HalfNelson Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Cinematical has received this exclusive poster for Sugar, which marks Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden's long-awaited follow up to their hit indie Half Nelson. This time both Fleck and Boden share writing and directing duties on a film that follows a Dominican baseball star who's recruited to play minor league ball in the United States. Back when Sugar premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, Kim called it "insightful and compelling," saying "the baseball scenes are incredibly shot; in fact, the entire film is just gorgeous, like a painting brought to life." I've been itching to see Sugar ever since it was announced; like Half Nelson, I expect a gritty reality that doesn't show up on screen as often as it should. Boden and Fleck have a knack for scraping just below the surface, discovering topics that are either ignored or simply not executed correctly.

Click on the image below to view the entire poster, then head after the jump to check out the trailer. For more on the film, head over to its official website. Sugar arrives in theaters (in NY and LA) on April 3rd.

Last week, indieWIRE ran a provocative piece by Anthony Kaufman about the financial woes of THINKfilm, one of my favorite indie distributors. Kaufman detailed the cash flow problems at THINKfilm, which were causing acrimony between the distrib and many of its filmmakers, who were alleging that the distributor hadn't paid what it owed to them, as well as to advertising companies charged with marketing films under THINKfilm's banner.

Now indieWIRE has a follow-up piece up by Eugene Hernandez, which says that director/producer Alex Gibney, whose film Taxi to the Darkside won the best documentary Oscar this year and was supposed to receive a major theatrical push by THINKfilm following its win, is seeking more than $1 million in damages from the ailing distributor.

While THINKfilm did pay the film's producers the minimums guaranteed by their contract on May 5, Gibney's complaint alleges that THINKfilm failed to disclose that it did not have the financial resources to support the film's theatrical push following its Oscar win, and "jeopardized the success of the film by failing to abide by the terms of contracts it entered into with public relations firms and advisers and failed to pay such firms for work done and expenses incurred."

It's been clear for several weeks now that the independent distribution company THINKfilm has been suffering from some money troubles. Around the time the Cannes Film Festival kicked off this month, blogger AJ Schnack assembled reports from various sources that the company owed a lot of money to many different places. Now, Nikkie Finke reports that Allied Advertising Ltd. filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court today against THINKfilm owner David Bergstein, claiming that THINKfilm failed to pay for Allied's advertising services in a timely manner, while the distributor pretended that wasn't the case. A serious problem indeed.

It's a little unfair, however, for Allied to complain about THINKfilm's decision to continue doing what they do best -- buying films. The lawsuit says that the company embarked on a "lavish film licensing buying spree at various film festivals around the world," rather than exclusively focusing on paying off debt. It's worth noting that THINKfilm remained fairly withdrawn at Cannes this year, and while they did pick up theatrical rights for Marina Zenovich's Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired at Sundance, the film already had a television deal in place with HBO. Meanwhile, the company has dropped Battle in Seattle, which it originally purchased at the Toronto Film Festival. The "buying spree" sounds like needless exaggeration on Allied's part. Whatever the case, given THINKfilm's track record (they did guide Ryan Gosling to his Half Nelson Oscar nod), one hopes they'll survive this nasty legal snafu.

The creative team behind the indie smash hit Half Nelson (the one where Ryan Gosling plays a crack-addicted history teacher) have decided to go back to school ... again; this time, according to Variety, Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden will adapt Marisha Pessl's novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics, with Fleck attached to direct and Boden on to exec produce. Pic marks the third project the duo have taken on since first making a splash with Nelson last year; prior to their work on Calamity Physics, Fleck and Boden will co-direct Sugar (based on a script penned by Fleck) in which a Dominican baseball prospect attempts to fight his way to the majors through the U.S. minor league system. Apart from that, they will also adapt and direct another high school-esque dramedy; Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story for Paramount.

Calamity Physics tells of a high school senior who, after spending each of her first three years in a different town with her highly eccentric on-the-go father, finally looks forward to settling down for a full senior year in a North Carolina high school. Eventually she befriends a group of fellow students (and geniuses) referred to as the Bluebloods, and from there it appears a teacher is killed and, before we know it, we're right smack in the middle of a murder-mystery. So much for that normal senior year, huh? Miramax Films and producer Scott Rudin will shovel this one out. Not sure which project they'll take on after Sugar, but having loved Half Nelson, I can't wait to see what these two have in store for us down the line.

Over at The Hollywood Reporter, Anne Thompson has a compelling piece up about what it took behind the scenes for ThinkFilm to get Ryan Gosling that Oscar nod. Whether you're a filmmaker who thinks, "that'll never happen to me" or "Man, I wish that was me," or just your average cinephile who lives for that kind of geekerific stuff, it's an interesting read.

