Post-SAG Nomination Depression, the 32 Finest Films of 2015: 2015 Features: 1. Tom McCarthy‘s Spotlight, 2. Alejandro G. Inarritu‘s The Revenant; 3. George Miller‘s Mad Max: Fury Road; 4. Cary Fukunaga‘s Beasts of No Nation; 4. Bill Pohlad‘s Love & Mercy, 5. Laszlo Nemes‘ Son of Saul; 6. John Crowley‘s Brooklyn; 7. Todd Haynes‘ Carol, … Read more
Cinematographer Svetlana Cvetko, whom I’ve been referring to as “HE’s own” for several years, has become a bona fide hyphenate — a director-dp. After making the festival rounds last year with her doc short, Yours Sincerely, Lois Weber, she began directing a self-penned feature. Produced by Nick Sarkisov and shot in black-and-white widescreen (2.39:1), it’s … Read more
BEST PICTURE: 1. Spotlight; 2. The Revenant; 3. Love & Mercy; 4. Mad Max: Fury Road; 5. Carol. BEST ACTOR: 1. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant, 2. John Cusack, Love & Mercy, 3. Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs (even though I didn’t like his company). BEST ACTRESS: 1. Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years; 2. Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn; 3. … Read more
Congrats to the makers of the 15 documentaries that have made the Academy’s shortlist — Amy, Best of Enemies, Cartel Land, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, He Named Me Malala, Heart of a Dog, The Hunting Ground, Listen to Me Marlon, The Look of Silence, Meru, 3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets, We … Read more
Last Friday 124 feature-length documentaries were submitted for Oscar consideration. A short list of 15 will be revealed in early December (less than five weeks hence), and the final quintet will be announced when all the Oscar nominees are announced in mid January. And of course I’ve been slacking on this front so here’s a … Read more
Last night I decided to skip the L.A. premiere screening of Ondi Timoner’s BRAND: A Second Coming and just hit the party instead. Little did I know that Timoner has trimmed about 15 minutes from the version I saw two or three months ago at the L.A. Film Festival, and I didn’t think that cut … Read more
I felt as if I’d been injected with an exciting spiritual drug when I first saw Ondi Timoner‘s BRAND: A Second Coming, which opens tomorrow. I’ve seen it three times since last March and have felt the same juices each time. Because it’s a film about transcendence — about the transformation of Russell Brand from … Read more
SoCal readers of Hollywood Elsewhere are hereby urged to snag a ticket to the 6.17 Los Angeles Film Festival screening of Ondi Timoner‘s Brand: A Second Coming. “I can’t overstate how jolting and invigorating this doc plays, especially during the second viewing and particularly when it hits the 40-minute mark, which is when the story … Read more
The title of this new Michael Winterbottom-Russell Brand doc is The Emperor’s New Clothes, but the similarities to Michael Moore’s 2009 doc are immediately apparent. Winterbottom’s film is also joined at the hip with Ondi Timoner‘s BRAND: A Second Coming, the recently premiered two-hour doc about the transformation of Russell Brand from hyper libertine to … Read more
Today Variety‘s “staff” ran a wrap-up piece about “13 break-out movies” that played at 2015 South by Southwest. Three days ago a similar N.Y. Times piece, written by Mekado Murphy, highlighted the “South by” films that were “the talk of the festival.” There were some overlaps but well over 20 films are included in the … Read more
I can’t overstate how jolting and invigorating and even ground-shifting Ondi Timoner‘s Brand: A Second Coming plays, especially during the second viewing and especially when it hits the 40-minute mark, which is when the story of Brand’s social-political awakening kicks in. It’s a brilliant, go-for-it thing that not only portrays and engages with a brilliant artist-provocateur … Read more
Last Tuesday I spoke with Ondi Timoner, director of Brand: A Second Coming, a fascinating, motor-mouthed portrait of actor-comedian-social activist Russell Brand. It will open Austin’s South by Southwest film festival this evening. Timoner’s doc (partly shot by HE’s own Svetlana Cvetko) is one of the most unusual and impressive documentary portraits of a famous … Read more