We Are Movie Geeks

SLIFF 2014 Review – MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS

MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS screens tonight Friday, November 14 at 7:00 at KDHX as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival

Get ticket information here

Even though MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS may sound like just your standard rock doc about indie darlings The National, the important aspect of this unique film is the man sitting in the director’s chair. Tom Berninger is the brother to singer Matt Berninger. Aside from serving as director and editor he also is one of the main characters in the film. His slacker, bumbling goof persona is as important to the film as the band in question – maybe even more so. MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS follows Tom as he attempts to make a film about his brother’s band while on tour through Europe and the US.

The relationship between the two brothers becomes an important aspect to the film. Certain moments give way to the feeling that Tom is trying to escape from his brother’s shadow while simultaneously vying for his attention. As the film begins we learn how often the band is always on tour and that Tom barely sees his brother anymore. Filming this doc is a way to connect with him, but it is through the film process that Tom learns that this might not be the best way to rebuild their relationship.

Tom’s filming constantly gets in the way of the tour manager and other members of the band and crew. He’s hired to be a roadie on the band’s tour and his responsibilities as a roadie often falls second to his film, causing tension among everyone. His amateur filmmaking process gets in the way and when he resorts to drinking as an escape from the ridicule, he is then criticized because he “just wants to have a good time.” The major riff of course is the one between Matt and Tom. Alcohol and Matt’s concern for Tom’s lack of responsibility and direction makes the film feel heavy and downright – the raw and emotional music of The National is a perfect fit for the proceedings.

Those looking for insight into the band and their relationships as musicians will be disappointed by the film. MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS is a film about a man trying to find himself. A story like this is relatable to most audiences regardless of their knowledge of the band. At a swift 75 minutes, MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS feels more like the “making of a documentary” than an actual feature documentary. The tortured life of an artist under pressure to succeed can be a messy and disjointed journey filled with moments of brilliance. You could say Tom’s film captures that feeling for better or for worse.

It’s an interesting experiment, especially considering the relationship between the brothers. Accepting the film for what it is and not what it could have been is important to consider, and in that regard, Tom Berninger may be strange, but this tragic portrait of his life makes him no longer a stranger to the band and its adoring fans. He’s now a part of the family.

King Baggot – The Story of the First ‘King of the Movies’ Begins in St. Louis

The King Baggot Tribute will take place Friday, November 14th at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium beginning at 7pm as part of this year’s ST. Louis Intenational FIlm Festival. The program will consist a rare 35mm screening of the 1913 epic IVANHOE starring King Baggot with live music accompaniment by the Rats and People Motion Picture Orchestra. IVANHOE will be followed by an illustrated lecture on the life and films of King Baggot presented by Tom Stockman, editor here at We Are Movie Geeks. After that will screen the influential silent western TUMBLEWEEDS (1925), considered to be one of King Baggot’s finest achievements as a director. TUMBLEWEEDS will feature live piano accompaniment by Matt Pace.

Here’s a comprehensive look at the life and career of King Baggot

Article by Tom Stockman

They gathered to see the stars at St. Louis Union Station on Saturday March 25^th 1910. President Taft had made a stop near the Twentieth Street entrance ten days earlier, but the crowd this day was much larger. Thousands, mostly excited women wearing ankle-length dresses and waving felt pennants lined up hoping for a glimpse, or perhaps the chance to touch the hand of the hometown hero soon to arrive by train. He and his travelling companion were stars of the silver screen, the first to have achieved the degree of popular fame hitherto reserved for the likes of Teddy Roosevelt or the occasional opera diva. The Union Station event was carefully orchestrated by the New York-based Independent Motion Pictures Company of America (IMP) studio. Invite the public to see a film star up close and personal. It was a concept dreamt up by IMP head Carl Laemmle as a venue to show off the first leading lady of the fledgling motion picture business. Florence Lawrence had beauty, grace, and Laemmle once famously assessed as ‘sensational bubbies’. No such publicity stunt had been devised for a movie star previously because the concept of a movie star had yet to be invented. But it wasn’t Ms Lawrence who was the subject of so much of the fan mail flooding the studio. It was her unbilled leading man.

The women of St. Louis and the rest of the country were curious about Ms Lawrence’s handsome costar – the tall, broad-shouldered fellow with the distinctive white streak through his dark hair and piercing eyes so blue that the orthochromatic film displayed them a striking ash grey. He had such magnetism and charisma and presence – but who was he? His name was King Baggot, and Laemmle hastily made arrangements for him to accompany Ms Lawrence to the St. Louis event, making the day something of a homecoming for the 30-year old actor. Buttons were plucked off their coats as souvenirs when they were swarmed by the crowd before scrambling into the back of a Packard Touring Car driven by Fred Wehrenberg, president of the locally-based Moving Picture Men’s Association. They then paraded the fifteen blocks down Market to the Grand Opera House Theater to speak and sign autographs before a showing of their newest one-reeler THE BROKEN OATH.

Florence Lawrence and King Baggot and Lawrence in THE MISER’S DAUGHTER (1909)

That Saturday in St. Louis over a century ago was historic. It marked the beginning of the star system as we know it today and King Baggot, then on the cusp of surpassing Ms Lawrence in popularity, would soon be crowned the first “King of the Movies”, the first publicized leading man in America, the first performer not already famous in another medium whose name and likeness were used in the publicity materials of a motion picture to sell tickets. And sell tickets he did. A movie star was what the public craved and this Irish boy from St. Louis was happy to fill the bill. King Baggot would enjoy unprecedented international mega-stardom, hyped as “The Most Photographed Man in the World” and “The Man Whose Face Is As Familiar As The Man In The Moon.” Yet today he is largely forgotten, even here in his home town. He’s the only actor from St. Louis with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but not on our local one. Lay the blame on lack of early film preservation. Most silent films are long gone – scrapped for their silver nitrate content, destroyed by fire, left to decompose, or simply abandoned by an industry so lacking in foresight that it neither knew nor cared about their own products value to the future. There is scant documentation of early film pioneers, nor were the first film actors even identified, therefore it’s difficult to ascertain exactly how many films King Baggot acted in. He likely appeared in over 300 films between his most active period of 1909 to 1916, mostly one-reelers (1000 feet of film running around 16 minutes). His was a career of firsts, a significant and seminal figure in early American silent film history. St. Louis should be proud of King Baggot, this native son who deserves a place in our local cinema arts history alongside Vincent Price, Betty Grable, Shelly Winters, and John Goodman.

