Kate Winslet hints at “Bitter Regrets” working with Woody Allen

A lot has changed in the neverending saga between Woody Allen and the Farrows. With the #MeToo movement in full-swing, people have mob lynched Woody to the ground, so much so that Amazon is now tempted to just disown his contract and next movie. “Wonder Wheel” star Kate Winslet defended her decision to work with the director back at NYFF in October, “I didn’t know Woody and I don’t know anything about that family. As the actor in the film, you just have to step away and say, I don’t know anything, really, and whether any of it is true or false,” she told The New York Times. “Having thought it all through, you put it to one side and just work with the person. Woody Allen is an incredible director. So is Roman Polanski. I had an extraordinary working experience with both of those men, and that’s the truth.”

Accepting an award at the London Critics’ Circle last night, the actress admited “bitter regrets” about working a few filmmakers in her past, hinting Woody, of course: 

Full speech via BBC:

"It almost feels uncomfortable to receive an award at such a time. But being up here does give me the opportunity to say some things that matter to me. There are directors, producers and men of power who have for decades been awarded and applauded for their highly regarded work by both this industry and moviegoers alike. Indeed, many actors have had flourishing careers, due in part to roles played in their films. The message we received for years was that it was the highest compliment to be offered roles by these men.

As women around the world and from all walks of life marched last weekend, once again joining together to speak out against harassment, exploitation and abuse, I realised that I wouldn’t be able to stand here this evening and keep to myself some bitter regrets that I have about poor decisions to work with individuals with whom I wish I had not.

It has become clear to me that by not saying anything, I might be adding to the anguish of many courageous women and men. Sexual abuse is a crime. While it rests with the rule of law to pass judgement, it lies with all of us to listen to the smallest of voices and to never stop listening. Also those who do have a voice are becoming afraid to say anything, because of intense scrutiny and criticism.

Nobody should be exempt from having a right to speak in support of vulnerable people. There are those who can speak so powerfully for those who are not able to do so themselves, and let us please not make this about which people express public regret and those who choose not to, but instead keep the focus on the terrible, secret crimes of abuse against vulnerable children, girls, women and indeed boys and men too.

The real headline here is that a Hollywood commission on sexual harassment and advancing equality in the workplace now exists, led by Kathy Kennedy. The Time’s Up movement that will enable anyone to get professional support to fight back against predators and all forms of abuse and to address the complex problems of inequality and abuse of power in the workplace also now exists. I know we all stand together in hoping that this moment in history paves the way for a transformed future for generation upon generation upon generation to come.

I think again of the Women’s Marches. There was one banner scrawled on cardboard that particularly resonated with me. ‘The older I get the more I see women described as having gone mad. What they’ve actually become is knowledgeable and powerful and [expletive] furious.’ Years ago that woman would likely have been locked away. How times have changed. Let’s keep them changing. Thank you very much."

Sundance '18 in Tweets














Amazon might not release Woody Allen's already completed "A Rainy Day in New York"

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Ronan and Dylan's brother Moses Farrow has vehemently defended his dad, Woody Allen, over the years saying “My mother [Mia Farrow] drummed it into me to hate my father for tearing apart the family and sexually molesting my sister, and I hated him for her for years. I see now that this was a vengeful way to pay him back for falling in love with Soon-Yi.” However, Ronan Farrow, a reputable journalist, who helped uncover the Harvey Weinstein scandal for The New Yorker a few months ago (and signed a three-year deal this week with HBO to head up investigative documentaries), stands by his assertions that sexual abuse did happen. It’s a polarizing and infuriating scandal and the noise around it is not about to quell anytime soon.

Now Insiders are predicting that Woody's next film,  “A Rainy Day in New York” might not even be released, and if it "ever sees the light of day, none of its actors will even support their own work."

“There will be no premiere, no print or TV ads, no interviews. No one will promote it,” said a movie distribution executive.

“I wonder if it will even make Cannes?” speculated a film festival insider of the May event. “The French love him and don’t care about sex scandals. [Actresses Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve have scoffed at the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.] But Amazon does. Jeff Bezos is not dumb.”

"Allen can always go back to his old way of making movies — rather than raising production funds from Amazon or a traditional studio, he used to have his producer and sister, Letty Aronson, collect financial support from wealthy individuals in Europe."

“He will keep on making films, maybe in Europe, maybe with unknowns,” said another Hollywood insider of the director, whose films have never been big moneymakers. (His highest grossing is 2011’s “Midnight in Paris,” which earned nearly $57 million domestically.)

"Sources tell The Post that the film, which is due to be distributed by Amazon later this year, may not make it to the screen."

“‘Rainy Day’ will either not come out or [will] get dumped by Amazon without any p.r. or theatrical release,” said one film-industry executive."

Representatives for Amazon did not return requests for comment.

