Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, and Adam Pearson in A Different ManPhoto: A24
It’s easy and appealing to imagine how our lives might be different and better if things were just a little different. A desire for change is the basis for most stories, and the unintended consequences of those...
It’s easy and appealing to imagine how our lives might be different and better if things were just a little different. A desire for change is the basis for most stories, and the unintended consequences of those...
- 4/7/2024
- by Drew Gillis
- avclub.com
Looking for bold new work from first- and second-time feature filmmakers? Look no further than New Directors/New Films, the premier New York City festival that annually highlights them.
Now in its 53rd edition, New Directors/New Films returns to New York April 3 through 14 from Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, bringing the best of the fests so far to audiences eager for discovery. This year’s festival is bookended by Aaron Schimberg’s opening night entry “A Different Man,” starring Sebastian Stan as an actor who unravels after a facial reconstruction surgery, and Theda Hammel’s “Stress Positions,” an anxiety-inducing Covid lockdown comedy starring John Early. Both films premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, whose Dramatic Competition gem “Good One,” a coming-of-age drama set around a derailed camping trip and directed by India Donaldson, also features at New Directors.
Also premiering at the festival is Sundance favorite “Exhibiting Forgiveness,...
Now in its 53rd edition, New Directors/New Films returns to New York April 3 through 14 from Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, bringing the best of the fests so far to audiences eager for discovery. This year’s festival is bookended by Aaron Schimberg’s opening night entry “A Different Man,” starring Sebastian Stan as an actor who unravels after a facial reconstruction surgery, and Theda Hammel’s “Stress Positions,” an anxiety-inducing Covid lockdown comedy starring John Early. Both films premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, whose Dramatic Competition gem “Good One,” a coming-of-age drama set around a derailed camping trip and directed by India Donaldson, also features at New Directors.
Also premiering at the festival is Sundance favorite “Exhibiting Forgiveness,...
- 4/2/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Exclusive: In a competitive situation, Cinetic Media has signed Aaron Schimberg and Vanessa McDonnell, the filmmaker and producer behind the darkly comedic psychological thriller A Different Man, for management across all media.
World premiering at Sundance 2024 before going on to play Berlin, the conversation starter from A24 stars an unrecognizable Sebastian Stan as Edward, an aspiring actor who undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. Edward’s new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.
Schimberg wrote and directed the pic, which next week opens Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art’s New Directors/New Films. Also starring Adam Pearson and The Worst Person in the World breakout Renate Reinsve, in her American debut, the film is produced by Christine Vachon, McDonnell, and Gabriel Mayers.
World premiering at Sundance 2024 before going on to play Berlin, the conversation starter from A24 stars an unrecognizable Sebastian Stan as Edward, an aspiring actor who undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. Edward’s new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare, as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.
Schimberg wrote and directed the pic, which next week opens Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art’s New Directors/New Films. Also starring Adam Pearson and The Worst Person in the World breakout Renate Reinsve, in her American debut, the film is produced by Christine Vachon, McDonnell, and Gabriel Mayers.
- 4/1/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
A yearly spotlight glancing into the future of cinema, Film at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art have now announced the 53rd edition of New Directors/New Films (Nd/Nf), taking place from April 3 through April 14, 2024. Bookending the festival are a pair of Sundance hits, Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man and Theda Hammel’s Stress Positions, while also including another major favorite from the Park City festival: India Donaldson’s Good One. Featuring prize-winners from Berlin, Cannes, Locarno, Sarajevo, and Sundance, including the revelatory Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry, it’s a robust lineup of new voices.
Dan Sullivan, Programmer, Film at Lincoln Center, and 2024 Nd/Nf Co-Chair says, “It just feels right for us to bookend this year’s edition of Nd/Nf with two exciting new features by local filmmakers, as a reminder of what Nd/Nf has always been about: early encounters between the most cutting-edge...
Dan Sullivan, Programmer, Film at Lincoln Center, and 2024 Nd/Nf Co-Chair says, “It just feels right for us to bookend this year’s edition of Nd/Nf with two exciting new features by local filmmakers, as a reminder of what Nd/Nf has always been about: early encounters between the most cutting-edge...
- 2/29/2024
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Just as in his previous feature, Chained for Life, writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man throws away the kid gloves to unpack the complicated ways in which contemporary society responds to disability. Eschewing the polemical, the film’s self-reflexive dismantling of victimhood and villainy tropes functions like a puzzle in which the ways in which the viewer responds to the central character provide the final piece.
A Different Man pitilessly plunges into the insecurities gnawing away at Edward (Sebastian Stan), a New York actor struggling to land jobs that don’t center his facial neurofibromatosis. This disfiguring condition pigeonholes him in dementedly cheerful PSA videos about how to accommodate disabled colleagues in the workplace. Schimberg never clarifies if these demoralizing projects create Edward’s low self-worth or merely feed his conception of it. The film refuses to excavate a psychological silver bullet that can explain the character’s behavior.
A Different Man pitilessly plunges into the insecurities gnawing away at Edward (Sebastian Stan), a New York actor struggling to land jobs that don’t center his facial neurofibromatosis. This disfiguring condition pigeonholes him in dementedly cheerful PSA videos about how to accommodate disabled colleagues in the workplace. Schimberg never clarifies if these demoralizing projects create Edward’s low self-worth or merely feed his conception of it. The film refuses to excavate a psychological silver bullet that can explain the character’s behavior.
- 2/20/2024
- by Marshall Shaffer
- Slant Magazine
The Under the Skin actor is a standout in a story starring Sebastian Stan as a man whose appearance is transformed by surgery
Writer-director Aaron Schimberg has created a diverting, if contrived, noir satire-parable about the faces we prepare to meet the faces that we meet. I’m not sure that, finally, it says as much as it thinks it’s saying, and I’m also not sure if the resemblance to early Woody Allen is intentional or not. But it is arresting and challenging with an exhilarating performance from Adam Pearson, from Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, and whom Schimberg has in fact already directed in his previous feature Chained For Life.
The setting is a dark and dingy New York City, where Edward (Sebastian Stan) is a would-be actor with a craniofacial condition who so far has only got work in an instructional video for corporations about...
Writer-director Aaron Schimberg has created a diverting, if contrived, noir satire-parable about the faces we prepare to meet the faces that we meet. I’m not sure that, finally, it says as much as it thinks it’s saying, and I’m also not sure if the resemblance to early Woody Allen is intentional or not. But it is arresting and challenging with an exhilarating performance from Adam Pearson, from Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, and whom Schimberg has in fact already directed in his previous feature Chained For Life.
The setting is a dark and dingy New York City, where Edward (Sebastian Stan) is a would-be actor with a craniofacial condition who so far has only got work in an instructional video for corporations about...
- 2/17/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Hollywood has a long history of casting and awarding able-bodied actors to portray characters with disabilities. In the Oscars’ best actor category alone, there is Daniel Day-Lewis for My Left Foot, Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything, Colin Firth for The King’s Speech and Jamie Foxx for Ray. In the history of the Academy Awards, only three disabled actors have been awarded a best performance trophy for portraying a character who has their disability.
