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Sundance in 60 Seconds. Saturday, January 30, 2010
Filed under: Documentary, Independent, Awards, Sundance, IFC, Distribution, Obits, Cinematical Indie, Roadside Attractions
Awards: The big winners include Winter's Bone (Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic), Restrepo (Grand Jury Prize, Documentary), Animal Kingdom (World Cinema Jury Prize, Dramatic) and The Red Chapel (World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary), with audience awards going to happythankyoumoreplease and Waiting for Superman. Check out the full list of winners here.
Celebrity Sightings: Most of the celebs have left town by now, so let's check out a few leftovers: People has a rundown of where celebs were seen eating in Park City. The main course in the article looks at an East-meets-West feast with Orlando Bloom, Mark Ruffalo and Juliette Lewis of Sympathy for Delicious. As for photos from the awards, the LA Times has a photo of host David Hyde Pierce (with festival director John Cooper) during his rap performance, in case you missed it live (hopefully it ends up on YouTube).
Deals: In line with their penchant for controversial films, IFC has picked up Michael Winterbottom's polarizing crime drama The Killer Inside Me for a reported $1-1.5 million. They're looking at a late summer/early fall release. Now the world (well, U.S. moviegoers) can experience the same disgust as the audience member who shamed Sundance for showing the film. Later in the day, Roadside Attractions bought Debra Granik's Winter's Bone for low six-figures with plans to release the film this summer. Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey has bought the documentary A Family Affair to air on her new network and Aamir Khan tells Anne Thompson that he'd like to distribute Peepli Live himself.
Our coverage, some tragic news and other near-end linkage after the jump:
Next in 3D: Joyful Porn Melodrama from Gaspar Noe?
Filed under: Foreign Language, Independent, Romance, IFC, Cinematical Indie
We know the Sundance Film Festival can handle 3D movies, as evidenced with 2008's U2 3D and this year's most popular documentary, Cane Toads: An Unnatural History. But isn't it time for some of Park City's fiction film veterans to embrace the format and make some game changers for the indie world? Kevin Smith could turn his breakout film into a trilogy with Clerks 3D, while I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Quentin Tarantino does something in three dimensions. Actually, a few years ago QT reportedly told Total Film he's interested in doing a 3D porn film. But he'll apparently be beaten to the punch by Gaspar Noé, who is at the fest this year with his latest, Enter the Void (read our review of it here).
Noé is notorious for making films depicting graphic sex (see the controversial Irreversible), and according to Hollywood Wiretap his next erotic effort will bring the sex into your laps. The follow-up is as yet untitled, though since he first announced the project at Cannes last year it has been labeled, based on his words, the "joyful porn movie" and the "pornographic melodrama."
Watch This: Individual 'Red Riding' Trilogy Trailers
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, IFC, Distribution, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
One of my favorite moviegoing experiences of last year was spending an entire day with the Red Riding trilogy. Three British films, each from a different director, each shot in a different film or video format, each set in a different year and each terrific as a stand-alone work -- though the last installment does function as a conclusive wrap-up, as well. Red Riding: 1974, Red Riding: 1980 and Red Riding: 1983 present the intertwining stories of multiple characters involved in ongoing cases of murder, child abduction and police corruption in West Yorkshire, England. All were adapted from a series of novels from David Peace (The Damned United) by occasional Terry Gilliam collaborator Tony Grisoni (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).IFC will release the trilogy, originally presented as a TV miniseries in the UK, in marathon form for one week only beginning February 5th at NYC's IFC Center -- before the films screen separately in both New York and Los Angeles on February 12. A nationwide expansion comes another week later, on February 19. If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to see the three films back to back, I implore you to watch them as I did. To further convince you, check out Eugene's review of the trilogy from Telluride.
To offer some visual encouragement, Moviefone has just debuted trailers for each installment, which you can check out after the jump alongside a rundown of each segment.
Overlooked in 2009: 'Tormented'
It's the first few days of 2010 (feels weird to write it), and I should probably be looking forward. But it so happened that my first movie of 2010 was something that didn't get nearly enough love or attention in 2009: the entirely fascinating British horror film Tormented, available for a couple more weeks On Demand from IFC Films. Fans of thoughtful, multifaceted horror should give it a try.
