The Arkansas Cinema Society and the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts has announced that writer-director Jeff Nichols will be bringing his new movie “The Bikeriders” to Filmland 2023. A live Q+A with the filmmaker will immediately follow the screening. Hot off of its August 31st world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival, the star-studded American drama will screen for Filmland attendees on Sunday, October 15th. “The Bikeriders” opens in theaters nationwide on December 1st by 20th Century Studios.

Here’s more from the Arkansas Cinema Society’s official press release…

LITTLE ROCK, Oct. 15, 2023 – SAVE THE DATE!!!! Fresh off of its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival, Jeff Nichols marks a triumphant return with his latest work, “The Bikeriders”. Don’t miss what Variety calls “pure Americana” and a “luscious period drama” when the Arkansas Cinema Society and the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts host a special pre-release presentation of the film on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. Jeff will attend the event and participate in a Q+A following the film.

Drew Taylor from The Wrap spoke with Jeff about The Bikeriders, the Arkansas Cinema Society and Filmland! Read this exclusive interview, hot-off-the-press, here!

“We launched ACS as a platform for Arkansas filmmakers to showcase their work so it’s an honor to bring my latest work to Filmland at the new Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts for one of the first screenings in the U.S.,” Jeff said. “The Bikeriders is a story that’s very personal to me and has been with me since my brother first gave me the book of Danny Lyon’s photographs. I can’t wait to share this one with all of my friends and family back home—see you in October.”

GET READY FOR TWO WEEKENDS OF FILMLAND!

We’ve got Filmland: Arkansas on Oct. 6-7th and Filmland 2023 taking place Oct. 13-17th at AMFA, located at 501 E. Ninth St. in Little Rock. ACS has added the extra dates to welcome Jeff home for this special screening of The Bikeriders and other top films coming you can’t see anywhere else! So, if The Hollywood Reporter is right and Jodie Comer snags an Oscar nomination for this one, you can tell your friends, “I saw it at Filmland first!”

Tickets go on sale in the coming weeks.  Visit filmland.org for more info.

Filmland is made possible by ACS Premiere Sponsor – the Tyson Family Foundation; Presenting Sponsors – Courtyard by Marriott–Little Rock Downtown and the Rahman Family Fund; and Executive Producer Sponsors – City of Little Rock, The Arkansas Arts Council, Slim Chickens, The Stella Boyle Smith Trust, and Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau.

About “The Bikeriders”

From writer-director Jeff Nichols (Loving, Midnight Special, Mud), 20th Century Studios and New Regency, The Bikeriders is a furious drama following the rise of a fictional 1960s Midwestern motorcycle club through the lives of its members, starring Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, The Last Duel), Austin Butler (Elvis) and Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant).
 
Inspired by Danny Lyon’s iconic book of photography, The Bikeriders immerses you in the look, feel, and sounds of the bare-knuckled, grease-covered subculture of ’60s motorcycle riders. Kathy (Comer), a strong-willed member of the Vandals who’s married to a wild, reckless bikerider named Benny (Butler), recounts the Vandals’ evolution over the course of a decade, beginning as a local club of outsiders united by good times, rumbling bikes, and respect for their strong, steady leader Johnny (Hardy). Over the years, Kathy tries her best to navigate her husband’s untamed nature and his allegiance to Johnny, with whom she feels she must compete for Benny’s attention. As life in the Vandals gets more dangerous, and the club threatens to become a more sinister gang, Kathy, Benny and Johnny are forced to make choices about their loyalty to the club and to each other.
 
The cast, most of whom did their own riding on an array of period-correct bikes, also includes Michael Shannon (Bullet Train), Mike Faist (West Side Story), Boyd Holbrook (Logan) and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead). Sarah Green, p.g.a., Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, p.g.a. and Arnon Milchan are the producers. Yariv Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Sam Hanson, David Kern and Fred Berger are the executive producers.

About Jeff Nichols

Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Jeff Nichols is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts’ School of Filmmaking. Nichols wrote and directed the internationally acclaimed features Shotgun Stories, Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special, and Loving. His films have won numerous awards at festivals around the world. In 2022, he served as a juror for the Cannes International Film Festival. He currently resides in Austin, Texas.

Finally! 20th Century Studios has given us the official trailer to one of my most anticipated movies from one of my very favorite filmmakers. “The Bikeriders” sees writer and director Jeff Nichols (“Take Shelter”, Mud”, “Loving”) assembling a stellar cast that includes Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Mike Faist, Norman Reedus, Boyd Holbrook, and Nichols favorite Michael Shannon. How can you not be excited with that kind of talent in front and behind the camera.

Set in the 1960s, the movie features Comer’s Kathy recounting her days with a biker gang known as the Vandals. During that time she fell in love with a young hellion named Benny (Butler) but soon found herself at odds with Benny’s older brother, Johnny (Hardy), the leader of the Vandals. The trailer teases us with a gripping and ultimately violent story carved out of the 1960s biker culture. This looks great!

“The Bikeriders” wheels into theaters on December 1st. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

A good reader reminded me that I had let the new trailer for “Ferrari” slip by me. With the festival circuit churning out new surprises nearly every day and awards season right around the corner, studios are hitting us with one exciting first-look after another. Among them is indeed “Ferrari”, the long awaited next film from director Michael Mann (“Thief”, “The Last of the Mohicans”, “Heat”). The biographical drama/thriller is fresh off its premiere at the Venice International Film Festival and is set release this holiday.

Based on the 1991 biography “Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine” by Brock Yates, the movie sees Adam Driver playing the titular Italian race car driver and entrepreneur. It features the prestigious Mille Miglia race and the tragedy that occurred during its 1957 run. Judging from the new trailer, it looks like Mann will be showing the reverberations from that terrible accident, both professional and personal. Penelope Cruz portrays Ferrari’s wife Laura while Shailene Woodley plays his mistress, Lina. This film has a ton of potential.

