Merger approved
Friday, Oct. 2 — Happy Friday, everyone. The big news in Hollywood this week is that the $111 billion merger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery – the biggest takeover in Hollywood history – is expected to move forward after a judge approved the recent settlement between Paramount and a group of Democratic state attorneys general. Paramount has tentatively scheduled its closing date as Oct. 6.
I’ve beat how I feel about the merger like a dead horse, so I won’t belabor the point. But, in more positive news, Out on Film is headed into its final weekend, and I’m PUMPED to see “La Bola Negra” on a big screen. If you’re going to be there this Sunday, say hello!
Without further ado … Action!
🧵 “André Leon Talley: Style Is Forever,” a documentary from the Savannah College of Art and Design about fashion icon André Leon Talley, premieres on VOD on Oct. 9.
📽️ The Shoot Your Shot Film Festival is now accepting submissions for its fourth edition, which will be Aug. 27-29 next year.
👭 Soul Cinema Sunday will screen “They Cloned Tyrone” at the Plaza Theatre on Sun., Oct. 11.
🐭 Disney has issued yet another round of layoffs, impacting a couple hundred employees in areas like tech and HR.
💸 A bill that would establish a 20% federal film and television tax credit has added eight new co-sponsors in the Senate.
💔 Dennis Haskins, best known for playing the principal on the sitcom “Saved by the Bell,” passed away earlier this week. He was 75 years old.
This week’s newsletter includes an interview with artist Michael Kalish about his new film-inspired work, as well as an interview with filmmaker Ryon Horne about the documentary “Love, Patrick: Nothing Is Impossible,” which is playing at Out on Film tonight. And we’ve got reviews of the new Colleen Hoover adaptation “Verity,” and the Mahershala Ali vehicle “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.” Plus, what’s playing at theaters this week, the art I’m loving currently, and some reading and listening recommendations for your lunch break.
Thanks for reading!
Sammie
👻 Dad’s Garage’s newest original sketch show, The Bottle Tree, is an interactive, spooky collection of horror-comedy sure to send tingles down your spine! SPONSOR MESSAGE
‘Love, Patrick: Nothing Is Impossible’ remembers a forgotten icon
👠 Before he signed on to make a documentary about him, Ryon Horne didn’t know who Patrick Kelly was. But, as soon as he saw him, he began to realize he’d seen his influence everywhere through the ’80s and ’90s. His bicycle hats, his overalls, his colorful way of presenting himself – you could see it in everything from Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have It” to “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”
“As soon as I saw a picture of Patrick, I immediately connected a couple of things to him and his look and how he presented himself,” Horne said.
Along with his two brothers, Byron and Tyson Horne (collectively known as the Horne Brothers), Ryon Horne directed the new film “Love, Patrick: Nothing Is Impossible,” which is playing at this year’s Out on Film festival on Oct. 2. The documentary tracks the astronomical rise of Kelly as a fashion designer, from his roots in Vicksburg, MS, to the height of his career in Paris.
🍿 I spoke with Horne about the making of the film ahead of tonight’s screening. Check out our conversation here.
Ready for a Twisted Night Out?
SPONSORED BY DAD’S GARAGE
👻 Atlanta-based comedy theatre Dad’s Garage celebrates original work and offbeat glee, and The Bottle Tree is the newest showcase of the theatre’s signature sensibilities in the hands of a new generation of writer-performers.
While still a comedy down to its ooky, spooky bones, The Bottle Tree is an intimate, interactive, and twisted live theatrical experience with a heavy dose of horror.
→ Come find out why this late-night sketch show is perfect for the Halloween season.
Reel Portraits’ from Michael Kalish heads to Atlanta Art Fair
🎞️ Artist Michael Kalish is getting back to his roots with his newest venture, “Reel Portraits,” which will be at the Atlanta Art Fair through Oct. 4.
Kalish is an Atlanta native who now resides in Los Angeles, and as an artist his interests lie in pop culture, Americana, and working with materials you might not always expect. His newest work is a series of portraits of famous faces like James Dean and Audrey Hepburn, fashioned out of actual film reels from the stars’ most iconic movies.
“Reel Portraits” opened at the Atlanta Art Fair at Pullman Yards yesterday. Ahead of the opening, I spoke with Kalish about his passion for film, how he decided which stars to include, and how it all came together.
🌟 Read our conversation here.
