CLEVELAND – The Cinemark at Valley View was anything but “A Quiet Place” Saturday evening after John Krasinski (The Office) surprised Northeast Ohio fans who had turned out for a preview screening of “A Quiet Place II.”
The actor took to social media Sunday afternoon to share clips from the surprise visit to Cleveland– including one encounter with two fans who didn’t quite recognize him when he attempted to sneak into their picture.
The stop is part of a nationwide tour to promote “A Quiet Place II,” written and directed by Krasinski. “The Office” actor also stars in the film, alongside his wife, actress Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins Returns).
SOURCE: News 5 Cleveland | Mike Brookbank
May 19, 2021
CLEVELAND — Getting a shot to tell the stories from their community in the way they want them to be told. A new film co-op is giving women of color a chance to sit in the director’s chair.
“There’s just not enough African American women doing it. And not because we aren’t doing it, but because we don’t get a lot of opportunities,” said India Burton, film director.
It’s a rare opportunity that’s now helping redefine the role in film production.
Northeast Ohio native Brandon LaGanke co-directed feature film debut, “Drunk Bus.” (Courtesy of Brandon LaGanke)
SOURCE: Cleveland.com | John Benson
May 12, 2021
CLEVELAND, Ohio — It was an ironic twist of fate that considering the world over the last year was stuck at home living its own “Groundhog Day”-like experience, streaming services offered a number of loop movies where characters experience the same day over and over again before discovering some level of self-fulfillment.
Taking a different approach to the same feeling is Northeast Ohio native Brandon LaGanke’s new film “Drunk Bus,” which highlights the worst kind of literal loop — working a dead-end job with no end in sight.
Liam Neeson stars as “Jim” and Jacob Perez as “Miguel” in director Robert Lorenz’s THE MARKSMAN, an Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment release. (Credit: Ryan Sweeney / Open Road Films / Briarcliff Entertainment)
SOURCE: Cleveland.com | Joey Morona
April 27, 2021
CLEVELAND, Ohio — What happens when your real life exceeds your dreams?
Ask Danny Kravitz. The screenwriter grew up in Pepper Pike and graduated from Orange High School. During the fall of 2019, he found himself on the set of “The Marksman,” his first produced screenplay. The movie starred Liam Neeson, one of his favorite actors of all time, and, as luck would have it, was being shot in Cleveland.
Daniel Kaluuya wins the award for best actor in a supporting role for “Judas and the Black Messiah.” CHRIS PIZZELLO POOL/AFP Via Getty Images
SOURCE: Mansfield News Journal | Lou Whitmire
April 26, 2021
MANSFIELD – A film made partly at the Ohio State Reformatory won two Oscars Sunday night, one for Daniel Kaluuya for best supporting actor and one for best song.
The bulk of the film, “Judas and the Black Messiah,” was made in Cleveland and filmed a few days in November 2019 at the Mansfield prison that was the backdrop for the hit movie “The Shawshank Redemption.”
Daniel Kaluuya, winner of the award for best actor in a supporting role for “Judas and the Black Messiah,” poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, April 25, 2021, at Union Station in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, Pool)
SOURCE: Cleveland.com | Joey Morona
April 26, 2021
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Many popular movies have been shot in Cleveland over the years, from “A Christmas Story” to “Marvel’s The Avengers.” But outside of “The Deer Hunter,” the city’s film industry hasn’t produced many Academy Awards.
But that changed Sunday when “Judas and the Black Messiah” took two home Oscars. Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor and H.E.R. won Best Original Song for “Fight for You.”
Judas and the Black Messiah received five Academy Award nominations. Photo: Glen Wilson
SOURCE: Architectural Digest | Mekita Rivas
March 18, 2021
When production designer Sam Lisenco found out that Judas and the Black Messiah had been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, he happened to be on the phone with director Shaka King.
“The two of us just started screaming,” Lisenco tells AD. “And I was like, ‘All right, you have phone calls to make,’ and hung up on him. Crazy morning. I’m really happy—it’s a story that needed to be told.”
SOURCE: Cleveland Magazine | Arbela Capas
February 24, 2021
Anthony and Joe Russo talk about what it was like adapting Nico Walker’s book for the big screen.
A man holds up a dollar bill to a bank teller. It reads: I have a gun.
It just happens to be Tom Holland, the actor who portrays the titular character in Anthony and Joe Russo’s upcoming film Cherry.
The scene shows how Holland, known for more lighthearted roles such as Peter Parker, portrays a veteran as he deals with PTSD and goes through a different kind of hero cycle.
SOURCE: WKYC Channel 3 | Stephanie Haney
February 23, 2021
CLEVELAND — When Cleveland native Danny Kravitz set out to write ‘The Marksman,’ he never dreamt his first major motion picture would star Liam Neeson, and that it would top the box office for its first two weeks in theaters.
In a wide-ranging interview, Kravitz gets candid about what it was like to see his dream become a reality near his hometown of Pepper Pike, Ohio, and the nuances of the message behind what could be easily dismissed by the naked eye as “just another action film.”
SOURCE: Entertainment Weekly | Clarissa Cruz
February 22, 2021
As a drug-addicted war veteran struggling with PTSD in the new movie Cherry, Tom Holland’s searing portrayal is worlds away from Peter Parker. But the common thread between the two performances is Anthony and Joe Russo, who directed the star in both the Apple+ drama and The Avengers films. “Making a $500 million box office movie and making a small independent movie is so different, but the way they approach making them is exactly the same,” says Holland, 24, who joined EW’s The Awardist to discuss his dark new project. “The respect they had and the way they were able to galvanize everyone and have a really fun and positive experience while the subject matter was so dark and difficult to swallow was amazing.”
