Exclusive: AMC Networks-owned streamer Umc has ordered a legal drama from Adam Starks (On My Block), Tracy Grant (Lincoln Heights) and Kemy Time Productions.
The subscription service, dedicated to Black film and TV and a rival of ViacomCBS’ BET+, has handed Lace a six-episode order for its first season.
The series will follow a prolific Los Angeles attorney who often blurs the lines between right and wrong to protect her rich and powerful clientele.
It is currently casting and the producers are in talks with Jamal Hill, who helmed Netflix feature Deuces, to direct. It was created by Katrina Y. Nelson, co-founder of Kemy Time Productions along with Michelle Ebony Hardy, Starks and Grant.
Nelson and Hardy will serve as co-showrunners and will executive produce alongside Starks and Grant. Brett Dismuke, Chief Content Officer of Umc, and VP of Development & Production, Nikki Love, will serve as executive producers for Umc.
The subscription service, dedicated to Black film and TV and a rival of ViacomCBS’ BET+, has handed Lace a six-episode order for its first season.
The series will follow a prolific Los Angeles attorney who often blurs the lines between right and wrong to protect her rich and powerful clientele.
It is currently casting and the producers are in talks with Jamal Hill, who helmed Netflix feature Deuces, to direct. It was created by Katrina Y. Nelson, co-founder of Kemy Time Productions along with Michelle Ebony Hardy, Starks and Grant.
Nelson and Hardy will serve as co-showrunners and will executive produce alongside Starks and Grant. Brett Dismuke, Chief Content Officer of Umc, and VP of Development & Production, Nikki Love, will serve as executive producers for Umc.
- 8/12/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Long before what is now referred to as the streaming wars began, Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (Bet) and Chairman of Rlj Entertainment, announced Umc — Urban Movie Channel, Rlj’s proprietary streaming network. Officially launched in February 2015 featuring “urban-themed” series and movies, the service, which is now known only as Umc, is part of a suite of channels and streamers owned by AMC Networks, after the media company acquired Rlj in late 2018.
A direct competitor to the more recognized brand in Bet+, which launched just last fall, Umc might be smaller in comparison, but it’s a characteristic that makes them much more flexible and far less averse to taking risks, especially when it comes to programming decisions. Additionally, having a five-year head start has allowed them the time to work through kinks that typically come with being a pioneer, which arguably gives them a leg-up when...
A direct competitor to the more recognized brand in Bet+, which launched just last fall, Umc might be smaller in comparison, but it’s a characteristic that makes them much more flexible and far less averse to taking risks, especially when it comes to programming decisions. Additionally, having a five-year head start has allowed them the time to work through kinks that typically come with being a pioneer, which arguably gives them a leg-up when...
- 3/12/2020
- by Tambay Obenson
- Indiewire
Hulu is out with its list of all the content that’s coming and going to the streaming service in February.
Highlights include the series premiere of Zoë Kravitz’s “High Fidelity” reboot, coming on Valentine’s Day, in which she stars as a record store owner in a gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, revisiting past relationships through music and trying to get over her one true love. Her character was played by John Cusack in the 2000 film, and both are based on Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel of the same name.
There is also a new episode of “Into the Dark” titled “My Valentine,” which will be released on Feb. 7, in which a pop singer’s ex-boyfriend and manager steals her songs and gives them to his new protégé.
Also Read: Why Hulu Programming Chief Is Ok Sharing Classic Content Like 'Svu' With Rival Streamers
Season 1 of Hulu Original “Utopia Falls” comes out Feb.
Highlights include the series premiere of Zoë Kravitz’s “High Fidelity” reboot, coming on Valentine’s Day, in which she stars as a record store owner in a gentrified Brooklyn neighborhood, revisiting past relationships through music and trying to get over her one true love. Her character was played by John Cusack in the 2000 film, and both are based on Nick Hornby’s 1995 novel of the same name.
There is also a new episode of “Into the Dark” titled “My Valentine,” which will be released on Feb. 7, in which a pop singer’s ex-boyfriend and manager steals her songs and gives them to his new protégé.
Also Read: Why Hulu Programming Chief Is Ok Sharing Classic Content Like 'Svu' With Rival Streamers
Season 1 of Hulu Original “Utopia Falls” comes out Feb.
- 1/21/2020
- by Margeaux Sippell
- The Wrap
AMC Networks is touting the benefits of cross-pollinating content and promos across its TV and streaming properties.
In the latest bit of synergy, the programmer’s We tv announced the continuation of its partnership with sister company Umc (Urban Movie Channel) to produce a second season of “confessional” episodes for We tv reality series “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition” to be exclusively available to Umc subscribers.
The 10-episode season 2 of “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition” is slated to appear on We tv in early 2020. According to We tv president Mark Juris, the “confessional” bonus episodes have boosted subscriber growth at Umc, while the collaboration also has raised awareness of We tv among the streaming service’s base. (The company has not disclosed how many subscribers Umc has signed up to date.)
“This is another good example of our company using content in a variety of ways to strengthen...
In the latest bit of synergy, the programmer’s We tv announced the continuation of its partnership with sister company Umc (Urban Movie Channel) to produce a second season of “confessional” episodes for We tv reality series “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition” to be exclusively available to Umc subscribers.
The 10-episode season 2 of “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition” is slated to appear on We tv in early 2020. According to We tv president Mark Juris, the “confessional” bonus episodes have boosted subscriber growth at Umc, while the collaboration also has raised awareness of We tv among the streaming service’s base. (The company has not disclosed how many subscribers Umc has signed up to date.)
“This is another good example of our company using content in a variety of ways to strengthen...
- 9/23/2019
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Google’s YouTube TV now offers two more add-on channels to subscribers, under an expanded pact with AMC Networks: British TV service Acorn TV and Umc (Urban Movie Channel), which features a selection of black TV and film titles.
Acorn TV’s add-on channel is now available via YouTube TV for $6 per month and Umc is $5 monthly, the same pricing as through other platforms. They join a trio of AMC Networks services already available through YouTube TV: AMC Premiere ($5 monthly), Shudder ($6 monthly) and Sundance Now ($7 monthly).
The base YouTube TV package, which costs $49.99 per month, offers more than 70 channels including most local TV stations in all U.S. markets.
Other add-on channels available via YouTube TV — with HBO the notable exception — are Showtime ($7 monthly); Starz ($9 monthly); Epix ($6 monthly); CuriosityStream ($3 monthly); Fox Soccer Plus ($15 monthly); and NBA League Pass ($40 monthly).
Programming current available on Acorn TV’s YouTube TV channel includes: “Manhunt,...
Acorn TV’s add-on channel is now available via YouTube TV for $6 per month and Umc is $5 monthly, the same pricing as through other platforms. They join a trio of AMC Networks services already available through YouTube TV: AMC Premiere ($5 monthly), Shudder ($6 monthly) and Sundance Now ($7 monthly).
The base YouTube TV package, which costs $49.99 per month, offers more than 70 channels including most local TV stations in all U.S. markets.
Other add-on channels available via YouTube TV — with HBO the notable exception — are Showtime ($7 monthly); Starz ($9 monthly); Epix ($6 monthly); CuriosityStream ($3 monthly); Fox Soccer Plus ($15 monthly); and NBA League Pass ($40 monthly).
Programming current available on Acorn TV’s YouTube TV channel includes: “Manhunt,...
