News

The stars of the Bill & Ted movies, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, are going to star together again. This time, they will be starring in a Broadway production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot directed by Jamie Lloyd, as part of the 2025-26 season of Atg Theatre in the fall of 2025.

Reeves will play Estragon, while Winter will play Vladimir. They announced the roles in a joint statement: “We’re incredibly excited to be on stage together and work with the great Jamie Lloyd in one of our favorite plays.”

The Jamie Lloyd Company, Atg Productions, Bad Robot Live, and Gavin Kalin Productions collaborated on the production of “Waiting for Godot,” with 101 Productions acting as general manager.

Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter On-Screen Chemistry and History

Reeves and Winter’s on-screen collaboration dates back to 1989 with “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” followed by “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey...

Mister Smith Entertainment has hired Augusta Charlton as director, international sales and acquisitions.

Charlton will attend next week’s American Film Market, where Mister Smith’s slate includes “Greedy People,” a darkly comic crime thriller in the vein of the Coen Brothers, from the producers of “Palm Springs,” and featuring an ensemble cast including Lily James, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Himesh Patel and Tim Blake Nelson; “Joey Lauren Adams” from director Potsy Ponciroli (“Old Henry”); and the contemporary romantic comedy adaptation of Goethe’s 1774 novel “Young Werther,” starring Douglas Booth, Alison Pill, Patrick J. Adams and Iris Apatow, written and directed by José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço.

Charlton joins the company from Great Point Media, where she was an associate director in their investments team. Prior to that, she was a sales executive at Gpm representing them at international markets.

Charlton started her entertainment career in development and production working for CrossDay Productions and BBC Studios,...

Chicago – In a manifestation of his most famous catchphrase, filmmaker Alex Winter, also known as Bill of “Bill & Ted” fame, wants us to “be excellent to each other” when it comes to our interaction on a certain online video sharing website. He ponders all the implications in his new documentary “The YouTube Effect.”

Rating: 4.0/5.0

In a stylish and vital breakdown regarding the growth of YouTube, owned by Google (which is not well known), Winter tells a story of a noble 2005 origin aspiration that lost its way due to its sheer popularity, and is now dangerously used for propagating radicalism and affecting elections. Google is the number one most searched website in the world. Number two? YouTube … and they’re both owned by the same business. Using a stylish palette, director Winter tells a cautionary tale, that could explode into a “it may be too late” scenario. While Facebook and Twitter...

Over three hours worth of newly-unearthed Frank Zappa receives an official release as a compilation called Funky Nothingness. Available as of today, the music is believed to have been intended for a sequel to Hot Rats, the avant-garde rocker’s 1969 solo debut.

Freshly dug out from the Zappa vault, Funky Nothingness will include 25 unreleased and rare tracks, as well as compositions, covers, and miscellaneous jams from 1970 studio sessions with Zappa’s core group: Aynsley Dunbar, Don “Sugarcane” Harris, Ian Underwood, and Max Bennett.

“Funky Nothingness delivers on all fronts, showcasing Zappa’s love for rhythm and blues, picking up where Hot Rats left off with extended instrumental workouts fusing rock, jazz, and classical elements into music that can only be described as Zappa,” reads a statement from “Zappa vaultmeister” Joe Travers, who also compiled the collection along with Zappa’s son Ahmet Zappa.

Funky Nothingness arrives just shy of a...

Drafthouse Films has acquired three films that it will release theatrically in U.S. theaters followed by digital releases across major streaming platforms.

They include “Mister Organ,” a documentary from journalist and filmmaker David Farrier, whose 2016 film “Tickled” explored the dark underbelly of “competitive endurance tickling,” will be released in theaters this fall. As he turns his camera on another stranger than fiction story, Farrier finds himself caught in an increasingly dangerous game of cat and mouse with a mysterious character who expertly manipulates the lives of anyone who dares to expose his secrets. The film, Produced by Ant Timpson and Firefly Films’ Emma Slade and Alex Reed, was a critical and audience favorite at Fantastic Fest 2022, and has become a box office hit in Farrier’s native New Zealand.

“I am incredibly happy to be working with Drafthouse Films,” said Farrier “Watching this funny, disturbing, and deeply weird documentary...

The late Frank Zappa’s “vaultmeister” has unearthed 23 previously unreleased and rare recordings that Zappa may have been considering for a sequel to his beloved jazz-rock masterpiece, 1969’s Hot Rats.

