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A film adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's zonked-out, gonzo 1971 autobiography "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" began in earnest as long ago as 1976. The story goes that Larry McMurtry signed on to adapt Thompson's unadaptable novel into a screenplay, but that the project fell apart. Several notable filmmakers each flirted with the idea of making a "Fear and Loathing" movie, including Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, and even famed animator Ralph Bakshi. 

The film didn't make it to the big screen until 1998, when audiences were treated to an ultra-chaotic version directed by Terry Gilliam. Production on the 1998 version started six years earlier, in 1992, when Rhino Films (!) sought to produce a version directed by Lee Tamahori. Tamahori couldn't do it, however, as he was busy shooting either the lugubrious noir "Mulholland Falls" or the survivalist thriller "The Edge." Johnny Depp,...

In Bruce Robinson’s debut feature, Withnail and I, the permanent scowl of Richard E. Grant’s character speaks to his anger at a world that fails to acknowledge his genius, his features made more gaunt and lifeless by alcoholism. The actor channels much of the same body language and aura as Withnail in Robinson’s 1987 sophomore feature, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, to play advertising executive Denis Bagley, though here the shambolic sense of grievance is replaced by mercenary superiority.

In the film’s opening scene, Bagley presides over a meeting where he exalts a closed ecosystem of advertising, bragging through a dagger smile that they can sell junk food to the masses and advance body-image standards to guilt those same consumers into buying fad-diet products. Bagley sees everyone as lemmings whose hypocrisies are made to be exploited, and to the point that he even ruins dinner parties with friends,...

As part of an essay cycle that roves the cinema of the 1990s for vestiges of intelligent life, Phillip Lopate identifies several attributes that typify the early style of writer turned directors: creatively interpolated exposition, admirably ham-fisted mise-en-scène, and skewedly erudite characters among them. The blistering dyad of movies that British author Bruce Robinson produced with HandMade Films in the late ’80s proudly manifests all of these, and adds one by way of aggressive underscoring: an acerbic worldview.

One can’t blame Lopate for overlooking this quality, as there’s nothing in the debuts of David Mamet or Paul Schrader on par with Robinson’s reckless piss and vinegar. House of Games and Blue Collar possess a crafty bleakness, to be sure, but a modern fable wherein the body of an advertising exec is commandeered by a sentient, puss-dribbling shoulder boil suggests unprecedented vocational spite. As with both Mamet and Schrader,...

Physical media culture is alive and thriving thanks to the home video tastemakers hailing everywhere from The Criterion Collection to Kino Lorber and the Warner Archive Collection. Each month, IndieWire highlights the best recent and upcoming Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K releases for cinephiles to own now — and to bring ballast and permanence to your moviegoing at a time when streaming windows on classic movies close just as soon as they open.

The summer movie season is around the corner, though Ryan Coogler’s box-office wonderment “Sinners” has certainly taken a headstart bite out of it. It’s already grossed $168 million worldwide and is still climbing, though “Thunderbolts*” — receiving more praise than usual for recent Marvel titles — looks to dethrone it as the weekend’s top film.

That said, if you’re looking to not leave your sofa this month or are fatigued by scrolling through streaming offerings, there are some...

The latest in our ongoing series of comfort movies is a pick for Bruce Robinson’s cult British comedy

In the words of its writer and director, Withnail and I is a comedy that “doesn’t know it’s funny”. To its star, it’s about “the nobility of failure”. It ends with its title character alone in the rain, his one friend gone, delivering a Hamlet soliloquy to an indifferent wolf. It’s my feelgood movie.

Bruce Robinson’s British classic was released in 1987. He and Richard E Grant made the remarks above in 2007, at the British Film Institute. I was there, eager to hear Robinson discuss a movie based on his own experience. Themes abide. As he said recently about The Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman, his imperishable novel about his brutal childhood: “It’s very funny but also sad as fuck.” Robinson’s first film was a...

If you’re sunk in a swamp of solitude, there are movies.

If you’re drowned in the deluge of chaos, there are movies.

If you’re drenched in a drizzle of nostalgia, there are movies.

If you’re struck by the lightning of love, there are movies.

If you’re threatened by a downpour of death, there are movies.

If you’re at home on a rainy day, there are movies.

The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to watch a movie. Some of the greatest films in cinematic history owe their greatness to the presence of rain. Rain in cinema is often said to be the symbol of nostalgia, solitude, chaos, love, rejection, death, decay, and so on. But are not some things just simply what they are and nothing more? In the end, rain is just rain, water returning to its origin. The...

Yesterday, Marvel uploaded footage of some chairs to publicise Avengers: Doomsday. It ran for over five hours. We have some rather grumpy thoughts on the matter.

