Oliver Stone has always had one eye pointed south of the U.S. border.
It began with his phenomenal script for Brian De Palma’s Scarface, which transformed the famous Chicago gangster into a hardened Cuban refugee. After that, Stone directed the photojournalist saga Salvador, about the deadly civil war that gripped El Salvador in the 1980s. And later on he made a handful of documentaries about Latin American leaders, two of them featuring Fidel Castro and another one including such leftist figureheads as Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales.
Stone’s fascination with the dirty politics and violent class struggles of the southern hemisphere seems to perfectly align with the dramatic twists and nonstop conspiracies present in much of his other fictional work, from J.F.K. to Nixon to W to Snowden. In the director’s world, which he argues is ours as well, leaders are either corruptible or taken down by the corrupt,...
It began with his phenomenal script for Brian De Palma’s Scarface, which transformed the famous Chicago gangster into a hardened Cuban refugee. After that, Stone directed the photojournalist saga Salvador, about the deadly civil war that gripped El Salvador in the 1980s. And later on he made a handful of documentaries about Latin American leaders, two of them featuring Fidel Castro and another one including such leftist figureheads as Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales.
Stone’s fascination with the dirty politics and violent class struggles of the southern hemisphere seems to perfectly align with the dramatic twists and nonstop conspiracies present in much of his other fictional work, from J.F.K. to Nixon to W to Snowden. In the director’s world, which he argues is ours as well, leaders are either corruptible or taken down by the corrupt,...
- 5/21/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oliver Stone is in Cannes today for a Special Screening of Lula, a documentary he co-directed with Rob Wilson about the unbelievable comeback of Brazilian leader Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva. The film chronicles his extraordinary journey in 2022 to regain the Brazilian presidency after spending 19 months in prison. This happened after a hacker exposed a conspiracy meant to take down the labor leader in a corruption scandal that tied back to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and the most powerful judge in the country. It’s a story you have to see to believe.
Here, Stone discusses his film, and how the four-time Oscar winner hopes to mount one final major drama after a career spanning Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street, JFK, Natural Born Killers and so many others. He also revisits his position on Vladimir Putin, whom he interviewed extensively several years ago, in light of...
Here, Stone discusses his film, and how the four-time Oscar winner hopes to mount one final major drama after a career spanning Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street, JFK, Natural Born Killers and so many others. He also revisits his position on Vladimir Putin, whom he interviewed extensively several years ago, in light of...
- 5/19/2024
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Aaron Laberge, president and Cto of Disney Entertainment and ESPN, will leave the company this summer after a cumulative total of more than 20 years, after which he will join casino and sports-betting operator Penn Entertainment as chief technology officer.
In a note to Disney staff Monday, Laberge said he made a personal decision to leave the company to devote more time to his family as they go through a challenging period. (Read the memo below.)
At Disney, Laberge has been responsible for leading all technology and product development in support of Disney’s two media divisions — Disney Entertainment and ESPN — including the teams that build and run Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. In the role, he has helped set the vision and strategic leadership for how the company uses technology to drive its business. Laberge reports to Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, as well as ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro.
In a note to Disney staff Monday, Laberge said he made a personal decision to leave the company to devote more time to his family as they go through a challenging period. (Read the memo below.)
At Disney, Laberge has been responsible for leading all technology and product development in support of Disney’s two media divisions — Disney Entertainment and ESPN — including the teams that build and run Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. In the role, he has helped set the vision and strategic leadership for how the company uses technology to drive its business. Laberge reports to Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, as well as ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro.
- 4/22/2024
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
The campaign of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that a fundraising email labeling the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot defendants as “activists” was a mistake.
These emails, which were sent to Kennedy’s supporters last week, called WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a “political prisoner” and suggested that he and Capitol rioters were victims of an “outrageous miscarriage of justice.”
“Rarely do opposites attract, especially in Washington,” the email stated. “Yet regarding the case of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who is facing extradition to the U.S., both hard-right Marjorie Taylor Greene and hard-left Ilhan Omar Agree: We Must Free Assange Now!”
“The Brits want to make sure our government doesn’t kill Assange,” the letter claimed. “This is the reality that every American Citizen faces – from [Edward] Snowden to Julian Assange to the J6 activists sitting in a Washington D.C. jail cell stripped of their Constitutional liberties.”
Kennedy...
