gigolo, The Comfort of Strangers, Auto Focus), Schrader – raised...
- 5/16/2018
- Rollingstone.com
Author Ian McEwan is hot stuff all of a second. The multi-award-winning British author is no stranger to screen adaptations — “The Comfort Of Strangers” and “The Cement Garden” in the early 90s, and “Enduring Love” and the Oscar-nominated “Atonement,” to name but a few — but 2017 marks something close to peak McEwan.
Two movies based on his work are premiering at Tiff at the moment — “On Chesil Beach,” with Saoirse Ronan (read our review here) and “The Children Act” with Emma Thompson.
Continue reading First Trailer For ‘The Child In Time’ Starring Benedict Cumberbatch [Watch] at The Playlist.
Two movies based on his work are premiering at Tiff at the moment — “On Chesil Beach,” with Saoirse Ronan (read our review here) and “The Children Act” with Emma Thompson.
Continue reading First Trailer For ‘The Child In Time’ Starring Benedict Cumberbatch [Watch] at The Playlist.
- 9/12/2017
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Newlyweds awaken Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s sex life in this slow-moving vanity project
Widely dismissed as a vanity project for its photogenic stars, this serves as the artsy European flipside to Mr & Mrs Smith, the enjoyably brash Hollywood smash-em-up that first spawned the Brangelina behemoth. Where Doug Liman’s 2005 action film found the couple trying to kill each other while falling in love, this finds them trying not to kill themselves while falling out of love. The 70s-set story largely unfolds in a lavish hotel suite in the scenic south of France (actually Malta), where blocked writer Roland (Brad Pitt) hits the bottle when given the cold shoulder by the medicated Vanessa (Angelina Jolie Pitt, also writing and directing). But when attractive newlyweds (Mélanie Laurent and Melvil Poupaud) move in next door, a spy hole in the wall awakens dormant desires that blend voyeurism and revenge, with underlying grace notes of grief.
Widely dismissed as a vanity project for its photogenic stars, this serves as the artsy European flipside to Mr & Mrs Smith, the enjoyably brash Hollywood smash-em-up that first spawned the Brangelina behemoth. Where Doug Liman’s 2005 action film found the couple trying to kill each other while falling in love, this finds them trying not to kill themselves while falling out of love. The 70s-set story largely unfolds in a lavish hotel suite in the scenic south of France (actually Malta), where blocked writer Roland (Brad Pitt) hits the bottle when given the cold shoulder by the medicated Vanessa (Angelina Jolie Pitt, also writing and directing). But when attractive newlyweds (Mélanie Laurent and Melvil Poupaud) move in next door, a spy hole in the wall awakens dormant desires that blend voyeurism and revenge, with underlying grace notes of grief.
- 12/13/2015
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film critic
- The Guardian - Film News
Taylor Schilling, Adam Scott and Jason Schwartzman dabble in the shallow end of sexual manners in this disposable but diverting comedy
Here’s an amiably goofy, if dramatically thin comedy of swinging sexual manners. It comes on like a gentler version of Ian McEwan’s The Comfort of Strangers – with maybe a dollop of that highly odd 2009 movie Humpday on the side. Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) are a couple with a young child and new to Los Angeles; in the park they chance upon Kurt (Jason Schwartzman), a charmingly persistent but weird guy who invites them to dinner with his French wife Charlotte (Judith Godrèche).
Continue reading...
Here’s an amiably goofy, if dramatically thin comedy of swinging sexual manners. It comes on like a gentler version of Ian McEwan’s The Comfort of Strangers – with maybe a dollop of that highly odd 2009 movie Humpday on the side. Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) are a couple with a young child and new to Los Angeles; in the park they chance upon Kurt (Jason Schwartzman), a charmingly persistent but weird guy who invites them to dinner with his French wife Charlotte (Judith Godrèche).
Continue reading...
