SeriousMoonlight Tagged Articles at Cinematical

In Austin, you can set your watch by the fall film festivals. We don't just have SXSW in the spring. Starting around Labor Day, it feels like we have a film festival practically every week, from Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) to the Austin Polish Film Festival, Austin Asian American Film Festival and of course Fantastic Fest. One of the oldest and biggest of these local autumn fests is Austin Film Festival (AFF), which spans eight days and seven screening venues, and includes a screenwriters' conference. In 2009, AFF celebrated its 16th year.

AFF focuses on screenwriters even in its film programming selections, as was evident with the opening-night film. Serious Moonlight is best known as the last script written by the late actress/filmmaker Adrienne Shelly. I admit I wasn't fond of the movie, but director Cheryl Hines was a trip -- mock-vampy on the red carpet (as shown above), and full of excitement about her film. Her screening was up against heavy competition: Matthew Weiner brought an episode of Mad Men to the festival and didn't reveal which one until just before it screened. (It turned out to be this season's "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency" episode.) Weiner also was featured in panels during the conference portion of AFF.

The first thing everyone seems to mention about Serious Moonlight is that its screenplay is the last one written by the late Adrienne Shelly. Actress Cheryl Hines, who had a role in Shelly's film Waitress, is making her feature directorial debut with the dark comedy, which stars Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton. The movie opened Austin Film Festival this year. It sounds like a sure-fire comedy, but unfortunately it just left me with a headache.

Serious Moonlight focuses on a married couple, Louise (Meg Ryan) and Ian (Timothy Hutton), who are supposed to meet in their country house for a rendezvous, but both arrive a day early. Louise wants to surprise her husband, but finds out that he also has a surprise: he's leaving her. She refuses to accept this, and ends up cracking him on the head with a vase, binding him with duct tape, and refusing to let him loose until he comes to his senses and realizes how much he loves her and wants to stay with her.

Toy Story 3
Full length trailer for the Disney/Pixar sequel in which Andy goes off to college leaving Woody, Buzz and the gang to be donated to a daycare center. Looks like a worthy successor to the franchise. The toys start getting real again on June 18.

Serious Moonlight
In sort of a romantic comedy take on Misery, Meg Ryan plays a woman who duct tapes her cheating husband (Timothy Hutton) to the toilet and refuses to release him until he loves her again. Could be a cute idea but it's got a "wait for the DVD" feel. Watch for this one on December 4.

Dear John
Channing Tatum plays a soldier home on leave who falls in love with a college student (Amanda Seyfried) and carries on a long correspondence (hence the title) once he returns to duty. This is out on February 5.

The Missing Person
Filmnoir about a PI hired to tale a man who we eventually learn supposedly died on 9/11. I love the retro look and style of this one which will be out some time in 2009.

Broken Embraces
The synopsis for this one sounds intriguing -- a man chooses to ignore the life he lived before the accident that caused his blindness and killed his beloved -- but I don't see any of that in the trailer. On the plus side, Penelope Cruz is as stunning as ever. This will be playing New York on November 20 and Los Angeles on December 11.

New this week on AOL Moviefone:

• The Crazies - Remake of a George Romero film in which a small town is exposed to a chemical that drives the residents murderously insane.
• Disney's A Christmas Carol - Second trailer for the Disney holiday flick.
• Tooth Fairy - Dwayne Johnson stars as an unscrupulous hockey player who is forced to work as a tooth fairy.
• Shutter Island - Second trailer for Martin Scorsese's latest. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a Federal Marshall sent to investigate the disappearance of a dangerous inmate at a mental asylum.
  
• Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquel - Second trailer for the second film starring Jason Lee and a trio of pop song singing CGI rodents.
  
• Red Cliff - Historical drama set in China in 208 A.D.
  
• The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus - Terry Gilliam's latest about a man who dares to thwart the devil not once but twice.
  
• The Book of Eli - 31 years after global war has ravaged the planet a man seeks to protect a book that could save humanity.
  
• The Messenger - Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson star as U.S. soldiers with the unenviable task of informing people that their loved one has been killed in action.

