big fan Tagged Articles at Cinematical
The Gotham Awards 2009 Noms Include 'Big Fan,' 'Serious Man,' 'Hurt Locker'
Filed under: Awards », Newsstand »
IFP's Gotham Independent Film Awards kicks off the awards season in November each year with an impressive list of nominees, and this year's list is no different. While it includes big names like the Coens for A Serious Man and buzzy films like The Hurt Locker and Big Fan, it also gives deserving nods to smaller films like Amreeka, a wonderful film about a mother and son from the West Bank who move the Illinois. The awards also include tributes to the careers of Natalie Portman, Stanley Tucci, and The Hurt Locker's director Kathryn Bigelow, as well as producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, who both worked on A Serious Man, The Soloist, State of Play, and a slew of other projects.
Previous Gotham winners include Frozen River, Trouble the Water, Into the Wild, Sicko, and Half Nelson, just to name a few. Check out Cinematical's preview coverage of the awards here.
The full list of nominees is after the jump.
Interview: Patton Oswalt of 'Big Fan'
Filed under: Fandom », Interviews »
(By: James Rocchi -- reprinted from the Sundance Film Festival 1/27/09)
As Paul Auferio, the title character in Robert Siegel's Big Fan (which Erik Davis reviews here), Patton Oswalt didn't have a chance to fall back on the skill set he's honed through the years as one of the best stand-up comics working today: "As a comedian, your instinct is you tag everything with a joke or a look or a take; this guy, this character ... this is not one of those movies where the writer and director is looking at the characters ironically or in a post-modern sense where it's implied You all know that we're better than that, we're way smarter than this, that we're all looking down on this character, aren't we? This is a character that has no irony about himself ... and just unabashedly loves what he loves, to the detriment of having a real life. ..."
Oswalt spoke with Cinematical about the challenges facing a movie and comics obsessive in the part of playing a sports obsessive, how he sees Paul as an 'imploding" character, some of his favorite independent films and how he sees Big Fan as a tribute to some of the classic 'lonely man' dramas of the 1970's, plus much more.
You can listen to the interview here at Cinematical by clicking below:
You can also download the interview in full right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.
Trailer Park: Vampires and Aliens and Slashers (Oh My!)
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Horror », Trailer Trash »
Jennifer's Body
Diablo Cody wrote the script for this one in which Megan Fox plays a high school girl who is possessed by a demon and inflicts her wrath upon her male classmates. The trailer seems to imply that she's a vampire but most of the descriptions I've found are avoiding the "V" word. Amanda Seyfried plays Jennifer's best friend who must put a stop to the evil. You can check out Jennifer's Body on September 18.
District 9
There's a second trailer for this extraterrestrials as refugees flick produced by Peter Jackson. You see a little more of the aliens but they're quick glances. We do get come interesting glimpses of the alien technology and with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen making so much money I have to figure the public is going to like all the robots on display here. The aliens start slumming on August 14.
Giallo
Giallo is Italian for "yellow" but in this context it refers to an Italian film genre that combines police procedural with horror and exploitation elements. This is the type of film for which director Dario Argento is best known but he doesn't usually get Oscar winners like Adrien Brody to play his lead. The trailer reminds me of some of Argento's earlier stuff like Tenebre and Deep Red, which I'm sure is the idea. No U.S. release info yet.
Exclusive: 'Big Fan' Poster Premiere!
Filed under: Drama », Sports », Fandom », Movie Marketing », Images », Posters »
Click image below to view entire poster
Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Big Fan, one of my favorite films from this past Sundance Film Festival and a must-see for anyone who's ever taken their fandom a bit too far. Written and directed by The Wrestler screenwriter Robert Siegel, Big Fan stars Patton Oswalt as a lonely New York Giants fan living out his days as an overnight parking lot attendant on Staten Island whose obsession with his favorite football team leads to an unfortunate (and embarrassing) incident involving his favorite player -- forcing our big fan to choose between his team and the rest of his life.
From my Sundance review: "... this isn't a film about sports, it's a film about fandom -- about being so in love with something you go overboard and neglect your friends, your family and your life in order to feed your addiction. This isn't a comedy about the goofy football fan who gets off on chanting and screaming his team's name; it's instead a cold, lonely drama (with brief moments of awkward humor) about the neurotic football fan who'd give up everything (and I mean everything) to see his team make the playoffs."
For more on Big Fan, check out our Sundance interviews with Patton Oswalt and Robert Siegel, and check out the full poster by clicking the image below. Big Fan will hit theaters later this year.
