MAX INVITES YOU TO “LATTE LARRY’S” | |||||||||||||||
IN ADVANCE OF SUNDAY’S DEBUT OF THE 12TH & FINAL SEASON OF THE HBO ORIGINAL SERIES ‘CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM’ | |||||||||||||||
  | |||||||||||||||
MAX IS PARTNERING WITH MENOTTI’S COFFEE STOP | |||||||||||||||
TO BRING FANS OF THE ACCLAIMED SERIES | |||||||||||||||
FREE “HOT CUPS OF SPITE” AND “DRY SCONES” | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
FEBRUARY 2 - 4 IN CULVER CITY + VENICE BEACH | |||||||||||||||
12430 WASHINGTON AVENUE, LOS ANGELES 90066 + | |||||||||||||||
56 WINDWARD AVENUE, VENICE 90291
|
Santa Barbara, CA - Academy Award® and BAFTA nominee Paul Giamatti will receive the Cinema Vanguard Award at the 39th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Giamatti will be honored on February 14, 2024 for his moving portrayal of curmudgeonly prep school teacher Paul Hunham in Focus Features’ THE HOLDOVERS. Earlier this month, Giamatti was awarded both a Golden Globe & Critics Choice Award for his outstanding performance.
“This is a long overdue tribute for an actor's actor who deserves all the accolades. His work has been exemplary and his collaborations with Alexander Payne are nothing short of perfection. I can’t think of anyone more worthy of this recognition for a performance in a film that so effortlessly navigates the intricate tapestry of human relationships” SBIFF’s Executive Director Roger Durling noted.
Paul Giamatti is one of the most versatile actors of his generation, and his body of work comes to life with a diverse roster of finely etched, award-winning, and critically acclaimed performances across film and television. Giamatti currently stars in Focus Features’ heartwarming period drama, The Holdovers. He has received several accolades for his moving performance, including the Golden Globe® Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, the Critics Choice Award and the National Board of Review Award for Best Actor, The Palm Springs International Film Festival “Icon Award”, and was recently nominated for the SAG, BAFTA and Academy Award ® for Best Actor.
Giamatti can also be seen in the second season of HBO Europe’s hit Spanish-horror series, 30 Coins, as well as in the final season of the Showtime hit, Billions, for which he has been nominated for a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award and a Critics Choice Award for “Best Actor in a Drama Series” over the course of the series.
Outside of acting, Giamatti co-hosts the podcast Chinwag with author and philosopher Stephen Asma from Treefort Media & Touchy Feely Films. Featuring prominent guests from diverse fields, Chinwag is a series of conversations that delve deep into the wilderness of the mind, covering topics spanning from science and philosophy to the occult and literature.
The Cinema Vanguard Award recognizes actors who have forged their own path, taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. Previous honorees include Colin Farrell & Brendan Gleeson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Carey Mulligan, Laura Dern, Michael B. Jordan, Willem DaFoe, Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Amy Adams, Jean Dujardin, Bernice Bejo, Nicole Kidman, Peter Sarsgaard, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Kristin Scott Thomas, Stanley Tucci and Ryan Gosling.
The 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place LIVE February 7 - February 17, 2024. Official events including screenings, filmmaker Q&As, industry panels, and celebrity tributes, will be held throughout the city, including at the historic Arlington Theatre. Passes for the 2024 Festival are on sale now at sbiff.org.
A-list and industry guests will once again ascend to Santa Barbara, making it a must-stop location on the awards circuit, and delivering a record number of films with many World and U.S. premieres. The 39th festival will open with the World Premiere of Disney’s MADU and it will close with the World Premiere of CHOSEN FAMILY directed by Heather Graham starring Julia Stiles, Heather Graham, Andrea Savage, Thomas Lennon. The festival will debut 45 World Premiere and 77 U.S. Premieres from 48 countries. Film lineup and full festival schedule can be found on sbiff.org.
About The Holdovers
From acclaimed director Alexander Payne, THE HOLDOVERS follows a curmudgeonly instructor (Paul Giamatti) at a New England prep school who is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them -- a damaged, brainy troublemaker (newcomer Dominic Sessa) -- and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). The film was recently nominated for five Academy Awards ® and seven BAFTAs, in addition to being recognized as one of the top films of the year by critics groups across the country.
I am in the process of making a new video regarding the symmetry within the Alien series thus far and I find research to be a very important part of the creative process so much that I end up doing more than I ever use. Better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it. Anyway in the process of compiling my data I took out a bunch of my Alien related books and thought I would share them. This is not everything, but it is a lot. Thank you.
Next Goal Wins is the latest film from Taika Waititi, who has managed to distinguish himself as a filmmaker of interest and a gifted comedic actor that has no qualms about doing motion capture for feature film and TV roles like his signature roles as IG11 in Disney Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian and as Korg, the heroic and comic relief from Thor: Ragnarok. A role he has reprised in Thor: Love and Thunder, which he also directed and on the Disney+ Marvel animated series What If…? and off beat films like Jojo Rabbit. For the 2023 comedy based loosely on a true story, Next Goal Wins stars Michael Fassbender as Thomas Rongen, whose efforts to lead the American Somoa National Football Team pays off when the team plays in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The film was inspired by the 2014 documentary Next Goal Wins.
