Synopsis:

Thirty-eight years after it was completed, a 1972 documentary following Leonard Cohen—the enormously influential poet, folk musician and, since 2008, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—on tour in Europe finally has its moment. Originally made as a promotional film for the artist, whose record sales were meager at the time, Bird on a Wire was produced and edited by Tony Palmer, then famed for his seminal 1968 documentary All My Loving, an eye-opening dissection of rock n’ roll that featured, among others, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Donovan. In Bird on a Wire, Palmer neatly captured the tour itself––threadbare, fraught with technical difficulties and emotional upheavals––but on first viewing, Cohen balked at the bare bones honesty of the film and demanded a complete re-edit from another source. The result was so disastrous that the film opened and closed on the same day, was forgotten about, then lost. In 2009, 294 cans of celluloid labeled Bird an a Wire were found locked in a Hollywood warehouse and immediately shipped to Palmer, who set about re-creating the original film he made all those years ago. The work is a visual poem—Palmer’s camera followed Cohen without judgment, opening the floor to the man as well as the artist. Today’s exclusive clip shows the music legend during an abortive attempt to ask a young German fan out on a date.

Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire by Tony Palmer is available now on DVD.

Synopsis:

Mesrine: Killer Instinct – the first of two parts- charts the outlaw odyssey of Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel), the legendary French gangster of the 1960s and 1970s who came to be known as “French Public Enemy No. 1″ and “The Man of a Thousand Faces”. Infamous for his bravado and outrageously daring prison escapes, Mesrine carried out numerous robberies, kidnappings and murders in a criminal career that spanned continents until he was shot dead in 1979 by France’s notorious anti-gang unit. Thirty years after his death, his infamy lives on. Mesrine was helped along the way by beautiful and equally reckless Jeanne Schneider (Cecile de France), a Bonnie to match his Clyde. Mesrine made up his own epic, between romanticism and cruelty, flamboyance and tragedy. Both a thriller and a biopic, Killer Instinct explores the man behind the icon.

In select theaters now. The sequel Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 hits select theaters on September 3.

Synopsis:

In his feature–length documentary The Big Uneasy, humorist and New Orleans resident Harry Shearer (Spinal Tap, The Simpsons) gets the inside story of a disaster that could have been prevented from the people who were there. As we approach the fifth anniversary of the flooding of New Orleans, Shearer speaks to the investigators who poked through the muck as the water receded and a whistle–blower from the Army Corps of Engineers, revealing that some of the same flawed methods responsible for the levee failure during Katrina are being used to rebuild the system expected to protect the new New Orleans from future peril.

In short segments hosted by John Goodman, Shearer speaks candidly with local residents about life in New Orleans. Together, they explore the questions that Americans outside of the Gulf region have been pondering in the five years since Katrina: Why would people choose to live below sea level? Why is it important to rebuild New Orleans?

The Big Uneasy is laced with computer imagery that takes you inside the structures that failed so catastrophically, and boasts never–before–seen video of the moments when New Orleans began to flood and the painstaking investigations that followed. The Big Uneasy marks the beginning of the end of five years of ignorance about what happened to one of our nation’s most treasured cities — and serves as a stark reminder that the same agency that failed to protect New Orleans still exists in other cities across America.

The Big Uneasy was only in theaters for one night on August 30, it will eventually make its way to DVD sometime this month. Check the film’s Facebook page for more information and updates.

Bonus: Chloë Sevigny co-stars in Barry Munday, the story of a suburban wanna-be ladies man who loses his testicles after he is attacked at a movie theater.

posted by: Brent Carter

Studio Synopsis:

127 Hours is the new film from Danny Boyle, the Academy Award winning director of  Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. 127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers (Clemence Poesy), family, and the two hikers (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet? A visceral thrilling story that will take an audience on a never before experienced journey and prove what we can do when we choose life.

In theaters 11/05/10

Studio Synopsis:

From Academy Award nominated filmmaker, Charles Ferguson (No End In Sight), comes Inside Job, the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, Inside Job traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia. Narrated by Academy Award winner Matt Damon, Inside Job was made on location in the United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China.

