From Paul Myers, author of A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio:
“Everybody knows that My Aim Is True is a classic album, but now Richard Crouse makes the definitive case for Elvis Costello’s landmark debut, with a narrative that’s as fast-paced and literate as the album he celebrates. With all the toe-tapping passion of a true music fan, Crouse demystifies the man behind the mystery dance, while simultaneously allowing himself to play the enlightened fan boy. Going in, I thought I knew a lot about Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and the audaciously brilliant world of Stiff Records, but Richard’s book proved to me that I clearly knew less than zero!”
From Barry Avrich, director of The Last Mogul and Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story:
“As a film director who has chronicled the famous and infamous, Richard had me at hello with this book. Elvis pioneered a sound and style that was the alchemy of hip, attitude and talent. This book is an extraordinarily entertaining autopsy of a great career. This book is the new king of music biographies.”
SYNOPSIS: This is the story of how Elvis Costello got his start, and the story of the making of his critically-acclaimed debut album My Aim is True.
His real name was Declan MacManus. His mom worked at the Selfridges department store. His dad was a trumpeter and singer.
Declan worked as a computer operator.
It sounds like any bland life of a typical 9-to-5er. Except that this was a man with a talent.
Richard Crouse details how Declan MacManus convinced an indie record company to believe in him, how they created Elvis Costello, and how a hit album was recorded in just 24 hours.
MY THOUGHTS: Crouse says he loves Costello’s story. Well, he makes you, the reader, love Costello’s story.
Here was a guy with a boring day job who had dreams of something bigger. But what would have happened if he had not decided, while riding the tube one day, to call in sick and keep going an extra couple of stops to drop off a tape at this newly-opened Stiff Records? What if he knocked on the company’s door six months later?
Crouse puts it all into context and asks the “what ifs.” He not only tells Declan MacManus’ story, but also explains the 1970s environment that helped push him forward.
There’s also a personal aspect to the book. It’s a topic that Crouse is passionate about because he grew up listening to My Aim is True… in a tiny room with a shag carpet. It’s something you can relate to no matter who your musical inspiration was in your teenage years (memories of boy bands and 90s punk rock flooding back…).
THE LAST MOGUL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LEW WASSERMAN
Scandal Power Corruption – a true Hollywood story
Special Presentation at Hot Docs 2015 to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of director Barry Avrich’s controversial look at the Hollywood legend and one true mogul
Cheryl Boone Isaacs, President, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to introduce film, Richard Crouse to do a Q&A with director Bary Avrich following the screening.
“Oscar worthy.” Hollywood Reporter
“Refreshingly honest… and paced with consummate skill.” Variety
TORONTO, ON – THE LAST MOGUL: The Life and Times of Lew Wasserman directed by Barry Avrich will return to the big screen in Toronto as a special presentation for its 10th anniversary at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival on Sunday, April 26 at 4 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The controversial documentary about Hollywood powerhouse Lew Wasserman details his rise, and his reign, that lasted for over half a century. Only Wasserman had the power to run the movie industry, control the unions and influence politics at the highest level – mainly presidential. He was rumored to have had the mafia in his pocket as well.
Through legendary deal-making, and his well-known temper, this self-made man could achieve whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted – changing the industry forever. He worked with everyone from Spielberg to Hitchcock and as Chairman and CEO of MCA and then Universal, Wasserman was king.
Director Avrich undertook 15 years of research and dozens of interviews to craft THE LAST MOGUL and paint a truly provocative portrait of Wasserman, from the beginning of his story to the end.
“The question that now prevails and resonates today is as follows: Did the notion of having one powerful mogul rule the entertainment industry die with Lew Wasserman?” says Avrich. “Ten years later, I do believe that this film still fuels the debate.”
Today, 10 years after the documentary was made, film has changed so dramatically and while the influence Wasserman had on the industry is still very evident, the conversation has evolved. With developing technology and opportunities for audiences to consume film in new ways (i.e.: Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube), is there still a place for a modern Wasserman?
“A portrait of a powerful and perplexing man, who for years was the power behind every Hollywood throne.” Roger Ebert had said about THE LAST MOGUL. “Barry Avrich has talked to just about everyone and asked all the right questions in his fascinating documentary.”
The film will have its anniversary screening on April 26 at 4 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. Following the screening, there will be a special Q&A with moguls of today who will discuss the current media landscape and what it’s like to be a mogul in the modern era. Panel participants to be announced shortly. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, President, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to introduce film.
Buy tickets HERE or call the CraveTV Box Office at 416-637-5150. Single tickets are priced at $15.04.
