Ti West’s MAXXXINE opens TODAY

By Jeannette Catsoulis

With a framing device reminiscent of Tom Holland’s “Fright Night” and a hyperactive score, “The Roost” is a minimalist horror movie with more ambition than resources. Lovingly written and directed by Ti West, a novice filmmaker drunk on splatter and decomposing flesh, the movie treads a well-worn path as four friends (Karl Jacob, Sean Reid and real-life siblings Wil and Vanessa Horneff) find themselves stranded at a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. There are bats in the barn, zombies under the floorboards and more agitated strings on the soundtrack than on a Celine Dion album. But the rules of the genre are clear: form a line and prepare to be slaughtered. Though the premise is rough, and the acting rougher — most members of the cast improve enormously as soon as gore is substituted for dialogue — “The Roost” proceeds with such youthful enthusiasm that its rawness is more charming than annoying. (Less appealing are the television-friendly breaks that halt the action at crucial moments.) Creatively shot and framed by the cinematographer Eric Robbins, who constructs gorgeously lighted centerpieces surrounded by strips of menacing black, the movie almost overcomes its low budget and threadbare plot. Almost.

Read at The New York Times

From the review by By Jeannette Catsoulis:

“MaXXXine” clearly demonstrates West’s boundless flair for a sleazy image and his commitment to depicting the insistent tug between puritanism and pornography. Wise to the sexism of the industry, he shows its consequence in the growing ruthlessness of Maxine’s ambition. As the soundtrack grinds out Frankie Goes to Hollywood and ZZ Top, West and his skilled cinematographer, Eliot Rockett, emulate the tacky aesthetics of the sexed-up ‘B’-thrillers that proliferated at the time, painting a classy glaze around the movie’s trashy heart. Making inspired use of a deglamorized Hollywood Boulevard and the back lot of Universal Studios, Rockett ensures that his cool tracking shots and throbbing, almost slimy blobs of neon and shadow are as essential to Maxine’s story as any line of dialogue.

Goth is, as usual, sublime. In “Pearl,” she played a fresh-faced ingénue whose dashed dreams curdle into insanity, and we wonder if Maxine is on the same path. Especially when we recall the Bette Davis quotation that West plants early in “MaXXXine”: “Until you’re known in my profession as a monster, you’re not a star.” Building on its predecessors, “MaXXXine” is telling us that the real monster is not a knife-wielding nutjob, but ambition itself.

read full review at The New York Times

From Bloody Disgusting: Chris Skotchdopole wrote and directed Crumb Catcher, with story by Skotchdopole, Larry Fessenden, Rigo Garay, and Doppelgänger Releasing will unleash the film in select theaters on July 19, 2024.

In Crumb Catcher, “Newlyweds Shane and Leah have their marriage tested when two weirdos with entrepreneurial zeal and a half-baked blackmail plot crash their honeymoon — they’re looking for investors for their latest invention and won’t take no for an answer.”

Rigo Garay, Ella Rae Peck, Lorraine Farris, and John Speredakos star in the home invasion horror movie that premiered at last year’s Fantastic Fest. Producers include Chadd Harbold, Larry Fessenden, Brian Devine, Bonnie Timmermann, and James W. Skotchdopole.

Go to Bloody Disgusting for the full scoop!

from the article by Amy Nicholson

…

“It’s a weird thing to point a camera at if you’re not making ‘Psycho,’” says West, 43, as he heads farther into the darkness, lighted only by a handful of eerie red lanterns. He calls his trilogy “movie-flavored movies” — artifice and dreams are the top notes. “X” is about scrappy strivers trying to break into the business; “Pearl,” about the dangers of buying into the fantasies onscreen. “MaXXXine,” the highest-profile film of West’s career, wrestles with accepting that Hollywood isn’t quite what one hopes.

“He was ready to deal with this kind of scale, and it’s definitely something he was hungry for,” Goth says, chiming in over Zoom. In addition to playing multiple roles across this mini-franchise, Goth co-wrote “Pearl” and executive-produced the last two films. “We just kind of manifested it,” she continues, “built this entire trilogy into existence. And it’s been incredible to see it unfold.”

West, however, tends to be scrupulously anti-hype. “It is not lost on me that there is a meta thing happening with these movies and me and Mia, and that’s gratifying and strange,” he says. “And it’s also something that we’ve never taken any time to stop and talk about. We were too busy making movies.”

While the marketing team at A24 is all in on “MaXXXine” — “I’ve never had a billboard before,” the director beams — West has been a legitimate filmmaker for well over a decade. His resume of well-regarded independent movies includes the 2016 cowboy vengeance drama “In a Valley of Violence” with Ethan Hawke and John Travolta, plus a string of festival hits like 2009’s “The House of the Devil,” which disposed of a pre-celeb Greta Gerwig early on in a marvelously nasty Hitchcock-esque shock.

…

West spent his youth in Wilmington, Del., renting five VHS tapes for $5 on Fridays at his local video store. One weekend, he rented “Habit,” a grungy but brilliant microbudget vampire flick made by filmmaker Larry Fessenden. Shortly after, he moved to New York and took a film class taught by director Kelly Reichardt, who’d played a cameo in the film. Reichardt introduced the two and Fessenden became West’s mentor, eventually producing his debut feature, “The Roost,” shot exactly 20 years ago with more moxie than money.

