News

Exclusive: The First Omen director and co-scribe Arkasha Stevenson and the pic’s screenwriter/EP Tim Smith have signed with WME for representation in all areas.

The news comes in the wake of the 20th Century Studios’ prequel to the 1976 theatrical release grossing north of $35M at the global box office through its first ten days of release, as well as 80% certified fresh with Rotten Tomatoes critics. Stevenson and Smith wrote the screenplay with Keith Thomas off a story by Ben Jacoby, based on the characters by David Seltzer.

The duo partnership first came to public attention with the short film Pineapple, which made its debut at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Under Stevenson’s direction and Smith’s production acumen, Pineapple was not only a festival standout but also a concept robust enough to be sold as a TV series to AMC, for which Stevenson and Smith collaboratively penned the pilot episode.

Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown have survived the apocalypse. Now what?

The “Safety Not Guaranteed” star and “This Is Us” alum actor play the two last men on Earth who must adapt and evolve to save humanity in Mel Eslyn’s debut feature “Biosphere.” The film premiered at 2022 TIFF and is executive produced by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass.

Per the official synopsis, Billy (Duplass) and Ray (Brown) are lifelong best friends, brothers from another mother —they also happen to be the last two men on Earth. Their survival is largely due to Ray, a brilliant scientist who designed the custom biosphere they call home, outfitting it with both creature comforts and the necessities to sustain life on a doomed planet. When the population of their fishpond — which supplies essential protein — begins waning, the men find themselves facing an ominous future. But life may yet find a way…

Director...

David Yates’ Netflix film The Pain Hustlers has begun rounding out its cast, with Andy Garcia (Father of the Bride), Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), Jay Duplass (Industry), Brian d’Arcy James (West Side Story) and Chloe Coleman (My Spy) signing on to star alongside Emily Blunt and Chris Evans.

The film billed as tonally similar to The Big Short, American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street follows Liza Drake (Blunt), a high-school dropout dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter. Liza lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical startup in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. Her charm, guts and drive then catapult the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences.

Netflix acquired global rights to the film written by Wells Tower for 50M out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival,...

Exclusive: 20th Century Studios is in development on The First Omen, a prequel to the original 1976 Fox movie The Omen, with Legion and Briarpatch episodic director Arkasha Stevenson making her feature directorial debut.

Stevenson will also handle the rewrite, alongside writing partner Tim Smith. Smith is set to executive produce with Phantom Four producing.

David S. Goyer and Keith Levine are producing for Phantom Four, with Gracie Wheelan overseeing for the production label.

The original movie, a hit in its day which grossed over 60M at the domestic box office (unadjusted for inflation) and starred Gregory Peck, Lee Remick and Harvey Stephens, follows an American ambassador who believes his five-year-old son is the Antichrist.

The pic spawned two sequels, 1978’s Damien: Omen II (26.5M domestic B.O.) and 1981’s The Final Conflict (20.5M) as well as 2006 reboot which grossed 120M WW starring Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, and David Thewlis, as...

Multi-faceted filmmaker Mark Duplass discusses the movies he wishes more people knew about with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Duck Butter (2018)

The Puffy Chair (2005)

Prince Of Broadway (2008)

Tangerine (2015)

The Florida Project (2017) – Dennis Cozzalio’s review

Red Rocket (2021)

Starlet (2012)

Take Out (2004)

Mack & Rita (Tbd)

Old Joy (2006)

First Cow (2020)

Wendy And Lucy (2008) – Dennis Cozzalio’s favorite movie of 2020

Henry Fool (1997)

Trust (1990)

Amateur (1994)

Medicine For Melancholy (2008)

Shang-Chi (2021)

Your Sister’s Sister (2011)

My Effortless Brilliance (2008)

What the Funny (2008)

Humpday (2009)

True Adolescents (2009)

Man Push Cart (2005)

The White Tiger (2021)

Baghead (2008)

The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (2012)

Language Lessons (2021)

Stevie (2002)

Hoop Dreams (1994)

American Movie (1999)

What Happened Was… (1994) – Ti West’s trailer commentary

Manhunter (1986) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

My Dinner With Andre (1981)

Creep (2014)

Grown-Ups (1980)

Abigail’s Party (1977)

Nuts In May (1976)

Secrets And Lies (1996) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Naked (1993)

Parallel Mothers (2021)

The Freebie (2010)

East Of Eden (1955) – Larry Cohen’s trailer commentary

Strange...

