One of the most acclaimed movies of the year is being turned into a miniseries by AMC. For better or worse, "BlackBerry," which was released in theaters back in May, is going to be repurposed as a three-episode TV show that will air on the cable network next month across three nights. It will also be streaming on AMC+. While this opens the movie up to a larger audience, it's going to be presented in a way that was not originally intended, making this something of a bittersweet situation. More on that in a second. For now, let's get into the specifics.
Billed as a "special television event," the miniseries version of director Matt Johnson's "BlackBerry" includes 16 minutes of new footage. It will air in three parts on November 13, 14, and 15 on AMC, with all three episodes available on AMC+ on November 13. Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks,...
Billed as a "special television event," the miniseries version of director Matt Johnson's "BlackBerry" includes 16 minutes of new footage. It will air in three parts on November 13, 14, and 15 on AMC, with all three episodes available on AMC+ on November 13. Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks,...
- 10/24/2023
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
Blackberry, the comedy-drama movie starring Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton as the two men responsible for the launch of the world’s first smartphone, will premiere on AMC next month, but there’s a twist. AMC announced today that Blackberry has been transformed into a three-part limited series.
Get ready to witness the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.#BlackBerry: The Limited Series premieres as a 3-night event starting November 13 on AMC and @AMCPlus. pic.twitter.com/2TfoxZK95w
— AMC TV (@AMC_TV) October 22, 2023
The feature-film version of Blackberry spanned two hours, but the series will include additional never-before-seen footage to stretch across three 60-minute episodes. While this may be an odd development, it could lead to more people watching the story. Although Blackberry received rave reviews from critics (98% on Rotten Tomatoes), it didn’t exactly blow up at the box office, grossing just $2.8 million worldwide on the $5 million budget.
Get ready to witness the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone.#BlackBerry: The Limited Series premieres as a 3-night event starting November 13 on AMC and @AMCPlus. pic.twitter.com/2TfoxZK95w
— AMC TV (@AMC_TV) October 22, 2023
The feature-film version of Blackberry spanned two hours, but the series will include additional never-before-seen footage to stretch across three 60-minute episodes. While this may be an odd development, it could lead to more people watching the story. Although Blackberry received rave reviews from critics (98% on Rotten Tomatoes), it didn’t exactly blow up at the box office, grossing just $2.8 million worldwide on the $5 million budget.
- 10/23/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: CAA has signed Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller, the filmmaker collaborators behind the acclaimed dramedy BlackBerry, which made its domestic premiere at SXSW after world premiering in competition at this year’s Berlin Film Festival.
Co-written by Johnson and Miller, BlackBerry chronicles the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone. Johnson stars opposite Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel in the film, based on Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, which Miller produced.
In Deadline’s review of the film released in the U.S. by IFC Films on May 12th, Pete Hammond wrote, “Who knew a Canadian biopic of an infamous smartphone could be this entertaining, even poignant and moving? I am here to tell you today’s world premiere Berlin Film Festival competition entry BlackBerry is all that and more.
Co-written by Johnson and Miller, BlackBerry chronicles the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone. Johnson stars opposite Glenn Howerton and Jay Baruchel in the film, based on Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, which Miller produced.
In Deadline’s review of the film released in the U.S. by IFC Films on May 12th, Pete Hammond wrote, “Who knew a Canadian biopic of an infamous smartphone could be this entertaining, even poignant and moving? I am here to tell you today’s world premiere Berlin Film Festival competition entry BlackBerry is all that and more.
- 5/22/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Hold the Phone: Johnson Delivers the Ballad of the BlackBerry
Exposing the accidental alchemy which generated the titular BlackBerry, the world’s first Smartphone (and as the prototype for how technology would eventually rule our lives), Matt Johnson’s third feature reenacts the homegrown wheelings and dealings of a Canadian tech company which dominated the market throughout the 2000s.
An Icarian odyssey of an unprecedented ascent followed by a swift fall from grace, it plays like the footnote of a specific period, detailing the limitations of innovation when its own pioneers fall prey to their own hubris. Although ultimately less scandalous than it is a juicy saga on greed and the inevitable folly it formulates, the tone is in keeping with Johnson’s clandestine interests, such as his Cold War era espionage title, Operation Avalanche (2016).…...
Exposing the accidental alchemy which generated the titular BlackBerry, the world’s first Smartphone (and as the prototype for how technology would eventually rule our lives), Matt Johnson’s third feature reenacts the homegrown wheelings and dealings of a Canadian tech company which dominated the market throughout the 2000s.
An Icarian odyssey of an unprecedented ascent followed by a swift fall from grace, it plays like the footnote of a specific period, detailing the limitations of innovation when its own pioneers fall prey to their own hubris. Although ultimately less scandalous than it is a juicy saga on greed and the inevitable folly it formulates, the tone is in keeping with Johnson’s clandestine interests, such as his Cold War era espionage title, Operation Avalanche (2016).…...
- 5/11/2023
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
In 2010, David Fincher set the template for modern tech biopic with “The Social Network,” delivering a rapid-fire seriocomic portrait of young entrepreneurship at the dawn of the 21st century. It cost $40 million. Last year, filmmaker Matt Johnson made “BlackBerry,” a biopic about the rise and fall of the eccentric characters behind the outdated mobile phone. It cost $5 million.
“The amount of money that gets spent on making a movie is completely mind-boggling to me,” Johnson told IndieWire over Zoom. “We were pretty clear from the beginning we would make something on the scale we prefer.”
That ethos was established 10 years ago, when the Canadian director made the buzzy found footage movie “The Dirties,” in which Johnson starred as an aspiring filmmaker who morphs into a high school shooter. The $10,000 movie manages a tricky balance between satirizing its character’s cinematic aspirations and the looming alienation that drives him to a horrific extreme.
“The amount of money that gets spent on making a movie is completely mind-boggling to me,” Johnson told IndieWire over Zoom. “We were pretty clear from the beginning we would make something on the scale we prefer.”
That ethos was established 10 years ago, when the Canadian director made the buzzy found footage movie “The Dirties,” in which Johnson starred as an aspiring filmmaker who morphs into a high school shooter. The $10,000 movie manages a tricky balance between satirizing its character’s cinematic aspirations and the looming alienation that drives him to a horrific extreme.
- 5/10/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Plot: The rise and fall of BlackBerry through the eyes of its founder and creator Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) and co-ceo Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) as they go from being upstarts to dominating the smartphone market, and eventually, getting rendered obsolete by the rise of iPhone.
Review: Does anyone remember the term “crackberry?” That was a popular nickname for the BlackBerry when it first hit the market around 1999, as it was the first cell phone that allowed for effective emailing via your mobile device. It had its own dedicated server that meant people, for the first time, could send and receive emails from their phones – quickly. Soon they added web browsing, cameras and more, all of which seemed like science fiction when the company started pitching the product in the mid-nineties. For a long time, they were the great Canadian success story, with them based in Waterloo, Ontario, only for...
Review: Does anyone remember the term “crackberry?” That was a popular nickname for the BlackBerry when it first hit the market around 1999, as it was the first cell phone that allowed for effective emailing via your mobile device. It had its own dedicated server that meant people, for the first time, could send and receive emails from their phones – quickly. Soon they added web browsing, cameras and more, all of which seemed like science fiction when the company started pitching the product in the mid-nineties. For a long time, they were the great Canadian success story, with them based in Waterloo, Ontario, only for...