The one thing Allen has always had going for him — his ability to attract Hollywood’s brightest and best names — might be over.

According to the executive, “He’s having trouble casting his new film.”

This comes on the heels of the news that stars who have worked with the director are now disavowing him and donating their earnings from his movies to charity.

Posted earlier last month:

"Disgusting, bullshit...McCarthyism...people crumbling and turning out of fear...mass public shaming....this is a disgraceful moment. Will Woody get hounded out of moviemaking? I don't know. I hope not. That would honestly crush my heart. I mean, I feel there are European financiers that would fund him. People know that Mia is a brainwasher who abused her kids. But they CAN'T SAY THAT Because that would be BLAMING THE VICTIM. I think we are fucked. The more times Trump does something like "shithole"...all white males pay. You can protest Trump 24 hours a day...you will still pay."

“I, Tonya” depicts Tonya Harding as innocent bystander to Kerrigan attack, but reporter J.E. Vader, who investigated incident, says Tonya wasn’t innocent, contemplated “cutting her Achilles’ tendon.”

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In Toronto I wrote to my friend Jeffrey Wells about "I,Tonya": 

“A fairly straightforward re-dramatization of the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan figure-skating fiasco. It portrays Harding as typical white trash surrounded by more white trash. Doesn’t necessarily paint her as crooked or mean — just naive, indifferent and completely aloof about the whole situation. Robbie’s performance great, Gillespie’s direction solid but [this is nonetheless] conventional filmmaking.”

The important part of that email was the depiction of Tonya Harding as innocent, aloof to what was happening around her. The film implies that she didn't know Harding would be hurt to this extent, but a pushback is happening towards "I, Tonya" and for good reason. J.E. Vader, who spoke to  The Oregonian, reported on the Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan incident when it actually happened:

“It was painful to hand over the money for a ticket, knowing that some of it would go to an unrepentant felon, and knowing all too well how much money means to her.” 
“Harding has changed her story over and over in the past 24 years, but it’s always that she is a victim and everyone else is horrible. She is habitually ‘truth-challenged’ — this fantasy film is Harding’s dream come true,” writes Vader. All of this is at the expense of Kerrigan, the actual victim in the story, who’s reduced to “comic relief” in Craig Gillespie’s film."

“There’s also the fact that, according to Vader, several of the most important scenes are complete fabrications meant to portray its heroine as something she wasn’t then and isn’t then: a hapless bystander to the infamous attack. Vader writes that initial plans for the attack “included killing Kerrigan, or cutting her Achilles’ tendon, before settling for breaking her landing leg and leaving her injured wearing a duct-tape gag in her hotel room — and that Tonya Harding was well in on the plans and impatient when Kerrigan wasn’t disabled right away. (Makes Tonya a tad less sympathetic, no?).”

“The Maze Runner: The Death Cure” Tops Box-office

1. “The Maze Runner: The Death Cure” — $23.5 million

2. “Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle” — $16.4 million ($338 mil.)

3. “Hostiles” —$10.2 million ($12 mil.)

4. “The Greatest Showman” — $9.5 million ($126.4 mil.)

5. “The Post” — $8.8 million ($58.5 mil.)

6. “12 Strong” — $8.6 million ($29.7 mil.)

7. “Den Of Thieves” — $8.3 million ($28.5 mil.)

8. “The Shape Of Water” — $5.7 million ($37.6 mil.)

9. “Paddington 2” — $5.5 million ($32 mil.)

10. “Padmaavat” — $4.2 million

Sundance Film Festival Honors “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” Wins the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize

U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION: Grand Jury Prize: The Miseducation of Cameron Post; Audience Award: Burden; Directing: Sara Colangelo, The Kindergarten Teacher; Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Christina Choe, Nancy; Special Jury Award for Outstanding First Feature: Reinaldo Marcus Green, Monsters and Men; Special Jury Award for Excellence in Filmmaking: I Think We’re Alone Now; Special Jury Award for Achievement in Acting: Benjamin Dickey, Blaze.

U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION: Grand Jury Prize: Kailash; Directing: Alexandria Bombach, On Her Shoulders; Audience Award: The Sentence; Special Jury Award for Social Impact: Crime + Punishment; Special Jury Award for Creative Vision: Hale County This Morning, This Evening; Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking: Minding the Gap; Special Jury Award for Storytelling: Three Identical Strangers.

WORLD CINEMA DRAMATIC COMPETITION: Grand Jury Prize: Butterflies; Audience Award: The Guilty; Directing Award: Ísold Uggadóttir, And Breathe Normally; Special Jury Award for Acting: Valeria Bertucecelli, The Queen of Fear; Special Jury Award for Screenwriting: Julio Chavezmontes & Sebastián Hofmann, Time Share; Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting: Dead Pigs.

