News

Logan Lerman has been tapped for a recurring guest star role in Season 5 of Hulu’s Emmy-winning whodunit dramedy “Only Murders in the Building,” Variety has confirmed.

Specifics on Lerman’s role are currently unknown. He joins other Season 5 cast members Renée Zellweger, Christoph Waltz and Keegan-Michael Key. Plot details for Season 5, which is currently in production, remain under wraps.

Lerman made his breakout debut starring as the moody teen son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, in 2010’s “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,” Chris Columbus’ adaptation of Rick Riordan’s YA novel of the same name. His other film credits include “Oh, Hi!,” “Bullet Train,” “Shirley” and “End of Sentence.” On the TV side, Lerman recently starred in Hulu’s eight-episode limited series “We Were the Lucky Ones” opposite Joey King, as well as Prime Video’s crime drama “Hunters” with Al Pacino.

He is repped by UTA,...

Mindy Kaling has boarded the live-action short Anuja as a producer off the back of its wins at the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, the Montclair Film Festival, and the New York International Short Film Festival, The Hollywood Reporter can reveal.

Anuja, from Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai, is the story of a gifted nine-year-old girl played by Sajda Pathan who works in a garment factory in New Delhi, India. When she is offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend school, she is forced to make a heart-wrenching decision that will determine her and her sister Palak’s (Ananya Shanbhag) fate.

“My favorite film of the year is Anuja, the story of an extraordinary nine-year-old Indian girl and her sister,” Kaling said. “The genius filmmakers Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai have created something so special, and I’m honored to join as a producer.”

Mindy Kaling is a producer on...

Indian action hit Kill is getting a sequel, producer Guneet Monga revealed at Film Bazaar in Goa.

“We’re discussing and there will be a part two,” the Oscar-winning producer told Screen.

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Hindi-language feature premiered at Toronto International Film Festival in 2023 where it was the first runner up for the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award. It is produced by Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment and Dharma Productions.

“We are discussing with Dharma, and Nikhil will be the director,” said Monga, whose credits also include The Lunchbox and Peddlers. “We have lots of ideas brewing and it is deep in development.

Exclusive: Netflix has lined up a blockbuster slate of short documentaries heading into Oscar season, including the latest from two-time Academy Award winner Ben Proudfoot in collaboration with the Obamas’ production company.

The streamer announced four acquisitions today, beginning with The Turnaround, directed by Kyle Thrash and Proudfoot, a documentary that “tells the story of Philadelphia Phillies’ superfan Jon McCann, who helped inspire an unlikely 2023 standing ovation for Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, which helped turn the team around after hitting a major roadblock.”.

As Deadline reported in late August, Higher Ground, the production company founded by former Pres. Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, came aboard The Turnaround. Higher Ground produces, along with Proudfoot’s Breakwater Studios, Cookie Jar & A...

For his sophomore feature film, Icelandic filmmaker Elfar Adalsteins adapts from Icelandic author Jon Kalman Stefansson’s novel. This comes after 2019’s End of Sentence – the shot in Ireland drama starring John Hawkes, Logan Lerman and Sarah Bolger, Summerlight… and Then Comes the Night had stops at Reykjavik International Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Juno Films are releasing the film in New York September 20th at IFC Center and in Los Angeles September 27th at Laemmle Monica followed by a nationwide release. Here is a clip:

After dreaming in Latin, a successful manager decides to ditch his career and glamorous wife, in exchange for books and stargazing, while the beautiful seamstress Elisabet cuts a surprisingly svelte path.…...

Exclusive: Juno Films has acquired world rights to the Icelandic drama Summerlight… And Then Comes the Night.

The film will have its theatrical debut at the IFC Center on September 20th before opening in Los Angeles at the Monica Film Center on September 27th. A limited release will follow. Juno Films will release the film in the UK in early 2025 before releasing it internationally across digital platforms and territorial licenses.

Summerlight… And Then Comes the Night premiered at the Tallinn Film Festival before screening at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where it won the Best Nordic Film Award. The film is adapted from the novel by celebrated Icelandic author Jon Kalman Stefansson and marks Elfar Adalsteins’ second film after his feature debut End of Sentence.

The film’s synopsis reads, After dreaming in Latin, a successful manager decides to ditch his career and glamorous wife, in exchange for books and stargazing,...

