News

We didn’t foresee any of those Scandal events going down the way they did, did you?

The true mastermind behind Frankie Vargas’ assassination was finally revealed during Thursday’s season six finale. At first, it seemed as though Olivia Pope’s (Kerry Washington) mother Maya (Khandi Alexander) was at fault, but it was later revealed she was actually hired to assassinate Mellie (Bellamy Young) at the inauguration. But, plot twist: Maya wanted to kill the real mastermind, newly-elected Vice President Luna Vargas (Tessie Santiago), though her attempt was thwarted.

Then Olivia — who effectively turned to the dark side by...

April 4 is Equal Pay Day, and Gina Rodriguez wants to make a change.

The actress is partnering up with Luna bars to raise awareness about the gender wage gap and educate women on how they can battle it in their own lives.

The Jane the Virgin star admits that at first she was so happy be working as a “brown girl in the industry” that she didn’t think about the implications of Hollywood’s well-documented wage gap. But when she started learning about it, she realized she needed to get more involved.

“I wasn’t informed, I didn’t...

Red is a gritty and edgy thriller set in the underground world of illegal organ smuggling, the so-called red market. It's the directorial debut of Branko Tomovic (24: Live Another Day, Luna, The Bourne Ultimatum) and stars Dervla Kirwan (Ondine, Interlude in Prague) with Francesca Fowler (Doctor Who, Macbeth). It tells the story of a damaged and guilt-ridden man who works in this dangerous underground world but is trying to find a way out of it. The 20-minute film, produced by Kaissar Film and London based House Kino, has already won numerous awards and nominations on the international film festival circuit, including San Diego International Film Festival, Tangier International Film Festival, the European Film Award qualifying International Short Film Festival in Drama, Naperville Independent Film Festival, Maverick Movie Awards,...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

“Every day, once a day, give yourself a present.” The resurrection of the quirky and funny Twin Peaks is in the works at Showtime, and now Death Waltz Recording Company has dusted off the original soundtrack and pressed it on 180g vinyl for fans and newcomers to the show to enjoy. Continue reading to learn more about the list of stores participating in the Coffee & Pie pre-release party!

Press Release: Death Waltz Recording Company brings one of the greatest scores ever recorded back in print for the first time in 25 years! Death Waltz went back to the Warner archives where Tal Miller cut brand new vinyl masters for the Twin Peaks soundtrack and then worked with Rainbo to press the record on 180g vinyl for the best possible sound quality. The record comes housed inside a 425gsm gatefold sleeve featuring lyrics and liner notes by composer Angelo Badalamenti and the...

Death Waltz Recording Company brings one of the greatest scores ever recorded back in print for the first time in 25 years! Death Waltz went back to the Warner archives where Tal Miller cut brand new vinyl masters for the Twin Peaks soundtrack, and then worked with Rainbo to press the record on 180g vinyl for the best possible sound quality. The record comes housed inside a 425gsm gatefold sleeve featuring lyrics and liner notes by composer Angelo Badalamenti and the cover image by Sam Smith comes approved by director David Lynch himself. The gatefold sleeve is housed within a bespoke die cut outer jacket designed by Mondo’s Jay Shaw featuring super subtle white spot varnish text. The whole affair is finished with a top loading obi strip & pressed on “Damn fine coffee” vinyl.

“I’m glad that after 25 years, Death Waltz Recording Company has re-released the original soundtrack for...

Chrissy Teigen just made a pregnancy "announcement." The supermodel and her husband John Legend just welcomed their first child, Luna, three months ago, but Chrissy is talking pregnancy once again. Chrissy joked around with her Snapchat followers on Wednesday telling them that she had "an announcement" to make. "I have an announcement, somebody's pregnant...it's Laura!" Chrissy said in the Snapchat video before showing her expecting friend. Lol! Good one, Chrissy! So it looks like this is so false, but what about the other celeb rumors going around? Take a look at the E! News video above to find out if Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt really just...

One of the best double features you could treat yourself to this year would be a back-to-back viewing of two Agnes Varda films starring Jane Birkin, rescued from obscurity in 2015 thanks to Cinelicious Pics. Both released originally in 1988, the imaginary bio-pic Jane B. Par Agnes V. and the provocative fictional narrative Kung-Fu Master! are available on a lovingly restored disc set (as the playful Venn diagram cover art implies, the titles are more inextricably connected than initially seems apparent). Both titles received a theatrical release at New York’s Lincoln Center, followed by a VOD release.

