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Can a couple stuck in a professional and marital rut survive a wine country weekend with über wealthy friends? That’s the premise of Michael Tennant’s surprise SXSW hit Pretty Problems. The imaginative yet surprisingly grounded romp won accolades at various film festivals, including Maui Film Festival’s Narrative Feature Comedy award, Best English Language Feature Film at the Sonoma International Film Festival, and ReFrame’s “ReFrame Stamp” Feature. The film managed to also take home the coveted SXSW Film Festival Audience Award in the Narrative Spotlight slot.

As the writer, producer, and co-star of the film, Tennant teamed with fellow screenwriters Britt Rentschler and Charlotte Ubben, and director Kestrin Pantera (Mother’s Little Helpers). The story tracks a slippery vulnerability spiral experienced by Lindsay (Rentschler) and Jack (Tennant) when they head to a plush Sonoma château with affluent strangers, only to wind up questioning nearly everything about their relationship and their economic status.

Faced with uncertainty in his own marriage, screenwriter/producer/actor Michael Tennant wanted to make a comedy that two people who could have another go at it if they were willing to, as he puts it, “look at their own sh*t, do the work, and say ‘I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.’”

The result is Pretty Problems, which feels like a creative cousin to Wedding Crashers by way of the Duplass Brothers with a touch of Schitt’s Creek tossed in there for some wonderful humor. But make no mistake, Pretty Problems is downright original. The film won the SXSW Film Festival Audience Award in 2022. It hits Hulu on July 13.

Written by Tennant, Britt Rentschler, and Charlotte Ubben, Pretty Problems was directed by Kestrin Pantera (Mother’s Little Helpers). The satirical smackdown of the uber wealthy is great fun with an on-the-mark cast featuring Tennant, Britt Rentschler (Uncle Frank...

Kanye West is being accused of more antisemitic remarks in a new BBC documentary.

The Trouble with KanYe, by British journalist Mobeen Azhar features Alex Klein, a former Daily Beast writer, who says West made disturbing antisemitic remarks when he worked with the troubled rapper.

Klein worked with West when his album, Donda 2, was released exclusively on Klein’s platform, Stem Player, in February 2022.

Stem Player is a music streaming platform that was released in 2021 under Klein’s company, Kano. In November last year, Klein, who is half-Jewish, announced the end of their partnership with Ye following the antisemitic comments he posted on Twitter.

“Kanye was very angry, you know, he was saying, ‘I feel like I wanna smack you’ and ‘you’re exactly like the other Jews’ – almost relishing and reveling in how offensive he could be, using these phrases hoping to hurt me,” Klein says in the documentary.

Rapper Kanye West has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks by his former business partner Alex Klein. In a new BBC documentary ‘The Trouble With KanYe’, Klein detailed the anti-Semitic remarks by the rapper, now known as Ye, 46.

Discussing the decision to no longer work with Ye and his subsequent reaction, Alex, 31, said: “We turned down 10 million dollars. Kanye was very angry, you know he was saying ‘I feel like I wanna smack you’ and ‘you’re exactly like the other Jews’.”

He went on to add that Kanye was “almost relishing and revelling in how offensive he could be, using these phrases hoping to hurt me,” he was quoted as saying by the ‘Daily Mail’.

Alex continued: “I asked him and I said ‘Do you really think Jews are working together to hold you back?’ and he said ‘Yes, yes I do but it’s not even a statement...

Fresh Kanye West antisemitism accusations have emerged in a BBC documentary charting the recent times of the troubled artist.

In The Trouble with KanYe, which launches tonight UK time on BBC Two and is paired with a podcast, the rapper’s former business partner Alex Klein accuses him of anti-Jewish remarks when the pair parted ways.

Klein created West’s Stem Player for his Donda 2 album but the pair broke contact following West’s prior antisemitic remarks, according to Klein, who claims this led to West’s outburst, which is revealed in the doc.