Damien Chazelle To Write & Direct Every Episode Of New Series For Apple

Damien Chazelle

"Now, Apple has inked Chazelle to write and direct every episode of a new drama, and the company is so stoked on the idea, they’re going to straight-to-series. Unfortunately, that’s all the details there are for now, but it’s another huge coup for Apple. The tech company has been going hard and spending big on original content over the past year, landing Steven Spielberg’s anthology series “Amazing Stories,” a drama about a morning show that will star Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, “Are You Sleeping” starring Octavia Spencer, a comedy with Kristen Wiig, and possibly a space drama produced by J.J. Abrams. Now, the only question remains is how they’re gonna deliver all this content. It makes you wonder about those rumors that they’ll buy up Netflix…."

[The Playlist]

Oscar Nominations: “The Shape of Water” Nabs 13 Noms, James Franco Snubbed, “Phantom Thread” Surprises With Picture, Supporting Actress, and More

Best Picture:

“Call Me by Your Name”, “Darkest Hour”, “Dunkirk”, “Get Out”, “Lady Bird”, “Phantom Thread”, “The Post”, “The Shape of Water”, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

COMMENTS: Where's "The Big Sick"? "Phantom Thread" being included is a miracle, LOVE IT. 

Best Director:

“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro

COMMENTS: PTA! Luca Guadagnino being snubbed is a sin. 

Best Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

COMMENTS: 

Best Actress:

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”

COMMENTS:

Best Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

COMMENTS:

Best Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

COMMENTS:

Best Adapted Screenplay:

“Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory
“The Disaster Artist,” Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
“Logan,” Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green
“Molly’s Game,” Aaron Sorkin
“Mudbound,” Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

Best Original Screenplay:

“The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

Best Foreign Language Film:

“A Fantastic Woman” (Chile)
“The Insult” (Lebanon)
“Loveless” (Russia)
“On Body and Soul (Hungary)
“The Square” (Sweden)

Best Cinematography:

“Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins
“Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel
“Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema
“Mudbound,” Rachel Morrison
“The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen

Best Documentary Feature:

“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail”
“Faces Places”
“Icarus”
“Last Men in Aleppo”
“Strong Island”

Best Animated Feature:

“The Boss Baby”
“The Breadwinner”
“Coco”
“Ferdinand”
“Loving Vincent”

Best Animated Short:

“DeKalb Elementary”
“The Eleven O’Clock”
“My Nephew Emmett”
“The Silent Child”
“Watu Wote/All of Us”

Best Documentary Short Subject:

“Edith+Eddie”
“Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405”
“Heroin(e)”
“Knife Skills”
“Traffic Stop”

Best Live Action Short Film:

“Dear Basketball”
“Garden Party”
“Lou”
“Negative Space”
“Revolting Rhymes”

Best Film Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith
“I, Tonya,” Tatiana S. Riegel
“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory

Best Sound Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Julian Slater
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mark Mangini, Theo Green
“Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King
“The Shape of Water,” Nathan Robitaille
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce, Matthew Wood

Best Sound Mixing:

“Baby Driver,” Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin
“Blade Runner 2049,” Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hephill
“Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo
“The Shape of Water,” Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick

Best Production Design:

“Beauty and the Beast”
“Blade Runner 2049″
“Darkest Hour”
“Dunkirk”
“The Shape of Water”

Best Original Score:

“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer
“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood
“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell

Best Original Song:

“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige
“Mystery of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name,” Sufjan Stevens
“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez
“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall,” Diane Warren, Common
“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul

Best Makeup and Hair:

“Darkest Hour”
“Victoria and Abdul”
“Wonder”

Best Costume Design:

“Beauty and the Beast”
“Darkest Hour
“Phantom Thread”
“The Shape of Water”
“Victoria and Abdul”

Best Visual Effects:

“Blade Runner 2049”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
“Kong: Skull Island”
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
“War for the Planet of the Apes”

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri” Triumphs at SAG Awards

What does this mean? Absolutely nothing. I have mentioned countless times that "Three Billboards" is FUCKED. The backlash is now at full-tilt and will make it impossible for the film to recover. Worst of all, the hate stems from Sam Rockwell's character, a black-hating racist that, you actually think the Academy will award him? Uh, no. Not with Black Lives happening, Oscarssowhite, etc. McDormand? Maybe, but I think Hawkins nabs the award.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
Mudbound
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, Motion Picture

Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, Motion Picture

Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

The Crown
Game of Thrones
The Handmaid’s Tale
Stranger Things
This Is Us

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things
Claire Foy, The Crown
Laura Linney, Ozark
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
David Harbour, Stranger Things
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series or Television Movie

Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series or Television Movie

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
Jeff Daniels, Godless
Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies
Geoffrey Rush, Genius
Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, Motion Picture

Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, Motion Picture

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Hong Chau, Downsizing
Holly Hunter, The Big Sick
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Black-ish
Curb Your Enthusiasm
GLOW
Orange Is the New Black
Veep

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Alison Brie, GLOW
Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Sean Hayes, Will & Grace
William H. Macy, Shameless
Marc Maron, GLOW

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Baby Driver
Dunkirk
Logan
War for the Planet of the Apes
Wonder Woman

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

Game of Thrones
GLOW
Homeland
Stranger Things
The Walking Dead

Razzie Nominations Include “Transformers,” “Baywatch” and Jennifer Lawrence in “mother!”????

