Director Sebastián Silva is now known for Sundance award-winner “The Maid” and the recent Michael Cera film “Crystal Fairy,” but before establishing his lofty international reputation, he debuted with “Life Kills Me,” which the Global Lens series springs from the vault for a welcome reassessment. Life and death come wrapped in a mutual embrace, both absurd and poignant, in this smart comedy about an unlikely friendship between a grieving cinematographer and a morbidly obsessed drifter. At work on a seriously schlocky, low-budget horror film, Gaspar is still reeling from the untimely death of his beloved older brother when he meets Alvaro at yet another premature funeral. A mildly sociopathic young man with an unyielding curiosity for the dark side, Alvaro soon coaxes Gaspar out of his shell in unexpected ways. The savvy film site Twitch calls “Life Kills Me” the “film equivalent of a Smiths song: the chirpy, stylish exterior masking a melancholic core and a longing for something better.”
Robert Koehler at Variety says of LIFE KILLS ME:
“Diaz provides a fascinating central performance, maintaining a dry cool while registering as alternately on top of things or slightly dazed by forces he can’t quite grasp. His Gaspar proves crucial, since it could well be — and Silva’s half-surrealist style infers it–that much of what he’s perceiving is informed by his cinematic imagination.”
LIFE KILLS ME screens Friday November 15th at 1:45pm at Plaza Frontenac Theater as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival
Ric Esther Bienstock is an Award-winning Canadian filmmaker who has been producing and directing documentary films since 1990. She’s known for addressing social issues in her documentaries like SEX SLAVES, an investigation into the trafficking of women from former Soviet Bloc Countries into the global sex trade and EBOLA: INSIDE AN OUTBREAK which took viewers to ground zero of the Ebola outbreak in Zaire. She’s tackled lighter subjects in films such as such as PENN AND TELLER’S MAGIC AND MYSTERY TOUR.
Bienstock has garnered dozens of awards for her films including a U.S. Emmy for Outstanding Investigative Journalism, an Edward R. Murrow Award, an Alfred I. Dupont-Columbia Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, 2 Geminis, a Genie, a British Broadcast Award, a Royal Television Society Award, an Overseas Press Club of America Award, a Gracie Award, 2 Cine Golden Eagles, 2 Gold Hugos, a Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award from the IDA, 2 Hot Docs Awards, a Gold Worldmedia Award and a Cable Ace Award. She must have one crowded mantle!
Her newest film TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE – narrated by director David Cronenberg – takes viewers on a gritty and unflinching descent into the shadowy world of black-market organ trafficking: the street-level brokers, the rogue surgeons, the poor men and women who are willing to sacrifice a slice of their own bodies for a quick payday, and the desperate patients who face the agonizing choice of obeying the law or saving their lives. Thousands of organs are bought and sold every year on a black market that flourishes in dozens of countries where the rule of law is a hostage to the dollar sign. “Tales from the Organ Trade” – which moves from Manila to Istanbul, from Colorado to Kosovo, from Toronto to Tel Aviv – tells the story of the sellers of illegal organs and their often-conflicted First World buyers, exploring the legal, moral, and ethical issues involved in this complex life-and-death drama.
TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE will be playing at the St. Louis International Film Festival this Saturday, November 16th, at Washington University’s Brown Hall at 6:00pm. This is a free screening. Director Ric Esther Bienstock will be in attendance and will moderate a Q&A after the film along with Rebecca Dresser, professor of ethics in medicine at the Washington University School of Law.
More details can be found at Cinema St. Louis’ site HERE
Director Ric Esther Bienstock took time to answer some questions about her film for We Are Movie Geeks before his appearance in St. Louis.
Interview conducted by Tom Stockman November 14th, 2013
We Are Movie Geeks: Have you been to St. Louis before?
Ric Esther Bienstock: No I have not but I’m very excited about coming.
WAMG: How important that was to you when you tackled a subject matter like the one in TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE, black-market organ trafficking?
