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D A I LY
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NOVEMBER 07, 2015

THR.COM/AFM

TODAY

75 F
24 C

TOMORROW

73 F
23 C

Dealmakers:
Why Hateful
Will Thrive

AFI FEST

AFM
WEATHER
AND HIGH
TEMPS

A F M 4

Pitts character remains

supportive of his wife (Jolie
Pitt), who has a case of
emotional paralysis.

By Scott Roxborough and

Alex Ritman

FM dealmakers say
growing controversy
over comments Quentin
Tarantino made about police
brutality could actually help
The Hateful Eight at the box
office, at least outside the U.S..
International distributors,
many of whom were part of the
bidding war for Hateful Eight
the hottest title at last years
market said they didnt
expect any box-office blowback
after police unions across the
U.S. called for a boycott of the
Western.
Tarantino has come under
fire after speaking at a Oct. 24
rally in New York City against
police violence, when he said,
When I see murders, I do not
stand by. I have to call a murder a murder, and I have to call
the murderers the murderers.
That short statement
triggered a series of angry
responses from police organizations, who accused the
director of being a cop hater.
But as Hateful Eight
rolls out worldwide starting
next month, international
film execs dismissed the idea
that the row could hurt the
movies prospects.
Tarantino is only saying
what the majority of Europe
is thinking. If anything, it
will increase awareness of
The Hateful Eight, said Vicky
Holman, marketing executive
for London-based Carnaby
Sales & Distribution. The
support for Tarantino could
drive sales up for the film in the
U.K., in my opinion.

By the Sea

Angelina Jolie Pitt stars with husband Brad Pitt in a numbingly repetitive
melodrama about a couple unraveling in a French resort town BY TODD MCCARTHY

HEY SULK, THEY SMOK E, THEY DRINK,

they spy on the honeymooning couple

in the next room through a peephole in
the wall. In fact, if it werent for the latter, hardly anything at all would happen
in By the Sea, the kind of vanity project you dont see
much of anymore.
Ostensibly about a couple trying to work their
way back from a deeply traumatic incident, the film
was made in Malta on a bay that looks like it could
be just around the bend from where Robert Altman
shot Popeye, which might have served as a warning
to the filmmakers and Universal. Met with a tepid
response at the opening night of this years AFI
Fest, this languid piece of would-be art cinema will
prove once again that even the biggest names in the
world wont draw an audience to something that, in
and of itself, has no reason for being.
The names in this case, of course, are Angelina
Jolie Pitt and Brad Pitt. After directing two films,

including Unbroken last year, Jolie Pitt this time

wrote the script and co-stars as well. She also has
named her production company Jolie Pas, a sadly
accurate choice.
To the catchy refrain of Jane Birkin and Serge
Gainsbourgs pop classic Jane B., the stars
characters Vanessa and Roland motor up windy
Maltese roads in a cherry Citroen convertible at a
time in the recent past before cell phones and when
everyone smoked without compunction.
Without saying much, but more often than not
saying it in French, they check into a lavish villastyle hotel overlooking a bay, whereupon Vanessa
takes to her bed like some tragic 19th century
heroine and Roland heads for the nearby cafe,
where recently widowed patron Michel (Niels
Arestrup) serves him constant booze and an
occasional bite to eat while the American confronts
writers block.
C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 1 9

C O N T I N U ED O N PA G E 2

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

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theREPORT

HEAT INDEX

X AV I E R D O L A N
Hot off of directing Adeles Hello music
video, the Canadian filmmaker has landed
financing for his passion project, The
Death and Life of James F. Donovan, which
Seville International is launching at AFM.

Hateful
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Hamish Moseley, head of distribution at British indie Altitude,

said he thought calls for a police
boycott of Hateful Eight would
actually have the opposite effect
in the U.K. And reporting on the
controversy could work as free publicity for the film.
God knows its competitive at
the moment with so many films
out. This puts him back in the
headlines, said Moseley.
The cop controversy has been
widely covered in the international
media. Much of the coverage has
been favorable of Tarantino and
critical of the police.
We would never use such a serious issue for marketing purposes,

but this controversy can only

help Tarantinos image, in
Europe particularly, said one
European distributor.
The Weinstein Co. which is
releasing The Hateful Eight domestically on Dec. 25, has stood by
Tarantino. The Weinstein Co. has
a long-standing relationship and
friendship with Quentin and has a
tremendous amount of respect for
him as a filmmaker, a company
representative told THR on Nov. 2.
At this point, even in the U.S.,
most box-office analysts dont think
Hateful Eights returns will be hurt
by the Tarantino dust-up.
He is no stranger to controversy.
At the end of the day, this publicity only has people talking about
the film more. I dont think it will
negatively impact the box office,

said Phil Contrino of BoxOffice.

com. Added Jeff Bock of Exhibitor
Relations: Audiences can separate
the auteur from the activist, since
most people who buy a ticket to
a Tarantino film show up to hear
what his characters say, not what
he says. This is just white noise.
Stephen Giger of Ascot Elite,
which won the bidding war to
acquire the rights to Hateful Eight
for Switzerland, agreed, noting
that while the controversy might
have legs in the U.S., outside the
country it is unlikely to remain in
the headlines for long.
The release is more than a
month away, he said. I think
by then, the news cycle will have
moved on.
Pamela McClintock contributed to
this report.

ITS A BINGO! TARANTINOS TOP FIVE MONEYMAKERS

BRUNO WU
The Chinese mogul launched a $1.6 billion
fund for TV and film projects with a focus
on Hollywood talent, but hell need to
prove he can pick a winner. The Hollywood
films hes backed to date The Immigrant
and Grace of Monaco both flopped.

KNOW YOUR DEALMAKER

NICK MEYER

PRESIDENT & CEO, SIERRA/AFFINITY

Hes enjoying a busy AFM with new

projects Bad Santa 2 and director
Peter Landesmans Felt, the Watergate
drama starring Liam Neeson as the
Deep Throat informant who fed
information to reporters at The
Washington Post. Jason Bateman and
Diane Lane also have signed on to star.

MEANWHILE, IN THE REAL WORLD

Video game giant Activision
Blizzard is launching a studio to
create TV shows and cinematic
universes, including one based on
Call of Duty.
James Bond producer Michael
G. Wilson said he expects Daniel
Craig to return for a fifth outing as
the iconic 007.
Republican presidential candidate
Ben Carson acknowledged never
having applied to West Point even
though he has said he was offered
a scholarship and turned it down.

DJANGO
UNCHAINED
2012
$425.4 million
$262.6 M overseas

INGLOURIOUS
BASTERDS
2009
$316.9 million
$196.1 million overseas

PULP
FICTION
1994
$212.9 million
$105 million overseas

Kellan Lutz,
Kelsey Grammer
Feather Nest

KILL BILL:
VOLUME 2
2004
$153.5 million
$87.3 million overseas

Mike Gabrawy and Elliot Tong will executive produce.

Lutzs recent films include The Expendables 3 and
The Legend of Hercules, and hes wrapped work on
Extraction with Bruce Willis and Money with Jesse
Williams. The actor is repped by WME and Ryan Daly
of Zero Gravity Management.

By Rebecca Ford

ellan Lutz and Kelsey Grammer will join Li

Bingbing in the 3D sci-fi action film Nest.
The film, the largest Chinese-Australian
co-production to date, follows a group of scientists
exploring an ancient labyrinth who must fight off a
swarm of deadly, man-eating funnel-web spiders if
they hope to survive.
Arclight Films genre label Darclight, handling
worldwide sales, has sold the film in a number
of territories at AFM, including Germany
(Square One ), Middle East (Italia), Turkey (Aqua
Pinema), India (Viswaas) , Philippines (Pioneer),
Vietnam (Galaxy), Myanmar (Colorful Garden) and
Indonesia (Cinemaxx).
Kellan Lutz and Kelsey Grammer bolster not only
the cast in a brilliant way but in the overall power
and commercial value of the film, said Clay Epstein,
Arclight Films senior vp sales and acquisitions.
Kimble Rendall (Bait) will direct Nest, now in preproduction in Australia. In addition to starring,
Chinese actress Li also will produce alongside Gary
Hamilton, Ying Ye, Mark Lazarus and Serena Deng, and
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_news1_2D.indd 2

KILL BILL:
VOLUME 1
2003
$176.5 million
$106.4 million overseas

Lutz

11/6/15 8:35 PM

HITMANS
BODYGUARD

CREDITS NOT CONTRACTUAL

AFM 2015 LOEWS Hotel Suite 537

Santa Monica 310-434-9367

NuImage D4 110715.indd 1

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theREPORT

AFM
IN BRIEF

THE 2015 AFM POSTER AWARDS

THR PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE MOST AMUSING AND OVER-THE-TOP
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS AT THE AMERICAN FILM MARKET

Chen

Three Roped for

Kung Fu Cowboy
Martial arts stars Robin
Shou, Danny Chan and Tiger
Chen have signed on to
star in Kung Fu Cowboy,
a martial arts-Western
mashup from Deadwood
writer W. Earl Brown
and Pauli Road director
Jonathan Lim.
Arc Reels in
A Mermaids Tale
Arc Entertainment (U.S.),
Kaleidoscope (U.K.) and
KSM (Germany) are partnering with Lighthouse
Pictures for A Mermaids
Tale and Pony With a
Broken Wing, the first projects from Lighthouses
Fairy Tale collection.
Mermaids Tale will tell
the story of a 12-yearold girl forced to move
with her father to the
fishing town where he
was born to live with her
mean grandfather.
Dark Sky, Snowfort
Hit Panic Button
Dark Sky Films and
Snowfort Pictures are
teaming up with Ted
Geoghegan (We Are Still
Here) on Satanic Panic.
Panic will focus on a minimum-wage delivery girl
who enters a nightlong
battle with the affluent
leaders of a suburban
satanic cult.

