The affable ruler to HBO’s “The Regime,” Will Tracy is easy to shop for.
“I’m always somewhat embarrassed to say this, but my beach reading for the last 20 years has been about autocrats and authoritarian regimes,” the showrunner told IndieWire in an interview from before his miniseries debuted on Sunday, March 3. “Just get me a book about Stalin or Ceaușescu and I’ll be happy.”
Starring Kate Winslet as Chancellor Elena Vernham, the six-part political dramedy is a long-time coming from the “Succession” writer, also known for co-writing the culinary thriller “The Menu” with Seth Reiss. “The Regime” examines an unnamed country in central Europe positioned smack-dab in the middle of the contemporary political climate. New episodes air weekly at 9 p.m. Et — fittingly followed by “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
“If they look behind their shoulder, they see China and Russia, and...
“I’m always somewhat embarrassed to say this, but my beach reading for the last 20 years has been about autocrats and authoritarian regimes,” the showrunner told IndieWire in an interview from before his miniseries debuted on Sunday, March 3. “Just get me a book about Stalin or Ceaușescu and I’ll be happy.”
Starring Kate Winslet as Chancellor Elena Vernham, the six-part political dramedy is a long-time coming from the “Succession” writer, also known for co-writing the culinary thriller “The Menu” with Seth Reiss. “The Regime” examines an unnamed country in central Europe positioned smack-dab in the middle of the contemporary political climate. New episodes air weekly at 9 p.m. Et — fittingly followed by “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”
“If they look behind their shoulder, they see China and Russia, and...
- 3/8/2024
- by Alison Foreman
- Indiewire
John Lennon and songwriter Bernie Taupin were at a bar together when Bob Marley joined them at their table. They began passing around a joint, and according to Taupin, he got higher than he’d ever been. He shared why he found it shocking that they made it back to their beds.
John Lennon and Bernie Taupin got very high with Bob Marley
Lennon and Taupin were at On the Rox in Hollywood. Marley and his large entourage joined them at their table. According to Taupin, Marley and his friends seemed awed by Lennon, but Taupin found him difficult to look away from them.
“Marley is diminutive by comparison to his compatriots, but by no means a lesser individual,” he wrote, per The Times. “It’s obvious he’s the engine, the focal point, the very eye of this mystical hurricane … It’s a surreal scene kicked up a notch...
John Lennon and Bernie Taupin got very high with Bob Marley
Lennon and Taupin were at On the Rox in Hollywood. Marley and his large entourage joined them at their table. According to Taupin, Marley and his friends seemed awed by Lennon, but Taupin found him difficult to look away from them.
“Marley is diminutive by comparison to his compatriots, but by no means a lesser individual,” he wrote, per The Times. “It’s obvious he’s the engine, the focal point, the very eye of this mystical hurricane … It’s a surreal scene kicked up a notch...
- 9/13/2023
- by Emma McKee
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Exclusive: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American VOD rights to the documentary Grandpa Was An Emperor from director Constance Marks, whose last feature, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.
Related Story ‘Joel In Accounting Must Die’: TriStar Acquires Entertainment 360 Action Comedy By Brian & Jim Kehoe Related Story Music Doc 'Jimmie And Stevie Ray Vaughan: Brothers In Blues' Acquired By Freestyle Digital Media Related Story Mojo Nixon Music Doc 'The Mojo Manifesto' Acquired By Freestyle Digital Media
The new film, which premiered to rave reviews at the Doc NYC Festival in 2021, is set for theatrical engagement in Los Angeles from April 7-13 at Laemmles Town Center in Encino, with evening showings on the 7th and 8th to be followed by Q&As with Marks, as well as her fellow producers and talent. It’s set for release on digital on May...
Related Story ‘Joel In Accounting Must Die’: TriStar Acquires Entertainment 360 Action Comedy By Brian & Jim Kehoe Related Story Music Doc 'Jimmie And Stevie Ray Vaughan: Brothers In Blues' Acquired By Freestyle Digital Media Related Story Mojo Nixon Music Doc 'The Mojo Manifesto' Acquired By Freestyle Digital Media
The new film, which premiered to rave reviews at the Doc NYC Festival in 2021, is set for theatrical engagement in Los Angeles from April 7-13 at Laemmles Town Center in Encino, with evening showings on the 7th and 8th to be followed by Q&As with Marks, as well as her fellow producers and talent. It’s set for release on digital on May...
- 3/24/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Conor Oberst has reunited with his longtime pals The So So Glos. The Bright Eyes frontman features on “Everywhere Is War,” the new single out now from the Brooklyn rockers.
