If you like madcap mockumentaries, zombies, and Shakespeare, then ZOMBIE HAMLET (2012) may be just the low-budget indy mish-mash you didn't even know you were looking for.
Filmmakers seem to have fun making movies on shoestring budgets that are about how much fun it is making movies on shoestring budgets. Here, aspiring writer-director Osric Taylor (Travis Wester) and his producer-partner Kate Spangler (Vanessa Lee Evigan) find themselves stuck with a fraction of the millions originally promised them by sleazy movie mogul Jerry (John de Lancie, best known as "Q" on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"), and are forced to turn their epic Civil War-era version of "Hamlet" into a Southern-fried zombie flick.
Their Louisiana shooting location is the antebellum home of reclusive romance author Hester Beauchamps (June Lockhart) and her blonde granddaughter Annabelle, who wins both Osric's heart and the leading lady role in his movie. June is one of the film's major delights, displaying a flair for dizzy farce that wasn't called for too often on "Petticoat Junction."
She's matched by "Good Times" vet John Amos as her shrewd, no-nonsense lawyer Edgar Mortimer, whose suspicions about these "Hollywood types" are proven correct when Hester suddenly dies and the filmmakers must pretend she's still alive (with Osric himself dressing in drag to impersonate her) in order to retain access to her bank account.
Amos is delectably deadpan while threatening Osric ("I'm a Louisiana lawyer--I can do anything I want!") lest he try to take advantage of Hester, and much of the fun centers around Mortimer's dogged attempts to get the goods on him. Voodoo rears its ugly head at one point when Osric seeks a high-risk loan from some scary backwoods types. All of this is taped documentary-style for the eventual DVD by goofy makeup guy Lester (Brendan Michael Coughlin), a local who sees the film as his ticket out of town. Coughlin is very likable as the dorky Lester eventually starts taking his "documentarian" duties way too enthusiastically.
Shelley Long turns up as local TV gossip queen Shine Reynolds and proves that she's still a deft comedienne as her character gleefully eavesdrops on the secretive production. Rounding out this impressive cast is Jason Mewes (JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, SILENT BUT DEADLY) as action star Zack Buckley, coming to the film's rescue at the request of his former girlfriend Kate. Mewes handles the role of the self-impressed but not too bright star with just the right measure of drollness, while much fun comes from flashbacks of his previous action flicks.
Naturally, the main draw of ZOMBIE HAMLET is watching the unholy communion between the Bard and the undead unfold right there on our screens, which does lead to much laughter even though it never achieves the all-out hilarity we're hoping for. The pace rarely lets up and is helped along by lots of zippy visual exposition and cartoonish editing.
Director John Murlowski (SANTA WITH MUSCLES) and first-time screenwriter John McKinney go for broke with a really big slapstick sequence late in the film that doesn't quite come off, but for the most part they manage to keep things on track nicely and tie up all the loose ends for a satisfying fadeout.
The DVD from Level 33 Entertainment is widescreen with 5.1 surround sound. No subtitles. Extras consist of trailers from this and other Level 33 films. The main titles sequence is a cool montage of scenes from various Shakespeare and zombie films.
This briskly-paced cinematic amusement park ride hits the ground with its wheels spinning furiously and hardly lets up till the end. ZOMBIE HAMLET proves that while "epic" may cost a lot of money, "funny" is limited only by the filmmakers' imaginations.
AVAILABLE NOW IN SELECT THEATERS, THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH PREMIERES GLOBALLY ON APPLE TV+ TODAY, JANUARY 14
NEW YORK, NY – Milan Records announces the release of THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH (SOUNDTRACK FROM THE APPLE ORIGINAL FILM) by award-winning composer CARTER BURWELL. Available everywhere now, the album features music written by Burwell for the Apple Original Film based on the play by William Shakespeare, written for the screen and directed by Joel Coen. The film is the latest in a career-spanning partnership between Burwell and Coen, whose prolific partnership dates back to 1984 and has gone on to include almost every film from the four-time Academy Award-winning filmmaker including Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, True Grit and more.