Director Aaron Schimberg notes that onscreen portrayals of people with disfigurements, as seen in his latest film A Different Man, are still largely played by able-bodied people in prosthetics. “On the other hand,” he continues, “When I’ve cast actors with disfigurements, people have called that exploitative, which seems to run counter to this whole discussion about representation that we’re having.” For his newest film, he wanted to interrogate the complexities of that sometimes counterproductive conversation.
Director Aaron Schimberg notes that onscreen portrayals of people with disfigurements, as seen in his latest film A Different Man, are still largely played by able-bodied people in prosthetics. “On the other hand,” he continues, “When I’ve cast actors with disfigurements, people have called that exploitative, which seems to run counter to this whole discussion about representation that we’re having.” For his newest film, he wanted to interrogate the complexities of that sometimes counterproductive conversation.
- 2/17/2024
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Face of Another: Schimberg Scrutinizes the Pratfalls of Face Value
Those familiar with his 2018 sophomore film Chained for Life will likely notate director Aaron Schimberg’s fascination with circuitous identity crises in A Different Man. The title is but one of many ironic instances in this lightly sardonic tale about a fantastical transformation, which ultimately reveals the meaninglessness of perceived beauty—at least, only when it’s skin deep. Reuniting with his muse Adam Pearson, whose neurofibromatosis is a condition the aspect of which again informs this highly specified and nightmarishly layered plot about an actor who transforms from an ugly duckling into a swan.…...
Those familiar with his 2018 sophomore film Chained for Life will likely notate director Aaron Schimberg’s fascination with circuitous identity crises in A Different Man. The title is but one of many ironic instances in this lightly sardonic tale about a fantastical transformation, which ultimately reveals the meaninglessness of perceived beauty—at least, only when it’s skin deep. Reuniting with his muse Adam Pearson, whose neurofibromatosis is a condition the aspect of which again informs this highly specified and nightmarishly layered plot about an actor who transforms from an ugly duckling into a swan.…...
- 2/16/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Berlin: Sebastian Stan Pushes Back on Journalist Who Calls His ‘A Different Man’ Character a “Beast”
During a press conference at the Berlin Film Festival for his latest film A Different Man, Sebastian Stan pushed back on the journalist who described his character, who has a facial disfigurement, as a “beast.”
Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, which will screen on Friday at the Berlin Film Festival, follows Edward (played by Sebastian Stan), an aspiring actor with facial disfigurement who, after undergoing reconstructive surgery, starts a new life, only to become obsessed with an actor with a facial disfigurement (Adam Pearson) who is playing him in a play based on his former life.
The journalist, who was not an native English speaker, asked Stan, “What do you think happens after the transformation from this so-called beast, as they call him, to this perfect man?” (Stan wears a facial prosthetic for the first half of the film.)
“I have to call you out a little bit on the choice of words there,...
Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man, which will screen on Friday at the Berlin Film Festival, follows Edward (played by Sebastian Stan), an aspiring actor with facial disfigurement who, after undergoing reconstructive surgery, starts a new life, only to become obsessed with an actor with a facial disfigurement (Adam Pearson) who is playing him in a play based on his former life.
The journalist, who was not an native English speaker, asked Stan, “What do you think happens after the transformation from this so-called beast, as they call him, to this perfect man?” (Stan wears a facial prosthetic for the first half of the film.)
“I have to call you out a little bit on the choice of words there,...
- 2/16/2024
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In Aaron Schimberg’s latest film, A Different Man, Edward (Sebastian Stan), a man euphemistically described as “facially different,” finds himself unmoored from the life he once had and rejected and the life he thought he wanted and accepted. A surreal character study that initially turns on psychological realism before making the unearned leap into psychological fantasy, A Different Man’s initially enthralling, wholly original take eventually devolves into frustrating wish-fulfillment-as-horror, one part Elephant Man, one part Face/Off, and one part The Double (Dostoevsky). Practically unrecognizable under multiple layers of latex and makeup, Stan essays Edward, a not-quite-middle-aged man who qualifies as “facially different.” Over an extraordinarily ordinary day, Edward is met with a mix of repulsion, ignorance, or outright...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 2/7/2024
- Screen Anarchy
That’s almost a wrap, folks, as this year’s Sundance Film Festival concludes its eleven-day run tomorrow. While Team IndieWire has already decamped back to their various home bases (eleven is a lot of days), we’re all still enjoying what this year’s festival has to offer through both its virtual screening platform and our already-fond memories of the best films we saw at this year’s festival.
And what films are those, you might ask? We’re all too happy to share, care of the following list of 17 standout features from this year’s festival, hereby termed the best of the fest. The following list includes over a dozen films one IndieWire staffer really wanted to highlight. Narratives and documentaries, first-time filmmakers and old favorites, comedies, dramas, horror films, and so much more, this list also captures the breadth of filmmaking prowess put on display at this year’s festival.
And what films are those, you might ask? We’re all too happy to share, care of the following list of 17 standout features from this year’s festival, hereby termed the best of the fest. The following list includes over a dozen films one IndieWire staffer really wanted to highlight. Narratives and documentaries, first-time filmmakers and old favorites, comedies, dramas, horror films, and so much more, this list also captures the breadth of filmmaking prowess put on display at this year’s festival.
- 1/27/2024
- by Kate Erbland, David Ehrlich and Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
There are a lot of ways A Different Man could go and a lot of things it could be. Aaron Schimberg’s uniquely uncomfortable, uncomfortably unique feature sometimes plays as a reverse-Frankenstein medical horror, a tragic life-imitates-art satire, and a spiraling relationship drama. To its ambitious and distinct credit, it attempts packaging them all into ominous-sounding harmony, as if Charlie Kauffman’s surrealist Escher concoctions became a Twilight Zone episode modeled after David Lynch’s Elephant Man or Beauty and the Beast. It’s a dark, hilarious, and deeply unsettling portrait of a disfigured man that’s also an unflinching mirror of a looks-focused industry.
If this sounds like a meta contraption about representation and authenticity that’s too complicated to grasp, Schimberg eases you into the idea with a purposefully cliché setup for his facially disfigured protagonist. Rendered unrecognizable by the character’s neurofibromatosis (a condition in which...
If this sounds like a meta contraption about representation and authenticity that’s too complicated to grasp, Schimberg eases you into the idea with a purposefully cliché setup for his facially disfigured protagonist. Rendered unrecognizable by the character’s neurofibromatosis (a condition in which...
- 1/26/2024
- by Jake Kring-Schreifels
- The Film Stage
Plot: A man (Sebastian Stan) with a rare condition that resulted in severe facial deformities undergoes an experimental treatment which leaves him with a new face.
Review: Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man is a blackly comic deconstruction of identity. It examines how suddenly waking up with a perfect face may, initially, be exciting but can’t permanently cure what’s under the skin and in the soul. While that sounds saccharine, Schimberg’s movie puts that message across in a surrealistic way that mainly works until a bizarre epilogue stretches the premise a tad too far.