The Baggot family home on Union Boulevard in St. Louis and CBC High School

In November 1879, when King was born to William and Harriet Baggot, St. Louis had transformed itself from a fur-trading riverboat town to a bustling metropolis, with a population second only to Chicago. William, an immigrant from Limerick, Ireland was employed as a sheriff with the St. Louis police department. After six more offspring, William switched to a career in real estate, doing well enough to purchase a substantial home in the 1400 block of Union Boulevard. Young King attended the St. Louis public schools until he was ten, then enrolled in Christian Brothers College (CBC), a fine Catholic institute of learning. All archives were lost when CBC burned to the ground in 1916, so there no way of knowing what kind of student King was, but it is known that he excelled in sports and was captain of his school’s soccer team. After graduation in 1895, King worked occasionally in his father’s real estate office on Chestnut street downtown and at one time was with the St. Louis Browns baseball organization in ticket sales. King continued to play soccer for CBC, even though he was not a student there and in 1900 he signed to play with The St. Louis Shamrocks, the first professional soccer team here. William hoped his oldest son would join him in the real estate biz, but King was a restless and creative youth, one soon to be tempted by a life on the stage.

Early theaters in St. Louis: The Garrick on 8^th Street, the Havlin on 3^rd and the Suburban Garden Theater in Wellston

St. Louis was a great place to pursue a theatrical career at the turn of the twentieth century. All the well-known national touring companies performed at the many theaters here: The Garrick on 8^th Street, the Havlin on 3^rd, the Olympic, The Imperial, The Grand, and the Suburban Garden Theater in Wellston. The stage is where King Baggot found his calling and he was soon touring the Midwest, performing in a variety of productions. When he made his way to Broadway in 1909, New York was the epicenter of the motion picture business. King jumped from the stage into the movies by joining IMP studios.

IMP Studio founder Carl Laemmle and what IMP’s outdoor studio looked like in 1909

For actors then, movies were considered a step down from the stage. Without sound, what were disdainfully known as ‘picture players’ were forced to gesticulate broadly and had to slather their skin with light blue pancake make-up so the primitive film stock used wouldn’t read them darkly. Stage theater managers, aware this new medium was cutting into their profits, threatened any actor who worked in film would never perform on stage again. Being uncredited not only shielded the actors reputations but producers, reluctant to bill ‘stars’ for fear they would want more money, were happy for them to remain anonymous.

King Baggot’s film debut was opposite Florence Lawrence in THE AWAKENING OF BESS. It was a success and Baggot and Lawrence would costar uncredited in several more one-reelers. Carl Laemmle knew movie patrons wanted to know more about the actors and he theorized a ‘movie star’ might attract crowds to theaters showing his pictures. With the St. Louis Union Station event, the era of the movie star had arrived – fate had made King Baggot the first publicized leading man in film. He became the above-the-credits star of comedies, dramas, thrillers, romances – usually playing the dashing hero who performs feats of derring-do and ends up with the love of a lady. When Florence Lawrence left IMP in 1911, Mark Pickford became his frequent leading lady. THE PENNILESS PRINCE, SWEET MEMORIES, THE TEMPTRESS, THE FAIR DENTIST – all popular King Baggot one-reelers. They’re all lost now but they packed movie houses a century ago. King was involved in all aspects of the filmmaking process, directing and writing many of these films. He played American cinema’s first recurring private eye in the ‘King the Detective’ series between 1911 and 1914, writing and directing himself as super-sleuth ‘King Baggot’ in KING THE DETECTIVE AND THE OPIUM SMUGGLERS, KING THE DETECTIVE IN THE MARINE MYSTERY, and more.

In July of 1912 King Baggot quietly married Ruth Constantine from Boston. With King’s persona as a matinee idol to millions of women, the marriage was kept mostly hush-hush and the spotlight was kept off her. Their son King Robert Baggot, arrived in 1914. East coast winters were hardly conducive to year-round filming, so in 1911 Laemmle made the move to the sunny climate of California where he would expand his film production and in 1912 co-founded Universal Pictures in Hollywood. IMP studios stayed in New York, their product released under the Universal umbrella as Universal/IMP productions. Considered the first Universal horror film, DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE had King Baggot in the dual role and is one of the few Baggot films extant (it can be viewed on Youtube HERE).

By 1913 Universal/IMP had its sights set on bigger and better things than the one and two-reel shorts that they had been grinding out. European studios were producing ambitious feature productions and Laemmle wanted to compete. The 1913 Universal/IMP film IVANHOE was the first example of an American studio sending a cast and crew to a remote venue to film on location. King Baggot, his wife Ruth, director Herbert Brenon, and leading lady Leah Baird travelled by ship the 3000 miles to Wales for filming at Chepstow Castle there atop cliffs overlooking the River Wye. IVANHOE was an epic three reeler with a cast of 50 horses and 500 extras. IVANHOE, filled with pageantry and excitement (prints exist!), was a global hit for Universal in 1913 and made King Baggot a world-wide star.

Director Herbert Brenon and on the set of IVANHOE (1913)

While in Europe, King Baggot and company produced more films to be marketed as “European IMP Features“. MR. AND MRS. INNOCENCE ABROAD was their first follow-up, a comedy filmed in Paris with Baggot and Baird as a couple who travel to Europe for the first time. Next was THE ANARCHIST with an otherwise all-French cast in the story of a bomb maker, and THE CHILD STEALERS OF PARIS told of a youth slavery ring.To prepare for his role in ABSINTHE, the final film made during this trip, King spent a week living in Paris observing the habits, mannerisms, and dress of absinthe drinkers. It was a box-office sensation.

When King Baggot returned from Europe, a hero’s welcome awaited him. Thousands lined the pier to cheer and a banner on a tugboat read “Welcome King Baggot – King of the Movies”. King Baggot founded the Screen Club, a prestigious social organization for film actors and personnel. The purpose of the Screen Club was to “unite, advance, and preserve the motion picture art and to raise the industry to the highest status of respectability and dignity and eliminate existing evils”. Tickets were sold to the club’s balls so that the public could interact with actual film stars, an impressive feat when one considers how disrespected actors were just a couple of years earlier.

King Baggot (center) as president of the Screen Club

It’s hard to overestimate how popular King Baggot was in 1913 to 1915. Not only did his face fill screens but his image was used in product advertising and graced covers of countless movie magazines, King Baggot cigars sold for ten cents, and ‘The King Baggot Rag’ was a popular tune.

SHADOWS and THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (both 1915)

He was at his artistic peak as well. King became enamored of double and triple exposure techniques that allowed him to play multiple parts in the same film at the same time. He played three characters in THE CORSICAN BROTHERS in 1914 and in the 1915 film SHADOWS, he played ten, including an old woman and a Chinaman. Like most silent stars then, King applied his own makeup and took pride in his ability to be unrecognizable.