REB: The last film I did was about sex trafficking, which was a very different kind of subject. Black market organ trafficking is often talked about in the same vein but it is interesting in that it is generally populated by people who are law-abiding citizens. So while the trading and harvesting of human organs sounds so heinous, the people that perform the procedures are breaking the law, but they are trained anesthesiologists, surgeons, and doctors and I just thought it was an incredible black market trade that had a different texture than arms trading or sex trading, or drug trading and I was very curious to see how it transacted and how it would draw people who are generally law-abiding to do something like this.
WAMG: The black market organ trafficking is of course unregulated. What are the biggest dangers of buying or selling organs on the black market?
REB: There are lots of dangers. First off, it’s populated by brokers. You still have to find these donors if they want to sell their kidneys or whatever. It’s usually petty, grass roots, street-level brokers who are finding them for the doctors. There is no guarantee that you are being tested properly, there is no guarantee that the tissue matching is done perfectly, there is no safety net for the people who sell organs or for the recipients either. If something goes wrong, they don’t know who to turn to. In the film I went to the Philippines and you see these men with very big gashes down their sides and we don’t have to do the operations like that anymore, there are laparoscopic ways of doing this now. The black market is, by definition, bad and the only thing that really surprised me is that I totally understand someone desperately wanting to live. I can understand that. I for the people that are selling them, it’s not the worst thing in the world and I wasn’t expecting to feel that way. I met some people who were subsistence living, maybe earning just enough to some rice on the table and they’d never be able to save up for anything for the rest of their lives and one of these guys said to me that he’d sold his kidney and bought a house and some means of transportation for himself and this was a classic example of someone who was smart with his money, and obviously healthy enough to donate and I look at that and think that that’s not so bad.
WAMG: Did you talk to anyone who sold an organ against their will?
REB: No I did not but it does happen sometimes. Now I understand the rhetoric in the media when I read all the article and reports about this subject. I follow a story that involved a huge prosecution in Kosovo. There was a notorious international organ trafficking ring there a couple of years ago. If you look at the mainstream American press news article, they all characterize this as wealthy westerners harvesting the organs of the poor and the poor being coerced. I set out to track down all the players from one single operation in Kosovo, from the recipient to the surgeons, to the doctor to the donor. I went to eight countries. These people were scattered across the globe and I wanted to show what brought them all to this small clinic in Kosovo. I was surprised when I tracked down the donor, by getting her passport because her passport was evidence in this case. She was in Moldova and she was said she was paid what she was promised, she knew exactly what she was doing, yet the prosecution and the media characterized her as having been coerced. So I questioned the prosecutor on that and he said, and I’m I not defending the actions of the surgeons, but the donors are considered coerced by their own poverty meaning they’re poor so offering them money for their kidney is coercive so by definition trafficked because they’re doing something illegal. For me that’s a bit of a semantic game. All these apocryphal stories of forcing and trafficking, I would say the lion’s share of the black market organ trade sits in this space where people are living in abject poverty who are desperate and the recipients are desperate to live. I don’t think that we do the subject matter justice by painting it in black and white terms because then we’re not trying to solve the problem.
WAMG: The Kosovo case that you mentioned, is this where you interviewed Dr. Yusuf Sonmez?
REB: Yes
WAMG: How did you get him to talk to you? Was that easy?
REB: He’s been dubbed “Dr. Frankenstein” and “Dr. Vulture” by the media and he’s been arrested 16 times by Turkish authorities and is wanted by Interpol. I did actually get him to talk. I tracked him down in Turkey and it’s a very silly story, but of course when I convinced him to meet me for coffee, he did not want to be in the film. He saw no value ion being ion the film. The case was happening in Kosovo so Turkey would not extradite. That’s why he did not go to trial for this case and is still considered a fugitive.
WAMG: Is he still working?
REB: He is not working because, as he told me, it’s too dangerous if he gets caught. Many of these surgeons have a very good cover story. All who give away their kidneys sign a paper that says they are doing so for altruistic reasons. They have to. There’s a pretext to it being above board. I interviewed a guy in the United States, in Philadelphia, who sold his kidney on Craig’s List! He lied to the ethics committee in the hospital and said he was giving it away altruistically so I think it’s happening more than we think because people are desperate. There’s a real dire shortage of kidneys. Dr. Sonmez was interesting because when I met him, I expected it to be real clandestine but I met him for dinner and he was there with his father and mother and wife and children so it was a very uncomfortable dinner for me because I was trying to explain what I was doing with this film in front of his parents. He initially said that he would not talk to me and the next day we met for coffee and he agreed to do it. I asked him why he changed his mind and he said because his mother trusted me.