These emails, which were sent to Kennedy’s supporters last week, called WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a “political prisoner” and suggested that he and Capitol rioters were victims of an “outrageous miscarriage of justice.”
“Rarely do opposites attract, especially in Washington,” the email stated. “Yet regarding the case of Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who is facing extradition to the U.S., both hard-right Marjorie Taylor Greene and hard-left Ilhan Omar Agree: We Must Free Assange Now!”
“The Brits want to make sure our government doesn’t kill Assange,” the letter claimed. “This is the reality that every American Citizen faces – from [Edward] Snowden to Julian Assange to the J6 activists sitting in a Washington D.C. jail cell stripped of their Constitutional liberties.”
Kennedy...
- 4/12/2024
- by Alessio Atria
- Uinterview
Oliver Stone lived his heyday as one of the most celebrated directors in Hollywood with his acclaimed titles, including Wall Street and Kevin Costner-starrer JFK. Stone, who also has two Oscars to his credit for directing Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, however, found himself amid an investigation.
Oliver Stone. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
A report published by a team of investigative journalists from Europe links the acclaimed director to real dictators as Stone was allegedly roped in to whitewash a few dictators in a series of documentaries. Stone finally broke his silence over the matter.
A Report Linked Oliver Stone With Real Dictators Oliver Stone. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (Occrp) alongside a few European outlets organized an investigation against the celebrated director Oliver Stone. The investigation found that he was exclusively linked with a series of unmade documentary projects that would be...
Oliver Stone. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
A report published by a team of investigative journalists from Europe links the acclaimed director to real dictators as Stone was allegedly roped in to whitewash a few dictators in a series of documentaries. Stone finally broke his silence over the matter.
A Report Linked Oliver Stone With Real Dictators Oliver Stone. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (Occrp) alongside a few European outlets organized an investigation against the celebrated director Oliver Stone. The investigation found that he was exclusively linked with a series of unmade documentary projects that would be...
- 4/2/2024
- by Lachit Roy
- FandomWire
Former Seeking Sister Wife star Vanessa Cobbs is now officially a married woman again. She was in the middle of the Ashley and Dimitri Snowden drama. Now, she is living her best life in Australia and has found her magic man. Read on for all of the exciting details.
Seeking Sister Wife Vanessa Cobbs A Married Woman
Vanessa Cobbs seemed like the perfect addition to the Snowden family. They did not have luck in Season 1 of Seeking Sister Wife. Then, they returned with Vanessa who was not familiar with this lifestyle. Yet, she was open and really cared for both Ashley and Dimitri. Therefore, she was willing to follow their diet and interesting rituals. In the end, she moved with and married the couple in a spiritual ceremony. By the following season, they revealed she had left them via text and they were now courting two women. The Snowdens married...
Seeking Sister Wife Vanessa Cobbs A Married Woman
Vanessa Cobbs seemed like the perfect addition to the Snowden family. They did not have luck in Season 1 of Seeking Sister Wife. Then, they returned with Vanessa who was not familiar with this lifestyle. Yet, she was open and really cared for both Ashley and Dimitri. Therefore, she was willing to follow their diet and interesting rituals. In the end, she moved with and married the couple in a spiritual ceremony. By the following season, they revealed she had left them via text and they were now courting two women. The Snowdens married...
- 3/16/2024
- by Amanda Lauren
- TV Shows Ace
Updated on March 10, 2024, at 5:43 am Pt with comments from Oliver Stone.
A team of investigative journalists in Europe has published a new report that links Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone to a planned series of documentaries intended to act as de facto propaganda for several autocratic leaders worldwide.
The investigation — a joint effort by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (Occrp), German public broadcaster Zdf, Austrian newspaper Der Standard, German news magazine Der Spiegel and independent Kazakhstan media outlet Vlast — found that Russian American producer Igor Lopatonok pitched a series of hagiographic documentaries about such notorious leaders as Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which were to star Stone as the on-air interviewer.
In an interview with Occrp, Lopatonok said Stone was aware of the projects and supported them, though the investigation did not turn up a direct link to the director to support that claim.
A team of investigative journalists in Europe has published a new report that links Oscar-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone to a planned series of documentaries intended to act as de facto propaganda for several autocratic leaders worldwide.