Rather than the garagey, surfy punk by which The So So Glos made their name, “Everywhere Is War” is a poppier number primarily backed with a spunky piano riff. It’s difficult to even recognize Oberst’s trademark constantly-on-the-verge-of-tears vocals, too, as it’s been doused in T-Pain levels of Auto-Tune. Soon enough, though, the track has you humming along.
But despite its sunny exterior, “Everywhere Is War” has a much darker meaning, its title paying homage to Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s 1963 address to the Un (which also served as the basis for Bob Marley’s song “War”).
“The cover, shot by Bill Biggart, documents a rioter in Northern Ireland in 1989,” The So So Glos said of the song on Instagram.
Rather than the garagey, surfy punk by which The So So Glos made their name, “Everywhere Is War” is a poppier number primarily backed with a spunky piano riff. It’s difficult to even recognize Oberst’s trademark constantly-on-the-verge-of-tears vocals, too, as it’s been doused in T-Pain levels of Auto-Tune. Soon enough, though, the track has you humming along.
But despite its sunny exterior, “Everywhere Is War” has a much darker meaning, its title paying homage to Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s 1963 address to the Un (which also served as the basis for Bob Marley’s song “War”).
“The cover, shot by Bill Biggart, documents a rioter in Northern Ireland in 1989,” The So So Glos said of the song on Instagram.
- 3/3/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Music
Eight years ago, Conor Oberst’s Desaparecidos played the sweatiest, rowdiest show ever at Brooklyn’s Shea Stadium with the local punk bank the So So Glos. It was a simpler time in some respects; Obama was president, the DIY scene in New York was thriving, and no one batted an eye at attending a show so packed to the gills that folks were watching through the window on the rickety fire escape balcony. Nearly 10 years — two presidents, one pandemic, and the death of Shea Stadium — later, Oberst and the...
- 3/3/2023
- by Brenna Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
Ostlund expects it to be an international co-production like ‘Triangle Of Sadness’.
Ruben Ostlund has shared new details on his next film, The Entertainment System Is Down, which he expects will be another international co-production.
Having previously revealed that the film will be set on a long-haul flight where the digital entertainment consoles stop working, Ostlund has now said he aims to bring the story to a point where the passengers bring the plane down.
He also told Screen he expects the film to be an international co-production like Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness, and confirmed he will...
Ruben Ostlund has shared new details on his next film, The Entertainment System Is Down, which he expects will be another international co-production.
Having previously revealed that the film will be set on a long-haul flight where the digital entertainment consoles stop working, Ostlund has now said he aims to bring the story to a point where the passengers bring the plane down.
He also told Screen he expects the film to be an international co-production like Palme d’Or winner Triangle Of Sadness, and confirmed he will...
- 8/16/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
It wasn’t until her early thirties that Tamara Mariam Dawit first discovered her father had a fifth sister named Selamawit. When she broached the subject with the other four (as well as her grandmother Tsehai), no one wanted to talk. This was the reason she moved to Ethiopia from Canada, though: to learn about her African heritage. And Aunt Sally wasn’t simply a throwaway piece of that considering the circumstances surrounding both her absence from the family and her eventual disappearance underground as part of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (Eprp). This woman’s place within the nation’s most recent half-century of brutality (highlighted by the “Red Terror”) adds a lot more to Tamara’s edification than any textbook could. Sally’s tragic story quickly opens Ethiopia’s past to her niece.
Dawit’s documentary Finding Sally is therefore as much a look at her family...
Dawit’s documentary Finding Sally is therefore as much a look at her family...
- 4/28/2020
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Second World War story takes place in 1935 as Mussolini’s army invades Ethiopia.
Harriet director Kasi Lemmons will write and direct the adaptation of Maaza Mengiste’s historical fiction novel The Shadow King for Wonder Woman 1984 producer Atlas Entertainment.
The story takes place in 1935 as Mussolini’s army invades Ethiopia expecting an easy victory. Aster, the wife of a commander in Haile Selassie’s overwhelmed army, and her household servant Hirut rally their fellow Ethiopian women and rise up against the invading Italian forces.
Charles Roven and Richard Suckle are producing, and. Stephanie Haymes-Roven and Curt Kanemoto will oversee the...
Harriet director Kasi Lemmons will write and direct the adaptation of Maaza Mengiste’s historical fiction novel The Shadow King for Wonder Woman 1984 producer Atlas Entertainment.
The story takes place in 1935 as Mussolini’s army invades Ethiopia expecting an easy victory. Aster, the wife of a commander in Haile Selassie’s overwhelmed army, and her household servant Hirut rally their fellow Ethiopian women and rise up against the invading Italian forces.
