Young, Demme collaborating on concert film
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Although details are still under wraps, singer/songwriter Neil Young will be the subject of a concert film to be taped in August at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, Billboard.com has learned. The as-yet-untitled project will be directed by Jonathan Demme ("The Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia"). As previously reported, Young has been recording a new album in Nashville with such collaborators as keyboardist Spooner Oldham, pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith and drummer Carl Himmel. A release date for the set is unconfirmed. The album is the follow-up to Young's 2003 effort "Greendale," which was augmented by a feature-length film bringing to life the characters in the songs. As for Demme, he previously dabbled in the concert movie medium with the 1984 Talking Heads project "Stop Making Sense," which spawned a hit accompanying album
What the fuck? A forum descended from a PTA website, and this is the first Demme forum? If not, Mac you might have to redirect yourself.
I'm glad you made it, nonetheless. Philadelphia was on today, damn what a great movie. I've only seen Melvin and Howard, Silence of the Lambs, and Philadelphia, but I just love how intimate Demme gets with his characters with the camera. There are so many intimate close-ups. He's completely unafraid to get so close, it was inspiring to watch. Plus, the opening montage is just great. I love that the film is not just about this one gay man but humanity and a city.
And of course Silence of the Lambs is maybe the best movie of the 90s, after Goodfellas.
Quote from: Gamblor Posts DrunkAnd of course Silence of the Lambs is maybe the best movie of the 90s, after Goodfellas.
Uh oh..
Quote from: Gamblor Posts DrunkAnd of course Silence of the Lambs is maybe the best movie of the 90s, after Goodfellas.
hahah, u really do post drunk..
I have no problem retracting an overzealous opinion. "....is probably one of the best...." is how it should read. Now, if you have a problem with that, I think debates should be had.
But continue talking about Demme, please.
I think Demme's best work was Citizen's Band and Melvin and Howard, both of which are critical darlings but remain mainly unseen even by a lot of film buffs. Something Wild was great, too. Married to the Mob and Philadelphia were very good films. I wish he would stop making remakes of 60's movies and go back to his roots.
I wish Citizens Band would come out on DVD. Here's hoping that MacGuffin makes a post after me with Citizens Band news.
I can put Melvin and Howard or Something Wild into my DVD player at any time and enjoy myself. I think Silence of the Lambs is a fantastic, clever thriller and I buttress Gamblor's opinion of the film, but at the same time I would like it more with someone besides Jodie Foster in there. Personally.
Demme, Young Doing Rock Doc
Something wild's going down in Music City USA.
Paramount Classics has announced it will distribute an upcoming concert film directed by Jonathan Demme that will capture Canadian rocker Neil Young's upcoming two-night stand in Nashville, Tennessee, Daily Variety reports.
The doc, titled Prairie Wind, will be shot on Aug. 17 and 18 at the city's Ryman Auditorium and will showcase a batch of new tunes the singer has yet to play live that he recently finished for his forthcoming album, Cinnamon Girl, due out on Reprise Records Sept. 27.
According to the trade, the studio's indie division agreed to acquire the movie based on Demme and Young's track records without hearing any of the songs.
Demme, who won a Best Director Oscar for 1991's The Silence of the Lambs, is no stranger to concert films having helmed perhaps the greatest in the genre, 1984's Stop Making Sense, which chronicled the Talking Heads' legendary rock and roll odyssey.
Young, 59, has also dabbled in the theatrical during his shows. His 2003 concept album Greendale was conceived as an elaborate multimedia rock opera/traveling stage show that featured set pieces and a cast of more than two dozen actors lip-synching along to a song cycle about people struggling in a fictional California town.
The performance, which served as a vehicle by which the veteran musician offered personal commentary on the state of American life and politics, was also released as a movie and DVD.
Demme, whose soundtrack for his film Philadelphia featured an Oscar-nominated track from Young, said the Crazy Horse frontman's impetus to join forces with the filmmaker on Prairie Wind may have had something to do with the health crisis he faced in April when he was treated for a brain aneurysm.
