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NEWS
Grand Tour (Miguel Gomes, 2024).
- SAG-AFTRA is on strike against ten major video-game companies after two years of contract negotiations, on which the union has said it remains “far apart” from management on “fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the A.I. use of their faces, voices, and bodies.”
- Teamsters Local 399 and other Hollywood Basic Crafts unions have ratified their new contract, securing 7% wage increases for about 8,000 workers.
- The New York Film Festival (September 27–October 14) has announced its Main Slate selections, including Cannes and Berlinale favorites All We Imagine as Light (Payal Kapadia), Dahomey (Mati Diop), Anora (Sean Baker), and Grand Tour (Miguel Gomes).
- After a report that David Lynch would likely never direct again due to debilitating emphysema, the director reassured fans: “I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire.”
IN PRODUCTION
- Zendaya and Robert Pattinson are in early talks to star in Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama.
REMEMBERING
Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978).
- Charles Cyphers has died at 85. The American actor is known for his work with John Carpenter, having appeared in Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), The Fog (1980), and Escape from New York (1981), with a recurring role as Sheriff Leigh Brackett in the Halloween franchise (1978–ongoing).
- Leonard Engelman has died at 83. The American makeup artist worked on such films as Ghostbusters (1984), Rocky IV (1985), and Batman & Robin (1997), and was Cher’s personal makeup artist for over 30 years. He served as the first governor of the makeup branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, having long lobbied for the formal inclusion of the profession, whose practitioners had previously been “at-large” members.
- Daniel Selznick has died at 88. The American producer, as the son of David O. and Irene Selznick and the grandson of Louis B. Mayer, was the last direct heir of a Hollywood dynasty.
- Bobby Banas has died at 90. The American dancer and choreographer was a Jet in West Side Story (1959), a chimney sweep in Mary Poppins (1964), and the recipient of a kiss from Marilyn Monroe in Let’s Make Love (1960), among many other roles.
RECOMMENDED READING
This Action Lies (James N. Kienitz Wilkins, 2018).
- “I mean to entertain. I know you do, too. So I’m also addressing the challenge of taking the back door, and still seeing if you can make it to this stage.” For the Metrograph Journal, Gabriel Abrantes speaks with James N. Kienitz Wilkins, fellow filmmaker and former schoolmate, about inspirations, amateurism, and his “villain origin story.”
- “The producer told me immediately, “We have to go home. There’s about to be a war here.” For Screen Slate, Steve Macfarlane interviews Claire Denis and Isaach de Bankolé about S’en fout la mort (1990), a cockfighting film in which no roosters were killed.
- “We thought it would be something unique and different, which it was. We didn’t know what people would see and think about afterward.” For Vulture, Alejandra Gularte sits down with Rod Mason and Marcus Gonzalez, creators of the infamous Dune: Part Two (2024) sandworm popcorn bucket.
- “He made sure Godzilla’s roars were accompanied not just by vibrations from the soundtrack, but also by vibrations in the seat.” For the New York Times, Neima Jahromi talks to some of the leading producers of 4DX theatrical effects, and to some of their precursors.
RECOMMENDED EVENTS
Sátántangó (Béla Tarr, 1994).
- London, through August: British Film Institute presents “Will Heaven Fall Upon Us?,” a retrospective of Béla Tarr, including screenings of Sátantangó (1994) in IMAX.
- London, August 7: Tate Modern presents the UK premiere of Mariam Ghani’s Dis-Eease (2024), a documentary investigating “how we imagine disease collectively.”
- Los Angeles, August 10: Vidiots presents Innerspace (1987), in which Dennis Quaid gets trapped inside Martin Short as they both vie for the affections of Meg Ryan, with an introduction by director Joe Dante.
- New York, August 13: Light Industry presents “From the Collection of Skip Elsheimer,” an evening with the founder of A/V Geeks, in which he will screen the six 16mm educational films that have “resonated most” with him from his collection of tens of thousands.
RECOMMENDED VIEWING
- Arbelos has released a trailer for the restoration of Sohrab Shahid Saless’s Far from Home (1975), which is touring the US this summer and fall. Its next screening will be tomorrow in Los Angeles, presented by Mezzanine.
- True Colours has released a trailer for Christoph Hochhäusler’s Death Will Come (2024), set to premiere tomorrow in competition at Locarno Film Festival.
RECENTLY ON NOTEBOOK
Aerosmith on Monday Night Football (ABC, 2003).
- In “The Sporting Image,” the summer issue of the Notebook Insert, we consider athletics on screen—from the World Cup to the Olympics, from the post-game interview to wraparound commentary, from esport tournaments to marathon foot races—with contributions from Park Chan-wook, Savanah Leaf, Carson Lund, Sergio de la Pava, and many others.
- “I would really say this is a film made in exile about exiles and for exiles, whoever doesn't feel like they belong in this world of ours today.” Caitlin Quinlan interviews Mahdi Fleifel about To a Land Unknown (2024), the only Palestinian film at Cannes, whose premiere was “a rare moment of solidarity in a festival environment that otherwise sought apoliticality.”
- “Whether these festivals are making converts or merely preaching to the choir, they offer a sanctuary from the endless commodification of everything we love.” Forrest Cardamenis reports back from the Nitrate Picture Show and Il Cinema Ritrovato, two stops on an alternative festival circuit where film history is given another life.
WISH LIST
- Director Fits is reproducing a t-shirt bearing the image of Chris Marker’s feline mascot, Guillaume-en-Égypte, as worn by Richard Linklater.
- Thames and Hudson has published The African Gaze: Photography, Cinema, and Power, “a comprehensive exploration of postcolonial and contemporary photography and cinema from Africa.”
EXTRAS
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989).
- Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves—Bill and Ted, respectively—are reuniting for a Broadway production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in fall 2025.
- The Seoul Metro International Subway Film Festival will repurpose the transit system’s informational screens for a festival of very short films, from August 29 through September 25.