News

Chicago – The names “Tj & Dave” are legion in the Chicago entertainment scene. The improvisation duo – T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi – are improv performers who heighten the status of the city as a comedic destination. Now they’re featured in a indie TV pilot that will premiere at SXSW 2024 entitled “Bettendorf Talks.”

The show – produced by Shane Simmons and directed by Jack C. Newell – is a sharp and smart “show within a show” and a workplace comedy regarding the newest (and most unlikely) local talk show to come out of the titular Midwestern Quad City. Hosted by the “has been” comedy duo T.J. Jagodowski and David Pasquesi (who star as caricatures of themselves), the two attempt to mount a hit show in search of a sliver in their former glory. Other featured performers include Tim Kazurinsky, Sadieh Rifal, Brian King. Cassie Kramer, Nnamdi Ngwe, Emma Pope and Ike Reilly.

Men...

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival has unveiled its short film program, curated from an all-time high of 10,374 submissions.

The films — encompassing categories like domestic and international live-action as well as animation — will screen throughout the hybrid festival in person, at satellite venues, and online.

“Short films are such a vital part of the independent storytelling culture that Sundance Institute has consistently put its full support behind. We’re all happy for the opportunity this year’s hybrid in-person and online,” said Kim Yutani, director of programming at Sundance.

In addition to the new crop of shorts, Sundance will also roll out a retrospective titled “From The Collection,” celebrating four decades of its notable past creators. These include works from the likes of Garrett Bradley, Destin Daniel Cretton, Cheryl Dunye, Nash Edgerton, Tamara Jenkins and Taika Waititi.

“The films selected for the ‘From the Collection’ program run the stylistic and subject matter gamut,...

The Sundance Institute today unveiled the Short Film program for the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, as well as the “From the Collection” program—a lineup of 40 shorts from festivals past that will be available for streaming online, in celebration of the nonprofit’s 40th anniversary.

This year’s festival slate comprises work from 26 countries, with 59 shorts selected for from a record 10,374 submissions. All shorts will screen in programs or preceding features in-person in Utah, with most also screening online as part of the 40th anniversary collection, and an assortment screening in person at seven Satellite Screens venues around the country during the second weekend of the festival, taking place from January 20-30.

The “From the Collection” program will feature early works from notable directors including Garrett Bradley, Destin Daniel Cretton, Cheryl Dunye, Nash Edgerton, Tamara Jenkins and Taika Waititi, among others. It will play on demand on Sundance’s online platform,...

Don’t say his name.

Universal and MGM released a terrifying new trailer for Nia DaCosta’s supernatural slasher film, hitting theaters on Aug. 27, 2021.

The trailer gives a backstory to the classic Candyman character, who is said to be an innocent man killed by police after being suspected of putting razor blades in kids’ candy.

“Candyman ain’t a ‘he.’ Candyman is the whole damn hive,” Colman Domingo says in haunting narration in the trailer.

Serving as a “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 horror pic of the same name, “Candyman” follows visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his girlfriend, art gallery director Brianna Cartwright (Teyonah Parris), as they move into the newly gentrified Cabrini-Green neighborhood of Chicago. When McCoy learns about the tragic true story of Candyman, he begins incorporating the vengeful spirit — summoned if someone says his name into a mirror five times — into his art, unlocking a...

One of the biggest disappointments of the shutdown of theaters last year was that the release of the highly-anticipated new Candyman feature produced by Jordan Peele and directed by Nia DaCosta was pushed back by a full year. In a recent interview, Colman Domingo, who appears in the movie, told Et Canada that the epic nature of Candyman is something that audiences need to experience in cinemas.

"It does need to be on a big screen, I believe that. Nia DaCosta directed something that is really epic and it's really visually stunning, and I think you need to be in an audience and be shocked and at the same time, and laugh at the same time, and go 'oh' at the same time."

The upcoming Candyman is not a reboot of the original 1992 horror classic of the same name, but rather a continuation of the story in modern times. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II...

Horror movies centering around the experience of African-American characters have seen a new prominence in pop culture, thanks to the success of Get Out, US, and Lovecraft Country. Filmmaker Nia DaCosta is gearing up to make her own contribution to the genre with the upcoming Candyman reboot. During an interview for the Nightstream Film Festival, DaCosta weighed in on the effect that the horror genre can have on Black filmmaking

"I kind of see it two-fold, right? Like, one is like it's really great that we have this tool, I think genre is really important, especially horror. Well, not especially horror. Let's say for now, in particular, horror, for getting more people just to come see what the movie is, because people watch horror films. Then, too, really getting inside of an experience and inside of a place where they feel what the characters are feeling, at least enough to...

The upcoming fourth installment of the iconic horror franchise Candyman by filmmaker Nia DaCosta will see a new character take on the mantle of the dreaded Candyman. During the Virtual Fireside Chat at Nightstream Fest, DaCosta revealed that her film will differ from the original Candyman in revealing the process by which a mortal man becomes the immortal monster known only as Candyman.

"In the original, he's already a fully formed...I guess monster, we'll say, because that's definitely how he's positioned in the original film, as a monster. And so, it's really like a reveal of like, 'Here's my chest. I'm fully formed, I'm fully grotesque' and in this one, we really wanted it to be a slow progression, and for me, I really wanted to trigger the response of like, you know when all of us have had a rash or something, and we're like, hmm, what's that?...

The long-awaited follow-up to the cult classic horror movie Candyman has been delayed yet again. After waiting for the release for almost a year, fans have started asking that the movie be allowed to bypass a theatrical release and go directly to streaming via VOD. In answer to such requests, the director of the movie, Nia DaCosta, took to Twitter to explain why a theater distribution model was so important for Candyman:

"We made Candyman to be seen in theaters. Not just for the spectacle but because the film is about community and stories--how they shape each other, how they shape us. It's about the collective experience of trauma and joy, suffering and triumph, and the stories we tell around it. We wanted the horror and humanity of Candyman to be experienced in a collective, a community, so we're pushing Candyman to next year, to ensure that everyone can see the film,...

Don't expect filmmaker Nia DaCosta's Candyman reboot to be any less violent than its predecessors, as the upcoming horror flick has officially earned its R rating. As proven in three movies so far, the Candyman movies are particularly dark and violent, with all three movies in the series given hard R ratings. According to FilmRatings.com, the anticipated movie has been rated R for "bloody horror violence, and language including some sexual references." The listing also reveals that the movie will be titled Say My Name in certain overseas markets, perhaps in areas where the Candyman franchise is not quite as well-known with filmgoers.

The Candyman movie series originates from a short story by Clive Barker included in the Books of Blood collection. Directed by Bernard Rose, the first movie adaptation was released in 1992, starring horror legend Tony Todd as the titular antagonist. Virginia Madsen, Xander Berkeley, and Kasi Lemmons also starred.

It was a surprise when it was announced another Candyman movie was being made, but the intention to take the story back to its roots was a good way to go, a path now being doubled down on by bringing back the movie’s other main character of Helen Lyle.

The plot of Candyman, incidentally the second-best film ever made adapting a Clive Barker tale, followed Helen, a graduate student researching urban legends who encountered the tale of the titular ghost said to stalk the residents of a crime-riddled housing project, who can be brought forth by saying his name five times into a mirror, whereupon he will kill his summoner with a hook jammed into the bloody stump of his wrist. After discrediting the myth, he begins killing to re-perpetuate the fear and belief that’s necessary for him to exist, with Helen being blamed for the deaths. Events...