"See, I'm not always a 'fun-killer!'" Netflix has debuted an official trailer for the family comedy Yes Day, from director Miguel Arteta. This is what happens when you finally say "yes" to your kids instead of "no" all the time. Always feeling like they have to say No to their kids and co-workers, Allison and Carlos decide to give their three kids a "Yes Day" -- where for 24 hours the kids make the rules. Little did they know that they'd be going on a whirlwind adventure around Los Angeles, that would bring the family closer to each other than ever before. Oh I don't know, that sounds exactly like what I expect from this let's-go-wild plot. Starring Jennifer Garner, Edgar Ramírez, Jenna Ortega, Julian Lerner, and Everly Carganilla. This looks amusing and extra ridiculous. Enjoy. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Miguel Arteta's Yes Day, direct from ...

Natasha Lyonne and Alia Shawkat are developing a half-hour series at Amazon, Variety has learned exclusively.

Titled “Desert People,” the series follows a family of Iraqi immigrants who run a gentleman’s club in Palm Springs. Shawkat will star as the parents’ adult daughter in LA who is coming to terms with her sexuality and identity as a first generation American.

Shawkat and Lyonne co-created the series. Shawkat will write, while both she and Lyonne will also serve as executive producers along with Maya Rudolph, Danielle Renfrew Behrens, and Dianne McGunigle. Lyonne, Rudolph and Renfrew Behrens are executive producing under their Animal Pictures banner, which is currently under a first-look deal at Amazon.

Should the project move forward, it would mark Shawkat’s first series writing credit. She previously wrote the 2018 feature “Duck Butter,” in which she also starred. As an actress, she is known for her role in “Arrested Development...

Helping you stay sane while staying safe… featuring Leonard Maltin, Dave Anthony, Miguel Arteta, John Landis, and Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Plague (1979)

Target Earth (1954)

The Left Hand of God (1955)

A Lost Lady (1934)

Enough Said (2013)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Down to Earth (2001)

Down To Earth (1947)

The Commitments (1991)

Once (2007)

Election (1999)

About Schmidt (2002)

Sideways (2004)

Nebraska (2013)

The Man in the Moon (1991)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Casablanca (1942)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

The Night Walker (1964)

Chuck and Buck (2000)

Cedar Rapids (2011)

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Duck Butter (2018)

The Good Girl (2002)

The Big Heat (1953)

Human Desire (1954)

Slightly French (1949)

Week-End with Father (1951)

Experiment In Terror (1962)

They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (1969)

Ray’s Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (1987)

Airport (1970)

Earthquake (1974)

Drive a Crooked Road (1954)

Pushover (1954)

Waves (2019)

Krisha (2015)

The Oblong Box (1969)

80,000 Suspects (1963)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

It Comes At Night (2017)

Children of Men (2006)

The Road (2009)

You Were Never Really Here...

Ah, women, that misunderstood demographic — what do they want anyway? In its mad and misguided scramble to appeal to female audiences, Hollywood is unsurprisingly seriously lacking inspiration. Gone are the days when a writer could simply give the leading lady a consummate bachelor to reform, throw in a career-making magazine assignment or traumatic brain injury, and let the games begin. These days, the decision-making men know it can’t be all about love, and the trend has shifted to another slightly less insulting but just as generic topic: Female friendship. While this worked for genuinely funny hits like “Bridesmaids” and “Girls Trip,” which put comedy front and center, their countless copy-cats, such as “Rough Night,” “Ocean’s Eight,” and “The Hustle,” have landed with a thud.

Unfortunately, despite an enticing cast and a highbrow director, “Like a Boss” falls easily into the latter camp. Starring Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne as...