Gallery: 'Big Fan' Movie Poster
Sundance Interview: 'Big Fan' Writer-Director Robert Siegel
Filed under: Drama », Sundance », Festival Reports », Podcasts », Interviews »
.jpg)
Robert Siegel made his directorial debut with Big Fan (reviewed by Erik Davis) at this year's Sundance Film Festival; comedian Patton Oswalt (interviewed here) stars as a lonely sports talk radio caller and New York Giants fanatic whose only love goes horribly wrong. Siegel spoke with Cinematical in Park City about his acclaimed script for The Wrestler, directing a comedian, why he's not worried about the wrath of the NFL, why Big Fan wouldn't have worked with George Clooney in the lead, and what he was hoping to explore with the film: "Sports radio can be very wonderful and joyous and spirited, but other times it can just be this forum for bitter ... it's a lot like the internet, you know? There are good blogs and bad blogs ... so in that way, (the world of sports radio) is kind of like the proto-blog, where you can just vent and take out all your frustrations ... but there's definitely this kind of angry White male hostile undercurrent to a lot of sports radio; it wouldn't be interesting to me if that was the only thing it had going for it, but that thing definitely gives it an extra layer. ... "
You can listen to the interview here at Cinematical by clicking below:
You can also download the interview in full right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.
Cinematical Seven: Movies That Made The Rest of Us Envious That Everyone Else Was At Sundance
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Drama », Independent », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Sundance », Noir », Mystery & Suspense », IFC », Magnolia », Sony Classics », Distribution », Fox Searchlight »
(Warning: This one goes up to eleven...)
1. Moon -- Most were admittedly intrigued by the prospect of Sam Rockwell alone and yet potentially not on a lunar station going into the fest, and this seemed to be the first film to live up to its promise as a modest yet straight-up sci-fi endeavor (that just happened to have a Kevin Spacey-voiced robot, and just tell me you wouldn't want one of those waking you up and telling you to pay it forward all the friggin' time).
2. 500 Days of Summer -- I'd liked the vague stuff I'd been hearing about this one going into the fest as well -- namely, "Zooey Deschanel, Zooey Deschanel, Zooey Deschanel" -- and I certainly liked the teaser trailer that made its way out just hours before the film's formal premiere. Does it look like Fox Searchlight's particular brand of indie hipster quirk that's just begging to get too popular for its own good by about Labor Day? Sure, but if it's as adorable as it seems, that's a chance I'm willing to take, Zooey.
Sundance Interview: Patton Oswalt of 'Big Fan'
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Sundance », Festival Reports », Podcasts », Interviews »
As Paul Auferio, the title character in Robert Siegel's Big Fan (which Erik Davis reviews here), Patton Oswalt didn't have a chance to fall back on the skill set he's honed through the years as one of the best stand-up comics working today: "As a comedian, your instinct is you tag everything with a joke or a look or a take; this guy, this character ... this is not one of those movies where the writer and director is looking at the characters ironically or in a post-modern sense where it's implied You all know that we're better than that, we're way smarter than this, that we're all looking down on this character, aren't we? This is a character that has no irony about himself ... and just unabashedly loves what he loves, to the detriment of having a real life. ..."
Oswalt spoke with Cinematical about the challenges facing a movie and comics obsessive in the part of playing a sports obsessive, how he sees Paul as an 'imploding" character, some of his favorite independent films and how he sees Big Fan as a tribute to some of the classic 'lonely man' dramas of the 1970's, plus much more.
You can listen to the interview here at Cinematical by clicking below:
You can also download the interview in full right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.
Sundance Review: Big Fan
Filed under: Drama », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews », Fandom », Sundance Reviews 2009 »
Perhaps I'm predisposed to liking Big Fan since a) I'm a die hard Giants fan, b) I grew up in the neighborhood where it was shot, and c) it's a film about sports fanaticism, which is a topic I know quite a bit about. But that doesn't mean you'll hate Big Fan if you aren't familiar with sports or the New York football Giants because this isn't a film about sports, it's a film about fandom -- about being so in love with something you go overboard and neglect your friends, your family and your life in order to feed your addiction. This isn't a comedy about the goofy football fan who gets off on chanting and screaming his team's name; it's instead a cold, lonely drama (with brief moments of awkward humor) about the neurotic football fan who'd give up everything (and I mean everything) to see his team make the playoffs.