Sebastian Stan is terrific in his meatiest role to date. The movie starts with him buried under layers of makeup as Edward, who seems to be afflicted with a condition similar to neurofibromatosis. He’s a contact object of curiosity and pity for those around him while he lives a quiet life in a decaying New York apartment.
Review: Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man is a blackly comic deconstruction of identity. It examines how suddenly waking up with a perfect face may, initially, be exciting but can’t permanently cure what’s under the skin and in the soul. While that sounds saccharine, Schimberg’s movie puts that message across in a surrealistic way that mainly works until a bizarre epilogue stretches the premise a tad too far.
Sebastian Stan is terrific in his meatiest role to date. The movie starts with him buried under layers of makeup as Edward, who seems to be afflicted with a condition similar to neurofibromatosis. He’s a contact object of curiosity and pity for those around him while he lives a quiet life in a decaying New York apartment.
- 1/22/2024
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
The Sundance Film Festival on Sunday night hosted the world premiere of Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man starring Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson and The Worst Person in the World breakout Renate Reinsve in her first American film.
Stan toplines the A24 release as an aspiring actor, Edward, who undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But a new face turns into a nightmare when it causes him to lose a dream role he was born to play when the playwright/object of his affections, Reinsve, replaces him with someone who looks nearly identical to his former self, Pearson, a man with a disfigured face.
As for Pearson, he lives with neurofibromatosis (type 1), a rare genetic condition that causes excess body tissue to grow predominantly on his face. The condition fuels the plot of A Different Man and the actor, Pearson, actually inspired the film after having...
Stan toplines the A24 release as an aspiring actor, Edward, who undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But a new face turns into a nightmare when it causes him to lose a dream role he was born to play when the playwright/object of his affections, Reinsve, replaces him with someone who looks nearly identical to his former self, Pearson, a man with a disfigured face.
As for Pearson, he lives with neurofibromatosis (type 1), a rare genetic condition that causes excess body tissue to grow predominantly on his face. The condition fuels the plot of A Different Man and the actor, Pearson, actually inspired the film after having...
- 1/22/2024
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Here we are, three weeks into January, and the Sundance Film Festival has delivered what promises to be the year’s most uncomfortable date movie: a grubby New York-set fable about a facially distinctive actor (modeled on Adam Pearson) who undergoes an experimental procedure that leaves him looking like Sebastian Stan — presumably an improvement, until he realizes that under the skin, he’s still the same miserable loser.
The kind of oddball satire only indie studio A24 would dare to produce, Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” asks what it means to be “normal,” and whether, if we could wave a magic wand and “correct” those same aberrant qualities which set us apart, that’s really something we’d want. “Twilight Zone”-level weird at times, “A Different Man” suggests the bizart-house version of a Woody Allen movie, wherein traditional jokes have been axed in favor of long, cringe-inducing scenes...
The kind of oddball satire only indie studio A24 would dare to produce, Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” asks what it means to be “normal,” and whether, if we could wave a magic wand and “correct” those same aberrant qualities which set us apart, that’s really something we’d want. “Twilight Zone”-level weird at times, “A Different Man” suggests the bizart-house version of a Woody Allen movie, wherein traditional jokes have been axed in favor of long, cringe-inducing scenes...
- 1/22/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Looks can be deceiving in A Different Man, writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s endearingly twisted take on actors, playwrights, egos and the plight of the profoundly disfigured.
Like the famous “Eye of the Beholder” episode of The Twilight Zone, in which humans turn out to be society’s freakish outcasts, this dark comedy suggests what happens when an aspiring thespian afflicted with neurofibromatosis manages to find a miracle cure, only to long for the life he had when he was still deformed.
The thesp in question — a nebbishy New York actor named Edward, or Ed — is played with tongue-in-cheek gravitas by Sebastian Stan, who dons several layers of prosthetics (courtesy of ace makeup designer Mike Marino) until peeling them away to reveal his true face. But that hardly gives Ed the life he bargained for, in a film that piquantly questions how others look at us and, more importantly, how we look at ourselves.
Like the famous “Eye of the Beholder” episode of The Twilight Zone, in which humans turn out to be society’s freakish outcasts, this dark comedy suggests what happens when an aspiring thespian afflicted with neurofibromatosis manages to find a miracle cure, only to long for the life he had when he was still deformed.
The thesp in question — a nebbishy New York actor named Edward, or Ed — is played with tongue-in-cheek gravitas by Sebastian Stan, who dons several layers of prosthetics (courtesy of ace makeup designer Mike Marino) until peeling them away to reveal his true face. But that hardly gives Ed the life he bargained for, in a film that piquantly questions how others look at us and, more importantly, how we look at ourselves.
- 1/22/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A caustically funny cosmic joke of a film about an insecure actor who finds a miracle cure for his facial disfigurement, only to be upstaged by a stranger who oozes self-confidence despite (still) having the exact same condition the main character had once allowed to hold him back, Aaron Schimberg’s ruthless and Escher-like “A Different Man” might have felt cruel if not for how cleverly it complicates its punchline.
Are we supposed to be laughing at someone — someone who’s been treated like a monster for his entire adult life — just because they couldn’t resist the opportunity to shed their skin? Anyone familiar with Schimberg’s “Chained for Life,” which similarly defenestrated the notion of disabilities as “God’s mistakes,” already knows the answer to that question. Besides, who among us would pass up the chance to look like Sebastian Stan?
In that light, it’s more tempting...
Are we supposed to be laughing at someone — someone who’s been treated like a monster for his entire adult life — just because they couldn’t resist the opportunity to shed their skin? Anyone familiar with Schimberg’s “Chained for Life,” which similarly defenestrated the notion of disabilities as “God’s mistakes,” already knows the answer to that question. Besides, who among us would pass up the chance to look like Sebastian Stan?
In that light, it’s more tempting...
- 1/22/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
“Make Friends with the Other Indie Producers Around You”: Producer Gabriel Mayers on A Different Man
Premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, A Different Man depicts a man who has a drastic surgery to alter his appearance, only to find out another actor is playing the person he used to be in a stage production. The film is director Aaron Schimberg’s follow up to the acclaimed Chained for Life and is produced by first-time producer Gabriel Mayers. Below, Mayers recounts some of the challenges in casting and makeup and sings the praises of her mentors and collaborators. See all responses to our questionnaire for first-time Sundance producers here. Filmmaker: Tell us about the professional path that led you […]
The post “Make Friends with the Other Indie Producers Around You”: Producer Gabriel Mayers on A Different Man first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Make Friends with the Other Indie Producers Around You”: Producer Gabriel Mayers on A Different Man first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/21/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“Make Friends with the Other Indie Producers Around You”: Producer Gabriel Mayers on A Different Man
Premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, A Different Man depicts a man who has a drastic surgery to alter his appearance, only to find out another actor is playing the person he used to be in a stage production. The film is director Aaron Schimberg’s follow up to the acclaimed Chained for Life and is produced by first-time producer Gabriel Mayers. Below, Mayers recounts some of the challenges in casting and makeup and sings the praises of her mentors and collaborators. See all responses to our questionnaire for first-time Sundance producers here. Filmmaker: Tell us about the professional path that led you […]
The post “Make Friends with the Other Indie Producers Around You”: Producer Gabriel Mayers on A Different Man first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Make Friends with the Other Indie Producers Around You”: Producer Gabriel Mayers on A Different Man first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/21/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Returning to an in-person edition, along with the continuation of virtual offerings, the Sundance Film Festival kicks off this Thursday and lasts through January 28, offering a first glimpse at the year in cinema. While the annual festival has its fair share of returning filmmakers, it is certainly most renowned as a beacon of discovery, and we look forward to providing extensive coverage that one can follow via our daily newsletter.
