It is not uncommon to happen upon subversive art in the mainstream. You can find the provocative work of R. Crumb, Andres Serrano and Robert Mapplethorpe smuggled into the background of films, or, in many cases, outright adapted as a feature (à la Ralph Bakshi's take on Crumb's "Fritz the Cat"). What you don't expect is to throw on a network evening soap opera and notice that a character's pillowcase is adorned with a design pattern of unrolled condoms -- especially in the 1990s.
MacArthur "genius grant"-winning artist Mel Chin thought the same thing 30 years ago while teaching art simultaneously at CalTech and the University of Georgia. Inspired by the notion of product placement exploding across movie and television screens all over the world, Chin wondered what would happen if he could sneak a conceptually contentious piece of art into the background of an otherwise apolitical show.
MacArthur "genius grant"-winning artist Mel Chin thought the same thing 30 years ago while teaching art simultaneously at CalTech and the University of Georgia. Inspired by the notion of product placement exploding across movie and television screens all over the world, Chin wondered what would happen if he could sneak a conceptually contentious piece of art into the background of an otherwise apolitical show.
- 12/16/2023
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
“Trolls Band Together,” the third chapter in the DreamWorks Animation franchise, gets psychedelic with the introduction of new worlds and characters, helped along by some trippy 2D animation from Titmouse. It’s a musical tribute to ’90s boy bands, fittingly enough, as Justin Timberlake’s Branch reunites with his long-lost brothers (known as the family band BroZone): Floyd (Troye Sivan), John Dory (Eric André), Spruce (Daveed Diggs), and Clay (Kid Cudi).
But Floyd is kidnapped by pop-star siblings Velvet (Amy Schumer) and Veneer (Andrew Rannells) as part of their nefarious musical scheme.
“With Justin and boy bands as part of the DNA of the Troll universe, it felt like a natural extension, and also, musically and visually, it’s more psychedelic,” director Walt Dohrn (“Trolls World Tour”) told IndieWire. “If you can see my room, I live in a kaleidoscopic, Technicolor, psychedelic world. I was so influenced by psychedelic...
But Floyd is kidnapped by pop-star siblings Velvet (Amy Schumer) and Veneer (Andrew Rannells) as part of their nefarious musical scheme.
“With Justin and boy bands as part of the DNA of the Troll universe, it felt like a natural extension, and also, musically and visually, it’s more psychedelic,” director Walt Dohrn (“Trolls World Tour”) told IndieWire. “If you can see my room, I live in a kaleidoscopic, Technicolor, psychedelic world. I was so influenced by psychedelic...
- 11/17/2023
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Because "Futurama" is set 1,000 years in the future, show creators David X. Cohen and Matt Groening had to invent a sci-fi conceit that would provide an organic reason to include celebrity cameos. Thanks to a special fluid, human heads can be kept alive in jars more or less indefinitely. In the very first episode, the head of Dick Clark hosted a televised New Year's Eve special to ring in the year 3000. Clark played himself. Since then, multiple other celebrities have played their own severed heads, including the Beastie Boys, the cast of "Star Trek," Al Gore, Conan O'Brien, Beck, Lucy Liu, Penn Jillette, and most recently, Bill Nye.
Of course, Cohen and Groening were more creative than merely storing severed heads in jars, and multiple other notable actors have continued to appear on "Futurama" as robots, aliens, space deities, and other sci-fi creatures. John Goodman, for instance, played the homicidal...
Of course, Cohen and Groening were more creative than merely storing severed heads in jars, and multiple other notable actors have continued to appear on "Futurama" as robots, aliens, space deities, and other sci-fi creatures. John Goodman, for instance, played the homicidal...
- 10/8/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Director Hugh Mulhern, who Dn last featured as part of our coverage of the Nfts graduate showcase last year, returns today with a new Riff Raff Films produced music video for artist Hak Baker. Mulhern’s video is a chaotic blaze of live action and animation, showcasing the pure chaos of a night on the town through a blend of forms and styles. The seedy, twisted imagery of the animation in particular feels like it could be lifted from a Robert Crumb comic or Ralph Bakshi’s controversial Fritz the Cat and the frenetic camerawork perfectly reflects the descending feeling of losing your inhibitions. With the video’s recent online release, Dn discussed the process of making it with Mulhern, talking through the challenge of blending animation and live action footage, the equipment necessary to pull it off, and the freeing creativity afforded to filmmakers through making music videos.
How...
How...
- 6/29/2023
- by James Maitre
- Directors Notes
Showing Up contains many of the hallmarks of a classic Kelly Reichardt picture: a Pacific Northwest setting, a Jonathan Raymond co-writing credit, Christopher Blauvelt cinematography, a rich ensemble cast, and an unrivaled attention to locations, production design, and wardrobe. There’s also Michelle Williams appearing in her fourth Reichardt film, their collaboration having begun with 2008’s Wendy and Lucy.
In Showing Up, Williams is Lizzy, a talented sculptor who finds herself a bit worn down by the realities of modern life. By all accounts she has a decent day job––something she likely wouldn’t refute––working in the office of the liberal arts college she attended. Outside of offering her rent and cat food money, the position keeps Lizzy plugged into the local art scene and most importantly grants her free access to the campus kiln (operated by André Benjamin in a joyful role).
Outside of Williams, that aforementioned...
In Showing Up, Williams is Lizzy, a talented sculptor who finds herself a bit worn down by the realities of modern life. By all accounts she has a decent day job––something she likely wouldn’t refute––working in the office of the liberal arts college she attended. Outside of offering her rent and cat food money, the position keeps Lizzy plugged into the local art scene and most importantly grants her free access to the campus kiln (operated by André Benjamin in a joyful role).
Outside of Williams, that aforementioned...
- 4/6/2023
- by Caleb Hammond
- The Film Stage
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2022, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
2022 was the year I had to recalibrate my relationship with cinema and television. Like Brendan Gleeson’s exasperated Colm in The Banshees of Inisherin, a man nearing the end of his life and done wasting his energy on natterers, post-pandemic life has me questioning how much time I have left on this earth to devote to art that simply doesn’t appeal to me. As a maximalist consumer by nature, I’ve spent my first 34 years watching anything and everything to stay sharp on what’s buzzing in the zeitgeist. I’m getting tired. And maybe, just maybe, the omnicrises of the early 2020s are pushing me toward shows and movies that uplift me in some way. That’s probably why I gravitated toward family films, romantic comedies,...
2022 was the year I had to recalibrate my relationship with cinema and television. Like Brendan Gleeson’s exasperated Colm in The Banshees of Inisherin, a man nearing the end of his life and done wasting his energy on natterers, post-pandemic life has me questioning how much time I have left on this earth to devote to art that simply doesn’t appeal to me. As a maximalist consumer by nature, I’ve spent my first 34 years watching anything and everything to stay sharp on what’s buzzing in the zeitgeist. I’m getting tired. And maybe, just maybe, the omnicrises of the early 2020s are pushing me toward shows and movies that uplift me in some way. That’s probably why I gravitated toward family films, romantic comedies,...
- 1/3/2023
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Our year-end coverage continues with a look at the best performances of 2022. Rather than divide categories into supporting or lead or by gender, we’ve written about our 35 favorites, period. Find our countdown below and start watching the ones you’ve missed here.
