The third installment of the Sands: International Film Festival of St Andrews has set its slate, and that will include director Steven Soderbergh engaging in a conversation with directors Anthony and Joe Russo. I will moderate that discussion, which will touch on the preposterously unlikely way that Soderbergh discovered and godfathered the career of the duo that directed Hollywood’s all-time highest grossing film, Avengers: Endgame. The festival runs next month from April 19-21.
Soderbergh’s own career took off with sex, lies, and videotape, the film that just celebrated 35 years since the filmmaker turned Sundance into a lucrative independent film hatchery. It went on to win the Palme d’Or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, followed by Soderbergh’s first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He has gone on to direct films as diverse as Traffic, for which he received the 2000 Academy Award for Directing—the...
Soderbergh’s own career took off with sex, lies, and videotape, the film that just celebrated 35 years since the filmmaker turned Sundance into a lucrative independent film hatchery. It went on to win the Palme d’Or at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, followed by Soderbergh’s first Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. He has gone on to direct films as diverse as Traffic, for which he received the 2000 Academy Award for Directing—the...
- 3/21/2024
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2023, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.
I love going to the movies every year, but I really loved going to the movies this year. I saw Knock at the Cabin in Providence, I saw May December in Tallinn. I saw Enys Men in a small theater at Village East where it felt like everyone in the audience turned against the film but me. Somehow I liked Equalizer 3 despite loathing the other two. The worst movie I saw in theaters was Fast X, which I watched on an edible that put me to sleep during a set piece. I missed out on seeing Magic Mike’s Last Dance with some friends who wound up running into Christopher Nolan going to see Skinamarink. I loved breaking Yom Kippur fast during The Beast (out next year—I...
I love going to the movies every year, but I really loved going to the movies this year. I saw Knock at the Cabin in Providence, I saw May December in Tallinn. I saw Enys Men in a small theater at Village East where it felt like everyone in the audience turned against the film but me. Somehow I liked Equalizer 3 despite loathing the other two. The worst movie I saw in theaters was Fast X, which I watched on an edible that put me to sleep during a set piece. I missed out on seeing Magic Mike’s Last Dance with some friends who wound up running into Christopher Nolan going to see Skinamarink. I loved breaking Yom Kippur fast during The Beast (out next year—I...
- 12/28/2023
- by Fran Hoepfner
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Steven Soderbergh has dedicated more than four decades to shaping his legacy in Hollywood as a director, cinematographer and producer. But instead of splurging on yachts or a home in the South of France, he is investing in the future of independent filmmaking by mentoring directors like Joe and Anthony Russo, Christopher Nolan and most recently Eddie Alcazar. He and Alcazar’s second collaboration (after 2018’s Perfect) is Divinity, which hits theaters nationwide Friday after debuting at the Sundance Film Festival.
The film, set in an otherworldly human existence on a barren planet, follows Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula), a scientist who has dedicated his life to the quest for immortality, slowly creating the building blocks of a groundbreaking serum known as “Divinity.” Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff), his son, now controls and manufactures his father’s once-benevolent dream. Society has been entirely perverted by the supremacy of the drug, whose...
The film, set in an otherworldly human existence on a barren planet, follows Sterling Pierce (Scott Bakula), a scientist who has dedicated his life to the quest for immortality, slowly creating the building blocks of a groundbreaking serum known as “Divinity.” Jaxxon Pierce (Stephen Dorff), his son, now controls and manufactures his father’s once-benevolent dream. Society has been entirely perverted by the supremacy of the drug, whose...
- 11/3/2023
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
You Hurt My Feelings.At a Friday-night showing of Nicole Holofcener’s latest film You Hurt My Feelings (2023), I noticed several people who had come with their moms. Holofcener makes great films to watch with your mom, if her definition of a great film is something that will make her laugh but won't treat her like an idiot. Holofcener’s stories are smart, funny and heartwarming, a little bit sad in the right places, sophisticated but palatable. Invariably, a great actress plays the lead—Catherine Keener, for the most part, though Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars both in Enough Said (2013) and You Hurt My Feelings. In the film, Beth (Louis-Dreyfus), a writer, overhears Don (Tobias Menzies) telling her brother-in-law that he doesn't like her latest novel. It hurts her feelings. She dry retches on the sidewalk, sobs to her sister, and swears she will never look at her husband the same way again.
- 10/3/2023
- MUBI
The 4K restoration and re-release of the comedy Party Girl brings Parker Posey to Back To One. Shortly after the success of that movie in 1995, she went on to star in so many independent films, like The Daytrippers, Clockwatchers, The House of Yes (not to mention a bunch of Hal Hartley and Christopher Guest classics), that she was dubbed “Queen of the Indies.” On this episode, she explains why that moniker was oddly detrimental to her career. She talks about recent experiences on the sets of Beau Is Afraid and The Staircase; the connection between actors and athletes; why, […]
The post “It’s a Difficult Sport”: Parker Posey first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “It’s a Difficult Sport”: Parker Posey first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/2/2023
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The 4K restoration and re-release of the comedy Party Girl brings Parker Posey to Back To One. Shortly after the success of that movie in 1995, she went on to star in so many independent films, like The Daytrippers, Clockwatchers, The House of Yes (not to mention a bunch of Hal Hartley and Christopher Guest classics), that she was dubbed “Queen of the Indies.” On this episode, she explains why that moniker was oddly detrimental to her career. She talks about recent experiences on the sets of Beau Is Afraid and The Staircase; the connection between actors and athletes; why, […]
The post “It’s a Difficult Sport”: Parker Posey first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “It’s a Difficult Sport”: Parker Posey first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/2/2023
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Carol Locatell, who had a memorable turn as the foulmouthed mother Ethel Hubbard in Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning and worked alongside Burt Reynolds in three films, has died. She was 82.
Locatell died April 11 at her home in Sherman Oaks after a long battle with cancer, her husband, songwriter and record producer Gregory Prestopino, told The Hollywood Reporter. They were together for 50 years.
Locatell moved from Los Angeles to New York in the mid-1980s to shake up her career, and from her first audition there she landed a part on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound, which premiered in 1986. She then appeared in The Shadow Box in 1994 and in The Rose Tattoo a year later.
She first met Reynolds when she auditioned for him for a role in Simon’s Chapter Two at his dinner theater in Jupiter, Florida. She worked with him in Paternity...
Locatell died April 11 at her home in Sherman Oaks after a long battle with cancer, her husband, songwriter and record producer Gregory Prestopino, told The Hollywood Reporter. They were together for 50 years.
