Time to play catch up with a couple of indie distribution deals that were completed during the past few days.

In the warm afterglow of Cannes, IFC Films acquired one more title to add to their stockpile, according to The Hollywood Reporter: Italian crime drama Gomorra. Directed by Matteo Garrone, the film is based on a best-selling book and follows five separate stories. "Set in the provinces around Naples," wrote our own James Rocchi, "Gomorra's a sweeping, stirring drama that has the shoot-and-loot tension of the best crime cinema but also has the scope and serious intent of great drama." Gomorra won the Grand Prix at Cannes, which is unofficially considered the "runner-up" prize. IFC plans a theatrical release and will also make it available day-and-date on its video-on-demand service; they are also seeking a cable TV deal of some sort.

Months after it debuted at Sundance, indieWIRE says that Sean McGinley's comedy-drama The Great Buck Howard has finally secured distribution from Magnolia Pictures. Cinematical's Scott Weinberg thought it "might be the most affectionate look back at old-school entertainment since Peter O'Toole boozed his way through My Favorite Year" and called it "a smoothly, strongly appealing comedy." Colin Hanks and Emily Blunt star as an ex-lawyer and a publicist, respectively, trying to help magician Malkovich make a comeback. Magnolia plans a fall theatrical release.

In The Great Buck Howard, Colin Hanks (King Kong, Orange County) plays the newly-hired road manager to the title mentalist and performer (played by John Malkovich); Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, Dan in Real Life) plays the publicist assigned to Buck's not-quite-comeback tour. Hanks and Blunt spoke with Cinematical at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival about working opposite Malkovich, the wonder and terror of show business, and the gap between their on-screen romantic scenes and the off-screen preparation for them. As Hanks explains, "At one point (The Great Buck Howard's writer-director Sean McGinley) had us rehearse (romantic scenes) on a dirty floor in an abandoned office, and I remember thinking 'Yeah, I don't know if this is going to do anything ... I don't know if this is going to help us.'"

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