- 5/9/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Can a festival have swagger? Because it felt like SXSW was swaggering in 2023. This should not be a total surprise for a weeklong conference that’s an intersection between film, television, music, gaming, technology, and arguably innovation itself. As per one industry insider, SXSW has long been perceived as “the cool kids festival.” Nonetheless, one year and a day after Everything Everywhere All at Once premiered on SXSW’s opening night, that film went on to win a staggering seven Oscars on the same weekend as the 2023 festival.
And after last Sunday, excitement and a sense of vindication floated in the air around every movie theater in Austin. Somehow this fest was coming even more into its own with its first Best Picture win, and that truth appears reflected in the eclectic mix of films and television series that showed up the year Everything Everywhere came to town. From oddball...
And after last Sunday, excitement and a sense of vindication floated in the air around every movie theater in Austin. Somehow this fest was coming even more into its own with its first Best Picture win, and that truth appears reflected in the eclectic mix of films and television series that showed up the year Everything Everywhere came to town. From oddball...
- 3/19/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
In the hands of anyone else, a movie about the birth of a technological innovation that reshaped culture may seem like a simple knockoff of The Social Network or Steve Jobs. However, under the uniquely humorous lens of Canadian director Matt Johnson, behind The Dirties and Operation Avalanche, his latest film BlackBerry piqued our interest. After stops at Berlinale and SXSW, the film starring Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, and Johnson––in the story of the men that charted the course of the spectacular rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone––will now arrive this May. Ahead of the release, the first trailer has landed.
Rory O’Connor said in his review, “Johnson, who also stars as the amiable Fregin opposite Jay Baruchel’s introverted Lazaridis, is the Canadian director behind Operation Avalanche––a film that seamlessly blended documentary aesthetics with newsreel footage to tell the story of how...
Rory O’Connor said in his review, “Johnson, who also stars as the amiable Fregin opposite Jay Baruchel’s introverted Lazaridis, is the Canadian director behind Operation Avalanche––a film that seamlessly blended documentary aesthetics with newsreel footage to tell the story of how...
- 3/15/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Once upon a time, BlackBerry was king, but it came crashing down just as quickly as it rose. IFC Films have released the first trailer for BlackBerry, a comedy drama starring Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton as the two men responsible for the launch of the smartphone.
BlackBerry was directed by Matt Johnson (Operation Avalanche), who also penned the screenplay with Matthew Miller (Nirvana The Band The Show). The film is based on Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s best-selling nonfiction book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry. The film tells “The true story of the meteoric rise & catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone, BlackBerry is a whirlwind ride through a ruthlessly competitive Silicon Valley at breakneck speeds.“
Related BlackBerry: Glenn Howerton loses his glorious locks to play CEO Jim Balsillie
My first smartphone was a BlackBerry and I loved that thing,...
BlackBerry was directed by Matt Johnson (Operation Avalanche), who also penned the screenplay with Matthew Miller (Nirvana The Band The Show). The film is based on Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s best-selling nonfiction book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry. The film tells “The true story of the meteoric rise & catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone, BlackBerry is a whirlwind ride through a ruthlessly competitive Silicon Valley at breakneck speeds.“
Related BlackBerry: Glenn Howerton loses his glorious locks to play CEO Jim Balsillie
My first smartphone was a BlackBerry and I loved that thing,...
- 3/15/2023
- by Kevin Fraser
- JoBlo.com
Imagine if sociopathic maniac Dennis from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” was the CEO of a tech company, and also was bald. That’s a piece of the (excellent) premise of “BlackBerry,” a comedy about the rise and fall of the world’s first smartphone. The film got its first trailer today.
“BlackBerry” is a stranger-than-fiction tech industry schadenfreude comedy in the vein of “The Dropout” and “Super Pumped.” It stars Jay Baruchel in a gray wig as Mike Lazaridis, co-founder of Research in Motion, the company that developed BlackBerry’s technology, and the aforementioned bald Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie, Lazaridis’ co-ceo who oversaw the business side of things. The cast also Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Michael Ironside, Rich Sommer (who in the trailer delivers the line “They call them CrackBerries” in the exact way his “Mad Men” character Harry Crane would say it if he was in business...
“BlackBerry” is a stranger-than-fiction tech industry schadenfreude comedy in the vein of “The Dropout” and “Super Pumped.” It stars Jay Baruchel in a gray wig as Mike Lazaridis, co-founder of Research in Motion, the company that developed BlackBerry’s technology, and the aforementioned bald Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie, Lazaridis’ co-ceo who oversaw the business side of things. The cast also Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Michael Ironside, Rich Sommer (who in the trailer delivers the line “They call them CrackBerries” in the exact way his “Mad Men” character Harry Crane would say it if he was in business...
- 3/15/2023
- by Liam Mathews
- Gold Derby
Following his 2016 feature Operation Avalanche and re-launching Nirvana the Band the Show in 2016, director Matt Johnson returns with BlackBerry. The film, co-written by Johnson and longtime producing partner Matthew Miller, was adapted from the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. The film’s short synopsis reads: BlackBerry tells the story of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the two men that charted the course of the spectacular rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone. Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton star as Lazaridis and […]
The post Trailer Watch: Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/15/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Following his 2016 feature Operation Avalanche and re-launching Nirvana the Band the Show in 2016, director Matt Johnson returns with BlackBerry. The film, co-written by Johnson and longtime producing partner Matthew Miller, was adapted from the book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff. The film’s short synopsis reads: BlackBerry tells the story of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the two men that charted the course of the spectacular rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone. Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton star as Lazaridis and […]
The post Trailer Watch: Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Trailer Watch: Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/15/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Is there anything worse than becoming obsolete? It’s a fear many share — to be slowly forgotten and discarded, left on a proverbial roadside as the rest of the world continues to innovate at pace around us. It isn’t just a business concern, but a human one: the innate craving for relevancy in a world where something or someone shinier than you is always around the corner.
The BlackBerry, with its distinctive Qwerty click-click keypad, met a sobering fate when it faded into quiet obscurity in the past decade — going from having a 43 percent market share in 2010 to zero percent just six years later — and when it was announced that a film charting the smartphone’s rise and fall had landed a Berlinale competition slot, one’s initial thoughts were: oh, that old thing?
But “BlackBerry,” which follows Canadian software company Research in Motion and the mistakes made by...
The BlackBerry, with its distinctive Qwerty click-click keypad, met a sobering fate when it faded into quiet obscurity in the past decade — going from having a 43 percent market share in 2010 to zero percent just six years later — and when it was announced that a film charting the smartphone’s rise and fall had landed a Berlinale competition slot, one’s initial thoughts were: oh, that old thing?
But “BlackBerry,” which follows Canadian software company Research in Motion and the mistakes made by...
- 2/17/2023
- by Steph Green
- Indiewire
The entrance and exit of the BlackBerry smartphone is truly an all-thumbs tale – that of a beloved keyboard on a game-changing wireless device, and a Canadian company (Research in Motion) not terribly dexterous with innovation after the market pie went from “CrackBerry”-flavored to Apple-forward.
Equal parts high-tension business saga and nerd comedy, Matt Johnson’s feature “BlackBerry” – adapted with co-writer Matthew Miller from a book about the phone’s meteoric life (“Losing the Signal”) — parses the origins of the device’s success and the seeds of its downfall. Naturally, the story is bracketed by scrappy sorcery on one end and Steve Jobs’ competition-destroying genius on the other, but at its heart is the strange-bedfellows relationship between soft-spoken engineer Mike Laziridis (a silver-haired Jay Baruchel) and his shrewd, take-no-prisoners co-ceo Jim Balsillie.