Before reviews arrive, we’re highlighting the premieres that should be on your radar––a few we’ve already had the opportunity to see. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance in person or from afar, one can see available tickets here ahead of Thursday’s in-person opening and an online viewing window that kicks off January 25.
Between the Temples (Nathan Silver)
After working at a prolific pace throughout his early career, it’s been a few years since we...
Before reviews arrive, we’re highlighting the premieres that should be on your radar––a few we’ve already had the opportunity to see. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance in person or from afar, one can see available tickets here ahead of Thursday’s in-person opening and an online viewing window that kicks off January 25.
Between the Temples (Nathan Silver)
After working at a prolific pace throughout his early career, it’s been a few years since we...
- 1/16/2024
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
As kids and adults alike, millions of people dream of becoming movie stars. For some actors who make it, though, success on the big screen isn’t everything it’s built up to be. And while most still choose to stay, some stars leave Hollywood to pursue other careers. One such example is Charlie Korsmo, who played the son of Robin Williams’ character in Hook.
Korsmo’s face may be familiar to those who grew up in the 90s. The child star also appeared in movies like Dick Tracy. However, the actor’s career in Hollywood was short-lived, retiring from acting at a young age. Instead, Korsmo pursued a career in academia and is now a successful law professor.
Charlie Korsmo was a child actor, known for playing the son of Robin Williams’ character in ‘Hook’ Actors Dante Basco and Robin Williams on the set of the film Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg.
Korsmo’s face may be familiar to those who grew up in the 90s. The child star also appeared in movies like Dick Tracy. However, the actor’s career in Hollywood was short-lived, retiring from acting at a young age. Instead, Korsmo pursued a career in academia and is now a successful law professor.
Charlie Korsmo was a child actor, known for playing the son of Robin Williams’ character in ‘Hook’ Actors Dante Basco and Robin Williams on the set of the film Hook, directed by Steven Spielberg.
- 4/11/2023
- by William Decker
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
After transforming into Tommy Lee earlier this year, Sebastian Stan is reinventing himself once again for his next role. This time, Stan is a completely unrecognizable character, covered in prosthetics for A24’s upcoming indie thriller “A Different Man,” and the actor released a wow-worthy first-look photo on his Instagram account Wednesday.
Fans were stunned to see the photo of Stan, made-up as his character, Edward, a man with neurofibromatosis who undergoes facial reconstructive surgery, who then becomes fixated on a man who stars as him in a stage production based on his life prior to his surgery.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Sebastian Stan (@imsebastianstan)
Stan will star alongside “The Worst Person in the World” breakout Renate Reinsve, as well as “Under the Skin’s” Adam Pearson. A24’s production, “A Different Man” was written and directed by Aaron Schimberg (“Chained for Life”). Although this...
Fans were stunned to see the photo of Stan, made-up as his character, Edward, a man with neurofibromatosis who undergoes facial reconstructive surgery, who then becomes fixated on a man who stars as him in a stage production based on his life prior to his surgery.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Sebastian Stan (@imsebastianstan)
Stan will star alongside “The Worst Person in the World” breakout Renate Reinsve, as well as “Under the Skin’s” Adam Pearson. A24’s production, “A Different Man” was written and directed by Aaron Schimberg (“Chained for Life”). Although this...
- 7/28/2022
- by Charna Flam
- The Wrap
Kino Lorber And Giant Pictures Melt Minds With New Free Streaming AVOD Channel “Kino Cult” Bringing The Midnight Movie Experience Home: "Kino Lorber is excited to announce that they have partnered with Giant Pictures to launch Kino Cult, the new free ad-supported streaming destination for genre lovers of horror and cult films. Featuring hundreds of hours of curated, theatrically released films all in High Definition, with new titles added monthly, Kino Cult launches widely in the U.S. and Canada on October 1, 2021 across web, mobile devices and connected TVs, with VOD apps on all major devices such as Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Google TV, iOS, Android, and more. From the art house to the haunted house, the channel will dive deep into unapologetically weird genre cinema, blending recent art house discoveries fresh from cinemas with high quality restorations of notorious grindhouse gems.
Kino Lorber brings 40 years of experience as...
Kino Lorber brings 40 years of experience as...
- 10/1/2021
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Teeth, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Chained For Life, The Good Wife, are just a few of the great Jess Weixler’s credits. Ten years ago she co-stared in The Lie with Joshua Leonard. They played a couple with a baby and one big problem. He directed. Most of the dialogue came out of improvisation. Now they’ve done it again with Fully Realized Humans. They again play a couple. This time the baby is in utero and the laughs are bigger, the situations more absurd yet also more thought-provoking. Weixler is credited as co-writer. In this episode she details the improv […]
The post Back to One, Episode 163: Jess Weixler first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Back to One, Episode 163: Jess Weixler first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/3/2021
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Teeth, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Chained For Life, The Good Wife, are just a few of the great Jess Weixler’s credits. Ten years ago she co-stared in The Lie with Joshua Leonard. They played a couple with a baby and one big problem. He directed. Most of the dialogue came out of improvisation. Now they’ve done it again with Fully Realized Humans. They again play a couple. This time the baby is in utero and the laughs are bigger, the situations more absurd yet also more thought-provoking. Weixler is credited as co-writer. In this episode she details the improv […]
The post Back to One, Episode 163: Jess Weixler first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Back to One, Episode 163: Jess Weixler first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 8/3/2021
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
For the past decade, Frank Mosley has been independent cinema’s go-to actor. Upstream Color, Thunder Road, Some Beasts, Chained For Life, Freeland, The Ghost Who Walks are just a few examples of films that benefit from the authenticity, deep-rooted intensity, and “all-in” approach he brings to every performance. His talents extend to the other side of the camera as well. His uncompromising, visionary shorts and features have played around the world, from Slamdance to the Champs-Elysées. In this hour, he informs, inspires, and reflects on this wonderful and insane creative endeavor that he can’t stay away from without getting withdrawal […]
The post Back to One, Episode 160: Frank Mosley first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Back to One, Episode 160: Frank Mosley first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/29/2021
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
For the past decade, Frank Mosley has been independent cinema’s go-to actor. Upstream Color, Thunder Road, Some Beasts, Chained For Life, Freeland, The Ghost Who Walks are just a few examples of films that benefit from the authenticity, deep-rooted intensity, and “all-in” approach he brings to every performance. His talents extend to the other side of the camera as well. His uncompromising, visionary shorts and features have played around the world, from Slamdance to the Champs-Elysées. In this hour, he informs, inspires, and reflects on this wonderful and insane creative endeavor that he can’t stay away from without getting withdrawal […]
The post Back to One, Episode 160: Frank Mosley first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Back to One, Episode 160: Frank Mosley first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 6/29/2021
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The 2021 Sundance Film Festival, beginning Thursday, will look quite different. Forging ahead during the pandemic, they’ve to continue offering some of the year’s finest independent discoveries, with a new online platform, drive-ins, screenings at independent arthouses around the country, and more.
