Set in San Francisco on the eve of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Dogfight is pitched on the precipice of a massive sea change in American life. The post-war boom of the 1950s is waning, and the civil rights era and the Vietnam War are right around the corner. The film’s protagonists exist, then, in a kind of liminal space, uncomfortable in their own skin and riddled with anxieties and uncertainties about their immediate futures.
Released in 1991, when nostalgia for the ’60s was near its peak, Nancy Savoca’s film takes a distinctly feminine perspective on the era, challenging the unbridled machismo and ritualistic behaviors that were often celebrated, or at least unexamined, in the male-directed films of the time. For the opening 20 minutes, we bear witness to an especially cruel competition in which Eddie Birdlace (River Phoenix), an 18-year-old Marine, and several of his jarhead buddies, all on...
Released in 1991, when nostalgia for the ’60s was near its peak, Nancy Savoca’s film takes a distinctly feminine perspective on the era, challenging the unbridled machismo and ritualistic behaviors that were often celebrated, or at least unexamined, in the male-directed films of the time. For the opening 20 minutes, we bear witness to an especially cruel competition in which Eddie Birdlace (River Phoenix), an 18-year-old Marine, and several of his jarhead buddies, all on...
- 5/7/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.
Today we speak to Nancy Savoca, the great filmmaker whose sophomore feature Dogfight is now available via Criterion. The digitally-restored, director-approved Blu-Ray includes new commentary from Savoca and producer Richard Guay, a new interview with Savoca and actor Lili Taylor conducted by filmmaker Mary Harron, and a great essay by film critic Christina Newland, among other features.
We speak with Savoca about Missing Movies, her mentors John Sayles and Maggie Renzi, her first film True Love, directing singular performers like River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, and the HBO creativity boom of the mid-to-late ‘90s (including Carl Franklin’s Laurel Avenue and Cher and Savoca’s If These Walls Could Talk), and lesser-seen gems of Savoca’s that...
Today we speak to Nancy Savoca, the great filmmaker whose sophomore feature Dogfight is now available via Criterion. The digitally-restored, director-approved Blu-Ray includes new commentary from Savoca and producer Richard Guay, a new interview with Savoca and actor Lili Taylor conducted by filmmaker Mary Harron, and a great essay by film critic Christina Newland, among other features.
We speak with Savoca about Missing Movies, her mentors John Sayles and Maggie Renzi, her first film True Love, directing singular performers like River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, and the HBO creativity boom of the mid-to-late ‘90s (including Carl Franklin’s Laurel Avenue and Cher and Savoca’s If These Walls Could Talk), and lesser-seen gems of Savoca’s that...
- 5/2/2024
- by Dan Mecca
- The Film Stage
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
The Animal Kingdom (Thomas Cailley)
In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp from France, human-animal mutations are the new norm. Director Thomas Cailley begins things in media res with a familiar disaster-movie scene: François (Romain Duris) and Émile (Paul Kircher)––father and son, respectively––are stuck in traffic, making chit-chat, when something slowly begins capturing the attention of other drivers. An ambulance across the way begins to rumble. Then a man with a large winged arm bursts out, causing some damage before scurrying down a tunnel. Only mildly ruffled, François exchanges a jaded aphorism with another driver over: “Strange times.” – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Dream Scenario (Kristoffer Borgli)
The ever-evolving nature of fame and infamy gets examined in Dream Scenario,...
The Animal Kingdom (Thomas Cailley)
In The Animal Kingdom, an Un Certain Regard-selected science-fiction romp from France, human-animal mutations are the new norm. Director Thomas Cailley begins things in media res with a familiar disaster-movie scene: François (Romain Duris) and Émile (Paul Kircher)––father and son, respectively––are stuck in traffic, making chit-chat, when something slowly begins capturing the attention of other drivers. An ambulance across the way begins to rumble. Then a man with a large winged arm bursts out, causing some damage before scurrying down a tunnel. Only mildly ruffled, François exchanges a jaded aphorism with another driver over: “Strange times.” – Rory O. (full review)
Where to Stream: VOD
Dream Scenario (Kristoffer Borgli)
The ever-evolving nature of fame and infamy gets examined in Dream Scenario,...
- 3/15/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
One of the great restorations of the last year––in the sense that not only is it of pristine quality, but that it invites an underseen gem back into the conversation––is that of Nancy Savoca’s 1993 drama Household Saints, which was executive-produced by Jonathan Demme. Led by Tracey Ullman, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lili Taylor, Judith Malina, Illeana Douglas, and Michael Imperioli, the ambitious, carefully observed drama follows the courtship of an Italian-American family before expanding into a tale of religious conviction. Scripted by Savoca and Richard Guay based on Francine Prose’s novel, the new 4K restoration premiered at New York Film Festival and now Kino Lorber and Milestone Films will open it theatrically on January 12 at the IFC Center. Ahead of the release, we’re pleased to exclusively premiere the new trailer.
