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"Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place." Janus Films has unveiled a new official trailer for the new 4K restoration & re-release of Picnic at Hanging Rock, an acclaimed Australian film from 1975. It was the third feature film at the time from director Peter Weir - way before he would go on to make The Last Wave, Gallipoli, The Mosquito Coast, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show, Master and Commander, The Way Back and other films. It was a part of the Australian New Wave cinema movement at the time. Starring Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, Helen Morse, Vivean Gray, and Jacki Weaver. The plot involves the disappearance of several schoolgirls and their teacher during a picnic at Hanging Rock, Victoria on Valentine's Day in 1900, and the subsequent effect on the local community. Roger Ebert was also a big fan of this, calling it "a film of haunting...

Ventana Sur’s Animation! WIPs by Annecy, curated by the prestigious French festival, has unveiled the five features set to participate in its 2024 edition, coming later this month.

Titles selected for this year’s Montevideo-set get-together come from across Latin America and feature co-producers from Europe and North America. Countries with producers involved in this year’s lineup include Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Canada, France and the U.S.

According to the selection’s organizers, “This year’s selection brings together proposals that stand out for their narrative and technical diversity, confirming the moment of growth that the region’s animation industry is experiencing.”

Below, we take a closer look at the diverse and promising slate of feature titles that will be presented at this year’s Animation! WIPs by Annecy.

“Heart of Darkness” Rogério Nunes

‘Heart of Darkness’

Based on the classic 19th-century novel but set in modern-day Brazil,...

While in New York City to celebrate the 10th anniversary of her monster international hit “The Babadook,” Australian writer/director Jennifer Kent took a stop over at the Criterion Closet and proved that she not only enjoys making spooky movies — she likes watching them too. Her first pick of the shelf was one of the first films of the horror genre, the 1922 silent essay piece “Haxän: Witchcraft Through the Ages.” Kent described the film as “a huge inspiration for ‘Babadook.'”

She added, “It’s about the devil and about witchcraft, it’s also about women going nuts. Fantastic.”

Kent’s next selection was from her home country, Peter Weir’s 1977 mystery “The Last Wave,” which she’d initially avoided watching because she misconstrued the title.

“I’m embarrassed to say, I thought it was a film about surfing. It’s not a film about surfing,” said Kent. “It’s...

With six Oscar nominations under his belt, Australian-born director Peter Weir has firmly established himself as one of our most respected filmmakers thanks to a number of visually striking, narratively ambitious movies. But how many of his titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at all 13 of his movies, ranked worst to best.

Born in 1944, Weir helped usher in the Australian New Wave of cinema with “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975), “The Last Wave” (1977), “Gallipoli” (1981) and “The Year of Living Dangerously” (1983). He brought his unique brand of filmmaking to Hollywood with the romantic mystery “Witness” (1985), which brought him his first Oscar nomination for Best Director. He earned a subsequent bid in the category for the inspirational teacher drama “Dead Poets Society” (1989), competing once again for the media satire “The Truman Show” (1998) and the swashbuckling epic “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” (2003), for which he also contended in Best Picture.

Lorcan Finnegan’s “The Surfer,” screening at Taormina Film Festival following its premiere at Cannes, promises to be one of the year’s cult films. A bizarro mix of Kafka and Ozploitation, the film boasts a late phase Cage performance and a psycho-comedy that appears all the darker for its sunbaked setting. The Irish director of “Vivarium” and “Nocebo” spoke with Variety as the Mediterranean glittered tantalizingly in the distance.

Were you familiar with surfing culture before making the film?

I wouldn’t call myself a surfer, as I’m more of a skateboarder, and so I didn’t really know much about that culture. And this whole toxic masculinity stuff never really appealed to me, but I didn’t want to reject something, just because I didn’t know about it. It’s an interesting challenge.

Why did you choose Australia as the setting?

It was going to be California,...

Australian filmmaker Peter Weir will receive the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the 81st Venice Film Festival (August 28-September 7).

The director and screenwriter is a six-time Oscar nominee for films including Dead Poets Society and The Truman Show, both of which premiered at Venice in 1989 and 1998 respectively.

“The Venice Film Festival and its Golden Lion are part of the folklore of our craft. To be singled out as a recipient for a lifetimes work as a director is a considerable honour,” said Weir.

The filmmaker first rose to prominence in 1975 with Picnic At Hanging Rock, followed by The Last Wave...

The Venice Film Festival will fete Australian director and screenwriter Peter Weir with its honorary Golden Lion at its forthcoming 80th edition.

Accepting the honor, Weir said: “The Venice Film Festival and its Golden Lion are part of the folklore of our craft. To be singled out as a recipient for a lifetime’s work as a director is a considerable honor.”

Born in August 1944, Weir was one of the pivotal figures in the Australian New Wave cinema of the 70s. He began his career in 1969 when he took a job with the government-funded Commonwealth Film Unit as a director. Weir struck out on his own in 1973 and directed his first feature film, the comic-horror The Cars That Ate Paris (1974), which he also wrote. He won an international audience with Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), followed by The Last Wave (1977), for which he also co-wrote the screenplay.

