SHELLEY DUVALL (1949 - 2024)

Shelley Duvall, one of the alluring talents to emerge during the New Hollywood era of the 1970's, has passed away on July 10th at the age of seventy five. The filmmaker Robert Altman was the first to recognize her unique presence, casting Duvall in her first film and going on to have a thriving acting career where she memorably captured on screen the inner lives of offbeat and alienated characters. 

Born on July 7th in Fort Worth, TX, Duvall stumbled into a movie career purely by chance. Altman was in Houston filming scenes for his wacky, black comedy, "Brewster McCloud", his follow-up to his hit film, "M*A*S*H*", when he noticed a twenty-one year old Duvall, living in the city at the time, at a party. Fascinated by her striking appearance, kooky style and gregarious personality, the director offered her a role as the love interest to the title character, played by Bud Cort.  

This would began their long professional relationship with Duvall performing in several of Altman's films which include "McCabe & Mrs. Miller", "Thieves Like Us", "Nashville" and "Buffalo Bill & The Indians or Sitting Bull's History Lesson". He gave Duvall one of her first major lead roles in "3 Women" with Sissy Spacek in 1977. This psychological drama earned her the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a nomination from BAFTA. She would appear in one final film with Altman in "Popeye", the live-action, musical-comedy based on the animated, spinach loving sailor man (played by Robin Williams) with Duvall appearing in the role she seemed born to play: Popeye's long suffering girlfriend, Olive Oyl.

Duvall would follow this up with one of roles she is probably best known for due to her solid performance and all of hardship she endured during the filming; Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel, "The Shining". It is well documented that this year long shoot was extremely difficult for Duvall, particularly dealing with the mercurial Kubrick who apparently seemed to get pleasure from antagonizing the actress. Yet despite this, Duvall has since been praised for her work in "The Shining" as the suffering wife of a writer (played by Jack Nicholson) who loses a grip on reality and has been viewed as the heart of this horror film.

She would continue to work as an actress but she decided she wanted to get more involved behind the scenes in creating a project. In 1982, Duvall put together with the new cable channel at the time, Showtime, a children's television program called "Faerie Tale Theatre" where she hosted, narrated each episode, occasionally performed and executive produced the show. This popular series, which ran for six years, brought to life classic fairy tales which featured many well-known actors of the day performing in these short live-action episodes.

Over the later years, Duvall had begun to struggle with some mental illness and other health issues including diabetes. She had left Los Angeles and moved to the small community of Blanco, TX in 1994 following the Northridge earthquake. She would retire from acting seven years later but had recently returned to perform in the indie horror film, "The Forrest Hills" two years ago.

CATHERINE BREILLAT: AN AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE RESTROSPECTIVE

Catherine Breillat, the French cinematic provocateur, will be the focus of an American Cinematheque Retrospective beginning on July 15th through August 15th. Throughout her almost fifty years as a filmmaker, she has fearlessly explored female sexuality and the politics surrounding the subject with audacious imagery, perplexing characters, brutal candor and uncompromising style.

She began her professional career at the age of seventeen with the publication of her first novel, "l'Homme facile (A Man for the Asking)". Due to it's sexual themes, the book was banned for readers under eighteen years old. Breillat continued this exploration when she moved into filmmaking in 1976 with her debut feature, "Une vraie jeune fille (A Real Young Girl)" which was based on her fourth novel about the sexual awakening of a fourteen year old girl. Once again, the graphic depiction of sexual scenes led to the film being banned in many countries and was not released to theatres until 2000.

Breillat suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 2004, causing a stroke and leaving her left side paralyzed. Yet after months of hospitalization and intense rehabilitation, the director was able to returned to filmmaking.

This fourteen film fest will lead off with Breillat's latest, "L'Été dernier (Last Summer)", her first film in ten years and based on the 2019 Danish film, "Dronningen (Queen of Hearts)". Léa Drucker stars as a lawyer who specializes in child protection. She is happily married with two children but after the troubled seventeen year old son (Samuel Kircher) from her husband's previous marriage moves in with them, an inappropriate intimate relationship begins between them.