The apocrypha, which totals three-and-a-half hours of music, will finally come out on June 30 via a three-disc set titled Funky Nothingness.

Zappa’s estate is previewing the set with Zappa’s interpretations of two songs from 1954 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, “Work With Me Annie/Annie Had a Baby,” with violinist Don “Sugarcane” Harris singing lead:

The recordings, cut...

“The theme that emerged was the idea of universality,” reflects director Alex Winter about making “Showbiz Kids.” For our recent webchat, he continues, “No matter how different our experiences were in the industry, whether we were acting at the turn of the centenary or the present day with 20 million Instagram followers, the experiences were very similar.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

“Showbiz Kids” is an HBO documentary film which tells the stories of current and former child stars. It features interviews with Wil Wheaton, Todd Bridges, Evan Rachel Wood and others. It was a personal project for Winter, who was a child star himself on Broadway before his breakout film role in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” He reveals, “The film is somewhat autobiographical. I’m kind of telling my own story through others. The motivation to make this grew from a feeling I had never really seen our...

The programme will run from June 16-19.

Bill & Ted star and director Alex Winter and Hail Satan? filmmaker Penny Lane are among those set to join the 2021 Docs Ireland film festival, which will run online from June 16-19.

Winter, who has produced, written and directed documentaries including Deep Web, Showbiz Kids and Zappa, will be interviewed for the virtual, industry event. The actor-turned-filmmaker is currently working on documentary Mass Effect: The Story Of YouTube.

Lane, whose 2019 documentary Hail Satan? premiered in competition at Sundance, will also be interviewed for the documentary festival - an offshoot to the Belfast Film Festival,...

Frank Zappa’s final U.S. concert — a March 25th, 1988 gig at New York’s Nassau Coliseum — is the next archival release from the Zappa Trust and UMe.

Zappa ’88: The Last U.S. Show, due out June 18th, marks the first-ever posthumous release of a live album from the guitar legend’s 1988 touring band and boasts 29 unreleased recordings from the concert, plus a pair of tracks culled from the same tour: Covers of the Allman Brothers Band’s “Whipping Post” from the March 16th show in Providence, Rhode Island,...

Once seen as rather elitist and niche, the documentary feature market is expanding as audience demand for real life stories continues to grow.

Documentaries have become a huge genre in their own right, says Lia Devlin, head of distribution at Altitude Films, whose slate includes “Tina,” “Zappa,” “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” and festival hit “Gunda,” which it releases this June.

“Audiences have reappraised the documentary genre. They are treated very much now as feature films and a solid entertainment format.”

Streamers have played a key part in helping broaden the appeal of feature docs, offering thrilling and emotional real-life stories that are often as dramatic as anything that fiction could dream up. Netflix, in particular, has helped to raise awareness. The streamer, for example, has two hotly tipped Oscar documentary contenders this year, “My Octopus Teacher” and “Crip Camp,” having previously won the category in 2018 with “Icarus” and in 2020 with “American Factory.

Two of the five Oscar nominees for Best Sound won at the Golden Reel Awards bestowed by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse) on April 16 .”Greyhound” ran off with sound effects and foley while “Soul” took the animation prize. Two of the other Oscar contenders — “News of the World” and “Sound of Metal” — were shut out here despite a leading three nominations while the fifth nominee, “Mank,” had but one bid.

The upcoming Oscars mark the introduction of the Best Sound category, which combines Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. There can be up to six nominees from a film: one production sound mixer, two supervising sound editors and three re-recording mixers.

In 2020 the war film “1917” won Best Sound Mixing while the auto racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” claimed the Best Sound Editing honor. Over the past decade, the two categories matched a half dozen times: “Inception” (2010), “Hugo...

To mark the release of Zappa, out now, we’ve been given prizes for 3 winners. They will get a unique code to watch Zappa at home, a special 3 disc CD set of the soundtrack and the UK poster. Alex Winter’s brilliant Zappa is available to watch now in the UK via Altitude.Film and all major streaming platforms. You can get more information and watch the trailer here: https://www.altitude.film/page/zappa?country=united-kingdom. the soundtrack is also available to buy now in the UK

There has yet to be a film about the life and times of the brilliant and genuinely maverick musician Frank Zappa. Director Alex Winter and his team have crafted a documentary from over a thousand hours of mostly unseen material from Zappa’s personal vault. Zappa is an expansive and intimate portrait of an extraordinary artist who was also fully engaged with...