Hey, I'm all for the Razzies, after all they've put to shame some of the worst movie ever made over the last three decades, then again, remember when they nominated "The Shining" as Worst Picture back in 1980? Ha. No, "mother!" is not in the same league as Kubrick's classic, but a bold, visionary, yes flawed, film such as Darren Aronofsky's does not deserve to be nominated for anything at the Razzies, let alone Jennifer Lawrence's brave performance. What were they smokin? Aronofsky also nabbed a Best Director nomination, absurd? Yes, especially at a time when big studio creativity is played at a dismally safe level, the Razzies doing this shameful and really hampers their reputation. By the way, did not really like "mother!"

WORST PICTURE 
Baywatch 
The Emoji Movie 
Fifty Shades Darker 
The Mummy 
Transformers: The Last Knight 

WORST ACTRESS 
Katherine Heigl / Unforgettable
Dakota Johnson / Fifty Shades Darker 
Jennifer Lawrence / mother!
Tyler Perry / Boo 2!: A Madea Halloween 
Emma Watson / The Circle

WORST ACTOR 
Tom Cruise / The Mummy 
Johnny Depp / Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales 
Jamie Dornan / Fifty Shades Darker 
Zac Efron / Baywatch 
Mark Wahlberg / Daddy’s Home 2 & Transformers: The Last Knight

WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR 
Javier Bardem / mother! & Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Russell Crowe / The Mummy 
Josh Duhamel / Transformers: The Last Knight 
Mel Gibson / Daddy’s Home 2 
Anthony Hopkins / Collide & Transformers: The Last Knight

WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 
Kim Basinger / Fifty Shades Darker 
Sofia Boutella / The Mummy 
Laura Haddock / Transformers: The Last Knight 
Goldie Hawn / Snatched 
Susan Sarandon / A Bad Moms Christmas

WORST SCREEN COMBO 
Any Combination of Two Characters, Two Sex Toys or Two Sexual Positions / Fifty Shades Darker 
Any Combination of Two Humans, Two Robots or Two Explosions / Transformers: The Last Knight
Any Two Obnoxious Emojis / The Emoji Movie 
Johnny Depp & His Worn Out Drunk Routine / Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales 
Tyler Perry & Either The Ratty Old Dress or Worn Out Wig / Boo 2!: A Madea Halloween

WORST REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL 
Baywatch 
Boo 2!: A Madea Halloween 
Fifty Shades Darker 
The Mummy 
Transformers: The Last Knight

WORST DIRECTOR 
Darren Aronofsky / mother!
Michael Bay / Transformers: The Last Knight
James Foley / Fifty Shades Darker 
Alex Kurtzman / The Mummy
Anthony (Tony) Leonidis / The Emoji Movie 

WORST SCREENPLAY
Baywatch 
The Emoji Movie 
Fifty Shades Darker 
The Mummy 
Transformers: The Last Knight

‘The Shape of Water’ Wins Producers Guild Award



The Shape of Water has won the Producers Guild of America, which, by all accounts, makes it the odds on favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar. That doesn't necessarily mean it'll pull it off but in an unpredictable awards season like what we're having, this puts a few things into perspective. It also legitimizes a possible Best Actress win for Sally Hawkins and Best Director for Guillermo Del Toro, if he wins the DGA then the chances of his film winning the top prize jumps to astronomical levels.

Sundance '18 Preview

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Call them the twin peaks of American Film Festivals. The high altitude buzz that comes out of Sundance and Telluride can carry a movie aloft straight through to Oscar Night.