Charles Roven and Richard Suckle are producing, and. Stephanie Haymes-Roven and Curt Kanemoto will oversee the...
- 4/16/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Kasi Lemmons will adapt and direct Maaza Mengiste’s historical fiction novel The Shadow King about the Ethiopian women soldiers, left out of the historical record, who went to battle against Mussolini’s invading army in 1935 Ethiopia. Atlas Entertainment is producing.
The novel follows, Aster, the wife of a commander in Haile Selassie’s overwhelmed army, and her household servant Hirut, who long to do more than care for the wounded and bury the dead. Together they offer a plan to maintain morale among Ethiopians, eventually becoming warriors and inspiring other women to take up arms against the Italians.
More from DeadlineAtlas Entertainment Launches Atlas Literary With Acquisition of HertzbergMediaGolden Globes Red Carpet: Lulu Wang, Lorene Scafaria, Kasi Lemmons And More Talk Lack Of Women And People Of Color As NomineesFocus Features' 'Harriet' & 'Dark Waters' Put Spotlight On Struggles Of Real-Life Heroes - The Contenders NY
Published in September 2019 by W.
The novel follows, Aster, the wife of a commander in Haile Selassie’s overwhelmed army, and her household servant Hirut, who long to do more than care for the wounded and bury the dead. Together they offer a plan to maintain morale among Ethiopians, eventually becoming warriors and inspiring other women to take up arms against the Italians.
More from DeadlineAtlas Entertainment Launches Atlas Literary With Acquisition of HertzbergMediaGolden Globes Red Carpet: Lulu Wang, Lorene Scafaria, Kasi Lemmons And More Talk Lack Of Women And People Of Color As NomineesFocus Features' 'Harriet' & 'Dark Waters' Put Spotlight On Struggles Of Real-Life Heroes - The Contenders NY
Published in September 2019 by W.
- 4/16/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Torun, Poland – While Gideon Raff’s Netflix thriller “The Red Sea Diving Resort” shot largely in South Africa and Namibia, the project was a welcomed opportunity for cinematographer Roberto Schaefer due to his own memorable travels through Ethiopia. The film, which screened in the EnergaCamerimage Intl. Film Festival’s Contemporary World Cinema section, is loosely based on an operation by the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, to evacuate Jewish Ethiopian refugees to Israel in the 1980s using an abandoned seaside resort in Sudan. Chris Evans, Ben Kingsley, Michael Kenneth Williams and Greg Kinnear star. “Story-wise obviously it moved me very much,” Schaefer said, speaking at the film’s screening in Torun, Poland on Thursday. “I had sort of a personal connection to it because in 1972 I visited Ethiopia with my sister and my brother-in-law. We travelled around the whole country and we went to three different Falasha villages – Ethiopian Jews are Falashas.
- 11/16/2019
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Atlas Entertainment has acquired rights to Maaza Mengiste’s historical novel The Shadow King. Set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King revolves around the first real conflict of World War II, casting light on the women soldiers who’ve been left out of the historical record.
Producing at Atlas are Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Stephanie Haymes-Roven and Elise Swift.
Published on September 24 by W.W. Norton & Company, The Shadow King is set in 1935. Mussolini’s army invades Ethiopia and moves towards an easy victory. Aster, the wife of a commander in Haile Selassie’s overwhelmed army, and her household servant Hirut long to do more than only care for the wounded and bury the dead. Together, they offer a plan to maintain morale among Ethiopians, eventually becoming warriors and inspiring other women to take up arms against the Italians.
“Maaza Mengiste has written a brilliantly crafted character study in an epic,...
Producing at Atlas are Charles Roven, Richard Suckle, Stephanie Haymes-Roven and Elise Swift.
Published on September 24 by W.W. Norton & Company, The Shadow King is set in 1935. Mussolini’s army invades Ethiopia and moves towards an easy victory. Aster, the wife of a commander in Haile Selassie’s overwhelmed army, and her household servant Hirut long to do more than only care for the wounded and bury the dead. Together, they offer a plan to maintain morale among Ethiopians, eventually becoming warriors and inspiring other women to take up arms against the Italians.
“Maaza Mengiste has written a brilliantly crafted character study in an epic,...
- 10/21/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Kenyan filmmaker Ng’endo Mukii recently lamented what she observed as a shocking scarcity of contemporary African films in top film festival lineups, but the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival is a happy exception. This year, Tiff maintains its history of ensuring that African cinema is well represented among its selections with as many as 15 feature films representing the continent, compared to about six that tell specifically African-American stories. Ahead of Tiff’s September 6 kickoff, here are eight highlights that center on black lives.
