CBS Films will release LAST VEGAS on November 1, 2013.

Written by Dan Fogelman
Directed by Jon Turteltaub
Starring Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman & Kevin Kline

Billy (Academy Award®-winner Michael Douglas), Paddy (Academy Award®-winner Robert De Niro), Archie (Academy Award®-winner Morgan Freeman) and Sam (Academy Award®-winner Kevin Kline) have been best friends since childhood. So when Billy, the group’s sworn bachelor, finally proposes to his thirty-something (of course) girlfriend, the four head to Las Vegas with a plan to stop acting their age and relive their glory days. However, upon arriving, the four quickly realize that the decades have transformed Sin City and tested their friendship in ways they never imagined. The Rat Pack may have once played the Sands and Cirque du Soleil may now rule the Strip, but it’s these four who are taking over Vegas.

For more information:

https://www.facebook.com/lastvegasmovie

Follow CBS Films on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/CBSFilms

 

KINO LORBER AND ADOPT FILMS PACT ON AN EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION DEAL

NEW YORK, NY – May 9, 2013 – Kino Lorber is pleased to announce that it has signed an exclusive agreement to distribute selected titles from Adopt Films on home media and digital platforms. Adopt is a leading theatrical distributor of critically acclaimed world cinema and documentary features.

Designed to cover packaged media (Blu-ray and DVD), all digital markets and educational rights, this deal is set to begin with the DVD and Blu-ray release of Christian Petzold’s Barbara and The Taviani Brothers’ Caesar Must Die.

After it premiered at last year’s New York Film Festival, Barbara went on to play in over 100 theatrical markets nationwide and is poised to join a handful of international films to gross over $1,000,000 theatrically in the US. Caesar Must Die won last year’s Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and was one of the top reviewed films of 2012. Both films are still playing at select art house theaters throughout the country.

Adopts Films, which specializes in international and independent American cinema, will continue to release between 8 and 12 new titles per year, all of which are expected to open in select theaters nationwide. The company was co-founded by industry veteran Tim Grady, President of Adopt, and art house pioneer Jeff Lipsky, who heads distribution.

Adopt Films’ Tim Gradysays: “We’re thrilled to be working with Richard Lorber. I’m a great admirer of the DVD and VOD platform that Richard and Don Krim have developed and honed at Kino Lorber and, of course, their direct-to-consumer cinephile catalogue is the best in the business. We look forward to an enduring and successful relationship.”

Richard Lorber, President and CEO of Kino Lorber, added, “We are honored to have been “adopted” by Tim and Jeff to handle their outstanding line up of award winning festival darlings that have also scored impressive box office results – a rare achievement. Adopt Films and Kino Lorber share a similar creative DNA and we will give Adopt’s packaged media and digital releases the same the loving attention as our own natural born.”

Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s Caesar Must Die and Christina Petzold’s Barbara are two of an impressive list of films that also include Ursula Meier’s Sister, a 2012 Berlin Competition Silver Bear winner, and Miguel Gomes’ Tabu, the winner of the Alfred Bauer Prize and the FIPRESCI international critics award also at the 2012 Berlinale.

ABOUT KINO LORBER
With a library of over 700 titles, KINO LORBER INC. has been a leader in independent art house distribution for over 30 years, releasing over 20 films per year theatrically under its Kino Lorber, Kino Classics, and Alive Mind Cinema banners, including four Academy Award nominated films in the last six years. In addition, the company brings over 60 titles each year to the home entertainment market with DVD and Blu-ray releases as well as digital distribution on all platforms. Some of its upcoming theatrical releases are the documentary MORE THAN HONEY, directed by Markus Imhoof, and the Sundance hit COMPUTER CHESS, directed by Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha).

ABOUT ADOPT FILMS
ADOPT FILMS is an independent theatrical film distribution company based in NYC. Some of its recent and upcoming films are Ursula Meier’s SISTER, Christian Petzold’s BARBARA, Miguel Gomes’ TABU, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s CAESAR MUST DIE and Jean-Marc Vallée’s CAFÉ DE FLORE.