WATCH THE TRAILER:
Speaking of his approach to the score, composer CARTER BURWELL says, “Among the ways one might play Macbeth musically are to let the witches run the show, or make Lady Macbeth a bully, or play Macbeth as a blood-thirsty madman. I did none of these in The Tragedy of Macbeth. The way Joel Coen adapted the play, and the way the actors played it, the Macbeths are human and supportive of each other. Loving even. And culpable. But the music also plays the film as a thriller. A murder sets a mechanism in motion that will unwind with greater pace and greater stakes until the end.”
The soundtrack finds Burwell weaving string-heavy instrumentation with onscreen dialogues performed throughout the film, with vocal contributions by Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand and more featuring on nearly half of the album’s 13 tracks. Burwell’s orchestra of strings further showcase the melodic quality of the Shakespearean dialogue, of which the composer says:
“In any adaptation of Shakespeare, the language is the featured player, and Joel and I often discussed how much or little the music should play during the great monologues. We arrived at the maxim that, in these scenes, the dialogue was the melody and the score its accompaniment. With this in mind I tried to write around and below the words, placing much of the score in the lowest registers – cellos and basses – where it wouldn’t fight the speech. This also accentuates the darkness of a very dark story.”
The score’s ominous tone is punctuated by moments of solo violin Burwell describes as “taking flight out of the darkness.” Eerily alien and slightly off-kilter, these portions reflect a conscious decision by Burwell to find something “rough-hewn like a fiddle, but not a fiddle from any place we know.” Burwell enlisted award-winning violinist Tim Fain to help create a folk-style sound from unknown lands, crediting the musician for his ability to go “off the page” enough to give the compositions character and life. From Shakespearean speeches to simmering, otherworldly textures, Burwell’s score coalesces into a darkly foreboding and propulsive soundscape that ultimately captures the essence of the story as well as its nuances.
Starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand, The Tragedy of Macbeth is available now in select theaters from A24 and premieres globally on Apple TV+ today, January 14.
ABOUT THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand star in Joel Coen’s bold and fierce adaptation; a tale of murder, madness, ambition and wrathful cunning.
Apple Original Films presents an A24 and IAC Films production, The Tragedy of Macbeth, based on the play by William Shakespeare and written for the screen and directed by Joel Coen. The film stars Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling and Brendan Gleeson. The producers are Joel Coen, Frances McDormand and Robert Graf. The film features casting by Ellen Chenoweth, music by Carter Burwell, costumes by Mary Zophres, editing by Lucian Johnston and Reginald Jaynes, production design by Stefan Dechant and cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel.
THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH (SOUNDTRACK FROM THE APPLE ORIGINAL FILM)
TRACKLISTING –
1. Fair Is Foul (feat. Kathryn Hunter)
2. My Black Desires
3. Come What Come May (feat. Denzel Washington)
4. Leave All the Rest to Me (feat. Denzel Washington & Frances McDormand)
5. Blood Will Have Blood
6. Is This a Dagger? (feat. Denzel Washington)
7. Something Wicked This Way Comes
8. Be Not Found Here
9. Out Damned Spot (feat. Frances McDormand, Nancy Daly & Jefferson Mays)
10. Birnam Wood
11. Come Seeling Night
12. Tomorrow and Tomorrow (feat. Denzel Washington)
13. The End of Macbeth
ABOUT CARTER BURWELL
Carter Burwell has composed the music for more than 90 feature films, including Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, Rob Roy, Fargo, The Spanish Prisoner, Gods and Monsters, Velvet Goldmine, Three Kings, Being John Malkovich, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (BAFTA Nominee for Film Music), Before Night Falls, A Knight’s Tale, The Rookie, Adaptation., Intolerable Cruelty, No Country for Old Men, In Bruges, Burn After Reading, Twilight, Where the Wild Things Are (Golden Globe Nominee for Best Original Score), A Serious Man, The Blind Side, The Kids Are All Right, True Grit, Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 & 2, Mr. Holmes, Legend, Anomalisa, Hail, Caesar!, The Founder, Missing Link and The Good Liar.