Australian director George Miller made his first feature film, "Mad Max," in 1979. It was a very low-budget affair costing about $200,000. The film takes place in the near future when the Earth is running low on oil and civilization is just beginning to crumble. "Mad" Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) is a road cop tasked with reigning in the chaos. "Mad Max" was decidedly low-fi, but it struck a chord with audiences, ultimately earning almost $100 million worldwide. It remains one of the most profitable movies of all time, comparable only to "The Blair Witch Project," "Paranormal Activity," and "Deep Throat." Miller would go on to make several sequels to "Mad Max" in 1981, 1985, and 2015. The fifth film in the series, "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," is hitting theaters this month, with a potential sixth entry, "Mad Max: The Wasteland," in the early planning stages.

Miller recently participated in a "Furiosa" screening and Q&a event,...

Shogun's near-perfect 99% Rotten Tomatoes score is a strong indicator of its award chances at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards. The original 1980 Shogun series won 3 Emmys and was highly acclaimed, setting a high standard for the 2024 adaptation. Shogun is already being hailed as the best miniseries of the year, with strong potential to win Outstanding Limited Series at the Emmys.

One Emmy-winning series from 1980 already provides a great indication of Shgun's awards chances. Following the epic conclusion of Shgun titled "A Dream of a Dream" which was released on April 23, 2024, the complete Shgun series is now available to stream on Hulu or watch on demand through FX. Although Shgun episode 10 ends without showing the war between Lord Ishido and Lord Toranaga, a conflict that has been brewing throughout the entire series based on the real-life Battle of Sekigahara, the finale was one of the best episodes of the critically acclaimed...

Peter Weir is easily regarded as one of the most legendary filmmakers in Hollywood, with masterpieces that have garnered several nods of major accolades. Also the mastermind behind Robin Williams’ critically acclaimed 1989 comedy thriller Dead Poets Society, he has led an unparalleled career in the entertainment industry.

Peter Weir received an Honorary Oscar Award | Photo: Screengrab/Oscars/YouTube

However, that very unparalleled career of his just may have ended a lot before the genius director announced it out loud. Yes, as heartbreaking as this would sound to many of his fans, Weir retired a long time ago from his star-studded directing profession, and fans wouldn’t have known about this had he not addressed this issue publicly.

Peter Weir has put an end to his Legendary Filmmaking Career

Even though the last movie he made was almost a decade and a half ago back in 2010, fans were still awaiting Peter...

Last year, Australian filmmaker Peter Weir was given an honorary Oscar for having “illuminated the human experience with his unique and expansive body of work.” Sadly, it’s now official that his filmography is complete, as Weir confirmed during an appearance at the Festival de la Cinémathèque in Paris that he has retired from directing.

Télérama reported (and IndieWire was kind enough to translate their report) that Weir was asked why 14 years have gone by since his last movie. Weir replied, “I am retired. Why did I stop cinema? Because, quite simply, I have no more energy.“

Born in 1944, Weir got his career started in television back in the 1960s, working on the TV projects The Life and Times of the Reverend Buck Shotte and Man on a Green Bike. After contributing a segment to the anthology film Three to Go, he made the 50 minute movie Homesdale and the documentary Whatever Happened to Green Valley?...

Australian and New Zealand indie distributor Umbrella Entertainment will launch Brollie, a free of charge, ad-supported streaming service later this month. It will lean on Umbrella’s library of classic content and claims to be the first free streaming platform specializing in Australian film and TV content.

Brollie will launch on Nov. 23 with over 300 titles including: “Babadook”; “Two Hands” (dir. Gregor Jordan, 1999); cult classics “Sweat”; “Erskineville Kings”; and “Cut” starring Kylie Minogue.

Brollie will also have a section for Indigenous Australia, including a collection of films starring Aboriginal screen legend David Gulpilil. These include “Walkabout”; “Storm Boy”; and “The Last Wave”.

A documentary slate includes “Servant or Slave” and “Ablaze”.

Subscribers will be invited to be part of the Brollie Film Club, where Brollie’s in-house team handpicks the best of the catalogue twice a month. Members can terrify themselves with the ‘Australian Nightmares’ collection exploring the best of Aussie...

Hollywood works in phases. We’re in the middle of a vast superhero movie phase, which, maybe, seems to be on the downslide. Twenty-five years ago, war movies were all the rage in the wake of Saving Private Ryan, and once those taped off, historical epics became the blockbuster of choice for studios. Indeed, it was the smash success of Braveheart and Gladiator that paved the way for this run of films which started to tape off in the mid-aughts after a few mammothly pricey films, such as The Last Samurai and Troy, only earned modest profits for their studios. One such film was 20th Century Fox’s Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. It earned critical raves but cost too much to become the franchise Fox was hoping for, with it being based on a long-running series of books by Patrick O’Brien. Yet, the movie holds...

