And especially since the first interation of Hollywood Elsewhere began way back in ’98, but I’d been slacking off, Ferrara-wise, over the last three or four years. Then the Rome-residing Ferrara surfaced as an angry, snappy mafioso in Marty Supreme. And then Alex Vadukul’s N.Y. Times profile appeared yesterday (1.7). And then I took notice … Read more
N.Y. Times reporters Ian Lovett and Katie Rogers have gotten confirmation from an LAPD spokesperson what TMZ reported last night (technically at 1 am this morning), which is that Los Angeles police are examining a rusty folding buck knife that was found buried on O.J. Simpson‘s Brentwood property when his home was being demolished in … Read more
I’ve been looking to re-experience Rafi Pitts’ 2003 documentary since seeing it at the Locarno Film Festival, the attendants of which were sweltering in the midst of a legendary heat wave. Ferrara doesn’t like the film but it’s definitely worth watching. From Leslie Felperin‘s Variety review: “[Pic] gets so close and personal with one of … Read more
It’s been 17 years since I last saw Rafi Pitts‘ Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty. The kids and I caught it at the 2003 Locarno Film Festival. Six years ago a trailer popped up. The film also appeared on YouTube that year, but I somehow missed that fact. Anyway, here it is — shot in ’03, … Read more
A couple of days ago director Abel Ferrara didn’t call, as scheduled, to discuss his dispute with Wild Bunch honcho Vincent Maraval and IFC Sundance Selects over the decision to offer an R-rated cut of Welcome To New York on 3.27 (theatrical and VOD) instead of Ferrara’s original cut, which Ferrara believes was contractually guaranteed … Read more
Two days ago I posted a riff about how the 3.27 opening of Abel Ferrara‘s Welcome To New York feels a little too late in the cycle. The next day I was informed that the version that IFC/Sundance Selects is releasing theatrically is R-rated and therefore tamer than what was shown in Cannes last May … Read more
Abel Ferrara‘s Pasolini, screening this evening at the New York Film Festival, is about the last day or so in the life of the noted visionary Italian filmmaker — a brilliant writer and impassioned artist, upscale and refined, incredibly hard-working, the maker of one of the most rancid and perverse films of all time…and a … Read more
Forever partial to the films of Abel Ferrara, the Cannes Film Festival is offering a special screening of his latest, a doc about a certain storied Manhattan hotel called Chelsea on the Rocks. Screening on Friday,. 5.23, it’ll include “interviews with residents past and present” such as Milos Forman, Ethan Hawke, Dennis Hopper and R. … Read more
I know what I saw. I know what I felt. I know what Marty Supreme is on the surface as well as deep down. It’s an all tap-dancing, all bullshitting, antsy, ping-pong-driven bop-shoo-wop hellzapoppin’. It’s the bolt and the buzz. It got me off in ways that never even occurred to Paul Thomas Anderson when … Read more
Three days ago World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy spitballed several titles for the 2025 Venice Film Festival…some semi-assured, some likely-ish, some up in the air. Here’s my take on 37 hopeful or potential inclusions: HE LEGEND: ++ = extra-positive HE expectations. + = mostly positive expectations. X = meh or negative. XX = dread. 1. … Read more
1992 was my very first year at the Cannes Film Festival (I was there for Entertainment Weekly and Barbara O’Dair), and that was the year, of course, of Reservoir Dogs, which I saw there, of course, and fell insantly in love with,. It pained me that I couldn’t get into the press conference (it might … Read more
Here once again is HE’s best spitball roster of 2025’s strongest, most distinctive films…40 in all. This is not about the likelihood of big box-office but about films that people may feel riveted, disturbed, challenged, gobsmacked or turned on by, or might even feel compelled to nominate for awards. HE readers went to sleep on … Read more