Everybody in Hollywood in the 1980s and ‘90s wanted to go to Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant Spago, which featured an open kitchen with a wood-burning stove made for serving up fancy pizzas. Puck rode that initial success to a sort of food empire, often at some cost to his personal life, and that makes up the narrative thread of “Wolfgang,” a documentary directed by David Gelb, who also made the very popular food-based doc “Jiro Dreams of Sushi.”
The most impressive element of “Wolfgang” is the amount of ground it manages to cover in 78 minutes without ever seeming to rush over anything. Gelb takes time to linger for a few key moments over Puck looking for fresh fruits and vegetables — which was an innovation in the LA of the 1980s — and also over the concentration Puck brings to cooking itself, which seems to bring the legendary chef contentment that other...
The most impressive element of “Wolfgang” is the amount of ground it manages to cover in 78 minutes without ever seeming to rush over anything. Gelb takes time to linger for a few key moments over Puck looking for fresh fruits and vegetables — which was an innovation in the LA of the 1980s — and also over the concentration Puck brings to cooking itself, which seems to bring the legendary chef contentment that other...
- 6/24/2021
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
Stars: Margaret Qualley, Anthony Mackie, Danny Huston, Tom Payne, Emma Fitzgerald, Justin Jamieson | Written by Clay Jeter, Charles Spano, Will Basanta | Directed by Jonathan Helpert
Sam (Margaret Qualley), one of the last survivors on a post-cataclysmic Earth, is a young scientist dedicated to finding a way for humans to adapt and survive, rather than abandon their world. But with the final shuttle scheduled to leave the planet for a distant colony, her determination to stay is rocked by the arrival of another survivor, Micah (Anthony Mackie). She must decide whether to journey with him to join the rest of humanity and begin life anew, or stay to fight for Earth’s survival.
Io, directed by Jonathan Helpert, is the latest Netflix terror to hit the small screen. A terror not because it’s contextually frightening or gripping but mainly due to the fact that it is simply downright horrifying to...
Sam (Margaret Qualley), one of the last survivors on a post-cataclysmic Earth, is a young scientist dedicated to finding a way for humans to adapt and survive, rather than abandon their world. But with the final shuttle scheduled to leave the planet for a distant colony, her determination to stay is rocked by the arrival of another survivor, Micah (Anthony Mackie). She must decide whether to journey with him to join the rest of humanity and begin life anew, or stay to fight for Earth’s survival.
Io, directed by Jonathan Helpert, is the latest Netflix terror to hit the small screen. A terror not because it’s contextually frightening or gripping but mainly due to the fact that it is simply downright horrifying to...
- 1/24/2019
- by Jak-Luke Sharp
- Nerdly
The sorry environmental state of our planet has provided much fodder for filmmakers who want to address and/or revel in humanity's likely doom. We reap what we sow, and to some, like that grand master of cinematic destruction Roland Emmerich, that's cause for the kind of CGI-heavy super-production (see, or rather, don't see 2009's 2012) that allows each viewer to play Nero gleefully fiddling while the world onscreen burns. Other artists look for hope among the ruins, and that's what director Jonathan Helpert and screenwriters Clay Jeter, Charles Spano and Will Basanta aim for in ...
- 1/18/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The sorry environmental state of our planet has provided much fodder for filmmakers who want to address and/or revel in humanity's likely doom. We reap what we sow, and to some, like that grand master of cinematic destruction Roland Emmerich, that's cause for the kind of CGI-heavy super-production (see, or rather, don't see 2009's 2012) that allows each viewer to play Nero gleefully fiddling while the world onscreen burns. Other artists look for hope among the ruins, and that's what director Jonathan Helpert and screenwriters Clay Jeter, Charles Spano and Will Basanta aim for in ...
- 1/18/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Anthony Mackie, Margaret Qualley and Danny Huston will star in the science fiction film “Io,” Mandalay Pictures’ Jason Michael Berman and Untitled Entertainment’s Laura Rister announced Friday. The project was developed at the Sundance Institute’s Writers Lab and the Sundance Institute Catalyst Forum and will be directed by Jonathan Helpert. Clay Jeter, Charles Spano and Will Basanta wrote the script. Berman and Rister will produce “Io” for their respective production houses. The film will premiere on Netflix in 2017. Also Read: Anthony Mackie's Untitled Johnnie Cochran Film Finds Director “Io” will tell the story of a girl coming of age while looking at.
- 10/6/2016
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Margaret Qualley, Anthony Mackie and Danny Huston will star in the sci-fi for Mandalay Pictures and Untitled Entertainment as production gets underway this week in France.
Netflix will release Io in 2017. Jonathan Helpert will direct the project from a script by Clay Jeter, Charles Spano and Will Basanta.
