David Schwimmer makes a bold choice with this ambitious, if not entirely seamless psychodrama. Starting out as a hyperactive life-in-crisis movie, like a more melancholy, introspective Fight Club, it swaps horses in midstream with a shocking twist that will likely alienate any viewers seduced by seeing the Friends star’s face on its promo imagery. Those willing to follow first-time director Jack Begert down the rabbit hole into the film’s surprising second half — which may seem completely unrelated at first, but soon reveals the film’s deeper themes of opioid use and the butterfly effects of addiction — will find it strangely satisfying.
In light of recent events involving Schwimmer’s former co-star Matthew Perry, Begert’s film has acquired an unintentionally meta level that, sadly, only underscores its main theme, which is the human cost of the pursuit of happiness in contemporary America. Schwimmer plays Martin Solomon, a screenwriter...
In light of recent events involving Schwimmer’s former co-star Matthew Perry, Begert’s film has acquired an unintentionally meta level that, sadly, only underscores its main theme, which is the human cost of the pursuit of happiness in contemporary America. Schwimmer plays Martin Solomon, a screenwriter...
- 2/1/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Stars: David Schwimmer, Gaby Hoffmann, Jena Malone | Written by Jack Begert, Dani Goffstein | Directed by Jack Begert
Martin Solomon (David Schwimmer) is a washed-up screenwriter who has no sense of purpose or fulfillment in his life. When the offer to turn one of his dream projects into a film is on the table — but he has to change the male protagonist into a woman — Martin starts to emulate his life through a female lens while pursuing a hallucinatory dream. Meanwhile, two kids get robbed and end up caring for a dog that neither of them knows where it came from.
The moment that viewers realise that Little Death was produced by Darren Aronofsky, all the pieces suddenly click into place. Keeping it lucid while playing it loose, the movie dares to experiment with form and socialised ideas until it abruptly pulls the rug out from under its audience, veering off...
Martin Solomon (David Schwimmer) is a washed-up screenwriter who has no sense of purpose or fulfillment in his life. When the offer to turn one of his dream projects into a film is on the table — but he has to change the male protagonist into a woman — Martin starts to emulate his life through a female lens while pursuing a hallucinatory dream. Meanwhile, two kids get robbed and end up caring for a dog that neither of them knows where it came from.
The moment that viewers realise that Little Death was produced by Darren Aronofsky, all the pieces suddenly click into place. Keeping it lucid while playing it loose, the movie dares to experiment with form and socialised ideas until it abruptly pulls the rug out from under its audience, veering off...
- 1/30/2024
- by Jasmine Valentine
- Nerdly
Maybe you’re vexed by the official description for Little Death, the debut feature from music-video director Jack Begert. Maybe you want to know more than, “A middle-aged filmmaker on the verge of a breakthrough. Two kids in search of a lost backpack. A small dog a long way from home.” Maybe you’re itching to search for a more detailed plot description.
Take my word for it: don’t.
The worst thing about Little Death, which Begert co-wrote with Dani Goffstein, is that the best things about it are all spoilers. Please excuse some vagueness in the interest of your best possible moviegoing experience.
David Schwimmer, fully leaning into the self-pitying act he honed as Ross Geller, plays Martin, the middle-aged filmmaker. Martin’s life is, as he tells his therapist, “meaningless.” A long-suffering TV writer, Martin’s finally got an autobiographical script in the works, but wokeism threatens his masterpiece.
Take my word for it: don’t.
The worst thing about Little Death, which Begert co-wrote with Dani Goffstein, is that the best things about it are all spoilers. Please excuse some vagueness in the interest of your best possible moviegoing experience.
David Schwimmer, fully leaning into the self-pitying act he honed as Ross Geller, plays Martin, the middle-aged filmmaker. Martin’s life is, as he tells his therapist, “meaningless.” A long-suffering TV writer, Martin’s finally got an autobiographical script in the works, but wokeism threatens his masterpiece.
- 1/30/2024
- by Lena Wilson
- The Film Stage
A still from In ‘The Summers’ by Alessandra Lacorazza (Courtesy of Sundance Institute.)
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
In the Summers took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and Porcelain War was named the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary winner at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Sujo and A New Kind of Wilderness were also recognized with Grand Jury Prizes during the awards ceremony held on February 26, 2024 at The Ray Theatre in Park City, Utah.
Daughters, directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, was named the Festival Favorite Award winner and also received the Audience Award: U.S. Documentary.
“This year was especially meaningful to all of us for being the 40th edition of the Sundance Film Festival,” stated Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “We congratulate all of our artists in the program this year for their contributions to an incredible slate and Festival experience. Something we were pleasantly surprised by was how...