- 8/22/2019
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Variety has exclusively learned that Urban Movie Channel has set the new multi-generational family drama “A House Divided” for a summer 2019 premiere.
The series follows the direct descendants of Letty Sanders, who was enslaved in the 1800s and later became the wealthiest black woman in Los Angeles. The show centers on present-day members of the Sanders family, whose legacy is being threatened by the passing of its matriarch, a government investigation, and newly discovered secrets.
Currently in the beginning stages of production, the new series will star Demetria McKinney (Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne”), Paula Jai Parker (“Ray Donovan”), Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (“The Jacksons: An American Dream”), Brad James (“Superstition”), David McKnight (“Hollywood Shuffle”), Taja V. Simpson (Fox’s “Lethal Weapon”), and Art Evans (“Die Hard 2”).
“A House Divided” comes from Dan Garcia, the creator of Umc’s series “Bronx Siu.”
“A thrilling tale of scandal and secrecy...
The series follows the direct descendants of Letty Sanders, who was enslaved in the 1800s and later became the wealthiest black woman in Los Angeles. The show centers on present-day members of the Sanders family, whose legacy is being threatened by the passing of its matriarch, a government investigation, and newly discovered secrets.
Currently in the beginning stages of production, the new series will star Demetria McKinney (Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne”), Paula Jai Parker (“Ray Donovan”), Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (“The Jacksons: An American Dream”), Brad James (“Superstition”), David McKnight (“Hollywood Shuffle”), Taja V. Simpson (Fox’s “Lethal Weapon”), and Art Evans (“Die Hard 2”).
“A House Divided” comes from Dan Garcia, the creator of Umc’s series “Bronx Siu.”
“A thrilling tale of scandal and secrecy...
- 3/28/2019
- by Rachel Yang
- Variety Film + TV
In today’s roundup, CNN announced it will host a town hall with former FBI director James Comey, and NBC Entertainment promoted Sahara Bushue to senior vice president of alternative programming.
TV News
PBS named “Today” alumna Meredith Vieira as host of its new series, “The Great American Read.” The show will explore the country in search of America’s top 100 novels, as well as their authors and fan bases. Its first episode, a two-hour special, will air May 22 at 8 p.m. The series will include appearances by Margaret Atwood, Jenna Bush, Barbara Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Junot Diaz, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Green, Gayle King, George R.R. Martin, Shaquille O’Neal, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jason Reynolds, Gabrielle Union, and Ming-Na Wen.
Fox News Channel hired reporter Jeff Paul as a west coast correspondent, the network’s president of news, Jay Wallace, announced Wednesday. Paul currently works as a reporter...
TV News
PBS named “Today” alumna Meredith Vieira as host of its new series, “The Great American Read.” The show will explore the country in search of America’s top 100 novels, as well as their authors and fan bases. Its first episode, a two-hour special, will air May 22 at 8 p.m. The series will include appearances by Margaret Atwood, Jenna Bush, Barbara Bush, Chelsea Clinton, Junot Diaz, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, John Green, Gayle King, George R.R. Martin, Shaquille O’Neal, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jason Reynolds, Gabrielle Union, and Ming-Na Wen.
Fox News Channel hired reporter Jeff Paul as a west coast correspondent, the network’s president of news, Jay Wallace, announced Wednesday. Paul currently works as a reporter...
- 3/28/2018
- by Christi Carras
- Variety Film + TV
Emmy winners Jeff Daniels (“The Newsroom”) and Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock”) head up the new Hulu original series “The Looming Tower,” which chronicles the rise of Osama Bin-Laden. Also featured in this docudrama about the inter-agency rivalry between the CIA and FBI in the first part of this century are Golden Globe nominees Peter Sarsgaard and Michael Stuhlbarg. The first of the 10 episodes starts streaming on Hulu on Feb. 28.
Before then, Hulu viewers will get a chance to see another acclaimed docudrama, the film “Detroit” by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”). She reteamed with screenwriter Mark Boal, who also picked up an Oscar for “The Hurt Locker,” for this acclaimed film. “Detroit” documents the riots that beset the motor city in the summer of 1967 after the police raid an unlicensed bar on July 23 and arrest the 82 patrons and staff. Over the course of just five days, 43 people died...
Before then, Hulu viewers will get a chance to see another acclaimed docudrama, the film “Detroit” by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”). She reteamed with screenwriter Mark Boal, who also picked up an Oscar for “The Hurt Locker,” for this acclaimed film. “Detroit” documents the riots that beset the motor city in the summer of 1967 after the police raid an unlicensed bar on July 23 and arrest the 82 patrons and staff. Over the course of just five days, 43 people died...
- 1/31/2018
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
Alec Bojalad Jan 16, 2020
We have a list of the new Hulu movies and shows arriving in February 2020.
February is a month for love and Hulu knows exactly what to do with it. For its February 2020 new releases, Hulu is introducing an original series fit for Valentine's Day. High Fidelity premieres on Valentine's Day and this modern adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel and Stephen Frears film will bring some love and music to the mid-February doldrums.
Hulu's only $5.99/month now, grab the deal here!
Another original arriving in February is Utopia Falls (also premiering on February 14), which looks to be teenage-oriented series combining Harry Potter, The Expanse, and music. That sound like something that might interest you?
February 1 sees the arrival of plenty of films to enjoy like 300, When Harry Met Sally, The Fugitive, and 28 Days Later. That's about as diverse an array of genre films as you'll get.
We have a list of the new Hulu movies and shows arriving in February 2020.
February is a month for love and Hulu knows exactly what to do with it. For its February 2020 new releases, Hulu is introducing an original series fit for Valentine's Day. High Fidelity premieres on Valentine's Day and this modern adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel and Stephen Frears film will bring some love and music to the mid-February doldrums.
Hulu's only $5.99/month now, grab the deal here!
Another original arriving in February is Utopia Falls (also premiering on February 14), which looks to be teenage-oriented series combining Harry Potter, The Expanse, and music. That sound like something that might interest you?
February 1 sees the arrival of plenty of films to enjoy like 300, When Harry Met Sally, The Fugitive, and 28 Days Later. That's about as diverse an array of genre films as you'll get.
- 1/21/2016
- Den of Geek
Blu-ray Release Date: Dec. 3, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $49.99
Studio: Warner
Nine minutes are added into Ben Affleck’s (The Company Men) Oscar-winning thriller movie for Argo Extended Edition, plus new special features are on the Blu-ray.
The 2012 film tells the story of CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Affleck), who creates an outrageous plan to rescue six Americans during the Iran hostage crisis by pretending they’re making a fake science-fiction movie.
The additional nine minutes delved deeper into Mendez’s relationships with his estranged wife and son.
The original version of Argo won three Academy Awards — Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture — and was nominated for four more: Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Supporting Actor Alan Arkin (The Incredible Burt Wonderstone).
John Goodman (Flight), Bryan Cranston (TV’s Breaking Bad), Victor Garber (Titanic), Tate Donovan (TV’s Damages) and Chris Messina (Monogamy) also star in the movie,...
Price: Blu-ray $49.99
Studio: Warner
Nine minutes are added into Ben Affleck’s (The Company Men) Oscar-winning thriller movie for Argo Extended Edition, plus new special features are on the Blu-ray.
The 2012 film tells the story of CIA specialist Tony Mendez (Affleck), who creates an outrageous plan to rescue six Americans during the Iran hostage crisis by pretending they’re making a fake science-fiction movie.