Jane B. Par Agnes V.

A playful exploration of the multi-faceted actress, singer, and icon Jane Birkin as she balances career choices and motherhood long after the initial scandals that brought her international attention. Filmed in tandem with their other collaboration, the fictional narrative Kung Fu Master!, both titles were released theatrically in 1988 when...

Bangarra founder and frontman Stephen Page has just returned from Melbourne, where he screened Spear, his first feature, at Acmi.

The dance film, which premiered at Toronto last September, sprang from an early Bangarra piece of the same name.

"When I created Spear in 2000, we had Archie Roach singing his poetic, streetwise songs onstage. Hunter [Page-Lochard, the director's son and star of both Spear and the upcoming Cleverman] was a six year-old onstage. It was one of Wayne Blair's first acting jobs".

So many years later, Spear is now Page's first feature, though the director is no stranger to filmmaking..

"I did a dance film called Colours in 1990 that I choreographed with Victoria Taylor for the Sydney Dance Company. It was all based on colours, so each colour had a short dance story and then it was all patched together. I think Screen Australia was involved. I only got reminded about it four months ago, I forgot I actually did it".

"I...

Oedipus at the Arcade: Varda’s Empathetic Exploration of Taboo

Invariably, most conversations concerning Agnes Varda, the sole female auteur amongst the prized clutch of men whose names project like immortal pillars from the fog of the Nouvelle Vague, reference her two most renowned titles, Cleo From 5 to 7 (1962) and Vagabond (1985). But in-between and after these two iconic moments from her filmography lies a sea of titles waiting to be re-discovered (a recent disc-set from Criterion’s Eclipse series several weeks ago was a first step in exploring her more obscure works).

Boutique distributor Cinelicious Pics continues in this vein with two digital restorations of Varda’s from 1988, both inextricably linked via star Jane Birkin (after a theatrical bow in New York, both titles will move on to Los Angeles). The more textually subversive of these is Kung Fu Master!, a sympathetic tale of doomed love between a 40-year-old...

Directed by Delicatessen's Jean-Pierre Jeunet and written by The Americans' Stu Zicherman, new Amazon pilot Casanova is worth a watch...

One of two dramatic pilots to land on Amazon Prime recently, Casanova stars Diego Luna as the eponymous Venetian, recently escaped from imprisonment in the Doge’s palace and on the run to Paris, determined to right his ways and prove himself to be more than his debaucheries. All, however, does not go to plan. He immediately falls into the political game of the French court, finding himself caught between the ongoing machinations of Madame Pompadour (Bojana Novokovic) and his old friend, de Bernis (Ben Daniels).

When you think of Giacomo Casanova, sex is probably the first thing that comes to mind. His infamous debaucheries and reputation for seduction have formed the basis for various adaptations, including the rambunctious BBC version with David Tennant in the title role.

Netflix will soon have even more children’s programming to choose from among its already-expansive kids’ library of titles. The streaming video service has picked up four new animated series from studios around the world, aimed at kids and preschoolers alike.

The first new series on Netflix’s programming slate is Cirque du Soleil - Luna Petunia from Saban Brands and Cirque du Soleil Media. The preschool-aged series will release 11 episodes surrounding the titular character Luna, who lives in the real world but plays and does the impossible in an other-worldly dreamland.

Netflix’s other preschool series is Puffin Rock from Penguin Random House, Dog Ears, and Cartoon Saloon; the 13 episodes of Puffin follow the bird Oona and her brother Baba as they explore nature in their native Irish island.

Up next is a series from 41 Entertainment and executive producer Avi Arad called Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan and Jane. A...

The month of May features a ton of great genre titles coming to VOD and digital platforms, including the highly anticipated zombie drama Maggie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin. The Orchard is releasing the Kiwi horror comedy mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows later this month and we also have both Oren Peli’s Area 51 and the sure-to-be-insane The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) from Tom Six to look forward to as well. The indie spookfest Evangeline is also getting a VOD release from Uncork’d Entertainment and look for the latest from Dark Sky Films, Let Us Prey, which arrives the last week of May.

Private Number (Arc Entertainment) - 5/1

A series of sinister phone calls haunt an ex-alcoholic writer as he struggles to finish a novel. Efforts to trace the calls result in dead ends, leaving the author with no choice but to solve the mystery himself.

Amazon is pushing ahead with another show in its drive to add more original content via its pilot system. The company has an untitled series about 18th century lover Giacomo Casanova in the works with Diego Luna set to play the romantic scoundrel and Jean-Pierre Jeunet on to direct the initial episode. With Ben Daniels, Miranda Richardson, Bojana Novakovic and Amelia Clarkson also aboard to star, the Casanova series – assuming it makes it past the pilot selection process – will chronicle the life of the renaissance man best known for his philandering ways but who also served as a spy for the French government. The pilot kicks off with him escaping Venice’s most impenetrable prison and moves to Paris with just the shirt on his back, determined to change his ways.Stu Zicherman has written the first script and Jeunet plans to shoot it soon in Paris, Venice and Hungary.

Stars: Ben Daniels, Dervla Kirwan, Stephanie Leonidas, Michael Maloney, Maurice Roëves, Katia Winter | Written and Directed by Dave McKean

After losing their baby, Grant (Ben Daniels) and Christine (Dervla Kirwan) visit a old friend from art school and his wife in their isolated and idyllic seaside house. Over a long weekend, secrets are revealed among the four characters, Grant and Christine come to terms with their loss and the life of the dead child, Jacob, is lived out in a series of fantastical dreams.

Luna is a film which is hard to describe. Every section of the film is artistically presented through animation, beautiful shots or just little details which bring out the magic in an ever so subtle way, such as glitter in the moonlight. Dealing which such a heavy topic as the loss of a child, Luna is littered with some extremely emotional moments, so don’t expect...

★★★☆☆Familial waters run especially deep in Dave McKean's haunting new drama Luna (2014), which featured in the experimental Vanguard strand of this year's Toronto International Film Festival. In the director's striking but uneven 2005 debut feature, Mirrormask, it was style that particularly caught the eye as he crafted an utterly unique blend of reality and fantasy, a trick he emulates with his latest effort. A meditation on grief and parenthood, it has some shaky moments, but their memory is largely erased by beautiful, spectral flights of fancy and a thoughtful and inventive treatment of fairly brooding subject matter. It's a bold, intimate vision from a very interesting emerging British filmmaker.

Luna

Written and Directed by Dave McKean

UK, 2014

While Mirrormask has become something of a cult film, Dave McKean is still better known for his work in illustration than his directorial efforts in film. McKean’s groundbreaking style consistently raised the bar in comic art; his contribution to the 1989 release of “Arkham Asylum”, written by Grant Morrison, helped change our understanding of the comic art. McKean’s style seemed uniquely suited to the mind space of an asylum, his layered mixed media style reflective of thoughts and emotions in conflict. Perhaps his best known work is his contributions to the cover art for Neil Gaiman’s iconic Sandman series, once again cementing the phantasmagoric quality of McKean’s work. His contribution to Gaiman highlighted the obscured landscape of nightmares which he frightfully recreated through superimposition, collage and drawing.

It should be no surprise that McKean’s transition into filmmaking would...

Nearly 30 sales companies receive financial backing to market their films in Toronto.

A total of 28 sales companies from eight European countries are to receive financial backing from to market their films at the Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 4-14) from European Film Promotion’s Film Sales Support scheme.

More than €150,000 ($200,000) in total is being reserved by Efp for Europe’s attending sales companies.

European films eligible for Fss support have to run in the festival and need to be available for Canada. Of the 39 supported films, 27 are receiving their world premiere in Toronto.

Amongst them are François Ozon’s The New Girlfriend, Bent Hamer’s 1001 Grams and Susanne Bier’s A Second Chance.

Michael Winterbottom The Face Of An Angel sees German actor and former European Shooting Star Daniel Brühl in a lead role.

Foreign Body by Krzysztof Zanussi, a co-production between Poland, Italy and Russia with one-time European Shooting Star Agata Buzek in a main role...

Over the years, the Toronto International Film Festival has grown into one of the most well-known stops on the circuit, with numerous Oscar winners and other critically acclaimed films making their world premiere at Tiff, and others making their North American or International premiere at the fest. Thus, the films that end up at the festival have also become a source of interest to film fans. With the 2014 incarnation of Tiff making their first wave of announcements already, they have released a second list of the films that will be screening at Tiff 2014, which includes works from Frederick Wiseman, Joshua Oppenheimer, Michael Winterbottom, Jean-Luc Godard, Adam Wingard, and Sion Sono. The full list of films, as well as their categories, can be found below.

Midnight Madness

[Rec] 4: Apocalypse, by Jaume Balagueró, making its World Premiere

Big Game, by Jalmari Heleander, making its World Premiere Cub, by Jonas Govaerts, making its...

Kevin Smith’s walrus-themed horror-comedy Tusk, Michael Winterbottom’s Amanda Knox-inspired thriller Face of an Angel and several big titles from last spring’s Cannes Film Festival are among a new batch of films announced to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival. Tiff released its list of films from the Midnight Madness, Tiff Docs, Vanguard and Master programs on Tuesday, which include several world and North American premieres.

Midnight Madness, a popular place for buzzworthy genre films, will screen Smith’s Tusk, which stars Justin Long as a podcaster who gets more than he bargained for when he interviews a creepy seafarer (Michael Parks). Other notable titles include Big Game, a survivalist thriller from Rare Exports director Jalmari Helander with Samuel L. Jackson as the president of the United States fending for his life after Air Force One crashes in the forest. Also, Sundance favorite The Guest, from You’re Next director Adam Wingard,...

Earlier today we brought you the full lineup of Tiff 2014's Midnight Madness programme, and we're back with the 11 films that comprise the fest's Vanguard lineup, which includes Alleluia, Shrew's Next, Spring, and the latest from Takashi Miike.

A few of the films on this list don't fall in the pure horror category, but we've included them as well just because they sound so damn intriguing!

From the Press Release:

The Toronto International Film Festival's Vanguard programme seduces audiences with a sensory experience full of mystery and boundary-busting madness with bold international films that walk the razor’s edge. International programmer Colin Geddes brings together the work of some of the most audacious auteurs in the world to present a cinematic adventure that takes audiences to the dark, dangerous places that both unnerve yet intrigue them.

“The Vanguard programme presents the intersection between genre and arthouse to showcase intrepid works that fearlessly defy convention,...

The Toronto International Film Festival announced its selections for the 2014 Masters, Vanguard, Midnight Madness, and documentaries programs on Tuesday.

The festival, in its 39th year, kicks off Sept. 4 with David Dobkin’s The Judge, a drama starring Robert Downey, Jr. as a big-time lawyer who returns home to defend his father (Robert Duvall) in court. While The Judge is an American film, the movie selections unveiled hail from all over the world—Japan, New Zealand, and Spain are just a few of the countries represented—and involve a number of well-known actors and filmmakers.

The Face of an Angel, which stars Daniel Brühl,...

While a certain “freshness” might be lacking in the Midnight Madness programme, the Vanguard section (and Wavelengths to be unveiled next month) is where there might be more cerebral bang for the buck and programmer Colin Geddes has a nice canvas to paint on with the bunch announced below. Running down the list we find a must see in the Cannes sensation Alleluia (Fabrice Du Welz), which had the entire Ioncinema team in awestruck mode, and then we have Berberian Sound Studio‘s Peter Strickland breaking out the world premiere for The Duke of Burgundy (see pic above). After penning several Ulrich Seidl items over the years (Import/Export, Paradise Trilogy), Veronika Franz might outclass The Shining for most creepiest young child twin set with Severin Fiala for the Venice Film Fest selected Goodnight Mommy. Takashi Miike is naturally invited back to the fest with his latest, and Spring, which...

Like a bit of art with your weird? Then get yourself to the Vanguard program at the Toronto International Film Festival, home to the edgy stuff with emotional heft. And what will you find there? Resolution duo Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson's sophomore effort, Spring, for one thing, alongside Dave McKean's Luna, Fabrice du Welz's Alleluia, Peter Strickland's The Duke Of Burgundy, Miike's Over Your Dead Body and the proverbial so much more. Check out the full announcement below.Peter Strickland, Takashi Miike And Fabrice Du Welz Lead Vanguard Programme Designed To Seduce Sophisticated Thrill SEEKERSThe Toronto International Film Festival Vanguard programme seduces audiences with a sensory experience full of mystery and boundary-busting madness, with bold international films that walk the razor's edge. International programmer Colin...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Michael Wintbottom’s The Face of An Angel, Kevin Smith’s Tusk and Peter Strickland’s The Duke Of Burgundy will receive their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival; new documentaries from Joshua Oppenheimer and Nick Broomfield are also among Tiff’s second wave.

As always, Tiff programmers stress the information is not final or complete and remains subject to change. Canadian films in the strands listed below will be announced on August 6.

The first wave of titles was announced last week.

As previously announced, the world premieres of David Dobkins’ drama The Judge starring Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall, and Alan Rickman’s A Little Chaos bookend the festival.

Tiff is set to run from September 4-14. For further information visit the official website.

Wp = World premiere

Nap = North American premiere

IP = International premiere

Cp = Canadian premiere

Tiff Docs

Beats Of The Antonov (Sudan-South Africa), Hajooj Kuka Wp

I Am Here (Wo Jiu...

The world premiere of Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studios follow-up The Duke Of Burgundy and new documentaries from Joshua Oppenheimer and Nick Broomfield are among Tiff’s second wave.

Programming includes the world premieres of Michael Winterbottom’s The Face of An Angel, Bent Hamer’s 1001 Grams and Tusk from Kevin Smith.

As always, Tiff programmers stress the information is not final or complete and remains subject to change. Canadian films in the programmes listed below will be announced on August 6.

As previously announced, the world premieres of David Dobkins’ drama The Judge starring Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall and Alan Rickman’s A Little Chaos bookend the festival.

Tiff is set to run from September 4-14. For further information visit the official website.

Wp = World premiere

Nap = North American premiere

IP = International premiere

Cp = Canadian premiere

Tiff Docs

Beats Of The Antonov (Sudan-South Africa), Hajooj Kuka Wp

I Am Here (Wo Jiu Shi Wo...

This morning the 2014 Toronto Film Festival announced their Midnight Madness, Documentary, Vanguard and Contemporary Masters selections for this year's festival and several high profile names and films are included among the announced titles. Beginning with the Midnight selection, Kevin Smith's Tusk will have its world premiere at the fest before hitting theaters in mid-September along with films such as Adam Wingard's The Guest, Jaume Balaguer?'s Rec 4: Apocalypse, Mark Hartley's Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films and Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement's co-directed feature What We Do in the Shadows, a comedy featuring Waititi and Clement as immortal vampires just trying to navigate life as creatures of the shadows. The Contemporary Masters section includes Jean-Luc Godard's Cannes winner Goodbye to Language 3D, Hong Sang-soo's Hill of Freedom, Michael Winterbottom's The Face of an Angel starring Daniel Bruchl and Kate Beckinsale...

The announcements have begun rolling in for this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Watch this page for updates.

Galas

Black and White (Mike Binder, USA)

The Equalizer (Antoine Fuqua, USA)

Foxcatcher (Bennett Miller, USA)

Haemoo (Shim Sung-bo, South Korea)

The Judge (David Dobkin, USA)

Maps to the Stars (David Cronenberg, Canada/Germany)

The New Girlfriend (François Ozon, France)

Pawn Sacrifice (Ed Zwick, USA)

The Riot Club (Lone Sherfig, UK)

Samba (Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano, France)

This is Where I Leave You (Shawn Levy, USA)

Wild (Jean-Marc Vallée, USA)

Closing Night Film

A Little Chaos (Alan Rickman, UK)

Masters

1001 Grams (Bent Hamer, Norway/Germany/France)

A Pigeon Sat on a Bench Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson, Sweden/Norway/France/Germany)

The Face of an Angel (Michael Winterbottom, UK)

The Golden Era (Ann Hui, China/Hong Kong)

Goodbye to Language 3D (Jean-Luc Godard, France)

Hill of Freedom (Hong Sang-soo, South Korea)

Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev,...