ifc films Tagged Articles at Cinematical

With one art house dedicated to showing independent films and the spare multiplex screen occasionally hijacked by them, Orlando -- like most markets -- doesn't always get those that open in NY/LA first, and even when we eventually do, it can take months (for example, we got July releases Thirst and In the Loop in September).

As such, I'm keen on keeping an eye out for whatever's available on-demand. That's how I recently caught up with the very good Flame & Citron, and between Magnolia and IFC, I can hope to see the likes of Red Cliff and Antichrist for myself and in the comfort of my own home. (Well, I hope that the former hits VOD...)

So now I ask you: Do you have access to on-demand programming? Do you take advantage of it out of convenience, or is it because you might not have any other chance to see something before DVD? If you live in New York or Los Angeles, do you make a particular concerted effort to support a film in theaters if you know you can just watch it at home? Or will you guys and girls just wait to watch a movie whenever it comes home from your Queue?

Embedded above is the trailer for Armando Iannucci's political spin farce, In the Loop, which James and others had been talking up since Sundance. I suppose that's a fitting response, for them to talk about a movie that's all about talk, as the trailer capably demonstrates (well, a commenter or two on Funny or Die still demand to know what the movie's really about). I myself was initially skeptical of anything dealing with labyrinthine political dealings, but I've been assured that that isn't really the point of it all -- and I've gotta say, the phrase "difficult-difficult-lemon-difficult" still tickles me so.

IFC will release this in select theaters and (thankfully, for us non-NY/LAers) on-demand come July 24th. That's enough time for me to catch up on original series "The Thick of It," though I've been told that familiarity with it wouldn't be necessary. At least, that's what I think they said...

I had a ball describing Fear(s) of the Dark to my fellow movie freaks. After really enjoying the film at last January's Sundance Film Festival (and calling Fantastic Fest Master Chief Tim League to give him the scoop), I made sure to come up with an apt description for the film. "Hmm, what's it about?" my fellow fest-goers would ask, to which I'd reply "Oh, it's your typical French animated ... horror ... anthology. In black & white." The next response was either "Oooh, cool," (my friends) or "Meh, not my speed." (total strangers).

Created by a collection of gifted graphic artists that includes names like Charles Burns, Romain Slocombe, and Marie Caillou, Fear(s) of the Dark is not exactly a Creepshow-style omnibus, but for genre fans who can appreciate a little culture now and again, I'd call it a very cool little treat. And if you're a big fan of graphic arts or the craft of animation, then I suspect you'll devour this French delicacy with a very large spoon. Plus, best of all, it's creepy!

Fear(s) of the Dark opens on in New York City (and On Demand! Like in your living room!) on October 24 before rolling into other towns -- and yep, it's also screening a few times at Austin's Fantastic Fest -- but we're very proud to bring you the first official poster for the film. Trust me when I say the poster fits the movie quite well. Click below for the noir-ness!

Talk about conflicted emotions! In a very fine article at indieWIRE, Anthony Kaufman reports on filmmaker Lance Hammer's recent decision to pull out of a distribution deal with IFC Films for his Sundance award-winning feature, Ballast. While I'm heartened that Hammer is willing to place creative control ahead of financial concerns, I'm also discouraged that there appears to be little room in the current distribution landscape for Hammer's critically-acclaimed independent drama to find its audience.

Ballast details the lives and connections between a man, a woman, and her son. It won praise from our own James Rocchi -- "Cineastes, looking for an American film that offers something on-screen other than glossy consumerist fantasies, will embrace Ballast with the ardent fervor of a drowning victim offered a rope" -- even though James acknowledged the challenges the film would face in drawing viewers from "outside the film festival circuit."

Paris-based sales outfit Celluloid Dreams nabbed nternational rights (outside the US) at Sundance, and then IFC made a deal for US rights in February. But Hammer told indieWIRE that, while he wasn't thrilled with the prospect of not even recouping his production budget from the deal, he was "particularly dissatisfied with the lengthy terms of the contract." All things considered, Hammer decided to walk away: "It becomes difficult to justify giving up creative control."

With the film industry so busy that even the art houses are having trouble finding room for the indies they want to show, some execs are starting to look at more creative ways of getting their movies seen. That's why the Weinstein Co. is handing over one of its products to IFC Films, which will release it later this year in theaters and -- on the same day -- through Video-on-Demand, right into people's homes.

The movie is Elite Squad, a Brazilian drama about police corruption that won the top prize at Berlin in February and comes from a great pedigree: it was directed by José Padilha, who made the fantastic documentary Bus 174, and co-written by Bráulio Mantovani, who wrote City of God. (Cinematical's Scott Weinberg reviewed it mostly favorably at Tribeca.) It's the kind of foreign film that would normally do pretty well on the U.S. art house circuit, if the art houses weren't already overcrowded at the moment.

So the Weinsteins -- who actually helped produce the film, rather than merely buying the finished product at a festival -- have made a deal (with unspecified terms) with IFC Films. IFC will release it in a few theaters at the same time that it becomes available through IFC's Video-on-Demand service. Our Christopher Campbell wrote an excellent summary of this practice, known as "day-and-date," in April. Basically, day-and-date helps non-blockbuster films get seen by more people.