Here’s the synopsis: “Based on Francine Prose’s fifth novel, Nancy Savoca’s comic chronicle of...
Here’s the synopsis: “Based on Francine Prose’s fifth novel, Nancy Savoca’s comic chronicle of...
- 12/18/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Following Main Slate and Spotlight, the 61st New York Film Festival has unveiled its Revivals lineup, featuring new restorations of classic and overlooked films. Highlights include Manoel de Oliveira’s Abraham’s Valley, Jean Renoir‘s The Woman on the Beach, Bahram Beyzaie’s The Stranger and the Fog, Abel Gance’s La Roue, Paul Vecchiali’s The Strangler, Lee Grant’s Tell Me a Riddle, Nancy Savoca’s Household Saints, Horace Ové’s Pressure, and more.
“This year’s edition of Revivals is a thrilling showcase of cinema history, packed with groundbreaking discoveries and long unseen classics alike, all in outstanding restorations,” said Florence Almozini, Senior Director of Programming at Film at Lincoln Center and NYFF Revivals Programmer. “We never cease to be amazed at the lasting influence of these cinematic gems on our collective sense of cinema, with the way they have tackled cultural, societal, or political issues with such modernity and artistry.
“This year’s edition of Revivals is a thrilling showcase of cinema history, packed with groundbreaking discoveries and long unseen classics alike, all in outstanding restorations,” said Florence Almozini, Senior Director of Programming at Film at Lincoln Center and NYFF Revivals Programmer. “We never cease to be amazed at the lasting influence of these cinematic gems on our collective sense of cinema, with the way they have tackled cultural, societal, or political issues with such modernity and artistry.
- 8/21/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Although it may seem that films are now more accessible than ever, it’s simply not the case for independent film history.
“The truth is that movies are simply not as available today as they were during the heyday of VHS when some brick-and-mortar video stores carried tens of thousands of titles,” the manifesto for indie film preservation group Missing Movies states. “Now, with a few giant companies controlling the most popular streaming services and trying to outdo one another with original content, many older movies are being left behind.”
A collaborative effort between filmmakers and cinephiles, Missing Movies sets out to “empower filmmakers, distributors, archivists, and others to locate lost materials, clear rights, and advocate for policies and laws to make the full range of our cinema history available to all,” as IndieWire can exclusively share.
Founding Missing Movies filmmakers include Mary Harron, Shola Lynch, Nancy Savoca, Ira Deutchman,...
“The truth is that movies are simply not as available today as they were during the heyday of VHS when some brick-and-mortar video stores carried tens of thousands of titles,” the manifesto for indie film preservation group Missing Movies states. “Now, with a few giant companies controlling the most popular streaming services and trying to outdo one another with original content, many older movies are being left behind.”
A collaborative effort between filmmakers and cinephiles, Missing Movies sets out to “empower filmmakers, distributors, archivists, and others to locate lost materials, clear rights, and advocate for policies and laws to make the full range of our cinema history available to all,” as IndieWire can exclusively share.
Founding Missing Movies filmmakers include Mary Harron, Shola Lynch, Nancy Savoca, Ira Deutchman,...
- 2/4/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Byron Allen’s Freestyle Releasing handles North American rights.
Los Angeles-based Bleiberg/Dimbort has acquired international sales rights to the comedic crime thriller Clover starring Ron Perlman and Chazz Palminteri.
The company will introduce the ensemble film to buyers in the run-up to the autumn festival markets. Byron Allen’s Freestyle Releasing handles the North American release.
Jon Abrahams directed Clover, in which he stars alongside Mark Webber as two bumbling Irish twins who resort to extreme measures to pay off their father’s debt to a local mob boss.
Things go from bad to worse when the titular tough...
Los Angeles-based Bleiberg/Dimbort has acquired international sales rights to the comedic crime thriller Clover starring Ron Perlman and Chazz Palminteri.
The company will introduce the ensemble film to buyers in the run-up to the autumn festival markets. Byron Allen’s Freestyle Releasing handles the North American release.
Jon Abrahams directed Clover, in which he stars alongside Mark Webber as two bumbling Irish twins who resort to extreme measures to pay off their father’s debt to a local mob boss.
Things go from bad to worse when the titular tough...