“Dostoyevsky described hell as perhaps nothing more than a room with a chair in it,” the filmmaker Bruce Robinson wrote in his script for Withnail & I. “This room has several chairs.”

At around 3pm yesterday (26th March), Marvel began one of the weirdest pieces of film marketing this writer has seen in many years. To mark the beginning of Avengers: Doomsday’s production, the studio began to stream what was essentially an outsized teaser trailer.

You may have seen at least snippets of it by now: the scene opens on a dimly lit soundstage. In the foreground: a director’s chair with Chris Hemsworth’s name emblazoned on the back. The camera lingers on the chair for at least 12 agonising minutes before – get this...

A Rabbit’s Foot, the film and culture magazine founded by British producer Charles Finch, perhaps best known for throwing some of awards season’s most star-studded parties, has partnered with its sister production house Rabbit’s Foot Films on a short film division.

The announcement comes as the two unveil the winners of a short film competition they launched last year to help discover new filmmaking talent from around the world, with the ambition to work with them to develop both long and short-form content.

A Rabbit’s Foot will now distribute short films via its platform, while Rabbit’s Foot Films will produce a series of original shorts in partnership with the magazine.

Rabbit’s Foot Films is the new name for Finch’s Standalone Pictures, which rebranded in line with his magazine after the last feature he co-produced, Sofia Coppola’s Venice 2023 bowing “Priscilla” starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi.

Two struggling actors living in far from perfect conditions in late 1960s London isn't that far from the truth for countless dreamers. 1987'sWithnail and I, directed by Bruce Robinson, gained cult status through its observant wit and darkly comical portrayal of the '60s countercultural movement winding down. Despite its initial modest success, the film grew in stature by word of mouth, in part through movie fans hosting viewing parties and quoting memorable dialogue.

Although the humor is distinctly British, the themes are universal, finely balancing comedy and melancholy. Director Bruce Robinson used his lived experience as a luckless actor in London to frame the film, and the chemistry between the leads, the great Richard E Grant and Paul MacGann, makes their dysfunctional companionship feel lived-in and real. Withnail and I has come back in a big way through a 4K release from The Criterion Collection, the first reissue of...

It is relatively impossible for Amber Heard to recover from her reputation in recent years. After her very public trial with Johnny Depp and having her entire life laid bare for the world to see, the audiences made their judgment, and she was completely sidelined by the industry as a whole.

Amber Heard on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Credit: NBC

While the world no longer expects her to star in worthwhile projects, there was a time when she was an up-and-coming actress, trying to make a name for herself. Although her filmography isn’t specifically impressive, she did work with her Oscar-nominated ex-husband, who is known for being a part of masterpieces.

The tale of how Heard got her part in 2011’s The Rum Diary is quite fascinating, especially because she ended up beating Scarlett Johansson to get the role.

Amber Heard thinks she can act better than...

Film enthusiasts have much to anticipate in May with a captivating lineup of releases that span various genres and eras for the estimable Criterion Collection.

This bespoke DVD/Blu-Ray label’s eclectic selection for May includes three new films never part of the collection before Charles Burnett’s classic black-slice-of-life street poetry film, “Killer of Sheep,”—often described as very Terry Malick in tone— Abbas Kiarostami’s “The Wind Will Carry Us,” and Richard Lester’s “The Three Musketeers/The Four Musketeers.”

Read More: Criterion’s April Releases Include ‘Anora,’ ‘Chungking Express,’ ‘Some Like It Hot’ & More

Previously released titles either long out of print or upgraded into new editions include Bruce Robinson’s “Withnail and I” and “How to Get Ahead in Advertising,” Jacques Demy’s “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” and Norman Jewison’s “In the Heat of the Night.” These films offer a unique glimpse into the artistry...

Marking one of their biggest upgrade months yet, the Criterion Collection is consecrating May 2025 with new 4K editions for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, In the Heat of the Night, and (reaching well back into the library) Withnail and I, running a gamut from opulent, fantastical color to solid 60s-studio sheen to the outright gnarly.

Meanwhile, Charles Burnett‘s legendary Killer of Sheep is given a major upgrade as Richard Lester’s Three Musketeers / Four Musketeers duet also earns full honors. Which should not distract from Abbas Kiarostami’s epochal The Wind Will Carry Us coming to Blu-ray, nor the same for another Bruce Robinson-Richard E. Grant collaboration, How to Get Ahead in Advertising.

See artwork below and more at Criterion:

The post The Criterion Collection’s May Lineup Features The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on 4K, The Wind Will Carry Us & More first appeared on The Film Stage.

David Fincher said he met with Warner Bros. to hash out ideas for the Harry Potter films. His pitch was far from the coming-of-age drama the studio wanted.