“Kanye was very angry you know, he was saying ‘I feel like I wanna smack you’ and ‘you’re exactly like the other Jews’ – almost relishing and reveling in how offensive he could be, using these phrases hoping to hurt me,” Klein says in the documentary. “I asked him and I said ‘Do you really think...

A new eight-part podcast, The Kanye Story is being released to accompany a new BBC Two documentary, The Trouble with KanYe. The TV documentary reveals new details about Ye, formally known as Kanye West, and his 2024 Presidential campaign. It hears new first-hand accusations of Kanye making antisemitic remarks, from the tech entrepreneur and former friend and business partner, Alex Klein.

With hip-hop’s official 50th anniversary on the horizon, this year has presented countless opportunities to celebrate those who’ve made a lasting impact on the culture. J Dilla is one of those people. Since his tragic death in February 2006, one woman has made it her sole mission to cradle his legacy—his mother, Maureen Yancey. Affectionately known as Ma Dukes, Yancey has dedicated her life to ensuring her son’s music is treated with the respect it deserves, a tireless and often thankless job. Various reports of Dilla-approved projects...

Phase One Network, the asset management company overseeing the catalog of Boogie Down Productions, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Kanye West.

The lawsuit, obtained by Rolling Stone, alleges that West sought licensing permissions for the “South Bronx”-sampling Donda track “Life of the Party,” but later retracted his request only to utilize the recording anyway on the anti-streaming playback device, the Stemplayer.

In the complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on Nov. 7, Phase One Network cites the replication of particular horn hits, melodic figures, and...

Class divisions that assume macrocosmic significance in Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” remain microcosmically scaled in “Pretty Problems,” another cleverly discomfiting, festival-blessed comedy hitting theaters on Oct. 13. Kestrin Pantera’s third directorial feature, which won the Audience Award at SXSW, also places a less-advantaged young couple in an enclave of the very rich. Here, however, the upscale slumming is not free, but rather at their expense — a cruel-gamesmanship setup that (as our hero duly notes) suggests the usual horror-movie agenda of “They’re gonna kill us.”

That teased direction is not where the film eventually goes, and indeed the script (hatched by several lead performers here) manages to keep upending expectations to the end. The result is a fresh mix of social satire and relationship dissection with a saving dollop of heart. IFC is opening it on about 30 U.S. theater screens, simultaneous with on-demand platforms.

Opening with a...

(From left) Britt Rentschler as Lindsay, JJ Nolan as Cat, Graham Outerbridge as Matt, Alex Klein as Kerry, Charlotte Ubben as Carrie, and Michael Tennant as Jack in Kestrin Pantera’s Pretty Problems Photo: IFC Films “That’s a murder house. That’s a house where murder happens,” says Jack,...

"I thought she was joking when she said she invited you up here." IFC Films has revealed an official trailer for an indie comedy titled Pretty Problems, which originally premiered at this year's SXSW Film Festival in the spring. Jack and Lindsay are invited on a getaway trip with affluent strangers: down the rabbit hole, and into the most unhinged weekend of their lives. Can their relationship survive? This wacky, wild comedy takes a look at the difference between the "haves" and "have nots" on this party trip to a Sonoma Chateau. The film stars Britt Rentschler and Michael Tennant as Lindsay and Jack, with J.J. Nolan, Charlotte Ubben, Graham Outerbridge, Alex Klein, Clayton Froning, Katarina Hughes, Vanessa Chester, and Amy Maghera. This looks like it's trying to make fun of "pretty people" and all their crazy problems, but it also looks so ludicrous it may not even be fun?...

Kanye West is being sued for the unauthorized use of a sample on his latest album, Donda 2, marking yet another copyright infringement claim filed against the polarizing rapper.

As first reported by Billboard, a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in New York claims West’s song “Flowers” unlawfully samples the 1986 club hit “Move Your Body” (a.k.a. “The House Music Anthem”). According to the suit, the Marshall Jefferson track is “repeated at least 22 times throughout” West’s song.