Valhalla Entertainment, Trouper Productions and Zipper Bros. Films have kicked off production on upcoming documentary Mass Effect: The Story of YouTube, Deadline hears.

Directed and produced by Alex Winter, with Gale Anne Hurd and Glen Zipper also on board as producers, Mass Effect will be a gripping, frightening and, at times, hilarious look at the video-streaming platform, examining its humble origins within a pizzeria attic, and how it went on to become the largest media platform in history.

While looking at cultural phenomena like cat videos, the doc will also dig into weighty issues associated with YouTube. Offering access to key players in technology, business, media and politics, it will specifically tackle such subjects as surveillance, algorithmic capitalism, online radicalization, and the spread of fake news.

“I’m very excited to be partnering with Gale Anne Hurd and my long-time producing partner Glen Zipper on this film,...

Alex Winter, who directed the documentary “Zappa” and recently reprised his role in the “Bill & Ted” franchise, has set his next project: a doc about the history of YouTube and the video platform’s impact on society.

“Mass Effect: The Story of YouTube” is Winter’s return to films about the tech space after he got his start in documentaries with 2013’s “Downloaded,” about the rise and fall of Napster, and 2015’s “Deep Web,” a look into the hidden dark web. His new documentary explores the humble beginnings of YouTube in the attic of a pizzeria to its explosion on the world stage; the platform brought in $5 billion in revenue in the third quarter of 2020 alone, with more than 30 million music and premium paid subscribers.

The film will also examine YouTube’s role in shaping the cultural and political discourse, examining present issues such as radicalization, surveillance, algorithmic capitalism, the...

Restorations of ‘The Kid’ and ‘The Great Dictator’ among titles set for theatrical release.

Distributor Piece of Magic has joined forces with Paris-based mk2 to release restorations of Charlie Chaplin classics in theatres around the world.

The partnership will see Piece of Magic release a 4K restoration of Chaplin’s 1921 classic The Kid this autumn, working with their global network of exhibitors in around 50 territories, while collaborating with existing mk2 distribution partners.

These territories include Benelux, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, China and Hong Kong, Cis territories including Russia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal, UAE and South Africa.

mk...

The Oscar frontrunner for Best Sound, “Sound of Metal,” reaped a bid for Best Sound Mixing at the the Cinema Audio Society Awards on March 2 as as did two of the other predicted Oscar nominees: “Mank” and “News of the World.” Also in contention are “Greyhound” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

The upcoming Oscars mark the introduction of the Best Sound category, which combines Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. The Cas honors the latter while the Motion Picture Sound Editors salute achievements in the former. On March 1, the Mpse announced its roster of contenders for the Golden Reel Awards. “News of the World” and “Sound of Metal” reaped three bids across the seven film categories while “Mank” had to make do with one. The other predicted Oscar nominees — “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Tenet” — are double nominees with the Mpse.

Historically, about two-thirds of the Cas...

“Greyhound,” “Mank,” “News of the World,” “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” have been nominated by the Cinema Audio Society for the 57th annual Cas Awards for Outstanding Sound Mixing, the Cas announced on Tuesday.

Nominees in the animated-feature category were “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon,” “Onward,” “Soul,” “The Croods: A New Age” and “Trolls World Tour,” while documentary nominations went to “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet,” “My Octopus Teacher,” “The Social Dilemma” and two music docs, “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” and “Zappa.”

While Cas nominations have traditionally been a good barometer of which films will be nominated for Oscars in the Best Sound Mixing category, the Academy last year combined its two sound categories, mixing and editing, into a single Best Sound category.

“Greyhound,” “News of the World” and “Sound of Metal” were the three films...

The Cinema Audio Society is out with the nominees for its 57th annual Cas Awards for outstanding achievement in sound mixing. The seven categories spanning film and TV from 2020, with the virtual trophy show is set for Saturday, April 17.

In the film categories, the Live Action prize will be a battle among Mank, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and a pair of Tom Hanks-led pics: Greyhound and News of the World.

Vying in the Animated category are Disney/Pixar’s Onward and Soul and sequels The Croods: A New Age, Trolls Would Tour and A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.

Up for the Documentary prize are David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, My Octopus Teacher, The Social Dilemma and music docs The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart and Zappa.

