Film Journal April 2018

Film Journal International Event Cinema / Family Entertainment Centers Vol. 121, No. 4 / April 2018 

A Film Expo Group Publication 

INTERNATIONAL 

April 2018 

FJI_Apr18_Cover.indd 1 

3/6/18 2:39 PM

From the Editor’s Desk 

In Focus 

The Wakandan Revolution 

As of March 4th, Disney and Marvel’s Black Panther 

became the tenth-highest-grossing domestic release of all 

time (not adjusted for inflation) in only its third weekend in 

theatres. It is also now the third-biggest superhero film of all 

time, soon to pass The Dark Knight and conceivably able to 

top the current champ, The Avengers. 

This would be a remarkable achievement under any 

circumstances, but Black Panther is historic in another way. 

It is also the first big-budget superhero movie with a nearly 

all-black cast. That makes it a game-changer. 

All around the country, exhibitors have witnessed 

the sheer joy of African-American audiences as they have 

finally gotten the opportunity to see actors who look like 

them propelling an exciting, fantastical, heroic story about 

a mythical African kingdom that delivers both immense 

pleasure and pride. The charismatic cast includes two 

Oscar winners and two Oscar nominees, and two very 

gifted rising stars as the main adversaries, T’Challa (aka 

Black Panther) and Erik Killmonger: Chadwick Boseman 

and Michael B. Jordan. And behind the camera is talented 

31-year-old African-American co-writer/director Ryan 

Coogler, who joined the Marvel family after two highly 

acclaimed films, Fruitvale Station and Creed. 

Black Panther’s $400 million foreign gross (to accompany 

its $500 million domestic tally) should finally put to rest 

the myth that Hollywood films with black stars don’t travel 

well. (One might have thought box-office giants of past 

decades like Eddie Murphy and Will Smith would have 

ended that argument long ago.) Even before Black Panther’s 

current triumph as a broad audience-pleaser, there were 

very obvious signs that things had changed. There’s the 

phenomenon of Jordan Peele’s Oscar Best Picture nominee 

Get Out, a $5 million horror film/social satire that has 

earned $255 million worldwide (and not just from the black 

audience to whom it so directly speaks). Tiffany Haddish 

became a breakout star in Girls Trip, a raucous $19 million 

comedy that earned $115 million domestically. And who 

are two of the most consistent box-office draws in movies 

today? None other than Samoan/African-American Dwayne 

Johnson and African-American Kevin Hart. Paired together 

for the second time in December’s Jumanji: Welcome to 

the Jungle, they were key players in a box-office juggernaut 

that has earned nearly $400 million domestically and a 

worldwide gross of $928 million. 

The past year has seen breakthroughs for other underestimated 

and underserved sectors of the population: 

Wonder Woman’s $820 worldwide gross proved that formidable 

females (both in front of and behind the camera) 

could drive a big superhero movie, and Pixar’s Coco ($740 

worldwide gross) embraced Mexican culture at a time 

when that country could use some love from the U.S. 

(And let’s not forget that Mexican directors have won the 

Oscar four times in the past five years.) 

The numbers don’t lie. At a time when many people 

are calling for more diversity in studio executive suites, 

there’s no need for extra motivation—it makes simple 

economic sense. 

Making Cinema an Event 

“Event cinema” is a programming category that’s developed 

incrementally, but its share of movie theatre income 

keeps rising. 2017 was an especially significant year, as leading 

purveyor Fathom Events reported 26 releases that each 

generated more than a million dollars, up from 14 in 2016 

(including top earner Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical 

with $4.7 million) And remarkably, Fathom Events is now the 

13th-largest theatrical distributor in the United States. The 

company currently has a presence in some 35 countries, competing 

with similar alternative distributors around the globe. 

In this edition of FJI, associate editor Rebecca Pahle 

speaks with Fathom CEO Ray Nutt and chief content and 

programming officer Gordon Synn about the challenges 

still facing this sector. Chief among them is marketing. As 

Nutt explains, “Unless the content partner is coming to us 

with a significant amount of marketing assets available, we 

pass on that content. That’s a must.” 

But, with savvy outreach, Fathom Events is creating a new 

habit for cinema-goers with a broad range of interests: opera, 

ballet, live theatre, classic movies, sports, anime, faith-based 

attractions and much more. Often, it’s a communal experience 

unlike the traditional hushed atmosphere desired for a movie— 

boxing matches and movie sing-a-longs are two examples. 

As Fathom Events and other alternative-content 

distributors reinforce their branding and connect with 

their customer base, expect to see more special events 

coming to cinemas to help the exhibitor generate new 

revenue from non-peak times when their auditoriums 

would otherwise be nearly empty. The growth of event 

cinema is certainly something to root for. 

APRIL 2018 / FILMJOURNAL.COM 3 

003-006.indd 3 

3/8/18 2:20 PM

Barco debuts 

technology 

column, pg. 31. 

APRIL 2018 / VOL. 121, NO.4 

A Film Expo Group Publication 

PUBLISHING SINCE 1934 

Brady Jandreau stars in The Rider, pg. 22. 

Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics 

FEATURES 

The Drowning.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 

John Curran recreates the tragic night 

in 1969 now known as Chappaquiddick. 

Vigilante / Virtuoso .. . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Acclaimed director Lynne Ramsay 

helms powerful drama of suicidal assassin. 

Cowboy Blues .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 

Chloé Zhao returns to the heartland 

for heartfelt story of a broken rodeo rider. 

Welcome to Beirut, 1982.. . . . . . . . . 26 

A traumatized American diplomat 

returns to Lebanon at the behest of the CIA 

to negotiate for the life of a friend. 

Living Their Brand .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 

Exhibitors forge bonds with their 

communities by giving back. 

DEPARTMENTS 

In Focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 

Reel News in Review .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 

Trade Talk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Film Company News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 

Concessions: Trends .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

Concessions: People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

Ask the Audience.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

European Update.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 

Asia/Pacific Roundabout. . . . . . . . . . 64 

Family Entertainment Centers, pgs. 44-53 

Event Cinema, 

pgs. 32-43 

John Curran confers with the cast of Chappaquiddick, pg. 18. 

Claire Folger © 2016 Bridgewater Picture Finance, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 

REVIEWS 

Chappaquiddick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 

Final Portrait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 

Game Night. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 

Gemini.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 

Gringo .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 

Journey’s End.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 

Lean on Pete.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 

Love, Simon.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 

Red Sparrow.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 

The Strangers: Prey at Night. . . . . . 59 

Thoroughbreds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 

Unsane .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 

Where is Kyra?.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 

A Wrinkle in Time.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 

You Were Never Really Here. . . . . . 54 

003-006.indd 4 

3/8/18 2:24 PM

REEL 

NEWS 

IN REVIEW 

Weinstein Company 

Deal Falls Through 

The road to bankruptcy continues for 

The Weinstein Company. An investor group 

led by Maria Contreras-Sweet and Ron 

Burkle has opted not to follow through 

on their proposed purchase of TWC. Explained 

Contreras-Sweet in a statement, 

“After entering into the confirmatory 

diligence phase, we have received disappointing 

information about the viability of 

completing this transaction. As a result, we 

have decided to terminate this transaction.” 

According to insiders, TWC was discovered 

to have between $50 and $64 million more 

in liability than was initially reported. The 

TWC board called this revelation “an excuse,” 

noting that “the Company has been 

transparent about its dire financial condition 

to the point of announcing its own likely 

bankruptcy… We regret being correct that 

this buyer simply had no intention of following 

through on its promises.” The investor 

group still plans to create a woman-led studio 

and to that end will “consider acquiring 

[TWC] assets that may become available in 

the event of bankruptcy proceedings.” 

Top Execs Rumored 

to Leave Lionsgate 

According to sources, top Lionsgate 

executives Erik Feig (Motion Picture Group 

co-president) and Patrick Wachsberger 

(Motion Picture Group co-chairman) are on 

the way out. Though nothing official has yet 

been announced, the rumor mill says that 

Feig is eyeing the creation of his own youthoriented 

company. The departures, if they 

occur, come at a time when Lionsgate is said 

to be looking for a buyer. 

Distribution Prexy Hollis 

Is Leaving Disney 

Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis 

has opted to leave the Mouse House, 

where he’s led distribution operations since 

2011. His job will be taken over by Cathleen 

Taff, who currently runs franchise 

management and business and audience 

insights for Disney. She will take on theatrical 

distribution in addition to those 

roles, becoming in the process the only 

woman to currently head distribution 

at a major studio. Said Disney president 

Alan Bergman in a statement, “The 

creation of this new role is a significant 

step in more effectively supporting and 

expanding the presence of The Walt 

Disney Studios’ world-class collection of 

filmmaking studios, and Cathleen Taff is 

the perfect person to take it on.” Hollis, 

upon leaving Disney at the end of May, 

will assume the role of CEO at his wife 

Rachel Hollis’ Chic Media. 

Global Road Amasses 

$1 Billion for Production 

News out of the Berlin International 

Film Festival’s European Film Market: Studio 

Global Road Entertainment has accumulated 

a $1 billion war chest to spend 

on film production. Founded by Donald 

Tang in 2015, Global Road acquired 

North American distributor Open Road 

last year. According to Rob Friedman, 

CEO of Global Road’s entertainment 

division, the studio “anticipate[s] production 

spending in the $1 billion range” 

over the next three years. Tang has previously 

stated that the company’s goal is 

to produce somewhere in the neighborhood 

of 15 films per year. 

Universal Marketing Head 

Goldstine Is Removed 

Seven-year Universal veteran Josh 

Goldstine has been removed from his 

role as president of worldwide marketing 

following allegations of inappropriate 

conduct. Goldstine was placed on 

administrative leave in mid-February, at 

which point Universal Filmed Entertainment 

chairman Jeff Shell and Universal 

Pictures chairman Donna Langley noted 

to staff that an investigation into the 

marketing chief’s behavior was underway. 

On March 6, Goldstine was officially 

removed. His permanent replacement 

has yet to be announced. Said Shell and 

Langley in a February statement, “Our 

highest priority is to provide a working 

environment where every employee feels 

heard, seen and safe.” 

Subscriptions: 1-877-496-5246 • filmjournal.com/subscribe • subscriptions@filmjournal.com 

Editorial inquiries: kevin.lally@filmjournal.com • Ad inquiries: robin.klamfoth@filmexpos.com 

Reprint inquiries: fji@wrightsmedia.com • 1-877-652-5295 

825 Eighth Ave., 29th Floor 

New York, NY 10019 

Tele: (212) 493-4097 

Publisher/Editor 

Robert Sunshine 

President, Film Expo Group 

Andrew Sunshine 

Executive Editor 

Kevin Lally 

Associate Editor 

Rebecca Pahle 

Art Director 

Rex Roberts 

Senior Account Executive, 

Advertising & Sponsorships 

Robin Klamfoth 

Exhibition/Business Editor 

Andreas Fuchs 

Concessions Editor 

Larry Etter 

Far East Bureau 

Thomas Schmid 

CEO, Film Expo Group 

Theo Kingma 

FJI ONLINE 

Visit www.filmjournal.com 

for breaking industry news, 

FJI’s Screener blog and reviews 

Like us on Facebook 

www.facebook.com/ 

filmjournalinternational 

Follow us on Twitter 

@film_journal 

for updates on our latest content 

Film Journal International © 2018 by Film 

Expo Group, LLC. No part of this publication 

may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval 

system, or transmitted, in any form or by any 

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, 

recording or otherwise, without prior written 

permission of the publisher. 

6 FILMJOURNAL.COM / APRIL 2018 

003-006.indd 6 

3/8/18 2:20 PM

How Laser Impacts the Movie 

Going Experience 

By Richard McPherson 

The Benefits of Laser Cinema Projectors 

With the number of different formats available today it is becoming increasingly difficult to fill 

seats in the theater. Exhibitors are looking for ways to bring in new customers while retaining 

their current customer base. Laser projectors can help exhibitors meet this objective. Among its 

many benefits, laser technology creates vibrant images and provides higher color saturation. 

Even better, the latest generation of high-lumen laser projectors provide incredible brightness 

levels that last longer, providing more consistency. Most importantly, they create a viewing 

experience so incredible that it keeps movie-goers coming back for more. 

Digital projection technology now accounts for more than 95 percent of all 163,000 cinema 

screens around the world. Exhibitors who have invested in up-to-date laser projection are 

enjoying greater operational and organizational efficiencies, and they’re better able to deliver 

the types of engaging experiences that today’s audiences demand. Cinema operators who have 

installed the newest generation of laser solutions have also achieved lower total cost of 

ownership (TCO). Some of these projectors support 3D, live streaming, and other cutting-edge 

display technologies. If you’re considering moving to a laser solution for the first time or are 

looking to upgrade from your aging projector, keep the following benefits in mind. 

Long-lasting brightness 

All projector light sources fade over time, but a laser projector’s brightness does not decay at the 

same rate as that of a lamp-based projector. Laser solutions provide more stable brightness over 

time than equivalent lamp-based models, and they also offer much greater contrast and 

resolution for a longer period of time. 

The number-one factor to look for in a digital projector is its lumen rating. Digital laser 

projectors offer an impressive 20,000 hours of use when used at full brightness. They also have 

another major advantage: Projectors with 10,000 ANSI lumen light output or higher also 

provide better flexibility in controlling brightness on the screen for 2D and 3D content. Using 

constant brightness control to lower the light output of the projector results in two key benefits. 

First, the images on the screen stay brilliant while producing an amazing effect on a projector’s 

light decay. Second, you can extend your projector’s life even further, resulting in lower TCO. 

Research has demonstrated that setting a laser projector at 80 percent brightness can slow 

light decay and extend its life to 35,000 hours — while keeping the projector set at a 50- 

percent brightness setting can slow light decay even more and extend its life to as many 

as 70,000 hours of use. In the following graph, the red line indicates the normal light 

decay and life expectancy of a laser projector set at full (100%) brightness. The green line 

shows the light decay and lifespan of a laser projector set at 80% brightness, and the cyan line 

demonstrates the light decay and life expectancy of a laser projector set at 50% brightness. 

100% 

90% 

80% 

70% 

50% 

10000h 20000h 30000h 35000h 40000h 70000h 

Normal 

Light Decay Curves of Normal vs. Constant Brightness Settings 

Buying a laser projector with a high lumens rating can enable you to extend your projector’s life 

by adjusting the brightness setting to less than full brightness — while still projecting an image 

that will be bright enough to support the DCI standard and beyond. And if you host an event 

that requires ambient light, you have the ability to project images effectively by using your 

projector’s full brightness setting. 

Cost, effciency and versatility 

Constant 

Brightness Constant 

Brightness Constant 

Brightness 

To maximize profits, it’s crucial for exhibitors to invest in a projector with a low TCO. Unlike 

traditional projectors, digital laser projectors never require replacement lamps, thus lowering 

labor and lamp replacement costs. This benefit alone adds up to significant cost savings over 

your projector’s life, especially when considering cinema projectors may operate for 10 hours or 

more hours every day. 

Some new laser projectors integrate media servers and internal cooling systems, eliminating 

the need for costly external chillers. They provide greater installation flexibility and lower 

installation costs and infrastructure needs. For new theater builds, these models may even 

eliminate the need for projection booths because a laser projector does not require the same 

heating ventilation system required for lamp-based projectors. This also means you may be able 

to pare down your entire projection staff to better suit the laser maintenance requirements. 

All these benefits, taken together, add up to one clear fact: Laser projectors do much more 

than just provide audiences with unparalleled viewing experiences. They also increase 

operational efficiencies for exhibitors, while remaining adaptable enough to support 

emerging technologies poised to enter the market over the next several years. The bottom 

line is that they provide a better long-term investment solution than lamp-based solutions. 

90% 

80% 

70% 

Constant 

Brightness 

50% 

Rich McPherson, senior product manager at NEC Display Solutions, has more than 25 years experience in the projection industry. He oversees 

marketing for projectors, including installation and digital cinema projectors.

TRADE TALK 

CINEEUROPE HONORS 

LIONSGATE’S WACHSBERGER 

Patrick Wachsberger, 

co-chairman of the Lionsgate 

Motion Picture Group, will 

be honored as 2018 “International 

Distributor of the 

Year” at CineEurope on June 

14 in Barcelona, Spain. 

Patrick Wachsberger 

“Patrick has set the bar 

incredibly high, leading Lionsgate 

to generate nearly $10 

billion at the global box office 

over the past five years,” 

stated Andrew Sunshine, 

president of the Film Expo 

Group, which manages Cine- 

Europe. 

Before joining Lionsgate, 

Wachsberger served as the 

co-chairman and president 

of Summit Entertainment, 

the company he helped 

launch in 1993, in addition 

to being chief executive 

officer of Summit International. 

During his tenure, 

Wachsberger led Summit’s 

evolution into one of the 

premier independent filmed 

entertainment studios 

worldwide, launching the 

blockbuster Twilight saga 

franchise and Oscar winner 

The Hurt Locker. 

Wachsberger joined Lionsgate 

Motion Picture Group in 

January 2012, serving as cochair 

with Joe Drake. His successes 

there include Wonder, 

La La Land, Hacksaw Ridge and 

the blockbuster Hunger Games, 

John Wick and Now You See 

Me franchises. Under Wachsberger’s 

leadership, Lionsgate 

has built a global distribution 

infrastructure encompassing 

nearly 20 output deals in major 

territories. 

CINEMACON SALUTES 

CARIBBEAN’S CARRADY 

Robert Carrady, president 

of Caribbean Cinemas, will 

receive CinemaCon 2018’s 

“Career Achievement in Exhibition 

Award” during the 

convention’s International 

Day festivities on Monday, 

April 23 in Las Vegas. 

The largest theatre circuit 

in the Caribbean with 492 

screens and 59 locations in 

13 territories, Caribbean 

Cinemas is a family business 

founded in 1969 by Carrady’s 

father in San Juan, Puerto 

Rico. Under Carrady’s leadership, 

the circuit’s operations 

have expanded all over 

Puerto Rico, the Dominican 

Republic, the English-speaking 

Caribbean Islands and recently 

to other territories 

such as Guyana, Panama and 

Guadeloupe. 

NOOVIE ADOPTS 

INTERACTIVE GAMING 

National CineMedia 

(NCM) is pioneering interactive 

augmented reality gaming 

in theatres this spring with the 

launch of “Noovie ARcade,” 

a companion app to NCM’s 

“Noovie” pre-show and Lobby 

Entertainment Network. 

Noovie ARcade is available 

in the iOS and Android 

app stores. NCM expects it 

to be rolled out nationwide 

this spring on over 20,600 

screens in 1,700 theatres 

across the country. 

To play, audiences only 

need to download the app 

and arrive at their local 

Noovie theatre early to catch 

the Noovie pre-show, which 

will prompt them to take out 

their phone when it’s time 

to play. Then, the big screen 

and other triggers around the 

lobby will unlock larger-thanlife 

games enabled by aiming 

their cellphone. 

Noovie ARcade games at 

launch will include: 

▶ Cinevaders: A galactic 

wormhole opens up and 

aliens pour out to invade the 

theatre. It’s up to the player 

to use powerful lasers to protect 

the earth from certain 

destruction. 

▶ Emoji Escape: The emojis 

in your phone have escaped 

and are wreaking havoc 

in the theatre lobby. Catch 

them all before the movie 

starts! 

▶ Munchie Mania: Players 

will toss flying kernels to fill 

up their individual popcorn 

bucket. 

MOVIEPASS BOLSTERS 

EXHIBITOR RELATIONS 

Movie theatre subscription 

service MoviePass announced 

the addition of three 

new members to its exhibitor 

relations team. The team, 

spearheaded by senior VP 

of exhibitor relations Bernadette 

McCabe, added Joe 

Whyte as director of exhibitor 

relations, Dean Moore as 

exhibitor relations financial 

analyst, and Kevin Brown as 

exhibitor relations associate. 

Whyte joins MoviePass 

from Twentieth Century Fox, 

where he previously served as 

director of sales. In his newly 

appointed role, he will work 

with movie theatre exhibitors 

to drive strategic initiatives 

and encourage collaboration 

with MoviePass. 

Moore, formerly a financial 

analyst at Lincoln Center 

for the Performing Arts, will 

aid the exhibitor relations 

team in forecasting exhibitor 

payments, analyzing payment 

trends and creating reporting 

materials. Brown joins MoviePass 

from Salesforce, where 

he served as a strategic innovation 

associate. 

JEAN-PIERRE DECRETTE 

EARNS UNIC HONOR 

Jean-Pierre Decrette, until 

recently director of development 

at Cinémas Gaumont 

Pathé, has been named the 

2018 recipient of the UNIC 

Achievement Award, given 

each year in recognition of 

outstanding dedication and 

service to European cinema 

exhibition. The award will be 

presented as part of the Cine- 

Europe Awards Ceremony on 

June 14 in Barcelona, Spain. 

Named CEO of the Pathé 

Palace in 1995, Decrette later 

became development director 

at Les Cinemas Gaumont 

Pathé, the largest cinema 

operator in France, the Netherlands 

and Switzerland, in 

addition to its operations in 

Belgium. The circuit has over 

1,000 screens across more 

than 100 theatres. 

Decrette is also deputy 


008-016.indd 8 

3/8/18 2:27 PM

president of La Fédération 

Nationale des Cinémas Français 

(FNCF), senior VP of 

the Union Internationale des 

Cinémas/International Union 

of Cinemas (UNIC) and on 

the board of directors of 

UNICINE. 

VISTA REPORTS 

SUBSTANTIAL GROWTH 

Vista Group International 

announced its 2017 results, 

reporting substantial growth 

and profitability stats across 

its businesses. 

Vista Entertainment Solutions, 

Vista’s founding and 

largest business, reported 

793 new cinema sites installed 

with its Vista Cinema 

software in 2017 to achieve 

a cumulative total of 6,350 

sites. The achievement took 

Vista Cinema’s share of the 

world’s large-cinema circuit 

market to over 43% and 

equates to revenue growth 

of 22% (excluding the China 

consolidated revenue in 

FY2016 of $6.7 mil). Geographically, 

the company 

secured business in 11 new 

countries during 2017, notable 

being Brazil, Italy, Austria 

and Sweden. 

Movio, the Group’s business 

that delivers data-driven 

marketing solutions for the 

film industry, delivered a 

111% increase in EBITDA on 

a revenue acceleration of 

37% to NZ$15.5 million. 

Powster, providing creative 

services to the film 

industry to engage users 

with entertainment content, 

created more than 1,300 

online “movie destinations” 

representing growth of 46% 

on 2016 and attracting an 

estimated 422 million visitors 

to its sites—an increase of 

290% on the previous year. 

SINEMIA SERVICE 

LAUNCHES IN U.S. 

Sinemia launched the 

United States’ first movieticket 

subscription service to 

offer its members access to 

any movie, in any format, at 

any theatre, at any showtime. 

Already a presence in the 

United Kingdom, Canada, 

Turkey and Australia, Sinemia 

is now introducing its 

flexible monthly movie-ticket 

plan memberships to the 

USA. Prior to its U.S. launch, 

Sinemia counted three million 

global unique monthly 

visitors to its social web and 

app platforms with more 

than 20 million visits. 

Sinemia members receive 

as many as three monthly 

movie tickets for less than 

the cost of one. Unlike other 

movie-ticket subscription or 

even discount models, the 

tickets will not be met with a 

bevy of restrictions. Sinemia 

members have the ability to 

select virtually any movie 

format (from 3D to IMAX) at 

any cinema and at any time. 

In addition, Sinemia members 

benefit from advance ticket 

options and seat reservations. 

The service is also 

the first to offer couples’ 

subscriptions with “Sinemia 

for Two.” 

AMC STUBS 

PASSES 12 MILLION 

AMC Theatres announced 

that AMC Stubs, the company’s 

loyalty program, now 

stands at more than 12 million 

member households. 

“The movie industry is more 

dynamic and complex than 

ever before, and data providing 

insights into the moviegoing 

habits and behavior of 

more than 30 million Americans 

is of incredible value to 

both AMC and to our studio 

partners,” said AMC CEO 

and president Adam Aron. 

CINEEUROPE FETES 

KARO’S ZINYAKOVA 

Olga Zinyakova, president 

of the KARO cinema chain, 

was named the 2018 recipient 

of the “International 

Exhibitor of the Year Award” 

at CineEurope. 

Laura Houlgatte-Abbott, 

CEO of UNIC (the International 

Union of Cinemas), 

stated, “Russia has quickly 

become one of the key territories 

for growth in European 

cinema, and much of 

that is due to the energy, 

innovation and investment 

that KARO has brought to 

the sector.” 

KARO was the first 

circuit in Russia to introduce 

self-service ticket and F&B 

systems and online F&B sales, 

as well as U-Choose cinema 

bars offering more than 100 

items of goods. KARO is the 

owner of the two largest 

megaplexes in Russia, one 

of which is recognized as 

the largest cinema venue in 

Europe. Zinyakova has been 

president of KARO since 

2017. 

ECLAIR APPOINTS 

DAN CLARK IN U.K. 

Eclair, a leader in content 

services for the motion picture 

and television industries, 

announced the appointment 

of Dan Clark as its commercial 

director in the United 

Kingdom. For the past four 

years, Clark was the commercial 

and client-relations 

manager of Motion Picture 

Solutions, and prior to that, 

Arts Alliance Media’s sales 

manager, content and distributor 

services. 

CINEMANEXT PACTS 

WITH EZCARAY 

CinemaNext, European 

specialist in cinema exhibitor 

services, and Spanish seating 

supplier Ezcaray International 

announced the signing of a 

distribution agreement for 

Ezcaray’s seating solutions for 

cinema exhibitors. The alliance 

recognizes CinemaNext 

as an official distributor in 17 

European countries as well 

as in the U.S., Russia, Egypt, 

Kazakhstan and Morocco. 

CinemaNext is the exclusive 

reseller of Ezcaray’s full range 

of seating products for cinema 

in Germany. 

REALD WINS 

PATENT FIGHT 

RealD Inc. announced 

that the European Patent 

Office’s (EPO) Opposition 

Division has upheld 

the validity of one of the 

company’s key patents for 

light-doubling 3D cinema 

projection systems. Volfoni 

and MasterImage had both 

challenged the EPO’s grant 

of RealD’s European patent, 

which covers optical architectures 

in light-doubling 3D 

cinema systems. On Jan. 24, 

2018, the EPO issued their 

detailed written opinion, dismissing 

the opposition, concluding 

that the patent will 

continue to be maintained 

as originally granted. As a 

result, the patent remains in 

full force. 


008-016.indd 9 

3/8/18 2:27 PM

FILM CO. NEWS 

DISNEY 

Recent Oscar winner Sam 

Rockwell will play an ape in 

Disney’s The One and Only Ivan, 

director Thea Sharrock’s (Me 

Before You) adaptation of Katherine 

Applegate’s Newberry 

Medal-winning 2011 children’s 

book. Rockwell will play Ivan, a 

gorilla who lives in a cage in a 

shopping mall with an elephant 

(voiced by Angelina Jolie, also 

producing) and a stray dog. The 

arrival of a baby elephant spurs 

Ivan to confront his past and 

concoct an escape plan. Actor/ 

writer Mike White (Pitch Perfect 

3, Beatriz at Dinner) penned the 

script. 

Paul King, director of the 

critically acclaimed Paddington 

and its 2018 sequel, has joined 

the Disney family as the helmer 

of their upcoming live-action 

Pinocchio remake. Jack Thorne, 

writer of last year’s familyfriendly 

tearjerker Wonder, will 

pen the script. No actors have 

yet been confirmed. 

FOCUS FEATURES 

Film aficionados hungry 

for a new Wim Wenders 

movie won’t have long to wait: 

Focus Features has set a May 

18, 2018 release date for the 

famed German director’s latest. 

Wenders collaborated 

closely with the Vatican for his 

documentary Pope Francis—A 

Man of His Word, which features 

extensive behind-the-scenes 

footage of the current Pope 

addressing matters of faith. 

GKIDS 

GKids acquired North 

American distribution rights to 

Mirai, the latest film from celebrated 

anime director Mamoru 

Hosoda (The Boy and the Beast, 

Wolf Children, Summer Wars, 

The Girl Who Leapt Through 

Time). The film centers around 

a four-year-old boy bristling at 

the arrival of a new baby sister. 

Upon running away from home, 

he discovers a magical garden 

that serves as a time-travel 

gateway, enabling him to have 

adventures with his mother as 

a young girl, his great-grandfather 

as a young man and his 

sister from the future. 

IFC FILMS 

Actor Paul Dano tries his 

hand at directing with Wildlife, 

a portrait of a dissolving marriage 

set in 1960s Montana. IFC 

Films acquired U.S. and Canadian 

rights to the film, which 

stars Oscar nominees Carey 

Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal 

as the doomed couple and Ed 

Oxenbould (Alexander and the 

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very 

Bad Day) as their 14-year-old 

son. Dano adapted Richard 

Ford’s short story with fellow 

actor Zoe Kazan. IFC is reportedly 

eyeing a fall release for 

prime awards consideration. 

MUSIC BOX FILMS 

French director Xavier 

Giannoli (2015’s Marguerite) 

returns to the big screen with 

The Apparition, U.S. rights to 

which have been acquired by 

Music Box Films. Vincent Lindon 

(The Measure of a Man) 

stars as a journalist hired 

by the Vatican to investigate 

the case of a young woman 

(Galatea Bellugi) who claims 

to have seen the Virgin Mary. A 

theatrical release is planned for 

late this year. 

NEW LINE CINEMA 

A fan-favorite casting 

choice looks like it might 

come to fruition. Rumor has 

it that Jessica Chastain is in 

talks to co-star in New Line’s 

It sequel, playing the adult version 

of Losers’ Club member 

Beverly Marsh. Sophia Lillis 

played Beverly in the first film, 

which grossed a much-higherthan-expected 

$700.3 million 

worldwide. Both It director 

Andy Muschietti and killerclown 

actor Bill Skarsgård are 

expected to return for the 

sequel, floating into theatres on 

Sept. 6, 2019. 

Basketball superstar 

LeBron James, together with 

his SpringHill Entertainment 

producing partner Maverick 

Carter, is set to produce a new 

entry in the popular ’90s House 

Party franchise. “Atlanta” writers 

Stephen Glover and Jamal 

Olori will write the script. No 

director or actors have been 

cast, but it’s likely that several 

high-profile musicians will appear 

in front of the camera. 

James himself has gotten into 

acting recently with a well-liked 

supporting turn in Judd Apatow’s 

Trainwreck, in which he 

played himself. 

OSCILLOSCOPE 

LABORATORIES 

Oscilloscope Laboratories 

picked up U.S. rights to Madeline’s 

Madeline, the latest from 

Butter on the Latch and Thou 

Wast Mild and Lovely director 

Josephine Decker. Newcomer 

Helena Howard stars as the 

eponymous Madeline, a theatre 

actor who gets a bit too intense 

about weaving facets 

of her own life into her onstage 

performances. A theatrical 

release is planned for 2018. 

PARAMOUNT 

Daddy’s Home director 

Sean Anders reunites with 

Mark Wahlberg for Paramount 

comedy Instant Family, set for 

release on Feb. 15, 2019. Wahlberg 

and Rose Byrne star as a 

couple whose efforts to adopt 

a trio of little angels go awry 

when the kids they end up 

with (Gustavo Quiroz, Julianna 

Gamiz and Transformers: The 

Last Knight’s Isabela Moner) 

prove less than receptive to 

their parental wisdom. Octavia 

Spencer and Tig Notaro also 

star. 