The result, at a well-paced but unnecessarily long two hours, is a seriocomic cautionary tale of butting personalities in a fast-changing world,...
Equal parts high-tension business saga and nerd comedy, Matt Johnson’s feature “BlackBerry” – adapted with co-writer Matthew Miller from a book about the phone’s meteoric life (“Losing the Signal”) — parses the origins of the device’s success and the seeds of its downfall. Naturally, the story is bracketed by scrappy sorcery on one end and Steve Jobs’ competition-destroying genius on the other, but at its heart is the strange-bedfellows relationship between soft-spoken engineer Mike Laziridis (a silver-haired Jay Baruchel) and his shrewd, take-no-prisoners co-ceo Jim Balsillie.
The result, at a well-paced but unnecessarily long two hours, is a seriocomic cautionary tale of butting personalities in a fast-changing world,...
- 2/17/2023
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
After breaking into NASA to make his last movie, “Operation Avalanche,” one would think that “BlackBerry” — a film that, on paper, sounds like a standard book adaptation about a Canadian boom-and-bust story — would be a walk in the park for Matt Johnson.
For anyone else, it might have been. But short-cuts don’t compute for the Toronto-based helmer. His outright rejection of Hollywood’s camera tricks in place of a wild do-it-yourself approach has made him one of the most radical new voices emerging from Canada.
In “BlackBerry,” which world premieres on Friday, Johnson tackles the story of one of Canada’s greatest modern inventions, the BlackBerry mobile phone — tracing its spectacular ascent into a global phenomenon that brought email to users’ fingertips, to its tragic downfall in the wake of corporate mismanagement and the dawn of Apple’s iPhone.
“It’s an odd couple, that’s for sure,” Johnson admits.
For anyone else, it might have been. But short-cuts don’t compute for the Toronto-based helmer. His outright rejection of Hollywood’s camera tricks in place of a wild do-it-yourself approach has made him one of the most radical new voices emerging from Canada.
In “BlackBerry,” which world premieres on Friday, Johnson tackles the story of one of Canada’s greatest modern inventions, the BlackBerry mobile phone — tracing its spectacular ascent into a global phenomenon that brought email to users’ fingertips, to its tragic downfall in the wake of corporate mismanagement and the dawn of Apple’s iPhone.
“It’s an odd couple, that’s for sure,” Johnson admits.
- 2/17/2023
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Paramount acquires bulk of international rights to Berlin competition entry ‘BlackBerry’ (exclusive)
Additional rights sell for Middle East, Scandinavia, airlines on eve of world premiere. IFC Films to distribute in US.
In a major swoop on a competition title by a US studio Paramount Global Content Distribution has acquired all international rights outside select territories to Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry.
Co-financier XYZ Films brokered the deal heading into Friday’s world premiere and has additionally struck a raft of individual territory sales on the story about the rise and catastrophic fall of the BlackBerry smartphone.
IFC Films will release in the US this year and Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada. Additional...
In a major swoop on a competition title by a US studio Paramount Global Content Distribution has acquired all international rights outside select territories to Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry.
Co-financier XYZ Films brokered the deal heading into Friday’s world premiere and has additionally struck a raft of individual territory sales on the story about the rise and catastrophic fall of the BlackBerry smartphone.
IFC Films will release in the US this year and Elevation Pictures will distribute in Canada. Additional...
- 2/16/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The independent film business is again showing signs of rude health as the global film industry struggles to recover post-pandemic. Sundance is often taken as the pace-setter, and distribution deals were plentiful this year, with seven- and eight-figure sales for the likes of Theater Camp (to Searchlight for an estimated 8 million), Flora and Son (Apple TV+, 20 million) and Fair Play (Netflix, 20 million), just the biggest of around a dozen 2023 Park City pickups. But Berlin’s European Film Market will be the industry’s true acid test.
“Sundance is more U.S.-focused in general,” says Alice Laffillé, vp sales at FilmNation, which did the Apple TV+ deal for Flora and Son. “There are always some big, splashy deals with streamers and U.S. buyers like Neon, A24 or Magnolia. Berlin is the first real international market, where we see where things stand.”
Berlin deals, which often involve the entire world,...
“Sundance is more U.S.-focused in general,” says Alice Laffillé, vp sales at FilmNation, which did the Apple TV+ deal for Flora and Son. “There are always some big, splashy deals with streamers and U.S. buyers like Neon, A24 or Magnolia. Berlin is the first real international market, where we see where things stand.”
Berlin deals, which often involve the entire world,...
- 2/13/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Glenn Howerton is forever known as the psychopath, Dennis Reynolds, on FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. However, the actor is set to break out of the shadow of the five-star man. It was previously announced Howerton would be joining Jay Baruchel in BlackBerry, which is the story of the Canadian corporation that created the revolutionary precursor to smartphones. Matt Johnson of Operation Avalanche will be stepping in the director’s chair for this project. Entertainment Weekly has given us the first look at Howerton in all of his bald glory as the CEO, Jim Balsillie.
Howerton describes his character as “a very savvy businessman who jumped into this venture when it was really just a bunch of tech guys who had no idea what they had on their hands. Jim had the relationships; he had the contacts, he had the personality and the drive to really push it forward.
Howerton describes his character as “a very savvy businessman who jumped into this venture when it was really just a bunch of tech guys who had no idea what they had on their hands. Jim had the relationships; he had the contacts, he had the personality and the drive to really push it forward.
- 2/10/2023
- by EJ Tangonan
- JoBlo.com
We slept on the First SXSW lineup announcement mid-January, but we wouldn't dare not mention that the second wave has been announced and it includes the North American premiere of one pretty damned anticipated film. Blackberry is the long-awaited feature follow-up to Operation Avalanche by The Dirties director Matt Johnson. It's billed as "The story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the world's first smartphone," but something tells me this won't be a typical tech narrative. It stars Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, and Matt himself. The film will make its world premiere at Berlin this month, but those stateside will get their first chance to see it at SXSW. We've got the full lineup below, collated from the two...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 2/2/2023
- Screen Anarchy
A movie from ‘The Dirties’ and ‘Operation Avalanche’ director Matt Johnson titled ‘BlackBerry’, is set to detail the rise and fall of the BlackBerry device, which was the world’s first smartphone and ruled the market before the iPhone and Androids came into the picture, reports ‘Variety’.
The film has wrapped up its production.
The brand witnessed a meteoric rise in the early 2000s only to meet a catastrophic demise.
The Canadian parent company of BlackBerry – Research in Motion floundered in legal disputes and eventually lost its market advantage to competitors such as Apple and Samsung.
According to ‘Variety’, at the heart of the story is the business relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.
The film’s cast is led by Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton. Though it’s not yet confirmed, it’s likely, they will play the firm’s founders.
Other cast members include Cary Elwes,...
The film has wrapped up its production.
The brand witnessed a meteoric rise in the early 2000s only to meet a catastrophic demise.
The Canadian parent company of BlackBerry – Research in Motion floundered in legal disputes and eventually lost its market advantage to competitors such as Apple and Samsung.
According to ‘Variety’, at the heart of the story is the business relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.
The film’s cast is led by Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton. Though it’s not yet confirmed, it’s likely, they will play the firm’s founders.
Other cast members include Cary Elwes,...