‘Ford V Ferrari’ Takes Top Film Prize At Cas Awards; ‘Game...

All five of our predicted Oscar nominees for Best Sound number among the contenders for the Golden Reel Awards bestowed by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse). Oscar frontrunner “Sound of Metal” reaped three bids across the seven film categories as did one of its closest Oscar rivals, “News of the World.” Two of the other expected Oscar nominees — “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Tenet” are double nominees while the fifth predicted contender, “Mank,” had to make do with one nomination from the Mpse.

The upcoming Oscars mark the introduction of the Best Sound category, which combines Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. There can be up to six nominees from a film: one production sound mixer, two supervising sound editors and three re-recording mixers.

In 2020 the war film “1917” won Best Sound Mixing while the auto racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” claimed the Best Sound Editing honor. Over the past decade,...

Darius Marder’s innovative “Sound of Metal” and Paul Greengrass’ “News of the World” western each grabbed three sound editing nominations at the 68th annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards (which will be held virtually on April 16). “Sound of Metal,” the frontrunner, captures Riz Ahmed’s heavy-metal drummer slowly losing his hearing, while “News of the World” creates the shootouts, sandstorms, and rainstorms that assault Tom Hanks on his journey in post-Civil War Texas. The Academy has consolidated sound editing and mixing onto a single category for the first time this season.

Several features scored two nominations: “Tenet,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” and “Greyhound.” Also making the cut were “Mank,” “The Midnight Sky,” “The Invisible Woman,” “Nomadland,””Wonder Woman 1984,” “Emperor,” and “Cherry.”

Feature musical nominees included “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” The Prom,” “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of the Fire Saga,” “The High Note,...

“News of the World” and “Sound of Metal” led all films in nominations for the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards, the Mpse announced on Monday. The two films each received three nominations in the seven Golden Reel film categories, including in the Feature Effects/Foley category, the Mpse category that most closely corresponded to the Oscars’ Best Sound Editing category.

(This year, the Academy has merged what were two sound categories, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, into a single Best Sound category.)

Other nominees in the effect/foley category were “Cherry,” “Greyhound,” “The Midnight Sky,” “Tenet” and “Wonder Woman 84.” Films with two nominations include “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Midnight Sky,” “Tenet,” “Wonder Woman 84” and “Greyhound.”

In the television categories, “Snowpiercer,” “Better Call Saul,” “Ozark” and “The Queen’s Gambit” led all programs with three nominations each, while “The Umbrella Academy,...

The Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse) have announced the nominations for the 68th Annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards.

“Sound of Metal,” “News of the World” and “Wonder Woman 1984” are among the nominees. “Sound of Metal,” a frontrunner in the Oscar race for best sound, leads the way with three nominations for outstanding achievement in sound editing including feature effects/foley, feature dialogue/Adr and feature underscore.

Elsewhere, Netflix’s “Better Call Saul” landed three nominations, and freshman shows “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Ted Lasso” also scored nominations.

“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards. It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate,” said Mpse president Mark Lanza. “We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises. Most importantly, this will be an opportunity to celebrate...

Last year, Alex Winter returned alongside Keanu Reeves in the long-anticipated Bill and Ted Face the Music. But he also got musical in another way last year by directing Zappa, a documentary about famed musician Frank Zappa, who released a whopping 62 albums across his lifetime, dabbling in rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral arrangements […]

The post ‘Zappa’ Giveaway: Win a Blu-Ray Copy of the Music Doc, Signed by Director Alex Winter of ‘Bill & Ted’ Fame appeared first on /Film.

Frank Zappa, who died in 1993, is one of the least understood artists of the 20th Century, which is ironic because he was also the most prolific. Introduced to the world as a bicycle-playing artiste concrète sitting naked on a toilet, he was a harmonic genius who experimented with sonic assault weapons and visual subversions. Frank Zappa was the Nikola Tesla of music. Alex Winter’s documentary Zappa, which is now available to watch in the UK and Ireland on Altitude.film, clarifies many of the contradictions by highlighting Zappa’s primary focus. The Mothers of Invention bandleader was a composer.

As such, Frank was also a cultural ambassador, a hero of free expression, a hysterical satirist, and a guitar virtuoso. He was celebrated in the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution, and castigated by parental control mongers in America. But even Frank knew his rep enough to drop an album...

