Back to the beginning
Aug. 1 — If ever you fail … just change your name and pretend like nothing happened!
As announced earlier this year, Warner Bros. Discovery will officially split into two companies by 2026, one handling the studio side of things and the other the network side. The names of these companies, you ask? Well, it seems like we’re taking a page out of the good ol’ “HBO Max – Max – HBO Max” book. The studio side will be called Warner Bros., and the network side will be Discovery Global. It really is almost like that pesky 2022 merger never happened! Cue Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time…”
Without further ado … Action!
🏳️🌈 Out on Film has announced its first selections for the upcoming 2025 festival, including “Lesbian Space Princess” and “The Librarians.”
🎥 The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) is launching a new student film festival competition set to kick off on Aug. 27. High school students will work on films that center the theme “Building Bridges,” and premiere those films on Nov. 19.
🎭 I recently spoke with playwright Jordan Cooper and True Colors Theatre Company Artistic Director Jamil Jude about True Colors’ upcoming production of Cooper’s play “Ain’t No Mo,'” which opens today. Check that out here.
🍿 For Atlanta Magazine, Tess Malone wrote this ode to the indie theaters of Atlanta, diving into the question of how they’ve been able to survive in the age of streaming.
🪕 “Sinners” is playing in a special screening at SCADShow on Aug. 7. Tickets are free for SCAD Card holders.
This week’s newsletter is hefty, featuring interviews with two directors with movies coming out this weekend – Reid Davenport for “Life After” and Ken Feinberg for “Love & Taxe$.” We’ve also got reviews for the new horror movie “Together,” the new “The Naked Gun” movie, and the Japanese thriller “Cloud.” Plus, what’s at the movies this weekend, and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
Atlanta filmmaker to debut ‘Feng Shui’ at Changing Minds Young Filmmakers Festival
Talking with Reid Davenport and Colleen Cassingham of ‘Life After’
⚖️ In the 1980s, Elizabeth Bouvia became a prominent figure in the right-to-die movement when she went to court and asked the state of California to allow her – and only her – to decide whether she would live or die. Bouvia had cerebral palsy, was in a lot of pain, and wanted the hospital to allow her to starve to death rather than keep her alive.
In 2021, Canada expanded its Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program to apply to not just people with terminal illnesses, but also those with incurable conditions – even if there is no death date in sight.
“Life After,” a new film from filmmaker Reid Davenport, uses both of these stories as roads into questions about the morality and ethics of the right-to-die movement, and what it tells us about how society at large treats the disabled population.
🇨🇦 I recently spoke with Davenport and his producer, Colleen Cassingham, about their experience making the film. Check out that interview here.
Be part of the fun: Perimeter CIDs launch Playfully Perimeter
SPONSORED BY PERIMETER COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS
☀️ When was your last carefree afternoon? Playfully Perimeter is touching down here, there, and everywhere in Perimeter to brighten up your 5-to-9 routine! This free event series will bring live music, tasty treats, art, and creative games from local Perimeter businesses.
🪩 The party kicks off Aug. 27 on the Green at Perimeter Summit! Expect frozen drinks, oversized games, and serious summer vibes. See you soon at Play it Cool!
Georgia-made rom-com to play at Cobb International Film Festival
💌 “Love & Taxe$,” a new film directed by Craig Tollis and Ken Feinberg, is playing at the Cobb International Film Festival on Aug. 2.
The film is set in the 1970s, following the tumultuous love story between a waitress (Alexis Abrams) and her accountant (Jake Reiner), with each scene taking place during their once-a-year meeting where he helps her with her taxes. The script was written by TV writer and producer Lloyd J. Schwartz, the son of “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch” creator Sherwood Schwartz.
Ken, who also founded the Atlanta-based acting studio Creative Studios of Atlanta, met Schwartz through mutual friends upwards of 20 years ago. According to Feinberg, Schwartz offered him the script to “Love & Taxe$” around that time, but it was only during the pandemic that he found the time and money to be able to make something of it.
💸 Check out my interview with Ken here.
‘Together’ and the terror of codependency
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🤝 When two people have been together for as long as Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) have, their lives become intertwined to a degree where it’s sometimes hard to recognize where one life ends and the other begins. At one point toward the beginning of the new film “Together,” Millie warns Tim that they should nip this relationship in the bud if he’s not all in: “If we don’t split now, it’ll only be harder later.”
That line will come back in spectacular fashion. “Together,” Michael Shanks’ directorial debut starring Brie and Franco, gives viewers a couple who – after encountering a supernatural force in an underground cavern – start to fuse together.