- 8/12/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Producer Richard Guay announced the cast of the upcoming crime drama Clover. Jon Abrahams (Meet the Parents), who will also direct, will star alongside Mark Webber (Green Room), Nicole Elizabeth Berger (All At Once), Erika Christensen (Parenthood), Julia Jones (Wind River), Jessica Szohr (Gossip Girl), and Jake Weber. Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy) and Academy Award Nominee Chazz Palminteri (Bullets Over Broadway) will also star. The film, a production of Virtuoso Films…...
- 11/9/2017
- Deadline
Read More: Interview with Nancy Savoca: Co-Writer and Director of 'Union Square' The University of Michigan has announced that filmmaker Nancy Savoca will donate her personal archives to the school's Mavericks and Makes Indie Film Collection. The archives will include a diverse range of her work, including drawings, budgets, research documents, drafts of screenplays, audio and video interviews, press photos, props and even a few notebooks from her high school film class. Savoca will be the first female "Maverick" in the collection, which houses an immense range of material from fellow filmmakers such as Orson Welles, Robert Altman, Alan Rudolph, John Sayles and Ira Deutchman. Savoca has been an independent filmmaker, working with her husband and partner Rich Guay, for more than 25 years. Her works includes "True Love" (which won the Grand Jury Prize at the inaugural 1989 Sundance Film Festival), "Household Saints,"...
- 2/4/2016
- by Mike Lown
- Indiewire
The mission of the Minority Independent Producers Summit (Mips) to help level the playing field for underrepresented communities has struck a cord with serious industry leaders and are joining forces to help promote and advocate increased participation by independent producers from those of color, Lgbt, women and those with disabilities in the worlds of film, television and digital media. The non-profit organization is proud to announce new sponsorship agreements with leading cable giant, HBO as well as SAG-aftra, The Producers Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America, for its inaugural launch in NYC this month.
“The Mips progressive plan of action is the first of its kind to present premium opportunities for the underrepresented communities within the entertainment industry,” says Anre Garrettt, producer and founding partner of Mips “Mips is excited to have joined forces with such important industry leaders as HBO, SAG-aftra, WGA, PGA, Ifp who support the same cause.”
“ The Writers Guild of America, East is dedicated to increasing diversity not just in the ranks of film, television and new media creators, but also in the stories they tell. We applaud the Minority Independent Producers Summit for creating a venue for the people who make up this industry to come together and broaden the discourse.” Dana Weissman, Director of Programs, Writers Guild of America, East
“SAG-aftra is proud to support Mips (Minority Independent Producers Summit) in its inaugural year and are thrilled to have the opportunity to engage with the summit attendees so we can work as effectively as possible together towards our shared goal of a truly inclusive media and entertainment industry.” -- (Adam Moore, SAG-aftra)
As sponsoring partner of the first day of Mips Summit, HBO will be hosting the moderated panel discussion, “What does Diversity in Media today truly mean? And to whom?”, slated for opening day, June 25th at HBO media center and will present a special Mips Chat on June 27 th at Mist Harlem.
The Producers Guild of America will present “Perspective (or A Matter of Perspective)” with panelists including: Julie Dash (producer, director, writer and author); María Agui Carter(producer, director, writer, as well as former chair of Nalip and staff producer at Wgbh); Lauren Grant (producer, multi-Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, PGA member and former chair of Bdc and at Firelight Media) and will be moderated by Rachel Watanabe-Batton: Producer, Vice Chair of PGA East as well as Diversity Committee Chair and Co-Chair of PGA Women’s Impact Network
Some of the Mips Guest Speakers & Workshop Facilitators include: Damian Benders, Svp SnagFilms; John Hadity, Evp Entertainment Partners Financial Solutions; Jamie Wilkinson, CEO Vhxtv; Richard Guay, Producer, Founder Passion First Funding Portal; and Jorge Rivera , Producer and Screenwriter, just to name a few.
Currently, the non-profit organization is supported by a league of renowned Advisory Board members including: John Quiñones, producer / actor / writer / host of ABC’s Primetime and "Good Morning America”; Molly Smith , Exec Producer The Blind Side, P.S. I Love You; Elizabeth Gardner Potter, Producer Former Co-Owner NY International Latino Film Festival; Jamal Joseph, Writer / Director for Black Starz, HBO, Fox TV, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros, and A&E; and many others.
Mips 2014 conference will run from June 25 – 27, 2014 at Tribeca Cinemas and Mist Harlem in NYC. Each program within the conference has been designed to help open doors, boost collaborations, create opportunities, help break the distribution blockade, and provide insight and guidance on acquisition and funding.