Ironically I found myself thinking of another sports comedy loosely based on a true story from 1993 entitled Cool Runnings, which focused on the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team at the 1988 Winter Olympics. The two films actually share some commonalities in that both were ultimately distributed by Disney with Next Goal Wins being released under the Fox Searchlight Label and Cool Runnings released by Buena Vista Pictures. John Candy, in his final feature film performance portrays Irving “Irv” Blitzer, who backs up the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team all the way into the Olympics where they win the respect of others and ultimately go on to compete again as equals four years later at the Winter Olympics while Fassbender’s Rongen coaches the American Somoa National Football Team into an elite squad of players.
So despite the similarities aside, I think we can reasonably state that both movies are feel good underdog stories. So while I do find some similarities between the two films, I think that is to be expected because they’re both loosely based on true stories.
Next Goal Wins was released on digital platforms on January 16, 2024 with a Blu-ray and DVD release expected to be released on February 27, 2024. Extra value features on the digital copy include the behind-the-scenes featurette The Pitch of Life (26:48) and a deleted scene (2:38).
Available through the Movies Anywhere app, which gives users a choice of multiple platforms to watch the film on, I chose my preferred digital retailer, iTunes. That digital copy features a pristine DolbyVision widescreen 4K Ultra HD presentation with a well mixed English Dolby ATMOS Soundtrack and English Subtiles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired as well as French and Latin American Spanish Language Subtitles encoded as options. English Assisted Descriptive Audio for the visually impaired and French and Latin American Spanish Language subtitles are also encoded as choices.
The interactive menus are rudimentary still frames with background music. This is a far cry from the elaborate animated interactive menus that used to appear on DVDs and now seem like it has become a lost art form.
Next Goal Wins is available now as a digital copy through select e-tailers and Movies Anywhere.
(C) Copyright 2024 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
KEANU REEVES
TO RECEIVE INAUGURAL LANCE REDDICK LEGACY AWARD
AT THIS YEAR’S 51st ANNUAL SATURN AWARDS
– Entire Show Dedicated to the Memory of Lance Reddick –
Los Angeles, CA – January 26, 2024 – This year’s Saturn Awards show is not only dedicated to the memory of the Saturn Awards’ dear friend, acclaimed actor and former Saturn Awards host, Lance Reddick, but will also be presenting the debut of the Lance Reddick Legacy Award to his longtime co-star and friend from the blockbuster John Wick franchise, Keanu Reeves. The Award will be presented to Reeves by Titus Welliver (“Bosch”/“Bosch: Legacy”) at the upcoming 51st Annual Saturn Awards, hosted by Joel McHale onFebruary 4, 2024 at 4PM PST that will be streamed live on ElectricNOW. The announcement was made today by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films.
Academy President Robert Holguin and Saturn producers Bradley and Kevin Marcus comment, “This award symbolizes and celebrates not only a performer’s talent, but their character; someone who's a true goodwill ambassador in the industry. From Science Fiction (“The Matrix Trilogy”), Fantasy (“Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure”/”Constantine”) & Horror (Francis Ford Coppola's “Dracula”/”The Devil's Advocate”), Keanu has done it all -- not to mention ”Speed” and ”Point Break.” Keanu is not just a Hollywood icon but also a shining example of humility and gratitude. Throughout his incredible career, he has never forgotten the support of his fans and the filmmakers who’ve supported him all these years. We're thrilled to celebrate Lance's memory with a dear friend and a genre icon.”
Other prestigious awards presented at the upcoming ceremony will be announced shortly.
About The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horroris a non-profit organization founded in 1972 by film historian Doctor Donald A. Reed and is supported by several hundred genre enthusiasts and professionals (such as JJ Abrams, Dean Devlin, Gale Anne Hurd, Guillermo Del Toro, Greg Berlanti, and Kevin Feige) who have participated in the ongoing efforts of the Academy to promote genre film production and television programming since 1972. The organization is currently headed by President Robert Holguin and Saturn leaders Bradley Marcus and Kevin Marcus.
About ElectricNOW
ElectricNOW is the premium OTT app and FAST channel featuring Electric Entertainment’s own produced content such as fan-favorite TV series “Leverage,” “Leverage: Redemption,” “The Librarians,” “Almost Paradise,” and “The Outpost,” as well as acquired programming such as the feature films “Blackway” starring Anthony Hopkins and “The Book of Love” starring Jason Sudeikis and Maisie Williams. The ElectricNOW Channel, available on numerous platforms including The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee, Sling, Freestream, Plex, STIRR, Local Now, TiVo Plus, Redbox, Vizio, XUMO, TCL Channel, Stremium, Distro TV, Vidgo, Hisense Vidaa, LG Channels, Glewed TV, MyBundle.com TV, and Select TV, is a one-stop shop for fans to enjoy all their favorite shows free, in a 24/7streaming broadcast. In addition to the free streaming content, the ElectricNOW App also includes special bonus feature content, a program guide, video-on-demand and pay-per-view components. The channel and app offer ElectricNOW Originals, which include such hit series as The Official Leverage: Redemption Aftershow: A Very Distinctive Podcast, Inglorious Treksperts, The 4:30 Movie, Best Movies Never Made, Cartoon Barroom, The Rebel and the Rogue, and Disco Nights in a line-up that includes podcasts devoted to Star Wars, Dr. Who and other sci-fi and entertainment industry-related topics.
