"House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour & Greed" is the title of Sara Gay Forden's 2001 book based on the real-life scandal that rocked the fashion world in the 1990's and this title sums up the upcoming feature film directed by Ridley Scott. Following her dazzling turn in the fourth remake of "A Star is Born", Lady Gaga returns to the big screen to play Patrizia Reggiani who was at one time happily married to Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver), head of the Italian fashion house and grandson of the fashion designer, Guccio Gucci, the founder of the company. But the marriage comes to end, leading Reggiani later to be accused and convicted of arranging her former husband's murder. This intriguing film explores the complex family history, filled with infighting over the battle for power and money. An impressive cast includes Jack Huston, Salma Hayek and Oscar-winners, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino and an unrecognizable Jared Leto.
"House of Gucci" is due to be released in US theaters on November 24, 2021
After last year's fest was forced to be completely a streaming event, the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival will be returning with in-person screenings to be held at the DGA, Harmony Gold theater, the Orpheum and Redcat. But for the first time, there will be an outdoor screening held at the Hollywood Forever cemetery with the Opening Night Film of Jonathan Butterell’s "Everybody’s Talking About Jamie" on August 13th. This is the movie adaptation of the popular theatrical musical (based on the 2011 British television documentary, "Jamie: Drag Queen at 16"), telling the story of a queer teenager who pushes back against high school bullies and fulfills his dream to become a drag queen.
The ten day event (running through August 22nd) will feature 200 films from across the globe and nearly every film presented at the festival will also be available for streaming for those at-risk or who live outside of LA area. The US Centerpiece selected will be "The Novice" which looks at a college freshman who becomes obsessed with becoming the very best on her school's varsity rowing team, leading her to some unhinged behavior. The Documentary Centerpiece is "Being BeBe" from filmmaker, Emily Branham which examines the very first winner of "RuPaul’s Drag Race", BeBe Zahara Benet, using footage that was shot over a fifteen year period. A special live performance by the legendary Benet will follow the screening. And a Special Centerpiece Tribute will feature, "The Sixth Reel" that will pay tribute to producer and Outfest alum, Ash Christian, who passed away during the development of this film in 2020. This world premiere, from directors, Charles Busch & Carl Andress, is about the discovery of a long lost final reel of a classic film. A small group of film-obsessed friends plot to beat each other at getting their hands on this precious reel of celluloid.
The Trans & Nonbinary Summit, in it's fifth year, will be taking place on August 21st and features a panel of established and emerging trans & nonbinary creators and a shorts program to highlight the work of these filmmakers. The Legacy section of classic LGBTQ films will feature the world premiere of the new restoration of director, Maria Maggenti's 1993 feature, "The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love" and the fifteen year anniversary screening of "Quinceañera" by filmmakers, the late Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland.
The Closing Night Film will be "Fanny: The Right to Rock", a documentary about the little-known, '70's all-female rock band, Fanny who were the very first to release an album on a major record label. The screening will be held at The Orpheum Theatre and will be followed by a live reunion performance by Fanny.
For the complete list of films, additional information and to purchase tickets, please click below:
Where & When: TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood, CA. July 6, 2021 5:35PM
It all started with a tantalizing Tweet: "Y'all wanna hear a story about why me & this bitch here fell out?????? It's kind of long but full of suspense" and the world became transfixed on Aziah "Zola" King's story. The filmmaker, Janicza Bravo has taken King's collection of short ruminations and expanded them in to a thrilling feature film that takes us on a wildly irreverent, hilariously dark journey. And even though we are told that the events in this story are "mostly true" during the opening credits, there is never a doubt for a moment that what we see happening in this film has been wildly embellished.
Zola (Taylour Paige) was working at her dead-end job at a Detroit diner when everything changed once Stefani (Riley Keough) entered the restaurant and her life. Their connection was immediate and intense with these two women becoming fast friends. Aware that she dances occasionally to supplement her income, Stefani invites Zola to join her on a road trip to a Florida strip club where they will earn a huge payday.
But once the car door closes, Zola feels this might be a big mistake. Along for the trip is the driver, Stefani's roommate who will only be known as "X" (Colman Domingo), an imposing figure that will make one uncomfortable even when he's smiling and Derrek (Nicholas Braun), Stefani's boyfriend, a gullible dimwit who worships the ground she walks on.
Once the group reaches Tampa, Zola's instincts prove correct. After dumping Derrek off at filthy motel, the girls head to the club. At the end of the shift, Zola didn't make anywhere near the amount of money she was promised. But the evening is far from over. It turns out that Stefani lured Zola on this trip under a false pretense; "X" is Stefani's pimp and the girls are expected to turn tricks all night in a luxury suite. And "X", whose actual Caribbean accent comes out when he's angry, will not take "no" for an answer.
Trying to build a movie around a Twitter thread was always going to be a bit of a challenge so Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris (the award-winning playwright of "Slave Play" who was a promising student dramatist at Yale when he came on board) also used the 2016 Rolling Stone article, "Zola Tells All: The Real Story Behind the Greatest Stripper Saga Ever Tweeted" by David Kushner to help them flesh out their screenplay. The tone remains largely light and comedic despite the dark undercurrent of the harrowing lives that sex workers have to endure. Race and privilege is also touched upon with Zola being made clear, implicitly and explicitly, that Stefani holds more value as a commodity due to her being pretty, blonde and white.
As we know, there are two sides to every story and "Zola" is King's version of events, which paints her out to be a streetwise and far too classy for these people. As Zola, Paige lets her expressive face reveal the annoyance and frustration of the situation she finds herself trapped in. We will have to take King's word about what really went down but the woman who Stefani is based upon plans on suing for defamation, unhappy with how she has been portrayed.
