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The inspirations are obvious here. The trunks, the diner, and the unprecedented shootout that drives the proceedings in unpredictable ways are just some of the elements you might find in movies that take “Pulp Fiction” as the type map. Tarantino’s classic has inspired a generation of filmmakers and essentially, Ruth Du’s “Samson” is one of those movies only. However, unlike most that take that inspiration to aping results, Du’s movie builds on it in unpredictable ways. While some of the choices that the filmmaker makes threaten to derail the narrative, the genre-shifting turns are always surprising and dare I say cathartic in ways that you might not expect.

The story of course begins at a diner. A bickering couple is seen sitting across one another after they have broken up – possibly to let this meet be a reconciliation or a final nail in the coffin. From the looks of it,...

"We're in this together!" Freestyle Digital Media has posted the trailer for Samson, a dark comedy crime thriller from filmmaker Ruth Du as her second feature film. This one orignially premiered at the 2023 Asian American International Film Festival last year, and will be out on VOD to watch later this month. The film tells the story of a broken up couple who are forced to work together when they are kidnapped by masked men. Director Ruth Du explains further her idea behind this: "Samson is like that sour piece of candy that has that surprise sweetness in the center, all while being wrapped in a shiny foil of a break-up story... I love exploring characters who are not what they-seem & unraveling relationships that are complex yet universal. I wanted to make a movie about race without making a movie about race." The indie film stars Alice Lee, Ryan Dance, Will Brittain,...

More than two decades after completing the collection, Regina Spektor is officially releasing her sophomore album, Songs. Previously available only as a CD sold at her live shows, the 2002 LP will now be widely released on streaming platforms and vinyl beginning November 29th. As a previous, she’s shared the fan-favorite track “Samson.”

“It’s hard to believe that after 22 years of living their scrappy DIY life, these little songs get to be reborn,” Spektor said in a statement.. “I used to burn a few CDRs and head downtown hoping someone would buy them from my backpack. Now beautifully mastered by Bob Ludwig, and available to stream or on limited edition vinyl, hopefully all the people who listened all these years can enjoy them in a new way.”

Songs is also home to a track some listeners might have heard of called “Consequence of Sounds,” which sounds vaguely familiar for some reason.

New York, NY — April 15, 2024 — The 92nd Street Y, New York (92Ny), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Cotton: Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano and Justin Austin, baritone on Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 7:30 pm at Kaufmann Concert Hall. Tickets start at $30 and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/denyce-graves-and-justin-austin.

Celebrated mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, acclaimed for her riveting performances on the world’s great opera stages, her activism in support of diversity in the arts, and her championing of new music, is featured with exciting rising star baritone Justin Austin and pianist Laura Ward in the New York premiere of this immersive exploration of African American stories through song, poetry, and photography.

A poignant and powerful multidisciplinary work that speaks to the resilience of soul and psyche, Cotton is inspired by photographer John E. Dowell’s haunting images of South Carolina cotton fields – captured in his 2018 exhibit Cotton: The Soft,...

Brittany Howard’s career has been one of ever-expanding sonic exploration, from the nakedly retro rock ‘n’ soul of the Alabama Shakes’s Boys & Girls to the gleeful eclecticism of her solo debut, Jaime. Howard’s sophomore effort, What Now, finds her once again stylistically untethered, exploring funk-rock, psychedelia, techno, soft jazz, new age, and more. Sonically, it’s a triumph, a delicately textured musical realm that begs to be luxuriated in.

What’s missing from the album is the same level of songwriting that elevated Howard’s previous work. There are a few standout tracks, but no burrowing hooks on the level of “Don’t Wanna Fight” or “Stay High.” The only time she comes close to those earlier songs is on the propulsive “Red Flags,” its circular melody continuously building in intensity as Howard recounts a toxic relationship morphing from euphoria to abuse. Jazz drummer Nate Smith, the album’s sturdy backbone,...

“I’ve been staying open, you don’t wanna grow,” Brittany Howard sings on the title track from her second solo record. The song is a hard-funk failing-relationship jeremiad that might leave the “you” in question reduced to a puddle on the floor by the time it’s done. But whoever she’s singing to should’ve known better. Staying relentlessly open has been Howard’s guiding principle going all the way back to her breakout moment fronting Athens, Alabama garage-rockers Alabama Shakes in the early 2010s.

She’s a...

It’s not every day that a filmmaker will rise up during an interview and recite Old Testament tales and sing out their favorite hymn. Well, hallelujah, brother Jeymes Samuel for spreading the gospel’s good news.

The director’s spectacular Jesus in the hood movie, The Book of Clarence, starring a mighty fine Lakeith Stanfield playing a charlatan wannabe Messiah, shakes up the toga and peepy toe genre.

Samuel’s movie has its world premiere Wednesday at the BFI London Film Festival. The Legendary Pictures production is released through Tristar with congregations taking their pews from January 12, 2024.