David Fincher would have added a Harry Potter to his eclectic filmography if Warner Bros. hired him. Speaking to Variety, the Gone Girl director said he had a very distinct concept for his Harry Potter film. "I was asked to come in and talk to them about how I would do Harry Potter," he confirmed. "I remember saying, 'I just don't want to do the clean Hollywood version of it. I want to do something that looks a lot more like Withnail and I, and I want it to be kind of creepy.'" A cult classic, Withnail and I is largely considered one of the all-time best British films.

Related 15 Harry Potter Plot Holes That Don't Actually Matter

Despite all the...

Although Alien 3 remains perhaps the most divisive entry in the Alien movie franchise, one of the film's undoubted strengths is its stellar cast. Alongside series staple Sigourney Weaver, David Fincher's oft-maligned 1992 sequel features the likes of Charles S. Dutton, Pete Postlethwaite, and Lance Henriksen helping to elevate some of the movie's more questionable material. Yet while the final cast remains an imposing collection of acting talent, one casting decision prevented Alien 3 from becoming a reunion for a classic 1987 comedy.

Aside from Ripley herself, perhaps the most important character in the movie is Jonathan Clemens. Portrayed by Charles Dance (famous for his performance as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones) Clemens is a tragic figure haunted by the demons of his past. While his battles with addiction resulted in his incarceration on Fiorina 161, he is an unmistakable ally for Ripley in an overtly hostile environment. However, central though...

For a long time now, the names of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have receded from the public memory. In the aftermath of the 2022 Depp v Heard defamation trial, the respective parties who had been at war since December 2018 finally subsided into their own corners of the Earth, enjoying a life only luxury can buy.

Johnny Depp [Photo by Andy Templeton, licensed under Cc By via Wikimedia Commons]

However, only a couple of years have passed since their Hollywood controversy shook the tinsel town out of its slumber and engaged the entire world in a united mockery of the trial. Although it is hard to imagine the two actors ever being social again, once upon a time, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard met, fell in love, and got married before the ugliness settled into their relationship.

Johnny Depp & Amber Heard: The Movie That Started It All

In any other situation, the 83-year-old filmmaker Terry Gilliam would be celebrated for...

Ever since its 1987 release, Bruce Robinson's cult classic Withnail and I has earned a reputation as an underrated and witty dark comedy. Set in 1969, the film stars Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann as Withnail and Marwood, two unemployed aspiring actors who leave their decrepit London flat for an alcohol-fueled weekend in the countryside. Even with all of its hilarious moments, Withnail and I has a touching core. Withnail and I is a love story between the two main characters, whose dynamic is simultaneously funny and tragic.

Vivian MacKerrell – who really did drink lighter fluid – shared a house with Withnail and I director Bruce Robinson

“I must have some booze!” So goes the famous line exclaimed by Richard E Grant in his turn as the title character in the cult classic Withnail and I.

And judging by recently unearthed diaries kept by one of the struggling actors the film was based on, it’s clear to see how that kind of dialogue came so easy.

It is the spring of “Baby Reindeer.” Netflix’s addictive limited series about a struggling comedian (Richard Gadd) working at a bar who makes the biggest mistake of his life when he gives a lonely woman (Jessica Gunning) a cup of tea on the house is the most watched series currently on the streamer and viewership is growing. And the fact that it’s based on a true story, makes “Baby Reindeer” even more creep and chilling. It’s a must-see voyeur thriller.

The same was true in the fall of 1987 with Adrian Lyne’s “Fatal Attraction.” Audiences flocked to the hard R-rated thriller which starred a wild-haired Glenn Close as an editor with a publishing company who has one-night stand with a happily married attorney (Michael Douglas) whose wife and daughter are out of town. Though it’s “understood” that it’s just a fling, Close’s Alex just won’t let go.

BAFTA-nominated Irish actor Robert Sheehan (The Umbrella Academy) has signed on to lead a stage adaptation of Bruce Robinson’s 1987 cult tragi-comedy Withnail and I at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre alongside actors Adonis Siddique and Malcolm Sinclair.

Directed by the double Olivier Award-winning Sean Foley, Artistic Director of Birmingham Rep, and designed by Alice Power, the show will premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, with performances from 3 May until 25 May 2024.

The adaption was written by Robinson. The original film was based on an unpublished novel by Robinson and was produced by Handmade Films, with Richard E Grant, Paul McGann, and Richard Griffiths leading. On stage, Sheehan will star as Withnail while Siddique is Marwood, and Malcolm Sinclair is Uncle Monty.

Sheehan made his acting debut in Aisling Walsh’s acclaimed feature Song For A Raggy Boy. Since then, his screen credits include Season of the Witch, Cherrybomb, Killing Bono, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,...