THE EAGLE’S EYE and THE HAWK’S TRAIL – serials starring King Baggot

In 1916, Carl Laemmle shut down the East coast IMP facility and urged King Baggot to join him in California, to join the exploding film biz there. Whether it was Irish stubbornness or the realization that the ‘King of the Movies’ would never be ‘The King of Hollywood’, King initially refused to leave New York. The rise of the California studios marked the beginning of a new era in movies. Charlie Chaplin was already the rage and a galaxy of bigger stars – John Barrymore, Harold Lloyd, and Douglas Fairbanks – were about to come crashing down from the sky and take over the industry. King stayed East and worked for the Wharton Brothers, producers who starred him in the twenty-chapter serial The Eagle’s Eye as amateur detective Harrison Grant, who thwarted Germany’s attempts at espionage. This was a popular subject at the heart of U.S. involvement in the World War, and the first few chapters of The Eagles Eye were hits. But the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 struck and kept moviegoers out of theaters for much of the year, so after a brief, unsuccessful return to the stage, King Baggot finally gave in and moved his family to California.

THE CHEATER, THE FORBIDDEN THING, and THE TWENTIETH PIECE OF SILVER

King Baggot settled his family in the Hollywood Hotel and immediately landed the starring role in a serial for The American Film Company. The Hawk’s Trail was a 15-parter shot around downtown Los Angeles in which King played Sheldon Steele, a wealthy criminologist who solves crime as a hobby. Unlike almost all of the previous films King, The Hawk’s Trail survived and can be viewed at the Library of Congress in D.C. In 1919 King turned 40 and scored just a handful of leading roles in Hollywood. He starred opposite Mary Allison in THE CHEATER, Margareta Fischer in THE TWENTIETH PIECE OF SILVER, and Helen Jerome Eddy in THE FORBIDDEN THING, all in 1920. These films were just mild successes as a whole new crop of younger leading men had taken his place as the heroes and idols of the screen. Not only was King’s age catching up to him, but film acting in general was pulling away from the heightened melodramatic intensity that audiences had formerly embraced. By the onset of the roaring twenties, it appeared that King Baggot’s career was coming to a halt, but the luck of the Irish would hold for a little while longer.

King Baggot on the set of MOONLIGHT FOLLIES with Marie Provost in 1921

King Baggot had made a lot of money for IMP in the earlier days and his old boss Carl Laemmle, was known for his loyalty. Aware King had directed many of those early one-reelers he had starred in, Laemmle in 1921 gave him the opportunity to helm features for Universal. King’s first film as director was CHEATED LOVE starring actress Carmel Myers. It was a success and critics of the day noted King’s fine work. MOONLIGHT FOLLIES and NOBODY’S FOOL, both starring former Max Sennett bathing beauty Marie Provost were next. In less than a year, King had become securely established in his new career behind the camera with films like LURING LIPS, THE LAVENDER BATH LADY, and THE GAIETY GIRL securing his reputation as a dependable and skilled director of women’s pictures. In 1924 King teamed up with rugged British actor House Peters for more action-oriented fare. THE TORNADO, about a restless lumberjack and RAFFLES THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN, with Peters as a safecracker showed off King’s range as a director.

In 1925 TUMBLEWEEDS would become King Baggot’s greatest triumph as a director. William S. Hart, the first great star of the movie western, played Don Carver, a “tumbleweed” (drifter) who decides to settle down after falling in love with Molly (Barbara Bedford) but first joins the Cherokee Land Rush of 1889 Oklahoma where a large tract of land was thrown open to the public for the taking by the American government. The exciting action sequences in TUMBLEWEEDS, with hundreds of horses, wagons and riders tearing across the plain and Hart racing past them on his horse, are still thrilling and King used influential and dynamic cutting techniques to generate suspense. Visually, TUMBLEWEEDS is an enthralling film and it has become an influential Western classic. The direction by Baggot and camerawork by Joesph August are magnificent. Film historian Kevin Brownlow went so far as to call it “among the finest sequences of pure action in film history.”

King Baggot on the set of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA with The Marx Brothers

King Baggot directed few films after TUMBLEWEEDS, his last being ROMANCE OF A ROGUE in 1928, and he never made the transition to talkies. When he was 49 years old, the career of the man who had been Universal’s first star and a solid, proven director came to a halt. There was series of events around this point in Baggot’s life that may help explain his decline. King’s alcoholism was well-documented and out of control and Ruth, after 18 years of marriage, filed for divorce in 1930. It was the introduction of sound which, though it led to a boom in the motion picture industry, had an adverse effect on the employability of many Hollywood actors. Stars with heavy accents or otherwise discordant voices previously concealed were particularly at risk but King did not have that problem. Stage-trained, his speaking voice was strong and resonant, yet he could not find work as an actor or as a director. To make matters worse, he was arrested in June of 1930 for driving while drunk. He was fined $50 for the offense and the Los Angeles Times ran a story about the scandal. By the early ‘30s, the great depression had hit and millions were out of work, including King Baggot. After doing nothing for over a year, King went back to work as a character actor in bit parts. The first from this stage of his career was THE CZAR OF BROADWAY where King was listed sixth in the cast and given a few lines. Other small supporting roles were in ONCE A GENTLEMAN SWEEPSTAKES for RKO, and SCAREHEADS both in 1930. In 1932, Baggot landed his best speaking part in Monogram’s POLICE COURT, ironically the story of a once-famous screen actor caught in the downward spiral of alcoholism. King played a movie director. In 1933 King appeared in GIRL OF THE RIO, George Cukor’s WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD, and HELLO TROUBLE, speaking perhaps a line or two in each. He soon had to settle into a new career as a wordless ‘bit player’. He was a Satan worshipper in the Karloff-Lugosi vehicle THE BLACK CAT in 1934, a dignitary with the Marx Brothers in A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, and could be seen applauding in several audience scenes in the Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland musical BABES ON BROADWAY. This went on for another decade with his cameos becoming increasingly difficult to spot. He quickly walks by Lou Costello in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN HOLLYWOOD in 1946 and is barely there as a courtroom spectator in THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE in 1946. King Baggot’s face was no longer as familiar as the Man in the Moon.

On July 11^th 1948 King Baggot, after suffering a series of strokes, died alone and penniless in a sanitarium in Los Angeles. There were no tributes from his peers, no splashy funeral procession, no major headlines trumpeting his death. He was buried at Calgary Cemetery near Hollywood, interred with a flat stone that simply reads “King Baggot”. He had made his mark, but the one-time ‘King of the Movies’, the handsome Irish boy from St. Louis, left this world as insignificantly as he had entered it.