The trick to creating successful screen farce is to make sure audiences don’t see you sweat. So it’s not a good sign that the actors are spritzing up a storm in Like a Boss. But what actors! The comic tornado known as Tiffany Haddish seizes the role of Mia Carter, the creative wiz behind a Diy cosmetics company she runs with her numbers-minded best friend, Mel Paige, played by her up-for-anything costar Rose Byrne. The duo work their butts off for laughs that the putatively femcentric script by two first-time screenwriters,...

"You wanna be a business woman? You're going to have to act like a boss." Paramount Pics has debuted a second official trailer for the comedy Like a Boss, the latest from director Miguel Arteta. This goofy entrepreneur comedy is about two best friends with very different ideals who decide to start a beauty company together. But when they run into financial trouble and sell to a big name corporation, it puts their friendship at risk as they battle about how to proceed under new ownership. "The world of beauty is about to get ugly." Of course it is. Starring Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne as best friends, plus Salma Hayek, Billy Porter, Jennifer Coolidge, Ari Graynor, Natasha Rothwell, Jessica St. Clair, and Karan Soni. This looks excruciatingly bad, and not even laughably bad. Here's the second trailer (+ new poster) for Miguel Arteta's Like a Boss, from Paramount's YouTube:...

Yesterday, the Tribeca Film Festival announced its lineup for 2019. Each year, the fest offers up a number of interesting movie options, some of which have even gone on to crack my year end top ten lists. Last year, for example, All About Nina remained one of my top five films of 2018 from its debut at Tribeca through the conclusion of the season. Coming right before the summer movie season, it offers up a tonic before the blockbusters fully descend upon us. What will this year bring? Well, that’ll be determined in late April when the festival begins, but the lineup offers a few hints about the higher profile titles that will be playing. Tribeca will be home to Georgetown, for example, marking the directorial debut of Christoph Waltz. He’ll also star. Jared Leto will screen his documentary A Day in the Life of America for the first time.

Every critic’s worst movie is another’s best, but Variety critics Peter Debruge and Owen Gleiberman had to draw the line somewhere. Whether it was the year’s top film at the box office, or a right-wing documentary that’s even worse than the filmmaker’s previous outrages, it was a good year to hate-watch.

Peter Debruge’s Five Worst Movies:

“Avengers: Infinity War”

Spoiler alert: The power-mad crazeballs behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe are out of control. First they blew up an entire planet (at the end of “Thor: Ragnarok”) and laughed if off, and then came Thanos’ snap, which (I said “spoiler alert” already — get off my case!) killed off half of all life in the galaxy. When that happened, I wanted to scream, “You can’t do that!” and not because I care about these characters (most of whom are quasi-invincible imbeciles anyway — although I was...

Paramount has tapped Miguel Arteta to direct the upcoming Tiffany Haddish comedy “Limited Partners.”

The studio announced in May that it had pulled “Transformers 7” from its June 28, 2019, release date, and slotted Haddish’s comedy “Limited Partners” in its place. Paramount set up the project last fall with writers Sam Pitman and Adam Cole-Kelly. The story centers on two female friends who build a successful company, then find their relationship tested following a buyout offer.

Peter Principato, Itay Reiss, and Joel Zadak are producing through Artists First, the re-named Principato-Young. Haddish is an executive producer and helped develop the script.

Haddish broke out in last year’s “Girls Trip” and will star in two comedies this fall: Universal’s “Night School” with Kevin Hart on Sept. 28 and Paramount’s Tyler Perry comedy “Nobody’s Fool,” opening Nov. 2. She’s also joining Hart in the voice cast of Universal’s “Secret...

Image Source: Getty / Jamie McCarthy

When it comes to actor Alia Shawkat's sexuality, the past few years have been a revelation. Perhaps not in private; when we spoke on the phone in early June, she told me she's been aware of her own queerness for a long time. "I had always found myself attracted to women, but didn't know how to really make a move, for lack of a better word," she told me with a laugh. But her identity as a bisexual woman has only recently become a part of her career and public persona.