For television, Burwell wrote the music for Apple’s drama series The Morning Show starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup and Steve Carell which had it first season premiere on November 1, 2019. The second season of The Morning Show premiered on September 17, 2021. Burwell also wrote the music for the first season of the comedy series Space Force starring Steve Carell which premiered on Netflix on May 29, 2020.
In 2017 Burwell wrote the music for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell, written and directed by Martin McDonagh. Burwell received an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award nomination for his work for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and won the British Independent Film Award for Best Music on behalf of the film.
In 2015 Burwell wrote the music for the drama Carol starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara directed by Todd Haynes. Burwell received his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Score for Carol, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Movie Award. Burwell won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s Award for Best Music Score for Carol and Anomalisa.
Other recent films include Wonderstruck which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2017 and was Burwell’s fourth collaboration with director Todd Haynes, and the Coen Brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a six-part Western anthology film for Netflix which marked their 17th project together and premiered in November 2018. His original score for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs was named to the 2019 Oscar shortlist.
Burwell also previously worked with Todd Haynes on Velvet Goldmine and HBO’s mini-series Mildred Pierce starring Kate Winslet for which Burwell was nominated for two Emmy Awards, winning in the category of Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score).
His most recent project is the upcoming The Tragedy of Macbeth directed and adapted by Joel Coen starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand which opened in select theatres on December 25, 2021 and will be available to stream on Apple TV+ on January 14, 2022.
His theater work includes the chamber opera The Celestial Alphabet Event and the Mabou Mines productions Mother and Lucia’s Chapters of Coming Forth by Day.
In 2005 he developed a concert work for text and music titled Theater of the New Ear, presented in New York, London and Los Angeles. The text, by Joel and Ethan Coen and Charlie Kaufman, was performed by a dozen actors including Meryl Streep, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hope Davis, Peter Dinklage, and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The music was performed by the 8-member Parabola Ensemble, conducted by Mr. Burwell.
Burwell’s dance compositions include the pieces The Return of Lot's Wife, choreographed by Sara Pearson and Patrik Widrig, and RABL, choreographed by Patrice Regnier. He has performed around the world with his own ensembles as well as others, such as The Harmonic Choir.
His writing includes the essays "Music at Six: Scoring the News Then and Now," published in the inaugural issue of Esopus magazine in 2003 and reprinted in Harper's Magazine in 2004, “No Country For Old Music” in the 2013 Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics, and “How Nino Rota Saved Me from a Subterranean Freakout” in Arcana IX, 2021.
Burwell has taught and lectured at The Sundance Institute, New York University, Columbia University, and Harvard University.
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” is now playing in select theaters and will premiere globally on Apple TV+ on January 14, 2022
Today Apple & A24 unveiled the new trailer for the Joel Coen film, “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”
WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:
Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand star in Joel Coen’s bold and fierce adaptation—a tale of murder, madness, ambition, and wrathful cunning.
Apple Original Films presents an A24 and IAC Films production, “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” based on the play by William Shakespeare and written for the screen and directed by Joel Coen. The film stars Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling and Brendan Gleeson. The producers are Joel Coen, Frances McDormand and Robert Graf. The film features casting by Ellen Chenoweth, music by Carter Burwell, costumes by Mary Zophres, editing by Lucian Johnston and Reginald Jaynes, production design by Stefan Dechant and cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel.
Apple TV+ offers premium, compelling drama and comedy series, feature films, groundbreaking documentaries, and kids and family entertainment, and is available to watch across all your favorite screens. After its launch on November 1, 2019, Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service in its debut. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries, and series have been honored with 183 wins and 702 awards nominations.
Apple TV+ is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
Director And Writer: Joel Coen
Cast: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Bertie Carvel, Alex Hassell, Corey Hawkins, Harry Melling, Brendan Gleeson, Kathryn Hunter, Moses Ingram
Producers: Joel Coen, Frances McDormand, Robert Graf
A bold and artistic adaptation of Shakespeare’s tale of unchecked ambition, soured friendships, lost intimacy and a descent into nihilism.