 

Magnolia Pictures acquires Beatles secretary doc GOOD OL’ FREDA

New York, NY – April 22, 2013 – The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnolia Pictures announced today that they’ve acquired North American rights to GOOD OL’ FREDA, a crowd-pleasing documentary about Freda Kelly, The Beatles’ lifelong secretary. Directed by Ryan White (Pelada), and produced by Kathy McCabe, White and Jessica Lawson, the doc had its US premiere at the SXSW Film Festival last month.

Freda Kelly was just a shy Liverpudlian teenager when she was asked to work for a local band hoping to make it big. As The Beatles’ devoted secretary and friend, Freda was there with unfaltering loyalty and dedication as history unfolded, witnessing the evolution – advances and setbacks, breakthroughs and challenges – of the greatest band in history. In GOOD OL’ FREDA, she tells her story for the first time in 50 years. One of few films with the support of the living Beatles and featuring original Beatles music, the film offers an insider perspective on the beloved band that changed the music industry.

Magnolia will release the film theatrically later this year.

“Freda Kelly is a truly remarkable woman, and GOOD OL’ FREDA is a treasure trove and delight for fans of The Beatles, from casual to die-hard,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “Ryan White has done us all a great service in telling her story.”

“The dignity and devotion with which Freda has lived her life inspired me to make this film,” said director Ryan White. “I am so thrilled to partner with Magnolia and the amazing team there; they are the perfect company to get Freda’s long untold story out to audiences on a wider scale.”

The deal was negotiated by Magnolia’s SVP of Acquisitions Dori Begley with Josh Braun of Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodolfreda

About Magnolia
Magnolia Pictures (www.magpictures.com) is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a vertically-integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban that also includes the Landmark Theatres chain and AXS TV. Recent releases include Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia, Kevin Macdonald’s biopic Marley, David Gelb’s Jiro Dreams of Sushi, powerful hunger doc A Place at the Table, Craig Zobel’s Compliance, Lauren Greenfield’s The Queen of Versailles, the exciting noir-thriller Deadfall, and the Academy Award nominated A Royal Affair. Magnolia’s upcoming releases include Terrence Malick’s To The Wonder, Thomas Vinterberg’s The Hunt, David Gordon Green’s Prince Avalanche, Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies, documentaries No Place on Earth, Muscle Shoals, Blackfish, Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me and Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie, Lynn Shelton’s Touchy Feely, and many more.

 

THE RETURN OF THE OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU FEST! (April 19-21 at the Anthology)

THE RETURN OF THE OLD SCHOOL KUNG FU FEST
April 19-21 at the Anthology Film Archives
32 Second Avenue, New York

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the movie theater…the Old School Kung Fu Fest is back! The New York Asian Film Festival’s wildly popular celebration of kung fu movies from the 70s and 80s that pop your lock, rattle your chops, and put the pain inside your brain has returned after a 10-year absence to send your kung fu knowledge back to school. This time the spotlight shines on some of the biggest stars in some of their rarest movies. We’ve got Gordon Liu (36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN), Sammo Hung (Jackie Chan’s “big brother”), Kara Hui (Lau Kar-leung’s female star of choice), Bruce Leung (KUNG FU HUSTLE), and even Bruce Lee (after a fashion). With prints loaned from the vaults of the American Genre Film Archive and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office New York, prepare to earn your Masters Degree in Kick Ass-ology!

Featuring THE ODD COUPLE, SHAOLIN AND WU-TANG, THE DRAGON LIVES AGAIN, SHAOLIN TEMPLE AGAINST LAMA, ANGEL TERMINATORS, RED SPELL SPELLS RED, and one secret screening!