The investigation — a joint effort by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (Occrp), German public broadcaster Zdf, Austrian newspaper Der Standard, German news magazine Der Spiegel and independent Kazakhstan media outlet Vlast — found that Russian American producer Igor Lopatonok pitched a series of hagiographic documentaries about such notorious leaders as Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which were to star Stone as the on-air interviewer.
In an interview with Occrp, Lopatonok said Stone was aware of the projects and supported them, though the investigation did not turn up a direct link to the director to support that claim.
- 3/8/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Godfrey Reggio––New Mexico’s irascible, irrepressible, eternally eccentric monk-turned-academic-turned-filmmaker whose wordless Philip Glass-scored 1982 masterpiece Koyaanisqatsi transformed American avant-garde cinema––has finally debuted his new 50-minute film, Once Within a Time. As always without conventional plot or dialogue, Once is an eclectic, nearly indescribable feast of visual and aural ideas, at once an expansion on and radical departure from Reggio’s Qatsi trilogy, which combines the aesthetics of early-20th-century cinema with modern digital techniques for a thundering parable about the society of the smartphone and its uncertain future. Ridiculous and provocative, garish and sublime, didactic and obscure, the headtrip of a film Reggio dubs his “Kittyqatsi” is a theatrical fairytale “for children of all ages” as liable as any movie in recent memory to trigger a wildly different response in each person who sees it.
On the eve of its release, we sat with Reggio for an unfiltered,...
On the eve of its release, we sat with Reggio for an unfiltered,...
- 10/17/2023
- by Eli Friedberg
- The Film Stage
Among the treasure trove of damning government documents leaked by Edward Snowden in 2013 that exposed the Nsa’s vast surveillance activities was one that detailed a secret U.K. program known as Phantom Parrot. It allows authorities to stop people entering the country in order to download their personal data from their phones and other electronic devices, even without their knowledge.
It’s also the title of Kate Stonehill’s debut feature documentary, which premieres in the Zurich Film Festival’s Border Lines sidebar. “Phantom Parrot” traces the case of U.K. human rights activist Muhammad Rabbani, who was found guilty in 2017 of a terror-related crime for refusing to provide his passwords to police at London’s Heathrow Airport under Britain’s Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Rabbani is the international director of advocacy group Cage, which assists individuals who have been affected by state policies related to the so-called “war on terror.
It’s also the title of Kate Stonehill’s debut feature documentary, which premieres in the Zurich Film Festival’s Border Lines sidebar. “Phantom Parrot” traces the case of U.K. human rights activist Muhammad Rabbani, who was found guilty in 2017 of a terror-related crime for refusing to provide his passwords to police at London’s Heathrow Airport under Britain’s Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Rabbani is the international director of advocacy group Cage, which assists individuals who have been affected by state policies related to the so-called “war on terror.
- 9/29/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Films based on real incidents usually take one of the two forms: a dramatized fictional exploration or a non-fictional documentary style. The films in the first category are made so as to resemble fiction more with some elements taken from reality, often following a strict structure of the traditional screenplay such that it becomes difficult to gauge the degree of “truth” contained in it. The narrative choices in such films often lead to dilution of the original material, and there is a heavy sense of the maker’s presence in its frames, guiding the plot through their interpretation. This is somewhat true even for documentaries that are made with the least dilution in terms of drama; however, even in these, there are decisions made in terms of what should be in the frame and what not, which then guide the world of the film. Often, it is easier to categorize films that way,...
- 5/30/2023
- by Shreyas Pande
- Film Fugitives
If it’s true that an empty wagon makes a lot of noise, then “Kandahar” is the most deafening movie of the year thus far. A complicated but undercooked thriller about an MI6 operative (Gerard Butler) and his Afghan translator (Navid Negahban) stranded behind enemy lines, the movie peaks early — meaning the first 10 minutes — when Tom, the secret agent, covertly blows up an underground nuclear reactor in Iran.
The mission completed, Tom prepares to head home to attend his daughter’s graduation, even though he and his wife have already agreed to an amicable divorce
But after his flight is delayed, Tom can’t resist a call from a contact (Travis Fimmel) who offers him a quick, high-paying gig for the CIA in Afghanistan that will take three days tops — plenty of time for him to still make that commencement ceremony.
The savvy, veteran Tom is weirdly relaxed about the...
The mission completed, Tom prepares to head home to attend his daughter’s graduation, even though he and his wife have already agreed to an amicable divorce
But after his flight is delayed, Tom can’t resist a call from a contact (Travis Fimmel) who offers him a quick, high-paying gig for the CIA in Afghanistan that will take three days tops — plenty of time for him to still make that commencement ceremony.
