What's news: Macklemore responded after backlash over his "Free Palestine" plea. Ashley St. Clair revealed she rejected a $40m NDA and decided to take part in Alex Gibney's Elon Musk doc. And Scott Feinberg offers his take on You Can See Everything's Oscar chances. — Abid Rahman
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AMC Settles 'Walking Deal' Profit Suit for $120M |
►Shuffling to the finish line. The Walking Dead lawsuit saga may finally be over. AMC Global Media said Tuesday that it had settled the lawsuit brought by Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and the show’s other producers, including Glen Mazzara, David Alpert, Charles Eglee and Gale Anne Hurd. The lawsuit, initially filed in 2022, was about the profit participation rights for the original Walking Dead series, and its first spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead. AMC says that it will pay $120m to resolve the lawsuit, including $85m this month, with another $35m next year. The story.
—"I hope I showed in the film that he’s involved in right-wing political parties all over the globe." Alex Gibney's Elon Musk doc took the spotlight at the Venice Film Festival on Tuesday. During a presser, Gibney shared how the Musk team reached out to the billionaire for the film, without success, and how the focus of the project changed once the tech mogul “got wrapped into Donald Trump” and his story. Also, Ashley St. Clair discussed why she rejected a $40m NDA and decided to take part in the doc, while tech journalist Zoë Schiffer said Musk augmented "more inflammatory comments" on X. The recap.
—Several withdrawals. Multiple acts participating in a comedy festival in Portugal, an event that has Jerry Seinfeld as a headliner, have announced that they are pulling out. Actress Inês Aires Pereira said that her show Namastê was being removed from the festival‘s lineup and explained her reasoning being that “one of the names insistently defends ideas and acts that I consider indefensible.” Seinfeld has openly supported Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. The story.
—"My message is for peace." Macklemore is doubling down after facing backlash from a pro-Israel organization over his “Free Palestine” plea while opening for Ed Sheeran‘s Loop Tour. On Monday, the rapper wrote on social media, “Wanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial.” His post also included his speech from Saturday, the second night of back-to-back shows at the MetLife Stadium. This came a day after Macklemore’s opening set on Friday drew criticism from the Israeli-American Council, which launched a petition to remove Macklemore from the remaining tour dates. The story.
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Inside 'DAU,' Cinema's Strangest Ghost Story
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►"The Stalinist Truman Show." Director Ilya Khrzhanovsky built a sealed Soviet world in Ukraine, populated it with thousands of participants and filmed them for three years. Two decades, 14 films and innumerable scandals later, his original epic is finally coming to Venice — amid a new geopolitical firestorm. THR's Scott Roxborough has the wild story on the 20-year Soviet simulation that will go down in legend. The story.
—9-minutes! The Venice Film Festival has a new guilty pleasure. The hometown crowd went wild Monday night for the world premiere of The Spiral, a campy, fun Italian horror thriller from director Paolo Strippoli. The twisty genre film, which dips into Grand Guignol territory, with plenty of OTT performances may be an outsider for the Golden Lion, but it definitely played for the Venice audience, which gave it a warm and enthusiastic standing ovation, with the director and cast coaxing the crowd to keep clapping past the 9-minute mark. The recap.
—"An immensely entertaining and unexpectedly profound moviegoing experience." Telluride sprung one of the biggest surprises of the year when they screened Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's docudrama about Elizabeth Holmes at the festival on Sunday. THR's executive editor of awards Scott Feinberg was one of the lucky few who got to see You Can See Everything and has some big thoughts about the clear and obvious awards potential of the feature. (THR's full review for the film is further down this newsletter.) The analysis.
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How a Sweet, Horny Hockey Show Rewrote the Rules of Indie TV
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►"People talk about how low-budget Heated Rivalry was, but we shot six episodes of Letterkenny season one in 18 days." THR's Scott Roxborough spoke to Brendan Brady and Jacob Tierney, the guys behind Canada's Accent Aigu Entertainment. The duo dish on how they turned a $200,000 lowball offer and a rabid BookTok fandom into the game-changing global hit Heated Rivalry. The interview.
—"If you’re going to go back for a second bite of the apple, the reason is to try and make it better and more complex, take bigger swings." For THR, Max Gao spoke to Theo James about the return of his hit Netflix show The Gentlemen. The star and co-executive producer discusses his and Guy Ritchie's deeper and darker second season, how that finale sets up season three — and the rumored casting of the real-life Duchess of Sussex: "It's fascinating how [those reports] exploded that much, and how intrigued people are." Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"I’m quite literally living my dream." THR's McKinley Franklin spoke to the in-demand Ciara Miller. The former ICU nurse has conquered Bravo, survived a shocking public betrayal and landed on her feet with Dancing With the Stars. The interview.
