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Nicolas Cage’s direct-to-video days may be over — we’ve come a long way from the “Kill Chain,” “Primal,” “Grand Isle” triple-header of 2019 — but the guy is simply too eager and too curious to just sit by the phone and wait for someone to call him with a script as strong and/or well-tailored to him as “Mandy,” “Pig,” or “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.”

While Cage’s latest creative renaissance is hopefully still just getting started, his current upswing was always going to be pockmarked by its fair share of forgettably solid genre films. We’re talking respectable programmers with compromised scripts, cool supporting casts, and just enough credibility to stride onto Redbox with their heads held high. The kind of movie whose director tried to get it made for more than a decade before deciding that driving a roadworthy Nicolas Cage vehicle would be preferable to leaving...

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What I miss most about not being at TIFF during the pandemic is…

TIFF has its own unique energy, in a few words: it has a volume of quality films and documentaries to see, wonderful audience/s, meaningful film business activity, amazing organization and execution.

What I don’t miss about TIFF is…

racing to see a film and the screening is full.

My “only in Toronto” moment is…

Wayne Gretzky and his family showed up to the premiere of my film Red Army. He came backstage after the premiere and we had a nice chat. This was a big highlight moment for me.

What I’ve missed most about Toronto as a city is…

The people are light-er and friendly and like to have a good time, similar to where I grew up in Chicago.

The biggest challenge working festivals during the Covid era is…...

Back in person for the first time since before the pandemic, the Toronto International Film Festival will make its grand return with a slate that builds on its expansion from previous years. The 2022 lineup boasts the world premieres of several high-profile films, including Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” Sam Mendes’ “Empire of Light,” Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and the Billy Eichner comedy “Bros.” However, there are a number of hot titles due to screen at the festival that have yet to be acquired. Documentaries by the likes of “Blackfish” director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and narrative features led by stars such as Margaret Qualley, Brian Cox and Tessa Thompson just may incite a bidding war. Here are 15 buzzy sales titles to watch.

“Sanctuary”

After leading Claire Denis’ Cannes prizewinner “The Stars at Noon,” Margaret Qualley continues to shine bright with “Sanctuary.” In this Special Presentations showing, she...

The Hollywood Reporter’s annual Actors Roundtable is, this year, full of fascinating bits. Especially with Nicolas Cage at the table, joined by the likes of Andrew Garfield, Simon Rex, Jonathan Majors, and Peter Dinklage.

One such anecdote came from Cage himself, who talked about working with an especially moody horse named Rain Man on the set of his upcoming Western, “Butcher’s Crossing.”

The story came up as Majors (“The Harder They Fall”) and Nicolas Cage (“Pig”) swapped stories about their experiences with animals working on movie sets.

“At least you had a nice horse,” Cage told Majors, who worked with horses on the Netflix Western. “My horse on ‘Butcher’s Crossing,’ named Rain Man, wanted to kill me.”

“Rain Man? Where’d you shoot that?” Majors asked.

“Montana,” Cage said. “I was in Blackfoot Country. Rain Man kept trying to knock me off and would try to run my head into roofs,...

The Summer Olympics are just a test of who can run fastest, jump highest, score the most goals. There’s real danger in the winter games! Try skiing down a mountain at high speeds, taking a sled through an icy slide, jumping as far as you can and not breaking your legs on a massive ski jump or not breaking your neck by falling on the ice. The best movies set at the Winter Olympics are about the underdogs who risked their lives and surprised the world…and Will Ferrell sliding crotch first across the ice. But they’re still exciting!

“Downhill Racer” (1969)

“Downhill Racer” came out when Robert Redford was at the peak of his fame and when Gene Hackman was just at the beginning of a run of sensational performances, so you know Michael Ritchie’s film has to be good. “Downhill Racer” is a tense drama about...

Indie drama “Show Me What You Got” has been selected for screening via the Level Forward/Screen Forward network that aims to expand theatrical distribution for up-and-coming filmmakers.

“Show Me What You Got” will screen in the second quarter of this year in the theaters that are participating in the Screen Forward venture launched last week by Level Forward, the content production venture headed by Abigail Disney and Adrienne Becker. Screen Forward theater partners at present are Denver Film in Denver, Colo., Loft Cinema in Tucscon, Ariz., Montclair Film in Montclair, N.J., and Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, N.Y.

The Screen Forward venture aims to raise the profile of work from up-and-coming filmmakers from historically marginalized communities. Theaters that participate in the screenings agree to donate 10% of the proceeds to a local non-profit organization.

“Show Me,” helmed by Svetlana Cvetko, revolves around three free-spirited twentysomethings in Los Angeles.