In theaters 10/08/10

Updated Bonus: In this new documentary learn about The Extraordinary Ordinary Life Of Jose Gonzalez, the critically acclaimed Swedish singer/songwriter.

Bonus: The trailer for Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics is now online. It will be released only on DVD November 9, 2010.

Bonus: Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, co-creators of The Office, are sending close-minded simpleton Karl Pilkington around the world in their new show An Idiot Abroad. Not sure when this show hits stateside.

Bonus: The official four-and-a-half-minute trailer for Frank Darabont’s live-action adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead, which was screened at Comic Con, is now online. The 90-minute series premiere will air October 31 on AMC as part of the network’s annual horror film marathon Fearfest.

posted by: Brent Carter

Studio Synopsis:

The directorial debut of Oscar-nominated actor Casey Affleck, I’m Still Here is a striking portrayal of a tumultuous year in the life of internationally acclaimed actor Joaquin Phoenix. With remarkable access, I’m Still Here follows the Oscar-nominee as he announces his retirement from a successful film career in the fall of 2008 and sets off to reinvent himself as a hip hop musician. Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, and always riveting, the film is a portrait of an artist at a crossroads. Defying expectations, it deftly explores notions of courage and creative reinvention, as well as the ramifications of a life spent in the public eye.

I’m Still Here hits theaters on 9/10/2010.

Studio Synopsis:

Black Swan follows the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter’s professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Requiem for a Dream). In theaters 12/01/10.

The GZA got behind the camera to direct Wu-Tang Revealed, a comprehensive documentary about the complex personalities and lives of the Wu-Tang Clan. Apparently this has been 10 years in the making. No word on how or when this will be distributed.

Bonus Trailers:

Monsters is a new sci-fi/horror movie about alien life forms coming to earth by way of a NASA shuttle crashing in Central America. Watch the trailer here. In theaters 10/29/10.

My Dog Tulip is an animated film based on the memoir of J.R. Ackerley about a man and his dog. Watch the trailer here.  In theaters 9/1/10.

posted monby: Harold Johns III

Womanizing, chain smoking, heavy drinking French legend – Serge Gainsbourg. The life of Gainsbourg has been captured in a feature film by director Joann Sfar’s entitled Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque). Although the film has yet to gain heavy distribution in the US, hopefully its performance at the Tribeca Film Festival and San Francisco International Film Festival earlier this year helped the cause. Otherwise, I may find myself screening my beloved Gainsbourg, Bardot and Birkin by DVD.

In conjunction with the film’s release, Fifty One Fine Art Photography in Antwerp, Belgium is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with an exhibit of photographs by various artists featuring the legend himself. Check out more images here and watch the film trailer below as well as a clip from the film in which Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot rehearse their hit “Bonnie and Clyde.”

posted by: Tricia Rock

Classy Hands were inspired to create this mashup by a Slash Film article called “The Ferris Bueller Fight Club Theory“,  which hypothesized that Cameron may have imagined his whole Day Off, and that Ferris was nothing more than his version of Tyler Durden.

Edited by Robbe Rees
Written/Adapted by Lee Keeler
Sound Mash-up by Brandon Brown
Graphic by Zach Graber

See more from Classy Hands here

posted by: Brent Carter

Studio Synopsis:

James Franco stars as the young Allen Ginsberg – poet, counter-culture adventurer and chronicler of the Beat Generation. In his famously confessional, leave-nothing-out style, Ginsberg recounts the road trips, love affairs and search for personal liberation that led to the most timeless and electrifying work of his career, the poem HOWL. Meanwhile, in a San Francisco courtroom, HOWL is on trial. Prosecutor Ralph McIntosh (Strathairn) sets out to prove that the book should be banned, while suave defense attorney Jake Ehrlich (Jon Hamm) argues fervently for freedom of speech and creative expression. The proceedings veer from the comically absurd to the passionate as a host of unusual witnesses (Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker, Treat Williams, Alesssandro Nivola) pit generation against generation and art against fear in front of conservative Judge Clayton Horn (Bob Balaban).