WORST USE OF DR. ZAIUS

Help I Shrunk My Teacher

They shrunk the teacher? Couldnt theyve picked
a more obnoxious profession to shrink, like a politician,
IRS agent or parking enforcement officer?

BEST FOLLOW-UP GIG

(WHEN YOUVE RETIRED FROM RIPPING HEARTS OUT)

BEST REASON TO KEEP EVERYTHING

Hidden Worlds 3D: Caves of the Undead

Temple of Dooms Mola Ram is still getting work?

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_news3B.indd 1

BIGGEST WASTE OF SHRINKAGE

Gibby
These Planet of the Apes prequels
are getting weirder and weirder.

House of VHS
Twenty years from now, hipsters will bring
this movie back from the brink of extinction.

11/6/15 5:21 PM

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theREPORT

Lionsgate Goes French

in StudioCanal Pact
By Etan Vlessing

Neeson

ionsgate has acquired the

U.S. distribution rights
to two thrillers from
StudioCanal, The Commuter, starring Liam Neeson, and Our Kind of
Traitor, toplined by Ewan McGregor
and Damian Lewis.
The deals stems from a distribution pact that sees the
France-based studio distribute
Lionsgate films in Germany and
Lionsgate handling StudioCanal
titles in North America.
The Commuter has Neeson playing an ordinary businessman on his
daily commute, only to get caught
up in a criminal conspiracy with
life and death consequences.
Byron Willinger and Philip de Blasi
co-wrote The Commuter, which
is produced by The Picture Co.s
Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman,
with StudioCanal financing.
Our Kind of Traitor also stars
Stellan Skarsgard and Naomie Harris

Janis Joplin Documentary

on Global Stage By Alex Ritman

resh from landing a spot on the long list for

the best documentary Oscar, Janis: Little Girl
Blue has booked major international distributor stops on a world tour that already includes the
U.S. (FilmRise) and the U.K. (BBC and Dogwoof).
Content Media announced Nov. 6 at AFM that the
Amy Berg-directed and Alex Gibney-produced title has
found homes in Germany/Austria (Arsenal), Spain
(Avalon), France (Happiness), Italy (I-Wonder),
Australia/New Zealand (Transmission), Colombia
(Cine Colombia), Japan (Medallion Media), Mexico
(Star Castle) and Russia (Channel 1). Elsewhere,
deals were struck for Scandinavia, Iceland, the former Yugoslavia, Benelex and Poland.
With Janis, this was
kind
of the combination of
Joplin
all the things that we love,
Content film president Jamie
Carmichael told THR. Alex
produced it and brought it
to us, Amy Berg is a wonderful director, its an amazing
subject matter, theres a load
of never before seen footage,
[they had] full cooperation with the estate, both in
terms of photographs and interviews and access to
her life, and had great work with her management. It
may be an Oscar contender, a little late to the game.
FilmRise is planning to release Janis in New York
and L.A. on Nov. 27.

and is based on John Le Carres 22nd

novel, about a left-leaning young
Oxford academic and his barrister
girlfriend on a Caribbean holiday,
where they bump into a Russian
oligarch. The encounter sends
them on a tortuous European journey amid the Russian mafia and
Britains Secret Service.
Susanna White will direct Traitor,
with The Ink Factory and Potboiler
Productions producing.
Theatrical releases are in the
works for both titles, with Traitor
set for mid-2016 and The Commuter
for summer 2017. Roadside
Attractions will distribute through
its genre deal with Lionsgate.
The U.S. distribution deals were
unveiled at AFM by Lionsgate
co-COO and motion picture
group president Steve Beeks and
StudioCanal president of international distribution and marketing
Rodolphe Buet.

Sweet Dog Days

for A.R.C.H.I.E.

By Etan Vlessing

ouble Dutch International has announced

sales in multiple territories on A.R.C.H.I.E.,
a live-action/CG hybridvoiced by Michael J.
Fox, including Arc Entertainment taking U.S. distribution rights.
Arc is planning an April release for the film in
which Fox voices a robotic dog. In additional deals
unveiled at the American Film Market,
Robin Dunnes directorial debut also has
gone to Programme Store for France,
Jigsaw for Australia, California Filmes
for
Latin America and Prime Cinema
Fox
for Indonesia.
A.R.C.H.I.E., also written by Dunne, centers
on a canine created by world-renowned roboticist
Brooke Benton, played by Katherine Isabelle, to help
those in need.
Though he looks like a normal dog, he is anything
but. He can talk and run at blinding speed and has
super strength and X-ray vision as well. With her
research program poised to be shut down by the
military, Brooke helps Archie escape.
The film is produced by Shayne Putzlocher,
Glenn Paradis and Sara Shaak from Trilight
Entertainment and financed by Clairwood Capital
Management. The deal was negotiated by Scott
Moesta for Arc and by DDIs Jason Moring for the
filmmakers.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_news4C.indd 6

Theee Questions
With The Rooms
Tommy Wiseau

is journey to cult
filmmaker is soon to
be retold by James
Franco in The Disaster Artist.
The writer-director who also
stars in Cinema Epochs AFM
title Samurai Cop 2 dropped
by AFM to discuss the upcoming adaptation of Greg Sesteros
making of book and his line
of underwear By Alex Ritman
How involved have you been in
The Disaster Artist, and are you
going to be in it?
I cant really talk about it, thats
the agreement I have with James
Franco. But generally speaking, Im partially involved. All I
can tell you is that theyre nice
people, Seth Rogen, James and
Dave Franco. One time, there
was a screening of The Room in
L.A. and Dave was there, and he
asked me some questions and I
said, Yeah, you can play Greg
Sestero and James can play me.
Johnny Depp can play me too,
so well see. But I think James
Franco is a good actor. I hope
itll be a hit.
Who would you like to play Lisa,
the female character who famously
sleeps with your best friend?
I have no idea who theyre thinking of, but maybe Kristen Bell
would be good. But this is just
an idea. Its up to them. Im not
in charge, and I dont want to be
in charge.
Would you ever remake The Room?
Were actually thinking of doing
it in 3D. But right now Im very
happy with where we are with
The Room. We might go to China
with the film, as it hasnt come
out there yet. Also I design
underwear. Im very proud
they improve your sexuality by
40 percent.

11/6/15 7:38 PM

Taiwan Film Institute_AFM Daily_Nov7(ol).pdf 1 2015/11/2 2:47

CM

MY

CY

CMY

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Q&A

DIRECTOR

Gaspar Noe

The controversial helmer discusses his explicit new release Love,

why he refuses to edit the film and why were all sex junkies

By Scott Roxborough

M A N PROU D TO BE K NOW N A S CI N EM AS LEN FA N T T ER R IBL E ,

Argentine-French director Gaspar Noe has been dividing and enraging audiences and critics from the start. But while his previous movies
have shocked with graphic, at times almost unwatchable, violence,
in Love, Noes latest, its sex lots and lots and lots of sex that is making waves. The drama looks at the erotic relationship among an American
expat (Karl Glusman), his current partner Omi (Klara Kristin) and his
ex-girlfriend Electra (Aomi Muyock). The many explicit scenes are given
extra oomph by Noes use of 3D, including a straight-to-camera close-up
of an ejaculating penis. Ahead of Alchemys U.S. premiere of Love in Los
Angeles, Noe spoke to THR about real vs. simulated cinema sex, showing
Love to his father and why he thinks porn is science fiction.