Gabe Polsky had just gotten out of a screening of his 2014 documentary “Red Army” when a “crazy guy” approached him with another incredible story about the Russian hockey team that would become his next documentary “Red Penguins.”

He was so disinterested about learning any more about the history of Russian hockey that he and his wife were cleaning house and almost threw away a massive box of memorabilia sent to him by someone he thought must’ve be a crazy person. It turns out though the box of material was a “treasure trove” of sports history, and that crazy person turned out to be one of the producers and subjects of “Red Penguins,” Steven Warshaw.

“Right away I didn’t want anything to do with it because I had just made this huge movie about Russia and hockey, and I didn’t want anything to do with it,” Polsky told...

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 on the day after Christmas, American speculators were presented with the ultimate gift: An opportunity to sell capitalism to one of the largest untapped markets in the history of time. For Russians, however, the shift away from communism was hesitant and fraught with uncertainty, and some of the country’s proudest institutions began to languish without the state-funded support that had allowed them to thrive behind the Iron Curtain. Business relations between the two superpowers were tantalizing in theory, but difficult to make real, and the ice was slower to thaw than many people on either side might have hoped. Of course, that wasn’t a problem for anyone who knew how to skate.

An amusing sequel of sorts to his 2014 documentary “Red Army,” , and some of the most visionary and/or foolish executives of the American sports arena tried to swoop in and save it.

Director Gabe Polsky’s “Red Penguins,” a wild documentary about the collision of Russian and North American hockey, readily invites comparison with “Red Army,” Polsky’s last wild documentary about a different aspect of that same collision. That’s a comparison that could increase interest in “Red Penguins,” which had its world premiere on Thursday at the Toronto International Film Festival, though it also sets an awfully high bar for the new film.

And in fact, “Red Penguins” is a dramatically different film in spite of the surface similarities. “Red Army,” one of the most acclaimed nonfiction films of 2014, was a deep, wide-ranging look at the dominance of the Soviet hockey team in the 1970s and ’80s, and of the recruitment of five players from that team to the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League after the breakup of the Soviet Union. It told a big story, and it told it well.

In “Red Penguins,” writer-director Gabe Polsky looks back at a curious and little-known chapter in U.S.-Russian relations following the collapse of the Soviet Union, one that marked the beginning of a promising, if short-lived, friendship between the two longtime adversaries by way of the NHL.

Described as “one of the most bizarre stories of the post-Cold War era,” the documentary, which screens in Tiff Docs, recounts the attempt by the Pittsburgh Penguins and the former Soviet Red Army’s national hockey team to set up a joint venture in an effort to demonstrate to the world the possibilities offered by the new Russia, not to mention the legendary prowess of Russian hockey players.

As part of the ambitious endeavor, the Pittsburgh Penguins hired eccentric American sports marketing consultant Steve Warshaw in 1993 to help restore the bankrupt and downtrodden Red Army team to its former glory. In the lawless...

“Bad Education”

Perhaps one of the biggest titles for sale, “Bad Education” stars Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ray Romano and Alex Wolff and is based on the real-life events that took place at writer Mike Makowsky’s high school.

“Citizen K”

Following his critically lauded “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” Alex Gibney is back with “Citizen K,” a documentary about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who went from communist to political prisoner in a 20-year battle with Putin.

“The Friend”

Based on the award-winning Esquire article of the same name, the film follows a man (Jason Segel) who puts his life on hold to help his friends though a terminal cancer diagnosis. Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck also star in the Gabriela Cowperthwaite (“Blackfish”) film.

“How to Build a Girl”

Everyone is obsessed with Beanie Feldstein following her performance in “Booksmart,” so naturally, this film has become a buzzy title for Tiff buyers.

Chicago – What is “greatness”? Is it an undefinable element in human beings that no one can explain, or can we get insight if we listen to those who have achieved it? Documentary filmmaker Gabe Polsky (“Red Army”) went on a journey to understand the concept in his new film, “In Search of Greatness.”

The focus is on athletes, in the sense of how one stands out from another, given the same parameters available to physically gifted people. Polsky explores the “it” factor, from pro hockey (Wayne Gretzky), pro football (Jerry Rice) and international soccer (Pelé). The filmmaker delves deeply, with commentary by social scientists and creativity experts. It turns out that the quality of greatness is part mystery, part happenstance and part being in the right place/time at any given moment, along with a unique passion for getting it done. This is a fascinating documentary, sprinkled with a bit of magic.