Founding members Melanie Walters is an Emmy® award-winning producer, Sheila Quann, partner of Hard Headed Media; Anre Garrett, producer and founder of Hard Headed Media, along with Susan Schein, industry veteran and Founding Director of the award-winning Entertainment Industry Incubator.
About Minority Independent Producers Summit
A non-profit organization committed to furthering the growth and development of minority independent producers and content creators from underrepresented communities such as those of color, Lgbt, women and those with disabilities. More info at: www.MIPSummit.com...
“The Mips progressive plan of action is the first of its kind to present premium opportunities for the underrepresented communities within the entertainment industry,” says Anre Garrettt, producer and founding partner of Mips “Mips is excited to have joined forces with such important industry leaders as HBO, SAG-aftra, WGA, PGA, Ifp who support the same cause.”
“ The Writers Guild of America, East is dedicated to increasing diversity not just in the ranks of film, television and new media creators, but also in the stories they tell. We applaud the Minority Independent Producers Summit for creating a venue for the people who make up this industry to come together and broaden the discourse.” Dana Weissman, Director of Programs, Writers Guild of America, East
“SAG-aftra is proud to support Mips (Minority Independent Producers Summit) in its inaugural year and are thrilled to have the opportunity to engage with the summit attendees so we can work as effectively as possible together towards our shared goal of a truly inclusive media and entertainment industry.” -- (Adam Moore, SAG-aftra)
As sponsoring partner of the first day of Mips Summit, HBO will be hosting the moderated panel discussion, “What does Diversity in Media today truly mean? And to whom?”, slated for opening day, June 25th at HBO media center and will present a special Mips Chat on June 27 th at Mist Harlem.
The Producers Guild of America will present “Perspective (or A Matter of Perspective)” with panelists including: Julie Dash (producer, director, writer and author); María Agui Carter(producer, director, writer, as well as former chair of Nalip and staff producer at Wgbh); Lauren Grant (producer, multi-Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, PGA member and former chair of Bdc and at Firelight Media) and will be moderated by Rachel Watanabe-Batton: Producer, Vice Chair of PGA East as well as Diversity Committee Chair and Co-Chair of PGA Women’s Impact Network
Some of the Mips Guest Speakers & Workshop Facilitators include: Damian Benders, Svp SnagFilms; John Hadity, Evp Entertainment Partners Financial Solutions; Jamie Wilkinson, CEO Vhxtv; Richard Guay, Producer, Founder Passion First Funding Portal; and Jorge Rivera , Producer and Screenwriter, just to name a few.
Currently, the non-profit organization is supported by a league of renowned Advisory Board members including: John Quiñones, producer / actor / writer / host of ABC’s Primetime and "Good Morning America”; Molly Smith , Exec Producer The Blind Side, P.S. I Love You; Elizabeth Gardner Potter, Producer Former Co-Owner NY International Latino Film Festival; Jamal Joseph, Writer / Director for Black Starz, HBO, Fox TV, New Line Cinema, Warner Bros, and A&E; and many others.
Mips 2014 conference will run from June 25 – 27, 2014 at Tribeca Cinemas and Mist Harlem in NYC. Each program within the conference has been designed to help open doors, boost collaborations, create opportunities, help break the distribution blockade, and provide insight and guidance on acquisition and funding.
Founding members Melanie Walters is an Emmy® award-winning producer, Sheila Quann, partner of Hard Headed Media; Anre Garrett, producer and founder of Hard Headed Media, along with Susan Schein, industry veteran and Founding Director of the award-winning Entertainment Industry Incubator.
About Minority Independent Producers Summit
A non-profit organization committed to furthering the growth and development of minority independent producers and content creators from underrepresented communities such as those of color, Lgbt, women and those with disabilities. More info at: www.MIPSummit.com...
- 6/25/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Sundance: Amid a flurry of Park City announcements, Fox Searchlight has paid around $3m for world rights to I Origins. Separately, RADiUS-twc has picked up The Night Comes For Us and A24 has closed its second deal of the festival.
Fox Searchlight struck the I Origins deal with Wme Global and Andre des Rochers on behalf of the film and Shelley Surpin on behalf of the director following the January 18 world premiere.
Cahill’s follow-up to his directorial debut and Sundance 2011 premiere Another Earth stars Michael Pitt, Brit Marling and Astrid Bergès-Frisbey and tells of an eye research scientist who makes a profound discovery.
Cahill, Hunter Gray and Alex Orlovsky served as producers on the Verisimilitude / WeWork Studios Production and Searchlight plans a 2014 release.
RADiUS-twc has paid low seven figures for North American rights to The Night Comes For Us. Timo Tjahjanto will direct and Gareth Evens of The Raid fame will produce the film and handle...