"Because he never backslides, I've talked to Neil often about doing a performance film, and I knew this was right as soon as he sent me the CD," Demme told Variety. "These songs, which cover everything from 9/11 to loving your children, came from a deep place, and they are so dreamy and gorgeous. He recorded them in between when he was told he had an aneurysm and when he had the operation to correct it. Maybe he was in a certain special place."
Joining Young on stage, will be several notable guest musicians including Emmylou Harris, who opened for him on his Greendale tour, Wayne Jackson of the Memphis Horns, the Fisk Unversity Jubilee Singers and Carl Gordetsky and the 12-piece Nashville String Machine.
Demme is co-producing the picture with Playtone Productions, the company run by Tom Hanks and producing partner Gary Goetzman, as well as Ilona Hertzberg, and Elliot Rubinowitz and Bernard Shakey. (The latter two are pseudonyms used in pictures by the Godfather of Grunge's manager Elliot Roberts and Young himself.)
A limited number of tickets are expected to be made available to the general public in the run up to the show. If all goes well, Paramount will unspool the concert film later this year in theaters, hopefully on the heels of the album's release, though an exact target date has not been announced.
Quote from: MacGuffinYoung, Demme collaborating on concert film
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Although details are still under wraps, singer/songwriter Neil Young will be the subject of a concert film to be taped in August at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, Billboard.com has learned. The as-yet-untitled project will be directed by Jonathan Demme ("The Silence of the Lambs," "Philadelphia"). As previously reported, Young has been recording a new album in Nashville with such collaborators as keyboardist Spooner Oldham, pedal steel guitarist Ben Keith and drummer Carl Himmel. A release date for the set is unconfirmed. The album is the follow-up to Young's 2003 effort "Greendale," which was augmented by a feature-length film bringing to life the characters in the songs. As for Demme, he previously dabbled in the concert movie medium with the 1984 Talking Heads project "Stop Making Sense," which spawned a hit accompanying album
i saw three scenes from it last night when he came to speak here... he said we were the first public audience to see any of it and they're still mixing it, but he's pretty pleased so far.
what i saw was a pretty straightforward performance film. neil and his backup singers (among them emmylou harris and peggy young) and band are on a stage in sort of 50's country western outfits... there's a country scene backdrop behind them that changes from time to time by rolling a new one in or out. it's kinda grainy... maybe that has something to do with the low light.
if you like neil young, you'll like what you see. he looks old and his voice has changed a little bit, but i think that it's apparent when you watch this that the songs are really important to him.
demme said that he had a former SUNY Purchase student come up to make a documentary for the DVD about the rehearsal process... not just a standard "making of" type thing.
Demme on Carter trail
Director teams with Participant for 'He Comes in Peace'
Source: Variety
Jonathan Demme has begun shooting a docu about Jimmy Carter while the former president is on a book tour.
Demme is producing "He Comes in Peace" with longtime collaborator Neda Armian for socially minded Participant Prods.
Carter hit the road last month to promote his latest tome, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," which pushes the notion that peace in the Middle East can be attained, and largely blames Israel for the troubles in this volatile region.
The former president is using the national tour to generate discussion and to hear from people with varying views on the polarizing topic -- all of which will be captured on camera.
Demme said he is taking an experimental approach so as to avoid turning out a pic dominated by talking heads.
"The president's book tour occurs at a crossroads where the world of religion intersects with global politics," Demme said.
Participant prexy Ricky Strauss announced the docu project,
Participant founder Jeff Skoll and Participant exec VP of documentaries Diane Weyermann are exec producing "He Comes in Peace." Ron Bozman, another longtime colleague of Demme and Armian's, also exec produces.
Carter's book, published by Simon & Schuster, hit the stands Nov. 14.
Demme was last in theaters with docu "Neil Young: Heart of Gold."