Chicago – Day Ten of the 54th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) on Friday, October 19th, 2018, has one of the more notable documentary screenings, with an appearance by the director. “In Search of Greatness,” by Gabe Polsky, is a examination into the nature of unique genius in sports, with profiles of Wayne Gretsky, soccer icon Pelé and NFL legend Jerry Rice. Also, it’s Awards Night, where the festival honors its best.

’In Search of Greatness’ on Day Ten of the 54th Chicago International Film Festival

Photo credit: Chicago International Film Festival/Art of Sport

Events Friday is Awards Night, when film categories in this competitive festival are honored, including Best Film in the International Feature Film Competition, Documentary, New Director, Lgbtq+ and Short Film. For details and tickets, click here.

Film Of The Day “In Search Of Greatness” (USA) How does one athlete stand out from another, given the same...

The Night I SwamThe Vienna International Film Festival—or the Viennale, for short—has for many years been a kind of respite, perhaps even a bit of a beautiful secret outside of European cinephilia, for those looking to be invigorated by the ever-renewing promise of cinema. First under the direction of Alexander Horwath, who left the festival in 1997 and in 2002 took the lead of the illustrious Austrian Film Museum, and for the last 21 years under the guidance of Hans Hurch, the Viennale has cultivated that rare thing: A cultural institution that has a distinct and idiosyncratic sensibility of taste. It is a yearly event in which you can find the rare gems of the mainstream vividly mixed with expansive retrospectives, the latest films from major auteurs and exciting debutantes alike, with no fear of short or medium length works, a strong love for the avant-garde and an even more fierce...

Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Jean-Gabriel Périot's A German Youth (2016), which is receiving an exclusive global online premiere on Mubi, is showing from October 27 - November 26, 2017 as a Special Discovery.I’ll never accept the tendency of the late capitalistic society, which leads us straight to fascism. You just have to look at what’s happening in the USA.—Gudrun EnsslinIn the last analysis, terrorism is an idea generated by capitalism to justify better defense measures to safeguard capitalism.—Rainer Werner FassbinderWhen fascists began getting punched this summer, and an excited wave of schadenfreude took hold, briefly, of the social-media trashcan, out came the liberal cavalry: in force. Punching Nazis, so went the cry, is at best the first step to moral oblivion and, at worst, already as bad as the people who want you dead. They are nothing if not predictable,...

Rob Leane Oct 19, 2017

We said hello to Jason Isaacs, before chatting about The Death Of Stalin and Star Trek: Discovery...

Jason Isaacs has been on our screens a lot of late. The former Lucius Malfoy actor is currently gracing online streaming services around the globe as Captain Lorca in Star Trek: Discovery, and his hilarious turn as General Zhukov in The Death Of Stalin will be lighting up a cinema near you very soon.

See related Gunpowder: air date announced for Kit Harington's new show Game Of Thrones: the things Jon Snow does know 26 new TV shows to watch in 2017

As part of his promotional tour for the aforementioned Russian romp – which has satirical mastermind Armando Iannucci (Alan Partridge, The Thick Of It, Veep) at its helm – Isaacs sat with us for twenty minutes in a swanky London hotel to have a ruddy good chat.

As I shuffled in and sat down,...

I recently sat down with Leo Birenberg, composer for Fox's hybrid-animation sitcom Son of Zorn and acclaimed documentary Red Army. A former mentee of the incredibly decorated Christophe Beck, Leo has already taken on scoring one of the biggest shows on television as well as numerous big name films. After chatting with him about Red Army, his former mentor, and his thoughts on scoring, it became clear it won't be long until his name is as ubiquitous in Hollywood as his scores. What is it like scoring documentaries?  Did you enjoy it? Loved it. Documentaries are great because you can really work in broad strokes. Gives a lot of room to make interesting music and explore questions of tone and color. In contrast to other formats (live-action narrative,...

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

Many sports documentaries focus on the inspirational story of an individual or a team overcoming great odds to achieve greatness, but few examine one particular position on a team, especially one so misunderstood and controversial. The new documentary “Ice Guardians” journeys into the lives of those who perform undoubtedly the toughest job within the National Hockey League today: The enforcer, an unofficial role whose job it is to deter and respond to violent play by the opposition.

Read More: Review: Gripping And Historic Hockey Documentary ‘Red Army’

Few understand this position and even fewer appreciate what is involved in becoming one. Born out of self policing an inherently violent game, the role now faces the scrutiny of national newspapers, blogs, and TV news casts. Due to its violent nature, it has drawn opinions from both fans and critics alike. But what led to its spectacular rise? What purpose does it really serve?...

