Matt writes: On July 6th, we lost one of cinema’s great actors, James Caan, who died at age 82. Though he was only nominated for one Academy Award (as Best Supporting Actor for “The Godfather“), he delivered equally indelible work in such classics as “Misery,” “Elf,” “Brian’s Song” and perhaps most notably Michael Mann’s 1981 masterwork, “Thief” (you can view the original “Siskel & Ebert” review of the film in the video embedded below). In addition to reading to Dan Callahan’s new tribute and Aaron Aradillas’ essay on the influence of Tangerine Dream’s score for “Thief”, I encourage you to revisit Roger Ebert’s insightful 1988 interview with Caan, an excerpt of which is quoted here…
“Sometimes it takes tragedies in your life to make you realize certain things. I lost my sister to leukemia. She was my best friend. I had a health problem at one time. My dad was real sick. It was awful. I got into drugs a little bit, but for me, a little bit is too much. For someone else, it’s nothing, but for me, a beer is too much. I hear stories about myself, and I think, if I had done half of these things they say I did, I would have had a ball. When all of that bad stuff happened, I realized the most important word is passion. I don’t care if it’s eating, playing tennis, making love. You have to care. And how could I care about the nature of movies at that time – all those pictures with kids in them, that I couldn’t force myself to do. So I said, whatever integrity I got left, I’m going out with it.”
Trailers
Orphan: First Kill (2022). Directed by William Brent Bell. Written by David Coggeshall (based on characters created by Alex Mace). Starring Isabelle Fuhrman, Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland. Synopsis: After orchestrating a brilliant escape from an Estonian psychiatric facility, Esther travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. Debuts in the US on August 19th, 2022.
White Bird: A Wonder Story (2022). Directed by Marc Forster. Written by Mark Bomback (based on the book by R.J. Palacio). Starring Gillian Anderson, Helen Mirren, Olivia Ross. Synopsis: This uplifting movie shows how one act of kindness can live on forever. Debuts in the US on October 14th, 2022.
Sharp Stick (2022), red band trailer. Written and directed by Lena Dunham. Starring Kristine Froseth, Jon Bernthal, Jennifer Jason Leigh. Synopsis: Sarah Jo is a naive 26-year-old living on the fringes of Hollywood with her mother and sister. She just longs to be seen. When she begins an affair with her older employer, she is thrust into an education on sexuality, loss and power. US release date is TBA.
She Said (2022). Directed by Maria Schrader. Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz (based on the novel by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey). Starring Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan, Samantha Morton. Synopsis: New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor break one of the most important stories in a generation — a story that helped launch the #MeToo movement and shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood. Debuts in the US on November 18th, 2022.
Summering (2022). Directed by James Ponsoldt. Written by James Ponsoldt and Benjamin Percy. Starring Lake Bell, Lia Barnett, Sanai Victoria. Synopsis: During their last days of summer and childhood — the weekend before middle school begins — four girls struggle with the harsh truths of growing up and embark on a mysterious adventure. US release date is TBA.
Mack & Rita (2022). Directed by Katie Aselton. Written by Madeline Walter and Paul Welsh. Starring Diane Keaton, Elizabeth Lail, Simon Rex. Synopsis: A 30-year-old writer spends a wild weekend in Palm Springs and wakes up to find she has magically transformed into her 70-year-old. Debuts in the US on August 12th, 2022.
Secret Headquarters (2022). Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. Written by Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman, Josh Koenigsberg and Christopher L. Yost. Starring Owen Wilson, Michael Peña, Jessie Mueller. Synopsis: Young Charlie Kincaid, who discovers a secret headquarters under his home that seems to belong to a superhero. He shares it with his friends, and they start to believe that his estranged father might have a secret double life. Debuts on Paramount+ August 5th, 2022.
Rogue Agent (2022). Directed by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson. Written by Declan Lawn, Adam Patterson and Michael Bronner. Starring Gemma Arterton, Sarah Goldberg, James Norton. Synopsis: The extraordinary and chilling story of career conman Robert Freegard who masqueraded as an MI5 agent and fooled people into going into hiding, and the woman who fell for him, and then brought him down. Debuts in the US on August 12th, 2022.
Purple Hearts (2022). Directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum. Written by Liz W. Garcia and Kyle Jarrow. Starring Sofia Carson, Nicholas Galitzine, Anthony Ippolito. Synopsis: In spite of their many differences, Cassie, a struggling singer-songwriter, and Luke, a troubled Marine, agree to marry solely for military benefits. But when tragedy strikes, the line between real and pretend begins to blur. Debuts on Netflix on July 29th, 2022.