For details and schedule:

http://subwaycinema.com/oldschool13/

 

MAGNOLIA PICTURES TAKES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO JOE SWANBERG’S DRINKING BUDDIES

New York, NY (March 19, 2013) – The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnolia Pictures announced today that they have acquired North American distribution rights to writer-director Joe Swanberg’s DRINKING BUDDIES, starring Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston. Produced by Dark Arts’ Alicia Van Couvering and Andrea Roa; Burn Later’s Paul M. Bernon and Sam Slater; and Swanberg, the film premiered this month at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. The film was executive produced by Mike Witherill, Ashley Bernon, Jessica Klapman, David Kaplan, Anish Savjani, and Wilde. Magnolia Pictures is planning a theatrical release for later this year.

DRINKING BUDDIES follows the lives of Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) who work together at a craft brewery. They have one of those friendships that feels like it could be something more. But Kate is with Chris (Ron Livingston), and Luke is with Jill (Anna Kendrick). And Jill wants to know if Luke is ready to talk about marriage. The answer to that question becomes crystal clear when Luke and Kate unexpectedly find themselves alone for a weekend.

“Joe Swanberg has been evolving steadily as a filmmaker, and with DRINKING BUDDIES, he’s delivered his best work yet—a truly funny, smart and insightful film about real adult relationships,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson and the rest of the cast also deliver some of the best work of their careers. We’re raising an imperial pint in celebration.”

“I feel tremendously privileged to work with such a smart, energetic and exciting company,” said Swanberg. “I had an amazing time working with the Magnolia family on V/H/S and I can’t wait to be their drinking buddy again. I just know they will do great things with the film.”

The deal for the film was negotiated by Magnolia SVP of AcquisitionsDori Begley and Director of Acquisitions Peter van Steemberg, with CAA on behalf of the filmmakers and producers.

Swanberg’s prior films include HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, ALEXANDER THE LAST, UNCLE KENT, SILVER BULLETS, and V/H/S.

About Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures (www.magpictures.com) is the theatrical and home entertainment distribution arm of the Wagner/Cuban Companies, a vertically-integrated group of media properties co-owned by Todd Wagner andMark Cuban that also includes the Landmark Theatres chain and AXS TV. Recent releases include Lars Von Trier’s MELANCHOLIA, Kevin Macdonald’s biopic MARLEY, David Gelb’s JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI, powerful hunger doc A PLACE AT THE TABLE, Craig Zobel’s COMPLIANCE, Lauren Greenfield’s THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, the exciting noir-thriller DEADFALL, and the Academy Award nominated A ROYAL AFFAIR. Magnolia’s upcoming releases include Terrence Malick’s TO THE WONDER, Lars Von Trier’s NYMPHOMANIAC, Thomas Vinterberg’s THE HUNT, David Gordon Green’s PRINCE AVALANCHE, documentaries NO PLACE ON EARTH, BLACKFISH, BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME, ÉVOCATEUR: THE MORTON DOWNEY JR. MOVIE, and MUSCLE SHOALS, Lynn Shelton’s TOUCHY FEELY, and many more.

 

ARTSPLOITATION FILMS ANNOUNCES FIRST TWO NYC THEATRICAL RELEASES – VANISHING WAVES AND CLIP – BOTH OPEN MARCH 15

Los Angeles, CA (January 23, 2013) – Artsploitation Films is pleased to announce a NY theatrical release date double-header for VANISHING WAVES and CLIP. Both films will debut at the Cinema Village in New York on March 15, 2013 with more cities to follow.

VANISHING WAVES swept all the major awards – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Jurga Jutaite) – at 2012’s Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. It also won Best Film at the Rio Grind Film Festival in Vancouver where it was described by the festival director Rachel Fox as “the most acclaimed film – by a female filmmaker, or anyone period, of 2012.” VANISHING WAVES also played at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Palic European Film Festival, Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival and Sitges Film Festival.