Engram of ReturningThe selection at this year’s installation of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Art of the Real film festival, an annual showcase dedicated to conveying the spectrum of nonfiction filmmaking, are an intriguing bunch culled from a variety of seemingly opposing cultures, yet still exhibiting a fascination with interrogating the past. That this fixation is explored through a miscellany of aesthetic methods is only testament to the veracity of the festival’s undertaking.As this year’s sidebar retrospective of avant-garde giant Bruce Baillie’s work evinces, the nuances and vagaries of the term ‘“nonfiction” allow for fruitful pairings of works that continue the lineage of the abstract, non-narrative work that comes to define our idea of the American avant-garde with those of more familiar documentary tendencies. Daïchi Saïto’s superlative Engram of Returning, playing as part of the second shorts program,is certainly the film...

More that 1,100 of similar soft-core productions were released in theaters during the 70’s and 80’s by Nikkatsu, which helped to launch the careers of filmmakers like Masayuki Suo (Shall we Dance?, The Terminal Trust), Takashi Ishii (Gonin), Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Pulse, Tokyo Sonata, Journey to the Shore), Yojiro Takita (Departures), Koji Wakamatsu (Endless Waltz, United Red Army, Caterpillar) and many more.

The main reason so many directors chose the particular genre was due to the complete artistic freedom given to the them after they have met four criteria:

The film must have a required minimum quota of sex scenes (supposedly a sex scene every five minutes, although this rule was never strictly met) The film must be approximately one hour in duration. It must be filmed on 16 mm or 35 mm film within one week. The film must be made on a very limited budget (about $35,000)

The films were commecially successes and...

★★★☆☆ The 1980s might have seen a thawing of Cold War tensions between the Us and the Ussr but in sport, when East played West the whole world was watching. Sporting events between the two nations were seen as surrogates of the war, and although the Soviet dream was fading, The Ussr's ice hockey team continued to dominate throughout the decade. Gabe Polsky's latest documentary, Red Army (2014), attempts to capture the eccentricities and absurdity of an era when sport became an extension of politics.

In this week's show, Peter Bradshaw and Catherine Shoard join Xan Brooks to review Suffragette, the tub-thumping civil rights drama starring Carey Mulligan, Sicario, with Emily Blunt as a gun-toting FBI agent facing off against Mexican drug cartels as well as colleagues Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, Regression, in which Ethan Hawke investigates Emma Watson's satanic possession and cold war ice hockey documentary Red Army - Click here to see the video version Continue reading...

The story of Slava Fetisov, the Soviet ice-hockey player who morphed into an international star is at the heart of this fascinating documentary

Writers and documentarists have already analysed the cold war aspect of chess. Now film-maker Gabe Polsky does the same with ice hockey, focusing on legendary Russian player Slava Fetisov, whose career embodies a greater story. He morphs from being a 70s Soviet soldier of hockey to a well-paid international star in the free-market Us after the 90s, and finally welcomed back to his homeland as a slightly chilling Putin apparatchik and ambassador for the game. He is a hilariously difficult and truculent interviewee. For decades after the second world war, the Soviet international hockey team ruled the world, and being officially affiliated with the Red Army, its players really were cold warriors. Their confrontations with the American team provided the sports world with some exciting ideology clashes on the ice rink.

In this week’s show, Peter Bradshaw and Catherine Shoard join Xan Brooks to review Suffragette, the tub-thumping civil rights drama starring Carey Mulligan, Sicario, with Emily Blunt as a gun-toting FBI agent facing off against Mexican drug cartels as well as colleagues Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, Regression, in which Ethan Hawke investigates Emma Watson’s satanic possession and cold war ice hockey documentary Red Army

Continue reading...

Viacheslav Fetisov, adored former sportsman and friend of Putin, took some persuading to appear in Gabe Polsky’s documentary about the Ussr’s imperious group of ice hockey players. ‘But he was stubborn,’ says the Russian veteran

For Gabe Polsky, the chance to finally meet Viacheslav “Slava” Fetisov was a godsend. It was 2012 and for months Polsky, a young film-maker from Chicago, had been desperate to interview Fetisov, one of Russia’s most beloved sporting heroes. Now, in Moscow, his quarry was sat before the camera, a politician these days, brawny but smartly dressed. He didn’t look at Polsky though. He just stared at his phone, smirking slightly. Polsky asked questions, coaxed and prompted. Fetisov was unmoved. Until, eventually, he put up his middle finger.

So begins Red Army, a new documentary about the Soviet Union and the grand sweep of history; about loyalty and betrayal; and about ice hockey,...