Locatell moved from Los Angeles to New York in the mid-1980s to shake up her career, and from her first audition there she landed a part on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Broadway Bound, which premiered in 1986. She then appeared in The Shadow Box in 1994 and in The Rose Tattoo a year later.
She first met Reynolds when she auditioned for him for a role in Simon’s Chapter Two at his dinner theater in Jupiter, Florida. She worked with him in Paternity...
- 4/18/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Carol Locatell was born on December 13, 1940 – a date that happens to have been a Friday the 13th. So it seems very fitting that when she embarked on an acting career, her role in the 1985 slasher Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (watch it Here) would turn out to become the role she was best known for. Locatell delivered a hilarious performance in that film, making the foul-mouthed Ethel Hubbard someone fans have been having fun watching for nearly forty years now. Sadly, Locatell is no longer with us. She passed away recently at the age of 82. Ron Sloan, who played Ethel’s dimwitted son Junior in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, broke the news of her passing on social media last night.
Sloan wrote,
Dearest friends, fans, and Horror family,
With great sadness, it breaks my heart to announce that my Friday the 13th Part 5 Mom, (Ethel Hubbard) Carol Locatell has passed away.
Sloan wrote,
Dearest friends, fans, and Horror family,
With great sadness, it breaks my heart to announce that my Friday the 13th Part 5 Mom, (Ethel Hubbard) Carol Locatell has passed away.
- 4/18/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Known to horror fans for her role in Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Bloody Disgusting has learned the sad news this week that Carol Locatell has passed away at the age of 82.
Alongside Ron Sloan’s character Junior, Carol Locatell played Ethel (aka Ma) in the Friday the 13th franchise’s fifth installment back in 1985, delivering a scene-stealing performance that helped make her a fan favorite star on the horror convention circuit in recent years.
Sean Clark writes on Instagram, “Just got a call from Ron Sloan letting me know that our friend Carol Locatell who most of the fans know as Ethel aka Ma in Friday the 13th Part 5 A New Beginning has lost her battle with cancer. My heart goes out to her husband Greg and their entire family.
Clark’s tribute continues, “I had the great fortune of working with her for 15+ years and she was an amazing person.
Alongside Ron Sloan’s character Junior, Carol Locatell played Ethel (aka Ma) in the Friday the 13th franchise’s fifth installment back in 1985, delivering a scene-stealing performance that helped make her a fan favorite star on the horror convention circuit in recent years.
Sean Clark writes on Instagram, “Just got a call from Ron Sloan letting me know that our friend Carol Locatell who most of the fans know as Ethel aka Ma in Friday the 13th Part 5 A New Beginning has lost her battle with cancer. My heart goes out to her husband Greg and their entire family.
Clark’s tribute continues, “I had the great fortune of working with her for 15+ years and she was an amazing person.
- 4/18/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Who’s ready to party?
Parker Posey’s beloved 1995 coming-of-age comedy “Party Girl” celebrates a 4K restoration with a national tour to mark the 28th anniversary of the film. “Party Girl” kicks off in New York City at the IFC Center on April 28, followed by a live Q&a with lead star Posey. The film simultaneously debuts in Los Angeles at Glendale Laemmle Theatre and Landmark Westwood Theatre also on April 28, with a live Q&a with film director Daisy von Scherler Mayer.
In the classic film, a 20-something, irresponsible party girl is bailed out of jail by her librarian godmother. To repay the loan, she starts working at the library and gradually turns her life around.
“We made this movie for ‘the kids’ — as we called them — young people from small towns, who had big dreams, and who weren’t, for whatever reason, conforming to the status quo,” Posey shared with IndieWire.
Parker Posey’s beloved 1995 coming-of-age comedy “Party Girl” celebrates a 4K restoration with a national tour to mark the 28th anniversary of the film. “Party Girl” kicks off in New York City at the IFC Center on April 28, followed by a live Q&a with lead star Posey. The film simultaneously debuts in Los Angeles at Glendale Laemmle Theatre and Landmark Westwood Theatre also on April 28, with a live Q&a with film director Daisy von Scherler Mayer.
In the classic film, a 20-something, irresponsible party girl is bailed out of jail by her librarian godmother. To repay the loan, she starts working at the library and gradually turns her life around.
“We made this movie for ‘the kids’ — as we called them — young people from small towns, who had big dreams, and who weren’t, for whatever reason, conforming to the status quo,” Posey shared with IndieWire.
- 3/22/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Jon Hamm finally got the leading man role he deserved after Mad Men. It’s a shame it took seven years. Regardless, Confess, Fletch is an absolute treat. Directed by Greg Mottola and working from Gregory McDonald’s novel of the same name, Hamm plays Irwin M. Fletcher, who “used to be an investigative reporter of some repute.” Within the first few minutes, Fletch finds a dead body in the Boston townhouse he’s crashing at and is immediately considered the prime suspect by Sergeant Inspector “Slow-Mo” Monroe (Roy Wood Jr.). We learn the townhouse’s owner Owen Tasserly (John Behlmann) is somewhere in Europe and has an interest in fine art. Meanwhile, Fletch has been tasked with locating nine stolen paintings that belong to a kidnapped rich guy. He’s also dating the rich guy’s daughter (Lorenza Izzo) while being seduced by the rich guy’s wife (Marcia Gay Harden...
- 9/21/2022
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
The making of "Superbad" was a blessed event. Everything from the heartwarmingly puerile script by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg to the hiring of highly underrated indie filmmaker Greg Mottola, seemed to go just right. The high school comedy about two affable, yet far-from-popular best friends (Michael Cera and Jonah Hill) who scheme to deliver a bounty of liquor for a year-end, senior-year bash perfectly captures the uncertain yearning of that strange pre-college summer. The film has since earned its place in the teen comedy firmament alongside the sacred likes of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," "The Breakfast Club," and "Clueless."
While you can't ascribe the success of "Superbad" to one single factor, there are certain key elements that elevated the film to classic status. No disrespect to Emma Stone or the pitch-perfect soundtrack, but if we're going to spotlight one essential ingredient, we're slotting Christopher Mintz-Plasse's thunderbolt-of-overconfident-nerdery portrayal...
While you can't ascribe the success of "Superbad" to one single factor, there are certain key elements that elevated the film to classic status. No disrespect to Emma Stone or the pitch-perfect soundtrack, but if we're going to spotlight one essential ingredient, we're slotting Christopher Mintz-Plasse's thunderbolt-of-overconfident-nerdery portrayal...
