Martin Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON nominated for 10 Oscars!
Best Picture; Martin Scorsese for Best Director
Lily Gladstone for Best Actress in a Leading Role; Robert De Niro for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto); Best Costume Design (Jacqueline West)
Best Editing (Thelma Schoonmaker); Best Production Design (Jack Fisk)
Best Original Score  (Robbie Robertson); “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” for Best Original Song

Killers now streaming on AppleTV • 2024 Oscars are doled out Sunday March 10

See all Nominations HERE

Photo by Lauren Desberg
@laurentakespix

Snapshots from Park City Jan 19-21:
(top left) Fessenden with the original Slamdance OGs: Paul Rachman, Peter Baxter, Dan Mirvish
(top right) Fessenden and son (bottom left) James Le Gros & Fessendens at premier of GOOD ONE.
(bottom right) Woodstock Film Fest’s Meira Blaustein and Gigantic Pictures honcho Brian Devine.

By Michael Talbot-Haynes

SLAMDANCE 2024 FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW! Heaven is a moving target that drug addicts try to hit with a spike in the gritty noir-tinged drama Bliss, directed by Joe Maggio.

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Bliss, which Maggio wrote with actors Jordan and Amadeus, is billed as the second film in a trilogy. The first installment is Maggio’s Virgil Bliss from 2001, also starring Jordan as the same character. It is absolutely not necessary to see the 23-year-old’s first film to totally get hooked on Bliss. Maggio strikes the perfect steel guitar chord of the Call of the West. Its tonal landscape has an intravenous Sam Shepherd feel, with people rolling like tumbleweeds off the end of the Earth.

The stark beauty of the desert enshrouds everything, thanks to the cinematography of Harlan Bosmajian. At one point, Amy says this little patch of paradise is heaven on earth right after the dope hit her system. The brilliant location shots build a barren Eden of narcotic isolation. The score composed by Sam Bisbee weaves into the imagery a throbbing field of energy, with each note exactly what is needed—also, a big shout out to Katie Mills dead on target costume design. The authenticity of the wardrobe worn at the world’s edge is awe-inspiring, as real as rust on a fender. You feel like you are slowly fading away with the characters onscreen into the deafening silence. Oh, and the lead singer of Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid, David Yow, has a cameo as a Pizza Boy. How fun is that?

The big picture for Bliss is that it is crafted as a drama. However, it has the black blood of film noir running through its veins. This keeps things very lively while we make our way to the emotional crescendos. The issues of hiding the corpse are dark enough, but the picture takes a surprisingly deep, dark dive in the middle. Also included are the noir gold standard visuals, such as the Venetian blind shadows. My favorite eerie imagery was the amazingly dark feel of the hazy images of a woman’s silhouette that is put to use. I am also impressed by how seamlessly the noir thriller elements meld with the serious character drama. But that is the future for you. 

At this point noir is not just normal, it is also everywhere. The opioid epidemic ushered in a new era of noir, where thousands were turned into outlaw couples on the run. This feeling of floating desperation is perfectly shown through Jordan’s performance. He does a masterful job of hiding from his demons until they eat him raw, and he makes sure you feel every sore inch of it. I really want to go back to the first movie to see how he started off as Virgil, as he totally breathes through him. Amadeus is a wonder in her dual role as the two sisters. She radiates respect for them when she is inside both, while a lesser actress would have ridiculed along the faults. The performances press the plunger down to the hilt with this film. Bliss guides you to strange emotional haystacks that you would not expect to find hidden in all the needles. 

Read whole review at Filmthreat.com

PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 19: (L-R) Clint Jordan, Joe Maggio, Faryl Amadeus
attend the Slamdance Film Festival at Yarrow Hotel Theater on January 19, 2024 in Park City, Utah.

PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 19: (L-R) Clint Jordan, Joe Maggio, Faryl Amadeus, Paula Killen, and Larry Fessenden attend the Slamdance Film Festival at Yarrow Hotel Theater on January 19, 2024 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

THE DEMONATRIX; written and directed by GEP pal Aurelio Voltaire and Jeff Ferrell.
Cast includes Hannah Fierman (V/H/S, Siren, Creepshow TV series) 
and Fessenden, more to be announced!

A dominatrix unwittingly summons an incubus demon and
joins forces with a priest to defeat it.

Contribute to the project today and be part of the making of THE DEMONATRIX.

TBT 2015: Fessenden behind the scenes of UNTIL DAWN,
using Mo-Cap technology for his cameo as Flamethrower Guy.

Be on the lookout for the UNTIL DAWN film adaptation, just announced!
Based on the hit video game penned by GEP pal Graham Reznick and Fessenden.

The False Start River of Grass Planted the Seeds of Kelly Reichardt’s Career

From Alex Lei at SLANT:

The case is sometimes made that 1994 is the “The Greatest Year in Film History.” It’s in no small part due to the preeminence of a number of IMDb Top 250 list-toppers like The Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction. While largely a pedestrian collection, the latter’s reputation is essential in cementing a memory of the ‘90s as a decade of cinematic “independence.” As every year does, 1994 started with Sundance. There were a couple notable debuts: Kevin Smith launched promisingly onto the scene with Clerks, character actor Tom Noonan won the whole show with his directorial debut What Happened Was… and, unfortunately, David O. Russell also competed with his first feature Spanking the Monkey. Most oddly of all though is the first film by someone not often associated with the ‘90s indie film boom: Kelly Reichardt. Her debut River of Grass not only played in the main competition at Sundance, but garnered three Independent Spirit Awards nominations—on top of Reichardt being awarded “Someone to Watch.” While Smith and O. Russell would go on to rapidly climb the early Indiewood ladder, Reichardt faded into obscurity for years after her second feature failed to get off the ground. Yet, 30 years on, River of Grass has more to offer than was apparent at its premiere. It gives us a glimpse at Reichardt’s latent prowess and opens a window to how much Reichardt changed as an artist through her hiatus.
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Unlike those later films, River of Grass is also shocking for its stylistic predeparture, with its jazzy, almost New Wave Godardian editing (done by Fessenden) lying in stark contrast to the textured realism Reichardt has become known for. Languid images of lazing about can be interrupted by fast, poppy editing or drumming hi-hats. A bar robbery is presented in rhythmic shot/reverse shot. A revolver firing is pushed almost to abstraction, like when Jean-Paul Belmondo guns down the bike cop in Breathless. It’s almost like the work of a different filmmaker. 
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It has always been an uphill battle to get any of her films off the ground in an industry as apparently indifferent to art as the worlds her characters inhabit are to them. The false start of her career with River of Grass was no doubt discouraging, and saw Reichardt re-emerge over a decade later as an ostensibly different kind of filmmaker, but the seeds of what make her one of America’s best were there from the beginning.

Read full article at SLANT

Sharing this moment with fans and collaborators Nelson Bakerman (photos), Brian Spears and Peter Gerner (makeup), Barbara Crampton, Ti West, Jim Mickle, Jenn Wexler (contributors) Asta Paredes, Clay von Carlowitz, (actor victims), Alex Hurt (actor and wolfman) John Mitchell, James Siewert (painters) and of course, Fangoria (Phil Nobile Jr. and Michael Gingold)

get your copy at your favorite brick and mortar store today!
Also Featured in the issue,
GEP pals Jenn Wexler, Clay McCleod Chapman, The Adams Family and more!