A slightly on-the-nose metaphor for codependency? Sure. But, after a fairly stagnant first act, “Together” starts to go fully gonzo in a way that plays well to both its lead actors’ comic sensibilities, filled to the brim with great effects and set pieces. The film’s final message falls a bit flat – unless you, like me, see it as perversely bleak – but it’s a fun ride to get there.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s ‘Cloud’ explores the dark side of digital capitalism
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
☁️ Right off the bat, “Cloud,” the new film from Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, manages to do the impossible: find cinematic expression in the act of staring at screens.
Yoshii (Masaki Suda) works a run-of-the-mill factory job but moonlights as a reseller, buying up “luxury” goods at a discount price and selling them for a profit online. As Yoshii’s first big sale of the movie unfolds (some sort of therapy machine), the camera zeroes in on a computer screen as the products begin to sell out, their icons rapidly blinking before going dark. The camera slowly moves from the screen to Yoshii, who is also staring at the screen – blank-faced, completely engrossed.
In the world Kurosawa has built – slightly exaggerated, but so close to our own – he exposes cracks and fissures that betray the fundamental dearth of empathy in our digital, capitalist age. “Cloud” is a parable – a funny, horrifying encapsulation of how we are slaves to an internet that makes us apathetic. And if we’re not careful, that apathy will kill us one day.
💻 Read my full review here.
‘The Naked Gun’ is the comedy of the summer
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
☃️ During an early scene in “The Naked Gun,” Frank Debrin Jr. (Liam Neeson) is kneeling in front of a photo of his father, Frank Debrin Sr. (Leslie Nielsen, of the original 1988 film), asking for guidance. “I want to be just like you,” he says. “But original! And completely different!”
Neeson might as well be speaking for the movie itself, or any of the plethora of remakes and reboots that have filled movie theaters this century. Directed by Akiva Schaffer, “The Naked Gun” clearly outlines the gold standard these remakes are aiming for, but hardly ever reach – capturing the spirit of the original, but still standing on their own merit.
I’m delighted to say, “The Naked Gun” nails that balance. It’s the funniest big studio comedy release to come along in years, playing in a similar sandbox to the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker films of yore, but in a new context with new toys.
🍗 Read my full review here.
At the Movies!
If you’re looking for a movie to see in theaters this week, here’s what you’ve got to look forward to!
Movies releasing this weekend:
🐺 “The Bad Guys 2” (pictured)
☃️ “The Naked Gun”
👜 “Cloud” (The Tara)
🚧 “Architecton” (The Tara)
🇮🇹 “Diciannove” (The Plaza)
⚖️ “Life After” (Aug. 4 @ The Tara)
Special Events:
🐈 “CatVideoFest 2025” @ The Plaza (Saturday-Sunday)
👻 Montopolis: “Ghost Almanac” @ The Plaza (Sunday)
🇯🇵 “Throne of Blood” in 4K @ The Tara (Friday-Thursday)
🎬 “Sunset Boulevard” 75th Anniversary @ Select Theaters (Sunday-Monday)
Crash Zoom: Venice Film Festival and indie distributor news
🍒 Welcome to Crash Zoom, a podcast where we take a deep dive into film and entertainment industry news!
Each week, join my cohost Aaron Strand and me as we explore how things happening at the highest level trickle down and affect the independent artist. We’ll be releasing two short episodes each week, one on Wednesday and one on Friday, diving deep on two news stories.
This week’s Wednesday episode covers this year’s Venice Film Festival lineup. This week’s Friday episode covers A24’s move into the theater space and the pause in Metrograph Pictures theatrical schedule.
🇮🇹 Check out both episodes here!
Lights, Camera, Action!
🎩 Director Ari Aster (“Eddington,” “Hereditary”) joined the hosts of Blank Check last weekend to talk all things “Miller’s Crossing” and the Coen Brothers. “Miller’s Crossing” is not my favorite of the Coens’ movies, but it was lovely listening to a group a people who really love the film discuss it. Take a listen here.
🚜 “The Straight Story” is real curio in David Lynch’s filmography, a Disney production and rated G – two things you don’t often associate with a Lynch film. But, in some ways, it holds some of the harshest truths about life. For Vulture, Matthew Schnipper wrote about his experience watching “The Straight Story” for the first time since he was a teenager, and what he missed about what Lynch was trying to say back then. Check it out here.
📱 There is no one – I repeat, no one – doing press quite like Reneé Rapp. And she proved that once again while prank calling her friends in this episode of Elle’s “Phoning It In.” Rapp may be taking a break from acting, but her performances here prove those Oscars are hers if she wants them.
🖊️ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.