The project was developed at the Sundance Institute’s Writers Lab and the Sundance Institute Catalyst Forum and centres on a girl who races to find a cure for a poisoned Earth as the last shuttle to a distant colony prepares to take off.
Mandalay Pictures’ Jason Michael Berman and Untitled Entertainment’s Laura Rister will produce.
Mandalay and Untitled are producing in association with Great Point Media and Okanagan Media Limited, Sunset Junction Entertainment, Good Lap Productions, Make It with Gravy Productions and Inspire Entertainment.
Executive Producers are Basanta, Jeter, Spano, Victor Shapiro, Raphael Swann, Alain Peyrollaz, Francois Enginger, Mackie, Jason Spire, Ryan Lough, [link...
Netflix will release Io in 2017. Jonathan Helpert will direct the project from a script by Clay Jeter, Charles Spano and Will Basanta.
The project was developed at the Sundance Institute’s Writers Lab and the Sundance Institute Catalyst Forum and centres on a girl who races to find a cure for a poisoned Earth as the last shuttle to a distant colony prepares to take off.
Mandalay Pictures’ Jason Michael Berman and Untitled Entertainment’s Laura Rister will produce.
Mandalay and Untitled are producing in association with Great Point Media and Okanagan Media Limited, Sunset Junction Entertainment, Good Lap Productions, Make It with Gravy Productions and Inspire Entertainment.
Executive Producers are Basanta, Jeter, Spano, Victor Shapiro, Raphael Swann, Alain Peyrollaz, Francois Enginger, Mackie, Jason Spire, Ryan Lough, [link...
- 10/6/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Jason Michael Berman and Laura Rister have set Elle Fanning and Diego Luna to star in the sci-fi.
Sundance Film Festival and Berlinale alumnus Clay Jeter will direct Io, which was developed at the Sundance Institute’s Writers Lab. Jeter co-wrote the screenplay with Will Basanta and Charles Spano.
Io was selected for the first Sundance Catalyst Forum (Creative Investor Lab) in 2013 and has the support of the San Francisco Film Society.
The film centres on a young survivor of a cataclysm who races to find a cure for poisoned Earth before the last shuttle departs for a distant new home.
The producers are in talks with Robert Halmi’s financier Great Point Media and have targeted the start of principal photography for later this year.
Elijah Wood will star opposite Nicolas Cage in Benjamin and Alex Brewer’s The Trust.The film follows two crooked police officers who discover a hidden safe. Benjamin Brewer and [link...
Sundance Film Festival and Berlinale alumnus Clay Jeter will direct Io, which was developed at the Sundance Institute’s Writers Lab. Jeter co-wrote the screenplay with Will Basanta and Charles Spano.
Io was selected for the first Sundance Catalyst Forum (Creative Investor Lab) in 2013 and has the support of the San Francisco Film Society.
The film centres on a young survivor of a cataclysm who races to find a cure for poisoned Earth before the last shuttle departs for a distant new home.
The producers are in talks with Robert Halmi’s financier Great Point Media and have targeted the start of principal photography for later this year.
Elijah Wood will star opposite Nicolas Cage in Benjamin and Alex Brewer’s The Trust.The film follows two crooked police officers who discover a hidden safe. Benjamin Brewer and [link...
- 1/30/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Most Fun You’ll Have With Tedium: Denny’s Debut Neither Lives Up To It’s Teasing Title or Promising Premise
Using the recent death of her father as inspiration for her feature film debut, Drew Denny combines female bonding comedy with a road trip film, all built upon a loopy elegiac base for her dead father, which is supposedly driving the narrative forward. Ironically, the over lengthy and twee title of The Most Fun I’ve Ever Had With My Pants On is only the first clue that this threadbare material would have been better served as a short feature, running ashore quiet early on as it clunkily attempts to explore the notion of finding comedy, or the joy of living, despite life’s heartbreak and tears. But one gets the sense that this opaquely rendered exercise would be most enjoyed by the friends and relatives of the Denny family.
Using the recent death of her father as inspiration for her feature film debut, Drew Denny combines female bonding comedy with a road trip film, all built upon a loopy elegiac base for her dead father, which is supposedly driving the narrative forward. Ironically, the over lengthy and twee title of The Most Fun I’ve Ever Had With My Pants On is only the first clue that this threadbare material would have been better served as a short feature, running ashore quiet early on as it clunkily attempts to explore the notion of finding comedy, or the joy of living, despite life’s heartbreak and tears. But one gets the sense that this opaquely rendered exercise would be most enjoyed by the friends and relatives of the Denny family.