35. The Ensemble of Funny Pages
Owen Kline’s Funny Pages may be the sweatiest, stinkiest, most stress-inducing film you’ll ever watch, and you’ll be happy about it. Daniel Zolghadri (believably manipulative) plays a pushy, privileged teen who dreams of being a cartoonist, but the weirdo script buzzes largely thanks to an offbeat supporting cast. Standouts include Stephen Adly Guirgis as a larger-than-life art teacher, Miles Emanuel as a geeky deadpan Bff, Marcia Debonis as a cheeky public defender, and Michael Townsend Wright and Cleveland Thomas Jr. as the illegal basement apartment roommates from hell. But Matthew Maher, playing an unstable former comic book colorist our protagonist tries coercing into mentorship,...
35. The Ensemble of Funny Pages
Owen Kline’s Funny Pages may be the sweatiest, stinkiest, most stress-inducing film you’ll ever watch, and you’ll be happy about it. Daniel Zolghadri (believably manipulative) plays a pushy, privileged teen who dreams of being a cartoonist, but the weirdo script buzzes largely thanks to an offbeat supporting cast. Standouts include Stephen Adly Guirgis as a larger-than-life art teacher, Miles Emanuel as a geeky deadpan Bff, Marcia Debonis as a cheeky public defender, and Michael Townsend Wright and Cleveland Thomas Jr. as the illegal basement apartment roommates from hell. But Matthew Maher, playing an unstable former comic book colorist our protagonist tries coercing into mentorship,...
- 12/19/2022
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: The Cinema Eye Honors announced its first round of nominations today for artistic achievement in documentary film and series, with HBO’s Four Hours at the Capitol earning the most of any contender [full list below].
The documentary by Jamie Roberts about the January 6 insurrection scored nominations for Broadcast Film, Broadcast Editing and Broadcast Cinematography. Peter Jackson’s Disney+ series The Beatles: Get Back, landed two nominations — for Broadcast Series and Broadcast Editing. Get Back swept five Primetime Emmy categories last month.
‘Downfall: The Case Against Boeing’
Rory Kennedy’s Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, snubbed by the Emmys, earned a Cinema Eye Honors nomination for Broadcast Film. It will go up against Four Hours at the Capitol, and Emmy winner George Carlin’s American Dream, the two-part HBO film directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, among other contenders.
Nanfu Wang’s HBO docuseries Mind Over Murder, which premiered after the...
The documentary by Jamie Roberts about the January 6 insurrection scored nominations for Broadcast Film, Broadcast Editing and Broadcast Cinematography. Peter Jackson’s Disney+ series The Beatles: Get Back, landed two nominations — for Broadcast Series and Broadcast Editing. Get Back swept five Primetime Emmy categories last month.
‘Downfall: The Case Against Boeing’
Rory Kennedy’s Downfall: The Case Against Boeing, snubbed by the Emmys, earned a Cinema Eye Honors nomination for Broadcast Film. It will go up against Four Hours at the Capitol, and Emmy winner George Carlin’s American Dream, the two-part HBO film directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, among other contenders.
Nanfu Wang’s HBO docuseries Mind Over Murder, which premiered after the...
- 10/20/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
“Four Hours at the Capitol,” “The Beatles: Get Back,” “Playing With Sharks,” “We Need to Talk About Cosby,” “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” and “How To With John Wilson” are among the nonfiction television programs that have been nominated in the Cinema Eye Honors broadcast categories, Cinema Eye Honors announced at the organization’s annual fall lunch in Los Angeles on Thursday.
“Four Hours at the Capitol,” Jamie Roberts’ HBO film about the Jan. 6 insurrection, received three nominations to lead all programs. “Get Back,” “Cosby,” “Stanley Tucci,” “John Wilson” and “Playing With Sharks” each received two nominations.
Along with “Four Hours at the Capitol” and “Playing With Sharks,” broadcast film nominees were “Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes,” “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” and “George Carlin’s American Dream.” Nonfiction series nominees were “Get Back,” “Cosby,” “Black and Missing,” “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey,” “LuLaRich” and “Mind Over Murder.” Nominated anthology series...
“Four Hours at the Capitol,” Jamie Roberts’ HBO film about the Jan. 6 insurrection, received three nominations to lead all programs. “Get Back,” “Cosby,” “Stanley Tucci,” “John Wilson” and “Playing With Sharks” each received two nominations.
Along with “Four Hours at the Capitol” and “Playing With Sharks,” broadcast film nominees were “Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes,” “Downfall: The Case Against Boeing” and “George Carlin’s American Dream.” Nonfiction series nominees were “Get Back,” “Cosby,” “Black and Missing,” “Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey,” “LuLaRich” and “Mind Over Murder.” Nominated anthology series...
- 10/20/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art announced on Tuesday that the institution, which is now under construction in Los Angeles’s Exposition Park, will open in 2025.
In 2017, Los Angeles won the location sweepstakes over San Francisco for George Lucas’ one-of-a-kind museum, which will house art from films including Lucas’ own “Star Wars,” as well as photography, Renaissance paintings, and ancient Roman mosaics. When construction began in 2018, it was expected to open in 2022, then was delayed to 2023.
Sandra Jackson-Dumont, director and CEO of the museum, shared the “significant progress” already made on the five-story, 300,000-square-foot building, which will be surrounded by a park and gardens on its 11-acre campus.
Also Read:
Actor and Activist Omar Sharif Jr. Takes on New Role at Holocaust Museum LA (Exclusive Photos)
She also told The Hollywood Reporter that the museum, which will include two 299-seat movie theaters, will house the Lucasfilm archive.
“It’s humbling...
In 2017, Los Angeles won the location sweepstakes over San Francisco for George Lucas’ one-of-a-kind museum, which will house art from films including Lucas’ own “Star Wars,” as well as photography, Renaissance paintings, and ancient Roman mosaics. When construction began in 2018, it was expected to open in 2022, then was delayed to 2023.
Sandra Jackson-Dumont, director and CEO of the museum, shared the “significant progress” already made on the five-story, 300,000-square-foot building, which will be surrounded by a park and gardens on its 11-acre campus.
Also Read:
Actor and Activist Omar Sharif Jr. Takes on New Role at Holocaust Museum LA (Exclusive Photos)
She also told The Hollywood Reporter that the museum, which will include two 299-seat movie theaters, will house the Lucasfilm archive.
“It’s humbling...
- 9/21/2022
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
Crafted as a love letter to underground comics and the pursuit of art-making, Owen Kline’s Funny Pages is a fantastically fucked-up coming-of-age story about Robert, a young cartoonist who will go to any lengths to reach success. Ever the dark comedy, Funny Pages was produced by Josh and Benny Safdie, esteemed masters of gonzo discomfort. It should be noted, however, that for all of the laugh-out-loud shocks the film delivers, Kline has created a story that still manages to be genuinely touching and earnest at its core. Infusing central New Jersey with Robert Crumb’s strange overtones, Funny Pages is ultimately about finding one’s artistic voice—and what it takes to be true to that voice. While this is his debut feature, Owen Kline is no stranger to show business. The son of actors Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates, he broke out as the younger brother in Noah Baumbach...