WATCH THE OFFICIAL TRAILER:
PROGRAM INFORMATION Release Date: December 15, 2020 (Digital and VOD) Directed By: Kit Monkman Written By: Judith Buchanan, Thomas Mattinson, Kit Monkman, Tom Wexler Produced By: Alan Latham, Thomas Mattinson Starring: Mark Rowley, Al Weaver, Wunmi Mosaku, Charlie Hamblett Distributor: Trinity Creative Partnership Production Company: Goldfinch Genre: Drama Rating: N/A Language: English Runtime: 121 Min
SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILMS TO RELEASE HUGO WEAVING DRAMA "MEASURE FOR MEASURE" ON SEPTEMBER 4, 2020
Samuel Goldwyn Films will release Paul Ireland’s feature drama MEASURE FOR MEASURE, starring Hugo Weaving, on-demand and digital on September 4, 2020.
The Paul Ireland directed, written and produced movie is inspired by the William Shakespeare play of the same name and follows the love affair between a modern Muslim girl and a local musician against the background of racial tension and gang culture in the city’s notorious housing estate. Daniel Henshall (OKJA), Harrison Gilbertson (UPGRADE), Megan Smart (BREATHE), and Mark Leonard Winter (THE DRESSMAKER) also star.
Full synopsis: An unlikely love ignites between a modern Muslim girl and a local musician amongst the background of racial tension, amphetamines and gang culture in the city’s notorious housing estate. Inspired by Shakespeare's play Measure for Measure and influenced by the gritty realism of films like AMORES PERROS, the social conscience of FISHTANK and dynamic aesthetic of UN PROPHETE, MEASURE FOR MEASURE questions the notion of justice, the ability for redemption and the desire for power and examines the idea that ‘we can never escape our true nature or where we are from despite our attempts’. MEASURE FOR MEASURE is also a raw study of the most basic and yet most complex of our emotions - love…. how we react when we find it, and how far we would go to keep it.
WATCH THE TRAILER:
Release Date: On VOD/digital September 4, 2020 Directed by: Paul Ireland Cast: Hugo Weaving, Daniel Henshall, Harrison Gilbertson, Mark Leonard Winter Doris Younane Genre: Drama Specs: 107 min Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Released in 1956, "Forbidden Planet" was a science fiction epic far ahead of its time.
It still has the ability to amaze viewers to this day.
Gene Roddenberry cited it as a major inspiration for "Star Trek."
How much do you remember about it?
Question: What is the strange musical score by Louis and Bebe Barron called in the titles?
A. "Synthetic Soundwaves" B. "Electronic Tonalities" C. "Theramusic" D. "Melodic Pulsations" E. "Vibraphonics"
Question: How much bourbon does Robby promise to make for Cookie?
A. 15 pints B. 30 Pints C. 20 gallons D. 40 gallons E. 60 gallons
Question: Which of Altaira's former animal friends attacks her?
A. Lion B. Tiger C. Bear D. Ocelot E. Wolf
Question: Which future TV western star plays a crewman?
A. Chuck Connors, "The Rifleman" B. Steve McQueen, "Wanted: Dead or Alive" C. James Drury, "The Virginian" D. Nick Adams, "The Rebel" E. John Russell, "Lawman"
Question: Which major character is killed when the monster attacks the ship?
A. "Cookie" (Earl Holliman) B. "Doc" (Warren Stevens) C. "Jerry" (Jack Kelly) D. "Robby the Robot" E. "Altaira" (Anne Francis)
I neither own nor claim any rights to this material. Just having some fun with it. Thanks for watching!
Olive Films Announces November Olive Signature Titles
CHICAGO, IL – Olive Films is proud to announce the next titles to be included in Olive Signature, a new series of DVD & Blu-ray releases offering deluxe editions of time-honored classics, fan favorites, and under-appreciated gems from the Olive catalog. Olive Signature titles feature pristine audio and video presentation and an abundance of bonus material that will delight fans, collectors, and cinephiles. They continue the series with two distinct, but beloved classics.