Participant ("An Inconvenient Truth") is in theaters with Richard Linklater's "Fast Food Nation." Past credits include "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Syriana."
Anne Hathaway to star in 'Shiva'
Demme will direct and produce 'Dancing'
Source: Variety
Anne Hathaway will lead an ensemble cast in Jonathan Demme's "Dancing With Shiva" for Sony Classics.
Bill Irwin, Anna Deveare Smith and Debra Winger will star in the comedy based on a screenplay by Jenny Lumet, Sidney's daughter.
Demme will direct and produce with producing partner Neda Armian and Marc Platt. He will tackle it after he finishes work on "He Comes in Peace," a docu about Jimmy Carter backed by Participant Prods.
"Dancing With Shiva" is skedded to begin lensing in mid-September in Connecticut.
Hathaway, who plays Agent 99 in next year's "Get Smart," also stars in "The Passengers," a drama about plane crash survivors due from Columbia next year.
Irwin and Smith both appeared in Demme's 2004 remake of "The Manchurian Candidate."
Sony Classics is new habitat for Carter docu
Source: Hollywood Reporter
NEW YORK -- North American rights to producer-director Jonathan Demme's docu "Jimmy Carter Man From Plains," a chronicle of the former president's recent book tour, have been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics from Participant Prods.
"Plains" follows Carter on the tour for his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," using the trip to shed light on his quest for international peace.
The film will be shown at this month's Venice Film Festival and is rumored to be among the films on next month's Toronto International Film Festival slate. ICM, which reps Demme, negotiated the deal on behalf of Participant and is handling worldwide sales on the project.
Demme produced the film through his Clinica Estetico shingle with Neda Armian ("The Truth About Charlie"). "Plains" is executive produced by Participant's Jeff Skoll, Diane Weyermann and Ron Bozman.
The director has made several acclaimed documentaries in his career, notably "Neil Young: Heart of Gold," "The Agronomist," "Storefront Hitchcock" and "Stop Making Sense."
Demme directed the Oscar-winning thriller "The Silence of the Lambs," and his most recent narrative feature was Paramount Pictures' "The Manchurian Candidate." Upcoming projects include the indie film "Dancing With Shiva" with writer Jenny Lumet.
Jonathan Demme to direct Bob Marley docu
Demme replaces Martin Scorsese as director
Source: Hollywood Reporter
CANNES -- Jonathan Demme has boarded the Tuff Gong Pictures/ Shangri-La Entertainment Bob Marley documentary, replacing the previously announced Martin Scorsese as director.
The backers said Scorsese has exited the project due to "scheduling conflicts."
Demme, who last worked with Shangri-La Entertainment on the acclaimed Neil Young documentary "Heart of Gold," will join with the Marley family to direct the biopic of the legendary singer songwriter.
Tuff Gong Pictures and Shangri-La Entertainment are producing the picture.
The as-yet-untitled film aims to be released globally on Feb. 6, 2010, the 65th anniversary of Marley's birth, the producers said. Fortissimo Films is the international sales agent.
The movie's executive producers include Ziggy Marley.
Demme recently completed post on upcoming Sony Pictures Classics release "Rachel Getting Married," based on Jenny Lumet's original screenplay. The director is currently editing "Neil Young Trunk Show," a new concert film.
Oscar-Winner Jonathan Demme To Write, Direct Adaptation Of Michel Faber's 'Courage Consort'
Source: MTV
Sometime before, during or after 2004's "Manchurian Candidate" remake, Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme swore off making fiction. He'd always had a passion for documentaries and was damn good at them, too. His Talking Heads doc, "Stop Making Sense," is arguably the best concert film ever made. Demme had no plans to return to making stuff up.