- 8/24/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Before the iPhone, there was the mighty BlackBerry — the world’s first smartphone, which enjoyed a meteoric rise in the early 2000s only to meet a catastrophic demise.
A new movie from “The Dirties” and “Operation Avalanche” director Matt Johnson, simply entitled “BlackBerry,” will detail the rise and fall of the once-ubiquitous device as its Canadian parent company Research in Motion floundered in legal disputes and eventually lost its market advantage to competitors such as Apple and Samsung. At the heart of the story is the business relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.
The film’s cast is led by Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton. Though it’s not yet confirmed, it’s likely they will play the firm’s founders.
Other cast members include Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Rich Sommer, Martin Donovan, Michael Ironside and Johnson.
Johnson and Miller adapted the screenplay from the bestselling 2015 book “Losing...
A new movie from “The Dirties” and “Operation Avalanche” director Matt Johnson, simply entitled “BlackBerry,” will detail the rise and fall of the once-ubiquitous device as its Canadian parent company Research in Motion floundered in legal disputes and eventually lost its market advantage to competitors such as Apple and Samsung. At the heart of the story is the business relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.
The film’s cast is led by Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton. Though it’s not yet confirmed, it’s likely they will play the firm’s founders.
Other cast members include Cary Elwes, Saul Rubinek, Rich Sommer, Martin Donovan, Michael Ironside and Johnson.
Johnson and Miller adapted the screenplay from the bestselling 2015 book “Losing...
- 8/23/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmaker Dean Fleischer-Camp has signed with CAA.
The director and editor is best known for the viral short “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” voiced by Jenny Slate. The stop-motion animated short debuted in 2010 and was an official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The accompanying children’s book, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Things About Me” went on to become a New York Times bestseller. Fleischer-Camp and Slate recently finished production on a feature-length adaptation of “Marcel the Shell,” also starring Isabella Rossellini. The new project is produced by CineReach and Elisabeth Holm.
Fleischer-Camp’s first feature film “Fraud” was distributed last year by Memory (co-founders founders Sebastian Pardo and Riel Roch-Decter also signed with CAA earlier this year), garnering widespread acclaim. Fleischer-Camp’s inspiration for the movie came from finding the family’s home videos online; the meta-fiction thriller is described as “a completely new story to...
The director and editor is best known for the viral short “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On,” voiced by Jenny Slate. The stop-motion animated short debuted in 2010 and was an official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The accompanying children’s book, “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Things About Me” went on to become a New York Times bestseller. Fleischer-Camp and Slate recently finished production on a feature-length adaptation of “Marcel the Shell,” also starring Isabella Rossellini. The new project is produced by CineReach and Elisabeth Holm.
Fleischer-Camp’s first feature film “Fraud” was distributed last year by Memory (co-founders founders Sebastian Pardo and Riel Roch-Decter also signed with CAA earlier this year), garnering widespread acclaim. Fleischer-Camp’s inspiration for the movie came from finding the family’s home videos online; the meta-fiction thriller is described as “a completely new story to...
- 9/10/2020
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Feminist revenge tale screens at TIFF on September 14.
In the run-up to Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Altitude has boarded international sales rights to festival selection Violation and XYZ will handle US sales.
Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli co-directed the Midnight Madness selection about Miriam, a troubled woman on the edge of divorce who returns home to her younger sister, Greta, after several years apart.
After an error of judgment results in a betrayal, Miriam embarks on a vicious crusade of revenge. The feminist revenge tale screens at TIFF on September 14.
Sims-Fewer (Operation Avalanche), Jesse Lavercombe (American Gods), Anna Maguire...
In the run-up to Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Altitude has boarded international sales rights to festival selection Violation and XYZ will handle US sales.
Madeleine Sims-Fewer and Dusty Mancinelli co-directed the Midnight Madness selection about Miriam, a troubled woman on the edge of divorce who returns home to her younger sister, Greta, after several years apart.
After an error of judgment results in a betrayal, Miriam embarks on a vicious crusade of revenge. The feminist revenge tale screens at TIFF on September 14.
Sims-Fewer (Operation Avalanche), Jesse Lavercombe (American Gods), Anna Maguire...
- 8/31/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
With so many moving parts and last-minute changes, there’s a lot that doesn’t make it into a show like “Documentary Now!” Even for a series as nimble, precise, and eminently watchable as IFC’s riff on documentaries new and old, not every promising idea can make it to the screen. For Season 3 of “Documentary Now!,” series writer/directors Alex Buono and Rhys Thomas had one great idea they had to let go.
“We wanted to do a documentary about the fake moon landing, but we couldn’t crack it. We were basically going to take it for granted that it was faked and just do the story of the live television production,” Thomas said.
“Kind of in the style of one of the many behind the scenes of ‘Saturday Night Live’ things that we see,” Buono added. “The production manager’s like, ‘Oh, you have no idea. Just the catering alone!
“We wanted to do a documentary about the fake moon landing, but we couldn’t crack it. We were basically going to take it for granted that it was faked and just do the story of the live television production,” Thomas said.
“Kind of in the style of one of the many behind the scenes of ‘Saturday Night Live’ things that we see,” Buono added. “The production manager’s like, ‘Oh, you have no idea. Just the catering alone!
- 3/27/2019
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Variety has been given the exclusive first-look image for “The Education of Fredrick Fitzell,” which stars Dylan O’Brien and Maika Monroe.
The cast for the pic, which is written and directed by Christopher MacBride (“The Conspiracy”), also includes Hannah Gross, Emory Cohen and Keir Gilchrist. Protagonist Pictures is handling international sales; ICM Partners and Endeavour Content are handling North America.
The movie follows Fred (O’Brien), who is not a detective, a secret agent or a philosopher, but a normal guy approaching 30 and going through an existential crisis as he finds himself on the precipice of full-blown adulthood. Should Fred commit to his long-term girlfriend? Should he take a corporate job to pay the bills and let go of his dream of becoming an artist? Should he paint the walls of his new condo Sea Foam Blue or Burnt Umber?
After a chance encounter with a man forgotten from his youth,...
The cast for the pic, which is written and directed by Christopher MacBride (“The Conspiracy”), also includes Hannah Gross, Emory Cohen and Keir Gilchrist. Protagonist Pictures is handling international sales; ICM Partners and Endeavour Content are handling North America.
The movie follows Fred (O’Brien), who is not a detective, a secret agent or a philosopher, but a normal guy approaching 30 and going through an existential crisis as he finds himself on the precipice of full-blown adulthood. Should Fred commit to his long-term girlfriend? Should he take a corporate job to pay the bills and let go of his dream of becoming an artist? Should he paint the walls of his new condo Sea Foam Blue or Burnt Umber?
After a chance encounter with a man forgotten from his youth,...
- 1/25/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Over the past quarter century, the Slamdance Film Festival has served as a launchpad for a number of now high profile filmmakers at the very start of their careers. Here is a baker’s dozen of some of the festival’s greatest discoveries.
Marc Forster
“Loungers”
Forster premiered his $10,000 debut in 1995 and grabbed the Audience Award, and has become one of the most versatile directors working, with other credits including “Monster’s Ball,” “Finding Neverland,” “Stay,” “The Kite Runner,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Quantum of Solace,” “World War Z” and “Christopher Robin.”
Rian Johnson
“Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!!”
Johnson’s irreverent short film played the festival in 1996, launching a career that has dabbled in artistic indies and big-budget franchise blockbusters (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”).