Time flies... We're rapidly approaching the third anniversary of Adrienne Shelly's death. Although she spent almost twenty years in the business, Shelly was killed just as her career reached an inspiring new level with Waitress, the sweetly effective story of a woman and creative pie-maker coming to terms with the fact that she's having a child with the husband she hates. Shelly left behind a number of unfinished projects, one of which was Serious Moonlight, a film that Waitress co-star Cheryl Hines took over in her memory.

Almost two years after that news hit, we've finally got a trailer courtesy of Yahoo. (You can see it after the jump.) I'm happy to say that Shelly's vision and personality are immediately visible in the trailer. You could almost close your eyes and imagine what she would have done with it. However, I can't figure out whether it's the casting that I'm having a problem with, or the way it's been morphed into the trailer. I still can't get past Meg Ryan's surgery. And I hate to harp on it, but one of the most charming parts of her acting was her expressive face. However, in their rather positive review, The Hollywood Reporter did say she was "terrific" in the film, and I'm really hoping I agree once it hits theaters on December 4. The rest seem fine, but the magic of the trailer definitely comes from the quirks of the story and the lingering feel of Shelly.

What do you think of the trailer?

The murder of Adrienne Shelly was obviously not just a devastating loss to her friends and family, but to the people who followed her work eagerly from her early days as a star in Hal Hartley movies like The Unbelievable Truth and Trust. (By the by, Trust is only available on VHS, and I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one rushing to buy it on DVD.) She was also just getting back into writing and directing after taking a break for a few years; Waitress, which she wrote, directed, and also acted in, had just been accepted to Sundance when she was murdered. (Read Jeffrey M. Anderson's take on the movie and her murder.)

Through the efforts of her husband Andy Ostroy and friends and costars like Cheryl Hines and Keri Russell, Waitress was shephered through the festivals, inevitable press days, and release. Ostroy also began the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which was created to "support the artistic achievements of female actors, writers and directors who are either working on current short and feature film projects, new productions, or are seeking to transition from acting to writing and directing."

Among the many sad things about the 2006 murder of writer-actress-director Adrienne Shelly was the fact that she left behind a screenplay that was apparently intended to be her next film, after Waitress, which she finished just before her death. The acclaim Waitress received from critics and audiences throughout 2007 gave Shelly's husband, Andy Ostroy, even more reason to keep her spirit alive by producing the film, and now audiences will have a chance to see it.

The film, Serious Moonlight, premiered at Tribeca in April, and now indieWIRE reports that it's been acquired by Magnolia Pictures, which will make it available through its video-on-demand system in November and release it theatrically in December. Cheryl Hines, who co-starred with Shelly in Waitress and is best known for her work on Curb Your Enthusiasm, directed the project, her first feature film.

What's been happening at the Tribeca Film Festival the past couple of days?

Deals. Discussions are underway on several titles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Distribution executives were spotted at Conor McPherson's drama The Eclipse, a title that jumped out at me when the lineup was first announced. The great Ciaran Hinds (Rome, Munich) stars in an "atmospheric drama about a widower who sees and hears strange things in his house." Aidan Quinn and Iben Hjejle (High Fidelity) also star. Other titles "in play" include Cheryl Hines' comedy Serious Midnight, written by the late Adrienne Shelly, starring Kristen Bell, Justin Long, and Meg Ryan; Jake Goldberger's drama Don McKay, starring Thomas Haden Church and Elisabeth Shue; and Marshall Curry's Racing Dreams, a documentary about Go-Kart racing.

Our Coverage. Kirby Dick's "engrossing, revelatory" doc Outrage makes its message clear, wrote Eric D. Snider: "If you're a politician who publicly oppresses the gay community while secretly belonging to it, Kirby Dick will kick your closet door down and tell the world what a hypocrite you are." Eric also reviewed the Academy Award-winning Japanese drama Departures, "a perfect Oscar choice, a fine film that's gently funny and moving and not the least bit challenging or controversial." You can view all our coverage by clicking this handy link.