SABAN FILMS 

John Cusack and Emile 

Hirsch star in the western 

Never Grow Old, about an undertaker 

(Hirsch) who faces a 

moral dilemma when a takeover 

of his town by ruthless 

outlaws does wonders for his 

business. Before long, his family 

is in the crosshairs. John 

Cusack co-stars in the movie, 

which was acquired by Saban 

Films for North American 

distribution. Ivan Kavanagh (The 

Canal) directs his own script. 

Theatrical release is planned 

for late 2018. 

SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILMS 

Samuel Goldwyn Films 

acquired North American rights 

to Christina Choe’s thriller 

Nancy, about a woman (Andrea 

Riseborough) who comes to 

believe that she was kidnapped 

as a child. Steve Buscemi, J. 

Smith-Cameron, Ann Dowd and 

John Leguizamo co-star in the 

film, which debuted to positive 

reviews at this year’s Sundance 

Film Festival. A 2018 theatrical 

release is in the works. 

SONY 

Thor himself is reportedly 

circling a non-Marvel franchise. 

Rumor has it Chris Hems- 


008-016.indd 10 

3/8/18 2:27 PM

worth is in early negotiations 

to star in Sony’s planned Men 

in Black spinoff, slated for release 

on June 14, 2019. F. Gary 

Gray (The Fate of the Furious) 

will direct, with Art Marcum 

and Matt Holloway (Iron Man) 

writing. The film will feature 

new characters, as opposed to 

those played by Will Smith and 

Tommy Lee Jones in the earlier 

Men in Black films. 

Producer Neal H. Moritz, 

who’s has great success with 

the Fast and the Furious franchise 

and TV’s “Prison Break” and 

“Preacher,” hopes to get another 

high earner under his belt 

with Infinite. Newcomer Jacob 

Chase penned the spec script 

for the film, which was picked 

up by Sony Pictures. Infinite is 

about a group of audacious explorers 

determined to uncover 

the secrets of the afterlife. 

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS 

Sony Pictures Classics 

picked up North American and 

Latin American rights to period 

drama The Happy Prince, the directorial 

debut of actor Rupert 

Everett. Everett also wrote and 

stars in the film, which chronicles 

the final days—less happy 

than tragic—of Oscar Wilde. 

Colin Firth plays writer Reggie 

Turner, one of the few friends 

who stayed loyal to Wilde after 

his much-publicized trial for 

sodomy and gross indecency. 

Emily Watson, Colin Morgan, 

Tom Wilkinson and Anna Chancellor 

also star. 

20TH CENTURY FOX 

Actor Boyd Holbrook 

(Netflix’s “Narcos”) is venturing 

behind the camera to write 

and produce The Thirst for Fox. 

Holbrook will also likely star 

in the film, a dystopian action 

thriller set in a world where 

water is scarce. Holbrook also 

co-stars in Fox’s Logan and 

their upcoming action reboot 

The Predator. 

UNIVERSAL 

Directors Danny Boyle 

and Richard Curtis are joining 

forces for an unnamed 

Universal comedy said to take 

place in the ’60s or ’70s. Boyle 

will direct the film, with Curtis 

writing. Little is known about 

their collaboration save for the 

period setting and that it is reportedly 

musical-themed. Boyle 

is also rumored to direct the 

next installment in the James 

Bond franchise for MGM. 

Infinity War Moves to April 27 

A bold move from Disney: Avengers: Infinity War, set 

to hit theatres on May 4, 2018, has moved up a week 

to April 27. The change comes mere weeks before the 

planned bow of the superhero tentpole and places it in 

line with the release of the film in many international 

markets. There were no comparable new studio releases 

already planned for the weekend of April 27, but 

Warner Bros. responded to the change by moving Rampage 

from April 20 to April 13. 

Tarantino Recruits Pitt and DiCaprio 

Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio will reunite with 

Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 

the director’s eighth film. The movie is set in 1969 Los 

Angeles and revolves around the murder of actress Sharon 

Tate by the followers of Charles Manson. DiCaprio 

will play Rick Dalton, a washed-up actor who lives next 

door to Tate; Pitt will play his stunt double. Sony has set 

a release date of August 9, 2019. 

Davis, Nyong’o Team for Woman King 

Oscar winners Viola Davis and Lupita Nyong’o are 

set to star in historical drama The Woman King for TriStar 

Pictures. Co-produced and based on an idea by Maria 

Bello, the film is set in the Kingdom of Dahomey, a oncepowerful 

African state that was absorbed into the French 

colonial empire at the beginning of the 20th century. 

Davis and Nyong’o will play a mother-daughter warrior 

duo who fought for the independence of their nation. 

WARNER BROS. 

In a change of pace for an 

actress best known for comedy, 

Kristen Wiig is reportedly 

in talks to play the villainess 

Cheetah in Warner Bros.’ Wonder 

Woman sequel. Patty Jenkins 

is back on board to direct the 

film, which takes the Amazonian 

superheroine (Gal Gadot) 

from the trenches of World 

War I forward to the ’80s to 

grapple with the effects of the 

Cold War. Dramatic credits for 

Wiig include Welcome to Me 

and The Diary of a Teenage Girl. 

The Wonder Woman sequel hits 

theatres on Nov. 1, 2019. 

Yara Shahidi (“Black-ish,”) is 

set to topline The Sun Is Also a 

Star, an adaptation the popular 

young-adult novel of the same 

name by Nicola Yoon. The book 

centers on Natasha, a teenage 

New Yorker who falls in love 

just as her family is set to be deported. 

Yoon previously wrote 

Everything, Everything, which was 

adapted for the screen last year 

by director Stella Meghie. The 

Sun Is Also a Star will be written 

by Girls Trip’s Tracey Oliver 

and directed by Before I Fall’s Ry 

Russo-Young. 

INDEPENDENT 

John Gallagher (The Deli) 

directs Burt Young (Rocky), 

Sally Kirkland (Anna) and “The 

Sopranos” alumni Tony Sirico, 

Vincent Pastore, Frederico 

Castelluccio, William DeMeo 

and Artie Pasquale in Sarah 

Q, about a small-town girl 

(newcomer Emmy James) who 

moves to New York City to 

pursue acting. Gallagher wrote 

the script with Joe Benedetto 

(A Guy Named Rick). 

Anne Hathaway is in negotiations 

to star in The Last 

Thing He Wanted, based on Joan 

Didion’s 1996 political thriller 

about a journalist who ends 

up immersed in the world of 

arms-dealing after her father 

passes away. Dee Rees, coming 

off an Oscar nomination 

for Best Adapted Screenplay 

for her work on Mudbound 

(which she also directed), is on 

helming duty. Marco Villalobos 

penned the script. 


008-016.indd 11 

3/8/18 2:27 PM

CONCESSIONS 

TRENDS 

HOT TOPIC 

Coffee Becomes a Compelling 

Alternative in Cinemas 

by Larry Etter, Concessions Editor 

For decades, carbonated beverages have ruled the 

beverage channel in theatres. As times have changed, 

theatres have become something of a blend of 

foodservices rather than just serving concessions and 

snacks, including more versatile liquid offerings such as 

wine, craft beers, spirits and now hot beverages. 

The emergence of fast-food and quick-service menus has 

positioned cinemas to become as much local eateries as 

a cinema scene. And craft beers and coffees have become 

artisan additions to retail foodservice in theatres. Therefore, 

it is only natural that the integration of hot beverages is 

beginning to find prominence alongside the adult-beverage 

sector and carbonated sodas. Baristas serving espresso have 

become a niche in cinema lobby spaces, now competing with 

sparkling sodas as liquid quenchers. 

Typical coffee drinkers often feel a distinct relationship 

with their specialty brew. They seem to have an intense 

devotion and interest in specialized flavors and beans. 

Entrepreneurs and local businesses have recognized this 

passion for hot beverages and coffees and expanded their 

fare to include something more intimate than the retail 

coffee marts. What most people do not understand is 

that the highest-quality coffee takes time to brew; there 

is a clear correlation between time of formulation and 

distinction of flavor profile. The more time spent in the 

preparation process, the more rewarding the consumption 

experience. The trick is to create the handcrafted hot 

beverage in the same timespan as a soda in the theatre 

concession or coffee kiosk. And there are a few innovative 

manufacturers attempting to make that happen. 

Mars Drinks, a division of Mars Chocolate, recently 

introduced its version of consumable hot beverages. The 

mechanism for producing such coffee concoctions is similar 

to the espresso machines seen in most Lavazza Shops—but 

quicker. The unique packaging sets this dispenser apart 

from the other “puck” type systems used in homes. Mars 

incorporates a liquid pouch that can combine the standard 

roasted essence with several other extracts to offer a 

complete line of vanilla, chocolates, caramels and others. 

Karen Mendenhall, account manager at Mars Drinks NA, 

says Mars Drinks offers a wide range of café favorites, 

providing choices for different generations that visit theatres, 

from Millennials to Baby Boomers. The Mars brewers offer 

the option of one drink at a time, including coffee, teas and 

a variety of selections including mochas, cappuccinos, lattes 

and iced beverages. 

Tomas Budek, director of sales for Nespresso USA, 

a partner with Nestle, sees the coffee and hot beverage 

features in theatres as an added inducement for theatregoers. 

He highlights the fact that Nespresso can bring the same 

quality to theatres as offered in retail operations globally. 

“Incomparable coffee quality and taste coupled with a good 

movie is a recipe to transport the patron into the big screen. 

Nespresso is made from the finest one to two percent of 

the world’s coffee beans, while our bar pressures extract 

produces a golden-colored crema. This product supports 

over 70,000 farmers in 12 countries and insures you will only 

experience the best coffee.” Once again, this illustrates the 

confidence of coffee manufacturers that cinemas can extend 

their brands with pride and a diversity of selections. 

In the shadows of the next wave of hot beverages 

is an item called Hotshot. Hotshot is the brainchild of 

Danny Glossfeld, who assimilated a method developed in 

Japan: hot coffee in a can. In Japan, this new coffee offering 

represents a $14 billion entity. Glossfeld uses the Japanese 

influence and concepts while perfecting his own degree 

of excellence in the taste of Black Arabica Coffee itself. 

The coffee is shelf-stable and defines the next generation 

of single-serve coffees. Glossfeld patented a thermal 

label wrap that protects the hands from a 140-degree 

temperature aluminum can. It has become the latest device 

to unite a penchant for high quality with speed of service. 

Since the variety of coffees and hot chocolates are already 

prepared and sealed in the can, the only requirement is 

warming the vessel that rests in a heating cabinet. When a 

patron asks for a coffee, the attendant is only required to 

pull the can from the cabinet and hand it to the patron. Talk 

about “grab and go.” Hotshot is the first ready-to-drink, 

pre-made, always-consistent hot coffee in the U.S. There 

is no waste, no preparation, no equipment services, no 

cleaning and it’s 100% sanitized. 

Grossfeld first introduced the product on TV’s “Shark 

Tank,” where it received rave reviews. Recently, testing and 

sampling have taken place on the streets of New York City 

with kiosks and cart service for people on the go who 

don’t have time to wait for the brewing yet want a premium 

hot beverage. “Hot coffee has always been offered as a 

courtesy to patrons and has never really been considered a 

relevant sales driver at the concession counter, but Hotshot 

has changed all of that, not only increasing hot-beverage 

sales but as a ticket builder that increases the overall sales 

average,” Grossfeld reports. “With all that’s offered at home 

through technology, getting patrons excited when going out 

is more challenging than ever. Hotshot offers something 

unique, something patrons have never seen before. These 

are the little things that make an overall impression in 

someone’s night out.” 

Larry Etter is senior vice president at Malco Theatres 

and director of education at the National Association 

of Concessionaires. 


008-016.indd 12 

3/8/18 2:27 PM

NOW A 

GREAT ADDITION 

to the 

HOME MARKET FOODS 

FAMILY OF QUALITY BRANDS 

Deliver a flavor experience that’s unrivaled in the entertainment industry with 

Home Market Foods. Our innovative culinary team creates craveable products that make 

eating fun. With quality at our core, we are your go-to provider for all things “delicious.” 

Get rolling with Eisenberg franks at info@HomeMarketFoods.com 

www.HomeMarketFoods.com | info@homemarketfoods.com | 800.367.8325 

©2017 Home Market Foods, Inc. 140 Morgan Drive, Norwood, MA 02062-5013 

Untitled-2 1 

12/18/17 8:48 AM

CONCESSIONS 

PEOPLE 

IN THE BLOOD 

National Amusements’ Patrick Micalizzi 

Traces Cinema Roots to Pre-teen Years 

This month, Film Journal International shines its spotlight 

on a concessions professional with over 35 

years of experience: Patrick Micalizzi, assistant 

VP, food and beverage, at National Amusements Inc. 

Patrick has served theatre concessions operations since 

he was 11 years old, sweeping and collecting trash from 

auditoriums at his local cinema. His rise to his current 

position has been methodical. He now oversees operations 

domestically and assists in 946 screens in 81 

locations internationally, managing vast changes in the 

industry. 

Patrick was born and reared in Westchester County, 

a suburb of Manhattan, and attended a mix of public and 

private schools there. One of his greatest influences 

while growing up was his grandmother, Florence, now 

92, who stills works multiple days a week. “She is always 

laughing about something and does not take anything 

too seriously. Grandma ‘Nan’ always gives me great 

advice and makes me laugh. I have definitely inherited 

her work ethic. I hope to have her energy when I am 

92,” he marvels. 

You can sense his humor as he describes an early 

moment in his career while working in the booth with 

Teflon film—probably in the mid-’80s. “To enter the 

booth, I was required to go through the men’s restroom 

and then up a long flight of stairs. One day, while 

rewinding a 20-minute reel of a movie, I went to place 

the film on the upper magazine of a reel and it slipped 

off and proceeded to bounce all the way down the stairs, 

landing in the men’s room.” He “gracefully” retrieved the 

film and put it back together on the reel, all while trying 

to maintain a sense of dignity. 

The theatre business is in his blood. He recalls that 

he was known around town because of his affiliation with 

the theatre. His grandmother worked as an usherette 

in the 1940s. His great uncles, George, Sammy and 

Pasquale, also worked as ushers at the same time. Patrick 

says that tradition never skipped a generation. He ended 

up working in the same playhouse-style theatre. Even as 

the theatre was split into four screens, he and his cousins 

worked to open the doors and greet guests each day. 

He hopes his nephew will carry on the tradition in the 

coming years. 

Micalizzi believes today’s business retains many of 

the traits it had when he “was a kid.” But “at times it 

is unrecognizable. It is ever-changing.” Food and beverages 

are different, but the experience is the same. “The 

movies have always been a place for guests to escape 

and forget about reality, even if just for a little while.” 

He sees his responsibility as continuing to stretch and 

challenge the limits of movie entertainment to help that 

experience evolve. 

Enhancing food and beverage offerings are the greatest 

opportunities, he believes. That includes expanding 

adult beverages and “keeping the experience fresh,” 

while using innovation and leveraging technology to help 

achieve that goal. He feels it’s more difficult to entice 

patrons to “join us” at a time of stay-at-home comforts 

that compete for people’s time. “This is why we have 

to be the best at what we do,” he contends. He likens 

himself to a sculptor, taking something seen as routine 

(like selling popcorn and sodas) and transforming it 

into something special. Great promotions can help, and 

staff engagement can create that unforgettable moment 

guests will remember for a lifetime. Patrick’s passion for 

his job extends to creating specialty cocktails and developing 

unique food fare as well. Patrick Micalizzi never 

sees his occupation as work; for him, it’s more like a 

hobby. Throughout his illustrious career it’s been, well, 

just what he does! “I watched, I learned, I did. My goal 

was to always learn the next job function. I have been 

blessed to have incredible mentors. I remember wanting 

to learn everything I could from a cinema owner, Ralph 

Friedman, and his son Bobby.” It was so fascinating to 

him that at age 18, directly out of high school, he was 

given the option to take ownership of a single-screen 

cinema. Image that! At age 18, Patrick owned his own 

theatre. No wonder he has invested so much of his time 

in this industry. “It was fascinating then, and it still is 

today!” he insists. 

Mel Brooks’ The History of the World, Part I is his 

favorite film, a picture that depicts historic events in 

a comically outrageous way. “Who doesn’t like Mel 

Brooks?” he asks. “I could say something traditional 

like The Godfather, but this film reminds me not to 

take things too seriously.” Among his favorite actors 

is Morgan Freeman, and dream vacation spots include 

Egypt and Italy’s Amalfi Coast. His favorite book is by 

Dale Carnegie: How to Win Friends and Influence People, 

attributes that seem to be working, since Patrick has 

become one of the most respected exhibition leaders of 

his generation. 

—Larry Etter 


008-016.indd 14 

3/8/18 2:27 PM

Still making movie 

magic the hard way? 

Creating wonderful cinema-going experiences doesn’t have to be 

diffcult. Investing in the right Theatre Management System will give 

you easy control of your screens and content, eliminate human 

errors, and put a smile on everybody’s face. 

Arts Alliance Media provides the world’s leading TMS, delivering better cinema experiences 

across over 40,000 screens. 

Discover what you’re missing on Booth 219F at CinemaCon 

www.artsalliancemedia.com 

@ArtsAllianceM 

ArtsAllianceMedia 

hello@artsalliancemedia.com

ASK THE AUDIENCE 

- A COLLABORATION BETWEEN - 

Ask the Audience is a monthly feature from Film Journal International and National 

CineMedia (NCM) that allows you to ask an audience of 5,000 frequent moviegoers, 

known as NCM’s Behind the Screens panel, the pressing questions of our industry. 

Our industry is based on giving 

a good venue for the event they 

customers an entertaining experience, attended. Here’s where the money 

normally around a screening of a new comes in – 65% of people who had 

release. However, many in our industry attended an event arrived at the theatre 

are giving customers another opportunity earlier or stayed later than they would 

for a movie theatre experience. Classic if they had been there to see a movie. 

film screenings, concerts, even award That’s good news for you, because 

shows…hosting events outside of new the longer your customers are there, 

movie showings is a whole other world of the more they’re going to spend. 

potential revenue. We wanted to explore For example, 72% bought concessions 

how much customers utilize these 

while at the event, which is 28% more 

services, and what would make them than the number of panelists who say 

more interested in them in the future. they purchase snacks every time they 

To find out, we asked the audience. see a movie. 

83% of our Behind the Screens panelists So, how can we get the other 63% who 

are aware of events at theatres, and 37% haven’t attended an event on board? 

have attended an event in the past. Only 2% said they had no interest 

Of that 37%, 52% watched a classic film whatsoever in the events, so there’s 

and 36% hit up a concert. A whopping hope. When we asked the panelists why 

98% were satisfied with their experience, they had not previously attended an 

and 94% agreed that a theatre was 

event, about 25% said they didn’t know 

about them, and 15% said that, 

as far as they knew, they weren’t offered 

by their local theatre. Additionally, 

58% don’t think cinema events are 

advertised well, so it might be time to 

consider expanding your marketing. If 

you do, play to your strengths by using 

onscreen advertising; 82% of people 

who were aware of the events learned 

about them onscreen, such as through 

the Fathom Events advertisements 

included in NCM’s Noovie pre-show. 

Additionally, when we asked the panelists 

what kinds of events they would be most 

interested in attending in the future, 

movie marathons were the clear winner, 

with 71% expressing that they’d like to 

be able to watch past films in a franchise 

ahead of a new premiere. 

Conventional movie showings are always 

going to be your home base, but with 

the opportunities events present, it might 

be worth considering what steps you 

could take to expand that portion of your 

business and give your customers yet 

another reason to count on you for an 

entertaining experience. 

To submit a question, email 

AskTheAudience@ncm.com with your 

name, company, contact information, 

and what you would like to ask the 

Behind the Screens panel. 

TOP EVENTS WANTED IN THE FUTURE 

71% 

MOVIE 

MARATHONS 

61% 

CLASSIC 

FILMS 

53% 

LIVE 

CONCERTS 

52% 

THEATRICAL 

EVENTS 

48% 

BEHIND THE 

SCENES 

47% 

COMEDY 

ACTS 

Millennials were 26x more 

likely than older generations 

to be interested in movie 

marathons. 

42% would purchase event 

memorabilia at the theatre, 

such as t-shirts, posters or 

other souvenirs. 

“I was able to 

watch a play and a 

Broadway musical 

that I would 

otherwise not have 

had access to, it 

was wonderful.” 

A VALUED EXPERIENCE 

“It was great to be 

able to see the 

event on the big 

screen, locally, and 

at a much better 

price than it would 

have been to go to 

the actual show.” 

“It was great to 

watch the big fight 

on a big screen with 

lots of passionate 

fans who share my 

interest!” 


008-016.indd 16 

3/8/18 2:27 PM

For every stage of a film, 

comScore has a solution. 

Real-time demographic and 

Audience Measurement 

psychographic information 

Theater Effciency Solutions 

Exhibitor inventory and setlement management 

Box Offce 

Real-time geographic 

distinction 

Booking & Buying Sofware 

For distribution and exhibition 

Strategic Forecasting 

Long lead insight into upcoming films 

Comprehensive industry solutions for film 

exhibitors and distributors across the globe. 

comscore.com • learnmore@comscore.com

THE 

DROWNING 

JOHN CURRAN RECREATES THE TRAGIC NIGHT IN 1969 

THAT CAME TO BE KNOWN AS CHAPPAQUIDDICK 

BY HARRY HAUN 

Jason Clarke as Ted Kennedy in Chappaquiddick 

Claire Folger © 2016 Bridgewater Picture Finance, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 


018-031.indd 18 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

It just had to be a jest of God that the 

weekend Neil Armstrong made his “giant 

leap for mankind” and carried John F. 

Kennedy’s legacy all the way to the Moon 

was the same weekend a tragic misstep killed 

the dream of another Kennedy White House. 

That tragedy was, in a word, Chappaquiddick— 

an isle adjoining Martha’s Vineyard where Ted 

Kennedy drove his car off a bridge into the drink, 

causing the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, who’d been 

a worker for the recently deceased Robert Kennedy. 

And now—49 years after her death and nine 

years after Teddy’s—it’s the title of a film that 

explores this upending, quirky event in painful, 

frequently unflattering detail. This exacting and 

thoroughly researched original screenplay is the 

first ever written by Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan, a couple of 

thirty-something newbies who, not for nothing, made Variety’s 

latest annual list of 10 Screenwriters to Watch. 

“I was particularly struck when I read the script about the 

timing—that the incident coincided with the Moon landing,” 

confesses the film’s director, John Curran, “and, in a way, I wanted 

the Moon landing to hang over the film. In terms of the sound 

design and music, it certainly bled into the direction we took, 

but, truthfully, until I read the screenplay, I have to admit I never 

conflated those two events. How ironic, right?” 

Opening on April 6 from Entertainment Studios Motion 

Pictures, Chappaquiddick, like Jackie, plays like a fresh wound for 

the generations who lived through the all-too-familiar events on 

the screen. Curran is in that number: “I was born in 1960, so I was 

nine when Chappaquiddick happened. At the time, I was living 

in New Providence, which is next door to Berkeley Heights, New 

Jersey, where the Kopechnes lived. I remember there was a lot of 

hoopla at school about the girl in the next town.” 

Curran started out illustrating children’s books. “When I 

realized I wouldn’t make any money doing that, I went on a more 

commercial-design path that led me into filmmaking. I suppose, 

on some level, my compositions and framing have something to do 

with that kind of training, but I also admired narrative storytelling. 

Even in the illustration style that I pursued, there was more 

narrative than expressionistic.” 

This background gives his movie a visual validity—an authenticity 

to the era it addresses. “With a period piece, what you want to 

have is not glaring mistakes. You want to create a visual look, a coloring 

for the film—and get all the details right. It draws you back and 

is reminiscent of some point in time without it being too overt.” 

Despite their youth, his writers displayed a marvelously 

evocative feel for the ’60s. “They didn’t even know what 

Chappaquiddick was until they were watching some news story 

and somebody mentioned that Teddy Kennedy would probably 

have been President had it not been for Chappaquiddick,” says 

Curran. “That started them researching it and thinking there was a 

fascinating, important story to tell there.” 

In a way, it makes sense that only a later generation would be 

game and uninhibited enough to attempt an even-handed retelling 

of the Chappaquiddick tragedy. The reason no one has stepped up 

to the plate until now, Curran believes, “is because Ted was alive— 

unless you were trying to do a one-dimensional takedown of Teddy 

Kennedy, and none of us wanted to do that. We’re all fans of the sort 

of legislation that Ted pursued throughout his career as a senator. 

Our interest was in trying to detail a very truthful story without 

pulling punches and create empathy for him.” 

What intrigued Curran most about 

this warts-and-all portrait of Ted Kennedy 

was the ebb and flow of sympathy for the 

character. “I tried to retain that reaction in 

the finished film. My allegiance to Ted was 

shifting scene by scene. There were scenes 

where I felt incredibly sorry for him, and 

there were scenes where I was disgusted by 

his decisions. And there are scenes where I 

would ask myself what would I have done 

in that situation. That shifting perspective is 

very important to the film. 

John Curran “You have to understand, in ’69 Bobby 

Kennedy had been dead only a year, and 

Teddy was still reeling from that. I come 

from a very large family of eight kids—Irish 

Catholics—and the idea of being the last brother after all your 

brothers have been killed in the line of duty would be an enormous 

weight of expectations on you. Also, there’s the question of whether or 

not you want to get into trying to fill their shoes.” 

When Curran took on the project, he sat down with Allen and 

Logan and presented them with a list of a dozen questions he had 

about their script. “I wanted to make sure they didn’t invent a lot 

of the pivotal plot turns, but there were some strange decisions and 

behaviors, some outrageous coincidences, and these were all drawn 

from facts or the inquest. There’s obviously dialogue that’s made up 

in characters that are sort of hybrids of real people, but we really 

tried not to take creative license with the facts of the case or with 

the decisions made from within the Kennedy camp. 

“Also, there was a very low appetite to prosecute Ted. It was 

Ted Kennedy country. They were all Democrats. Even the special 

prosecutor admitted on camera, in a subsequent documentary, they 

didn’t try too hard. If this accident had happened today, I think 

his career would have been over. It was a different time back then. 

There was a bit more hands-off quality to politicians, at least in 

terms of the press.” 

The director and his writers gingerly tiptoe through scenes that 

weren’t witnessed or documented. Whether Ted and Mary Jo were 

racing off to a tryst is left up to you. 

“Who knows? There are things only those two know about that 

night that none of us will ever know. I didn’t want to say there isn’t 

that possibility, but I certainly didn’t want to say it happened. It’s 

open to interpretation whether they did or they didn’t.” 

The one unhappy, unprintable line given to his wife, Joan, seems 

to point to a pretty miserable marriage and a very randy Teddy. 

“There’s enough evidence that he was sort of a serial philanderer, 

so you’d be creating a false history otherwise. You want to capture 

his character as well as you can, and I think it was part of his 

character.” 

The Australian actor tapped to play Ted Kennedy—Jason 

Clarke of Zero Dark Thirty and Mudbound—was actually born the 

day before the Chappaquiddick incident. 

And such “outrageous coincidences” don’t stop there. Curran 

met Clarke during the two decades he lived in Australia, “and 

he was actually in my first feature, called Praise, for about eight 

seconds. He was one of the lead characters’ boyfriends who appears 

for a brief moment in a party and then disappears for the rest of 

the film. 

“I’ve always really loved him as an actor, and when I got the 

script, Jason was already attached. The big reason I did it was I 

think he’s a phenomenal actor—I knew he’d do his homework and 

continued on page 66 


018-031.indd 19 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

BY REBECCA PAHLE 

Joaquin Phoenix stars in You Were Never 

Really Here, a brutal, kick-ass actioner 

in which a hammer-wielding fixer 

busts his way through a sex-trafficking 

ring in order to rescue the teenage 

daughter (Ekaterina Samsonov) of a 

political rising star. 

Scratch that. 

Joaquin Phoenix stars in You Were 

Never Really Here, a character study of 

a traumatized veteran still suffering the 

psychological aftershocks of an abusive 

childhood. A job gone wrong places 

Joe face-to-face with the ever-widening 

cracks in his own damaged psyche. 

However audiences interpret You Were 

Never Really Here is fine with director 

Lynne Ramsay, who also adapted the 

Jonathan Ames novella on which the film 

is based. “The thing that’s interesting 

to me about this film is that there will 

be so many different interpretations. It 

is an action movie, in a way, where the 

action is skewed on its head,” notes the 

writer-director in her heavy Glaswegian 

accent. “You always get typecast by your 

last movie,” in this case 2011’s We Need 

to Talk About Kevin. “But I always try 

to make a different movie every time. I 

was just excited to make this film about 

masculinity.” 

(There is one label, applied by some to 

You Were Never Really Here, that Ramsay 

bristles at: “guys’ film.” “Like you’re not 

meant to make it as a woman! Women 

can’t make these films, I guess. ‘Guys’ 

film.’ What the fuck does that mean?”) 

Whatever genre you want to ascribe 

to You Were Never Really Here, the Amazon 

Films release stands as a neo-pulp 

masterpiece, a testament to the artistic 

genius of one of the most talented directors 

working today. Brutal and harrowing, 

it takes the cliché of the hyper-masculine, 

violent “lone wolf”—your Eastwoods and 

Waynes, on through Taken’s Liam Neeson 

with his “very particular set of skills”— 

and turns it on its head, gifting audiences 

with a tour de force performance from 

Phoenix as a vulnerable, damaged man 

who craves human connection even as he’s 

busting skulls. 

Human connection—the desire 

for it, the lack of it, the inability to 

sustain it and the need to sometimes 

be cut off from it—is a common theme 

throughout Ramsay’s work. Her films are 

filled with characters—like Kevin’s Eva 

Khatchadourian (Tilda Swinton), unable 

VIGILANTE 

Joaquin Phoenix 

and Ekaterina 

Samsonov 

ACCLAIMED DIRECTOR LYNNE RAMSAY HELMS 

to forge a bond with her son (Ezra Miller), or the title character (Samantha Morton) 

of 2002’s Morvern Callar, who at one point embarks on a solo jaunt across the Spanish 

countryside—who experience profound isolation. You Were Never Really Here’s Joe 

is no different. He has professional associates he intentionally avoids sharing any 

personal details with. The only person he really cares for is his elderly mother (Judith 

Roberts). The title refers to Ames’ description of Joe’s suicide attempt: “He felt 

himself diminishing, a shadow around the edges of his mind, and he heard a voice 

say, It’s all right, you can go, you were never really here.” 

Asked what attracts her to stories of isolation, Ramsay responds in her typical 

friendly, no-BS fashion: “Well, don’t we all [feel isolated]?” This is a “strange time” 

right now, she elaborates, one where a constant barrage of information shared via 

social media leads to “a heightened mood where you can speak to lots of people but 

still be in your bubble, still be extremely lonely in some ways.” 

Ramsay cut herself off from the onslaught while scripting You Were Never Really 

Here, which she penned while living on a small island in Greece. What drew her to 

/ 


018-031.indd 20 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

VIRTUOSO 

Lynne Ramsay 

powerful drama of a suicidal assassin 

Ames’ book was the complexity of Joe, whom she describes as “a really interesting 

and pretty fucked-up individual, but one you care about as well. One minute you 

think he’s a psychopath, and the next he’s singing with him mom… I don’t know if 

Joe’s a good guy or a bad guy. He’s neither. He’s all of them.” He’s “the opposite of a 

knight in shining armor,” Ramsay says. “He can’t even save himself.” 

