Dan Gilroy’s satirical contemporary art world thriller “Velvet Buzzsaw” will be available to Netflix subscribers worldwide this Friday, but he and his team gave audiences at the Sundance Film Festival a sneak peek at the film Sunday night where the most-common word used to praise it was “weird.”

“Dan is crazy,” Rene Russo, who is married to Gilroy, said in Park City, Utah. “He’s got this crazy imagination and he’s just kind of outside the box.” 

The film reunites Gilroy with Jake Gyllenhaal, who starred in his directorial debut “Nightcrawler.” That dark thriller about an ambulance chasing journalist went on to become a box office hit and, so, when Gilroy landed on the idea for “Velvet Buzzsaw,” which would star Gyllenhaal as a snobby critic and Russo as a savvy gallery owner and art dealer, there were a lot of film studios who wanted to put their name behind it. Netflix was one of them. 

Gilroy was unsure at first about Netflix, though, so he started reading a little more about the company. He came across a quote where someone said that Netflix was going to destroy the theatrical experience, but following it were 50 comments about how that person must live in New York or Los Angeles or Chicago where, “You can see everything.” 

”I suddenly thought, wow, democratization,” Gilroy said. “It is an elitist point of view to think that everybody in the world has access to the things that New York, LA and Chicago have. That really was the deciding factor. If you really want to reach the widest possible audience, here’s this technology that can do this … And what is the theatrical experience? 500 people in a theater? 100? Does 50 count? Does four people on a Friday night on my 50-inch widescreen count? It does to me.” 

Films that defy genre

Producer Jennifer Fox, who has been behind films like “Michael Clayton,” said Netflix made it, “At a level that it should have been made at. They got it. And it’s really out there.” 

Out there is right, for the ensemble film that co-stars John Malkovich, Toni Collette, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen and relative newcomer Zawe Ashton in which the discovery of a dead artist’s works ends up taking its own body count. But that’s Gilroy’s operating mode for his own films which aren’t bound by traditional genre or constraints. 

It’s why “Velvet Buzzsaw” is about everything — the pretentiousness of the contemporary art world, the fluidity of criticism and even sexuality, and, you know, a demon art spirit out for blood. 

“If I follow one rule in any form of entertainment it is, ‘Do Not Bore.’ You cannot bore,” Gilroy said. “My (playwright) father pounded that into my head.”

‘Fearless’ actor​

Gilroy wrote the critic character Morf, who is as fluid in his sexuality as he is in his art opinions, specifically for Gyllenhaal who he said is, “One of the most fearless actors alive right now.” 

“He’s always pushing himself with the craziest ideas that often end up in the movie,” Gilroy said. “I like working with people who want to take a sledgehammer to all this and Jake is that person.” 

The feeling is mutual for Gyllenhaal who said their connection is, “Sort of inexplicable.” 

Netflix believer

“But I’m not asking any questions about it,” Gyllenhaal said. “I just show up when he asks.” 

After the “Velvet Buzzsaw” experience, Gilroy himself is a Netflix believer. 

“I couldn’t speak highly enough about Netflix. The traditional studios in some way have created Netflix. The traditional studios have gone from making a broad range of films to doing branded IP and franchises and it has left a void for original, range of films to get made,” Gilroy said. “And Netflix is making them en masse and it’s a very exciting time. I think history is being written right now.” 

 
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“You Oughta Know” Alanis Morissette is coming to Broadway.

The singer-songwriter has allowed songs from her 1995 breakthrough album “Jagged Little Pill” to be used in a new musical and producers plan to land it on Broadway this fall. “You Oughta Know” was a song on that Grammy-winning album.

“Jagged Little Pill” played the American Repertory Theater last summer. It’s directed by Diane Paulus and has an original story by Diablo Cody, who wrote “Juno.”

Morissette wrote the album with Glen Ballard, who collaborated with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics on the music for “Ghost: The Musical.”

Morissette joins a glut of pop and rock stars to try their hand at Broadway, including Bruce Springsteen, Sting, The Go-Go’s, Sara Bareilles, Billy Joel and Cyndi Lauper.
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“You Oughta Know” Alanis Morissette is coming to Broadway.