Blog Talk. The aforementioned doc Racing Dreams "alienated and creeped ... out" Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere, who explained: "I trust I'm not the only urban-residing blue-state guy who despises the whole blue-collar NASCAR thing." I'm sure the feeling is mutual. Eric Kohn at The Wrap describes Off and Running, a doc by Nicole Opper, as "the fascinating story of an adopted African-American teen raised by lesbian Jewish parents in Brooklyn ... The combination of community forces behind its existence makes [it] the quintessential Tribeca product."

The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off tonight with a few changes from years past. The schedule is a little leaner and tighter, and Sundance veteran Geoffrey Gilmore has just arrived at the fest's parent company, Tribeca Enterprises. Having just launched in 2002, the festival is still finding its identity. Good thing we're here to help it look! Cinematical's Erik Davis and yours truly will be covering the festival over the next week. In the meantime, here are seven films we're looking forward to.

Whatever Works
Woody Allen's latest comedy is exciting for two reasons. For one thing, it marks his return to New York after setting his last four films in Europe. For another thing, it stars Larry David, whose famed neurotic pessimism makes him a perfect match for Allen's style. This is Tribeca's opening-night film, accompanied by much ballyhoo and fanfare -- but for some reason, we lowly members of the press aren't able to attend. Our badges get us into most public screenings, but not this one. So, um, we're looking forward to it, and that's all we'll be able to do: look forward to it. It's the kind of situation Larry David would complain about before finding some way to make it worse for himself.

A year and a half after the tragic and sudden death of Adrienne Shelly, her widower, Andy Ostroy, is working to bring her final screenplay to the big screen. The Hollywood Reporter posts that he's started work on The Morgan Stories,a multi-generational family drama that he calls Adrienne's best.

The project follows three sisters over a number of decades, and Ostroy says: "It's a little bigger than some of her other work. If Adrienne's previous movies were comedies with a little bit of drama, this is a drama with a little bit of comedy." Morgan Stories is a bittersweet announcement -- great that we're getting one more look into Shelly's creative mind, a different one at that, and sad that she isn't here to bring it to the screen herself.

The project is still in the beginning stages, but in the meantime, another script is about to make it to the big screen. Serious Moonlight, which boasts Cheryl Hines (Waitress) directorial debut, will premiere at Tribeca next month. The film stars Meg Ryan and Timothy Hutton as a couple who find themselves in a sticky situation -- just as she duct-tapes him to the bathroom, burglars arrive.

That was fast! The ink is barely dry on yesterday's post and the Tribeca Film Festival has already announced the rest of their feature film lineup for this year's edition, which runs from April 22-May 3. A few quick picks:

Blank City. Celine Danhier's doc examines "the DIY independent film movement that emerged in tandem with punk rock in late '70s downtown New York." Living in Los Angeles at the time, I got to see only a few of those films, just enough to get me really interested, so this could be educational and enlightening for modern indie film lovers.

Serious Moonlight. Cheating in the countryside -- and it's a comedy! Cheryl Hines directs from a script by the late Adrienne Shelly, with Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, and Kristen Bell. That's a lot of talent in a small package.

Tell Tale. The director of L.I.E. and Twelve and Holding makes a psychological thriller inspired by Edgar Allan Poe? I'm there! Josh Lucas (meh) but acting aces Lena Headey and Brian Cox provide support.

Other promising titles, and why: Don McKay (black comedy, Thomas Haden Church, Elisabeth Shue, Melissa Leo); City Island (dysfunctional family comedy, Andy Garcia, Alan Arkin); and Love the Beast (doc, cars, Eric Bana's directorial debut).

Tribeca will also be showcasing NYC premieres of films like blaxpoitation flick Black Dynamite, Academy Award winner Departures, and Steven Soderbergh's The Girlfriend Experience, as well as midnight thrills with Ti West's The House of the Devil and Newsmakers, a Russian remake of Johnny To's Hong Kong police drama Breaking News.

Cinematical will be on the ground to bring you complete coverage of the festival. After the jump: the official announcement. Dig in!