Things changed after he read Jenny Lumet's script about a recovering drug addict named Kym, who returns to her dysfunctional family during the weekend of her sister's wedding. The resulting film was the withering, emotional tour de force, "Rachel Getting Married." Fans of both that Anne Hathaway-starring film and earlier Demme movies like "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Philadelphia" could only hope that the director might once again invest himself in the world of fiction. Now, while promoting the DVD release of "Rachel," Demme revealed to MTV News that he has in fact optioned a work of fiction he plans to write and direct.
"I took an option on a wonderful novella by Michel Faber recently and I'm going to do a screenplay of that," Demme told us. "It's called 'The Courage Consort.'"
Faber's novella tells the story of Catherine Courage, who travels with her avant-garde vocal ensemble to a chateau in rural Belgium, where they plan on rehearsing a difficult new composition—only to be interrupted by a tragedy that shocks them all out of complacency.
"This guy is such a great writer," Demme said of Faber, who's also written the acclaimed novels "Under the Skin" and "The Crimson Petal and the White." "I read it for pleasure and I found myself kind of haunted by it. It's something which is extremely truthful and intimate and character-driven and fresh and original."
Demme conceptualizes the "Consort" adaptation as being more similar to his recent work than to the big-budget flicks of his earlier career. "It's the kind of piece—as with 'Rachel'—where you can make it inexpensively enough and you've got a very good chance at returning the investment and having a movie that doesn't have to open up in a thousand theaters," he said.
Before Demme jumps fully into adapting the novella, he's concentrating on a few of his beloved documentary projects. Next week he's bringing his Neil Young concert film to the South by Southwest festival in Austin. He's also been filming in New Orleans for several years as part of an investigation into families struggling in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And then there's the authorized exploration of the life and music of Bob Marley, a job Demme took after Martin Scorsese dropped out because of scheduling conflicts.
"I feel like everywhere I look there's a great subject for a documentary," said Demme. "And nothing—no fiction could ever compete with that. It's very heady stuff."
Jonathan Demme To Direct 'My Dinner With Andre' Reunion 'Wally And André Stage Ibsen'
via The Playlist
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Even his detractors must admit that there's a glorious unpredictability in watching the career of Jonathan Demme. In the last decade alone, he's directed two remakes of 1960s classics, documentaries on Neil Young, Haitian activist Jean Dominique and former President Jimmy Carter, indie drama "Rachel Getting Married," episodes of TV series "A Gifted Man" and "Enlightened," and, on the way, an animated adaptation of Dave Eggers' "Zeitoun" and Stephen King time-travel thriller "11/22/63." But his next film? It's something even more unexpected.
The New York Times reports that Demme is teaming up with theater legends Wallace Shawn and André Gregory, who each starred in Louis Malle's "My Dinner With André" and "Vanya On 42nd Street" (the latter of which Gregory co-directed), on a new film entitled "Wally And André Shoot Ibsen," which will shoot in New York in the spring.
Like 'Vanya,' which detailed the workshop rehearsals of a production of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya," this will be based on a theatrical work, in this case a new version of Henrik Ibsen's "The Master Builder," adapted by Shawn (who's best known for roles in "The Princess Bride" and "Toy Story," but has a long career as a playwright) and directed by Gregory. Shawn will take the lead role of architect Solness, with Julie Hagerty ("Airplane!," "Lost In America") as his wife, Lisa Joyce ("The Messenger," "Boardwalk Empire") as Hilde, a girl he knew as a child, and Gregory as Brovik, his employee.
With Malle having passed in 1995, Shawn and Gregory have turned to Demme to film the production, although DoP Declan Quinn, who worked on 'Vanya' before going on to team with Demme on many movies, will return, and it seems that the film is intended very much as a successor to that project. This film, budgeted at less than $1 million, will be shot on a single location, but Demme describes it with the intriguing sentence "It's like a Hitchcock movie with a vein of humor running through it."