“Sew the Winter to My Skin” (South Africa)
South African filmmaker Jahmil X.T. Qubeka returns with his third feature, which was also a 2017 Cannes L’Atelier selection. The film is inspired by the life and times of John Kepe, a Robin Hood-esque rebel who lived in a mountain cave while stealing from colonist white farmers to give to the indigenous poor, eluding capture for years...
“Sew the Winter to My Skin” (South Africa)
South African filmmaker Jahmil X.T. Qubeka returns with his third feature, which was also a 2017 Cannes L’Atelier selection. The film is inspired by the life and times of John Kepe, a Robin Hood-esque rebel who lived in a mountain cave while stealing from colonist white farmers to give to the indigenous poor, eluding capture for years...
- 9/5/2018
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Ethiopia, September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was ousted by a pro-communist military junta who then installed a totalitarian-style government run by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam. Communism was officially adopted, and as a result, the new regime gradually began to embrace anti-religious and… Continue Reading →...
- 2/23/2017
- by shadowandact
- ShadowAndAct
One of Bob Marley's BFFs is getting screwed out of money for 2 of the reggae star's iconic tracks ... according to the lawsuit he's filed to get cash for the heirs of rasta messiah Haile Selassie. Allan Cole is suing Island, Universal and Tuff Gong music over the copyright on "War" and "Natty Dread." Cole was a Jamaican soccer star who reportedly managed Bob briefly, and says he co-wrote the songs in the '70s.
- 9/15/2016
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
Ethiopia, September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was ousted by a pro-communist military junta who then installed a totalitarian-style government run by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam. Communism was officially adopted, and as a result, the new regime gradually began to embrace anti-religious and… Continue Reading →...
- 7/11/2016
- by Tambay Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Take a look at the roots of American campaign image consciousness, and the then-new techniques of cinéma vérité to bring a new 'reality' for film documentaries. Four groundbreaking films cover the Kennedy-Humphrey presidential primary, and put us in the Oval Office for a showdown against Alabama governor George Wallace. The Kennedy Films of Robert Drew & Associates Blu-ray Primary, Adventures on the New Frontier, Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment, Faces of November The Criterion Collection 808 1960 -1964 / B&W / 1:33 flat full frame / 53, 52, 53, 12 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 26, 2016 / 39.95 Starring John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, Robert Drew, Hubert H. Humphrey, McGeorge Bundy, John Kenneth Galbraith, Richard Goodwin, Albert Gore Sr., Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Pierre Salinger, Haile Selassie, John Steinbeck, George Wallace, Vivian Malone, Burke Marshall, Nicholas Katzenbach, John Dore, Jack Greenberg; Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy, Peter Lawford. Cinematography Richard Leacock, Albert Maysles, D.A. Pennebaker,...
- 4/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Tenor saxophonist Getachew Mekurya, one of the greatest musicians in the long and proud history of Ethiopian music, passed away today.
Boston-based bandleader Russ Gershon, with whose Either/Orchestra Mekurya played in the 21st century, wrote on Facebook, "By playing Shellella, an Ethiopian vocal war chant, on his tenor sax, he arrived at a sound that had something in common with Albert Ayler independently, half a world away, and several years earlier."
By age fourteen, Mekurya was already a professional musician, playing saxophone and clarinet in the Municipal Band of Addis Ababa, the capitol of Ethiopia. At twenty, he was in the house band at the Haile Selassie I Theatre, and at thirty joined the prestigious Police Band.
In 1970 Mekurya recorded Negus of Ethiopian Sax, the album that eventually made him internationally famous after it was reissued on CD in 2003 in Buda Musique's series Éthiopiques (as volume 14). His ululating sound...
Boston-based bandleader Russ Gershon, with whose Either/Orchestra Mekurya played in the 21st century, wrote on Facebook, "By playing Shellella, an Ethiopian vocal war chant, on his tenor sax, he arrived at a sound that had something in common with Albert Ayler independently, half a world away, and several years earlier."
By age fourteen, Mekurya was already a professional musician, playing saxophone and clarinet in the Municipal Band of Addis Ababa, the capitol of Ethiopia. At twenty, he was in the house band at the Haile Selassie I Theatre, and at thirty joined the prestigious Police Band.
In 1970 Mekurya recorded Negus of Ethiopian Sax, the album that eventually made him internationally famous after it was reissued on CD in 2003 in Buda Musique's series Éthiopiques (as volume 14). His ululating sound...
- 4/4/2016
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
A brief version of the story goes... Ethiopia, September 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie was ousted by a pro-communist military junta who then installed a totalitarian-style government run by Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam. Communism was officially adopted, and as a result, the new regime gradually began to embrace anti-religious and anti-Israeli stances, which meant hostility towards then Jews of Ethiopia (Beta Israel, also known as Ethiopian Jews). Concerned for the fate of the Ethiopian Jews, the Israeli government officially recognized the Beta Israel community as Jews in 1975, for the purpose of the "Law of Return" (essentially an act that grants Jews all over the...