By Glenn Dunks

18 of the staggering 238 hopefuls in Best Documentary Feature

Yes, you read that right. Two-hundred and thirty-eight (238!) films have qualified for this year’s Best Documentary Feature category. That’s up from the previous record number of submissions, a lowly and pathetic 170 in 2017. Pfft. From Acasă, My Home (which we reviewed here just last week) to Zappa, the full list is available on the Academy’s website.

This incredible high figure can of course be partly explained by the extended eligibility period. After all, documentaries are among the only breed of movie that doesn’t necessarily get slotted in seasons; there’s always new, great content getting released every week either through theatrical or digital platforms...

Charlie Kemball previously worked on titles include ‘Diego Maradona’ and ‘Rocks’.

Documentary distributor Piece of Magic Entertainment has expanded its international operations with the hire of former Altitude executive Charlie Kemball, who will establish a UK presence for the firm.

As head of acquisitions and business development, Kemball will develop opportunities with international partners as part of Piece of Magic’s expansion in worldwide theatrical distribution. Based in London, he reports to CEO Caspar Nadaud.

Kemball joins from Altitude Film Sales, where he had worked since January 2014 as international sales director on titles including Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona, Sarah...

European distributor Piece of Magic Entertainment has appointed Charlie Kemball to the new role of Head of Acquisitions & Business Development.

Kemball, who will be based out of London, reporting to CEO Caspar Nadaud, will develop opportunities with international partners as part of the company’s growing distribution footprint, particularly in documentaries.

Before joining Piece of Magic, Kemball was International Sales Director at London based Altitude Film Sales, working on such titles as Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona, Sarah Gavron’s Rocks and Kevin Macdonald’s Whitney. Prior to this, he was at Focus Features International. Kemball started his career in advertising working for clients including Sony and is an Inside Pictures alumnus.

Caspar Nadaud said: “Charlie brings his significant expertise and international relationships into the Pom team as we continue to invest in our mission to bring quality content to the big screen, globally. A presence in London as one...

The music documentary resurgence is alive and well and set to continue into 2021 with an insatiable appetite for weird and wild movies about bands and artists. The release over recent years of films such as Amy and Searching For Sugar Man kicked off a trend that has been amplified by interest from the streaming services.

This year, there have been fantastic rock docs including Laurel Canyon, The Beastie Boys Story, The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne, The Go-Go’s, Creem: America’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll Magazine, The Changin’ Times of Ike White, Coachella: 20 Years In the Desert, The Bee Gees: How You Can Mend a Broken Heart, Blind Melon’s All I Can Say, Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowan, Song Exploder, Other Music and Zappa.

While there has been the regular churning of promotional films masquerading as documentaries, there have been more well researched deep dives into artists than ever before.

The Academy has added 93 more films to the members-only screening room devoted to entries in the Best Documentary Feature category, bringing the total number of eligible contenders to a record-shattering 215.

The previous record for entries was 170 in 2017. And this year’s crop of nonfiction films is expected to pass that number by an even bigger margin — at least 50 — once a final, smaller group of films is added to the screening room in January.

New eligibility rules that were passed in the wake of the Covid-19 theater closings made it easier for documentaries to qualify this year by allowing them to do so by playing at film festivals, even virtual ones, and by easing requirements for theatrical runs. In an email to members detailing the new additions, the Academy said, “The Documentary Branch Executive Committee felt it was important to be inclusive and supportive of documentary filmmakers in this unprecedented and challenging year.

In today’s Global Bulletin, Italy’s Oscar contender “Notturno” named European Movie of the Year; U.K. extends furlough scheme; “Zappa” doc gets European distribution; BBC Studios and Bilibili team for culture series “Ancients”; Paul Moore to take over as chair of U.K.’s Creative Diversity Network; Fremantle takes format rights to “The Great Giveback”; and “RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K.” adds celebrity judges.

Italian director Gianfranco Rosi’s high-profile doc “Notturno,” (pictured) which is Italy’s candidate for the international Oscar, has been named European Movie of The Year by the 25th edition of Capri, Hollywood Film Festival.

Capri, Hollywood is dedicated to launching Oscar hopefuls and establishing a bridgehead between Hollywood and Italy’s film and showbiz communities. The event is being held online this year, rather than on the island of Capri, off the coast of Naples. It will run on Italian platform MyMovies from Dec.