- 9/1/2022
- MUBI
Owen Kline’s Funny Pages is not a cartoon, but its young hero, Roger, nevertheless comes off like a coyote on the run from the anvils threatening to fall on his head. His own ego is dropping the anvils. Roger, played by Daniel Zolghadri, is an 18-year-old wannabe comic artist, a promising young man who’s been given the leeway to dive into his own obsessions at the expense of most anything else, his fat imagination nourished by his job at a comic-book store, his subversive (read: dirty) mini comix...
- 8/30/2022
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on The Eddie Volkman Show with Hannah B on Wssr-fm on August 26th, 2022, reviewing the new film “Funny Pages,” the latest indie film from A24 Studios, currently in theaters and available through VOD.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
18-year-old Robert (Daniel Zolghadri) wants to be a comic book artist, but not superheroes, more of the underground and animal type art like R. Crumb meets Donald Duck.He decides to run away instead of going to college, so he moves into a crappy apartment in Trenton, New Jersey. Working for a lawyer, he meets Wallace (Matthew Maher), who was a colorist on his favorite comic book. Robert desires art lessons, Wallace desires justice for his rash behavior.
“Funny Pages” is currently in theaters and through VOD. Featuring Daniel Zolghardri, Matthew Maher, Josh Pais, Marcia DeBonis and Ron Rifkin,. Written and directed by Gwen Kline. Rated “R”
Click Here...
Rating: 4.5/5.0
18-year-old Robert (Daniel Zolghadri) wants to be a comic book artist, but not superheroes, more of the underground and animal type art like R. Crumb meets Donald Duck.He decides to run away instead of going to college, so he moves into a crappy apartment in Trenton, New Jersey. Working for a lawyer, he meets Wallace (Matthew Maher), who was a colorist on his favorite comic book. Robert desires art lessons, Wallace desires justice for his rash behavior.
“Funny Pages” is currently in theaters and through VOD. Featuring Daniel Zolghardri, Matthew Maher, Josh Pais, Marcia DeBonis and Ron Rifkin,. Written and directed by Gwen Kline. Rated “R”
Click Here...
- 8/27/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
When Owen Kline was 14 years old, he wrote cartoonist Johnny Ryan a fan letter. “I didn’t know who he was,” Ryan told IndieWire. “I just thought it was amusing that a child was sending me fan mail.” Featuring characters like Loady McGee and stories like “The Whorehouse of Dr. Moreau,” Ryan’s “Angry Youth Comix” were not exactly age-appropriate for Kline. But the introduction proved fruitful. Years later, the now 30-year-old Kline went to Ryan when he was working on his first feature, the A24-distributed “Funny Pages.”
“Funny Pages” centers on a New Jersey teen obsessed, like Kline was and clearly still is, with underground comics. After his art teacher and mentor dies in a shockingly horrific accident, Robert (Daniel Zolghadri) decides to quit school with the idea of devoting himself to his craft.
Kline was in need of drawings to represent his protagonist’s body of work,...
“Funny Pages” centers on a New Jersey teen obsessed, like Kline was and clearly still is, with underground comics. After his art teacher and mentor dies in a shockingly horrific accident, Robert (Daniel Zolghadri) decides to quit school with the idea of devoting himself to his craft.
Kline was in need of drawings to represent his protagonist’s body of work,...
- 8/26/2022
- by Esther Zuckerman
- Indiewire
Owen Kline’s darkly hilarious directorial debut “Funny Pages” is a coming-of-age tale that finds the sublime in the grotesque, and the profound in an absurd search for meaning in the basement apartments and comic book shops of Trenton, New Jersey. Kline showcases a simultaneously provocative and poignant point-of-view and delivers an instant indie classic of lo-fi tri-state area cinema.
Kline’s “Funny Pages” is a delightfully disgusting and daring debut, featuring a breakout performance from “Eighth Grade”’s Daniel Zolghadri, as well as a host of New York’s most unique character actors. It also has notes of the Safdie Brothers’ “Uncut Gems” (the brothers serve as producers and Kline helped out on their shorts), a similar subject matter to “American Splendor” and just a soupçon of the gross-out sensibility of “The Greasy Strangler.”
Our protagonist, the young Robert (Zolghadri) is an aspiring comic artist in the tradition of R. Crumb,...
Kline’s “Funny Pages” is a delightfully disgusting and daring debut, featuring a breakout performance from “Eighth Grade”’s Daniel Zolghadri, as well as a host of New York’s most unique character actors. It also has notes of the Safdie Brothers’ “Uncut Gems” (the brothers serve as producers and Kline helped out on their shorts), a similar subject matter to “American Splendor” and just a soupçon of the gross-out sensibility of “The Greasy Strangler.”
Our protagonist, the young Robert (Zolghadri) is an aspiring comic artist in the tradition of R. Crumb,...
- 8/26/2022
- by Katie Walsh
- The Wrap
Owen Kline fuses teen innocence with adult sexuality in a bad-taste debut film that recalls American Splendor and Crumb
As a child actor, Owen Kline played Jesse Eisenberg’s kid brother in The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach’s excruciating comedy about a middle-class New York family wrecked by divorce, with Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney as the warring parents. Kline played the troubled 12-year-old kid who sympathises with his mother and has developed a habit of covertly masturbating in public.
His debut feature as a director features many of the same unwholesome themes. This is a genuinely bizarre, startling, freewheelingly lo-fi and funny indie picture with the refreshing bad-taste impact of Todd Solondz or Robert Crumb. Daniel Zolghadri plays Robert, a talented high-school graphic artist and cartoonist who idolises his art teacher – the man that might, very possibly, have been about to abuse him sexually before fate took a terrible hand.
As a child actor, Owen Kline played Jesse Eisenberg’s kid brother in The Squid and the Whale, Noah Baumbach’s excruciating comedy about a middle-class New York family wrecked by divorce, with Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney as the warring parents. Kline played the troubled 12-year-old kid who sympathises with his mother and has developed a habit of covertly masturbating in public.
His debut feature as a director features many of the same unwholesome themes. This is a genuinely bizarre, startling, freewheelingly lo-fi and funny indie picture with the refreshing bad-taste impact of Todd Solondz or Robert Crumb. Daniel Zolghadri plays Robert, a talented high-school graphic artist and cartoonist who idolises his art teacher – the man that might, very possibly, have been about to abuse him sexually before fate took a terrible hand.
- 5/24/2022
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
If only Andy Warhol had lived to see “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers,” the cinematic culmination of the Campbell’s soup can painter’s meta-commentary on the blurring of art and commerce. This frenetic and funny crossbreeding of live action and cartoon is both a reboot and an anti-reboot, a corporate-funded raspberry at corporate IP, and a giddily dumb smart aleck committed to mocking its joke — and making it, too.
Director Akiva Schaffer, a producer and occasional helmer, has already helped to invert the meathead action flick (“MacGruber”), the rock biopic (“Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping”), the time-loop comedy (“Palm Springs”) and, of course, the music video as one-third of The Lonely Island, co-founded with his middle school friends Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, both of whom voice characters here. The trio met around the time Disney’s original 1989 “Rescue Rangers” series shifted into syndication and one barely has...