SLIFF 2014 Interview: Michael Bartlett – Director of TREEHOUSE

TREEHOUSE screens Sunday November 16th at 8:30pm at The Tivoli Theater (6350 Delmar Boulevard) as part of The ST. Louis International Film Festival. Tickets can be purchased HERE

Britsih-born director Michael Bartlett made a name for himself in horror circles with THE ZOMBIE DIARIES, its sequel, THE ZOMBIE DIARIES 2. and THE PARANORMAL DIARIES: CLOPHILL. His latest shocker is TREEHOUSE. When a young girl and her little brother are the latest to go missing without a trace, their hometown imposes a curfew, and no one is allowed to go out after dark. But two brothers break the rules, and when they unwittingly stumble across an old treehouse deep in the woods, they find themselves in the middle of an unimaginable nightmare. Inside the treehouse, the brothers discover the missing girl, terrified and hiding, but her brother has vanished. Together, the trio will soon face a fight for survival against an unexpected and bone-chilling evil. Shot in the backwoods of Southern Missouri, TREEHOUSE takes a deliberately retro approach — with pacing reminiscent of such ’80s classics as “The Vanishing” and “Stand by Me” — which is certain to delight fans of old-school suspense.

Michael Bartlett took the time to talk to We Are Movie Geeks about his latest project

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman November 4th, 2014

We Are Movie Geeks: How did a horror movie director from England and up in Branson Missouri?

Michael Bartlett: I met the love of my life and she is from here so I moved here to be with her.

WAMG: How did you become interested in horror films? Did you grow up a horror movie fan?

MB: I grew up with a neighbor named Kevin since I was about seven years old. His parents were yuppies and they would go out a lot and party. They would rent Kevin whatever movie he wanted to watch just to keep them happy. So my mom would let me go over to his house to watch these movies with him what she didn’t know was that we were getting the bloodiest horror movies the evil dead movies in the howling they had a name for these in England they were called the ‘Video Nasties’,they even tried to ban them at one point. So I kind of grew up on horror films. We would go to the local video store and rent every film that they had. Also in England at that time Hammer Horror films were on a lot every weekend they would run a different Hammer Horror.

WAMG: Were you able to see horror films in movie theaters growing up?

MB: No, just on DVD and VHS.

WAMG: What were some of your favorite horror films and hoarder filmmakers?

MB: My favorite horror film is THE EXORCIST though I didn’t actually see it until I was 16 years old and I already had seen so much stuff I had become desensitized. I was absolutely blown away by the exorcist. Another horror film that I love is John Carpenters the thing I just love the sense of paranoia and that especially near the very end of the movie. So those two films made a big impression on me. I also love the evil dead films. I also love the Blair witch Project and paranormal activity the first one, I was blown away by it the first time I saw it I watched it in a dark room on my computer. I also like a movie called THE DIVIDE.

WAMG: I’m not familiar with that film.

MB: It’s about a nuke that goes off New York and it follows a group of people Who are living in an apartment. And they hide out in a bunker and then they all start depleting because of radiation poisoning. It’s like a descent into madness, it’s really pretty terrifying. As far as filmmakers go, I would say that John Carpenter is my favorite because I love so many of his movies, even some that non-horror films like ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13.

WAMG: Let’s talk about your new film TREEHOUSE. How did the script for TREEHOUSE come about?

MB: It was originally a 60-page script that was sent to me by a writer in London, Alex Child. When I got around to optioning the film and developing it, I did a complete rewrite. I’d say everything from the beginning of the second act, when they discover the treehouse, to the end of the film is all mine and the first act I’d say it’s 50-50. I left much of his work in there, the basic structure, but I changed things here and there.

WAMG: I have not seen TREEHOUSE yet but plan on at the St. Louis International Film Festival. What attracted you to this story?

MB: When Alex was pitching it to me, What really made that stick out to me first of all, it was gripping, I was really interested in where it was going to go. And immediately from the pitch I could see the poster in my head and I could see a trailer in my head. When you can see those things, it’s a really good sign. And really because of the originality as well. So many times when you read a script you think you’ve seen some version of that film before. When I saw THE DIVIDE I was struck by how original it was and that’s how I felt about this script for TREEHOUSE, so originality is a big factor but ultimately it has to be something commercial or there’s no point in doing it, you’re just going to lose your investment.

WAMG: What was the budget and the schedule for TREEHOUSE?

MB: The budget started off at $1 million and then we tried to work it down from there, Meeting with investors, seeing how much money they have and then meeting somewhere in the middle. The schedule is interesting; it was a 19-day shoot originally. What I did to make it work, I had seen a movie called THE SIGNAL that came out in 2007 and I was very impressed when I found out that that movie was shot in 13 days. I thought that was amazing and I thought I’d better track down the Director of Photography of that film because he can obviously shoot fast. That’s what I needed and I still wanted to maintain quality. So I found him, his name was Jay Christopher Campbell and he came onboard and agreed that we could shoot it in 19 days. But what ended up happening was we all got a very bad flu bug. We lost our lead actor for three days and I was out for one day. When I was out the crew shot without me but I wasn’t happy with any of that so I reshot that. That was in January and February 2013, We had reshoots to do but we couldn’t do them in the summer so we had to wait until November to do those, so that added a couple of days as well. I shot a flashback scene in Atlanta. I flew down there and shot with an actor named Clint James who plays the father in the flashbacks that build the background of the story. So in the end, filming ended up taking about 30 days and that was because I really wanted to take my time and get everything right. I put two years of my life into this. My previous film was called ZOMBIE DIARIES 2 and it was a complete nightmare. It was a rushed movie. Rushed in preproduction, rushed in postproduction, with filmmakers having no control over anything and everybody who saw the film said to me that it felt like a rush job. I felt like ZOMBIE DIARIES 2 was a black mark on my directing career and I was very keen to make sure that didn’t happen again so I was lucky to have the level of control to be able to pull this thing out.

WAMG: Was TREEHOUSE shot there in southwest Missouri near Branson?

MB: Yes it was shot in Branson and it was shot in Taneyville where WINTER’S BONE was filmed as well, and in Forsyth Missouri.

WAMG: Where did you find these young actors that are in TREEHOUSE?

MB: I worked with a casting director named Heather Laird. She had to cast WINTER’S BONE so that’s where I had heard of her. Normally a casting director would whittle things down for you and give you a short list, but I was keen on doing a lot of that work myself so when actors applied they would give us head shots or videos and I would go through everyone of those. I went through 600 for the role of Crawfors and 600 for Elizabeth and 300 for Killian. I watched every one of them, then I shortlisted them down and we gave the actors scenes from the film to read. Finally I got each of these characters narrowed down to about three potential actors for each part. At that point I got the original writer involved because that was part of our deal; he would always be involved creatively through the process. I would still have the final say but that input was always valued. That was how we found the actors for Killian and Elizabeth. For the role of Crawford, who’s sort of the third lead, the older brother, we hired Daniel Frederick an actor from Kansas City who was originally from Southwest Missouri and just happen to be home for Christmas so we got lucky with that casting.