- 8/17/2022
- by Jeremy Smith
- Slash Film
It is apropos that Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby is screening in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Discovery platform. It is a discovery, in every sense: the discovery of a new comic voice behind the camera, the discovery of a note-perfect star in lead actor Rachel Sennott, and the discovery of a viewing experience that is at once hilarious, awkward, uncomfortable, and unforgettable. Shiva Baby is a blast of energy and from its first moment to its last Seligman finds the right balance. There is genuine suspense, if not horror; the score, by Ariel Marx, could just as easily fit a summer camp slasher flick. But the greatest feeling for the audience––after discomfort––is excitement.
In Seligman’s adaptation of her short film of the same name, Sennott plays Danielle, a young Jewish woman and student at Columbia who is rudderless. As the film opens, she is sleeping...
In Seligman’s adaptation of her short film of the same name, Sennott plays Danielle, a young Jewish woman and student at Columbia who is rudderless. As the film opens, she is sleeping...
- 9/13/2020
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
Film editor Anne McCabe and director Marielle Heller “both felt we needed to be incredibly respectful of the real Mister Rogers” when making “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” That courtesy extended to “the people who were involved with” Rogers’s long-running children’s series since “a lot of them were involved in the movie as well.” Watch our exclusive video interview with McCabe above.
The TriStar release is not your typical biographical drama. Instead it’s about the friendship between the beloved Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) and Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), a fictionalized version of real-life journalist Tom Junod, who profiled him in 1998 for Esquire magazine. Early on in the movie Lloyd’s wife, Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson), begs him not to ruin her childhood by taking down her idol, and McCabe “felt that pressure” as well.
See Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue Interview: ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...
The TriStar release is not your typical biographical drama. Instead it’s about the friendship between the beloved Fred Rogers (Tom Hanks) and Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), a fictionalized version of real-life journalist Tom Junod, who profiled him in 1998 for Esquire magazine. Early on in the movie Lloyd’s wife, Andrea (Susan Kelechi Watson), begs him not to ruin her childhood by taking down her idol, and McCabe “felt that pressure” as well.
See Noah Harpster and Micah Fitzerman-Blue Interview: ‘A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...
- 12/17/2019
- by Zach Laws
- Gold Derby
It’s three decades ago that Steven Soderbergh’s debut sex lies & videotape won the top Sundance Film Festival prize and turned the indie film into an industry after his $1 million film grossed $36 million for Miramax. He’s since generated Oscar winners and launched blockbuster franchises, but at heart has remained a maverick with innate curiosity and restlessness that led him to test every possible distribution model. And, retirement, briefly.
Soderbergh returned to Park City this year to accept the Icon Award from rival Slamdance, and launch his iPhone-shot Netflix film High Flying Bird there with his The Knick star Andre Holland. And oversee the Sundance launch of The Report, the true torture cover-up tale he produced that got a $14 million world rights deal from Amazon Studios. In a time of unparalleled chaos in the film industry, who better to tell us...
Soderbergh returned to Park City this year to accept the Icon Award from rival Slamdance, and launch his iPhone-shot Netflix film High Flying Bird there with his The Knick star Andre Holland. And oversee the Sundance launch of The Report, the true torture cover-up tale he produced that got a $14 million world rights deal from Amazon Studios. In a time of unparalleled chaos in the film industry, who better to tell us...
- 1/29/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Over the past quarter century, the Slamdance Film Festival has served as a launchpad for a number of now high profile filmmakers at the very start of their careers. Here is a baker’s dozen of some of the festival’s greatest discoveries.
Marc Forster
“Loungers”
Forster premiered his $10,000 debut in 1995 and grabbed the Audience Award, and has become one of the most versatile directors working, with other credits including “Monster’s Ball,” “Finding Neverland,” “Stay,” “The Kite Runner,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Quantum of Solace,” “World War Z” and “Christopher Robin.”
Rian Johnson
“Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!!”
Johnson’s irreverent short film played the festival in 1996, launching a career that has dabbled in artistic indies and big-budget franchise blockbusters (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”).
Greg Mottola
“The Daytrippers”
The writer-director’s 1996 feature debut was produced by Steven Soderbergh and got Mottola work on cult-classic television series “Undeclared,” “Arrested Development,...
Marc Forster
“Loungers”
Forster premiered his $10,000 debut in 1995 and grabbed the Audience Award, and has become one of the most versatile directors working, with other credits including “Monster’s Ball,” “Finding Neverland,” “Stay,” “The Kite Runner,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Quantum of Solace,” “World War Z” and “Christopher Robin.”
Rian Johnson
“Evil Demon Golfball from Hell!!!”
Johnson’s irreverent short film played the festival in 1996, launching a career that has dabbled in artistic indies and big-budget franchise blockbusters (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”).
Greg Mottola
“The Daytrippers”
The writer-director’s 1996 feature debut was produced by Steven Soderbergh and got Mottola work on cult-classic television series “Undeclared,” “Arrested Development,...
- 1/24/2019
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
The 25th anniversary edition of the Slamdance Film Festival kicks off Jan. 25-31 in Park City, Utah, with a line-up of world premieres, guest speakers and filmmaking seminars all geared toward fresh storytellers who are looking for their cinematic breakthroughs.
This year, further underscoring a desire for world cinema, there are 11 narrative and nine documentary features that will be showcased in competition, from Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Poland, South Africa and the U.K., alongside the U.S. All competition films are feature-length directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million, and lack American distribution.
Founded by current president Peter Baxter, as well as Jon Fitzgerald, Shane Kuhn, Dan Mirvish and Paul Rachman, Slamdance has screened more than 2,000 films over the years, with notable alumni including Christopher Nolan (whose 1999 drama “Following” debuted at the fest), Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity”), Bong Joon-ho (“Okja”), Lynn Shelton (“Outside In”), Ari Aster...
This year, further underscoring a desire for world cinema, there are 11 narrative and nine documentary features that will be showcased in competition, from Argentina, Belarus, Brazil, Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Poland, South Africa and the U.K., alongside the U.S. All competition films are feature-length directorial debuts with budgets of less than $1 million, and lack American distribution.
Founded by current president Peter Baxter, as well as Jon Fitzgerald, Shane Kuhn, Dan Mirvish and Paul Rachman, Slamdance has screened more than 2,000 films over the years, with notable alumni including Christopher Nolan (whose 1999 drama “Following” debuted at the fest), Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity”), Bong Joon-ho (“Okja”), Lynn Shelton (“Outside In”), Ari Aster...
- 1/24/2019
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
The following remembrance was written by Deborah Davis, Mark Urman’s wife.