Odds and ends from Monday:

• Looks like someone is tired of his boring office job. John Krasinski (The Office) has signed on to write and direct an adaptation of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, written by David Foster Wallace. The book itself (which you either love or despise with a passion) consists of twenty-two stories which revolve around -- you got it -- a bunch of hideous men. Pic begins its principal photography this November and, with the exception of Krasinski himself, there have been no other cast announcements.
• IFC Films is looking to dance with the big boys, as they've committed to release four to six films a year with budgets ranging between $4-10 million. As part of the announcement, IFC Films has picked up all North American rights to the dark comedy You Kill Me, directed by John Dahl. Starring Ben Kingsley, Téa Leoni and Luke Wilson, pic revolves around an alcoholic hitman who, while taking a break from the killing, decides to become a mortician. Darkish hilarity ensues.
• Man, I love it when these "unnamed sources" decide to stir up crap on the internet. I swear, in my next life, I want to come back as an "unnamed source." Ya know, this way I can make up a ton of stuff and see who actually buys into it. Back on topic, an "unnamed source" told the U.K.'s Life Style Extra that, despite the fact their film sort of bombed with critics, as well as at the box office, Jaime Foxx and Colin Farrell both feel there's enough story present for a Miami Vice sequel. Eh, I can't see Michael Mann or Universal feeling the same way ... then again, stranger sequels have happened. (Ahem, Break'n Revolution?)

In the nearly 15 years since Bad Lieutenant, Abel Ferrara has struggled for both critical endorsement (not that he cares) and distribution. Though 1996's The Funeral impressed some, both New Rose Hotel and 'R Xmas were tepidly received in their limited American exposure, and The Blackout didn't get a US release until four years after its 1997 Cannes premiere. His most recent effort, Mary, was booed at a Venice press screening last year (though it also won a jury prize there, so what the hell do critics know), and understandably has languished without US distribution for nearly a year. Finally, however, IFC took the plunge, and just acquired the film for North American release.

Though there's no word yet on when the movie will hit theaters, based on reviews it sounds worth watching, if only for curiosity's sake. In brief, Mary explores Ferrara's obsession with faith and redemption in his own distinctive way, focusing on a Passion of the Christ-esque film (directed by Matthew Modine, apparently channeling Ferrara) and "a weeklong, primetime nightly network TV special examining the historical truth about Jesus." As an added bonus, the host of the show is played by the great Forest Whitaker who is reportedly fantastic, even when the movie takes a turn for the worse.

Despite the fact that over 70 million homes receive his HDNet channel, Mark Cuban is still not making any money on his HD dream. Part of the problem (I'm not going to get into how many/few homes have HD TVs and receivers) is that some major cable companies -- including Comcast -- still refuse to carry either HDNet or its sister channel, HDNet Movies. In fact, a couple of years ago, Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner collectively created an HD channel of their own called INHD, which they conceived as "a Cuban-killer." (He's still here. As is HDNet.)

Because of Cuban's feud with Comcast, as Karina mentioned in her column, there were rumblings that his Landmark Theaters, the biggest independent chain in the country, might refuse to show films that were part of distributor IFC Films' day/date release deal with Comcast. No official, public statements were made, however, so things continued as normal, and Caveh Zahedi's I Am a Sex Addict (part of the day/date deal) was scheduled to open at a Landmark theater in Berkeley on Friday, April 7. Then, yesterday, Zahedi heard from IFC that the film had been pulled by the theater because of Cuban's beef with Comcast. Not surprisingly, Zahedi was upset, and (quite reasonably, it would seem) blamed Cuban for the affair. According to Cuban's comment on the above post (scroll down the page a little, and you'll find it), however, IFC knew the film would not be screened at any Landmark theaters and schedule it anyway. Hmm.

No matter who's to blame, the fact is that a little indie film is caught up in something much, much bigger than it is. Can you even imagine how frustrating this must be for the filmmakers who, after IFC's deal with Comcast, were thrilled at the prospect of (relatively) wide distribution for the babies, only to run into this roadblock? Man alive, what a nightmare.

In what will most likely turn out to be the rights-acquisition equivalent of throwing money down a hole, the ever-optimistic people at IFC Films recently picked up the American theatrical rights to artist Matthew Barney's Drawing Restraint 9. Doesn't ring a bell? Come on, you remember - it's the movie on a boat, with the tub of Vaseline on its deck in which Björk and her boyfriend Barney hang out, turning into whales! Yeah, that one. And now, thanks to IFC, we'll all get to experience the film's magic for ourselves, starting at the end of March. Thank goodness.

Look, I know Barney has a fair number of fans, as does Björk - but in what world could this be a useful acquisition for IFC? I mean, very few people are going to spend a lazy afternoon watching this one just out of curiosity. How could the cost of buying the rights possibly be covered by the profits? It just seems completely impossible.

IFC films have picked up U.S. rights to Michael Cuesta's second film, Twelve and Holding, with plans to debut it this summer. You may remember Cuesta's first film, L.I.E., as being this warped little pedophilia-themed indie that was out (in very limited release) a few years back. I remember going to see L.I.E. while being trapped in Minneapolis for 6 months back in 2001 and then walking out of it somewhat let down. Either it wasn't the film I expected it to be based on the trailer or, frankly, it just wasn't that good.

With Twelve, Cuesta once again travels deep inside the darkened minds of adolescents to bring us, what appears to be, a pretty intricate plot surrounding three friends who, after the death of another boy by tree house fire, all set out to deal with it their own way. While I wasn't a big fan of L.I.E., I feel we should have more directors like Cuestra who tackle twisted issues without getting wrapped up in the Hollywood mold. After all, Todd Solondz can only make so many films. I'll give this one a try - how about you?