Some star-packed projects are heading to the 19th annual Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival. The just-announced lineup includes films featuring, produced or directed by the likes of Tom Hanks, Eva Longoria, Alden Ehrenreich, Queen Latifah, Tom Holland, Keke Palmer, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, John Travolta and more.

Over 400 short films are programmed in the festival, which runs from August 10-20. It’s a hybrid event, with in-person screenings at the Tcl Chinese Theatres in Hollywood complemented by a virtual program streaming on the platform Bitpix TV. It’s an Oscar-qualifying festival in four categories: Best Documentary Short (newly added this year), Best Short Film Grand Prize, Best Short Animation and Best Short Live Action. Winners of those prizes automatically become eligible for Academy Award consideration.

Mindful of the actors and writers strikes, the festival issued a statement along with the lineup announcement. “HollyShorts supports both the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes,...

Eva Maria Daniels, producer of independent features “Reality,” “What Maisie Knew” and “Joe Bell,” died on June 30 in London, after battling cancer. She was 43.

Throughout her career, Daniels maintained longstanding partnerships with producer Riva Marker and A24, worked as a producer for The Mill and Company 3 and served as a consultant for the Icelandic Film Fund.

“Eva died on the same terms as she lived. She played her cards close to her chest. She didn’t seek recognition when she had success. She didn’t seek pity when she suffered. I will miss her friendship greatly, but mostly I will miss seeing what she would have done next,” wrote director Börkur Sigthorsson on Facebook.

Most recently, Daniels executive produced the Berlin Film Festival selection and Max feature, “Reality,” which stars Sydney Sweeney and was directed by Tina Satter.

“Eva was hyper intelligent and had a gift for seeking out and supporting artists.

Eva Maria Daniels, the Icelandic producer and film festival favorite behind such recent indie dramas as What Maisie Knew, Hold the Dark and Joe Bell, has died. She was 43.

Daniels died June 30 in London after a battle with cancer, her friend and publicist Jessie Cohen told The Hollywood Reporter. She was diagnosed in March 2020 with a type of Stage 3 cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes, but she declared herself cancer free in an interview with THR‘s Chris Gardner a year later.

“Eva died on the same terms as she lived,” director Börkur Sigthorsson wrote on Facebook. “She played her cards close to her chest. She didn’t seek recognition when she had success. She didn’t seek pity when she suffered. I will miss her friendship greatly, but mostly I will miss seeing what she would have done next.”

Daniels most recently executive produced the Sydney Sweeney-starring Reality.

HBO's controversial new drama The Idol is being led by actor and model Lily-Rose Depp, who plays struggling pop star Jocelyn. The series follows Jocelyn as she tries to revamp her career after a mental health crisis, and along the way, begins a troublesome relationship with a creepy club owner and cult leader. While Depp has appeared in various feature films and is known for being the daughter of actor Johnny Depp, there are still many questions about who she is and what she does in this series.

The Idol was first announced as a new series being created by Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye, Sam Levinson, and Reza Fahim in June 2021. That September Lily-Rose Depp joined The Idol cast as the female lead opposite Tesfaye. The series was given six episodes and began filming at the end of 2021. The Idol faced some backlash early in 2023 after Rolling Stone released an...

Exclusive: Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions has entered into a strategic content partnership with fellow Indian production house, Sikhya Entertainment, founded by Guneet Monga.

The two companies will work together to produce multiple projects across feature films and digital formats. While no projects were announced under the deal, the partners said they would start to reveal details in two to three months.

The deal brings together one of mainstream Bollywood’s biggest production companies with an outfit better known internationally for independent and festival fare.

Dharma’s credits span 1990s Bollywood classics such as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, to recent releases such as Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva, a big-budget fantasy action film co-produced with Disney and released last year, and Selfiee, an action comedy starring Akshay Kumar and Emraan Hashmi, released this year.

Sikhya has been a producer or co-producer on festival hits such as The Lunchbox,...

Netflix executive Lisa Nishimura backed some of the streamer’s biggest successes – Tiger King, The Tinder Swindler, The Power of the Dog, Making a Murderer, and American Factory – but in an era of corporate cost-cutting, it wasn’t enough to save her job.

Related Story Netflix Vets Lisa Nishimura & Ian Bricke Depart In Film Group Reorg Related Story Omar Epps Boards Netflix's Limited Series 'The Perfect Couple' Related Story IFC Center's John Vanco Joins Netflix To Oversee Programming For Streamer's Theaters

Her imminent departure as VP of independent film and documentary features, after a 16-year stint at Netflix, has come as a particular shock to the nonfiction film community, which saw her build Netflix into a dominant force in documentary and become, in the process, one of Netflix’s most visible execs.