The additional nine minutes delved deeper into Mendez’s relationships with his estranged wife and son.
The original version of Argo won three Academy Awards — Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture — and was nominated for four more: Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Supporting Actor Alan Arkin (The Incredible Burt Wonderstone).
John Goodman (Flight), Bryan Cranston (TV’s Breaking Bad), Victor Garber (Titanic), Tate Donovan (TV’s Damages) and Chris Messina (Monogamy) also star in the movie,...
- 8/27/2013
- by Sam
- Disc Dish
Chicago – It’s taken quite a few movies for me to warm up to Chris Messina. Perhaps it wasn’t his fault that he kept getting typecast as oafish, self-absorbed jerks. In my review of Dana Adam Shapiro’s flawed Oscilloscope release, “Monogamy,” I confessed that every time Messina’s face showed up onscreen, I was “suddenly filled with the intense desire to punch it.”
It’s only been in the last year or so that I began to appreciate Messina’s fearlessness as a performer. He isn’t afraid to explore the dark terrain avoided by fellow actors more concerned with likability than truth. The same could be said of Zoe Kazan, whose debut feature script for the marvelous romance, “Ruby Sparks,” gave Messina his best role to date as a typically suave ladykiller blindsided by the all-too-perfect woman who entered the life of his hopelessly neurotic brother.
DVD...
It’s only been in the last year or so that I began to appreciate Messina’s fearlessness as a performer. He isn’t afraid to explore the dark terrain avoided by fellow actors more concerned with likability than truth. The same could be said of Zoe Kazan, whose debut feature script for the marvelous romance, “Ruby Sparks,” gave Messina his best role to date as a typically suave ladykiller blindsided by the all-too-perfect woman who entered the life of his hopelessly neurotic brother.
DVD...
- 2/20/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Feb. 5, 2013
Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $35.99
Studio: Sony
Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg are bewildered in Celeste and Jesse Forever.
Plucky Rashida Jones (Monogamy) co-wrote the screenplay along with co-star Will McCormack (TV’s In Plain Sight). and stars with Andy Samberg (TV’s Saturday Night Live) in the romantic comedy movie Celeste and Jesse Forever.
The film follows Celeste (Jones) and Jesse (Samberg) as a young married couple who find themselves growing apart. At 30 years old, they decide to get divorced and attempt to stay best friends while pursuing other relationships. While navigating the turbulent changes in their lives and in their hearts, the two learn that in order to truly love someone, you may have to let them go.
Directed by Lee Toland Krieger, Celeste and Jesse also stars Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Emma Roberts (It’s Kind of a Funny Story), Chris Messina...
Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $35.99
Studio: Sony
Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg are bewildered in Celeste and Jesse Forever.
Plucky Rashida Jones (Monogamy) co-wrote the screenplay along with co-star Will McCormack (TV’s In Plain Sight). and stars with Andy Samberg (TV’s Saturday Night Live) in the romantic comedy movie Celeste and Jesse Forever.
The film follows Celeste (Jones) and Jesse (Samberg) as a young married couple who find themselves growing apart. At 30 years old, they decide to get divorced and attempt to stay best friends while pursuing other relationships. While navigating the turbulent changes in their lives and in their hearts, the two learn that in order to truly love someone, you may have to let them go.
Directed by Lee Toland Krieger, Celeste and Jesse also stars Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Emma Roberts (It’s Kind of a Funny Story), Chris Messina...
- 12/4/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Chris Messina is everywhere. Not literally, but almost: He makes an appearance in six films this year ("Ruby Sparks," "Celeste and Jesse Forever," "The Giant Mechanical Man," "Fairhaven," "28 Hotel Rooms" and the upcoming "Argo"), while also co-starring on three television series ("Damages," "The Newsroom" and the new Fox show "The Mindy Project"). He's so ubiquitous, in fact, that HuffPost Entertainment even made a chart to help new fans tell the difference between Messina and Mark Duplass, another hilariously busy actor in 2012.
"That was really nice of you guys to do that," Messina, who was sent the chart by Duplass, told HuffPost. "I love Mark, and it was flattering that you guys thought of us."
It's hard not to think of Messina, especially with two of his films in theaters right now: "Ruby Sparks" and the just-released "Celeste and Jesse Forever." In that latter film, about a couple navigating the waters of a divorce,...
"That was really nice of you guys to do that," Messina, who was sent the chart by Duplass, told HuffPost. "I love Mark, and it was flattering that you guys thought of us."
It's hard not to think of Messina, especially with two of his films in theaters right now: "Ruby Sparks" and the just-released "Celeste and Jesse Forever." In that latter film, about a couple navigating the waters of a divorce,...
- 8/3/2012
- by Christopher Rosen
- Huffington Post
What happens when a couple knows it's over but can't bear to part? That's the painful scenario at the heart of "Celeste and Jesse Forever," the new indie rom-com co-written by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. When the movie begins, Celeste (Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) are deep in denial about what their decision to get divorced means for them and those around them. No, they're not having sex anymore -- not regularly, anyway -- but does that mean they can't keep going to dinner with friends and making schmoopy faces and reading the menu to each other in hilarious voices?
Eventually, alas, it does. And the result is an emotional roller coaster ride that's alternately hilarious and excruciating to behold. Actually, it's mostly both at the same time. Samberg gets first-timer points for playing a three-dimensional character who doesn't carry his genitals in a box, but it's Jones who delivers a truly revelatory performance.
Eventually, alas, it does. And the result is an emotional roller coaster ride that's alternately hilarious and excruciating to behold. Actually, it's mostly both at the same time. Samberg gets first-timer points for playing a three-dimensional character who doesn't carry his genitals in a box, but it's Jones who delivers a truly revelatory performance.
- 7/31/2012
- by Michael Hogan
- Huffington Post
Chicago – With so many unfaithful weiners crowding the daily news cycle, I suppose it’s as appropriate a time as any for a film like Dana Adam Shapiro’s “Monogamy.” As in the over-publicized Anthony Weiner case, the infidelity in Shapiro’s film never actually takes place. Instead of physical contact, the affair takes place entirely within the obsessive mind of a sexually frustrated voyeur.
Unfortunately, the voyeur is played by Chris Messina, a good actor who seems oddly incapable of garnering audience empathy. Every time his face shows up on the screen, I’m suddenly filled with the intense desire to punch it. Perhaps my reaction is simply due to the fact that Messina has delivered multiple memorable portrayals of oafish, self-absorbed masculinity. He played the allegedly lovable boyfriend in “Julie & Julia,” who devoured his wife’s carefully prepared dishes with all the etiquette of a slovenly swine.
DVD...
Unfortunately, the voyeur is played by Chris Messina, a good actor who seems oddly incapable of garnering audience empathy. Every time his face shows up on the screen, I’m suddenly filled with the intense desire to punch it. Perhaps my reaction is simply due to the fact that Messina has delivered multiple memorable portrayals of oafish, self-absorbed masculinity. He played the allegedly lovable boyfriend in “Julie & Julia,” who devoured his wife’s carefully prepared dishes with all the etiquette of a slovenly swine.
DVD...