During the opening credits of Gabe Polsky’s debut documentary – and only his sophomore endeavour following on from The Motel Life – we notice a couple of recognisable names appear, as not only was the late, influential producer Jerry Weintraub involved, but he was joined by master documentarian Werner Herzog. As the title progresses, it

The post Red Army Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

If you crossed Rocky IV with The Mighty Ducks (or better yet, Slap Shot) and made it as a documentary, you might get somewhere close to Red Army. Director Gabe Polsky’s doc takes us behind the Iron Curtain for a gripping look at one of the greatest sports team in history: the Soviet Union’s ice hockey side of the late ‘70s and 1980s. Take a look at an exclusive new clip from the film below.This footage delves into some of the tension at the story’s heart. The Soviet team’s coach Viktor Tikhonov, the closest the film comes to a villain, is the gimlet-eyed fanatic charged with coaching the team to Cold War supremacy. He keeps them under lock and key for all but a handful of days every year, drilling them into joyless automatons without ever quite extinguishing their genius for improvisation and creativity. As the clip reveals,...

Eighteen new Russian films will premiere at the 12th Russian Resurrection Film Festival.

The films will play at venues in Australia and New Zealand during October and November.

International guests at the festival include director, Sergei Mokritsky, whose 2015 war epic Battle for Sevastopol, will open the festival in Canberra, Brisbane and Auckland.

Battle of Sevastopol tells the true story of a young Soviet woman who joins the Red Army in 1941 to fight the Nazi invasion..

Lyudmila builds a reputation as one of the deadliest Soviet snipers. When tragedy hits, she is pulled out of combat to join a diplomatic delegation to the USA, where she develops an unlikely friendship.

Another war epic based on a true story, Battalion, will open the festival in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. A huge box office hit in Russia, this is the story of the First Russian Women.s Battalion, led by the peasant Maria Bochkareva.

Zabaltegi strand of the festival will feature 24 titles.Scroll down for full list

The 63rd San Sebastian Film Festival (Sept 18-26) has unveiled the features that will comprise its Zabaltegi programme, including Spanish premieres of new films from Laurie Anderson, Eric Khoo, Corneliu Porumboiu, Walter Salles and Alexander Sokurov.

The non-competitive strand includes features, documentaries, animation and shorts, and the first screening of all films in the section will run at the Tabakalera centre for contemporary culture and creation, the hub of Zabaltegi activities from this year.

Titles in the section that played at this year’s Cannes include Porumboiu’s black comedy The Treasure, which won the Un Certain Regard Talent Prize; Tambutti documentary Beyond My Grandfather Allende, winner of the L’Oeil d’Or award for best documentary; and Magnus Von Horn’s debut The Here After, which played in Directors’ Fornight.

Films that will first be seen at Venice (Sept 2-12) include Francofonia, from Russian...

Four years ago, in 2011, the Romanian director Anca Damian first made herself widely known to the international film community by presenting her animated feature Crulic at the Locarno film festival. Based on a true story of Claudiu Crulic that has gained a lot of publicity in 2008, the film consists of a mix of techniques including hand-drawn animation and animated photographs. They are of Crulic’s personal possessions – that he kept while imprisoned in a Polish prison after being arrested for theft, although he had supposedly been in Italy at the time. A Romanian citizen, Crulic sought help from the Romanian consul and went on a hunger strike after his requests were dismissed. The signs of his deteriorating health have been dismissed and he finally died from starvation four months later.

Reality keeps intruding into Damian’s animations – and while in Crulic, it was the things the real, historic Claudiu Crulic kept,...

Marvel and Award winning composer Christophe Beck have released an early preview of Beck’s Ant-man theme on his YouTube and SoundCloud pages.

The Ant-Man Original Soundtrack will be available digitally July 17 and on CD August 7. Beck (Frozen; Edge of Tomorrow, The Hangover, Pitch Perfect) has composed a massive score for the insect-sized Avenger’s big screen debut, combining grand symphonic superhero themes with fun, heist comedy elements.

Iconic composer Christophe Beck leads the musical force with his massive score for Marvel’s next blockbuster Ant-man.

The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings a founding member of The Avengers to the big screen for the first time. With the ability to shrink in size but grow in strength, a con man (Paul Rudd) must help his mentor (Michael Douglas) protect the secret of the Ant-Man suit and pull off a heist to save the world. Ant-Man tallies another...

A little over 300 films have debuted in the United States so far in 2015, and one can presume that anywhere from 300 to 450 more will see release before the end of the year. That’s a lot of movies – up by about 150 releases since 2010 - and really only a handful of those are sequels or franchise monoliths like Jurassic World or Avengers: Age of Ultron. Though superheroes, dinosaurs, and cartoons still rule the box office, the cinephile event of the year was an auteur-backed action film with minimal use of CGI, namely Mad Max: Fury Road, one that still managed to land in the top-ten grossers of the year. That being said, and as great as George Miller’s wild tempest of a film is, there’s no denying that it also benefitted from name recognition, as did 4/5 of the films that comprise the top 25 box-office grossers of 2015. As the aforementioned number suggested,...