Fox Searchlight struck the I Origins deal with Wme Global and Andre des Rochers on behalf of the film and Shelley Surpin on behalf of the director following the January 18 world premiere.
Cahill’s follow-up to his directorial debut and Sundance 2011 premiere Another Earth stars Michael Pitt, Brit Marling and Astrid Bergès-Frisbey and tells of an eye research scientist who makes a profound discovery.
Cahill, Hunter Gray and Alex Orlovsky served as producers on the Verisimilitude / WeWork Studios Production and Searchlight plans a 2014 release.
RADiUS-twc has paid low seven figures for North American rights to The Night Comes For Us. Timo Tjahjanto will direct and Gareth Evens of The Raid fame will produce the film and handle...
- 1/20/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Amid a flurry of announcements from Park City, RADiUS-twc has acquired North American rights to The Night Comes For Us, the upcoming action film from Timo Tjahjanto.
Gareth Evens of The Raid fame will produce the film and handle action direction. Tjahjanto is one half of the Mo Brothers, whose Midnight entry Killers premieres on January 20.
Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian will star in the story of a mobster in Jakarta. The distributor plans a 2015 release and negotiated the deal with Xyz Films.
Films We Like announced out of Park City they will release the Music Box Films slate in Canada. Films We Like president Ron Mann brokered the deal with Ed Arentz of Music Box Films. Upcoming titles include Bettie Page Reveals All, Age Of Uprising: The Legend Of Michael Kohlhass, Ida and Keep The Lights On. Elisabeth Holm has received the inaugural Red Crown Producer’s Award. Holm is a film programme director at Kickstarter...
Gareth Evens of The Raid fame will produce the film and handle action direction. Tjahjanto is one half of the Mo Brothers, whose Midnight entry Killers premieres on January 20.
Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian will star in the story of a mobster in Jakarta. The distributor plans a 2015 release and negotiated the deal with Xyz Films.
Films We Like announced out of Park City they will release the Music Box Films slate in Canada. Films We Like president Ron Mann brokered the deal with Ed Arentz of Music Box Films. Upcoming titles include Bettie Page Reveals All, Age Of Uprising: The Legend Of Michael Kohlhass, Ida and Keep The Lights On. Elisabeth Holm has received the inaugural Red Crown Producer’s Award. Holm is a film programme director at Kickstarter...
- 1/20/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Afm 2012: Not quite Darren Aronofsky’s Noah in scope, but after mounting a career comeback with the Tiff preemed, critically appreciated Union Square, THR reports that filmmaker Nancy Savoca will be taking on the biblical figure of Mary Magdalene with the adaption of Ki Longfellow’s novel Secret Magdalene. Executive produced by Jack Lechner (The Fog of War, Blue Valentine) and Richard Guay (Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai , and Savoca’s Union Square), the 7 million dollar production looks at the character from a different vantage point that the Vatican will surely have something to say about.
Gist: Secret Magdalene is more a “what if” tale re-imagining the life of Mary Magdalene, one of the female followers of Jesus. The book synopsis refers to Longfellow’s novel as a radical retelling of Mary Magdalene to life-not as a prostitute or demon-possessed-but as an educated woman who was truly the “apostle to the apostles.
Gist: Secret Magdalene is more a “what if” tale re-imagining the life of Mary Magdalene, one of the female followers of Jesus. The book synopsis refers to Longfellow’s novel as a radical retelling of Mary Magdalene to life-not as a prostitute or demon-possessed-but as an educated woman who was truly the “apostle to the apostles.
- 11/1/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Director Nancy Savoca (Union Square, Dogfight) has joined Secret Magdalene, a $7 million biblical period drama based on the novel of the same name by Ki Longfellow. Jack Lechner (Blue Valentine) is on board to executive produce the feature together with Richard Guay. New Toronto-based international sales venture Double Dutch Media is handling international sales for the project at Afm. Story: 12 Major Film Markets Impacting Afm This Year Pitched as an alternative to traditional religious films with a more literal interpretation of the Bible, Secret Magdalene is more a "what if" tale re-imagining the life of Mary
read more...
read more...
- 10/31/2012
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Actress Mira Sorvino will star in director Nancy Savoca's indie feature "union Square", following a reluctant reunion between two estranged sisters: one on the verge of marriage, the other on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Screenplay is by Savoca and Mary Tobler.
Cast includes Tammy Blanchard, Michael Rispoli, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Patti LuPone.
Producers are Neda Armian, Armian Pictures and Rich Guay, Cine-Si.
Click the image to enlarge...
Screenplay is by Savoca and Mary Tobler.
Cast includes Tammy Blanchard, Michael Rispoli, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Patti LuPone.