The singer-songwriter has allowed songs from her 1995 breakthrough album “Jagged Little Pill” to be used in a new musical and producers plan to land it on Broadway this fall. “You Oughta Know” was a song on that Grammy-winning album.

“Jagged Little Pill” played the American Repertory Theater last summer. It’s directed by Diane Paulus and has an original story by Diablo Cody, who wrote “Juno.”

Morissette wrote the album with Glen Ballard, who collaborated with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics on the music for “Ghost: The Musical.”

Morissette joins a glut of pop and rock stars to try their hand at Broadway, including Bruce Springsteen, Sting, The Go-Go’s, Sara Bareilles, Billy Joel and Cyndi Lauper.
…

The family of Michael Jackson on Monday described reaction to a new documentary about alleged child sex abuse by the late singer as a “public lynching” and said he was “100 percent innocent” of such accusations.

The statement followed the premiere at the Sundance film festival on Friday of “Leaving Neverland,” in which two men, now in their 30s, say they were befriended by the “Thriller” singer and sexually abused by him starting from when they were 7 and 10 years old.

The documentary received a standing ovation at Sundance on Friday, Variety and other entertainment media reported. It will be shown on cable channel HBO and Britain’s Channel 4 television network this spring.

Jackson, who died in 2009, was acquitted at a 2005 criminal trial in California on charges of molesting a different, 13-year-old boy, at his Neverland ranch. The singer is survived by his mother Katherine and nine siblings, four of whom were members of pop group “The Jackson 5.”

Referring to Jackson as “our brother and son,” Monday’s statement said the family was “furious that the media, who without a shred of proof or single piece of physical evidence, chose to believe the word of two admitted liars over the word of hundreds of families and friends around the world who spent time with Michael, many at Neverland, and experienced his legendary kindness and global generosity.”

“We can’t just stand by while this public lynching goes on,” the statement added.

“Leaving Neverland” features on camera interviews with Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who describe their relationships with Jackson in graphic detail and said that as young boys they loved the singer.

Variety in its review called the four-hour documentary “devastating.” Rolling Stone said it left the audience at the Sundance festival in Utah “completely shellshocked.”

Both Robson and Safechuck filed lawsuits against the Jackson estate alleging sexual misconduct after the singer’s death and both cases were dismissed. Robson had testified at Jackson’s 2005 trial in the singer’s defense.

The Michael Jackson estate has also criticized “Leaving Neverland,” releasing a statement that called it “blatantly one-sided” and lacking independent voices.

Director Dan Reed has said he had no question about the validity of the stories of the two men.

“If there’s anything we’ve learned during this time in our history, it’s that sexual abuse is complicated, and survivors” voices need to be listened to,” he said in a statement earlier this month.

Jackson’s death at age 50 of an overdose of an anesthetic he used as a sleep aid triggered a surge in record sales.

According to an annual Forbes survey, Jackson has been the top earning dead celebrity for the past six years with ventures that include television specials, record sales, and a Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show.
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The family of Michael Jackson on Monday described reaction to a new documentary about alleged child sex abuse by the late singer as a “public lynching” and said he was “100 percent innocent” of such accusations.

The statement followed the premiere at the Sundance film festival on Friday of “Leaving Neverland,” in which two men, now in their 30s, say they were befriended by the “Thriller” singer and sexually abused by him starting from when they were 7 and 10 years old.

The documentary received a standing ovation at Sundance on Friday, Variety and other entertainment media reported. It will be shown on cable channel HBO and Britain’s Channel 4 television network this spring.

Jackson, who died in 2009, was acquitted at a 2005 criminal trial in California on charges of molesting a different, 13-year-old boy, at his Neverland ranch. The singer is survived by his mother Katherine and nine siblings, four of whom were members of pop group “The Jackson 5.”

Referring to Jackson as “our brother and son,” Monday’s statement said the family was “furious that the media, who without a shred of proof or single piece of physical evidence, chose to believe the word of two admitted liars over the word of hundreds of families and friends around the world who spent time with Michael, many at Neverland, and experienced his legendary kindness and global generosity.”

“We can’t just stand by while this public lynching goes on,” the statement added.