Greg Mottola
“The Daytrippers”
The writer-director’s 1996 feature debut was produced by Steven Soderbergh and got Mottola work on cult-classic television series “Undeclared,” “Arrested Development,...
Marc Forster
“Loungers”
Forster premiered his $10,000 debut in 1995 and grabbed the Audience Award, and has become one of the most versatile directors working, with other credits including “Monster’s Ball,” “Finding Neverland,” “Stay,” “The Kite Runner,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Quantum of Solace,” “World War Z” and “Christopher Robin.”
Rian Johnson
“Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!!”
Johnson’s irreverent short film played the festival in 1996, launching a career that has dabbled in artistic indies and big-budget franchise blockbusters (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”).
Greg Mottola
“The Daytrippers”
The writer-director’s 1996 feature debut was produced by Steven Soderbergh and got Mottola work on cult-classic television series “Undeclared,” “Arrested Development,...
- 1/24/2019
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
Dylan O’Brien, whose credits include “The Maze Runner,” “American Assassin” and “Deepwater Horizon,” and Maika Monroe, who appeared in “It Follows,” “I’m Not Here,” “The Guest” and “The Bling Ring,” will star in Christopher MacBride’s “The Education of Fredrick Fitzell.”
Protagonist Pictures will handle international sales and launch the film to buyers in Cannes, with ICM Partners and Endeavor Content handling North America.
The film is written by and will be directed by MacBride, whose last film was the critically acclaimed found-footage thriller “The Conspiracy.” Lee Kim will produce for Resolute Films. Russell Ackerman and John Schoenfelder of Addictive Pictures are executive producing.
“Fred (O’Brien) is not a detective, a secret agent or a philosopher,” according to a statement. “He’s a normal guy approaching 30 and going through an existential crisis as he finds himself on the precipice of full-blown adulthood.”
It adds: “After a chance...
Protagonist Pictures will handle international sales and launch the film to buyers in Cannes, with ICM Partners and Endeavor Content handling North America.
The film is written by and will be directed by MacBride, whose last film was the critically acclaimed found-footage thriller “The Conspiracy.” Lee Kim will produce for Resolute Films. Russell Ackerman and John Schoenfelder of Addictive Pictures are executive producing.
“Fred (O’Brien) is not a detective, a secret agent or a philosopher,” according to a statement. “He’s a normal guy approaching 30 and going through an existential crisis as he finds himself on the precipice of full-blown adulthood.”
It adds: “After a chance...
- 5/4/2018
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Maika Monroe (It Follows, Independence Day: Resurgence) and Dylan O'Brien (The Maze Runner, Teen Wolf) are set to star in The Education of Fredrick Fitzell.
The film — set to shoot this summer — tells the story of a man who, following a chance encounter, goes on a wild journey through his past, present and alternative futures to solve a long forgotten mystery. Hannah Gross (Mindhunter) will also star.
The Education of Fredrick Fitzell is written by and will be directed by Christopher MacBride, whose last film was the critically acclaimed found-footage thriller The Conspiracy. Lee Kim (Operation Avalanche) will produce for ...
The film — set to shoot this summer — tells the story of a man who, following a chance encounter, goes on a wild journey through his past, present and alternative futures to solve a long forgotten mystery. Hannah Gross (Mindhunter) will also star.
The Education of Fredrick Fitzell is written by and will be directed by Christopher MacBride, whose last film was the critically acclaimed found-footage thriller The Conspiracy. Lee Kim (Operation Avalanche) will produce for ...
Maika Monroe (It Follows, Independence Day: Resurgence) and Dylan O'Brien (The Maze Runner, Teen Wolf) are set to star in The Education of Fredrick Fitzell.
The film — set to shoot this summer — tells the story of a man who, following a chance encounter, goes on a wild journey through his past, present and alternative futures to solve a long forgotten mystery. Hannah Gross (Mindhunter) will also star.
The Education of Fredrick Fitzell is written by and will be directed by Christopher MacBride, whose last film was the critically acclaimed found-footage thriller The Conspiracy. Lee Kim (Operation Avalanche) will produce for...
The film — set to shoot this summer — tells the story of a man who, following a chance encounter, goes on a wild journey through his past, present and alternative futures to solve a long forgotten mystery. Hannah Gross (Mindhunter) will also star.
The Education of Fredrick Fitzell is written by and will be directed by Christopher MacBride, whose last film was the critically acclaimed found-footage thriller The Conspiracy. Lee Kim (Operation Avalanche) will produce for...
- 5/1/2018
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
04.27.17: This list is now final. While I may in the future see additional films that were released in the awards year of 2016, no more films will be added to this list. (I may add links to reviews of films listed here.)
This ranking includes only new theatrical releases viewed for the awards year of 2016 (for eligibility for the Academy Awards and the Ofcs and Awfj awards); some films released in the UK without Us releases (and so ineligible for those awards this year) may also be included, for my own bookkeeping purposes. Links go to my review. Numbers after each entry are Date First Viewed/NYC Release Date/London Release Date; year is 2016 unless otherwise noted.
worth paying multiplex prices for
[5 stars]
Arrival (10.10/11.11/11.10)
La La Land (10.07/12.09/01.13.17)
A Monster Calls (10.06/12.23/01.01.17)
The Lobster (07.16.15/05.13/10.16.15)
Zootropolis (aka Zootopia) (02.22/03.04/03.25)
A Bigger Splash (10.08.15/05.04/02.12)
Miss Sloane (11.20/11.25/05.12.17)
London Road (06.03.15/09.09/06.12.15)
The Girl with All the Gifts (07.26/02.24.17/09.23)
I, Daniel Blake...
This ranking includes only new theatrical releases viewed for the awards year of 2016 (for eligibility for the Academy Awards and the Ofcs and Awfj awards); some films released in the UK without Us releases (and so ineligible for those awards this year) may also be included, for my own bookkeeping purposes. Links go to my review. Numbers after each entry are Date First Viewed/NYC Release Date/London Release Date; year is 2016 unless otherwise noted.
worth paying multiplex prices for
[5 stars]
Arrival (10.10/11.11/11.10)
La La Land (10.07/12.09/01.13.17)
A Monster Calls (10.06/12.23/01.01.17)
The Lobster (07.16.15/05.13/10.16.15)
Zootropolis (aka Zootopia) (02.22/03.04/03.25)
A Bigger Splash (10.08.15/05.04/02.12)
Miss Sloane (11.20/11.25/05.12.17)
London Road (06.03.15/09.09/06.12.15)
The Girl with All the Gifts (07.26/02.24.17/09.23)
I, Daniel Blake...
- 4/27/2017
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Stars: Matt Johnson, Owen Williams, Krista Madison, Tom Bolton, Sharon Belle, Josh Boles, Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Joe Thomas | Written by Matt Johnson, Josh Boles | Directed by Matt Johnson
1967: the height of the Cold War. The CIA suspects there is a Russian mole inside of Nasa, sabotaging the Apollo program. They send two young agents on a mission to go undercover, posing as documentary filmmakers, there to capture Nasa’s race to the moon. The real mission – use their access and technology to hunt down the leak. But what they discover is far more shocking than soviet spies… Their government may be hiding a secret about Apollo that could define the decade, and the White House will stop at nothing to silence anyone who learns it.
Comspiracy theories. There’s a million of them. The biggest? That man never landed on the moon in 1969 and instead the whole Apollo 11 mission was an elaborate hoax.