- 6/23/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(June 2011, screening at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed/Written by: Amber Sealey
Starring: Kent Osborne, Amber Sealey, Amanda Street, Dan Ewen, V. Kim Blish and Gabriel Diamond
Watching an out-of-shape middle-ager bounce around his backyard wearing nothing but his (lack of) dignity is a rare beginning to a rare movie about a married limo driver who sketches raunchy stick figures on Post-it notes and for whom sex with his wife is something slotted between appointments for the purposes of conception. While traffic congestion is forever imminent, and L.A.’s concrete streets are represented with a poetic prettiness, the idiosyncrasies inherent in this union sit uncomfortably in the foreground of all decisions and actions to unfold.
Kent Osborne’s brand of real man was used to apt effect in Joe Swanberg’s “Hannah Takes the Stairs” and “Uncle Kent,” and Osborne again brings an...
(June 2011, screening at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed/Written by: Amber Sealey
Starring: Kent Osborne, Amber Sealey, Amanda Street, Dan Ewen, V. Kim Blish and Gabriel Diamond
Watching an out-of-shape middle-ager bounce around his backyard wearing nothing but his (lack of) dignity is a rare beginning to a rare movie about a married limo driver who sketches raunchy stick figures on Post-it notes and for whom sex with his wife is something slotted between appointments for the purposes of conception. While traffic congestion is forever imminent, and L.A.’s concrete streets are represented with a poetic prettiness, the idiosyncrasies inherent in this union sit uncomfortably in the foreground of all decisions and actions to unfold.
Kent Osborne’s brand of real man was used to apt effect in Joe Swanberg’s “Hannah Takes the Stairs” and “Uncle Kent,” and Osborne again brings an...
- 6/21/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(June 2011, screening at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed/Written by: Amber Sealey
Starring: Kent Osborne, Amber Sealey, Amanda Street, Dan Ewen, V. Kim Blish and Gabriel Diamond
Watching an out-of-shape middle-ager bounce around his backyard wearing nothing but his (lack of) dignity is a rare beginning to a rare movie about a married limo driver who sketches raunchy stick figures on Post-it notes and for whom sex with his wife is something slotted between appointments for the purposes of conception. While traffic congestion is forever imminent, and L.A.’s concrete streets are represented with a poetic prettiness, the idiosyncrasies inherent in this union sit uncomfortably in the foreground of all decisions and actions to unfold.
Kent Osborne’s brand of real man was used to apt effect in Joe Swanberg’s “Hannah Takes the Stairs” and “Uncle Kent,” and Osborne again brings an...
(June 2011, screening at the 2011 Los Angeles Film Festival)
Directed/Written by: Amber Sealey
Starring: Kent Osborne, Amber Sealey, Amanda Street, Dan Ewen, V. Kim Blish and Gabriel Diamond
Watching an out-of-shape middle-ager bounce around his backyard wearing nothing but his (lack of) dignity is a rare beginning to a rare movie about a married limo driver who sketches raunchy stick figures on Post-it notes and for whom sex with his wife is something slotted between appointments for the purposes of conception. While traffic congestion is forever imminent, and L.A.’s concrete streets are represented with a poetic prettiness, the idiosyncrasies inherent in this union sit uncomfortably in the foreground of all decisions and actions to unfold.
Kent Osborne’s brand of real man was used to apt effect in Joe Swanberg’s “Hannah Takes the Stairs” and “Uncle Kent,” and Osborne again brings an...
- 6/21/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
By Christopher Stipp
The Archives, Right Here
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
Monogamy - DVD Review
Color me surprised at how much I liked this film.
At first glance you could see a movie about a photographer who takes clandestine pictures of clients who pay to be shot in the wild, an odd subset of humans who need to see what it’s like to be shown in their natural territory, as something Hitchcock would cook up when one of the clients takes it up a notch and gets a little freaky deekey, having a penchant for voyeurism.
Purposely antagonizing the guy, the sexualized client and photog share in a relationship that isn’t so much physical as it is cerebral. As, you see, the guy is getting married to Rashida Jones, a woman...
The Archives, Right Here
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
Monogamy - DVD Review
Color me surprised at how much I liked this film.
At first glance you could see a movie about a photographer who takes clandestine pictures of clients who pay to be shot in the wild, an odd subset of humans who need to see what it’s like to be shown in their natural territory, as something Hitchcock would cook up when one of the clients takes it up a notch and gets a little freaky deekey, having a penchant for voyeurism.
Purposely antagonizing the guy, the sexualized client and photog share in a relationship that isn’t so much physical as it is cerebral. As, you see, the guy is getting married to Rashida Jones, a woman...
- 6/18/2011
- by Christopher Stipp
The last time we heard about the indie dramedy Celeste and Jesse Forever, Seth Gordon, who directed the wonderful doc King of Kong and the gruesome yuletide comedy Four Christmases, was in negotiations to direct, while Parks and Recreation star Rashida Jones, who was co-writing with Will McCormack, was attached to star. Now. Variety has announced a shakeup and revealed the latest cast additions.
First off Lee Toland Krieger, who helmed the underseen indie gem The Vicious Kind (which stars Parks & Rec’s Adam Scott) has signed on to direct Celeste and Jesse, and he’s brought on a boatload of indie stars – and Andy Samberg.
Jones and Samberg will co-star as a couple who is divorcing, and living together…and trying to stay friends while they re-enter the dating pool. You know, like you do.Chris Messina, who played Jones’ beau earlier this year in Monogamy, will play a...
First off Lee Toland Krieger, who helmed the underseen indie gem The Vicious Kind (which stars Parks & Rec’s Adam Scott) has signed on to direct Celeste and Jesse, and he’s brought on a boatload of indie stars – and Andy Samberg.
Jones and Samberg will co-star as a couple who is divorcing, and living together…and trying to stay friends while they re-enter the dating pool. You know, like you do.Chris Messina, who played Jones’ beau earlier this year in Monogamy, will play a...
- 5/23/2011
- by Kristy Puchko
- The Film Stage
Rashida Jones' rise in the comedy world after debuting on "The Office" a few years ago is definitely commendable. The daughter of music legend Quincy Jones (we're sure she loves hearing that) is a regular on NBC's "Parks And Recreation," has already starred in "I Love You, Man" and will soon be seen in "My Idiot Brother," "The Big Year" and "The Muppets." She's ventured into producing as well with director Dana Adam Shapiro's Brooklyn-based relationship drama "Monogamy" and will soon make her writing debut with "Celeste And Jesse Forever" which will see her star along side Andy Samberg. The…...
- 5/21/2011
- The Playlist
You can brand them as peddlers of Brad Pitt, as U.S based Inferno Entertainment have got some highly anticipated titles in their sales line-up and one matches Pitt with Andrew Dominik in Cogan's Trade (they worked together on Jesse James) and James Gray should be rolling out the cameras one of these days for The Lost City of Z with Pitt attached in the lead. Joe Carnahan's The Grey is on the map as well. Killer Elite by Gary McKendry - Post-Production The Grey by Joe Carnahan - Post-Production Cogan's Trade by Andrew Dominik - Post-Production The Entitled by Aaron Woodley - Completed Arabian Nights by Chuck Russell - Pre-Production Cane Toads: The Conquest by Mark Lewis - Completed Five Star Day by Danny Buday - Completed Hachiko: A Dog's Story by Lasse HALLSTRÖM - Completed Happy Tears by Mitchell Lichtenstein - Completed How To Make Love Like...
- 5/13/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Despite his first major directing work, Murderball, being a critical hit and earning a Best Documentary nomination at the Academy Awards, Henry-Alex Rubin hasn’t directed anything substantial since that film’s release, which was nearly six years ago. In fact, the only directing credit listed on his IMDb page after that film is an episode of something called Schooled, which he did in 2007.