Introduced last year, Mia’s dedicated animation program heads into its sophomore edition with a more firmly entrenched industry position and a resoundingly global outlook. With the program scaffolding already in place, Mia curators spent the past year shoring up support and scouting for projects at key markets in Berlin, Cannes and Annecy, resulting in a program of roughly 30 co-production pitch projects and works-on-progress that altogether spans more than 40 countries.

The rise in animation studios across the African continent will be a major theme of this year’s edition, with nearly one third of the co-production pitch projects coming from Africa-based studios. Among them, titles like Ama Adi-Dako’s “Drumland,” Jérémie Becquer and Julien Becquer’s “Mia Moké,” Esmail Zalat’s “The Prey” and Kay Carmichael’s “Troll Girl” will bring studios based in Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, Egypt and South Africa into the fold.

Meanwhile, on the conference side, an Oct.

Matt Damon is considered the face of the Bourne film franchise, and rightfully so, but he was not the first actor to step inside the shoes of the series' titular character, Jason Bourne. Based on Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name, The Bourne Identity became one of the most influential action movies of the mid-aughts that went on to inspire other long-running action franchises like Mission Impossible and James Bond with its across-the-globe spy drama setup, realistic fight scenes, white-knuckling car chases, and a minimalist yet effective storyline. Considering the first movie's success, it is not surprising that it was followed up with four sequels and one spin-off.

Other than putting Doug Liman and Paul Greengrass' directorial vision on full display, the Bourne movies also catapulted Matt Damon's acting career to new heights. The Good Will Hunting star, who had previously worked primarily on light-hearted dramas, found his...

Writer/Director Joe Cornish discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Attack The Block (2011)

Rocks (2019)

Poltergeist (1982)

Gremlins (1984)

Avanti! (1972)

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

The Last Wave (1977)

Witness (1985)

Dead Poets Society (1989)

Fearless (1993)

Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World (2003)

Gallipoli (1981)

The Year Of Living Dangerously (1982)

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai (1984)

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)

The Man Who Would Be King (1975)

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

The Rescuers (1977)

Bedknobs And Broomsticks (1971)

The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

Moonraker (1979)

The Adventures Of Tintin (2011)

Bambi (1942)

Dumbo (1941)

Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)

Forbidden Planet (1956)

This Island Earth (1955)

Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)

The Thing From Another World (1951)

Matinee (1993)

The Lord Of The Rings (1978)

The Omen (1976)

Damien: Omen II (1978)

Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

The Exorcist (1973)

The Exterminator (1980)

Friday The 13th...

Peter Weir's "Witness" is a firmly established classic now, but it took critics by surprise in 1985 for a lot of valid reasons. Though Harrison Ford was a bona fide movie star thanks to the "Star Wars" saga and two go-rounds as Indiana Jones, he had yet to shed the matinee idol stigma (keep in mind that "Blade Runner" was a box-office flop in 1982). Peter Weir was the leading light of the Australian New Wave via triumphs like "Picnic at Hanging Rock," "The Last Wave," and "Gallipoli," but he was a poet trying his luck in the prose world of Hollywood. Most...

The post It Took a Total Re-Write to Make Witness An Oscar Winner appeared first on /Film.

Longtime film distribution executive Melvin “Duffy” Stanley Maron died Jan. 13 in Atlanta. He was 90.

Maron brought martial arts and cult movies to theater, drive-in and TV audiences throughout the 1970s including Edie Sedgwick starring “Ciao Manhattan,” “Godzilla’s Revenge,” the double bill of “War of the Gargantuas” and “Monster Zero” and “The Cult,” about the Tate-LoBianco killings.

He acquired numerous dubbed martial arts movies to capitalize on the Bruce Lee craze, including “Bruce Lee: The Man — The Myth,” “Fists of Bruce Lee,” “Fists of Vengeance,” “Kung Fu Gold” and “The Killing Machine.”

“Even though he had a short career with only a few films, Bruce Lee opened everyone’s eyes,” Maron told DVDDriveIn. “When I saw kids going to these karate and kung fu schools that were springing up everywhere, I felt there was a natural tie-in between the martial arts and America.”

His later distribution company World Northal was oriented to the arthouse market,...

The late David Gulpilil will receive Aacta’s highest honour, the Longford Lyell Award, for his outstanding contribution to Australian cinema on Wednesday.

The legendary actor died on Monday, aged 68, four years after a diagnosis of terminal lung cancer.

Aacta began work on the tribute and award six months ago, with Gulpilil accepting the honour a few weeks ago from South Australia as he was unable to travel.

First presented in 1968, the award honours Australian film pioneer Raymond Longford and his partner in filmmaking and life, Lottie Lyell. Previous recipients include Cate Blanchett, George Miller, Paul Hogan, Jack Thompson and Jacki Weaver.

Aacta has said this year’s prize acknowledges not just Gulpilil’s incredible body of work, but his role in creating more diverse, inclusive, and truthful Australian stories.

A Mandjalpingu man from Ramingining, Arnhem Land, Gulpilil’s first role was in Nick Roeg’s 1971 film Walkabout as a teenager.