Producers are Neda Armian, Armian Pictures and Rich Guay, Cine-Si.
Click the image to enlarge...
- 11/27/2010
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
PARK CITY, Utah -- "The 24-Hour Woman" needs a rest in this contemporary satire of the frazzling of modern women sucked into believing they can do and have it all with little or no downside. Featuring Rosie Perez, this well-intentioned comedy is unfortunately packed with so many loose threads, instantaneous shifts of plot and motivation that it more resembles a network sitcom pilot than a feature film.
That is not to say this Sundance Film Festival selection, which premieres at the fest tonight, is not without its dramatic and comic charms -- overall, it makes some solid points about how child-raising is denigrated in this smugly enlightened, careerist age.
In this Shooting Gallery presentation, Perez stars as a frenzied TV producer of a morning show geared toward the distaff demographic. Grace is clearly on the way up in her career and new marriage to one of the show's hosts, aspiring action hero Eddie (Diego Serrano).
When it's learned that Grace is pregnant, the show's piranha-like executive producer (Patti Lupone) decides to milk the pregnancy for ratings hay: The show goes into a deep-pregnancy mode in which all facets of Grace's changing condition are explored, poked and put up for public view -- glamorizing pregnancy while propagandizing for the ability of the career woman to do it all.
Not surprisingly, pregnancy itself is not all happy talk and fun times: Grace's weight gain and the emotional drain of having her life put on public display begin to fray at her pretensions of being a superwoman.
One part "Network", two pinches of "Mr. Mom" and a dose of satire on "Oprah/Rosie/Roseanne"-ish talk shows," "The 24-Hour Woman", like the film's heroine, often tries to juggle too many divergent tasks. It never settles into a comfortable narrative rhythm, gyrating with tonal swings and often repeating itself with redundant comic scenes.
Still, its central theme -- that pregnancy and child-rearing is underappreciated in this society -- is smartly detailed as Grace endures the slings and arrows of snide careerist women, as well as the callow smugness of her "supportive" husband. Particularly touching is a subplot involving Grace's assistant, Madeline (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a mother of three returning to the workplace whose truculent husband Roy (Wendell Price) is none too happy to emasculate his manhood by being a househusband. The exhausting balancing act that Madeline must maintain between family and work is perhaps the film's most powerful thread.
The players deserve praise for their adroit performances. In particular, Perez is engaging as the woman who feels pressured into doing it all. Jean-Baptiste's measured performance as the working mother of three brims with smart detail, while Price is well-cast as the feisty, old-time male provider. Serrano is appropriately charismatic and callow as Grace's immature husband, while Lupone is industry-perfect as a callous, cold-hearted careerist.
Despite the sometimes scattered nature of the storytelling, screenwriters Nancy Savoca and Richard Guay have created credible, sympathetic characters and cleverly shown the incredible demands and talents it takes to raise children. Under director Nancy Savoca's empathetic guidance, the story, even when it fails to jell, rings true.
Unfortunately, the sometimes scattered scripting and the film's laggardly pacing often sink it into the doldrums. Technically, Bob Shaw's production design is first-rate, telling and funny, while Kathleen Mobley's costumes captures the frenzy of the workplace as well as the insecurities of people who try to balance too much and, ironically, become out of balance themselves.
Unfortunately, the production is marred by some dreadful sound work, with the dialogue sometimes nearly inaudible, particularly when the background score and noise kick in with action-movie gusto.
THE 24-HOUR WOMAN
Artisan Entertainment
The Shooting Gallery presents
a Redeemable Features/Exile Films production
in association with Dirt Road Prods.
Producers: Richard Guay, Larry Meistrich, Peter Newman
Director: Nancy Savoca
Screenwriters: Nancy Savoca, Richard Guay
Executive producers: Steve Carlis, Donald C. Carter, Daniel J. Victor
Director of photography: Teresa Medina
Co-producer: Rosie Perez
Editor: Camilla Toniolo
Production designer: Bob Shaw
Music: Louie Vega, Kenny Gonzalez
Music supervisors: Barry Cole, Christopher Covert
Casting: Sheila Jaffe, Georgianne Walken
Line producer: Diana Schmidt
Color/stereo
Cast:
Grace Santos: Rosie Perez
Madeline Labelle: Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Joan Marshall: Patti Lupone
Margo Lynn: Karen Duffy
Eddie Diaz: Diego Serrano
Roy Labelle: Wendell Price
Dr. Suzanne Pincus: Melissa Leo
Running time -- 96 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
That is not to say this Sundance Film Festival selection, which premieres at the fest tonight, is not without its dramatic and comic charms -- overall, it makes some solid points about how child-raising is denigrated in this smugly enlightened, careerist age.