Since we are going to be mainly talking

about sex in this interview, what are
your favorite sex scenes in cinema?
I really like the scene between Julie
Christie and Donald Sutherland
in Dont Look Now. While watching Paul Verhoevens Showgirls,
I thought Elizabeth Berkley was
the sexiest woman in the world. I
was obsessed with Sylvia Kristel
in [legendary French soft-porn
series] Emmanuelle. There are
many movies that contain what
people call explicit, genuine sex
scenes and ones that show simulated sex. Both can be exciting.
Whats important isnt whether
its real sex or simulated but what
emotion it transports. And I dont
think there are so many movies
that transport sex as a real passion.
Typically in a film, when the scene
starts turning sexual, the scene
ends and you go to the next morning. Regular sex, regular loving
sex, is rarely onscreen.
Theres been a lot of discussion about
how much of the sex in Love was real
and how much was simulated.
I dont want to go into detail
there because I thought it was
disappointing with [Abdellatif
Kechiches 2013 Cannes winner]
Blue Is the Warmest Color because
the actresses said the sex was simulated. Why did they have to say
they werent lesbians? The same
thing for [Lars von Triers 2013
film] Nymphomaniac why did
they have to say the actors didnt
really have sex? Maybe to protect

the actors careers. But it spoils the

mystery, the illusion. You are doing
a movie, so of course everything
can be faked. The most important
thing was not how we did it, but
how it would be received. The
moment that you show something
that looks real, it will have an
effect. It doesnt matter what spice
you use to cook the food, if in the
end its spicy, it will have an effect.
Was it difficult to convince the actors
to bare all for the film?
Not really. Klara initially didnt
want to do it, but that was because
she wasnt an actress and was
unsure. Of course it is easier for
a man to show his dick onscreen
than for a woman to appear naked,
not because there is a difference,
but because we are in a maledominated world, and men are
more disrespectful to women than
women are to men. So showing the
penis, erect or not, is much easier.
All of my male French friends
wanted to be in the movie.

BY THE NUMBERS

16, 18

The age of admittance in France, respectively,

for Noes violent Irreversible and Love

40

Estimated percentage of screen time in Love not

involving sexual coupling of one form or another

Number of times Noe refers to

a penis during this interview

I think sex is still

dangerous, says Noe,
because we know we
are all sex junkies, we
are all love junkies.

Was the content a concern when you

were seeking U.S. distribution for
this film?
I just told my financiers and sales
agent, if anyone wants to cut one
frame of the movie, dont sell or
give it for free to someone who will
release it uncut. I dont see what
there is that should be censored in
this movie. Im happy in America
that there is this intelligent
law that you can release movies unrated. All my movies were
released unrated here. I was very
surprised that in some countries,
I got a higher rating for this movie
than Irreversible, which is a very
violent movie. Irreversible was
released widely in Russia, and this
movie was banned in Russia.
You showed this film to your father.
What was his reaction?
He said, You went too far. And
he asked, Was the dick that
ejaculated into the camera yours?
And I said, No, dad, that wasnt
my dick.
Do you think it is more difficult to show
a penis onscreen than the extreme
violence you showed in Irreversible?
Tell me, how many dicks have you
seen, for more than one or two
seconds, in an American movie in
the past 30 years? You ask people
and they say, Oh, you have one at

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_q&a_NoeB.indd 10

the end of Boogie Nights, you have a

one-second shot of the penis. And
in Bad Lieutenant, you can see the
non-erect penis of Harvey Keitel.
Thats all. You have had 10,000
movies every year since. Why
is that precise part of the body
so taboo?
Whats the point of an explicit film like
Love in this day and age, when hardcorn porn is everywhere online?
Its true. Its the Wild West now.
But its very weird that nowadays,
the world has disconnected the
part of the human experience that
is pretty sex and put it in a
closet. If you want to see those
images, they do not show at all
what is sweet about them in real
life. In an adult video, people never
kiss. Girls never have cramps. They
never have periods. Its a separate
world like science-fiction.
There have only been a handful of films
that deal explicitly with sex. Why?
I think sex is still dangerous
because we know we are all sex
junkies, we are all love junkies.
Even the president, the most
powerful man in the world, his wife
might see a guy onscreen with a
nice penis, and maybe his woman
will want to go and fk that guy.
So that hierarchy falls to pieces
with sex.

10

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AFM SCREENING GUIDE

2015

Content Media Corp.s

Pandemic

NOV. 7

8:45 AM Bara Dreams, Filmax

International, 90 Mins., Doubletree #1
Palm Trees in the Snow, Film Factory
Entertainment, AMC 4
The Boy and the Beast, Gaumont,
Broadway 3
The Midwife, Picture Tree International
Gmbh, 118 Mins., Doubletree #2
9:00 AM 11 Minutes, Hanway Films,
81 Mins., AMC 7
Baskin, Salt, 97 Mins., AMC 6
Black Rose, Lightning Entertainment,
Olympia 1
Blinky Bill, Studio 100 Film Gmbh,
80 Mins., Tunnel Post #1
Christmas Eve, Bleiberg Entertainment
Llc, 95 Mins., Loews 3
Dragon, Mirsand Ltd., 100 Mins.,
Loews 2
Fast Convoy, Indie Sales, Broadway 4
House of Time, Other Angle Pictures,
Fairmont 2
Mind Battle, Planeta Inform Film
Distribution, 90 Mins., AMC 5
Nothing in Return, 6 Sales, 99 Mins.,
Broadway 1
Shangri-La Suite, Arclight Films,
Fairmont 1
Wild for the Night, Highland Film
Group, AMC 2
11:00 AM All Gone South, Tf1
International, Broadway 4
All Three of Us, Gaumont, 107 Mins.,
AMC 1
Blind Date, Other Angle Pictures,
90 Mins., Doubletree #1
Camino, Bleiberg Entertainment Llc,

102 Mins., Fairmont 2

Chasing Niagara, Red Bull Media
House, 80 Mins., AMC 7
Departure, Mongrel International,
110 Mins., AMC 6
Hangman, Myriad Pictures, Fairmont 1
Hevn (Revenge), Beta Cinema,
104 Mins., AMC 4
I Was There, Media Luna New Films Ug,
86 Mins., Olympia 1
Im Off Then, Global Screen Gmbh,
90 Mins., Broadway 1
Pali Road, Arclight Films, Doubletree #2
Reparation, The Little Film Co.,
104 Mins., Ocean Scr #
Some Kind of Hate, Devilworks,
82 Mins., Loews 2
The Call Up, Altitude Film Sales,
90 Mins., AMC 2
The Squeeze, American Cinema
International, 95 Mins., Tunnel Post #1
Unlisted Owner, Lawford County
Productions, 74 Mins., Loews 3
What We Become, Indie Sales, AMC 5
1:00 PM All You Need Is Love, Media
Asia Film, AMC 2
Anne of Green Gables, Breakthrough
Entertainment Inc., 90 Mins., Loews 3
Are You Here, Young Live Entertainment
(Hk) Co. Ltd, 90 Mins., AMC 6
Dxm, Terra Mater Film Studios, 97 Mins.,
Doubletree #1
Fair Haven, The Little Film Co., 89 Mins.,
Ocean Scr #
Films Distribution Promo, Films
Distribution, 32 Mins., AMC 5
Get Squirrely, Sc Films International,
Broadway 3
Mafia: Survival Game 3D, Planeta

Inform Film Distribution, 95 Mins., AMC 4

Mysterious Family, Pegasus Motion
Pictures Distribution Ltd, 93 Mins.,
Broadway 2
Riot, VMI Worldwide, Fairmont 1
SheepNWolves, Wizart Animation,
80 Mins., AMC 1
Streif One Hell of a Ride, Red Bull
Media House, 98 Mins., Tunnel Post #1
The Callback Queen, Princ Films,
89 Mins., Olympia 1
The Legend of Barney Thomson,
Myriad Pictures, Fairmont 2
The Lesson, Jinga Films, 90 Mins.,
Fairmont 3
Traders, MPI Media Group, 90 Mins.,
AMC 3
Urban Hymn, Metro International
Entertainment, Doubletree #2
3:00 PM A Date With Miss Fortune,
Vision Films, Doubletree #2
A Perfect Day, Westend Films,
105 Mins., Broadway 1
Back to the 90s, Mono Film Co. Ltd,
112 Mins., Loews 2
Bite, Breakthrough Entertainment Inc.,
90 Mins., Olympia 1
Born to Be Blue, K5 Media Group Gmbh,
Doubletree #1
Born to Dance, Cinema Management
Group Llc, 96 Mins., Ocean Scr #
Courted, Gaumont, AMC 1
Gods Not Dead 2, Pure Flix
Entertainment / Quality Fix, 110 Mins.,
Fairmont 2
Help, I Shrunk My Teacher, Arri Media
World Sales, 101 Mins., AMC 4
How He Fell in Love, Visit Films,
108 Mins., Tunnel Post #1

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_SGC.indd 1

I Am Wrath, Hannibal Classics, AMC 3

Kampai! for the Love of Sake,
Fortissimo Films, 95 Mins., AMC 7
Lost in the Pacific, Arclight Films,
Fairmont 1
No Kids, Filmsharks Intl, 100 Mins.,
AMC 2
No Way Out, Moonrise Pictures,
83 Mins., AMC 5
Pandemic, Content Media Corp.,
Broadway 4
Plan Z, Carnaby International Sales and
Distribution, Loews 3
The Masked Saint, Archstone
Distribution, 111 Mins., Fairmont 3
The Phenom, Conquistador
Entertainment, AMC 6
5:00 PM Bikini Body Conscious Living
With Just Leo Pilot, Little Books Little
Films Llc, 95 Mins., Olympia 1
Black and White Stripes: The
Juventus Story, Visit Films, 120 Mins.,
Doubletree #1
Damascus Cover, Carnaby International
Sales And Distribution, Fairmont 1
Do You Believe?, Pure Flix Entertainment
/ Quality Fix, 119 Mins., Fairmont 2
Drive She Said, The Works International,
90 Mins., AMC 5
Even Lambs Have Teeth, Wtfilms,
80 Mins., AMC 3
Go With Me, Electric Entertainment,
90 Mins., AMC 4
Le Mans 3D, Kaleidoscope Film
Distribution Ltd, Ocean Scr #
Port of Call, Mei Ah Entertainment
Group Ltd, 120 Mins., Doubletree #2
Stonewall, Goldcrest Films
International, Fairmont 3

12

11/6/15 12:38 PM

FINAL MARKET SCREENING TODAY!