- 9/16/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
South African film company DV8 Films will trace Nelson Mandela’s years as a guerrilla freedom fighter, in a new docu-drama titled Mandela's Gun. The film, which will feature both documentary and scripted elements, will include his military training in Morocco and Ethiopia, and the mystery of the pistol, said to have been a gift to Mandela from Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, which has been missing for 50 years, leading up to his arrest in 1962. John Irvin, who dramatised John le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, will be directing the film - a UK/South Africa production - with South African actor, Tumisho Masha, playing the role of...
- 11/12/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Director John Irvin, who dramatised John le Carré's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, will shed light on mystery of pistol in Mandela's Gun
His dramatisation of John le Carré's espionage thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy starring Alec Guinness remains a British television classic. More than three decades later, director John Irvin is attempting to chronicle another shadowy life story: Nelson Mandela's years as a guerrilla freedom fighter.
Irvin announced on Friday a drama-documentary that will contain fresh revelations about Mandela's "odyssey" across Africa, his military training and his readiness to kill defenders of South Africa's apartheid regime.
It will also aim to shed light on the mystery of a pistol, said to have been a gift to Mandela from Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, which has been missing for half a century.
The film, Mandela's Gun, is a joint UK-South African production and claims to be...
His dramatisation of John le Carré's espionage thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy starring Alec Guinness remains a British television classic. More than three decades later, director John Irvin is attempting to chronicle another shadowy life story: Nelson Mandela's years as a guerrilla freedom fighter.
Irvin announced on Friday a drama-documentary that will contain fresh revelations about Mandela's "odyssey" across Africa, his military training and his readiness to kill defenders of South Africa's apartheid regime.
It will also aim to shed light on the mystery of a pistol, said to have been a gift to Mandela from Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, which has been missing for half a century.
The film, Mandela's Gun, is a joint UK-South African production and claims to be...
- 11/2/2013
- by David Smith
- The Guardian - Film News
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Brooklyn native Tomás Doncker has returned with his latest release “Power of the Trinity… A Slight Return” ,a dedication to Ethiopia and its globally revered leader, Haile Selassie.
This is a beautiful example of how many different cultural strands can be woven together to produce something greater than the whole. Power of the Trinity features two generations of Ethiopian musicians in Selam Woldermarium and Gigi, as well as a number of other New York-based musicians, and blends together soulful pop with these Ethiopian traditions in a very natural way.
The most striking feature of Tomás Doncker’s music is just how unique it really is. Initially this review was hard to write as the reference points were thin on the ground and eventually the only way forward was to abandon what we thought we knew about Soul, American R&B, Fusion and Funk, and simply let the music speak for itself.
Brooklyn native Tomás Doncker has returned with his latest release “Power of the Trinity… A Slight Return” ,a dedication to Ethiopia and its globally revered leader, Haile Selassie.
This is a beautiful example of how many different cultural strands can be woven together to produce something greater than the whole. Power of the Trinity features two generations of Ethiopian musicians in Selam Woldermarium and Gigi, as well as a number of other New York-based musicians, and blends together soulful pop with these Ethiopian traditions in a very natural way.
The most striking feature of Tomás Doncker’s music is just how unique it really is. Initially this review was hard to write as the reference points were thin on the ground and eventually the only way forward was to abandon what we thought we knew about Soul, American R&B, Fusion and Funk, and simply let the music speak for itself.
- 10/10/2013
- by Mike Willoughby
- Obsessed with Film
Country, heartland, reefer anthems and music that 'sounds like you'd play it at a strip club' – there's nothing Eddie can't do
With no more Shrek sequels to spin out, it was perhaps inevitable that Eddie Murphy would return to music. Some people might consider this a cynical move, what with Eddie's film career not going so well of late. (His last film, 2012's A Thousand Words, was dubbed as possibly "the worst-reviewed film of all time".) But a quick glance through the madness of Murphy's back catalogue suggests we should celebrate instead – with Eddie you never know what might happen next.
Eddie certainly doesn't seem intent on returning to the trademark 80s pop-disco sound that gave us the Rick James-produced 1985 classic Party All the Time. When making a comeback, it's important to make a statement and Eddie has done just that by stealing his mate Snoop Lion's idea: he's gone reggae.