Part of the problem may have been that the most obvious way to describe the plot of the film makes it sound ass-boring: bullied kid commits suicide, proceeds to haunt his tormentors from beyond the grave. But the actual premise is quite a bit subtler and more interesting. The movie opens with Justine (the lovely Tuppence Middleton), Oxford-bound Head Girl at a wealthy English boarding school, giving a clearly well-intentioned eulogy for the dead kid. But we then quickly learn a few key facts: (1) Justine doesn't actually remember who Darren was; (2) he was completely and utterly in love with her; (3) his suicide note cites her bullying as the last straw -- a shock to the smart, pretty girl who wouldn't hurt a fly, and didn't even know the kid. Meanwhile, Justine is courted by a charming member of the popular crowd (Dmitri Leonidas), who seems nice enough, but is apparently in thrall to the school's king of the bullies (Alex Pettyfer), and may have played a role in the events that drove Darren to end his life.
Review: Police, Adjective
Filed under: Drama, Foreign Language, IFC, Theatrical Reviews
When compared to the admittedly few recent Romanian films that I've seen, the latest acclaim magnet -- Police, Adjective -- is every bit as willfully, woefully mundane as the others, obscuring with a numbing layer of realism some intriguing points about the intersection between black-and-white semantics and gray areas of morality.
How does one define justice or the law? More importantly, at what point does one differentiate between convincing filmmaking and compelling filmmaking? Because while Police, Adjective is certainly a feasible procedural, down to the details, its dedication to being just that prevents it from having much of an impact.
Netflix and IFC Team Up for Streaming Indies
Filed under: Deals, IFC, Tech Stuff, Distribution, Movie Marketing
Netflix knows where it's at when it comes to the rental biz; more and more, folks want to stay at home and watch movies instantly. We don't even want to wait for those happy little red envelopes any more. Nope, if it's not on our Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, or computer, we get all squirrelly. (Okay, maybe that last part is just me.) And IFC is also on the cutting edge of home entertainment in its steadily growing on-demand offerings, including their IFC Festival Direct program, where you can watch a selection of movies that have played during recent festivals, and the In Theaters + On Demand program, which offers at-home viewers the chance to see indie flicks the same day they premiere in what's usually limited release.Now Netflix and IFC have sealed the deal for a partnership that gives Netflix access to 53 IFC releases to be streamed online to whichever platform you like, starting today.
I would guess that if this experiment takes off, we'll be seeing more IFC goodies on Netflix, but for now, you can see docs like The Thing Blue Line and Gates of Heaven; international films from Catherine Breillat, Christophe Honoré, and Alfonso Cuaron; and Joe Swanberg; and plenty of other flicks like The Brother from Another Planet, Nights and Weekends, and more. Check back later for the full list and more details on the launch of this new project.
Have you watched any of the IFC On Demand offerings, especially if they're for releases not otherwise available in your area? Do you think this is another death knell for the indie video store, or a really, really good idea to help spread the word about otherwise underseen independent films in a struggling market? Or both?
Indie Roundup: 'Cracks,' 'Harry Brown' Deals and Trailers
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Thrillers, Deals, IFC, Distribution, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
Indie Roundup: Your quick guide to what's new and upcoming in the independent film community.
Deals. Our friends at indieWIRE report that Cracks has been acquired by IFC Films, which plans to release it next year via its IFC in Theaters platform. The film is the feature directorial debut of Jordan Scott, daughter of Ridley Scott. Eva Green (The Dreamers, Casino Royale) stars as a teacher and diving coach in an Irish boarding school for orphaned girls; Juno Temple, Imogen Poots, and Maria Valverde also star. "The trials and tribulations, for both the students and their unorthodox teacher," writes Kurt Halfyard at Twitch, "gradually are brought to a boil that subverts many of the typical paths in either a coming of age story or a typical 'school-girl dormitory' tale."
