TheCove Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The Cove is an indie documentary that got great reviews but didn't do so hot at the box office, not only because it was a tiny independently distributed documentary but also because of its brutal subject matter. The Cove is about the slaughter of around 23,000 dolphins every year in just one cove in Taiji, Japan, and the group assembled by former dolphin trainer-turned-advocate Ric O'Barry to try and stop it. Cinematical's very own Scott Weinberg's Sundance review was blurbed in the trailer, and William Goss urged film-goers to "get brave and see The Cove already!"

O'Barry, who is also the director for Save Japan Dolphins and returns to Taiji regularly despite the danger of the local yakuza, has good news this year. When he returned for the first day of the annual dolphin slaughter, along with journalists from major international publications, "the notorious Cove from the movie was empty. There were no dolphin killers in sight." Not only that, but Japanese police and media were also there to talk to him and cover the story – big news since according to O'Barry, the Japanese media has been ignoring the situation until now.

I know that Scott has already sung the praises of this film back when he saw it at Sundance, but last week, I finally got to see The Cove for myself and found it to be every bit as emotional and riveting an experience as described by not only him, but colleague after colleague. In a summer season as packed with action as any other, it was this documentary that stood out as one of the more tense and touching films of the year, and the only thing that's probably keeping any of you who can see The Cove from rushing out to do so is its subject matter...

Because The Cove is kinda sorta about dolphin slaughter.

Indie Roundup reviews the past week of news from the independent film community and provides a peek at what's coming soon.

Festivals. Its official name is the Traverse City Film Festival, but unofficially it's "the Michael Moore fest," thanks to the filmmaker's role as founding father. Good reports on the fifth edition, which wrapped last weekend, can be found at Spout (by Karina Longworth) and indieWIRE (by Thom Powers).

Deals. Image Entertainment acquired Adam Salky's Dare, which premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Emmy Rossum, Zach Gilford, and Ashley Springer star as "high school students that enter into an unusual triangle of friendship and love." Tim Grierson of Screen wrote: "As refreshing as it is legitimately sexy." Release plans have not yet been announced. [Per indieWIRE.]

Online / On-Demand Viewing. If you hurry, you can still watch the acclaimed documentary 45365 at SnagFilms for free. it's available through tomorrow (Thursday, August 6) as part of their SummerFest preview series. The doc examines life in Sidney, Ohio, as filmed over the course of nine months by two men raised in that small town.

If you're hungry for more (legal) online viewing, check out the newly-launched SpeedCine, a very simple search engine that lets you find out what movies are available to watch through various providers like Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix, either free of charge, for a one-time fee, or by subscription. It's in beta, which means they're still working on it, but right now it flies along very quickly and efficiently. I'm rather amazed -- and very pleased -- to see so many movies that are available at no charge.

Who won the battle for the Indie Weekend Box Office crown? Find out after the jump.

(Reprint from our Sundance 2009 coverage. The film opens this weekend, so go find a local theater!)

Wow. Just wow. This is easily one of the most powerful, heartfelt, and (yes, I'll say it) important 'nature' documentaries I've ever seen. Here's a brutally honest and effortlessly fascinating film about one specific cove in Taiji, Japan, in which approximately 23,000 dolphins are killed every year. Yes, you read that right: 23,000. Dolphins. Annually. And here's the really twisted part: Given the amount of mercury that's found in these creatures, they're practically poison. But where there's money to be made, there are atrocities to be committed.

So while most of the better "socially conscious and angry" documentaries are forced to look at a tragedy with years of hindsight, The Cove is so timely it almost hurts. This is not a film that looks backward and says "Jeez, what a shame that was," but one that screams "Look at what's happening right now, and we really have to stop it!" As this masterful documentary states its case, we're introduced to a bunch of key players: Richard O'Barry, former dolphin trainer and longtime advocate for the animals; filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, who spearheads a massive effort to expose this sickening practice; a pair of world-class free-divers who gladly throw their skills into the mix; and an extra handful of daredevils, tech experts, and cameramen who are willing to risk a month in a Japanese jail ... just so they finally can get some video footage of these secret slaughters.

Here's a quick look at what's opening in limited release this weekend. If they're not playing where you live, keep an eye out as they make the rounds. And if all else fails, there's always DVD.

Adam (pictured) is an unusual romantic comedy starring Hugh Dancy as a man with Asperger syndrome, a mild form of autism, who develops a relationship with his new neighbor (Rose Byrne). It has a 70% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, including my own Cinematical review from Sundance, where I wrote: "This isn't some cheesy TV movie about a wise "special needs" person who teaches life lessons to those around him.... It's a simple, light comedy with dramatic underpinnings, and a pleasant way to spend an evening." Now playing in New York and L.A.

The Cove, another Sundance alumnus, is already one of the year's most acclaimed documentaries, with a 94% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It's about a cove in Japan where thousands of dolphins are slaughtered every year for shady reasons, and it plays out like a thriller. Cinematical's Scott Weinberg called it "brutally honest and effortlessly fascinating" and "easily one of the most powerful, heartfelt, and ... important 'nature' documentaries I've ever seen." Playing in New York and L.A.

Scott Weinberg says to tell you that The Cove is, like, totally amazing. He says so here, and also to me over instant messenger about a half hour ago. For some reason, no one seems to have seen the movie at Sundance (where it won the, uh, Audience Award) -- the IMDb lists all of four reviews -- but the people who did seem all to have reacted pretty strongly, though not all positively. It chronicles the secret and probably illegal slaughter of dolphins in a small Japanese town, and is evidently quite graphic, so I'm not surprised that it's divided audiences.