Despite dozens upon dozens of acting credits that stretch nearly 20 years, the queer aspect of Shawkat's art is relatively new. She's best known for playing Maeby Fünke in Arrested Development, Lila on Transparent, and Dory Sief on TBS's critical darling Search Party. Her handful of sexually fluid roles on screen include Dalia...

Exclusive: Jennifer Garner is attached to star and produce Yes Day, a comedy based on the concept of parents devoting one day annually to saying “yes” to their kids’ requests. The project, which is in early development, has Beatriz at Dinner helmer Miguel Arteta attached to direct with Entertainment 360 and Grey Matter Productions producing.

Garner has made a tradition of celebrating “Yes Day!” with her three children, sharing some fun pictures on Instagram back in September. The concept is inspired by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenhelp’s 2009 children’s book of the same name. On “Yes Day”, kids receive only positive answers from their parents to requests such as pizza for breakfast, late bedtimes, and food fights.

Garner is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Sloane, Offer, Weber, Dern. Arteta is repped by Management 360, Wme and Lichter, Grossman, Nichols & Adler.

Garner can be seen next in STXfilms...

In the film Duck Butter, which earned co-writer and star Alia Shawkat best actress honors at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, two women who are jaded by the pattern of dishonest relationships make a pact to spend 24 straight hours together, having sex every hour on the hour for a new form of intimacy.

Shawkat, who wrote the script with the film's director, Miguel Arteta, joined The Hollywood Reporter In Studio, along with co-star Laia Costa, to discuss how the role of a same-sex relationship was important to the script and what it was like filming the multiple sex scenes that...

Thanks to two stars named Rachel — Weisz and McAdams — “Disobedience” led a batch of new films from arthouse auteurs this weekend. This story of forbidden love in a London synagogue setting, like director Sebastián Lelio’s Oscar-winning “A Fantastic Woman,” deals with gay characters fighting for their right to love despite societal taboos. It doubles the opening numbers of any film from Bleecker Street.

Claire Denis’ “Let the Sunshine In” (IFC) also opened unexpectedly strong in New York. But “Mustang” director Deniz Gamze Erguven’s English-language debut “Kings,” and “Duck Butter,” Miguel Arteta’s follow-up to “Beatriz at Dinner,” saw much less impact.

Among holdovers, “Isle of Dogs” (Fox Searchlight) is wrapping up its national run as it heads to a decent $30 million total. “Disobedience” shows the need for fresh titles to feed the hungry specialized audience.

Opening

Disobedience (Bleecker Street) Metacritic: 73; Festivals include: Toronto 2017, Tribeca 2018

$241,276 in 5 theaters; PTA (per...

Audience Awards to be announced on April 28.

April 28 Update: Top brass at the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival announced the audience award winners on Saturday night (April 28) after unveiling the juried award winners last week, which include Kent Jones’ Diane, winner of the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature and best screenplay prize.

Shawn Snyder’s To Dust won the audience award for best narrative film, while United Skates from Dyana Winkler and Tina Brown earned the documentary award. Both awards sponsored by At&T carry a $10,000 cash prize.

Alia Shawkat was named best actress in a Us narrative feature for Duck Butter,...

New York City – The 17th Edition of the Tribeca Film Festival continues through April 29th, 2018, but the main jury awards were announced on April 26th at Awards Night ceremonies. “DIane,” directed by Kent Jones, was awarded Best U.S. Narrative Feature. “Smuggling Hendrix” took the honors for Best International Narrative Feature, and “Island of Hungry Ghosts” was Best Documentary Feature.

Awards were distributed in the following feature film competition categories – U.S. Narrative, International Narrative, Documentary, New Narrative Director, The Albert Maysles New Documentary Director, and the Nora Ephron Prize, honoring a woman writer or director. Awards were also given in the short film categories – Narrative, Documentary, Student Visionary and Animation. For the sixth year, Tribeca awarded innovation in storytelling through its Storyscapes Award for immersive (Vr) storytelling.

Jury Awards for the 17th Tribeca Film Festival Took Place on April 26th, 2018

Photo credit: Tribeca Film Festival

“It is rewarding to honor...