Michael Caine stars as Harry Brown, a retired Marine who determines to clean up his neighborhood after his best friend is killed. Samuel Goldwyn Films picked up theatrical rights to the thriller; indieWIRE notes that the film opened in the UK last weekend, though the US release date has not yet been announced. Daniel Barber directed. UK site Pure Movies calls Harry Brown "a superior offering – albeit a gritty and bleak one."
On Demand / Online Viewing. Check out On Hallowed Ground, available exclusively this month on Babelgum. Andre Braugher narrates the documentary, which explores Rucker Park, a basketball court in Harlem where legendary future NBA players, and those who should have been famous, once played. Speaking of gritty players, if you're curious to catch up with Troy Duffy's The Boondock Saints, it'll finally be coming to video on demand in January.
After the jump: watch trailers for Cracks (absolutely gorgeous) and Harry Brown (dark and intense)!
AFI Fest Review: Fish Tank
Filed under: Drama, IFC, Other Festivals
The movies' penchant for wish fulfillment often requires them to make their triumphs monumental, but the new film Fish Tank makes a convincing case for modesty. The story of a teenage girl discovering herself in Great Britain's equivalent of a housing project, its very conception is steeped in understated humanity, but writer-director Andrea Arnold refuses to indulge melodrama at every turn, creating a film that feels like a less romantic counterpart to another recent coming-of-age story, An Education, but is just as substantial.
Katie Jarvis plays Mia, an embittered, hostile 15-year old who comes home one day to discover that her party-girl mom Joanne (Kierston Wareing) has a new boyfriend named Connor (Michael Fassbender). Though initially standoffish, she slowly succumbs to his charms, especially after he encourages her to develop her burgeoning talents as a dancer. But as she advances closer to womanhood, attracting the attention of a young man her own age, Connor becomes increasingly protective of Mia, eventually drawing her into a relationship that tests the limits – as well as the boundaries - of their fragile, fledgling emotional bond.
'Moon' and 'Fish Tank' Lead BIFA Nods
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Independent, Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Awards, Mystery & Suspense, IFC, Sony Classics, Fantastic Fest, Oscar Watch
Fall brings with it awards season, and among our first round of nominations are those of the British Independent Film Awards. According to Empire, Andrea Arnold's acclaimed Fish Tank took the lead with eight, while Duncan Jones' similarly lauded Moon came up with seven, including one for lead actor Sam Rockwell.I'm personally happy to see the savage political satire In the Loop getting due notice, especially its expletive-laden screenplay, since it'll likely go overlooked when it comes to Yank laurels (sad but true, although I'll be happy if it's not). Meanwhile, the multiple nods for An Education and Bright Star only parallel their warm reception Stateside and their likely contention in next year's Oscar race.
And after being quietly blown away by it at Fantastic Fest a few weeks back, I'm also glad to see Down Terrace get some love under the Raindance Award category. Enough of these awards, and maybe that puppy'll earn some distribution in our neck of the woods. (You listening, IFC?)
Poll: How Do You Watch Most New Indie Films?
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Documentary, Foreign Language, Horror, Independent, Thrillers, IFC, Magnolia, Distribution, Home Entertainment
With one art house dedicated to showing independent films and the spare multiplex screen occasionally hijacked by them, Orlando -- like most markets -- doesn't always get those that open in NY/LA first, and even when we eventually do, it can take months (for example, we got July releases Thirst and In the Loop in September).As such, I'm keen on keeping an eye out for whatever's available on-demand. That's how I recently caught up with the very good Flame & Citron, and between Magnolia and IFC, I can hope to see the likes of Red Cliff and Antichrist for myself and in the comfort of my own home. (Well, I hope that the former hits VOD...)
So now I ask you: Do you have access to on-demand programming? Do you take advantage of it out of convenience, or is it because you might not have any other chance to see something before DVD? If you live in New York or Los Angeles, do you make a particular concerted effort to support a film in theaters if you know you can just watch it at home? Or will you guys and girls just wait to watch a movie whenever it comes home from your Queue?
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
Tim Robbins Joins 'The Green Lantern'
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