WAMG: Do you think he may have regretted talking to you?
REB: You have to see the film. I don’t think he regretted it. He was very disingenuous in the interview. There was really much value in meeting him. He’s a character, I felt that. But he basically said he just did the surgeries and he didn’t know what was happening. We know that that’s not true but it’s still interesting because he was a much respected surgeon in his country. So was the Israeli doctor I interviewed. These are people were at the top of the fields in their respective countries and of course they’re doing it for the money but I just ask myself if it’s only the money that they’re risking imprisonment for and their reputations are suffering for. I don’t have any answers in the film but I wanted to pose questions and take viewers through the same ethical journey that I did where I was starting to question my own ethical assumptions about this issue.
WAMG: How did you get narrator David Cronenberg involved in the project and had you been a fan of his films before this collaboration?
REB: We’re both Canadian and both live in Toronto so of course I’m aware of his work and I respect his work enormously. I needed narration in this film. It would have been very difficult to do without it, there was too much to explain. I didn’t want a classic, traditional narrator. That would have felt wrong. The film is a bit gritty and investigative. I want someone to help tell you what you need to know. I love Cronenberg’s voice. It’s not typically narrator-y. And the association with body horror and body discomfort just felt like a wink to the subject matter. I had finished the film when I contacted David Cronenberg and I knew the film that sat in a bit of a different place than a film that was about pure exploitation.
WAMG: TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE did play at Fantastic Fest in Austin, which is a horror movie festival. Did you think it would have played at a fest like that had Cronenberg not narrated it?
REB: I was unable to go to Fantastic Fest but we called them when they said they wanted the film and told them that this was a really serious documentary and they said that they were showing some documentaries and they really liked it. I suspect that if Cronenberg had not narrated it, they might not have thought of it. Having said that, the response we got at people at Fantastic Fest was fantastic!
WAMG: Yes, and I think because of Cronenberg, TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE may be exposed to a different audience than it might otherwise.
REB: Yes, of course Cronenberg is famous in that genre and I think that people that go to a Fantastic Fest might never watch a doc like this. It’s been very interesting.
WAMG: You’ll be speaking in St. Louis Saturday night after your film along with Rebecca Dresser, professor of ethics in medicine at the Washington University – have you worked with her before and what does she bring to the table?
REB: I have not met or worked with her before but I think working with someone who is an expert in ethics is the perfect person to talk with. I had a screening at Princeton and it was with an ethicist, the room was full of philosophers and ethicists, and because that’s where the debate sits, we had a good debate about whether we should regulate this and make it safe for everyone or whether, no, this is harvesting and it will always be the poor that sell their organs and we don’t want to condone that. People who work in ethics and bioethics can actually see the argument through, meaning if we do this, then what happens? It’s a lot fun having discussions after the film. Most people I’ve talked to, and I’ve been to many festivals now, really feel that the film has changed their views. Also it makes them feel uncomfortable which makes me feel like I’ve done my job!
WAMG: You’ve been making docs for over 20 years. Have you ever thought about moving into narrative features?
REB: People always assume that but I haven’t really. I love documentaries. If I wanted do narrative, I’d have to have a script, something that I’ve written myself, something that I’m passionate about and I guess I just haven’t found a feature story that’s been as exciting as the documentary subjects I keep finding.
WAMG: Tell me about your next project?
REB: Right now, I’m taking a breather. TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE took four years to film. I have two teenagers and I want to make sure they’re normal.
WAMG: Good luck with TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE and I hope you enjoy your visit to St. Louis this weekend.
Alice Eve does a complete reversal from her more glamorous roles in STAR TREK and MEN IN BLACK 3 to lead an excellent cast in the modern noir thriller COLD COMES THE NIGHT. Eve plays Chloe, a single mom trying to make a decent life by managing a run-down motel where she also lives with her young daughter. The place caters to prostitutes and low-lifes and is not the ideal environment for the child, but Chloe’s relationship with her daughter is a loving one, and she even tries to make their drab existence fun—by telling the girl she has more bathrooms than Windsor Castle. But when a social services agent tells her she has two weeks to move or risk losing her child to foster care, a new level of desperation creeps into Chloe’s reality. Then a double homicide occurs at her motel that begins a chain of increasingly violent events that Chloe must use her wits to navigate and survive.