This week’s new Blu-ray releases include one of 2015’s best films thus far, an underrated teen-centric pic, a drama starring two of the biggest actors in the world that was buried in release, and more. Click on the links below to purchase. Kingsman: The Secret Service [Blu-ray] - $19.99 (50% off) The Duff (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD) - $18.97 (53% off) Project Almanac [Blu-ray] - $18.99 (53% off) Serena [Blu-ray] - $12.99 (57% off) Red Army [Blu-ray] - $22.99 (34% off) The Last Ship: The Complete First Season - $19.99 (60% off)

The post New to Blu-ray: Kingsman, The Duff, Project Almanac, and More appeared first on Collider.

This week on Off The Shelf, Ryan is joined by Brian Saur to take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of June 9th, 2015, and chat about some follow-up and home video news.

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Episode Links & Notes

Follow-up

Brian finally sees Mad Max: Fury Road

News

What We Do In The Shadows Blu-ray announced for July 21st Kino Lorber / Studio Classics Announcements Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stalney’s Island of Dr. Moreau Documentary on Blu-ray Twilight Time September / October Line-up Scream Factory / Larry Fessenden Box Set Announcement

New Releases

Back to the Jurassic Coffy Dark Victory Foxy Brown Friday Foster Golden Years Collection Hammer Hunchback of Notre Dame The Last Unicorn Ninotchka Red Army The Sadistic Baron Von Klaus She-Devil Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers Society Spider Baby Strain The Duff Thunderbirds: The Complete Series

Episode Credits

Ryan Gallagher...

Kingsman: The Secret Service I expect Kingsman to gain even more fans on home video than it did in its impressive box office run where it grossed over $403 million worldwide. In fact, how have they not yet set a release date for a sequel yetc

Serena When I received this Blu-ray I looked at it and just couldn't bring myself to watch it. I know... But It's Your Job!!!!! Still, I didn't see any upside to wasting my time. Was it going to be some kind of misunderstood masterpiecec Not likely. A decent enough film that was unfairly judgedc Probably. Was it going to be terrible and therefore warrant some kind of pageview-seeking, vitriol-driven essayc Ding, ding, ding... that seemed the most likely and I guess I just don't have as much passion for seeking out hate-fueled pieces as I did when I started this job.

Project Almanac Eh, it was mediocre.

I haven’t traveled all I have to Buenos Aires and back to tell you about how this festival, alongside Mar del Plata and Valdivia (this last one in Chile), form the triad of the most important festivals of Latin America, because if you know about it, you know about it. People that have travelled to Argentina for the past 17 years in April have felt the presence of cinema in the streets—and Buenos Aires is a big city. The importance of a festival that brings over 300 titles, some of them for the first time crossing an ocean, is fundamental for the Latino viewer, as well for those who want to make the effort and come to see the movies that play here. On a closer look, what plays here may seem to be eclectic at times, it is purely due to what seems to be the motto of the festival: discovery.

On behalf of his 2012 film "The Motel Life," Stephen Dorff will attend the 17th annual Ebertfest this year. Directed by Alan Polsky (a producer on Herzog's "Bad Lieutenant") and Gabe Polsky (director of 2014 doc "Red Army"), this working-class crime drama got a very positive review from Roger Ebert. The film was part of Dorff's career renaissance after getting a boost from Sofia Coppola's meandering "Somewhere." Also revealed is a list of panel discussions taking place at this year's Ebertfest from April 15-19 in Champaign-Urbana. On Sunday, April 19th following a screening of director Ethan Hawke's "Seymour: An Introduction," the film's subject, famed pianist Seymour Bernstein, will conduct an onstage master class with University of Illinois students. This year’s panel discussions, featuring many of the directors, actors, critics and other festival guests, including Heloise Godet, Godfrey Cheshire, Scott Foundas,...

Anyone over the age of 40 remembers one of sports’ most famous moments, the “Miracle on Ice” – when the United States Men’s Hockey Team beat the Soviet Union in a breathtaking upset at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY.

Knocking out the Soviets led the U.S. team to the Gold medal round against Finland, where they triumphed and relegated the Soviet Union to second place and the Silver medal.

The Silver medal was definitely not what the Soviet team was expecting, and it marked the end of what had been the Soviet Red Army hockey dynasty – the most successful dynasty in sports history.

Told through the eyes of team captain Slava Fetisov, Red Army is a gripping tale of both sports and politics in the former Soviet Union. For them, hockey was everything. Parents would send their sons (some as young as 5 years old) to the yearly tryouts...