Saturday, November 7, 9:00 AM Loews 1

HOLLYWOOD STORM PRESENTS

ALEXANDER NEVSKY

BLACK ROSE
KRISTANNA LOKEN

ADRIAN PAUL

ROBERT DAVI

MATTHIAS HUES

Two Tough Cops. One Impossible Mission.

HOLLYWOOD STORM PRESENTS A HOLLYWOOD STORM / CZAR PICTURES PRODUCTION ALEXANDER NEVSKY KRISTANNA LOKEN "BLACK ROSE"
ROBERT DAVI ADRIAN PAUL ROBERT MADRID MATTHIAS HUES POLINA BUTORINA DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY RUDY HARBON
EDITOR STEPHEN ADRIANSON MUSIC BY SEAN MURRAY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SHELDON LETTICH EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS BRYAN GOERES ALEXANDER IZOTOV ROBERT MADRID
STORY BY ALEXANDER NEVSKY WRITTEN BY BRENT HUFF AND GEORGE SAUNDERS PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY ALEXANDER NEVSKY
2015, HOLLYWOOD STORM, LLC.

International Sales: LIGHTNING ENTERTAINMENT. AFM Office: Loews Hotel 8th Floor, Escondido Suite

Lightning Ent D4 110715.indd 1

11/5/15 6:32 PM

AFM SCREENING GUIDE

2015
The Exclusive: Beat the Devils
Tattoo, Lotte Entertainment, 125 Mins.,
Broadway 2
The Good, The Bad, and the Dead, VMI
Worldwide, Loews 2
Unchained: The True Story of Freestyle
Motocross, The Exchange, 100 Mins.,
Tunnel Post #1
Wonderland, Wide, 99 Mins., Loews 3
7:00 PM Kikoriki: Legend of the Golden
Dragon, Art Pictures Studio, 60 Mins.,
Doubletree #1
Movie Madness, Little Books Little Films,
Llc, 90 Mins., Olympia 1
Synchronicity, Magnolia Pictures &
Magnet Releasing, 101 Mins., Tunnel Post
#1

NOV. 8

8:45 AM Suburra, Indie Sales,

Broadway 3
The Kind Words, Beta Cinema, 118 Mins.,
AMC 7
The King of Havana, Filmax
International, 120 Mins., Tunnel Post #1
9:00 AM Despite The Falling Snow,
6 Sales, 113 Mins., AMC 6
Land of Mine, K5 Media Group Gmbh,
Doubletree #1
My Internship in Canada, Films
Distribution, 108 Mins., AMC 4
Retribution, Film Factory
Entertainment, 100 Mins., AMC 2

The Hollow Point, Highland Film Group,

96 Mins., AMC 3
The Manny, Picture Tree International
Gmbh, 110 Mins., Doubletree #2
11:00 AM Baby Steps, Media Luna New
Films Ug, 102 Mins., Loews 3
Beeba Boys, Mongrel International,
104 Mins., AMC 5
Brothers of the Wind, Terra Mater Film
Studios, 95 Mins., Tunnel Post #1
By Way of Helena, Westend Films,
110 Mins., AMC 2
Coconut Hero, Beta Cinema, 100 Mins.,
AMC 1
Damascus Cover, Carnaby International
Sales and Distribution, AMC 6
Homesick, Wide, 98 Mins., Olympia 1
Isnt It Delicious, Angel Grace
Worldwide, 104 Mins., Fairmont 1
Level Up, Independent, Fairmont 3
Nobody Wants the Night, Metro
International Entertainment, 103 Mins.,
Broadway 4
Savva, Highland Film Group, 85 Mins.,
Broadway 2
Scherzo Diabolico, Jinga Films,
90 Mins., Loews 2
The Confirmation, Arclight Films,
90 Mins., Doubletree #2
The Fencer, The Little Film Co, 95 Mins.,
Ocean Scr #
The Hallow, Altitude Film Sales,
95 Mins., AMC 4
The Roommates Party, Other Angle

Pictures, 100 Mins., Doubletree #1

Trenk, the Little Knight, Global Screen
Gmbh, 75 Mins., AMC 3
Urge, Fortitude International,
Broadway 3
Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass,
Fortissimo Films, 111 Mins., AMC 7
Youre Ugly Too, Picture Tree
International Gmbh, 81 Mins., Fairmont 2
1:00 PM Across the Line, The Little Film
Co., 90 Mins., Ocean Scr #
Angry Indian Goddesses, Mongrel
International, 104 Mins., AMC 3
Campo Grande, Films Distribution,
108 Mins., AMC 1
Dont Grow Up, Indie Sales, Broadway 4
Dont Speak, Princ Films, 82 Mins.,
Loews 3
Franny, Covert Media, 92 Mins., Tunnel
Post #1
I Am Hardwell Living the Dream,
Dutch Features Global Entertainment,
87 Mins., Broadway 3
Kill Command, Protagonist Pictures,
AMC 5
Mom and Me, Visit Films, 76 Mins.,
Doubletree #1
My Men, Gaumont, 90 Mins., AMC 4
The Duel of Wine, Media Luna New
Films Ug, 95 Mins., Loews 2
The Squad, Snd - Groupe M6, 90 Mins.,
AMC 6
Versus, Planeta Inform Film Distribution,
100 Mins., AMC 2
Mongrel Internationals
Beebo Boys

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_SGC.indd 2

War Pigs, VMI Worldwide, 100 Mins.,

Olympia 1
3:00 PM Belle and Sebastian, the
Adventure Continues, Gaumont, AMC 1
Big Dance Family, 4Square Films, 87
Mins., Doubletree #1
Brand: A Second Coming, Myriad
Pictures, 105 Mins., Fairmont 1
Chasing Niagara, Red Bull Media
House, 80 Mins., Tunnel Post #1
Cupids Guillotine, Jersey Style Films
Llc, 88 Mins., Olympia 1
Dora or the Sexual Neuroses of Our
Parents, Wide, 90 Mins., Loews 2
Man Down, The Solution Entertainment
Group, 92 Mins., Broadway 1
Night Of The Living Deb, Jinga Films,
85 Mins., Fairmont 3
Nwa & Eazy-E: The Kings of Compton,
VMI Worldwide, 90 Mins., Loews 3
Oddball, Global Screen Gmbh, 93 Mins.,
AMC 4
Ruben Gutherie, Arclight Films,
Doubletree #2
Spy Time, Film Factory Entertainment,
93 Mins., AMC 2
The Crew, Snd - Groupe M6, AMC 6
The Debt, 6 Sales, 100 Mins., Broadway 2
The Trust, Highland Film Group,
Broadway 4
5:00 PM Atomic Falafel, 6 Sales,
93 Mins., Broadway 3
Bling, Celsius Entertainment, 82 Mins.,
Doubletree #2
Colonia, Beta Cinema, 110 Mins.,
Broadway 4
Loev, Wide, 90 Mins., Loews 3
Macho Man, Global Screen Gmbh,
100 Mins., Doubletree #1
My Name Is Nobody, Little Books Little
Films, Llc, 115 Mins., Loews 2
Police Evo, Creative Content Malaysia,
120 Mins., Fairmont 1
Roadduster, Dutch Features Global
Entertainment, 107 Mins., Tunnel Post #1
Searching for Eddie Running Wolf,
Radioactivegiant, 97 Mins., AMC 1
Superbob, VMI Worldwide, 90 Mins.,
Olympia 1
The Boy and the Beast, Gaumont,
Broadway 2
The Exclusive: Beat the Devils Tattoo,
Lotte Entertainment, 125 Mins., AMC 2
The Price of Desire, The Little Film
Company, 105 Mins., Ocean Scr #
The Wait, Pathe International (Fr),
100 Mins., AMC 6
The Wait, Pathe International (Uk),
100 Mins., AMC 6
Truman, Filmax International, 110 Mins.,
AMC 5
Weaponized, VMI Worldwide, 90 Mins.,
Fairmont 2

14

11/6/15 12:39 PM

AFM 2015
AVAILABLE
DIRECTED BY: BIGAS LUNA & CARLES PORTA
CAST: RACHEL HURD-WOOD, IBRAHIM MAN
& SERGI LPEZ | DRAMA | SPAIN 2015
Second Origin goes a step further and deals with the rebirth of mankind, from a teenage womans point of view.
An adventure and science fiction film that is, at the same
time, a great love story.