VANISHING WAVES is a bold, visionary work of science fiction cinema that recalls the genre in its cerebral 1960s and ’70s golden age, just as it simultaneously forges new territory with its unique fusion of emotional melodrama and hallucinatory widescreen spectacle,VANISHING WAVES is one of the most accomplished and distinctive European films in recent memory. The second solo feature from Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte, following her acclaimed 2008 debut The Collectress, the 2012 production VANISHING WAVES confirms Buozyte as a major young talent whose frequently breathtaking visual and technical gifts are thankfully also matched by her interest in complex characterizations, adventurous narratives, and challenging themes.

Her new film is a science fiction romance that is equally occupied by the erotic as well as the fantastic. Lukas (Marius Jampolskis) is assisting a scientific research team by functioning as a patient in a series of heavily monitored (and medicated) sensory deprivation experiments wherein he is attempting to make some form of contact with the subject, Aurora (Jurga Jutaite), a young woman who has been locked in a comatose state for some time. Doctors initially hope for just a vague reaffirmation of consciousness, but the experiment takes an unexpected twist when Lukas and Aurora actually develop a strong psychic link in their mutually altered forms of consciousness…and their link quickly evolves into a romantic, sexually charged relationship. As Lukas hides this data from his researchers, he and Aurora meet secretly and passionately in a series of surreal dreamscapes created by their collective minds, but their union is tragically doomed to collapse around them. Exploring the tantalizing possibilities of forming a true, all-encompassing bond with one’s lover, VANISHING WAVES is hypnotic, erotic, wholly engrossing, and wildly thought-provoking cinema that transcends any perceived limitations of the science fiction genre, becoming one of the year’s most provocative films in the process.

CLIP is a dynamic, disturbing portrait of contemporary Serbian youth. Jasna, played fearlessly by Isidora Simijonovic, is a pretty girl in her mid-teens. With a terminally ill father and dispirited mother at home, she is disillusioned by her unglamorous life in a dismal Belgrade suburb. Opposing everyone, including herself, she goes experimenting with sex, drugs and partying.

CLIP director Maja Miloš was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1983 and graduated in Film Directing at the University of Arts in Belgrade in 2008. She directed 11 short films during her studies, including INTERVAL and SI TU TIMAZIN. Her first feature-length film CLIP had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival last year. In CLIP, Jasna, a teenage Serbian girl, grapples with random sexual encounters and an uncertain future. With her father plagued by illness, Jasna is left with nothing to help her navigate her world other than her camera phone and a strong desire to capture clips of her life speeding by. Writer/Director Maja Miloš makes her directorial debut in this searing portrait of modern Serbia. With her young and courageous cast, Miloš crafts an uncensored, sexually frank and ferociously honest portrait of modern youth. As Jasna rushes to leave her adolescence behind, she takes on a life of aimless wandering that appears lonely and precarious, but somehow she maintains control of this wild ride. This stunning first film won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s International Film Festival of Rotterdam. It won Best Director honors for Miloš at the Transylvania International Film Festival. It won the White Iris Award at the Brussels European Film Festival and the Kingfisher Award at the Ljubljana International Film Festival. It also played the Toronto International Film Festival, Montreal’s Festival du Noveau Cinema, The Chicago International Film Festival and AFI Fest in Los Angeles respectively. A close collaboration between Miloš and her precocious ingénue, Isadora Simijonovic, CLIP is a raw, unflinching look at the perilous world of a rootless teenager in the line of Larry Clark’s KIDS, a film centered on the daily lives of a group of sexually active teenagers in the mid-90s New York City.

VANISHING WAVES and CLIP open in New York on Friday, March 15 at:
Cinema Village
22 East 12th Street, New York, CA 10003
Box Office: (212) 924-3363

Website/Trailers: http://www.artsploitationfilms.com/

VANISHING WAVES
Director: Kristina Buožytė
Running time: 124 minutes
Country: Lithuania, France, Belgium
Language: Lithuanian with English subtitles
Screenwriters: Kristina Buožytė & Bruno Samper
Cast: Marius Jampolskis, Jurga Jutaitė, Rudolfas Jansonas, Vytautas Kaniušonis, Brice Fournier, Philip Lenkowski, Martina Jablonskytė, Macej Marczewsky, Frédéric Anscombre, Frédéric Andrau, Darius Meškauskas Creative Director: Bruno Samper Producer: Ieva Norviliene Cinematography: Feliksas Abrukauskas Editor: Suzanne Fenn Music: Peter von Poehl