HOWL is simultaneously a portrait of a renegade artist breaking down barriers to find love and redemption and an imaginative ride through a prophetic masterpiece that rocked a generation and was heard around the world.

In theaters 09/24/10

Synopsis (via: Slash Film)

Warner Bros has released the first movie trailer for Hangover director Todd Phillips‘ next comedy Due Date. The film stars Zach Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr in a buddy-comedy story which has been described as kinda Hangover meets Planes, Trains and Automobiles. The screenplay by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland (with rewrites by Adam Sztykiel) has Galifianakis as a wannabe actor who becomes the companion to an expectant father / businessman (Downey) as they dash cross-country to (hopefully) arrive in time for the childbirth.

In theaters 11/05/10

Studio Synopsis:

After a violent shakedown from a notorious drug lord nearly kills him, Machete, a renegade Mexican Federale and tough-as-nails vigilante for justice, roams the streets of Texas, working as a day laborer. When Machete is hired by a crooked US Senator to execute a covert hit, Machete is double-crossed and forced to run from the cops and an endless stream of assassins. But what they don’t know is that Machete is looking for them so he can settle the score.

In theaters 9/03/10

Bonus trailers:

A new off-kilter, slightly dark comedy by director Todd Solondz (Happiness, Welcome to the Dollhouse) named Life During Wartime is in theaters 07/23/10.

A documentary about NFL football player turned volunteer Army Ranger Pat Tillman’s life and controversial death entitled The Tillman Story comes out 8/20/10.

A documentary entitled Stonewall Uprising about the attempted 1969 police raid on a NYC gay club The Stonewall Inn that turned into a three day riot and helped spark the Gay Rights Movement, in theaters 06/16/10

From Nicolas Winding Refn, the acclaimed director of Bronson, comes a brutal Viking epic entitled Vahalla Rising, in theaters 7/16/10.

posted by: Brent Carter

The Green Hornet opens January 14, 2011. The screenplay is written by Evan Goldberg / Seth Rogen, directed by Michel Gondry, and stars Seth Rogen as The Green Hornet, Christoph Waltz, Edward Furlong, Tom Wilkinson, Edward James Olmos, and Jay Chou as Kato, a character previously portrayed by Bruce Lee in The Green Hornet television series.

Read a Q&A about the film with Gondry and Rogen here

posted by: Harold Johns III

Studio Synopsis:
Jack Rebney is the most famous man you’ve never heard of — an RV salesman whose hilarious, foul–mouthed outbursts circulated underground on VHS tapes in the 90s before turning into a full–blown Internet phenomenon, seen by more than 20 million people worldwide. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer goes in search of Rebney — and finds him living alone on a mountain top, unaware of his fame. Winnebago Man is a laugh–out–loud look at viral culture and an unexpectedly poignant tale of one man’s response to unintended celebrity.

Winnebago Man hits theaters July 9. Learn more about the movie here

Watch the original video that made Rebney so virally famous here

posted by: Harold Johns III

Studio Synopsis:
Making its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Sin Nombre is an epic dramatic thriller from award-winning director Cary Fukunaga.

Seeking the promise of America, a beautiful young Honduran woman, Sayra (Paulina Gaytan), joins her father and uncle on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin American countryside en route to the United States.  Along the way she crosses paths with a teenaged Mexican gang member, El Casper (Edgar M. Flores), who is maneuvering to outrun his violent past and elude his unforgiving former associates.   Together they must rely on faith, trust and street smarts if they are to survive their increasingly perilous journey towards the hope of new lives.