1967: the height of the Cold War. The CIA suspects there is a Russian mole inside of Nasa, sabotaging the Apollo program. They send two young agents on a mission to go undercover, posing as documentary filmmakers, there to capture Nasa’s race to the moon. The real mission – use their access and technology to hunt down the leak. But what they discover is far more shocking than soviet spies… Their government may be hiding a secret about Apollo that could define the decade, and the White House will stop at nothing to silence anyone who learns it.
Comspiracy theories. There’s a million of them. The biggest? That man never landed on the moon in 1969 and instead the whole Apollo 11 mission was an elaborate hoax.
- 3/22/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries.NEWSWang Bing's Bitter MoneyA touching bit of news from the Canadian independent film scene: When the Toronto Film Critics Association picked Hugh Gibson as the recipient for its $100,000 prize for his terrific documentary The Stairs, Gibson decided to split the award with the other nominees:Kazik Radwanski (How Heavy This Hammer), and Matt Johnson (Operation Avalanche). Solidarity in Canadian filmmaking!Berlin Critics' Week has announced part of its lineup for its festival, which runs concurrently as the Berlin International Film Festival and is intended both as counter-programming and counter-experience. Films so far include I Am Not Madame Bovary, The Human Surge and Bertrand Bonello's Sarah Winchester.Meanwhile, in New York the 17th Film Comment Selects series, which tends to be more unconventional than the Film Society of Lincoln Center's New York Film Festival, will include an "Ultra-widescreen" version of...
- 1/18/2017
- MUBI
It's Only the End of the World and Operation Avalanche recognized among the 2017 Canadian Screen Award NominationsIt's Only the End of the World and Operation Avalanche recognized among the 2017 Canadian Screen Award NominationsAdriana Floridia1/17/2017 2:50:00 Pm
This morning the Canadian Screen Awards announced their 2017 nominations, recognizing the best of last year's Canadian films.
The awards are given out by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. This year's nominees boast a diverse line up of films that tell stories not just in English and French, but also Mandarin, Atikamekw and Inuktiut.
The most high-profile of the bunch would have to be Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World, which is a likely contender at the Oscars this year in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It made the shortlist of nine films that will be considered at the Oscars, which also includes Germany's Toni Erdmann and Chile's Neruda.
This morning the Canadian Screen Awards announced their 2017 nominations, recognizing the best of last year's Canadian films.
The awards are given out by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. This year's nominees boast a diverse line up of films that tell stories not just in English and French, but also Mandarin, Atikamekw and Inuktiut.
The most high-profile of the bunch would have to be Xavier Dolan's It's Only the End of the World, which is a likely contender at the Oscars this year in the Best Foreign Language Film category. It made the shortlist of nine films that will be considered at the Oscars, which also includes Germany's Toni Erdmann and Chile's Neruda.
- 1/17/2017
- by Adriana Floridia
- Cineplex
The “Canadian Oscars” feature innovative nominees in both film and television.
On Tuesday morning, actors Maxim Roy, Amanda Brugel, and Simu Liu announced the nominees for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s 2017 Canadian Screen Awards. The awards honor outstanding works in film, television, and digital media productions. Both the film and television categories include innovative works made by young talent, and it is refreshing to see the unique work being done in the Canadian media industry.
French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s film, It’s Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) leads the nominations in the film categories, scoring nine nods including Best Motion Picture. Dolan’s film won the Grand Prix at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and has been submitted as Canada’s entry for the 2017 Academy Awards. Dolan did an incredible job adapting Jean-Luc Lagarce’s play of the same name, which was beautifully brought to life by stars...
On Tuesday morning, actors Maxim Roy, Amanda Brugel, and Simu Liu announced the nominees for the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s 2017 Canadian Screen Awards. The awards honor outstanding works in film, television, and digital media productions. Both the film and television categories include innovative works made by young talent, and it is refreshing to see the unique work being done in the Canadian media industry.
French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s film, It’s Only the End of the World (Juste la fin du monde) leads the nominations in the film categories, scoring nine nods including Best Motion Picture. Dolan’s film won the Grand Prix at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and has been submitted as Canada’s entry for the 2017 Academy Awards. Dolan did an incredible job adapting Jean-Luc Lagarce’s play of the same name, which was beautifully brought to life by stars...
- 1/17/2017
- by Angela Morrison
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Editor’s Note: Click here for more information about the indie films available from Movies on Demand.
On December 14, 2012, tragedy stuck Newtown, Connecticut, after 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The massacre made national headlines and forever changed the lives of the families living in the quiet Connecticut suburb. Kim A. Snyder’s acclaimed documentary “Newtown” gathers parents of the victims and teachers to provide tense and heartbreaking memories from the fateful day and all that followed. It’s a harrowing watch, but one Snyder crafts in a necessary and urgent way.
Read More: Oscars: ‘Newtown’ Returns Gun Debate to Documentary Race, 14 Years After ‘Bowling for Columbine’
The director spends a majority of the film following the families of three young victims—Daniel Barden, Ben Wheeler, and Dylan Hockley—through the unimaginable aftermath of that horrific day. It’s from...
On December 14, 2012, tragedy stuck Newtown, Connecticut, after 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The massacre made national headlines and forever changed the lives of the families living in the quiet Connecticut suburb. Kim A. Snyder’s acclaimed documentary “Newtown” gathers parents of the victims and teachers to provide tense and heartbreaking memories from the fateful day and all that followed. It’s a harrowing watch, but one Snyder crafts in a necessary and urgent way.
Read More: Oscars: ‘Newtown’ Returns Gun Debate to Documentary Race, 14 Years After ‘Bowling for Columbine’
The director spends a majority of the film following the families of three young victims—Daniel Barden, Ben Wheeler, and Dylan Hockley—through the unimaginable aftermath of that horrific day. It’s from...
- 1/10/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson)
As we await Paul Thomas Anderson‘s next film later this year, one now has the chance to see his sprawling second feature about the world of pornography in a 70s and 80s Los Angeles on Netflix. Boogie Nights, which features much of the ensemble — including Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Heather Graham — at their best,...
Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson)
As we await Paul Thomas Anderson‘s next film later this year, one now has the chance to see his sprawling second feature about the world of pornography in a 70s and 80s Los Angeles on Netflix. Boogie Nights, which features much of the ensemble — including Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Heather Graham — at their best,...
- 1/6/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
MaryAnn’s quick take… This Apollo-era would-be suspense-thriller mockumentary is more an exercise in “look how film-school cool and clever we are” than anything else. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m a big ol’ science and Sf geek
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Two young CIA agents go undercover at Nasa in 1967 in order to root out a suspected Russian mole, and instead end up embroiled in a conspiracy of their own making. That sounds pretty cool — I’m always a sucker for space stuff and paranoia — but this would-be suspense-thriller mockumentary is more an exercise in “look how film-school cool and clever we are” than anything else. Director and cowriter (with Josh Boles) Matt Johnson casts himself as “director” of a faux documentary about the Apollo program as cover for the spy mission — Owen Williams plays his partner...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Two young CIA agents go undercover at Nasa in 1967 in order to root out a suspected Russian mole, and instead end up embroiled in a conspiracy of their own making. That sounds pretty cool — I’m always a sucker for space stuff and paranoia — but this would-be suspense-thriller mockumentary is more an exercise in “look how film-school cool and clever we are” than anything else. Director and cowriter (with Josh Boles) Matt Johnson casts himself as “director” of a faux documentary about the Apollo program as cover for the spy mission — Owen Williams plays his partner...