Other films by Breillat to be screened include "Romance X" and "Anatomie de l'enfer (Anatomy of Hell)" which both feature hardcore sexual scenes and the famed Italian porn star, Rocco Siffredi; "Sex Is Comedy", a dramedy that revolves around a film director (played by Anne Parillaud) trying to film an intimate sex scene between two actors who can't stand each other and "Abus de faiblesse (Abuse of Weakness)", a semi-autobiographical film about a filmmaker (Isabelle Huppert) who suffers a cerebral hemorrhage that leaves her paralyzed. After therapy, the director begins to work on a new project about a working class man that falls in love with a famous actress, eventually beating her to death and decides to hire a real-life con-man to star in the film. Also part of this retrospective will be the newest 4K restorations of Breillat's early works, "A Real Young Girl", "36 Fillette" and "Parfait amour! (Perfect Love)".

Please click below for the complete list of films, to purchase tickets and additional information:

American Cinematheque: Catherine Breillat Retrospective

THE BIKERIDERS (2024)

Written & Directed by Jeff Nichols



Where & When: TCL Chinese Theatres, Hollywood, CA. June 23, 2024 4:20 PM



Inspired by the 1968 photo journal by Danny Lyon, writer/director Jeff Nichols takes us into the compelling world of a Chicago outlaw motorcycle club with "The Bikeriders". First formed by some suburban men who loved to ride together, drawing attention to other riders which helped expand the group across the country. They had their own code of conduct and specific lifestyle yet over time a more violent and criminal element entered the gang, shifting from the playful camaraderie of a social club into the ruthless dogma of a organized crime outfit. Filled with explosive moments and captivating imagery, this riveting film traces the history of these easy riders during the brief height of their infamous popularity in the culture.

Lyon (played here by Mike Faist) had gained the trust of members of the Vandals MC (which is based on the actual Outlaws Motorcycle Club in Illinois), allowing him entry into their exclusive club. One of his key interviews is with a person who would be considered an outsider of the Vandals yet still very much part of the gang. Kathy (Jodie Comer) recalls to Lyon how she first became involved with these bikers after meeting the brooding, charismatic member, Benny (Austin Butler) at a seedy bar. After locking eyes with him, Kathy's life changed almost in an instant; leaving behind her nice yet boring, long-time boyfriend and marrying Benny five months later. But this also meant, much to her dismay, that the Vandals would become an extension to their marriage.

The leader of the Vandals is Johnny Davis (Tom Hardy) who founded the gang after seeing a leather-geared, Marlon Brando on a Harley in the film, "The Wild One". A family man with a wife and children, Johnny rules his bikers much like he does at home with tough love and demanding they follow his decisions without question. There isn't much of a plot to follow, largely just detailing the typical routine of the Vandals which really only involves them riding their hogs, engaging in loud, riotous banter and drinking endless beers in a bar, usually leading to finishing the day with somebody getting involved in a vicious brawl.

But at the heart of "The Bikeriders" is a sort-of love triangle involving Kathy and Johnny each trying to win in a battle to secure their place with the remote, Benny. After getting seriously injured during a fight at a bar, almost losing his foot, Kathy attempts to convince her husband to slow down following his surgery while Johnny is wanting him get out to participate in a motorcycle rally. And certain that he's the only one the other bikers would even consider following, Johnny tries to talk Benny into succeeding him as leader. But they both fail to realize that Benny refuses to be controlled, unpersuaded by other people's desires and needs regardless of how he feels about them.

"The Bikeriders" is the first film in about seven years from Nichols, the creator behind the small-scale dramas with expansive viewpoints, typically set in the South where he is from, that include "Take Shelter", "Mud" and "Loving". Since first seeing this book, Nichols had been trying for about twenty years to find a way to turn it into a feature film, settling on creating characters based on the real-life subjects in the book. The film captures an authentic environment of time and place during the late '60's and early 1970's thanks to the production design by Chad Keith. The camera work by Adam Stone sets a proper mood, recreating the specific style and accelerated energy of the photos in Lyon's book.

The Vandals (which includes Norman Reedus and Michael Shannon appearing as bikers) are made-up of the expected arch types; chaotic and precarious men with restless spirits seeking freedom and adventure on the open road while riding a Harley-Davidson. While some do have jobs and family, they live mostly without commitment to anybody but themselves.

As for the women in their lives, occasionally sitting on the back of a bike or participating in rider gatherings, they typically remain in the background, stoically waiting for their men to eventually return home to them. The only substantial female voice in this film is Kathy, who fearlessly shares her thoughts on these guys and will aggressively push back against their macho postering when needed. Much has been made about the Midwestern accent she uses here yet regardless of it's accuracy, the British-born Comer perfectly captures the fiery soul of this woman, delivering another powerful performance. Not called on to do much more than glower and smolder, Butler remains very effective as Benny, proving with his Oscar-nominated performance as Elvis Presley and his menacing turn in "Dune: Part Two" that he certainly has the potential to become the next major movie star. And Hardy, who has spent most of the last few years playing Venom, the Marvel super-hero antagonist in those awful movies, is always a welcome presence on screen and nice to see playing a human being again.