CLIP
Director: Maja Miloš
Running time: 101 minutes
Country: Serbia
Language: Serbian with English subtitles
Screenwriter: Maja Miloš
Cast: Isidora Simijonovic, Vukašin Jasni, Sanja Mikitišin, Jovo Maksic, Monja Savic, Katarina Pešic, Sonja Janicic, Jovana Stojiljkovic, Vladimir Gvojic, Nikola Dragutinovic Producer: Jelena Mitrovic Cinematography: Vladimir Simic Editors: Stevan Filipović Music: Ognjen Popić, Zoran Maksimović

Both VANISHING WAVES and CLIP are being distributed Theatrically, on DVD, VOD and Digitally by: Artsploitation Films

About Artsploitation

Head Raymond Murray: Murray is the co-founder of TLA Entertainment Group and its president/CEO since its inception in 1981. Over the years, the company has operated art house cinemas and later, award-winning video stores in New York City and Philadelphia. Today, the company runs www.tlavideo.com, one of the country’s largest online DVD/VOD sales sites. Murray also founded and continues to be the Artistic Director of Philadelphia QFest and was Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Film Festival (2001-10). In 2000, Murray and partners launched TLA Releasing, a film distribution company that released films in North America. The company expanded its focus with the launch of the genre-focused Danger After Dark label in 2003. In 2004 it opened an office in London and expanded operations in the UK. Prominent releases include Suicide Club, Latter Days, Death of a Dynasty, Another Gay Movie, The Trip, Adam and Steve and Sleeper Cell.

 

Kino Lorber Opens Greenwich Village: Music That Defined A Generation at NY’s IFC Center on Jan. 18

KINO LORBER OPENS THE DOCUMENTARY GREENWICH VILLAGE: MUSIC THAT DEFINED A GENERATION AT NEW YORK’S IFC CENTER ON FRIDAY, JAN. 18

New York, NY – January 9, 2013 -  Kino Lorber is proud to announce the NY release of GREENWICH VILLAGE: MUSIC THAT DEFINED A GENERATION, a feature-length documentary about the Greenwich Village music scene and how it sparked everlasting political, social and cultural changes.

Featuring poignant interviews with Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Don McLean, Peter Yarrow, Arlo Guthrie, Lucy and Carly Simon, Tom Chapin and Judy Collins, among dozens of other music luminaries, GREENWICH VILLAGE: MUSIC THAT DEFINED A GENERATION combines talking heads with rare archival footage and new live performances to tell a story about a community that created a generation-defining music.

Greenwich Village was the birthplace of the singer/songwriter and songs of love and relationships.

Between 1961-1973, many musicians in The Village banded together to sing about the radical social upheaval of the time. As these new singers emerged, Greenwich blossomed as a place that promoted a better future. Their music challenged the status quo by singing about taboo subjects – fighting for civil liberties, protesting the Vietnam War, and holding governments accountable for their actions.

Their views, which were controversial at the time, weren’t always greeted with open arms. On Sunday April 9, 1961, over 500 young musicians gathered in Greenwich Village’s Washington Square to sing folk songs to promote peace and harmony. This act of passive protest resulted in riot squads attacking singers and civilians alike with billy clubs, leading to several arrests.

The incident became known around the world as the Washington Square Folk Riot and was cited as the first ‘freedom of speech’ revolt. It also made Greenwich Village a beacon of hope for an entire generation. And this is just one of the important stories which make up the vibrant history of The Village music scene.

GREENWICH VILLAGE: MUSIC THAT DEFINED A GENERATION is the amazing untold story about the very people whose music helped change the world.