Disney Appoints Apac Chief

Disney has named Luke Kang as President, Asia Pacific, following the departure of Uday Shankar, which was announced in October and becomes effective from December 31. Kang will not, however, be taking on Shankar’s responsibilities in India, with a separate appointment set to be made for the territory by Rebecca Campbell, Chairman, International Operations and Direct-to-Consumer for Disney. Kang will oversee the studio’s business in Australia/New Zealand, Greater China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia.

‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Heads To Amazon

Animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in numerous international regions including the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan, and India. All 10 episodes of the first season, which is produced by CBS, will launch on January 22, 2021. Directed by Mike McMahan, the show focuses on the supporting crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships; Tawny Newsome,...

Frank Zappa documentary to receive a theatrical release in 2021.

Piece of Magic Entertainment has acquired European distribution rights to Alex Winter’s music documentary Zappa from Great Point Media.

The film about the life of late maverick musician Frank Zappa will receive a theatrical release across Europe from March 2021, excluding the UK, Ireland, German-speaking territories and Poland, where deals have yet to be closed.

The documentary includes access to the Zappa family and archival footage, exploring the private life of the musician who died in 1993, and includes appearances by his widow Gail Zappa and several musical collaborators.

Winter is best...

In “Zappa,” actor-turned-documentary filmmaker Alex Winter has constructed an elaborate deep-dive into the sprawling career of Frank Zappa in his own words. The movie, now available in theaters and VOD, follows the iconic rock star through every stage of his life, from his youth to the last few years of life. Winter knows a thing or two about rock star mythologizing from the other side of his career, as the actor who plays Bill in the beloved “Bill and Ted” movies. But “Zappa” represents a departure from his other recent documentary projects, which have dealt with internet culture and online conspiracies.

Instead, the movie uses a complex assemblage of archival materials (including Zappa’s own home movies) to create a fascinating new window into the human behind the star. To that end, “Zappa” has much in common with “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck,” filmmaker Brett Morgen’s 2015 portrait of the ill-fated Nirvana frontman,...

As states and cities start new stay-at-home orders — specifically Los Angeles county — it is only expected that box office will continue to struggle. This applies even more to the specialty box office.

This weekend we saw a trio of films about iconic figures in cultural history: the Gabriel Range-directed Stardust showed us the early evolution of David Bowie; Steven Bernstein’s Last Call put the spotlight on poet Dylan Thomas; and Alex Winter’s Zappa took a look at the experimental, trailblazing musician. All received theatrical releases, but the sobering figures reflected the number of people who are actually going to theaters during the pandemic.

IFC Films set a day and date release of Stardust with 44 runs in 25 markets. Of these, 70% of the runs were under $100 for Friday and Saturday combined. It was the same story for K Street Pictures’ Last Call which opened in 17 runs in seven markets.

In tandem with the arrival of the long-awaited authorized Frank Zappa documentary, UMe and Zappa Records have digitally released the official soundtrack for Zappa, featuring highlights from the composer’s catalog, live recordings, interview clips and a dozen unreleased tracks from Zappa’s vaults.

The 3Cd/5-lp version of Zappa Original Motion Picture Soundtrack — out digitally now — boasts 68 tracks spanning from the Mothers of Invention’s Freak Out to Zappa’s final orchestral work The Yellow Shark. The deluxe version of the soundtrack also includes offerings from Zappa’s Bizarre...

Even his most dedicated fans tend to accept that not all their friends will agree with them on Frank Zappa. Proudly uncategorizable, aloof and outspoken about the aspects of pop culture he thought were garbage, he attracted both devotees and haters from the very start. In the former camp we find documentarian Alex Winter, who takes a break from exploring the dark corners of cyberspace for Zappa, a well-rounded film that not only benefits from access to the musician’s private vaults, but also helped rescue their contents: According to Winter, his team spent two years preserving a trove of deteriorating ...

As we enter the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend during an era when the box office is struggling and more weight is being placed on streamers for new product, there are still titles making theatrical debuts amid the digital film landscape as people recover from their turkey-induced tryptophan haze. It all starts with three films spotlighting a trio of artists that made a significant impact on pop culture.

IFC Films is set to release Wednesday the Gabriel Range-directed David Bowie pic Stardust starring Johnny Flynn as the iconic glam rocker as well as Marc Maron and Jena Malone​.