Sales

Altitude is launching international sales on two films featuring iconic British band Blur at the Berlin European Film Market. The band, consisting of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bass guitarist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree, was formed in 1988 and tasted considerable success until it went on hiatus in 2015.

The first film is an untitled feature-length documentary depicting the return of Blur, captured across a year in which the band made a surprise return with their first record in eight years, the #1 album “The Ballad of Darren.” It follows the relationship of the bandmates of over three decades as they come together to record 10 new songs ahead of their sold-out shows at London’s Wembley Stadium in 2023. The second film is “Blur: Live At Wembley Stadium,” a two-hour concert film of the Wembley show.

Both films are directed by Toby L. and produced by Josh Connolly, via production...

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Everyone here at /Film loves watching movies and TV shows. But every now and then, you need a break from the screens. However, that doesn't mean you can't still bask in the glory of moving pictures. There's an endless array of books out there about your favorite movies and TV shows. Whether it's the story of the two most famous film critics ever, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, a chronicle of the making of movies like Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" or the screwball comedy spoof "Airplane!," memoirs from your favorite stars like Patrick Stewart and Barbra Streisand, an exhausting timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or a cookbook with recipes straight from the "Star Wars" universe, we've got a huge collection of books for the film and TV lover in your life.

So let's dig into Part 2 of the 2023 /Film Holiday Gift Guide now!

Bruce Robinson's 1987 cult comedy classic Withnail & I gifted the world a cinematic drunk for the ages. A mixture of despair, relatability, and tragedy combined to create a film that will make you laugh, cry, and recite until your dying days. Now, it is widely cherished and viewed by some as a rite of passage watch for those coming of age. Its popularity hails from the expertly crafted dialogue and distinguished performances. It is a hard task for any actor to convincingly pull off the art of intoxication and the star of this film has bested them all. Intriguingly, without the help of a certain member of The Beatles, the film may not have been made. It is a film that still attracts attention today and should be viewed as essential viewing for any struggling actor, student, or befuddled millennial dreaming of life in the '60s.

They say “sex sells” in Hollywood, right? But what about drugs? After all, once the production code was lifted, successful counterculture drug movies like Easy Rider gave way to the indie auteur movement in American cinema in the 1960s and 70s, where Hollywood renegades like Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese picked up the mantle and went on to make all-time classics like Scarface and Goodfellas decades later. In the interim, there has been no shortage of critical and commercial drug movie successes, be they Blow, Sicario, Traffic, The Wolf of Wall Street, you name it.

So then, Wtf Happened to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas? Seriously. How does such an authentic movie from the altered mindstate of Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, one directed by the venerated filmmaker Terry Gilliam and featuring unforgettable performances by Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro… how does a movie like that stumble...

Franco Zeffirelli apprenticed to Luchino Visconti, stage directed operas and directed several movie hits, the biggest of which was this exuberant, attractive Shakespeare adaptation, filmed like an opera with sumptuous sets and sunswept Italian locations. The novelty for 1968 was casting the Bard’s star-crossed young lovers with actual teenagers. Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting are attractive kids directed to give spirited performances; the critics may have had mixed reactions but the public received the film well. If memory serves, Criterion’s new remaster looks better than Paramount’s original release prints.

Romeo and Juliet

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 1171

1968 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 138 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 14, 2023 / 39.95

Starring: Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, John McEnery, Milo O’Shea, Pat Heywood, Robert Stephens, Michael York, Bruce Robinson, Paul Hardwick, Natasha Parry, Antonio Pierfederici, Esmeralda Ruspoli, Roberto Bisacco, Roy Holder, Keith Skinner, Dyson Lovell, Richard Warwick, Laurence Olivier.

Cinematography: Pasquelino De...

Apx Group has snapped up production company Burning Wheel’s development slate for a six-figure sum, Variety has confirmed.

The exact figure was not disclosed.

As part of the deal, Burning Wheel, who recently produced Danny Boyle’s biopic “Creation Stories,” will effectively be fully absorbed into Apx.

Altogether, the slate includes over 20 projects, both features and episodic. Among them are “American Tabloid,” a drama series about the U.S. press co-created by best-selling authors Bret Easton Ellis, pictured above, and Irvine Welsh (“Trainspotting”), an as-yet untitled project being developed with the Bram Stoker Estate and writer director Bruce Robinson (“The Rum Diary”) and another untitled project with writer Lily Robinson.

Apx intends to develop the slate alongside its U.K. subsidiary Herd International, which will include completing many of the distribution deals already in the works with U.S. networks.

“I am absolutely delighted that we have been given...