From Anatole Litvak’s “Anastasia,” the first movie he saw as a child at a picture palace in the Bronx, to Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born” (his choice for this year’s Best Picture), Mark Urman was a man with a boundless passion for cinema. In the course of his nearly 50 years in film, Mark felt blessed to work with some of the greatest luminaries in the business, from Joseph Losey, David Lean, and Bernardo Bertolucci to Roman Polanski, Sydney Lumet, and Julian Schnabel.
He also delighted in encouraging talents as they emerged, including Ryan Gosling, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Lynette Howell, Jamie Patricof, Christian Bale, Liv Tyler, Marc Forster, Natasha Richardson, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Kevin Smith, Cary Fukunaga, Lee Daniels, and Bill Condon.
Mark was born in the Bronx on November 24, 1952, the...
From Anatole Litvak’s “Anastasia,” the first movie he saw as a child at a picture palace in the Bronx, to Bradley Cooper’s “A Star Is Born” (his choice for this year’s Best Picture), Mark Urman was a man with a boundless passion for cinema. In the course of his nearly 50 years in film, Mark felt blessed to work with some of the greatest luminaries in the business, from Joseph Losey, David Lean, and Bernardo Bertolucci to Roman Polanski, Sydney Lumet, and Julian Schnabel.
He also delighted in encouraging talents as they emerged, including Ryan Gosling, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Lynette Howell, Jamie Patricof, Christian Bale, Liv Tyler, Marc Forster, Natasha Richardson, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Kevin Smith, Cary Fukunaga, Lee Daniels, and Bill Condon.
Mark was born in the Bronx on November 24, 1952, the...
- 1/20/2019
- by Deborah Davis
- Indiewire
Rob Leane Kirsten Howard Mar 6, 2018
A reboot of Irwin Allen’s Lost In Space is coming to Netflix in April. Here's a new trailer...
We heard early on in 2017 that Netflix was working on a remake of Irwin Allen's 1965 cult classic family sci-fi series Lost In Space, and we later got confirmation that a full series of 10 episodes were on the way.
Here's the first full trailer for the series:
Before that was this little teaser trailer that also announces an April release date. You can watch it below...
Netflix's Lost In Space reboot will be skippered by Toby Stephens, who currently navigates the fleet of pirate vessels on the Starz series Black Sails as Captain Flint. Here's what Stephens had to say about the overall feel of the series last year...
"It’s a very clever, modern reworking of a great story. Lost In Space is Swiss Family Robinson in space,...
A reboot of Irwin Allen’s Lost In Space is coming to Netflix in April. Here's a new trailer...
We heard early on in 2017 that Netflix was working on a remake of Irwin Allen's 1965 cult classic family sci-fi series Lost In Space, and we later got confirmation that a full series of 10 episodes were on the way.
Here's the first full trailer for the series:
Before that was this little teaser trailer that also announces an April release date. You can watch it below...
Netflix's Lost In Space reboot will be skippered by Toby Stephens, who currently navigates the fleet of pirate vessels on the Starz series Black Sails as Captain Flint. Here's what Stephens had to say about the overall feel of the series last year...
"It’s a very clever, modern reworking of a great story. Lost In Space is Swiss Family Robinson in space,...
- 11/23/2015
- Den of Geek
Anne Meara, a four-time Emmy nominee who made up half of the '60s comedy duo Stiller and Meara, died on Saturday (May 23) at the age of 85. Born in Brooklyn in 1929, Meara married Jerry Stiller in 1954 and they performed together as part of The Compass Players, the Chicago-based improvisational comedy company that would evolve into The Second City. As Stiller and Meara, the couple turned details from their own relationship into a wildly successful comedy pairing that made them variety show, late night and game show favorites through the '60s and '70s. More than a few of their bits related to his Jewishness and her Irish Catholic upbringing, though she converted to Judaism in 1960. While Meara's 1975 CBS drama "Kate McShane" was short-lived, it earned her the first of her Emmy nominations, followed by nods for "Archie Bunker's Place" and a guest spot on "Homicide: Life on the Street.
- 5/24/2015
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
The end of 2014 is coming, and with it, the end of The Legend of Korra - and on this week’s episode of The Mid-Season Replacements, Randy and Sean try to prepare themselves for the end of Korra (along with figure out where the hell this season is going). In another week absent of any interesting, tangent-worthy news, the guys spend plenty of time talking about The Flash and Arrow mid-season finales, and then have a healthy discussion about their latest Six Degrees of Everything film, the Greg Mottola-directed The Daytrippers, starring Hope Davis, Parkey Posey, and a screen-stealing Liev Schreiber. Plus Sean talks about weather and Randy talks about his cat: what better way could we kick off the holiday season?
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The post The Mid-Season Replacements Episode 11 – A Pointer That Can’t Point...
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The post The Mid-Season Replacements Episode 11 – A Pointer That Can’t Point...
- 12/19/2014
- by Randy Dankievitch
- SoundOnSight
By Beanie Barnes
Data is a funny thing. It can, at once, confirm and discredit the exact same theory. For example, if a $500m film makes $100m at the box office on its opening weekend, it could mean that the film is a) a bust or b) gaining momentum. Such was the case with Avatar. By the end of 2009, several people were calling the film a “flop,” but by mid-2010, it was obvious that, of all the words to describe Avatar, “flop” was not one of them. And although the film has been hailed as a marketing and technological success, if it had failed, it very likely would have been called it a marketing and technological bomb (with marketing heads rolling at the studio).
Misreading data is prevalent in film. It isn’t so much that we misread the tea leaves, so much as it is that, rather than reading...
Data is a funny thing. It can, at once, confirm and discredit the exact same theory. For example, if a $500m film makes $100m at the box office on its opening weekend, it could mean that the film is a) a bust or b) gaining momentum. Such was the case with Avatar. By the end of 2009, several people were calling the film a “flop,” but by mid-2010, it was obvious that, of all the words to describe Avatar, “flop” was not one of them. And although the film has been hailed as a marketing and technological success, if it had failed, it very likely would have been called it a marketing and technological bomb (with marketing heads rolling at the studio).
Misreading data is prevalent in film. It isn’t so much that we misread the tea leaves, so much as it is that, rather than reading...
- 6/27/2014
- by Ted Hope
- Hope for Film
Director Greg Mottola made a minor splash on the 90s independent cinema scene with the film The Daytrippers in 1996. Mottola then did something rather unexpected, instead of riding the wave of this minor success into a breakout hit like Pulp Fiction or Memento he instead went straight into directing TV with credits on Arrested Development and Undeclared.