Director Akiva Schaffer, a producer and occasional helmer, has already helped to invert the meathead action flick (“MacGruber”), the rock biopic (“Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping”), the time-loop comedy (“Palm Springs”) and, of course, the music video as one-third of The Lonely Island, co-founded with his middle school friends Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, both of whom voice characters here. The trio met around the time Disney’s original 1989 “Rescue Rangers” series shifted into syndication and one barely has...
- 5/17/2022
- by Amy Nicholson
- Variety Film + TV
Anyone perusing a new psychedelic-era artwork exhibit in New York is bound to pause along the way and think, “Wait, isn’t that a Grateful Dead album cover?”
And they would be partly correct. About 30 years ago, artist, curator and art collector Jacaeber Kastor was checking out a gallery auction and came across the nearly century-old ink drawing that served as the basis of the Dead’s logo and album art. He snapped it up, and now that piece (titled “A Skeleton Amid Roses”) can be seen publicly, for the...
And they would be partly correct. About 30 years ago, artist, curator and art collector Jacaeber Kastor was checking out a gallery auction and came across the nearly century-old ink drawing that served as the basis of the Dead’s logo and album art. He snapped it up, and now that piece (titled “A Skeleton Amid Roses”) can be seen publicly, for the...
- 3/4/2022
- by David Browne
- Rollingstone.com
According to Dallas-based Heritage Auctions, a page of original black and white, pen and ink interior art from "Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars" #8 (1984) by illustrator Mike Zeck, introducing the "Spider-Man" black suit 'symbiote', a precursor to Marvel Comics 'Venom', has sold for $3.6 million:
"Today's results prove what we’ve long been saying", said Joe Mannarino, Heritage’s director of comics/comic art in New York. "Comic book art is as beloved and valuable as anything put on canvas..."
Collectible original comic art in recent years also include works by illustrators Robert Crumb ("Zap Comix")...
...Fred Rhoads ("Sad Sack")...
...Jack Kirby ("Fantastic Four")...
...and Paul Fung Jr. ("Blondie").
"Today's results prove what we’ve long been saying", said Joe Mannarino, Heritage’s director of comics/comic art in New York. "Comic book art is as beloved and valuable as anything put on canvas..."
Collectible original comic art in recent years also include works by illustrators Robert Crumb ("Zap Comix")...
...Fred Rhoads ("Sad Sack")...
...Jack Kirby ("Fantastic Four")...
...and Paul Fung Jr. ("Blondie").
- 1/15/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
The journalist and podcaster talks about some of her favorite cinematic grifters and losers with Josh and Joe.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
The Third Man (1949) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
All About Eve (1950)
The Hot Rock (1972) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Die Hard (1988)
Sunset Boulevard (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
The Producers (1967) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Music Man (1962)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s review
The Band Wagon (1953) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
The Wizard Of Oz (1939) – John Badham’s trailer commentary
A Night At The Opera (1935) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
The Cocoanuts (1929)
Animal Crackers (1930) – Robert Weide...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review
The Third Man (1949) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings
All About Eve (1950)
The Hot Rock (1972) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary
Die Hard (1988)
Sunset Boulevard (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
The Producers (1967) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
The Music Man (1962)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1954) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s review
The Band Wagon (1953) – John Landis’s trailer commentary
The Wizard Of Oz (1939) – John Badham’s trailer commentary
A Night At The Opera (1935) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review
The Cocoanuts (1929)
Animal Crackers (1930) – Robert Weide...
- 12/14/2021
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
“Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope,” we hear in The Freak Brothers, Tubi’s first animated original series. It just about sums up the series. Pot is legal now, and all over the San Francisco neighborhood. It still costs money, but now it makes money, and capital means licensing, and licenses are for dogs. The characters at the center of The Freak Brother have mange, scratch themselves on rugs, but they have a cat, who Bogarts every joint.
The sad thing about The Freak Brothers is the jokes don’t go as far as it seems the series wants to go. The counterculture of the 1960s was an antidote to the culture. Cartoonists like Robert Crumb, who invented Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural and Devil Girl, and Gilbert Shelton, who created The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers...
The sad thing about The Freak Brothers is the jokes don’t go as far as it seems the series wants to go. The counterculture of the 1960s was an antidote to the culture. Cartoonists like Robert Crumb, who invented Fritz the Cat, Mr. Natural and Devil Girl, and Gilbert Shelton, who created The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers...
- 11/12/2021
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Fritz the Cat – The Nine Lives of Fritz the Cat
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1972, 74/ 1.85:1/ 80, 76 Minutes
Starring Skip Hinnant
Directed by Ralph Bakshi, Robert Taylor
The typical toddler tends to relate more to the cuddly animals in a Disney cartoon than their own flesh and blood playmates. Robert Crumb and his brother Charles were anything but typical toddlers yet the boys were preoccupied with what was known as “funny animal comics”—everything from Bugs Bunny to Pogo. Their fascination took on an obsessive twist; for Robert the material was inspiration for his remarkable future as an artist, for Charles it was a trip down a long, dark rabbit hole. Those who weathered Terry Zwigoff’s harrowing Crumb learned a lot about the bleak side of childhood fantasy but they also learned about Robert’s compulsive work ethic and his focus on a house cat named Fred—a “typical big old...
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1972, 74/ 1.85:1/ 80, 76 Minutes
Starring Skip Hinnant
Directed by Ralph Bakshi, Robert Taylor
The typical toddler tends to relate more to the cuddly animals in a Disney cartoon than their own flesh and blood playmates. Robert Crumb and his brother Charles were anything but typical toddlers yet the boys were preoccupied with what was known as “funny animal comics”—everything from Bugs Bunny to Pogo. Their fascination took on an obsessive twist; for Robert the material was inspiration for his remarkable future as an artist, for Charles it was a trip down a long, dark rabbit hole. Those who weathered Terry Zwigoff’s harrowing Crumb learned a lot about the bleak side of childhood fantasy but they also learned about Robert’s compulsive work ethic and his focus on a house cat named Fred—a “typical big old...
- 11/2/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The great cartoonist/provocateur Robert Crumb disowned this 1972 film based on his comic strip about the low-down adventures of a randy tom-cat. Clearly a labor of love for director Ralph Bakshi, he spent years finding backing and several more years producing it. With the help of long-time Disney animator Edwin Aardal (Fantasia), Bakshi finds a reasonable approximation of Crumb’s densely populated visual style but he doesn’t capture the passive-aggressive humor of the misanthropic artist’s shaggy-dog storytelling. The movie flaunted its adults only rating, not only to cement its counter-culture cred but to distance itself from more juvenile animation fare. Producer Steve Krantz began his career in animation with the bottom-of-the-barrel syndicated shows, The Mighty Thor and Spider-Man in 1966-67. Nsfw!
The post Fritz the Cat appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post Fritz the Cat appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 8/20/2021
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez is filmmaker Susan Stern’s personal exploration of the man she has called her partner in life and art. It’s a journey driven by her desire to grapple with how she herself felt about her husband’s work, presenting to us an unflinching critique, unafraid of discussing the most controversial aspects of his personality and art. Through contributions from comic luminaries Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Trina Robbins, Aline Kominsky Crumb, and Ed Piskor, Stern tells the broader story of underground comics of the 1960s and comics in America.