Given their previous reputation, and that they're taking on Ibsen's least accessible play, this was never going to be a crowd pleaser -- although "Community"'s recent episode paying homage to "My Dinner With Andre" might at least help introduce the pair to a new generation of fans. It's exciting news, regardless, as Shawn and Gregory's previous pairings have been fascinating, and Demme's never made an uninteresting film in his life, even if home runs are rarer. With filming set to get underway in the next few weeks, hopefully we'll see this on the festival circuit in early 2013.
Here's a better article on this exciting reunion:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/movies/wallace-shawn-and-andre-gregory-tackle-ibsen.html
It provides more info on the creation of it as well as accurately reporting the title "Wally and Andre shoot Ibsen" to be tentative only.
Jonathan Demme Will Stoke 'Old Fires'
via The Playlist
You may think that Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme has had a quiet few years following 2008's "Rachel Getting Married," but that's actually far from the truth. Since then Demme has directed a whole heap of documentary and concert films, and last year he was getting behind the camera for the pilot of "A Gifted Man" and a couple of episodes of "Enlightened." In fact, there may be few busier directors out there right now, with Demme's super low budget "Wally and Andre Shoot Ibsen" currently in post-production, and an animated adaptation of Dave Eggers' "Zeitoun" and an adaptation of Stephen King's time travel thriller "11/22/63" both in the works. Oh, and he also looks set to re-team with Anne Hathaway on "Song One," which he's producing.
Now Demme has another project to add to that list after attaching himself to direct an indie family dramedy, "Old Fires." The Heather McGowan ("Tadpole") penned project follows a famous architect who, with the help of his snarky therapist, goes about rebuilding his damaged relationships with his wife and children after waking from a coma. It's another relatively low-budget feature for Demme, and it's tentatively scheduled to get underway next summer.
So what does that mean for Demme's other projects? Well last we heard "Zeitoun" was still looking for financing so we weren't expecting to see that any time soon anyway. "11/22/63," on the other hand, we expect will now be Demme's next picture after "Old Fires" presuming all goes well on that commercially attractive project. This new project sounds like another interesting one though – does Demme do anything but interesting? – and it's something for fans of the director to look forward to while his other projects take longer to develop.
Swing Shift: A Tale of Hollywood (http://www.media-party.com/storefrontdemme/sightandsound.html)
Meryl Streep to Star in Diablo Cody's 'Ricky and the Flash'
Source: Variety
Meryl Streep is attached to star in the indie dramedy "Ricky and the Flash," written by Diablo Cody with Jonathan Demme set to direct.
Marc Platt is on board to produce.
Story follows an old fading rockstar, played by Streep, who after years of being estranged from her children, finally tries to reconnect as one of them goes through an ugly divorce.
This package will now be taken out to studios and it shouldn't take long before the film finds a distributor.
Streep is coming off her Oscar-nominated role as the drunken, angry matriarch Violet Weston in Weinstein's "August: Osage County," and this role seems to have similar elements given the story line and Cody's previous credits, which have always brought an edge to its characters.
The CAA-repped Streep has a busy year ahead of her with Weinstein's adaptation of "The Giver" and Disney's "Into the Woods." She follows that up with "Suffragette" opposite Carey Mulligan, which will bow sometime in 2015.
Meryl Streep to Star in Jonathan Demme Movie Written by Diablo Cody
via The Wrap
Universal and Fox 2000 are among the studios that have expressed interest in the prestige package
Hollywood is salivating over a red-hot package making the rounds that has Jonathan Demme attached to direct a Diablo Cody script, with none other than Meryl Streep attached to star, an individual familiar with the project told TheWrap.
Representatives for Demme and Cody did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In "Ricky and the Flash," Streep would play a woman who abandoned her family when she was younger to find fame and fortune as a rock star. Decades later, she decides to be a mother again to her estranged children, one of whom is going through a rough divorce.
Marc Platt, who worked with Demme on "Rachel Getting Married," will produce, while Cody's manager, Mason Novick, is also expected to be involved in a producing capacity. Novick produced the Cody-scripted films "Juno" and "Young Adult," as well as Marc Webb's directorial debut "(500) Days of Summer."
