“NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage” Trailer — Doc. on Kevin Spacey’s Theatre Production of Shakespeare’s Richard III

source:   kevinspacey.com, youtube.com

added: Thu, Feb 27th '14

Before receiving rave reviews for his role as a Machiavellian politician on Netflix's acclaimed political drama "House of Cards," Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey had similar success playing a very similar manipulative character on stage -- only it was written more than 400 years ago by a guy named Shakespeare (you may have heard of him).

For the last few years, Spacey has been working on "NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage," a self-produced, 90-minute documentary that chronicles his 2011-2012 theatre production of Shakespeare's Richard III. It was a 12-city worldwide staged tour directed by Sam Mendes, which reunited the director with the actor for the first-time since their Oscar-winning 1999 film "American Beauty."

"This film is an insider look back stage at the experience of being an actor in a company; going to rehearsal every day, beginning to create a role with your director, crew and fellow actors and spending a year together on the road in many different cultures and countries forming a company," Spacey writes on his website, on which pre-orders for the film is now available.

Directed by Spacey's former assistant Jeremy Whelehan, the documentary will be distributed online, via kevinspacey.com, while a limited theatrical release is set for this spring.

synopsis:
Kevin Spacey, Sam Mendes and the Bridge Project Company go on the road in NOW across 3 continents and over 200 performances, revealing some of the most intimate moments behind the scenes of their staging of Richard III. Witness Spacey’s revelatory interpretation of Richard III in each brief excerpts from the play. For those who have never seen Spacey on stage this is a rare opportunity. NOW chronicles the first collaboration between Spacey and Mendes since both won Oscars for their work on American Beauty.

directed by   Jeremy Whelehan

starring   Kevin Spacey, Sam Mendes

release date   2014 (via kevinspacey.com)

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“Stage Fright” Red Band Trailer — Off-beat Musical Horror Comedy starring Meat Loaf and Minnie Driver

source:   sxsw.com, youtube.com

added: Wed, Mar 5th '14

Finally, a musical horror comedy that everyone can get behind, unless you're one of the few who believe it's "wrong to sing and dance when someone has just died." Grammy-winning performer Meat Loaf and Oscar-nominated thespian Minnie Driver star in this blood-spewing satire about a pretentious musical theatre camp for kids, the Phantom of the Opera-esque show they're trying to set-up, and the mysterious kabuki-masked killer who's preventing them to do so.

Slated to premiere next week at SXSW, "Stage Fright," which marks the feature debut of writer-director Jerome Sable, has been recently acquired by Magnet Releasing and will be available on iTunes/VOD on April 3th and in theaters on May 9th. Until then, check out the film's outrageous red band trailer, above.

synopsis:
Starry-eyed teenager Camilla Swanson wants to follow in her mother's footsteps and become a Broadway diva, but she's stuck working in the kitchen of a snobby performing arts camp. Determined to change her destiny, she sneaks in to audition for the summer showcase and lands a lead role in the play, but just as rehearsals begin, blood starts to spill, and Camilla soon finds herself terrified by the horror of musical theatre.

directed by   Jerome Sable

starring   Meat Loaf, Minnie Driver, Allie MacDonald, Douglas Smith

release date   April 3, 2014 (iTunes/VOD), May 9, 2014 (In Theaters)

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‘Stage Fright’ Trailer Immediately Moves This Musical Slasher to the Top of Our SXSW Must-See List

One of the best aspects of SXSW is its dedication to the finding exciting titles for its Midnighters section. These are the genre movies, usually horror, frequently violent, and almost always a refreshing change of pace from the usual festival film.

This year looks to be no different with a particularly stellar-looking lineup of ten films from around the world. They also offer up a fine mix of genre veterans, including Daniel Stamm, Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo, Eduardo Sanchez, and Adam Wingard, and newcomers hoping to make a splash with festival goers.

One of the newcomers is writer/director Jerome Sable who’s making his feature debut with the slasher/comedy/musical, Stage Fright. It’s a cross-genre mashup, but while horror comedies too frequently skimp on the red stuff Sable’s film gleefully promises otherwise.

Check out the gloriously bloody and tantalizingly funny trailer for Stage Fright below.

In case you’re wondering, in case you noticed a particular actor and thought to yourself, wait a minute, isn’t that… yes. Yes it is Minnie Driver. She and Meat Loaf co-star in this fun-looking mix of Friday the 13th, Scream, and Glee, and the result seems pretty damn promising. The official synopsis is below, and while concise it gets across everything it needs to get me in a seat on opening night.

“A snobby musical theater camp is terrorized by a blood-thirsty killer who hates musical theater.”

Bam. Add in a morbidly dark sense of humor, and it looks like we have the makings of a blood-drenched winner. The trailer goes heavier on the gore than the singing or jokes, but it’s unclear if the film follows suit with that share of the screentime. Happily, what little we see of the laughs and musical numbers lands perfectly. “Isn’t it wrong to sing and dance when someone just died?” Love it.

Interestingly, while the title is fantastic it’s not the first slasher film to latch on to it. Alfred Hitchcock most famously used it for a 1950 thriller about suspense and murder amid a gaggle of actors, and international horror fans will recognize it from Michael Soavi’s 1987 debut featuring a killer wearing a giant owl head. Both films are worth seeing if you haven’t already, but if you’re jonesing for one more Stage Fright thriller and aren’t that concerned with quality, there’s an Australian slasher (also known as Nightmares) from 1980 floating around too.

Stage Fright will premiere at this year’s SXSW, and Magnet will open it in theaters on May 9, 2014.

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