Whilst unexpected, this may have given him suitable grounding when it came time to directing a full on comedy feature. His second feature credit, Superbad was an American Pie level success for a new generation. It had the gross out comedy and dick jokes but also had a level of warmth and heart previously unseen in the genre for a while. It helped immensely that Superbad was based on real life hijinks that writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg had been through. Something about the situations and dialogue rang especially true. So it...
Whilst unexpected, this may have given him suitable grounding when it came time to directing a full on comedy feature. His second feature credit, Superbad was an American Pie level success for a new generation. It had the gross out comedy and dick jokes but also had a level of warmth and heart previously unseen in the genre for a while. It helped immensely that Superbad was based on real life hijinks that writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg had been through. Something about the situations and dialogue rang especially true. So it...
- 6/25/2013
- by Chris Holt
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Now "retired" filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has Oscars, a Palme d'Or and other accolades to his name. At a whirlwind pace, he directed 26 feature-length films in 24 years (not counting shorts and TV projects) mostly free of any signature filmmaking brand, omnivorously moving from style and genre to style and genre to keep things fresh. And while Soderbergh is well-celebrated for his contributions to cinema, one thing audiences tend to forget is his mentorship and how the "Side Effects" helmer got behind several filmmakers. He’s acted as producer for many filmmakers who were then on the rise, putting his name on “The Daytrippers” for Greg Mottola, Lodge Kerrigan’s “Keane,” Anthony and Joe Russo’s “Welcome To Collinwood” (and he recommended them to Marvel for “Captain America 2”). And he executive produced projects from friends and peers in order to help give the extra push to get them made with Lynne Ramsay...
- 4/9/2013
- by Rodrigo Perez
- The Playlist
Over the course of a career spanning more than two decades, casting director Sheila Jaffe has cast a variety of independent films, big-budget studio movies, cable television pilots, and even Broadway plays. Her credits include the HBO series "Entourage," "The Sopranos," and "How to Make It In America," along with more than 100 feature films, from "The Daytrippers" and "Basquiat" to "City Island" and "The Fighter."But this year gave Jaffe her first experience casting a network TV pilot, when she brought Dennis Quaid, Michael Chiklis, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Jason O'Mara together for CBS's "Untitled Ralph Lamb Project." A drama set in 1960s Las Vegas, the series is based on the true story of Ralph Lamb, a former cowboy who became a longtime Las Vegas sheriff and made enemies of the mob and Hells Angels. Jaffe says she was shocked at the frenetic pace of her first pilot season and the.
- 5/21/2012
- by help@backstage.com (Daniel Lehman)
- backstage.com
It may have taken nearly an entire year after his last film (Paul) hit theaters, but we finally have an update concerning Greg Mottola. During an interview with KidInTheFrontRow (via ThePlaylist), the helmer dropped this little tidbit about his cinematic future: “Campbell Scott and I– we’ve spent a million years working on it, but we wrote a script together that I may try to get made in the next year.” The actor previously collaborated with Mottola on The Daytrippers; screenwriting is new territory for him, however.
None of his comments past that point pertain to the film, plot, characters, setting, tone, and so forth, which makes that one sentence all we have right now. (I’m guessing a blend of comedy, drama, and nostalgia — which his movies are best known for — will manage to creep in. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.) Regardless, it’s a new Greg Mottola movie!
None of his comments past that point pertain to the film, plot, characters, setting, tone, and so forth, which makes that one sentence all we have right now. (I’m guessing a blend of comedy, drama, and nostalgia — which his movies are best known for — will manage to creep in. At least, that’s what I’m hoping for.) Regardless, it’s a new Greg Mottola movie!
- 3/15/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
If you feel like you haven't heard anything in a while from "Superbad," "Adventureland" and "Paul" director Greg Mottola, you have no need to worry. He's been very busy, working on the forthcoming Aaron Sorkin-scripted HBO show "The Newsroom."
To refresh your memory, the show features a ridiculously stacked cast -- Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Alison Pill, John Gallagher, Jr., Olivia Munn, Dev Patel, Thomas Sadoski and Sam Waterston -- in the story set in a cable news room, following the exploits of an anchor (Daniels), his new executive producer (Mortimer), his newsroom staff and their boss (Waterston) as they set out on a patriotic and quixotic mission to report the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles, and their own personal entanglements. It sounds fantastic. There was been little word on what his next feature film effort might be, but Mottola recently gave a little hint.
To refresh your memory, the show features a ridiculously stacked cast -- Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Alison Pill, John Gallagher, Jr., Olivia Munn, Dev Patel, Thomas Sadoski and Sam Waterston -- in the story set in a cable news room, following the exploits of an anchor (Daniels), his new executive producer (Mortimer), his newsroom staff and their boss (Waterston) as they set out on a patriotic and quixotic mission to report the news well in the face of corporate and commercial obstacles, and their own personal entanglements. It sounds fantastic. There was been little word on what his next feature film effort might be, but Mottola recently gave a little hint.
- 3/14/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Greg Mottola is set to direct Aaron Sorkin's HBO drama pilot set behind the scenes at a cable news show. The project, which recent Oscar winner Sorkin is executive producing with Scott Rudin, centers on news anchor Will McCallister, a role Jeff Daniels has been in negotiations to play, who has his own cable show; his female executive producer; and his staff. After making his feature directing debut with the 1996 indie The Daytrippers, which he also wrote, Mottola ventured into TV directing, working on such cult faves as Undeclared, Arrested Development and The Comeback. Mottola then switched back to features with the boxoffice hit Superbad and went on to direct Adventureland and, most recently, Paul.
- 3/29/2011
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
By Annlee Ellingson
(March 2011)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have become synonymous with comedy homages to classic genres, including zombie flicks (“Shaun of the Dead”) and buddy-cop actioners (“Hot Fuzz”). This time they team up with director Greg Mottola, helmer of indie dramedy “The Daytrippers,” raunchy adolescent laffer “Superbad” and angsty romance “Adventureland” as well as modern TV masterpiece “Arrested Development.”
With Pegg and Frost’s script, Mottola pays tribute to alien movies like “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” in “Paul,” in which Pegg and Frost star as British geeks on a tour of UFO hotspot in the American Southwest. Along the way, they pick up a bona fide extraterrestrial (voiced by Seth Rogen), and they hit the road in an Rv to deliver him to a pickup point to return him to his own kind. “As Simon puts it,” Mottola says, “‘Little Miss Sunshine’ with an alien instead of Alan Arkin.