In this Shooting Gallery presentation, Perez stars as a frenzied TV producer of a morning show geared toward the distaff demographic. Grace is clearly on the way up in her career and new marriage to one of the show's hosts, aspiring action hero Eddie (Diego Serrano).
When it's learned that Grace is pregnant, the show's piranha-like executive producer (Patti Lupone) decides to milk the pregnancy for ratings hay: The show goes into a deep-pregnancy mode in which all facets of Grace's changing condition are explored, poked and put up for public view -- glamorizing pregnancy while propagandizing for the ability of the career woman to do it all.
Not surprisingly, pregnancy itself is not all happy talk and fun times: Grace's weight gain and the emotional drain of having her life put on public display begin to fray at her pretensions of being a superwoman.
One part "Network", two pinches of "Mr. Mom" and a dose of satire on "Oprah/Rosie/Roseanne"-ish talk shows," "The 24-Hour Woman", like the film's heroine, often tries to juggle too many divergent tasks. It never settles into a comfortable narrative rhythm, gyrating with tonal swings and often repeating itself with redundant comic scenes.
Still, its central theme -- that pregnancy and child-rearing is underappreciated in this society -- is smartly detailed as Grace endures the slings and arrows of snide careerist women, as well as the callow smugness of her "supportive" husband. Particularly touching is a subplot involving Grace's assistant, Madeline (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), a mother of three returning to the workplace whose truculent husband Roy (Wendell Price) is none too happy to emasculate his manhood by being a househusband. The exhausting balancing act that Madeline must maintain between family and work is perhaps the film's most powerful thread.
The players deserve praise for their adroit performances. In particular, Perez is engaging as the woman who feels pressured into doing it all. Jean-Baptiste's measured performance as the working mother of three brims with smart detail, while Price is well-cast as the feisty, old-time male provider. Serrano is appropriately charismatic and callow as Grace's immature husband, while Lupone is industry-perfect as a callous, cold-hearted careerist.
Despite the sometimes scattered nature of the storytelling, screenwriters Nancy Savoca and Richard Guay have created credible, sympathetic characters and cleverly shown the incredible demands and talents it takes to raise children. Under director Nancy Savoca's empathetic guidance, the story, even when it fails to jell, rings true.
Unfortunately, the sometimes scattered scripting and the film's laggardly pacing often sink it into the doldrums. Technically, Bob Shaw's production design is first-rate, telling and funny, while Kathleen Mobley's costumes captures the frenzy of the workplace as well as the insecurities of people who try to balance too much and, ironically, become out of balance themselves.
Unfortunately, the production is marred by some dreadful sound work, with the dialogue sometimes nearly inaudible, particularly when the background score and noise kick in with action-movie gusto.
THE 24-HOUR WOMAN
Artisan Entertainment
The Shooting Gallery presents
a Redeemable Features/Exile Films production
in association with Dirt Road Prods.
Producers: Richard Guay, Larry Meistrich, Peter Newman
Director: Nancy Savoca
Screenwriters: Nancy Savoca, Richard Guay
Executive producers: Steve Carlis, Donald C. Carter, Daniel J. Victor
Director of photography: Teresa Medina
Co-producer: Rosie Perez
Editor: Camilla Toniolo
Production designer: Bob Shaw
Music: Louie Vega, Kenny Gonzalez
Music supervisors: Barry Cole, Christopher Covert
Casting: Sheila Jaffe, Georgianne Walken
Line producer: Diana Schmidt
Color/stereo
Cast:
Grace Santos: Rosie Perez
Madeline Labelle: Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Joan Marshall: Patti Lupone
Margo Lynn: Karen Duffy
Eddie Diaz: Diego Serrano
Roy Labelle: Wendell Price
Dr. Suzanne Pincus: Melissa Leo
Running time -- 96 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 1/22/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Filmmaker Nancy Savoca, whose last project was the ill-fated "Dogfight, '' has made another film about Italian-Americans in her new "Household Saints, '' but she has replaced the realism of "True Love'' with a fantastical fairy-tale quality that is both the strength and weakness of her film.
Told in the form of an extended flashback, the film relates the history of the marriage between Joseph Santangelo (Vincent D'Onofrio), a butcher, and Catherine Falconetti (Tracey Ullman), the 17-year-old daughter of his widowed friend Lino (Victor Argo). One night in the 1950s, in the midst of a torrid heat wave, Joseph, Lino and Catherine's brother Nicky (Michael Rispoli) get involved in a heated game of pinochle. In one wager over a single hand, Lino bets his daughter's hand in marriage vs. a blast of cold air from Joseph's freezer, and loses.