One night, two events. Richard hosted two events on Thursday April 9: the POV 3rd Street Gala and “King John” Q&A.
ABOUT POV 3rd STREET: Established in 2007 by members of the film, TV, and commercial production industries who were interested in increasing access to employment in their community and broadening its diversity. We are dedicated to assisting at risk young adults (18-25) gain the skills and experience needed to secure jobs and have long-term careers in the media industry. We run four programs: The Media Training Program, The 3rd Street (Critical Thinking) Program), The Job Placement Program, and the Alumni Support Program. Learn more HERE! Telling their stories at the POV 3Rd Street Gala were directors Sudz Sutherland, Jennifer Holness, Warren P. Sonoda and actors Zoie Palmer, Ennis Esmer, Tara Spencer Nairn, Katie Boland and Natalie Brown.
ABOUT KING JOHN: When the rule of a hedonistic and mercurial king is questioned, rebellion, assassination and excommunication ensue, culminating in a chilling attempt to commit an atrocity against a child, whose mother’s anguished grief cannot atone for her blinkered ambitions for her son.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Shakespeare’s King John, in a magnificent production by the renowned Stratford Festival, North America’s leading classical theatre company, whose HD production of King Lear, directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and starring Colm Feore, opened to rave reviews last month.
With commanding performances by Tom McCamus, Seana McKenna, Graham Abbey and Patricia Collins, King John was directed by Tim Carroll, whose recent Shakespeare productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night were the toast of Broadway.
Filmed in spectacular HD under the direction of Barry Avrich, King John will be in cinemas across Canada on Thursday, April 9, and throughout the U.S.on Wednesday, April 8. The Canadian encore screening is on April 12. U.S. encore dates vary. For more information click HERE! Richard hosted a Q&A with director and Tony nominee Tim Carroll, Stratford Festival artistic director Antoni Cimolino, actor Tom McCamus and film director Barry Avrich.
When the rule of a hedonistic and mercurial king is questioned, rebellion, assassination and excommunication ensue, culminating in a chilling attempt to commit an atrocity against a child, whose mother’s anguished grief cannot atone for her blinkered ambitions for her son.
Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see Shakespeare’s King John, in a magnificent production by the renowned Stratford Festival, North America’s leading classical theatre company, whose HD production of King Lear, directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and starring Colm Feore, opened to rave reviews last month.
With commanding performances by Tom McCamus, Seana McKenna, Graham Abbey and Patricia Collins, King John was directed by Tim Carroll, whose recent Shakespeare productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night were the toast of Broadway.
Filmed in spectacular HD under the direction of Barry Avrich, King John will be in cinemas across Canada on Thursday, April 9, and throughout the U.S. on Wednesday, April 8. The Canadian encore screening is on April 12. U.S. encore dates vary. For more information visit www.stratfordfestival.ca/HD
“Deliciously contemporary.” J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail
“Tom McCamus plays King John, rivetingly, as a neurotic narcissist. It’s a daring performance.” Robert Cushman, National Post
“This sublime King John has a remarkable intimacy, crystallized by the formidable actor Graham Abbey, whose relationship with the audience becomes one of the closest I’ve ever seen in a Shakespearean drama.” Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
“The action is riveting, the political machinations delicious and all the performers,
royal or otherwise, take great delight in the parts they’re playing.” Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star
“Richard Crouse, a critic who covers every possible medium in film criticism from television to print and online to radio, agrees. ‘Mini-reviews are often posted on Twitter before the end credits have stopped rolling, and for big critic-proof movies like Transformers: Age of Extinction, good or bad, those comments generate audience engagement…'” Read the whole thing HERE!
As the Reel Guys continue their journey into the heart of the Toronto International Film Festival, Richard Crouse discovers a conflict he’s never encountered before and Mark Breslin uses the word “neurasthenic” for the first time ever during a major film festival.
Richard: Mark, I’ve been covering the film festival for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve had a conflict like the one Red Alert poses. It’s a short documentary about recent reports that redheads were going to become extinct. It features 10-year-old Sloan Avrich (a redhead whose father Barry directed the film), geneticist Amro Zayed, flame-haired model Lucy Liberatore and me as the resident film expert on all things Lucille Ball and Julianne Moore. I can’t review it, of course, but unofficially I give it 6 out of 5 stars. Writer Anne Brodie asked Sloan why she cast me in the film. “He is a friend of my parents. So I just asked him and he said yes. What a nice guy.”