WAMG: TREEHOUSE doesn’t seem like it’s as gory as your zombie movies. Do you prefer suspense and atmosphere over gore, was this something you were conscious of?

MB: That’s correct, yes. I much prefer atmosphere and suspense. It was fun growing up watching all the gore films, but the things that I used to really enjoy, that would trigger my imagination were things like a television series that my parents used to let me watch called Tales of the Unexpected, which was sort of like a British version of The Twilight Zone. Then in my teenage years I would keep watching the same two movie that would play late at night. They were George Romero’s MARTIN and the original version of THE VANISHING. There was something about those two films that I found fascinating. The pacing of those films felt very immersive, like they were dragging you into a world where so much of the other stuff was so faster cut. So that’s why I’m more of a fan of suspense and TREEHOUSE definitely goes down more as a suspense film.

WAMG: I heard the director of THE VANISHING just died last week

MB: Oh I hadn’t heard that.

WAMG: Georgia Sluzier was his name. Did you ever see his Hollywood remake of THE VANISHING?

MB: I did, I wasn’t really a fan of it.

WAMG: It was ridiculous. He changed the ending. His original had such a perfect ending.

MB: Absolutely!

WAMG: Yeah and at the end of the remake he pops out of the grave and gets into a big fight with the villain. I was embarrassed for him. Do you allow your actors to have much leeway with their roles or are you strict with keeping to the script?

MB: No I’m pretty open. I think part of being a good director is knowing that you don’t always have all of the answers, particularly in this situation where we had a script that was written by three British guys that was set in Missouri. I think Alex and I took our cues from films like STAND BY ME. I had been living in Missouri for a while by then so I was used to the way people would speak, But occasionally things would slip in and people would tell me that there’s no way that anyone from this area would say that. So the actors would come up with ideas and change their lines around. They would always ask me first and I was absolutely fine with that. If it works it works and if it doesn’t, there’s always the script to fall back on.

WAMG: You’ve committed your career so far to horror films. Do you see yourself straying into other genres in the future?

MB: Absolutely. I tried to get a time travel film off the ground. Around 2010 everyone was trying to get me to do ZOMBIE DIARIES 2 but I didn’t really want to do it because I didn’t want to be typecast as someone who just made those found footage movies. I feel on some level those weren’t being taken seriously so I worked very hard and came really close to getting a big budget time travel film made. At one point the producers of THE GRAY were involved. I’ve always been the kind of director that makes movies because I want to tell interesting stories. TIMELESS, the time travel film, was such a special project . It was so original. Unfortunately LOOPER came out, which was kind of similar to it and that killed any opportunity to make that movie. We probably could have gone ahead after LOOPER if I had been willing to compromise, but with an idea like that you’ve only got one shot at it and you have to get it right and that means getting everything right, the story, the cast. I worried it would’ve been ZOMBIE DIARIES 2 all over again. You can’t spend your life making films and that you were not happy with. But any projects that come along, as long as they’re really cool and really interesting, and it’s something I can put my soul into and be happy with the end result, that’s all that matters really. I’d like to make a road trip movie someday. I like those. And maybe more thrillers I really liked PRISONERS and things like that. Any genre really as long as it has an interesting story.

WAMG: What’s next for Michael Bartlett?

MB: I’ve got a few projects in the works right now. I’ve got a group of writers working on different films for me. I’m going to the American Film Market next weekend to pitch a few of those. The Weinstein Company really likes TREEHOUSE but they didn’t feel like they could open it wide theatrically and make money with it. I’d like to make a film that has the success like the new movie OUIJA has.

WAMG: Good luck with TREEHOUSE. I’m looking forward to seeing it when it plays November 16^th at The St. Louis International Film Festival.

MB: Thank you and I look forward to my trip to St. Louis for the screening.

DUMB AND DUMBER TO – The Review

Do you have a “golden year”, the year where everything seemed to come together? Maybe you got the perfect job and met Ms. or Mr. Right all within just a few months. Well, for Mr. Jim Carrey a good case could be made for 1994. After putting in several years on TV (“The Duck Factory” “In Living Color”) along with sporadic screen roles (from THE DEAD POOL to ONCE BITTEN), his career went super-nova with the unexpected smash ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE in the first few months of that year. In the Summer it was another box office bonanza with THE MASK. But the icing on the cake may have been his holiday-time hit DUMB AND DUMBER. In the ensuing two decades, Jim’s had his highs and lows, even supporting up and coming new comedy flick stars like Steve Carrell in THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE last year. He’s also tackled some dramatic roles, like THE TRUMAN SHOW, while sidestepping most sequels to his earlier successes (he did revisit Ace, but passed on slipping on that mask again, much to Jamie Kennedy’s woe). But after much pleading he’s slapped on the bowl haircut wig, removed the front tooth cap, and become Lloyd Christmas once again for DUMB AND DUMBER TO (get it?). Beside reteaming with Jeff Daniels, Peter and Bobby, the Farrelly brothers are behind the camera for another spin (hey their career since the big splash 20 years ago has had a few peaks with more than a couple valleys). So will the big reunion strike comedy, and box office, gold? Leave your IQ at home and let’s hit the highway with Harry and Lloyd!

In the two decades since the last adventure it seems that Lloyd has vegged out. Oh, but it’s just a gag on ole’ Harry (Daniels). Now Harry drops a bomb on his pal: he needs a new kidney. After a quick trip to Harry’s parents home, who inform him that he’s adopted, they go through the mail that’s been piling up. There’s a 1992 postcard from old flame Fraida Felcher (Kathleen Turner) saying she’s ‘preggers’! The duo visit her and find out that she gave up the baby girl for adoption. Fraida’s tried to contact her (she located her new family), but the letter was returned with a note saying that she should not contact her again. But that won’t stop H and L, so they grab the envelope, borrow Fraida’s hearse and hit the road to Maryland. Soon the duo run afoul of a scheming wife, her handyman lover, his special ops twin, and a convention full of geniuses in El Paso. But can they locate the girl, Penny (Rachel Melvin) before Harry’s time runs out?