Written by Range and Christopher Bell, Stardust (not to be confused with the 2007 Matthew Vaughn fantasy pic) isn’t a full-blown, cradle-to-the-grave biopic. Instead, it spotlights Bowie’s life at one significant moment in his career — before he...

When Alex Winter got access to the Zappa family trust for his documentary “Zappa,” it took his filmmaking journey down a completely unexpected side road. “There was so much material down there and some of it was in danger of disrepair and disintegration,” says Winter in our recent webchat (watch the video above). “We then raised a bunch of money on a crowd-funding campaign and spent the next two years just preserving Zappa archival media.”

“Zappa” is a documentary that seeks to explore Frank Zappa’s journey, not just as a musician but as a human being. Through tons of archival footage, some interviews and the unlimited access to the Zappa vault, which had never been given before, Winter shows how Zappa first became interested in music and eventually rising in fame with his band, The Mothers of Invention. Winter also highlights Zappa’s forays into the political arena as...

Alex Winter’s musical documentary Zappa is a fun movie which frames Frank Zappa the way he should be, as a hero. While this may ring particularly true for fans of the original Mother of Invention, the film is also a must-see for anyone who plugged in a guitar, banged drums, pounded a piano, ruined their teeth on clarinet reeds, or waited for their triangle part to come up in a Julliard School of Music chamber ensemble. It is also for social justice warriors stretching to see beyond the warning labels. The feature documentary is an intimate look at an artist who defied labels, both the record industry ones which curtailed output, and the easy, cheesy, tags of pundits, critics and frightened senate committees.

“This is the beginning of your new future,” Zappa assures an appreciative audience in the archival concert footage which sets the tone. Winter begins the film in the Czech Republic,...

Alex Winter’s “Zappa” is an odd, occasionally jarring documentary, but it wouldn’t make sense for it to be anything else. The film about the iconoclastic musician Frank Zappa sometimes feels like an autobiography from beyond the grave, sometimes playing like a heartfelt tribute and sometimes adopting Zappa’s rhythms and style to be purposefully disorienting. It’s a Zappa-esque concoction — which, of course, is exactly what it ought to be.

The movie was originally scheduled to premiere at South by Southwest in March, but it was pushed back when that festival was canceled. It now opens in theaters and on-demand on Nov. 27 after a special theatrical event on Nov. 23; instead of being the first film in a busy 2020 for Winter that also included directing the HBO documentary “Showbiz Kids” and acting in “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” it’s the last.

It’s also the most hyperkinetic...

If you grew up with Frank Zappa, and he loomed large in your youth-cultural pop rebel sandbox (as he did in mine), he seemed to be many things at once. The outrageous hippie with the thick black T-shaped goatee who looked weird and threatening enough to represent something very far removed from peace and love. The avant rock ‘n’ roll absurdist who led the band of wilted flower children known as the Mothers of Invention. The scandalous joker seated half-naked on a toilet seat in the iconic ’60s poster that read “Phi Zappa Krappa.” The airy and sophisticated pop-rock-jazz prodigy who, starting around the time of “Hot Rats” (1969), began to put together songs that had the intricate quality of hypnotic musical Tinkertoy. The band leader who whipped his musicians into learning those how-many-notes-can-i-jam-into-three-seconds tracks with the bop-till-you-drop discipline of a counterculture Duke Ellington. The tall skinny long-haired guitar god who...

Alex Winter was hit hard twice by the global pandemic lockdown this year, first as a director, and next as an actor. The first occasion was the premiere of his new documentary “Zappa” at SXSW in March. “We had our plane tickets, the press had seen the movie and the reviews were looking favorable, so I was looking forward to them coming out,” he sighs. “And days before—literally, days before—our screening, I had to call them and say that we couldn’t go: L.A. had just gone on lockdown. So it was really disappointing.” He laughs. “I say that with the caveat that, for those first few months, I was mostly worried that my mom was going to die—I wasn’t thinking that much about my little movie. But as the dust settled, it did become quite dispiriting.”

Things became even more dispiriting when Winter’s return to acting,...

Alex Winter is best known for his role as Bill in the “Bill & Ted” movies opposite Keanu Reeves as Ted. The pair reprised these roles earlier this year in the hit comedy “Bill & Ted Face the Music.” Winter is also a documentary filmmaker and is an Oscar contender this year with “Zappa.” This documentary feature chronicles the career of rock musician Frank Zappa. It’s produced by Zappa’s son, Ahmet Zappa, distributed by Magnolia Pictures and premiers in theaters and on-demand on Friday, November 27th.