The movie’s thrilling prologue kicks off with a rip-roaring, wheel-screeching chariot race with Mary Magdalene thrashing the lads.

The moment was of course inspired by the iconic chariot scene between Charlton Heston’s Judah Ben-Hur and Stephen Boyd’s Messala in William Wyler...

A modern example of India’s shared heritage with Iran, her career was itself nothing short of a film story. Enamoured of the silver screen when young, she began with child roles. but on coming of age, found no major actor ready to share screen space with her apart from a reel – and real life – strongman, until the foremost thespian of the time gave her a rare chance.

After Dilip Kumar agreed to Mumtaz (Askari) as one of the romantic partners for one of the twins in “Ram Aur Shyam” (1967), there was no looking back for her. Male actors, who had once spurned her as a ‘B-grade’ actress were now more than ready to accept her. She was so much sought after that a superstar of the time, with whom she had a string of successes, reportedly went into a sulk if she acted with other heroes.

But Mumtaz, who,...

Alabama rapper Chika has announced her debut full-length, Samson: The album, out July 28th via Warner Records. As a preview, she’s shared the powerful new single “Demigod.” Stream it below.

Though Chika has yet to share full details about Samson: The album, we do know it includes “Requiem For A Dream” — which marked her first new single since 2021 when it dropped in June — and the recent Freddie Gibbs collaboration “Truth Or Dare.” Back in May, she teased that Snoop Dogg will also make an appearance.

On “Demigod,” Chika uses a melodic flow while describing how her well-documented mental health issues can benefit her artistry: “I love when I’m manic/ Try not to panic/ Walls of my head are all quilted and padded/ Words in my brain get translated through static.”

Samson: The album follows Chika’s 2021 EP Once Upon a Time. Before that, she was nominated for...

For those who’ve seen Joshua Ray Walker perform, they know his voice can alternately hush and rouse a crowd. (Catch him perform “Voices” if you ever get the chance and be amazed.) The Texas songwriter delivers one of his most dynamic recorded takes on “Cuz I Love You” — a Lizzo cover that announces his new album What Is It Even?.

The rendition arrives with a music video that finds Walker flirting with gender norms. What is it even? How about a vocalist confident in who he is as an artist.

Exclusive: Alice Lee (Our Man from Jersey) is set to co-produce and star in the darkly comedic thriller Samson, from director Ruth Du (The Deadliest Lie). She’ll be joined in the indie’s ensemble by Will Brittain (Blow the Man Down), Emilio Garcia Sanchez (The Society) and newcomer Ryan Dance.

The film written by Du and David Harry Yoon follows a recently broken up couple (Lee and Dance) who are forced to work together when they are kidnapped by two masked men (Brittain and Sanchez). Pic’s producers are Ashlee Cohen and Claire Brooks.

Lee recently wrapped a role alongside Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry in Netflix’s action-thriller Our Man from Jersey, and previously shared the screen with Jillian Bell in Amazon’s Brittany Runs a Marathon, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. The actress was most recently seen on the TV side in...

Mat Kesting.

In planning this year’s Adelaide Film Festival, creative director and CEO Mat Kesting and his team put together not just one event, but five.

Covid-related contingency plans – each with its own financial framework – included an entirely virtual festival, a hybrid event, a festival in mini-theatres to keep numbers down and minimise infection risk, and even a festival at the drive-in.

Yet Kesting is both relieved and thrilled they’re able to go ahead with “plan A” – that is, a physical festival in cinemas.

Of course, this will look still different than previous iterations, with chequerboard seating and social distancing in place. Venue partners have been flexible enough to loop in multiple screens and other cinemas in order to maximise audience attendance for sessions. Gala events will also see people “partying like it’s 2020”.

But despite this, a physical event means that people can come together, which for...

What?! We're breaking our no-tv rules to feature this trailer for a documentary series called The Beach, made by Australian filmmaker Warwick Thornton. Not only because it looks awesome, better than you can even imagine, but also because it's made by and about a very talented filmmaker (whose films you should be watching). After all of his success, Thornton has "reached a crossroad in his life and something has to change. He has chosen to try giving up life in the fast lane for a while, to go it alone, on an isolated beach in one of the most beautiful yet brutal environments in the world, to see if he can transform and heal his life." So he moves to a remote island, in Jilirr on the indigenous lands of the Dampier Peninsula, on the north-west coast of Western Australia. It's described as "observational and unobtrusive, yet visually stunning and cinematic.

Drama projects from The Young Offenders writer Karen Cogan, Mum producer Big Talk, The Virtues producer Warp Films and NBCUniversal-backed Heyday Television lead the Brit List: TV 2019, the UK television equivalent of The Black List.

The Brit List, overseen by Alexandra Arlango, has published its second television rankings of unproduced drama scripts from British writers with 24 making the final list from 232 scripts put forward.

