‘Dear Mr. Brody’ Film Review: Engrossing Doc Unearths Bizarre Tale of a Hippie Millionaire

Chris Willman Music WriterCountry superstar Maren Morris is not trying to play things down the middle. She had pop hits with Zedd on “The Middle” and on her own with “The Bones,” but her third album, “Humble Quest,” carries an extra level of humility in not having any overt pop aspirations.

[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]

Director Richard Linklater (“Boyhood”) is known for his versatility; romantic and coming-of-age films, animation, studio films, personal projects, etc., but it looks like he’ll be getting into the business of social documentary filmmaking next. While he’s promoting his upcoming animated Netflix film, “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood” (read our review), which obviously further evinces his adaptability, Linklater revealed to The Hollywood Reporter podcast, Awards Chatter, a new project titled “Letter From Huntsville” for HBO.

In Houston 1979, a small film crew arrives to make a porn film in a rented cottage on a farm belonging to an aged couple, one of whom greets the producer at the door with a shotgun and — unaware of their cinematic ambitions — an order for “discretion.” What could possibly go wrong?But in Ti West's “X,” it's never in doubt that a bloodbath is to follow. The aftermath is glimpsed in the movie's opening scene, when a police detective steps timidly through hallways strewn with bloody sheets covering corpses and a black-and-white TV blares with a local televangelist preaching about “a world of sin.”Sex has long been a punishable offense in slasher movies but “X" cleverly flips the script.

Brittany Snow is stepping out to promote her new movie!

Joe Leydon Film CriticBradley Jackson’s “Facing Ryan” tells the story of an agreeable fellow from small-town Texas who married his high school sweetheart, followed his dream of playing major league baseball, pitched for four MLB teams over a 27-year career while operating a cattle ranch during off-season, set records for no-hitters and strikeouts that remain unbroken to this day, held high-profile executive positions with two of his former teams more than a decade after his retirement from the game, and currently resides on the ranch where he and his wife, the loving and supportive life partner he wed back in 1967, are frequently surrounded by their children and grandchildren.If you were to present this scenario at a pitch meeting, you’d likely be shot down for failing to hype your narrative with suspenseful setbacks, intense conflict and a slew of obstacles for your protagonist to overcome. And if you somehow managed to get your film made anyway, critics would almost surely complain about the many and varied ways credibility was stretched to the breaking point while the hero accomplished one extraordinary feat after another.

young Houstonians with aspirations of fame, fortune, and artistry decide to have a go at making “The Farmer’s Daughter,” a low-budget dirty movie aimed at boosting the cast and crew’s dreams of fame and fortune.Maxine (Mia Goth), a coked-up stripper working at Bayou Burlesque, thinks this is just the ticket to international stardom. Her boyfriend, Wayne (Martin Henderson, “The Gloaming”), acts as the archetypically gung-ho executive producer who talks a great game.

Ti West is no stranger to horror films. He’s also no stranger to low-budget indies.

Richard Linklater’s periodic forays into animation (Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly) have been distinctively imaginative, and that goes double for Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood. A nostalgic but not in the least sentimental look at Texas life when the American space program was at full thrust, this highly personal but entirely accessible account of growing up in a culture both historically momentous and banal has something to offer all audiences in terms of its vivid portrait of a very specific place and time. But most receptive of all will be viewers in their 60s and beyond who have personal memories of the July 20, 1969 moon landing and a of milieu both memorable and banal.

AUSTIN, Texas – Lizzo had strong opinions on Texas' legislation and policy regarding abortion and transgender children during Sunday's keynote session at the SXSW Film Festival. Lizzo, who was raised in Houston, said she wasn't "proud to rep" the state's political laws and policies. "I’m proud to rep Houston, but I’m not proud to rep Texan politics right now," the "Truth Hurts" singer told the audience listening at the Austin Convention Center.

Jon Burlingame editorComposer Germaine Franco’s Oscar nomination for “Encanto” is a landmark moment in film music:– She is the first Latina to be nominated in that category;– She is only the sixth woman ever to be nominated for an original score;– And she is the first woman to score a Disney film.But ask any of her colleagues in the profession and they’ll tell you something else: that it’s a triumph for a musically talented, genuinely kind person who has worked hard her entire life, dating back decades to her childhood in El Paso, Texas, just across the border from where her grandparents were born in Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico.Franco landed the “Encanto” assignment in part because she had firmly established the Mexican backdrop of Disney’s 2017 film “Coco” via her orchestrations and original songs. Says Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is also nominated as songwriter for “Encanto”: “I admired her work on ‘Coco’ and it was really important to me that we have a Latino music team.

The challenges and vicissitudes of living with cerebral palsy are made quite clear in Your Friend, Memphis, a sympathetic, up-close documentary that traces a few years in the life of a young man whose teenage optimism about his prospects narrows considerably as time marches on. It’s a poignant but ultimately tough tale that reflects a reality in which youthful hope almost inevitably gives way to the realization that, by one’s twenties, things are never going to get better, that life’s prospects decrease with age and the disappearance of family members and engaged helpers. As upbeat and determined as the subject is in his youth, grim facts at a certain point are impossible to ignore.

Jamie Lee Curtis is no longer hiding herself. Right up until the pandemic sent the world into hibernation, the 63-year-old actress was hard at work filming her upcoming movie, "Everything Everywhere All at Once," a project that is due out April 8 and sees her portray an IRS auditor named Deirdre Beaubeirdra. Curtis introduced her character to the world in a social media post explaining that she didn’t feel right "concealing" her figure for the role.

Andrew Barker Senior Features WriterWhen the Directors Guild of America’s annual awards gets underway March 12, there will be a number of changes from years previous. Most obviously, the ceremony will finally be held in person at the Beverly Hilton, after two straight years of virtual celebrations.

Steven McBee, a.k.a. the true ‘Joe Millionaire,’ made his final pick on the show’s season finale. Steven, 27, who is a farmer and CEO, fell for Calah Jackson and they are still together. He passed on contestant Annie Jorgensen to pursue a relationship with Calah that hopefully goes the distance. After the finale aired, the couple told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that their connection solidified once Calah visited Steven’s hometown of Gallatin, Missouri and met his family.

Dear Mr. Brody,” available on demand on Amazon Prime and Google Play. Never mind that Brody did not have, as he once claimed, $10 billion.