(L-r) Lisa Nishimura, Taylor Swift and Ted Sarandos attend the Netflix 2019 Golden Globes After Party

“Lisa...

Oscars 2023The last time an Indian music composer won the Academy Award for best original song was in 2009, when Ar Rahman and Gulzar won for Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire.Instagram/ Rrr MovieThe verdict is out. The hugely popular song ‘Naatu Naatu’ from Rrr has created history by winning the prestigious Academy Award, popularly known as the Oscars, for the best original song. The award went to music composer Mm Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose. This is the first Oscar win for a song from a Telugu film, and the second Oscar ever to be bagged by an Indian music composer, after Ar Rahman and Gulzar won it for ‘Jai Ho’ from Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. ‘Naatu Naatu’ had been a frontrunner in the best original song category at Oscars 2023, having already won the Golden Globe for ‘best original song - motion picture’. Accepting the award, music composer Mm Keeravani said,...

Director Kartiki Gonsalves and producer Guneet Monga became the first Indian filmmakers to claim competitive Oscars after their short documentary The Elephant Whisperers won the Academy Award tonight.

Gonsalves gave thanks to “my motherland, India,” as she accepted the award.

The Elephant Whisperers revolves around Bomman and Belli, an Indigenous couple and their “large” family – orphaned elephant calves that they help raise in the Theppakadu Elephant camp within the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in South India. Gonsalves spent five years following this human-elephant blended family for her Netflix documentary.

“I stand here today to speak for the sacred bond between us and our natural world,” Gonsalves said as she began her acceptance speech, “for the respect of Indigenous communities and empathy towards other living beings we share our space with, and finally, for coexistence.”

She added, “Thank you to the Academy for recognizing our film, highlighting Indigenous people and animals, to...

Netflix’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ bags the nomination for the 95th Oscars, Documentary Short Film. This documentary marks the directorial debut of Kartiki Gonsalves. The documentary is produced by Guneet Monga and Achin Jain under the banner of Sikhya Entertainment. The documentary was screened at the United States of America’s largest and prestigious documentary festival – Doc NYC 2022 Film Festival on November, 10th 2022. The Doc NYC celebrates and supports the cultural shift of how documentary storytelling is flourishing like never before.

Producer Guneet Monga on The Elephant Whisperer getting nominated, “I feel so honoured to see The Elephant Whisperers reach the global stage with the 95th Oscar nominations as a producer and a filmmaker from India. It’s incredible to see how far our short documentary from a quaint town of Ooty has come. Truly a testimony of the wonders that support from incredible platforms like Netflix can do. This...

Adding to its slate of auteurs from all over the world, Raphael Berdugo’s Cité Films has boarded “The Fire Doll,” from Chilean director-to-track Niles Atallah (“Rey”) and “Left Over,” from San Sebastian Gold Shell winning Turkish director Yesim Ustaoglu (“Pandora’s Box”).

Produced by Catalina Vergara at Chile’s Globo Rojo Films, “The Fire Doll” (“La muñeca de fuego”) is one of the 14 projects to be pitched at this month’s San Sebastian Europe-Latin America Co-Production Forum, one of the Spanish festival’s centerpiece industry events.

Atallah, whose second film, “Rey,” won a Rotterdam Special Jury Prize in 2017, turns in “The Fire Doll” to the transformation process experienced by a 9-year-old girl, Aurora, who loses part of her memory and goes to her the countryside to spend Easter wither father, an alcoholic in remission.

He lives in a mysterious house partially destroyed by fire decades ago. Aurora discovers a terrible...

Updated with final results: While streaming had been poised to elbow traditional theatrical releases out of the Oscar spotlight, Sunday’s results at the 94th Academy Awards offered something of a rebuke to that narrative.

Best Picture honors did go to Apple’s Coda, marking a significant milestone in the history of the Oscars and the three other streaming wins all came in major categories. Still, the total of four statuettes for streamers fell well short of last year’s record tally of nine. Along with Best Picture, Coda also took Adapted Screenplay for writer-director Siân Heder and Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur. Jane Campion was named Best Director for Netflix’s The Power of the Dog.

It was an underwhelming showing for Netflix, which led all studios and streamers with 27 total nominations and has piled up 86 over the past three years. The Power of the Dog paced this...

