The website for the Tribeca Film Festival has finally put up video from the Q&A session that followed its closing-night presentation of The King of Comedy, but, alas, it's just an excerpt. I was hoping that the discussion — which included the film's director Martin Scorsese and its stars, Robert De Niro, venerable comedian and filmmaker Jerry Lewis and (briefly, via pre-taped video) Sandra Bernhard — would run in its entirety, because, even after 30 years, the creative tensions that contributed to the film's greatness were still evident. more »
A longstanding gig will keep Sandra Bernhard from attending the Tribeca Film Festival's closing-night screening of The King of Comedy on April 27, but it's not like she needs her memory jogged. The comedienne recalls that making Martin Scorsese's prescient and oh-so-dark 1982 comedy about a deluded stand-up comic (Robert De Niro) who kidnaps his favorite talk-show host (Jerry Lewis), was a "coming-of-age experience that left me a changed person." more »
Martin Scorsese fans in America will have to take a trip to Germany to get a glimpse of Scorsese artifacts and history first-hand. A Berlin Museum will host an exhibition of all things Scorsese, opening the show just weeks before next month's 63rd Berlin International Film Festival.
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Martin Scorsese is taking on the 42nd President of the United States for his next project and Bill Clinton himself is fully participating in the non-fiction film. Produced in conjunction with HBO, the film will "explore his perspectives on history, politics, culture and the world." Scorsese will produce and direct the film.
In announcing the film, Scorsese said Clinton is a "Towering figure who remains a major voice in world issues," adding, "President Clinton continues to shape the political dialogue both here and around the world. Through intimate conversations, I hope to provide greater insight into this transcendent figure."
William Jefferson Clinton served as the 42nd U.S. President from 1993 to 2001 and was the first Democratic leader in six decades to be elected twice. He is credited with leading the U.S. to one of the longest economic expansions in American history. After leaving office, he established the William J. Clinton Foundation which aims to "improve global health, strengthen economies, promote healthier childhoods and protect the environment by fostering partnerships among governments, business, NGOs and private citizens."
"President Clinton is one of the most compelling figures of our time, whose world view and perspective, combined with his uncommon intelligence, making him a singular voice on the world stage," said HBO CEO Richard Plepler and programming president Michael Lombardo in a joint statement. "This documentary, under Marty's gifted direction, creates a unique opportunity for the President to reflect on myriad issues that have consumed his attention and passion throughout both his Presidency and post-Presidency."
"I am pleased that legendary director Martin Scorsese and HBO have agreed to this film," Clinton said in a statement. "I look forward to sharing my perspective on my years as President and my work in the years since with HBO's audience."
Martin Scorsese collaborated with the 2011 doc George Harrison: Living in the Material World. He's also worked with the premium network with the documentary Public Speaking (2010) and the series Boardwalk Empire, in which he is an executive producer.
Martin Scorsese turned 70 on Nov. 17, which makes it an ideal time to look at some of the best cinematic gifts he's given to the world. This list could go on well past the eight clips I've chosen. For instance, Joe Pesci's chilling "Do I amuse you in some way?" scene in GoodFellas could easily be included, but I wanted to feature one clip for each of Scorsese's seven decades (and, in birthday tradition, one to grow on) without repeating any films.
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Orwa Nyrabia is free. The Syrian filmmaker, whose Aug. 23 abduction by military security there prompted a long list of filmmakers to call for his release, was freed on Wednesday in "strong and good spirits," according to his family.
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After reading the statement that Martin Scorsese's representatives released in response to the lawsuit that's been filed against him by Cecchi Gori Pictures over a project called Silence, I think I can save both sides a bundle in lawyer's fees and, ultimately, production costs. (If it could actually ever be financed.) more »
The demise of film and the seeming triumph of digital has been a hot topic of discussion for insiders and hardcore enthusiasts for a number of years. But Keanu Reeves is taking the topic into the mainstream(ish) realm with his latest project, Side by Side, which bowed recently in Los Angeles and is set to hit cities around the U.S. in the coming weeks. Co-produced and narrated by Reeves, the 98-minute documentary landed the likes of James Cameron, David Fincher, David Lynch, George Lucas, Danny Boyle, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and Steven Soderbergh to weigh in on movie-making's (d)evolution. Nolan, he noted, was the most difficult to reach among the people who appear in the doc, which features interviews with 70-plus filmmaking powerhouses. To lure The Dark Knight Rises filmmaker, Reeves went snail mail.
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Also in Monday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, Martin Scorsese's Frank Sinatra pic gets a writer. Harvey Weinstein is tapped to MC Toronto Film Festival-Asian film event. Haley Joel Osment's Sassy Pants is heading to theaters and Jodie Foster boards a mob drama as director for Showtime.
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I finally got a chance to read David Remnick's revealing profile of Bruce Springsteen in the current issue of The New Yorker, and it revived a debate I've been having with myself for a long, long time: Could Hollywood do justice to a Springsteen biopic?
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Also in Wednesday morning's round-up of news briefs, Jon Favreau adds a Martin Scorsese-project to his schedule. European festivals in San Sebastian and Deauville release details about their upcoming events and Leonard DiCaprio is set to back a car-maker.
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Also in Tuesday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, the AMPAS, the organization behind the annual Oscar ceremony adds new members to its Board of Governors and re-elects others including Tom Hanks. New York's Museum of Modern Art long-time senior film curator sets retirement; Entertainment One takes rights to Daniel Radcliffe rom-com; PJ Byrne joins Scorsese pic and a lead role for a Sundance breakout actor.
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Healthcare is grabbing the headlines and the Chattersphere today, but one thing appears to be certain: It's curtains for film. OK, maybe a stretch of a segue, but here's the thing. Sure, there are some high profile holdouts and even digital-converts will attest to the quality and feel of film. But when Martin Scorsese is ready to make the perma-switch, then the slow inevitable demise may have just been given an extra boost.
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Before he skulked the streets of Seattle on The Killing and nabbed the role of Alex Murphy in the upcoming RoboCop reboot, Joel Kinnaman made a splash in his home country of Sweden with the crime drama Easy Money (nee Snabba Cash). The Weinstein Co. snapped up the pic, which also put director Daniel Espinoza (Safe House) on Hollywood's radar, and will debut it stateside this July... with the hefty endorsement of none other than Martin Scorsese. Finally (!) we have the first domestic trailer for Easy Money, in which Kinnaman's pretty-boy business major, craving the wealthy lifestyle he never had growing up, becomes entangled with warring crime lords in Stockholm and finds himself in way over his head.
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Last April came the out-of-nowhere casting calls, but now you'll have to come to terms with the fact that Raging Bull II — a prequel and sequel to the Martin Scorsese film, with William Forsythe in the role made famous by Robert De Niro — has actually begun filming. Variety reports: "[Forsythe] stars as boxing champ Jake LaMotta in his older years with newcomer Mojean Aria playing the younger version of the character made famous by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's 1980 classic Raging Bull." William Forsythe as Jake LaMotta. Yep. It's happening.
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