The best movies that come out of Robert Redford's Sundance Film festival, now in its 39th edition, are the ones that, on second viewing, maintain that exhilarating high you had when you first saw them high atop the thin rocky mountain air of the resort town. Remember when in 2002 Tadpole was the toast of the town, bought for a boatload of money and then only made 3 million dollars worldwide? Yeah, it’s just that kind of festival. People get high off the movies, quite possibly due to the thin mountainousair, and then months later forget they ever existed. However, the fest’s rich historywithdiscovering small, indie gems has not been lost these last few years. In fact, if an indie movie does become a breakout hit at the box office, chances are it most certainly had its debut at Redford’s Mecca of American indie filmmaking. If we look back on Sundance history we will also find another trend: Best Picture nominees. Since 2009, when new rules for the number of Best Picture nominees were instated, these have been nominated for Best Picture, with four strong contenders possibly nabbing a nom this year:

2017 Call Me By Your Name?  Get Out?  Mudbound?  The Big Sick?

2016  Manchester By The Sea

2015 Brooklyn

2014 Whiplash & Boyhood

2012 Beasts of the Southern Wild

2010 Winter’s Bone & The Kids Are All Right

2009 Precious & An Education

In the next ten days, American Independent cinema will try to prove its worth once again but, more so,  its vital sense of importance. As Hollywood studios further distance themselves from risk-taking, adult fare, Sundance is becoming more important by the year, an oasis in a sea of muck. As superhero movies, sequels, reboots and YA novel adaptations rule the screen in this day and age of Disney/Fox merging, the success of this year's edition could very well tell us a lot about what's to come, artistically, at the movies in 2018. The more Hollywood goes into crass commercialism, the more likely a film festival like Sundance will matter. It’s as simple as that. The number do look great, For the 2018 edition of the fest, 37 percent of the 122 movies premiering will be directed by women.

This year there are a few films already front-loaded with major buzz:

 “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far On Foot”
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, Jack Black
The true story of popular artist John Callahan, paralyzed after a car accident at age 21 and turning to drawing as a form of therapy is being directed by Gus Van Sant. At his best ("Drugstore Cowboy," "My Own Pivate Idaho," "Elephant," "To Die For") the filmmaker can plumb through the depths of human emotions with risk-taking inventiveness. However, ever since his by-the-books but winning Harvey Milk biopic “Milk,” Van Sant has been struggling to find his voice again with three consecutive disappointments (“Restless,” "The Promised Land," and “The Sea Of Trees. The cast here is led by Joaquin Phoenix, as John Callahan, and he is supported by top-notch talent which includes Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara and Jack Black.

 “Leave No Trace”
Cast: Ben Foster, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, Jeff Kober, Dale Dickey
It’s been eight years since director Debra Granik gave us her last narrative feature  with the Sundance-winning "Winter's Bone" being the toast of the fest's 2010 edition. Although having directed 2014's excellent documentary “Stray Dogs,” "Leave No Trace" is truly her return in cinema as Ben Foster's  cautious father, living with his teenage daughter living in a Portland, Oregon trailer park has his life turned upside down and making a mistake that could have easily been prevented. Granik, a legitimate talent that has frustratingly been laying low the last decade, lest we mention her excellent directorial debut "Down to the Bone," has the potential to give us a festival-shattering film with "Leave No Trace."

 “Private Life”
Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Paul Giamatti, Molly Shannon, John Carroll Lynch
Director Tamara Jenkins is another female filmmaker that has not been given sufficient opportunities to prove her worth.  After wowing critics with her 2007 family drama “The Savages," she's been incognito for ten years. The reasons for her absence remain a mystery but it took streaming giant Netflix to finance her latest project "Private Life," about a married author desperately puts her marriage on the line to undergo  multiple fertility therapies to get pregnant. The cast is also aces and the fact that Sundance has decided to make it the opening night screening says a lot about the confidence they have in Jenkins' movie.

 “Come Sunday”
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Condola Rashad, Jason Segel, Lakeith Stanfield
Director Joshua Marston 2004 debut "Maria Full of Grace" was an incendiary announcement of a brand new, unique talent in the indie circuit. However, Marston's 2016 entry “Complete Unknown,” although ambitious and risk-taking, faile dto ignite with critics and audiences alike. Also known for some great TV work, Marston is back at Sundance with a film based on the true story of Evangelist Carlton Pearson who is demonized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell. This controversial but courageous man deserved his own story being told onscreen and having Chiwetel Ejiofor play him is a sure good sign that Marston might just have a potent and provocative winner here.

 “Wildlife”
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Ed Oxenbould, Bill Camp, Jake Gyllenhaal
Paul Dano is a talented actor that, since 2001, has worked with some of the very best filmmakers in the business (Kelly Reichardt, Paul Thomas Anderson,  Rian Johnson, Steve McQueen, Denis Villeneuve and Bong Joon-Ho). He's more than likely learned a thing or two working with these brilliant artists, and so, his feature directing debut "Wildlife" comes to Sundance frontloaded with buzz and a cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan. Co-written with girlfriend Zoe Kazan (The Big Sick), this drama is seen through the eyes of a young boy who sees his parents' marriage gradually deteriorate into an inevitable divorce.