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Why Cate Blanchett Went All In on the Absurd, Sincere Alien Comedy 'Alpha Gang'
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►"If you go back and look at all of [Zellner brothers' films], they’re not geo-locked and they’re not culturally time-coded in any sense." THR's David Canfield spoke to Cate Blanchett and her producing partner Coco Francini about the Telluride-bowing feature Alpha Gang. Starring opposite a wild cast including Dave Bautista, Lily-Rose Depp and Riley Keough, the actress and producer embraced the zany tone of filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner. The interview.
—"People...assume that what the film says is the opinion of the filmmaker, and what the characters say is the truth. Come on." David spoke to Cristian Mungiu about his buzzy new feature Fjord. The Romanian auteur is on the cusp of his Oscars breakthrough for his Cannes-winning social drama, which has already been hotly debated on social media for months. The interview.
—"There'd be days where they would say…‘Today you're going to be shitting on your landlady's doorstep.’" David also spoke to Johnny Flynn and Aimee Lou Wood about their new film, the Telluride-bowing The Idiot(s). The Brit duo discuss "getting whipped naked" and "embracing the madness" of their deranged literary biopic. The interview.
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Laura Poitras and Rachel Lauren Mueller on Making "Horror Movie" ICE Doc |
►"We have a belief in cinema and what it can do, and also a belief in documenting resistance." THR's Scott Roxborough spoke to Oscar-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras and Minneapolis-based journalist Rachel Lauren Mueller about their Venice-bowing doc They’re Here. The duo's film chronicles the Minneapolis resistance movement to ICE’s paramilitary occupation, which resulted in the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti. The interview.
—"I was tearful the entire time I made this film." THR's Patrick Brzeski spoke to legendary Japanese auteur Hirokazu Koreeda about his new film Look Back. The live-action adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s wildly popular manga features remarkable performances from its young leads and is premiering in competition at the Venice Film Festival. (The full review of Look Back is further down this newsletter.) The interview.
—"I’ve used every part of me to make this film." THR's Lily Ford spoke to May el-Toukhy about her new film Women Unknown, which just premiered in Venice. The Danish filmmaker, one of two female directors in competition this year, comes to the Lido with a feature following a woman about to marry her widowed employer in the aftermath of World War II — while harboring a secret. The interview.
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Film Review: 'You Can See Everything'
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►"Smart, funny and full of surprises." THR's Angie Han reviews Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's You Can See Everything. The film — a surprise world premiere at Telluride — picks up the story of the disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the weeks leading up to her prison sentence, and then again two years into her incarceration. The review.
—"A very good time, if not necessarily a profound one." Angie reviews Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut. Also premiering at Telluride, the film follows a meek New Jersey housewife who gets cast in a local production headed by a domineering director, and then increasingly loses herself in the role. Starring Julianne Moore, Paul Giamatti, Halle Bailey, Jesse Eisenberg, Cara Buono, Craig Bierko, Eldar Isgandarov and Bernadette Peters. Written by Jesse Eisenberg. The review.
—"An aesthetic in search of a story." Angie reviews Nathan and David Zellner's Alpha Gang. From the filmmakers behind Sasquatch Sunset, the Telluride premiere follows aliens in '50s biker gear who've come to conquer Earth, but find newly human emotions get in the way. Starring Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Lily-Rose Depp, Doona Bae, Riley Keough, Chris Pine and Cate Blanchett. The review.
—"Brings a brilliant man down to earth." THR's Daniel Fienberg reviews Nanette Burstein's Carl Sagan: We Are Made of Star Stuff. The Telluride premiere focuses on the Cosmos creator's marriages, kids and enjoyment of recreational drugs nearly as much the Viking and Voyager missions. The review.
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►"A provocative combo of indignation and alarm." THR's chief film critic David Rooney Alex Gibney's Musk. In this doc, premiering out of competiton in Venice, the Oscar-winning director gets around the hiccup of Elon Musk’s refusal to participate by creating an AI avatar of the world’s richest man. Written by Alex Gibney and Michael J. Palmer. The review.
—"Another stunner from one of the greats of contemporary world cinema." David reviews Lee Chang-dong's Venice competition entry Possible Love. The Burning director returns after an eight-year absence with this complex drama for Netflix, about the awkward commingling of two couples on either side of the wealth divide. Starring Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung, Cho Yeo-jeong and Jung Seop. Written by Lee Chang-dong and Oh Jung-mi. The review.
—"Fragile, but alive with beauty and heart." David reviews Hirokazu Koreeda's Venice competition entry Look Back. A lovingly crafted manga adaptation that is a delicate charmer about teen friendship and art, joy and sorrow. Starring Natsuki Deguchi, Aju Makita, Furi Nanase, Rokka Okada, Kayo Noro, Ryo Ikeda, Miyu Sasaki, Maho Yamada. Kankuro Kudo and Masaki Suda. Written by Hirokazu Koreeda, based on the manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto. The review.