In 1972, “Last Tango in Paris” told the story of two strangers who hung out in a Parisian apartment for several days, doing nothing but talk and have sex, and it was one of the most electrifying and revelatory movies ever made. Flash forward: “Duck Butter,” a low-budget improv vérité psychodrama, tells the story of two strangers who hang out in an apartment (and then a house) in L.A. over the course of 24 hours, doing nothing but talk and have sex, and it feels like we’re seeing the director’s cut of an Ikea commercial.

This may say something about the difference between two cinematic eras; filmmakers, even when they want to be loose and truthful, are no longer swinging quite so hard for the fences. But it also says something about how yesterday’s revolution became today’s middle-class normalcy.

In “Duck Butter,” Naima (Alia Shawkat), an aspiring indie-film actress,...

“Duck Butter” may be about an experiment with sex and intimacy, but the movie itself became an experiment in putting sex and intimacy on film. Directed by Miguel Arteta (“Beatriz at Dinner”) and written by Arteta and Alia Shawkat, “Duck Butter” stars Shawkat and Laia Costa as two strangers who decide to have sex every hour for 24 hours in the hopes of accelerating their romantic entanglement. Naima (Shawkat) is the straight person (so to speak), an aspiring actor captivated by Sergio (Costa), a whimsical musician who comes up with the idea for the experiment.

“I wanna know you for real,” Sergio says, selling the plan to Naima. “I wanna come with you every hour. We can fucking skip time.” As the women fall further down the rabbit hole, they travel through the stages of a relationship as if in fast forward. They are tender and giggly, sharing stories of past relationships and artistic ambitions,...

limited

Let the Sunshine In (Un beau soleil intérieur)

Juliette Binoche stars as a woman seeking new love at midlife. Directed by Claire Denis; written by Denis and Christine Angot.

my review|find cinemas

Ava [pictured]

Mahour Jabbari stars as a schoolgirl in Tehran who rebels against her restrictive parents and culture. Written and directed by Sadaf Foroughi.

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Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story

Ashley Bell directs and cowrites this documentary portrait of elephant conservationist Lek Chailert and her mission to rescue an elderly elephant from captivity.

find cinemas

Disobedience

Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams star in this romantic drama about the forbidden love between two women in an orthodox Jewish community in London. Cowritten by Rebecca Lenkiewicz. (male director)

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Duck Butter

Alia Shawkat and Laia Costa star as two women unsatisfied with modern romance who decide to get to know each other by having sex every hour for a full day.

Three Tribeca Film Festival Awards for Diane, written and directed by Kent Jones Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Kent Jones's Diane, starring Mary Kay Place, is the big winner at the Tribeca Film Festival Awards, taking home Best Us Narrative Feature, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography for Wyatt Garfield. Best International Narrative Feature went to Marios Piperides for Smuggling Hendrix and Best Documentary Feature to Gabrielle Brady for Island Of The Hungry Ghosts.

Tribeca Best New Narrative Director winner Shawn Snyder for To Dust Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Best New Narrative Director goes to Shawn Snyder for To Dust, starring Matthew Broderick and Géza Röhrig. Best Actress in a Narrative Feature went to Alia Shawkat for Miguel Arteta’s Duck Butter and Best Actor to Jeffrey Wright in Madeleine Sackler’s O.G.. Best International Narrative Actress to Joy Rieger in Keren Ben Rafael's Virgins and Best Actor to Rasmus Bruun in...

There many variations on the premise of “Duck Butter,” in which Naima (Alia Shawkat) and Sergio (Laia Costa) commit to spending 24 romantic hours talking about life. Richard Linklater made a whole trilogy of them. Nevertheless, this amiable and ambling dramedy directed by Miguel Arteta and co-written by Shawkat in her screenwriting debut has its own unique sensibility, and while it falls short of coalescing into much of a bigger picture, manages to fulfill the expectations of its well-worn trope without screwing it up.

