EXCLUSIVE: Succession‘s Matthew Macfadyen is the newest addition to the cast of the Hitchcockian thriller Holland, Michigan. The Prime Video film from director Mimi Cave (Fresh) will see him star opposite Nicole Kidman and Gael García Bernal.
21.01.2023 - 06:31 / deadline.com
So far nearly all the films I have been seeing for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival are based on true stories, from a teacher in Radical to a gay single father in San Francisco circa 70’s and 80’s to Michael J. Fox as himself, and now yet another iconic character gets his story told on the big screen. World Premiering at Sundance tonight is Cassandro, a wild story of the first openly gay wrestler in the ultra macho sport of Mexico’s Lucha Libre.
Although the Lucha Libre and their outragous contingent known as the Exotico is a household name in Mexico, it is probably not well known outside of the country. That is about to change thanks to this film which represents the narrative feature film debut of Oscar winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams (Life Animated) who became fascinated with the life of famed wrestler Saul Armendariz aka Cassandro when he made a short docu on his life. Sensing this was perfect material for a theatrical movie he joined with writer David Teague to develop a script and got it to Gael Garcia Bernal who wisely said yes. This is a role rich with twists and turns and a character unlike any other on screen in quite a while. Playing a wrestler worked out well for Mickey Rourke. It ought to do the same for Bernal who grabs this part and runs with it.
Set at the Mexican/American border and El Paso, Saul is an amateur wrestler, not really going anywhere, who lands in meager roles as part of the Lucha Libre, but he can’t find his niche there, Not wanting to go the overly flamboyant route of some of the Exotico, but he needed something to stand out on the macho side of top wrestling stars like the colorful Gigantico, The Masked Massacre, El Mysterioso, and superstar El Hijo del Santo. All of the
EXCLUSIVE: Succession‘s Matthew Macfadyen is the newest addition to the cast of the Hitchcockian thriller Holland, Michigan. The Prime Video film from director Mimi Cave (Fresh) will see him star opposite Nicole Kidman and Gael García Bernal.
It looks like Amazon and Gael García Bernal will join forces again after the buzzy world premiere of “Cassandro” at Sundance last month (read The Playlist’s review here). The Hollywood Reporter reports that Bernal joins Nicole Kidman for the upcoming Prime Video thriller “Holland, Michigan.” “Fresh” director Mimi Cave helms the project.
The Sundance Film Festival returned to Park City after a two-year virtual hiatus and that means the in-person awards ceremony returned as well. Well, sorta.
The Sundance Film Festival has begun unveiling its Jury and Audience Award winners for 2023.
Winter runway! Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway and more stars took over Sundance Film Festival 2023 — and made the event all about their stylish ensembles.
There is so much to appreciate about A.V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One. The film chronicles the lives of native New Yorkers from 1994-2005, which was a period of transition in NYC. The atmosphere began to change, as stop and frisk was over-utilized, gentrification was displacing the people of Harlem at rapid speed, and the culture of the city gave way to sterilization. Now there are even fewer resources available, the wage gap is beyond repair and it’s unaffordable. Rockwell drew inspiration from this and created a coming-of-age story about finding an identity and chosen family.
Theater Camp is a hilarious film by first time directors Molly Gordon (Booksmart), and Nick Lieberman. This was a collaborative effort between friends as it’s written by Molly Gordon, Ben Platt, Nick Lieberman, and Noah Galvin. You can tell this is a labor of love because while it’s kooky, it’s full of vulnerability and earnestness.
The Persian Version, directed and written by Maryam Keshvarz stars Layla Mohammadi, and Niousha Noor as a mother and daughter at odds with one another.
EXCLUSIVE: Nielsen, the audience measurement, data and analytics organization unveiled today the findings of their case studies on Native content at a panel discussion in the Indigenous House at Sundance Film Festival, presented by , the Native woman-led social justice organization dedicated to building visibility and representation for Native peoples.
Written and directed by Nida Manzoor, Polite Society stars Priya Kansara (Bridgerton), Ritu Arya (Umbrella Academy) and Nimra Bucha (Disney+ Ms. Marvel). The Focus Features movie had its world premiere Friday in the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival.
Magazine Dreams is a drama and second feature directed by Elijah Bynum, which stars Jonathan Majors, Haley Bennett, Taylor Paige, and Harrison Page
PARK CITY – If someone were to tell you an out-and-proud wrestler in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s Lucha libra scene became not only a title holder but a public sensation you might not believe it. A gay wrestler? In “macho” Mexico, no less? Even in the U.S., the first WWE publicly gay wrestler didn’t arrive on the scene until 2012.