Another draw for Ramsay was Ames’ prose, which echoes the propulsive, 

“economical, but also very, very sharp” tone of pulp books and movies of the mid- 

20th century. Ramsay was determined that this carry through to her movie, which 

was intended to be (and succeeds in being) “tight and ferocious and economical, 

with not a bit of fat on it. Clean. [I wanted it to] not be self-indulgent and to keep it 

moving, but also to make it so you don’t really know where you’re going. These feel 

like opposite things, but that’s what I was trying to achieve.” 

Ames’ You Were Never Really Here is a quick, exciting read—very quick, given 

that it cuts off more or less in the middle of Joe’s story, a situation that left Ramsay to 

come up with a third act. That’s exactly the sort of challenge the filmmaker relishes. 

Alison Cohen Rosa © Amaxon Studios 

You Were Never Really Here’s shoot 

took place over 29 days, nestled in the 

middle of a sweltering New York summer. 

Phoenix, Ramsay recalls, “doesn’t like 

hanging around and waiting for things. 

The spirit was very, ‘Let’s go, let’s do it.’ 

I’m shooting with him within the first 

two minutes, and the crew is like ‘What 

do you mean, they’re shooting?’ The film 

has that kind of energy and briskness. 

It’s its own lean, ferocious thing.” And 

“exciting” to shoot, owing in large part to 

Phoenix. “Joaquin never plays the same 

take twice,” Ramsay observes. “You never 

quite know where this guy’s going to go, 

which I think is really interesting for an 

audience because you never know what’s 

going to happen next.” 

Ramsay and her cast and crew “were 

having such fun in this place that was 

super-creative,” she says. “It was a bit 

like being in a band or something, and 

having a great jam.” The band metaphor 

is particularly applicable given the 

importance of sound to You Were Never 

Really Here. “In another life,” she explains, 

“I’d like to have been a mixer.” Instead, 

she worked closely with sound designer 

Paul Davies, who’s worked on all of her 

films save one short, and composer Jonny 

Greenwood (We Need to Talk About Kevin, 

Phantom Thread) to craft a soundscape 

that echoes Joe’s inner trauma. 

“There were no cars” on the Greek 

island where she had been living, 

Ramsay recalls, “so I came to New 

York and closed my eyes and felt like I 

was going crazy. This city’s mad if you 

listen to it!” That aural onslaught is a 

key component of the finished film, 

which uses an expertly blended mix of 

silence and cacophony to paint Joe as 

an outsider drifting through a cloud of 

chaos. “For me,” Ramsay says, “what 

sound does in this film is more than half 

the picture.” 

The result—of the sound design, 

the score, of Phoenix’s performance 

and Ramsay’s direction and everything 

else together—is a vital portrait of a 

complicated man. For no one is that 

vitality more acute than Ramsay herself. 

“I really feel it when I make films. I 

feel the things the actors do,” she says, 

recalling a nightclub scene in Morvern 

Callar where she unintentionally mirrored 

Samantha Morton’s back-and-forth sway 

from behind the camera. To be so in sync 

with what you’re filming “is exciting, and 

you hope that reflects in the movie at the 

end. Because if you’re not in it, then who’s 

going to be?” 


018-031.indd 21 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

Brady Jandreau stars 

in The Rider, directed 

by Chloé Zhao, below. 

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics 

Cowboy Blues 

Chloé Zhao returns to the American heartland 

for this heartfelt story of a broken rodeo rider 

by Maria Garcia 

T 

he Rider centers on Brady (Brady 

Jandreau), a Native American bronco 

rider whose fall from his horse dramatically 

alters his life. The Sony Pictures Classics 

release, opening April 13, is written and 

directed by Chinese filmmaker Chloe Zhao, 

whose journey across America led her to the 

Lakota Reservation in South Dakota. 

“I arrived from Beijing and the U.K. a 

sheltered woman who did not speak English 

very well,” she confides, after a New 

York Film Festival screening last fall. “I 

dreamed of studying in America.” Zhao’s 

freshman year at Mount Holyoke College 

in Massachusetts began a few days before 

9/11. “I was ignorant of America when 

that happened,” she recalls. “Everything I 

knew about this country came from Hollywood 

movies.” 

In her elegiac second feature, Zhao 

portrays an America few Americans know. 

Indian reservations, even the dozen or 

so that welcome visitors, or 

that share grazing lands and 

a border with U.S. national 

parks, such as Grand Canyon 

and Badlands, are rarely visited 

by vacationers. Badlands is 

on the Pine Ridge Reservation, 

where The Rider is set 

and where it was filmed. In 

the 1970s, it was the home of 

Oglala Lakota Russell Means, 

a founder of the American Indian Movement. 

One of AIM’s most famous protests 

was an occupation of Mount Rushmore in 

1971, a monument built on land sacred to 

the Lakota. The Wounded Knee Massacre 

of Lakota in 1890 took place on what is 

now the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Lakota 

were among the organizers of recent 

protests at Standing Rock; the oil pipeline 

that was the object of those protests may 

endanger the reservation’s water supply. 

Chris Eyre’s Skins (2002), a story of a 

former Native American football player 

and his brother, was the first 

theatrical film shot on Pine 

Ridge, the most impoverished 

area of the United States. 

Zhao has produced both of her 

films there. The first, Songs My 

Brother Taught Me (2015), is 

about a young man, not unlike 

many other Native American 

men and women, whose prospects 

for a better life lie off the 

reservation and away from their loved ones. 

In contrast, The Rider profiles a cowboy, a 

man immersed in the mainstream ranching 

lifestyle of Native American reservations in 

the West and Southwest. 

“It is not as simple as saying Brady, as a 

cowboy, is a person of the land,” Zhao says, 

pointing to the complex nature of Native 

American identity. “We separated them 

from their land and put them in boarding 

schools. A couple of generations later, 

they’re on Snapchat, and some young people 

don’t know how to manage their land.” 


018-031.indd 22 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

IMPRESS 

YOUR AUDIENCE 

Movie theaters around the 

globe trust the unmatched 

quality of USHIO. 

IT BEGINS WITH DXL 

Impress your audience with the captivating brightness, contrast, 

color and sharpness of USHIO DXL lamps on your cinema screen. 

They are the only lamps that are tested, approved and certifi ed by 

all major projector manufacturers including Barco, NEC and Sony. 

SEE ALSO 

USHIO is an Exclusive Distributor of 

Washer & Dryer System 

for 3D Glasses. 

VISIT USHIO BOOTH# 2525A 

Recommended 

and approved by 

DOLBY ® & RealD 

for the maintenance 

of 3D glasses. 

Ushio America, Inc. www.ushio.com | Ushio Inc. www.ushio.co.jp

Zhao’s undergraduate degree is in 

political science, but she switched to film 

as a graduate student living in New York 

City. “I was in my third year in the film 

program, and I knew that my time in 

New York wasn’t going to work out,” she 

says. “It was expensive, and I was lost as a 

human being and a storyteller, so I went 

west.” By the time she began production 

on her first film, which she also wrote and 

directed, Zhao had moved to Denver, and 

was traveling back and forth between that 

city and the Pine Ridge Reservation. 

“Being someone who looks like me 

made it easy to be on the reservation,” she 

explains, “although my cinematographer, 

who is a tall, British guy, did not have it as 

easy as I did.” Joshua James Richards (last 

year’s acclaimed God’s Own Country) was 

Zhao’s director of photography on both of 

her films. “I can walk into someone’s home,” 

she adds. Lakota and Diné and other Native 

Americans welcome Asians and Asian- 

Americans as their Eurasian ancestors. 

The Rider features an all-Lakota cast 

playing themselves. Lane Scott, Brady’s 

hospitalized friend, was a local rodeo performer 

before he was severely injured in a 

car accident. Brady’s other co-stars, his 

father Tim, and his autistic sister Lily, are 

his real-life family. 

Zhao recalls that she was playing 

videogames when she first met Brady. “I 

thought: The camera is going to love that 

face,” she says. “I went outside and watched 

as he trained a horse. That evening, I asked 

him if he wanted to make a film with me.” 

Brady trains horses for a living, and 

was a rodeo bronco rider before his accident. 

It is a sport many Native American 

boys and men (and some women) aspire to. 

Bronco contestants ride a specially trained 

horse that bucks in an attempt to throw 

the rider, as Zhao illustrates in the film. 

Rodeos are the main sporting event on 

some reservations; while they include competitions 

in roping and herding, bronco 

riding is the epitome of masculine bravado. 

“I didn’t have a story for almost a year and 

a half,” Zhao says, “and then Brady got 

hurt and I had my story.” 

The Rider begins with Brady picking 

stitches out of his head, where he now has a 

metal plate. The film charts his recovery, and 

his far more painful realization that his rodeo 

days are behind him. “I was drawn to Brady 

because there is something so pure and authentic 

about who he is at a time when everyone 

is conforming to trends,” Zhao notes. 

“He is so unapologetically himself. I thought 

the camera would capture that.” 

Brady’s difficult relationship with his father 

is not invented, nor is his tender and candid 

way of being with Lily. As for the cowboy’s 

horse-training skills, Zhao staged some 

shots, but when Brady is in a corral calming 

a bucking horse, that is real—the horse is 

wild. The scene, which showcases Richards’ 

handheld camera work, is also a particularly 

remarkable example of the delicate verisimilitude 

that distinguishes Zhao’s film. 

Zhao started with a 55-page script 

based on her actors’ lives. She remembers 

her first meeting with Lily: “She had taped 

scenes from TV shows, edited them incamera, 

and acted to that. Lily has been 

expressing herself through storytelling all of 

her life.” Reflecting on Lily’s autism, Zhao 

says that it was very important to her “to be 

able to cast someone who has disabilities 

but not making the film about that.” 

The Rider is shot almost entirely in natural 

light. “What lights we had, we bought at 

Walmart,” Zhao says. “It is hard to make a 

film beautiful and real, because it has to go 

beyond beautiful to make it real. I give that 

to Josh Richards.” As for the splendor of the 

landscape, the night sky and the horses, they 

needed no embellishment. “What Brady is 

seeing,” Zhao says, “is already so majestic.” 


018-031.indd 24 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

Courtesy Bleecker Street 

Rosamund Pike , Jon Hamm and Dean Norris in a scene from Beirut. 

Welcome to Beirut, 1982 

A TRAUMATIZED AMERICAN DIPLOMAT 

RETURNS TO LEBANON AT THE BEHEST 

OF THE CIA TO NEGOTIATE FOR THE 

LIFE OF THE FRIEND HE LEFT BEHIND 


018-031.indd 26 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

y gina hall 

In 1991, Russia was one of 15 republics 

of the soon-to-be-disbanded Soviet 

Union, apartheid laws existed in South 

Africa, and the U.S. was engaged in a war 

in the Middle East. The Internet was made 

available to unrestricted commercial use. 

Dr. Seuss died that year, as did Star Trek 

creator Gene Roddenberry, It’s a Wonderful 

Life director Frank Capra, and Queen lead 

singer Freddie Mercury. Grunge music 

made its debut with the release of Nirvana’s 

Nevermind. 

That same year, a spec script about the 

relatively recent crisis in Beirut was picked 

up by a company called Radar Films. In 

2018, the film version of that screenplay was 

unveiled at the Sundance Film Festival. 

It’s a long journey from the page to the 

screen. In the time between the penning 

and the production of Beirut, the world 

changed more than it ever had in any similar 

timespan. That Tony Gilroy screenplay 

may well have been written on a typewriter. 

Film Journal International spoke with 

director Brad Anderson about the process 

of getting Beirut to theatres. 

“I read the spec in 1991,” Anderson recalls. 

It was hardly a period piece back then, 

however, as the events of the hostage situation 

in Beirut, Lebanon were still very fresh 

to many Americans. “It was a movie that 

was a little touchy at the time—a little too 

close to the bone in early ’91, when it was 

just after the first Gulf War. A movie about 

a war-torn Middle Eastern country was too 

touchy for studios and financiers apparently, 

so the movie just didn’t get off the ground. 

So it went onto a shelf at Radar.” 

That was a tough break for Gilroy, because 

“the script had a lot of attention when 

he first wrote it,” Anderson notes. “Different 

directors, different actors were attached to 

various stages.” But it ultimately sat idle, 

collecting dust. Then, a few years back, a 

movie about another Middle East hostage 

crisis from that period earned Oscars for 

Best Picture and Best Director: Argo. 

Radar’s Michael Weber located the old 

Gilroy script with the aim of finally getting 

it into production. “I had a relationship 

with Tony because we had another project 

at one point we were trying to get off the 

ground that didn’t materialize.” Weber realized 

the two might be good collaborators. 

“I liked the idea of strictly working 

with Tony formally and respected him as a 

director and a writer of course, and sort of 

the pedigree of the project was intriguing,” 

Anderson says. “I loved the idea of doing a 

Director Brad Anderson 

movie, a period film particularly set in that 

exotic world, which I wasn’t that familiar 

with, frankly. 

“It reminded me a little bit of a movie 

that I loved, which was a Peter Weir film 

called The Year of Living Dangerously, with 

Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver. It’s a 

sort of war-torn love story set in Indonesia 

in the late ’60s. He plays a war correspondent. 

And it had the same kind of dark, 

exotic world that the script evoked.” 

Finding financing for the film wouldn’t 

be easy, of course. They attached Jon Hamm 

and Rosamund Pike, however, which got the 

ball rolling. And, of course, you must have a 

pretty good story to tell to get two A-list actors 

like that to jet off to the Middle East. 

The log line of Gilroy’s script, according 

to IMDb, goes like this: A U.S. diplomat 

(Hamm) flees Lebanon in 1972, after 

a tragic incident at his home. Ten years 

later, he is called back to war-torn Beirut 

by a CIA operative (Pike) to negotiate for 

the life of a friend he left behind. 

After considering their options, the 

filmmakers decided to shoot in Tangier, 

Morocco. That decision caused a minor 

stir on Twitter, which subsequently got the 

attention of The New York Times. 

The trailer for the film has been viewed 

more than five million times on YouTube, 

launching its own hashtag calling for a 

boycott of the movie. So what’s the controversy? 

For starters, neither Hamm nor 

Pike, the top-billed actors, is Lebanese. And 

Morocco, according to maps, isn’t Lebanon. 

“We cast [Hamm] because he really 

felt like a good fit for this guy, Mason 

Skiles,” says Anderson. “Based on what 

Jon has done in the past, [like] ‘Mad 

Men’…there’s a kind of intelligent worldweariness 

to the guy, there’s a kind of 

brokenness to him; the recovering from the 

trauma from his past; a guy who is kind of 

a little cynical, with a dry sense of humor, 

that’s Jon.” 

Mohammed Kamal / Bleecker Street 

Anderson adds, “We needed [someone] 

like Jon, who could bring that plausibility. 

You buy him as a member of the diplomatic 

corps, as a kind of negotiator, a 

talker… Jon has a lot of the attributes [to 

play] a guy who is just down on his luck… 

and given one more opportunity to pull 

himself up.” 

And what about filming in Tangier, as 

opposed to Beirut? Gilroy told The Times, 

“Lebanon today is so sleek and modern 

and so put together. It doesn’t provide the 

sort of skeleton that we need for an art 

department to create the kind of destruction 

that there was in 1982.” 

Anderson echoes that sentiment, “We 

really wanted to just make it look like we 

were really there…the patina of dust...that 

kind of special light that that place has… 

We wanted to make it feel very sort of 

grounded and real and a little dirty.” 

“We did a lot of research…looking at 

old documentaries from that era and photographs, 

and there are a lot of visual moments 

in the movie that we pulled literally 

right from some of the classic photographs 

from that war—like there’s one image of 

these kids playing on this abandoned artillery 

gun on the mountains around Beirut… 

We looked for locations and places 

that evoked what we considered to be what 

it must’ve been like back then.” 

Critics have voiced other complaints as 

well, such as the fact that Beirut depicts the 

Middle East as a violent place. Lebanese 

writer Nasri Atallah told The Times that 

while he doesn’t want films to downplay 

the violence of his country’s civil war, what 

he saw in the plotline of the Beirut trailer 

“does not appear to make efforts to dissect 

the time’s political complexities.” 

Even the title of the film, Beirut, has 

come under siege. Philippe Aractingi, a 

Lebanese director, told The Times that 

“Gilroy’s use of the name Beirut to signify 

danger in the American mind [is] offensive 

and so stereotypical.” If the name of your 

city does in fact signify danger in people’s 

minds, that’s probably an issue to take up 

with your chamber of commerce or your 

tourism board. 

But whether the criticism will affect 

audiences’ decision to turn out for Beirut 

waits to be seen. The Bleecker Streer release 

is set to open in theatres on April 11, which 

gives both sides on the argument ample 

time to debate the merits of their respective 

cases. And for filmmakers considering telling 

similar stories, using non-local actors 

and shooting in stand-in locations, Beirut’s 

opening-weekend box-office numbers will 

certainly be worth watching. 


018-031.indd 27 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

Living 

Brand 

their 

Exhibitors Forge Bonds 

with Their Communities 

by Giving Back 

“Children are our special focus—and we’re also using the power of what we offer and who we are to promote 

visual health in children through the cinema,” says Annelise Holyoak, USA marketing manager, Cinépolis. 

by Bob Gibbons 

Back in my growing-up years in 

Rochester, New York, the Liberty 

Theatre was just down the street. 

It opened in 1927 and was demolished 

in 1959. Although always a 

“third-run house,” it saw itself as 

a small neighborhood theatre that 

tried to be a good neighbor. 

Beginning in 1929, the theatre 

began offering free use of its 

space to local schools and other 

community groups. At Wednesday 

evening performances during the 

winter of Depression year 1931, one 

lucky ticket holder won a ton of coal. 

During the ’40s, The Liberty offered 

reduced admissions for those who 

purchased war stamps. In the ’50s, 

to lure kids from television, the 

theatre gave away roller skates. 

Times have changed. There 

are now national philanthropic 

organizations to work with, local 

and regional causes to support. But 

theatres are still stepping forward 

to bring fresh ideas that help 

their communities. Here, several 

members of the exhibition business 

discuss how giving back enables 

them to “live their brand.” 


018-031.indd 28 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

Snapshots from the grand opening of Emagine Theatres in Saline, MI. “We want our guests to be immersed 

in an amazing experience,” says Melissa Boudreau, chief marketing officer, Emagine Intertainment Inc. 

“In some ways, that’s what’s also behind our charitable partnerships—especially those involved with our grand openings.” 

Lynne McQuaker (Senior Director, 

Public Relations and Outreach, Studio Movie 

Grill): Studio Movie Grill’s mission is to 

open hearts and minds, one story at a time; 

we look for outreach opportunities that are 

consistent with that purpose. 

Sarah Van Lange (Director of Communications, 

Cineplex, Inc.): A lot of our business 

is about empowering youth. We provide the 

first job for countless Canadian youths and 

WE is a charity that’s fully aligned with that; 

they’re dedicated to inspiring and empowering 

young people to make positive change 

both here in Canada and internationally. As 

our national charity partner, WE fits perfectly 

with who we are and what we do. 

Melissa Boudreau (Chief Marketing Officer, 

Emagine Entertainment Inc.): We stand 

for innovation; we want our guests to be 

immersed in an amazing experience. In some 

ways, that’s what’s also behind our charitable 

partnerships—especially those involved with 

our grand openings. 

Mark Mazrimas (Marketing Manager, 

Classic Cinemas): We brand ourselves as 

“Your Hometown Theatre” and because 

many of our theatres are historic and have 

been in the community for a long time, a lot 

of people think of our theatre as their theatre. 

That leads us into doing community events, 

working with local organizations, doing 

fund-raisers, school shows. We believe these 

are things we should do. 

Annelise Holyoak (USA Marketing 

Manager, Cinépolis): Our mission is to contribute 

to our communities and to provide 

entertainment to disadvantaged youth and 

others in the neighborhoods we serve. Children 

are our special focus—and we’re also 

using the power of what we offer and who 

we are to promote visual health in children 

through the cinema. 

Van Lange: Cineplex operates 163 theatres 

across Canada, and for the past seven 

years we’ve hosted a Saturday morning of 

free movies for Canadians to enjoy in all 

of them. We call it “Cineplex Community 

Day” and in addition to providing a free 

movie, we work with our concession partners 

to have discounted concession items 

like popcorn, pop and select candy. All proceeds 

from the day go to WE, our national 

charity partner, and since we began working 

with them, we’ve raised $3.5 million to support 

the cause. In support of this effort, over 

175,000 students and others—including 

Cineplex employees—have contributed over 

four million volunteer hours. 

Holyoak: “Let’s All Go To The Movies” 

initially started out in 1998 with our parent 

company, Cinépolis, in Mexico; we brought it 

to the U.S. in 2015. It’s our initiative to bring 

groups of children—including disadvantaged 

and underprivileged kids who couldn’t afford 

the experience—to the theatre and to 

give them a fun and enjoyable day at the 

movies. We have mariachis, we have clowns 

entertaining them—so it’s a whole miniadventure 

with a movie at the heart of it. Our 

parent company offers this program in 13 

countries; to date, Cinépolis has hosted 4.5 

million children worldwide. In 2015, we had 

about 600 U.S. children involved; in 2017, we 

brought in 2,000 children. Our program is 

still in its infancy here in the U.S., so there’s 

room to grow. In the U.S., we’ve partnered 

with the Mexican Consulate; they’re a great 

supporter, but we’re also finding additional 

resources and establishing smaller partnerships 

that make these events special. Our 

plan is to be able to hold one of these events 

each year at all of our locations. 

McQuaker: Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman 

inspired us to find and celebrate “Real Life 

Women Superheroes” who are making a difference 

in our theatre communities. We spread 

our net wide and found some wonderful 

women doing some amazing things. On our 

website we shared their stories; it was a true 

challenge to try to pick one special woman 

Craig Kielburger, co-founder of the WE movement, and Ellis Jacob, 

president and CEO of Cineplex, volunteering at a Community Day in 2017. 

from each community. Finally selecting 12 

very special women, we flew them to Dallas 

to honor them and celebrate the opening of 

Wonder Woman. We held an opening-night 

premiere; they walked the red carpet, we 

introduced them and created a special tribute 

video; we presented them with our “Opening 

Hearts and Minds Award” and made a donation 

to their charity of choice to support their 

work. It was a wonderful evening, a great way 

to bring our teams together and show how 

we try to live our mission and leave a positive 

wake at Studio Movie Grill. We’re continu- 


018-031.indd 29 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

From left: Lynne McQuaker, Sarah Van Lange , Melissa Boudreau, Mark Mazrimas, and Annelise Holyoak. 

ing the relationships we’ve built with these 

women, because how wonderful that we now 

have a female superhero in all our cities for 

every one of our teams to celebrate! 

Mazrimas: For the past ten years, we’ve 

donated our Tivoli theatre for a live musical 

review for a group called SEASPAR—an 

organization that provides activities for 

handicapped and challenged youths in 12 

surrounding communities. In Oak Park, 

we’ve worked with the Women’s Guild since 

their inception; they provide funds for people 

with ongoing life-threatening and financial 

challenges, and with our support they’ve 

raised $55,000. Elk Grove was celebrating 

their 60th anniversary and to support that, 

we ran a free movie a month for six months. 

On the first weekend in February, in Woodstock, 

Illinois, for more than 20 years we’ve 

been donating our movie theatre to show 

Groundhog Day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday 

free at 10 a.m. as part of the community’s 

events. This year is the 25th anniversary of its 

release and it was filmed there in Woodstock; 

we’ll probably have 500 or 600 people a day 

show up. We seem to work with countless 

organizations; some events are challenging, 

but they’re all important to the organizations 

doing good work for a cause. 

Boudreau: Every time we open a new 

location in a new community, we do a 

grand-opening party in partnership with 

a local charity. They sell the tickets for a 

semi-formal event—that includes a movie 

and a really nice meal; we host a beautiful 

event—and 100 percent of those proceeds 

go to their charity. It’s such a great way to 

meet people—and for people in that community 

to know that we support causes that 

are important to them. Over the holiday 

season, we also partnered with a radio station 

in metro Detroit where we’re based. We 

donated $25,000 and they picked families 

who aren’t able to afford gifts for the holiday 

season. During the morning radio show, they 

went “live” to knock on a family’s door and 

surprise the family with food and gifts. One 

particular family—where I participated—had 

a little girl who was three years old and had 

just been diagnosed with leukemia. Because 

of the expense of her medical treatments, her 

family wasn’t able to afford Christmas. So, we 

knocked on their door—and because of what 

Emagine donated we were able to provide 

gifts for all their children. Everyone was crying; 

it was an unforgettable experience. 

McQuaker: We’ve long admired Big 

Thought; they do an enormous amount of 

good with young people by igniting their 

imaginations and engaging the whole child 

through accessible educational programs. 

For the movie Wonder, we worked with them 

and other groups to show the movie to over 

13,000 students on 113 screens to create an 

impactful learning experience focused on the 

themes of the movie, like acceptance, belonging, 

empathy and kindness. 

Mazrimas: Wonder was a wonder. As of 

early February, we’d done 91 school shows, 

often with someone from the community 

introducing the movie or hosting a discussion 

afterwards. We had one class that came 

to see Wonder and now they’re studying the 

Vietnam War and they want to come back to 

see The Post and have a reporter here to talk 

about the movie. 

McQuaker: Our next project with Big 

Thought will be A Wrinkle in Time. Movies 

have the power to change lives and to ignite 

the imagination. 

Boudreau: We do so many things with 

so many organizations. At all of our locations 

starting on February 1, we’ve been selling 

pins to raise money for the American Heart 

Association—and to raise awareness of heart 

disease and stroke. As part of that, last year 

we trained all of our theatre managers to 

perform CPR as well. 

Holyoak: For 2018, we’ve partnered with 

the Vision Of Children Foundation. It’s a 

national organization dedicated to curing 

hereditary blindness in children and bringing 

awareness to vision disorders in children. 

We’re currently running a PSA for the 

Foundation on our screens; it’s an emotional 

piece that helps people think of children who 

cannot see the screen—and enjoy the movies. 

It mentions that if guests are able to do so, 

donating is a great way to support cures for 

visual disorders. 

McQuaker: For Patriots Day last year, 

we provided tickets to first responders. Again 

this year, we’re collecting prom dresses and 

donating them to young ladies who perhaps 

otherwise might not go to their prom 

because they don’t have a dress. And we’re 

supporting the efforts of Chance the Rapper 

in Chicago by donating a portion of ticket 

sales to Social Works during Black History 

Month and hosting their Black History 

Month Film Festival. 

Van Lange: WE is our national charity 

partner, but we also have local activations in 

particular communities. For example, last 

year we worked in partnership with the IWK 

Health Centre and the IWK Foundation 

in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to build the O.E. 

Smith Auditorium. This special auditorium is 

a movie theatre in the hospital itself and it’s 

a place where patients and families can enjoy 

movies and hopefully a much-needed break 

from their health challenges. 

Boudreau: We want to make each 

community we’re in a better place—not 

only by bringing a theatre, but also by doing 

our part to support the community’s 

efforts to make it a better place to live, to 

work and to raise a family. We live in the 

communities where we have our theatres, 

so when we make them better, we’re improving 

life for us all. 

Mazrimas: When we receive a request 

to help out, to work with a school or other 

organization, to support a cause in some 

special way, our philosophy is to try never 

to say “no”—because that’s too simple. We 

try to listen, to figure out a way. 

Holyoak: Our goal in giving back is to 

share the magic of cinema entertainment 

with people who wouldn’t normally have 

the access or the opportunity to do that. 

Van Lange: Giving back is very 

ingrained in what we do—from a management 

perspective, from an employeeengagement 

perspective and from a charitable 

giving perspective. 

McQuaker: We’re very fortunate, 

because what could be better than having 

movies and meals to work with? What’s 

better than offering a gathering place for 

our neighbors? We have a gift and we want 

to use it for outreach with a sense of purpose, 

so that we can leave a positive wake. 


018-031.indd 30 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

Embracing Laser 

Theatres See the Benefit 

of New Projection Technologies 

Beginning with this issue, the worldrenowned 

cinema technology company Barco 

will have a monthly presence as technology 

contributor to Film Journal International. 

The column will alternate between Barco 

news and general insights into industry 

technological trends. We begin with a Q&A 

with Carl Rijsbrack, chief marketing officer 

for Barco Cinema’s new joint venture, about 

Barco’s fast-growing laser projection business 

and why so many exhibitors are jumping on 

the laser bandwagon. 

How is the company doing with worldwide 

laser projector deployment and what 

is your perception about overall industry 

adoption rates? 

Barco is leading the global trend of 

laser projection for cinema, setting a record 

for all-laser multiplexes, in which an exhibitor 

outfits every auditorium with either 

a Barco Flagship Laser or Smart Laser 

projector. We started off with our Flagship 

Laser portfolio (for premium screens) at 

the end of 2014 and complemented it with 

Smart Laser projectors (for all screens) as 

of 2015. The market has embraced laserpowered 

projection as the new norm and 

we’ve responded with the largest and most 

comprehensive portfolio of laser projectors 

in the industry to provide exhibitors with 

a perfect match for every screen that meets 

all their needs. As we add more models to 

our Smart Laser portfolio (we will have 

12 in March), we are able to offer laser 

benefits to all cinema screens for a business 

case that works. This is what we see coming 

back in the numbers: With 4,000-plus 

Smart Laser projectors in the field, we 

quadrupled the number of our laser projectors 

in one year up to the point where we 

now sell more laser projectors than lampbased 

projectors. We don’t expect this trend 

to reverse—rather, the contrary. We expect 

an acceleration as more and more exhibitors 

are convinced of going to laser. 

Are there any negating factors in your 

view that are holding back industry growth? 

Not really. Barco laser projectors come 

with higher image quality, easier operation 

and 80-percent lower yearly operating 

expense than the best lamp-based equivalents. 

Looking at our numbers, we clearly 

see that the shift to laser-powered projection 

is shifting into high gear. 

How do you differentiate? 

When developing visualization solutions, 

we focus on our customer needs. 

Exhibitors want to create amazing movie 

experiences while reducing operating costs, 

be it for their premium screens or for their 

mainstream screens. We take time to listen 

to them and leverage the minds of our 

1,000-plus engineers to come back with 

the right visualization system the cinema 

industry needs. I leave it up to the readers 

to compare our image quality, our ease of 

operation and the savings we generate in 

energy consumption, HVAC and lamps. 

Our SmartCare warranty program is 

also unique. Thanks to SmartCare, exhibitors 

don’t need to worry about how their 

projector’s light source output will evolve 

over time. By providing superior image 

quality with guaranteed light output, the 

program guarantees ten worry-free years 

of operation. SmartCare also includes 24/7 

service support and full parts coverage— 

talk about delivering real peace of mind. 

Is there any recent feedback from exhibitors 

on laser in general? 

There are many great examples. We 

have proven feedback that our Flagship 

Laser image quality helps drive profitable 

growth in our customers’ PLF strategies. 

Kinepolis, a long-term Barco customer, 

opened the first “all-Barco laser” multiplex 

in Europe in 2016 in the Netherlands. The 

ten-screen multiplex features one Barco 

Flagship Laser and nine Smart Laser 

projectors. “Visitor numbers have been 

exceeding our expectations since day one, 

which is fantastic,” says Vicky Vekemans, 

theatre manager for Kinepolis. Customer 

satisfaction surveys also clearly show that 

visitors prefer laser-illuminated projection. 

With regard to cost savings, laser 

projection is helping Kinepolis cut energy 

consumption by 30 percent. The exhibitor 

has since opened all-laser cinemas in three 

additional locations. 