Set in the borough of Staten Island, home to the blue collar heroes of New York City, Big Fan follows just one of several guys who live and die by their favorite sports team. Football is in no way just a simple form of weekend entertainment in New York; it's almost a religion for some people -- including Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt), a 35-year-old Giants fanatic who still lives at home with his nagging mother while working the late shift inside one of those parking garage toll booths at a hospital. While at work, Paul spends his time carefully penning Giants-themed trash talk speeches so that he can call in to the overnight talk radio show and give those Philadelphia Eagles fans (especially one loudmouth nicknamed Philadelphia Phil) some of the business. This is Paul's entire life -- and when he's not at work writing his speeches, or outside Giants Stadium watching the games on a makeshift television with his one friend, he's dealing with a family who want Paul to finally do something with his life.
Sundance '09: Our 12 Most Anticipated Films
Filed under: Sundance », Fandom », DIY/Filmmaking », Lists »
.jpg)
It's just about time for myself and a few trusty Cinematical cohorts (James Rocchi, Scott Weinberg and Eric D. Snider) to pack up our bags and head for the mountains of Park City, Utah -- home to, of course, the Sundance Film Festival. Once we're on the ground, we'll be posting reviews, interviews, scene/party coverage, photos, videos and whatever else there is to throw online that way you, our most loyal readers, will feel like you're right smack in the middle of the biggest film festival of the year. And to get the ball rolling, here are our 12 most anticipated films of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
12 Most Anticipated Sundance Films
1. Big Fan
The Wrestler screenwriter Robert D. Siegel returns to New Jersey as director for this drama about a hardcore NY Giants fan (Patton Oswalt) who suffers major consequences when he's beaten up by his favorite player.
We Say: Hey Giants fans, at least we can watch them beating someone ...
Sundance Film Festival
2. 500 Days of Summer
A quirky, offbeat comedy about a girl who doesn't believe in true love and the guy who falls head over feet for her.
We Say: Cliché? Maybe. But when else will we get to see indie darlings Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star opposite one another?
Sundance Film Festival
3. Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Based on the collection of short stories, Hideous Men follows a female grad student who, following a breakup, decides to interview men in an attempt to uncover the secrets behind their unpredictable behavior.
We Say: Fans of The Office's John Krasinski (who wrote and directed) will get to see his debut as a filmmaker.
Sundance Film Festival
4. Moon
A character study about a lone astronaut (Sam Rockwell) stationed on the moon for three years who begins to unravel physically and mentally.
We Say: A whole film of just Sam Rockwell? Sign us up!
Sundance Film Festival
5. Art & Copy
Doug Pray directs this documentary which delves deep inside the advertising industry to reveal the hidden secrets behind some of the most successful and innovative campaigns of our time.
We Say: Pray's Surfwise was one of the greatest (and most overlooked) docs of 2008, and so we'll gladly welcome his next outing.
Sundance Film Festival
6. Sin Nombre
A social-political thriller set on the Mexican border about three teens whose fates collide on a train heading for the United States.
We Say: Writer-director Cary Joji Fukunaga is one to watch having taken home a student Academy Award for his previous short film, Victoria para chino.
Sundance Film Festival
7. I Love You Phillip Morris
The writers of Bad Santa make their directorial debut with this story about a cop-turned-con man (Jim Carrey) who falls for a fellow inmate (Ewan McGregor) while in prison. But is it all just one big con?
We Say: There's nothing about this on-screen recipe that doesn't reek of fun festival flick.
Sundance Film Festival
8. Reporter
Executive produced by Ben Affleck, Eric Daniel Metzgar's documentary travels deep into the Congo following New York Times reporter Nicholas D. Kristof on a mission to expose the affect this kind of journalism has on the rest of the world.
We Say: Definitely a worthy watch during this, the age of the disappearing journalist.
Sundance Film Festival
9. The Missing Person
Starring Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan and Frank Wood, The Missing Person tells of a private investigator/alcoholic who lands the case of his life ... if he can just stick around long enough to crack it.
We Say: The promise of a smooth noir caper with a few sweet performances has more than piqued our interest.
Sundance Film Festival
10. World's Greatest Dad
In an attempt not to feel shame following his son's death, a father (Robin Williams) writes a fake suicide note which ultimately gets published and becomes a huge hit – leading him to dive into a career as a fake author.
We Say: It's directed by funnyman Bobcat Goldthwait, whose keen eye for devilishly dark comedy (see: Stay) has us very interested.
Sundance Film Festival
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