We’ll have extensive coverage from the festival (which one can follow here or on Twitter). Before reviews arrive, we’re counting down our most-anticipated films. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance from home, one can see available tickets here.
15. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Jane Schoenbrun)
Year after year, Sundance’s Next section offers independent cinema’s most compelling new voices; one that’s caught our eye is Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Shot by Daniel Patrick Carbone and scored by Alex G, it follows a teenager (Anna Cobb) whose reality begins blurring when she plays an online horror role-playing game.
We’ll have extensive coverage from the festival (which one can follow here or on Twitter). Before reviews arrive, we’re counting down our most-anticipated films. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance from home, one can see available tickets here.
15. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Jane Schoenbrun)
Year after year, Sundance’s Next section offers independent cinema’s most compelling new voices; one that’s caught our eye is Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Shot by Daniel Patrick Carbone and scored by Alex G, it follows a teenager (Anna Cobb) whose reality begins blurring when she plays an online horror role-playing game.
- 1/25/2021
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
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.
Chained for Life (Aaron Schimberg)
“Do you feel like the story is exploitative?” a journalist asks actress Mabel (Jess Weixler) about the new film she’s starring in, early into Aaron Schimberg’s brilliant second feature Chained for Life. In a meta-melodrama that constantly seesaws between fiction and reality, sprawling across a labyrinthine and multi-layered narrative that seamlessly jumps from one textual plane to another, I found myself wondering whether the question was in fact leveled at Schimberg’s own work. – Leonardo G. (full review)
Where to Stream: Mubi (free for 30 days)
Education (Steve McQueen)
In Education, the fifth and final film in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology,...
Chained for Life (Aaron Schimberg)
“Do you feel like the story is exploitative?” a journalist asks actress Mabel (Jess Weixler) about the new film she’s starring in, early into Aaron Schimberg’s brilliant second feature Chained for Life. In a meta-melodrama that constantly seesaws between fiction and reality, sprawling across a labyrinthine and multi-layered narrative that seamlessly jumps from one textual plane to another, I found myself wondering whether the question was in fact leveled at Schimberg’s own work. – Leonardo G. (full review)
Where to Stream: Mubi (free for 30 days)
Education (Steve McQueen)
In Education, the fifth and final film in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology,...
- 12/18/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A movie with more potential directions than its globe-trotting-assassin heroine has wigs, “Ava” offers moments that suggest it might have succeeded as an action thriller, a dysfunctional family drama, or a character study. Since it commits fully to none of these, the results are the sort of bland bang-bang-pow that keep Nicolas Cage and Bruce Willis afloat in between movies that critics actually like, or even see.
“Ava” comes with a pedigree — Tate Taylor behind the camera, and leading turns from A-listers like Jessica Chastain, John Malkovich, Colin Farrell, and Geena Davis — but the results are fairly generic; for every scene that draws you in with some smart writing or memorable acting, there are four more that suggest the kind of movie that gets released directly to airlines.
We meet Ava (Chastain) on a job in France, pretending to be a hired driver so she can dispatch a corrupt financier played by Ioan Gruffudd.
“Ava” comes with a pedigree — Tate Taylor behind the camera, and leading turns from A-listers like Jessica Chastain, John Malkovich, Colin Farrell, and Geena Davis — but the results are fairly generic; for every scene that draws you in with some smart writing or memorable acting, there are four more that suggest the kind of movie that gets released directly to airlines.
We meet Ava (Chastain) on a job in France, pretending to be a hired driver so she can dispatch a corrupt financier played by Ioan Gruffudd.
- 9/25/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Renowned films from the market include Raw, Vivarium, Extra Ordinary, Turbo Kid.
Lindsay Peters, executive director of the Canadian genre industry platform Frontières whose successes in recent years have included Raw, Vivarium and Turbo Kid, is departing after six years at the helm, effective April.
Peters took over in 2014 and working with market organisers at Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal to build the international profile of Frontières, forging a critical partnership with the Marché du Film in Cannes in collaboration with Julie Bergeron that launched in 2016.
Since 2017 Frontières produced three annual events: the co-production market at Fantasia, the Cannes platform,...
Lindsay Peters, executive director of the Canadian genre industry platform Frontières whose successes in recent years have included Raw, Vivarium and Turbo Kid, is departing after six years at the helm, effective April.
Peters took over in 2014 and working with market organisers at Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal to build the international profile of Frontières, forging a critical partnership with the Marché du Film in Cannes in collaboration with Julie Bergeron that launched in 2016.
Since 2017 Frontières produced three annual events: the co-production market at Fantasia, the Cannes platform,...
- 4/3/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
New Indie
“The Lighthouse” (Lionsgate) is the kind of movie that yields new discoveries with every viewing, so why not make this new Blu-ray part of your permanent collection? Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star as keepers of the titular structure, driving themselves and each other insane in a desolate and solitary location. Jarin Blaschke’s Oscar-nominated cinematography adds layers of grotesque delight to writer-director Robert Eggers’ fascinating follow-up to “The Witch.”
Also available: Inspirational sports tale “Sprinter” (FilmRise) features a cameo by Olympic medalist Usain Bolt; Jess Wexler and Adam Pearson play star-crossed co-stars in the uniquely offbeat “Chained for Life” (Kino Lorber); the Helen Hunt thriller “I See You” (Saban/Paramount) premiered at South by Southwest; Tim Heidecker runs for public office in the unsettling mockumentary “Mister America” (Magnolia Home Entertainment).
America’s stoner superheroes snooch one last bootch in “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” (Lionsgate); Laurence Fishburne...
“The Lighthouse” (Lionsgate) is the kind of movie that yields new discoveries with every viewing, so why not make this new Blu-ray part of your permanent collection? Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star as keepers of the titular structure, driving themselves and each other insane in a desolate and solitary location. Jarin Blaschke’s Oscar-nominated cinematography adds layers of grotesque delight to writer-director Robert Eggers’ fascinating follow-up to “The Witch.”
Also available: Inspirational sports tale “Sprinter” (FilmRise) features a cameo by Olympic medalist Usain Bolt; Jess Wexler and Adam Pearson play star-crossed co-stars in the uniquely offbeat “Chained for Life” (Kino Lorber); the Helen Hunt thriller “I See You” (Saban/Paramount) premiered at South by Southwest; Tim Heidecker runs for public office in the unsettling mockumentary “Mister America” (Magnolia Home Entertainment).
America’s stoner superheroes snooch one last bootch in “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” (Lionsgate); Laurence Fishburne...
- 1/24/2020
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Following our top 50 films of 2019, we’re sharing personal top 10 lists from our contributors. Check out the latest below and see our complete year-end coverage here.
