I was so turned on by David Kittredge‘s Boorman and the Devil in Venice last September (seven months ago) that I naively presumed that a distribution deal would be announced within weeks or even sooner. How could distributors not pounce on this sucker immediately? Instead NOTHING happened for months and months. I began to wilt … Read more
My Venice Film Festival viewing of David Kittredge‘s excellent Boorman and the Devil was greeted with blissful vibes and subdued awe. Critics and industry folks are like that — their emotions always in check. But when it played last Wednesday night at the Brooklyn’s Nitehawk Cinema under the aegis of the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, … Read more
I will hereafter stop badgering David Kittredge about a possible Best Documentary Oscar campaign for the great Boorman and The Devil, as I learned today that so far nobody has gotten in touch with key journos and conversation-starters who might want to see it. I don’t know for a fact that Boorman and the Devil … Read more
David Kittredge‘s Boorman and the Devil was honored earlier this month with a debut screening at the Venice Film Festival. A followup booking should have happened at the Toronto Film Festival, and it damn well ought to be booked for the about-to-begin New York Film Festival. And perhaps at AFI Fest. I’m basically saying that … Read more
David Kittredge’s Boorman and The Devil, which I saw this morning at 9 am, is one of the wisest, deepest, most poetic-minded, most eloquent and most satisfyingly assembled “inside baseball meets human vulnerabilty” documentaries that I’ve ever seen. With the festival nearly over, I wasn’t expecting any kind of triple or home run. But it’s … Read more
Hollywood Elsewhere to David Kittredge, director of Boorman and the Devil: There can be no questioning the fact that Boorman and the Devil, which I saw and adored at the Venice Film Festival, fully deserves to be nominated for a Best Documentary Feature Oscar. It’s a seriously dimensional film that not only tells a fascinating … Read more
Sent this morning to the esteemed Gatecrashers crew (Sasha Stone, Jeff Sneider, William Mccuddy, Christian Toto, Chris Gore, Jordan Ruimy, Matthew Pejkovic, Kristi Coulter Bobhy Peru, Edward Douglas, John Nolte, Scott Kernen, The Cinescape, Scott Menzel, Knox Bronson, Bee Garner and two or three secret industry contributors): Hail to all GateCrashers! A few significant films … Read more
Tomorrow’s most highly anticipated viewing is David Kittredge‘s Boorman and the Devil, which screens at the Sala Corrinto at 9 am. The reputation of John Boorman‘s The Exorcist II: The Heretic was so bad in ’77 that I not only ducked it theatrically, but have avoided even the various video versions. I haven’t even streamed … Read more
And in this order. Yes, that’s correct — The President’s Cake is judged to be a better, more nourishing film that One Battle After Another 1. Josh Safdie‘s Marty Supreme (the finest, most adrenalized, most type-A-meets-grade-A film of the year….no politics, just pogo sticks) 2. Joachim Trier‘s Sentimental Value (generates honest current, nails it, gets … Read more
Here’s HE’s latest rundown of the 2025 films that really deliver the goods vs. the ones that shouldn’t in all fairness be regarded as even semi-heavyweight, because they’re not. Let’s start…no, let’s finish with Gold Derby’s latest Best Picture rankings vs. HE’s cut-the-crap assessments. The sturdy, real-deal films that certainly (or in two cases reportedly) … Read more
Five and a half weeks between a theatrical release (7.12.13) and the DVD/Bluray street date (8.20)…hmmm. Plus the hand of director Mark Steven Johnson (Grumpy Old Men, Simon Birch, Daredevil, When in Rome, the two Ghost Rider pics)…yeah. Plus a title that SCREAMS American Film Market lowlifes hustlin’ ’round Santa Monica in their alligator shoes. … Read more