(March 2011)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have become synonymous with comedy homages to classic genres, including zombie flicks (“Shaun of the Dead”) and buddy-cop actioners (“Hot Fuzz”). This time they team up with director Greg Mottola, helmer of indie dramedy “The Daytrippers,” raunchy adolescent laffer “Superbad” and angsty romance “Adventureland” as well as modern TV masterpiece “Arrested Development.”
With Pegg and Frost’s script, Mottola pays tribute to alien movies like “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” in “Paul,” in which Pegg and Frost star as British geeks on a tour of UFO hotspot in the American Southwest. Along the way, they pick up a bona fide extraterrestrial (voiced by Seth Rogen), and they hit the road in an Rv to deliver him to a pickup point to return him to his own kind. “As Simon puts it,” Mottola says, “‘Little Miss Sunshine’ with an alien instead of Alan Arkin.
- 3/18/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
By Annlee Ellingson
(March 2011)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have become synonymous with comedy homages to classic genres, including zombie flicks (“Shaun of the Dead”) and buddy-cop actioners (“Hot Fuzz”). This time they team up with director Greg Mottola, helmer of indie dramedy “The Daytrippers,” raunchy adolescent laffer “Superbad” and angsty romance “Adventureland” as well as modern TV masterpiece “Arrested Development.”
With Pegg and Frost’s script, Mottola pays tribute to alien movies like “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” in “Paul,” in which Pegg and Frost star as British geeks on a tour of UFO hotspot in the American Southwest. Along the way, they pick up a bona fide extraterrestrial (voiced by Seth Rogen), and they hit the road in an Rv to deliver him to a pickup point to return him to his own kind. “As Simon puts it,” Mottola says, “‘Little Miss Sunshine’ with an alien instead of Alan Arkin.
(March 2011)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have become synonymous with comedy homages to classic genres, including zombie flicks (“Shaun of the Dead”) and buddy-cop actioners (“Hot Fuzz”). This time they team up with director Greg Mottola, helmer of indie dramedy “The Daytrippers,” raunchy adolescent laffer “Superbad” and angsty romance “Adventureland” as well as modern TV masterpiece “Arrested Development.”
With Pegg and Frost’s script, Mottola pays tribute to alien movies like “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” in “Paul,” in which Pegg and Frost star as British geeks on a tour of UFO hotspot in the American Southwest. Along the way, they pick up a bona fide extraterrestrial (voiced by Seth Rogen), and they hit the road in an Rv to deliver him to a pickup point to return him to his own kind. “As Simon puts it,” Mottola says, “‘Little Miss Sunshine’ with an alien instead of Alan Arkin.
- 3/18/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
This Friday sees the Us release of Paul, the latest comedy from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
The sci-fi adventure - directed by Superbad's Greg Mottola - hit UK screens on February 14.
The film sees Pegg and Frost reunite as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America's UFO heartland.
While there, they accidentally meet an alien called Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever.
But how did it all come about? Here the cast and crew explain how their little green man first came to life...
The notoriously rainy English climate has spoiled picnics, caused plenty of traffic jams on British roads and wreaked havoc on the schedule of more than one film production.
One of the unexpected benefits of the inclement weather, however, is that it indirectly gave rise to the comedy-adventure Paul.
Dring the...
The sci-fi adventure - directed by Superbad's Greg Mottola - hit UK screens on February 14.
The film sees Pegg and Frost reunite as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America's UFO heartland.
While there, they accidentally meet an alien called Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever.
But how did it all come about? Here the cast and crew explain how their little green man first came to life...
The notoriously rainy English climate has spoiled picnics, caused plenty of traffic jams on British roads and wreaked havoc on the schedule of more than one film production.
One of the unexpected benefits of the inclement weather, however, is that it indirectly gave rise to the comedy-adventure Paul.
Dring the...
- 3/16/2011
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Writer-director Greg Mottola won himself a lot of fans with his smart, witty debut movie The Daytrippers, and then promptly disappeared from the indie scene for the best part of a decade, working in television while he tried to get his sophomore feature off the ground. In 2007, he returned to the big screen fray with Superbad, the Judd Apatow-produced teen comedy, which was a number one box office hit and made him a hot commodity once again. Going back to his indie roots, Mottola followed up the success of Superbad with Adventureland, a beautifully nuanced coming-of-age dramedy about a recent college graduate who gets a summer job working at a theme park.
Mottola’s work is always a potent mixture of the indie and the mainstream. In his career so far, he has alternated between self-penned, smaller scale indie movies with above average crossover potential and bigger budgeted commercial...
Mottola’s work is always a potent mixture of the indie and the mainstream. In his career so far, he has alternated between self-penned, smaller scale indie movies with above average crossover potential and bigger budgeted commercial...
- 3/12/2011
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Director Greg Mottola has a track record one can only describe as impeccable. After writing and directing his first feature The Daytrippers in 1996, Mottola helmed episodes of Undeclared and Arrested Development. Then, in 2007, he struck gold with a little film called Superbad, followed by the autobiographical Adventureland. March 18 will see the release of Paul, a sci-fi comedy starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Seth Rogen as the voice of a surprisingly laid-back extraterrestrial.
read more...
read more...
- 3/9/2011
- by Benny Gammerman
- Filmology
On a very cold day between Christmas and New Year 2010, I went up to snowy London to meet a man who had been working on the same project for the last 18 months. That project is hitting UK cinemas on Valentines Day (that’s next Monday for those not in the know), 14th February! The man in question is Greg Mottola who has previously directed movies, Superbad, Adventureland and TV series such as Arrested Development. Never before had Greg taken on a project like that of Paul where the title character would be completely CGI.
We were lucky enough to be one of only two blogs to get time with Greg during his very busy schedule to discuss this movie and I would like to thank him for his time.
Check out the interview below, click here to read our review of the movie, then here to see the World Premiere...
We were lucky enough to be one of only two blogs to get time with Greg during his very busy schedule to discuss this movie and I would like to thank him for his time.
Check out the interview below, click here to read our review of the movie, then here to see the World Premiere...
- 2/10/2011
- by David Sztypuljak
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
I love that a heated discussion over Titanic’s infamous Oscar sweep of 1998 has already begun over at Laurent’s excellent retrospective. I guess it’s just the nature of this particular film. There is something about Titanic that hits a raw nerve in people and they feel a need to defend/criticize it so passionately.
As it happens, I fall in the ‘unconditional love’ category and I’m not afraid to admit it. To this day I have a passion for Titanic, a film that so perfectly matches what a glorious, spellbinding, big spectacle romance against an historic backdrop should be, and those films are so rare, especially when they are made with such precise and meticulous detail from James Cameron.