With no more Shrek sequels to spin out, it was perhaps inevitable that Eddie Murphy would return to music. Some people might consider this a cynical move, what with Eddie's film career not going so well of late. (His last film, 2012's A Thousand Words, was dubbed as possibly "the worst-reviewed film of all time".) But a quick glance through the madness of Murphy's back catalogue suggests we should celebrate instead – with Eddie you never know what might happen next.
Eddie certainly doesn't seem intent on returning to the trademark 80s pop-disco sound that gave us the Rick James-produced 1985 classic Party All the Time. When making a comeback, it's important to make a statement and Eddie has done just that by stealing his mate Snoop Lion's idea: he's gone reggae.
- 9/17/2013
- by Oscar Rickett
- The Guardian - Film News
Country, heartland, reefer anthems and music that 'sounds like you'd play it at a strip club' – there's nothing Eddie can't do
With no more Shrek sequels to spin out, it was perhaps inevitable that Eddie Murphy would return to music. Some people might consider this a cynical move, what with Eddie's film career not going so well of late. (His last film, 2012's A Thousand Words, was dubbed as possibly "the worst-reviewed film of all time".) But a quick glance through the madness of Murphy's back catalogue suggests we should celebrate instead – with Eddie you never know what might happen next.
Eddie certainly doesn't seem intent on returning to the trademark 80s pop-disco sound that gave us the Rick James-produced 1985 classic Party All the Time. When making a comeback, it's important to make a statement and Eddie has done just that by stealing his mate Snoop Lion's idea: he's gone reggae.
With no more Shrek sequels to spin out, it was perhaps inevitable that Eddie Murphy would return to music. Some people might consider this a cynical move, what with Eddie's film career not going so well of late. (His last film, 2012's A Thousand Words, was dubbed as possibly "the worst-reviewed film of all time".) But a quick glance through the madness of Murphy's back catalogue suggests we should celebrate instead – with Eddie you never know what might happen next.
Eddie certainly doesn't seem intent on returning to the trademark 80s pop-disco sound that gave us the Rick James-produced 1985 classic Party All the Time. When making a comeback, it's important to make a statement and Eddie has done just that by stealing his mate Snoop Lion's idea: he's gone reggae.
- 9/17/2013
- by Oscar Rickett
- The Guardian - Film News
Making its Caribbean premiere at this year's Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, which runs September 19 - October 2, the 2010 feature documentary The First Rasta is directed by Rastafarian scholar Helene Lee. First Rasta, the story of Leonard Percival Howell, considered by many as the founding father of Rastafarianism, is director Lee's feature film debut; she is also a journalist, author and translator. Here's the full synopsis: Long Before Bob Marley sang about the divinity of Haile Selassie and the sacredness of ganja, Leonard Percival Howell preached that heady gospel. This documentary tells the story of the man whom some claim as the founding father of...
- 9/4/2012
- by Vanessa Martinez
- ShadowAndAct
Kevin Macdonald's impressive portrait of Bob Marley offers a glimpse of an extraordinarily full yet oddly mysterious life
Kevin Macdonald's three fictional movies have taken him to Idi Amin's Uganda, Washington DC and the northern reaches of Roman Britain. They're all thrillers of various kinds, as are Touching the Void and One Day in September, the tightly focused, feature-length documentaries that preceded them. Touching the Void centres on a dangerous expedition by two British climbers in the Peruvian Andes in 1985 and uses interviews with the real participants and simulated scenes played by actors. One Day in September is about the massacre of Israeli athletes by Arab terrorists at the 1972 Olympics and, in addition to interviews and archive footage, employs computer graphics to explain the course of events.
His new film, a cinebiography of Bob Marley is a bigger, baggier and simpler thing. It's the story of a man...
Kevin Macdonald's three fictional movies have taken him to Idi Amin's Uganda, Washington DC and the northern reaches of Roman Britain. They're all thrillers of various kinds, as are Touching the Void and One Day in September, the tightly focused, feature-length documentaries that preceded them. Touching the Void centres on a dangerous expedition by two British climbers in the Peruvian Andes in 1985 and uses interviews with the real participants and simulated scenes played by actors. One Day in September is about the massacre of Israeli athletes by Arab terrorists at the 1972 Olympics and, in addition to interviews and archive footage, employs computer graphics to explain the course of events.
His new film, a cinebiography of Bob Marley is a bigger, baggier and simpler thing. It's the story of a man...
- 4/21/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Kevin Macdonald's Bob Marley biopic opens in cinemas this weekend - after receiving its premiere in Kingston, Jamaica, on Thursday night in front of thousands of locals and family members
For your run-of-the-mill movie premiere, a red carpet will suffice. But for the first public screening of "the definitive story" of the world's most famous Rastafarian – held in his home town of Kingston, Jamaica – it would surely only be appropriate to upgrade the flooring to red, gold and green.
