DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ With ‘Subject,’ Doc Stars Look Back
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Nicolas Rapold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

When it came to what was very important to them, we adjusted their agreements to reflect that. We did reach out to a few people for “Subject” who weren’t ready to go back into that place but still loved the idea. For example, Carole and Howard from “Tiger King” became supporters of “Subject.” And Mark Borchardt [of “American Movie”] was a great sounding board. Did you cut anything from “Subject" based on feedback from participants? TIEXIERA: The biggest hurdle was when Susanne and [one of her sons] Mukunda agreed to be part of “Subject,” and Mukunda’s brothers did not want to be.

Persons: Jesse, Carole, Howard, King ”, Mark Borchardt, Susanne, Mukunda, Mukunda’s, it’s, We’ve Organizations: Wolfpack, Time Studios Locations: “

☆ ‘Poor Things’ Takes Top Prize at Venice Film Festival
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-09 | by ( Nicolas Rapold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Poor Things,” directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, was awarded the Golden Lion for best film at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on Saturday by a competition jury led by Damien Chazelle. The film stars Emma Stone in a virtuoso performance as a woman with an initially childlike understanding of the world who comes into her own through a sexual and philosophical journey. Bella Baxter, the main character in the film, “wouldn’t exist without Emma Stone,” Lanthimos said. Like many other actors in films screened at the festival, Stone was not in attendance, as the strike by SAG-AFTRA, the union that represents television and movie actors, continued. Set in a partly fantastical 19th-century Europe, “Poor Things” follows Bella (Stone) on her eye-opening adventures in Tony McNamara’s adaptation of the 1992 Alasdair Gray novel.

Persons: ”, Yorgos Lanthimos, Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone, Bella Baxter, ” Lanthimos, ” Stone, Lanthimos, Stone, Tony McNamara’s, Alasdair Gray, Willem Dafoe, Bella’s, Ramy Youssef, Mark Ruffalo Organizations: Lion, SAG Locations: Venice, Europe, Bella

☆ ‘Gran Turismo’ Review: Once Upon a Pair of Sticks
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Nicolas Rapold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Since the late 1990s, the Gran Turismo racing games for PlayStation have brought in billions of dollars, rivaling the box-office bounties of some movie franchises. It was only a matter of time before a movie offshoot arrived, following in the tracks of other live-action adaptations of PlayStation games, including last year’s “Uncharted.” “Gran Turismo” the movie tells the true (but unlikely) story of Jann Mardenborough, a Gran Turismo maven who became a professional racer of actual cars on actual tracks. Mardenborough’s leap from pixels to asphalt was an effective advertisement for Gran Turismo as more than a game, but his transition wasn’t all smooth. After Jann’s father (Djimon Hounsou) says there’s no future in gaming and brings Jann to his job at a rail yard, Jann goes off and wins a contest held by Nissan to recruit promising Gran Turismo players. Once again Jann exceeds expectations and beats out a more TV-ready competitor for the chance to race professionally.

Persons: Jann Mardenborough, Neill Blomkamp’s, Jann, Archie Madekwe, Madekwe’s Jann, Jann’s, Djimon, Geri Halliwell Horner, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom Organizations: Gran Turismo, PlayStation, Turismo, Gran Turismo maven, Nissan Locations: Cardiff, Wales

☆ Tubi Is Rewriting the Rules of Black Indie Movies (for Free)
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Nicolas Rapold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Over the past few years, Tubi has quietly amassed a thriving collection of Black-led independent movies. “Cinnamon” is the first Tubi premiere under the banner Black Noir Cinema, an initiative led by Village Roadshow Pictures. It’s a nifty standard-bearer: a gas station attendant and aspiring singer, Jodi (Hailey Kilgore), and a pickpocket, Eddie (David Iacono), team up for an inside job. The robbery becomes a self-own when someone from a local crime family — led by Pam Grier — gets killed in the process. They lean hard on the gas station owner, Wally (Damon Wayans), and then zero in on Jodi and Eddie.

Persons: Tubi, Jodi, Hailey Kilgore, Eddie, David Iacono, —, Pam Grier —, Damon Wayans, Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr, doesn’t, there’s, huckster, Wally Organizations: Village Roadshow Pictures

☆ Why the 1932 Movie ‘Freaks’ Is a Touchstone for Disability Representation
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Nicolas Rapold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Hollywood’s track record for portraying people with disabilities has been sketchy at best. There have been inspirational figures, noble martyrs and lovable oddballs — some of these performances garnering Academy Awards — but there aren’t a lot of people simply living their lives. The search for truly resonant disability representation in the history of cinema is continuing, but over the decades, many scholars keep returning to a perhaps surprising touchstone: a 91-year-old film set in a circus. Tod Browning’s most widely known work is “Dracula” (1931), starring Bela Lugosi, but the next year, he broke new ground with a movie featuring an extensive cast of actors with disabilities. Browning’s “Freaks” (available on most major platforms) centers on a close-knit group of circus sideshow performers who rally around a friend after he is betrayed by his lover, a trapeze artist.

Persons: Tod Browning’s, ”, Bela Lugosi, Harry Earles, Hans, Browning, “, Frances O’Connor Organizations: “ Spurs, Ringling Brothers

☆ Sometimes, Making a Documentary Can Take Years (and Years and Years…)
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Nicolas Rapold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

One of the magic tricks of documentaries is the ability to film somebody changing over a period of time. When it’s a span of several years, audiences can get a unique psychological portrait. But these long-haul projects come with particular challenges and obstacles for the filmmakers who see them through. These documentaries might take anywhere from a few years to more than a decade to shoot and complete, and the reasons vary. Over the course of the film, she forges a career in the tough, often sexist arenas of the art world and the academy.

Persons: ” Lea Glob’s “, Apolonia, Apolonia Sokol, Sokol Organizations: Tribeca Festival Locations: New York City, Paris

☆ ‘The Night of the 12th’ Review: When a Case Doesn’t Close
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Nicolas Rapold | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But Dominik Moll’s “The Night of the 12th” does just that, and then watches a French investigator labor away at a murder case before reluctantly abandoning it. This is a refreshingly grounded, deceptively plain picture of crime-fighting as a grind of false leads, workplace fatigue and no closure. After a few years, a judge takes interest in the cold case, funding new surveillance. But even though the inexpressive Yohan does seem like one of the good guys, he’s going in circles, and can’t even help his burned-out partner, Marceau (Bouli Lanners). Despite all the best intentions, “cracking a case” just doesn’t happen sometimes, and the movie (based on a nonfiction book by Pauline Guéna) matter-of-factly avoids the magical thinking we’ve absorbed from decades of macho crime-fighting yarns.

Search resuls for: "Nicolas Rapold"

7 mentions found