COLD contains all the elements familiar to noir films, but director Tze Chun manages to sustain a high level of tension throughout. Shot in muted colors to emphasize not only the noirish quality but also the dreariness of life at the motel, the movie has a few surprises sprinkled along the way that never seem forced, letting the story unfold at a nice steady pace. The cast is all aces as well. Eve is wonderful portraying a lonely woman who’s had a rough deal, and sees a chance for a way out. Wearing very little makeup and formless neutral clothing, Eve engenders our sympathy immediately as the devoted mother. Her guile is matched by her frustration, and we are rooting for her every step of the way. Bryan Cranston (BREAKING BAD), displaying an impeccable Slavic accent, is also on hand as a Russian “courier” who is simply six feet of pure menace—but manages a spot or two of bleak humor. Logan Marshall Green (PROMETHEUS) is also outstanding as a crooked cop.
Though COLD COMES THE NIGHT may lack the cinematic flair and artistry of a Brian DePalma or Coen Brothers piece, it certainly delivers a suspenseful, nerve-tingling thriller full of fine performances.
COLD COMES THE NIGHT screens Friday November 15th at 9:30pm at The Tivoli Theater as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival
HOMEFRONT stars Jason Statham as former drug enforcement agent, Phil Broker, a family man who moves off the grid with his daughter, to a seemingly quiet bayou backwater to escape his troubled past. However, Broker’s world soon becomes anything but quiet once he discovers that an underbelly of drugs and violence riddles the small town. Soon, a sociopathic methamphetamine kingpin, Gator Bodine (James Franco) puts Broker and his daughter in harm’s way forcing Broker back into action in order to save his family and the town.
With the screenplay written by Sylvester Stallone, who first established worldwide recognition as a writer when his screenplay Rocky, won the Academy Award® in 1976 for Best Picture, Homefront is based on the book by Chuck Logan. The action-thriller is directed by Gary Fleder (Runaway Jury, Kiss the Girls) and produced by Stallone alongside Kevin King Templeton and John Thompson, with Trevor Short and Avi Lerner executive producing through Millennium Films.
Kate Bosworth, Winona Ryder, Frank Grillo and Izabela Vidovic also star.
HOMEFRONT will be in theaters Wednesday, November 27.
WAMG invites you to enter to win a pass to the advance screening of HOMEFRONT on Wednesday, November 20th.
Answer the following:
Name 3 Jason Statham films.
OFFICIAL RULES:
1. YOU MUST BE IN THE ST. LOUIS AREA THE DAY OF THE SCREENING.
2. ENTER YOUR NAME AND ANSWER IN OUR COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.
3. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.
HOMEFRONT is rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, drug content and brief sexuality.
Kevin Willmott is a professor of film at the University of Kansas and a filmmaker known for work focusing on black issues including writing and directing NINTH STREET, C.S.A.: THE CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA and THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN. His newest film, in which he costars, is called DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO.
DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO made its premiere last winter, and is continuing to travel the film festival circuit, including a screening this Saturday as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF). WAMG contributing writer Sam Moffitt describes DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO as “that rare comedy that actually gets funnier as it goes along. The rocket ship and especially the hardware inside are spot on, beautifully done. Obviously done on a low budget, this is great stuff” (look for Sam’s complete review here at WAMG on Friday)
DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO deftly mimics low-budget 1950s sci-fi to make some comically pointed observations about present-day American reality. In 1939, a group of African-American intellectuals – including such luminaries as W.E.B. DuBois – come up with an ingenious if unlikely response to Jim Crow America: leave the planet and populate Mars. Using peanut-and-sweet-potato-based technology created by George Washington Carver, a three-person crew (plus one rambunctious robot) rockets into space in Earth’s first working spaceship. After an unfortunate encounter with a time warp, however, these early astronauts find themselves not on Mars but in a place that bears a startling resemblance to the contemporary U.S. Their spacey adventure – which takes the trio, both literally and figuratively, from black-and-white into full color – threatens to undermine the time line of history but unearths some hard truths about American culture.
The DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO screening at SLIFF is this Saturday, November 16th at 8:30pm at the Tivoli (6350 Delmar Blvd., University City, MO). Kevin Wilmott will be in attendance to answer questions about the film afterwards.
For more ticket information, visit Cinema St. Louis’ site HERE
Kevin Wilmott took the time to answer some questions about DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO for We Are Movie Geeks.
Interview conducted by Tom Stockman November 13th, 2013
We Are Movie Geeks: Have you been to St. Louis before?
Kevin Wilmott: Yes, I live in Lawrence, Kansas and I was at your film festival a few years ago with my film THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN.
WAMG: What is your film training?
KW: I went NYU film School. I was in the dramatic writing program.
WAMG: I’ve read that you were a fan of Blaxploitation films when you were young. How have those ‘70s films influenced your own filmmaking?
KW: I went to the movies a lot growing up in Junction City Kansas, and there was a black theater there that showed all of those movies. It was great because I went to see a different Blaxploitation movie every week. And of course Gordon Parks directed SHAFT and he’s from Fort Scott, Kansas and that film had a large influence on me and lead me to believe that I could be a filmmaker and tell stories I wanted to tell. I think that the better Blaxploitation movies had a certain kind of honesty about them that I still try to include in my films.
WAMG: Have you ever thought about casting one of the great ‘70s Blaxploitation stars like Pam Grier or Fred Williamson in one of your films?
KW: I have not. I’m tempted to wait for the right film to do that. I would really love to though.
WAMG: Who are some of your favorite filmmakers and why?
KW: One of my favorite filmmakers is actually Woody Allen. I like him because he makes a variety of different films. He started out as a stand-up comic and made some satires and slapstick in his early films, which I think DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO has some connection to. He’s also done sophisticated urban comedies, and heavy, Ingmar Bergman-inspired films. He’s done a little bit of everything and I’d like to be able to make any kind of film I want to and work in a lot of different genres, make a lot of different types of films.
WAMG: Have you seen Woody’s latest BLUE JASMINE?
KW: Yes, and I liked it a lot. It’s pretty much Streetcar Named Desire.
WAMG: Your site says that DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO has the feel of a low-budget ‘50s science fiction movie. Were you also a fan of those films as well?
KW: Yes, and we paid homage and kind of tipped the hat to those films. DESTINATION MOON is one where the title of our film comes from. ROCKETSHIP X-M, ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS. All those films I grew up with. They were a lot of fun. The science of those movies was almost non-existent and we kind of use that to our advantage in our film.
WAMG: How did the idea ofDESTINATION PLANET NEGRO come to you?
KW: It’s an idea that I’ve had for a long time. I’ve always been interested in stories about people trying to change the course of their problem. I’ve like the idea of pioneers going out to some new place. Nicodemus is an all-black settlement that we have here in Kansas and there were a lot of those across the country. There were always people going out into the unknown to solve their issues. That’s the kind of theme addressed in this film as well. There’s always been a lot of jokes about black folks, especially during the civil rights days, going to the moon or going someplace. I kind of took that and ran with it and played with that premise to hopefully tie it to more current events.
WAMG: You play one of the leads in DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO. What are the challenges of directing a movie you’re starring in as opposed to one you are not?
KW: I knew that I would be playing the lead in this so it was one of those things where I write it accordingly and my cinematographer Matt Jacobson, who I work with all the time, directed me, told me where to turn and things like that, so I had assistance. When you write a script, you know exactly how you want things to go which makes things easier. It’s a lot different since the movie is so much a part of me and it was a lot easier for me to play a part.
WAMG: How were you able to pull off the special effects on such a low budget, or are the effects supposed to look sort of cheesy?
KW: Some look cheesier than others. We certainly tipped our hat to that style of film. We had fun with that and we had other things that look more modern, especially in the later part of the film. One of the advantages I have is that I have a lot of former film students that work with me and a lot of them have become very skilled at special effects so we were able to do a lot of that at a low price.