- 6/25/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Criterion brings British auteur Nicolas Roeg’s most famous title to the fold, 1973’s enigmatic Don’t Look Now, a title that has influenced generations of filmmakers since its successful reception, and marks the director’s fifth title to be included in the illustrious collection. A refracted dreamscape of symbols and motifs, the film is a brooding jigsaw puzzle that doesn’t insist on answering all your questions, and happens to feature an unforgettable finale that’s lost none of its affect (despite providing iconic fodder for famed parodies, ranging from memorable bits in “Spaced” to “Absolutely Fabulous”).
After the drowning of their preadolescent daughter, Christine, in the backyard of their estate, John and Laura Baxter (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) take off for Venice, where John accepts a job to restore some mosaics in one of the city’s many dilapidated churches. However, once there, the couple is introduced...
After the drowning of their preadolescent daughter, Christine, in the backyard of their estate, John and Laura Baxter (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) take off for Venice, where John accepts a job to restore some mosaics in one of the city’s many dilapidated churches. However, once there, the couple is introduced...
- 2/17/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Art by JasonCasteel
I know what will cheer you up today! A little video supercut that has nothing except Christopher Walken dancing. I didn't realize just how much he's danced over the course of his career. The guy has sure got some crazy moves! Below the video you'll find the full list of movies that are featured in the video which comes to us from The Huffington Post.
“Roseland” (1977)
“The Deer Hunter” (1978)
“Brainstorm” (1983)
“Pennies from Heaven” (1981)
“The Dead Zone” (1983)
“A View To A Kill” (1985)
“At Close Range” (1986)
“Puss in Boots” (1988)
“Homeboy” (1988)
“Communion” (1989)
“King of New York” (1990)
“The Comfort of Strangers” (1990)
“Sarah, Plain and Tall” (1991)
“All-American Murder” (1991)
“Batman Returns” (1992)
“Skylark” (1993)
“True Romance” (1993)
“Wayne’s World 2″ (1993)
“A Business Affair” (1994)
“Pulp Fiction” (1994)
“The Prophecy” (1995)
“Search and Destroy” (1995)
“Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead” (1995)
“The Funeral” (1996)
“Suicide Kings” (1997)
“Mousehunt” (1997)
“New Rose Hotel” (1998)
“Blast from the Past” (1999)
“Sleepy Hollow” (1999)
“The Opportunists” (2000)
“Scotland,...
I know what will cheer you up today! A little video supercut that has nothing except Christopher Walken dancing. I didn't realize just how much he's danced over the course of his career. The guy has sure got some crazy moves! Below the video you'll find the full list of movies that are featured in the video which comes to us from The Huffington Post.
“Roseland” (1977)
“The Deer Hunter” (1978)
“Brainstorm” (1983)
“Pennies from Heaven” (1981)
“The Dead Zone” (1983)
“A View To A Kill” (1985)
“At Close Range” (1986)
“Puss in Boots” (1988)
“Homeboy” (1988)
“Communion” (1989)
“King of New York” (1990)
“The Comfort of Strangers” (1990)
“Sarah, Plain and Tall” (1991)
“All-American Murder” (1991)
“Batman Returns” (1992)
“Skylark” (1993)
“True Romance” (1993)
“Wayne’s World 2″ (1993)
“A Business Affair” (1994)
“Pulp Fiction” (1994)
“The Prophecy” (1995)
“Search and Destroy” (1995)
“Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead” (1995)
“The Funeral” (1996)
“Suicide Kings” (1997)
“Mousehunt” (1997)
“New Rose Hotel” (1998)
“Blast from the Past” (1999)
“Sleepy Hollow” (1999)
“The Opportunists” (2000)
“Scotland,...
- 3/20/2014
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
I didn’t know Christopher Walken had danced in so many movies but it’s a good thing he has otherwise we wouldn’t have this great supercut to show you. He had the moves in Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice video [watch it here] but put them all together with his movies and it’s something special.
Fyi: Walken initially trained as a musical theater dancer at the Washington Dance Studio.
Below is the video and the complete list of the films used:
Here’s a full list of the films featured in the video, via HuffPo:
“Roseland” (1977)
“The Deer Hunter” (1978)
“Brainstorm” (1983)
“Pennies from Heaven” (1981)
“The Dead Zone” (1983)
“A View To A Kill” (1985)
“At Close Range” (1986)
“Puss in Boots” (1988)
“Homeboy” (1988)
“Communion” (1989)
“King of New York” (1990)
“The Comfort of Strangers” (1990)
“Sarah, Plain and Tall” (1991)
“All-American Murder” (1991)
“Batman Returns” (1992)
“Skylark” (1993)
“True Romance” (1993)
“Wayne’s World 2″ (1993)
“A Business Affair” (1994)
“Pulp Fiction” (1994)
“The Prophecy” (1995)
“Search and Destroy...
Fyi: Walken initially trained as a musical theater dancer at the Washington Dance Studio.
Below is the video and the complete list of the films used:
Here’s a full list of the films featured in the video, via HuffPo:
“Roseland” (1977)
“The Deer Hunter” (1978)
“Brainstorm” (1983)
“Pennies from Heaven” (1981)
“The Dead Zone” (1983)
“A View To A Kill” (1985)
“At Close Range” (1986)
“Puss in Boots” (1988)
“Homeboy” (1988)
“Communion” (1989)
“King of New York” (1990)
“The Comfort of Strangers” (1990)
“Sarah, Plain and Tall” (1991)
“All-American Murder” (1991)
“Batman Returns” (1992)
“Skylark” (1993)
“True Romance” (1993)
“Wayne’s World 2″ (1993)
“A Business Affair” (1994)
“Pulp Fiction” (1994)
“The Prophecy” (1995)
“Search and Destroy...
- 3/20/2014
- by Graham McMorrow
- City of Films
Random Media, a new multi-platform content company, has hired indie distribution vet Tom Skouras as chairman, the company announced Monday. For more than a decade, Skouras was president of Skouras Pictures, Inc., an indie film distribution company that handled the release of, among others, Joel and Ethan Coen’s first film, Blood Simple, Paul Schrader’s The Comfort of Strangers, Martin Donovan’s Apartment Zero and My Life as a Dog, directed by Lasse Hallstrom. "Tom will bring a level of guidance and insight to Random Media that can only be gained from a lifetime of extraordinary experience in our industry,”
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- 12/17/2013
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rupert Everett has long been a martyr to his passions, but lately he's had something else on his mind. Victoria Coren, a lifelong fan, joins him for dinner to talk about his excoriating memoirs, his portrayal of Oscar Wilde and his urge to be a serious man
When Rupert Everett dies, he won't have a funeral. He has given this serious thought.
"I'll go on the bonfire," he says. "That's what I'd like."
At the risk of spoiling his cheerful plan, I feel obliged to point out that it's against the law to put corpses on bonfires.
"Yes, but it shouldn't be," says the actor, irritably squeezing lemon into his tea. "I'm sure someone can put me on there, if I've just died normally. I wanted to put my dad on the bonfire. But nobody else wanted to, so we didn't."
It feels awfully strange to be sitting in a restaurant with Rupert Everett,...
When Rupert Everett dies, he won't have a funeral. He has given this serious thought.
"I'll go on the bonfire," he says. "That's what I'd like."
At the risk of spoiling his cheerful plan, I feel obliged to point out that it's against the law to put corpses on bonfires.
"Yes, but it shouldn't be," says the actor, irritably squeezing lemon into his tea. "I'm sure someone can put me on there, if I've just died normally. I wanted to put my dad on the bonfire. But nobody else wanted to, so we didn't."
It feels awfully strange to be sitting in a restaurant with Rupert Everett,...
- 4/21/2013
- by Victoria Coren
- The Guardian - Film News
He has spent his life creating memorable and menacing characters. The actor tells Sean O'Hagan why he hates horses, loves Hollywood's honesty and won't leave his hotel in London
It was Mickey Rourke who came closest to capturing Christopher Walken's singular aura. "You were always like this strange being from another place," Rourke told Walken when the two came together recently for a feature in Interview magazine. "There was something 'outer space' about you."
Though Walken, now 69, has mellowed somewhat since he first crossed paths with Rourke on Michael Cimino's ill-fated epic, Heaven's Gate, in 1980, that description still seems apt. It's to do with his sense of detachment: the odd mix of preternatural calm and underlying menace that he exudes onscreen. Like the late Dennis Hopper, but in a more understated way, Walken has spent the best part of his career playing extreme characters of one kind or another,...
It was Mickey Rourke who came closest to capturing Christopher Walken's singular aura. "You were always like this strange being from another place," Rourke told Walken when the two came together recently for a feature in Interview magazine. "There was something 'outer space' about you."
Though Walken, now 69, has mellowed somewhat since he first crossed paths with Rourke on Michael Cimino's ill-fated epic, Heaven's Gate, in 1980, that description still seems apt. It's to do with his sense of detachment: the odd mix of preternatural calm and underlying menace that he exudes onscreen. Like the late Dennis Hopper, but in a more understated way, Walken has spent the best part of his career playing extreme characters of one kind or another,...
- 12/2/2012
- by Sean O'Hagan
- The Guardian - Film News
With writing credits like Taxi Driver and directing credits like The Comfort of Strangers to his name, there seems no better person to make The Canyons, written by Bret Easton Ellis, than Paul Schrader. Easton Ellis, who penned such darkly American tales as Less Than Zero and American Psycho, trades in sex, drugs, and disillusionment. Schrader, meanwhile, loves tales of human evil and the depths of passion and obsession.
Thus we should all let out a small cheer considering the news today, via The Playlist. Turns out that word has come straight from Easton Ellis’s twitter feed (@BretEastonEllis) that shooting on the micro-budget collaboration between him and Schrader is to begin “on July 9th in Los Angeles…”
Casting is still taking place, with five main leads up for grabs during an open casting call going on now. Plot details for The Canyons are scarce for now, but word is...
Thus we should all let out a small cheer considering the news today, via The Playlist. Turns out that word has come straight from Easton Ellis’s twitter feed (@BretEastonEllis) that shooting on the micro-budget collaboration between him and Schrader is to begin “on July 9th in Los Angeles…”
Casting is still taking place, with five main leads up for grabs during an open casting call going on now. Plot details for The Canyons are scarce for now, but word is...
- 3/6/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Some like their romantic comedies and others love period dramas or science fiction; I've got a long thing going with twisted tales--not quite horror--but seriously dark drama. Dead Ringers, The Comfort of Strangers, Blue Velvet, The Music of Chance are a few old favorites and I'm always in search of a new fix. This year's Venice Film Festival will premiere two entries that sound promising: Steve McQueen's Shame and Roman Polanski's Carnage, while Cannes has already seen the debut of Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In. As with most controversial films the reviews have been mixed, but more importantly, Skin had people talking ("disturbing," "operatic," "perverse,"). The muddled premise descriptions have had me curious from the outset and the short teaser left me wanting more. So no matter that we don't entirely understand the storyline (Antonio Banderas = surgeon/madman(?) seeking revenge against men who raped his...
- 7/27/2011
- by Cindy Davis
Alberto Zambenedetti is a film scholar and a critic originally from Venice, Italy. He has published many articles and book chapters on Italian cinema and writes regularly on spietati.it. Alberto and I went to see the new spy thriller "The Tourist" starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, which is set in Venice, and afterwards we had a conversation about the film's depiction of his hometown.
Matt Singer: Putting aside your feelings about the movie as a whole, how did you feel about the portrayal of Venice?
Alberto Zambenedetti: It was a missed opportunity. The way the movie used the geography of the city on the whole was very jumbled. This film could have been set anywhere. It doesn't have to be Venice. It could be Amsterdam. It could be any city, other than the fact that they're always on boats. But they could have just been in cars.
There...
Matt Singer: Putting aside your feelings about the movie as a whole, how did you feel about the portrayal of Venice?
Alberto Zambenedetti: It was a missed opportunity. The way the movie used the geography of the city on the whole was very jumbled. This film could have been set anywhere. It doesn't have to be Venice. It could be Amsterdam. It could be any city, other than the fact that they're always on boats. But they could have just been in cars.
There...
- 12/13/2010
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
With the next James Bond on indefinite hold, director Sam Mendes looks to be moving onto other projects and is already looking at a film adaptation of author Ian McEwan's 2007 novel "On Chesil Beach" for Focus Features reports Deadline.
Set in the UK in the 60's, the story revolves around two repressed virgins in their early 20's whose futile attempt at lovemaking leads to doubt and recriminations.
Carey Mulligan ("An Education," "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps") is apparently interested in the female lead role while McEwan himself will adapt the script. McEwan is best known for the novels "Atonement," "Enduring Love," "The Innocent," "Amsterdam," "The Comfort of Strangers," "Saturday" and "The Cement Garden".
Mendes, who will also direct a musical production based on Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" opening next year, remains committed to the next James Bond film. He has, however, apparently told Disney he...
Set in the UK in the 60's, the story revolves around two repressed virgins in their early 20's whose futile attempt at lovemaking leads to doubt and recriminations.
Carey Mulligan ("An Education," "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps") is apparently interested in the female lead role while McEwan himself will adapt the script. McEwan is best known for the novels "Atonement," "Enduring Love," "The Innocent," "Amsterdam," "The Comfort of Strangers," "Saturday" and "The Cement Garden".
Mendes, who will also direct a musical production based on Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" opening next year, remains committed to the next James Bond film. He has, however, apparently told Disney he...
- 6/3/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Although best known as a theatre critic, Kenneth Tynan also wrote widely on film, and even wrote screenplays, including Ealing Studios' "least Ealing film ever"
Kenneth Tynan's fame rests on his drama criticism, but he was as much devoted to film as to theatre. He wrote movie criticism for the Observer and star profiles for the New Yorker, and was also, at various times, a script adviser and screenwriter. In fact, it was while working in the former capacity for Michael Balcon at Ealing Studios in 1958 that Tynan co-scripted Nowhere to Go with the movie's director, Seth Holt.
Holt, who had worked for the patriarchal Balcon since 1953, once described Nowhere to Go as "the least Ealing film ever made". And what he and Tynan concocted was a movie that ran totally counter to the studio's preoccupation with harmless eccentrics and benevolent communities. It is, in fact, a crime...
Kenneth Tynan's fame rests on his drama criticism, but he was as much devoted to film as to theatre. He wrote movie criticism for the Observer and star profiles for the New Yorker, and was also, at various times, a script adviser and screenwriter. In fact, it was while working in the former capacity for Michael Balcon at Ealing Studios in 1958 that Tynan co-scripted Nowhere to Go with the movie's director, Seth Holt.
Holt, who had worked for the patriarchal Balcon since 1953, once described Nowhere to Go as "the least Ealing film ever made". And what he and Tynan concocted was a movie that ran totally counter to the studio's preoccupation with harmless eccentrics and benevolent communities. It is, in fact, a crime...
- 5/20/2010
- by Michael Billington
- The Guardian - Film News
The new issue of Playboy will be one the ladies may want to pick up. Sexy French actor Gilles Marini, who has appeared in Sex and the City and Dancing With the Stars, will be in the next issue of Playboy. Gilles is featured in a racy fashion pictorial in the November issue of Playboy which is on newsstands now. Set at the famed Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, the pictorial features men’s styles and is inspired by Paul Schrader’s film, “The Comfort of Strangers.” In the feature, Marini exquisitely models suits from Bottega Veneta, Tom Ford, Ermenegildo Zegna,...
- 10/21/2009
- Hollyscoop.com
Acclaimed actress Natasha Richardson, the wife of actor Liam Neeson and daughter of acting legend Vanessa Redgrave, died Wednesday of a critical head injury resulting from a skiing accident; she was 45.
- 3/19/2009
- IMDb News
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