DIRECTED BY: JUANMA VILLAR BETANCORT

& PAVEL GIROUD | CAST: CHUCHO VALDES,
MICHEL CAMILO & GONZALO RUBALCABA
DOCUMENTARY, 110 min | SPAIN 2015
A musical journey though the works and realm of
ERNESTO LECUONA, the most universal pianist and
composer from Latin America.

DIRECTED BY: PACO ORTIZ | CAST: MIGUEL

POVEDA | DOCUMENTARY, 91 min | SPAIN 2015
The story of a man who overcame all obstacles in his way
to success, to eventually become one of the main names
of contemporary flamenco.

COMPLETED
DIRECTED
BY: NACHO G
VELILLA | CAST:
YON GONZLEZ,
JULIN LPEZ &
BLANCA SUREZ
ROMANTIC
COMEDY, 105 min

DIRECTED
BY: MANUELA
MORENO | CAST:
NATALIA DE
MOLINA, RSULA
CORBER &
CELIA DE MOLINA
COMEDY, 95 min

Hugos new life

turns upside down
when his parents
and his girlfriend
decide to visit him
to see how well he
is doing in Berlin.

Five girl-friends
in their late 20s
spend a crazy
bachelorette
week-end in
Canary Islands.

DIRECTED BY:
CARLOS SEDES
CAST: CHARLOTTE
VEGA, IVANA
BAQUERO & LEX
MARUNY
DRAMA, 95 min
Valeria is new in
town. Together
with other
students from
School Counselor
meetings they
create The Misfits
Club, where shell
find friendship
and love.

Contact in AFM: Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Room 647

Nerea Bautista Duarte | nbautista@deaplaneta.com | +34 638 800 011

Deaplaneta D4 110715.indd 1

10/29/15 11:16 AM

EUROPEAN
FILM MARKET
IT ALL STARTS HERE.

1119 Feb 2016

Early Bird Registration

until November 30.
Online Film Submission
until December 22.
WWW.EFM-BERLINALE.DE

EFM_2016_THR_AFM_254x330,2_RZ.indd 1
EFM D3 110615.indd 1

18.10.15 23:25

11/5/15 2:08 PM

Decompis Versus D3 110615.indd 1

11/5/15 10:59 AM

AFM 2015

DIRECTOR OF
PHOTOGRAPHY

SCREEN MEDIA VENTURES PRESENTS A BOTTOM LINE ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTION A FLF FILMS PRODUCTION IN ASSOCIATION WITH TADROSS MEDIA SHARK LAKEON
STARRING DOLPH LUNDGREN SARA LANE LILY BROOKS OBRIANT DICASTIRECTORNG MATTHEW MORGAN ORIGINAL MUSIBYC MARTEL NICHOLAS RIVERA DESICOSTUMEGNER ALINE HONG EDITOR WILLIAM FLICKER PRODUCTI
DESIGNER PAULETTE GEORGES
EXECUTIVE
JONATHAN
HALL PRODUCER DANIEL ZIRILLI PRODUCERS
MICHAEL DWYER SETH NEEDLE TOM YAGIELSKI CHAD VERDI DANNY ROTH DAMIANO TUCCI TICO-ZIANO TUCCI MICHAEL
TADROSS JR CHRIS CONOVER KIRK MILLER
CO-EXECUTIVE
ASSOCIATE
PRODUCERS KAY RYAN JOSHUA HUTCHENS LILLIE SPILMAN BOBBY BURN MD STEVEN E STEIN MD GABE BURNSTEIN DAVID ANDERSON PRODUCER JAMES CHALKE PRODUCERS ELE BARDHA CHARNEL YOUSSEF
PRODUCED
STORY &
DIRECTED
BY JEFFREY D SPILMAN JERRY DUGAN DOLPH LUNDGREN AT TAC KING OC TOBE R 2N D SCREENPLAY BY GABE BURNSTEIN DAVID ANDERSON BY JERRY DUGAN
2015 THE L AKE, LLC . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

VISIT US AT LOEWS 711 & 715

W W W.SCREENMEDIA.NE T

Screen Media D1 110415.indd 1

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT US AT: MKOSCHE@SCREENMEDIA.NET

10/29/15 2:09 PM

R E V I E WS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

The couple has chosen this place as the spot to try to recover from
whatever cold-cocked them, a blow that has rendered Vanessa an
uncommunicative zombie and Roland creatively frozen. Recognizing
that his wife will need plenty of time to re-engage with him and the
real world, Roland is exceedingly patient, asking for nothing. When
not sleeping, Vanessa sits out on the deck beholding the deep blue,
but always fully made up, which is actually distracting. Sporting a
blah haircut and moustache and aviator glasses, Pitt doesnt look
all that great here. He has a bit of a pasty facial cast, which one can
hope is intentional because hes playing a drunk. Jolie Pitt, on the
other hand, always seems far too cosmeticized and accoutred, which
doesnt square with her characters shuttered, zoned-out existence.
Things perk up mildly with the arrival of cute French
honeymooners Lea (Melanie Laurent) and Francois (Melvil
Poupard), whose constant bedroom activities provide Vanessa with
her only distraction from the void. Although this development
introduces a heavy element of voyeurism into the proceedings, it
isnt actually very exciting, not does it appear to connect with any
fundamental psychological or sexual aspect of Vanessas personality;
it just perks her up and raises an eyebrow.
The couples socialize a bit they go out for dinner and make a
sailing outing but theres nothing that significantly breaks the
usual routine of Vanessa remaining uncommunicative and Roland
coming home drunk.
With such flat-lining and repetitive scenes dominating, two hours
is far too long to make an audience wait for a payoff that is hardly
about to save the film from its own stasis and dramatic flatness.
There is a pastel pleasure to the visual conjured by cinematographer
Christian Berger, best known for his striking black-and-white work
on Michael Hanekes The White Ribbon, who used natural light
enhanced by a series of reflectors. Add to this some strong musical
passages courtesy of Gabriel Yared, and you have some suggestions
of mood and emotional activity.
As an old-school, hard-drinking, well-regarded American writer
comfortable in Europe, Pitt cuts an outwardly Hemingwayesque
figure, but without the bluster and braggadocio; with more to work
with, the actor could make something of a role like this. But Jolie
Pitt is pretty tough to take here. Stripping away all signs of vanity,
beginning with the constant heavy makeup, would have been a good
start, followed by abandoning the studied posing and posturing,
which seem alien to the suffering and grief that have overcome her
character. Theres no catharsis at the end from the journey taken,
just relief that its over.
AFI (Special Screenings)
Cast Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Melvil Poupard
Director-Screenwriter Angelina Jolie Pitt
122 minutes
Unlike the folks
next door,
Poupard is
enjoying his stay
at the resort.

D4_rev1D.indd 1

Watson and Bruhl play

Germans caught up in
Chilean political turmoil.

Colonia

Starring Emma Watson and Daniel Bruhl, this Chile-set political

thriller is a dictatorship of poor filmmaking BY JORDAN MINTZER

R A NSFOR M I NG T H E

real-life horrors of the

Pinochet regime into a scenario that could have been cooked
up by Eli Roth, Colonia marks a
misguided attempt to fabricate a
Hollywood-style thriller out of the
darkest quarters of Latin American
history. Inspired by the Colonia
Dignidad religious and agricultural
settlement, which the Chilean dictatorship used as a front to torture
political prisoners, this poorly plotted feature from German director
Florian Gallenberger (Shadows of
Time) stars Emma Watson and
Daniel Bruhl as English-speaking
German lovers who find themselves
trapped in English-speaking Chile
as Pinochet launches his coup in
1974. The film offers neither actor
the kind of material they merit.
Evil ex-Nazi Paul Schafer
(Michael Nyqvist) runs Colonia
with an iron fist but has the
risible postures of a bad guy from
The A-Team while an evil nun
(Katharina Muller-Elmau) subjects
young women at the camp to all
sorts of psychological torments,
dropping the c-word as much as
possible. Some of this could have
been tolerable if the script by
Gallenberger and Torsten Wenzel
werent so steeped in genre
cliches from start to finish, beginning with an opening scene that

has Lufthansa stewardess Lena

(Watson) and her graphic designer
lover, Daniel (Bruhl), meeting by
pure chance at a street rally in support of Salvador Allende.
After a few days spent frolicking
beneath the sheets, the sweethearts eventually are cornered by
Pinochets troops in the middle of
Santiago, with Daniel then sent to
Colonia for a series of enhanced
interrogations. Lena soon decides
to go and save him, disguising
herself as a believer so she can
infiltrate the camp. What she
finds inside is unpleasant indeed,
though whats even more intolerable is Gallenbergers insistence on
using banal horror film techniques,
including a nonstop 1980s-style
score from Andre Dziezuk and
Fernando Velazquez, to make it all
seem scary as if torture werent
scary enough.
Watson and Bruhl do what they
can, though their performances are
hampered by the flat dialogue as
well as by the films refusal to truly
contextualize anything outside a
few explanations in the opening
and closing title cards.
AFM (Beta Cinema)
Cast Emma Watson, Daniel Bruhl,
Michael Nyqvist, Richenda Carey,
Director Florian Gallenberger
110 minutes