David Gulpilil, an actor who who lit up the screen in his 1971 debut film “Walkabout” and recently starred in a biographical documentary about his remarkable life, has died. Gulpilil was diagnosed with lung cancer four years ago. He was 68.

The Australian actor was a pioneering indigenous performer with talents including acting, singing and painting. His film credits include “The Last Wave,” “Crocodile Dundee,” “The Tracker,” “Rabbit-Proof Fence,” “Ten Canoes,” “Goldstone” and “Charlie’s Country.” TV credits include “Pine Gap” and “The Timeless Land.”

“It is with deep sadness that I share with the people of South Australia the passing of an iconic, once-in-a-generation artist who shaped the history of Australian film and Aboriginal representation on screen – David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu (Am),” said South Australia’s Premier Steven Marshall in a statement.

“David Gulpilil was from the Mandhalpingu clan of the Yolŋu people, and was raised in the traditional ways in Arnhem Land.

The actor starred in films including ‘Walkabout’, ‘Crocodile Dundee’ and ‘Rabbit-Proof Fence’

David Gulpilil, one of Australia’s most recognisable actors both locally and abroad, has died at the age of 68.

In a statement issued today, the premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall, described him as an “iconic, once-in-a-generation artist who shaped the history of Australian film and Aboriginal representation on screen”.

Gulpilil was first cast in Walkabout (1971), directed by Nicolas Roeg, and has been a feature of Australian cinema for the past 50 years, including roles in two local films that are among the highest-grossing releases ever in Australia: Crocodile Dundee...

David Gulpilil, the revered Indigenous Australian actor and dancer, known for his performances in films such as Rabbit-Proof Fence, Crocodile Dundee, The Tracker and Walkabout, has died aged 68 following a battle with cancer.

Gulpilil’s death was confirmed Monday in a statement by South Australian Premier Steven Marshall. “It is with deep sadness that I share with the people of South Australia the passing of an iconic, once-in-a-generation artist who shaped the history of Australian film and Aboriginal representation on screen – David Gulpilil Ridjimiraril Dalaithngu (Am),” he posted on social media.

Gulpilil received mainstream recognition for his performances in blockbuster comedy Crocodile Dundee (1986) and Phillip Noyce’s drama Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), which garnered the actor his first best actor prize from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards.

He was also well known for 2002 feature The Tracker, in which he played the title character, and further collaborations with director...

Awards

MTV has unveiled the star-studded lineup of award presenters for the upcoming “2021 MTV EMAs.” Pop star Rita Ora, model Winnie Harlow, musician and producer Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, WWE star Drew McIntyre, singer-songwriter Olly Alexander, DJ and producer Joel Corry and Brazilian singer-actor Manu Gavassi will each present prizes during the ceremony.

The hosts join an in-person lineup of celebrity talent which includes Maluma, Måneskin, Kim Petras, Yungblud, Griff, girl in red, show host Saweetie and World Stage headliner OneRepublic. The 2021 “MTV EMAs” will take place Nov. 14 in the Papp László Budapest Sportaréna in Hungary and be broadcast globally on MTV networks.

Distribution

Vice Distribution has pre-sold the upcoming GameStop documentary “The Big Squeeze,” produced by Vice World News, in several key territories. Turned around quickly, the documentary revisits this year’s GameStop shot squeeze scandal, which dominated headlines around the world for weeks. Presales were closed with Svt in Sweden,...

Grierson Awards: Netflix And BBC Neck-And-Neck

Netflix was nearly neck-and-neck with the BBC at last night’s Grierson Awards, winning five gongs including for David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet in Best Single Documentary – Domestic. The streamer was only one behind the BBC’s six wins as the pair dominated on a night where the BBC tends to be out in front. Netflix’s other victories came for Biggie: I Got A Story To Tell (Best Music Documentary), Athlete A (Best Sports Documentary), My Octopus Teacher (Best Natural History or Environmental Documentary) and A Love Song For Latasha (Best Short). BBC2 doc Once Upon a Time in Iraq won two awards (Best History Documentary and Best Documentary Series) while all other BBC awards went to BBC4 shows. Channel 4 won for The School That Tried To End Racism (Best Constructed Documentary Series) and Yinka Bokinni (Best Documentary Presenter), while...

Features: Robert Eggers, Lawrence Gordon Clark, Piers Haggard, Alice Lowe, Jonathan Rigby | Written and Directed by Kier-La Janisse

After watching Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror you certainly can’t accuse writer/director Kier-La Janisse (Eurocrime! the Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s) of just skimming the topic’s surface. Book-ended by animated credits sequences and featuring paper collages by Guy Maddin Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched is a deep dive into the definition and history of folk horror. The film’s three hours and fifteen minutes are split into six chapters that make up three roughly hour-long segments.

The first segment deals with the “Unholy Trinity” of Witchfinder General, The Blood on Satan’s Claw and The Wicker Man. While it doesn’t deny their influence and importance, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched very quickly dispenses with the idea that they are the root of the genre,...