A series by Juan Carlos Ojano 

Previously: Episode 1 - 2020-21 / Episode 2 - 2019 

Eyes were on the Best Director category at the 91st Academy Awards after Greta Gerwig became only the fifth woman to be nominated in the said category the previous year. Contemporaneous articles expressed disappointment with this fact, but this Oscar year was also plagued with other issues: no ceremony host, plans to give out awards during commercial break, and divisive films like Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Vice being major factors, too.

In a way, these other controversies clouded what could have been a more extensive discussion regarding representation in the Best Director category. Out of the 347 films included in the Reminder List of Eligible Films in 2018 (91st Academy Awards), 62 of them (or 17.9%) were directed/co-directed by women.

Oscar-nominated Female-directed Films (in alphabetical order): Animal Behaviour*, Bao*, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Capernaum, Free Solo, Late Afternoon*, Marguerite*, Mary Queen of Scots,...

The big news on Sky Cinema in August was the arrival of Wonder Woman 1984, animated family film Extinct and Eric Bana-starring crime mystery The Dry (based on the Australian novel by the rather excellent Kate Harper). September welcomes a new premiere every day, including the Oscar-nominated Minari starring Steven Yeun, the Karen Gillan and Lena Headey-starring action flick Gunpowder Milkshake and Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie in Fox News Me Too scandal drama Bombshell.

Read on in our handy guide to what’s coming up on Sky Cinema this month.

Russian Raid – 1st September

A former operative battles a war criminal’s henchmen to seize a highly guarded factory for his shady boss. Russian action with subtitles.

Alone – 2nd September

A kidnapped woman escapes into the wilderness, forced to battle the elements as her pursuer closes in on her. Thriller.

Long Story Short – 3rd September

Teddy wakes up...

Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios Company, has acquired North American rights to The Florist, with plans to release the film on digital and cable VOD on August 10.

The indie, based on a 2014 short of the same name, centers on a lonely urban botanist named Annika, who sources and tests the edible, sensation-inducing flowers, which are in vogue at high-end restaurants, before they make it to the table. Hoping to take her career to the next level, Annika pushes aside her regular customers and risks everything to concentrate on finding the extremely rare and profitable ‘Comet Flower.’ Unfortunately, the elusive flower proves harder to find than expected. Annika must then decide whether to accept defeat, or to do whatever it takes, in order for her unique business and career to flourish.

Andrew Ryan (The Mirage) wrote and directed the film, which marks the feature debut of his longtime collaborator,...

Exclusive: Ahead of the virtual Cannes pre-screenings market, Blue Finch Films has added So Cold The River to its sales slate and will be representing world rights to the recently completed pic.

Film is a dark supernatural thriller following an ex-documentary filmmaker, Erica Shaw, who is hired to make a documentary about a dying multi-millionaire, Campbell Bradford. However, Campbell’s past is shrouded in mystery, leading Shaw to make shocking discoveries when her hunt for the truth leads her to his childhood hometown.

Cast include Bethany Joy Lenz (Dexter), Andrew J West (Once Upon A Time), Katie Sarife (Annabelle Comes Home) and Alysia Reiner (The Dream House). Paul Shoulberg wrote and directed, adapting Michael Koryta’s novel. Film is a co-production between 1804 Productions and Pigasus Pictures and is produced by Claire Tuft, Zachary, Spicer, and John Armstrong. Executive producers are Pete Yonkman, Carl Cook, Michael Koryta, and Bethany Joy Lenz.

March marks one year after the world came to a grinding halt amid a global pandemic. It’s not an anniversary Eva Marie Daniels needed to have on her calendar as her life drastically changed 12 months ago for another reason.

The film producer, whose credits include the upcoming Joe Bell starring Mark Wahlberg, Hold the Dark starring Jeffrey Wright, and End of Sentence with John Hawkes and Logan Lerman, was diagnosed with stage three cancer. A year later, the Iceland-born Daniels is opening up for the first time about the diagnosis, the treatment that led to being cancer-free and how the experience ...

March marks one year after the world came to a grinding halt amid a global pandemic. It’s not an anniversary Eva Marie Daniels needed to have on her calendar as her life drastically changed 12 months ago for another reason.

The film producer, whose credits include the upcoming Joe Bell starring Mark Wahlberg, Hold the Dark starring Jeffrey Wright, and End of Sentence with John Hawkes and Logan Lerman, was diagnosed with stage three cancer. A year later, the Iceland-born Daniels is opening up for the first time about the diagnosis, the treatment that led to being cancer-free and how the experience ...