The tri-coloured runway must have seemed a cute idea to the organisers of this huge open-air event, which took place on Thursday night in the city's Emancipation Park. Local media had been publicising the opening of British director Kevin Macdonald's Bob Marley biopic for weeks. With entrance free and open to all, a crowd of 4,000 had gathered, among them hundreds of Rastas. But the dreadlocracy took a dim view...
For your run-of-the-mill movie premiere, a red carpet will suffice. But for the first public screening of "the definitive story" of the world's most famous Rastafarian – held in his home town of Kingston, Jamaica – it would surely only be appropriate to upgrade the flooring to red, gold and green.
The tri-coloured runway must have seemed a cute idea to the organisers of this huge open-air event, which took place on Thursday night in the city's Emancipation Park. Local media had been publicising the opening of British director Kevin Macdonald's Bob Marley biopic for weeks. With entrance free and open to all, a crowd of 4,000 had gathered, among them hundreds of Rastas. But the dreadlocracy took a dim view...
- 4/20/2012
- by Kevin Macdonald
- The Guardian - Film News
Bob Marley emerges as an almost Napoleonic figure in Kevin Macdonald's passionate but partisan documentary
Directed by Kevin Macdonald, and – just as importantly – executive-produced by Ziggy Marley and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, this is a long and very enjoyable hagiography of Bob Marley: a languorously drawn-out act of homage to the adored Rastafarian star and musical hero.
It is a fundamentally respectful film. If any interviewee were to mention the possibility that Marley had nicked the Banana Splits TV theme tune for Buffalo Soldiers, then that interviewee would undoubtedly be taken out and savagely beaten, with the cameras rolling. As it happens, the subject doesn't come up. Macdonald's overwhelming warmth and passion suffuses the picture, and the testimony he gets from Marley's friends, family and fellow band members has pungency and insight. Macdonald gives a vivid picture of the man who rose from dirt-poor beginnings in...
Directed by Kevin Macdonald, and – just as importantly – executive-produced by Ziggy Marley and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, this is a long and very enjoyable hagiography of Bob Marley: a languorously drawn-out act of homage to the adored Rastafarian star and musical hero.
It is a fundamentally respectful film. If any interviewee were to mention the possibility that Marley had nicked the Banana Splits TV theme tune for Buffalo Soldiers, then that interviewee would undoubtedly be taken out and savagely beaten, with the cameras rolling. As it happens, the subject doesn't come up. Macdonald's overwhelming warmth and passion suffuses the picture, and the testimony he gets from Marley's friends, family and fellow band members has pungency and insight. Macdonald gives a vivid picture of the man who rose from dirt-poor beginnings in...
- 4/19/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Author and playwright best known for his literary drama Tom and Viv
Michael Hastings, who has died aged 74, shot to prominence in the first wave of new playwrights at the Royal Court in the 1950s. His best known play, Tom and Viv, about the difficult marriage of Ts Eliot and Vivienne Haigh-Wood, was presented there in 1984, by which time he was well established as a novelist, biographer and author of short stories. He was an unclassifiable writer, despite his sporadic allegiance over the years to the Royal Court. Much of his work is imbued with his experience of travelling in Spain, Kenya and Brazil. The fractured domestic relationships which he documented in Tom and Viv, and in his last West End play, Calico (2004), reflect his own difficult childhood and a lifetime interest in psychoanalysis.
Hastings was brought up by his mother, Marie, in a council flat in Brixton, south London.
Michael Hastings, who has died aged 74, shot to prominence in the first wave of new playwrights at the Royal Court in the 1950s. His best known play, Tom and Viv, about the difficult marriage of Ts Eliot and Vivienne Haigh-Wood, was presented there in 1984, by which time he was well established as a novelist, biographer and author of short stories. He was an unclassifiable writer, despite his sporadic allegiance over the years to the Royal Court. Much of his work is imbued with his experience of travelling in Spain, Kenya and Brazil. The fractured domestic relationships which he documented in Tom and Viv, and in his last West End play, Calico (2004), reflect his own difficult childhood and a lifetime interest in psychoanalysis.
Hastings was brought up by his mother, Marie, in a council flat in Brixton, south London.
- 12/1/2011
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Charismatic nightclub owner and subversive film director
In the years after the second world war, St-Germain-des-Prés, on the left bank of Paris, was a melting pot of intellectual and artistic life. One of the favourite hangouts for the existential and beatnik crowds was the basement nightclub La Rose Rouge in the Rue de Rennes. It was there that Juliette Gréco made her cabaret debut, and Les Frères Jacques performed their mixture of song, humour, dance and mime. Among the audiences were André Breton, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Prévert, Boris Vian and Miles Davis. Presiding over them all was the club's charismatic owner, Nikos Papatakis, who has died aged 92. He was also renowned for his distinctive contribution to the world of film.