"I'm an actor, I'm a dancer, I'm a singer and also, a painter. This film is about me. This is my story of my story." Abcg Film has released a trailer for My Name is Gulpilil, a feature film about the extraordinary life of Indigenous actor, dancer, artist, and screen legend, David Gulpilil. You definitely know who he is! The only actor to appear in both of the two highest grossing Australian films of all time, Crocodile Dundee (1986) and Australia (2008), Gulpilil is known throughout the world for his unforgettable performances - from his breakthrough in Walkabout (1971) to films including Storm Boy (1976), Mad Dog Morgan (1976), Peter Weir's The Last Wave (1977), The Tracker (2002), Rabbit Proof Fence (2002), The Proposition (2005) and his Cannes Best Actor award winning role in Rolf de Heer's Charlie's Country (2013). Integral to the telling of so many legendary screen stories, Gulpilil, now nearing the end of his life, generously shares...

Integral to the telling of so many legendary screen stories, David Gulpilil, now nearing the end of his life, generously shares his own story in My Name is Gulpilil.

The actor, dancer, singer and painter takes audiences on the journey that is his most extraordinary, culture-clashing life.

From his breakthrough performance in 1971’s Walkabout to today, Gulpilil is known for performances across films such as Storm Boy, Mad Dog Morgan, Crocodile Dundee, The Last Wave, The Tracker, Rabbit Proof Fence, Australia, Charlie’s Country, and Goldstone.

Early in 2017 Gulpilil was diagnosed with lung cancer. His doctors estimated six months, but David being David, was always likely to defy the odds.

Directed by Molly Reynolds, and produced by Gulpilil, Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr and Reynolds, My Name is Gulpilil marks the culmination of a 20 year creative collaboration.

A Vertigo Production, My Name is Gulpilil was commissioned by the Adelaide Film Festival...

This week, we have a handful of horror shorts from around the globe to share with Daily Dead readers! Today, we have Bienvenue from writer/director Vincent Julé, which may make you think twice before your next Airbnb stay:

"A couple has booked an apartment for one night. It looks just like the ad, but their attention is drawn to something. Or someone ? Watch this (and watch out) before your next vacation!"

Cast

Claire Juliette Allain (Têtard)

Mathieu Quentin Pradelle

L’enfant Gaël Raës

Crew

Writer-Director Vincent Julé

Producer Arié Chamouni for JohnDoe Production

Cinematographer Raphaël Vandenbussche

Editor Tianès Montasser

Composer Théo Bedoucha

The post Watch the Short Horror Film Bienvenue appeared first on Daily Dead.

The producer of Narcos takes us on a walk through some of the movies that made him.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Contagion (2011)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

Rififi (1955)

Night And The City (1950)

Thieves’ Highway (1949)

Never on Sunday (1960)

The Karate Kid (1984)

The Game (1997)

The Dirty Dozen (1967)

The Great Escape (1963)

Children of Men (2006)

Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971)

If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969)

Charlie And The Chocolate Factory (2005)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

The Godfather (1972)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

Animal House (1978)

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Trading Places (1983)

Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)

Fellini Satyricon (1969)

The Beastmaster (1982)

Sheena (1984)

High Risk (1981)

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Piranha (1978)

Gallipoli (1981)

Witness (1985)

The Killing Fields (1984)

Mad Max (1980)

Max Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)

The Last Wave (1978)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

The Lord of the Rings (1978)

The Hobbit (1977)

The Return of the King (1980)

Class (1983)

The Great Santini (1979)

Fast Times At Ridgemont High...

In this week’s International TV Newswire, Netflix goes back to the Flx well in Sweden, “The Bureau” is selected to close Canneseries, BBC4 picks up two new series for its Saturday night lineup, Endemol Shine announces a “Love is Forever” spinoff in Spain, and Conecta Fiction earns the honor of selecting this year’s International Emmy Short-Form semi-finalists.

Netflix Commissions Third Swedish Original, “Love & Anarchy”

Created by Swedish screenwriter Lisa Langseth, “Love & Anarchy” has been announced as Netflix’s third Original Series from Sweden. Production company Flx will produce, marking the renewal of a partnership with Netflix which began when the company produced the platform’s first Swedish Original, “Quicksand.” “Love & Anarchy” follows Sofie, played by “A Man Called Ove’s” Ida Engvoll, a career driven consultant and mother of two assigned to modernize an outdated publishing house. Upon her arrival, a flirty relationship kicks off with young It tech Max,...

Peter Weir celebrates his 75th birthday on August 21, 2019. With six Oscar nominations under his belt, the Australian-born director has firmly established himself as one of our most respected filmmakers thanks to a number of visually striking, narratively ambitious movies. But how many of his titles remain classics? In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at all 13 of his movies, ranked worst to best.