51st ANNUAL SATURN AWARDS TO HONOR
SETH MACFARLANE
WITH THE ROBERT FORSTER ARTIST’S AWARD
William Shatner to Present Award
Los Angeles, CA – January 24, 2024 -- The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films has revealed their plans to bestow the talented and versatile writer, director, producer, actor and singer, Seth MacFarlane with the illustrious Robert Forster Artist’s Award at the upcoming 51st Annual Saturn Awards hosted by Joel McHale, set to take place on February 4, 2024 at 4PM PST, streaming live on ElectricNOW. MacFarlane’s talents encompass every aspect of the entertainment industry. A true multi-hyphenate, he is behind some of today’s most popular content in television, music, and film. MacFarlane has garnered five Emmys, four of which make him the tied record-holder for the most voice-over Emmy wins of all time, along with five Grammy nominations and an Academy Award nomination.
Through MacFarlane’s work both in front of and behind the camera in film and television (“Ted,” “Family Guy,” “The Orville”) he and his production company, Fuzzy Door, have created an enviable portfolio of award-winning properties connecting global audiences through the lens of individual experiences. His newly released event series “Ted” debuted on Peacock and has become the most-watched original title in the streamer’s history over seven days. This year also marks the 25th Anniversary of his hit animated series “Family Guy” on FOX. MacFarlane created, executive produces and stars in Hulu’s Emmy-nominated and critically acclaimed live-action space adventure series “The Orville.”
Legendary actor and cultural icon, William Shatner, will be presenting MacFarlane with the honor at the Saturn Awards ceremony.
Academy President Robert Holguin and Saturn Awards producers Bradley and Kevin Marcus comment, “Seth is a multi-talented entertainer who continues to leave an indelible mark on the community as a whole. His unique style and ability to blend humor with social commentary across a multitude of genres have made him a household name. We are truly honored to bestow this very special award to him.”
The Robert Forster Artist’s Award is bestowed upon an innovative trailblazer for their body of work and impact on the entertainment industry. The Award is in honor of the late, dear friend/Saturn Award favorite Robert Forster (“Jackie Brown”), whose talent and legacy amongst his peers was an inspiration to all. The first recipient of the Award was Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future”) and last year’s recipients were Bob Odenkirk and the cast of “Better Call Saul.”
This year’s Saturn Awards celebrating the films and television programs within genre entertainment will be live streamed by the premium OTT app and FAST channel fromElectric Entertainment, ElectricNOW, the official streaming partner of the Saturn Awards.
Other prestigious awards presented at the upcoming ceremony will be announced shortly.
About The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror
The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horroris a non-profit organization founded in 1972 by film historian Doctor Donald A. Reed and is supported by several hundred genre enthusiasts and professionals (such as JJ Abrams, Dean Devlin, Gale Anne Hurd, Guillermo Del Toro, Greg Berlanti, and Kevin Feige) who have participated in the ongoing efforts of the Academy to promote genre film production and television programming since 1972. The organization is currently headed by President Robert Holguin and Saturn leaders Bradley Marcus and Kevin Marcus.
About ElectricNOW
ElectricNOW is the premium OTT app and FAST channel featuring Electric Entertainment’s own produced content such as fan-favorite TV series “Leverage,” “Leverage: Redemption,” “The Librarians,” “Almost Paradise,” and “The Outpost,” as well as acquired programming such as the feature films “Blackway” starring Anthony Hopkins and “The Book of Love” starring Jason Sudeikis and Maisie Williams. The ElectricNOW Channel, available on numerous platforms including The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Freevee, Sling Freestream, Plex, STIRR, Local Now, TiVo Plus, Redbox, Vizio, XUMO, TCL Channel, Stremium, Distro TV, Vidgo, Hisense Vidaa, LG Channels, Glewed TV, MyBundle.com TV, and Select TV, is a one-stop shop for fans to enjoy all their favorite shows free, in a 24/7streaming broadcast. In addition to the free streaming content, the ElectricNOW App also includes special bonus feature content, a program guide, video-on-demand and pay-per-view components. The channel and app offer ElectricNOW Originals, which include such hit series as The Official Leverage: Redemption Aftershow: A Very Distinctive Podcast, Inglorious Treksperts, The 4:30 Movie, Best Movies Never Made, Cartoon Barroom, The Rebel and the Rogue, and Disco Nights in a line-up that includes podcasts devoted to Star Wars, Dr. Who and other sci-fi and entertainment industry-related topics.