The seemingly misbegotten union, which occurs over Catherine's objections, actually turns out charmed, despite the families' squabbles and the sniping of Joseph's old-world mother Carmela (Judith Malina)., whose favorite story is about how she made delicious soup from clam shells that she dug out of the garbage. Eventually, Joseph and Catherine have a child, Teresa, whom they name after the saint of flowers and labor.
The first two-thirds of the film, detailing the courtship and first years of the marriage, has a sweet charm and flavorful ethnic humor, aided by the expert comic work of the cast (Ullman, in an atypical role, gives a beautifully modulated and restrained performance). With the arrival of Teresa, played from the age of 13 on by Lili Taylor, the film turns darker, as the character becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea that she is experiencing divine visitations.
Her behavior becomes ever more bizarre; she agrees to have sex with her nerdy boyfriend because she thinks he has been sent by God; and she experiences a visit from Jesus while she is ironing. The latter incident results in her commitment, and a tragic finale that results in her unofficial ascension to sainthood.
Savoca is unable to make the latter scenes truly work, and they are particularly jarring after the light-hearted build-up that has preceded them. Taylor, as usual, gives an amazing performance, her most intense yet. But the film is not stylish enough to carry across its intention of being a modern-day folktale. "Household Saints'' is imaginative and audacious, qualities rare in today's cinema, but it falls short of its aspirations.
HOUSEHOLD SAINTS
Fine Line Features Release
Director Nancy Savoca
Executive producer Jonathan Demme
Producers Richard Guay, Peter Newman
Screenplay Nancy Savoca, Richard Guay
Director of photography Bobby Bukowski
Editor Beth Kling
Costumes Eugenie Bafaloukos
Cast:
Catherine Falconetti Tracey Ullman
Joseph Santangelo Vincent D'Onofrio
Teresa Lili Taylor
Carmela Santangelo Judith Malina
Nicky Falconetti Michael Rispoli
Lino Falconetti Victor Argo
Running time -- 124 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Told in the form of an extended flashback, the film relates the history of the marriage between Joseph Santangelo (Vincent D'Onofrio), a butcher, and Catherine Falconetti (Tracey Ullman), the 17-year-old daughter of his widowed friend Lino (Victor Argo). One night in the 1950s, in the midst of a torrid heat wave, Joseph, Lino and Catherine's brother Nicky (Michael Rispoli) get involved in a heated game of pinochle. In one wager over a single hand, Lino bets his daughter's hand in marriage vs. a blast of cold air from Joseph's freezer, and loses.
The seemingly misbegotten union, which occurs over Catherine's objections, actually turns out charmed, despite the families' squabbles and the sniping of Joseph's old-world mother Carmela (Judith Malina)., whose favorite story is about how she made delicious soup from clam shells that she dug out of the garbage. Eventually, Joseph and Catherine have a child, Teresa, whom they name after the saint of flowers and labor.
The first two-thirds of the film, detailing the courtship and first years of the marriage, has a sweet charm and flavorful ethnic humor, aided by the expert comic work of the cast (Ullman, in an atypical role, gives a beautifully modulated and restrained performance). With the arrival of Teresa, played from the age of 13 on by Lili Taylor, the film turns darker, as the character becomes increasingly obsessed with the idea that she is experiencing divine visitations.
Her behavior becomes ever more bizarre; she agrees to have sex with her nerdy boyfriend because she thinks he has been sent by God; and she experiences a visit from Jesus while she is ironing. The latter incident results in her commitment, and a tragic finale that results in her unofficial ascension to sainthood.
Savoca is unable to make the latter scenes truly work, and they are particularly jarring after the light-hearted build-up that has preceded them. Taylor, as usual, gives an amazing performance, her most intense yet. But the film is not stylish enough to carry across its intention of being a modern-day folktale. "Household Saints'' is imaginative and audacious, qualities rare in today's cinema, but it falls short of its aspirations.
HOUSEHOLD SAINTS
Fine Line Features Release
Director Nancy Savoca
Executive producer Jonathan Demme
Producers Richard Guay, Peter Newman
Screenplay Nancy Savoca, Richard Guay
Director of photography Bobby Bukowski
Editor Beth Kling
Costumes Eugenie Bafaloukos
Cast:
Catherine Falconetti Tracey Ullman
Joseph Santangelo Vincent D'Onofrio
Teresa Lili Taylor
Carmela Santangelo Judith Malina
Nicky Falconetti Michael Rispoli
Lino Falconetti Victor Argo
Running time -- 124 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 9/15/1993
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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