WAMG: Was filming in Black and White a particular challenge?
KW: No, I have made several films in Black and White. Actually DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO isn’t all Black and White. It starts out that way, then turns to color.
WAMG: Oh, all the publicity stills I’ve seen from it have been in Black and White.
KW: Yes, we’re trying to not give away too much of the color part of the film. I really love Black and White. My new film JAYHAWKERS is in Black and White entirely. I think when it fits the style or theme of the film you’re making, it works, although Hollywood doesn’t do much of that. It’s one of the advantages of being an independent filmmaker.
WAMG: Is JAYHAWKERS your Wilt Chamberlain project?
KW: Yes it is.
WAMG: What’s the status of that film?
KW: It’s finished and we’re just starting to submit it to film festivals. Hopefully we can be down there with you guys next year.
WAMG: Do you address Wilt’s claim to have slept with 20,000 women in the film?
KW: (laughs) No, but we kind of show where that notion comes from which is interesting I think.
WAMG: Well good luck with both JAYHAWKERS and DESTINATION PLANET NEGRO and we look forward to seeing you in St. Louis this weekend.
Justin Bieber is back with a new album, a new tour, and brand new behind-the-scenes footage.
This Christmas, get excited for Open Road Film’s latest movie, BELIEVE, featuring special appearances from Scooter Braun, Usher Raymond, Rodney Jerkins, Ludacris, Mike Posner and many more.
Today, Justin’s fans proved once again to be true Beliebers by participating in an AOL Digital Scavenger Hunt for a first look at the new poster. Check it out below and for an even closer look inside Justin Bieber’s world, the official trailer will debut this Friday, November 15th.
Behind the headlines, beyond the spotlight — there’s more to his story. Directed by Jon M. Chu (Never Say Never, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) JUSTIN BIEBER’S BELIEVE captures 19-year-old Justin Bieber unfiltered and brutally honest. In brand new interviews with Bieber, the movie reveals long-awaited answers to questions about his passion to make music, relationships and coming of age in the spotlight — as well as never-before-seen concert footage, unprecedented behind-the-scenes access and special appearances from manager Scooter Braun, Patti Mallette, Usher, Ludacris and many more.
Only 2 MORE DAYS until you can purchase tickets to see the highly anticipated movie, BELIEVE. Be sure to get your tickets at Fandango this FRIDAY.
Justin Bieber’s new movie BELIEVE hits theaters everywhere CHRISTMAS DAY.
Keanu Reeves makes his directorial debut and stars in MAN OF TAI CHI, the explosive martial arts drama that reunites him with legendary Matrix trilogy fight choreographer Yuen Wo Ping and stuntman Tiger Chen. The film will be available on Blu-ray and DVD starting December 10th from Anchor Bay Entertainment and RADiUS-TWC. Pre- book is 11/13/13.
MAN OF TAI CHI was directed by and stars Keanu Reeves (The Matrix trilogy). The film was warmly received at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest.
MAN OF TAI CHI Blu-ray and DVD bonus materials include: Feature Commentary with Director/Actor Keanu Reeves and Tiger Chen, and The Making of Man of Tai Chi.
Keanu Reeves stars as the wealthy owner of a Beijing underground fight club who recruits a humble Tai Chi student (TigerChen) to his closed-circuit battles. But, when the young man is seduced by money and power, it triggers a war between the Hong Kong police, the world’s deadliest combatants, and a peaceful spiritual discipline turned lethal new fighting style.
MAN OF TAI CHI has a running time of 105 minutes and is rated R for violence.
Don Cheadle, Ewan McGregor, and Zoe Saldana will star in BiFrost Pictures’ KILL THE TRUMPET PLAYER, it was announced today.
KILL THE TRUMPET PLAYER tells the story of a few dangerous days in the life of Miles Davis, the virtuoso, fighter and genius, as he bursts out of his silent period and conspires with a Rolling Stone writer (McGregor) to steal back his music.
Cheadle will play Davis and will make his feature directorial debut from a script co-written with Steven Baigelman.