- 1/5/2017
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The dominant conversation about film in 2016 was its impending end. Just about every sphere of the cinematic world from filmmakers to established critics to loudmouth pundits had a doomsday proclamation about film, conflating national anxiety and middling blockbusters with far-flung conclusions. With the year in the books, it’s pretty easy to disagree with them. And I say that even as I diverge with public opinion on some of the biggest films of the year – Jackie, La La Land, Moonlight, Manchester By the Sea, etc.
But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that my favorite experiences with film this year were less my most-anticipated than the ones that defied easy description. They weren’t always my favorites but films like The Love Witch, Lemonade, Operation Avalanche, Kate Plays Christine, and Aferim! were welcome reminders of the myriad ways that film could feel strange and new – and in...
But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that my favorite experiences with film this year were less my most-anticipated than the ones that defied easy description. They weren’t always my favorites but films like The Love Witch, Lemonade, Operation Avalanche, Kate Plays Christine, and Aferim! were welcome reminders of the myriad ways that film could feel strange and new – and in...
- 1/5/2017
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
Editor’s Note: Click here for more information about the indie films available from Movies on Demand.
Mention the word “found footage” these days and you’re probably not going to inspire much excitement out of movie audiences. The horror genre has exhausted the narrative conceit with thankless “Paranormal Activity” sequels and beyond, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t life left in the style. Quite the contrary as Matt Johnson’s insanely brilliant “Operation Avalanche” proves. One of the year’s most overlooked titles is now on VOD, and you’ve got to see it to believe it.
Read More: Review: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Meets Christopher Guest in Moon Conspiracy Tale ‘Operation Avalanche’
“Operation Avalanche” combines the found footage and conspiracy thriller genres to tell the story of two CIA agents who infiltrate Nasa and get caught up in the mission to fake the Moon landing. The documentary style...
Mention the word “found footage” these days and you’re probably not going to inspire much excitement out of movie audiences. The horror genre has exhausted the narrative conceit with thankless “Paranormal Activity” sequels and beyond, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t life left in the style. Quite the contrary as Matt Johnson’s insanely brilliant “Operation Avalanche” proves. One of the year’s most overlooked titles is now on VOD, and you’ve got to see it to believe it.
Read More: Review: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Meets Christopher Guest in Moon Conspiracy Tale ‘Operation Avalanche’
“Operation Avalanche” combines the found footage and conspiracy thriller genres to tell the story of two CIA agents who infiltrate Nasa and get caught up in the mission to fake the Moon landing. The documentary style...
- 1/5/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Our resident VOD expert tells you what's new to rent and/or own this week via various Digital HD providers such as cable Movies On Demand, Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play and, of course, Netflix. Cable Movies On Demand: Same-day-as-disc releases, older titles and pretheatrical Blair Witch (horror sequel; James Allen McCune, Callie Hernandez; rated R) Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (family comedy; Griffin Gluck, Lauren Graham; rated PG) Denial (drama; Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall; rated PG-13) Operation Avalanche (drama-thriller; Sharon Belle, Matt Johnson; rated R) Nerdland (adult animated comedy; voices: Paul Rudd, Patton Oswalt; premieres 1/6 on cable Mod; not rated) Pitchfork (horror-thriller; Daniel Wilkinson, Brian Raetz...
Read More...
Read More...
- 1/4/2017
- by Robert B. DeSalvo
- Movies.com
Comedian David Adkins, better known by his stage name Sinbad, has starred in many films in the 90s, including “Necessary Roughness,” “Houseguest” and even the Kenan & Kel vehicle “Good Burger.” But one movie he didn’t star in is “Shazaam,” about an incompetent genie who grants wishes to two children. However, that hasn’t stopped hundreds of people online from claiming that the film is real, believing that they saw it sometime in the 90s.
Read More: Sundance Review: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Meets Christopher Guest in Moon Conspiracy Tale ‘Operation Avalanche’
The New Statesman reports that the community of “Shazaam” truthers has proliferated on Reddit, specifically under the subreddit r/MandelaEffect. The Mandela Effect is a “theory that a large group of people with the same false memory used to live in a parallel universe,” deriving from the idea that many people believe Nelson Mandela died while in prison. On this subreddit,...
Read More: Sundance Review: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Meets Christopher Guest in Moon Conspiracy Tale ‘Operation Avalanche’
The New Statesman reports that the community of “Shazaam” truthers has proliferated on Reddit, specifically under the subreddit r/MandelaEffect. The Mandela Effect is a “theory that a large group of people with the same false memory used to live in a parallel universe,” deriving from the idea that many people believe Nelson Mandela died while in prison. On this subreddit,...
- 12/23/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
1. CosmosAdam Maida’s silent scream for Andrzej Zulawski’s swansong Cosmos is a poster that cries out to be noticed. Channeling the starkest of Polish poster design—think Mieczyslaw Wasilewski or Andrzej Pagowski—Maida’s design is as deceptively crude as it is beautifully executed. I love everything about this poster, down to its hand-lettering, that tiny hanged bird and the even tinier—nice if you can get away with it—billing block. Maida’s witty, diagrammatic work has already graced Criterion covers for Nagisa Oshima’s Death by Hanging, John Frankenheimer’s The Manchurian Candidate, and Costa-Gavras’s The Confession and State of Siege, but it is his eye-catching black-and-white editorial illustration/montages for the New York Times that this most reminds me of. You can see more of his work here.2. The HandmaidenTrees and a hanging also feature heavily in my second favorite poster of the year: an...
- 12/23/2016
- MUBI
Buckle up for a Cold War conspiracy when Operation Avalanche launches on DVD, Digital HD and On Demand January 3 from Lionsgate. Filmmaker and actor Matt Johnson stars alongside Owen Williams and Josh Boles as undercover CIA agents on a mission at Nasa in what Variety is calling “a wild rewrite of space-age history.” A film festival favorite,Operation Avalanche was an official selection at the SXSW Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Hot Docs, and Mammoth Film Festival. The Operation Avalanche DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98.
Official Synopsis
In 1967 two CIA agents go undercover at Nasa to investigate a possible Russian mole. In disguise as documentary filmmakers, they tap phones and break into offices while purporting to learn more about the Apollo project. But when they end up uncovering a shocking Nasa secret — and a major government cover-up — they decide to embark on a new mission...
Official Synopsis
In 1967 two CIA agents go undercover at Nasa to investigate a possible Russian mole. In disguise as documentary filmmakers, they tap phones and break into offices while purporting to learn more about the Apollo project. But when they end up uncovering a shocking Nasa secret — and a major government cover-up — they decide to embark on a new mission...
- 12/21/2016
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Maren Ade’s German comedy won three awards including best director and best actress, while Barry Jenkins’s drama was named best film.
Father-daughter comedy Toni Erdmann was also named best foreign language film. Moonlight won best film and best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali at Sunday’s awards meeting of The Toronto Film Critics Association (Tfca).
Best actor honours went to Adam Driver for Paterson. Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea won awards for screenplay and supporting actress for Michelle Williams.
The Canadian Tire Allan King Documentary Award, which comes with a $5,000 cheque, went to Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson. Zootopia won the animation prize.
The best of three finallists selected for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award will be unveiled at the Tfca Awards Gala on January 10. They are: How Heavy This Hammer by Kazik Radwanski; Operation Avalanche by Matt Johnson; and The Stairs by Hugh Gibson.