But he’ll be returning to filmmaking, and also making his debut in narrative directing. Deadline tells us that he’ll be helming Disconnect, a drama written by Andrew Stern, who also seems to have a small history in the industry, as his only film credit is the story for Return to Me. It’s described as telling “the linked stories of a group of contemporary characters searching for human connection in a wired world,” which makes the title a pun. Or something of that nature.
But he’ll be returning to filmmaking, and also making his debut in narrative directing. Deadline tells us that he’ll be helming Disconnect, a drama written by Andrew Stern, who also seems to have a small history in the industry, as his only film credit is the story for Return to Me. It’s described as telling “the linked stories of a group of contemporary characters searching for human connection in a wired world,” which makes the title a pun. Or something of that nature.
- 4/15/2011
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The 8th annual Calgary Underground Film Festival is set to run on April 11-17 at The Plaza Theater with 18 feature films and documentaries, several live performances, a classic cartoon extravaganza and Cuff’s legendary 48-hour Movie Making Challenge.
Sentient car tires. Wrongly accused hillbillies. Post-apocalyptic vampire hunters. Rage-filled neighbors. Real-life superheroes. Angry Star Wars fans. Those are just a few of the oddball characters you’ll find in the Cuff lineup below that includes festival hits such as Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, The Woman, Superheroes, A Horrible Way to Die, Shut Up Little Man!, Rubber and more.
Some of the special events include: Not only a screening of Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson’s documentary Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, but a live concert by the band after the screening. Plus, there will be a wild live burlesque show being held as a fundraiser for the upcoming film...
Sentient car tires. Wrongly accused hillbillies. Post-apocalyptic vampire hunters. Rage-filled neighbors. Real-life superheroes. Angry Star Wars fans. Those are just a few of the oddball characters you’ll find in the Cuff lineup below that includes festival hits such as Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil, The Woman, Superheroes, A Horrible Way to Die, Shut Up Little Man!, Rubber and more.
Some of the special events include: Not only a screening of Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson’s documentary Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone, but a live concert by the band after the screening. Plus, there will be a wild live burlesque show being held as a fundraiser for the upcoming film...
- 4/6/2011
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Spoiler alert: This interview contains information about the film that reveals some plot details
For the past two years, Dana Adam Shapiro has been immersing himself in other people's breakups. As part of his research for what began as an oral history of divorce and what has blossomed into a book, due out from Scribner in 2012, the former journalist and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker (Murderball) asked dozens of men and women across the country to open up to him about the most intimate details of their splits. Along the way, he co-wrote and directed a movie inspired by many of the themes that emerged from those candid discussions.
The film, Monogamy, which opened across the country earlier this month, stars Chris Messina and Rashida Jones as Theo and Nat, a soon-to-be-married Brooklyn couple who are forced to confront some major problems in their relationship when Theo, a photographer whom clients hire...
For the past two years, Dana Adam Shapiro has been immersing himself in other people's breakups. As part of his research for what began as an oral history of divorce and what has blossomed into a book, due out from Scribner in 2012, the former journalist and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker (Murderball) asked dozens of men and women across the country to open up to him about the most intimate details of their splits. Along the way, he co-wrote and directed a movie inspired by many of the themes that emerged from those candid discussions.
The film, Monogamy, which opened across the country earlier this month, stars Chris Messina and Rashida Jones as Theo and Nat, a soon-to-be-married Brooklyn couple who are forced to confront some major problems in their relationship when Theo, a photographer whom clients hire...
- 3/31/2011
- by Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
[1] Since the beginning of his career, Dwayne Johnson has rotated between action roles, comedy roles, and family roles. His latest project will fall solidly into the "action" part of his resume. Johnson has signed on to star in Snitch, directed by Ric Roman Waugh (Felon). The script was written by Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road), with a rewrite by Waugh. Johnson will play a father who goes undercover to help catch a drug dealer when his son is falsely imprisoned for drug dealing. Although the script sounds like typical action fare, it's actually based on a Frontline documentary [2] about anti-drug laws. How closely it follows true events remains to be seen, but considering that the real story [3] doesn't sound all that much like an action thriller, I'm guessing not very. Johnson's next onscreen appearance will be in Fast Five next month, and he is currently working on Journey 2: The Mysterious Island [4]. [Deadline [5]] After the jump,...
- 3/25/2011
- by Angie Han
- Slash Film
Monogamy, the new drama directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Dana Adam Shapiro (Murderball), will be released on DVD on June 14 by Oscilloscope Laboratories. The film stars Rashida Jones (The Social Network) and Chris Messina (Greenberg).
Rashida Jones and Chris Messina attempt to follow the rules of Monogamy.
In the movie, Messina plays wedding photographer Theo, who lives a comfortable life in Brooklyn with his budding musician fiancee Nat (Jones). Thoroughly bored with his day job and increasingly anxious about his upcoming wedding, Theo embarks upon a risky and adventurous side project: He’s hired by clients to clandestinely snap voyeuristic photos as they go about their days. Things go smoothly until a sexy new customer’s (Meital Dohan, TV’s Weeds) very public exhibitionism sparks an obsession in Theo. As he captures her day and night, the woman’s mysterious trysts and illicit behavior send him reeling, forcing him to...
Rashida Jones and Chris Messina attempt to follow the rules of Monogamy.
In the movie, Messina plays wedding photographer Theo, who lives a comfortable life in Brooklyn with his budding musician fiancee Nat (Jones). Thoroughly bored with his day job and increasingly anxious about his upcoming wedding, Theo embarks upon a risky and adventurous side project: He’s hired by clients to clandestinely snap voyeuristic photos as they go about their days. Things go smoothly until a sexy new customer’s (Meital Dohan, TV’s Weeds) very public exhibitionism sparks an obsession in Theo. As he captures her day and night, the woman’s mysterious trysts and illicit behavior send him reeling, forcing him to...
- 3/24/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg are in love. In fact, they even got married, but it's just not working out.
Mind you, this is all on paper.
The "Parks and Rec" star and "SNL" actor are set to star in an inverted love story that Jones co-wrote called "Celeste & Jesse." In a fitting move for the two comedy vets -- between them, the two have starred in NBC's top three comedy shows -- the film will turn the recent spate of romantic comedies on their head.
"Our movie is about two people who love each other a ton but they don't know what to do with that love, and how do you let that person go," Jones told the Los Angeles Times. "It's very different from: 'I like having sex with this person because I'm so modern but then, ooh, maybe I like them.' I'm less interested in that story.
Mind you, this is all on paper.
The "Parks and Rec" star and "SNL" actor are set to star in an inverted love story that Jones co-wrote called "Celeste & Jesse." In a fitting move for the two comedy vets -- between them, the two have starred in NBC's top three comedy shows -- the film will turn the recent spate of romantic comedies on their head.
"Our movie is about two people who love each other a ton but they don't know what to do with that love, and how do you let that person go," Jones told the Los Angeles Times. "It's very different from: 'I like having sex with this person because I'm so modern but then, ooh, maybe I like them.' I'm less interested in that story.