The savvy, veteran Tom is weirdly relaxed about the...
- 5/24/2023
- by Rene Rodriguez
- Variety Film + TV
With this past January’s Plane and now Kandahar, B-movie mainstay Gerard Butler has officially entered his Sad Dad era, a key scene in this new film being him wandering around the gift shop of the Dubai airport helplessly sorting through anonymous items to greet his teen daughter with. But being plopped in the middle of a political thriller instead of strict shoot ‘em up doesn’t necessarily leave as many opportunities for the star-as-auteur to shine.
There’s certainly some unintentional comedy in the film’s opening of him posing as a telecommunications man to infiltrate precious Iranian territory. As the excitingly named Tom Harris, Butler plays an agent of American intelligence, despite not hiding his thick Scottish brogue. Here’s the opening story with a very straight face: a control room of white men applauding the destruction of an Iranian nuclear facility, followed by a shot of Butler dwarfed by the ensuing smoke,...
There’s certainly some unintentional comedy in the film’s opening of him posing as a telecommunications man to infiltrate precious Iranian territory. As the excitingly named Tom Harris, Butler plays an agent of American intelligence, despite not hiding his thick Scottish brogue. Here’s the opening story with a very straight face: a control room of white men applauding the destruction of an Iranian nuclear facility, followed by a shot of Butler dwarfed by the ensuing smoke,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Luke Wiles, Gwyn Williams co-direct.
The Exchange has acquired word sales rights to documentary The White Mountain and will commence sales talks at the Cannes market next week.
Luke Wiles (The Life Of Earth) and Gwyn Williams (Lost Treasures Of Egypt) are co-directing the film, in post, which follows elite skier Hadley Hammer and mountain rescue team member Bastien Fleury as they bear witness to the consequences of climate change on Mont Blanc.
Malcolm Wood (IMAX Presents The Last Glaciers) serves as producer, and executive producers are James Reed (My Octopus Teacher), Bahman Naraghi (Snowden) and The Exchange founder Brian O’Shea...
The Exchange has acquired word sales rights to documentary The White Mountain and will commence sales talks at the Cannes market next week.
Luke Wiles (The Life Of Earth) and Gwyn Williams (Lost Treasures Of Egypt) are co-directing the film, in post, which follows elite skier Hadley Hammer and mountain rescue team member Bastien Fleury as they bear witness to the consequences of climate change on Mont Blanc.
Malcolm Wood (IMAX Presents The Last Glaciers) serves as producer, and executive producers are James Reed (My Octopus Teacher), Bahman Naraghi (Snowden) and The Exchange founder Brian O’Shea...
- 5/12/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Silo, the new drama series coming to Apple TV+, is based on a series of books by Hugh Howey about a post-apocalyptic world in which the last people on earth are living in an inverted silo, a 144-levels-deep subterranean city.
The citizens of the silo are kept complacent, and questioning the nature of the silo or what is outside is forbidden. Merely uttering the words that you want to go outside gets you thrust from the community altogether to brave the outside and, it seems, to die there.
Silo offers a vast and engaging story that, shockingly, seems to be more relevant today than it was when it was written and which should create vibrant discussions about truth and control.
We had the chance to chat with Howey, series creator Graham Yost, and stars Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins, Common, and Harriet Walter, among others, during a recent press day, and...
The citizens of the silo are kept complacent, and questioning the nature of the silo or what is outside is forbidden. Merely uttering the words that you want to go outside gets you thrust from the community altogether to brave the outside and, it seems, to die there.
Silo offers a vast and engaging story that, shockingly, seems to be more relevant today than it was when it was written and which should create vibrant discussions about truth and control.
We had the chance to chat with Howey, series creator Graham Yost, and stars Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Robbins, Common, and Harriet Walter, among others, during a recent press day, and...
- 5/4/2023
- by Carissa Pavlica
- TVfanatic
More often than not, an internationally known freedom fighter will have a personality and temperament as heroic as the actions that made him famous. Just look at Nelson Mandela, Alexei Navalny, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, or — as controversial a figure as he remains — Edward Snowden, who for 10 years has conducted himself as a profile in courage. But there are times when the personal and the political don’t sit so easily in the same person.
