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Cannes Review: 'Seduced And Abandoned' Enjoyably Explores The Surreal World Of Film Financing

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 19, 2013 10:45 AM
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4 Comments

Reviews

It's hardly any surprise for people who follow film news (or read this site) that cinema, at least as far as the major Hollywood studios go, is mostly a dead art. With a shift toward four-quadrant, brand pushing, sequel spawning blockbusters, the days of the $50 million drama are a distant memory. And so here comes James Toback's "Seduced And Abandoned," described by the director as an "uncategorizable" film that finds him teaming with Alec Baldwin, as they set their cameras on the movers and shakers (financially speaking) in the movie biz, while talking to filmmakers and actors about their craft, moviemaking, and much more.

By Cain Rodriguez
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May 16, 2013 2:45 PM
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1 Comment

News

While this weekend sees the release of yet another Hollywood blockbuster, the global film industry at large has descended upon the South of France for the Cannes Film Festival. While most of us will never get to experience the festival ourselves, “Seduced and Abandoned,” a new documentary premiering this weekend at the Croisette, will explore the festival from the point of view of filmmakers and we our first look at the trailer.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 13, 2013 1:40 PM
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1 Comment

News

Last year, Alec Baldwin and director James Toback hit the Croisette, not to premiere a movie, but to try and raise financing for one. They brought along some cameras to help document the effort for what would ultimately become the documentary, "Seduced And Abandoned," an insider's inside look at the fickle game of film financing and the movie biz in general. Now they're back a year later in Cannes with the finished product, set to unveil in a special screening next weekend, but what is this whole thing all about?

By Simon Dang
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May 31, 2012 1:58 PM
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2 Comments

News

Just before the Cannes Film Festival, it was revealed that James Toback and Alec Baldwin were teaming for an under-the-radar, Cannes-set documentary about film financing known as "Seduced and Abandoned." The movie is an attempt to document the duo's efforts to raise financing for an actual movie they are looking to make together (more on that in a second). While some reports suggested it was a mockumentary, the "30 Rock" star has now explained the project's evolution, revealing that he and Toback's motivations quickly changed as they realised they weren't there "to make fun of people. That doesn’t do us any good. I thought let’s come here and let’s ask people a very simple construction which is: What was the movie business like before? What happened? And what is it like now in your lifetime?”

By Joe Cunningham
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May 16, 2012 10:19 AM
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2 Comments

News

Cannes. Cannes, Cannes, Cannes, Cannes, Cannes. CANNES! Okay, now that I’ve gently eased you into it, here's some news from everyone’s favourite film festival - you know, the one that kicked off today. This piece of news comes from Cannes, and is about a film that’s being made at Cannes, which is about raising money at Cannes to make another movie – that other movie could be set anywhere really…but nobody’s ruling out Cannes.

By Simon Dang
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January 11, 2012 11:21 AM
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1 Comment

News

It's been over three years now since James Toback released "Tyson," his gripping portrait of infamous boxer Mike Tyson, and other than keeping himself occupied scripting for the notoriously delayed "Gotti: In The Shadow Of My Father," it looks like the writer-director has been plotting another effort behind the camera with what he describes as a "totally unusual, inventive" film that will blur the line between fiction and documentary.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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August 29, 2011 1:19 AM
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2 Comments

Just as the east coast was going to bed and/or gearing up for Hurricane Irene and the west coast was gearing up to go out on the town, it was announced that "The Departed" trifecta of director Martin Scorsese, writer William Monahan and star Leonardo DiCaprio were all taking on a remake of Karel Reisz‘s 1974 film “The Gambler.” If you missed the news, don't worry, you're not the only one as that film's writer James Toback, was only hipped to the project thanks to housemate Brett Ratner (yes, they apparently live together). Needless to say, he was pissed.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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May 10, 2011 1:01 AM
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0 Comments

Ok, we have to admit, the indie gangster biopic "Gotti: Three Generations" always seemed more like an expensive publicity stunt than an actual movie to us, but full respect to Fiore Films, they now have our full attention as there has been some tremendous movement on the picture over the past couple of days.