- 1/26/2024
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
There’s an admirable ambition to Jack Begert’s directorial debut, Little Death. The film, which premiered at Sundance, announces its intentions with an early scene of communal complaint. At dinner, Martin Solomon (David Schwimmer), a TV writer with directorial aspirations, laments the state of his industry. In addition to their disdain for lazy and too-sensitive audiences, he and his friend, Augustus (Fred Melamed), discuss the limitations of narrative filmmaking. Augustus argues that television allows writers to explore the interiority of multiple characters, whereas films can only really sustain one point of view.
With Little Death, Begert tries to prove Augustus wrong. The director, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Dani Goffstein, constructs a story plunging viewers into the ravaged emotional lives of different characters. It tries to stretch the bounds of the narrative form, to upend convention and encourage us to rethink our relationship to storytelling. It aims...
With Little Death, Begert tries to prove Augustus wrong. The director, who co-wrote the film’s screenplay with Dani Goffstein, constructs a story plunging viewers into the ravaged emotional lives of different characters. It tries to stretch the bounds of the narrative form, to upend convention and encourage us to rethink our relationship to storytelling. It aims...
- 1/25/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Park City – To suggest that director Jack Bergert and co-screenwriter Dani Goffstein are playing with fire with the first act of their feature film debuts is an understatement of massive proportions. We haven’t walked out of a movie at a major film festival since before the pandemic, but if we weren’t assigned to review “Little Death” we might have. And even knowing we were reviewing it; the thought crossed our mind.
Continue reading ‘Little Death’ Review: David Schwimmer & Dominic Fike In A Manic Tale Of Two Movies In One [Sundance] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Little Death’ Review: David Schwimmer & Dominic Fike In A Manic Tale Of Two Movies In One [Sundance] at The Playlist.
- 1/20/2024
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Being an actor since she was a child, Jena Malone has been on her fair share of film sets. And what she’s learned is that working with first-time filmmakers is what she enjoys the most.
“I think, throughout my career, my number one favorite activity is working with first-time filmmakers that have a very unique vision,” Malone explained. “And [who] support innovation and clumsy emotion, and have just a unique perspective on humanity, you know?”
As his first feature film, Begert admitted at TheWrap’s Sundance Portrait and Interview Studio presented by Nfp that it started “just as a bit of a writing experiment,” and evolved from there into a short film and, eventually, into this feature. For Malone, working on this film was “amazing.”
Malone stars in music video director Jack Begert’s debut feature “Little Death,” running as part of Sundance’s program this year. Begert has become...
“I think, throughout my career, my number one favorite activity is working with first-time filmmakers that have a very unique vision,” Malone explained. “And [who] support innovation and clumsy emotion, and have just a unique perspective on humanity, you know?”
As his first feature film, Begert admitted at TheWrap’s Sundance Portrait and Interview Studio presented by Nfp that it started “just as a bit of a writing experiment,” and evolved from there into a short film and, eventually, into this feature. For Malone, working on this film was “amazing.”
Malone stars in music video director Jack Begert’s debut feature “Little Death,” running as part of Sundance’s program this year. Begert has become...
- 1/20/2024
- by Andi Ortiz
- The Wrap
MSNBC’s “Model America” exposes the myth that Teaneck, NJ was a post racial utopian society for Teaneck, NJ by delving into the horrific shooting of Phillip Pannel in 1990.
Growing up in Teaneck, New Jersey, co-director Dani Goffstein first learned about Phillip Pannel, a 16-year-old Black man killed by a white police officer, when his father pointed out a yellow house as they walked home from synagogue. The story of injustice in what many label as a model community of America stayed with him into adulthood when the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri prompted Goffstein to examine the similarities of the cases.
“There were two different narratives of what what happened there,” Goffstein told TheWrap. “There was the one from the cop saying that this guy was trying to like shoot him or assault him and the witnesses saying he had his hands up saying ‘don’t shoot.
Growing up in Teaneck, New Jersey, co-director Dani Goffstein first learned about Phillip Pannel, a 16-year-old Black man killed by a white police officer, when his father pointed out a yellow house as they walked home from synagogue. The story of injustice in what many label as a model community of America stayed with him into adulthood when the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri prompted Goffstein to examine the similarities of the cases.
“There were two different narratives of what what happened there,” Goffstein told TheWrap. “There was the one from the cop saying that this guy was trying to like shoot him or assault him and the witnesses saying he had his hands up saying ‘don’t shoot.
- 9/24/2022
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
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