Carrey gives this return the “ole’ college try” bringing his usual manic energy to every line reading and gesture acting almost as a human defibrillator to the listless script. At least he’s still unpredictable and spirited. Daniel, who’s bounced between drama and comedy since his last turn as Harry (even picking up an Emmy for his lead role in “The Newsroom”), does his best to keep up with Carrey, but ends up resorting to “mooning” us in far too many scenes. The gifted Rob Riggle tries to inject some life into the proceedings with his arrogant, oafish twins. He always seems to brighten up any comedy, usually as the villain, so when’s his shot at a lead? As for the ladies, Laurie Holden, late of TV’s “The Walking Dead”, is given little to do other than slink as sneer as a 40’s film noir villainess parody with a thing for “little piggies” (really, that’s funny?). Melvin is an attractive daffy ditz who’s there mostly to mimic the film’s leads. The best sport may be Turner putting a middle-aged spin on her 80’s sexpot roles, her sultry Jessica Rabbit purr now a gutteral growl. The whole cast’s really doing their best to push this rickety vehicle up some steep hills.

And who’s responsible for those hills? Six writers!! Six to come up with this? And I was shocked that after 19 years, the best Steven, George, and company could come up with was INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL! This crew had one more year and delivered this dreck that just lurches from one set-up to the next, hoping for a big pay-off in laughs (sorry, “shrub club” don’t cut it!). There’s a huge over-reliance on bodily fluids, thinking that every gross-out ups the hilarity, literally every fluid (dog drool check! urine check!etc.). And while the boys had some kind of innocent, naive charm in the first outing, now they seem to delight in being gleefully cruel to everyone they meet. Oh, plus the sex jokes are particularly puriant especially with a senior citizen and Lloyd’s skeevy obsession with Harry’s “daughter”. The Farrelly boys appear to have been dozing at the wheel as the lifeless exercise lumbers towards the end of it’s very looong running time. A little editing would’ve been nice, certainly chopping out a reviled reality TV star’s cameo (hey, the scandal’s a month old, you had time to cut it!). You could feel the audience stiffen at her arrival on-screen. So,you fans got your wish. They got back together, but I’m highly doubtful the end results will please most. Harry and Lloyd may be dumber, and a lot older, but they sure aren’t funnier. As L might say, “Ah loathe it a LOT!”

1.5 out of 5

Kevin James Rides Again In PAUL BLART MALL COP 2 Trailer

Let the games begin. Here’s your first look at the brand new trailer for Sony Pictures’ PAUL BLART MALL COP 2.

In this sequel, in which Kevin James reprises the role of Paul Blart, the security guard is headed to Las Vegas to attend a Security Guard Expo with his teenage daughter Maya (Raini Rodriguez) before she departs for college. While at the convention, he inadvertently discovers a heist – and it’s up to Blart to apprehend the criminals.

The 2009 movie was a big box office success. Made for $26 million, PAUL BLART MALL COP saw a domestic gross of more than $146 million after it opened in the United States on January 16, 2009.

PAUL BLART MALL COP 2 is directed by Andy Fickman (THE GAME PLAN, PARENTAL GUIDANCE) and written by Kevin James & Nick Bakay.

Blart rides again when the film opens on April 17, 2015.

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Watch Jamie Dornan And Dakota Johnson In Spicy New Trailer For FIFTY SHADES OF GREY

Universal Pictures and Focus Features have released the seductive brand new trailer for FIFTY SHADES OF GREY – the hotly anticipated film adaptation of the bestselling book that has become a global phenomenon. The latest preview also features Beyonce’s single “Haunted.”

Since its release, the “Fifty Shades” trilogy has been translated into 51 languages worldwide and sold more than 100 million copies in e-book and print—making it one of the biggest and fastest-selling book series ever.

Stepping into the roles of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, who have become iconic to millions of readers, are Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.

Joining Dornan and Johnson in the cast are Luke Grimes as Elliot, Christian’s brother; Victor Rasuk as José, Anastasia’s close friend; Eloise Mumford as Kate, Anastasia’s best friend and roommate; Marcia Gay Harden as Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey, Christian’s mother; Rita Ora as Mia, Christian’s sister; Max Martini as Taylor, Christian’s bodyguard; Callum Keith Rennie as Ray, Anastasia’s stepfather; Jennifer Ehle as Carla, Anastasia’s mother; and Dylan Neal as Bob, Carla’s husband.

FIFITY SHADES OF GREY is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and produced by Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti alongside E L James, the creator of the series. The screenplay for the film is by Kelly Marcel.

http://www.fiftyshadesmovie.com/

AFI FEST Announces Jury and Audience Award Winners

AFI FEST 2014 presented by Audi today announced this year’s Jury and Audience Awards for features and short films included in the festivals New Auteur and Shorts programs. The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors and the Shorts selections represent diverse and varied international perspectives. Grand Jury Awards were presented to SELF MADE (BOREG), which received the New Auteurs Critics’ Award, and to THE TRIBE (PLEMYA), which received the VIZIO Visionary Special Jury Award. BUFFALO JUGGALOS by Scott Cummings received the Live Action Short Award, and YEARBOOK by Bernardo Britto received the Animated Short Award. Special Jury Award winners went to GÜEROS and VIOLET. RED ARMY, GÜEROS, 10,000 KM and THE MIDNIGHT SWIM received Audience Awards.

Select award-winning films will screen again today at the Chinese 6 Theatres. Admission is available to AFI FEST 2014 pass holders and the general public via the rush line, which begins forming one hour before each film’s scheduled screening start time. For screening times visit AFI.com/AFIFEST.

“The films in competition have screened at other festivals throughout the year and AFI FEST is the place where they are presented together in the context of showcasing bold, original and audacious auteur work from new filmmakers,” said Jacqueline Lyanga, Director of AFI FEST. “We hope the recognition from our jury of film critics will lead audiences to discover these films.”

NEW AUTEURS CRITICS’ AWARD

The New Auteurs section highlights first and second-time feature film directors from around the world. This year’s New Auteurs jury featured Alonso Duralde (The Wrap), Tim Grierson (Screen International), Eric Kohn (IndieWire) and Anne Thompson (Thompson on Hollywood).

New Auteurs Critics’ Award: SELF MADE (BOREG). DIR Shira Geffen. Israel

VIZIO Visionary Special Jury Award
Presented in recognition of the extraordinary visual storytelling in their film. The winner will receive the all-new VIZIO P-Series Ultra HD Smart TV and Sound Bar System.
THE TRIBE (PLEMYA). DIR Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy. Ukraine

“What a fantastic way to end the festival. We are thrilled that our audiences responded so strongly to the film line up,” said Lane Kneedler, Associate Director of Programming of AFI FEST. “I am also especially thrilled that our jury gravitated towards such bold and visionary filmmakers.”

GRAND JURY AWARDS, LIVE ACTION AND ANIMATED SHORT

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes AFI FEST Grand Jury Award winners in the Live Action and Animated Shorts categories as qualifiers for the annual Academy Awards Short Film category. The Shorts jury featured Kahlil Joseph (filmmaker), Sara Murphy (producer), Mike Ott (filmmaker), Matthew Takata (Sundance Institute) and Brian Udovich (producer) (AFI class of 2004).