Julian Assange is one of those people. From the moment he launched WikiLeaks, the renegade website that provided an anonymous home for journalists and whistleblowers to spill the secrets and dump the documents of global power, there was an air of absolutism about him, a bombs-away belief in the rightness of his actions that teetered, at times, into anarchistic recklessness. Assange, like Snowden, exposed important revelations about how governments, in particular the government of the United States,...
Julian Assange is one of those people. From the moment he launched WikiLeaks, the renegade website that provided an anonymous home for journalists and whistleblowers to spill the secrets and dump the documents of global power, there was an air of absolutism about him, a bombs-away belief in the rightness of his actions that teetered, at times, into anarchistic recklessness. Assange, like Snowden, exposed important revelations about how governments, in particular the government of the United States,...
- 3/4/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Before Nan Goldin was the subject of Laura Poitras’ documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Poitras first learned about her when she was studying filmmaking in San Francisco and saw a copy of “The Ballad of Sexual Dependency.” “I had a roommate who was a photographer, so she had one of the early editions and it was just mind-blowing. The intimacy, the rawness, the capturing of relationships and sexuality and the differences between genders,” she tells Gold Derby during our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above).
When she actually got to experience Goldin’s art in-person, it became another incredible event for her. “It’s like she created this whole new visual storytelling, language and relationship. These were people she was friends and lovers with.”
See dozens of interviews with 2023 Oscar contenders
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” explores Goldin’s life and work as a visual...
When she actually got to experience Goldin’s art in-person, it became another incredible event for her. “It’s like she created this whole new visual storytelling, language and relationship. These were people she was friends and lovers with.”
See dozens of interviews with 2023 Oscar contenders
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” explores Goldin’s life and work as a visual...
- 3/1/2023
- by Charles Bright
- Gold Derby
LGBTQ representation in Hollywood has come a long way. Gay roles in the 20th century were pretty much nonexistent, but the late ’90s and early 2000s began normalizing a situation that Hollywood had tried so hard to deny.
Unfortunately, even with the increasing number of gay roles on TV at the time, most of these parts were severely underdeveloped and sometimes abandoned. One such case is Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s role in That ’70s Show. Gordon-Levitt was supposed to have a recurring role in the series but ultimately was dropped to a guest star.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt | David Livingston/Getty Images Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared in ‘That ’70s Show’s debut season
That ’70s Show is a 1998 sitcom that was ahead of its time in many ways. The show centered around six teens growing up in the ’70s when bell bottoms were very rampant. The friends who made Eric Forman’s basement their...
Unfortunately, even with the increasing number of gay roles on TV at the time, most of these parts were severely underdeveloped and sometimes abandoned. One such case is Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s role in That ’70s Show. Gordon-Levitt was supposed to have a recurring role in the series but ultimately was dropped to a guest star.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt | David Livingston/Getty Images Joseph Gordon-Levitt appeared in ‘That ’70s Show’s debut season
That ’70s Show is a 1998 sitcom that was ahead of its time in many ways. The show centered around six teens growing up in the ’70s when bell bottoms were very rampant. The friends who made Eric Forman’s basement their...
- 2/21/2023
- by Produced by Digital Editors
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
A young woman sits in a gray office — boxed in by her cubicle desk — as Fox News announces that Donald Trump has just fired FBI director James Comey, ostensibly for his investigation into how Russian interference in the 2016 election likely worked in the 45th president’s favor. Twenty-five days later, the same woman arrives back at her house in Augusta, Georgia to find two FBI agents with a search warrant for her property. She doesn’t look surprised. Within 80 minutes, this ex-Air Force member and Nsa translator will have received the harshest ever sentence for the unauthorized release of government information to the media.
The woman — blond bun, denim shorts, a fresh and unassuming demeanor — is Reality Winner. Tina Satter’s fascinating directorial debut takes her startling indiscretion and spins it into something of a horror movie about the repercussions of Doing The Right Thing in the face of the...
The woman — blond bun, denim shorts, a fresh and unassuming demeanor — is Reality Winner. Tina Satter’s fascinating directorial debut takes her startling indiscretion and spins it into something of a horror movie about the repercussions of Doing The Right Thing in the face of the...