“Lizzie”
Cast: Chloë Sevigny, Kristen Stewart, Jamey Sheridan, Fiona Shaw, Kim Dickens
Remember the infamous 1892 murders of the Borden family? Of course you didn't and if you did you weren't alive to read it in the news. It's a fascinating story that the less you know about the facts the better. We don't really know how director Craig William Macneill (“The Boy”) managed to cast Kristen Stewart and Chloë Sevigny as intimate lovers, but God bless him.

“Damsel”

Cast: Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, David and Nathan Zellner, Robert Forster

A wealthy and influential pioneer traveled across the American Frontier to find his fiancée.
Sundance veterans David and Nathan Zeller  (“Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter”) don't do formula. Their films are weird, brooding, strange but retain, develop,  the humanism that resides in their characters. The fact that they are tackling the western genre in "Damsel," with Robert Pattinson, fresh off his "Good Time" triumph, in the lead role, will make the film a hot ticket for movie lovers. The kicker is that the film is supposed to be very comedic and even had its star Pattinson describing it as “slapstick comedy.” Add in the always great Mia Wasikowska and you have a can't miss festival entry.

"The Catcher Was A Spy" 

Cast: Sienna Miller, Paul Rudd, Guy Pearce, Jeff Daniels, Paul Giammati, Tom Wilkinson, Mark Strong, Connie Nielson  That cast! Director Ben Lewin's last time at Sundance was with "The Sessions," which, by all accounts, was the most praised title that year. It also nabbed a Supporting Actress nomination for Helen Hunt. Lewin is back but this time with a true story that seems almost too crazy to have happened. "The Catcher Was A Spy" is about a Major league baseball player, Moe Berg, that lived a double life as a spy. Oh, and that cast!

“Beirut”
Cast: Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris, Larry Pine, Shea Whigham
After ending his 8 season tenure with "Mad Men," most people were predicting Jon Hamm to have a healthy and successful movie career, but its been slow to go so far. Maybe "Beirut" can kick it up a notch as the 46-year-old actor plays  a U.S. diplomat runs away from 1972 Lebanon after tragedy strikes home. The good news is that Tony Gilroy has written the screenplay (The Bourne Trilogy, Michael Clayton, Dolores Clairborne, Duplicity) and Brad Anderson (The Machinist, Transsiberian, Happy Accidents, Session 9) is directing.

“Piercing”
Cast: Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Laia Costa, Marin Ireland
I adored Nicolas Pesce's directorial debut "The Eyes of My Mother," it was disturbing, both aesthetically and psychologically.  This latest endeavor from Pesce, a very talented visualist, has a succesful family man going on a "business trip" to indulge in a disturbing secret life that is filled with kinkiness and morally wrong absurdity. Abbot and Wasikowska are supposed to be incredible in this film which was Adapted from cult novelist Ryū Murakami's novel

Of course, there are plenty more noteworthy titles that span the numerous sections of the festival such as the NEXT section, Premieres, Midnight, Documentary Competition and U.S. Dramatic Competition. The sheer joy of Sundance is the discovery of new talent. In the past 4 decades incredible classics would be discovered and filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Sodebergh, Christopher Nolan and Darren Aronofsky would be born. This is the only major film festival that makes the viewer go back to the basics. We go into a movie not knowing much about its cast or its director, and instead opt to leap forward and take a chance on no-name talent who might just be the next big thing. That’s basically it: what everyone is looking for is the next big thing. The next ball-busting rule breaker reminiscent of when Tarantino brought Reservoir Dogs in 1992 or Steven Soderbergh brought Sex, Lies and Videotape back in 1989.

Paddington 2 is Currently the Best Reviewed Movie Ever on Rotten Tomatoes. 100% With 168 Reviews Counted.








Paddington 2 has, quite honestly, become the critical surprise of 2018 and we're only January 18th. As it stands, the animated movie has topped Toy Story 2‘s Rotten Tomatoes record, "notching the most consecutive Fresh reviews without a single Rotten write-up." As of this writing, Paddington 2 has 164 Fresh reviews, versus Toy Story 2‘s 163."
Director Paul King released a statement: 

 “The Paddington films are a real labour of love. So many people pour their hearts and souls into them for months or even years, hand-crafting every last frame, and we are all incredibly grateful for the overwhelmingly positive response we’ve had so far. We hope it inspires people to go to the cinema to see for themselves if a talking animal film really can be any good, and whether Hugh Grant really can look devilishly handsome even while dressed as a nun. (Clue: yes.)”

I have yet to watch the new reigning Tomato king. Missed the press screening as I was preparing for my Park City venture. Now that I'm at Sundance I don't think there's a theater in the vicinity that is showing it, but I will catch up to it upon my return. 