BiFrost principal Daniel Wagner is financing and will produce the project along with Robert Ogden Barnum, Cheadle and Lenore Zerman for their Crescendo Productions banner, Darryl Porter, and Vince Wilburn Jr. Executive producers are Pamela Hirsch, Cheryl Davis, Erin Davis, Cassian Elwes and Baigelman. Herbie Hancock, a legend in his own right and close collaborator of Davis, will participate in the project as well. The project was packaged by UTA which arranged the financing and is representing U.S. rights. Leading international films sales company IM Global is handling international distribution and will be introducing the title at the upcoming American Film Market.
Wagner commented, “Don is one of our generation’s greatest actors, and this is the role he was born to play. His take on the conventional biopic of one of music’s most celebrated icons is cinematic “jazz” and too unique to resist. It fits naturally with BiFrost’s commitment to support talent and their passion projects, so we are thrilled to work with Don on his feature directorial debut.”
Cheadle is best known for roles in CRASH, Steven Soderbergh’s OCEAN’S TWELVE and OCEAN’S THIRTEEN, as well as for his Academy Award-nominated performance as Best Actor in 2004’s HOTEL RWANDA. He has most recently been seen as Colonel James Rhodes in IRON MAN 3 and as Marty Kaan in the Showtime series “House of Lies,” for which he won a Golden Globe in 2013. Cheadle is represented by UTA.
McGregor is best known for his roles in THE IMPOSSIBLE, GHOST WRITER, BEGINNERS, MOULIN ROUGE, TRAINSPOTTING and the STAR WARS franchise. McGregor was nominated for a Golden Globe last year for his work on the feature SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN. He will next be seen in the crime drama SON OF A GUN and he is currently shooting MORTDECAI opposite Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow. McGregor is represented by UTA, Sloane Offer and United Agents in the UK.
BiFrost Pictures’ current slate of projects include Paul Bettany’s directorial debut SHELTER, with Jennifer Connelly and Anthony Mackie; THE GIRL WHO CONNED THE IVY LEAGUE, to be directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman and starring Amanda Seyfried; and the recently completed THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT, directed by David Burris and starring Minka Kelly, Haley Joel Osment, and Noah Wyle and based on the award-winning novel by Ron Rash.
On Thursday, Nov. 14, the Newseum will open its highly anticipated “Anchorman: The Exhibit,” featuring props, costumes and footage from the comedy classic “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” The exhibit, created in partnership with Paramount Pictures, opens just weeks before the film’s much-awaited sequel “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” hits theaters on Dec. 20.
Visitors to the exhibit will be greeted by an 8-foot-tall revolving display case featuring the iconic burgundy business suit worn by fictional newscaster Ron Burgundy, played in both movies by actor Will Ferrell. More than 60 costumes and hilarious props from the movie will be on display throughout the exhibit, including Ron’s “I’M #1” license plate, jazz flute and mustache brush.
The exhibit also features costumes and props from other members of Ron’s Channel 4 news team, including suits worn by reporter Veronica Corningstone (played by Christina Applegate) and sports anchor Champ Kind (played by David Koechner) and the Sex Panther cologne used by reporter Brian Fantana (played by Paul Rudd). The stuffed prop version of Ron’s dog Baxter, wearing Channel 4 pajamas, and the eyeglasses worn by weatherman Brick Tamland (played by Steve Carell) are also on display.
The movie tells the story of how a 1970s-era macho news team responds when an ambitious female reporter arrives in the newsroom with her sights on the anchor chair. “Anchorman: The Exhibit” explores the reality behind the humor of “Anchorman,” and tells the story of the challenges women faced when they arrived in newsrooms.
A Newseum-produced film features interviews with 1970s news anchors Connie Chung, Maury Povich and Melba Tolliver and news executive Al Primo, who is credited with revolutionizing broadcast news with the Eyewitness News format, which created teams of reporters and brought women and minorities into prominent roles in the newsroom.
In addition, local TV news promotional ads from the 1970s will be on display along with photos of popular news teams of the day.
In December, the Newseum will host two events featuring stars from the “Anchorman” films.
On Dec. 3, Will Ferrell, will appear at the Newseum for an invitation-only event to discuss “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.” On Dec. 17, actor David Koechner, who stars as Champ Kind in both “Anchorman” movies, will make a special appearance at an advance screening of the new movie. Tickets to the screening went on sale to the public in October and sold out in less than week.