Fortunately, the film's apparent unpleasantness didn't stop Roadside Attractions to pick up The Cove for distribution stateside. It will see limited release on July 31st. Roadside is a small distributor, but they've actually been pretty good about pushing their releases to at least some major cities outside of New York and LA, so your odds of seeing it are probably pretty good if you live near some skyscrapers.

What the film's hero, dolphin activist Richard O'Barry, is really concerned about, though, is that the film be seen in Japan. A couple of months ago, he speculated that The Cove would be banned in the country where it was filmed. Japan isn't known for banning films outright, so we'll see; obviously it doesn't have a Japanese distributor at the moment.

The (terrific) trailer for the film is after the jump. If you're intrigued and don't care about documentary spoilers, check out this lengthy piece in the Japan Times, which chronicles the filmmakers' remarkable (and expensive) efforts to capture some of the footage you'll see in the movie.

I left this year's Sundance Film Festival with two films I promised myself to champion as much as I could throughout the year: Sin Nombre and The Cove. I've already shared with you the trailer for The Cove, and now it's time to throw a little more love at Sin Nombre, which not only took home an award for Best Cinematography at Sundance, but our friend Cary Joji Fukunaga also won Best Director for his gritty romantic thriller about three teenagers whose lives intersect on top of a train traveling through Mexico and heading for the border.

Gang warfare, romance, heartbreak, redemption -- all of it mixed with the harsh ghettos and stunning landscapes of Mexico, featuring gut-wrenching performances from a group of newcomers; some of whom had never acted in a film before. To quote my own Sundance review: "With Sin Nombre, Fukunaga has crafted the sort of too-real-it-hurts story that you simply must enjoy on the big screen in order to feel the film's beautiful loneliness and share its brilliance with those you care most about."

So do yourself a favor and go watch this flick when it hits theaters on March 20th. Check out the trailer below ...

Every year I leave Park City, Utah with a couple films I'm more than willing to champion the hell out of so that more folks pay attention and try to watch them when they finally become available. For me, one of those films this year was The Cove. I've been explaining it to people as the Dear Zachary of nature documentaries, and I wasn't the only one blown away by this flick as it took home the audience award at Sundance in the U.S. Documentary Competition section.

You can read Scott's review over here, but essentially The Cove follows a group of people who travel to this remote part of Japan where they're supposedly slaughtering 23,000 dolphins each year. And while the Japanese law enforcement does all they can to keep folks away from the truth, this rag-tag group of scientists, swimmers and adventurers risk their lives to uncover an atrocity the world needs to know more about. No word on when The Cove will hit theaters (I spoke with one of the guys last night and he said they're still negotiating a deal), but you can check out the trailer below ... and you bet your ass I'll be back to remind you about this flick later in the year.

Things really slowed down on Saturday. That may have allowed some people to catch up on films they'd missed earlier in the week, but left very little to report on, not even -- sorry to say -- in the blogs. Call this "Sundance in 30 Seconds." The festival concludes tomorrow.

Deals. Nothing reported. Zero. Nada. But that doesn't mean negotiations aren't continuing on various films. Here's hoping that a few more interesting titles in the coming weeks will get picked up for distribution of some kind (whether theatrical, online, download, VOD or DVD), and not just disappear.

News. Sundance handed out a slew of awards tonight, and Elisabeth Rappe posted the list of winners as they happened. As indieWIRE pointed out, the big winner was Push: Based on a Novel by Sapphire, which snagged "the Dramatic Jury Prize, the Audience Award, and special acting prize for Mo'Nique. Lee Daniels' drama is still seeking U.S. distribution, as is U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner We Live in Public.

Reviews. Jay DiPietro's relationship movie Peter and Vandy features Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler as "young New York City lovers," Erik Davis wrote in his review. "it's a quieter character piece about the complexities of love." Scott Weinberg flipped for The Cove, Louie Psihoyos' documentary about the slaughter of dolphins in Japan. Scott says: "This is easily one of the most powerful, heartfelt, and (yes, I'll say it) important 'nature' documentaries I've ever seen." Not so coincidentially, the film also won the U.S. Documentary Audience Award.

Wow. Just wow. This is easily one of the most powerful, heartfelt, and (yes, I'll say it) important 'nature' documentaries I've ever seen. Here's a brutally honest and effortlessly fascinating film about one specific cove in Taiji, Japan, in which approximately 23,000 dolphins are killed every year. Yes, you read that right: 23,000. Dolphins. Annually. And here's the really twisted part: Given the amount of mercury that's found in these creatures, they're practically poison. But where there's money to be made, there are atrocities to be committed.

So while most of the better "socially conscious and angry" documentaries are forced to look at a tragedy with years of hindsight, The Cove is so timely it almost hurts. This is not a film that looks backward and says "Jeez, what a shame that was," but one that screams "Look at what's happening right now, and we really have to stop it!" As this masterful documentary states its case, we're introduced to a bunch of key players: Richard O'Barry, former dolphin trainer and longtime advocate for the animals; filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, who spearheads a massive effort to expose this sickening practice; a pair of world-class free-divers who gladly throw their skills into the mix; and an extra handful of daredevils, tech experts, and cameramen who are willing to risk a month in a Japanese jail ... just so they finally can get some video footage of these secret slaughters.