- 2/18/2023
- by Steph Green
- Indiewire
Trying to break out from the foundation laid by a filmmaker responsible for some of the most lasting body horror films ever made is not an easy task, but Brandon Cronenberg has shown that he has the stuff. Although I'm not huge on "Antiviral," which sees Caleb Landry Jones as a clinician who injects paying customers with sterilized diseases of their favorite celebrities, it's an admirable debut feature that shows he has a pulse on the grotesque commodification of the human body. His latest film, "Infinity Pool," which /Film's Chris Evangelista calls a "debauched nightmare vacation into hell" in his review, takes this idea even further.
Smack dab in the middle of his filmmaking career, however, is "Possessor," which not only feels like an excellent companion to his father's work, but a sci-fi horror thriller that creates its own monstrous legacy. Taking place in an alternate 2008, assassinations are carried out...
Smack dab in the middle of his filmmaking career, however, is "Possessor," which not only feels like an excellent companion to his father's work, but a sci-fi horror thriller that creates its own monstrous legacy. Taking place in an alternate 2008, assassinations are carried out...
- 1/27/2023
- by Matthew Bilodeau
- Slash Film
The title of Laura Poitras’ new documentary, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, comes from a long-suppressed medical record. It is the record of Barbara Holly Goldin, the older sister of the artist and activist Nan Goldin. Barbara committed suicide in 1965, after years of being institutionalized for her mental health. Nan has long argued that her sister’s problem was not mental illness, but rather being an “angry and sexual” woman in the 1960s, born to parents — particularly a mother — saddled with traumas of their own. Parents whose impulse was to repress.
- 11/28/2022
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
Click here to read the full article.
Nov. 16 was the 12th anniversary of the murder of renowned film awards publicist Ronni Chasen. Hardly anyone has spoken publicly of it in years, but at the time it was national news. Just about everyone in Hollywood, whether they knew her or not, was vested in what happened — in part because it seemed so inexplicable. She was gunned down in her car while waiting at a traffic light in a quiet stretch of Beverly Hills, on her way home from the premiere of Burlesque, a project on which several clients had been involved.
A frenzy of speculation broke out: road rage or random drive-by; connections to shady film finance and bad art deals and gambling debts. The Beverly Hills Police Department, under an uncommon media spotlight, eventually declared it found its culprit in Harold Smith, a poor Black man with a criminal record...
Nov. 16 was the 12th anniversary of the murder of renowned film awards publicist Ronni Chasen. Hardly anyone has spoken publicly of it in years, but at the time it was national news. Just about everyone in Hollywood, whether they knew her or not, was vested in what happened — in part because it seemed so inexplicable. She was gunned down in her car while waiting at a traffic light in a quiet stretch of Beverly Hills, on her way home from the premiere of Burlesque, a project on which several clients had been involved.
A frenzy of speculation broke out: road rage or random drive-by; connections to shady film finance and bad art deals and gambling debts. The Beverly Hills Police Department, under an uncommon media spotlight, eventually declared it found its culprit in Harold Smith, a poor Black man with a criminal record...
- 11/22/2022
- by Gary Baum
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“It means the work is causing some discomfort.”
Laura Poitras, the Oscar and Golden Lion-winning director of documentaries including Risk, Citizenfour and this year’s All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, revealed the calculated risks she takes and the extraordinary lengths to which she goes to protect her footage at a masterclass at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) this weekend where she is this year’s guest of honour.
She used the masterclass to voice her fears about what she believes will be an increased threat to filmmakers and journalists from governments if Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is extradited to the US.
Laura Poitras, the Oscar and Golden Lion-winning director of documentaries including Risk, Citizenfour and this year’s All The Beauty And The Bloodshed, revealed the calculated risks she takes and the extraordinary lengths to which she goes to protect her footage at a masterclass at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) this weekend where she is this year’s guest of honour.
She used the masterclass to voice her fears about what she believes will be an increased threat to filmmakers and journalists from governments if Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is extradited to the US.
- 11/13/2022
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
When a topic gets the Oliver Stone treatment, it typically means that it's a controversial subject getting a cinematic deep dive into its origins. He's seemingly left no stone unturned, exploring topics like 1980s greed ("Wall Street"), the Vietnam War ("Born on the Fourth of July" and "Platoon"), the Kennedy assassination ("JFK"), and illegal surveillance ("Snowden").
