Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
With Father’s Day coming up this weekend, Magnolia Pictures has taken the opportunity to release a red band movie trailer for Bob Goldthwait’s World’s Greatest Dad. I had the wonderful opportunity to catch this film at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and by the time I left the theater, I was hurting from laughing so much. You can read my full review here.
This is not your traditional comedy. It’s dark. REALLY dark. For example, Goldthwait’s 2006 film Sleeping Dogs Lie (originally titled “Stay”) was about a relationship that is destroyed when a girlfriend reveals to her boyfriend that she had a past indiscretion (read: blowjob) with a dog. Believe it or not, Goldthwait’s 2009 follow-up is at least 10 times more twisted and probably 20 times funnier. Watch the red band movie trailer after the jump, and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Richard Linklater’s ‘Spiritual Sequel’ To Dazed and Confused On Hold
Posted on Sunday, June 7th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
A couple months ago, Chud reported that Richard Linklater briefly talked up a ’spiritual sequel’ to Dazed and Confused while at an appearance in Austin, TX. Not long after news trickled out that the film’s script was written and Linklater wanted to shoot it this summer, but that he was having trouble securing financing for the project. Now the Risky Biz Blog is reporting that the project has been shelved because the money isn’t there.
Andrew Lancaster’s Accidents Happen Teaser Trailer
Posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Australian composer (Alex Proyas’ Garage Days) and short film filmmaker Andrew Lancaster makes his feature directorial debut with Accidents Happen, an indie dramedy that premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.
There are dysfunctional families… and then there are the Conways. After a family tragedy, 15-year-old Billy Conway (Harrison Gilbertson) has become the de facto glue between his bitter mom (Geena Davis), distant brother (Harry Cook), and stoic dad (Joel Tobeck). But when Billy starts to act out, everything changes for him and his family.
Based loosely on Brian Carbee’s autobiographical book and one-man theater production, the film is set in 1980’s New England, but was shot in Sydney. The film was named by New York Post as one of the five films to look out for at Tribeca, and the Examiner called it “a promising feature debut (by director Andrew Lancaster and writer Brian Carbee) that isn’t shy in its examination of a nasty-yet-funny family dynamic.” Check out the teaser trailer after the jump.
Before Fanboys was ever announced, there was another Star Wars-themed project in the works, an indie coming of age drama titled 5-25-77 from Patrick Read Johnson (director of Angus, writer of Dragonheart). Many geeks will reccognize that date as the day that Star Wars was released in theaters. The movie went into production in 2004, and has sat in post production for nearly five years. The film premiered at the Hamptons International Film Festival in October of last year under a new minimalistic title, ‘77.
The film tells the story of an alienated, sci-fi obsessed teen filmmaker named Pat Johnson (John Francis Daley) who must overcome his fear of leaving everything he knows and loves behind to chase his unlikely Hollywood dream. The pending release of a new movie called Star Wars on 5-27-77 is instrumental in shaping Pat’s destiny.
If Fanboys was American Pie, this movie seems much more like Almost Famous. ‘77 looks like it has a lot of potential. I’m a sci-fi geek, a recovering aspiring filmmaker and a sucker for good coming of age indie, so I’m sure I’ll have no problem connecting with this film. ‘77 doesn’t have a distributor yet, but it does have a new movie trailer. Check it out after the jump.
More Clips From The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Posted on Sunday, May 24th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Three new video clips from Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus have appeared on the Comme Au Cinema site and have also been embedded below the break in this story. One of them features a scene we’ve seen already - twice before, in fact - but now finally in what would appear to be the correct aspect ratio. The others are new, however, and show us both storylines and special effects that the first clip didn’t even hint at.
As well as showcasing Heath Ledger as Tony, the clips give us a very good look at Andrew Garfield as Anton, Lily Cole as Valentina and - best of all - Christopher Plummer as the titular doctor.
It has been 16 years, I think, since Enzo G. Castellari’s last big screen work, but buoyed by the publicity of Quentin Tarantino stemming Inglourious Basterds from his correctly spelled original, he’s coming back in a big way. And this time, he’s going to be taking his title from Quentin.