Grand Jury Award for Live Action Short: BUFFALO JUGGALOS. DIR Scott Cummings. USA

Grand Jury Award for Animated Short: YEARBOOK DIR Bernardo Britto. USA

AUDIENCE AWARDS

World Cinema Audience Award: RED ARMY. DIR Gabe Polsky. USA, Russia

New Auteurs Audience Award: GÜEROS. DIR Alonso Ruizpalacios. Mexico

American Independents Audience Award: 10,000 KM. DIR Carlos Marques-Marcet. Spain, USA. (award accompanied by a $60,000 Panavision grant)

Breakthrough Audience Award (award accompanied by a $5,000 cash prize):
THE MIDNIGHT SWIM. DIR Sarah Adina Smith. USA.

The complete AFI FEST 2014 program included 120 films (75 features, 45 shorts), representing 39 countries.

The Opening Night Gala was the World Premiere of J.C. Chandor’s A MOST VIOLENT YEAR. The Closing Night Gala is Bennett Miller’s FOXCATCHER, which screens Thursday at the Dolby Theatre.

The many highlights of the festival included a special Tribute to Sophia Loren with a presentation of MARRIAGE ITALIAN STYLE (MATRINONIO ALL’ITALIANA); a Surprise Screening of AMERICAN SNIPER from director Clint Eastwood; a first look at SELMA featuring a conversation with producers Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner; director Ava DuVernay and actor David Oyelowo following a standing room only screening of the film in its entirety.

The fest also included The Hollywood Reporter’s Indie Contenders Roundtable moderated by columnist and blogger Scott Feinberg featuring panelists director/writer J.C. Chandor (A MOST VIOLENT YEAR); director/writer Damien Chazelle (WHIPLASH); actress Marion Cotillard (TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT); actor Jake Gyllenhaal (NIGHTCRAWLER); actor Bill Hader (THE SKELETON TWINS); actress Michelle Monaghan (FORT BLISS); actress Kristen Stewart (STILL ALICE); and actress Tilda Swinton (SNOWPIERCER); an engaging conversation On Acting with actors Michael Keaton and Edward Norton co-stars in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s current release, BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE); a Conversation on Cinematography with Roger Deakins (UNBROKEN, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, SKYFALL) legendary cinematographer and 11-time Oscarnominee, Deakins shared his wisdom and expertise in a discussion about the art of cinematography; a special presentation by Paul Thomas Anderson of the underground cult classic documentary MONDO HOLLYWOOD which was listed by the critically acclaimed director as a chief inspiration and influence on his latest film, INHERENT VICE, an AFI FEST Gala presentation; and the Los Angeles Times’ Young Hollywood Roundtable featuring Joey King (FARGO, TV Series), Logan Lerman (THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER), Jena Malone (THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY) and Jenny Slate (OBVIOUS CHILD) participated in a lively discussion with the Times’ Amy Kaufman on life in the industry and being thrust into the limelight.

Several international filmmakers and cast members were in attendance, including Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, the directors of Belgium’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (DEUX JOURS, UNE NUIT) with star Marion Cotillard; Xavier Dolan, the director of MOMMY, Canada’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission; Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, the directors of THE SALT OF THE EARTH; Bertrand Bonello, the director of France’s official Foreign Language Film Oscar submission SAINT LAURENT with star Gaspard Ulliel; Paolo Virzì, the director of HUMAN CAPITAL (IL CAPITALE UMANO); Italy’s official Foreign Language Film Oscarsubmission; Shlomi Elkabetz, the director of GETT, THE TRIAL OF VIVIANE AMSALEM, Israel’s official Foreign Language Film Oscarsubmission; Ukrainian director Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy, director of The Tribe (Pleyma), along with the film’s star Yana Novikova; director Shim Sung-bo, the director of Korea’s official Foreign Language Film Oscarsubmission HAEMOO, Andrey Zvyagintsev, the director of Russia’s official Foreign Language Film Oscarsubmission; Damián Szifrón, director of Argentina’s official Foreign Language Film Oscarsubmission WILD TALES; Viggo Mortensen, the star of JAUJA; Timothy Spall, who won the Best Actor award at Cannes for his performance in MR. TURNER; French director Mia Hansen-Løve with EDEN, along with cast member Félix De Givry, Abderrahmane Sissako, the director of TIMBUKTU, Mauritania’s official Foreign Language Film Oscarsubmission, Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement of WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS; Marc Zinga, star of Toronto’s Discovery Prize winner MAY ALLAH BLESS FRANCE! (QU’ALLAH BENISSE LA FRANCE!); and Karidja Touré, the star of GIRLHOOD (BANDE DE FILLES).

ROSEWATER – The Review

It’s hard to believe that two years have passed since the release of Ben Affleck’s ARGO, which went on to grab many Oscars, including Best Picture (over another true tale with similar themes, ZERO DARK THIRTY). Since then the Middle East continues to be the setting for many “ripped from the headlines” stories. Now comes another such film, but with several interesting twists. Once more we’re in Iran, part of the “axis of evil” trio named by a former president. But unlike those earlier films, it barely concerns “Westerners” with only a few Brits in small roles. The film’s lead is Iranian-born with nearly all of the action taking place there. As with Affleck helming ARGO, another high-profile American is behind the camera, but he doesn’t have a couple of features on his directing resume’.This movie making newcomer arrives right from the world of late-night comedy TV: Jon Stewart. Besides skewering the crisis in the mideast on most nights of basic cable’s “The Daily Show”, he’s got a true personal connection to this tale. That may be the reason he wrote the screenplay based on the book by the film’s protagonist (and Aimee Molloy), “Then They Came For Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity, and Survival”. That’s a bit of a mouthful for ads, and would overflow most theatre marquees, so the movie’s been given the deceptively genteel title of ROSEWATER.

Following the opening titles, we’re witness to the arrest of Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal) at the Tehran home of his widowed mother Moloojoon (Shohreh Aghdashloo). So what prompted this? We jump back a bit to 2009. London-based Newsweek magazine reporter Bahari is sent by his editor back to his homeland to cover the turbulent presidential election which pitted incumbent Mahmound Ahmadinejad and reformer Mir-Houssein Mousavi. After bidding his pregnant fiancée adieu, Bahari arrives to a land in turmoil. He’s surprised by the way many young people secretly use technology (illegal recorders and satellite dishes) to gather information and spread the news. On one afternoon, Bahari is interviewed by comedian Jason Jones for a segment of “The Daily Show”. When the election day vote count is questioned, protestors take the streets. Bahari is shocked as he video records many of them being arrested and even killed. As the book states, then they came for him. After combing through his Western media (books, DVDs, and CDs), all of which are declared “porn”, they whisk him to Evin Prison where his assigned a “specialist”, whom Bahari dubs “Rosewater” (Kim Bodnia) from the smell of his cologne, that interrogates and tortures him until he confesses to being an undercover spy for the US (they truly believe Jones is his CIA contact!). Bahari must summon every ounce of strength in order to resist cracking and retain his sanity as he hopes to be released.