★★★★☆ If you thought ice hockey was just Canadians and punch-ups, then Gabe Polsky's documentary Red Army (2014) may come as a cool eye-opener. Featuring candid interviews with the surviving members of the Soviet Union team, as well as chunky 1970s-80s footage with some slick graphics thrown in, Polsky paints a vivid picture not only of this dynamic sport but also of a country in the throes of seismic changes. Having queued for hours, Viacheslav Fetisov failed his first audition to enter one of the most prestigious academies of ice hockey, but returning the next year was accepted and recruited into the army at the age of eight in order to be trained as an ice hockey player.

Hot projects new to Screenbase include Nicolas Winding Refn feature The Neon Demon, Pope Francis biopic Francisco, Brady Corbet’s directorial debut The Childhood Of A Leader and a new adaptation by Wim Wenders.Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon

Elle Fanning, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Abbey Lee, Bella Heathcote and Jena Malone have signed on to co-star in Nicolas Winding Refn’s next feature.

“After making Drive and falling madly in love with the electricity of Los Angeles, I knew I had to return to tell the story of The Neon Demon,” Winding Refn said.

Principal photography will begin in Los Angeles on March 30. Gaumont and Wild Bunch are co-selling the title.

Wim Wenders’ Les Beaux Jours D’Aranjuez

This adaptation of the play by Peter Handke was announced by Alfama’s Paulo Branco during the Efm. It will star Reda Kateb and Sophie Semin. Wenders is expected to shoot in June.

Brady Corbet’s [link...

Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel" won the Original Screenplay honor at the recently concluded Writers Guild Awards while Morten Tyldum's "The Imitation Game" took home the Adapted Screenplay trophy. "The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swarts" written by Brian Knappenberger won Documentary Screenplay award. The film is not nominated for an Academy award.

In TV land, HBO's "True Detective" won the Drama Series award and FX's "Louie" received the Comedy Series trophy.

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 2015 Writers Guild Awards:

Feature Film

Original Screenplay

Boyhood, Written by Richard Linklater; IFC Films

Foxcatcher, Written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman; Sony Pictures Classics

The Grand Budapest Hotel, Screenplay by Wes Anderson; Story by Wes Anderson & Hugo Guinness; Fox Searchlight Winner

Nightcrawler, Written by Dan Gilroy; Open Road Films

Whiplash, Written by Damien Chazelle; Sony Pictures Classics

Adapted Screenplay

American Sniper,...

The Writers Guild Awards were handed out on February 14 during simultaneous ceremonies on the east and west coasts, with Lisa Kudrow hosting the festivities in the west and Larry Wilmore presiding in the east. Refresh this page throughout the night for the latest results. -Break- Screenplay Nominees Original Screenplay "Boyhood" "Foxcatcher" X -- "The Grand Budapest Hotel" "Nightcrawler" "Whiplash" Adapted Screenplay "American Sniper" "Gone Girl" "Guardians of the Galaxy" X -- "The Imitation Game" "Wild" Documentary Screenplay "Finding Vivian Maier" X -- "The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz" "Last Days in Vietnam" "Red Army" TV-New Media-Radio Nominees Drama Series "Game of Thrones" "The Good Wife" "House of Cards" "Mad M..."'...

Red Army Sony Pictures Classics Reviewed for Shockya by Harvey Karten. Data-based on Rotten Tomatoes. Grade:  B+ Director:  Gabe Polsky Screenwriter:  Gabe Polsky Cast:  Slava Fetisov, Vladimir Pozner, Viktor Tikhonov, Alexei Kasatonov, Vladimir Krutov, Vladislav Tretiak, Scotty Bowman, Anatoli Karpov, Lawrence Martin, Lada Fetisov Screened at:  Review, NYC, 1/8/15 Opens:  January 23, 2015 When the modern Olympic games were established, the idea was that countries of various stripes would get together, the participants and fans getting to know one another better, and lo, everyone would be singing Kumbayah.  Things turned out differently, as the Olympic games became yet another competition among the various nations, the Nazi government in 1936 using  [ Read More ]

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Chicago – How often can we learn life lessons from the most unlikely of sources? The documentary “Red Army” is one such source, as director Gabe Polsky tells the story of the Soviet Union hockey team, which expands to the the very parameters of human nature and competition.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

There is something poetic about the way the leadership in the Soviet hockey program conducted their vision, and Polsky was able to capture all the poetics within the development, nurturing and victories that the teams experienced – from the 1950s through the 1980s – and the psychology of it all. If this sounds strange it’s supposed to be. It was like delving into a prism, and the closer the introspection became, the more complexity and truth was revealed. The fall of the Soviet Union also had a profound impact on the foundation of the team, as the purpose of performing for nationalism is...