The film examines Zappa’s life through the use of archival footage and unrestricted access to the Zappa family trust, as well as interviews with those closest to him. It starts by looking at Zappa’s initial interest in film editing and then his burgeoning interest in modern classical music coming into focus with his discovery of the works of Edgard Varèse.

We...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Art of the Real 2020

Art of the Real, Film at Lincoln Center’s annual showcase of boundary-pushing non-fiction work, is now underway virtually nationwide. Featuring work by Joshua Bonnetta, Sky Hopinka, Hassen Ferhani, Ignacio Agüero, Lisa Marie Malloy and J.P. Sniadecki, Sérgio da Costa and Maya Kosa, Jonathan Perel, Jessica Sarah Rinland, Pacho Velez and Courtney Stephens, and more, the slate provides a comprehensive survey for finding new cinematic ways to look at the world.

Where to Stream: Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema

Coded Bias (Shalini Kantayya)

Starting with the work of Joy Buolamwini of the MIT Media Lab, Shalini Kantayya’s Coded Bias is an alarming...

Musician biopics are nothing new, but we seem to be experiencing an explosion of them lately – primarily because they tend to be Oscar bait. The Academy just can’t resist going gaga over watching an actor slap on a wig and pretend to be a famous rock star. So it goes! There are a few […]

The post Musician Biopic Blitz! Timothée Chalamet Bob Dylan Movie Seems to Be On Hold; Wendell Pierce is Playing B.B. King; Alex Winter’s ‘Zappa’; Bee Gees Documentary appeared first on /Film.

Even though New York State is slowly easing restrictions on theaters in a bid to right a ship that’s been sinking for months, it happening when Covid-19 cases are at an all-time high throughout the country makes it seem as though another nationwide shutdown might render the effort moot—depending on the election, of course. As you’ll see below, however, most distributors are still maintaining the status quo where it concerns pandemic protocol via theatrical windows lasting a couple weeks if not day-and-date.

Big studio films remain missing, though. Their loss is Netflix, Prime, and the others’ gain. It’s also ours since another shutdown will most likely be smoother than before thanks to the evolution of what had benn an all-or-nothing release plan. Rather than living out March and most of April with nothing, this holiday season should keep us “at the movies” without actually needing to be at the movies.

Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This week, […]

The post This Week In Trailers: Crock of Gold, City So Real, Zappa, Couples Therapy: The Covid Special, Murder on Middle Beach appeared first on /Film.

The election is days away. No one knows if there will be an orderly turnover or the disorderly donut hole of malevolent maneuverings. The nation is divided and civil unrest is in the air. This follows a summer which was prophetically and perennially summed up in “Trouble Every Day,” a song from Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention’s 1966 debut album Freak Out!

“Wednesday I watched the riot,” Zappa sings on the song he wrote after seeing the Watts Uprising of 1965. “I seen the cops out on the street. Watched ’em throwin’ rocks and stuff, and chokin’ in the heat. … Watched while everybody on his street would take a turn to stomp n’ smash n’ bash n’ crash n’ slash n’ bust n’ burn.”

These and similar scenes were repeated during the global George Floyd protests in 2020, along with charges of accompanying police brutality.

Long before the #BlackLivesMatter movement highlighted white privileged compliance,...

Fans are finally getting their first all-access documentary to Frank Zappa with “Zappa.” In fact, fans are the reason the documentary is happening. This documentary was fully crowdfunded through one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns, involving more than 8000 backers who invested more than $1,200,000 in 30 days.

Read More: The 25 Best Music Documentaries Of The 21st Century So Far

The documentary was made with the blessing of Frank Zappa’s now-deceased wife Gail.

Continue reading ‘Zappa’ Trailer: Director Alex Winter Offers A New Perspective On An Idiosyncratic Musician at The Playlist.

Ahead of the November 27th release of Zappa — a documentary about the unclassifiable rocker, composer and guitar god Frank Zappa — Rolling Stone is premiering the latest trailer for director Alex Winter’s long-in-the-works film.

The documentary — the first made with the approval and cooperation of the Zappa estate — features tons of never-before-seen home movies, interviews and live footage excavated from Zappa’s enormous vault.

“We were loud, we were coarse, and we were strange,” Zappa says in voiceover of the initial reaction to his music.

Zappa charts the late icon...