In his latest podcast/interview, host and screenwriter Screenwriter Stuart Wright talks to British author/screenwriter Alistair Owen about “3 Films That Impacted Everything In Your Everyday Life”, including:

Dead Poets Society (1989) Defence Of The Realm (1986) The Remains Of The Day (1993)

3 Films That Impacted Everything In Your Everyday Life is about those films that made you fall in love with film. The guest selects their trio of movies and we talk for 5 minutes, against the clock. When the Alarm goes off for five minutes we move onto the next film.

For more about Alistair Owen’s books like The Art of Screen Adaptation, Smoking in Bed: Conversations with Bruce Robinson et al see https://www.alistairowenwriter.com

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Directors interested in important, ambitious subject matter didn’t all go extinct with the rise of the Star Wars Generation. Roland Joffé’s first four features are powerful pictures that tell truths that we ought not to forget, with a couple of Award-winning gems right up front. The star power is here as well — Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Patrick Swayze. The deluxe collector’s box caps a presentation with new extras for each title: The Killing Fields, The Mission, Fat Man and Little Boy and City of Joy.

Directed by Roland Joffé

Region-Free Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator 194, 185, 186, 187

1984 – 1992 / Color / Street Date December 7, 2022 / 525 minutes cumulative / Available from / au 179.95

Starring: Sam Waterston, Dr. Haing S. Ngor, John Malkovich; Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons; Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz, Bonnie Bedelia, John Cusack; Patrick Swayze, Om Puri, Pauline Collins.

Cinematography: Chris Menges (2); Vilmos Zsigmond, Peter Biziou

Original Music: Mike Oldfield, Ennio Morricone (3)

Written by Bruce Robinson; Robert Bolt; Bruce Robinson,...

In his latest interview/podcast, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks 5 Great Films That Embody The Spirit Of Punk with Richard Cabut, author of the book Looking For a Kiss (Sweat Drenched Press) and co-editor/author of the anthology Punk is Dead: Modernity is Killed Every Night.

Cabut’s choices of 5 Great Films That Embody The Spirit Of Punk include:

1966 – Chelsea Girls – Andy Warhol 1975 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show – Jim Sharman 1978 – Jubilee – Derek Jarman 1980 – The Great Rock n Roll Swindle – Julien Temple 1987 – Withnail & I – Bruce Robinson

For more about Richard and his other work check out https://www.richardcabut.com

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Sneak Peek the 2011 feature "The Rum Diary", starring actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard:

Based on the novel of the same name by author Hunter S. Thompson, "The Rum Diary" is directed by Bruce Robinson.

"...'Paul Kemp' (Depp) is an itinerant journalist who tires of New York and America under the Eisenhower administration and travels to Puerto Rico to write for 'The San Juan Star'.

"Kemp begins the habit of drinking rum and becomes obsessed with the woman' Chenault' (Heard)..."

Also appearing in the film are Aaron Eckhart, Giovanni Ribisi, Richard Jenkins, Bill Smitrovich, Michael Rispoli, Julian Holloway, Amaury Nolasco, Marshall Bell, Karen Austin and Jason Smith.

'Gonzo' journalist Thompson wrote "The Rum Diary" in 1961, but the novel was not published until 1998.

In 2007, producer Graham King acquired rights to the property and sought to film the adaptation under Warner Independent Pictures, with Depp, who previously starred in...

Goose, and an old exercise tape, help inject some life into an office worker stuck in the doldrums in the new music video for “Hungersite.” The track will appear on the Connecticut band’s upcoming album, Dripfield, out June 24.

“Hungersite” is a breezy tune with shuffling drums, rich harmonies, a little country tinge and — of course — some very tasteful guitar soloing towards the end. In a statement, Goose guitarist/singer Rick Mitarotonda said of the song, “Whenever broaching global commentary territory, even if discreet and non-invasive in nature, it seems...

Exclusive: Rand Holston is leaving Paradigm to form his own management company. All of his clients are coming with him to Rand Holston Management. The exit is amicable. Holston spent 10 years at Paradigm, this after spending 28 years at CAA. Holston’s last day will be September 30.

Holston’s client list includes the prolific author/screenwriter Stephen King; James Ivory (the Oscar-winning scribe of Call Me By Your Name is adapting for Fremantle a TV version of the French best seller The End Of Eddy by Edouard Louis); Jordan Kerner ( in post on Clifford The Big Red Dog for Paramount) ; Issa López, whom he’ll co-rep with Gaby Mena...

The movie “Yesterday” imagines what the world would be like if no one had ever heard of The Beatles. You can guess the impact that would have on the world of rock music, but we’d also be without a handful of great movies that found just the right note because they managed to score a movie moment in the way no other song would do. This list however excludes The Beatles movies like “Yellow Submarine,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Help!” and even the “Across the Universe” jukebox musical that are loaded with perfect such moments.