- 3/23/2011
- by Jordan Zakarin
- Huffington Post
For a while it seemed Rashida Jones would be permanently stuck in the role of the pretty, funny-ish but ultimately disposable girl in a comedy-- it happened to Karen on The Office, to her fiancee character Zooey in I Love You Man, and at first to Ann Perkins, her nurse character on Parks & Recreation. But as that show has gotten better it's done far more with Ann, allowing Jones to get just as zany as her co-stars and prove her comedic chops; at the same time she's popped up in a small role in The Social Network and the dramatic indie Monogamy, proving she's got more serious skills in there too. On top of it all, Jones is trying her hand as a screenwriter, and now funding has finally come together for her romantic comedy Celeste and Jesse Forever. The La Times reports that Jones and Andy Samberg will co-star...
- 3/23/2011
- cinemablend.com
'The Vicious Kind' Director Lee Toland Krieger At The Helm Presumably, Rashida Jones has some kind of flaw. You can't be bitten by Michael Jackson's pet monkey Bubbles as a child (as she was) and come out completely unscathed. But she certainly doesn't seem to demonstrate any: the Harvard-educated daughter of legendary music producer Quincy Jones has made it entirely on her own steam, thanks to being traffic-stoppingly beautiful and immensely talented, both comedically (recent episodes of the spectacularly good "Parks and Recreation," on which she's a regular, have seen her stretch her comic wings) and dramatically (see "Monogamy," where…...
- 3/23/2011
- The Playlist
Monogamy, starring Parks & Recreation's Rashida Jones and Chris Messina, focuses on how our bodies always tell the truth. Our words may say one thing, while our faces, eyes and body language may say another. The problem is we don’t always know why, so reading into things may get us into trouble. This film is about truth, lies and photography. It is also about communication and what makes a couple work. It is a fascinating character study and brings up some interesting ideas. How much do we really know about each other?
A wedding photographer who makes just enough to get by, creates a second job in order to make more money. He has always been fascinated by the real stories that pictures tell by the studying the background, body language and expressions of the subjects in them. His new
Read more...
A wedding photographer who makes just enough to get by, creates a second job in order to make more money. He has always been fascinated by the real stories that pictures tell by the studying the background, body language and expressions of the subjects in them. His new
Read more...
- 3/21/2011
- CineMovie
When it comes to filmmaking, there are big differences between documentary and narrative. Both formats have both advantages and disadvantages, from multiple takes to casting, but they do have some similarities. Just as writer/director Dana Adam Shapiro. After making his documentary debut in 2005 with Murderball, he.s now set to release his first narrative feature, the romantic drama Monogamy. This past week I had the pleasure of sitting down with Shapiro for a one-on-one interview where we discussed his newest project at length. Among our topics of conversation, we discussed what it was about Chris Messina and Rashida Jones that made them the perfect casting, creating and throwing away storyboards, and how he and his writing partner actually tried to make their protagonist as unlikeable as possible. Check out the interview below. Spoiler Warning: Some sections of this interview do contain spoilers regarding the plot and ending of Monogamy.
- 3/18/2011
- cinemablend.com
Whether it's the straightwoman to Amy Poehler's Leslie Knope on "Parks and Recreation" or the patient fiancée to Paul Rudd's Peter Klaven in "I Love You, Man," Rashida Jones has carved out a niche as one of the most confident and reliable comic foils working in the business today, which is why it is with some surprise to see her all wrapped up in self-doubt with one of her first dramatic roles to date in Dana Adam Shapiro's "Monogamy," a thriller concerning a soon-to-be-wed couple (Jones and "Away We Go"'s Chris Messina) put to the test as the would-be groom Theo begins to get cold feet about commitment after his side job as a "photostalker," where people pay him to capture them in their most intimate moments without their knowledge, leads to his questioning a life shared with just one person.
Since the significant other in question is Jones,...
Since the significant other in question is Jones,...
- 3/17/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Rashida Jones. From Patrick McMullan. With Natalie Portman off the market, it feels like the Web needs another brainy Harvard beauty with whom to fall in love. To that end, Internet, may we humbly suggest Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue cover girl Rashida Jones? The actress first made us laugh as Karen, Pam’s adversary for Jim’s affection on The Office, and added fresh tension by being a rival you actually rooted for. Since then, the understated, wry, and approachably cool Jones has been making her own bid for the public’s affection with plum roles in Parks and Recreation, I Love You, Man, and The Social Network, where she had the film’s memorable last words. Now, she’s starring opposite Chris Messina in Monogamy, directed by Dana Adam Shapiro. The film follows a seemingly happily engaged couple whose relationship is tested when Messina starts obsessively photo-stalking a blonde exhibitionist.
- 3/17/2011
- Vanity Fair
Rashida Jones has called marriage a "failed institution". Speaking to E!, the Parks and Recreation star said that marriage is outmoded, and she is hoping for a new relationship model to emerge. "Things are changing so much. Especially [in] this country, we have kind of failed with marriage," said Jones, who stars in the new film Monogamy, which centres on an engaged couple dealing with relationship problems. The 35-year-old added: "We're so protective of this really sacred but failed institution. (more)...
- 3/16/2011
- by By Mike Moody
- Digital Spy
Rashida Jones is the perfect catch. She's beautiful, talented, smart (she went to Harvard, people!) and her parents are music maestro Quincy Jones and model turned actress Peggy Lipton. But there's one hitch, fellas—Rashida may not be the marrying kind. "Things are changing so much," Jones says. "Especially this country, we have kind of failed with marriage. We're so protective of this really sacred but failed institution. There's got to be a new model. I don't know what it is, but maybe it's like 10 years with a lease to buy or rent to own." The Parks and Recreation star has good reason to be talking relationships. Her new movie Monogamy (out on Friday) is...
- 3/16/2011
- E! Online
In Monogamy, Chris Messina plays Theo, a burnt out wedding photographer who starts a side job that involves photographing clients in a more natural, unaware surrounding. When one of his clients with the provocative handle "Subgirl" (Meital Dohan) shows up for her session and puts on quite a show, it leads Theo down a road of obsession that puts a strain on his current engagement to Nat (Rashida Jones). Movieline sat down with Messina to discuss the dark twists of Monogamy, an audition outburst that led to him being banned for life from the future work of The Sopranos' David Chase, and why it was unfair that Devil got caught up in the stink left over from M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender.
- 3/14/2011
- Movieline
Today we begin what will be a Friday tradition here on the site. Ioncinema.com's Weekend Watch is a basic rundown of cinematic opening weekend offerings with Erica Elson guiding your choices in U.S Indie, Foreign, Documentaries and Studio film releases. This weekend you'll definitely want to skip the studio picks and the duelling alien items and if you're lucky enough to be in L.A or NYC you'll want to check out Abbas Kiarostami’s gem Certified Copy. U.S Indie 3 Backyards – Eric Mendelsohn – Screen Media Edie Falco stars in this atmospheric drama that takes place over the course of an autumn afternoon. It’s been getting very positive reviews and won the Directing Award at Sundance in 2010. This is Mendelsohn's big return since 1999's Judy Berlin. Metacritic: 75% MovieReviewIntelligence: 66.5% Elektra Luxx – Sebastian Gutierrez – Samuel Goldwyn Films A pregnant ex-porn star goes on a series of adventures in an...
- 3/12/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
If you thought "Blue Valentine" was a laugh riot, get ready to piss yourself during Monogamy."