Exclusive: Nick Isaak, who helped run Amazon Prime Video’s Film Festival Stars program before stints at MGM Studios and Microsoft’s Xbox, is joining indie distributor Gravitas Ventures as head of sales. He will report to Gravitas president Michael Murphy.

“We’re thrilled that Nick has joined our team and know that his entrepreneurial spirit and analytical mind will help us lean into sales especially in SVOD, AVOD and television,” Murphy said Tuesday.

At Amazon, Isaak helped grow Prime Video Direct’s content partnerships including the Film Festival Stars program, which struck deals to provide an online platform to indie films seeking wider distribution; it ended up securing hundreds of films in the initiative. He later worked in worldwide digital sales at MGM Studios and managed international Tvod for Microsoft’s Xbox service.

Said Isaak: “In previous roles I’ve been able to work with the team at Gravitas...

Deadline has confirmed that Dan Silver, Disney+ VP of Nonfiction Originals is going to Netflix as Director of Documentary Feature Films.

He’ll report to Lisa Nishimura, VP Independent Film and Documentary Features at Netflix.

As part of a recent Disney restructuring, the Disney+ Unscripted Content and Production teams moved to Peter Rice’s Disney General Entertainment group under Gary Marsh.

At Disney+, Silver oversaw development on such unscripted series as The Imagineering Story, Howard, Encore, Muppets Now, Marvel’s 616 and the upcoming On Pointe.

Silver’s previous resume highlights while at Disney includes leading Marvel Entertainment’s platforms and content-new media as well as nonfiction content Marvel Live! Eat the Universe and the podcast Wolverine: The Long Night. Silver was an EP at ABC News Digital, Senior Director of Development at ESPN Films, and an EP on the movie The Queen of Katwe.

Netflix has had a four-year winning...

London-based production, finance and sales company Film Constellation has come on board Cathy Brady’s debut feature “Wildfire,” which world premieres in the Discovery section at next month’s Toronto Film Festival.

The film centers on sisters Lauren and Kelly, an inseparable pair brought up in a small town by the Irish border. Their lives fell apart with the mysterious death of their mother. Left to pick up the pieces, Lauren is confronted with their dark past when Kelly returns home having been missing for a year. “An intense sisterhood reignited, Kelly’s desire to unearth their history is not welcomed by all, and the town is rife with rumors and malice that threaten to overwhelm them,” according to a statement from Film Constellation.

The film’s press and industry screening at Toronto is on Sept. 14 at 11 A.M. via digital access. The festival world premiere is at 9 P.M.

Andrea Riseborough leads lottery winner drama directed by Michael Morris.

Oscar-winner Allison Janney and John Hawkes have joined Michael Morris’s lottery-winner drama To Leslie, which Mister Smith Entertainment will introduce to worldwide buyers at the Cannes virtual market.

They join Andrea Riseborough, who takes the leading role of a single mother who won the lottery and squandered it, before fighting to rebuild her life. Ryan Binaco (3022) wrote the screenplay, which is inspired by the life of his mother.

It marks the feature debut of Morris, who has directed episodes of Better Call Saul and 13 Reasons Why among others.

Oscar-nominee John Hawkes and Oscar-winner Allison Janney have come on board for roles in the real-life-inspired feature “To Leslie.” The actors join previously announced lead Andrea Riseborough. Mister Smith Entertainment is handling international sales and will introduce the project this month at virtual Cannes. UTA Independent Film Group is representing U.S. sales.

Michael Morris will direct the screenplay written by Ryan Binaco (“3022”). Claude Dal Farra and Brian Keady of Bcdf Pictures are producers along with Kelsey Law of Clair de Lune Entertainment. Binaco is executive producing.

“To Leslie” tells the story of a West Texas single mother (Riseborough), who won the lottery and squandered it just as fast, leaving behind a world of heartbreak. Years later, with her charm running out and nowhere to go, she fights to rebuild her life and find redemption. Binaco wrote the screenplay inspired by the life of his mother.

Hawkes will play Sweeney,...

‘Rebel’ to be directed by Belgian duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah.

A new feature from the Belgian directing duo behind Bad Boys For Life is among 10 projects to secure €1.47m ($1.67m) from Screen Flanders.

Rebel is to be directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, whose Bad Boys sequel grossed $419m worldwide when it was released in January.

