A24
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New Generation: How A24 Is Helping Keep Art Films Alive
A trio of celebrated and highly distinctive breakout movies at this year’s Sundance Film Festival—Raven Jackson’s visionary All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, Savanah Leaf’s heartrending Earth Mama and Celine Song’s gripping Berlin Competition selection Past Lives—share a few conspicuous elements: They were all debut features made by women of color, they each display an impressive mastery of their forms and they were all backed by A24. A24 has been celebrating one of its biggest years ever—a record 18 total Oscar nominations and its highest grossing film in Everything Everywhere All At Once—but amidst the genre mashups, prestige star vehicles and […]
by Anthony Kaufman on Mar 16, 2023 -
Watch: A24 Is Bringing Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense Back to Theaters in 4K
With the 40th anniversary of Jonathan Demme’s impeccable Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense on the horizon, A24 has announced a worldwide theatrical re-release of the film, which has been remastered in 4K. While dates have yet to be announced, it’s likely that the restoration’s theatrical run will tie into the band’s forthcoming deluxe vinyl reissue of the soundtrack, which will hit shelves on August 18. Notably, the vinyl reissue will also feature two previously unreleased tracks: “Cities” and “Big Business/I Zimbra.” Tied into the announcement is a brief teaser that depicts David Byrne picking up his iconic “big suit” […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Mar 16, 2023 -
Trailer Watch: Celine Song’s Past Lives
The trailer has arrived for Celine Song’s directorial debut Past Lives, which garnered early buzz out of Sundance before screening at Berlin. The decades-spanning film, loosely inspired by the filmmaker’s own life, stars Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro. Per the film’s official synopsis: Nora (Lee) and Hae Sung (Teo), two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance. Magaro plays Arthur, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Feb 22, 2023 -
Trailer Watch: Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid
The trailer for Ari Aster’s highly-anticipated new film, Beau Is Afraid (formerly titled Disappointment Blvd), has arrived. The writer-director, whose previous films Hereditary and Midsommar have been widely lauded, appears to be continuing his work in the horror genre, though the trailer contains a distinct comedic streak. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as an emotionally stunted man who embarks on a strange, arduous journey to get home to his mother. Also starring are Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hayley Squires, Denis Ménochet, Kylie Rogers, Armen Nahapetian, Zoe Lister-Jones, Parker Posey, and Patti LuPone. Beau Is Afraid will hit […]
by Natalia Keogan on Jan 10, 2023 -
Trailer Watch: Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up
Watch the first trailer for Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year before screening at the New York Film Festival. The film stars Michelle Williams as a ceramic artist named Lizzy who’s preparing for an upcoming show, but is constantly thwarted from working by mundane inconveniences. Hong Chau also stars as Jo, Lizzy’s landlord/colleague/artistic rival, who is currently thriving in her career. The film also features Maryann Plunkett, John Magaro, André Benjamin, James Le Gros and Judd Hirsch in supporting roles. During his Cannes coverage, our Vadim Rizov wrote: “Showing Up is a comedy of frustration […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Dec 15, 2022 -
Animal Collective, David Lynch and the Marines: Elegance Bratton on The Inspection
While it’s been 35 years since the release of Full Metal Jacket, Stanley Kubrick’s U.S. Marines drama that featured R. Lee Ermey showering young male recruits with derogatory four-letter words, numerous films have sought to further emphasize the dehumanizing nature of military training bootcamps. At first glance, it might appear that The Inspection, writer-director Elegance Bratton’s narrative feature debut, fits comfortably within those expectations. Set in the early 2000s, the film opens as Ellis French (Jeremy Pope) has been kicked out of his mother’s (Gabrielle Union) apartment for being gay and finds himself at a homeless shelter in New Jersey. […]
by Erik Luers on Nov 18, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale
The first trailer has arrived for Darren Aronofsky‘s dark drama The Whale, which stars Brendan Fraser in a highly-anticipated comeback role for the actor. The film had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September before screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival. A24 will distribute the film stateside. Based on the 2012 play of the same name by Samuel D. Hunter (who wrote the screenplay), The Whale follows a 600-pound man named Charlie (Fraser), a reclusive former English teacher who attempts to re-connect with his estranged 17-year-old daughter (Sadie Sink). Hong Chau […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 8, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter
One year after releasing The Souvenir: Part II, the final chapter of her meditative meta-memoir project, British filmmaker Joanna Hogg returns with her sixth feature film, The Eternal Daughter. The mysterious and captivating trailer for the forthcoming A24 title was released today. The film stars Tilda Swinton, one of Hogg’s Souvenir collaborators, who occupies an intriguing dual role as an artist and her elderly mother who spend some time visiting an old family property. Though it used to be a sprawling mansion, it now exists as a modestly-sized hotel that the duo check into for an extended stay. While the […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Nov 1, 2022 -
Trailer Watch: Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun
The trailer has arrived for Aftersun, the feature debut from Scottish writer/director (and former 25 New Faces of Film) Charlotte Wells. The film chronicles the relationship between a doting father and his pre-teen daughter, specifically through the lens of a formative vacation they took to a resort in Turkey. After premiering at this year’s Cannes Critics’ Week to much acclaim, Aftersun was selected for further festival programming at Telluride, TIFF and will now screen at the 60th New York Film Festival. The film’s official synopsis reads: At a fading vacation resort, 11-year-old Sophie treasures rare time together with her loving […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Sep 27, 2022 -
“Emotional Heartbreak Can Be Dangerous”: Ti West on His Technicolor X Prequel Pearl
Pearl, Ti West’s prequel to the 70s slasher-inspired X, is a far more claustrophobic study of psychological ruin and bodily decay than it is a gory exercise in picking off victims one by one. Unburdened by the heavy prosthetics and dual role that defined her performance in X, star and co-writer Mia Goth, that film’s de facto villain, gives a gloriously unsettling performance as the now titular character depicted during her early 20s in 1918. Pearl lives under the domineering thumb of her German mother Ruth (Tandi Wright), cares for her Spanish flu-stricken father (Matthew Sunderland) and desperately yearns for […]
by Natalia Keogan on Sep 16, 2022