Initially, the movie threatens to become too meta for its own good. As “Duck Butter” begins, struggling actress Naima is driving to the L.A. set of a Duplass brothers movie, while listening to a podcast featuring the sibling filmmakers talking about their work. It’s a peculiar setup, not only because the very concept of a hardcore Duplass brothers fan (a Duplass-stan?) seems like the setup...

Audience Awards to be announced on April 28.

Kent Jones’ Diane won the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature and won best screenplay honours as top brass at the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival announced the juried awards on Thursday evening (April 26).

Alia Shawkat was named best actress in a Us narrative feature for Duck Butter, while best actor honours went to Jeffrey Wright for O.G. Best Cinematography in a Us narrative feature Film went to Wyatt Garfield for Diane.

The Nora Ephron Award awarded a $25,000 prize to writer-director Nia DaCosta for Little Woods. The award was created six years...

Top honors at the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival have gone to Diane for the Founders Award for Best U.S. Narrative Feature, Smuggling Hendrix for Best International Narrative Feature, and Island of the Hungry Ghosts for Best Documentary Feature. On the acting side, Alia Shawkat won Best Actress in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film for Miguel Arteta’s Duck Butter, and Jeffrey Wright took the Best Actor honor for O.G.

First-time narrative director and writer Kent Jones (who is also the executive director of the New York Film Festival) won two prizes at Tribeca for Diane, and the film starring Mary Kay Place won three. Estelle Parsons, Andrea Martin, Deirdre O’Connell and Jake Lacy co-star in the film, about a widowed, altruistic seventysomething woman whose life is dictated by the needs of others, and who finds herself forced to look at her own identity.

Screenings of...

The 2018 Tribeca Film Festival has announced this year’s award winners, with “Diane,” “Smuggling Hendrix,” and “Island of the Hungry Ghosts” among the honorees. 99 feature-length films screened alongside 55 shorts at this year’s edition of the festival, which is ongoing until this Sunday, April 29.

“It is rewarding to honor films that tell important stories and moved our juries in profound way,” commented Jane Rosenthal, CEO, Executive Chair, and Co-Founder of the festival. “Whether they excite, incite, inspire or simply entertain, it is a privilege to launch this worthy group with this special honor at Tribeca.” Full list of winners:

U.S. Narrative Competition

Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature: Diane written and directed by Kent Jones. Winner receives $20,000, sponsored by At&T, and the art award “The Lady of Shalott, Cool Evening” by Stephen Hannock. The award was given by on behalf of the jury by Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal joined by Fiona Carter,...

“Diane,” writer-director Kent Jones’ drama starring Mary Kay Place, and actors Jeffrey Wright and Alia Shawkat were among the winners of the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival’s slate of juried awards.

“Diane,” the first narrative feature from New York Film Festival director Jones, centers on a 70-something woman (Place) and the relationships and memories she’d rather not confront, and won awards for narrative feature, cinematography and for screenplay (U.S. narrative). Wright (“Westworld”) scored a trophy for “O.G.,” in which he plays a maximum-security prison inmate, and Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) earned her award for her turn in “Duck Butter,” about a romantic experiment between two women.

Also on the list of Tribeca award recipients were international narrative feature winner “Smuggling Hendrix,” Marios’ Piperides movie about a washed-up musician trying to rescue his dog, and “Island of the Hungry Ghosts,” Gabrielle Brady’s winning documentary feature about a detention center on Christmas Island.

Alia Shawkat supports the women who say Jeffrey Tambor sexually harassed them on the set of “Transparent.” “I was surprised, obviously. I’ve known him since I was very young,” Shawkat told IndieWire in New York on April 23 while promoting her new movie, “Duck Butter.” “I support the voices of the victims though, whatever they said.”

Shawkat has known Tambor since she was 14 years old, when she played Maeby Fünke on “Arrested Development” opposite Tambor’s George Bluth Sr. Last year, she appeared on “Transparent” Season 4. Tambor has been accused of sexual harassment by two women, and was subsequently fired from “Transparent” Season 5 by Amazon.

On November 8, Deadline reported that Amazon was conducting an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Tambor by his former assistant, Van Barnes. One week later, “Transparent” actress Trace Lysette wrote on Twitter that Tambor had cornered her up against a wall on set and thrust his pelvis against her.