Moses Farrow Defends His Father Woody Allen On Twitter


Ronan and Dylan's brother Moses Farrow has vehemently defended his dad, Woody Allen, over the years saying “My mother [Mia Farrow] drummed it into me to hate my father for tearing apart the family and sexually molesting my sister, and I hated him for her for years. I see now that this was a vengeful way to pay him back for falling in love with Soon-Yi.” However, Ronan Farrow, a reputable journalist, who helped uncover the Harvey Weinstein scandal for The New Yorker a few months ago (and signed a three-year deal this week with HBO to head up investigative documentaries), stands by his assertions that sexual abuse did happen. It’s a polarizing and infuriating scandal and the noise around it is not about to quell anytime soon.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Pens 2000 Word Defense Of “The Last Jedi”

For many, the joys of Star Wars come from the comfort of familiarity, the mythology Lucas created. "The Last Jedi" erases all that. I knew "The Last Jedi" would likely rub purist fans the wrong way. The primary intent of the film was to reinvent the franchise. Of course, these purists want things to stay the same, but watching "The Last Jedi" you can sense director Rian Jonson trying to, as Kylo Ren says, "let the past die." It's a theme that resonates throughout the film.


"Star Wars" fans that were unsatisfied with "The Last Jedi," and there were many, have decided to start a petition to have "The Last Jedi" removed from the franchise's canon. [You can read more about the backlash HERE)

Its director Rian Johnson has responded to the fan backlash most notably a campaigned petition to oust the film as being officially part of the canon of the Star Wars universe.
"The goal is never to divide or make people upset, but I do think the conversations that are happening were going to have to happen at some point if sw is going to grow, move forward and stay vital," Johnson tweeted. Many longtime fans of the franchise were left severely disappointed by writer/director Rian Johnson‘s movie, which declared that Rey’s parents don’t matter, nudged the lines of what it means to use the Force, and most crucially of all, killed off Luke Skywalker. Indeed, the Jedi master we meet in ‘The Last Jedi’ is far from the young hero of the original trilogy. Cynical and weary, he now believes the Jedi and the mythology around it are more of a threat than an asset to the Rebellion. And for those of us that like the film, that’s precisely what makes ‘The Last Jedi’ so enjoyable.4Now Joseph Gordon-Levitt has decided to chime in as well, writing a 2000 word essay for Medium. Of course, Levitt has a professional relationship with "Jedi" helmer Johnson (“Brick” and “Looper,” and  “The Brothers Bloom”) but his essay is well-written and tries to make the case for Luke Skywalker's drastic change in the film:Leaving Luke unchanged would have been a huge missed opportunity. Think about how rare this is. A trilogy of movies is made with a young protagonist played by an actor in his 20s. Then, no fewer than 40 YEARS LATER (A New Hope came out in 1977) this actor gets to play the same character as an older man. I don’t know how many times that has ever happened in the history of movies. Has it ever happened?This gives the filmmaker and the actor an extraordinary opportunity to tell a story about one of the most universal truths in human experience — getting older. We all get older, and those of us who are lucky enough to survive our youth all face the joys, the terrors, the puzzles, the pitfalls, the surprises, and the inevitabilities that come along with doing so. Re-meeting our beloved protagonist decades after we last saw him, only to learn that the passing years have changed some of his most fundamental qualities, I’ll admit, it’s almost hard to see. But in that glaring contrast between the Luke of old and the new Old Luke, The Last Jedi offers a uniquely fascinating portrayal of a man’s life marching inescapably forward.Time changes us. Go talk to anybody in their sixties and ask if they feel very different than they did in their twenties. The look on their face will almost surely speak volumes. As do so many such looks from Mark Hamill in what I feel is a beautifully nuanced and heartfelt performance….….To me, this is a story about not losing faith: faith in the outside world, faith in your allies as well as your enemies, in the future as well as the past, in the next generation that will take your place, and yes, faith in your own damn self. Luke has made mistakes that had terrible consequences, and his regret is so strong that he wants to give up. We need to see that despair, hidden under a crusty front of indifference, so that when he finally decides to put himself out there and make the ultimate sacrifice, it means something. It means more than just stalling the First Order to let the remainder of the Resistance escape. Our protagonist has arrived at the end of his journey. He’s re-found his faith, both in the past and the future of the Jedi Order, and even more importantly, in himself. Again, it’s in that glaring contrast between a journey’s beginnings and its end where we find a story’s meaning.

Woody Allen Issues A Statement

Image result for woody allen

This morning, Dylan Farrow was interviewed on “CBS This Morning” and spoke about her father, Woody Allen, denying he ever molested her when she was 7 years old.

“He’s lying and he’s been lying for so long. And it is difficult for me to see him and to hear his voice. I’m sorry.”

“He would follow me around. He was always touching me, cuddling me and if I ever said, you know, like ‘I want to go off by myself,’ he wouldn’t let me,” she added. “He often asked me to get into bed with him when he had only his underwear on and sometimes when only I had my underwear on.”