Sin Nombre is out on DVD now and is also available through the Netflix “Watch Instantly” system.

posted by: Harold Johns III

Studio Synopsis:

This portrait of Washington super lobbyist Jack Abramoff—from his early years as a gung—ho member of the GOP political machine to his final reckoning as a disgraced, imprisoned pariah—confirms the adage that truth is indeed stranger than fiction. A tale of international intrigue with Indian casinos, Russian spies, Chinese sweatshops, and a mob—style killing in Miami, this is the story of the way money corrupts our political process. Oscar—winning filmmaker Alex Gibney once again wields the tools of his trade with the skill of a master. Following the ongoing indictments of federal officials and exposing favor trading in our nation’s capital, Gibney illuminates the way our politicians’ desperate need to get elected—and the millions of dollars it costs—may be undermining the basic principles of American democracy. Infuriating, yet undeniably fun to watch, Casino Jack is a saga of greed and corruption with a cynical villain audiences will love to hate.

Learn more about Casino Jack here

posted by: Harold Johns III

Studio Synopsis:
“Director Tamra Davis pays homage to her friend in this definitive documentary but also delves into Basquiat as an iconoclast. His dense, bebop-influenced neoexpressionist work emerged while minimalist, conceptual art was the fad; as a successful black artist, he was constantly confronted by racism and misconceptions. Much can be gleaned from insider interviews and archival footage, but it is Basquiat’s own words and work that powerfully convey the mystique and allure of both the artist and the man.”

Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child was released on Feb 21.

Side note:
The song you hear throughout the trailer is “Salty Peanuts” by Charlie Parker

posted by: Harold Johns III

Set against the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the 188o’s Australian outback, The Proposition is a visually stunning tale of loyalty, revenge and the quest for justice in a lawless land. Director John Hillcoat (The Road), working from a screenplay by  musician Nick Cave (Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) has made an anti-hero western so raw and uncompromising, so filled with unnerving character studies and grisly suffering, it would’ve made Sergio Leone jealous.

Guy Pearce, Ray Winestone and John Hurt all turn in incredible performances, while Danny Huston is utterly brilliant as the  poetic psychopath Arthur Burns, who the indigenous Australians simply refer to as “The Dog Man” because of his vicious behavior.

Running time: 104 minutes
2006, First Look Pictures

posted by: Harold Johns III

Studio Synopsis:
Co-winner of this year’s Freedom of Expression Award from the National Board of Review (and one of their Five Best Documentaries of the Year), Winner of the Special Jury Award at IDFA, and in contention for the year’s Best Documentary Feature Oscar, The Most Dangerous Man in America tells the story of Daniel Ellsberg, a high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, who in 1971 concluded that the war was based on decades of lies and leaked 7,000 pages of top secret documents to The New York Times, making headlines around the world. A riveting story of how this one man’s profound change of heart created a landmark struggle involving America’s newspapers, its president and Supreme Court. With Daniel Ellsberg, Patricia Ellsberg, Tony Russo, Howard Zinn, Hedrick Smith, John Dean, and, from the secret White House tapes, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, who called Ellsberg “the most dangerous man in America.”

Learn more about the film here

posted by: Brent Carter

Studio Synopsis:
An un-missable look at one of the art world’s most fascinating controversies and a celebrated selection of the Toronto, New York and AFI Film Festivals, Don Argott’s gripping documentary The Art of the Steal chronicles the long and dramatic struggle for control of the Barnes Foundation, a private collection of art valued at more than $25 billion. In 1922, Dr. Albert C. Barnes formed a remarkable educational institution around his priceless collection of art, located just five miles outside of Philadelphia. Now, more than 50 years after Barnes’ death, a powerful group of moneyed interests have gone to court for control of the art, and intend to bring it to a new museum in Philadelphia. Standing in their way is a group of Barnes’ former students and his will, which contains strict instructions stating the Foundation should always be an educational institution, and that the paintings may never be removed. Will they succeed, or will a man’s will be broken and one of America’s greatest cultural monuments be destroyed?

Release date: February 26, 2010

This is a photo reproduction of Giorgio de Chirico’s 1926 portrait of Dr. Albert C. Barnes posted on a large sign in the 2000 block, Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA.

Find out more about the film here

posted by: Brent Carter

The rumors appear to be true. UK street artist Banksy will premiere his first film Exit Through The Gift Shop for the first time at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Which explains why new pieces by Bansky have been popping up all over Park City, Utah.

Learn more about the film here

posted by: Harold Johns III