Also on Dec. 17, costumes and props from “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” will be unveiled in the exhibit, days before the sequel opens in theaters.
Visitors to the exhibit can see if they have what it takes to be a member of the Channel 4 news team, with RonBurgundy providing intros to the Newseum’s popular Be a TV Reporter experience, and budding news anchors can have their photos taken behind a replica of the Channel 4 News desk.
“Anchorman: The Exhibit” will be on display at the Newseum through Aug. 31, 2014.
With the 70’s behind him, San Diego’s top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.”
Also back for more are Ron’s co-anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) – All of whom won’t make it easy to stay classy…while taking New York and the nation’s first 24-hour news channel by storm.
Produced by Judd Apatow, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Written by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay. Directed by Adam McKay.
It’s Movember! Give yourself an incredible mustache! Come on- show you care without growing facial hair.
ANCHORMAN 2 will be reporting from theaters on December 20th.
Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks shine in Disney’s new feature film SAVING MR. BANKS, a heartwarming tale about the making of the Mary Poppins film.
When Walt Disney and his daughters discovered the book “Mary Poppins” by P. L. Travers, they fell in love. Disney then made a promise to them, that took him 20 years to keep. He would bring Mary Poppins to life. What he didn’t expect was a stubborn writer with no intention of handing over her beloved nanny. When finally convinced to discuss the film, Disney and his team pull out all the stops to impress Travers enough to sign off on the film. What they didn’t bargain for was uncovering some of her ghosts from the past, or where the story of Mary Poppins actually came from.
SAVING MR. BANKS is a magical tale filled with heart. Thompson and Hanks are simply delightful as P.L. Travers and Walt Disney, and they play off of each other incredibly well. Thompson is marvelous as a cold, stern Travers. She does a great job of adding a softer side to her character, which is best displayed in the scenes with her driver Ralph, played by Paul Giamatti. The addition of Ralph to the story (which is admitted to be the only fictitious character in the film) allows the audience a glimpse of an adult Travers as she interacts with someone outside of the Disney madness. It gives her a sense of humanity, and gives the audience a reason to feel a bit more compassion for her, rather than only showing her as an uptight stick in the mud.
As for Hanks, he had the cheerful, wide-eyed characteristics of Disney down pat. His character is not the main focus of this film, so they didn’t dig deep into who Disney really was. Instead, they kept his character development rather shallow, allowing more time for the character of Travers to unfold.
Rounding out the film as Disney’s creative team were animator and co-screenwriter (Bradley Whitford), and songwriters Richard and Robert Sherman (Jason Schwartzman, and B.J. Novak), who aided in the agitation of Travers throughout their brainstorming sessions. These sessions added plenty of comedic relief to the film, and showcased a few unforgettable songs from the Poppins film.
The film looks absolutely stunning, and showcases some of the more beautiful parts of LA, including the palm trees, breathtaking views, and the Beverly Hills Hotel, which oozes old school elegance and class. We also get a glimpse of the Disney Studio grounds, which still look very similar to what they did back then. What really impressed me were the flashback scenes, showing a young Travers and the relationship with her father (played by Colin Farrell). These scenes were beautifully shot, and added a much-needed explanation to the behaviors of P.L. Travers in her adult life.
Overall, the film is heartwarming and enjoyable. Its mission is to entertain audiences with an interesting tale about the making of a Disney classic. That is exactly what they do. This is a fun story about one of the most beloved movies (and books) in history. Having said all of that, director John Lee Hancock, and writers Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith certainly added a “spoonful of sugar” to make the tale more enjoyable, and a little less truthful. Everything that I have read about the real life Travers has blatantly stated that she was not happy with the film version of her beloved nanny. She felt that they ignored the hard sides of Poppins, she despised the animation in the film, and was not too fond of the music. Overall, she was not pleased.
While I enjoyed the film of SAVING MR. BANKS as a whole, audiences should know that it’s only loosely based on actual events. Go into this film looking for a good time at the movies. If you pick it apart based on the factual way the making of this film really went down, you won’t enjoy it.