 

5 BROKEN CAMERAS Nominated in the Best Documentary Category for the 85th Academy Awards®

New York, NY – January 10, 2013 – The critically acclaimed Palestinian and Israeli co-production 5 BROKEN CAMERAS, co-directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi and distributed in the United States by Kino Lorber Inc., has been nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Best Documentary category for the 85th Academy Awards®.

A peaceful protest in Bil’in, West Bank.

5 BROKEN CAMERAS has also won the top prize (Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Filmmaking) at yesterday’s Cinema Eye awards, presented at The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. Michael Moore gracefully accepted the award for co-Directors Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi.

“It is an unbelievable honor to be associated with a film of such impact and importance,” said Kino Lorber CEO Richard Lorber.

“As unimaginable as it was for this collaborative Palestinian-Israeli film to actually get made, is now the fact that it is being so acclaimed as both a work of art and a landmark political documentary.  We are beside ourselves with pride to be the distributor of this unprecedented film.”

An extraordinary work of both cinematic and political activism, 5 BROKEN CAMERAS is a deeply personal, first-hand account of non-violent resistance in Bil’in, a West Bank village threatened by encroaching Israeli settlements.

Shot almost entirely by Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who bought his first camera in 2005 to record the birth of his youngest son, the footage was later turned into a galvanizing cinematic experience by co-directors Guy Davidi and Burnat.

Structured around the violent destruction of a succession of Burnat’s video cameras, the filmmakers’ collaboration follows one family’s evolution over five years of village turmoil. Burnat watches from behind the lens as olive trees are bulldozed, protests intensify, and lives are lost. “I feel like the camera protects me,” he says, “but it’s an illusion.”

Co-Directors Guy Davidi (left) and Emad Burnat (right)
BIOS:

Emad Burnat is a Palestinian farmer and a freelance cameraman and photographer. His experience includes filming for TV channels such as Al-Jazeera, Israeli channels 1, 2 and 10, and Palestinian television. He has also worked with Reuters on several occasions, and filmed footage for the documentaries Bil’in, My Love, Palestine Kids, Open Close, and Interrupted Streams, among others.

Born in Jaffa, Israel, Guy Davidi is a documentary filmmaker and cinema teacher. He has been directing, editing, and shooting films since the age of 16. As a cameraman, he shot the films Hamza and Journal D’une Orange for France 3. Davidi also directed many short documentaries such as In Working Progress, Keywords, and Women Defying Barriers, which were presented in film festivals and venues worldwide. In 2010, Guy Davidi’s first feature film, Interrupted Streams, premiered to great acclaim at the Jerusalem International Film Festival.

 

KINO LORBER ACQUIRES ALL NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO JASON BECKER: NOT DEAD YET

New York, NY – November 12, 2012 – Kino Lorber, Inc. is announcing the acquisition of all North American rights to Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet, a moving documentary about maverick guitarist Jason Becker, a legend in the US music scene who has lived with Lou Gehrig’s Disease (or ALS – Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), for the last two decades.

Directed by first-timer Jesse Vile, Jason Becker tells the story of a man who refuses to give up on his outstanding talents despite incredible odds. When doctors diagnosed the 19-year-old rock star with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, they said he would never make music again – and that he wouldn’t live to see his 25th birthday.

Twenty-two years later, Jason Becker is alive and making great music, having released a total of five albums since being diagnosed with ALS. His latest work, “Boy Meets Guitar – Volume 1 of the Youngster Tapes,” was released earlier this year.

Winner of a Special Jury Prize (Golden Starfish Award) at this year’s Hamptons International Film Festival, Jason Becker will begin its theatrical run on December 14 at New York’s Cinema Village. The film also won a Special Jury Prize at this year’s CineQuest, in Silicon Valley, and was selected for this year’s DocNYC.

By mixing never-before-seen home movies, photographs from his guitar-playing childhood in Richmond, CA, and interviews with the likes of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, among many others, Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet paints a vivid portrayal of a man whose passion for music has inspired everyone around him.