“The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001) – “Hey Jude”

The Mutato Muzika Orchestra, did up this lovely, twinkling, instrumental version of “Hey Jude” that captures the miniature, picturesque quality of the prologue to Wes Anderson’s family dysfunction comedy “The Royal Tenenbaums.” But the smaller in scope orchestration doesn’t change the sweeping, inspiring quality of the melody,...

From Peter Sellers to Monty Python to Stewart Lee, the UK has a rich history of comedy. In addition to hours upon hours of classic sketches and sitcom episodes, the British comedy community has spawned some of the funniest movies ever made. Ranging from mainstream romcoms to biting satires, a lot of Britain’s greatest cinematic output has been in the comedy genre. Some have even become international crossover hits, like Edgar Wright’s Cornetto movies.

Related: Napoleon Dynamite & 9 Other Quirky High School Comedies

Britain’s comedy movies haven’t all been timeless classics, but for every crass Carry On entry, there’s a dark, visionary masterpiece like Bruce Robinson’s underrated gem Withnail & I.

Producer was longtime BAFTA LA board member.

Paul Heller, the US producer whose credits included Withnail & I and Enter The Dragon and My Left Foot as executive producer, died on December 28 in Los Angeles. He was 93.

Heller, a longtime board member of BAFTA LA, was born in New York on September 25, 1927, and spent many years in England producing some of his most acclaimed films.

His first feature, the 1962 mental health drama David And Lisa directed by Frank Perry, earned two Oscar nominations for directing and for Eleanor Perry’s adapted screenplay.

Encouraged to pursue his career with gusto, Heller...

Ben Sharrock announces himself as a master of atmospheric film-making with this stirring drama about a Syrian migrant

What a thoroughly wonderful sophomore feature from the British director Ben Sharrock – witty, poignant, marvellously composed and shot, moving and even weirdly gripping. Despite an elegant deadpan style established from the outset, Sharrock soon gets you to invest in the characters and care deeply about what happens to them. Limbo is about refugees and asylum seekers in Britain, and it’s a bracingly internationalist and non-parochial piece of work: film-making with a bold view on the world but also as gentle and intimate as a much-loved sitcom. It reminded me at various moments of Aki Kaurismäki or Elia Suleiman or Bill Forsyth, with a distinct touch of Bruce Robinson’s Withnail And I.

The setting is an impossibly bleak and starkly beautiful Scottish island, fictional and mostly deserted, almost resembling a stage-set...

Australia’s media giant Village Roadshow said it has received a conditional takeover bid from private equity firm Pacific Equity Partners for $761.2 million Australian dollars ($517 million Usd), the studio, theme park and movie theater operator announced Wednesday.

Village Roadshow shares were halted for sale on Thursday, but the takeover bid, amounting to A$3.90 per share, is 21.9% above Village Roadshow’s Wednesday closing price, Reuters reported Wednesday. The shares would be purchased from Village Roadshow Corporation, the privately-owned parent company that with 34% holding serves as Village Roadshow’s largest shareholder.

According to the Australian Financial Review, the final deal could be worth as much as A$1 billion, including debt.

Also Read: 'The Eternals' Star Kumail Nanjiani Got Jacked Af for Marvel Superhero Role

Village Roadshow said Wednesday that Pacific Equity Partners has indicated willingness to offer a full cash transaction or a combination of cash and a scrip issue.

Village Roadshow’s Australian film studios,...

When popular artists pass on, it can often be a surprise to learn just how old they were. But the news of Franco Zeffirelli’s death, at 96, inspired a major double take. The extravagant Italian maestro of theater, opera and film lived to a vibrant old age. Yet for many of us, the name Zeffirelli will always conjure the spirit of youth. That’s because of what he brought to the Hollywood party in 1968. In “Romeo and Juliet,” he became the first film artist to make the counterculture swoon.

In a move that was at once audacious and indelible, Zeffirelli cast Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy with actors who were shockingly young and, at the same time, ridiculously gorgeous. Leonard Whiting, at 17, and Olivia Hussey, at 16, were closer to the stated age of Shakespeare’s protagonists than most of the actors who had played them. But, of course, it wasn’t...

In “Palm Beach,” a Murderer’s Row of vintage yet durably sparkling Australian acting talent, combined with recent Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant, makes for a bright and eventful weekend in the sun at the eponymous northern Sydney enclave. The second feature-length directorial credit from actress-turned-director Rachel Ward following the resonant and well-received 2009 drama “Beautiful Kate,” this breezy yet sturdy dramatic comedy is aimed squarely at a mature demographic that will join the party both Down Under — where the film kicked off the Sydney Film Festival ahead of its Aug. 8 domestic rollout — and abroad, where older audiences are also sure to stargaze.