We shouldn’t be embarrassed over how much we loved Titanic in the 90′s. We should embrace it. So as our third ‘Choose The Winners’ article, we are...
As it happens, I fall in the ‘unconditional love’ category and I’m not afraid to admit it. To this day I have a passion for Titanic, a film that so perfectly matches what a glorious, spellbinding, big spectacle romance against an historic backdrop should be, and those films are so rare, especially when they are made with such precise and meticulous detail from James Cameron.
We shouldn’t be embarrassed over how much we loved Titanic in the 90′s. We should embrace it. So as our third ‘Choose The Winners’ article, we are...
- 12/24/2010
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
Universal Pictures has released the first full length movie trailer for sci-fi adventure comedy Paul.
Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers, Superbad, Adventureland) directed the movie which follows two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51.
Paul stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who also wrote the script, and an alien voiced by Seth Rogen.
The film also co-stars Jane Lynch, Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Blythe Danner and Jeffrey Tambor.
Here’s the Paul official synopsis:
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite for the comedy adventure Paul as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America’s UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever.
For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. For reasons unknown,...
Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers, Superbad, Adventureland) directed the movie which follows two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51.
Paul stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who also wrote the script, and an alien voiced by Seth Rogen.
The film also co-stars Jane Lynch, Jason Bateman, Sigourney Weaver, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Blythe Danner and Jeffrey Tambor.
Here’s the Paul official synopsis:
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite for the comedy adventure Paul as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America’s UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever.
For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. For reasons unknown,...
- 12/18/2010
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
A new poster for Paul, which follows two British comic book geeks (Nick Frost, Simon Pegg) who pick up a real life alien on their road trip visiting famous alien landmarks across America, has come online.
Synopsis: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite for the comedy adventure Paul as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America’s UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever. For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. For reasons unknown, the space-travelling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town—a rented Rv containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Collings (Frost). Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap,...
Synopsis: Simon Pegg and Nick Frost reunite for the comedy adventure Paul as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America’s UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever. For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. For reasons unknown, the space-travelling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town—a rented Rv containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Collings (Frost). Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap,...
- 12/17/2010
- by Allan Ford
- Filmofilia
As the seventh and penultimate Harry Potter installment was breaking records for the series, producer David Heyman reflected on producing the mighty franchise. He talked to Anthony D'Alessandro: Most producers can only dream about churning out $24 million from 3,700 midnight showings or $61.15 million in one day. But that’s what Harry Potter producer David Heyman experiences every time he opens a new chapter in the $5.48 billion Harry Potter franchise: Breaking a new record. The opening day for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 set a record for the series, ranking the fifth best first day bow among all films. Once an indie producer on such offbeat Parker Posey comedies as 1996’s The Daytrippers, which launched director Greg Mottola (Superbad), Heyman’s producing career took ...
- 11/23/2010
- Thompson on Hollywood
Who's up for a close encounter? Yea, that's the tagline they're using for this. Empire debuted the first teaser poster for Greg Mottola's Paul, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as two comic geeks who befriend an alien named Paul voiced by Seth Rogen. We've seen a teaser trailer that I thought was hilarious, but others weren't too impressed. I'm expecting this to get some backlash for looking like everyone on it was made with 3D graphics. Plus, this just looks like Shaun of the Dead with an alien, which may or may not be a good way to sell it. I prefer this other banner much more. And sorry, but that Valentine's Day date is for the UK only! Two British comic book geeks (Frost & Pegg) traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51. Paul is directed by filmmaker Greg Mottola, of The Daytrippers, episodes of...
- 11/16/2010
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Is everyone finally ready to meet "Paul"? Universal has just debuted the first UK teaser trailer on MSN (via Pegg's Twitter) for Greg Mottola's Paul, the sci-fi comedy re-teaming of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. You may have heard about descriptions from Comic-Con, but now you get to actually see what Seth Rogen as a pot smoking little green alien looks like. This wacky sci-fi action(!) comedy is about these two British comic book geeks who, after a road trip to Comic-Con, come across this extraterrestrial who escaped from Area 51. This looks totally frickin' awesome, like maybe one of the best action-comedies of next year. Check this out! Watch the first UK teaser trailer for Greg Mottola's Paul (via Vlicious): Two British comic book geeks (Frost & Pegg) traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51. Paul is directed by filmmaker Greg Mottola, of The Daytrippers,...
- 10/18/2010
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Greg Mottola will write the adaptation of "Important Artifacts" for Paramount Pictures. Just over a year ago, Paramount won an auction for the rights to Leanne Shapton’s book called “Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry” which was published by Farrar Straus & Giroux. Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman quickly became attached to star in what will be made into a romantic comedy. Pitt and Portman are also producing via Plan B and Handsomecharlie Films. Shapton, an art director at the New York Times, created a fictional estate auction catalog which was full of personal items and photographs from the four-year-long romance between a younger food columnist and a male photographer. Mottola also helmed “Superbad” and “The Daytrippers" and is currently in post-production phase for “Paul." That comedy is stars and is written by Nick Frost and...
- 4/20/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Greg Mottola's Adventureland was one of the best films of 2009, and his first film, The Daytrippers, is another sweet and salty gem, sending a Long Island family (including Hope Davis and Parker Posey) in pursuit of a philandering husband.The Daytrippers Dir. Greg Mottola (1996) In order to truly understand Long Island, whose shores stretch from paragons of tackiness (the Amy Fisher case, Lindsay Lohan's public meltdown) to the snooty wonderland of the Hamptons, you probably have to consider the development of the American suburb. Suburbia first truly thrived in Long Island, and yet the cultural opportunities of New York City are just a day's reach away. That's the central motif and great divide explored in Greg Mottola's very funny debut film, The Daytrippers, which pivots on a secret love note that heretofore happily married Eliza (Hope Davis) finds one morning. Unfortunately, the...
- 12/11/2009
- by Tribeca Film
- Huffington Post
The Daytrippers Dir. Greg Mottola (1996) In order to truly understand Long Island, whose shores stretch from paragons of tackiness (the Amy Fisher case, Lindsay Lohan's public meltdown) to the snooty wonderland of the Hamptons, you probably have to consider the development of the American suburb. Suburbia first truly thrived in Long Island, and yet the cultural opportunities of New York City are just a day's reach away. That's the central motif and great divide explored in Greg Mottola's very funny debut film, The Daytrippers, which pivots on a secret love note that heretofore happily married Eliza (Hope Davis) finds one morning. Unfortunately, the note is meant for another. In shock, she and her family (including Anne Meara, Parker Posey doing her best 90s girl, and Liev Schreiber as her literary fiancee) head off in the family station wagon in order to find, and confront, the possibly philandering Louis...
