Even for fans of Sofia Coppola, the biggest interest in her new film, The Bling Ring, might be for the man behind the cinematography. The late Harris Savides shot the film, and though he was not able to see the project through to release, his touch is all over it. As anyone familiar with Savides’ work would expect, the film indeed looks gorgeous, with a restrained but perfectly composed color palette.
Granted, it doesn’t hurt that Savides and Coppola were able to train their lens on Emma Watson as the ringleader of a group of teen girls that robbed the homes of Los Angeles celebrities before the so-called “bling ring” was nabbed by cops. This first full trailer gives us a good look at the full span of the movie, from the kids’ initial flush of interest in the scheme, the rush of excitement in the robberies, and their total douchebaggery when caught.
Check out the trailer below. Read More »
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Posted on Friday, April 19th, 2013 by Angie Han
Jessica Biel has done more than her fair share of studio romcoms and actioners, but her most interesting role in recent memory could be in the Sundance indie Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes.
Directed by Francesca Gregorini, the psychological thriller stars Kaya Scodelario as a troubled teen girl who begins babysitting for her new neighbor Linda (Biel). In time, Emanuel becomes ever more obsessed with Linda, in whom she sees a striking resemblance to her dead mother. That logline doesn’t sound terribly unique, I know, but the film has drawn some attention for its surprising twists and turns. Watch the trailer after the jump.
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Posted on Friday, April 19th, 2013 by Angie Han
Whenever news breaks that a female teacher has been caught sleeping with her male student, as happens every so often, reactions tend to run one of two ways: Either she’s the seductive villain preying on a poor innocent boy, or he’s the lucky kid who got to bang a hot older lady. To the people actually involved, though, it’s no doubt far more complicated.
Writer-director Hannah Fidell attempts to explore that murky area in between with A Teacher, an intimate character study that premiered as part of Sundance’s NEXT slate earlier this year. Lindsay Burdge plays lonely Diana, who falls into an affair with her teenage student Eric (Will Brittain). Though they’re well aware of the dangers, she can’t help herself from falling deeper into the situation. Hit the jump to watch the new teaser.
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Whether you’ve seen it on the streets of your city or on someone’s hat as they walk down the street, a familiar slogan is found all over the place: “Obey.” The simple command with the layered connotation is the handiwork of artist Shepard Fairey. Influenced by the film They Live and using the visage of Andre the Giant, Fairey began plastering the familiar logo all over the globe in the ’90s, leading viewers to consider its implications. The brand has since given Fairey worldwide acclaim and infamy. He had a huge part in the Oscar-nominated documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, owns his own clothing line, and much more.
Director Julian Marshall thought Fairey’s rise to fame and the birth of this iconic idea would make a great idea for a film. He took to Kickstarter to fund Obey The Giant, a narrative retelling of the story, and that short has now been completed and is online. Check it out below. Read More »
Primer and Upstream Color writer/director/star Shane Carruth is an exceedingly generous interview subject. You might expect the creator of two very thoughtful pieces of genre film to be aloof or overly cerebral. But in conversation he has a tendency to react with exclamations like “wow” and “that’s so great” followed by thoughtful and digressive answers.
Maybe it’s just that I spoke to Carruth partway through Sundance, after Upstream Color had been shown only a couple of times, and he was still processing audience reactions. The film is not a typical narrative, and while it is also not outrageously obscure or difficult to puzzle out, I can imagine that Carruth might have been concerned about how audiences would respond to the picture. The chance to positively converse with people about something you’ve crafted in a bubble must be a source of great relief, even oh exultation. Every “wow!” seemed to be like a moment where Carruth realized that his experimental narrative worked, rather than one where he was impressed by the question.
Be warned that the conversation that follows is full of spoilers for Upstream Color. I sought, originally, to talk about the film in a way that wouldn’t give things away, but that intention dissipated with Carruth’s very first answer. There’s no way to talk about this film without really getting into the details of it. Fortunately, even when talking about the details of the plot, there’s a lot of room for interpretation with respect to meaning — Upstream Color is a film that will provoke many different readings. Read More »
The cast of this summer’s independent comedy The Way, Way Back is insane: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Amanda Peet, and Rob Corddry… and none of them are the star of the film. That honor goes to Liam James, a young actor best known for roles on The Killing and Psych. He’s the main character in this sweet and hilarious coming of age comedy from Oscar-winners Nat Faxon & Jim Rash.
Faxon and Rash won an Oscar for writing The Descendants, but you likely know them best as Ben from Ben & Kate and Dean Pelton from Community. They pop up in this film too, which they wrote, and directed. The movie opens July 5. The first trailer is below. Read More »
Posted on Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 by Angie Han
Briefly: Another Sundance hit is prepping for a theatrical bow. Relativity has just announced an October 18 wide release for Don Jon (formerly Don Jon’s Addiction), Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s crowd-pleasing feature directorial debut. The deal was one of the biggest at this year’s Sundance, so the splashy rollout shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Don Jon faces some rather varied competition on that date, including The Seventh Son, Kimberly Peirce’s Carrie remake, and Lee Daniels’ The Butler.
In addition to directing, Gordon-Levitt also leads the cast as a ladies’ man addicted to porn. His former Angels in the Outfield co-star Tony Danza plays his dad, and Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore portray two very different women who teach him about the ways of love. Read Germain’ full-length review from Sundance here.
Posted on Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 by Angie Han
For the past several weeks, the casting of Jane Got a Gun has played like an extra-handsome version of musical chairs. First Michael Fassbender and Joel Edgerton were in, then Fassbender departed and Edgerton took his place. Jude Law was brought in to take Edgerton’s old slot, but then he left too. Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Jeff Bridges were eyed as potential replacements for Law, before Bradley Cooper finally booked the part.
But one seat has remained steadily empty throughout the process, until now. Noah Emmerich will round out the cast of the Gavin O’Connor-directed Western as Natalie Portman‘s husband, whose betrayal of his gang sets the rest of the plot in motion. Hit the jump to keep reading.
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