I remember hearing buzz about Half Nelson at Sundance 2006 and being irked that I'd not caught it there -- I didn't even manage to catch it until months later, at the Seattle International Film Festival. It's fascinating, looking back now, to read all that was going on behind-the-scenes at Sundance a year ago. A major fest like Sundance is this big hive of activity where what you see crawling around on the surface is maybe 20 percent of everything that's going on. And behind the scenes at Sundance last year, while Half Nelson was only quietly beginning to buzz for most folks, ThinkFilm's Mark Urman was already thinking, if only in a whisper, "Oscar?" And now here we are, a little over a year later, with Ryan Gosling actually nominated for Best Actor against some major studio muscle, which is pretty damn cool.

The Boston Society of Film Critics is with the majority on who the best actor and actress of 2006 are. It named Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirren in those respective categories for its annual awards on Sunday night. But, the rest of the group's choices are another matter. The Departed, which had so far been unrecognized by the AFI, the NYFCO and the LAFCA (it is expected to do better with the NYFCC), won four awards, including best picture, director, supporting actor (not the one you'd think, though) and screenplay. Other surprising picks were Half Nelson's Shareeka Epps for best supporting actress and its director, Ryan Fleck, for best new filmmaker.

In giving so much love to The Departed, the Boston critics come off as simply favoring the film's setting and shooting locations. But, they can't really be that obvious. Besides, they didn't give so much to Mystic River (only best picture and best ensemble) back in 2003, and that film was just as good and just as representative of Beantown.

Check out the whole list of winners after the jump.

Last year, AFI dove eagerly into a sea of drama and politics. They cuddled with Brokeback Mountain and got whiplash with Crash. With only an old virgin to keep them afloat, it seems that the AFI powers-that-be started to sink into the drama, and were happy to be rescued by the smiling lifesaver of 2006. Unlike the heaviness of the groups previous choices, this year's choices are ... different to say the least.

First comes the familiar -- the films that aren't surprising. There's some overseas drama with Letters from Iwo Jima and Babel. For home flavor, there's the indie teacher drama, Half Nelson, Spike Lee's Inside Man, United 93, and some music with Dreamgirls. So far, so not surprising. It's a decent range of dramatic choices, although by no means complete.

Then comes the smiling life saver. There's a penguin with Happy Feet, for starters. Top that off with two huge indie hits -- Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan and Little Miss Sunshine, and you hit some mainstream, some satire, and one hell of a Miss Sunshine performance. But then -- and this is where I get really confused -- there is The Devil Wears Prada. When I wiped away the eye-rolling feelings of superiority from her friends, the fat comments (which may be accurate, but are still scary), and a few other too-cheery moments, I liked the film. I wasn't sad to have seen it, or to have even spent the extra coin to see it in a cushy theatre with seat service. However, that being said, is AFI so desperate for relief from last year that they went a little too far in the other direction?

Perhaps host David Cross said it best when talking about the ever-present indie vs. studio issue currently shining a negative light on the Gotham Awards (a 16 year-old event that's supposed to honor low-budget indie flicks, yet somehow managed to include films with budgets close to $100 million): "We're here to celebrate the films that show you don't need a big studio, films with an untested director and cast -- films like The Departed. How that got greenlit I have no idea."

Of course, he's referencing the Martin Scorsese pic, which was one of five films nominated (Half Nelson, Little Children, Marie Antoinette and Old Joy being the other four) in the Best Feature category, despite it's $90 million budget. However, with its minuscule $1 million budget, Half Nelson came out victorious, taking home the award for Best Feature, while Ryan Fleck picked up the prize for Breakthrough Director and newbie Shareeka Epps won for Breakthrough Actor (an award she shared with Babel's Rinko Kikuchi). Babel also came out on top in the Best Ensemble Cast category, Iraq in Fragments won for Best Documentary and, last but certainly not least, Choking Man claimed the prize for Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You -- a category that specializes in honoring films that currently do not have theatrical distribution. For those of you interested in watching the ceremony (which took place last night), you can catch it on NYC TV next Wednesday, as well as on iFilm beginning this Monday.

So, what do you think -- do films like The Departed, Marie Antoinette ($40 million budget) and Babel ($25 million budget) belong at an event that's supposed to be geared toward indie flicks? Then again, the definition of "indie" was thrown out the window a long time ago, and is now used as more of a marketing tool than anything else.

Independent film has become a growing force in mainstream cinema. There used to be a large chasm between indies and mainstream, where only the most lucky could jump the divide into financial success. Now, it's a lot more common. Indie cinema has gained mainstream cred, to the point where they're not a stepping-stone for no-name talent, but a vehicle for well-known actors to re-invigorate their careers. It is, therefore, not surprising that big business has begun to find its way into the indie world, and as the divide lessens, some are not happy with it.

