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In an age of increasingly exploitative and gruesome true crime, The Thief Collector stands as a kind of antidote. Rather than detailing murder victims’ trauma for the masses, this crime documentary turns toward an art heist. Willem de Kooning was one of the most exciting American artists of the 20th Century, working among peers such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. In 1985, his painting, “Woman-Ochre,” was stolen from the University of Arizona Museum of Art; it was simply cut from its frame and taken away. Despite an investigation by the FBI, the painting couldn't be found as it wasn’t sold or displayed anywhere else.

After 35 years, “Woman-Ochre” was finally discovered at the estate sale of Rita and Jerry Alter, ostensibly (a frequently used word in the documentary) an unassuming couple in New Mexico. Director Allison Otto pieces together how and why this strange series of events came to be...

The various facets of the art of the heist––from motivation to execution to life on the lam (or in detainment)––make it perennially ripe for high-stakes cinematic treatment. One of the most peculiar such stories of thieving involves Jerry and Rita Alter, retired teachers who were suspected of lifting Willem de Kooning’s “Woman-Ochre” in broad daylight from the University of Arizona in 1985. Some decades later and well after their deaths, the $160 million painting was uncovered at their New Mexico home. Without her subjects to tell their own tale, Allison Otto’s The Thief Collector draws from many sources to weave the web of deceit and globe-trotting adventure. Its twist-a-minute peeling back of the mystery around our subjects’ secretive way of life makes for a mostly riveting inquiry into lies hiding in plain sight, yet the results can feel unwieldy with its overstuffed roster of talking heads and distracting,...

"You take it, you make it yours." FilmRise has revealed an official trailer for an indie crime caper titled The Thief Collector, marking the feature directorial of Allison Otto. This premiered at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival last year, and is opening to watch this month on VOD. The docu-drama film follows the true story of one of the most elaborate art heists of the 20th century, the theft of "Woman-Ochre," Willem de Kooning's iconic painting, and the eccentric couple – both schoolteachers – at the center of the heist. It was cut from its frame at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. 32 years later, the painting was found hanging in a New Mexico home. The film stars Glenn Howerton & Sarah Minnich, with Brandon Ruiz & Hailee Cruzen. This "uniquely combines the strong appeal and captivating nature of crime documentaries together with the true story of one of the most audacious art heists in history,...

Unsurprisingly for a Breaking Bad spinoff, Better Call Saul featured several cameos and guest appearances by characters from its parent show. Following the pre-Breaking Bad lives of Saul Goodman a.k.a James McGill (Bob Odenkirk), Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks), and Gustavo Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), the series regularly dropped in characters from the wider universe in small or substantial roles, building up to the fateful moment Walter White (Bryan Cranston) first walked into Saul Goodman's office.

Some characters appeared in show-stopping cameos, while others popped up in more subtle ways. Kim and Jimmy's Howard plan required the assistance of a very minor associate of Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), for example, while the final season's flash-forwards featured far more prominent players in the Breaking Bad world. Aside from the obvious characters like Saul/Jimmy, Mike, and Gus, there were many enjoyable return appearances from Breaking Bad characters in Better Call Saul.

You could say, going back to Hitchcock or the silent-film era, that the thriller is the quintessential form of cinema. You could also say that the quintessential moment of a thriller is one that makes you go “Oh. My. God.” When that happens (kind of a rare occurrence these days), it’s a privileged and intoxicating feeling, one that lifts you right out of yourself. Recently, though, I’ve been experiencing that sensation in what may sound like a highly unlikely place: documentaries about the art world.

In a way, it’s not really a surprise. Art-world documentaries often tap into the human audacity of forgery and thievery, the suspense of finding and unmasking fakes, not to mention the sheer sticker shock of it all. But I’ve also found that an art-world doc that has the quality of a thriller, like “The Lost Leonardo” or “The Price of Everything,...

"Everyone is keeping secrets..." Netflix has revealed an official trailer for another intriguing home invasion suspense thriller called Intrusion, which looks a lot like so many of these other home invasion thrillers over the last few years. When a husband and wife move to a small town, a home invasion leaves the wife traumatized and suspicious that those around her might not be who they seem. Freida Pinto and Logan Marshall-Green star as the husband and wife who move into a very slick modern home built out in the desert. The film's cast also includes Robert John Burke, Sarah Minnich, Mark Sivertsen, and Hayes Hargrove. This looks like it might have some good twists in the second half, but the rest of it just seems so plain and obvious and derivative. These are all ending up the same - no one is who they seem. Check it out. Here's the...

"This is not a neck-and-neck race!" Goldwyn Films has released an official trailer for American Sausage Standoff, which is the new name instead of the original title Gutterbee. This is actually a film made by a Danish filmmaker, set in America, that originally premiered in 2019 but is only now getting a US release. It's a story about two hopeless dreamers who join forces in a quest to erect the ultimate German sausage restaurant. It is also a "social satire about the nexus of identity fear, where religion becomes an intellectual cul-de-sac, and racism, homophobia and intolerance reign supreme." A film about sausages & friendship. Follow the story of Edward, played by Ewen Bremner, and Mike, played by Antony Starr, who join up with plans to open a German sausage restaurant in the small town of Gutterbee. The cast also includes W. Earl Brown, Joshua Harto, Clark Middleton, Chance Kelly, Pia Mechler,...