11/6/15 6:28 PM

REVIEWS

AFI FEST

unlike in the novel, she hasnt

consummated anything sexually
yet despite the strong interest of a
couple of eager suitors.
Haynes, continuing with ace cinematographer Ed Lachman very
much in the style they employed on
their previous period pieces, Far
From Heaven and HBOs Mildred
Pierce, favors tight compositions
that focus first and foremost on
his gorgeous leading ladies. But
he also highlights all the details of
Judy Beckers production design
and Sandy Powells mid-century
costumes, which are worn to splendid effect, especially by Blanchett.
Dressed up Cincinnati locations
double reasonably, if not entirely
satisfactorily, for New York City.
Therese soon learns the difficult
details of Carols existence: Her
successful businessman husband
Harge (Kyle Chandler) wants a
Blanchett is a
divorce and threatens to take their
1950s housewife
struggling with
young daughter with him, hanging
her sexuality.
over his wifes head her long-since
finished affair with her best friend,
Abby (Sarah Paulson). The slightest misstep by Carol with Therese
could mean Carols total loss of not
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara star in director Todd Haynes beautifully crafted
only any custody, but even visitaif chilly adaptation of a lesbian romance by Patricia Highsmith BY TODD MCCARTHY
tion rights with her daughter.
But
the
laws
of
attraction
and
the
lure
of a great love cannot be denied,
U TSTA N DI NG PER FOR M A NCE S BY CAT E BL A NCH ET T
and
with
Harge
off
with
their
daughter,
Carol
proposes a car trip west to
and Rooney Mara, as two women precariously chartTherese, who readily agrees. It takes a full hour for the film to get to this
ing a path toward a romantic relationship in 1952, make
point, which feels a bit too long, but its more a matter of pacing than any
something special out of Carol, Todd Haynes fastidious,
clutter of unnecessary scenes. Even though the women know whats going
intelligent and somewhat leisurely adaptation of Patricia
Highsmiths then-daring 1952 novel The Price of Salt. In many ways a com- to happen on the trip, the inevitable is delayed until they get, of all places,
to Waterloo, Iowa.
panion piece to the directors Far From Heaven, which also examined the
The Big Scene is adroitly and tastefully done, with a careful measure of
pressures of living a sexual double life in post-World War II America, the
film is absorbing and beautifully crafted but also a bit studied; you long to nudity for the stars and stopping short of anything really down and dirty.
But the mood quickly changes as the long arm of the law has pursued the
feel some blood in its veins.
women so as to threaten Carol with cruel and unusual punishment for
Highsmiths second novel (after Strangers on a Train), published under
her transgression.
the pseudonym Claire Morgan, was something of a sensation in gay and
Blanchett makes an indelible impression as a woman who, through
lesbian literary circles due to its happy or at least open ending in
breeding, intense personal cultivation and social expectations, has brilan era when transgressive sexual relationships were normally punished
liantly mastered the skill of navigating through life, but to ultimately
as the story concluded. The smartly judged screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
disastrous effect on her husband, child and her own satisfaction. It has
retains the essential dynamics of the novel while usefully changing the
younger womans professional interest to photography rather than theater all, of course, been a charade, and what is impressive is that Carol has the
strength to even try to change course after so many years.
art direction and telescoping the long cross-country road trip that occuThe roughly half-as-old Therese is unformed clay, which makes her
pies much of the books second half.
Set over the Christmas/New Year holiday period in 1952-53, this is a love largely a reactive character most of the way. But Mara really comes into
her own in the storys latter stages as, without overt melodrama, Therese
story that is pursued cautiously and judiciously, to be sure through
realizes what she wants. Thanks largely to how Mara shapes her characvery uncertain and dangerous waters. Working in an upscale Manhattan
terization in the home stretch, the final scene is a knockout.
department store, the young, Audrey Hepburn-ish Therese Belivet
Supporting performances are solid, and Carter Burwells effective score
(Mara) makes an impression on immaculately accoutered customer Carol
is fleshed out with an albums worth of period tunes.
Aird (Blanchett), who, intentionally or not, leaves her gloves behind,
providing an excuse for further contact.
AFI (Special Screenings)
Carol comes in from her castle-like New Jersey home to meet for lunch
Cast Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, Sarah Paulson, Jake
nothing like eggs, a martini and lot of cigarettes at noon and theres
Lacy, John Magaro, Cory Michael Smith, Carrie Brownstein, Kevin Crowley
clearly an attraction, certainly on Carols part, and some sort of curiosDirector Todd Haynes
ity on Thereses. The latter, whos awfully cute and has an unsettled,
119 minutes
go-along-type personality, scarcely lacks for male attention. Though,

Carol

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_rev2_carolB.indd 20

20

11/6/15 1:26 PM

COMPLETE
AN EXCEPTIONAL MOVIE / COMPLETE
CAST: Adil Hussain DIRECTOR: Rajan Kumar Patel
GENRE: Crime/ Thriller
ADIL
HUSSAIN

A visual feast and a gripping cat-and-mouse English-language contemporary

thriller set in the labyrinthine alleys of the ancient Hindu city of Varanasi on the
shores of the sacred Ganges River. A cerebral yet visceral thriller in a lush and
exotic setting with an international cast.

IN PRODUCTION

MISCHA
BARTON

PAZ DE LA
HUERTA

CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION (2015)

CAST: Mischa Barton
US DISTRIBUTOR: Alchemy
GENRE: Paranormal horror. "Sometimes Evil Has A Pretty Face"
CURRENTLY IN PRODUCTION (2015)
CAST: Paz de la Huerta
US DISTRIBUTOR: Alchemy
GENRE: Thriller. "Shes Not Alone"

PREPRODUCTION

TARA REID

ANA COTO

NATASHA
HENSTRIDGE

CURRENTLY IN PRE-PRODUCTION (2016)

CAST: Tara Reid
DIRECTOR: Robert reed Altman
US DISTRIBUTOR: Alchemy
GENRE: Horror (Ghosts) "Hunger Is Not Solely For The Living"
CURRENTLY IN PRE-PRODUCTION (2016)
CAST: Ana Coto
US DISTRIBUTOR: Alchemy
GENRE: Thriller. "Down There, No One Can Hear You Scream"
CURRENTLY IN PRE-PRODUCTION (2016)
CAST: Rachel Leigh Cook , Natasha Henstridge
GENRE: Sci-Fi Erotic Drama
There Are No Limits To What We Can Experience

RACHEL LEIGH
COOK

REBEL MOVIES AFM Office #323 AFM Telephone: 310.458.6700 xt 323

rebelmovies@rebelmovies.eu - www.rebelmovies.eu
Rebel Entertainment D1 110415.indd 1

10/30/15 2:50 PM

PRO MOT IO N

UTE
N
I
M
S TAY
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U P -TO
WITH

AMERICAN

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DOWNLOADABLE FESTIVAL DAILIES,
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AND FESTIVAL NEWSLET TERS
AT THR.COM/NEWSLET TERS

CONTACT: UNITED STATES | Debra Fink | debra.fink@thr.com

EUROPE | Alison Smith | alison.smith@thr.com Tommaso Campione | tommaso.campione@thr.com
Frederic Fenucci | frederic.fenucci@billboard.com | +44 7985 251 814
ASIA | Ivy Lam | ivy.lam@thr.com AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND | Lisa Cruse | lisa@spiritedmedia.co.nz

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11/2/15 3:08 PM

Asias
must-attend
market for
fresh content

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GET THE BEST DEAL!