The new feature has received €170,000 from the Belgian audiovisual fund and will be produced by Belgium’s Caviar Antwerp. It will also reunite the directing duo with Dop Robrecht Heyvaert, who shot Bad Boys For Life and their 2018 crime thriller Gangsta.

“Black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross has the coveted late-May weekend virtually to herself with “The High Note,” as summer studio releases hold back for a time when it’s safe to return to theaters.

Still, if you’re caught up TV and looking for new movies worth seeing, there are enticing offerings on Netflix, Amazon and HBO Max, where the #MeToo-aligned Russell Simmons documentary “On the Record” shows a very different side of the music industry from Ross’ escapist R&b fantasy.

Here are the week’s new releases, with excerpts from reviews and links to where you can watch them.

High-profile on-demand studio and indie offerings:

The High Note (Nisha Ganatra)

Distributor: Focus Features

Where to Find It: Rent for $19.99 on Amazon, iTunes and other on-demand platforms.

Dakota Johnson, with her sun-dazed smile and wary doe-eyed glow (the look of an innocent who knows how to thread her way...

Initially embarking on a physical trip for materialistic gain can ultimately lead to an emotional oddessy that offers clear insight into where their life paths and relationships should go for many people. That’s certainly the case for the estranged father and son protagonists in the new drama, ‘End of Sentence.’ The two characters must learn […]

The post Interview: Elfar Adalsteins Talks End of Sentence (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

At first glance, there’s nothing original about the new father-son movie “End of Sentence.” We’ve seen estranged father/sons before—here the two are played by Logan Lerman and John Hawkes, displaying tough exteriors you couldn’t even crack with a hammer. But as the movie and its characters open up, “End of Sentence” reveals a tenderness hiding under its thick, clichéd exterior.

As directed by Elfar Adalsteins, “End of Sentence” isn’t in the same league as father-son classics “Bicycle Thieves” or “Kramer vs.

Continue reading ‘End Of Sentence’: John Hawkes & Logan Lerman Are Great In This Tender Family Drama [Review] at The Playlist.

Logan Lerman, who recently displayed a wide range of anger in the Amazon Prime series Hunters, and John Hawkes, who began his career in the 1980s and has distinguished himself in a host of films and TV shows from Hollywood (Deadwood) and the independent world (Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know) since then, star together in End of Sentence, which hits VOD today. As if that weren't enough, Sarah Bolger, who recently blazed in A Good Woman Is Hard to Find and has been elevating films and TV shows whenever she appears, also stars, which should be enough to convince anyone to check out End of Sentence, even without knowing the synopsis or watching the trailer. But, if you need those things...

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

The pairing of John Hawkes and Logan Lerman as father and son was always going to be an interesting one. Unfortunately, it’s a shame that End of Sentence doesn’t do more with that duo. While both are somewhat playing against type, the film surrounding them is so slight and so slack with its storytelling that it’s hard to appreciate them. A mix of narrative stumbling blocks and lack of notable dramatic conflict make it far too easy to see every turn of the road here. There are some very nice moments, but they don’t add up to make a flick that I can recommend today. The movie is a drama about a father and son attempting (at least on one end) to reconnect while on a road trip in Ireland. Frank Fogle (Hawkes) has always has a tough relationship with his troublemaking son Sean (Lerman). A genial and even withdrawn man,...

Road trips leave indelible memories. Whether good or bad, the experience forges a bond between travelers. End of Sentence is a touching drama about a father and son reaching common ground in Ireland. A journey that begins in grief and anger takes a few unexpected turns. The characters are forced to examine the long buried events that drove them apart. End of Sentence is a realistic exploration of human nature. It shows that the gulfs that divide us can be bridged.

End of Sentence opens at a prison in Alabama. Frank Fogle (John Hawkes) takes his terminally ill wife (Andrea Irvine) to see their incarcerated son. Sean Fogle (Logan Lerman) has nearly completed his sentence for car theft. He embraces his bald and emaciated mother deeply. They both know these are her final days.

Anna Fogle's dying wish is to have her ashes spread on a lake in Ireland. The...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

HBO Max

The latest streaming service has arrived with HBO Max, which pulls together what was offered on the HBO platform with quite an expanded library. While the WarnerMedia platform is certainly the most scattered of its competitors in terms of the range of content, if you dig deeper, there’s plenty of worthwhile offerings. Led by the Studio Ghibli catalog, they also have a Turner Classic Movies channel, featuring Criterion Collection classics, a Charlie Chaplin collection, landmark westerns, all of the A Star is Borns, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, The Abyss, and more. Happy watching.

