Posted on Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 by Angie Han
Until recently, crowdfunding was the province of dirt-cheap indies from as-yet-undiscovered filmmakers. Then Rob Thomas came along with the Veronica Mars movie Kickstarter campaign, and now it seems like every week another established Hollywood figure is turning to moviegoers to get his or her next picture made.
This week, that person is James Franco. The multi-hyphenate has launched an Indiegogo campaign seeking $500,000 for a trilogy of short films based on his Palo Alto short story collection. But it’s not (just) his own career that Franco’s looking to advance. The movies will be directed by four up-and-comers — Nina Ljeti, Vladimir Bourdeau de Fontenay, Bruce Thierry Cheung, and Gabriel Demestree — and all profits will go to charity. And of course, there are prizes in it for contributors as well. Hit the jump to find out what $7,000 gets you.
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Posted on Monday, June 17th, 2013 by Angie Han
Lynn Shelton made her name with intimate, improvised dramedies like Humpday and Your Sister’s Sister. But her latest, Touchy Feely, sees her taking a broader, more traditionally scripted approach, to mixed reactions.
The new film reunites Shelton with her Your Sister’s Sister star Rosemarie DeWitt, who’s playing warm, free-spirited masseuse Abby this time around. Her life turns upside-down when she develops a sudden and inexplicable aversion to human touch, putting not just her career but her relationship with her boyfriend (Scoot McNairy) in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, her uptight dentist brother Paul (Josh Pais) journeys in precisely the opposite direction, as he mysteriously gains a “healing touch” that sends new patients flocking to his practice. Ellen Page, Allison Janney, and Ron Livingston round out the cast. Watch the trailer after the jump.
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The very unusual thriller Berberian Sound Studio is in theaters and on VOD now. So anyone who wants to see Toby Jones lose it a little, while trying to work on the sound mix for an exploitative Italian thriller, can do so now. It’s might not be exactly the movie you expect it to be, but give this one a few minutes to chip away at your sense of comfort and stability and the film’s slow burn will stick with you.
We’re happy to debut the excellent alternate poster you’ll find below. Read More »
Every once in a while a movie comes along that can be used as a yardstick to measure just how different people want their movies to be. Computer Chess is that movie for 2013. This period-set story of a weekend competition for chess programmers is a pitch-perfect recreation of early ’80s geek culture — when the geeks were truly awkward outcasts — and a very unusual exploration of the intersection between humanity and technology.
This is an unusual film, but also one that is constructed with incredible care, and a killer eye for detail. While the plot edges towards sci-fi, there’s a degree to which this is a film that you just have to feel your way through. It isn’t very concerned with laying out answers or final conclusions about some of the ideas it proposes. But it captures a moment in history in a way that is totally unique. Check out the theatrical trailer below. Read More »
The weirdest double-feature at Sundance this year was the pair of films from Sebastián Silva and Michael Cera. While in a holding pattern waiting to shoot one film, Magic Magic (see a trailer for that movie here) they improvised a second film, Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus. IFC picked up Crystal Fairy during the fest, and while we don’t yet have a trailer, we can show you the first poster for the film now.
While Cera is the “star” of both films, in truth each movie really comes to life thanks to the performance of an actress antagonized by Cera. Here, that’s Gaby Hoffmann, whose vibrant performance may be the most bracingly fearless turn you’ll see this year. It’s quite a thing to see.
Cera, Hoffman, and Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, and Agustín Silva play an unlikely group of kids in search of the hallucinogenic San Pedro cactus. As you’ll see in the poster image, they definitely find one, and it’s effect of ingesting the distilled essence of the cactus that pushes things into the realms of the weird and deeply confessional. Check out the poster below. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, June 12th, 2013 by Angie Han
Aubrey Plaza‘s onscreen persona tends toward sharp and witty, but in Maggie Carey‘s The To Do List she plays (somewhat) against type as a naive, innocent teen. Informed by big sis Amber (Rachel Bilson) that college is “like one big sexual pop quiz,” valedictorian Brandy (Plaza) decides she needs to study up — which, given her Type-A personality, means checking off a long list of sex acts in the summer between high school and college.
Her sexual journey is inspired in part by dreamy lifeguard Rusty (Scott Porter), and spurred on by a large circle of acquaintances including Alia Shawkat, Donald Glover, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Johnny Simmons, Andy Samberg, and Bill Hader. Tami Taylor and Agent Coulson Connie Britton and Clark Gregg round out the star-studded cast as Brandy’s parents. Watch the green-band trailer after the jump.
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Posted on Tuesday, June 11th, 2013 by Angie Han
Since breaking out on Arrested Development a decade ago, Michael Cera has gotten a lot of flack for his tendency to stick to the George-Michael Bluth type — awkward, timid, but fundamentally sweet. But just as George-Michael has matured into a more confident, independent young man in the new fourth season of the series, Cera’s started to branch out into darker, stranger material.
Among his intriguing recent work is Sebastián Silva‘s psychological thriller Magic Magic, in which he plays one of several jerks that poor fragile Alicia (Juno Temple) has the misfortune of getting stuck with during a Chilean vacation. Emily Browning, Agustín Silva, and Catalina Sandino Moreno also star. Watch the new trailer after the jump.
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UPDATE: A few minor tweaks have been made to this story since it was first published.
Preliminary details on Joe Carnahan‘s latest film, a small budget thriller produced by horror guru Jason Blum, have now been revealed. We already knew it was called Stretch and that Patrick Wilson (Insidious, Watchmen) would be the star. Now Ed Helms, whose summer scheduled freed up when Vacation was put on hold, has been cast. According to reports, Wilson plays a down on his luck chauffeur who takes a risky job driving around a mysterious billionaire to settle some debts. Helms plays a colleague, of sorts, to Wilson and Chris Pine also stars. Read More »
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