Which is to say that "Monogamy," a new indie starring Rashida Jones and Chris Messina, takes the dramatic potential of the sort of romantic love explored in "Blue Valentine" and drags it into new, insanely depressing depths. Looked at another way, though, "Monogamy" is simply an unsparing and utterly truthful look at a couple in, and sometimes out, of love, as difficult as that may be to watch.
Making it all the more difficult is the fact that, off-screen, Jones and Messina are actually friends. "I was nervous, because she went to high school with my girlfriend," Messina told MTV News of Jones. "She would come over to my apartment and play with my kids. That's how I knew Rashida. When we first decided to do this together, I was a bit scared. Not only making out,...
Which is to say that "Monogamy," a new indie starring Rashida Jones and Chris Messina, takes the dramatic potential of the sort of romantic love explored in "Blue Valentine" and drags it into new, insanely depressing depths. Looked at another way, though, "Monogamy" is simply an unsparing and utterly truthful look at a couple in, and sometimes out, of love, as difficult as that may be to watch.
Making it all the more difficult is the fact that, off-screen, Jones and Messina are actually friends. "I was nervous, because she went to high school with my girlfriend," Messina told MTV News of Jones. "She would come over to my apartment and play with my kids. That's how I knew Rashida. When we first decided to do this together, I was a bit scared. Not only making out,...
- 3/11/2011
- by Eric Ditzian
- MTV Movies Blog
If you're looking for a night out at the movies, you've got plenty of options in theatres this weekend, particularly if you live in a major city. The three major releases that are out today include Jonathan Liebesman's alien invasion flick Battle: Los Angeles, Disney motion capture movie Mars Needs Moms, and Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried. On the other hand, if you're looking for something that is actually getting decent reviews, in limited release we also have Christopher Smith's medieval horror flick Black Death and Cary Fukunaga's take on Jane Eyre. In select theatres you can also find Elektra Luxx starring Carla Gugino and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jonathan Hensleigh's Kill the Irishman, and Monogamy starring Chris Messina and Rashida Jones. What will you be checking out this weekend? Red Riding Hood [1] Battle: Los Angeles [2] Mars Needs Moms [3] Jane Eyre [4] (limited) Elektra Luxx [5] (limited) Kill the Irishman...
- 3/11/2011
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
What would Hollywood be like without the co-star romance? Halle Berry may not have fallen for her french beau Olivier Martinez. Will and Jada may never have gotten married -- imagine a world without Willow. On the heels of the premiere of her indie film "Monogamy," Rashida Jones opened up about the draw of the on-set love affair... Here's what you had to say: April commented via Facebook: "Never get your honey where you make your money." Shareka wrote via Facebook: "I fell in love with my co-worker and we have been married for 16 years."...
- 3/10/2011
- Essence
From the filmmaker who crafted the gritty and inspiring documentary Murderball, comes a relationship drama that masquerades as a neo-noir. Monogamy dabbles in daring, but never quite manages the subversion of classic noir tales.
In his narrative debut, Dana Adam Shapiro serves as co-writer and director in this drama that centers on Theo (Chris Messina), a frustrated wedding photographer by day, and self-proclaimed spy by night. With his side business (cleverly titled Gumshoot), Theo stalks paying customers and snaps voyeuristic photos so they can see themselves as others do. The conflict arises when this soon-to-be wed photographer is contracted to play Peeping Tom to an exhibitionistic young woman. Sure, with his charming, guitar-playing fiancée (Rashida Jones), he laughs at the lunacy of a woman who pays to have her public indiscretions photographed, but in private he falls into a Hitchcockian obsession with this strange seductress he knows only as Subgirl.
In his narrative debut, Dana Adam Shapiro serves as co-writer and director in this drama that centers on Theo (Chris Messina), a frustrated wedding photographer by day, and self-proclaimed spy by night. With his side business (cleverly titled Gumshoot), Theo stalks paying customers and snaps voyeuristic photos so they can see themselves as others do. The conflict arises when this soon-to-be wed photographer is contracted to play Peeping Tom to an exhibitionistic young woman. Sure, with his charming, guitar-playing fiancée (Rashida Jones), he laughs at the lunacy of a woman who pays to have her public indiscretions photographed, but in private he falls into a Hitchcockian obsession with this strange seductress he knows only as Subgirl.
- 3/9/2011
- by Kristy Puchko
- The Film Stage
This is a republish of our review that ran last year during the Tribeca Film Festival. Shot beautifully, right in the middle of the Brooklyn neighborhood that houses The Playlist headquarters and even prominently featuring our local watering hole and one of its well-liked jovial bartenders, "Monogamy"nevertheless remains a fairly unconvincing portrait of a romantic implosion, and a picture that becomes unbearably precious and self-important once the amiable set up is dispensed with. The feature-length debut of documentary filmmaker Dana Adam Shapiro (the excellent 2005 picture, "Murderball"), the relationship drama does start out promisingly enough with its gorgeous, textured cinematography…...
- 3/8/2011
- The Playlist
Reviewed by Chris Allsop
(March 2011)
Directed by: Dana Adam Shapiro
Written by: Dana Adam Shapiro and Evan M. Wiener
Starring: Chris Messina, Rashida Jones, Meitel Dohan, Ivan Martin, Neal Huff and Sarah Burns
Relationships are fascinating in their eternal variety, and the mysteries of what makes one couple work and another misfire remain ever compelling. It’s why filmmakers have long plundered this fertile territory for celluloid purposes, and the latest in this thematic tradition is Dana Adam Shapiro’s “Monogamy” — a dramatic/comedic look at the cold-feet phenomenon with a modern twist.
Theo (Chris Messina) and Nat (Rashida Jones) are a hip thirtysomething couple engaged to be married. Paying the bills through wedding photography, Theo sets up a sideline to kick-start the creative juices: He is hired by clients to clandestinely snap voyeuristic photos of them. When a female exhibitionist repeatedly hires Theo to document her public trysts, his...
(March 2011)
Directed by: Dana Adam Shapiro
Written by: Dana Adam Shapiro and Evan M. Wiener
Starring: Chris Messina, Rashida Jones, Meitel Dohan, Ivan Martin, Neal Huff and Sarah Burns
Relationships are fascinating in their eternal variety, and the mysteries of what makes one couple work and another misfire remain ever compelling. It’s why filmmakers have long plundered this fertile territory for celluloid purposes, and the latest in this thematic tradition is Dana Adam Shapiro’s “Monogamy” — a dramatic/comedic look at the cold-feet phenomenon with a modern twist.
Theo (Chris Messina) and Nat (Rashida Jones) are a hip thirtysomething couple engaged to be married. Paying the bills through wedding photography, Theo sets up a sideline to kick-start the creative juices: He is hired by clients to clandestinely snap voyeuristic photos of them. When a female exhibitionist repeatedly hires Theo to document her public trysts, his...
- 3/8/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Reviewed by Chris Allsop
(March 2011)
Directed by: Dana Adam Shapiro
Written by: Dana Adam Shapiro and Evan M. Wiener
Starring: Chris Messina, Rashida Jones, Meitel Dohan, Ivan Martin, Neal Huff and Sarah Burns
Relationships are fascinating in their eternal variety, and the mysteries of what makes one couple work and another misfire remain ever compelling. It’s why filmmakers have long plundered this fertile territory for celluloid purposes, and the latest in this thematic tradition is Dana Adam Shapiro’s “Monogamy” — a dramatic/comedic look at the cold-feet phenomenon with a modern twist.