Known as Nico to his friends, Papatakis, a self-styled subversive, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Greek parents. Aged 17, he joined Haile Selassie's army to fight against the...
In the years after the second world war, St-Germain-des-Prés, on the left bank of Paris, was a melting pot of intellectual and artistic life. One of the favourite hangouts for the existential and beatnik crowds was the basement nightclub La Rose Rouge in the Rue de Rennes. It was there that Juliette Gréco made her cabaret debut, and Les Frères Jacques performed their mixture of song, humour, dance and mime. Among the audiences were André Breton, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jacques Prévert, Boris Vian and Miles Davis. Presiding over them all was the club's charismatic owner, Nikos Papatakis, who has died aged 92. He was also renowned for his distinctive contribution to the world of film.
Known as Nico to his friends, Papatakis, a self-styled subversive, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Greek parents. Aged 17, he joined Haile Selassie's army to fight against the...
- 3/9/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Spring. It’s long overdue and so is spring fashion. While winter clothes inspired by trends of 2010 fall collections are still prevalent, stores are piling up with spring lines that were on runways during September. Two attention grabbing trends in women’s fashion this upcoming season are prints and turbans, empathised in hit 1988 comedy Coming to America (directed by John Landis).
U.S. Vogue currently features seven designers with their 2011 Spring/Summer Ready-to-Wear collections, referring to them as the “American All-Stars” of New York fashion in a spread entitled ‘Gangs of New York’. Rodarte, by Kate and Laura Mulleavey, who have made Vogue’s top ten season after season, are among the seven lines included. Photographed by Mario Testino and styled by fashion editor and creative director Grace Coddington, this spread (below) captured what was “distinctly American” about these collections.
Another American designer who featured prints – African prints to be...
U.S. Vogue currently features seven designers with their 2011 Spring/Summer Ready-to-Wear collections, referring to them as the “American All-Stars” of New York fashion in a spread entitled ‘Gangs of New York’. Rodarte, by Kate and Laura Mulleavey, who have made Vogue’s top ten season after season, are among the seven lines included. Photographed by Mario Testino and styled by fashion editor and creative director Grace Coddington, this spread (below) captured what was “distinctly American” about these collections.
Another American designer who featured prints – African prints to be...
- 2/17/2011
- by Chris Laverty
- Clothes on Film
I've only just now stumbled across the news that the "cinéaste provocateur," as Libération calls him, "friend of Genet, husband of Anouk Aimée, companion to Nico, cabaret owner and Cassavetes producer" Nikos Papatakis died on December 17 at the age of 92. Born in in Addis Ababa to a Greek father and an Abyssinian mother, he "was a soldier in Ethiopia before being forced into exile for having sided with the Emperor Haile Selassie. He fled first to Lebanon and Greece. In 1939, he moved to Paris," where he studied acting and circulated among the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre, André Breton, Jacques Prévert, Robert Desnos and Jean Vilar.
- 12/27/2010
- MUBI
Ethopian-born filmmaker Makadella Tadasse, granddaughter-in-law of the late emperor Haile Selassie, is developing a feature based on the life story of the legendary statesman and national hero. Tadasse is working with producer Don Grenough and Irish producer-writer Aaron Butler, according to an announcement Monday. The story is based on the personal journals of Tadasse's grandfather, Gen. Alemayu Goshu, and the memories of her father, Col. Afework Tadasse. Butler is penning the screenplay.
- 11/1/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Reggae legend Bob Marley's widow wants to exhume the late singer's remains in Jamaica and lay him to rest in Ethiopia, his "spiritual resting place". Rita Marley wants the reburial to take place as part of a month-long celebration of what would be Marley's 60th birthday next month. Marley died of cancer in 1981, aged 46, and was buried near his birthplace of St Ann, Jamaica. But Rita wants her husband to be buried in Shashere, south of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, where a large Rastafarian community has existed since they were given land there by the country's last emperor, Haile Selassie - who became the head of the Rastafarian movement. She claims she has the backing of the Ethiopian Government and church officials, and is carrying out Marley's own mission. Rita says, "We are working on bringing his remains to Ethiopia. It is part of Bob's own mission. Bob's whole life is about Africa, it is not about Jamaica. How can you give up a continent for an island? He has a right for his remains to be where he would love them to be. This was his mission. Ethiopia is his spiritual resting place. With the 60th anniversary this year, the impact is there and the time is right."...
- 1/13/2005
- WENN
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