The IFP is an organization created in 1979 that exists to promote American, independent film production. They're also the group that brings us the Gotham Awards. At its inception, the awards were for independent productions with "a little local flavor." But that was sixteen years ago. Today, it's more like the Oscars with an amalgam of cheap, independent features and large, pricey productions. The mission statement seems to be lost, as former IFP member Tim Hope rues: "I don't know what the Gotham Awards mean anymore."

When the awards are held tonight, the little guys will be up against big competition. Low budget dramas like Half Nelson are set to compete against the $40 million Marie Antoinette and $90 million The Departed for best picture. Michelle Byrd, executive director of IFP, is said to want no limits on what can qualify, which is strange coming from someone who heads an organization created to help independent film. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top tonight. While everyone is wondering if big budget will beat out small budget, I'm anxious to see who will take the ensemble category, which has the likes of For Your Consideration and A Prairie Home Companion competing against the very Gotham and very naked Shortbus.

Hey movie fans, it's Sandie here to bring you the first of many awards-related posts. The nominees for the Spirit Awards -- formerly known as the Independent Spirit Awards -- were announced today, and the dysfunctional-family dramedy 'Little Miss Sunshine' and gritty relationship-drama 'Half Nelson' lead with five nominations a piece. This is particularly amusing to our team, because four of us here at Hold the 'Fone have been debating (OK, arguing really) which movie is better since we saw them both at Sundance in January. Two of us are firmly in the 'Sunshine' camp and two in the 'Nelson,' but we haven't gone so far as designing "Team ______" shirts ... yet. Alas, the Spirit Award nominations have done absolutely nothing to settle the score.

As it stands, the nominees for Best Feature are: 'Half Nelson'; 'Little Miss Sunshine'; 'American Gun'; the tale of three communities touched by gun violence; 'The Dead Girl,' a crime drama about the female victims of a serial killer; and 'Pan's Labyrinth,' which truth be told, all of us agree is one of the best movies of the year, so perhaps we should forget the Sundance-flick rivalry and root for Guillermo del Toro's Spanish-language fantasy masterpiece instead.

The Best Male Lead category is, in my mind anyway, Ryan Gosling's to lose for his "flawless performance" (Maggie Gyllenhaal's words, not mine) as a junkie junior-high teacher in 'Half Nelson.' His competitors, however, are nearly as impressive: Aaron Eckhart as a fast-talking tobacco lobbyist in 'Thank You for Smoking'; Edward Norton as an uptight scientist in the period drama 'The Painted Veil'; Ahmad Razvi as a Pakistani immigrant in 'Man Push Cart'; and the always amazing Forest Whitaker as a driven inner-city principal in 'American Gun.'

Not only was Gosling recognized, but so was his young co-star, Shareeka Epps, who is a Best Female Lead nominee for her heart-wrenching portrayal of a middle-schooler who gets emotionally attached to her crack-addicted teacher. Her fellow nominees are Catherine O'Hara as an Oscar-obsessed C-lister in 'For Your Consideration'; Elizabeth Reaser as a 1920s immigrant in 'Sweet Land'; Michelle Williams in the Wim Wenders drama 'Land of Plenty' and Robin Wright Penn for her bitter TV exec in 'Sorry, Haters.' Have to admit that I'm a bit dumbstruck that Maggie didn't score a nod for 'Sherrybaby': a. She's the indie "It Girl" b. The film debuted at Sundance and c. It stars Gyllenhaal as a hedonistic ex-convict mama trying to reconnect with her young daughter. If that doesn't merit a Spirit Award, what is the indie world coming to?

The Spirit Awards did manage to acknowledge two of the breakout performances we're thankful for this year in the Best Supporting Male category: Paul Dano, who we loved as the Nietzche-loving brother Dwayne in 'Sunshine' and Channing Tatum as Shia LaBeouf's hot-headed best friend in 'A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.' Both up-and-comers face 72-year-old Alan Arkin for his role as the foul-mouthed grandpa in 'Sunshine'; Daniel Craig for his very non-Bond role as vulnerable killer Perry Smith in the (other) Capote biopic 'Infamous'; and veteran "That Guy" Raymond J. Barry as an exacting military man in 'Steel City.'

Want to see who else was nominated? Get the complete list of Spirit Award nominees.

And if you're now in the mood for a fix of good indie films, check out our Independent Film Guide, where you'll find reviews of nearly all the nominated actors and films.

Tags: Spirit Awards, Little Miss Sunshine, Half Nelson, American Gun, Ryan Gosling, Paul Dano, Channing Tatum, indie movies, movie awards