Coming in at a short 71 minutes, Stern captures Spain’s creative energy and charisma. If there are limitations as to what can be shown of him in this tight window, it’s a portrait of a life lived that’s intriguing, and in moments uncomfortably so. There was the gay-bashing incident of his youth,...
Coming in at a short 71 minutes, Stern captures Spain’s creative energy and charisma. If there are limitations as to what can be shown of him in this tight window, it’s a portrait of a life lived that’s intriguing, and in moments uncomfortably so. There was the gay-bashing incident of his youth,...
- 2/26/2021
- by Paul Risker
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Bad Attitude The Art Of Spain Rodriguez. Susan Stern: 'Spain was a pioneer in underground comics and he changed comics in this country forever' Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez is filmmaker Susan Stern’s personal exploration of the man she has called her partner in life and art. It’s a journey driven by her desire to grapple with how she herself felt about her husband’s work. More than a document of the man and the artist, it’s a story of a life of a person intersecting with politics and culture. But through contributions of comic luminaries Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Trina Robbins, Aline Kominsky Crumb, and Ed Piskor, it’s also the story of underground comics of the 1960s and comics in America.
Stern is a news and documentary Emmy-nominated filmmaker for Outstanding Informational Programming, and Bad Attitude is a continuation of her interest...
Stern is a news and documentary Emmy-nominated filmmaker for Outstanding Informational Programming, and Bad Attitude is a continuation of her interest...
- 2/17/2021
- by Paul Risker
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The new documentary feature "Bad Attitude: The Art of Spain Rodriguez" explores the art and life of the late 1960's underground cartoonist, illustrator, directed by his wife Emmy-nominated filmmaker Susan Stern, including interviews with Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman and a whole lot more:
"...'Bad Attitude' is a love letter to my partner in art and life, 'Spain Rodriguez'," said Stern.
"...but it is also a love letter to all activists, especially artist-activists.
"I hope 'Bad Attitude' creates a space for conversation about the art and social justice we are trying to make...
"...the ways we fail, and how we can be forgiven..."
Click the images to enlarge...
"...'Bad Attitude' is a love letter to my partner in art and life, 'Spain Rodriguez'," said Stern.
"...but it is also a love letter to all activists, especially artist-activists.
"I hope 'Bad Attitude' creates a space for conversation about the art and social justice we are trying to make...
"...the ways we fail, and how we can be forgiven..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 1/29/2021
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Z2 Comics and the estate of jazz legend Charlie “Bird” Parker announced the first-ever graphic novel on a legend of the genre. Chasin’ the Bird: Charlie Parker in California will be published in September, in time to honor the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late great father of bebop.
“I believe that a hundred years from now, when people look back at the 20th century, they will view Bird, Miles and Dizzy as our Mozart, Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky,” Quincy Jones once said, according to the Z2 press statement. During his short life, the alto saxophonist nicknamed “Bird” changed the course of music. From tempos to chord substitutions, he explored harmonic depth to fuse hard bop and free jazz and move the art from danceable swing to improvisational bebop.
The publisher’s highly anticipated Grateful Dead: Origins graphic novel is due out in just over a month and...
“I believe that a hundred years from now, when people look back at the 20th century, they will view Bird, Miles and Dizzy as our Mozart, Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky,” Quincy Jones once said, according to the Z2 press statement. During his short life, the alto saxophonist nicknamed “Bird” changed the course of music. From tempos to chord substitutions, he explored harmonic depth to fuse hard bop and free jazz and move the art from danceable swing to improvisational bebop.
The publisher’s highly anticipated Grateful Dead: Origins graphic novel is due out in just over a month and...
- 4/28/2020
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Cinephile’s treat or ticket-peddling gimmick? Either way, this monochrome edition puts the masterful satire in a new light
There’s a moment in Terry Zwigoff’s 1994 documentary about Robert Crumb when the cartoonist leans over his teenage son, tweaks the colour on TV so the film he’s watching becomes black and white, and says: “There! Isn’t that better?”
Maybe. Audiences might be wary of special black and white presentations of new movies. Bong Joon-ho’s award-winning Parasite is now getting this treatment, which in 2016 was also conferred on Mad Max: Fury Road with a “black and chrome” edition.
There’s a moment in Terry Zwigoff’s 1994 documentary about Robert Crumb when the cartoonist leans over his teenage son, tweaks the colour on TV so the film he’s watching becomes black and white, and says: “There! Isn’t that better?”
Maybe. Audiences might be wary of special black and white presentations of new movies. Bong Joon-ho’s award-winning Parasite is now getting this treatment, which in 2016 was also conferred on Mad Max: Fury Road with a “black and chrome” edition.
- 3/5/2020
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
While some people consider comic books to be kid stuff, just this week a wrap-around cover, single piece of original artwork from Marvel's 1983 illustrated edition of "Frankenstein" by Bernie Wrightson sold for a staggering $1.2 million at auction:
Other pieces of artwork that sold at the 'Profiles In History' auction included John Byrne's original artwork for Fantastic Four #256 (the complete 22-page story of "The Annihilation Gambit") selling for $90,000.
Steve Ditko's original artwork for "The Amazing Spider-Man" #37 (Page 8) sold for $90,000.
Ditko's original artwork for "The Amazing Spider-Man" #6 (Page 21) sold for $33,000.
Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta's original artwork for "The Mighty Thor" #139 (the complete 16-page story of "To Die Like a God") sold for $90,000.
Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten's original artwork for "The Eternals" #2 (the complete 17-page story of "The Celestials") sold for $69,000.
Robert Crumb's original artwork for "American Splendor" #4 (the complete 7-page story of "The Young Crumb...
Other pieces of artwork that sold at the 'Profiles In History' auction included John Byrne's original artwork for Fantastic Four #256 (the complete 22-page story of "The Annihilation Gambit") selling for $90,000.
Steve Ditko's original artwork for "The Amazing Spider-Man" #37 (Page 8) sold for $90,000.
Ditko's original artwork for "The Amazing Spider-Man" #6 (Page 21) sold for $33,000.
Jack Kirby and Vince Colletta's original artwork for "The Mighty Thor" #139 (the complete 16-page story of "To Die Like a God") sold for $90,000.
Jack Kirby and John Verpoorten's original artwork for "The Eternals" #2 (the complete 17-page story of "The Celestials") sold for $69,000.
Robert Crumb's original artwork for "American Splendor" #4 (the complete 7-page story of "The Young Crumb...
- 12/13/2019
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
Sincerity: it’s not always in fashion, and is often pushed aside in favor of cynicism and snide commentary. You know, the easy route—a lack of belief and faith in what one is presenting. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the entertainment industry, where artistry can be overtaken by the bottom line in a quest for first place at the box office. And then you had people like Don Dohler, who created films for the sake of creating them, in order to capture the joy of being a kid in a theater and transported to another time and place. Such is the case with his magnum opus Nightbeast (1982), a spectacular no-budget wonder that encapsulates everything wonderful about the movies, now given fresh life through a terrific new Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
Sure, I’m hyperbolin,’ but Nightbeast has everything you could want in a sci-fi/horror/action thriller:...
Sure, I’m hyperbolin,’ but Nightbeast has everything you could want in a sci-fi/horror/action thriller:...