Our Flagship Laser projectors deliver 

the ultimate visual experience as a costeffective 

PLF solution with the potential to 

generate significantly higher ticket revenues. 

It delivers unprecedented image quality, 

featuring outstanding 2D and 3D brightness, 

high brightness/contrast, constant 

light output and superior color performance 

for a premium viewing experience. Research 

indicates that moviegoers give the highest 

image quality scores to Flagship Laser-illuminated 

screens, are willing to pay higher 

ticket prices and convey that it will increase 

their visits to the cinema. 

We have multiple examples of customers 

that tested the yearly cost-savings 

potential for energy consumption and 

lamp consumption (i.e., excluding HVAC 

savings) for our Smart Laser projectors. All 

test points were in the 60 to 70-percent 

yearly opex savings ballpark. 

Gabriel Morales Becker, digital 

cinema strategy director for major 

international circuit Cinépolis, concludes: 

“The operational efficiencies of Barco 

Smart Laser projectors—and the 

elimination of costly lamps and associated 

maintenance—allow us to upgrade our 

cinema experience for the lowest possible 

total cost of ownership.” 


018-031.indd 31 

3/8/18 2:32 PM

EVENT 

CINEMA 

EVENT CINEMA 

an FJI overview of recent developments 

of an increasingly popular trend 

in theatrical exhibition 

Event 

Horizon 

Alternative Attractions Continue 

to Show Big Growth Potential 

by Melissa Cogavin 

In 2018, the event cinema industry continues to generate good business as a solid ancillary for 

the shrewd exhibitor who is acutely aware of the value of his real estate, the technical prowess 

of his auditoria, the loyalty of his customers and the potential rewards in his extensive database. 

We have seen wonderful examples of how the exhibitor, in partnership with dedicated event 

cinema distributors, is continuing to evolve the business model, especially in markets like Brazil, 

Argentina, the USA, Canada and Italy. The U.K. is a mature market now and arguably places an 

overreliance on the arts to keep its revenues consistently high—a short-term problem as long as 

this is addressed now, given the aging demographic that attends in such numbers—but in other 

markets we are seeing reinvention and innovation. Playing around with release dates and encores, 

along with the principle of scarcity vs. flooding the market, have all been at work recently, 

gaining the attention of customers and, more importantly, keeping it. 

At our most recent ECA (Event Cinema Association) Conference held in London 

in February and attended by 250 industry professionals from all over the world, a panel 

on event cinema’s past ten years and future prospects considered aspects as varied as 

promoting multiple encores from the moment the tickets go on sale to 100-percent 

dedicated event cinema screens, something which Brad LaDouceur of Canada’s 

Cineplex has introduced so successfully the circuit is increasing the 

number from 12 to 30 this year. 

In the last 12 months, we’ve seen success with sport, anime and 

gaming. Standout hits were the Mayweather-MacGregor fight, for which 

Vue Entertainment in the U.K. secured exclusive rights from Sky, and a 

well-timed and cleverly marketed global outing of anime hit Pokemon— 

I Choose You! that won a gold medal at our recent ECA Box Office 

Awards ceremony for admissions in excess of 500,000 worldwide. 

The sense from the conference was that emerging markets are where 

the growth lies, and that the U.K. is both saturated with both arts content 

and providers of it. The key to future growth is connecting the dots 

to ensure that other industries see the excellent marketing exposure 


032-043.indd 32 

3/8/18 3:25 PM

that a release in cinemas can offer them. The exploitation of 

data—a hot topic given the imminent implementation of the 

GDPR data-compliance standards across Europe in May—was 

a key point raised. Richard Robinson of Cambridge Analytica 

pointed out that while complex and laborious, the pursuit of 

deep, detailed data on individual buying habits is an essential 

component to understanding your audience. 

Echoing this development, we have seen in the last year an 

increasing range of membership enquiries from China, Peru, 

Brazil, India, Indonesia, France and Germany, in addition to 

many more from the U.K., so the appetite for information and 

education in this area shows no sign of abating. Our mission to 

promote and support the industry means our remit is the same 

but the scope is larger than ever, and every territory has its own 

demands, idiosyncrasies and audiences. But that keeps the ECA 

continually evolving and on our toes. We have been canvassing 

our members to ensure that in 2018 our mandate now remains 

as relevant and vital as it was in 2012 when we launched. 

In June last year, we hosted a fascinating look at China for the 

first time and invited ECA member Citylights Events from Shanghai 

to showcase what the landscape is looking like for distributors 

of content in this complex and problematic territory. The 

rewards will be large, but the obstacles are too, and while there 

are ways around the censorship issue, it will take time and a 

deep collaboration with exhibition and homegrown distribution 

companies to allow the huge potential in this market to grow. 

What does the future hold? The sector is polished and wellestablished 

in key markets, producing a body of consistently 

good-quality work on a regular basis, provided by a small number 

of seasoned, passionate professionals who understand the 

risks of this business but stay committed anyway, sure in the 

Nigel Crow of sponsor Encompass, Janelle Mason 

of CinemaLive and Julie Harriss of the ECA at the 

ECA Box Office Awards. 

knowledge they are providing their audiences with something 

rare and valuable—a true shared experience that can’t be replicated 

on a laptop, a smart TV or a tablet. 

We are encouraged that in Southern Europe Giovanni Cozzi 

is hosting film festival Mallorca Arts on Screen in April this year, 

an industry first and a celebration of event cinema on a beautiful 

Balearic island. Supported by the ECA along with Unique Digital and 

featuring a large number of event cinema distribution companies 

based all over the world, this festival alone shows what strides have 

been made, how far we have come and how much potential there is 

to achieve in this exciting and increasingly vital area of exhibition. 

Melissa Cogavin is managing director of the Event Cinema 

Association. 

The Mayweather-McGregor fight was a major event for which Vue Entertainment in the U.K. secured exclusive rights. 


032-043.indd 33 

3/8/18 2:36 PM

EVENT 

CINEMA 

Unfathomable 

Success 

Fathom Events Takes Event Cinema 

to New Heights by Rebecca Pahle 

was a banner year for Fathom Events. You can see it 

2017 in the numbers. 

• Eleven: Number of Box Office Awards received at the 2018 

Event Cinema Association Conference. 

• Twenty-six: 2017 releases that grossed over a million dollars, 

almost double the 14 releases that passed that threshold in 

2016. 

• 4.7 million: The amount of dollars earned by Fathom’s 

screening of Disney’s Newsies: The Broadway Musical, making it 

the year’s highest domestic earner. 

• Thirty-five: the number of countries in which Fathom 

screened Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You!, the year’s highest 

worldwide grosser with a total cume of $6 million. 

In the whole vast scheme of the exhibition industry, event 

cinema is still relatively new. Founded in 2002, Fathom Events 

has yet to cross the two-decade mark. But over its relatively 

short lifespan, it’s grown not-so-slowly and surely to become 

the 13th-largest distributor in the United States. “That’s something 

that’s a little-known secret,” says Fathom CEO Ray Nutt. 

“We’ll never be Disney or Warner Bros., but there’s a place for 

Fathom, and it’s a really nice place. We’re making a lot of fans 

really happy.” 

Fans of opera, faith-based content, sports, ballet, anime, 

comedy, classic film and more—the categories of content that 

Fathom programs is vast and expanding. Nutt name-checks 

“over the top,” or OTT content—online streaming content 

like YouTube Red’s “Step Up: High Water,” several episodes of 

which Fathom screened along with the first Step Up movie in a 

special January 2018 event—as one that has a lot of potential for 

growth. Ditto anime and faith-based events, the two verticals 

Fathom CEO Ray Nutt and 

Gordon Synn, Fathom’s chief 

content and programming officer, 

and a scene from the Royal Opera 

House’s production of Cendrillon. 

© Bill Cooper 


032-043.indd 34 

3/8/18 4:27 PM

EVENT 

CINEMA 

that saw the biggest growth in 2017. 

Even in more established verticals, like 

opera—Fathom’s longstanding partnership with 

the Metropolitan Opera brings in about 20% of 

Fathom’s revenue—the potential is there to reach out 

to a younger audience in addition to the older demographic 

that opera is currently associated with. “You have a 

lot of Baby Boomers who are now in retirement communities. 

They’re healthy and wealthy, and they’re mobile, and they can 

get to the theatre to see the Metropolitan Opera or the Bolshoi 

Ballet,” Nutt explains. At the same time, Fathom aims to “take 

some of the content that might seem more mature and reach a 

different audience with it.” 

Gordon Synn, Fathom’s chief content and programming officer, 

sees room for growth in television: “A lot of this [premium 

TV] content you can imagine being experienced on a big screen 

in a theatre, because the production values are there, and the 

creative vision is there. And it would make sense from an audience 

point of view to experience it in that way. Their experience 

of that content will become so much bigger, greater and more 

engaged… People want to have that communal experience. They 

want to be able to talk about it and share in it together with 

their friends. And you can’t do that when you’re watching on a 

device at home by yourself.” 

That communal experience is a key part of Fathom’s vision. 

Both Nutt and Synn emphasize that the goal at Fathom isn’t just 

to screen content, it’s to, in Nutt’s words, “eventize and create a 

different experience for most of our guests.” 

Audiences “are conditioned to show up to the theatre and 

[be told to] turn off their cellphones, to be quiet, to be courteous—and 

that’s very important on the exhibition side of the 

industry. No one knows that better than I do,” says Nutt, a 

veteran of Regal Entertainment Group before moving to Fathom 

in mid-2017. But with Fathom screenings—say, a sing-a-long or a 

boxing match like last August’s Mayweather vs. McGregor boxing 

match—“we want them to come and have a good time and 

be interactive. In most cases, it’s ‘Turn your cellphones on.’ It’s 

funny, because right now, when you go to a Fathom event where 

you expect them to be engaged, for the first five minutes or so 

everybody’s kind of looking around, like ‘Should I be clapping? 

Should I be yelling? Should I be doing anything?’ Then all of a sudden 

the dam breaks, and everybody starts doing their thing. It’s 

neat to see that transition.” 

Yes to chatting, to posting on social media, to engaging with 

what’s on the screen and the other fans you’re sharing the experience 

with. It’s not your typical model—but then, the point 

of Fathom Events is to always experiment, to not be tied down 

by the status quo. Working at Fathom “definitely isn’t cookiecutter,” 

Synn acknowledges. “There’s a lot of problem-solving 

that has to be done, because each opportunity has its own 

unique challenges. And it’s not always going to be presented to 

you in a beautiful box with a beautiful ribbon on it that you can 

just open up, and kaboom, it’s there. You have to figure out how 

to get over some of the hurdles to be able to make it happen 

in our theatres, so that at the end of the day it gets seen by an 

audience.” 

Traditionally, one of event cinema’s biggest hurdles has always 

had to do with advertising. Screen a first-run movie, and 

more often than not that movie comes part and parcel with millions 

of dollars’ worth of advertising provided by the studio. For 

something that’s going to screen one time—with an encore performance, 

maybe two if there’s enough demand—that’s not an 

option. What Fathom does have, however, is partnerships: with 

both exhibitors (Fathom is a joint venture of AMC, Regal and 

Cinemark and programs content with 57 other affiliate theatres) 

and content providers. Disney, for example, or the Metropolitan 

Opera, or distributor GKids, with which Fathom has a Studio 

Ghibli series planned for 2018. 

“We look at about 2,500 to 3,000 titles a year, and about 

140 of those titles make it to the screen,” Nutt says. “It’s a highclass 

problem to have!” One criterion for content making it to 

theatres is that, per Synn, there’s something “special or unique” 

about it. “We ask ourselves, ‘What impact will this have on the 

audience?’ And if there isn’t a great answer for that, then we 

might keep looking for something that better fits that mantra.” 

Another must, explains Nutt, is that “unless the content partner 

is coming to us with a significant amount of marketing assets 

available, we pass on that content. That’s a must. We know the 

importance of there being a joint partnership with regards to 

marketing. Typically, whoever brings [content] to us has a database, 

and we have access to our owners’ loyalty programs and our own 

databases. We have a significant social department.” 

In building awareness among moviegoers, Nutt explains that 

the end goal—one that’s already well underway—is the bolstering 

of Fathom’s brand identity as a reliable provider of quality 

entertainment beyond whatever individual event the customer 

is initially attracted to. “We’re talking about touching base with 

the customer before, during and after an event. We’re engaging 

with them before, making sure that they come to that Tuesday 

night event at the cinema, because we know they have other 

entertainment options. And then certainly we’re making sure 

they have a great time when they get there—singing and dancing, 

depending on the content. And then [afterwards] we want 

to make sure we have the partnership with the fans so we keep 

them coming back to the next one. We’re trying to develop 

some series as well and get away from the one-off [model], so 

we’re not starting over all the time.” 

The end result is more and more fans having a standing date 

with Fathom. “We can condition the fans out there [to know 

that on] the first Tuesday of every month, for example, there’s 

some thematic event that they’re used to coming to and having a 

good time at.” 

So far, Fathom’s willingness to experiment with different 

types of content has been more successful than many in the 

industry anticipated. Last August’s Mayweather vs. McGregor 

fight screened in 532 theatres and cracked the top ten, a nearly 

unprecedented occurrence for event cinema. “We knew that it 

was going to be good. Now, did we know it was going to be as 

good as it was? Perhaps not,” Nutt says. “We never charged $40 

a ticket before for any of our events. On Pay-Per-View, individually 

it was $100, so we thought $40 was a fair price. And so did 

a lot of fans! I thought the way that it was promoted and teed up 

was fantastic.” 

The screening of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! also marks 

a point of particular pride for the Fathom CEO, who sees the $6 

million success story as proof that there’s potential for Fathom 

in international markets. “The team really, really brought it 

together. To distribute content to 35 countries, to develop 

websites with the appropriate languages, to work with all the 

exhibitors, to do a promotion where we got collectible cards on 

a limited basis in the hands of fans… Everything came together 

from a marketing standpoint. You think, OK, what’s it going to 

do? And the next thing, you turn around and it’s being distributed 

all over the world to six million bucks.” 


032-043.indd 36 

3/8/18 2:36 PM

EVENT 

CINEMA 

A New 

Alternative 

Spotlight Cinema Networks Unveils 

Robust Lineup for Event Cinema Division 

CineLife Entertainment, Spotlight Cinema Networks’ 

new division formed to distribute event cinema and 

other alternative programming to exhibitors around 

the world, has unveiled its introductory lineup of programming 

for the 2018/2019 season. The lineup offers a diverse slate of 

programming including concerts featuring some of the world’s 

most popular artists, iconic musical theatre performances 

with international stars like Hugh Jackman, ballet and a play by 

Shakespeare. The programming represents Spotlight Cinema 

Networks’ deep commitment to helping its exhibitor partners 

leverage this rapidly growing segment of the exhibition industry 

and expand their revenue opportunities. 

The first program from CineLife Entertainment, Pretty 

Guardian Sailor Moon: The Musical—Le Mouvement Final, 

premiered on March 10, 2018, in select theatres across the 

U.S. Sailor Moon was released in association with Tokyo-based 

Live Viewing Japan and marks the first time that a mangabased 

Japanese live stage musical production has been released 

in any format in the U.S. Sailor Moon was also distributed 

internationally by CineLife Entertainment in Canada, Australia 

and Latin America. 

Upcoming programs from CineLife Entertainment include: 

▶ “Yanni Live at the Acropolis.” Celebrate the 

25th anniversary of one of Yanni’s most popular concerts 

globally. Originally captured at the Herodes Atticus Theatre 

in his native Greece, this 1994 performance of the legendary 

performer and composer playing with his own six-piece band 

and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra has been digitally 

remastered and is available now for the first time on the big 

screen. 

▶ “Scream for Me Sarajevo.” This extraordinary 

concert documentary, available now for the first time on 

the big screen, records an astonishing rock concert as Iron 

Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson became the only foreign artist to 

play a full show in Sarajevo during its four-year siege. It’s about 

extraordinary people defying the horrors of war and the 

musicians who risked their lives to entertain them. Exclusive 

theatrical-only bonus content will include a Q&A with 

Dickinson. 

▶ Great Stage On Screen. CineLife Entertainment 

has partnered with U.K.-based Stanza Media Ltd. to bring a 

series of nine amazing productions from around the globe 

beginning summer 2018. This series includes such productions 

as the Tony Award-nominated classic Oklahoma! starring 

Hugh Jackman; Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice from The 

National Theatre, starring Ian McKellen; five-time Tony Award 

winner Kiss Me Kate, with Rachel York and Brent Barrett, and 

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty ballets. 

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: 

The Musical—Le Mouvement Final 

Event Cinema Is Poised 

for Major Growth 

Spotlight Cinema Networks is committed to creating 

new opportunities that would benefit its exhibitor partners. 

It entered the event cinema marketplace because it sees the 

domestic marketplace as underdeveloped and poised for 

significant growth. While CineLife Entertainment will take full 

advantage of its parent company’s strong relationships with a 

core network of nearly 300 art-house and independent theatres 

representing 1,000+ screens, it will work with other exhibitors 

domestically and around the world on select events. Spotlight 

Cinema Networks’ relationship with art-house and luxury 

theatres gives it the highest-quality exhibitor network in the 

world for content producers who want to reach sophisticated, 

educated audiences. That makes it ideal to offer cultural 

programming like musicals, plays, ballet, opera and concerts. 

The Spotlight Cinema Networks audience is more receptive 

to programming that is edgier and more niche such as anime, 

theatre, cult movies and repertory films, as well as value-added 

content like interviews with directors and cast members. 

Spotlight Cinema Networks is uniquely well-positioned to 


032-043.indd 37 

3/8/18 2:36 PM

EVENT 

CINEMA 

support CineLife Entertainment’s venture 

into the event cinema marketplace in large part 

because of the technical expertise of another new 

division. Last October, Spotlight acquired Storming 

Images, a leading digital content delivery provider, and 

created Storming Images North America, a Spotlight 

Cinema Networks-owned company. One of the significant 

reasons for the acquisition was to execute against the longterm 

strategic plan of entering the event cinema business 

with a built-in technical system to cost-effectively distribute 

event cinema programming, as well as pre-show advertising 

content and movie trailers already being distributed to theatres 

nationwide. 

To support its marketing efforts, Spotlight Cinema 

Networks has employed its popular CineLife app to promote 

future event cinema releases, as well as enabling consumers 

to purchase event cinema tickets directly through the app. 

The CineLife app is the first consumer-facing app devoted 

to helping audiences connect with indie films to art houses 

across the U.S. The free app, available on all Android and iOS 

mobile devices, also features an extensive “special events” 

calendar that lists and promotes upcoming events, including 

programming from CineLife Entertainment, which will help 

drive audiences to theatres offering event cinema programs. 

For information regarding programming and distribution, 

contact Mark Rupp, managing director of CineLife 

Entertainment, at Mark@SpotlightCinemaNetworks.com 

(310.309.5776) or Ronnie Ycong, senior VP, exhibitor relations 

and operations, at Ronnie@SpotlightCinemaNetworks.com 

(310.309.5763). 

Coming 

Attractions 

Theatres Showcase Opera, Ballet, 

Shakespeare, Film Classics and More… 

Fathom Events 

March 25, 26 & 28 

Ponyo, 10th Anniversary 

FATHOM EVENTS 

March 18 & 21: Vertigo 60th Anniversary 

Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece creates a dizzying web of mistaken 

identity, passion and murder after an acrophobic detective 

(James Stewart) rescues a mysterious blonde (Kim Novak) from 

the San Francisco Bay. This 60th-anniversary event includes exclusive 

insight from TCM host Eddie Muller. 

March 19: The Riot and the Dance 

Biologist Dr. Gordon Wilson traverses our planet in this boisterous 

nature documentary. Whether he’s catching wildlife in 

his own backyard or in the jungles of Sri Lanka, Dr. Wilson celebrates 

God’s creatures in all shapes, sizes and species. 

March 22: National Theatre Live—Julius Caesar 

Nicholas Hytner’s production of the Shakespeare tragedy will 

thrust the audience into the street party that greets Caesar’s 

return to Rome, the congress that witnesses his murder, the 

rally that assembles for his funeral, and the chaos that explodes 

in its wake. 

March 24 & 26: Ice Dragon: Legend of the Blue Daisies 

Melody, a gifted young dreamer, and her feisty friend Leif must 

set aside their differences and use the power of magical Blue 

Daisies and an ancient song to save their world from an evil 

Ice Dragon in this animated feature. 

March 25, 26 & 28: Ponyo 10th Anniversary 

From the legendary Studio Ghibli and Academy Award-winning 

director Hayao Miyazaki comes a heartwarming family adventure 

about a young boy who rescues a stranded goldfish named Ponyo 

and gets more than he bargained for. Featuring the voices of 

Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Lily Tomlin and Liam Neeson. 

March 30, April 2, June 1 & 4: Best F(r)iends 

Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero reunite for a dream project 

that will thrill fans of The Room and The Disaster Artist. 

April 8: Bolshoi Ballet—Giselle 

Svetlana Zakharova and Sergei Polunin star in this classic ballet 

about a woman who dies of a broken heart and returns as a 

vengeful spirit. 

April 8 & 11: Grease 40th Anniversary 

Go back to high school with Pink Lady Sandy (Olivia Newton- 

John), and leader of the bad-boy T-Birds Danny (John Travolta) 

in this beloved musical. 


032-043.indd 38 

3/8/18 2:36 PM

scn-film-journal-ER-170927-final.indd 1 

9/27/17 1:47 PM

EVENT 

CINEMA 

April 12: The Amendment 

Inspiring true story of Brooks Douglass, who 

survived, along with his sister, an unthinkable attack 

in his youth that claimed the lives of his parents, 

and who eventually found triumph over tragedy through 

faith and forgiveness. After the attack, Douglass went on 

to become the youngest state senator in Oklahoma history 

and authored 15 pieces of legislation protecting victims’ rights. 

Mike Vogel and Taryn Manning star, and in his film debut, Douglass 

plays his own father, Richard. After the film, a panel of experts 

will discuss victims’ rights. 

April 16: Phoenix Wilder and the Great Elephant Adventure 

Phoenix Wilder, a 13-year-old orphaned American boy, goes 

to live with his only surviving relative in Africa. While out on 

safari with his uncle, he becomes separated from the rest of 

the party and must quickly learn to survive in the African bush. 

When the boy bonds with a giant bull elephant he frees from a 

trap, he decides to try to stop a band of poachers who prey on 

elephants. 

April 17: “The Dating Project” 

The way people find love has radically changed in an age of swiping 

left or right. “The Dating Project” follows five single people, 

as they search for meaningful relationships. Presented by Pure 

Flix and Paulist Productions. 

Aprii 22, 23 & 25: The Cat Returns 

Haru is walking home after a dreary day of school when she spies 

a cat with a small gift box in its mouth crossing a busy street, and 

she jumps in front of traffic to save the cat from an oncoming 

truck. To her amazement, the cat gets up on its hind legs, brushes 

itself off, and thanks her very politely. But things take an even 

stranger turn when the King of Cats shows up at her doorstep in 

a feline motorcade. Animated fun from Studio Ghibli. 

April 29, May 1 & 2: Labyrinth 

Jim Henson’s 1986 fantasy-adventure returns to the big screen 

as a nationwide fan celebration. Audiences are encouraged 

to attend the screenings in costume. The event will include 

exclusive introductions by Brian Henson and star Jennifer 

Connelly. In addition, audiences will enjoy a special theatrical 

screening excerpt from the award-winning fantasy series “The 

Storyteller.” 

May 1 & 3: Like Arrows—Parenting Is a Journey 

When rebellion creeps into their family, Charlie and Alice realize 

their approach to raising children isn’t working, and they start 

searching for answers. But is it too late? 

May 5: Canelo vs. Golovkin 2 

The showdown between explosive fighters Canelo Alvarez and 

Gennady Golovkin will be broadcast live from T-Mobile Arena in 

Las Vegas to movie theatres nationwide. 

May 10: Digimon Adventure tri.: Coexistence 

The fate of the world is once again in jeopardy in this latest anime 

action-fantasy adventure. 

May 13 & 16: Sunset Boulevard 

Gloria Swanson, as Norma Desmond, an aging silent-film queen, 

and William Holden, as the struggling young screenwriter who is 

held in thrall by her madness, created two of the screen’s most 

memorable characters in Billy Wilder’s 1950 classic. 

May 17: National Theatre Live—Macbeth 

Shakespeare’s intense tragedy will see Rory Kinnear and Anne- 

Marie Duff return to The National Theatre to play the ruthless 

Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. Directed by Rufus Norris, the production 

will be captured live one week before its cinema debut. 

Metropolitan Opera Live 

March 31 & April 4 

Così Fan Tutte 


032-043.indd 40 

3/8/18 2:36 PM

May 20, 21 & 23: Porco Rosso 

In this classic Studio Ghibli animated adventure set in and above 

the scenic port towns of the Adriatic Sea, Porco Rosso is a 

world-weary flying ace turned bounty hunter whose face has 

been transformed into that of a pig by a mysterious spell. 

May 22: Godspeed: The Race Across America 

Godspeed chronicles a first-time race team—Jerry Schemmel, noted 

author, speaker and sportscaster for the Colorado Rockies, and 

Brad Cooper, a four-time Iron Man triathlete—as they compete 24 

hours a day for seven days covering 3,000 miles of deserts, mountains 

and plains in the world’s most difficult cycling race, The Race 

Across America, to raise money for the orphans of Haiti. 

June 3 & 6: The Producers 50th Anniversary 

Writer-director Mel Brooks nabbed an Oscar for Best Original 

Screenplay of 1968 for this hilarious comedy about two connivers 

who deliberately set out to make a Broadway flop and profit from 

it. The new restoration is from Studiocanal and Rialto Pictures. 

June 10: Bolshoi Ballet—Coppélia 

The classic ballet centers on a feisty heroine, a fiancé with a 

wandering eye and an old dollmaker. 

June 17, 18 & 20: Pom Poko 

In this ecological fable from animation giant Studio Ghibli, tanuki 

raccoon dogs learn the ancient art of transformation, shapeshifting 

into a comical variety of humans and spirits as they try to 

scare away the humans threatening their woodland home. 

July 15 & 18: Big 30th Anniversary 

A 13-year-old boy, transformed into a 35-year-old man by a carnival 

wishing machine, becomes a successful executive by turning 

his juvenile intellect to toy design. Tom Hanks received his first 

Oscar nomination for this comedy classic. 

July 22, 23 & 25: Princess Mononoke 

In this animated classic from director Hayao Miyazaki, a young girl 

raised by wolves will stop at nothing to prevent humans from destroying 

her home and the forest spirits and animal gods who live 

there. Featuring the voices of Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire 

Danes, Minnie Driver, Jada Pinkett Smith and Billy Bob Thornton. 

August 5 & 8: The Big Lebowski 20th Anniversary 

Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski doesn’t want any drama in his life… 

heck, he can’t even be bothered with a job. But he must embark 

on a quest with his bowling buddies after his rug is destroyed in 

a twisted case of mistaken identity. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, 

Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John 

Turturro star in this comedy classic from the Coen Brothers. 

August 12, 13 & 15: Grave of the Fireflies 

In this wrenching animated film from Studio Ghibli, Seita and his 

younger sister Setsuko are forced to fend for themselves in the 

aftermath of fires that swept entire cities from the face of the 

Earth. Digitally remastered. 

August 26 & 29: South Pacific 60th Anniversary 

An American woman falls in love with a Frenchman while stationed 

as a Navy nurse in the South Pacific during World War II 

in the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical. 

METROPOLITAN OPERA LIVE 

March 31 & April 4: Così Fan Tutte 

Mozart’s comedy is transported to 1950s Coney Island. The cast 

includes Amanda Majeski as the conflicted Fiordiligi; Serena Malfi 

as her sister, Dorabella; Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara as their 

feisty maid, Despina, and Christopher Maltman as the cynical Don 

Alfonso. A co-production with the English National Opera. 

National Theatre Live 

March 23 

Julius Caesar 


032-043.indd 41 

3/8/18 2:36 PM

EVENT 

CINEMA 

April 14 & 18: Luisa Miller 

James Levine conducts a revival of the Verdi opera, 

which has not been seen at the Met since 2006. 

Sonya Yoncheva, Piotr Beczala and Plácido Domingo 

star in this tragedy of a young woman who sacrifices her 

own happiness in an attempt to save her father’s life. 

April 28 & May 2: Cendrillon 

Massenet’s opera, based on Cinderella, premieres at the Met conducted 

by Bertrand de Billy and directed by Laurent Pelly. Joyce 

DiDonato adds another role to her Met repertory as the title 

character, a role she has sung to acclaim at the Grand Teatre del 

Liceu, Santa Fe Opera, and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. 

CINEPLEX EVENTS 

March 23: National Theatre Live—Julius Caesar 

March 24: Family Favorites—Space Jam 

March 25: Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella 

The internationally acclaimed choreographer’s interpretation of 

the classic fairytale has at its heart a true wartime romance. A 

chance meeting results in a magical night for Cinderella and her 

dashing young RAF pilot, together just long enough to fall in love 

before being parted by the horrors of the Blitz. 

March 26: Sleepless in Seattle 

March 29: “Maker of Monsters— 

The Extraordinary Life of Beau Dick” 

Intimate look at the life of one of Canada’s greatest artists. 

Beau Dick worked within an ancient tradition and rose to the 

ranks of international success within the white-cube world of 

contemporary art. 

March 31: Family Favorites—Hop 

April 8: Bolshoi Ballet—Giselle 

April 12: Distant Sky—Nick Cave 

& the Bad Seeds Live in Copenhagen 

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds perform songs from their new 

album Skeleton Tree alongside their essential catalogue. 

April 15: Grease 40th Anniversary 

April 16: “Châteaux of the Loire—Royal Visit” 

The Loire Valley has been the playground of kings and 

noblemen for three centuries, spurring the construction of 

countless castles, each more opulent than the last. The result: 

a collection of architectural treasures spread across a beautiful 

natural setting. 

April 22: Stratford Festival HD—Timon of Athens 

Nobleman Timon lavishes gifts upon his friends and entertains 

in high style. He’s the most popular man in Athens —until his 

money runs out. Unable to find a friend in his hour of need, 

he takes to the wilderness, Director Stephen Ouimette sets 

Shakespeare’s tale in the 21st century. 

April 25: Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie 

April 26: Lady Windemere’s Fan 

This new production of Oscar Wilde’s social comedy, directed 

Fathom Events 

April 29, May 1 & 2 

Labyrinth 


032-043.indd 42 

3/8/18 2:36 PM

y award-winning writer, actor and director Kathy Burke, will 

be broadcast live to cinemas from the Vaudeville Theatre in 

London’s West End. 

April 30: Bridesmaids 

May 2: “Caravaggio—The Soul and the Blood” 

A moving journey through the life, works and tormented 

existence of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, one of the most 

controversial and mysterious figures in the history of art. 

May 4: Leadercast 2018—Lead Yourself 

Leadercast is the world’s largest one-day leadership event. 

Broadcast live from Atlanta, GA to over 100,00 attendees 

participating in 20 countries, Leadercast brings together some 

of the world’s most respected leaders. 

May 6: All About Eve 

May 16: Comédie Française—The Fop Reformed 

Tale of a young Parisian whose parents have found a good match 

for him, a count’s daughter. But when he goes to visit her, he 

cannot open his heart to his lovely intended. Stung, the latter 

decides to teach him a lesson for his arrogance. 