The Most Hated Man on the Internet (2022). Directed by Rob Miller. Synopsis: Follow the story of the woman who stood up to Hunter Moore, the self-proclaimed “professional life ruiner,” after photos of her naked daughter were posted online. Debuts on Netflix on July 27th, 2022.
13: The Musical (2022). Directed by Tamra Davis. Written by Robert Horn, Jason Robert Brown and Dan Elish. Starring Debra Messing, Josh Peck, Rhea Perlman. Synopsis: After his parents’ divorce, Evan Goldman moves from NYC to small-town Indiana. As his 13th birthday nears, he must master the complex social circles of his new school and win friends by turning his Bar Mitzvah into the coolest party ever. Debuts on Netflix on August 12th, 2022.
My Old School (2022). Written and directed by Jono McLeod. Synopsis: In 1993, 16-year-old Brandon Lee enrolled at Bearsden Academy, a secondary school in a well-to-do suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. What followed over the next two years became the stuff of legend. Debuts in the US on July 22nd, 2022.
The Silent Twins (2022). Directed by Agnieszka Smoczynska. Written by Andrea Seigel (based on the book by Marjorie Wallace). Starring Letitia Wright, Jodhi May, Michael Smiley. Synopsis: Based on the lives of June and Jennifer Gibbons, real-life identical twins who grew up in Wales and became known as “the silent twins” because of their refusal to communicate with anyone other than each other. Debuts in the US on September 16th, 2022.
After Ever Happy (2022). Directed by Castille Landon. Written by Sharon Soboil (based on the novel by Anna Todd). Starring Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Josephine Langford, Carter Jenkins. Synopsis: As a shocking truth about a couple’s families emerges, the two lovers discover they are not so different from each other. Tessa is no longer the sweet, simple, good girl she was when she met Hardin — any more than he is the cruel, moody boy she fell so hard for. Debuts in the US on September 7th, 2022.
Spin Me Round (2022). Directed by Jeff Baena. Written by Jeff Baena and Alison Brie. Starring Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Fred Armisen. Synopsis: A woman wins an all-expenses trip to a company’s gorgeous “institute” outside of Florence, and also the chance to meet the restaurant chain’s wealthy and charismatic owner. She finds a different adventure than the one she imagined. US release date is TBA.
Keane (2004), 4K restoration. Written and directed by Lodge Kerrigan. Starring Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan. Synopsis: A disheveled man desperately searches New York City for his young daughter. US release date is TBA.
The Munsters (2022). Written and directed by Rob Zombie. Starring Jeff Daniel Phillips, Sheri Moon Zombie, Daniel Roebuck. Synopsis: Reboot of “The Munsters”, that followed a family of monsters who moves from Transylvania to an American suburb. US release date is TBA.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022). Developed by Patrick McKay and John D. Payne. Starring Nazanin Boniadi, Benjamin Walker, Morfydd Clark. Synopsis: Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. Debuts on Prime Video on September 2nd, 2022.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Matt writes: Our invaluable contributor Robert Daniels attended this year’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and penned dispatches on such enticing selections as “Moonage Daydream,” “The Blue Caftan,” “Aftersun” and “Like a Fish on the Moon,” along with an in-depth recap.
Sara Dosa on “Fire of Love“
Matt writes: Filmmaker Sara Dosa recently spoke with Marya E. Gates about her acclaimed new documentary, “Fire of Love,” which received four stars from our Editor at Large Matt Zoller Seitz. You can read their full conversation here.
Free Movies
The Flying Deuces (1939). Directed by A. Edward Sutherland. Written by Ralph Spence, Charley Rogers, Fred Schiller and Harry Langdon. Starring Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Parker. Synopsis: Ollie has fallen in love with the innkeeper’s daughter in Paris. The only problem – she’s very much in love with her husband. To forget her he joins the Foreign Legion with Stan. Bad idea.
Watch “The Flying Deuces”
Jamaica Inn (1939). Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Written by Sidney Gilliat, Joan Harrison and J.B. Priestley (based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier). Starring Charles Laughton, Maureen O’Hara, Mervyn Johns. Synopsis: In Cornwall, 1819, a young woman discovers she’s living near a gang of criminals who arrange shipwrecks for profit.
Watch “Jamaica Inn”
The Big Wheel (1949). Directed by Edward Ludwig. Written by Robert Smith. Starring Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Spring Byington. Synopsis: A brash young midget car race driver lives in the shadow of his famous father, a drunken womanizer, who was killed in an accident years earlier.