Keough delivers a brave and compelling performance as Stefani, a chatterbox speaking in her idea of an African-American dialect. The film doesn't make it clear if she's just a ruthless manipulator or a victim of her circumstances yet she was fully involved with seducing Zola. There is a brief mini-movie that's supposed to give Stefani a chance to tell her side, with her trying to be viewed as a virtuous woman who fell victim to the dirty dealings of a devious Zola, with hay in her hair and wearing trash bags. That's not exactly believable either but like many hustlers, they are far more interested in a great, juicy story than the boring, exact truth.
Ms Bravo began her career writing and directing several short films before making her feature debut, "Lemon" in 2017. I saw this film, a quirky comedy that starred Bravo's then-husband, Brett Gelman as a theater director who becomes unhinged after his blind girlfriend dumps him while he's trying to put on an unusual production of Chekhov's "The Seagull". And while I found "Lemon" to be largely tedious, I did think that the novice filmmaker actually showed promise. With "Zola", Bravo was able to tap in to her offbeat instincts with a narrative that would benefit from her distinctive storytelling, expanding a dark and twisted story with surreal visual flourish and pitch black humor.
I enjoyed this movie, greatly admiring the remarkably inventive approach Ms Bravo has taken to tell Zola's outrageous story and laughed out loud several times throughout (the biggest laugh for me was when a white patron tells Zola while she is dancing that she looks like Whoopi Goldberg . I'm still chuckling days later at that one). But I can also understand how "Zola" might be too bleak and disturbing for some viewers. At it's core, "Zola" is tragic and sad; two abused and exploited sex workers exploiting each other for the service of men and the almighty dollar. It is really hard to completely escape this fact no matter how humorously or stylishly this entertaining story is told.
Even though Jury president, Spike Lee accidently revealed the winner prematurely, that did not take away from the excitement that the French filmmaker, Julia Ducournau would receive the top prize of the Palme d'Or for her feature, "Titane" at the close of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. This remarkably outlandish drama is about a young woman who gets a metal plate in her head after a terrible car accident that leads her to some pretty wild and crazy situations. Ducournau became only the second female director to receive this honor following Jane Campion for "The Piano" in 1993.
The Grand Prix or runner-up for best film was a tie between "A Hero", the latest from Iranian director, Asghar Farhadi, about a man imprisoned for failing to repay his debt and trying to work out a deal with his creditors and "Compartment No. 6", a drama from Juho Kuosmanen, is an offbeat love story set on a train between a Finnish student and a Russian miner. And the highly anticipated musical fantasia, "Annette" which had opened the fest, helped Leos Carax win the Best Director prize.
Here is the list of winners from the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival:
Palme d’Or: "Titane"
Grand Prix (Tie): "A Hero" and "Compartment No. 6"
Best Director: Leos Carax, "Annette"
Best Screenplay: Ryusuke Hamaguchi, "Drive My Car"
Best Actress: Renate Reinsve, "The Worst Person In The World"
Best Actor: Caleb Landry Jones, "Nitram"
Jury Du Prix(Tie): "Ha'berech (Ahed’s Knee)" and "Memoria"
Camera d’Or: "Murina"
Short Film Palme d’Or: "All The Crows In The World"
Special Mention: "August Sky"
Richard Donner, the director behind such classics as "Superman", "The Goonies" and the "Lethal Weapon" film series, passed away on July 5th at the age of ninety-one. The filmmaker, along with his wife of thirty-seven years, Lauren Shuler Donner, formed the production company, The Donners' Company (formerly Donner/Shuler Donner Productions) and brought to the screen, "Free Willy" and the "X-Men" franchises.
Donner, born Richard Schwartzberg in the Bronx, NY, began his career wanting to be an actor. But after appearing in a bit part on a television show, the director, Martin Ritt thought he might be better working behind the camera, later hiring him as an assistant. Donner began shooting commercials before moving on to TV, directing episodes of everything from the western, "The Rifleman" to "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." to the comedy series, "Gilligan's Island" to "The Twilight Zone".
In 1961, he got his first opportunity to direct a feature film, "X-15", a story about the X-15 rocket aircraft progrm that starred Charles Bronson and Mary Tyler Moore in her first feature film role. It was not a big success and it took seven years before his next film, a modest comedy with Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford called "Salt and Pepper".
But Donner's real breakthrough happened in 1976 with "The Omen". This supernatural-horror film with Gregory Peck and Lee Remick as the adopted parents of a child who is the spawn of the devil became a box-office hit that helped launch his career as a go-to-director. His next film was "Superman: The Movie" which brought the Man of Steel to the big-screen in 1978. With a budget of $55 miliion dollars, this all-star, super-hero adventure was one of the most expensive films made at the time due to the cast (Marlon Brando was paid $3.7 million for two-weeks work) and state-of-the-art visual effects. But the film became an international sensation, earning $300 million dollars at the worldwide box-office (which would be an incredible 1.2 billion dollars today).
Some of the other popular films Donner went on to direct include the Bill Murray Christmas classic, "Scrooged"; the film adaption of the television western, "Maverick" with Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster and James Garner (who starred in the series); Gibson and Julia Roberts in the 1997 political action-thriller, "Conspiracy Theory" and the 1985 medieval romantic-fantasy-adventure, "Ladyhawke" (featuring Matthew Broderick and Michelle Pfeiffer in early film roles) that was a box-office disapointment yet has gone on to become a cult-fan favorite. The last feature Donner directed was "16 Blocks" in 2006, a real-time, action-thriller that starred Bruce Willis and Mos Def.