June 3: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Classic Films) 

June 10: Bolshoi Ballet—Coppélia 

June 13: Van Gogh—Of Wheat Fields and Clouded Skies 

A new look at Vincent Van Gogh, through the legacy of the largest 

private collector of artworks by the Dutch painter: Helene 

Kröller-Müller, who in the early 20th Century ended up buying 

nearly 300 of his works. The exhibit at the Basilica Palladiana in 

Vicenza brings together 40 paintings and 85 drawings from the 

Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Holland. 

June 16: National Theatre Live—Macbeth 

July 28: “André Rieu’s 2018 Maastricht Concert— 

Amore, My Tribute to Love” 

Set against the stunning medieval backdrop of the town square in 

his Dutch hometown, the spectacular Maastricht concert features 

“King of Waltz” André Rieu in his element, along with his 60-piece 

Johann Strauss Orchestra, sopranos, tenors and very special guests. 

SCREENVISION MEDIA 

Current: The Room 

Another chance to see the jaw-dropping low-budget drama written, 

directed and produced by and starring the singular Tommy 

Wiseau—the movie that inspired the Oscar-nominated hit The 

Disaster Artist. 

CINELIFE ENTERTAINMENT 

See our coverage on page 37. 

film_journal_2018_Layout 1 02/03/2018 12:20 Page 5 

DEEPER, 

RICHER, 

AND MORE 

IMMERSIVE. 

LEADING 2D/3D SCREENS 

WIDE VIEWING ANGLES 

NO VISIBLE HOT-SPOTTING 

WHITER APPEARANCE 

4K AND LASER READY 

DEEPER, RICHER AND MORE IMMERSIVE 

www.harkness-screens.com 

info@harkness-screens.com 

TM 

THE BIG SCREEN CHOICE 

OF CINEMACON 2018 

BOOTH #2203A 

AUGUSTUS 

BALLROOM 


032-043.indd 43 

3/8/18 2:36 PM

FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT CENTERS AN FJI SPECIAL REPORT 

Virtual 

Silver 

Screen 

Immersive 

Entertainment 

Is Making Inroads 

in the Cinema Space 

by Kevin Williams 

Immersive out-of-home 

entertainment specialist 

consultant Kevin Williams 

charts the resurgence 

in interest in the latest 

Virtual Reality (VR) 

technologies and how 

they are being targeted 

towards incorporating movie 

properties and inhabiting 

movie theatre lobbies and 

screening rooms. 

At a time of transition, there is a 

need to find technological solutions 

to address issues with the 

current business model of the movie 

theatre business—a need for an entertainment 

solution that can create a new 

revenue stream of its own and redefine 

the entertainment offering alongside the 

traditional movie business. 

The end of 2017 revealed the worst 

North American theatre ticket sales 

since 1992—this in the face of the 

best year ever for international sales. 

It is obvious that the domestic theatre 

business needs to address what some 

have called the “Millennial problem”—a 

problem traced to an ongoing battle with 

consumer entertainment offerings that 

provide a higher level of engagement. 

We have witnessed the investments 

that some theatres have made in projection, 

audio and seating, including 4D theatre 

seating as a complement to previous 

investments such as 3D projection technology. 

Now those investments are moving 

in a new direction way beyond just 

adding physical effects to cinema seating. 

One of those investing heavily in this 

area is CJ 4DPLEX, developer of the 

4DX motion-effects cinema seat system. 

The company signed agreements with 

Australia’s Village Cinemas to install eight 

4DX-equipped theatres in the U.S., with 

plans for over 20 by the end of 2018. And 

where 4DX leads, 4DX VR is aiming to 

follow. 

4DX VR is CJ 4DPLEX’s entry into 

the growing deployment of Virtual Reality 

(VR) technology in the theatre business 

and beyond. The technology uses 

special head-mounted displays (HMD) to 

immerse a guest within a 3D-rendered 

environment, with physical effects complementing 

the level of engagement. VR, 

of course, has been in the zeitgeist for 

the last few years in the consumer sector, 

fueled by lavish investment from the likes 

of Facebook, Microsoft and Google. 


046-054.indd 44 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

D-Box 4D seats 

Opposite page (clockwise from top left): 

A VR Studios terminal, an IMAX gamer, 

a CJ 4DPLEX motion-effect cinema seat 

system, and a player negotiating 

TrioTech’s Virtual Maze. 

With the aim of employing VR in a 

theatre audience setting, CJ 4DPLEX has 

reinvested in their 4DX theatre seats, 

abetted by Samsung GearVR headsets 

enabling virtual ride experiences and 

more. The first systems are their 4DX 

VR Ride (a standalone ride experience) 

and their 4DX VR Disk two-seater 

motion-seat configuration with a unique 

360-degree rotational element. The company 

is also exploring interactive experiences 

with 4DX VR Racing. 

Another leading developer of 4D 

cinema seat systems branching into the 

virtual landscape is MediaMation, well 

known for their MX4D motion cinema 

seat. The company has launched their 

new Motion VR platform, a two-seat 

MX4D motion seat linked to HTC Vive 

VR headsets and controllers, able to 

be populated with a selection of modified 

consumer game content provided 

through a partnership with VivePort 

Arcade. The system can be deployed in 

cinema lobbies as well as purpose-built 

VR arcades. 

Another prominent 4D seat developer, 

D-BOX, has partnered with amusement 

manufacturer LAI Games to create 

“Virtual Rabbids: The Big Ride”—a 

standalone virtual ride experience based 

on the well-known Rabbids brand from 

game publisher Ubisoft. D-BOX has 

been investing in their own cinemacentric 

concepts in this space, with the 

launch in partnership with Canadian 

chain Cineplex of their first “D-BOX VR 

Cinematic Experience,” featuring 10 VR 

motion seats. 

The ability to build off the experience 

of the 4D cinema seat approach to VR 

experiences has inspired many developers 

looking to incorporate VR into the mix. 

Another adaptation of VR is that of allowing 

the player to roam unencumbered, 

wearing a special PC backpack powering 

their HMD, part of a free-roaming (or 

arena-scale) environment. Attractions 

developer TRIOTECH has partnered 

with European developer Asterion VR 

to launch their own compact solution 

with their “Virtual Maze” allowing individuals 

to navigate a virtual world—the 

first experience again based on Ubisoft’s 

Let us rev up your revenue engine. 

Food and liquor sales 

drive your success. 

To maximize your food and 

liquor profits, you need a facility 

that is designed to sell, sell, sell. 

Proctor Companies has been 

creating innovative designs 

that do just that for nearly five 

decades. Nobody does it better. 

Considering a new project? Give 

us a call. 

800-221-3699 

sales@proctorco.com 

Seaport_Half FJ.indd 1 

2/27/18 12:32 PM 


046-054.indd 45 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

“Virtual Rabbids: The 

Big Maze.” The marriage 

of immersive tech to a wellknown 

franchise has gathered 

momentum, and TRIOTECH and 

Ubisoft have revealed that their next 

plan for the “Virtual Maze” is to launch 

a game based on the popular videogame 

and movie property Assassin’s Creed. 

Another champion of a compact 

VR enclosure is A.i. Solve, creators of 

“WePlayVR,” a small enclosure using the 

PC backpack VR approach. The company 

has developed their own popular experiences 

with “Mayan Adventure” and 

“Alien Invasion” and revealed a brandnew 

release, “Clock Tower.” The system 

is in over 15 locations in family entertainment 

centers and amusement sites, but is 

also seeing cinema placement. 

Beyond the compact enclosures, 

there are developers of more expansive 

free-roaming platforms. Similar in practice 

to applying VR technology to the 

Lasertag business model, these multipleplayer, 

simultaneous VR experiences 

offer a new level of engagement and have 

captured the attention of several developers 

and operators, along with movie 

industry interest. 

Most notably, the deployment of The 

VOID “hyper-reality” VR experience has 

captured imaginations. The company has 

partnered their VR backpack experience 

with prominent movie properties—first 

through a partnership with Sony Pictures 

to create the “Ghostbusters Experience” 

at Madame Tussauds in New York, followed 

by Dubai and the Toronto Rec 

Room FEC operated by Cineplex. 

The VOID has partnered with The Walt 

Disney Company and the ILMxLAB to 

create “Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire,” a 

15-minute immersive VR experience placing 

players in the heart of a battle with the 

Empire for their survival. The concept uses 

all the tricks of immersive free-roaming VR, 

along with physical show set elements married 

to the virtual experience. 

Currently, the experience has been 

created as a pop-up installation in London 

and at two permanent sites in Disneyland 

and Disney World, with future 

plans for L.A. and Las Vegas builds. But 

The VOID is only one of the many developers 

working and installing arena-scale 

VR experiences. 

Nomadic VR presented their concept 

at last year’s CinemaCon, a proposed 

VR experience aiming at a 20-footby-30-foot 

space, with multiple players 

and again using backpack PCs to create 

FAMILY 

ENTERTAINMENT 

CENTERS 

the immersive effect. The company received 

over $6 million in seed funding 

and plans to open its first L.A. facility in 

a matter of months, with future placements 

in shopping malls and cinemas. 

Another location-based virtual-reality 

developer is Dreamscape Immersion. 

The start-up has just completed a popular 

series B investment phase and is about to 

launch its first platforms. Dreamscape has 

partnered with AMC to launch at least six 

locations using their backpack VR experience. 

The company is supported by investments 

from 21st Century Fox and Warner 

Bros. and sees a movie level of engagement 

as essential to draw an audience. 

Other developers in this sphere include 

SPACES, who have also secured 

considerable investment (some $9.5 million 

to date) from the theme park and 

entertainment sector towards developing 

their own unique mixed-reality experience 

based on the latest VR technology. 

The company looks to utilize well-known 

movie properties and is eyeing shopping 

malls, cinemas and entertainment destinations. 

Meanwhile, FoxNext Destinations 

has invested in a 2,000-square-foot 

multi-player VR experience concept, 

based around the Alien movie franchise. 

While these developers take a moviefranchise/movie-style 

experience approach, 

other developers in this field have already 

started to populate the landscape with interpretations 

of what can work best. Zero 

Latency is a developer of their own backpack 

VR experience, looking at a multiple 

players (up to eight) within a free-roaming 

environment. Creating their own content, 

they have brought their platform to over 

20 sites, including a partnership with Main 

Event Entertainment to operate at their 

Orlando, Florida facility. 

Another prominent trail-blazer in the 

free-roaming approach is VRstudios with 

the VRcade platform. Several major announcements 

of new openings using this 

hardware have been made, and the company 

is working on partnerships with technology 

providers such as TPCast to create 

the next level of immersive multiplayer 

experiences. Meanwhile in China, several 

developers have been working on their 

own approach to creating a memorable VR 

experience, including Skonec Entertainment 

and the recently opened SoReal 

immersive venue in Beijing. 

For the theatre business, the need 

to present an immersive entertainment 

offering has galvanized several pilot 

schemes towards creating a branded 

component that can be incorporated 

into existing properties. In China, several 

cinema chains have deployed VR pop-up 

film promotions and ultimately built permanent 

VR arcades within their lobbies. 

Most noticeable have been the experimental 

Wanda VR installations at flagship 

cinemas in the territory. 

The creation of a dedicated lobbybased 

offering has shaped IMAX’s thinking 

in the creation of their IMAX VR pilot 

scheme. Already, the corporation has 

opened VR entertainment sites in Los 

Angeles, New York, Shanghai, Toronto 

and the U.K., the majority of which have 

been housed as lobby companions to a 

cinema. On average, ten enclosures offer 

a selection of specially licensed VR game 

content for players to experience. The 

company works closely to license properties 

linked to major motion pictures, 

such as the recently launched “Justice 

League: An IMAX VR Exclusive” and the 

“John Wick Chronicles” VR experience. 

This content was developed by 

Starbreeze, a game developer that has 

pivoted towards creating out-of-home 

VR entertainment experiences linked 

to movie properties. Most recently, the 

company released “The Mummy Prodigium 

Strike,” based around the Mummy 

movie universe. These experiences forgo 

conventional consumer VR headsets 

repurposed for commercial entertainment—instead, 

the company deploys the 

StarVR headset, offering 210-degree, 5K 

resolution performance, squarely aimed 

at B2B business. 

VR has once again achieved a zeitgeist 

level of interest, and as in prior attempts 

to establish the technology, it hopes a 

major motion picture will be the clarion 

call towards further popularizing the concept—on 

this occasion, it is the Steven 

Spielberg feature Ready Player One, based 

on the sci-fi novel about a fierce virtualreality 

competition. 

How VR, or any kind of immersive 

entertainment experience, will drive 

new audiences to the theatres has yet 

to be fully defined. This is obviously the 

beginning of a dedicated move by the 

interactive entertainment sector to play 

a part in the moviegoing experience, with 

a drive towards a possible middle ground 

where the immersion of the movies can 

be experienced in the real world. 

Kevin Williams, a U.K.-born specialist in 

pay-to-play and prolific writer and presenter 

(including his own news service, The Stinger 

Report) can be reached at kwp@thestingerreport.com. 


046-054.indd 46 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT CENTERS 

Pell City 

Premiere 

5G Studio Collaborates 

on Entertainment Center Design 

by Andreas Fuchs 

Welcome to Premiere Lux Ciné, 

Bowl & Pizza Pub, set to open 

in Pell City, Alabama, during 

the fourth quarter of 2018 (renditions at 

top and opposite). This 46,000-square-foot 

(4,300 sq. m) combination of a sevenscreen 

movie theatre with a 12-lane bowling 

venue, an arcade with some 50 attractions, 

dedicated food and entertainment 

spaces, as well as zip rides and plank walks 

“pioneers for the industry with a large and 

multi-faceted destination-center model 

that serves growing suburban areas in the 

United States.” 

Diving further into the project 

description furnished by 5G Studio 

Collaborative (www.5gstudio.com), with 

Premiere Pell City the multinational firm’s 

entertainment division “has designed an 

innovative entertainment destination 

center that is uniting numerous favorite 

classic American pastimes with modern 

approaches in one location, with stayand-play 

appeal that is precisely serving 

the needs of the Birmingham suburb’s 

consumer and marketplace.” 

As we take an exclusive peek ahead 

to the great things to come, we also look 

back to the inception of the project, some 

ten years in the making. Local newspapers 

first reported about plans for the 

development back in 2007, and the city of 

Pell City had always wanted to include a 

movie theatre as part of the development. 

Now they are getting one, and then some. 

“We were involved early with 

concept design and tested possible 

variations,” explains Mike Voegtle, partner 

at 5G Studio. The mission was to work 

alongside Premiere Cinemas’ president 

and chief executive officer Gary Moore 

on establishing the right size and right 

fit, from building footage and number of 

screens to amount of land and plenty of 

parking required. Much of this had to do 

with the city, going back and forth for a 

few years, with time gaps while waiting 

for responses. “Just about two years ago,” 

Voegtle says, “we really got into full design 

with Gary and his Premiere team.” 

Seems like a good idea to be in for 

the long haul with these types of projects? 

“More often than not these days, projects 

just take longer to get going,” Voegtle concurs. 

“It has become a lot more complicated: 

Financing has been a lot more complicated, 

and dealing with site constraints 

in different municipalities.” He goes on to 

mention two reasons. “One, there just is 

not as much land available as there used 

to be. With that, we are using more complicated 

sites. Zoning regulations always 

represent complications… Two or three 

years of development time, especially for 

large projects, is not unusual.” Secondly, 

any movie theatre and entertainment project 

is “at the mercy of the overall project 

when we are working with developers on 

a larger site and master plan.” 

Although that sounds like a potential 

source of frustration, Voegtle disagrees. 

“We love what we do, especially on the 


046-054.indd 48 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

cinema and entertainment side. Basically, 

we jump when we are asked to jump. 

And, over the course of several years, 

our exhibitor clients may change what 

they want to do as well. I believe when 

this started, there was no FEC [Family 

Entertainment Center] component to 

this location.” 

Over the course of the past ten years, 

exhibition has changed, of course. Not 

surprisingly, “as Gary started to see what 

was happening in the marketplace, he 

wanted to add the larger entertainment 

side, including bowling, gaming, ropes 

course, bar, pizza pub… That kind of 

expanded the program and expanded 

our design work. So, sometimes, as these 

things do take a long time to develop, it 

turns out to be better for the project 

because it evolves with the times.” 

Part of that evolution was the seating. 

“Even as recently as two years ago,” 

Voegtle relays, “we were still debating 

with our clients as to whether or not 

5G Studio Collaborative’s Mike 

Voegtle (at right) and Rick Walker. 

they should add reclining seats. I can tell 

you that 100 percent of them, right now, 

are doing recliner seating. We are not 

doing a single project with traditional 

seats.” And indeed, Pell City’s recliners 

will be electrically powered in all 

auditoriums, replete with USB ports and 

swivel tables for dining. 

Expanded food and beverage options 

are, of course, another relatively recent 

and certainly successful change. And those 

options will be available at Premiere 

Pell City with a “scratch pizza kitchen 

and pub with a full bar, ice cream and 

coffee destinations” as well. In addition 

to considering in-theatre service at 

this point, Voegtle notes, the concept 

includes a “walkup bar where guests can 

order food and carry it with them into 

the auditoriums,” before eating it while 

lying on their backs. Hail Caesar, enjoy 

your bacchanal! On a more serious note, 

Voegtle agrees that sightlines have become 

more critical than ever in a reclining 

environment, be it Roman or otherwise. 

“Deploying recliners and stadium seating 

makes the part of sightline study in our 

design process much more intense. We 

must make sure that the sightlines work 

both in an upright position and in the 

reclined position. We cannot sacrifice any 

one seat, they all have to work, and that 

has been a challenge.” 

As recliners require more space, did 

the overall building size grow from the 

original plans, or were individual auditori- 

Yen Ong 


046-054.indd 49 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

Untitled-1 1 

4/2/18 4:46 PM

um capacities adjusted 

downward, as is the case 

with today’s retrofits? “The 

seat capacity per auditorium 

is smaller,” Voegtle contends. 

“The amount of square footage 

that we have to stay within, and the 

market size, are the reasons. This is not 

a large urban, metropolitan area that 

requires large auditoriums with a lot of 

seats. I would say Premiere Pell City is a 

medium-sized facility.” 

Before one considers the entertainment 

component, one might add. Mentioning the 

size of the market again, how does one assess 

how large to go? And whether to build 

12 lanes of bowling versus just four? “Much 

of that is direction given to us by our client,” 

he explains. “We help them and provide the 

studies to show what that would look like in 

the form of a real estate footprint. We also 

work with other partners that our clients 

have, who are generating feasibility studies… 

A lot of that information is given to us as 

part of the program when we start designing, 

and then we take it from there.” One 

such partner is Brunswick Bowling, along 

with key technology and expertise from 

Barco, GDC and RealD 3D, and pre-show 

support from Screenvision. 

FAMILY 

ENTERTAINMENT 

CENTERS 

Supporting the resulting investment 

of $9 million-plus is a question best 

asked of Premiere Companies’ owneroperator, 

Gary Moore. “You determine 

what amenities are missing in any given 

market and decide if the market is likely 

to support the offerings,” he responds. 

His personal favorite aspect of the venue? 

“The fact that there is nothing else like it 

in the area,” he enthuses. “I think cinema 

owners never stop looking for new ways 

to entertain their guests better. Any 

attractions that diversify the appeal of 

the facility are positives, provided you are 

able to draw from a large enough trade 

area to support them.” 

Making all these attractions 

and amenities into one attractive 

entertainment-center whole is key. “It really 

is,” Voegtle agrees. “That’s the challenge. 

And that is also what we feel sets us apart. 

We call it project mapping, entertainment 

programming. When we receive guidance 

from our client, we have to figure out how 

all of those elements align with each other. 

What are the adjacencies of those spaces? 

How do you get from one space to the 

next and have that circulation flow in a 

way that not only benefits the customer 

but also makes the most economic sense 

for the exhibitor?” It is about access and 

visibility, essentially, about where guests 

want to spend their time and money, he 

continues. “Ah, there’s the bar. I see the 

concession stand. I see bowling over there. 

The game room looks like a lot of fun. I 

know how to get to the movies…” By 

quoting customer impressions, Voegtle 

extracts his mission as architect and 

designer. “We have to bring those elements 

together so that the facility presents them 

properly; and we also to have to place 

them elegantly in a way that is beautiful 

architecturally. It is about how you align 

those individual spaces and combine 

them in a way that makes them flow well 

together. I think this project does that 

extremely well… It flows well, it works 

well. Pell City features some big, eyecatching 

elements. As you walk in, you 

know exactly where everything is located.” 

While signage and lighting are essential 

towards achieving that goal, it is more than 

that, Voegtle elaborates. “In this particular 

building, we use some pre-engineered 

metal building components which enabled 

us to have greater span, architecturally. 

Those larger spans allow us to capture 

larger spaces without too many columns. 

It is a very open floor plan where you can 

THE BEST PRICE 

Even with import tax, our prices 

beat the competition. 

COMPLETE 

SOUND 

Stage speakers, subwoofer, surround speakers, 

amplifiers, rack and digital audio processors. 

Starting at $5,000 

IMMERSIVE SEATING 

Works with every movie through 

sound channels. 

WE SHIP 

WORLDWIDE 

Stetson Snell • stetsonsnell@enparaudio.com •505.615.2913 


046-054.indd 50 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

see across and through from one space 

to the other.” With other spatial elements 

such as different ceiling heights, the 5G 

Studio team created volumes that make 

those different areas of entertainment 

more identifiable as independent entities, 

he adds. “The strong, bold and substantial 

material elements in the creation of this 

open space give a fun chemistry in a 

modern environment that was created for 

a technology entertainment experience 

that is both exciting and relaxing.” 

Remaining on the topic of space, there 

is much more of it required behind the 

scenes. “Surely,” Voegtle concurs. “If you 

have a bar, you need a keg room. With 

that comes a lot of underground plumbing 

that needs to be coordinated within the 

structure and the rest of the space.” 

Twenty years ago, “16-, 20- or 24-screen 

megaplexes with traditional concessions 

were pretty simple to design. Nowadays, 

with food service, everything going digital 

and all the interactive systems, there’s 

a lot of integration going on. They are 

complicated little projects,” he deadpans. 

“The big one,” without doubt, is the 

kitchen, “especially when you are doing 

any type of dine-in service to the auditoriums. 

5G Studio designs have included the 

smallest kitchens of 1,200 to 1,500 square 

feet to as large as almost 4,000 square 

feet [140 and 370 sq. m, respectively]. This 

depends on the exhibitor’s offerings, how 

large their menu is, and what is included, 

as well as the type of food service presented. 

Either way, that very size is equivalent 

to one theatre auditorium. One may 

argue that you are sacrificing revenue-generating 

space for a kitchen, but that same 

kitchen is generating a lot of revenue as 

well. So, it is really a fair trade, if you will.” 

Voegtle also looks beyond functionality. 

“I think movie theatres in general, and 

family entertainment centers in particular, 

are ‘form-follows-function.’ Your readers 

have heard that before from architects, 

but it is particularly true in this case. 

Multi-function venues really need to be 

designed from the inside out. Ultimately 

what we have, that form, then should 

have some sort of aesthetic appeal.” 

Changing aesthetics notwithstanding, “as 

we are working with Premiere, Pell City 

represents more of… [Voegtle looks for 

the right word] more of a combination of 

industrialism and modernism. Especially 

with the integration of the pre-engineered 

metal building components, upon which, 

traditionally, architecture would look down 

upon as kind of a ‘cheap’ way of doing a 

building.” Instead, he says, 5G Studio “took 

advantage of that option. Yes, it is less 

expensive, which is great for our client, 

but this also delivers a large open span in 

a much better way than with traditional 

means of construction. Premiere Cinemas 

Pell City really is a great marriage of form 

and function.” 

With all due respect to Gary Moore’s 

fiancée, Michelle, 5 Studio and Premiere 

Cinemas are enjoying a great relationship. 

“We have been designing for Premiere since 

probably 2007,” Mike Voegtle says with pride 

in his voice. “Over the years some of the 

projects were built, many others are still in 

design or were postponed… No matter 

what, they have been wonderful clients of 

ours. One of the things that we love about 

Premiere and Gary is that he really adapts 

well to the changing environment in the 

cinema world. Gary allows us to try and be 

creative, not just for him but with him. He 

comes to the table with great ideas, and then 

he lets us explore those ideas and really try 

to push the boundaries of what we can do. 

This building in Pell City is a perfect example 

of all that,” Voegtle concludes. “He and the 

team just have always been a pleasure to 

work with.” 

A JACK ROE PRODUCTION 

SHOWING IN THEATRES NOW 

WHERE THERE’S INTERNET, 

THERE’S INTERNETTICKETING.COM 

For sales and product information email: sales@jackroe.com 

www.jackroe.com 

internet 

ticketing 

.com 

by jack roe 

8233 Jack Roe Advert ART.indd 1 23/02/2018 14:28 


046-054.indd 51 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

FAMILY 

ENTERTAINMENT 

CENTERS 

ICTA Seminar Focuses 

on Multi-Purpose Centers 

The International Cinema 

Technology Association 

(ICTA) will host a session 

at CinemaCon in Las 

Vegas entitled “Theatre 

Entertainment Centers: 

Family Fun for Profitability” 

on Wednesday afternoon, 

April 25. The program will 

highlight the concept of 

“multi-entertainment” and 

the benefits of combining 

food and beverages 

with a variety of social 

entertainment options in a 

single venue offering much 

more beyond movies. Three 

of the participants in this 

seminar provide a preview 

of their own “extra added 

attractions.” 

Themed Attractions: 

Enhancing Your Guest 

Experience 

By Russ Van Natta 

VP of Sales, 

Creative Works 

In today’s market, operators have one 

choice: Diversify or die. A facility can no 

longer have one attraction or offering 

anymore, and still stay relevant to the 

guest. In order to draw guests off the 

couch, operators have to have a wide 

variety of things to do at their centers. In 

order to ensure they come to your facility, 

you have to have story-driven, immersive 

experiences that they can’t get at 

a competitor’s site. And as we know, the 

pool of competition is always growing. 

Learn about different attractions 

available for creating memories for your 

guests. See how to create Instagrammable 

moments and experiences for them 

to enjoy. Not to mention the added benefit 

of new profit centers for your space. 

Don’t be an entertainment commodity. 

Bowling centers, trampoline parks, 

family entertainment centers and other 

verticals have all been in an entertainment 

arms race for their guests’ experiences 

over the last six years. The cinema 

industry is uniquely positioned to be even 

more effective in adding attractions and 

creating a destination experience. 

We will cover everything from virtual 

reality, laser tag, arcades, bumper cars, 

rope courses and more. We’ll look at how 

to appeal to key demographics, revenue 

potential, operational best practices. Come 

learn how to dominate your competition, 

not merely compete. (thewoweffect.com) 

How Cinemas 

Are Cashing in 

on Attractions, Games 

and Esports 

By Heather Blair 

Head of Cinema Sales, 

MediaMation, Inc. 

MediaMation, Inc. (MMI) has been 

around for 27 years, initially providing 

system integration, show control and 

interactive theatres for attractions. We 

took our unique way of entertaining 

customers into the cinema market with 

our immersive 4D technology. Similar to 

4D ride and attraction films, which are 

generally seven to 30 minutes in length, 

we now program full-length feature titles 

with all the same effects you would find 

in an attraction, such as motion-based 

movements (programmed to match the 

action onscreen) air, mist, scent, tickles, 

pokes and even seat vibration. There are 

also environmental effects like fog, snow, 

rain and bubbles. 

As such, cinemas have benefited by 

having a specific screen or room dedicated 

to 4D movies. They have reported 

higher attendance and consistent occupancy, 

new customers and increased 

incremental revenue from their 4D ticket 

upcharge. 

We have also seen a rise in interest 

in Esports gameplay. Originally an online 

spectator sport, it has become very interesting 

to cinema exhibitors wishing 

to communicate with this coveted 18-40 

young-adult audience. We have deployed 

an Esports program at TCL Chinese Theatres 

as our first location. It has our patent-pending 

MX4D Esports players’ stations, 

a game-caster booth and broadcast 

capabilities. Our MX4D Esports events 

increase attendance during off-peak 

nights like Monday, Tuesday and Wednes- 

MediaMation: Cinemas report higher attendance and consistent occupancy, 

new customers and increased incremental revenue from their 4D ticket upcharge. 


046-054.indd 52 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

Brunswick Bowling Products: Bowling allows cinemas to drive food and beverage 

purchases with a social activity that can be enjoyed before or after a show. 

day by 60 to 120 people per event. 

Cinemas we have spoken to such as 

B&B Theatres, Harkins and Cinemaworld 

have discovered that additional children’s 

play areas, bowling, redemption and 

arcade games have performed well and 

increased profits for them, especially on 

nonpeak days and times. (mx-4d.com, 

mediamation.com) 

Cinema + Bowling = 

The Perfect Frame 

By John Roush 

VP, North American 

Capital Equipment Sales, 

Brunswick Bowling 

Products, LLC 

Cinemas have had to evolve. Netflix, 

DVRing, streaming—these viewing platforms 

are direct competition with the 

silver screen and are all accessible from 

the comfort of customers’ living rooms. 

To adapt, cinemas are diversifying 

their offerings to keep guests engaged 

and coming back to their theatre. And no 

anchor attraction is more suited for the 

task of getting people off the couch and 

through the doors than bowling. 

Bowling is a cash business that’s 

providing long-term value with an entertainment 

offering that attracts audiences 

young and old. Its mass appeal allows 

cinemas to retain guests and drive food 

and beverage purchases with a social 

activity that can be enjoyed before or 

after a show. 

That’s why cinemas like Santikos, 

Schulman’s Movie Bowl Grille, Evo Entertainment, 

ShowBiz Cinemas, Showplace 

Cinemas, Splitsville and UltraStar Multitainment 

are choosing Brunswick—the 

Join us to help 

more kids live. 

During the holidays, theater partners 

donate pre-show advertising space to 

run the St. Jude Children’s Research 

Hospital ® PSA. This trailer raises 

awareness of the St. Jude Thanks and 

Giving ® campaign message, “Give 

thanks for the healthy kids in your life 

and give to those who are not.” 

Join today to support our mission: 

Finding cures. Saving children. ® 

stjude.org/theater 

world’s leading bowling equipment supplier—as 

their partner. Our process is turnkey 

and centered on education, bringing 

resources to the table to align teams and 

set the vision. That means we’re evaluating 

the opportunities, weaknesses and threats 

of the marketplace to ensure our recommendations 

and our clients’ concepts are 

optimized for success. 

With the winning combination of 

bowling’s margins and the game’s ability 

to drive foot traffic and retain customers, 

all while leveraging your cinema’s 

food and beverage offerings, cinemas and 

bowling come together to make the ultimate 

entertainment for guests of all ages. 

To learn more, join us on April 25 as we 

discuss the project process and expected 

ROI when cinemas choose to go bowling 

with Brunswick. For more information 

about our successful partnerships and to 

view our cinema portfolio, please visit us 

at www.brunswickbowling.com/cinema. 

Also participating in the seminar: 

▶ Erik Guthrie, VP, Sales and Marketing, 

LaserTag.com by Zone, the world’s 

oldest commercial laser tag supplier, with 

over 320 locations in North America and 

750 worldwide and over 20 million players 

annually. (lasertag.com) 

▶ Joe McCullagh, General Manager, 

Player One Amusement Group, a division 

of Cineplex, one of North America’s 

leading providers of interactive video, 

redemption, amusement gaming and 

vending equipment. (winwithP1AG.com) 

▶ Wendy Smith, Director of New 

Business Development & FEC Sales, QubicaAMF 

Worldwide, leading manufacturer 

and marketer of bowling and mini-bowling 

products with an installed base of more 

than 10,000 centers worldwide, and the 

organizer of the QubicaAMF Bowling 

World Cup, which promotes bowling on a 

global level. (qubicaamf.com) 

St. Jude patients 

Sarah and Azalea 

Thanks to our partners in the 2017 St. Jude Thanks and Giving ® movie trailer program. 