Marina
Bay Sands,
Singapore

1 Dec 2015
Pre-market
conference.

2 - 4 Dec 2015

Contact us
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10/26/15 11:48 AM

REVIEWS

Franny

Richard Gere plays a billionaire who just cant stop giving

BY JOHN DEFORE
E A L L H AV E T H AT ON E

old family friend who

dotes on us shamelessly,
buying us houses and paying off
student loans, beaming whenever
we enter a room. Theyre the worst,
right? Andrew Renzi explores the
worrisome side of Uncle Warbucks
in Franny, where Richard Gere
plays a billionaire suffering addictions not just to morphine but
to others attention and his own
privilege. Its easy to understand
the actors interest in the part,
in which charm, Geres bedrock
asset, is a thin shell whose protection chips away painfully. But
Renzis uneven script makes this
a less sturdy vehicle than 2012s
Arbitrage, and a less marketable
one given the absence of thriller
elements that sustained that films
character study. Still, theres plenty
for Gere admirers to appreciate.
For five years, Geres Franny has
been holed up in a luxury hotel,
drinking cocktails of painkillers
he was originally prescribed after
an accident that killed his two best
friends and left him hobbled. Olivia

(Dakota Fanning), the only child

of those friends and a surrogate
daughter to the bachelor, moved
away to cope with her grief; when
she returns an expectant mother
and new bride, Franny leaps on the
opportunity to feel alive again.
He immediately gets Olivias
hunky-doctor husband Luke (Theo
James) a job at the childrens
hospital he built with her father;
before the young man can even
demonstrate his skills, Franny is
lauding him at society events as if
he were the returned spirit of the
hospitals founder. He gives the
kind of speeches that leave listeners a tiny bit embarrassed and
the kind of gifts one cant reject
even if one wants to. In return, he
bizarrely expects to be as intimately tied to this young couple as
he was to Olivias parents, who had
been his best friends since college.
Gere has no problem understanding how Franny gets away
with things. He casually plants
Franny in Lukes personal space,
then speaks in a way that makes
any discomfort Lukie might

Everything looks
swell on the outside,
but Geres on a
downward spiral.

feel seem ridiculous. But the veil

drops when we observe Franny
at home, where his only friend is
hydromorphone.
Renzis conception of the mans
oncoming collapse is sharp in some
ways: for instance, how both of his
crutches, drugs and the assumption that generosity buys love, fail
him simultaneously. (While one
doubts such a rich man would
have much trouble finding narcotics when his doctor cuts him off,
his smarmy desperation is one of
the films most compelling elements.) Similarly, Frannys ability
to be genuinely empathetic with a
frightened child despite his trouble
connecting with adults rings true.

The Hallow

Corin Hardy, attached to direct Relativitys The Crow reboot, whets

genre fans appetites with this gruesome monster movie BY DAVID ROONEY
OK I NG A ROU N D I N T H E WOODS

unleashes seriously bad juju in The

Hallow, director Corin Hardys viscerally
scary fantasy horror tale about a young English
family that foolishly ignores the Irish locals
warnings about malevolent nature. An endcredits dedication to Ray Harryhausen, Dick
Smith and Stan Winston is hardly necessary to
recognize Hardys veneration for handcrafted
creature effects, and while his imaginative first
feature shows more control in the nail-biting
setup than in the busy extended mayhem of its
final act, fanboys will find plenty to feast on.
Some may say theres arguably too much.
The Hallow tethers its first ick moment to science, when tree doctor Adam (Joseph Mawle)
discovers a goopy dollop of ophiocordyceps
unilateralis on a deer carcass. That so-called
zombie fungus infects the brains of ants and
then explodes out of their heads, continuing to
grow on their exoskeletons. Nasty stuff.
Then theres the folkloric faerie mythology

element, though Adam and his wife Claire

(Bojana Novakovic) shrug it off as backwoods
superstition when neighboring farmer Colm
Donnelly (Michael McElhatton) tries to tell
them that entering the forest puts their baby at
risk. Cue primal family terror.
But thats just for starters. The screenplay
by Hardy and Felipe Marino stirs in a siege
scenario, with a possessed house oozing black
sludge, predatory monsters eager to extend
their brood and a dose of David Cronenberg
Novakovic should
have heeded that
advice about staying
out of the woods.

AFM (Lucky Red)

Cast Richard Gere, Dakota
Fanning, Theo James // DirectorScreenwriter Andrew Renzi //
92 minutes

body horror, tipping its hat to Jeff Goldblums

transformation in The Fly. Homages appear left
and right, from The Evil Dead to Alien to The
Shining. In other words, this is a hefty cargo of
plot ingredients and genre tropes for one film
to handle, but it keeps the disparate elements
cohesive.
Expectations are high for Hardys debut,
given that the director is attached to Relativitys
The Crow reboot. He proves himself both a
gifted visual stylist and an assured storyteller
with a wicked grasp of sustained dread.
Whats most gratifying is that The Hallow
continues the trend of recent superior horror
like The Conjuring, The Babadook and It Follows
by placing the emphasis on practical effects
and using the digital paintbox only for subtle
enhancement.
As first films go, this one is visually energized,
dynamically paced and discerning in its cineliterate references. Its also a kick-ass calling
card for Hardy as he moves to bigger projects.
AFM (Altitude Film Sales)
Cast Joseph Mawle, Bojana Novakovic, Michael
McElhatton, Michael Smiley // Directorscreenwriter Corin Hardy // 97 minutes

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_rev3_franny+hallowC.indd 24

But Renzi hits sour notes as well,

like the use of on-the-nose old pop
lyrics (Ive got sunshine, The
sun aint gonna shine, The dark
end of the street) as distracting
indicators of Frannys state. More
problematic is the pacing of
emotional ups and downs in the
final act, where it becomes clear to
everyone that Franny needs rehab.
In the end, fixing this likable but
deeply flawed man shouldnt feel
as simple as shaving off his beard.

24

11/6/15 1:29 PM

Izzue Islam

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Alif Satar

11/5/15 6:27 PM

PROMOTION

THE

FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
RACE

The Hollywood Reporter chronicles the foreign language race

from start to finish with dedicated coverage in print and online
on THR.coms AWARDS channel and THE RACE blog.

11/11

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11/6/15 3:32 PM

REVIEWS

Land of Mine

Danish director Martin Zandvliet dramatizes a fascinating

World War II story about German prisoners put to work defusing
land mines along the coast of Denmark BY STEPHEN FARBER

Ariosa won
best actress
at this years
San Sebastian
Film Fesitval.

The King of Havana

Agusti Villarongas adaptation of the Pedro Juan

Gutierrez novel about sex and death in Castros Cuba
is an extravagantly raunchy ride BY NEIL YOUNG

COCK Y CU BA N H EEL GETS H IS COM EU PPA NCE I N

The King of Havana (El rey de La Habana), Agusti Villarongas

full-blooded adaptation of the lurid literary novel by Pedro
Juan Gutierrez. A two-hour immersion in poverty, squalor, sex and
death that brings to sordid life Castros capitol during the nightmarishly tough mid-1990s, it certainly isnt for viewers of a sensitive
disposition but appeals as a lively, adults-only commercial prospect
for Spanish-speaking audiences worldwide.
The seventh theatrical feature from Majorca-born writer-director
Villaronga, its a belated first big-screen version of Gutierrezs
work. Hailed as the Cuban Henry Miller and a master of Dirty
Realism, Gutierrez only moved to the capital at age 37 but is now
acknowledged as the voice of the citys most populous and run-down
district, Central Havana.
A densely packed slum of more than 150,000 souls, Central Havana
provides the vividly dilapidated backdrop for the adventures of
Reynaldo (Maykol David Tortolo). Emerging from a two-year spell in
juvie he was wrongly convicted of the double homicide that kicks
off proceedings on an arrestingly chaotic note Rey returns to his
old neighborhood and quickly gets down to the one thing he does
best: energetic intercourse.
Blessed with an outsize member glimpsed briefly in its flaccid state and a cheeky smile, Reynaldo quickly charms both the
female and male residents of one picturesquely crumbling block.
Congenitally work shy and brutally selfish, the protagonist ambles
through life on a wave of egotistical, happy-go-lucky amorality, stealing from those less fortunate than himself without a second thought.
Colorful and energetic if nose-rubbingly unpleasant at times, The
King of Havana struggles to contain its volatile cocktail of moods
and tones, with Villarongas functional direction lacking the flair
and oomph that the dynamite material truly demands. Still, this is
the compellingly horrible world of Gutierrez, an acquired taste but
one that convincingly conjures a unique place at a unique time, one
where too much was never enough.
Yordanka Ariosa gives a standout performance as a superstitious,
witchcraft-savvy sex worker with a mainly elderly clientele.

T T H IS POI N T, I T M IGH T

seem hard to find a World

War II story that hasnt
been told, but Danish director
Martin Zandvliet has come up with
a fresh and compelling approach to
this well-traveled territory. Land of
Mine, based on a true but not wellknown part of history, rediscovers
the past and brings it to life with
remarkable assurance. The film
works as a moving anti-war essay
and as a gripping thriller.
After the official end of the
conflict in May 1945, German
prisoners of war in Denmark were
put to work on a deadly mission
defusing more than 2 million
German land mines that had been
set along the countrys west coast,
perhaps in the mistaken idea that
this is where the Allied invasion of
Europe would occur.
The main character is Danish
Sergeant Rasmussen (Roland
Moller), who is assigned to train
and oversee the German prisoners.
Most of them are teenage boys conscripted by Hitler in the last days
of the war, and they are hopelessly
ill-equipped to carry out their
dangerous job.
An early scene of the captured
German soldiers being harassed
shows the understandable hatred
that the Danes felt toward their
former occupiers. Rasmussen
shares this contempt, and he is
determined to treat the young soldiers under his command without
the least bit of sympathy. They are
locked in at night and given almost
no food, and their work on the

beach inevitably leads to calamitous accidents.