On the occasion of his 73rd birthday, long-marrieds Frank (Bryan Brown) and Charlotte (Greta Scacchi) are entertaining family and friends at their spectacularly airy, low-slung home perched above the stunning natural beauty of the ritzy Sydney peninsula Palm Beach. Joining them are longtime couples Leo (Sam Neill) and...

Before Richard E. Grant goes to a galaxy far, far away in next year’s Star Wars: Episode IX, his career deserves revisiting. He starred in two late-career films by Robert Altman; The Player and Gosford Park. His character work continued with Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Corpse Bride, and The Age of Innocence. But his most celebrated character is the title role in Bruce Robinson’s Withnail & I.

Grant’s Withnail is a young alcoholic who drifts and grifts his way across the English countryside, not unlike Jack Hock, the character he plays in Marielle Heller’s new film, Can You Ever Forgive Me?. With his cigarette holder in tow, he’s the gay Norma Desmond to Melissa McCarthy’s Lee Israel. Together, the two trek across Manhattan, committing one literary forgery after the next. And Grant delivers a magnificent performance in one of the best New York City-set films of the 2010s.

Germany's Oldenburg Film Festival will honor British cult director Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I) with a retrospective of his work.

Oldenburg will screen eight films featuring Robinson, from his early work as an actor in features such as Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968) and Francois Truffaut's The Story of Adele H (1975); to Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields (1984), for which Robinson penned the Oscar-nominated screenplay; to his four features as a director: Withnail & I (1987), How To Get Ahead in Advertising (1989), Jennifer 8 (1992) and The Rum Diary (2011).

Despite his Oscar nomination for The Killing ...

Germany's Oldenburg Film Festival will honor British cult director Bruce Robinson (Withnail & I) with a retrospective of his work.

Oldenburg will screen eight films featuring Robinson, from his early work as an actor in features such as Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968) and Francois Truffaut's The Story of Adele H (1975); to Roland Joffe's The Killing Fields (1984), for which Robinson penned the Oscar-nominated screenplay; to his four features as a director: Withnail & I (1987), How To Get Ahead in Advertising (1989), Jennifer 8 (1992) and The Rum Diary (2011).

Despite his Oscar nomination for The Killing ...

Theatrical Release Date: August 10, 2018 Distributor: Cleopatra Entertainment Directed by: Devin Hume Written by: Jamie Pelz & Devin Hume Produced by: Bruce Robinson, Seth Tonk, Jamie Pelz & Devin Hume Starring: Michael Jai White, Mike Starr, Jack Forcinito, Sally Kirkland, Aida Turturro & Christopher Lloyd Running Time: 106 minutes Trailer: https://youtu.be/q18UmYjnKzw Website: http://cleopatra-entertainment.com/making-a-killing/ Synopsis: Arthur Herring (Mike Starr) is the …

The post Michael Jai White in Making A Killing appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net. Copyrights 2008-2018 - Horrornews.net...

In the American version of “The Office,” Paul Lieberstein played Toby Flenderson, the world’s least competent Hr director, so ineffectual he actually wound up bearing the brunt of his colleagues’ workplace harassment. Like a human Eeyore, or the sad-sack equivalent of a giant shrug, the actor made for an amusing contribution to a well-rounded ensemble, although it’s hard to imagine Lieberstein carrying his own movie. Sure enough, even when serving as writer-director, as he does in “Song of Back and Neck,” the guy frequently seems like the least interesting character on-screen (there are entire scenes where he literally just lies there while funnier actors steal the show).

If this were Tom Cruise we were talking about, that would be a crippling flaw, but Lieberstein designs his eccentric little debut along the lines of “Being John Malkovich,” in which John Cusack and Cameron Diaz had their star power stripped...

Serge Bozon having a Hard, Fast And Beautiful First Encounter with Gavin Smith Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

First Encounters at the Quad Cinema have included Kenneth Lonergan and Edward Yang's Yi Yi, John Turturro and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, and two directors who have films in the Main Slate of this year's New York Film Festival, Greta Gerwig with Lady Bird watched David Lynch's Blue Velvet and The Meyerowitz Stories (New And Selected) director Noah Baumbach's First Encounter was Bruce Robinson's Withnail And I.

Serge Bozon, who is in the Main Slate program with Mrs. Hyde (Madame Hyde), starring Isabelle Huppert with Romain Duris and José Garcia, chose Ida Lupino's Hard, Fast And Beautiful with Claire Trevor, Sally Forrest, Robert Clarke, Kenneth Patterson, and Carleton G Young for his First Encounter.

Isabelle Huppert in ‪Serge Bozon‬'s Mrs. Hyde (Madame Hyde)

Hard, Fast And Beautiful...