The winner of the Stella Artois Jay Scott...
Father-daughter comedy Toni Erdmann was also named best foreign language film. Moonlight won best film and best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali at Sunday’s awards meeting of The Toronto Film Critics Association (Tfca).
Best actor honours went to Adam Driver for Paterson. Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea won awards for screenplay and supporting actress for Michelle Williams.
The Canadian Tire Allan King Documentary Award, which comes with a $5,000 cheque, went to Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson. Zootopia won the animation prize.
The best of three finallists selected for the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award will be unveiled at the Tfca Awards Gala on January 10. They are: How Heavy This Hammer by Kazik Radwanski; Operation Avalanche by Matt Johnson; and The Stairs by Hugh Gibson.
The winner of the Stella Artois Jay Scott...
- 12/12/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The art of the movie poster is an endangered species. Each year it seems like more and more posters look and feel the same. You know it’s a problem when a film poster for a cerebral Denis Villeneuve movie looks exactly like every other blockbuster on the market (sorry “Arrival,” but this poster does not do your movie justice). Fortunately, indies are here to lead the charge with inventive marketing and daring one-sheets.
Read More: The Best Movies of 2016, According to IndieWire Critic Eric Kohn
Whether it was for major awards contenders like “Moonlight” or “La La Land” or more overlooked titles such as “The Childhood of A Leader” and “Operation Avalanche,” the following 20 images proved movie posters can still be an art form. As part of IndieWire’s year in review, we’ve gathered up the 20 one-sheets that continue to make our eyes pop and leave an impression in our minds.
Read More: The Best Movies of 2016, According to IndieWire Critic Eric Kohn
Whether it was for major awards contenders like “Moonlight” or “La La Land” or more overlooked titles such as “The Childhood of A Leader” and “Operation Avalanche,” the following 20 images proved movie posters can still be an art form. As part of IndieWire’s year in review, we’ve gathered up the 20 one-sheets that continue to make our eyes pop and leave an impression in our minds.
- 12/7/2016
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Last year the The Globe & Mail released an article entitled "What is Wrong with the Canadian Film Industry?" that outlined the problems facing our country’s cinema: low box-office numbers, a crisis of English-Canadian identity, an inability to compete with Hollywood entertainments etc., etc. Focused entirely on the industry, the piece fails to mention the resurgence that had been taking root for quite some time. 2015 was an important year for Canadian cinema, but while Room, Hyena Road and Wet Bum ate up the article’s word count, three of the year’s great Canadian films by emerging directors went unnoticed: Isiah Medina’s 88:88, Kurt Walker’s Hit 2 Pass, and Kazik Radwanski’s How Heavy This Hammer. Equating cinema with ‘content,’ a product to be bought and sold, the article is as much a reflection of the problems with Canadian cinema as an exposition of it. But this insidious...
- 11/29/2016
- MUBI
Ah, Thanksgiving! A holiday that was seemingly tailor-made for binge-watching, complete with plenty of family and friends to consume mass quantities of both media and tasty meals alongside. But Thanksgiving is also built for reflection, and we here at IndieWire are very happy that the media landscape has afforded us plenty of things to be grateful for, even in the midst of all kinds of cultural and political upheaval: Movies aren’t dead; the biopic is very much alive; on-screen representation is finally taking a turn; some of our most beloved TV duo are back together on the small screen; and 2017 is looking very bright indeed. The list goes on and on.
In celebration of Thanksgiving, the IndieWire team has come together to offer up some of our personal reflections on the movies, shows, trends and creators we are most grateful for this year. Check out our testimonials below, and...
In celebration of Thanksgiving, the IndieWire team has come together to offer up some of our personal reflections on the movies, shows, trends and creators we are most grateful for this year. Check out our testimonials below, and...
- 11/24/2016
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
Los Angeles’ annual AFI Fest presented by Audi kicks off this week, and boasts a robust slate of some of the festival season’s most beloved offerings and a few highly anticipated new premieres. If you’ve missed out on the rest of the year’s big festivals, AFI Fest is a prime opportunity to catch up on the starriest titles before awards season really kicks into high gear, along with enough bonafide premieres to keep even the most ravenous movie-goer very happy indeed.
Ahead, we pick out 14 of our most anticipated films from the fest, including a handful of genuine classics, some big contenders and at least one very buzzy debut. Take a look and start filling up your schedule now.
“Jackie”
The hype is real. Pablo Larrain’s English-language debut features Natalie Portman in not just the best performance of her career, but what’s currently shaping up...
Ahead, we pick out 14 of our most anticipated films from the fest, including a handful of genuine classics, some big contenders and at least one very buzzy debut. Take a look and start filling up your schedule now.
“Jackie”
The hype is real. Pablo Larrain’s English-language debut features Natalie Portman in not just the best performance of her career, but what’s currently shaping up...
- 11/7/2016
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn, David Ehrlich, Chris O'Falt, Graham Winfrey, Zack Sharf and Steve Greene
- Indiewire
As documentary filmmaking has seen its profile rise in recent years, it’s hardly surprising that exposure for its sarcastic, gum-chewing younger brother, the mockumentary, has also been on the increase. This week’s “Mascots,” from career mockumentarian Christopher Guest (our review from Tiff is here), represents only the tip of an iceberg that has also seen two similarly themed space-exploration faux docs “Operation Avalanche” and “Houston, We Have A Problem!
Continue reading The 12 Best Mockumentaries at The Playlist.
Continue reading The 12 Best Mockumentaries at The Playlist.
- 10/12/2016
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Amat Escalante’s The Untamed (pictured) and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey will compete for the Cinemax Award for the best competition film at the Mexican festival, set to run from November 9-13.
The other selections in the Competencia Los Cabos main competition strand are: Antonio Campos’ Christine, Kristopher Avedisian’s Donald Cried, Matt Johnson’s Operation Avalanche, Gabe Klinger’s Porto, Rafi Pitts’ Soy Nero, Joey Klein’s The Other Half and Kim Nguyen’s Two Lovers And A Bear.
Competing for top honours in Mexico Primero are: Maria José Cuevas’ Beauties Of The Night, Sebastián Hiriart’s Carroña, Rodrigo Cervantes’ Los Paisages, Lucía Carreras’ Tamara y La Catarina, Ricardo Silva and Omar Guzmán’s William, The New Judo Master, and Juan Andrés Arango’s X500.
Festival heads said most of the Mexico Primero entries came through the festival’s Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund.
The winners of the Cinemax Award for best film in the Competencia...
The other selections in the Competencia Los Cabos main competition strand are: Antonio Campos’ Christine, Kristopher Avedisian’s Donald Cried, Matt Johnson’s Operation Avalanche, Gabe Klinger’s Porto, Rafi Pitts’ Soy Nero, Joey Klein’s The Other Half and Kim Nguyen’s Two Lovers And A Bear.
Competing for top honours in Mexico Primero are: Maria José Cuevas’ Beauties Of The Night, Sebastián Hiriart’s Carroña, Rodrigo Cervantes’ Los Paisages, Lucía Carreras’ Tamara y La Catarina, Ricardo Silva and Omar Guzmán’s William, The New Judo Master, and Juan Andrés Arango’s X500.
Festival heads said most of the Mexico Primero entries came through the festival’s Gabriel Figueroa Film Fund.
The winners of the Cinemax Award for best film in the Competencia...
- 10/11/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
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