MoviePass is back; a dad’s catfishing of his son inspired I Love My Dad, a John Mayer song will be a movie; congratulations Hollyshorts winners, and R.I.P. to Leon Vitali, Stanley Kubrick’s great ally. All in today’s Rundown.
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R.I.P. Leon Vitali: Stanley Kubrick’s right-hand man was 74. He was an actor when he was cast as Lord Bullington in Kubrick’s beautiful 1975 film Barry Lyndon, and became so enamored of the director’s work that he asked if he could watch him edit the film. He subsequently came to work with Kubrick through the rest of his career, playing a crucial role in his final release, 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut. The 2017 documentary Filmworker chronicles his many contributions to Kubrick’s oeuvre. Here is his obituary by The Associated Press.
Catfished by Dad: Director James Morosini was catfished by his dad, who pretended to be an attractive woman to try to improve his relationship with his son. Morosini has turned that weird experience into a movie, I Love My Dad, in which he stars with Patton Oswalt. He talked with Josh Encinias about how he used the film to go “moment by moment” through his dad’s thought process.
MoviePass Returns: MoviePass, which became wildly popular and quickly burned out a few year back, will return, Business Insider exclusively reports. It will return in beta form on Labor Day, and a waitlist will open Thursday on moviepass.com, with sign-ups on a first-come, first-serve basis at three price tiers: $10, $20, or $30 a month.
Congratulations: To the three films that earned the top honors at the Hollyshorts film festival over the weekend, and qualified for the Oscars in the process: Victor Gabriel’s “Hallelujah,” Seemab Gul’s “Mulaqat/Sandstorm” and Joseph Pierce’s “Scale.” You can click on the links for more details about each film, and here to learn more about Hollyshorts.
John Mayer: MovieMaker‘s John Mayer beat reporter and superfan Margeaux Sippell has news this morning, straight from John Mayer, that his song “Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967” will soon be a “major motion picture.” I sure hope they won’t change the title.
Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967: already has a lovely video and here it is.
John Mayer? Look, I get it. I was also once extremely wary of John Mayer because “Your Body is a Wonderland” is so awkward. Even John Mayer gets it — he told BJ Novak that he once refused to let The Office use the song because he knew they would make Michael Scott sing it at karaoke or something. Anyway, I’ve come to realize that pretty much every John Mayer song except “Your Body Is a Wonderland” is good, and even “Your Body is a Wonderland” is good once you get past the fact that it could also be a Dave Matthews song. Except that a Dave Matthews song wouldn’t have that sublime breakdown in the middle. Oh and also when I went to Michael Jackson’s memorial in 2010, John Mayer’s tribute to MJ was the best. Anyway, yeah. John Mayer.
Question of the Day: What songs should NOT be made into movies? No. 1 on my list is “The Pina Colada Song,” although I guess I Love My Dad is kind of “The Pina Colada Song” with the stakes significantly ramped up. Anyway, give us your choices in the comments.
Goodbye Horses: Thank you for reading.
Main image: A scene from the Hollyshorts winner “Scale,” by Joseph Pierce.
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