Mark: I haven’t seen the film, but let me help you out: “Red Alert is a highly entertaining doc that truly comes alive whenever film expert Richard Crouse comes onscreen. His palpable magnetism and clever wordplay take a great little film and lift it to new heights.” I feel I can review a film without having seen it because I like all of Barry Avrich’s work. His showbiz documentaries are always great, but if you want to see a real oddball piece of hysteria check out Amerika Idol, about a small Balkan town that wants to erect a statue of Sylvester Stallone to bring the tourists in.
RC: I guess I was late to jump on the Benedict Cumberbatch bus. I liked Sherlock well enough and have seen him in several movies, but for me, and I know I’m the last to get it, his performance in The Imitation Game is a game changer. He plays real-life character Alan Turing, a Cambridge mathematician who volunteers to help break Germany’s most devastating WWII weapon of war, the Enigma machine. It was a top-secret operation, classified for more than 50 years, but that wasn’t Turing’s only secret. Gay at a time when homosexuality was illegal, punishable by jail or chemical castration, he was forced to live a world of secrets, both personal and professional. He’s fantastic in the movie and after interviewing him at TIFF I can tell you he has a voice that sounds like melted wax.
MB: The movie is a sad and shameful story, tragic, really, about how a hero can be persecuted for his personal life. Cumberbatch, who I thought you wore with a tuxedo, specializes in neurasthenic roles and he brings an aristocratic grace even to comic book movies. I’m not surprised you liked him as Turing. He’d also make a great Kim Philby — the British spy who secretly worked as a double agent in the ’50s.
RC: Cumberbatch has a look that seems to lend itself to period pieces, as does his co-star Keira Knightley who plays Joan Clarke, a brilliant female mathematician who worked alongside Turing during WWII. In my chat with her, she pointed out that the movie may be set in the 1940s but is still timely today: “She was paid a fraction of what all the men were paid, which is still what feminists are arguing about today. So in that way it still is a very current issue in the same way that as much as gay rights have moved on since the ’40s and ’50s, it’s still an issue.”
MB: Knightley’s come a long way from the female soccer player in Bend It Like Beckham. I just loved her in this year’s Begin Again and I thought she was great in Last Night and Never Let Me Go.
The producer and star of the TIFF film “Red Alert,” Sloan Avrich, tells Anne Brodie of Monsters and Critics about the film and working with Richard, who talks about Hollywood’s flame haired stars in the short film. Read the article HERE!
See the movie here:
Red Alert at TIFF:
Public Screening 1: Sunday, September 7, 3:45PM @ Isabel Bader Theatre (Isabel Bader)
Public Screening 2: Wednesday, September 10, 2:15PM @ The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema
Press & Industry 2: Thursday, September 11, 1:00PM @ Scotiabank 11
“IwishI had red hair.” – Richard Crouse, film historian, author
Known for his revealing and controversial feature length docs on media moguls, director Barry Avrich embarks on a new direction with Red Alert, a 9 minute short inspired by his daughter Sloan, that will have its World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF14) in the Discovery program.
In Red Alert, Sloan, a 10 yr old redhead, is distraught when she discovers on the internet that red hair will be extinct within one hundred years. She sets out to make a documentary on the subject and debunk the myth so she and her fellow gingers can relax with the assurance that their legacy is not under threat.
Red Alert is the first film collaboration by father, daughter team Barry Avrich and Sloan Avrich. One day while working in his home office Sloan asked him why he always made films about subjects she either didn’t know (Lew Wasserman, Bob Guccione) or wasn’t interested in (Harvey Weinstein, Garth Drabinsky). Barry challenged her to come up with her own ideas of what she’d like to see and proposed that they make a film together. Sloan had recently run across an article online stating that redheads would be extinct in 100 years , and, rather alarmed, she decided she had to get to the bottom of the matter to see if it was really true.
Thus Red Alert was born. Sloan began researching the subject, unearthing footage and online articles about Kick A Ginger Day, an anti-ginger episode from South Park and a 2007 NBC The Today Show interview with Steve Warrington redhead activist and founder of online community https://www.redhedd.com. Along the way Sloan finds arguments for and against the future of red hair and learns to not believe everything you read on the internet.
Sloan also researched, selected, recruited and prepared interviews with experts including film historian and critic Richard Crouse, who reveals how redheaded stars like Lana Turner and Myrna Loy became even more famous during the transition from black & white to colour film when their glamorous locks registered with audiences. Geneticist Amro Zayed explains the science behind red hair, and celebrity hair stylist Daniel Fiori, model Lucy Liberatore and fellow gingers give their best tips for redheads.
“Red Alert” is a World Premiere in Discovery at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2014
From Paul Myers, author of A Wizard A True Star: Todd Rundgren In The Studio:
