Stephen Kijak: 'We just went full on... starting from a place of intimacy' Photo: Manga Entertainment/Passion Pictures Stephen Kijak’s documentary We Are X offers an up-close portrait of the iconic Japanese rock band X Japan. His preceding music documentaries Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, Stones in Exile, Backstreet Boys: Show ’Em What You're Made Of and Jaco follow a filmmaking career that began outside of music, with the narrative feature Never Met Picasso and the feature documentary Cinemania. Since the start, Kijak’s work has been music-centric and even his upcoming narrative feature Shoplifters Of The World focuses on a real-life moment that grew up in the wake of the demise of British band The Smiths. It offers an impression of a filmmaker with narrative intentions amid musical influences, forming a career built upon a unification of story and music.
In conversation with Eye For Film,...
In conversation with Eye For Film,...
- 2/20/2017
- by Paul Risker
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Much has been said and written about the receiving and processing of music as a spiritual experience, either in the religious sense, as a way of attempting a connection with God, or in terms of feeling the lift to one’s emotions, the rush of excitement that a great piece of music well-played can offer to the human body and mind. The emotional aspect of musical transportation is pretty easily accessed, on its basest and highest planes. (Just ask any fan of screamo or Yo-Yo Ma.) And there are plenty of folks who will talk to you about how contemporary Christian artists as varied as Keith Green, Becoming Saints and Andre Crouch provide an aural pathway straight to the ear of God. For me, true incorporeal experiences with music are fairly rare. But when I hear the music of late, indisputably great jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius, or see him play,...
- 12/3/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Sasha Lane captivated critics and audiences with her performance in “American Honey.” The breakout star has been in demand since the film debuted at Cannes, but has chosen to stay in the indie realm with her follow-up films.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Lane has now joined the cast of the drama “Shoplifters of the World Unite,” written and directed by Stephen Kijak. The story chronicles the day when The Smith’s lead singer Morrissey announced that the band was officially breaking up. Distraught with the news and filled with sadness, a young boy takes a gun to the Kiss 101 radio tower and demands that the DJ (portrayed by Joe Manganiello) play The Smiths for the entire night.
Read More: ‘Filmmaker’ Reveals 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2016: ‘American Honey’ Star Sasha Lane & More
Additional cast members include Nick Krause, Isabelle Fuhrman and Ellar Coltrane. Manganiello, Nick Manganiello and Laura Rister...
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Lane has now joined the cast of the drama “Shoplifters of the World Unite,” written and directed by Stephen Kijak. The story chronicles the day when The Smith’s lead singer Morrissey announced that the band was officially breaking up. Distraught with the news and filled with sadness, a young boy takes a gun to the Kiss 101 radio tower and demands that the DJ (portrayed by Joe Manganiello) play The Smiths for the entire night.
Read More: ‘Filmmaker’ Reveals 25 New Faces of Independent Film 2016: ‘American Honey’ Star Sasha Lane & More
Additional cast members include Nick Krause, Isabelle Fuhrman and Ellar Coltrane. Manganiello, Nick Manganiello and Laura Rister...
- 9/14/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Actor Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike, Sabotage) is producing a film with his company 359 Inc. about rock legends the Smiths, Pitchfork reports. The film, called Shoplifters of the World, is inspired by Smiths legend of a crazed fan holding a Denver radio station staff hostage demanding the station play only Smiths songs.
The film will take place in 1987, when the band announced their hiatus. Veteran music documentarian Stephen Kijak (Jaco, Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of) will write and direct the project.
Manganiello will star as the radio station DJ,...
The film will take place in 1987, when the band announced their hiatus. Veteran music documentarian Stephen Kijak (Jaco, Backstreet Boys: Show 'Em What You're Made Of) will write and direct the project.
Manganiello will star as the radio station DJ,...
- 5/4/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Nothing fits the music documentary format quite so compellingly as a life cut tragically short. In addition to the ready-made dramatic arc, a subject who leaves this mortal coil before their time usually also leaves a certain amount of mystery in their wake, providing ample grist for filmmakers (and the folks they interview) to chew on.
Even when the hows and whys of an artist's tragic exit are a matter of uncontroversial record, questions of "What might have been?" inevitably linger over their prematurely truncated discography — in itself a far...
Even when the hows and whys of an artist's tragic exit are a matter of uncontroversial record, questions of "What might have been?" inevitably linger over their prematurely truncated discography — in itself a far...
- 12/31/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Jaco Pastorius has been called “The World’s Greatest Bass Player”. He revolutionized the way we think about and play the modern electric bass. On August 12th at the legendary Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Vince Mendoza has assembled a who’s who of legendary musicians to celebrate Jaco and his music. I had a chance to chat with Wayne Shorter and Peter Erskine before the big night. The Year of Jaco Peter Erskine recalled meeting Jaco for the first time in-between sets while playing with Maynard Ferguson in 1977. He said to me “Hey man, have fun”. On Pastorius’ recommendation Erskine got the call to join Weather Report in 1978. During a recording session for Weather Report’s 1978 album “Mr. Gone”, Erskine was getting his drum sounds just right for the Wayne Shorter penned “Pinocchio”. Not thinking what he was playing was being recorded or going to be used, he went...
- 8/11/2015
- by Matt Perez-Mora
- Hitfix
Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in TrainwreckPhoto: Universal Pictures With Sundance just wrapping up and Berlin starting up in a few days, we are now immersed in the year-long barrage of film festivals. One such festival in South By Southwest. A few weeks back they announced the first seven films of their program, including the opening night film Brand: A Second Coming. Today, they have revealed the rest of the features to be shown in March (except for the midnight program), and some of it has me very excited. The bigger titles announced do not do much for me. Paul Feig's Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, and the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart starrer Get Hard leave a lot to be desired in terms of anticipation, as does a work in progress cut of Judd Apatow's latest film Trainwreck. I'm guessing an Apatow work in progress is probably around three and a half hours.
- 2/3/2015
- by Mike Shutt
- Rope of Silicon
South by Southwest, the multi-faceted film, music and technology festival held annually in Austin, TX will feature such upcoming films as Paul Feig’s Spy, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, and Ondi Timoner’s Russell Brand profile Brand: A Second Coming as headliners in this year’s film festival lineup.
SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.
Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.
On the small screen,...
SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.
Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.
On the small screen,...
- 2/3/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
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