"The Bikeriders" recalls a generation of working class men rebelling against the status quo by driving their own path through life. Some of these men were damaged, coming from broken homes but they all searched for a sense of family which they found together on the open road. The ideology of the bikers transformed following the end of the Vietnam War. These new riders who joined had their views and priorities severely altered after seeing so much destruction and death. The world had changed and society had abandoned them, with some even viewing these veterans as the enemy. Now being part of a gang of rebels had taken on a whole new meaning.

COMING SOON

The latest addition of a family involved in filmmaking are the Eggers brothers. Currently, Robert is the most well-known as the writer and director behind the films, "The Witch", "The Lighthouse" and "The Northman". His brothers have been participating in the creative process with him; Max co-wrote "The Lighthouse" and Sam worked as a production assistant on Robert's first feature, "The Witch". Now these two Eggers brothers have teamed-up to make their own directorial debut with "The Front Room", a psychological thriller based on the short story by Susan Hill.

While Robert is known for his eerie films that are historically set in the distant past with mythological context, Max and Sam are working in the contemporary world yet still within the realm of horror. Their story follows a young couple, played by Brandy and Andrew Burnap, who are expecting their first child. Due to circumstances and financial opportunity, they take in his stepmother, Solange (Kathryn Hunter) to live with them. Not only does she turn out to be very demanding and ornery but Solange also claims that a holy spirit has taken over her, giving her powers that she's is not using for good deeds. With elements of "Get Out" and "Rosemary's Baby", "The Front Room" touches on the disturbing legacy of racism in this country while delivering creepy, supernatural chills.

"The Front Room" is due in US theaters on September 6, 2024

As for Robert, he also has a new film set to be released later this year on Christmas Day with "Nosferatu". It is a new retelling of the classic vampire fable created by Bram Stoker in 1897 and was originally made as the German Expressionist silent film by F.W. Murnau a little over one hundred years ago. This has long been a passion project for Eggers and while it does appear he has nodded to Murnau's concepts, his film will clearly be his original vision of this gothic tale. The story involves a disturbed young woman (Lily-Rose Depp) that becomes the object of obsession by the mysterious and terrifying Count Orlok, played by Bill Skarsgård with the Swedish actor seeming to have become the go-to-guy to take on dark, creepy characters from Pennywise in the "It" films to the upcoming reboot of "The Crow". Nicholas Hoult, Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Willem Dafoe also star.

"Nosferatu" is due in US theaters on December 25, 2024

DONALD SUTHERLAND (1935 - 2024)

Donald Sutherland, an esteemed actor who had appeared in well over one hundred films and television programing, has sadly passed away on June 20th at the age of eighty-eight. The Canadian-born performer had been ill over the last few months. For over sixty years, Sutherland consistently delivered extraordinary and memorable screen work.

Sutherland was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada on July 17, 1953. He had suffered through bouts of rhematic fever and polio as a child. Sutherland went on to attend Victoria University in Toronto where he double majored in engineering and drama. After deciding that the life of an engineer wasn't really for him, he went to study acting further at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in 1957. 

A few years later, Sutherland began getting small parts in several British films and television shows. His first major supporting role was in the 1965 horror film from Hammer Studios, "Fanatic" (released in the US as "Die! Die! My Darling!") with Tallulah Bankhead and Stephanie Powers. An impressive appearance on an episode of "The Saint" with Roger Moore helped lead to his big career break. He was cast in the Hollywood feature, "The Dirty Dozen", an all-star WWII drama that became a box-office hit in 1967.

With his subsequent performances in "Kelly's Heroes", "Klute" and "M*A*S*H*", Sutherland went on to become a respected actor and popular leading man in the movies throughout the 1970's. Other notable films the actor appeared in include "Don't Look Now", "The Eagle Has Landed", "1900", "The Great Train Robbery", "Fellini's Casanova", "National Lampoon's Animal House", the 1978 remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Ordinary People", Robert Redford's first film as a director which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar in 1980. 