- 7/12/2019
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Janis Joplin’s time in the San Francisco blues crew Big Brother and the Holding Co. was relatively short, only a couple of years — just long enough to record two albums and become an era-defining flashpoint at the Monterey Pop Festival. Their second album, 1968’s Cheap Thrills, became an acid-rock landmark thanks to the barnburner “Piece of My Heart,” a sultry cover of “Summertime” and the crushing, epic cover of Big Mama Thornton’s “Ball and Chain.” It went to Number One and was certified gold and within a few months of its release,...
- 12/3/2018
- by Kory Grow
- Rollingstone.com
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics two questions and publishes the results on Monday.
This week’s question: In honor of “First Man,” which is now playing in theaters, what is the greatest biopic of all time?
Matt Zoller Seitz (@mattzollerseitz), RogerEbert.com
The best biographical movie I’ve ever seen was “32 Short Films About Glenn Gould,” because it gets the furthest away from traditional biographical movie structures and has a constant sense of surprise.
Sarah Marrs (@Cinesnark), LaineyGossip.com, Freelance
I’m giving this one to “Amadeus”. It’s not 100% accurate — no biopic is — but where “Amadeus” fudges details it does so in service of its theme. This movie has more to say about competition and rivalry than most sports movies, and it’s one of the only Great Man biopics to observe its subject from the outside. By centering on Salieri, a master in his own right,...
This week’s question: In honor of “First Man,” which is now playing in theaters, what is the greatest biopic of all time?
Matt Zoller Seitz (@mattzollerseitz), RogerEbert.com
The best biographical movie I’ve ever seen was “32 Short Films About Glenn Gould,” because it gets the furthest away from traditional biographical movie structures and has a constant sense of surprise.
Sarah Marrs (@Cinesnark), LaineyGossip.com, Freelance
I’m giving this one to “Amadeus”. It’s not 100% accurate — no biopic is — but where “Amadeus” fudges details it does so in service of its theme. This movie has more to say about competition and rivalry than most sports movies, and it’s one of the only Great Man biopics to observe its subject from the outside. By centering on Salieri, a master in his own right,...
- 10/15/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Pictures like Midnight Cowboy pulled everyone my age group into the movies, while the entire older generation likely stopped going to movies altogether. John Schlesinger’s masterpiece can boast a number of firsts, and deserves the high praise it receives from every angle — this was the epitome of progressive filmmaking circa 1969.
Midnight Cowboy
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 925
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen/ 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 29, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, Ruth White, Jennifer Salt, Anthony Holland, Bob Balaban, Viva, Ultra Violet, Taylor Mead, Paul Morrissey, Pat Ast, Marlene Clark, Sandy Duncan, M. Emmet Walsh.
Cinematography: Adam Holender
Film Editor: Hugh A. Robertson
Production Design: John Robert Lloyd
Original Music: John Barry
Written by Waldo Salt, based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy
Produced by Jerome Hellman, Kenneth Utt
Directed by John Schlesigner
Midnight Cowboy is perhaps the...
Midnight Cowboy
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 925
1969 / Color / 1:85 widescreen/ 113 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 29, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Barnard Hughes, Ruth White, Jennifer Salt, Anthony Holland, Bob Balaban, Viva, Ultra Violet, Taylor Mead, Paul Morrissey, Pat Ast, Marlene Clark, Sandy Duncan, M. Emmet Walsh.
Cinematography: Adam Holender
Film Editor: Hugh A. Robertson
Production Design: John Robert Lloyd
Original Music: John Barry
Written by Waldo Salt, based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy
Produced by Jerome Hellman, Kenneth Utt
Directed by John Schlesigner
Midnight Cowboy is perhaps the...
- 5/26/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This August will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
To sign up for a free two-week trial here.
Tuesday, August 1
Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train
Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.
- 7/24/2017
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Exclusive: Terry Zwigoff has signed with ICM Partners. Zwigoff is best known for directing the black comedies Bad Santa and Ghost World, as well as the heralded documentary Crumb, about the cartoonist Robert Crumb. Zwigoff, who had been with Wme, most recently helmed for Amazon Studios Budding Prospects, about a group that disconnects and sets out to grow pot in the country. Zwigoff remains with attorney Robert…...
- 6/28/2017
- Deadline
Daniel Clowes’ comics creation receives an A-Plus film adaptation through the directorial filter of Terry Zwigoff. The show has more going for it than the bleak alienation of disaffected quasi- gen-Xers — the script offers a depth of character revealing the insecure, hopes and fears behind all the insulting attitudes and behaviors. It’s caustic, funny and also strongly affecting.
Ghost World
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 872
2001 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 30, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas, Bob Balaban, Stacey Travis, Teri Garr.
Cinematography: Affonso Beato
Production Designer: Edward T. McAvoy
Art Direction: Alan E. Muraoka
Film Editors: Carole Kravetz, Michael R. Miller
Original Music: David Kitay
Writing credits: Daniel Clowes & Terry Zwigoff from the comics by Daniel Clowes
Produced by Pippa Cross, Janette Day, Lianne Halfon, Barbara A. Hall,
John Malkovich, Russell Smith
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Enid:...
Ghost World
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 872
2001 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date May 30, 2017 / 39.95
Starring: Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Brad Renfro, Illeana Douglas, Bob Balaban, Stacey Travis, Teri Garr.
Cinematography: Affonso Beato
Production Designer: Edward T. McAvoy
Art Direction: Alan E. Muraoka
Film Editors: Carole Kravetz, Michael R. Miller
Original Music: David Kitay
Writing credits: Daniel Clowes & Terry Zwigoff from the comics by Daniel Clowes
Produced by Pippa Cross, Janette Day, Lianne Halfon, Barbara A. Hall,
John Malkovich, Russell Smith
Directed by Terry Zwigoff
Enid:...
- 5/26/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Beginning next Friday, New York’s Metrograph will present a Terry Zwigoff retrospective that includes screenings of all five of his feature films. The weekend-long series begins with “Ghost World” and continues with “Louie Bluie,” “Art School Confidential” and “Bad Santa” before closing with his acclaimed documentary; Zwigoff will appear in person at each screening. Watch an exclusive trailer for the tribute below.
Read More: Nicolas Cage To Play A ‘Lost Melody’ For Terry Zwigoff Plus Watch A New Clip From ‘The Frozen Ground’
Here are some notes on the festivities in Metrograph’s own words: “Terry Zwigoff never seemed to belong to the careerist, wheeler-dealer world of the Sundance indie, and that’s part of his charm. Catapulted to prominence with ‘Crumb,’ his instant classic documentary on underground legend R. Crumb, Zwigoff went on to reel out a trio of blackly-comic fiction films which all together offer a jaundiced,...
Read More: Nicolas Cage To Play A ‘Lost Melody’ For Terry Zwigoff Plus Watch A New Clip From ‘The Frozen Ground’
Here are some notes on the festivities in Metrograph’s own words: “Terry Zwigoff never seemed to belong to the careerist, wheeler-dealer world of the Sundance indie, and that’s part of his charm. Catapulted to prominence with ‘Crumb,’ his instant classic documentary on underground legend R. Crumb, Zwigoff went on to reel out a trio of blackly-comic fiction films which all together offer a jaundiced,...