©2017 ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (31620) 

NEW STRAND Theatre 

West Liberty, Iowa Over 100 Years of Entertainment 

18-PRNS-31620-TnGThtrFilmJournalAdswAmc(4.5 x 4.5)RevCopy.indd 1 


9/26/17 2:47 PM 

046-054.indd 53 

3/8/18 2:37 PM

INTERNATIONAL • SINCE 1934 • FOR THE LATEST REVIEWS WWW.FILMJOURNAL.COM 

BUYING & BOOKING GUIDE 

VOL. 121, NO.4 

CHAPPAQUIDDICK 

ENTERTAINMENT STUDIOS MOTION PICTURES/ 

Color/2.35/101 Mins./Rated PG-13 

Cast: Jason Clarke, Kate Mara, Ed Helms, Jim Gaffigan, Clancy 

Brown, Taylor Nichols, Olivia Thirlby, Bruce Dern. 

Directed by John Curran. 

Screenplay: Taylor Allen, Andrew Logan 

Produced by Campbell McInnes, Chris Cowles, Mark 

Ciardi. 

Executive producers: Taylor Allen, Andrew Logan, Tom 

Duterme, Doug Jones, Steven Schuler, Ben Rose. 

Director of photography: Maryse Alberti. 

Production designer: John Goldsmith. 

Editor: Keith Fraase. 

Music: Garth Stevenson. 

An Apex Entertainment, DMG Entertainment and Chimney 

Group LA production. 

A riveting recreation of the famous accident 

that quashed Ted Kennedy’s presidential 

bid and the cover-up by his political fixers, 

anchored by Jason Clarke’s perfectly pitched 

portrayal of a flawed man. 

From the opening montage of a man’s feet 

stumbling through marshland, then a close-up 

of Teddy Kennedy pleading his case on TV, 

Chappaquiddick grabs you by the throat. In 

those introductory moments, director John 

Curran (The Painted Veil, Tracks) telescopes 

the whole story: Kennedy flees the scene of 

a car accident, arguably in an act of criminal 

negligence, yet manages to reinstate his career 

as a public servant and go on to become the 

revered “Lion of the Senate.” This haunting, 

doomy recreation of the accident and its fallout 

will surely resonate with the generation of 

Americans who lived through the historyshaping 

events of July 1969, evoked simply by 

the word “Chappaquiddick.” Yet Curran’s film 

should prove an eye-opener to younger viewers 

as well, with its timely exposé of power 

and corruption in the cover-up orchestrated 

by Kennedy’s coterie. 

The fateful events kick off at a cottage 

owned by the Kennedys on “Chappy,” a short 

hop by ferry from Edgartown on Martha’s 

Vineyard. Teddy—Jason Clarke, who’s got his 

man’s profile and befuddled, brooding air— 

and his loyal retainer Joe Gargan (Ed Helms) 

are boozing it up with the campaign workers 

known as the “boiler room girls.” Teddy has 

shown a special interest (hinting at sexual 

overtones) in pert, blonde Mary Jo Kopechne 

(Kate Mara), who worked for Ted’s brother 

Bobby but quit Washington after the trauma 

of his assassination. At the party she spots 

Teddy in a deep funk, swigging from a bottle; 

they decide to go for a drive. No suspense 

here about the outcome of that drive, but, 

rather, that fascination mingled with dread 

when you already know the outcome (as in 

Greek tragedy, if that’s not too hi-falutin’). 

Careening away from a cop to avoid getting 

slapped with a DUI, Teddy guns the car toward 

the beach. He turns to look at Mary Jo, and in 

that moment the car veers off a rail-less bridge 

and plunges upended into the murky water. Teddy 

manages to escape; not so his passenger. Nor 

are we shown any effort on his part to rescue 

her. Back at the cottage, Teddy’s first words to 

Joe Gargan are “We’ve got a problem,” followed 

by “I’m not going to be President.” 

It remains mind-blowing that in that 

moment they don’t raise heaven and hell 

to rescue Kopechne. And it’s worse than 

what’s generally known: She remained alive 

in the car for roughly two hours before 

she drowned. The amazing Jason Clarke 

somehow conveys a man both in shock yet 

calculating: He delays reporting the accident 

for ten hours—presumably until the alcohol 

leaves his system. Back in Edgartown, he 

takes a bath. He sleeps. He phones his father. 

Joe Kennedy (Bruce Dern), the patriarch, 

disabled by a stroke, manages to rasp out a 

one-word command: “alibi.” 

The next section counts down the days 

following the accident, as Robert McNamara 

(Clancy Brown) and Ted Sorenson (Taylor 

Nichols), et al. spring into damage-control 

mode, struggling to spin the accident to limit 

Teddy’s culpability. Flailing around for alibis, 

Teddy resorts to lies—”I’ll say she was driving”—and 

pleads a concussion, donning a neck 

brace that convinces no one. It’s all about 

“putting a good face on this.” Teddy’s cohorts 

delight in seeing Neil Armstrong plant a flag 

on the Moon, because it will occupy TV and 

newspaper headlines. Even so, the challenge of 

putting forth a plausible story about the scandal 

prompts McNamara to snarl, “The Bay of 

Pigs was a better-run operation.” 

A rare scene that teases out the Kennedy 

family dynamic reveals just how cowed by his 

father Teddy has remained. “I’ve spent my 

whole life chasing your dreams for you,” the 

youngest son says. “You’re the head of the 

family now,” Joe replies. “Start acting like it.” 

In this case that seems to involve burying the 

truth. Which remains tantalizingly out of reach. 

“I have no recollection of how I got back, no 

recollection of how I got out of the car,” Teddy 

says of the accident. “I dove down repeatedly. I 

wandered around in a daze.” But did he? 

Thanks to longtime affiliations with 

the Edgartown police, facts and timing 

are fudged. Teddy pleads guilty to leaving 

the scene of an accident and receives a 

suspended sentence. Towards the end, 

campaign workers and folks from Teddy’s 

home state weigh in on this latest Kennedy 

tragedy. No one blames him. 

Shooting on location, DP Maryse Alberti 

captures the darkness and isolation of 

Chappaquiddick, and the white sea-light of 

Edgartown, lending the film the authenticity 

of a docudrama. It shares the seductive 

melancholy that marked The Painted Veil, 

Curran’s underappreciated adaptation of a 

novel by Somerset Maugham that dealt with 

redemption. Chappaquiddick extends beyond 

the screen because it needs to be seen 

against the later Teddy, who in the Senate 

became a force for good, achieving the gravitas 

and conscience so sorely lacking earlier. 

It’s as if he fashioned the remainder of his life 

post-Chappaquiddick as an ongoing effort at 

redemption. Given the powerful clan behind 

him, he was privileged with the opportunity 

to redeem himself; another man might have 

rotted behind bars for a lesser offense. 

But times change. Today, public opinion 

might be less cavalier about the death of 

a young female staffer who never stood a 

chance at receiving justice once that roomful 

of fixers rewrote the story. The film implicitly 

raises the question, is not America a better 

place because Teddy Kennedy—though a 

party to someone’s death—worked 50 years 

to advocate for equality and social justice? 

Chappaquiddick stops short of answering, yet 

the question shadows this searing film. 

—Erica Abeel 

YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE 

AMAZON STUDIOS/Color/2.35/85 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, John McCleary, 

Alex Manette, Ekaterina Samsonov, Alessandro 

Nivola, Dante Pereira-Olson, Vinicius Damasceno, 

Frank Pando. 

Directed by Lynne Ramsay. 

Screenplay: Lynne Ramsay, based on the novella by 

Jonathan Ames. 

Produced by Rosa Attab, Pascal Caucheteux, Lynne Ramsay, 

James Wilson. 

Executive producer: Rose Garnett. 

Director of photography: Thomas Townend 

Production designer: Tim Grimes. 

Editor: Joe Bini. 

Music: Jonny Greenwood. 

Costume designer: Malgosia Turzanska. 

A Why Not Prods. presentation, in association with Film4, 

BFI, Sixteen Films and JWFilms. 


054-062.indd 54 

3/8/18 2:13 PM

Lynne Ramsay retains her status as one of 

our greatest living filmmakers with You Were 

Never Really Here. 

Lynne Ramsay follows up 2011’s We Need to 

Talk About Kevin with another bona-fide masterpiece 

in You Were Never Really Here, a brutal, 

sharp jaunt through the psyche of a deeply 

traumatized man. Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) makes 

a living of rescuing missing girls from bad men. 

He more or less floats through life unencumbered 

and unfeeling, his only connection with 

his elderly mother (Judith Roberts) who, 

together with Joe, survived years of abuse at 

the hands of Joe’s late father. 

But a job—involving the teenage daughter 

(Ekaterina Samsonov) of an aspiring politician 

(Alex Manette)—goes wrong, as they tend to, 

sending Joe down a blood-soaked path involving 

a prostitution ring, hired killers and maybe 

something of a conspiracy. 

The plot, as described above, could belong 

to any number of direct-to-VOD bores starring 

a washed-up B-lister who desperately 

needs to pay off a mortgage or two. But in 

the hands of Ramsay—who adapted Jonathan 

Ames’ novella for the screen in addition to 

directing—Joe’s story is transformed into a vital, 

visceral examination of isolation and pain. 

There’s action, too, of course. Clocking in at 

a slim 85 minutes, You Were Never Here has been 

stripped of every ounce of fat by Ramsay, lending 

the film a sense of forward momentum that 

never lets up. On one level, the film is a bloody, 

pulpy, B-movie-inspired action thriller in which 

a grizzled, uber-masculine hero races against the 

clock to save an innocent victim. On another 

level, it’s a subversion of those same tropes. Joe, 

unlike the proudly “lone wolf” antiheroes of films 

past, is physically and emotionally vulnerable. 

Joe craves connection and a sense of 

worth. Every frame of DP Thomas Townend’s 

footage and note of supervising sound editor 

Paul Davies’ sound design bears this out. 

Joe is frequently pictured in something of a 

bubble—isolated, with the visual and aural 

cacophony of New York City taking place just 

beyond his reach, less alluring than intimidating. 

Sound is an often-underappreciated element 

of film. Davies’ sound design, along with 

Jonny Greenwood’s score, makes You Were 

Never Really Here one of a handful of films 

in recent memory that truly illustrates the 

heights to which sound in film can ascend. 

—Rebecca Pahle 

GEMINI 

NEON/Color/2.35/93 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: Lola Kirke, Zoë Kravitz, John Cho, Ricki Lake, Greta Lee, 

Michelle Forbes, Nelson Franklin, Reeve Carney, Jessica 

Parker Kennedy, James Ransone, Todd Louiso. 

Written, directed and edited by Aaron Katz. 

Produced by Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy, Adele Romanski. 

Director of photography: Andrew Reed. 

Production designer: Tracy Dishman. 

Music: Keegan DeWitt. 

Costume designer: Emily Batson. 

A Syncopated Films and PASTEL production, in association 

with Rough House Pictures. 

A smart and taut murder mystery that 

engages from start to finish. 

This stylish whodunit 

from talented writerdirector 

Aaron Katz 

(Land Ho!) is a patient 

exercise in plotting. 

Gemini is only 90 

minutes long, but it is Zoë Kravitz 

in no rush to leave the 

tarmac or bring us to ground before conditions 

are propitious. 

During the opening setup portion of the 

film, we spend a good deal of time—none of it 

wasted—with celebrity personal assistant Jill 

(Lola Kirke) as she passes what appears to be 

a typical Hollywood evening with her spoiled 

and childlike best-friend boss, Heather (Zoë 

Kravitz). Tonight, Heather is pissing everyone 

off. Jill is fielding calls from Heather’s furious 

ex-boyfriend, who is threatening “to kill” the 

starlet for ditching him for a woman, when she 

isn’t informing a furious director that Heather 

is pulling out of his project. The director 

could just “kill Heather.” Heather knows her 

agent won’t be too thrilled with her decision 

either, and sure enough, soon she’s receiving 

a call from said agent, who, yup, is so furious 

she could “kill Heather.” A creepy fan who 

invades Heather’s personal space doesn’t 

help matters, so that when Heather asks Jill 

for Jill’s gun because she doesn’t feel safe, her 

request, although dramatic, is not altogether 

unreasonable. 

Jill and Heather booze it up with Heather’s 

lover at a karaoke bar. A drunken Jill 

spends the night at Heather’s lavish home, one 

of those creepy sorts of houses, so beloved 

by the rich and excessive, where the walls are 

made entirely of windows. The girls joke and 

chat. One of the reasons the extended setup 

in Gemini works so well is the actress’ bestfriend 

chemistry is very real, very endearing, 

even when Heather is whining, even when 

Jill is slurring her words. From a plot-driven 

point of view, it’s necessary to establish the 

dynamic of their friendship, but their humor 

and warmth draw you in with them even as 

you know you are only being lulled in order 

to make the fall for which you are waiting that 

much more impactful. 

In the morning, Jill accidentally sets off the 

gun she’s given Heather, but everything’s fine, 

no one is hurt, only some glass has been shattered. 

Shaken, Jill heads out for a meeting, in 

which she is yet again informing someone that 

Heather will not do what she has promised to 

do. Returning to Heather’s house, Jill stumbles 

upon a violent scene that is decidedly not fine. 

And now our story gets underway. Jill has 

become a prime murder suspect (her prints 

are all over that gun, you know), but she, a 

celeb-wrangling, former Exeter-attending, 

motorcycle-driving woman, will not be pinned 

for what she did not do. While a dogged 

detective (a terrific John Cho) whose softspoken 

manner is an entertaining front for his 

cold tenacity, runs his official investigation, Jill 

does some amateur sleuthing of her own. God 

knows she has no shortage of angry suspects 

to sniff around. 

The call for us to suspend our disbelief 

sounds rather loudly as we watch Jill uncover 

clues and follow leads. Electronic keys to hotel 

rooms are conveniently “forgotten” where 

Jill can find them, and sexy motorcycle outfits 

lie in wait just when she needs them. And 

yet, none of the stretches demanded of our 

imagination are quite so egregious as to ruin 

the fun of the chase. 

The perceptive viewer might guess something 

of the plot twist before it occurs, but 

it works so well with the “Gemini” theme of 

the film about one doozy of a co-dependent 

relationship in our celeb-obsessed world, the 

surprise matters less than its neat integration 

with the whole. Is it too neat? Maybe a 

bit. But without such tidiness the point of the 

film would be lost, and so, in this instance, 

narrative efficiency acts in favor of thematic 

comprehensibility. It works. 

Engaging from start to finish, with superb 

plotting, stylish shots, actors on their game and 

a classical reference unforcedly invoked for 

modern commentary, Gemini is a well-made film. 

—Anna Storm 

LOVE, SIMON 

20TH CENTURY FOX/Color/2.35/Dolby Digital/ 

109 Mins./Rated PG-13 

Cast: Nick Robinson, Katherine Langford, Jennifer Garner, 

Josh Duhamel, Logan Miller, Alexandra Shipp, Jorge 

Lendeborg, Jr., Keiynan Lonsdale, Joey Pollari, Tony 

Hale, Natasha Rothwell, Talitha Bateman, Clark Moore, 

Miles Heizer. 

Directed by Greg Berlanti. 

Screenplay: Elizabeth Berger, Isaac Aptaker, based on the 

novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky 

Albertalli. 

Produced by Isaac Klausner, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, 

Pouya Shahbazian. 

Executive producer: Timothy M. Bourne. 

Director of photography: John Guleserian. 

Production designer: Aaron Osborne. 

Editor: Harry Jierjian. 

Music: Rob Simonsen 

Costume designer: Eric Daman. 

A Fox 2000 presentation of a Temple Hill production. 

Engaging coming-of-age comedy with 

a difference: The lead of this major studio 

release is a gay teen. 

‘Everyone deserves a great love story” is 

one of the taglines for Love, Simon, and though 

there have been countless indie coming-out/ 

coming-of-age movies, this Fox release is 

apparently the first big-studio film to feature 

a gay teen lead. And, indeed, it’s way overdue. 

Love, Simon has the same endearing quality as 

the John Hughes teen comedy classics of the 

1980s but, as producer Wyck Godfrey pitched 

it, “instead of Molly Ringwald, it’s a guy. And 

Jake Ryan is still Jake Ryan.” 

Nick Robinson stars as Simon Spier (an 

apt surname for this quiet observer), a decent, 

rather typical 17-year-old except for his big se- 


054-062.indd 55 

3/8/18 2:13 PM

cret. Simon has loving parents (Jennifer Garner 

and Josh Duhamel) and a tight circle of friends 

and enjoys his life in the suburbs of Atlanta, but 

there’s something slightly aloof about him—he’s 

just not ready to announce his sexual desires 

to the world. His first step toward openness 

begins when he becomes aware of an anonymous 

post on a social-media site from a fellow 

student who’s also anguished about hiding his 

sexual orientation. Simon and the writer named 

“Blue” begin an intimate correspondence, and 

Simon becomes obsessed with discovering his 

secret confidant. 

The plot takes a dark turn when the class 

buffoon, Martin (Logan Lerman), accidentally 

sees one of Simon’s e-mails and blackmails 

Simon into helping him get closer to his crush, 

Simon’s friend Abby (Alexandra Shipp). When 

that plan runs aground in spectacular fashion, 

Martin retaliates by outing Simon. 

Adapted by Elizabeth Berger and Isaac 

Aptaker (both writers for the NBC hit “This 

Is Us”) from Becky Albertalli’s 2012 youngadult 

novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, 

Love, Simon can perhaps be faulted for being 

too cautious and eager to appeal to the widest 

possible audience (whose potential size, 

even in 2018, remains an open question). 

There’s but one flamboyant character in the 

whole movie, an out, gender-blurring boy 

with plenty of attitude (Clark Moore), and 

even when Simon participates in a fantasy 

production number set to Whitney Houston’s 

“I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” he seems 

a bit hesitant. But perhaps that’s the point: 

to place this groundbreaking (for a studio) 

character in an aggressively “normal” context, 

and see how mainstream viewers respond. 

Robinson underplays the role, with no clichéd 

mannerisms—he’s just a very appealing kid 

dreading a momentous decision (despite all 

the no-doubt-supportive people around him), 

whose efforts to hide have unintended, hurtful 

repercussions. (That’s director Greg Berlanti’s 

“Dawson’s Creek” TV-melodrama roots seeping 

through.) 

As in a John Hughes movie, the supporting 

cast is a boon here. Katherine Langford (Netflix’s 

“13 Reasons Why”) is poignant as Simon’s 

childhood friend Leah, who’s had a lifelong 

unrequited crush on him. Garner is touching 

as his psychologist mother who always sensed 

something holding back her son, while erstwhile 

hunk Duhamel has a winning and funny emotional 

moment with his newly liberated boy. 

Shipp is charming as the new girl in school who 

has two avid suitors, but Lerman never quite 

overcomes the obnoxiousness of his scheming 

character. Special mention goes to scene-stealer 

Natasha Rothwell (“Insecure”) as a high-school 

drama teacher who always speaks her mind. 

Fox deserves praise for bankrolling a 

film centered on an (ultimately) unapologetic 

gay teenage lead. Even if the gamble 

doesn’t bring huge box-office numbers, it’s 

good to know that kids like Simon can now 

see themselves up on the big screen, just as 

Molly pined for Jake. 

—Kevin Lally 

UNSANE 

FINGERPRINT RELEASING & BLEECKER STREET/ 

Color/1.66/97 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno 

Temple, Amy Irving. 

Directed and photographed by Steven Soderbergh. 

Written by Jonathan Bernstein, James Greer. 

Produced by Joseph Malloch. 

Executive producers: Dan Fellman, Ken Meyer, Arnon 

Milchan. 

Production designer: April Lasky. 

Editor: Mary Ann Bernard (Steven Soderbergh). 

A Bleecker Street Media and Fingerprint Releasing presentation 

of an Extension 765, New Regency Pictures and 

Regency Enterprises production. 

An involuntary patient at a mental institution 

plans her escape from her longtime 

stalker in an effective Steven Soderbergh 

psychological thriller with urgent presentday 

significance. 

Throughout his diverse career, the famously 

efficient filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has 

proved to be at ease with switching gears between 

big-scale Hollywood flicks and smaller, 

artistically risky projects. Just as he followed 

up his star-studded Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s 

Twelve films with the modestly sized Full 

Frontal and Bubble, respectively, he drops his 

economical thriller Unsane on the heels of the 

big, wildly entertaining heist film Logan Lucky. 

Mostly set within the confines of a remote 

Pennsylvania mental institution, Unsane is an 

often truly disturbing entry in the genre that 

draws its visual and thematic inspirations from 

the psychological thrillers of the 1990s and 

the likes of Shutter Island and One Flew Over the 

Cuckoo’s Nest. Finding real-world urgency in 

the countless sexual-misconduct and assaultsurvival 

stories that continue to surface, 

Soderbergh’s film dissects the ripple effects 

of male predatory behavior and its clueless 

enablers who invalidate female credibility. 

Written by Jonathan Bernstein and James 

Greer, Unsane follows young white-collar 

Sawyer Valentini (“The Crown” and Breathe 

actress Claire Foy), who’s recovering from 

a past trauma involving a persistent stalker 

of two years. Relocated from Boston to 

Pennsylvania in order to start a new life after 

her abuser is issued a restraining order (succinct 

flashbacks give us the details), Sawyer 

does well at her corporate job, yet struggles 

to regain a healthy personal life. She suffers 

through unsuccessful blind dates with seemingly 

well-meaning guys she dismisses out of 

fear, while dutifully continuing her therapy 

sessions and regularly checking in with her 

mother Angela (Amy Irving) through lunchtime 

phone calls. 

As a follow-up to one of her usual 

treatment sessions, Sawyer finds herself 

at Highland Creek Behavioral Center and 

unknowingly signs papers that voluntarily 

check her into the suffocating facility for 24 

hours. Held at the premises against her will by 

an uncooperative staff unwilling to listen, and 

immediately at odds with emotionally unstable 

patient Violet (Juno Temple, sufficiently 

spine-chilling), Sawyer understandably displays 

erratic behavior in self-defense, and her stay 

becomes mandatory. To make matters worse, 

she recognizes staff member George Shaw 

(Joshua Leonard) as her convicted harasser 

with a disguised identity. But who would believe 

a female patient under heavy medication 

at a mental institution? Thankfully, she finds 

a reliable ally in the mysteriously resourceful 

co-patient Nate (Jay Pharoah). 

In a curious marketing decision, the film’s 

distributor Bleecker Street is selling a slightly 

misleading premise for Unsane, insinuating that 

Sawyer’s experience at the mental institution 

might be real or a figment of her delusion. 

Yet, the suspenseful play between reality 

and fantasy isn’t quite the point of Soderbergh’s 

film—at least not for long. In fact, 

Unsane disentangles this brief (but effective) 

uncertainty quite quickly (deciding in favor of 

Sawyer’s evident sanity) and proceeds with its 

actual themes around institutional corruption 

in healthcare and female susceptibility to its 

unsympathetic authority figures. 

Again behind the camera as his own 

cinematographer, Soderbergh purposely 

establishes his shots in a stalker-y sense, 

giving us both a taste of Sawyer’s justified 

anxiety and the visual impression of invading 

the unsuspecting woman’s privacy. Flawlessly 

balancing her character’s vulnerability with 

physical and emotional strength, Foy believably 

portrays a woman all females can relate 

to: one who knows exactly how to hide her 

fear and apprehension underneath a façade 

of confidence and how to stroke fragile male 

egos to safeguard herself from physical harm. 

No stranger to female-driven storylines led 

by intricate characters facing big predicaments 

(think Erin Brockovich and Side Effects), 

Soderbergh proves his deep understanding of 

the unique challenges women face in a world 

that inherently normalizes bad male behavior. 

With Unsane, he successfully delivers a 

claustrophobic, disquieting nail-biter with 

contemporary significance, through the relatable 

story of a hardened woman searching 

for an escape path to survival. 

—Tomris Laffly 

LEAN ON PETE 

A24/Color/1.85/122 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: Charlie Plummer, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, 

Travis Fimmel, Steve Zahn, Justin Rain, Lewis Pullman, 

Bob Olin, Teyah Hartley, Kurt Conroyd, Alison Elliott, 

Rachael Perrell Fosket, Jason Rouse, Amy Seimetz. 

Directed by Andrew Haigh. 

Screenplay: Andrew Haigh, based on the novel by Willy 

Vlautin. 

Produced by Tristan Goligher. 

Executive producers: Lizzie Francke, Ben Roberts, Daniel 

Battsek, Sam Lavendar, David Kosse, Vincent Gadelle, 

Darren Demetre. 

Director of photography: Magnus Jonck. 

Production designer: Ryan Warren Smith. 

Editor: Jonathan Alberts 

Costume designer: Julie Carnahan. 

Music: James Edward Barker. 

A Bureau production. 


054-062.indd 56 

3/8/18 2:13 PM

Writer-director Andrew Haigh’s first film 

set in the American West includes a cast of 

itinerant characters eking out a living, and 

one lonely young man who longs for stability. 

Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete is about a 

teenage boy and is set in America’s West and 

Pacific Northwest. The movie is not very 

different from the writer-director’s 45 Years 

(2015), the story of an aging British couple 

who are planning their 45th wedding anniversary. 

Both center on subtle and not-so-subtle 

betrayals. Some are suffered at the hands of 

loved ones, and the others derive from a tacit 

acceptance of cultural values that enshrine, 

in the case of 45 Years, the institution of 

marriage, and in Lean on Pete, the rugged selfdetermination 

that informs Americans’ views 

of their heritage. 

The wife in 45 Years discovers her 

husband’s deceit that at first appears to be 

little more than a sin of omission. Later, it 

profoundly alters Kate’s (Charlotte Rampling) 

memories of her married life. In the end, the 

ritual celebration of a wedding anniversary 

with friends, the party that the couple had 

put off for five years because of Geoff’s (Tom 

Courtenay) illness, is a public mockery for 

Kate, a celebration of betrayal. In Lean on Pete, 

Charley (Charlie Plummer of All the Money 

in the World), in the tradition of many classic 

heroes, is motherless and symbolically bereft 

of the meaningful existence mothers confer 

on their children. His mother left shortly 

after he was born for reasons never explained 

to him. Not unlike the sin of omission in 45 

Years, Charley’s affectionate but irresponsible 

father Ray (Travis Kimmel) never confesses to 

his son his obvious complicity in his wife’s departure. 

Ray also cuts ties with Aunt Martha 

(Rachael Perrell Fosket), Charley’s only other 

relative, motivated by the same desire to hide 

his shortcomings, and to ensure the boy’s love 

for him. 

Charley is sweet and trusting. His father’s 

failures have not made him angry or resentful, 

although he longs for a stable family life. 

On the verge of an important milestone, 

Charley’s acceptance on the football team of 

his Wyoming high school, Ray moves them to 

Portland, Oregon, where the movie opens. 

Charley is unpacking when he hears voices 

behind his father’s bedroom door. They live in 

a dilapidated, roach-infested house. Realizing 

Ray has company, the 15-year-old decides to 

go for an early morning run; when he returns, 

Ray’s date makes them breakfast. Ray tells 

Charley that she is married, apparently to a 

dangerous guy. Then he gives his son spending 

money, and Charley buys groceries, hoping 

his father will cook dinner. Charley tells Ray 

about the nearby Portland Downs that has 

piqued his curiosity in horses. He later lands 

a job with Del (Steve Buscemi), who races 

quarter horses. 

Del is only slightly less irresponsible than 

Ray, but he develops a fondness for Charley. 

His feelings are tested when the boy realizes 

he is abusing the horses. Then, Ray is assaulted 

and is admitted to the hospital, leaving 

Charley entirely on his own. When he asks his 

father for Aunt Martha’s phone number, Ray 

tells him that they are just fine on their own. 

Charley embarks on several road trips with 

Del. He also meets Bonnie (Chloë Sevigny), a 

jockey who races Del’s horses. She is protective 

of Charley, and tries to hide the less 

savory practices of horse racing from him, but 

she depends on Del for work. When Charley 

learns that Del plans to sell his favorite horse, 

Lean on Pete, to the slaughterhouse, the boy 

runs off with his truck and trailer, Lean on 

Pete in tow. Charley’s plan is to find Aunt 

Martha, who now lives in Laramie, Wyoming, 

more than a thousand miles from Portland. 

Haigh’s screenplay is adapted from 

Willy Vlautin’s novel of the same name; the 

movie has Charley traversing three states and 

various terrains to get to Laramie, a journey 

the filmmaker took before filming. Haigh 

sometimes uses the same locations to double 

for different deserts and national forests, 

which is disorienting, but a minor flaw in a film 

that meticulously charts Charley and Ray’s 

working-class, itinerant lifestyle. Lean on Pete 

will inevitably be compared to Chloé Zhao’s 

The Rider, which opens a week later and 

chronicles a little-known segment of Native 

American life. (Zhao gets the geography right.) 

Both are quest films about young men, aimed 

at adult audiences, and are notable for their 

emphasis on unfit fathers. Haigh’s film is what 

Hollywood calls “coming of age” and Zhao’s is 

not; different sorts of horse culture are central 

to the narratives. Neither Zhao nor Haigh 

knew the American West before writing and 

directing their movies. 

Lean on Pete is a more abstract indictment 

of American values and the pressures 

they place on young men than The Rider, 

although no less scathing. As in all archetypal 

quest stories, the heroes’ childhood wounds 

render them vulnerable to betrayal—and the 

journeys are fraught with danger. In Lean on 

Pete, so many adults are cruel or indifferent 

to Charley that three-quarters of the way 

through, a note of implausibility creeps in; 

for instance, a drunk’s explosive attack is too 

abrupt and lengthy, and Charley’s response is 

uncharacteristically violent. During the long, 

lonely trek to Laramie, as the boy runs out of 

money and slowly loses hope of ever getting 

there, his already lean frame becomes emaciated. 

Diminished physically and psychologically, 

death appears inevitable—for Charley 

and Lean on Pete, especially after Del’s truck 

breaks down and Charley must make his way 

on foot. 

Charlie will not ride the horse—because 

of Del, he has come to see that as an 

exploitation of the animal—but he confesses 

his life story to him, a sad tale of yearning in 

which his aunt represents the sole reprieve. 

In these scenes, Haigh’s visual style suggests 

that the vastness of America’s landscape 

overwhelms the individual, although this 

does not fit Charley’s characterization as a 

Wyoming boy and is too palpable to be metaphorical. 

That false note muddles the other, 

broader source of betrayal for men that 

forms the subtext of the film, that of America’s 

mythology of self-reliance. It is Charley’s 

measure of manhood, which he learned from 

Ray—and it very nearly destroys him. In the 

end, the simplicity of Haigh’s plot highlights a 

wonderful performance by Charlie Plummer 

that transforms an awkward denouement 

into a piercing revelation of the ways in 

which Western culture injures men. 

—Maria Garcia 

JOURNEY’S END 

GOOD DEED ENTERTAINMENT/Color/1.85/ 

Dolby Digital/107 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: Sam Claflin, Asa Butterfield, Paul Bettany, Toby 

Jones, Tom Sturridge, Stephen Graham, Robert 

Glenister, Miles Jupp, Rupert Wickham. 

