Integrated production company Big Block has added actor, comedian and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Michael Rapaport to its directorial roster for exclusive commercial representation.
Rapaport is equally known for his low-key, streetwise persona as he is for the memorable comedic and dramatic roles he’s played on film and television. Currently, Rapaport stars on the TNT show Public Morals, executive produced by Steven Spielberg. His penchant for trash talking has also proven to be radio gold as the host of his own stereo podcast “I Am Rapaport” and as a frequent guest on the Howard Stern Show on Sirius, especially on the subject of the staff’s fantasy football picks.
Rapaport brings that upfront sensibility to directing, a quality that harmonizes with clients and brands wanting to engage with the viewer on an authentic level. He frequently helms documentary-style projects. A quintessential New Yorker, Rapaport’s ties to the community and culture frequently emerge within his work. His debut feature documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest explores the history and living legacy of the seminal Queens-based hip hop group. The 2011 film screened at the Tribeca and Sundance Film Festivals to rave reviews.
Rapaport enjoyed another Tribeca premiere with his film When the Garden was Eden created for ESPN’s celebrated “30 for 30” series. The piece, which won Rapaport the 2014 Emmy Award, looks back at the 1970s championship-winning New York Knicks led by Earl Monroe, Walt Frazier, and Willis Reed. Other sports-related projects for major brands include a monochromatic tribute to street basketball in “For The Love of the Game” for Coors Light, and a striking glimpse at the diverse clientele who train at Manny Pacquiao’s gym, the Wild Card Boxing Club, for American Giant.
“I’m a huge fan of Michael’s work both on and off-screen,” said Kenny Solomon, managing director of Big Block. “He really fits our sweet spot. Mike brings that charm, charisma and singular personality to everything he does, whether it be his podcast, radio, television or feature film work.”
Rapaport rounds out a Big Block lineup which also includes directors Paul Trillo, Josh + Vince, The Bozzwicks, and Shaun Collings.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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