Two previously unreleased recordings by the late River Phoenix and his band, Aleka’s Attic, will be issued on Valentine’s Day, as part of a single that also includes a new solo track from his sister, Rain Phoenix, in collaboration with a longtime family friend, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe. “It’s so hard to believe he’s been gone for 25 years,” Rain Phoenix said in a statement. “It really made me think about the construct of time, how we create it to make sense of things, and how especially with grief, it never really snaps to a grid. That said, a quarter of a century has a definite weight to it, and I felt compelled and guided to share River, the musician, with the world.” Read More here

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I had actually completely forgotten about Joe Dante’s EXPLORERS until just this moment, but it all came flooding back immediately. The 1985 coming-of-age sci-fi film starred Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, and Jason Presson as three young teenagers who came together to build a spaceship after one of them had recurring dreams about a blueprint of some kind. The film eventually gathered a cult following but was considered a box-office flop as Paramount Pictures forced Dante to finish the film before he was ready. Read More here

Phenomenally talented and famously caring, River Phoenix’s death shocked the world. His girlfriend Samantha Mathis talks for the first time about that awful night, and the man behind the myth. Read More here

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Before Timothée Chalamet and Harry Styles, there was River Phoenix. In the brief span of his career, which lasted less than a decade, the American actor reached a cult status that was only reinforced by his untimely death in 1993. On what would have been his 48th birthday, Vogue looks back on his most memorable style moments. Read More here

This year will see the inaugural edition of the North Bend Film Fest in North Bend, WA, which was once the original shooting location for David Lynch’s iconic television series Twin Peaks. From August 23 through 26, the town, located just outside of Seattle, will host a film festival that sees genre fare from around the world. Confirmed today is the full line-up, which will see the fest bring festival darlings such as Anna and the Apocalypse, Don’t Leave Home, and Braid to the screen.

My Own Private Idaho (1991)
Set in the 1990’s runaway-dominated streets of the Pacific Northwest and loosely based on Shakespeare’s Henry IV, this seminal film by Gus Van Sant (GOOD WILL HUNTING, MILK) tells the tale of a narcoleptic street kid named Mike (River Phoenix) who befriends a fellow hustler (Keanu Reeves) on his journey to find his estranged mother. Film presented in collaboration with Three Dollar Bill Cinema

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Our writers picked their peaks of cinematic sadness and you responded with animated elephants, Christmas melancholy and emotional reunions. Spoilers ahead

Running on Empty
The end of Running on Empty when Judd Hirsch realises he needs to let River Phoenix have a better life than being constantly on the run and tells him to cycle off to his grandparents. It’s about that point where you have to leave an old life behind. The tragically early death of River Phoenix makes it even more poignant.

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26 May @ 20:30 – Running on Empty [NFT2]
30 May @ 20:40 – Running on Empty [NFT2]
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