- 12/10/2009
- TribecaFilm.com
Forgotten Films [1] is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. With the release of Greg Mottola's Adventureland on DVD this week, I thought I should finally get around to writing something about his very first feature film, the often overlooked The Daytrippers. When Adventureland hit theatres back in April, critics seemed very receptive to it, but a lot of moviegoers came away confused because they had been expecting another Superbad. To be fair, Superbad was Mottola's only well-known film, and the marketing for Adventureland did indeed play on that fact. But if you look at Greg Mottola's background as a filmmaker, you'll see that he isn't just another teen comedy guy. The reason why he fits so well within Judd Apatow's crew is because he favours relatable, character-driven films that have an emotional core.
- 8/26/2009
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
I’m not normally one for nostalgia, particularly when the sentimentality is packaged for consumption. So, as a child of the 80s, I was a bit wary of Adventureland, which sets its action in that most dubious decade. When 80s fashion and music recently got something of a second run, I recoiled as if somebody had put on a song from Poison and cranked the volume. One dose of Poison was enough, thank you.
Imagine my surprise, then, at feeling a deep, lasting nostalgia — bittersweet and vivid — that had me reminiscing about the good and bad times of my youth late into the night.
Writer/director Greg Mottola and his art & design team nail the period details; the high-waisted jeans and faded concert t-shirts, excessive lip gloss and hairspray, and use of long-gone phrases like "to the max!" all give the film an authentic air. More importantly, the music is just right.
Imagine my surprise, then, at feeling a deep, lasting nostalgia — bittersweet and vivid — that had me reminiscing about the good and bad times of my youth late into the night.
Writer/director Greg Mottola and his art & design team nail the period details; the high-waisted jeans and faded concert t-shirts, excessive lip gloss and hairspray, and use of long-gone phrases like "to the max!" all give the film an authentic air. More importantly, the music is just right.
- 5/1/2009
- CinemaSpy
By Erik Davis (original publication date: 1/20/09 -- Sundance Film Festival)
Adventureland is and isn't everything I expected it to be. First off, no matter what the trailer may show you, this is in no way Superbad, circa 1987 -- so get that out of your head now. Adventureland is, instead, a sometimes subtle dramedy that's more touchy-feely than it is funny. With more in common with writer-director Greg Mottola's The Daytrippers, Adventureland is a moody late-eighties time capsule whose parts explode on the screen and shoot out in several different directions before landing, together, in a pile of mixed emotions.
James (Jesse Eisenberg) is an inexperienced brainiac who's looking forward to spending his summer before college traveling through Europe. With the trip planned right down to the last penny, James is informed by his stiff parents that the nine hundred bucks he was supposed to receive as a graduation present...
Adventureland is and isn't everything I expected it to be. First off, no matter what the trailer may show you, this is in no way Superbad, circa 1987 -- so get that out of your head now. Adventureland is, instead, a sometimes subtle dramedy that's more touchy-feely than it is funny. With more in common with writer-director Greg Mottola's The Daytrippers, Adventureland is a moody late-eighties time capsule whose parts explode on the screen and shoot out in several different directions before landing, together, in a pile of mixed emotions.
James (Jesse Eisenberg) is an inexperienced brainiac who's looking forward to spending his summer before college traveling through Europe. With the trip planned right down to the last penny, James is informed by his stiff parents that the nine hundred bucks he was supposed to receive as a graduation present...
- 4/3/2009
- by Cinematical staff
- Cinematical
Most directors debut their deeply personal passion project before moving on to studio gigs, but indie helmer-turned-Apatow Buncher Greg Mottola (The Daytrippers, Superbad) flipped the script with Adventureland, his semi-autobiographical tale of love, angst, '80s pop and corndogs that opens nationwide this week. Adventureland follows recent college grad James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) -- an uptight, overeducated intellectual who reads poetry "for fun" -- who takes a job at a low-rent carnival one summer working with excitable bosses (SNL's Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig), unmotivated slackers (Martin Starr of Freaks and Geeks), a surly, punk-loving love interest (Twilight's Kristen Stewart), and...
- 4/1/2009
- Rotten Tomatoes
While going to Columbia University in the late '80s, writer/director Greg Mottola ("Superbad," "The Daytrippers") worked in a Long Island amusement park, the embarrassing experiences from which form the backdrop of his wonderful third feature "Adventureland." Jesse Eisenberg stars as James, a smart, neurotic college grad whose big plans to trek through Europe are squashed when his family suffers some economic duress (oh, it never ends!) just before the summer of 1987. Instead, the poor kid takes on the humiliation of the aforementioned job from Hell (here transplanted to Pennsylvania), where he runs game booths, avoids roller coaster vomit, tunes out the all-day loops of "Rock Me, Amadeus" on the loudspeakers and falls in love for the first time with arcade girl Kristen Stewart. It's a bittersweet coming-of-ager made all the more hilarious by a top-notch supporting cast that includes Martin Starr, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig and Ryan Reynolds.
- 4/1/2009
- by Aaron Hillis
- ifc.com
I remember when I first saw The Daytrippers. I hadn.t heard much about it, and I knew very little about the films director, Greg Motolla. But I loved the film, and when I saw Superbad, I was truly impressed with the man. With Adventureland, he brings some of the warmth he had with Daytrippers and mixes it with the humor of Superbad. The final product happens to be one of my favorite films so far this year (yeah, it.s early, I know). The film also co-stars the incredibly funny Martin...
- 4/1/2009
- by JimmyO
- JoBlo.com
Fact: the summer after you graduate college sucks. Even if you have grand plans - like a graduation trip through Europe - life, invariably, will come crashing down on those dreams. And that's where we begin with Adventureland. Loosely based on writer/director Greg Mottola's (The Daytrippers, Superbad) own life, the film opens with a freshly-minted college graduate, virginal James Brennan (played by Jesse Eisenberg), finding out that his graduation trip to Europe is canceled. His parents can't afford it. On top of that disappointment, if he wants to pay for grad school next year (at Columbia's Journalism School - kid has a bright moneymaking future ahead!), he's going to have to find a job and save some money while staying at home in suburban Pennsylvania. Typical for a kid who's just graduated college with a Rennaissance studies degree, the only place that will take him is the titular 'funtastic' amusement park,...
- 4/1/2009
- TribecaFilm.com
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