Blaze | |
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Directed by | Ethan Hawke |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley by Sybil Rosen |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Steve Cosens |
Edited by | Jason Gourson |
Distributed by | IFC Films |
Release dates |
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Running time | 127 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $680,058 [2] |
Blaze is a 2018 American biographical drama film directed by Ethan Hawke based on the life of country musician Blaze Foley. The screenplay by Hawke and Sybil Rosen was adapted from the memoir Living in the Woods in a Tree: Remembering Blaze Foley by Rosen. It stars musician Ben Dickey as Foley. [3] [4] The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival [5] and was released in the United States on August 17, 2018, by IFC Films.
This was Kris Kristofferson’s final film appearance before his retirement and death.
The movie shows scenes of Foley's life and career, interspersed between two of Foley's friends being interviewed on the radio and his final performance and recording.
Principal photography took place in and around ORWO Studios in East Feliciana, Louisiana and a small amount of photography in Mississippi in early 2017. [3]
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 91 reviews, and an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "As lyrical and bittersweet as the music its subject left behind, Blaze takes a decidedly unconventional -- yet richly rewarding -- approach to the musical biopic." [6] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [7]
On RogerEbert.com , Nick Allen raved that the film is "hands down the best movie of its kind since Inside Llewyn Davis " and added "This movie is all Foley, and the confidence in his words proves incredibly rewarding for Hawke as a cinematic storyteller himself." [8]
Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, author and film director. He made his film debut in Explorers (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in Dead Poets Society (1989). Hawke starred alongside Julie Delpy in Richard Linklater's Before trilogy from 1995 to 2013. Hawke received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Training Day (2001) and Boyhood (2014) and two for Best Adapted Screenplay for co-writing Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013). Other notable roles include in Reality Bites (1994), Gattaca (1997), Great Expectations (1998), Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007), Maggie's Plan (2015), First Reformed (2017), The Black Phone (2021) and The Northman (2022).
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Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016); and the romantic comedy Hit Man (2023).
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Before Sunset is a 2004 American romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, from a story by Linklater and Kim Krizan. It is the first film by Warner Independent Pictures. The sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and the second installment in the Before trilogy, Before Sunset follows Jesse (Hawke) and Céline (Delpy) as they reunite nine years later in Paris.
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Michael David Fuller, better known by his stage name Blaze Foley, was an American country music singer-songwriter, poet, and artist active in Austin, Texas.
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Chelsea Walls is a 2001 American drama film directed by Ethan Hawke in his directorial debut and written by Nicole Burdette, based on her 1990 play of the same name. It stars Kris Kristofferson, Uma Thurman, Rosario Dawson, Natasha Richardson, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Robert Sean Leonard. The story takes place in the historic Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan.
Shelby Shook Gaines is an American composer, musician, and writer. He is the son of novelist Charles Gaines and artist Patricia Ellisor Gaines.
Before Midnight is a 2013 American romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The sequel to Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004), it is the third installment in the Before trilogy. The film follows Jesse (Hawke) and Céline (Delpy), now a couple, as they spend a summer vacation in Greece with their children.
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The Before Trilogy consists of three American romance films directed by Richard Linklater, and starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. Beginning with Before Sunrise (1995), and continuing with two sequels, Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013). The films were all written by Linklater, along with Kim Krizan on the first film, and with Hawke and Delpy on the last two.
Roxanne Roxanne is a 2017 American musical drama film written and directed by Michael Larnell. It stars Chanté Adams, Mahershala Ali, Nia Long, Elvis Nolasco, Kevin Phillips, and Shenell Edmonds. The film revolves around the life of rapper Roxanne Shante. It was screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Adams won the Breakthrough Performance Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Ben Dickey is an American actor and musician best known for playing Blaze Foley in the 2018 biographical drama Blaze. For his performance in the film, Dickey won the Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Achievement in Acting.
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