- 11/4/2012
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
A pair of titles in our Most Anticipated Films for 2012 in #39. Andrew Dosunmu (Ma George) and #30. Mark Jackson (Untitled Sicily Project) are two of the lucky fifteen filmmakers to have received coin in the shape of 2012 Cinereach Project at Sundance Institute grants. Recipients include a trio of titles that we caught in Park City back in January in Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty, Ira Sach’s Keep the Lights On, and Destin Daniel Cretton’s I Am Not a Hipster. Here’s the press release.
Post-Production Feature Film Grants
Keep the Lights On
Writer/director: Ira Sachs
The story of a tumultuous, decade-long relationship between two men in New York City. Keep the Lights On premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
Ira Sachs is a writer and director based in New York City. His films include Married Life (2007), The Delta (1997) and the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning Forty Shades of Blue.
Post-Production Feature Film Grants
Keep the Lights On
Writer/director: Ira Sachs
The story of a tumultuous, decade-long relationship between two men in New York City. Keep the Lights On premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.
Ira Sachs is a writer and director based in New York City. His films include Married Life (2007), The Delta (1997) and the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize-winning Forty Shades of Blue.
- 6/6/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
DVD Release Date: March 20, 2012
Price: DVD $21.99
Studio: Strand Releasing
Sarah Hagan is a shadow of her memories in Jess + Moss.
The 2011 independent drama Jess + Moss, directed and co-written by first-time feature filmmaker Clay Jeter, is tagged as “a lyrical tale of two solitary, playful and young souls.”
The tale tells of 18-year-old Jess (Sarah Hagan, TV’s Freaks and Geeks) and 12-year-old Moss (Austin Vickers in his film debut) are a pair of second cousins who have spent many summers together in the tobacco fields of rural Western Kentucky. Without immediate families that they can relate to, and lacking friends their own age, they only have each other. Over the course of one summer, they venture out on a journey exploring deep secrets, identity and hopes of the future in the wilds of their world.
Told through a series of memory-drench vignettes, Jess + Moss was a 2011 film festival favorite, receiving...
Price: DVD $21.99
Studio: Strand Releasing
Sarah Hagan is a shadow of her memories in Jess + Moss.
The 2011 independent drama Jess + Moss, directed and co-written by first-time feature filmmaker Clay Jeter, is tagged as “a lyrical tale of two solitary, playful and young souls.”
The tale tells of 18-year-old Jess (Sarah Hagan, TV’s Freaks and Geeks) and 12-year-old Moss (Austin Vickers in his film debut) are a pair of second cousins who have spent many summers together in the tobacco fields of rural Western Kentucky. Without immediate families that they can relate to, and lacking friends their own age, they only have each other. Over the course of one summer, they venture out on a journey exploring deep secrets, identity and hopes of the future in the wilds of their world.
Told through a series of memory-drench vignettes, Jess + Moss was a 2011 film festival favorite, receiving...
- 2/10/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Rating: 2.5/5
Writers: Will Basanta, Isaac Hagy (screenplay), Clay Jeter, Debra Jeter (screenplay and story), Nikki Jeter Wilbanks (story)
Director: Clay Jeter
Cast: Sarah Hagan, Austin Vickers
“Cousins” in a loose sense of the word (their parents were best friends), both Jess (Sarah Hagen) and Moss (Austin Vickers) come from broken homes and cling to each other for familial support. Jess’ father is unconcerned with her life, beyond telling her to get a job to pay for her own cigarettes, and her mother is long gone. Moss’ parents died young in a car accident, leaving him to his grandparents who are, like Jess’ dad, generally disinterested in Moss’ development. The two kids run wild for one last season, as Jess + Moss uses a unique structure to tell us the very specific story of a very specific kind of childhood summer.
Read more on Sundance 2011 Review: Jess + Moss…...
Writers: Will Basanta, Isaac Hagy (screenplay), Clay Jeter, Debra Jeter (screenplay and story), Nikki Jeter Wilbanks (story)
Director: Clay Jeter
Cast: Sarah Hagan, Austin Vickers
“Cousins” in a loose sense of the word (their parents were best friends), both Jess (Sarah Hagen) and Moss (Austin Vickers) come from broken homes and cling to each other for familial support. Jess’ father is unconcerned with her life, beyond telling her to get a job to pay for her own cigarettes, and her mother is long gone. Moss’ parents died young in a car accident, leaving him to his grandparents who are, like Jess’ dad, generally disinterested in Moss’ development. The two kids run wild for one last season, as Jess + Moss uses a unique structure to tell us the very specific story of a very specific kind of childhood summer.
Read more on Sundance 2011 Review: Jess + Moss…...
- 1/30/2011
- by Kate Erbland
- GordonandtheWhale
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