—"A solemn character study of a woman stuck in limbo." For THR, Richard Lawson reviews May el-Toukhy's Venice competition entry, Woman Unknown. The latest from the Queen of Hearts filmmaker revolves around a maid whose past threatens to unravel her future in the wake of World War II. Starring Mathilde Arcel, Christian Bjørnlund, Thorbjørn Hedegaard and Marina Bouras. Written by May el-Toukhy and Maren Louise Käehne. The review.
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Film Review: 'Making Marie Antoinette'
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►"As delicious as a skillfully made macaron." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Eleanor Coppola's Making Marie Antoinette. Premiering at Telluride, the doc from Sofia Coppola's late mother will be pure catnip for fans of the 2006 Kirsten Dunst-starring film in all its candy-colored, New Romantic, defiantly anachronistic glory. Featuring Diane Lane, Sofia Coppola, Eleanor Coppola, Christophe Cheysson, Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Ross Katz, Aurore Clément, Lance Acord, K.K. Barrett, Steve Coogan, Judy Davis, Francis Ford Coppola and Asia Argento. The review.
—"Powerful in spots, but desperately lacking subtlety." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Shinya Tsukamoto's Venice competition entry, Mr. Nelson, Did You Kill People? The Japanese director adapts the nonfiction account of former U.S. Marine Allen Nelson, who spoke about the brutalities he committed on the front and hardships he faced back home. Starring Rodney Hicks, Geoffrey Rush, Tatyana Ali, Mark Merphy and Lily Franky. Written by Shinya Tsukamoto, based on the book by Allen Nelson. The review.
—"An offbeat passion project without much purpose." Jordan reviews Gael García Bernal's Hombre Al Agua. The actor directs and acts in a midlife crisis flick about a Cuban émigré in Mexico trying to hold onto his family, career and sanity. Also starring Esmeralda Pimentel, Débora Nascimento, Natalia Oreiro, Anna Díaz, Manuel García Rulfo, Jorge Salinas and Ricky Martin. Written by Gael García Bernal and Mariano Pensotti. The review.
—"A chamber piece that’s demanding and rewarding." THR's Sheri Linden reviews Andrea Pallaoro's Venice competition entry, The Echo Chamber. The Italian director returns to the Lido with an intimate three-hander about art and addiction based on the final original screenplay by Bernardo Bertolucci. Starring Alicia Vikander, Luca Marinelli and Susan Sarandon. Written by Bernardo Bertolucci, Ilaria Bernardini and Ludovica Rampoldi. The review.
In other news...
—LFF: Primetime, Misty Green and latest Paul Thomas Anderson movie join lineup
—Tokyo: Fest adds new initiatives and Kashiko Kawakita Award to honor women in cinema
—San Sebastian: Ira Sachs, Jordan Firstman and Diego Luna among Film Talks lineup
—When Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock first made magic
What else we're reading...
—Nate Jones reflects on the uncanny ability of the new Oasis doc Don’t Look Back in Anger to make the viewer breakdown in tears [Vulture]
—Everything is content! Peter C. Baker looks at how car dash cams have inadvertently created a whole new entertainment genre [NYT]
—Max Colchester dives into the tensions inside the Royal Family now that Harry and Meghan have returned to the U.K. [WSJ]
—Sawdah Bhaimiya reports that Australia is set to let social media users "opt out" of algorithm-based feeds in a fresh blow to Big Tech [CNBC]
—Elizabeth Bruenig tries to the find the meaning in the Lindsay Clancy mistrial [The Atlantic]
Today...
...in 2014, Daniel Barnz's Cake premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. The drama had mixed reviews but star Jennifer Aniston received raves for her performance and scored Golden Globe and SAG award nominations. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
Martin Freeman (55), Gaten Matarazzo (24), Thomas Kretschmann (64), Larenz Tate (51), Park So-dam (35), Ray Fisher (39), Aimee Mann (66), P!nk (47), Emma Laird (28), Jonathan Taylor Thomas (45), David Arquette (55), Lily Sullivan (33), Heather Thomas (69), Jonah Scott (33), Lauren Hashian (42), Dianne Doan (36), Nate Corddry (49), Christina Wolfe (36), Matilda Lawler (18), Nicolas Cantu (23), Brian Huskey (58), Brooke Burke (55), David Lee Smith (63), Mitchell Whitfield (62), Brad Silberling (63), Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (54), Hannah Fierman (39), Sierra Capri (28), Rachel Hunter (57), Miles Jupp (47), Philip Ettinger (41), Stevie Louise Vallance (68), Ella Rae Peck (36), Alan Feinstein (85)
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Bruce Davis, who served as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ chief executive for 22 of the 30 years that he spent with the organization, during which he made a profound impact on Hollywood and global cinema, has died. He was 83. The obituary.
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