SEEJim Carrey movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Born in 1944, Weir helped usher in the Australian New Wave of cinema with “Picnic at Hanging Rock” (1975), “The Last Wave” (1977), “Gallipoli” (1981) and “The Year of Living Dangerously” (1983). He brought his unique brand of filmmaking to Hollywood with the romantic mystery “Witness” (1985), which brought him his first Oscar nomination for Best Director. He earned a subsequent bid in the category for the inspirational teacher drama “Dead Poets Society” (1989), competing once again for the media...

Samuel Gelfman, a New York producer known for his work on Roger Corman’s “Caged Heat,” “Cockfighter” and “Cannonball!,” died Thursday morning at UCLA Hospital in Westwood following complications from heart and respiratory disease, his son Peter Gelfman confirmed. He was 88.

Gelfman was born in Brooklyn, New York and was raised in Caldwell New Jersey where he attended grade and high school, before graduating Princeton University in 1953 with a degree in architecture. Soon after, he returned to New York where he worked for the Candida Donadio talent agency and the Feuer and Martin company. It was the latter that got him his next job as an Off-Broadway producer for the improvisational theater The Premise.

From there, he became the Vice President of New York Production for United Artists, before leaving to buy film rights for the first video cassette company Cartrivision. At that time, he also began working with...

Lille, France — Few festival heads are so ready to plunge into questions such as what their lineup suggests about contemporary drama series production as Series Mania’s director general Laurence Herszberg and Frédéric Lavigne. Series Mania was one of Europe’s first TV festivals to push drama series an art-form. Ten years later, it’s still a major focus of conversation with them. Variety chatted to both on the significance of this year’s lineup.

Do you see any trends in this year’s Series Mania selection?

Yes! There are emphases. Migrants and immigration is one major trend, which is interesting because it allow for multiple styles, to be approachedin a funny or dramatic way, or to focus on the lives of the people. It’s a worldwide concern, which is good. Then dystopia is also a major trend. We could say that this owes a lot to Charlie Booker,...

The 10th edition of Series Mania in Lille runs March 22-30.

The line-up for the 10th edition of Series Mania, which runs March 22-30 in Lille, has been revealed.

The competition features the world premieres of three Channel 4 dramas, including the Warp Films-produced The Virtues, which is written and directed by Shane Meadows and starring Stephen Graham as a troubled man who returns to Ireland to confront his childhood in the care system. Jack Thorne co-wrote the project.

The other C4 series are Iraq-set crime thriller Baghdad Central, from House Of Sadam creator Stephen Butchard, and Chimerica, created...

Ever-growing international TV event Series Mania has unveiled an impressive 2019 lineup including new dramas from Netflix, HBO and the UK’s Channel4. Scroll down for the lineups in full.

Taking place in Lille, northern France, this year’s event (March 22-30) will include masterclasses from Uma Thurman, Freddie Highmore, Charlie Brooker and Sharp Objects creator Marti Noxon who will also serve as president of the Official Competition jury. Also on the jury are The Good Wife star Julianna Margulies, French actress Audrey Fleurot (Spiral), French writer Delphine de Vigan and Thomas Lilti, creator-director of Canal + hit Hippocrate.

Thurman will be in town for the international premiere of Netflix Original Series Chambers, a Ya supernatural drama thriller from Stephen Gaghan (Syriana). HBO’s Folklore, an Asian horror anthology, plays in International Competition, as does HBO Europe’s Success, directed by Danis Tanovic (No Man’s Land). Amazon-Arte project Une...

Turner Classic Movies' 2017 Gay Pride film series comes to a close this evening and tomorrow morning, Thursday–Friday, June 29–30, with the presentation of seven movies, hosted by TV interviewer Dave Karger and author William J. Mann, whose books include Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines and Behind the Screen: How Gays and Lesbians Shaped Hollywood, 1910-1969. Among tonight's movies' Lgbt connections: Edward Albee, Tony Richardson, Evelyn Waugh, Tab Hunter, John Gielgud, Roddy McDowall, Linda Hunt, Harvey Fierstein, Rudolf Nureyev, Christopher Isherwood, Joel Grey, and Tommy Kirk. Update: Coincidentally, TCM's final 2017 Gay Pride celebration turned out to be held the evening before a couple of international events – and one non-event – demonstrated that despite noticeable progress in the last three decades, gay rights, even in the so-called “West,” still have a long way to go. In Texas, the state's – all-Republican – Supreme Court decided that married gays should be treated as separate and unequal. In...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Antichrist (Lars von Trier)

Like the majority of Lars von Trier films, from the first moments of Antichrist, one will be able to discern if it’s an experience they want to proceed with. For those will to endure its specific unpleasantness, there’s a poetic, affecting exploration of despair at its center. Chaos reigns, indeed. – Jordan R.

Where to Stream: FilmStruck

Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly)

Last year marked...

(l-r) Scott Glenn and Mimi Leder on location in Broken Hill.

HBO.s critically acclaimed The Leftovers returns to Foxtel this week after shooting a large chunk of its third and final season in Australia last year.

The show tracks the impact of The Sudden Departure, in which two per cent of the world.s population vanished without a trace, on those left behind.