Americans know very well that we beat the Soviet Union hockey team in the 1980 Olympics. It is a celebrated, symbolic victory that we have nicknamed the “Miracle on Ice,” which inspired the 2004 film Miracle with Kurt Russell. What Americans may not know is Russia’s side, which boasts an incredible story about elite hockey players chiseled from a regimented government and training system. The skill and power of these athletes who deserve a universal due is presented in director Gabe Polsky’s documentary Red Army. Informative, thrilling, and unbelievable, the film is far more than a sports doc, as it explores the rise and fall of the Soviet Union through the treatment of star players like Viacheslov Fetisov and Alexei Kasatonov.

I previously interviewed Gabe and his brother Alan for their Emile Hirsch and Stephen Dorff drama The Motel Life, which was presented by Werner Herzog, and played at the...

BitTorrent is continuing to use significant content partnerships to shake its reputation as a haven for illegal file sharing. The torrenting service has teamed up with Sony Pictures to distribute Red Army, a documentary about the national hockey team of the Soviet Union.

Red Army is available via BitTorrent Bundle, a service that also has plans to distribute sci-fi series Children of the Machine and David Cross' Hits. Users who access Red Army's official Bundle page can download the film for free or pay extra for a premium offering that includes bonus features and added content. Users are required to install the BitTorrent client before they can download the film.

Red Army explores the rise and fall of the Soviet squad, which famously lost to the United States during the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980. Strangely enough, Red Army is one of two recent documentaries exploring this topic. Espn's...

Exclusive: Latest feature from Anne Fontaine has just started principal photography in Poland’s Mazury region and stars Ida’s Agata Kulesza.

Films Distribution has picked up international distribution rights for Anne Fontaine’s latest feature Innocent with Ida star Agata Kulesza appearing in a French and Polish cast.

The French-Polish co-production between Mandarin Cinema and Aeroplan Film centres on true events in Poland during winter of 1945 when a young French Red Cross intern (played by Lou de Laage) discovered a group of nuns in a nearby convent in the advance state of pregnancy after they were raped by soldiers of the Red Army.

Kulesza - who was the young nun’s aunt in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Oscar-nominated film - is one of the nuns in this drama written by Fontaine with Sabrina B. Karine, Alice Vial and Pascal Bonitzer. Other parts are taken by Polish actresses Agata Buzek (Reverse) and Joanna Kulig (Elles)

Principal photography has just...

Chicago – Every red-blooded American has been told the story of the “Miracle on Ice,” the 1980 Winter Olympic upset of the mighty Soviet Union hockey team by Team USA. But who were the Soviet players? Why were they the best in the world? Director Gabe Polsky explores these questions in the documentary “Red Army.”

What makes “Red Army” such an exceptional film is the morality of it. The Soviet hockey team was playing for more in virtually every category. They had more pride, more skill, more strategy, more love-of-nationalism and more focus than any other team in the world. The story of these “mores” is magnificently told by Gabe Polsky, a filmmaker whose parents emigrated from Russia. The story also, interestingly enough, tells of the collapse of the Soviet Union, and what that meant for those hockey players, who were now stuck in a different performance mode and world.

Part of...

In my original review for the film, I talked about how Red Army is a gem of a film, a movie about hockey that can be loved by fan and neophyte alike. Much more than simply a documentation of a particular era of the NHL, the film is a gripping, insightful and at times quite hilarious look and the decades that led up to the collapse of the Soviet Union and how the current climate of Russia continues to be shaped by those events. The film is a must-see and made my best-of-year list. Finally, after a string of successful festival appearances Red Army is now making its way to theatres. I had a chance to speak with the film's director by phone as he...

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

While the specialty box office was dominated by Oscar nominees, a couple of snubbed films tried to make the best of the buzz that came with almost being nominated. First and foremost was Daniel Barnz's "Cake," which earned Jennifer Aniston Golden Globe and SAG nominations -- but missed out at the Oscars. The film -- which also stars Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Anna Kendrick and Adriana Barraza (all notably past Oscar nominees -- went with an aggressive release strategy, opening in 482 theaters. The result wasn't especially hopeful, as "Cake" grossed $1,003,000 for a so-so $2,081 average. By no means a disaster, but one has to wonder what that number would have been had Aniston ended up with an Oscar nomination. Also opening were two films snubbed in the Best Documentary Feature and Best Foreign Language Film categories, respectively. Sony Classics sent Gabe Polsky's doc "Red Army" -- which details...