Caribbean Basterds is being showcased at Cannes with a promo reel. According to Variety, the film “centers on a trio of young rich kids who rebel against their arms-dealing parents and also stumble across a big drug cache” and is set on a Venezuelan island - hence the title.
I know I might be stating the obvious, but the bad economic times have hit every industry, including the movie industry. Earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, it was a very different scene than previous years. I don’t have the exact figures but it appeared that a lot fewer films were acquired compared to previous years. This of course left many films in a questionable state. Earlier this week, the Jim Carrey/Ewan McGregor comedy I Love You, Philip Morris finally got bought.
If a Jim Carrey comedy is having that much trouble, you can imagine where this leaves the true independents, regardless if they might be the most marketable indie at the festival or not. Thankfully, good things come to those who wait. Derrick Comedy’s Mystery Team has finally been acquired by Lionsgate’s indie label Roadside Attractions.
Cinematical described it as “Encyclopedia Brown meets Napoleon Dynamite with a pinch of Ace Ventura” and CinemaBlend called it “the Rocky Horror Picture Show of mystery movies.” Film School Rejects called it “perfect comedy for the internet generation.” And we said it is ” funnier and more original than 99% of the comedies Hollywood releases now-a-days.” No word yet on an exact release date, but we’ve heard the words “this fall” and “Nationwide.” Read the full press release after the jump.
Lars Von Trier’s latest film Antichrist has premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and according to Reuters, the film “elicited derisive laughter, gasps of disbelief, a smattering of applause and loud boos.”
I have rounded up some of the reviews, which range from “I think I might have loved it, I’m not sure” to “this film needs to be burned”. Check out the excerpts after the jump.
Read More »
Early Buzz: Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro is “Unsatisfying”
Posted on Thursday, May 14th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro has premiered at the Cannes Film Festival to a mixed to lukewarm response. It seems like most critics aren’t too impressed with Coppola’s first original screenplay since 1974’s The Conversation. Here is a quick round-up of the early festival buzz:
Variety: “Tetro is still a work of modest ambition and appeal.” … “Coppola’s gradual lifting of the dramatic lid over the course of more than two hours frankly feels old-fashioned and labored.” … “Coppola lacks the writerly flair to make the big scenes soar or resonate with multiple meanings and dimensions; rather, they more often than not seem abruptly curtailed and somewhat unsatisfying.”
More after the jump.
The movie trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro is now online. Coppola’s second film in the last 12 years, his first original screenplay since The Conversation, and is the movie is being billed as his most personal film yet. Based from memories and emotions from his early life, though totally fictional, Tetro is the “bittersweet story of two brothers, of family lost and found and the conflicts and secrets within a highly creative Argentine-Italian family.”
Judging from the trailer, Tetro looks and feels like a film from 60 years ago. The black and white cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. Could Tetro be a return to form for Coppola? I really hope so. Watch the trailer after the jump, and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Read More »
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman Cast In Hesher
Posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Last year, we featured a beautiful zombie short film titled I Love Sarah Jane. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out right now. It was screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and many regional film festivals around the world. And aside from being awesome, it is notable for featuring Mia Wasikowska, who has gone on to become Alice in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
Writer/director Spencer Susser has been working in commercials and music videos , but is finally making his first feature film, an indie dramedy titled Hesher starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman. Susser has been developing Hesher for the last four years, as well as a feature film adaptation of Sarah Jane (which I hope someday gets made). The film, co-written with David Michod, tells the story of a 13 year old boy named T.J..
If you ask me, Sony Pictures Classics is probably the WORST indie distributor. They mis-advertised and buried the 2008 Sundance favorite The Wackness, and countless other films.
This year at Sundance, SPC picked up the rights to the Sam Rockwell old-school space sci-fi thriller Moon. The film is running on a lot of buzz, and of course, Sony has revealed that their June 12th “limited opening” will only consist of theaters in two cities: New York in Los Angeles. I’m sure the plan is to expand to more cities, but SPC is certainly no Fox Searchlight. They don’t know how to do a platform release without award buzz.
Moon is such a wonderful indie sci-fi film. I encourage anyone near New York and LA to see this film on June 12th. Hopefully people in other cities will get the chance to see this film on the big screen.
via: Io9