“West advocates for artists’ rights with one hand,...

Exclusive: Kestrin Pantera’s satirical takedown of the rich elite, Pretty Problems, has been acquired by IFC Films following the pic’s Narrative Spotlight Audience Award win at SXSW. The pic will hit theaters and VOD this year.

IFC is taking all global rights to the pic written by Michael Tennant, Britt Rentschler and Charlotte Ubben, who also star in the movie alongside JJ Nolan, Graham Outerbridge, Alex Klein, Clayton Froning, Katarina Hughes, Vanessa Chester and Amy Maghera. Katya Alexander, Rentschler, Ubben and Tennant also produce.

Lindsay (Rentschler) is as bored with her marriage to Jack (Tennant) as she is working in a boutique — until Cat Flax (Nolan) swoops into the store, showering her with flattery and conspicuous displays of wealth. The pair bond over a bottle of wine, and Lindsay arrives home flushed with excitement about her rich new friend. Jack reluctantly agrees to accept Cat’s invitation for a weekend away,...

A couple have a wild weekend away in Pretty Problems, Kestrin Pantera’s laugh-out-loud comedy premiering at SXSW.

Written by Michael Tennant, who also co-stars, it’s a witty look at wealth, privilege and relationships over a couple of days of hedonism in wine country.

Lindsay (Britt Rentschler) is as bored with her marriage to Jack (Tennant) as she is working in a boutique — until Cat Flax (JJ Nolan) swoops into the store, showering her with flattery and conspicuous displays of wealth. The pair bond over a bottle of wine, and Lindsay arrives home flushed with excitement about her rich new friend. Jack reluctantly agrees to accept Cat’s invitation for a weekend away, and they jump into a car and drive into another world: of butlers, gift bags, massages and astronomically expensive wine their hosts forget even buying.

Cat’s married to Matt Flax (Graham Outerbridge), a self-made billionaire...

Directed by SXSW alum Kestrin Pantera (Mother’s Little Helpers), Pretty Problems is yet another indie picture about a floundering 30-something couple stuck in a rut while others around them seem to have it easy from the privilege of headstarts. Perhaps this is a condition of living in places where the haves and have-nots are so extreme, with a robust service industry that caters to the old money, new money, and Henry segment.

In that regard, yes, having multiple homes, an addiction to $500 bottles of wine, a support staff, and kids that can be outsourced to an au pair really are pretty problems to have, especially in light of real suffering outside these bubbles. This is not to say Pretty Problems isn’t fun in passages—it just feels expressly tailor-made for an SXSW audience and the echo chamber of the festival landscape.

The plot is fairly straightforward. Couple Lindsay...

Exclusive: 7th & Union, the drama directed by Anthony Nardolilloa that follows a Mexican boxer looking to save his family, has won the Best Narrative Feature (U.S. Cinema) prize at the 25th annual Urbanworld Film Festival.

The New York City-set festival, which highlights the work of Black, Indigenous, Latino and other people of color, revealed this year’s winners Monday out of nearly 90 official selections chosen for being inclusive and representative across cultures, themes and stories.

Other winners included Damien D. Smith’s Target: St. Louis Vol. 1 as Best Documentary Feature; Sonja Perryman for Best Screenplay for The 84; and Lissette Feliciano (Women Is Losers) and Talia Lugacy (This Is Not A War Story) both winning for Best Female Director, U.S. Narrative Feature.

The jury for the narrative feature competition included Michele Arteaga, Executive Director, Program Acquisitions, Starz; Mercedes Cooper, VP Public Programming, Array; and Ryan Jones, SVP Production Development at Universal Pictures.

PornHub is getting into the documentary game. The popular adult site has announced its upcoming documentary Shakedown about a black lesbian strip club. This will also be the pornographic website's first-ever non-adult project in an attempt to diversify. The site, which had 42 billion visits in 2019 alone, has partnered with conceptual artist Leilah Weintraub for the project, which will debut tomorrow, Wednesday, March 4th. It has been screened at different art shows over the past three years, but it will get its wide release tomorrow.