To those who have contended that Farrow is simply on a mission to knock down her adoptive father, she has a simple answer. “Why shouldn’t I want to bring him down? Why shouldn’t I be angry? Why shouldn’t I be hurt? Why shouldn’t I feel some sort of outrage that after all these years being ignored and disbelieved and tossed aside?”

Woody Allen immediately responded:

When this claim was first made more than 25 years ago, it was thoroughly investigated by both the Child Sexual Abuse Clinic of the Yale-New Haven Hospital and New York State Child Welfare. They both did so for many months and independently concluded that no molestation had ever taken place. Instead, they found it likely a vulnerable child had been coached to tell the story by her angry mother during a contentious breakup.

Dylan’s older brother Moses has said that he witnessed their mother doing exactly that – relentlessly coaching Dylan, trying to drum into her that her father was a dangerous sexual predator. It seems to have worked – and, sadly, I’m sure Dylan truly believes what she says.

But even though the Farrow family is cynically using the opportunity afforded by the Time’s Up movement to repeat this discredited allegation, that doesn’t make it any more true today than it was in the past. I never molested my daughter – as all investigations concluded a quarter of a century ago.

The First-Ever VIP Showing Of A “Finished” Version Of Orson Welles‘ “The Other Side of the Wind”. Only 36 Seats But Enough for Tarantino, Payne, Rian Johnson, Wes Anderson And More

"The first-ever showing of a full-boat version of Orson Welles‘ The Other Side of the Wind — presumably rough and ragged but resembling the final cut — screened the night before last (Tuesday, 1.16) at the Ocean Avenue Screening Room in Santa Monica. Restricted invitations, 36 seats. Study the below photo and identify the viewers — Rian Johnson, Peter Bogdanovich, Quentin Tarantino, Larry Karaszewski, Crispin Glover, Danny Huston…who else? Is that Alexander Payne in the center with the white shirt?"

[Hollywood Elsewhere]

I wrote this about the project last year:

Last May, an Indiegogo campaign was launched to help complete Orson Welles' final film, "The Other Side of the Wind." The six-year shoot was plagued by budget cuts, troubles in production, casting and other legal issues.  It remained unfinished at the time of Welles’ death in 1985. 

Netflix announced today that it nabbed the global rights to the film, the deal implies that they finance the completion and restoration of "The Other Side of the Wind," this would all lead to a full-throttled release in and around the year 2018. 

The synopsis is as follows:

"The film covers the 70th birthday party of movie director Jake Hannaford, who is struggling to make a commercial comeback. It opens with Hannaford's death just after the party, and mostly focuses on the night before his death. We also see extracts of Hannaford's daring new film-within-a-film, The Other Side of the Wind. As we learn more about Hannaford at his party, the audience realises that he is a far more complex character than he seems, and harbors several big secrets."

"The film presents a cynical portrait of Hollywood in the 1970s, parodying the passing of the studio system, and the experimental new film-makers of the new Hollywood, as well as mocking successful European directors such as Antonioni. It was shot in a variety of different styles—color, black-and-white, still photography, 8mm, 16mm and 35mm film, all rapidly intercut together, and was planned as a collage of these different styles."

I contributed to the IndieGoGo for this restoration two years ago. Here's what the campaign email said today: 

"Dear Contributors, 

My sincere apologies for the long silence. 

At long last, I’m thrilled to share with you the news that Netflix has acquired global rights and will finance the completion and restoration of The Other Side of the Wind. Working closely with Netflix, Producer Frank Marshall and I will oversee the restoration and completion of the film with consultation from Peter Bogdanovich. 

With Netflix’s unparalleled global reach, The Other Side of the Wind will be Orson Welles’ widest release ever… and, hopefully, introduce a whole new generation of film lovers to his work. 

However, given Netflix’s unique business model, making this happen meant renegotiating certain rights deals. Once I engaged in those talks, I was unable to comment on the state of the film, hence the extended silence. All told, the deals took a year and a half to close, but, in the end, every painstaking moment was worth the effort. I needed to take a step back so that we could take this giant leap forward. 

Thanks to your contributions, we were able to continue working throughout this time, prepping the negative outside of Paris... and I can confirm that the negative is now in Los Angeles and work will commence immediately. 

I must commend everyone on your patience and thank you for your faith, trust and commitment. I hope you are as proud as I am to be part of something historic... and now, because of our collective efforts, the film will be seen the world over.  

For those of you worried about your perks, we’ll start to roll those out in the coming weeks… and, in a rare move, Netflix is honoring our commitment to you by allowing the production of a limited-edition DVD/Blu-ray, just for our contributors. More to come… more frequently. 

Sincerely, Filip"

Deadline has quotes from the main participants of this incredible project, which is finally coming to life before our very eyes.