“Ferrari” is scheduled to release in theaters on December 25th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

As we wait for the next Godzilla installment in Warner Brothers’ Monsterverse, the original creators of the iconic King of the Monsters return with a new movie starring the world’s most famous kaiju. “Godzilla Minus One” is written, directed, and features visual effects by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Yamazaki and is distributed by Toho Co., Ltd. It’s the 33rd Godzilla movie (the first released in 1954). Toho Studios and Robot have released a new teaser trailer and poster in preparation for the film’s upcoming release.

Fans can rejoice because from the looks of it Godzilla is returning to his roots, with the beast again being used as a means to explore the societally and economically devastated postwar Japan. Yet while it has that on its mind, the new teaser also shows us lots of kaiju action and destruction. The effects look fantastic and Godzilla seems to have a fun big city sandbox to play in. Should be fun.

“Godzilla Minus One” will release on November 3rd in Japan and December 1st in the United States. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.

Icarus Films is set to release an exciting new box set highlighting newly restored short films from some of the French New Wave’s most noteworthy names. This terrific collection includes the works of New Wave pioneers such as Truffaut, Godard, Resnais, Varda, Rivette, and more. The selections are eclectic and the restoration quality is top-notch making this a must for collectors and fans alike.

This fabulous 2-disc blu-ray box set of “Early Short Films of the French New Wave” will be available to purchase on September 19th. See below for a full synopsis and release information.

Official Synopsis

Year: 1956 – 1968

Runtime: 348 Minutes

Directors: Alain Resnais, Jacques Rivette, François Reichenbach, Jean-Luc Godard, Agnès Varda, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, François Truffaut, Maurice Pialat, Melvin Van Peebles, Guy Gilles, Jean Rouch, Jeanne Barbillon, Gisèle Braunberger

From the Studio:

Icarus Films is proud to present Early Short Films of the French New Wave, available on Blu-ray and DVD on September 19th, 2023. The nineteen (19) short films in this box set represent the dawn of the French New Wave, as a group of talented young filmmakers, including Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, Agnes Varda, & more, presented a radically new vision of French cinema. 

These shorts are not just steppingstones on the way to the famed New Wave features, but classics that stand on their own, the first forays of a movement that would revolutionize the world of French film and influence cinema around the world for decades to come.

This box set includes 2 discs and a 12-page booklet with an essay by Eric Le Roy, Head of Collections at the Centre National de Cinema (CNC). The short films included in this box set have been restored and digitized with the support of the CNC.

Disc 1:
 
ALL THE WORLD’S MEMORY – Alain Resnais (1956)

FOOL’S MATE – Jacques Rivette (1956)
Starring Virginie Vitry and Jacques Doniol-Valcroze! Featuring cameos by Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard, and François Truffaut.

THE MARINES – François Reichenbach (1957)
Reichenbach’s original version with anti-militarist commentary.

ALL THE BOYS ARE CALLED PATRICK – Jean-Luc Godard (1957)
Written by Eric Rohmer! Starring Anne Colette and Nicole Berger

THE SONG OF STYRENE – Alain Resnais (1957)

Ô SAISONS, Ô CHÂTEUX – Agnès Varda (1958)

THE OVERWORKED – Jacques Doniol-Valcroze (1958)
Co-written by Francois Truffaut! Starring Yane Barry, Jean-Pierre Cassel, and Jean-Claude Brialy.

A STORY OF WATER – Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut (1958)
Starring Caroline Dim and Jean-Claude Brialy.

CHARLOTTE AND HER BOYFRIEND – Jean-Luc Godard (1958)
Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo (voiced by Jean-Luc Godard!) and Anne Colette. 

LOVE EXISTS – Maurice Pialat (1960)

JANINE – Maurice Pialat (1961)

500 FRANCS – Melvin Van Peebles (1961)

PARIS, A WINTER’S DAY – Guy Gilles (1962)

Disc 2:
 
IN MEMORY OF ROCK – François Reichenbach (1963)
Featuring French rock stars Eddy Mitchell, Vince Taylor and Johnny Hallyday

THE LITTLE CAFE – François Reichenbach (1963)

THE GOUMBÉ OF THE YOUNG REVELERS – Jean Rouch (1965)

THE BOTANICAL AVATAR OF MADEMOISELLE FLORA – Jeanne Barbillon (1965)
Music by Michel Legrand and Jacques Loussier! Starring Bernadette Lafont and Louis Mesuret.

THE FIFTEEN YEAR OLD WIDOWS – Jean Rouch (1966)
Cameo by Maurice Pialat! 

+ Bonus Film

DIRECTING ACTORS BY JEAN RENOIR – Gisèle Braunberger (1968)
Starring Jean Renoir and Gisele Braunberger

They had me at Michael Fassbender and David Fincher. That’s all I needed for “The Killer” to shoot up my ‘most anticipated’ list. Netflix has released the first teaser trailer for this upcoming action thriller which is based on Alexis Nolent’s French graphic novel series of the same name. This first glance looks scintillating and exactly what I was hoping for after first hearing of the film several years ago.

“The Killer” sees Fassbender in the titular role as an assassin who finds himself the centerpiece of a massive international manhunt. The teaser is very much that – a tease which is all I wanted. It relays the film’s dark and violent tone as well as Fincher’s penchant for creating tense and gritty atmosphere. And it’s great seeing Fassbender on screen. He’s hasn’t been as present as he was a few years ago. Hopefully this is the first of many new projects from the immensely talented actor.

“The Killer” releases in select theaters this October before premiering on Netflix on November 10th. Check out trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.