- 5/12/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
For a while, George Lucas, the mastermind behind “Star Wars,” has been keeping us guessing as to which city he would choose to build his $1 billion Museum of Narrative Art — would it be Los Angeles or San Francisco?
Well, finally, we now know the answer: L.A. is the winning city.
The museum will exhibit the filmmaker’s personal collection of fine and popular art, including collectible memorabilia related to his very popular science-fiction franchise. The museum will be housed in a futuristic-looking building to be built in L.A.’s Exposition Park. This design beat out a competing design for Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.
Read More: ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Season 3 Trailer: Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Prepare for an Epic Rematch
“It feels like this incredible gift has come home. I always thought Los Angeles was the natural place to spread the vision of George Lucas and Mellody Hobson,...
Well, finally, we now know the answer: L.A. is the winning city.
The museum will exhibit the filmmaker’s personal collection of fine and popular art, including collectible memorabilia related to his very popular science-fiction franchise. The museum will be housed in a futuristic-looking building to be built in L.A.’s Exposition Park. This design beat out a competing design for Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.
Read More: ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Season 3 Trailer: Darth Maul and Obi-Wan Prepare for an Epic Rematch
“It feels like this incredible gift has come home. I always thought Los Angeles was the natural place to spread the vision of George Lucas and Mellody Hobson,...
- 1/11/2017
- by Yoselin Acevedo
- Indiewire
George Lucas has finally found a home for his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The $1 billion museum will be coming to Exposition Park in Los Angeles, and I couldn't be more excited because I can go visit it anytime! The museum's board of directors said in a statement:
"After extensive due diligence and deliberation, the Board of Directors of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is pleased to announce plans to build the museum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles. We have been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive support we received from both San Francisco and Los Angeles during our selection process. Settling on a location proved to be an extremely difficult decision precisely because of the desirability of both sites and cities."
The museum will include rare pieces from the filmmaker's personal collection, including tons of memorabilia from Star Wars and other films. This isn't just a Star Wars museum,...
"After extensive due diligence and deliberation, the Board of Directors of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is pleased to announce plans to build the museum in Exposition Park in Los Angeles. We have been humbled by the overwhelmingly positive support we received from both San Francisco and Los Angeles during our selection process. Settling on a location proved to be an extremely difficult decision precisely because of the desirability of both sites and cities."
The museum will include rare pieces from the filmmaker's personal collection, including tons of memorabilia from Star Wars and other films. This isn't just a Star Wars museum,...
- 1/11/2017
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Source: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
George Lucas has chosen a personal home for his billion dollar Museum of Narrative Art. The winner is Los Angeles over San Francisco.
According to Los Angeles Times, the futuristic sci-fi looking museum is planned at Los Angeles’ Exposition Park—beating the proposed design for Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.
Lucas, himself, will fund the project of about $1 billion, which includes the building costs, his personal art and an endowment of at least $40 million.
It’s a boon for the Los Angeles entertainment industry to house the 275,000-square-foot facility. It’s estimated that it will lead “tens of thousands in construction jobs” and a thousand permanent museum jobs as a “lowball estimate.”
Some of the artwork on display will be from Lucas’ personal collection of 10,000 paintings and illustration. They will include artwork from Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and R. Crumb. Of course,...
George Lucas has chosen a personal home for his billion dollar Museum of Narrative Art. The winner is Los Angeles over San Francisco.
According to Los Angeles Times, the futuristic sci-fi looking museum is planned at Los Angeles’ Exposition Park—beating the proposed design for Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.
Lucas, himself, will fund the project of about $1 billion, which includes the building costs, his personal art and an endowment of at least $40 million.
It’s a boon for the Los Angeles entertainment industry to house the 275,000-square-foot facility. It’s estimated that it will lead “tens of thousands in construction jobs” and a thousand permanent museum jobs as a “lowball estimate.”
Some of the artwork on display will be from Lucas’ personal collection of 10,000 paintings and illustration. They will include artwork from Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth and R. Crumb. Of course,...
- 1/11/2017
- by Gig Patta
- LRMonline.com
One of the overlooked outcomes of last week’s election is the growth of the marijuana legalization movement. Buying, possessing and using the stuff is going to be legal for adults in Massachusetts, Nevada, California and Maine – as it is now in Colorado, Alaska, Washington State, Washington D.C., and Oregon. Over 20 percent of Americans reside in states where such use by adults is legal. In over half of these United States, weed is kosher for medicinal use.
First Fun Fact: A few years ago, the Heeb Magazine website informed us that, properly handled, cannabis is indeed kosher. That should popularize the Passover herb plate.
Second Fun Fact: If not for weed, we might not have our direct sales comic book distribution system. Back in the mid-60s, we started seeing retail outlets called “head shops” pop up all over this great nation. These places were sort of like today...
First Fun Fact: A few years ago, the Heeb Magazine website informed us that, properly handled, cannabis is indeed kosher. That should popularize the Passover herb plate.
Second Fun Fact: If not for weed, we might not have our direct sales comic book distribution system. Back in the mid-60s, we started seeing retail outlets called “head shops” pop up all over this great nation. These places were sort of like today...
- 11/16/2016
- by Mike Gold
- Comicmix.com
Today, New York independent distributor Film Movement Classics unveils the brand-new poster for Takeshi Kitano’s 1990 film “Boiling Point,” designed exclusively for retrospective screenings by comic book artist Benjamin Marra. Marra designed the film’s one-sheet with a colorful, stylized illustration highlighting baseball and the Yakuza. Check it out below.
Read More: Review: Takeshi Kitano’s ‘Beyond Outrage’ Blows Up The Standard Gangster Movie Template
The film follows Masaki (Yûrei Yanagi), an unassuming gas station attendant who is a member of the losing sandlot baseball team The Eagles. After he runs afoul of a belligerent yakuza, The Eagles manager, an ex-yakuza himself, gets involved, setting Masaki on a haphazard quest for guns in Okinawa with his friend Kazuo (Duncan). There they are befriended by the extremely eccentric yakuza boss Takashi (Takeshi “Beat” Kitano), leading them straight into the tangled web of organized crime.
Benjamin Marra is best known for “Night Business,...
Read More: Review: Takeshi Kitano’s ‘Beyond Outrage’ Blows Up The Standard Gangster Movie Template
The film follows Masaki (Yûrei Yanagi), an unassuming gas station attendant who is a member of the losing sandlot baseball team The Eagles. After he runs afoul of a belligerent yakuza, The Eagles manager, an ex-yakuza himself, gets involved, setting Masaki on a haphazard quest for guns in Okinawa with his friend Kazuo (Duncan). There they are befriended by the extremely eccentric yakuza boss Takashi (Takeshi “Beat” Kitano), leading them straight into the tangled web of organized crime.
Benjamin Marra is best known for “Night Business,...
- 8/11/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
Our perception of the Forest City having only seen it on screen.
All this week, Cleveland, Ohio, is being overrun with politicians, their supporters, and protestors of their platforms as the Republican National Convention is being held at the Quicken Loans Arena through Thursday. To help get a better sense of this “Cleve-Land,” as Howard the Duck calls it, we’re looking to entertainment, specifically movies and television, for what it can tell us about this city. If there’s anything we miss or misunderstand, blame Hollywood.