The mild, sedately humming anxiety of a decade’s end yields innumerable ideas, most pertinent to this list being the inclusion of festival premieres currently awaiting theatrical release. An exceptional desire to leave the 2010s runs concurrent with the realization that many fresh offerings are sans whatever spark gets something here, and if the brand-new film you saw this year exemplified much of what you’re seeking every time you even bother taking a chance, well, rules both real and imagined shall be foregone. That slack response is both the cinema and me, but I retain immense excitement for the 2020s–less about those I love continuing than one whose name currently means zero becoming a front-center fixture within ten years that will round...
The mild, sedately humming anxiety of a decade’s end yields innumerable ideas, most pertinent to this list being the inclusion of festival premieres currently awaiting theatrical release. An exceptional desire to leave the 2010s runs concurrent with the realization that many fresh offerings are sans whatever spark gets something here, and if the brand-new film you saw this year exemplified much of what you’re seeking every time you even bother taking a chance, well, rules both real and imagined shall be foregone. That slack response is both the cinema and me, but I retain immense excitement for the 2020s–less about those I love continuing than one whose name currently means zero becoming a front-center fixture within ten years that will round...
- 1/3/2020
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
UK actor and campaigner stars in satire ‘Chained For Life.’
UK actor and campaigner Adam Pearson has called on casting directors to “make some very bold decisions” when considering disabled actors for feature film roles.
Pearson has neurofibromatosis – a disorder that causes tumours to form on nerve tissue – and is known for his memorable appearance opposite Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin and as an award-winning documentary presenter.
Following a screening of dark comedy Chained For Life, in which he stars, Pearson said: “I hate it when people go, ‘That’s a brave choice, casting a disabled person.’ No, it isn’t.
UK actor and campaigner Adam Pearson has called on casting directors to “make some very bold decisions” when considering disabled actors for feature film roles.
Pearson has neurofibromatosis – a disorder that causes tumours to form on nerve tissue – and is known for his memorable appearance opposite Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin and as an award-winning documentary presenter.
Following a screening of dark comedy Chained For Life, in which he stars, Pearson said: “I hate it when people go, ‘That’s a brave choice, casting a disabled person.’ No, it isn’t.
- 10/29/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Actor and campaigner stars in satire ‘Chained For Life.’
UK actor and campaigner Adam Pearson has called on casting directors to “grow a set and make some very bold decisions” when considering disabled actors for feature film roles.
Pearson has neurofibromatosis – a disorder that causes tumours to form on nerve tissue – and is known for his memorable appearance opposite Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin and as an award-winning documentary presenter.
Following a screening of dark comedy Chained For Life, in which he stars, Pearson said: “I hate it when people go, ‘That’s a brave choice, casting a disabled person.
UK actor and campaigner Adam Pearson has called on casting directors to “grow a set and make some very bold decisions” when considering disabled actors for feature film roles.
Pearson has neurofibromatosis – a disorder that causes tumours to form on nerve tissue – and is known for his memorable appearance opposite Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin and as an award-winning documentary presenter.
Following a screening of dark comedy Chained For Life, in which he stars, Pearson said: “I hate it when people go, ‘That’s a brave choice, casting a disabled person.
- 10/29/2019
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Set in a strange and mysterious hospital, this amiably ingenious drama constantly wrong-foots the audience
This low-budget film written and directed by Aaron Schimberg is almost every kind of strange, and yet it has an amiable warmth and an inexhaustible reserve of originality that make it compelling as hell. Packed with rambling digressions, sudden shifts of tone, and playful fake-outs as it shuttles between layers of “reality” and performance, but constructed with precision and assurance, it leaves you with both a sugar high and slight sense of nausea.
At a former hospital, a film crew gather to shoot a low-budget comedy-drama-horror movie within the low-budget comedy-drama-horror movie that is Chained for Life itself. A director (Charlie Korsmo), who may actually be German or just faking the Werner Herzog accent, has managed to cast Mabel Fairchild (Jess Weixler), a famous actor up for slumming it in this indie effort as the...
This low-budget film written and directed by Aaron Schimberg is almost every kind of strange, and yet it has an amiable warmth and an inexhaustible reserve of originality that make it compelling as hell. Packed with rambling digressions, sudden shifts of tone, and playful fake-outs as it shuttles between layers of “reality” and performance, but constructed with precision and assurance, it leaves you with both a sugar high and slight sense of nausea.
At a former hospital, a film crew gather to shoot a low-budget comedy-drama-horror movie within the low-budget comedy-drama-horror movie that is Chained for Life itself. A director (Charlie Korsmo), who may actually be German or just faking the Werner Herzog accent, has managed to cast Mabel Fairchild (Jess Weixler), a famous actor up for slumming it in this indie effort as the...
- 10/24/2019
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
The ReelAbilities Film Festival has unveiled its full lineup of films and events for the second annual fest in Los Angeles (the New York edition launched in 2007). ReelAbilities Los Angeles runs October 25-27 at Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood.
The three-day festival will showcase new and classic films, conversations, and artistic programs, with ten shorts and five features celebrating more than 10 different physical and intellectual disabilities and hailing from five different countries.
“Just as Los Angeles has doubled down on its commitment to accessibility and inclusion, the ReelAbilities Film Festival La continues to build,” said Stephen David Simon, Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability. “In just its second year in La it has evolved into a milestone for meaningful change in Hollywood and beyond.”
The fest will kick off with Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s critically acclaimed and box office breakout The Peanut Butter Falcon.
The three-day festival will showcase new and classic films, conversations, and artistic programs, with ten shorts and five features celebrating more than 10 different physical and intellectual disabilities and hailing from five different countries.
“Just as Los Angeles has doubled down on its commitment to accessibility and inclusion, the ReelAbilities Film Festival La continues to build,” said Stephen David Simon, Executive Director of the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability. “In just its second year in La it has evolved into a milestone for meaningful change in Hollywood and beyond.”
The fest will kick off with Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz’s critically acclaimed and box office breakout The Peanut Butter Falcon.
- 10/8/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
A cringe-worthy movie of Alabama backwater haplessness that could easily earn a promotional tie-in with the annual excellence-in-stupidity honors known as the Darwin Awards, “The Death of Dick Long” may be a made-up story, but inside this crisis management suspense-comedy is a weirdly down-to-earth humanity about the ripple effects of out-of-nowhere recklessness.
Native Alabamian Daniel Scheinert — one half of the directing duo the Daniels (with Daniel Kwan) — might have a tough time selling his home state’s citizens on what exactly he’s saying with screenwriter Billy Chew’s “Fargo”-esque yarn of one good ol’ boy’s very bad demise. But indie moviegoers looking for an off-road excursion likely to trigger more than a few exhortations of “oh no” — as both laughs and gasps — could turn this “Death” into something with cult life.
The titular victim (played in its brevity by Scheinert himself) is one-third of a redneck trio of garage-band bros,...