Sutherland continued to a major presence in cinema, appearing in "The Eye of the Needle", "A Dry White Season", "Backdraft", "A Time to Kill", "Six Degrees of Separation", "Outbreak", "Space Cowboys" and in the "Hunger Games" film series.

He would receive many nominations and awards (which include winning an Emmy and Golden Globes) yet shockingly, after many incredible performances throughout his career, Sutherland had never received even one Academy Award nomination. But he did finally receive an Honorary Oscar in 2017 which recognized his many amazing achievements in cinema.

BABES (2024)

Written by Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz



Directed by Pamela Adlon



Where & When: Los Feliz 3, Los Angeles, CA. June 3, 2024 9:45 PM



In the movies, pregnancy has been long displayed as women being somewhat uncomfortable, wearing unflattering oversized clothing as their bellies grow while having the absurd desire for pickles and ice cream. Then the baby arrives with the mother, after some pushing and a little sweat, looking refreshed and ready to get back out in the world. But with "Babes", a comedy that marks Pamela Adlon's feature film debut as a director, we are given a more realistic (and humorous) look at the nine months involved (and after) for a woman, revealing many possible complicated mental challenges and extremely, uncomfortable physical situations that she may go through before giving birth.

Ilana Glazer (who co-wrote the screenplay with Josh Rabinowitz) and Michelle Buteau play Eden and Dawn, best friends since middle school, who are out on their annual Thanksgiving tradition of an early movie, followed by a hearty meal. But Dawn is pregnant and goes into labor in the middle of their outing. Eden is with Dawn and her husband, Marty (Hasan Minhaj) as they welcome their first child. Since she's not family, Eden is sent on her way by the nurse despite returning to the hospital with a celebratory sushi dinner for them all.

On the subway ride home, Eden meets a man named Claude (Stephan James). After bonding over sushi, shared life experiences and a quirky sense of humor, they spend the rest of the evening together before ending up in bed together. Eden is surprised that Claude doesn't reply to any of her texts but assumes it was going to be nothing more than a one night stand. With Dawn suffering from postpartum and struggling with breastfeeding, Eden invites her bestie over to cheer her up with a wild night of drinks and drugs. While under a hallucinogenic state, Eden has a sense that she is pregnant and after taking several tests discovers that a baby is actually on the way. An attempt to track down Claude only leads to the sad discovery that he will be unable to help with their child. But Eden decides she wants to keep the baby and raise it as a single mother, especially since she'll have her best friend around to help her out.

With it's rapid fire jokes, broad characterizations and loose structure, "Babes" has far more in common with a television sitcom than a feature film. This isn't all that surprising since Glazer (co-creator/writer of "Broad City") and Adlon (co-creator/writer of "Better Things") have both spent an extensive period of their careers creating and finding great success on television. And there isn't much of a visual style to be found here with the set-ups and the camera work by Jeffrey Kim pretty much ignoring the opportunity for grander cinematic effects, preferring to remain in the narrower visual scope of the small screen.

Yet this can all be overlooked for "Babes" is laugh-out-loud funny, offering hilariously sharp observations (some very TMI) on pregnancy and motherhood that is rarely discussed in entertainment. But at it's core, "Babes" is about female friendship and the struggle to maintain that tight bond while life changes forces the relationship to shift and evolve. This is helped by Glazer and Buteau having a great chemistry that makes you believe that they have been life-long buddies, managing to remain friends even after going through puberty together.

"Babes" is absolutely enjoyable in a breezy, well-written situation comedy, sort-of-way. Yet it doesn't feel special, never rising much above anything you could watch in the comfort of your home, missing a chance to boldly make a much needed and too infrequently made big screen comedy about women for women by women.

61 ESSENTIAL QUEER HORROR FILMS

It is well known fact that for a very long time any direct depiction of homosexuality in Hollywood movies was strictly forbidden. The Hays Code, which went into effect in 1934, held firm a moral guideline in American cinema until a little over thirty years later when it was abandoned, allowing filmmakers to finally display a more accurate worldview of real life. 

Now that doesn't mean that during that restrictive era some clever cinematic creators found a way to inventively sneak in a bit of queer subject matter into their films by using subtle subtext. And one of the most perfect genres to utilize this was in the horror genre where the characters were already considered strange, dangerous and outsiders to society. In celebration of Pride month, Vulture has made a guide to queer horror cinema with the list recently updated.

To see the complete list of films, please click below:

61 Essential Queer Horror Films