👻 Dad’s Garage’s newest original sketch show, The Bottle Tree, is an interactive, spooky collection of horror-comedy sure to send tingles down your spine! SPONSOR MESSAGE
‘Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother’ is faith-based filmmaking done right
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
🕌 “Who deserves the best of me?” The answer to this Islamic hadith makes up the title of Bassam Tariq’s new film, “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother.” The question, and its subsequent answer, opens and closes the film, which stars Mahershala Ali as Latif, a devout hitman who’s left to care for his three young children after the death of his wife.
The movie lives and dies by this question. In the hadith, a man asks it to the prophet Muhammad three times, receiving the same answer of “your mother” each time. But, considering the questions that Tariq is dealing with in the film – questions about how religion uplifts us and fails us, and about what faith really means – by film’s end, it feels like the answer should be “your children.”
“Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” represents faith-based filmmaking at its best, and is one of the more complex and thought-provoking ruminations on the subject that you’ll see all year. Perhaps the most poignant dichotomy that Tariq’s film explores is the often-too-wide gulf between what we teach our children and what we actually believe. Ali shines as a man whose place in the world has suddenly shifted, slowly realizing he’s been searching for God in all the wrong places.
🍼 Read my full review here.
Film version of Colleen Hoover’s ‘Verity’ simply isn’t trashy enough
WEEKLY FILM REVIEW
✍️ Since 2024, there have been four feature film adaptations of Colleen Hoover novels. But the most recent, “Verity,” is a bit of a different animal than Hoover’s standard romantic fare.
Directed by Michael Showalter with a screenplay from Nick Antosca, “Verity” stars Dakota Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh (continuing the trend of Colleen Hoover protagonists with bonkers names), a struggling author trying to make ends meet in the wake of her mother’s death. Her luck changes when out of nowhere, she receives a lucrative offer to ghostwrite for none other than bestselling author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), whose psychological thriller series is unfinished – and might continue to be so, since Verity was recently in a car accident and can no longer move or talk.
As far as Hoover adaptations go (and they’re becoming a genre unto themselves), “Verity” is operating at a higher level than most. It’s got bigger stars, and director Michael Showalter clearly has an affection for classic noir, as the film’s visual references range from “Leave Her to Heaven” to “The Night of the Hunter” to “Notorious.” There’s a classiness to this movie, at least on the surface, that elevates it above what you might expect. But maybe “Verity” could have used a bit of good old-fashioned trash. Because, besides Hathaway doing her damnedest to inject this thing with a bit of humor, “Verity” is just about as boring as it could possibly be.
🛶 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:
“Digger” (pictured)
📕 “Verity”
🍼 “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother”
🏴 “The Incomer”
🇻🇳 “Y Van: The Lost Sounds of Saigon”
Special Events:
🤐 “Unzipped” in 4K @ The Plaza (Friday-Thursday)
✂️ “Office Killer” in 4K @ The Plaza (Friday-Thursday)
🪐 Silver Scream Spookshow: “Plan 9 from Outer Space” @ The Plaza (Saturday)
🥷 “Ninja Scroll” in 4K @ The Plaza (Sunday-Wednesday)
💀 Cinemás: “Coco” @ The Tara (Sunday)
🎸 “Sinners” @ Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sunday and Wednesday)
💚 “Wicked” Sing-Along @ The Strand (Saturday)
Lights, Camera, Action!
🏜️ I just finished reading “East of Eden” and am excited to dive into Zoe Kazan’s new adaptation of the novel, which dropped on Netflix yesterday. I really, really enjoyed this recent interview with Kazan in Vulture. She talks not just about her grandfather (the film director Elia Kazan) and her own connection to the novel’s themes of inheritance, shame, and choice, but also the difficulties she’s faced in talking about him over the years. It’s a fascinating conversation.
🕺 In more “East of Eden” news, Mike Faist is back, baby! Faist has been one of my favorite actors to come up over the past several years, but he’s a bit more elusive than most. I think this GQ profile captures that beautifully. It’s great to learn that Mike loves “All That Jazz” and Gene Kelly movies (he’s just like me, for real), but I for one hope he keeps up this air of mystery – we know too much about famous people. It’s sort of refreshing to have one who just wants to do the work.
📺 If you still haven’t gotten your “Primetime” fix, Sean Fennessey has a great interview with director Lance Oppenheim on “The Big Picture” podcast. Check that out here.
🖋️ Today’s Scene was edited by Julie E. Bloemeke.