As the show.s regular director and Ep Mimi Leder (Deep Impact) puts it: .If you.re going to do a show about the end of the world, what greater place to go to than Australia, which is practically at the end of the world to us (laughs)..

Leder and the production team, including creators Damon Lindelof (Lost) and Tom Perrotta (Little Children, Election), on whose novel the series is based, were inspired by the Australian films of the 70s.

.Season two was very much inspired by Picnic at Hanging Rock,...

Russell Boyd (r) with Peter Weir (l) shooting Master and Commander.

On May 6, the Acs National Awards for Cinematography will be held at Nsw Parliament House, the 46th edition of the annual awards..

This year, the work of the nominees was judged by a panel of five Acs members — president Ron Johanson plus Russell Boyd, Anna Howard, Ernie Clark and Andrew Taylor — over a three-day period..

Feature nominees this year include Denson Baker (The Dark Horse), Andrew Commis (The Daughter), Katie Milwright (Looking for Grace) and Bonnie Elliott (Spear).

Judging feature work can be a tricky proposition, says Boyd. .We.re there to judge the cinematography, not the story or the direction, although that can influence your decisions..

Boyd may be a veteran, with credits ranging from The Last Wave to Liar Liar, but he has well and truly embraced the digital revolution. .I really only shoot commercials these days and they.re all digital,...

Each month, the fine folks at FilmStruck and the Criterion Collection spend countless hours crafting their channels to highlight the many different types of films that they have in their streaming library. This April will feature an exciting assortment of films, as noted below.

To sign up for a free two-week trial here.

Monday, April 3 The Chaos of Cool: A Tribute to Seijun Suzuki

In February, cinema lost an icon of excess, Seijun Suzuki, the Japanese master who took the art of the B movie to sublime new heights with his deliriously inventive approach to narrative and visual style. This series showcases seven of the New Wave renegade’s works from his career breakthrough in the sixties: Take Aim at the Police Van (1960), an off-kilter whodunit; Youth of the Beast (1963), an explosive yakuza thriller; Gate of Flesh (1964), a pulpy social critique; Story of a Prostitute (1965), a tragic romance; Tokyo Drifter...

Sweet mercy. The final wave of titles for this year's Fantastic Fest have been announced and there is so much to digest here that we are giving you fair warning. Load up on the Pepto before you go any further.    Indonesian action film Headshot will be making a stopover. The Mighty Chin will be sitting down with critic extraodinaire Leanord Maltin to talk about his career before screening the first two episodes of season two of Ash vs. Evil Dead. And Fantastic alumni RZA is coming to town with a brand new score created for a special screening of 32nd Chamber of Shaolin.    The last wave of films include works from Nacho Vigalondo, Yudai Yamaguchi, Nabwana Igg, Simon Rumley, and Kim Jee-woon. There...

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

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20. The Innocents

Directed by Jack Clayton

Written by William Archibald and Truman Capote

UK, 1961

Genre: Hauntings

The Innocents, which was co-written by Truman Capote, is the first of many screen adaptations of The Turn of the Screw. If you’ve never heard of it, don’t feel bad because most people haven’t – but The Innocents deserves its rightful spot on any list of great horror films. Here is one of the few films where the ghost story takes place mostly in daylight, and the lush photography, which earned cinematographer Freddie Francis one of his two Oscar wins, is simply stunning. Meanwhile, director Jack Clayton and Francis made great use of long, steady shots, which suggest corruption is lurking everywhere inside the grand estate. The Innocents also features three amazing performances; the first two come courtesy of child actors Pamela Franklin (The Legend of Hell House), and Martin Stephens (Village of the Damned...

Special Mention: The Last Wave

Directed by Peter Weir

Written by Tony Morphett and Peter Weir

Australia, 1977

Genre: Psychological Thriller

The tagline reads, “The Occult Forces. The Ritual Murder. The Sinister Storms. The Prophetic Dreams. The Last Wave.”

Peter Weir follows up on his critically acclaimed masterpiece Picnic at Hanging Rock with this visually striking and totally engrossing surrealist psychological thriller. Much like Picnic, The Last Wave is built around a mystery that may have a supernatural explanation. And like many Peter Weir movies, The Last Wave explores the conflict between two radically different cultures- in this case, that of Aboriginal Australians and the white Europeans.

It is about a white lawyer, David Burton (Richard Chamberlain), whose seemingly normal life is rattled after he takes on a pro bono legal aid case to defend a group of Aborigines from a murder charge in Sydney. The mystery within the mystery surrounding...

H.P. Lovecraft doesn’t translate to film very well. Many have tried, few have succeed. Lovecraft’s stories are mood-driven, using his dense antiquarian writing style to tell tales that say so much while unfolding so little in terms of action. This doesn’t exactly lend itself to a cinematic adaptation. Yet several films have found a way to tackle Lovecraft without actually adapting Lovecraft. The following films pay tribute to Lovecraft without actually adapting any of his stories.