The top project, which received twenty recommendations from industry executives is Fled, a dark comedy drama from rising writer Karen Cogan, who has written on the second season of BBC Three series The Young Offenders. The show follows a pregnant girl and a scared nun, who are forced together to find some kind of freedom in the last remaining mother and baby Home in 90s Ireland.

Other shows with the most recommendations including Big Talk’s crime thriller Only Child from Ryan J Brown and...

Studiocanal has sold near all of the world outside the U.S. on Hugo Gélin’s “Love at Second Sight.” The European production-distribution-sales giant, part of Vivendi’s Canal Plus Group, has also kicked off promising sales on a panoply of new foreign-language titles, such as Yvan Attal’s “My Dog Stupid,” Cedric Klapisch’s “Someone Somewhere” and animated feature “Samsam.”

“Our mission at Studiocanal is to ensure we make high-quality European cinema with strong global potential,” said Anna Marsh, Studiocanal Evp, international distribution.

Described by Marsh as a “key title, a high concept movie which really appeals.” “Love at Second Sight” stars François Civil as a young best-selling novelist who forgets the love of his life in one world to wake up in another where she’s a world-famous pianist who’s never met him.

Combining large ambition, a questioning take on gender equality in relationships, and a director whose 2017 debut,...

Discovered by Paul Verhoeven, who launched his global career with performances in Turkish Delight (1973) and Soldier of Orange (1977), Dutch actor Rutger Hauer seared himself into cinema history with the “Tears in the Rain” speech (which he wrote himself) in Ridley Scott's original Blade Runner.

He is in Berlin to promote Pure Flix's biblical action drama Samson, in which he plays Manoah, the father of the legendary strongman (played by Taylor James).

Hauer, 74, spoke to THR about his favorite roles, why films today “lack balls” and his take on the Blade Runner sequel.

Have you...

Dominating the weekend and delivering one of the largest opening weekends of all-time, Disney and Marvel's Black Panther topped the President's Day weekend box office, outperforming its nearest competitor by nearly $175 million based on estimates. As a result, fellow new wide releases were left in the dust with both Lionsgate's Early Man and PureFlix's Samson struggling in the low single digits. The weekend did, however, have other notable performances such as Sony's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which became the studio's second highest grossing domestic release of all-time, and Fox's The Greatest Showman, which has now topped $150 million at the domestic box office. Atop the weekend box office with an estimated $192 million for the three-day weekend, Black Panther delivered the fifth largest three-day domestic opening in history and is currently expected to finish around $218 million for the four-day holiday weekend. The performance is also the largest February opening of all-time,...

President's Day weekend is going to be mighty this year thanks to the release of Disney and Marvel's Black Panther, which is set to deliver not only the largest February and President's Day weekend of all-time, but one of the largest opening weekends period. Meanwhile, Lionsgate will try and find a spot in the top ten with the release of Early Man, the latest stop motion animated pic from Aardman, and Pure Flix will target the faith-based demographic with the moderately-sized release of Samson. But all-in-all, the weekend will be about Black Panther and just how high its opening can go. Debuting in over 4,000 theaters, Disney and Marvel's Black Panther certainly takes advantage of being the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — 18th to be exact — but it has already proven to be more than just another superhero movie. The cultural significance of the reportedly $200 million production has...

Sneak Peek new images from "Samson", the upcoming biblical feature starring Jackson Rathbone, Billy Zane, Taylor James, Rutger Hauer and Lindsay Wagner, opening February 16, 2018:

"...after losing the love of his life to a cruel 'Philistine' prince, a long-haired young man with supernatural strength defends his people, sacrificing everything to avenge his love, his people and his faith..."

'Samson', meaning 'man of the sun' was the last of the judges of the ancient 'Israelites' mentioned in the 'Book of Judges' in the 'Old Testament'.

The biblical account states Samson was given immense strength to fight his enemies  and allow him to perform eventful feats, including the killing of a lion with his bare hands...

...slaying an entire army with only the jawbone of an ass, and destroying a temple of the Philistines with his bare hands.

Click the images to enlarge...

Christian Cinema in Cannes

Industry vet Ron Gell is working Cannes with Pure Flix, the faith-based international sales agent and U.S. distributor. He has done very well with “The Case for Christ” screening at the Marche. Among its buyers are U.K.-Kaleidoscope, Australia/ New Zealand-Crossroads, Germany-Great Movies, Latin America-California Filmes, Poland-Rafael Films, Philippines-Rafaella Films, So. Korea-cbs, Africa-cmd. “The Case For Christ” has grossed more than $14m in North America since it opened last month. Mike Vogel, Erika Christensen, L. Scott Caldwell, Faye Dunaway, and Robert Forster star in the adaptation of Lee Strobel’s bestseller about an atheist reporter who sets out to debunk Christianity as a cult.

Pure Flix is also showing early footage from “Samson”. Billy Zane. Taylor James, Billy Zane, Rutger Hauer, Lindsay Wagner and Caitlin Leahy star in the Biblical story of a child born with supernatural strength who grows up to...