Read full profile at The Los Angeles Times

MAXXINE (director Ti West) opens July 5
She’s a star. After Pearl‘s detour into the past, MaXXXine resumes the story of final girl Maxine Minx (Mia Goth) years after the bloody events of X. More dead-set (pun intended) on fame and fortune than ever, Maxine carves out a name for herself in the 1980s adult film industry. Simultaneously, the Night Stalker serial killer haunts Los Angeles. An all-star cast joins Goth for this third installment, including Emmy Award-winner Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Kevin Bacon, Giancarlo Esposito, Michelle Monaghan, Lily Collins, and Grammy Award-nominee Halsey.

Created by numerous GEP alums Ti West, Jacob Jaffke, Peter Phok, Eliot Rocket, Neal Jonas; Featuring Fessenden as “the guard”

CRUMB CATCHER (director Chris Skotchdopole) opens July 19

CRUMB CATCHER (director Chris Skotchdopole) Opens July 19
What happens when your wedding isn’t the happiest day of your life? Ask newlyweds Shane (Rigo Garay) and Leah (Ella Rae Peck), who barely have time to enjoy their honeymoon before an elderly married couple, John (John Speredakos) and Rose (Lorraine Farris), invade their remote cabin. After decades of entrepreneurial failure, the latter pair plan to fund their dreams through blackmail. Crumb Catcher is director Chris Skotchdopole‘s debut, who co-wrote the screenplay with Larry Fessenden and star Garay.

a Glass Eye Pix production created by numerous GEP pals.

read full preview at Collider.com

CRUMB CATCHER features GEP stalwarts Rigo Garay and John Speredakos,
BLACKOUT’s Ella Rae Peck and Lorraine Farris.
A Gigantic Pictures presentation of a Glass Eye Pix production
distributed by Doppelganger.

COMING SOON!

First-time director Chris Skotchdopole is putting a new spin on the home invasion thrillerwith his debut feature Crumb Catcher. Premiered at Fantastic Fest last year, the film follows a pair of uneasy newlyweds whose honeymoon is crashed by two strangers hawking their latest invention, the titular Crumb Catcher. They have no intention of leaving until they get their money and quickly overstay their welcome in an uncomfortable and deeply troubling visit. Collider is excited to share the official trailer for the film, which teases their cringe-inducing attempts at selling the invention and the deeper horror behind their arrival…

Read More at Collider.com

from comingsoon.net

Second Sight Films has revealed it’s putting out a You’re Next 4K UHD Blu-ray release soon for Adam Wingard’s 2011 home invasion horror movie.

You’re Next is directed by Adam Wingard (Blair Witch, Godzilla x Kong) and written by Simon Barrett (The Guest). It stars Sharni Vinson (Step Up 3D), Nicholas Tucci (Faults), Wendy Glenn (11-11-11), AJ Bowen (The House of the Devil), Joe Swanberg (VHS), Ti West (the director of MaXXXine), Larry Fessenden (Brooklyn 45), and Barbara Crampton (Re-Animator).

Special Features 

• New 4K restoration and HDR Dolby Vision grade approved by Director Adam Wingard
• Dual format edition including both UHD and Blu-ray with main feature and bonus features on both discs
• New audio commentary with Director Adam Wingard and Writer Simon Barrett
• Audio commentary with Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, Sharni Vinson and Barbara Crampton
• Children of the 80s: A new interview with Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett
• The Most of Us: A new interview with Producers Keith Calder and Jess Wu Calder
• Script as a Blueprint: A new interview with Actor AJ Bowen
• Down in the Basement: A new interview with Actor Joe Swanberg
• Be Funny and Die: A new interview with Actor Amy Seimetz
• Falling into Place: A new interview with Production Designer Tom Hammock
• Slashers Don’t Die: Tim Coleman on You’re Next
• Who’s Next? The Making of You’re Next
• Animated Storyboards

Limited Edition Contents

• Rigid slipcase with new artwork by 
• 120-page book with new essays by Martyn Conterio, Andrew Graves, Kurt Halfyard, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Shelagh Rowan-Legg and Heather Wixson
• 6 collectors’ art cards

Hooray for Physical Media!!!

Fessenden with GEP alums Ti West and Jacob Jaffke, trying to maintain order.

GEP composer (BENEATH, DEPRAVED, BLACKOUT, WHITE TRASH, WILD RIDE) interviewed in Little Black Book:

Thinking in Sound: Will Bates on Searching for the ‘Eureka Moment’

LBB> Who are your musical or audio heroes and why?

Will> When I was 6 years old I sang the entire score of Star Wars to my parents. They promptly went out and bought me a violin which I then tortured them with until I was given a saxophone. So John Williams has a lot to answer for. When I first understood that one person had written all those melodies I was humming I realised that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up.

The first record I bought was Ennio Morricone’s score to The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. It’s become so ingrained in our pop culture, but to imagine that one person could combine all those colours and have them actually make sense is still amazing to me.

I adore Miles Davis. His constant re-invention, his use of negative space, his collaborations with Gil Evans are a huge inspiration. Again, all those amazing colours. Vangelis’ score to Bladerunner started an obsession with analogue synths, as well as listening to a lot of early Prodigy records and other house and techno of the late 90s that left its mark on me.

LBB> And when it comes to your particular field, whether sound design or composing, are there any particular ideas or pioneers that you go back to frequently or who really influence your thinking about the work you do?

Will> My wife is a painter. And she shares this work ethic from Francis Bacon, that there is no true lightening bolt of inspiration. That moment only comes from regular work, and honing the craft through discipline is a route to true creativity. I think Brian Eno has a similar work ethic. And it doesn’t mean it can’t be fun and deeply rewarding, but I try to structure my work days with a similar attitude. 

Read full article at Little Black Book