Paget Brewster (Criminal Minds) has been tapped for a recurring role in the second season of CBS’ summer action-adventure series Blood & Treasure, from CBS TV Studios and Propagate. Starring Matt Barr and Sofia Pernas, Blood & Treasure is a globe-trotting action-adventure drama about a brilliant antiquities expert and a cunning art thief who team up to catch a ruthless terrorist who funds his attacks through stolen treasure. Brewster will play Sister Lisa. A resourceful nun in Rome with a sly sense of humor, Sister Lisa is good friends with Father Chuck Donnelly (Mark Gagliardi). While Father Chuck is on the trail of a mystery, he quickly comes to rely on Sister Lisa for information, as he knows that the Nuns are the eyes and ears of the Church. Brewster is wrapping up her role as Emily Prentiss in the 15th and final season of CBS’ Criminal Minds. She also...

A sort of “After Hours” update with a lot more drugs and time ellipses, “The Wave” throws Justin Long down a rabbit’s hole of sometimes hallucinatory, sometimes mortal peril when his button-down protagonist makes the mistake of celebrating a career breakthrough a little too adventurously. This surreal comedy from debuting feature director Gille Klabin and writer Carl W. Lucas offers a colorfully diverting ride that invokes the specter of everything from “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” to “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

What it doesn’t quite have is the singularity of vision those and other movies had in putting their protagonists through some mind-expanding changes, whether induced psychedelically or supernaturally. This fever dream feels more derivative than distinctive, entertaining and eventful as it is. Still, it’s a well-cast, well-crafted stab at something offbeat that should find a modest but appreciative viewership in limited theatrical release (simultaneous with VOD launch) on Jan.

Let’s give Justin Long some overdue credit: few everyman actors actively choose to push the edges of their beta-dude personas. There’s always a need for ordinary guys in rom-coms and sitcoms, and Long could easily coast through them.

As often as not, though, he embraces eccentric efforts that remain under the radar, and surely don’t include a mainstream paycheck. Sometimes these risks are so bananas they become unforgettable, like 2014’s “Tusk,” in which Kevin Smith turned Long into a walrus. And sometimes, inevitably, they’re “The Wave.”

Even here, generous viewers might appreciate Long’s commitment to the unusual and unexpected. Through no fault of his, however, they will find both their loyalty and their patience considerably tested.

Watch Video: How Justin Long Pranked Bruce Willis So Hard on 'Live Free or Die Hard' That He 'F-king Panicked'

Long plays Frank, a milquetoast lawyer at...

The first thing you need to know when entering director Gille Klabin and writer Carl W. Lucas’ The Wave is that it takes a lot of liberties. The second thing is that doing so doesn’t have to be a problem. So much of what happens on-screen is born from convenience and ultimately has no explanation (if it even needs one) before playing its long-term role within Frank’s (Justin Long) hallucinogenic nightmare of an adventure. Just because he might get a handle on what’s happening to manipulate the experience to his benefit (or at least his will) doesn’t mean he (or we) understand how beyond the notion that the implausible isn’t necessarily impossible when a creative strain of karmic retribution proves to be the goal. The sky’s the limit.

You wouldn’t think as much from the start considering Frank is nothing if not a...

Quiver Distribution dropped the trailer for the Nicolas Cage-led thriller Running with the Devil today. The National Treasure actor stars alongside the Matrix's Laurence Fishburne in the drug trafficking flick where, "From the fields to the streets, everyone is running with the devil."

When a cocaine shipment is compromised, the drug cartel's CEO, known as The Boss (Crawl's Barry Pepper) orders his most trusted henchman, Cage's The Cook, to audit the company's supply chain. Or as Nicolas Cage says in the trailer, he has "administrative issues [he has] to attend to." Joining him on the dangerous journey is a master drug trafficker known as The Man (Academy Award Nominee Laurence Fishburne).

The drugs are making their "perilous trek across international borders past gangsters, refiners, and couriers," but they're also being tracked by Federal Agents under The Agent in Charge played by Leslie Bibb (Iron Man) who, the trailer tells us,...

The Practice alumna Camryn Manheim, Eric Lange (Narcos), Annika Marks (The Fosters), Stephen Culp (Bosch) and Sarah Minnich (Better Call Saul) have joined the cast of Waco, the six-part event series that will be part of the inaugural slate launching Viacom's Paramount Network in January 2018. Produced by Weinstein Television, the series chronicles the 1993 standoff between the FBI and Atf and the Branch Davidians, a spiritual sect led by David Koresh, told from several…...

Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the highly anticipated crime drama “Sicario” starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin!

“Sicario,” which opens on Oct. 2, 2015 and is rated “R,” also stars Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan, Victor Garber, Sarah Minnich and Raoul Trujillo from director Denis Villeneuve and writer Taylor Sheridan. Note: You must be 17+ to win and attend this “R”-rated screening.

To win your free passes to “Sicario” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our social media widget below. That’s it! This screening is on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning! Completing these social actions only increases your odds of winning; this doesn’t intensify your competition!

Preferably, use your computer...

Sicario Trailer. Denis Villeneuve‘s Sicario (2015) movie trailer stars Jon Bernthal, Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, and Victor Garber. Sicario‘s plot synopsis: “In Mexico, Sicario means hitman. In the lawless border area stretching between the U.S. and Mexico, an idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by an elite government task force official to aid in the escalating war against drugs. Led by an enigmatic consultant with a questionable past, the team sets out on a clandestine journey forcing Kate to question everything that she believes in order to survive.”

This looks like an exciting drama. I immediately thought of The Bridge and Traffic when I began watching this trailer. Emily Blunt is center stage and she owns ever scene. Her character seems to have gotten over her head with her “allies.”

Sicario also stars Jeffrey Donovan, Raoul Trujillo, Daniel Kaluuya, Maximiliano Hernández, Sarah Minnich, Lora Martinez-Cunningham, Alan D. Purwin,...