Considering that the contours
of the story are fairly predictable,
its surprising how much suspense
and pathos Zandvliet builds. One
of the films chief assets is the
performance of Moller, who takes
us along on a credible emotional
journey as Rasmussen gradually
and almost grudgingly comes to
recognize the vulnerability of his
young charges. His moral awakening is handled subtly, without the
slightest hint of sentimentality.
The German boys might have
been more sharply differentiated
in the script, but the performances
by these young actors are equally
effective. Cinematographer
Camilla Hjelm Knudsen (the wife
of the director) makes excellent
use of the striking seaside locations. The sound and special
effects team also do a superb
job with the harrowing scenes in
the minefield, which sometimes
culminate in startling and devastating explosions.
There may be nothing novel
in a story of enemies beginning
to recognize the humanity in
their despised antagonists. But,
of course, this kind of plea for
compassion will never lose its
relevance.
AFM (K5 International)
Cast Roland Moller, Louis Hofmann,
Joel Basman, Mikkel Boe Folsgaard,
Laura Bro
Director-screenwriter Martin
Zandvliet // 100 minutes
A slice of little-known
World War II history,
the film portrays
German POWs put to
work in Denmark.

AFM (Filmax International)

Cast Maykol David Tortolo, Yordanka Ariosa, Hector Medina Valdes
Director Agusti Villaronga // 124 minutes
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_rev4_havana+landB.indd 1

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11/6/15 2:38 PM

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11/4/15 7:05 PM

REVIEWS

De Laage (left) and

Binoche are a woman and
her dead boyfriends
mother, respectively.

The Wait

Juliette Binoche and Lou de Laage play women

holed up ina Sicilian villa in Piero Messinas heavyhanded
if absorbing directorial debut BY BOYD VAN HOEIJ
N SICI L I A N DIR ECTOR

Piero Messinas The Wait

(LAttesa), French actress
Juliette Binoche is the main
attraction. A very loose Pirandello
adaptation about a grieving
mother who cant bring herself to
tell her sons girlfriend that hes
died, the film occasionally indulges
in stylistic superfluities but should
generated interest nonetheless.

Binoche plays Anna, a French

woman whose Italian husband
left her an enormous villa in the
shadow of the Etna volcano, in
eastern Sicily, where she still lives.
Her twentyish son, Giuseppe, is
presumably the person being buried during the films opening scene,
after which Anna retires, clad in
black, to her hollow and emptyfeeling home. A landline call

announces the arrival of someone

Anna doesnt know: Jeanne (Lou
de Laage). The vivacious young
woman turns out to be Giuseppes
French girlfriend, and shes come
to spend Easter at the family
home, though clearly hes not
answering his cell phone anymore.
Anna lets her come over, though
she cant bring herself to tell this
woman that Giuseppe has died.
The screenplay, written by a
staggering four screenwriters,
including the director, deviates
significantly from Pirandellos play,
which focused on a how a mothers
memories of her absent son were
much better than the real thing.
Another major change is the role
played by modern technology.
Giuseppes cell phone, which hes
left in his room, almost becomes
a third character, serving not only
as a confessional for Jeanne, who
keeps calling him and wondering
when hell finally return home, but
also providing Anna with a way to
get to know more about the young
lovers by listening to Jeannes
voicemail.
Annas unwholesome decision to
keep mum is questioned by Pietro
(Giorgio Colangeli), the homes
lonely servant, who acts as Annas
conscience. But clearly, this is

The Boy and the Beast

Mamuro Hosodas Japanese hit is an irresistible anime about a boy and his furry mentor

BY NEIL YOUNG
X I T STAGE L EF T, H AYAO M I YA Z A K I;

Enter stage right, Mamoru Hosoda? If

the Japanese box office is any guide, the
recently abdicated anime crown will next be
worn by the writer-director responsible for one
the countrys major summer hits, The Boy and
the Beast (Bakemono no ko). Hosoda, who was
briefly connected with Miyazakis Studio Ghibli
a decade ago before branching out with his own
organization, delivers a raucously entertaining
if slightly overlong romp that borrows liberally
from existing sources its at heart a Harry
Potter-flavored fusion of The Jungle Book and
The Karate Kid but has enough character and
brio to stand on its own two hairy feet.
Squarely aimed at younger male audiences,
the film follows the travails of street-kid Ren
(voiced by 29-year-old actress Aoi Miyazaki) as
he escapes modern Tokyo into Jutengai, a parallel reality (accessed by wandering down certain
back alleys) populated by talking, civilized,
semi-humanoid beasts. Ren is selected as a

suitable apprentice by the bear-like Kumatetsu

(Koji Yakusho), a rough-hewn behemoth
whos one of two candidates poised to inherit
the realms throne when the current Lord
(Masahiko Tsugawa) ascends to divine status.
Over the course of eight years, Ren
renamed Kyutu by Kumatetsu receives
intensive samurai-type training from his new
master/dad-surrogate. But when he reaches the
verge of manhood at 17, Ren/Kyutu (now voiced
by Shota Sometani) finds himself torn between
worlds. Tokyo offers the chance of romance, a

Ren (right) and Kumatetsu forge an unlikely friendship.

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

D4_rev5_wait+boybeastB.indd 1

the kind of Catholic melodrama

in which the conceit of having a
mother mourn her son alone, and
Jeanne, standing in for the faithful, eagerly awaiting her beloveds
return on Easter Sunday, is too
beautiful to resist.
Audiences tolerance for this
kind of heavy-handed symbolism
may vary, though Messina does
ensure that the religious parallels never completely eclipse the
contemporary characters. Binoche
has rarely looked more Italian
than here, and her command of
the language has audibly improved
since Abbas Kiarostamis Certified
Copy. She has such quiet grace that
even awkwardly scripted moments
become moments of considerable
power. De Laage also impresses
here, which is no small feat since
her character is an odd mix of
desires, clearly wanting to reunite
with her boyfriend enough to
make it to Italy but also insouciant
enough about his absence to never
ask too many questions.
AFM (Pathe International)
Cast Juliette Binoche, Lou de Laage,
Giorgio Colangeli, Domenico Diele,
Antonio Folletto, Corinna Lo Castro
Director Piero Messina
100 minutes

belated resumption of formal education and

the possibility of reconnecting with his biological father; Jutengai is a throwback to a more
exciting, purer, more medieval environment.
And it also boasts Kumatetsu, whos simply one
of the great cinematic creations live action or
animation of recent years.
Making a rare foray into voice work, wellestablished box-office draw Yakusho helps
incarnate a character who emerges as a
truculent but enormously good-hearted cross
between 1980s Nick Nolte and Yojimbo-era
Toshiro Mifune. A perpetually bequiffed colossus, Kumatetsu dominates the screen with his
charisma and knockabout humor to the extent
that proceedings flag when he isnt around.
Eventually, the screenplay gets sidetracked
by supernatural shenanigans, though Hosoda
does sock over a spectacular climactic battle on
and below the streets of Tokyo with imaginative
aplomb. Hes aided considerably by Masakatsu
Takagis irresistibly slam-bang orchestral score.
AFM (Gaumont)
Cast Koji Yakusho, Shota Sometani, Aoi
Miyazaki, Yo Oizumi, Lily Franky, Suzu Hirose
Director Mamoru Hosoda // 120 minutes

30

11/6/15 4:09 PM

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8 Decades of The Hollywood Reporter

The most glamorous and memorable moments from a storied history

Bynes promoted
Love Wrecked at AFM
on Nov. 4, 2004.

In 2004, Things
Looked Up for
Amanda Bynes

T A L L SEEM ED SO PROM ISI NG

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Endpage_bynesC.indd 1

32

MARK SULLIVAN/WIREIMAGE

back in 2004 when sweet-faced

Amanda Bynes, then 18 and coming
off a starring role in What a Girl
Wants, dropped by AFM headquarters
in Santa Monica to promote her new
rom-com, Love Wrecked. In it, she played
a fangirl who finds herself stranded on an
island with her rocker idol (Nashvilles
Chris Carmack). But hopes that the TV
star could carry her Nickelodeon fanbase
to the big screen would prove misplaced.
Love Wrecked got stranded, surfacing
three years later on ABC Family. Her
next film, 2006s Shes the Man a spin
on William Shakespeares Twelfth Night
in which Bynes poses as a boy in order
to play on the high school soccer team
fared better (it made $57 million
worldwide) but earned negative notices.
[The movie] fails to exploit the myriad
comedic possibilities, settling instead for
broad, unconvincing slapstick aimed at
12-year-olds and gags Shakespeare would
have rejected as ancient, THR wrote in
its review. But just as her career found its
footing Bynes had a supporting role in
2007s Hairspray and co-starred opposite
Emma Stone in the 2010 hit comedy Easy
A her personal life began to unravel. A
2012 DUI arrest accompanied by hit-andrun charges led to a string of increasingly
erratic behavior, much of which played
out on her Twitter feed. (At one point,
Bynes demanded on Twitter that Barack
Obama fire an NYPD cop for slapping
her vagina during an arrest.) After
another DUI in 2014, Bynes, 29, now
takes fashion-design classes in downtown
Los Angeles. SETH ABRAMOVITCH

11/6/15 12:18 PM

ANGEL
WORLDWIDE
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Sensoria AFM Hollywood Reporter Poster2.pdf 1 30/10/2015 5:08:14 PM

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