Theo (Chris Messina) and Nat (Rashida Jones) are a hip thirtysomething couple engaged to be married. Paying the bills through wedding photography, Theo sets up a sideline to kick-start the creative juices: He is hired by clients to clandestinely snap voyeuristic photos of them. When a female exhibitionist repeatedly hires Theo to document her public trysts, his...
(March 2011)
Directed by: Dana Adam Shapiro
Written by: Dana Adam Shapiro and Evan M. Wiener
Starring: Chris Messina, Rashida Jones, Meitel Dohan, Ivan Martin, Neal Huff and Sarah Burns
Relationships are fascinating in their eternal variety, and the mysteries of what makes one couple work and another misfire remain ever compelling. It’s why filmmakers have long plundered this fertile territory for celluloid purposes, and the latest in this thematic tradition is Dana Adam Shapiro’s “Monogamy” — a dramatic/comedic look at the cold-feet phenomenon with a modern twist.
Theo (Chris Messina) and Nat (Rashida Jones) are a hip thirtysomething couple engaged to be married. Paying the bills through wedding photography, Theo sets up a sideline to kick-start the creative juices: He is hired by clients to clandestinely snap voyeuristic photos of them. When a female exhibitionist repeatedly hires Theo to document her public trysts, his...
- 3/8/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Dana Adam Shapiro's Tff '10 alum pins an elusive seductress against a relationship on the brink. Catch it on VOD tomorrow and in theaters March 11! After winning the Tff 2010 award for Best NY Narrative feature, Dana Adam Shapiro's (Oscar-nommed Murderball) Brooklyn-based drama returns home for another run. Tribeca Film Festival programmer Roya Rastegar on Monogamy: Thirtysomethings Theo (Chris Messina) and Nat (Rashida Jones) are engaged to be married. They live what seems to be on all counts a comfortable life of love, music, and laughter in their cozy Brooklyn apartment. But Theo is bored with his job as a wedding photographer - the generic backgrounds, the artificial posing, the stilted newlyweds - so he develops the unconventional side business "Gumshoot," a service where clients hire him to secretly stalk them with his camera. When he is called out on a job to snap pics of an exhibitionist...
- 3/1/2011
- TribecaFilm.com
Ballet drama "Black Swan" triumphed at the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards and won for Best Feature, Best Director for Darren Aronofsky, Best Female Lead for Natalie Portman, and Best Cinematography for Matthew Libatique.
Oscar nominee Natalie Portman added this victory to her impressive collection of awards she took home this season, including a Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG Award for Best Actress. Best Supporting Female went to Dale Dickey for "Winter's Bone."
15 Facts about Natalie Portman!
Oscar nominee Natalie Portman added this victory to her impressive collection of awards she took home this season, including a Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG Award for Best Actress. Best Supporting Female went to Dale Dickey for "Winter's Bone."
15 Facts about Natalie Portman!
- 2/27/2011
- Extra
With all the "Black Swan" hoopla, am I the only one who thinks that the film, while well-made, is not deserving of all these hyper-crazed adulations? Portman was good, but I prefer Annette Bening's understated performance in "The Kids Are All Right." Or heck, Jennifer Lawrence's "Winter's Bone" performance could easily outdance Portman's delusional ballerina portrayal any day.
And "Winter's Bone," celebrating its true independent spirit, was virtually snubbed at last night's Independent Spirit Awards. Sure, the excellent supporting cast was honored with Dale Dickey winning Best Supporting Female and John Hawkes for Best Supporting Male, but the engaging and deeply haunting Debra Granik movie (with the most nominations totaling to seven nods) lost out to...you guessed it, Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan." (Check out my "Winter's Bone" movie review right here)
And yes, I do admire Aronofsky, I thought "The Wrestler" was one of his personal...
And "Winter's Bone," celebrating its true independent spirit, was virtually snubbed at last night's Independent Spirit Awards. Sure, the excellent supporting cast was honored with Dale Dickey winning Best Supporting Female and John Hawkes for Best Supporting Male, but the engaging and deeply haunting Debra Granik movie (with the most nominations totaling to seven nods) lost out to...you guessed it, Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan." (Check out my "Winter's Bone" movie review right here)
And yes, I do admire Aronofsky, I thought "The Wrestler" was one of his personal...
- 2/27/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Well, every year the Independent Spirit Awards are handed out the night before the Oscars, and every year, it seems that they are honouring a completely different set of films, despite having a number of overlapping nominees. At this point, it almost seems like you don't want to win a Spirit Award because if you do, it means you won't end up winning the Oscar. Assuming history repeats itself, James Franco's chances of winning Best Actor for 127 Hours just got a little worse (not that he really had a shot in the first place), and Natalie Portman might not be the lock that everyone thinks she is. Black Swan also ended up taking home Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Cinematography, while John Hawkes and Dale Dickey took home Supporting Actor and Actress awards for Winter's Bone. The Kids Are All Right ended up getting Best Screenplay, while Exit Through the Gift Shop...
- 2/27/2011
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
The debate rages on as to whether the doomed Nina really did dance a "perfect" performance of "Swan Lake" in "Black Swan."
But the Independent Spirit Awards have certainly acknowledged that the movie itself came pretty close to perfection.
"Black Swan" swept the Spirit Awards with wins for Best Feature, Best Female Lead, Best Director and Best Cinematography. Darren Aronofsky's operatic tale of fear, loathing and madness at the New York City Ballet won in every category for which it was nominated.
While Natalie Portman may have beaten Jennifer Lawrence in the Best Female Lead category, "Winter's Bone" did take home awards for the performances of two of its supporting players, Dale Dickey and Jack Hawkes.
Meanwhile, the co-host of this year's Oscars, James Franco, won for his lead performance in "127 Hours." The newly PG-13-rated "The King's Speech" won Best Foreign Film and "Exit Through the Gift Shop" won Best Documentary,...
But the Independent Spirit Awards have certainly acknowledged that the movie itself came pretty close to perfection.
"Black Swan" swept the Spirit Awards with wins for Best Feature, Best Female Lead, Best Director and Best Cinematography. Darren Aronofsky's operatic tale of fear, loathing and madness at the New York City Ballet won in every category for which it was nominated.
While Natalie Portman may have beaten Jennifer Lawrence in the Best Female Lead category, "Winter's Bone" did take home awards for the performances of two of its supporting players, Dale Dickey and Jack Hawkes.
Meanwhile, the co-host of this year's Oscars, James Franco, won for his lead performance in "127 Hours." The newly PG-13-rated "The King's Speech" won Best Foreign Film and "Exit Through the Gift Shop" won Best Documentary,...
- 2/27/2011
- by Bryan Enk
- NextMovie
I went 10/13 with my predictions of the Indie Spirits today -- my misfires came in the Best Picture and Best Actress categories thinking that Winter's Bone had the edge over Black Swan. Not that Winter's Bone didn't have a good night (it won in the Best Supporting categories - I thought that Bill Murray had the edge over John Hawkes is where I flubbed as well) but it was indeed a Black Swan event -- with additional wins for Directing (Darren Aronofsky) and Cinematography (Matthew Libatique). You can find the winners in bold below. Best Feature 127 Hours Black Swan Greenberg The Kids Are All Right Winter's Bone Best Director Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan Danny Boyle, 127 Hours Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right Debra Granik, Winter's Bone John Cameron Mitchell, Rabbit Hole Best Screenplay Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, Winter's Bone Nicole Holofcener,...
- 2/27/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
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