“Leaving Neverland” features on camera interviews with Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who describe their relationships with Jackson in graphic detail and said that as young boys they loved the singer.

Variety in its review called the four-hour documentary “devastating.” Rolling Stone said it left the audience at the Sundance festival in Utah “completely shellshocked.”

Both Robson and Safechuck filed lawsuits against the Jackson estate alleging sexual misconduct after the singer’s death and both cases were dismissed. Robson had testified at Jackson’s 2005 trial in the singer’s defense.

The Michael Jackson estate has also criticized “Leaving Neverland,” releasing a statement that called it “blatantly one-sided” and lacking independent voices.

Director Dan Reed has said he had no question about the validity of the stories of the two men.

“If there’s anything we’ve learned during this time in our history, it’s that sexual abuse is complicated, and survivors” voices need to be listened to,” he said in a statement earlier this month.

Jackson’s death at age 50 of an overdose of an anesthetic he used as a sleep aid triggered a surge in record sales.

According to an annual Forbes survey, Jackson has been the top earning dead celebrity for the past six years with ventures that include television specials, record sales, and a Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show.
…

Sarah Jessica Parker and Jeff Bridges are bringing a couple of famed characters back to life for a charity in a new Super Bowl commercial.

Parker will reprise her Sex and the City Carrie Bradshaw role and Bridges will appear as “The Dude” in a Stella Artois commercial to raise money to combat water shortage. The 45-second ad launches Monday and will be televised during Super Bowl 53 on Feb. 3.

“There will be a lot of men drinking during the Super Bowl, so why not buy some beer that’ll do some good for the planet and the world,” Bridges said in an interview with The Associated Press before shooting the ad.

The Pour It Forward campaign is an initiative between the beer brand and Water.org, co-founded by actor Matt Damon. Both will donate between one to 12 months of clean water to someone in an underdeveloped country based on the amount of Stella Artois packs bought.

Bridges said there’s a “tremendous need” for the initiative, while Parker called the campaign an “important and potentially impactful effort.”

Parker starred as the fashionable Bradshaw on the hit television series Sex in the City. Bridges is known as the nonchalant, knit-sweater-wearing character Jeffrey “The Dude” from the cult classic film The Big Lebowski.

Parker said she and Bridges enjoyed having their characters meet up.

In the commercial, the two separately order the beer instead of their favorite drink and end up sitting next to each other. Bradshaw prefers a Cosmopolitan cocktail, while The Dude’s usual is a White Russian cocktail.

“I really like the way they created this world,” said Parker, who said she doesn’t expect to play Bradshaw in Sex and the City anytime soon. “It’s allowing this sort of a familiarity. People associate those characters without us literally playing them.”
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Sarah Jessica Parker and Jeff Bridges are bringing a couple of famed characters back to life for a charity in a new Super Bowl commercial.

Parker will reprise her Sex and the City Carrie Bradshaw role and Bridges will appear as “The Dude” in a Stella Artois commercial to raise money to combat water shortage. The 45-second ad launches Monday and will be televised during Super Bowl 53 on Feb. 3.

“There will be a lot of men drinking during the Super Bowl, so why not buy some beer that’ll do some good for the planet and the world,” Bridges said in an interview with The Associated Press before shooting the ad.

The Pour It Forward campaign is an initiative between the beer brand and Water.org, co-founded by actor Matt Damon. Both will donate between one to 12 months of clean water to someone in an underdeveloped country based on the amount of Stella Artois packs bought.

Bridges said there’s a “tremendous need” for the initiative, while Parker called the campaign an “important and potentially impactful effort.”

Parker starred as the fashionable Bradshaw on the hit television series Sex in the City. Bridges is known as the nonchalant, knit-sweater-wearing character Jeffrey “The Dude” from the cult classic film The Big Lebowski.

Parker said she and Bridges enjoyed having their characters meet up.

In the commercial, the two separately order the beer instead of their favorite drink and end up sitting next to each other. Bradshaw prefers a Cosmopolitan cocktail, while The Dude’s usual is a White Russian cocktail.

“I really like the way they created this world,” said Parker, who said she doesn’t expect to play Bradshaw in Sex and the City anytime soon. “It’s allowing this sort of a familiarity. People associate those characters without us literally playing them.”
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