For two decades, the director had professional football on his radar, dating back to an early 1980s project titled "The Linebacker," which would have starred Charles Bronson. In 1999, Stone's vision of the NFL finally came to fruition with "Any Given Sunday." By then, the game had changed exponentially from the time Charles Bronson was an A-lister in Hollywood. Player side hustles were replaced by multi-million-dollar advertising deals. The allure of "Monday Night Football" was supplanted by around-the-clock coverage on cable and SportsCenter highlights almost on the hour. What did that exposure mean for the modern athlete?...
For two decades, the director had professional football on his radar, dating back to an early 1980s project titled "The Linebacker," which would have starred Charles Bronson. In 1999, Stone's vision of the NFL finally came to fruition with "Any Given Sunday." By then, the game had changed exponentially from the time Charles Bronson was an A-lister in Hollywood. Player side hustles were replaced by multi-million-dollar advertising deals. The allure of "Monday Night Football" was supplanted by around-the-clock coverage on cable and SportsCenter highlights almost on the hour. What did that exposure mean for the modern athlete?...
- 11/8/2022
- by Travis Yates
- Slash Film
Trioscope has hired Kyle Hoedl as chief marketing officer and Joe Snowden as chief operating officer, Variety has learned exclusively.
“Both Kyle and Joe embody the acumen, energy and long-term vision that’s needed to scale our slate and catapult the company to the next level,” L.C. Crowley, co-founder and CEO of Trioscope, said in a statement. “Their hires are cornerstone to Trioscope’s evolution as a high-growth brand and business within a hyper-competitive global industry.”
Hoedl will lead marketing and communications for the company’s business sectors, including Trioscope Studios and Trioscope Platform. Previously, Hoedl led marketing and digital content strategy for Trioscope and Quality Films’ “Takeover,” an action thriller film starring Quavo, Billy Zane and Serayah, as well as conceptualized the Web3-enabled virtual world “Takeover World.”
Prior to joining Trioscope full time, Hoedl founded Kh Consulting, where he served as Trioscope’s consulting head of marketing and senior marketing consultant for Showtime,...
“Both Kyle and Joe embody the acumen, energy and long-term vision that’s needed to scale our slate and catapult the company to the next level,” L.C. Crowley, co-founder and CEO of Trioscope, said in a statement. “Their hires are cornerstone to Trioscope’s evolution as a high-growth brand and business within a hyper-competitive global industry.”
Hoedl will lead marketing and communications for the company’s business sectors, including Trioscope Studios and Trioscope Platform. Previously, Hoedl led marketing and digital content strategy for Trioscope and Quality Films’ “Takeover,” an action thriller film starring Quavo, Billy Zane and Serayah, as well as conceptualized the Web3-enabled virtual world “Takeover World.”
Prior to joining Trioscope full time, Hoedl founded Kh Consulting, where he served as Trioscope’s consulting head of marketing and senior marketing consultant for Showtime,...
- 9/27/2022
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
Eight years ago, Edward Snowden became the centerpiece of the Oscar race for Best Documentary as the subject of director Laura Poitras’ eventual winner “Citizenfour.” This time, that centerpiece slot goes to Nan Goldin, the photographer and activist hero of Poitras’ “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.”
The movie launched to rave reviews at Venice over the weekend and sneaked into a morning Tba slot on the last day of the Telluride Film Festival, where many audience members emerged in tears. That response is likely to continue as the movie travels to the Toronto International Film Festival and later New York, where it will be — appropriately enough — the festival’s centerpiece selection.
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is in good hands. Participant Media produced the project and will release it October 7 with Neon, which previously distributed her Julian Assange documentary “Risk.” Neon CEO Tom Quinn also spearheaded the successful “Citizenfour” campaign at Radius-twc.
The movie launched to rave reviews at Venice over the weekend and sneaked into a morning Tba slot on the last day of the Telluride Film Festival, where many audience members emerged in tears. That response is likely to continue as the movie travels to the Toronto International Film Festival and later New York, where it will be — appropriately enough — the festival’s centerpiece selection.
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is in good hands. Participant Media produced the project and will release it October 7 with Neon, which previously distributed her Julian Assange documentary “Risk.” Neon CEO Tom Quinn also spearheaded the successful “Citizenfour” campaign at Radius-twc.