Directed by Saul Dibb. 

Screenplay: Simon Reade, based on the play by R.C 

Sherriff and novel by Sherriff, Vernon Bartlett. 

Produced by Simon Reade, Guy de Beaujeu. 

Executive producers: Anthony Seldon, Mary Burke, 

Steve Milne, Christian Eisenbeiss, Adrian Politowski, 

Bastien Sirodot. 

Director of photography: Laurie Rose. 

Production designer: Kristian Milsted. 

Editor: Tania Reddin. 

Music: Hildur Gudnadóttir, Natalie Holt. 

Costume designer: Anushia Nieradzik. 

A BFI and Wales Screen presentation, in association 

with Metro International Entertainment, British Film 

Co. and Umedia, of a Fluidity Films production, in 

association with Third Wednesday Films. 

Beautifully realized, hard-hitting yet 

intimate anti-war tale of a British military 

company embedded on the front lines in the 

final deadly months of WWI is exemplary 

art-house fare. 

Wartime fighting 

ain’t pretty. Nor is 

awaiting the call to 

mobilize, signaling 

that the in-the-bunker 

Journey’s End is not a 

conventionally “feelgood” 

film. But quality 

Asa Butterfield 

seekers will certainly leave satisfied, thanks 

largely to magnificent performances from a 

gaggle of top Brit dependables, including Sam 

Claflin (The Hunger Games), Asa Butterfield 

(Hugo), Paul Bettany, Toby Jones, Tom Sturridge 

and Stephen Graham, and an exquisite 

production miraculously delivered even in the 

story’s claustrophobic confines. It should be 

noted that the film is also gifted with a subtle, 

suspense-heightening score that never gets in 

the way. 

Director Saul Dibb (The Duchess, Suite 

Française), with help from screenwriter Simon 

Reade, delivers a polished and moving work. 

The film’s structure and handful of varied 

relatable characters (based on R.C. Sherriff’s 

acclaimed 1928 play) may be a familiar scheme, 

but it works. Furthering the realism the film 


054-062.indd 57 

3/8/18 2:13 PM

is intent on delivering is Laurie Rose’s canny 

camera placement: handheld or rigged (Steadicam) 

approaches that put viewers beside the 

soldiers in the cramped bunkers and trenches. 

Unlike the war (battle, really) that Journey’s 

End depicts, the film is a victory for both 

sides—filmmakers and upscale viewers. 

The time is spring 1918, after nearly four 

years of battle and just before the horrific, 

German-initiated “Spring Offensive” that 

saw the loss of hundreds of millions of lives. 

The film focuses on a group of C-company 

British officers housed in quarters below 

the muddy bunkers where the soldiers 

wait. The whole company is on a duty of 

dread, a kind of wartime roulette when 

all companies must serve six days out of 

the month on the front lines with no one 

knowing when they’ll be called to battle. 

In C-company’s case, it’s rather like lambs 

lined up, a “darkest hour” indeed as they 

learn there’s no backup for them. 

As the grim countdown drags, we meet 

a cross-section of officers and soldiers. 

Foremost are Captain Stanhope (Claflin), the 

battle-scarred, deeply troubled upper-class 

leader gone south because he’s experiencing 

a premature stress disorder and has sunk 

into alcoholism; young, starry-eyed innocent 

Raleigh (Butterfield), just out of training and 

eager to serve, especially under his former 

schoolhouse monitor Stanhope, who is also 

the sweetheart of Raleigh’s older sister; 

Officer Osborne (Bettany), a composed, 

pipe-smoking, calming figure who is like ballast 

to those anxious souls around him; Hibbert 

(Sturridge), a panicky sort paralyzed by what 

just might lie ahead; the officers’ cook Mason 

(Jones), a cynical bloke with edge who serves 

dishes he can’t quite describe that whet no 

appetites; and Trotter (Graham), a cheery 

soldier whose nature could be a cover-up for 

dread smoldering within. 

During the six days of watch-and-wait, 

much is revealed about these captives of 

horrible circumstance, all betraying varying 

degrees of unease and terror. Most importantly, 

the men are all too human. Stanhope 

has become so paranoid that Raleigh’s letter 

home to his sister will betray his pathetic 

condition, he orders it destroyed. And 

there’s a pop-up raid that brings tragedy and 

causes deeply troubled Hibbert to demand 

that Stanhope have him hospitalized. A nasty 

showdown follows, with each revealing dark 

secrets. Tensions mount until that day when, 

after a captured German shares the date of 

the imminent enemy offense, orders come 

for the company to arm for battle and gather 

in the warren of dark, filthy trenches for the 

attack. 

Regarding what follows, let’s just say that 

with the film’s final, ironic coda and its wealth 

of talent displayed on both sides of the cameras, 

Journey’s End will reward a journey to see 

it in theatres, even if it will more likely thrive 

from lifelines beyond the big screen. 

—Doris Toumarkine 

THOROUGHBREDS 

FOCUS FEATURES/Color/2.35/86 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: Olivia Cooke, Anya Taylor-Joy, Anton Yelchin, Paul 

Sparks, Francie Swift, Kaili Vernoff. 

Written and directed by Cory Finley, based on his play. 

Produced by Kevin J. Walsh, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Andrew 

Duncan, Alex Saks. 

Executive producers: Ryan Stowell, Ted Deiker, Declan 

Baldwin. 

Director of photography: Lyle Vincent. 

Production designer: Jeremy Woodward. 

Editor: Louise Ford. 

Music: Erik Friedlander 

Costume designer: Alex Bovaird. 

A B Story, Big Indie Pictures and June Pictures production. 

Girls go bad in this intelligent black 

comedy. 

A darkly good time is Thoroughbreds, the 

confident feature debut from playwright Cory 

Finley. The film has drawn comparisons to 

American Psycho and Heathers, which are both 

apt parallels, but the real fun of the movie 

is its intelligent, deadpan distinctiveness. 

Lead actresses Anya Taylor-Joy (Split) and, in 

particular, Olivia Cooke (“Bates Motel”) are 

perfectly cast as the rich Connecticut teens 

whose “good breeding” goes horribly “bad.” 

Thoroughbreds is a wonderful example of 

the sparks that can fly when a great script is 

brought to life by the right cast. 

Lily (Taylor-Joy) and Amanda (Cooke) 

used to be friends during their halcyon days 

of middle school, but they’ve grown apart in 

recent years. It seems Lily has been attending 

a posh boarding school and working a coveted 

internship in finance, while Amanda has been 

acting…troubled. See, Amanda lacks the 

ability to feel. So she tells Lily on a play-date 

of sorts that has been arranged by Amanda’s 

mother. Amanda has gotten by in the world by 

mimicking the behavior of other people. “This 

doesn’t make me a bad person,” she insists. “It 

just means I have to work a little harder than 

everyone else.” Lily is taken aback by this confession, 

but when Amanda’s frankness forces 

her to speak candidly in her turn (clearly not 

something she does very often), she begins to 

warm to her former friend. Certainly it helps 

to have someone else bear witness to the 

jerky conduct of her stepfather, Mark (a terrific 

Paul Sparks). And if Mark is annoyed by 

Amanda’s presence, so much the better. 

One night, in typical feeling-less fashion, 

Amanda casually floats the idea of murdering 

Mark. After an initial period of resistance that 

is textbook the-lady-doth-protest-too-much, 

Lily agrees. They decide to enlist the services 

of a loser drug dealer (the late, great Anton 

Yelchin) to aid them in their plot. As their plan 

unfolds, assumptions of just who is “good” and 

who is “bad,” who is moral and who is psycho, 

entertainingly and unnervingly shift. 

Finley’s dialogue is laugh-out-loud sharp, 

his plotting careful and unhurried, and his 

choice of music, working with composer Erik 

Friedlander, spot-on. The filmmakers opt for 

a score that is partly suspenseful, with its 

high-pitched whines and squeals, and partly 

jungle-feverish, with booming drums and 

cacophonously overlapping sounds. There’s 

great humor in the style of the filmmaking, 

as the movements of the girls through their 

beautifully decorated houses are set to this feral 

music. It’s as if their interiority is booming 

out at us without the need for voiceover. 

Which is why it’s a bit frustrating when, at 

the end of the film, Amanda writes a letter in 

which, through voiceover, she explains some 

of the film’s themes. Horses in various scenes 

and images recur throughout the movie. 

Given the circumstances, the animalism of the 

music and the dramatic climax, the film ably 

conveys why these animals are important and 

how they’re functioning within the narrative. 

There may be some ambiguity, but when 

Amanda explains it all outright while staring 

at a poster of a horse, the reaction is not the 

relief of, Oh, good, now I understand, but rather 

the disappointment of, Don’t tell us what you’ve 

already shown! 

Happily, though, this moment of oversharing 

is anomalous in a film that is otherwise 

nicely restrained in its acidity, delightfully 

caustic without feeling mean-spirited, nihilistic 

or cynical. A good deal of the credit must go 

to Cooke, whose “unfeeling” character could 

have easily sounded robotic or too detached 

for us to follow. This is her film, though both 

Taylor-Joy, as an ice princess who cracks, and 

Yelchin, as a sensitive doofus, offer the considerable 

strength of their performances. The 

film is dedicated to Yelchin, who passed away 

in 2016. Thoroughbreds is one of the last films 

he made, and is both a reason to lament what 

has been lost and to celebrate what was. 

—Anna Storm 

A WRINKLE IN TIME 

WALT DISNEY/Color/2.35/3D/Dolby Atmos/ 

109 Mins./Rated PG 

Cast: Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, 

Mindy Kaling, Chris Pine, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Levi 

Miller, Zach Galifianakis, Rowan Blanchard, André 

Holland, Michael Peña, Deric McCabe, Bellamy Young, 

David Oyelowo. 

Directed by Ava DuVernay. 

Screenplay: Jennifer Lee, Jeff Stockwell, based on the 

novel by Madeleine L’Engle. 

Produced by Jim Whitaker, Catherine Hand. 

Executive producers: Adam Borba, Douglas C. Merrifield. 

Director of photography: Tobias Schliessler. 

Production designer: Naomi Shohan. 

Editor: Spencer Averick. 

Music: Ramin Djawadi. 

Visual effects supervisor: Rich McBride. 

Costume designer: Paco Delgado. 

A Walt Disney Pictures presentation of a Whitaker 

Entertainment production. 

Hindered by disjointed flow and a monotonous 

tone, the creatively ambitious A Wrinkle 

in Time falls short of its worthy intentions. 

How we engage with works of art is oftentimes 

partly informed by the cultural and 

sociopolitical landscape we live in. Especially 


054-062.indd 58 

3/8/18 2:13 PM

for certain pop-culture entertainments, like 

the recent, wildly successful blockbusters 

Wonder Woman and Black Panther, the lens 

of contemporary social discourse (around 

feminism and racism, for instance) is both 

an inevitable means of interpretation and a 

relevant one. The ambitious but flatly realized 

A Wrinkle in Time, from director Ava DuVernay 

(Selma, 13th), is one such film that braves the 

topical struggles that surround it. 

Adapted from Madeleine L’Engle’s timeless 

1962 classic by Jeff Stockwell and Frozen’s 

acclaimed screenwriter Jennifer Lee, A Wrinkle 

in Time singlehandedly packs a number of filmindustry 

rarities within its wide scope, defying 

the status quo: It’s helmed by an unapologetically 

risk-taking woman of color, led by a 

marvelously diverse, mostly female cast, and 

follows the coming-of-age adventures of a 

young black girl in charge of her own destiny. 

These refreshing-on-paper qualities elevate 

Wrinkle’s significance in the cultural sphere. If 

only the film itself weren’t so stiffly written and 

awkwardly paced. In noticeable need of a more 

fluid touch and a heightended sense of wonder, 

A Wrinkle in Time is an unfortunate case of noble 

intentions missing their target creatively, despite 

occasional flashes of skill. 

Mirroring its source material, the eternal 

battle between good vs. evil and right vs. 

wrong is at the heart of DuVernay’s film. And 

in the enduring tradition of countless tales 

featuring a “chosen one,” it’s up to one misunderstood 

underdog to rise to the occasion. 

In Wrinkle, the honors belong to the young 

Meg Murry (a sturdy-beyond-her-years Storm 

Reid), a troubled early-teen misfit. Suffering 

the cruelty of bullies at her school, Meg lives 

with her scientist mother Kate (Gugu Mbatha- 

Raw) and her fearless brother Charles Wallace 

(Deric McCabe) in a house haunted by 

the memories of her father (Chris Pine), who 

mysteriously disappeared several years before 

while working to prove the existence of tessering: 

a break (or wrinkle, if you will) within 

the universe and time that enables traveling 

between planets. 

The Murrys’ routine is disturbed one day 

by the arrival of bickering but sweet-natured 

Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), an 

ethereal being in human form who confirms 

the reality of this phenomenon. Soon joined 

by the wise Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling), who 

frequently quotes famous thinkers and artists 

(including Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda in 

a modern-day spin), a towering Mrs. Which 

(Oprah Winfrey) and their schoolmate Calvin 

(Levi Miller), Meg and Charles embark on 

an intergalactic voyage through a tesseract in 

search of their father. 

With stopovers at the lush and colorful 

Uriel and the foggy Orion, their adventure 

transports them to various planets with 

distinct textures, looks and colors (thus, a 

range of production design needs). But it isn’t 

until the clan reaches Camazotz, the planet 

under the reign of an evil power called “IT,” 

that their voyage takes an ominously dangerous 

turn. It is within Camazotz’s uncanny, 

treacherous settings—including an eerily 

overcrowded beach, a dark forest and an 

alarmingly uniform suburban neighborhood— 

that we see DuVernay’s capable handing of 

action and tension. 

Outside of a few engaging scenes of the 

rising stakes at Camazotz, the CGI-heavy A 

Wrinkle in Time feels static and drifts monotonously 

without amplifying the bold rebellion 

at the core of its story. Some curious creative 

choices don’t help matters. Cinematographer 

Tobias Schliessler’s camera insistently chases 

close-ups and reaction shots. This frequently 

distracting artistic decision does favors to 

neither the characters nor the heavy-handed 

work of the makeup artists. At certain 

moments, we desperately want to see the 

impressive scale of the production design and 

take in the rich costuming (by Paco Delgado) 

in a larger context. Instead, we find ourselves 

looking at makeup brushstrokes, detecting 

imperfections of glittery lipstick and severe 

eye shadow. 

Despite all its issues, however, A Wrinkle 

in Time is a meaningful attempt at big-budget 

filmmaking that, for a change, casts its central 

hero as a black girl, while making her search for 

identity and purpose universally relevant. Even 

a shaky step in the right direction is worthy of 

note and demands the continued support of 

Hollywood to inspire and activate generations 

of underserved audiences. Let’s hope we are 

steadily approaching the day where likeminded 

films are the norm, and not an anomaly. 

—Tomris Laffly 

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT 

AVIRON PICTURES/Color/2.35/85 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman, Christina Hendricks, 

Martin Henderson, Emma Bellomy, Lea Enslin, Damian 

Maffei. 

Directed by Johannes Roberts. 

Screenplay by Ben Ketai, based on an original screenplay 

by Bryan Bertino. 

Produced by Wayne Marc Godfrey, James Harris, Robert 

Jones, Ryan Kavanaugh, Mark Lane. 

Executive producers: Alastair Burlingham, Brett Dahl, David 

Dinerstein, Charlie Dombek, Ken Halsband, Trevor 

Macy, Jason Resnick, William Sadleir, Jon D. Wagner. 

Co-producer: Babak Eftekhari. 

Director of photography: Ryan Samul. 

Production designer: Freddy Waff. 

Editor: Martin Brinkler. 

Music: Adrian Johnston. 

Costume designer: Carla Shivener. 

An Aviron Pictures presentation of a Fyzz Facility and 

White Comet Films production, in association with 

Bloom and Rogue Pictures. 

Beautiful but derivative. 

The Fog. Halloween. Christine. The Texas Chainsaw 

Massacre. Director Johannes Roberts 

wears his inspirations on his sleeve when it 

comes to slasher flick The Strangers: Prey at 

Night, loosely related companion film to the 

2008 film in which Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman 

are tormented by a trio of masked killers 

who use a trailer park as their hunting ground. 

This time around, it’s parents Cindy (Christina 

Hendricks) and Mike (Martin Henderson), 

along with their teenage kids Kinsey (Bailee 

Madison) and Luke (Lewis Pullman), who must 

make it through the night. As a homage to 

horror classics of years past, Strangers: Prey 

at Night is well-crafted. As a piece of original 

filmmaking, it and the works of Roberts’ clear 

icon John Carpenter aren’t even in the same 

trailer park. 

Opening credits done in the Halloween 

font give us our first hint as to the derivativeness 

that is to come. Kinsey, sporting the dyed 

black hair, band t-shirt and tied-around-thewaist 

flannel that’s the laziest possible way to 

spell out “moody teen,” is being carted off to 

boarding school by her overwhelmed parents. 

Their last night of familial togetherness—the 

three of them, plus Kinsey’s golden-boy older 

brother (Lewis Pullman)—is set to take place 

in a trailer park managed by Cindy’s aunt and 

uncle. But the trailer park’s deserted in the 

off-season, and the poor aunt and uncle went 

and got murdered by three anonymous, maskwearing 

killers—apparently the same people 

from the first film, though played by different 

actors. Suffice it to say, the trailer park’s 

new visitors’ plans have changed from “play 

cards and go to sleep early” to “get stalked by 

weapon-wielding maniacs.” 

The problem—from the viewer’s perspective, 

not the family’s—is that the “weaponwielding 

maniacs” portion of the evening 

takes so damned long to start. Instead, Prey at 

Night’s script is front-loaded with a heavy dose 

of Family Dynamics Theatre: Sister resents 

brother, mother is tough on daughter because 

of her own wild youth, dad is well-meaning 

but mostly clueless, etc. etc. 

While getting to know these characters 

does help our emotional investment once the 

carnage starts to go down, Prey at Night still 

never really establishes anything that resembles 

a driving sense of momentum. Instead, 

we skip from set-piece to set-piece (swimming 

pool! car wreck! fire!), strung together 

in a ham-fisted manner by the age-old horror 

tradition of protagonists making really stupid 

decisions in order to advance the plot. No 

matter how well individual scenes work, the 

movie as a whole can never shake its pervasive 

sense of repetitive dullness. 

What saves Prey at Night from being a waste 

of time—elevating it from “avoid at all costs” 

to “sure, I’ll see it if it’s on Netflix”—is that 

those set-pieces are gorgeously photographed 

and sometimes quite scary. So is the whole film, 

really, even if the plot and characters are less 

than compelling. Roberts and cinematographer 

Ryan Samul bring a distinct visual flair to Prey at 

Night that isn’t the sort of thing you necessarily 

expect from a decade-delayed horror sequel. All 

stark shadows and ominous fog (Hi again, John 

Carpenter), the trailer park is at once creepy 

and beautiful. The team behind Prey at Night is 

great at building tension and atmosphere—one 

only wishes they knew how to deliver a payoff. 

—Rebecca Pahle 


054-062.indd 59 

3/8/18 2:13 PM

FINAL PORTRAIT 

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS/Color/2.35/90 Mins./ 

Rated R 

Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Armie Hammer, Tony Shalhoub, 

Sylvie Testud, Clémence Poésy, James Faulkner. 

Written and directed by Stanley Tucci. 

Screenplay: Stanley Tucci, based on the memoir 

A Giacometti Portrait by James Lord. 

Produced by Gail Egan, Nik Bower, Ilann Girard. 

Director of photography: Danny Cohen. 

Production designer: James Merifield. 

Editor: Camilla Toniolo. 

Costume designer: Liza Bracey. 

A Potboiler Films, Riverstone Pictures and Arsam 

International production. 

Alberto Giacometti paints a portrait of 

his friend James Lord in this sterile exercise 

that fails to gain dramatic traction from the 

artist’s quest for perfection. 

What could the creators of Final Portrait 

have been thinking? This film asks the viewer 

literally to watch paint dry as renowned artist 

Alberto Giacometti (Geoffrey Rush) paints, 

wipes out, cusses, and re-paints a portrait 

during some 18 sittings by his friend, the 

dapper James Lord (Armie Hammer). It’s as 

exciting as watching a writer write. 

Writer-director Stanley Tucci, the esteemed 

actor and Academy Award nominee, attempts 

to compensate for Portrait’s schematic premise 

by sketching in la vie boheme in the artist’s Paris 

atelier, which could be situated in some Montparnasse 

of tourist fantasy. But the film never 

gains amplitude, keeping claustrophobically 

focused on Giacometti’s maddening struggle to 

complete the portrait. You can lecture, write 

books and perhaps make a short doc about the 

artistic process, but, at least in the case of Final 

Portrait, you can’t pistol-whip it into a dramatic 

feature film. 

In 1964, while on a brief trip to Paris, Lord, 

a wealthy art writer and a kind of American 

flaneur, is asked by Giacometti to sit for a 

portrait. The process, Giacometti assures Lord, 

will take only a few days. Flattered and intrigued, 

Lord agrees. “A few days” expands into weeks, 

possibly months of sittings that point to no conclusion 

because Giacometti, who can never find 

satisfaction with the work—or even understand 

the nature of “finished”—continually destroys 

it. “That’s the terrible thing,” he explains to 

the dismayed Lord. “The more one works on 

a picture, the more impossible it becomes to 

finish it.” In an ongoing motif, Lord is repeatedly 

seen phoning home to say he’ll be cancelling his 

flight yet again. Given that it’s Armie Hammer 

on the phone, we itch to know whom he’s calling, 

what awaits him stateside, and more—but 

no such luck. 

Tucci pads Lord’s mind-numbing sittings— 

which feel like they occur in real time and bring 

new meaning to “static”—with vignettes from 

Giacometti’s turbulent life. The archetypal “art 

monster,” he mistreats his forlorn, heat-starved 

wife Annette (the marvelous Sylvie Testud, 

disserved by the role)—at one point throwing 

cash at her for a warm coat—and makes no 

secret of his craving for Caroline (Clémence 

Poésy), a prostitute and his lover of four years. 

After the studio has been ransacked, he buys off 

Caroline’s pimps for a princely sum. His dealer 

arrives with a fortune in franc notes, and Giacometti, 

who has no use for banks, playfully asks 

Lord where in the atelier they should store the 

bundles of cash. The production designers took 

great care to recreate an authentic image of 

the artist’s atelier, with his famous sculptures of 

elongated figures as a backdrop; you can all but 

smell the turpentine and overflowing ashtrays 

and feel the dank chill. The set acts as another 

leading player. 

Rush pulls out all the stops to convey an 

artist in frantic pursuit of some unattainable 

ideal, uncorking such lines as “There is no better 

breeding ground for doubt than success.” 

He bears a remarkable physical resemblance 

to Giacometti and nails his grotesque selfabsorption, 

doggedness and, at moments, 

madness. But Rush’s performance works more 

as an acting-class exercise than a dramatic 

engagement with other players. The most 

glaring void is his unexplored relationship with 

Lord, who is called upon merely to puzzle 

at the painter’s frustration, act genteel-y 

pissed off and squirm from sitting in the same 

position in a freezing studio. Why did Armie 

Hammer lend himself to this sterile exercise? 

The script wants nothing of him except his 

beauty, using him simply as a poster boy for 

“rich WASPy American.” I suppose you could 

almost make an hour-plus feature simply by 

pointing the camera at this actor’s face—but 

not quite. That Hammer accepted such an 

underwritten role is especially disappointing 

after his indelible turn in Call Me by Your 

Name. The main takeaway from Final Portrait is 

that he is in need of a new agent. It’s said that 

Lord, who was homosexual, conducted a fullblown 

affair with the older, overbearing Dora 

Maar, though in his Picasso and Dora: A Memoir 

(1993), he never explicitly admits to a consummation. 

Now there’s a film I’d like to see. 

—Erica Abeel 

WHERE IS KYRA? 

PALADIN/Color/2.35/98 Mins./Not Rated 

Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Kiefer Sutherland, Sam Robards, 

Tony Okungbowa, Marc Menchaca, Babs Olusanmokun, 

Joel Marsh Garland, Gabe Fazio, Suzanne Shepherd. 

Directed by Andrew Dosunmu. 

Screenplay: Darci Picoult. 

Story: Andrew Dosunmu. 

Produced by Christine Vachon, David Hinojosa, Rhea 

Scott. 

Executive producers: Andrew Dosunmu, Darci Picoult, 

Erika Hampson, Jim Reeve, Robert Halmi, Jr. 

Director of photography: Bradford Young. 

Production designer: Lucio Seixas. 

Editor: Oriana Soddu. 

Music: Philip Miller. 

Costume designer: Mobolaji Dawodu. 

A Great Point Media presentation of a Killer Films 

production, in association with Oldgarth Media. 

Michelle Pfeiffer has a rare, boldly deglamorized 

lead role in a film that is unfortunately 

unworthy of her. 

Kyra (Michelle Pfeiffer) is literally at her wit’s 

end, having been downsized from a good job 

as an accountant and, in the current harsh 

and ageist market, perpetually unable to find 

work. Lonely, divorced and saddled with an 

aged mother (Suzanne Shepherd), she tries 

everything, including making herself up and 

dressing in a way to hopefully slice 30 years 

off her age. When Mom dies, however, she 

resorts to another disguise: actually impersonating 

the dead woman in order to collect 

the pension checks she desperately needs 

to survive. It’s nothing she’s proud of, that is 

for sure, and she struggles to conceal it from 

Doug (Kiefer Sutherland), a genial new suitor 

she meets in a bar, between job searching. 

If anything, Andrew Dosunmu’s film should 

be saluted for seriously addressing the current 

economic crisis affecting so many Americans, 

which is rarely presented on our screens 

with such unflinching honesty. Downsized U.S. 

citizens may not seem the sexiest cinematic 

theme, but one feels that the public may actually 

be sick of glossy portrayals of the rich and 

entitled and truly hungry for films they can 

relate to and maybe even glean some survival 

ideas from. Unhappily, although the premise of 

Where Is Kyra? could have been the springboard 

for both trenchant social commentary and rich 

drama, Dosunmu‘s unsureness and faulty sense 

of pacing make it a dawdling, ineffective bore. 

He lingers on shots too long and hasn’t much 

visual sense, as he takes a very literal approach 

to portraying poverty as an entirely sad and 

dun-colored prospect, with nary a glimmer of 

found beauty to be had anywhere. His Brooklyn 

looks like we are in 1957. 

A telling moment occurs in the crucial 

scene in which Kyra hits absolute rock bottom, 

doing what she (and, indeed, every New 

Yorker) feels is the nightmare job of them 

all, standing on a sidewalk, wearing a sign and 

shilling. A properly tactful director would have 

respected his heroine’s humiliation and filmed 

this degradation subtly, but Dosunmu vulgarly 

puts Pfeiffer in the star spot, front and center 

of the screen, facing forward, all the better to 

savor the miserable spectacle of a fallen superstar 

in the most inappropriately grandstanding 

and exploitative way. 

Pfeiffer, who was a reigning Hollywood 

movie queen in the 1980s-90s, has had a very 

sporadic career of late, and it would be nice to 

say that this is a major comeback, in a leading 

role, for her. But there’s not much she can do 

with the underconceived role and a director 

who wasn’t much good at helping her fill in the 

blanks. The film is an unrelenting downer and 

so, I’m afraid, is she, more mousy than even 

that classic mouse, Maggie Smith, in that masochistic 

masterpiece The Lonely Passion of Judith 

Hearne ever dreamt of being. Pfeiffer does 

have a few fine moments of bracing fury when 

the walls really close in on her. But watching 

her slog through this monotonous dirge of a 

movie, my mind wandered, comparing Kyra, 

who can’t even land a job as a waitress in a 

greasy spoon, to Jo Ann, the ultra-glamorous, 


054-062.indd 60 

3/8/18 2:13 PM

sportscar-driving owner of a posh restaurant 

she played in the delectable guilty pleasure 

that was Robert Towne’s Tequila Sunrise, with 

the dazzling choice of Mel Gibson and Kurt 

Russell, at their respective juiciest, as her 

choice of lovers. 

I’ve never quite gotten the appeal of Kiefer 

Sutherland, apart from his adeptness at playing 

faux everymen. He is completely convincing as 

a schlubby loser, but audiences deserve some 

semblance of real charisma from their stars. 

Opposite Pfeiffer, he is unable to conjure up any 

romantic charge or true emotional bond that 

could make you invest in their relationship. This 

film also had the potential to a be a stirringly 

effective study of love among the down and out, 

as with the young and tender Spencer Tracy and 

Loretta Young in Frank Borzage’s A Man’s Castle, 

or even Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway 

in Barbet Schroeder’s adaptation of Charles 

Bukowski’s Barfly, but such is Dosunmu’s ineptitude 

that it doesn’t happen. —David Noh 

RED SPARROW 

20TH CENTURY FOX/Color/2.35/Dolby Atmos/ 

139 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, 

Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling, Ciarán Hinds, 

Joely Richardson, Mary-Louise Parker, Douglas Hodge, 

Sakina Jaffrey, Nicole O’Neill, Sergei Polunin. 

Directed by Francis Lawrence. 

Screenplay: Justin Haythe, based on the novel by Jason 

Matthews. 

Produced by Peter Chernin, Steve Zaillian, Jenno Topping, 

David Ready. 

Executive producers: Garrett Basch, Mary McLaglen. 

Director of photography: Jo Willems. 

Production designer: Maria Djurkovic. 

Editor: Alan Edward Bell. 

Music: James Newton Howard. 

Costume designer: Trish Summerville. 

A TSL Entertainment and Chernin Entertainment production. 

Jennifer Lawrence smolders as a deceptive 

bird of prey in this erotic spy thriller. 

Beware of any spy asking, “Are you a 

patriot?” It’s an especially loaded question as 

posed by a secret agent trained to seduce, 

manipulate and/or kill enemies of the state. 

Jennifer Lawrence stars in Red Sparrow as just 

such an agent, Dominika Egorova, a patriot 

willing to lay down her body or her life for 

Mother Russia. 

Reuniting with her most frequent Hunger 

Games helmer, Francis Lawrence (no relation), 

Jennifer Lawrence bares a ruthless confidence 

and corrupted innocence as Dominika in this 

seamy psychological thriller set among statesponsored 

professional liars in the business 

of stealing secrets. However, the film evinces 

little interest in exactly which secrets are being 

kept, sold or traded. 

The battle lines are clearly drawn between 

perennial adversaries, the Russians and the 

Americans, and their stealthy moles hidden on 

either side, but what intelligence they’re after 

is not as pressing a concern as their seedier 

methods of espionage: sex, coercion, torture. 

Based on the Edgar Award-winning 2013 

novel by Jason Matthews, Red Sparrow tracks 

Dominika’s transformation from damaged 

prima ballerina into a lethal Russian spy honed 

for sexual manipulation. 

Rather than focus on the gadgets or fight 

skills she acquires, the film marks the depths 

of her exploitation as a code-named Sparrow 

for her government’s foreign intelligence 

service. Under the supervision of the agency’s 

deputy director, her leering uncle Ivan (Matthias 

Schoenaerts), Dominika struggles to retain 

some shred of independence as she operates 

in Moscow and Budapest to uncover the 

identity of a Russian double agent. She uses 

lust as much as her wits in order to extract 

information from undercover CIA agent Nate 

Nash (Joel Edgerton) and to enact a plan to 

free herself from this sordid web of spies. 