The prestige package is being shopped to studios and high-level production companies with access to financing. Universal and Fox 2000 are among the studios that have expressed interest in the project, according to one insider.
Demme and Cody won Oscars for "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Juno," respectively, while Streep has three Academy Awards on her mantle. Demme previously worked with the acclaimed actress on the "Manchurian Candidate" remake.
CAA reps Streep, while WME reps Demme and Cody, who are respectively managed by LBI Entertainment and MXN.
Abramorama Picks Up Jonathan Demme's 'A Master Builder'
via The Playlist
Jonathan Demme's film adaption of Henrik Ibsen's play "Master Builder Solness" has just been acquired. Abramorama will theatrically release "A Master Builder," created for the stage by Andre Gregory and written by Wallace Shawn, the collaborative duo of "My Dinner With Andre" and "Vanya On 42nd Street." Both also star in the film.
Halvard Solness (Shawn), is a very successful architect in his sixties, who exercises tight control over his wife, his employees, and his mistress. When Hilde (Lisa Joyce), a mysterious young woman comes to visit, the once dominating, controlling and narcissistic Solness finds himself apparently revived in every possible way.
"Into my life comes this wonderfully bizarre Ibsen drama as re-imagined through their profound, funny and spookily original production, and with Wally the actor way up front, and I get the singular opportunity to join the Gregory-Shawn Cinema Gang! It's been a dream come true, as rich and rewarding a creative experience as anything I've ever done," said Jonathan Demme.
The film is set for a July 23rd release at Film Forum in New York City, followed by a national roll-out.
Robert Redford in Talks to Play Oral Roberts in Film 'Come Sunday' (Exclusive)
via The Hollywood Reporter
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Jeffrey Wright is also in talks to star in the Jonathan Demme-helmed movie about the world of evangelical ministers.
Jonathan Demme is set to tackle the world of evangelical ministers with the film Come Sunday and is enlisting Robert Redford to play the late Oral Roberts.
The film, which will be financed and produced by Endgame Entertainment (Looper), chronicles the true story of Carlton Pearson, a renowned evangelical minister in Tulsa, Okla., who stirs up controversy with his revelation that there is no hell. He loses everything and must rebuild his church and his family and find his own personal faith. Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace) is in talks to take on the starring role of Pearson.
Roberts, an early pioneer of TV evangelism who reached millions of followers worldwide over more than six decades, served as Pearson's mentor. Redford, whose recent credits include the superhero pic Captain America: The Winter Soldier and J.C. Chandor's All Is Lost, is in discussions to tackle the supporting role of the controversial minister.
The project, formerly titled Heretics, was originally set up at Endgame in 2010 as a directing vehicle for Marc Forster, who will be involved as an executive producer. After seeing little action for years, Come Sunday was resurrected thanks to Demme's interest.
Marcus Hinchey (All Good Things) wrote the screenplay, which is based on a This American Life broadcast that originally aired in 2005.
The project is being eyed for a spring 2015 start, leaving Demme room to squeeze in another film first.
Endgame's James D. Stern is producing Come Sunday alongside This American Life's Ira Glass and Alissa Shipp. Color Force's Brad Simpson, who was involved in the project when Forster was developing it, is executive producing.
Julie Goldstein and Lucas Smith are overseeing the project for Endgame.
Redford is currently filming Ken Kwapis' A Walk in the Woods opposite Emma Thompson.
He is repped by WME and attorney Barry Tyerman.
Demme is handled by WME, LBI Entertainment and attorney Michael Adler.
Wright, who recently appeared in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Only Lovers Left Alive, is represented by CAA.
Hinchey is repped by WME and Hansen Jacobson.
Trailer for
A Master Builder
WHOA
...that trailer alone was one of the best films of 2014
IDGAF
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A personal hero. Now in every way.
Never have sweatpants with flip flops looked so good together