- 9/5/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
by Cláudio Alves
With the fourth day of festivities, conversations about who's a contender for the Golden Lion start to blossom here and there. While the critical response hasn't been unanimous, Laura Poitras' All the Beauty and the Bloodshed could be a future prizewinner. Speaking of Venetian trophies, the last time Andrea Pallaoro competed, Charlotte Rampling won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. His new film, Monica, has elicited muted responses, but hope is everlasting for its impressive cast led by Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson. Finally, Argentina, 1985 reunites director Santiago Mitre with actor Ricardo Darín for a prestigious historical drama that will get its streaming premiere on Amazon Prime Video this October.
For this project's purpose, let's remember when Poitras met Snowden, when Pallaoro led Rampling to Venice gold, and Mitre's first time directing Darín…...
With the fourth day of festivities, conversations about who's a contender for the Golden Lion start to blossom here and there. While the critical response hasn't been unanimous, Laura Poitras' All the Beauty and the Bloodshed could be a future prizewinner. Speaking of Venetian trophies, the last time Andrea Pallaoro competed, Charlotte Rampling won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. His new film, Monica, has elicited muted responses, but hope is everlasting for its impressive cast led by Trace Lysette and Patricia Clarkson. Finally, Argentina, 1985 reunites director Santiago Mitre with actor Ricardo Darín for a prestigious historical drama that will get its streaming premiere on Amazon Prime Video this October.
For this project's purpose, let's remember when Poitras met Snowden, when Pallaoro led Rampling to Venice gold, and Mitre's first time directing Darín…...
- 9/4/2022
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
Celebrity MasterChef contestant Adam Pearson issued an “apology” to viewers after he took part in the show.
Pearson, a presenter and disability advocate, competed on the BBC series alongside Coronation Street’s Ryan Thomas, Strictly pro Katya Jones, DJ Lisa Snowdown and Drag Race UK star Kitty Scott-Claus.
However, in Tuesday’s episode (30 August) of the cookery competition, Pearson, 37, was eliminated after messing up the chicken in his jambalaya.
Pearson, who was diagnsoed with neurofibromatosis type I when he was five years old, shared a video on Twitter after the episode aired, apologising to those he disappointed.
He said: “I know. I’m sorry, I know. You don’t have to tweet me, you don’t have to tell me, you don’t have to call me – I know.
“All my WhatsApp has been is disappointment from family. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Again, to reiterate, I know and I’m sorry.
Pearson, a presenter and disability advocate, competed on the BBC series alongside Coronation Street’s Ryan Thomas, Strictly pro Katya Jones, DJ Lisa Snowdown and Drag Race UK star Kitty Scott-Claus.
However, in Tuesday’s episode (30 August) of the cookery competition, Pearson, 37, was eliminated after messing up the chicken in his jambalaya.
Pearson, who was diagnsoed with neurofibromatosis type I when he was five years old, shared a video on Twitter after the episode aired, apologising to those he disappointed.
He said: “I know. I’m sorry, I know. You don’t have to tweet me, you don’t have to tell me, you don’t have to call me – I know.
“All my WhatsApp has been is disappointment from family. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Again, to reiterate, I know and I’m sorry.
- 8/31/2022
- by Jacob Stolworthy
- The Independent - TV
Musician-turned-director Flying Lotus (Kuso) directed a segment in Bloody Disgusting’s upcoming V/H/S/99, coming to Shudder on October 20, and Deadline reports today that Flying Lotus has set up his next project. It’s a sci-fi thriller titled Ash, with Tessa Thompson (Thor: Love and Thunder) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Snowden) on board to lead the cast.
Additionally, Neill Blomkamp (District 9) will be producing the upcoming feature.
Deadline notes in this morning’s report, “While at TIFF to meet with key buyers for Ash, Flying Lotus will appear in support of his segment of V/H/S/99, which is having its world premiere in the Midnight section of the festival.”
Ash is said to center on ” a woman (Thompson) who wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed, and must then decide if she can trust the man (Gordon-Levitt) sent to rescue her. But...
Additionally, Neill Blomkamp (District 9) will be producing the upcoming feature.
Deadline notes in this morning’s report, “While at TIFF to meet with key buyers for Ash, Flying Lotus will appear in support of his segment of V/H/S/99, which is having its world premiere in the Midnight section of the festival.”
Ash is said to center on ” a woman (Thompson) who wakes up on a distant planet and finds the crew of her space station viciously killed, and must then decide if she can trust the man (Gordon-Levitt) sent to rescue her. But...
- 8/29/2022
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
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