Where to Stream: HBO Max

End of Sentence (Elfar Adalsteins)

To...

The Focus Features musical dramedy The High Note is looking to hit exactly that as it lands on-demand starting today. Directed by Late Night‘s Nisha Ganatra from a script by Flora Greeson, the film was originally set to hit theaters on May 8 but, like many films, the film adapted and shifted to a digital. However, with theaters slowly opening their doors, the film will be singing its way to approximately 100 theaters — most of the drive-in theaters.

Set in the world of the Los Angeles music scene, The High Note follows singing superstar diva Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) and her overworked personal assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson) who has dreams of becoming a music producer. When Grace’s manager (Ice Cube) presents her with a choice that could alter the course of her career, Maggie and Grace come up with a plan that could change their lives forever.

As it...

Bittersweet is one of those awkward adjectives. Overused. Misunderstood. A lot like “tragic”, which too often is generic term for “something bad happened to the hero”. Bittersweet is a useful descriptor of chocolate and cranberries and Campari but less useful when it comes to film, where works described as such all too often turn out to be mawkish, sentimental and barely watchable.

Except occasionally. As here, in End Of Sentence, an awkward, touching, sometimes funny, sometimes thought-provoking story of a man attempting to respect the last wish of his recently deceased wife by travelling to Ireland from the Us to scatter her ashes on an out of the way lake - and taking his estranged son with him.

An interesting if far from unique, premise. Urns containing ashes have long been stock-in-trade of comedy, representing, as they do, the ever-present risk of an accident that may prove fatal(!) to the occupant.

The phrase “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey,” which has often (and perhaps erroneously) been attributed to American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, was a familiar saying by about 1920. And it makes perfect sense that the phrase roughly coincides with the dawn of cinema, because filmmakers have been cinematically paraphrasing it for much of the last 100 years.

The latest example is “End of Sentence,” a road movie from first-time Icelandic feature director Elfar Adalsteins. The film drops John Hawkes and Logan Lerman in the northwest of Ireland for a father-son adventure that suggests that it’s not the journey or the destination – it’s the travelers who are on that road.

That’s because Hawkes and Lerman are subtle, naturalistic performers who spin gold out of settings that could easily seem clichéd. You pretty much know that these guys are on the road to understanding, acceptance and reconciliation,...

The first thing you ight notice about Elfar Adalsteins’ “End of Sentence,” , is that it seems to have everything backwards. John Hawkes should be playing the bitter jailbird, and Logan Lerman — who’s almost single-handedly kept the “nice Jewish boy” archetype relevant and appealing thanks to his work in the likes of “Indignation” and Amazon’s “Hunters” — should be the nervous wreck who lets people walk all over him. In a story about the intergenerational echoes of bad parenting, we expect the dad to be the one who’s hardened by inherited abuse, and his kid to be the one who cowers from it. But that’s how trauma gets handed down like some kind of blood-stained family heirloom: If you try to be the antithesis of the man who raised you, it’s only a matter of time before you start to resemble the man who raised him.

Lighter...

There’s a bond that can’t quite be quantified but exists inherently between a father and son. But that bond can be strained quite a bit, and it can take a lot of time to repair, as is seen in the upcoming film, “End of Sentence.”

Read More: Logan Lerman’s Unexpected Comeback Begins With ‘Hunters’ & ‘Shirley’ [Interview]

In honor of “End of Sentence” arriving on VOD later this week, we’re happy to give our readers an exclusive look at a clip from the new family drama.

Continue reading ‘End Of Sentence’ Exclusive Clip: John Hawkes & Logan Lerman Don’t See Eye To Eye In This Family Drama at The Playlist.

To look at Frank (John Hawkes) and Sean Fogle (Logan Lerman) is to see two very different men. The former is a loving husband with a perpetual smile and the latter is his surly, incarcerated son. If not for the woman connecting them, they’d have gone their separate ways long ago without any room for reconciliation. Nothing will therefore be left once the Fogle matriarch (Andrea Irvine’s Anna) succumbs to cancer. Frank will become a widower trying (and faltering) to survive on his own while Sean will be released from prison to head west and not look back. To spend some time with them, however, is to realize they’re actually quite similar. One retreats emotionally while the other lashes out, but anger and shame rules both.