The layered plotting and emotionally 

complex characterizations—from Lawrence’s 

icy turn as the morally conflicted agent to 

Charlotte Rampling’s brief but biting appearance 

as the steely Matron who oversees Sparrow 

training—set a tone closer to film noir than 007, 

despite the decidedly 21st-century graphic sex 

and violence. Red Sparrow isn’t a high-flying, highbody-count 

affair, but the deadly gun battles 

and knife fights tend to be gruesome, just as 

the scenes of seduction and sexual degradation 

also pull no punches. The serpentine narrative 

occasionally feels farfetched, but no more so 

than scandalous U.S.-Russia relations reported 

daily in the news. 

In fact, the movie conveys a peculiar 

sense of melancholy in evoking some of the 

real-life lengths to which governments might 

go to achieve the slightest edge in a seemingly 

never-ending quest to stay one data dump 

ahead of the curve. Spy masters Ivan and the 

Matron and their bosses would break the sons 

and daughters, or in this case, nieces, of the 

republic in the name of God and country. The 

Sparrows, no less than army snipers, have to 

jettison some part of their humanity to be 

ready to take out a target on command, and 

with no hesitation. 

A slightly less feral La Femme Nikita, 

Dominika stalks a dark path, and neither the 

movie nor its star shy away from uncomfortable 

scenes of the character’s descent from 

artist to antihero. Yet, even amidst the moral 

ugliness, director Lawrence maintains a glamorous 

Hollywood sheen for the globetrotting 

affair, with the tony cast elegantly costumed 

on sets art-directed in warm shades of amber 

and red, cut with flashes of snowy white. 

The big-budget artifice stays readily 

apparent, even while the well-paced suspense 

and potent chemistry between Lawrence and 

Edgerton, and especially between Lawrence’s 

sly Dominika and Schoenaerts’ creepy uncle 

Ivan, lure the viewer into overlooking the 

obvious wigs and odd accents to experience 

the sad, sexy, brutal facts of secret-agent life. 

Everyone is after something and no one can be 

trusted. It’s a dirty business, but somebody’s 

got to do it. 

—André Hereford 

GAME NIGHT 

WARNER BROS.–NEW LINE/Color/2.35/100 Mins./ 

Rated R 

Cast: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Billy Magnussen, 

Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse 

Plemons, Danny Huston, Chelsea Peretti, Michael C. 

Hall, Kyle Chandler. 

Directed by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein. 

Screenplay: Mark Perez. 

Produced by John Davis, John Fox, Jason Bateman, 

James Garavente. 

Executive producers: Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, 

Michael Disco, Dave Neustadter, Marc S. Fischer. 

Director of photography: Barry Peterson. 

Production designer: Michael Corenblith. 

Editors: Jamie Gross, Gregory Plotkin, Dave Egan. 

Costume designer: Debra McGuire. 

Music: Cliff Martinez. 

A New Line Cinema, Davis Entertainment and Aggregate 

Films production. 

A quiet game with friends turns into a fight 

with felons in this Jason Bateman comedy. 

Midway through Game Night, Jason Bateman’s 

Max and Rachel McAdams’ Anne talk 

about how they’d raise their son, if they ever 

had one. 

“You don’t want him to peak too soon,” 

Max warns. “Like a child actor.” 

Ouch. 

There was a time—like, most of the ’90s— 

when it seemed Bateman had done just that, 

back on the previous decade’s “Silver Spoons” 

and “Valerie.” But the kid star came back as an 

adult with “Arrested Development” and since 

then he’s notched a series of movie-comedy successes. 

The broadly comic Game Night—directed 

by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, 

the team behind Bateman’s Horrible Bosses hits— 

gives him another blandly sympathetic role as a 

guy with a taste for competitive games. Luckily 

for him, his wife shares his passion. Unluckily for 

him, his brother, played by Kyle Chandler, is even 

more competitive—and has been all their lives. 

So the stakes are high when they get together 

with friends to do some murder-mystery 

role-playing. And the stakes get even higher when 

it turns out these aren’t roles. This is happening 

for real, and now Max and Anne and their buddies 

have to rescue his brother from mobsters. 

Bateman is as affable as ever, and Mc- 

Adams’ dimpled smile has rescued far worse 

movies than this. But the script by Mark Perez 

hasn’t given them enough great characters 

to interact with—the gangsters remain stick 

figures, and their friends would need several 

rewrites to even begin to be clichés. 

Like some real-life game nights, Game Night 

goes on too long (even though a few scenes 

feel abruptly shortened in editing). Particularly 

annoying is its conviction that, like every other 

comedy these days, it needs a car chase. It 

probably didn’t—and it certainly didn’t need 

three, along with several fight scenes, which 

take time away from the characters. Game 

NIght is not about to become a cult hit, but it 

should please couples looking for a safe date 

movie. And it should go a bit to calming any 

fears Jason Bateman may still be holding onto. 

He hasn’t peaked, yet. —Stephen Whitty 


054-062.indd 61 

3/8/18 2:13 PM

GRINGO 

STX FILMS & AMAZON STUDIOS/Color/2.35/ 

110 Mins./Rated R 

Cast: David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, 

Amanda Seyfried, Harry Treadaway, Thandie Newton, 

Sharlto Copley, Carlos Corona. 

Directed by Nash Edgerton. 

Screenplay: Anthony Tambakis, Matthew Stone. 

Produced by A.J. Dix, Nash Edgerton, Beth Kono, Anthony 

Tambakis, Charlize Theron, Rebecca Yeldham. 

Executive producers: Trish Hofmann, Matthew Stone. 

Director of photography: Eduard Grau. 

Production designer: Patrice Vermette. 

Editors: Luke Doolan, David Rennie, Tatiana S. Riegel. 

Music: Christophe Beck. 

Costume designer: Donna Zakowska. 

An STX Films and Amazon Studios presentation of a Denver 

& Delilah Films and Blue-Tongue Films production. 

In English and Spanish. 

An assured comedic turn by David 

Oyelowo is the highlight of this otherwise 

uneven action romp. 

Late in the action-comedy Gringo, formerly 

mild-mannered corporate exec Harold Soyinka, 

portrayed by Selma star David Oyelowo, fires a 

fatal gunshot at one of the multitudes of kidnappers, 

mercenaries and thugs who’ve chased the 

so-called gringo negro all over Veracruz, Mexico. 

Without any significant pause in the frenetic 

action, the camera registers Harold’s shock and 

distress, conveyed succinctly by Oyelowo’s stricken 

expression. Then, he and the film barrel ahead 

towards the all-guns-blazing climax this sort of 

triple-cross caper always comes to in the end. 

It’s to the credit of director Nash Edgerton 

and his editors that throughout the wild machinations 

of the movie’s pharma-deal-gone-south 

storyline, Gringo stays attuned to the subtleties of 

Oyelowo’s performance. The actor also carries 

off the grander comic gestures underlining Harold’s 

underdog charm and delightful awakening as 

the mastermind of his own fake kidnapping, in a 

ransom plot that goes predictably awry. 

Unfortunately, the script, by Anthony Tambakis 

and Matthew Stone, and the direction are not 

as well attuned to several other major characters 

filling out the cast. Namely, the main villains at the 

bottom of this lighthearted but deadly intrigue— 

the ruthless Richard Rusk (Joel Edgerton) and 

Elaine Markinson (Charlize Theron), Harold’s 

bosses at Chicago-based Promethium Pharmaceuticals—seem 

miscalculated. Oscar-winner 

Theron, who so wonderfully tapped into a darker 

comedic vein playing mean yet sympathetic 

in the underrated 2011 dramedy Young Adult, 

has less success here making viperous, un-PC 

businesswoman Elaine more than just mean. She’s 

definitely not as scorchingly funny as intended. 

And, as it turns out that Elaine is more 

invested than she’d like to admit in the affair she’s 

been having with colleague Richard, she’s also not 

as heartless as she pretends to be, yielding a shaky 

contradiction in characterization that neither Edgerton’s 

direction nor Theron’s performance pulls 

off convincingly. As the outrageously self-satisfied 

Richard, co-star Edgerton has fewer cards to play 

essaying a heel who’s beyond redemption, but his 

deadpan portrayal doesn’t deliver many laughs. 

This pair of promiscuous cutthroats are 

written as cold-blooded bosses from hell, in the 

vein of The Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Priestly 

or the abusive Buddy Ackerman from Swimming 

with Sharks, but rather than packing a fierce and 

funny sting, Richard and Elaine are, more or less, 

duds. At least they serve greater purpose within 

the texture of this world of unlikeable criminals 

and capitalists than pure plot-device characters 

like Harry Treadaway’s Miles, a bumbling drug 

mule, and Amanda Seyfried’s Sunny, the drug 

mule’s unsuspecting girlfriend. 

Miles and Sunny are tossed early on into the 

mix, during a bone-dry setup that takes too much 

time configuring all the pieces in this puzzle, involving 

Promethium’s illicit partnership with a notorious 

Mexican drug dealer known as the Black 

Panther (Carlos Corona). The follow-through, 

during which most of Richard’s and Elaine’s and 

the Black Panther’s schemes are elaborated, 

revealed or foiled, also proceeds rather sluggishly. 

On the bright side, Corona, in his few scenes as 

the boilerplate Hollywood movie Latino drug 

dealer, manages to inject some verve into his 

threats and Tarantinoesque digressions parsing 

the relative quality of Beatles albums. 

Director Edgerton too often hedges suspense, 

by just tossing something—a van, a man, 

a bullet—at whoever has the jump on the hero 

Harold. The narrative train consistently switches, 

stalls and nearly derails, but ultimately the story 

keeps rolling, such as it does, because of Harold, 

and Oyelowo’s spirited portrayal of the regular 

guy at the center of this only intermittently 

amusing affair. 

—André Hereford 


054-062.indd 62 

3/8/18 4:53 PM

y Andreas Fuchs 

FJI Exhibition / Business Editor 

EUROPE 

EUROPEAN CINEMAS 

SHOW OVERALL GROWTH 

Love was in the air on 

Feb. 14, as UNIC and MEDIA 

Salles both reported some 

lovely numbers for European 

cinema-going in 2017. Although 

all stats published so far—and 

mentioned in this summary— 

are still preliminary, with some 

data remaining to be collected 

and certain countries offering 

estimated figures, “2017 was 

another year of growth for the 

European cinema industry.” 

The International Union of 

Cinemas (www.unic-cinemas. 

org) further noted that total 

admissions for all 37 member 

territories increased by 2.1% to 

more than 1.3 billion visits. This 

was the result of “both cinema 

operators’ continued investment 

in audience-development 

initiatives and a slate of highly 

successful local films across 

Europe,” UNIC stated. “As has 

been the case for previous years, 

however, box office was mainly 

driven by international titles.” 

The respective strengths 

of local titles did, in fact, 

determine fluctuations 

across the more established 

Western European markets. 

Positive highlights are France 

experiencing its third best year 

of the past 50 years, despite 

losing around four million 

spectators (-1.8%); record 

box office and attendance in 

the United Kingdom (+2.5% 

Andreas Fuchs also runs the Vassar 

Theatre in Vassar, MI. 

and +1.4%, respectively); and 

Russia, with over 200 million 

moviegoers, becoming “the 

biggest UNIC territory in terms 

of admissions.” Also crossing 

a milestone—of more than 70 

million admissions—was Turkey, 

rising 22.1% as more and more 

new cinemas opened. 

MEDIA Salles reported 1.349 

billion tickets in 36 countries as 

the Milan, Italy-based organization 

noted “different trends 

emerge” across different areas 

(www.mediasalles.it). The 18 

Western countries, with a total 

881.9 million admissions, reveal a 

dip of 1.5%, losing over 13 million 

spectators. The spread is quite 

wide, with increases of up to 6% 

in some countries and drops as 

high as 10% in others. By contrast, 

cinemas in the remaining 

18 countries issued 447.4 million 

tickets, compared to the 406.4 

million in 2016 (plus 10.1%). 

UNIC spoke of “varying 

fortunes in Southern Europe 

and Scandinavia” and hailed the 

“assertive Central and Eastern 

European markets.” Poland 

added another record year to 

the history books (with three 

local films in the top five for 

a market share of 23.2%). In 

Slovakia, admissions increased 

by more than one million, as 

the Czech Republic enjoyed its 

second-best performance of 

all time and Romania, Bulgaria 

and Hungary “all experienced 

similarly positive results.” 

MEDIA Salles added information 

about “territories that 

increased more than average” 

throughout 2017, with the Serbian 

Republic taking the lead with 

a rise of 27.7%, and the neighboring 

Slovakian Republic with an 

18.1% increase. For the first time, 

MEDIA Salles presented the 

figures for Georgia, the Ukraine 

(UNIC member territory since 

July 2017) and Montenegro, with 

growth rates of 12.4%, 3.4% and 

2.4%, respectively. 

With all that, admissions per 

capita for all UNIC territories 

remained at 1.6 visits per year. 

France and Ireland experienced 

the highest rates of cinemagoing 

(both at 3.3), as “the 

industry looks forward to a busy 

and exciting release schedule in 

2018.” For UNIC, the lineup is 

“full of promising European as 

well as international titles.” 

CINEMA FOR PEACE 

HONORS WORTHY FILMS 

“Let’s make our planet great 

again!” On Feb. 19 in Berlin, 

Germany, the Cinema for Peace 

Gala “honored some of the year’s 

best movies,” bringing together 

filmmakers, politicians and 

activists from around the world. 

The Post was voted “The Most 

Valuable Film,” beating out other 

worthy contenders including 

Battle of the Sexes, The Big Sick, 

Call Me by Your Name, Darkest 

Hour, Dunkirk, First They Killed My 

Father, The Florida Project, In the 

Fade and Wonder Woman. 

In line with the winning 

picture, “the rights of the free 

press” were one theme for the 

evening, organizers noted about 

the 17th annual event. Taking 

place at Bebelplatz, where 85 

years ago Nazis burned more 

than 20.000 books, one of the 

night’s keynote speakers was 

Daniel Ellsberg. “Civil courage 

is a too rare courage,” said 

the man behind releasing the 

Pentagon Papers, appealing 

to media and the public to 

scrutinize governments. 

Originally introduced at 

the gala by Leonardo DiCaprio 

and Mikhail Gorbachev, the 

“International Green Film 

Award” was given to Jane, 

the Producers Guild Awardwinning 

film about Jane Goodall. 

The leading advocate for the 

preservation of wildlife and 

an UN ambassador of peace 

received a special Honorary 

Award celebrating her “lifelong 

work devoted to studying and 

protecting chimpanzees.” The 

“Justice Award” was presented 

to The Breadwinner and this 

year’s “Doc Award” to Cries 

from Syria, appealing to the 

world to stop the war in Syria. 

Addressing current attempts 

at fostering a film industry 

without fear and harassment, 

Cinema for Peace invited the 

heads of Germany’s equality 

platform. ProQuote Film is 

calling for more jobs for women 

in the film industry and a 

chairwomen for the Berlin Film 

Festival, beginning 2020. 

KINEPOLIS CONTINUES 

THREE-PILLAR STRATEGY 

At the risk of causing a 

number-crunching burnout, 

we are reporting on another 

continued on page 66 


063-066.indd 63 

3/8/18 2:17 PM

ASIA 

by Thomas Schmid 

FJI Far East Bureau 

FIRST SAMSUNG CINEMA LED 

SCREEN OPENS IN CHINA 

While the Cinematic LED 

Screen developed by South 

Korea’s Samsung Electronics 

debuted at home last year, being 

installed in two Lotte Cinema 

venues in Seoul and Busan, 

the revolutionary technology 

has now also been adopted 

in neighboring China for the 

first time. “On February 4th, 

Samsung Electronics and our 

partner Wanda Cinemas, the 

world’s largest theatre operator, 

celebrated the launching of the 

Cinema LED Screen in Wanda’s 

Wujiaochang theatre, located 

in Shanghai’s Yangpu District,” 

the high-end electronics firm 

announced in a press release. 

The LED screen in Shanghai 

measures 10.3 meters by 4.5 

meters, with a 4K resolution 

(4,096 × 2,160) and HDR (high 

dynamic range) display. Its peak 

brightness level is nearly 10 

times greater than that of typical 

cinema standards and the screen 

minimizes color distortion. 

Meanwhile, Wanda Cinemas has 

already revealed a plan to convert 

a second cinema in China’s 

capital Beijing during the first 

half of this year. 

…AND SOON IN THAILAND 

AND SWITZERLAND, TOO 

Both Thailand and Switzerland 

are soon to become the 

next two countries to introduce 

the technology as well. Announced 

in December last year, 

a Samsung Cinema LED Screenequipped 

theatre will “sometime 

in spring” be opened by Swiss 

multiplex operator Arena Cinemas 

in Zurich. Meanwhile, 

Thailand’s leading operator Major 

Cineplex Group is gearing up 

to treat its first audience to a 

Samsung LED Screen experience 

at Bangkok’s posh Siam Paragon 

shopping mall in March. 

Although the agreementsigning 

ceremony with Samsung 

Electronics already took place 

in Bangkok in November and 

opening the screen was originally 

planned for February, Major Cineplex 

had to push back the date 

due to a delivery delay of the 

sound system needed. “We had 

to change [our] current sound 

system from Dolby Atmos to 

Harman, as this is [currently] the 

only sound system compatible 

with the Samsung LED screen,” 

Narute Jiensnong, Major Cineplex’s 

director of international 

business, told FJI. ”The delay is 

due in part that we have tried to 

work out with Dolby to be part 

of Samsung LED Screen. Those 

negotiations eventually turned 

out futile, so we had to order 

from Harman and the shipment 

from the U.S. arrived quite late. 

We are now looking at a tentative 

opening date of early to 

mid-March,” he said. 

Join your cinema exhibition, distribution, 

and motion picture industry colleagues to network, 

and see product presentations and screenings of major Hollywood 

films soon to be released in Asia. Attendees will find the latest 

equipment, products and technologies to help make your theatre 

a must-attend destination. CineAsia will take place at the Hong Kong 

Convention & Exhibition Centre on December 11-13, 2018. 

KOREA’S CJ E&M GRABS 

31% SHARE IN TURKEY 

Although having established 

itself in Turkey through its local 

venture CJ Entertainment Turkey 

only in May last year, South 

Korea’s CJ E&M has already risen 

to become a key player in the 

country’s film exhibition industry. 

During the winter season from 

October to January, CJ Entertainment 

Turkey has grown quickly, 

capturing just short of one-third 

of all theatre ticket sales in Turkey 

during that period. According 

to a statement released by Korea’s 

regulatory body KOFIC, CJ 

Enteråtainment Turkey released 

its first film on Oct. 30 and since 

then has released four additional 

movies. The five titles, which 

were all financed, produced and 

distributed by CJ E&M, have to 

date sold a combined 8.86 million 

tickets in Turkey, representing a 

market share of 31%. 

“CJ Entertainment Turkey 

achieving a 31% market share 

is impressive considering that 

winter is Turkey’s most competitive 

season for film releases. It is 

estimated that 70% of [the country’s] 

total annual movie audience 

is driven by the winter peak 

season, which lasts from October 

to April,” the statement said. Of 

the five CJ E&M titles released so 

far, two have even landed in the 

all-time top ten list for domestic 

ticket sales in Turkey. 

CJ Entertainment Turkey is 

already making plans for the current 

year with a road map that 

includes teaming up with BKM, 

Turkey’s largest film studio, as 

well as investing in and distributing 

ten locally produced films by 

the end of 2018. Additionally, the 

company is in talks to produce 

Turkish versions of hit Korean 

films such as The Spy: Undercover 

Operation (2013) and Miss Granny 

(2014). In 2017, CJ E&M also 

purchased Mars Entertainment 

Group, which operates Turkey’s 


063-066.indd 64 

3/8/18 2:17 PM

y David Pearce 

FJI Australia / New Zealand Correspondent 

DOWN UNDER 

largest cinema chain, boasting 736 

screens at 83 locations across 28 

cities. CJ E&M has made no secret 

of its plans for aggressive global 

expansion. Already the largest film 

distributor and exhibitor in South 

Korea, the company has worked to 

expand its international footprint 

and currently operates studios or 

theatre chains in several territories 

including China, Indonesia, Thailand, 

Vietnam and Russia. 

SPRINGTIME FOR CHINESE 

BOX OFFICE 

The just wrapped seven-day 

Chinese New Year, China’s most 

important national holiday period, 

has brought a new box-office record, 

raking in around CNY5.7 

billion ($902.6 bil.) in six days. This 

represented an impressive 67 percent 

increase over last year’s festival 

season, which had grossed about 

CNY3.38 billion. Theatres across 

the country accommodated an estimated 

140 million viewers since the 

second day of the official New Year. 

The first day, also known as Spring 

Festival Day, was not taken into 

account, as traditionally no blockbusters 

open on it because Chinese 

families generally stay home preparing 

for the New Year festivities. 

Director Raman Hui’s familyoriented 

fantasy film Monster Hunt 

2 was the most anticipated picture, 

breaking presale records and earning 

more than CNY300 million 

(US$47.25 million). It also owned 

its opening day on Feb. 16, smashing 

previous single-day records 

with total box-office takings of 

CNY540 million. The runner-up, director 

Chen Sicheng’s sleuth comedy 

Detective Chinatown 2, grossed 

CNY337 million that day while two 

other highly anticipated blockbusters, 

Cheang Pousoi’s The Monkey 

King 3 and Dante Lam’s Operation 

Red Sea, earned CNY162 million 

and CNY128 million, respectively. 

Contact Thomas Schmid at 

thomas.schmid@filmjournal.com. 

The Australian film industry has long had a 

benchmark figure for box office set at 10% 

of U.S. grosses, but in Australian dollars. 

Thus, if a film makes US$100 million at the box 

office, the local distributor is aiming for A$10 

million. A recent survey put the figure at closer 

to 11% but with wide fluctuations. Films that seem 

rather like American flag-waving do less well 

locally, as do films centered on American sports 

and faith-based films. Films from Britain normally 

do better than the 10% norm compared to U.S. 

box office for these films, and there are always 

films that break out here and capture the public’s 

imagination. 

The recent release of Three Billboards Outside 

Ebbing, Missouri, has been one such example. As of 

Feb. 21, the film had taken US$48.7 million at the 

U.S. box office. At 10% that would mean around A$5 

million locally, but the British movie, set in the U.S. 

has taken almost double that with A$9.4 million and 

will certainly surpass A$10 million or more, depending 

on its Oscar performance. By comparison, the 

rather pro-American gung-ho Clint Eastwood film 

The 15:17 To Paris, which was at US$25 million from 

ticket sales in the U.S. as of Feb. 21, has not gained 

the interest of local filmgoers. Locally, it opened at a 

very disappointing A$440,000 and will not make A$1 

million, well short of the A$2.5 million hoped for 

using the 10% rule. 

With the move to digital projection, the wait 

between U.S. release and Australian release has 

shortened, especially for bigger-budgeted films, 

with many now opening day-and-date, But arthouse 

and independent films often lag in their 

release dates, as distributors attempt to find 

the best date for films with smaller advertising 

budgets. Many of these arrive up to 60 days after 

a foreign release. And the resulting difference in 

competing films at release time can certainly also 

C 

affect the final box office and make international 

M 

comparisons harder. 

Y 

*** 

CM 

MY 

Outdoor cinemas operate in most Australian 

CY 

cities over the summer period, but they are at the 

CMY 

mercy of the weather. The Moonlight Cinema in 

K 

Sydney’s large Centennial Park fell victim to the 

elements on Valentine’s Day. The movie was The 

Greatest Showman and a large storm descended on 

the site, ripping out most of the screen, so that it 

hung loosely from the top and blew in the wind. 

The night’s screening was cancelled. 

*** 

Westfield is expanding their shopping center 

at Newmarket in Auckland from 30,000 square 

feet to 73,000 square feet, and including a new 

SHOWEAST-2017-AD 2.pdf 1 5/25/17 4:41 PM 

event cinema complex in the upgrade. Completion 

is set for the end of 2019. 

*** 

The musical play Daffodils has been a strong 

success on stage in New Zealand, playing at venues 

around the country. The romance is set against 

classic Kiwi songs written by Neil Finn, Dave 

Dobbyn, Chris Knox and Bic Runga and centers 

around a field of daffodils where several members 

of one family found true romance. Kiwi director 

and producer David Stubbs is about to make a 

film of the production, in what is said to be New 

Zealand’s first movie musical. Casting is now being 

finalized. 

*** 

When two women discover that they are being 

two-timed by the same man, they join together 

and form The Breaker Uperers, a group that accepts 

payment to break couples up. Executive produced 

by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), the film is 

written, directed by and stars Madeleine Sami and 

Jackie Van Beck. After a premiere at SXSW, the 

movie opens in New Zealand in May. World rights 

are currently being sold. 

Send your Australia/New Zealand news to David 

Pearce at insidemovies@hotmail.com. 

Dec. 11-13, 2018 

www.filmexpos.com/cineasia/ 


063-066.indd 65 

3/8/18 2:17 PM

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX APRIL 2018 

Arts Alliance Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Barco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 

comScore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 

Dolphin Seating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 

Eisenberg Sausage Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Enpar Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 

Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures. . . . . . . . . 1 

Fathom Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 

Franklin Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 

GDC Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 

Harkness Screens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 

Jack Roe USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 

Lightspeed Design/DepthQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 

NEC Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 68 

Proctor Companies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 

Spotlight Cinema Networks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 

St. Jude Children’s Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 

Telescopic Seating Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 

Ushio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 

Will Rogers Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 

Europe continued from page 63 

good year for a leading circuit. In 2017, Kinepolis Group posted 

9.4% higher turnover, with 6.2% more guests counting 25.3 million 

admissions, the Belgium-based exhibitor reported. “The continued 

implementation of Kinepolis’ three-pillar strategy and premium 

product innovation” helped to alleviate “a changeable and often less 

successful film program. The integration of acquired cinemas and 

realization of the intended improvement potential is going according 

to plan.” 

The rise in admissions was driven by acquired and newly opened 

cinemas in France (Rouen and Fenouillet), the Netherlands (Dordrecht, 

Breda, Utrecht) and Spain (Granada). Also adding to the tally 

are ticket sales at Canada’s Landmark Cinemas, effective Dec. 8, the 

Group noted. On Valentine’s Day, Eddy Duquenne, CEO of Kinepolis 

Group, and Bill Walker, CEO of Landmark Cinemas, launched the 

eight-screen, all-recliner multiplex at Jensen Lakes Crossing in St. 

Albert, Canada. 

At home in Belgium, the Court of Appeal made a judgment not to 

allow the decision of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) “to relax 

the behavioral measures imposed on Kinepolis” since 1997. On May 

31, prior conditions had been lifted, allowing Kinepolis Group NV to 

“open new cinemas in Belgium without prior approval” from the BCA. 

Other behavioral measures, such as the need to obtain prior approval 

for the acquisition of existing Belgian cinemas or the prohibition to 

request exclusivity or priority from film distributors, were maintained 

for another three years. According to the news release, two Belgian 

cinema groups had appealed against the May decision, with the Court 

of Appeal deeming “the reasoning of the Belgian Competition Authority 

insufficiently motivated” to cancel the building component of the 

behavioral restrictions. 

While the BCA will have to review its decision, “Kinepolis 

regrets the decision of the Court of Appeal and has confidence in the 

Belgian Competition Authority with regard to the further treatment 

of this case.” 

Chappaquiddick continued from page 19 

figure out a dialect that wasn’t distracting—but also he had that 

sort of malleable face that you sort of recognize. If you cast a big 

star in that role, it’s hard to get beyond that, whereas I think Jason 

just disappears into the role.” 

Kate Mara has the relatively brief role of the tragic Mary Jo. 

Most of the film focuses on the crisis of Kennedy conscience that 

followed her death, which was even worse than originally reported. 

The film suggests she may have remained alive underwater 

anywhere up to two hours. “There’s certainly proof from the diver 

who found her,” says Curran. “The body position suggested that she 

was holding herself up into an air pocket. It’s been corroborated 

with a couple of medical experts. The evidence was strong that 

leaned toward her suffocating rather than drowning. There wasn’t 

a lot of water in her lungs. The evidence suggested she had died of 

suffocation, which meant she ran out of air as opposed to her lungs 

filling with water. How long she was alive nobody can say. It didn’t 

appear, by all evidence, she died immediately.” 

Curran contends that the script was a tragedy that evolved into 

almost a farce. Thus, “I needed actors who could play the straight 

drama with gravity and seriousness but also had an element of 

humor to them so that I could draw on that when it was necessary.” 

Consequently, he cast two comedic actors in heavy-duty roles—Ed 

Helms as Ted’s cousin and lawyer, Joe Gargan, and Jim Gaffigan 

as the Massachusetts Attorney General, Paul Markham. “I got two 

very smart, intelligent actors,” he says. 

“Joe Gargan and his sister, Ann, had parents who died when 

they were very young. Their mother was Rose Kennedy’s sister, so 

Joseph Kennedy Sr. took them in and almost adopted them. Both 

of them grew up in the Kennedy household. Ann became almost 

the nursemaid to Joe after he was incapacitated through a stroke, 

and Joey was sort of the fix-it man for the family, an accomplished 

lawyer in his own right, but, for all intents and purposes, he was 

Ted’s buddy and guardian growing up.” 

The Chappaquiddick incident marked a parting of the ways 

for Gargan and the Kennedy clan. “He hung with the Kennedys 

through the subsequent inquest but, afterward, had a break from 

the family and remained estranged the rest of his life.” 

The performance that haunts you is Bruce Dern’s patriarch 

Joe Kennedy, an 80-year-old stroke victim four months from the 

grave. He even wins in a scene where he’s not visible (he’s the first 

person Teddy phones after the car accident, and he responds with 

emotional, guttural sounds but does manage to get out one word: 

“Alibi”). When he’s visible with the facial distortion and spittle, he’s 

award-worthy. 

“It’s a hard thing to ask of older actors,” understates Curran. 

“They just aren’t that keen on playing stroke victims and characters 

near death because that’s too close to the bone—and this is a 

character who can’t really speak. He’s got, like, three lines in the 

whole film, but Bruce was aggressively eager to play that role. He 

loved the idea that he could play it with his eyes and that he didn’t 

have to play it with words.” 

In this torrent of words and excuses and alibis, even silence can 

speak volumes. 

Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Film Journal International, P.O. Box 215, Congers, NY 10920-0215. 

Canadian Publication Mail Agreement #41450540. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: MSI, P.O. Box 2600, Mississauga, On L4T OA8. 

063-066.indd 66 

3/8/18 2:17 PM

Untitled-1 1 

3/8/18 12:48 PM

Time to replace your 

Series 1 projector? 

Upgrade to a new level. 

Experience the benefits of Laser. 

Offer an unrivaled movie experience with NEC digital cinema laser projectors! Innovative 

laser technology provides the most vibrant and spectacular chromatic reproduction for 

incredibly real scenes. Create a unique and immersive movie experience to captivate your 

audience and keep them coming back. With the lowest total cost of ownership - maximum 

reliability, maintenance-free operation, low power consumption and up to 30,000 hours 

of life with the laser light source. We help you deliver an enhanced theater experience. 

NEC offers you the best projection technology in its class - from small screens to premium 

large format (PLF) theaters - and all sizes in between! 

Save on 

operating 

costs while 

delivering an 

exceptional 

visual 

experience 

with Laser! 

NEC Display Solutions. Full theater solutions with you in mind. 

bortiz@necdisplay.com 630.467.4327 

Untitled-1 1 

2/27/18 2:37 PM

Film Journal April 2018

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?