Native Alabamian Daniel Scheinert — one half of the directing duo the Daniels (with Daniel Kwan) — might have a tough time selling his home state’s citizens on what exactly he’s saying with screenwriter Billy Chew’s “Fargo”-esque yarn of one good ol’ boy’s very bad demise. But indie moviegoers looking for an off-road excursion likely to trigger more than a few exhortations of “oh no” — as both laughs and gasps — could turn this “Death” into something with cult life.
The titular victim (played in its brevity by Scheinert himself) is one-third of a redneck trio of garage-band bros,...
- 9/26/2019
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
Chained for Life (2018)Chained for Life, by Aaron Schimberg, shares a name with another film and that is not without some deliberate purpose. Schimberg’s film is not a remake but a reclamation and interrogation of a type of film that showed the limits of good-intentioned art about non-normative groups of people where they are merely subjects and not authors. The prologue to the 1952 Chained for Life, an exploitation film meets rather ludicrous crime procedural, begins with a directive to its audience. “This story has a real problem!” a middle-aged judge says in his monologue to the viewer as he sits down in his office. Directed by journeyman Harry L. Fraser and produced by Poverty Row veteran and jack of all trades George Moskov, this sixty-nine-minute film is more social experiment than anything else. Imagine a Stanley Kramer “problem picture” in low-budget William Castle clothing. The film presents a dilemma...
- 9/18/2019
- MUBI
by Jason Adams
There is a fascinating film opening in New York today and in L.A. on Friday which I feel the need to give y'all some heads-up on if you're unawares -- Chained For Life stars Teeth (and It: Chapter 2!) actress Jess Weixler and Under the Skin actor Adam Pearson as a pair of actors who meet each other on the strange set of a surreal sorta horror film. She's the lovely leading lady, while he's the disfigured man in the shadows that's there to add that distinct touch of surreality that film-makers have been othering others with as long as there's been film.
From there in the grand tradition of movies-set-within-movies -- you could very much call this film Day For Night meets Freaks -- writer-director Aaron Schimberg dissolves the barriers between the two, tackling the heady subject of what we as an audience want to look at,...
There is a fascinating film opening in New York today and in L.A. on Friday which I feel the need to give y'all some heads-up on if you're unawares -- Chained For Life stars Teeth (and It: Chapter 2!) actress Jess Weixler and Under the Skin actor Adam Pearson as a pair of actors who meet each other on the strange set of a surreal sorta horror film. She's the lovely leading lady, while he's the disfigured man in the shadows that's there to add that distinct touch of surreality that film-makers have been othering others with as long as there's been film.
From there in the grand tradition of movies-set-within-movies -- you could very much call this film Day For Night meets Freaks -- writer-director Aaron Schimberg dissolves the barriers between the two, tackling the heady subject of what we as an audience want to look at,...
- 9/11/2019
- by JA
- FilmExperience
“Chained for Life” opens with a long quotation from Pauline Kael, the point of which is difficult to disagree with: actors and actresses tend to be more beautiful than the rest of us. Though the reason for this phenomenon is simple enough — people enjoy looking at pretty things, including and especially other people — its effects tend to be more complicated.
One case in point is writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s film, which makes good on its epigraph by exploring our conception of beauty (among many other things) with unexpected tenderness — unexpected because, at first glance, it looks like an ill-advised riff on “Freaks” that could easily turn exploitative.
Alongside Jess Weixler (“It Chapter Two”), who’s one of countless thespians to demonstrate Kael’s point, the film stars Adam Pearson, a performer familiar both for his scene-stealing turn in “Under the Skin” and for a condition called neurofibromatosis, which covers his face in tumors.
One case in point is writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s film, which makes good on its epigraph by exploring our conception of beauty (among many other things) with unexpected tenderness — unexpected because, at first glance, it looks like an ill-advised riff on “Freaks” that could easily turn exploitative.
Alongside Jess Weixler (“It Chapter Two”), who’s one of countless thespians to demonstrate Kael’s point, the film stars Adam Pearson, a performer familiar both for his scene-stealing turn in “Under the Skin” and for a condition called neurofibromatosis, which covers his face in tumors.
- 9/10/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- The Wrap
Our massive, two-part fall preview of the arthouse and foreign films to see this season (plus a few studio highlights) will give one an overview of the next four months, but now it’s time to dive a bit deeper. Our September preview features a few of the notable films that recently landed at festivals and beyond, including a good amount of genre fun.
15. Freaks (Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein; Sept. 13)
As Tiff approaches, one of our favorites from last year is finally getting a release. This psychological sci-fi bending thriller conveys the story of seven-year-old Chloe (Lexy Kolker) who has been locked in an abandoned house by her paranoid father (Emile Hirsch), protecting her from unseen horrors in the process. Jared Mobarak wrote in his review, “The film ultimately expands to encompass a worthwhile mythology with ample sequel potential…Fantasies and dreams crafted by a seven-year-old girl’s imagination...
15. Freaks (Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein; Sept. 13)
As Tiff approaches, one of our favorites from last year is finally getting a release. This psychological sci-fi bending thriller conveys the story of seven-year-old Chloe (Lexy Kolker) who has been locked in an abandoned house by her paranoid father (Emile Hirsch), protecting her from unseen horrors in the process. Jared Mobarak wrote in his review, “The film ultimately expands to encompass a worthwhile mythology with ample sequel potential…Fantasies and dreams crafted by a seven-year-old girl’s imagination...
- 9/2/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Amazon Prime Video has confirmed that five original shows will be debuting new episodes on the streaming service in September. Among these are the first seasons of the groundbreaking animated series “Undone,” which will be available in both 4K and Hrd, and the German import “Chris Tall Presentes,” an unscripted series starring the comedian. Another animated series, “Niko And The Sword of Light,” returns for a sophomore season. And “Transparent” will sign off with a sung finale.
The Amazon original film “Late Night” will start streaming justt a few months after its successful theatrical run. Mindy Kaling both wrote and starred in this wry look at the world of TV, with Emma Thompson stealing scenes as the beleaguered host of a failing talk show.
Below is the full schedule of everything that is coming to Amazon Prime Video in September 2019. Unlike Netflix, Amazon does not disclose the shows and movies...
The Amazon original film “Late Night” will start streaming justt a few months after its successful theatrical run. Mindy Kaling both wrote and starred in this wry look at the world of TV, with Emma Thompson stealing scenes as the beleaguered host of a failing talk show.
Below is the full schedule of everything that is coming to Amazon Prime Video in September 2019. Unlike Netflix, Amazon does not disclose the shows and movies...
- 9/1/2019
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Amazon is out with its list of new additions coming to Prime Video next month, and you’ll want to mark your calendar for the epic musical finale of “Transparent,” coming Sept. 27.
“Chris Tall Presents…” — the first unscripted German Amazon Original which features six episodes of the comedian performing stand-up and introducing his friends as guests — will premiere at a date still to be determined. The same is the case for “Family Man,” a new Amazon Original series which, according to the streaming giant, tells the story of a middle-class man who works for a special cell of the National Investigation Agency.
Other Prime Originals include the first seasons of “El Corazón de Sergio Ramos,” about the Spanish soccer player, and the animated series “Undone.” “Rango,” “Legally Blonde” and “Saturday Night Fever” are among some of the already released movies that will now be available on Prime.