Bernal projects quiet intelligence as the worldly, educated investigator who’s inexplicably plunged into a brutal, dark world without logic and reason. And, often hope, but Bahari clings to that lifeline, like a man adrift in a stormy sea. We get to see him in light, verbal jests with his co-workers in the UK, then shift gears once he returns to his often hostile homeland. Bernal shows us the sadness in Bahari’s eyes as he interviews contemporaries who have been swept to in blind zealotry, while later his heart is lightened by teens eager to connect with the outside world, many of them defiantly thumb their noses at the oppressive regime in charge. After his arrest, there’s the disorientation and anxiety as he endures “sessions” with the authorities. How does he answer them so they don’t respond with a blow or a bullet? Bodina, as his unpredictable inquisitor, seems from appearances to be a reasonable man. Dressed in a crisp, clean suit, he could easily be mistaken for a professor or a salesman. But he can be a berating, abusive monster at the drop of a hat, or a flippant answer. For one session he almost becomes the straight man as Bahari delivers a ludicrous, racy monologue that he hopes will keep the “specialist” placated. After a humiliating chat with his superiors, we realize that both men must get out of this prison. The always compelling Aghdashloo displays plenty of fire as the mother who refuses to flinch in the face of injustice.

Stewart directs with a confident, steady hand. Aside from an early sequence using store windows as screens for Bahari’s flashbacks to his family history, Stewart eschews showy filmmaking flourishes. He shows us the danger lurking around every corner as the election aftermath ratchets up the considerable tensions. That’s not to say that Stewart doesn’t give us a few laughs. The already mentioned sex confession and the media search provide some well-needed levity. This gives us a respite before we are trapped in that cold room along with Bahari. When he begins to converse with the spirits of his long gone family members, we worry about his sanity. Those sequences possess great dramatic power, but a sense of scope is often lost. We’re taken away from the big story of political and societal change in the country as the film becomes an intimate battle of wills. It’s a well-intentioned work that feels like a prestige TV film rather than a riveting, all-encompassing film experience. However, this is an impressive first work from the beloved comic observer. When he’s through with the anchor desk, he should have an equally impressive career behind the camera. ROSEWATER is a good first step toward that.

3.5 Out of 5

The Producers Guild of America Announces Date For 27th Annual Producers Guild Awards

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced Saturday, January 23, 2016 as the date for its 27th Annual Producers Guild Awards, which will be presented at the landmark Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles. The 2016 date marks the second consecutive year the Guild will have hosted the awards at the historic location, as the 26th Annual Producers Guild Awards are already set for early next year on January 24, 2015.

Last year 12 YEARS A SLAVE and GRAVITY took home top honors becoming the first ever tie in PGA history.

“Every year at the Producers Guild Awards, we strive to honor all of our industry’s hardworking producers and seat as many members and guests as possible. We are thrilled to establish a continuing relationship with the Century Plaza, which has the quality, services, facilities and most importantly — space — to accommodate our rapidly growing membership,” said Vance Van Petten, National Executive Director of the PGA.

“The Century Plaza has a rich history with Hollywood, and we look forward to creating even more Hollywood milestones together with the PGA and the Producers Guild Awards,” said Duane Mah, Director of Events at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.

One of the awards season’s marquee events, the Producers Guild Awards celebrates the finest producing work of the year, and gives the Guild an opportunity to honor some of the living legends who have shaped the profession. Considered a strong prognosticator for the Best Picture Oscar, the announcement of the Guild’s Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures is one of the most eagerly-anticipated of the season.

The list of recipients of honorary awards such as the Milestone Award, the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures and the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television and the Vanguard Award read like a roster of the industry’s biggest names, including icons such as Steven Spielberg, Jerry Bruckheimer, Brian Grazer, J.J. Abrams, Steven Bochco, Clint Eastwood, Sherry Lansing, Robert Evans, Roger Corman and Lorne Michaels, extending back to such legends as Alfred Hitchcock, Walt Disney, Billy Wilder and Louis B. Mayer.

Held in January, the Producers Guild Awards is a must-attend event for the industry, and represents a unique chance for PGA members to extend their network, support their Guild, and pay tribute to the best of their profession.

SLIFF 2014 Review – THE WINDING STREAM

THE WINDING STREAM screens as part of the 23rd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival on Saturday, November 15 at 5:30 PM at The Stage at KDHX. Get ticket information here

In the history of recorded American country music (or as they liked to call it then, “Old Time-y Music”) one of the pioneers was AP (Alvin Pleasant) Carter, who along with wife Sara and her sister Maybelle, were the original Carter Family. Beth Harrington’s fascinating documentary feature film traces their still ongoing legacy that began in the 1920’s in the back hills of Virgina. The film talks with many modern-day members of the clan who share their memories and take viewers to the often barely still-standing homestead where the music was created. We follow the trio to Bristol Virginia where several of AP’s tunes were committed to old 78 records which flew off store shelves. An early hit was Sara’s rendition of “Single Girl/Married Girl” a sisterhood anthem far ahead of its time. Their popularity exploded with the advent of unregulated (by the US FCC) border radio in the early thirties. The story of radio station XERA and its powerful signal that blanketed much of the States is a compelling tale worthy of another feature. We hear of AP’s constant travels in search of songs (often aided by African-American musician Lesley Riddle) and how lonely Sara fell for his cousin, nearly breaking up the act. Luckily Maybelle provided a second generation with daughters Anita, Helen, and June, who later married Johnny Cash beginning another generation of performers. Harrington makes excellent use of archival footage (Technicolor film footage along with TV kinescopes), family photos (Maybelle loved hippies!), and those scratchy, but still toe-tappin’ records. There are interviews why most of the principals (including great quotes from the late “Man in Black”) and new recreations of classic melodies by many contemporaries, from George Jones to Sheryl Crow. This is an overflowing treasure trove of entertainment, even some energetic ‘high-steppin'”.

Harrington keeps the movie flowing at a wonderful, brisk pace, knowing just when to cut away to another delightful piece of prized film or audio. The choice to animate some of the old photos almost distracts as they resemble Terry Gilliam’s Python clip art work, but thankfully it’s not overdone. This is a film to dazzle music fans and film goers, as several songs were featured predominately in the superb soundtrack for O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU. If THE WINDING STREAM doesn’t have you humming and swaying along to the beat, better have someone check your pulse. What a sweet slice of Americana!

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