Leilah Weintraub started shooting footage for Shakedown back in the early 2000s. The documentary is described as "a stream-of-consciousness, nonfiction narrative about the queer women and men who populated the lesbian strip club scene in Los Angeles," during that particular time. Weintraub had over 15 years-worth of footage to edit down into a presentable feature. The documentary offers "a humorous, sensual and informative look at a vibrant subculture.

Ubiquitous American pornography website Pornhub is releasing its first ever non-adult film on Wednesday, the company exclusively announced to Variety.

The move places the digital giant, which estimated 42 billion visits to the site last year, in the company of other streamers seeking to expand audiences and diversify its content portfolios. The movie in question is the documentary “Shakedown,” from filmmaker and conceptual artist Leilah Weinraub. It hails from the upper echelons of the art world, where the project enjoyed a prestige rollout in exhibits at the Whitney Museum and MoMA over the last three years.

“Shakedown” is a stream-of-consciousness, nonfiction narrative about the queer women and men who populated the lesbian strip club scene in Los Angeles in the early aughts. It is culled from neatly 15 years of footage shot by Weinraub over her adult life, and offers a humorous, sensual and informative look at a vibrant subculture.

Repped by distributor Grasshopper,...

As we inch closer to Halloween 2017 with each passing day, that means another month is upon us and that we have a new crop of horror and sci-fi VOD and digital releases coming our way over the next four weeks. September kicks off with a pair of releases on the 1st—Temple and The Vault—and the Tuesday after Labor Day will play host to three different titles, too, including The Atoning, The Basement, and Revelator.

September 8th is another busy day, with Anti Matter, Circus Kane, and The Limehouse Golem all making their digital bows, and the 12th boasts five different films arriving that day—Baby Driver, 47 Meters Down, Clowntergeist, The Hatred, and The Prison.

As if all that wasn’t enough, look for the Garbage Pail Kids Story doc on the 20th, and both The Houses October Built 2 and Welcome to Willits arrive on the 22nd. The...

Earlier this month we shared an exclusive clip from J. Van Auken’s high-concept, lo-fi ghost story Revelator, and now we’re back with a new trailer for the film. Starring J. Van Auken, Mindy Rae, Alex Klein, Greg Lucey, Josh Robert Thompson,… Continue Reading →

The post New Trailer Arrives for J. Van Auken’s Twisted Ghost Story Revelator appeared first on Dread Central.

'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' with Chris Pratt as Chris Pratt Star-Lord a.k.a. Peter Quill and Drax (voice by Dave Bautista): When 'the pressure to be good isn't as intense as the pressure to not be bad.' 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2': Entertaining pop culture references help to alleviate James Gunn's 'weight of obligation' Pull up a chair, gather your friends, and warm up those texting thumbs: the hour is nigh for our biannual ritual of packing ourselves into theaters and watching the ultra-caffeinated exploits of whichever Marvel superheroes we're obligated to obsess over this time. Punishment for non-compliance is harsh; your Facebook feed will be clogged with posts about a topic to which you are indifferent, the modern definition of social pariah. This time, it's Guardians of the Galaxy, a second-tier Marvel property whose refreshingly saucy first film, released in 2014, earned $773 million worldwide.

Limbus Trailer. Brandon Nicholas‘ Limbus (2011) teaser trailer stars Brittney Rentschler, Alex Klein, Dan McNamara, Brian Confer, and Dani Lennon. Limbus‘ plot synopsis: “a surreal thriller set in the afterlife. It’s the story of four cult members after a mass suicide. Stuck in purgatory, they must search for the secrets beyond their existence. They travel through [...]

Continue reading: Limbus (2011) Teaser Trailer: Brandon Nicholas, Brittney Rentschler...