Writer Michael Armbruster and director Elfar Adalsteins concoct a “last wish” road trip in order for us to spend this time getting to know them.

John Hawkes and Logan Lerman hit the road in End of Sentence, an indie road trip drama that follows an estranged father and son following the son’s release from prison. End of Sentence marks the feature directorial debut of Icelandic filmmaker Elfar Adalsteins, but is set in Ireland and features two American leads. Watch the End of Sentence trailer […]

The post ‘End of Sentence’ Trailer: Logan Lerman and John Hawkes Go on a Life-Changing Road Trip appeared first on /Film.

Over the past several years, there’s been huge growth in the “van life” movement, with people selling all their stuff, packing the necessities in a camper van, and living the nomadic life, traveling from place to place experiencing total freedom. But that’s not always as great as it sounds, as is seen in the new film, “The Short History of the Long Road.”

Read More: ‘End Of Sentence’ Trailer: John Hawkes & Logan Lerman Are An Estranged Father & Son In This New Drama

As seen in the trailer for the film, “The Short History of the Long Road” follows the story of a young woman living the nomadic van life, having experienced it for a long time prior with the support of her father.

Continue reading ‘Short History Of The Long Road’ Trailer: Tribeca Drama Explores A Father-Daughter Relationship On The Road at The Playlist.

Gravitas Ventures has released a trailer for End of Sentence, a father-son drama starring John Hawkes (Contagion) and Logan Lerman (Hunters) even though, all due respect, Logan Lerman looks absolutely nothing like John Hawkes. That quibble aside, these two are both solid actors, so let's find out what their movie is all about, shall we? Lerman plays a young man who is released from prison and goes on a road trip to Ireland with his estranged father (Hawkes) to spread his mother's ashes. Though the journey becomes a bit more than either of them bargained for, the …...

John Hawkes is longing to reconnect with his long-lost son in the upcoming drama, ‘End of Sentence.’ In honor of the actor’s character’s looming reunion with his estranged child after the death of his wife, Gravitas Ventures has released the official trailer, poster and stills for the movie. Gravitas Ventures is set to distribute ‘End […]

The post John Hawkes Sets Out on a Journey to Honor His Wife in End of Sentence Official Trailer appeared first on Shockya.com.

Despite starring in popular films such as the ‘Percy Jackson’ franchise and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” actor Logan Lerman has yet to really break out and become the massive star that many anticipated he would be. However, that hasn’t stopped him from turning in solid performances, such as in the recent series “Hunters” on Amazon Prime.

Continue reading ‘End Of Sentence’ Trailer: John Hawkes & Logan Lerman Are An Estranged Father & Son In This New Drama at The Playlist.

"You know, they say it's inevitable that you turn into your father." Gravitas has debuted an official trailer for an indie road trip drama titled End of Sentence, which first premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival last year. The film marks the feature directorial debut of an Icelandic filmmaker named Elfar Adalsteins, but is set mostly in Ireland. After his wife dies, Frank reluctantly embarks on a journey to honor his wife's last wish of spreading her ashes in a remote lake in her native Ireland and a promise of taking his estranged son, Sean, along for the trip. With plenty of unresolved issues, the journey becomes a little more than father and son bargained for. Starring John Hawkes and Logan Lerman, with Sarah Bolger and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson. This looks good, thanks to the cast. It seems like a kind-hearted film about letting go of the past. Here's the...

Netflix has made a selection of its documentary programming available for free via its YouTube channel in an effort to help teachers coping with the challenge of Covid-19.

In a blog post Friday, the company noted that it has historically allowed teachers to screen documentaries without a license fee. With many teachers looking for additional resources during remote-learning times, Netflix said has posted 10 titles. The mix of series episodes, shorts and features includes Our Planet, 13th, Knock Down the House and Explained.

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“We hope this will, in a small way, help teachers around the world,” the company said.

In addition to the films and episodes themselves, the titles have put...

Exclusive: Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Miss Juneteenth, which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and later won an award at SXSW in March. The debut feature of writer-director Channing Godfrey Peoples now is aimed at a June 19 release, that date marking the 155th anniversary of the Juneteenth holiday.

Vertical is hoping for a theatrical release depending on the status of theaters amid the coronavirus pandemic, but it aims to bow the film on digital on the American holiday, which commemorates the abolition of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation — a celebration that includes an annual beauty pageant.

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