After polling critics from around the world for the greatest American films of all-time, BBC has now forged ahead in the attempt to get a consensus on the best comedies of all-time. After polling 253 film critics, including 118 women and 135 men, from 52 countries and six continents a simple, the list of the 100 greatest is now here.

Featuring canonical classics such as Some Like It Hot, Dr. Strangelove, Annie Hall, Duck Soup, Playtime, and more in the top 10, there’s some interesting observations looking at the rest of the list. Toni Erdmann is the most recent inclusion, while the highest Wes Anderson pick is The Royal Tenenbaums. There’s also a healthy dose of Chaplin and Lubitsch with four films each, and the recently departed Jerry Lewis has a pair of inclusions.

Check out the list below (and my ballot) and see more on their official site.

100. (tie) The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese,...

Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This August will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.

To sign up for a free two-week trial here.

Tuesday, August 1

Tuesday’s Short + Feature: These Boots and Mystery Train

Music is at the heart of this program, which pairs a zany music video by Finnish master Aki Kaurismäki with a tune-filled career highlight from American independent-film pioneer Jim Jarmusch. In the 1993 These Boots, Kaurismäki’s band of pompadoured “Finnish Elvis” rockers, the Leningrad Cowboys, cover a Nancy Sinatra classic in their signature deadpan style. It’s the perfect prelude to Jarmusch’s 1989 Mystery Train, a homage to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and the musical legacy of Memphis, featuring appearances by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and Joe Strummer.

Quad Cinema Director of Programming and Nathan Silver's Thirst Street co-writer C Mason Wells Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Since its reopening by Charles S Cohen in April, the Quad Cinema has had four noteworthy theatrical premieres right from the start: Terence Davies' soulful A Quiet Passion (with Cynthia Nixon as Emily Dickinson, Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine); Katell Quillévéré's thoughtful Heal The Living (Emmanuelle Seigner, Kool Shen, Tahar Rahim, Finnegan Oldfield); Bruno Dumont's wild Slack Bay (Fabrice Luchini, Juliette Binoche, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi), and Maura Axelrod's impish Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back.

Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion still going strong at the Quad Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Following First Encounters for Greta Gerwig with David Lynch's Blue Velvet, Kenneth Lonergan with Edward Yang's Yi Yi, John Turturro and Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, and Noah Baumbach catching up on Bruce Robinson's Withnail And I at the Quad,...

Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach have First Encounters at the Quad Cinema Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The Quad Cinema in New York reopens in grand style this Friday, April 14 with theatrical releases of Katell Quillévéré's Heal The Living (Réparer Les vivants), Terence Davies' A Quiet Passion and Maura Axelrod's Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back. Amy Heckerling will introduce Seven Beauties (Pasqualino Settebellezze) in the career retrospective for the great filmmaker Lina Wertmüller: Female Trouble.

Manchester By The Sea director Kenneth Lonergan first views Edward Yang's Yi Yi Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

First Encounters kicks off this Saturday with Greta Gerwig's first viewing of David Lynch's Blue Velvet. Jeffrey Deitch chooses Da Pennebaker's Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, John Turturro picks Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, Noah Baumbach nails Bruce Robinson's Withnail And I, Sandra Bernhard views Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Lola, and...

Next month will mark the return of New York City’s Quad Cinema, a theater reshaped and rebranded as a proper theater via the resources of Charles S. Cohen, head of the distribution outfit Cohen Media Group. While we got a few hints of the line-up during the initial announcement, they’ve now unveiled their first full repertory calendar, running from April 14th through May 4th, and it’s an embarassment of cinematic riches.

Including the previously revealed Lina Wertmüller retrospective, one inventive series that catches our eye is First Encounters, in which an artist will get to experience a film they’ve always wanted to see, but never have, and in which you’re invited to take part. The first match-ups in the series include Kenneth Lonergan‘s first viewing Edward Yang‘s Yi Yi, Noah Baumbach‘s first viewing of Withnail and I, John Turturro‘s first viewing of Pather Panchali,...

Noah Baumbach has never seen “Withnail and I.” Kenneth Lonergan has always wanted to see “Yi Yi.” Sandra Bernhard hasn’t had the chance to catch “Lola.” As part of New York City’s Quad Cinema’s newly announced “First Encounters” screening series, they (and more creative types) are going to finally remedy that — and they’d like you to join them.

The newly revamped four-screen theater — set to reopen in less than in a month — has announced the first lineup of their newest series, which sees notable New Yorkers (helped by programmers Christopher Wells and Gavin Smith) picking a film they’ve never seen (but have always wanted to) to show on the big screen, complete with a post-showing Q&A with the rest of audience.

Check out the first official lineup for First Encounters below, with descriptions and other information provided by Quad Cinema.

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