At the age of 20, Becker joined David Lee Roth’s band, replacing Steve Vai, and it was while recording the album A Little Ain’t Enough in 1989 that he won the coveted Best New Guitarist award from Guitar Magazine. Preparing for the subsequent tour, Becker began to feel what he called a “lazy limp” on his left leg. When he was diagnosed with the always-fatal disease, Becker kept fighting to continue making music under any circumstance.

In 1996, Becker released Perspective (the first after the diagnosis), an instrumental album composed by him (with the exception of Bob Dylan’s song “Meet Me in the Morning”). By using guitar, and later, a keyboard, he continued to compose while his disease worsened. When Becker could no longer physically play even a keyboard, his friend and music producer Mike Bemesderfer helped him with a music-composing computer program which could read the movements of his head and eyes, enabling Becker to continue to compose after he lost control of the rest of his body.

Kino Lorber’s Vice President, Elizabeth Sheldon, who negotiated the deal with Ana Vicente from the U.K-based Dogwoof commented: “The adjectives ‘tragic’, ‘powerful’ and ‘heart-breaking’ don’t do justice to Jesse Vile’s near-perfect film. Vile’s portrait invokes far more than pity, with its inspirational story of the tragedy endured by both Becker and his family. The film is a true testament to the power of the human spirit and artistic talent.”

 

“LAST VEGAS” BEGINS PRODUCTION IN LAS VEGAS

“LAST VEGAS” BEGINS PRODUCTION IN LAS VEGAS

Oscar®-Winners Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline Star in the Jon Turteltaub-Directed Comedy

 

LAS VEGAS – November 5, 2012 – Save the date because film legends Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Kline will be coming to a theater near you next Holiday Season straight from fabulous LAST VEGAS! The film, which will be released on December 20^th, 2013, marks the first time ever these four Hollywood icons, who have garnered a total of six Oscar® wins and 14 nominations and accumulated over an estimated $16.6 billion at the worldwide box office, will appear together on the big screen.

 

CBS Films and Good Universe announced today that principal photography on the comedy LAST VEGAS has commenced in Las Vegas, Nevada and will continue to shoot in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to filming on the iconic Las Vegas Strip, the cast will also shoot at ARIA Resort & Casino.

 

Directed by Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure, While You Were Sleeping) from a screenplay by Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love, Tangled), LAST VEGAS co-stars Oscar®-winner Mary Steenburgen (The Help), Jerry Ferrara (Think Like A Man), Romany Malco (Weeds) and Roger Bart (Political Animals).

 

The ensemble comedy follows four old friends who decide to throw a Las Vegas bachelor party for the only one of them who has remained single. LAST VEGAS is being produced by Laurence Mark (Julie & Julia, Dreamgirls) and Amy Baer.  Nathan Kahane and Lawrence Grey are serving as executive producers.  Good Universe’s Matt Leonetti is co-producing.

 

Executive Vice President of Production Maria Faillace and Creative Executive Alex Ginno are overseeing the project for CBS Films.  Nicole Brown, Executive Vice President of Production, is overseeing the project for Good Universe which is also handling international sales.

 

***

About CBS Films

CBS Films is a division of CBS Corporation. The division develops, finances, acquires, produces and releases theatrical feature films spanning all genres.  For more information, log on to www.cbsfilms.com.

 

About Good Universe

Good Universe is an independent full-service motion picture financing, production and global sales company with the infrastructure and resources to develop, package, produce and fully finance its movies.  The Company, founded by longtime partners Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane in the spring of 2012, finances and produces multi-quadrant properties with true franchise potential and movies with original voices.  Future franchises at Good Universe are modeled on Drake’s franchise-building strategy while President of the Motion Picture group at Lionsgate, which resulted in The Expendables and global box-office juggernaut The Hunger Games. Good Universe has a growing feature slate which includes a reimagining of the internationally acclaimed South Korean film Oldboy, directed by Spike Lee, starring Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley; and the comedy Last Vegas with partners CBS Films which features an all-star cast including Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Kevin Kline and Morgan Freeman.

 

 

 

 

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