Duck Butter is not a film about a whirlwind lesbian romance — rather, it’s a slow-moving train crash about a relationship that appears doomed from the start. But it’s one that you can’t look away from. Alia Shawkat stars in and co-writes the Miguel Arteta-directed dramedy about two women who embark on a 24-hour experiment that […]

The post ‘Duck Butter’ Review: Sparks Fly in Alia Shawkat’s Intimate, But Underwhelming, Lesbian Drama [Tribeca] appeared first on /Film.

For the curious, “Duck Butter” is Nsfw. Or at least, it’s not the kind of film title you want to Google from your work computer. Like a naïf (or an old person), I wasn’t familiar with the phrase “Duck Butter,” but figured that I probably wasn’t about to watch a foodie documentary. As its title implies (if you’re cooler than I am), this comedy from Miguel Arteta is sexy and sexually frank in its depiction of a relationship in fast forward.

When the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival opens this week, New York audiences will have a chance to catch some of the most anticipated queer films of the year. Sebastián Lelio’s “Disobedience” will play in New York days before its theatrical release; the film stars Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams as two women who must hide their attraction in their tight-knit Orthodox Jewish community. Desiree Akhavan’s Sundance winner “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” will also make its New York debut at the festival, with Chloë Grace Moretz and Sasha Lane. Provocateurs Andre Leon Talley and Robert Mapplethorpe each headline their own film, and prolific gay filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer uncovers the inside story of Studio 54.

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 18 – 29. Check out our must-see Lgbt films below.

“Disobedience”

Sebastián Lelio concludes his sumptuous triptych of films about women with “Disobedience,” the Chilean filmmaker’s first English-language film.

"You can't play it safe in love..." The Orchard + Netflix have debuted the first official trailer for an indie drama titled Duck Butter, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival coming up. If you really want to know what the title means, look it up on Urban Dictionary and you'll understand. The concept of the film involves two women who meet at a concert, played by Alia Shawkat and Laia Costa (from Newness), who decide to spend 24 hours together. They try to fast-forward through a relationship, hoping to find a new way to create intimacy and explore romance. The cast includes Mae Whitman, Hong Chau, Kumail Nanjiani, Mark Duplass, and Kate Berlant. This was also produced by the Duplass Brothers, and has that quirky indie charm that they're best at nurturing. Seems like it might be emotional yet enjoyable. Get a first look. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Miguel Arteta's Duck Butter,...

Alia Shawkat has been forging quite the illustrious career since her breakout role in “Arrested Development.” The actress is an executive producer of the hipster comedy thriller “Search Party,” in which she also stars, and now she shares a screenwriting credit with “Beatriz at Dinner” director Miguel Arteta on his new movie, “Duck Butter.” Shawkat stars in the film as well, which premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival next month and recently released a provocative first trailer.

Produced by the Duplass brothers, who both appear in the first scene of the trailer, along with Kumail Nanjiani, “Duck Butter” follows a one-night stand between two women (Shawkat and Laia Costa) that turns into a sexual experiment to have sex every hour for 24 hours. What begins as a whirlwind, endorphin-fueled sex haze turns into something more challenging than they could have predicted.

Shawkat’s newfound creative involvement in her acting projects is...

Lodged between the meat market of the Sundance Film Festival every January and the prestige of the Cannes Film Festival every May, the Tribeca Film Festival is an odd duck. Each and every April for the last 16 years, Tribeca has showcased a wife variety of (mostly) independent movies, many of which struggle to see the light of day. Still, there’s always a gem or two in the lineup, and even the occasional Academy Award nominee. With screenings for press beginning before this month is out, now is a solid time to take a look at some of what Tribeca has to offer for 2018. First up, it’s worth noting some of the prior Tribeca titles that have struck my fancy. Last year, it was the grouping of Blame, The Boy Downstairs, and especially Flower that highlighted a rather week lineup. The year before, 2016 featured Between Us, Dean, Don’t Think Twice,...