YEAR: 1948, 1950 GENRE: DRAMA LANGUAGE: ENGLISH (with optional English subtitles) LABEL: OLIVE FILMS TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 107 mins (1948), 85 mins (1950) RATING: N/R VIDEO: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio; B&W AUDIO: MONO
OLIVE SIGNATURE FEATURES
New High-Definition digital restoration Includes 1948 and 1950 versions Audio Commentary with Welles biographer Joseph McBride "Welles and Shakespeare" - an interview with Welles expert, Professor Michael Anderegg "Adapting Shakespeare on Film" - a conversation with directors Carlo Carlei (Romeo & Juliet) and Billy Morrissette (Scotland, PA) Excerpt from We Work Again, a 1937 WPA documentary containing scenes from Welles' Federal Theatre Project production of Macbeth "That Was Orson Welles" - an interview with Welles' close friend and co-author, Peter Bogdanovich "Restoring Macbeth" - an interview with former UCLA Film & Television Archive Preservation Officer Bob Gitt "Free Republic: The Story of Herbert J. Yates and Republic Pictures" “The Two Macbeths” - an essay by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum
Something wicked this way comes in Orson Welles’ cinematic retelling of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Welles stars as the titular Macbeth—a doomed Scottish lord tragically undone by his own ambition. Welles’ noir-tinged interpretation bubbles over with supernatural prophecy and murderous intrigue, effectively mixing the use of shadow and oblique camera angles to achieve an ominous sense of a land in peril. Beautifully shot by John L. Russell (Psycho) and starring Orson Welles (who also adapted, produced and directed), Jeanette Nolan (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance), Dan O’Herlihy (Robinson Crusoe), Roddy McDowall (How Green Was My Valley) and Alan Napier (TV’s Batman), Macbeth is an altogether unique interpretation of Shakespeare's Scottish play. This special Olive Signature edition includes both the original 1948 107-minute cut, replete with affected highland accents, and the 1950 pared-down 85-minute re-release that removed most of the accented dialogue.
HANNIE CAULDER
YEAR: 1971 GENRE: WESTERN LANGUAGE: ENGLISH (with optional English subtitles) LABEL: OLIVE FILMS TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 85 mins RATING: R VIDEO: 2:35:1 Aspect Ratio; COLOR AUDIO: MONO
OLIVE SIGNATURE FEATURES
New High-Definition digital restoration Audio commentary by Western expert and director Alex Cox (Walker, Repo Man) "Exploitation or Redemption?" - an examination of rape-revenge movies with film scholar Ben Sher "A Very British Horror Studio" - interview with Sir Christopher Frayling on the history of Tigon Studios Essay by film critic Miriam Bale
Revenge is a loaded gun in director Burt Kennedy’s (The Train Robbers) Hannie Caulder. Raquel Welch (One Million Years B.C., 100 Rifles, and Myra Breckinridge) smolders as Hannie, a widow sworn to avenge her own brutal rape and husband’s murder at the hands of Emmett (Ernest Borgnine, The Wild Bunch), Frank (Jack Elam, Support Your Local Sheriff), and Rufus (Strother Martin, Cool Hand Luke), three of the most despicable scoundrels to have ever roamed the prairie. Eager for revenge, but lacking the gunfighter’s know-how, Hannie soon discovers new confidence and skill when bounty hunter Thomas Luther Price (Robert Culp, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice) teaches her the way of the gun. In no time, Hannie is strapping on her six shooter and setting out to put a few notches on its handle. Co-starring the legendary Christopher Lee (Horror of Dracula), playing against type as a sympathetic gunsmith who befriends her, Hannie Caulder hits its target from ten paces.
About Olive Films Olive Films is a Chicago-based boutique theatrical and home entertainment distribution label dedicated to bringing independent, foreign, documentary, and classic films to life. Its catalog boasts over 500 titles ranging from Hollywood classics to contemporary titles. More information about Olive Films may be found at olivefilms.com.