10.Evil Dead

Sam Raimi’s 1981 The Evil Dead features one of Lovecraft’s most widely known creations: The Necronomicon. Lovecraft used this book of magic, which was attributed to the fictional Abdul Alhazred, in several of his stories. This recurrence was one of the many Lovecraftian elements that gave a reader the sense of an ever-growing mythology — stories all loosely connected, existing in the same mad universe. Lovecraft wrote a short...

By Todd Garbarini

Update: Producer Ilya Salkind now also slated to appear.

Richard Lester’s film The Four Musketeers is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. With an all-star cast that includes Oliver Reed, Faye Dunaway, Raquel Welch, Richard Chamberlain, Michael York, and Sir Christopher Lee, the film will be shown on Tuesday, September 29th, 2015 at 7:00 pm as a special tribute to Sir Christopher as well as part of the theatre's Anniversary Classics series. Actors Richard Chamberlain and Michael York are scheduled to appear at the screening and take part in a Q & A and discussion on the making of the film.

From the press release:

Last year the Anniversary Classics series presented a successful 40th anniversary screening of The Three Musketeers, director Richard Lester's stylish and entertaining retelling of Alexandre Dumas' classic novel. Join us this year to see Lester's stirring conclusion of the tale, The Four Musketeers...

The special quality of Charlie’s Country is the profound camaraderie shared by its director, Rolf de Heer, and its star, David Gulpilil (Walkabout, The Last Wave). The two have worked together before (The Tracker, Ten Canoes), but the origins of Charlie’s Country are personal to an exceptional degree. In 2011, de Heer learned that Gulpilil had landed in jail; he got in touch with the washed-up performer, and the germ of a story — intrinsically inspired by Gulpilil’s drink-addled life experiences — blossomed.

Co-written by de Heer and Gulpilil, the movie has a bracing (if unsurprising) narrative of societal suppression: Northern Territory dweller Charlie (Gulpilil) finds his roaming Aboriginal lifesty...

What a bold yet strangely sensible turn of casting by Peter Weir: hiring a woman to play a man simply because she was the best fit for the part

• Van Badham: female actors want better roles because none exist

• Gallipoli rewatched – Weir deconstructs war as grand adventure

• The Last Wave rewatched – mysticism, prophecy and end of times

Australian cinema in 2014 delivered not one but two great performances from female actors playing women who become men.

In the Spierig brothers’ madcap time travel movie Predestination, Sarah Snook turned heads in a role that not only saw her play both genders but also offered a wild and saucy take on what might happen if a person bumped into a version of themselves from the future. Del Herbert-Jane struck a more melancholic note in director Sophie Hyde’s drama 52 Tuesdays, which focused on a daughter’s reaction to her mother’s...

What a bold yet strangely sensible turn of casting by Peter Weir: hiring a woman to play a man simply because she was the best fit for the part

• Van Badham: female actors want better roles because none exist

• Gallipoli rewatched – Weir deconstructs war as grand adventure

• The Last Wave rewatched – mysticism, prophecy and end of times

Australian cinema in 2014 delivered not one but two great performances from female actors playing women who become men.

In the Spierig brothers’ madcap time travel movie Predestination, Sarah Snook turned heads in a role that not only saw her play both genders but also offered a wild and saucy take on what might happen if a person bumped into a version of themselves from the future. Del Herbert-Jane struck a more melancholic note in director Sophie Hyde’s drama 52 Tuesdays, which focused on a daughter’s reaction to her mother’s...

David Gulpilil is the undisputed King of Aboriginal actors. Since his debut in Nicholas Roeg’s unforgettable Walkabout, followed a couple of years later by his stunning performance in Peter Weir’s The Last Wave, Gulpilil has been the cinematic face of Aborigines for the last 45 years or so. Yet until he collaborated with Rolf de Heer in 2007′s award winning Ten Canoes, he was often stuck playing supporting roles to white leads. Only a sucker would disparage Jenny Agutter or Richard Chamberlain, but it’s Gulpilil that provides the heart of their respective films, his characters representing mysterious, unknowable spirituality.

In Charlie’s Country, his second collaboration with de Heer, this mystery begins to peel away. Traditionally films about Aboriginal beliefs involve a white Australian becoming inadvertently initiated into a world they can’t comprehend, often with tragic results. Here, we see Australia from a firmly Aboriginal perspective; a litany of discrimination,...

This was one of the better episodes of the season. There were a lot of story threads, nothing particularly explosive, but sometimes that is all you need. Sarah escapes while Eric is killing an oncoming wave of Yakuza. He kills them all while carrying the jaw of the Yakuza he killed last week. The last wave includes an unpleasant surprise: Pam wrapped in silver. Eric is tired, so he gives in. The Yakuza take the two of them to the Yakamono Corporation, where they are left alone in a room with a timer, counting down to sunrise. Three minutes before their time runs out, the president of Yakamono comes in. He wants Sarah Newlin’s location. Both he and Eric want to kill her, and they are having a pissing contest about who gets the honors. As the sun comes up and the vampires start to blister, Pam brokers a...