After announcing the opening night film, Lisa D’Apolito’s documentary Love, Gilda, the complete lineup for the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival has been unveiling. Along with festival favorites, including Disobedience, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, and Daughter of Mine, there’s a number of anticipated world premieres: The Seagull, starring Annette Bening and Saoirse Ronan, Kent Jones’ drama Diane, the documentary McQueen, Miguel Arteta’s Duck Butter, Ondi Timoner’s Mapplethorpe, the Ethan Hawke-led Stockholm, and more. The centerpiece of the festival will be Drake Doremus’ Zoe, starring Léa Seydoux, and closing night is Liz Garbus’ documentary The Fourth Estate.

“In a year that has reminded us more often of our divisions than our connections, this Festival’s program embraces film’s unique power to overcome differences – that connecting with stories not our own is the road into our deeply programmed human capacity for empathy and understanding,” said Cara Cusumano,...

Record 46% of feature slate directed by women.

Liz Garbus’ The Fourth Estate will close the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival presented by At&T and Drake Doremus’ Zoe has been selected as the Centerpiece Gala, festival brass announced on Wednesday (March 7) as they unveiled a feature slate featuring a record 46% of films directed by women.

The Fourth Estate follows The New York Times’ coverage of the Trump administration’s first year, while sci-fi romance Zoe (pictured) stars Ewan McGregor, Léa Seydoux, Rashida Jones, and Theo James. The festival runs from April 18-29.

The line-up includes world premieres for Martin Freeman in...

Record 46% of feature slate directed by women.

Liz Garbus’ The Fourth Estate will close the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival presented by At&T and Drake Doremus’ Zoe has been selected as the Centerpiece Gala, festival brass announced on Wednesday (March 7) as they unveiled a feature slate featuring a record 46% of films directed by women.

The Fourth Estate follows The New York Times’ coverage of the Trump administration’s first year, while sci-fi romance Zoe (pictured) stars Ewan McGregor, Léa Seydoux, Rashida Jones, and Theo James. The festival runs from April 18-29.

The line-up includes world premieres for Martin Freeman in...

The streamer gets worldwide rights to projects including a Ray Romano bromance.

Longtime independent Us filmmakers Jay and Mark Duplass have signed a deal giving Netflix worldwide rights to four of their upcoming projects.

The deal will kick off with the release later this year of an as yet untitled project starring Ray Romano and Mark Duplass. Described by Netflix as “a bittersweet bromance about friendship, mortality and made-up sports,” the film recently finished production.

Alex Lehman directed from a script he wrote with the Duplass brothers. Mel Eslyn, president of the Duplass Brothers company, is producing with Alana Carithers and Sean Bradley.

The Duplass’ relationship with Netflix goes back to 2005, when the brothers’ first feature, The Puffy Chair, was acquired and co-distributed by Netflix’s Red Envelope Entertainment operation.

In 2015 the brothers signed an Svod deal with Netflix covering Lehman’s first feature Blue Jay, Take Me, Creep 2 and the upcoming Duck Butter and [link=tt...

Netflix and filmmakers Jay and Mark Duplass have signed a worldwide rights deal that will see the brothers’ next four movies stream exclusively on the streaming service. The first film in the deal is a comedic drama starring Ray Romano and Mark Duplass. The deal comes after the parties signed an exclusive worldwide Svod rights deal in 2015 that included the films Blue Jay, Take Me, Creep 2 and the upcoming Duck Butter and Outside In. Netflix’s Red Envelope Entertainment…...

Jay and Mark Duplass have signed a new four-picture deal with Netflix, which will start with an untitled film starring Ray Romano, Netflix announced Wednesday.

Netflix’s relationship with the Duplass brothers goes back to their first feature film, “The Puffy Chair,” which Netflix’s Red Envelope Entertainment co-distributed in 2005. In 2015, Netflix signed an Svod deal with the brothers that included “Blue Jay,” “Take Me” and “Creep 2,” as well as the upcoming “Duck Butter” and “Outside In.”

The previous agreement gave Netflix exclusive worldwide SVOD distribution rights after a short theatrical window.