Cleveland Rocks
It’s the Rock and Roll Capital of the World, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so it’s not surprising that, to an outsider, Cleveland primarily looks like a city where music reigns. You could make a nice concert with all the fictional bands based there, including Cherry Bomb from Howard the Duck, The Barbusters from Light of Day, the...
All this week, Cleveland, Ohio, is being overrun with politicians, their supporters, and protestors of their platforms as the Republican National Convention is being held at the Quicken Loans Arena through Thursday. To help get a better sense of this “Cleve-Land,” as Howard the Duck calls it, we’re looking to entertainment, specifically movies and television, for what it can tell us about this city. If there’s anything we miss or misunderstand, blame Hollywood.
Cleveland Rocks
It’s the Rock and Roll Capital of the World, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so it’s not surprising that, to an outsider, Cleveland primarily looks like a city where music reigns. You could make a nice concert with all the fictional bands based there, including Cherry Bomb from Howard the Duck, The Barbusters from Light of Day, the...
- 7/19/2016
- by Christopher Campbell
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Today marks the beginning of Passover, the Jewish festival that celebrates our freedom from slavery in Egypt. It is also Earth Day, which means that zillions of rabbis have a head start on their sermon topic this week.
The first (and sometimes second) night of Passover is marked by the ritual meal, the seder, in which adults entertain children with the story of the escape from Egypt and the ensuing forty years in the desert. There are special foods that are supposed to bring to life the suffering of the slaves, and silly songs about goats and stuff to keep the kids engaged.
There is a special prayer book for the seder called the haggadah. Because Jews like nothing more than to argue with each other, there are zillions of different versions. There are haggadahs that are entirely in Hebrew, and some that are Hebrew and English … or Spanish or whatever language your family speaks.
The first (and sometimes second) night of Passover is marked by the ritual meal, the seder, in which adults entertain children with the story of the escape from Egypt and the ensuing forty years in the desert. There are special foods that are supposed to bring to life the suffering of the slaves, and silly songs about goats and stuff to keep the kids engaged.
There is a special prayer book for the seder called the haggadah. Because Jews like nothing more than to argue with each other, there are zillions of different versions. There are haggadahs that are entirely in Hebrew, and some that are Hebrew and English … or Spanish or whatever language your family speaks.
- 4/22/2016
- by Martha Thomases
- Comicmix.com
Craig Keller and Uncas Blythe continue our series of film dialogues. Isiah Medina's 88:88 is having its exclusive online premiere at Mubi, playing through April 17, 2016.Craig Keller: We're going to talk about Isiah Medina's 66-minute film from 2015, 88:88. It's a challenging movie: polyphonic, polypictorial, but not confrontational, in fact pretty chilled-out; if it were featured on Top Gear the hosts might praise its speed, dynamic facility, and stability of suspension. 88:88 presents Medina himself and a group of friends or characters from university in and around the neighborhoods of Winnipeg.Now I'll refrain from synopsizing any more. I had a hard time with the film, but like any complicated work revisitations in whole and in part yield stronger comprehension; accordingly, new insights rise to the surface. Going back through it again the other day I started by watching only the first ten minutes, which provide an overture,...
- 4/5/2016
- by Craig Keller
- MUBI
[Brightcove "4744977545001" "" "" "auto"] Leonardo DiCaprio isn't afraid to talk about how his father has influenced his career. "My father has always been a huge force with me," The Revenant actor told GQ in 2011. From taking his son to counterculture concerts to offering crucial career advice, here are five things about Leonardo's counterculture father you might not know. 1. George was an underground comic book writer and distributorUnlike most fathers trying to get their sons into comics, George didn't expose his son to mainstream comics like Marvel and DC Comics. "At a young age, I was exposed to, like, the most hardcore hippie subculture any...
- 2/9/2016
- by Chancellor Agard, @chancelloragard
- PEOPLE.com
[Brightcove "4744977545001" "" "" "auto"] Leonardo DiCaprio isn't afraid to talk about how his father has influenced his career. "My father has always been a huge force with me," The Revenant actor told GQ in 2011. From taking his son to counterculture concerts to offering crucial career advice, here are five things about Leonardo's counterculture father you might not know. 1. George was an underground comic book writer and distributorUnlike most fathers trying to get their sons into comics, George didn't expose his son to mainstream comics like Marvel and DC Comics. "At a young age, I was exposed to, like, the most hardcore hippie subculture any...
- 2/9/2016
- by Chancellor Agard, @chancelloragard
- PEOPLE.com
The Simpsons premiered 26 years ago Thursday, as part of Fox's Sunday night lineup that at the time included Married... with Children.
Because the family had popped up as animated shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show a few years earlier – and also because of creator Matt Groening's success with the cartoon strip Life in Hell – they weren't exactly an unknown quantity when the show premiered on Jan. 14, 1990.
Critics were quick to respond, too. In honor of The Simpsons' 26th birthday, check out what some of the country's leading pop-culture publications were saying about the show in its first few months on air.
Because the family had popped up as animated shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show a few years earlier – and also because of creator Matt Groening's success with the cartoon strip Life in Hell – they weren't exactly an unknown quantity when the show premiered on Jan. 14, 1990.
Critics were quick to respond, too. In honor of The Simpsons' 26th birthday, check out what some of the country's leading pop-culture publications were saying about the show in its first few months on air.
- 1/14/2016
- by Alex Heigl, @alex_heigl
- People.com - TV Watch
The Simpsons premiered 26 years ago Thursday, as part of Fox's Sunday night lineup that at the time included Married... with Children. Because the family had popped up as animated shorts on The Tracy Ullman Show a few years earlier - and also because of creator Matt Groening's success with the cartoon strip Life in Hell - they weren't exactly an unknown quantity when the show premiered on Jan. 14, 1990. Critics were quick to respond, too. In honor of The Simpsons' 26th birthday, check out what some of the country's leading pop-culture publications were saying about the show in its first few months on air.
- 1/14/2016
- by Alex Heigl, @alex_heigl
- PEOPLE.com
The great Charlie Kaufman has made his first foray into the world of animation with the critically praised Anomalisa, which we named one of the best films of 2015. Finally expanding over the next few weeks, to celebrate, we’ve decided to look back at some of the finest animated films that one might not want to show the entire family.
Who said cartoons were just for kids? As this week’s list will demonstrate, some of the finest weren’t necessarily designed with undiscerning young audiences in mind. Crossing genres and styles, these fifteen amazing features should probably be watched after this kids have been put to bed. Of course, there are many great examples beyond these, so please suggest your own favorites in the comments.
Watership Down / The Plague Dogs (Martin Rosen)
Martin Rosen‘s dark adaptations of Richard Adams‘s classic novels, Watership Down and The Plague Dogs,...
Who said cartoons were just for kids? As this week’s list will demonstrate, some of the finest weren’t necessarily designed with undiscerning young audiences in mind. Crossing genres and styles, these fifteen amazing features should probably be watched after this kids have been put to bed. Of course, there are many great examples beyond these, so please suggest your own favorites in the comments.
Watership Down / The Plague Dogs (Martin Rosen)
Martin Rosen‘s dark adaptations of Richard Adams‘s classic novels, Watership Down and The Plague Dogs,...
- 1/13/2016
- by Tony Hinds
- The Film Stage
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