A dynamic selection of indies starts rolling out today with Dominic Sessa as a young Anthony Bourdain in Matt Johnson’s Tony, indie director Jane Schoenbrun’s latest, Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma with Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson, documentaries on cheesemongers, Girl Scout cookie season, and small town movie theaters, and the annual CatVideoFest among others.
A24 debuts origin story Tony by filmmaker Matt Johnson (Blackberry, Nirvana the Band) in limited release in six theaters across NY (Regal Union Square, AMC Lincoln Square, Alamo Drafthouse Brooklyn) and LA (AMC Century City, AMC Grove, AMC Burbank). Expands to about 25 locations next week. Opening weekend audience are looking like a mix of under 35, A24 loyalists, followers of Matt Johnson and fans of Bourdain.
Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers) stars as a teenage Anthony Bourdain and the film captures a moment in time in Provincetown, Mass. where he spent a transformative summer before college working at a seafood restaurant year before becoming a beloved chef, author and television host. It held an early local premiere there with screenings for restaurant workers in partnership with OpenTable.
With Antonio Banderas, Emilia Jones and Leo Woodall, Tony is Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh at 94%, see Deadline review here, with strong restaurant and food industry endorsement. It’s backed by the Bourdain estate. The best-selling author of Kitchen Confidential and host of popular TV series including Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, committed suicide in 2018 at 61.
For years before, he traveled the globe sampling and describing local fare. His laid-back style evolved into broader cultural storytelling after he was trapped with his crew filming a 2006 episode in Lebanon as war with Israel erupted.
Morgan Neville’s Road Runner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, which Focus Features released in July of 2021, was the top grossing documentary out of Covid and helped jump start the box office.
Mubi is out with Jane Schoenbrun’s (We’re All Going To The World’s Fair, I Saw the TV Glow) Teenage Sex And Death At Camp Miasma at five theaters in New York (Angelika Film Center, AMC Lincoln Square) and LA (AMC Burbank, AMC Century City, AMC Grove).
The Cannes-premiering horror expands to 50+ screens next week and nationally August 21. It’s 99% RT Certified Fresh.
After years of slapdash sequels and waning fandom, the Camp Miasma slasher franchise is handed over to an enthusiastic young director (Hannah Einbinder) for resurrection. But when she visits the original’s star (Gillian Anderson), a now-reclusive actress shrouded in mystery, the two women fall into a blood-soaked world of desire, fear, and delirium.
Late Fame from Magnolia Pictures opens at Film Lincoln Center and Film Forum in New York. Kent Jones’ second feature (after Diane) stars Willem Dafoe as an erstwhile New York poet who gets an ego boost when he is welcomed into the world of an emerging literary salon, but must reckon with the authenticity of his newfound circle of twentysomething admirers. Written by Samy Burch (May December) based on Arthur Schnitzler’s 1890s novella. Greta Lee and Edmund Donovan also star. Premiered at Venice. See Deadline review.
Roadside Attractions opens Sundance-premiering documentary Cookie Queens by Alysa Nahmias, executive produced by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, in moderate release on 446 screens., CMarkle is a former Girl Scout and her mom was a troop leader. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archwell Productions partnered with Beautiful Stories and AJNA Films on the doc about one of America’s most cherished rituals, Girl Scout Cookie season.
Obscured Releasing documentary The Big Cheese by Sara Joe Wolansky debuts in limited release at IFC Center, adding Laemmle Glendale and Laemmle Monica in LA next week. Adam “Mr. Moo” Moskowitz led a scrappy team of eccentric American cheesemongers to dethrone the French at their Mondial du Fromage, the Olympics of Cheese, in Tours. The group battled cultural bias, personal struggles, and melting cheese in pursuit of respect, redemption and a historic victory.
Q&As with Moskowitz, filmmaker, David Zabar (of Zabar’s) and Josh Windsor of Murray’s Cheese at IFC this weekend.
Premiered at DOC NYC where it was the Audience Award runner-up, going on to take the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the Cleveland International Film Festival, Best Documentary Feature at the Beloit film festival, and Best Director at the Phoenix film fest.
Greenwich Entertainment debuts TIFF-premiering coming-of-age drama Olmo by Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke at 51 theaters. Aivan Uttapa stars as Olmo, a teenager tied to home by the responsibility of caring for his bedridden father. When his beautiful neighbor invites him to a party, Olmo embarks on a night of mischief, laughter, and unexpected discoveries that ultimately transform the way he sees his life and the place he has been so eager to leave behind. Eimbcke co-wrote the film with Vanessa Garnica. Also stars Melanie Frometa, Rosa Armendáriz, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, and Andrea Suárez Paz.
The Last Picture Shows by Rustin Thompson launches at Village East Cinemas in New York. Expands to LA’s Laemmle Royal Aug. 21 as part of a national roadshow. World Premiered at the Santa Barbara film festival. Gary Rubin’s GRC is handling distribution
Thompson journeys into the American West on a search for traces of what was once a center of small-town life — the movie theater, travellng through 10 states and visiting 123 cinemas. The documentary follows the people preserving the moviegoing experience in their communities against the odds. On the trip, he finds long abandoned and forgotten cinemas; movie houses that have fallen into disrepair; theaters recently closed, theaters struggling to hold on, and theaters that —thanks to thoughtful caretakers — are not only surviving but thriving. The stops are punctuated by excerpts from Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 The Last Picture Show and as reflections on past and present hardships facing the film exhibition industry.
CatVideoFest is back via Oscilloscope Labs on 330+ screens nationwide, to start, with multiple sold out showtimes. The increasingly popular annual staple for cat lovers, created and curated by Will Braden, gathers the best cat videos from across digital media. He also takes submissions. Part of the grosses go to raising money and awareness for local cat charities and animal shelters. It caught the interest of Kelly Clarkson and Andy Cohen this year with Braden appearing on The Kelly Clarkson Show.