“Chris Tall Presents…” — the first unscripted German Amazon Original which features six episodes of the comedian performing stand-up and introducing his friends as guests — will premiere at a date still to be determined. The same is the case for “Family Man,” a new Amazon Original series which, according to the streaming giant, tells the story of a middle-class man who works for a special cell of the National Investigation Agency.
Other Prime Originals include the first seasons of “El Corazón de Sergio Ramos,” about the Spanish soccer player, and the animated series “Undone.” “Rango,” “Legally Blonde” and “Saturday Night Fever” are among some of the already released movies that will now be available on Prime.
- 8/30/2019
- by Margeaux Sippell
- The Wrap
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week, […]
The post This Week In Trailers: Frankie, Midnight Traveler, Shut Up and Play the Piano, So Long, My Son, Chained for Life appeared first on /Film.
The post This Week In Trailers: Frankie, Midnight Traveler, Shut Up and Play the Piano, So Long, My Son, Chained for Life appeared first on /Film.
- 8/17/2019
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
Cody Stokes first came onto our radar back in 2014 as co-writer, editor, and cinematographer of Nathan Silver’s Uncertain Terms, and now he’s completed his directorial feature debut The Ghost Who Walks. A stylish, holiday-set crime thriller-meets-family drama, it’s set to make its world premiere at the Sidewalk Film Festival this month and we’re pleased to exclusively premiere the trailer.
“When I talk about my film The Ghost Who Walks, my elevator pitch is that it’s Carlito’s Way meets It’s a Wonderful Life,” says Stokes. “It’s a Christmas film, a crime thriller, and a family drama all rolled into one. Then doused in hard liquor and covered with broken glass.”
In developing the story of an imprisoned criminal who rats out his former boss for one last chance to reunite his family and become the father he never was, Stokes says “I came...
“When I talk about my film The Ghost Who Walks, my elevator pitch is that it’s Carlito’s Way meets It’s a Wonderful Life,” says Stokes. “It’s a Christmas film, a crime thriller, and a family drama all rolled into one. Then doused in hard liquor and covered with broken glass.”
In developing the story of an imprisoned criminal who rats out his former boss for one last chance to reunite his family and become the father he never was, Stokes says “I came...
- 8/16/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"The first trick to learning your lines is to stop worrying." Kino Lorber has released an official trailer for an indie drama titled Chained for Life, the latest film made by indie filmmaker Aaron Schimberg (Go Down Death). This premiered at BAMcinemaFest last year, and it also played at Fantasia, Fantastic Fest, as well as the Mill Valley, New Hampshire, London, Thessaloniki, Bucheon, and Cork Film Festivals. "Building on the promise of his hallucinogenic debut Go Down Death, Brooklyn filmmaker Aaron Schimberg delivers another brilliantly oddball, acerbically funny foray into gonzo surrealism." The film is about a young actress making a low budget horror film, who is cast alongside a man with a deformity, and a number of other actors with physical differences. Jess Weixler co-stars with Adam Pearson playing Rosenthal, and a cast including Stephen Plunkett, Charlie Korsmo, Sari Lennick, and Rayvin Disla. It's an odd, melancholic film. Here's...
- 8/15/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Kino Lorber has picked up the North American rights to Aaron Schimberg’s offbeat second feature “Chained for Life,” which premiered at the 2018 BAMcinemaFest. The film has enjoyed a robust festival run in the year since debuting, including screenings at the BFI London Film Festival and the Fantasia Film Festival, in addition to picking up a number of awards at other festivals, including Florida, New Orleans, Knoxville, and New Hampshire.
The Hollywood-centric dramedy both sends up and dives deep into questions about representation, diversity, and inclusion in a clever way. Bolstered by an aces cast, including indie darling Jess Weixler and “Under the Skin” breakout Adam Pearson, the film is both totally unique and incredibly necessary.
Per the film’s official synopsis, it stars “Jess Weixler as Mabel, a beautiful actress working on the set of an arthouse horror film being shot in an abandoned hospital that presents its able-bodied...
The Hollywood-centric dramedy both sends up and dives deep into questions about representation, diversity, and inclusion in a clever way. Bolstered by an aces cast, including indie darling Jess Weixler and “Under the Skin” breakout Adam Pearson, the film is both totally unique and incredibly necessary.
Per the film’s official synopsis, it stars “Jess Weixler as Mabel, a beautiful actress working on the set of an arthouse horror film being shot in an abandoned hospital that presents its able-bodied...
- 7/11/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Sam Dunn and John Morrissey of Powerhouse Films are also involved in new company.
Andy Starke, the Rook Films producer behind Free Fire and Kill List, is teaming with exhibitor Jason Wood of Manchester indie cinema Home, publicist Zoe Flower, and Sam Dunn and John Morrissey of Powerhouse Films to launch Anti-Worlds, a UK distribution outfit also eyeing a move into production.
The company is starting with five initial films on its distribution slate: Richard Kovitch’s Penny Slinger - Out Of The Shadows, Aaron Schimberg’s Chained For Life, Isabella Ekloff’s Holiday, Corneliu Porumboiu’s Infinite Football, and...
Andy Starke, the Rook Films producer behind Free Fire and Kill List, is teaming with exhibitor Jason Wood of Manchester indie cinema Home, publicist Zoe Flower, and Sam Dunn and John Morrissey of Powerhouse Films to launch Anti-Worlds, a UK distribution outfit also eyeing a move into production.
The company is starting with five initial films on its distribution slate: Richard Kovitch’s Penny Slinger - Out Of The Shadows, Aaron Schimberg’s Chained For Life, Isabella Ekloff’s Holiday, Corneliu Porumboiu’s Infinite Football, and...
- 5/9/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
In today’s film news roundup, Kevin Hart, Mike Medavoy and “Princess of the Row” are receiving honors and Atom Tickets expands.
Awards
Kevin Hart will receive this year’s CinemaCon International Star of the Year award at the convention’s awards show on Thursday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev.
“With his films continuously earning the top spot at the box office, Kevin Hart has brought some of the most entertaining comedic films to audiences around the world and continues to prove that he is one of the most dynamic and agile actors today,” said Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon.
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“Princess of the Row” topped “Windows on the World” for audience award at the Method Fest, based on tallies of votes taken as the audience exited screenings of premieres.
“Princess of the Row” also won the festival’s breakout acting award for Edi Gathegi’s work as a homeless father.
Awards
Kevin Hart will receive this year’s CinemaCon International Star of the Year award at the convention’s awards show on Thursday at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev.
“With his films continuously earning the top spot at the box office, Kevin Hart has brought some of the most entertaining comedic films to audiences around the world and continues to prove that he is one of the most dynamic and agile actors today,” said Mitch Neuhauser, managing director of CinemaCon.
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“Princess of the Row” topped “Windows on the World” for audience award at the Method Fest, based on tallies of votes taken as the audience exited screenings of premieres.
“Princess of the Row” also won the festival’s breakout acting award for Edi Gathegi’s work as a homeless father.
- 4/2/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
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