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Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Shrink, which premiered at this past Sundance Film Festival to some pretty great buzz. Starring Kevin Spacey, Saffron Burrows, Keke Palmer, Mark Webber, Dallas Roberts and Robin Williams, Shrink follows "a psychiatrist (Spacey) whose boutique L.A. office, A-list clientele and best-selling pop psychology books form a thin layer of respectability over his ruined personal life, insurmountable grief, serious pot problem and a host of other crises," so says James Rocchi, who covered the film for Cinematical during Sundance and interviewed its star, Mr. Kevin Spacey.

Reminiscent of his character from American Beauty, Spacey (as the celebrity shrink-turned-pothead) delivers a performance here that's not to be missed, and the supporting cast takes what could've been another film about annoying egotistical Hollywood types from Los Angeles and turns it into one that's funny, serious, sweet, sincere and a little bit sideways. Definitely worth the watch. Check out the full synopsis after the jump and click below to view the full poster. Shrink hits theaters on July 24.

By Scott Weinberg (Original publication date: 3/13/08 -- SXSW Film Festival)

When a movie shows up and takes a clear political stance, I find it's easier to judge its successes and / or shortcomings than when a flick dips a toe into the pool of social commentary and just waggles it around for a few minutes -- which probably explains why I both enjoyed and respected Mark Webber's Explicit Ills, an Altman-esque indie drama that has something to say about poverty, health care, and the importance of basic human kindness.

Brief, honest, and admirably to-the-point, Explicit Ills follows a group of seemingly unrelated South Philadelphia folks who try to lead normal, happy, anonymous lives -- but their station on the lower rung of the income scale means that even the most basic requirements remain frustratingly out-of-reach. (In one key scene, an excellent Rosario Dawson is denied asthma medicine for her sick little boy -- because she cannot afford the $55 price tag.) Alternate plot threads involve a pair of young druggies in love, a mega-clean couple who aim to open a health food store, and a cocky adolescent who (slowly) learns how to treat a lady.

Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Explicit Ills, a film which has taken home at least two Audience Awards (SXSW, Gen Art Chicago) during its festival run in 2008. And when a film snags more than one Audience Award, that means audiences kinda dig it, like, a lot. Featuring the directorial debut of actor-turned-filmmaker Mark Webber, Explicit Ills stars Rosario Dawson, Paul Dano, Naomie Harris and Lou Taylor Pucci, among others.

From Scott's positive SXSW review: "Brief, honest, and admirably to-the-point, Explicit Ills follows a group of seemingly unrelated South Philadelphia folks who try to lead normal, happy, anonymous lives -- but their station on the lower rung of the income scale means that even the most basic requirements remain frustratingly out-of-reach." It's a pretty impressive debut for Webber as writer-director, and a film that will unfortunately hit home for a lot of folks during these tough economic times. But there's a strong message and a point, and you'll wanna set aside some time to watch Explicit Ills when it hits theaters on March 6th (In NYC), March 13th (in LA) and March 20th (in Philly).

Click the image below to view the full poster.

In Shrink, screening in the Premiere section at the Sundance Film Festival, Kevin Spacey plays a psychiatrist whose boutique L.A. office, A-list clientele and best-selling pop psychology books form a thin layer of respectability over his ruined personal life, insurmountable grief, serious pot problem and a host of other crises. Spacey developed the film with his Trigger Street production company, with Jonas Pate directing Thomas Moffet's script, and Spacey part of an ensemble cast that includes Robin Williams, Saffron Burrows, Mark Webber, Dallas Roberts and Keke Palmer. I asked Spacey if doing so many scenes revolving on just two people talking is an actor's dream, or an actor's nightmare: "As compared to? Explosions, and cars flying through the air? I think it's an actor's dream, and I also think it's an audience's dream; there's noting quite like being able to go to to a play or the cinema and watch people exchange as human beings, I think."

Spacey spoke with Cinematical about smoking fake weed, how Sundance has changed the movies, how Hollywood eats its young, his voice-over role as the supercomputer GERTY opposite Sam Rockwell in the Sundance selection Moon, and 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.

Edgar Wright's upcoming Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a veritable puupuu platter of young talent. Some are super-recognizable -- like Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Chris Evans, and Kieran Culkin. And some are new Canadian talent thrown into the mix, like Ellen Wong. Since Mr. Pilgrim is a Canadian slacker and ex-boyfriend-slayer, we're getting a little more maple leaf talent, more recognizable faces, and a superhero to boot.

The Hollywood Reporter posts that Brandon Routh has signed on to play Ramona's evil ex #3, Todd Ingram -- the rocker with vegan psychic powers, and Brie Larson (who is currently playing the struggling daughter in United States of Tara) will play Pilgrim's ex, Envy Adams. But that's only the beginning. Alison Pill (who kicked butt in Dear Wendy, and more recently served under Milk) will play the drummer in Pilgrim's band, while her Wendy co-star Mark Webber will play Stephen Stills, another bandmate. But that's not even the best reunion.

Ann Veal strikes again! Oh yes -- Mae Whitman, who played George Michael's crazy paramour on Arrested Development will play ex #4 -- the half-ninja Roxy Richter. And wrapping up the pack --- Anna Kendrick will play Pilgrim's sister, Johnny Simmons will play Young Neil, and Satya Bhabha will play "an ex-boyfriend who can summon demon hipster girls at will."

I wonder if other Can-con will follow ... Maybe some swashbuckling with Violet Miranda, or activism with Flyboy Action Figure Comes with Gasmask? Either way, I'm sold on Pilgrim. How about you?

When a movie shows up and takes a clear political stance, I find it's easier to judge its successes and / or shortcomings than when a flick dips a toe into the pool of social commentary and just waggles it around for a few minutes -- which probably explains why I both enjoyed and respected Mark Webber's Explicit Ills, an Altman-esque indie drama that has something to say about poverty, health care, and the importance of basic human kindness.

Brief, honest, and admirably to-the-point, Explicit Ills follows a group of seemingly unrelated South Philadelphia folks who try to lead normal, happy, anonymous lives -- but their station on the lower rung of the income scale means that even the most basic requirements remain frustratingly out-of-reach. (In one key scene, an excellent Rosario Dawson is denied asthma medicine for her sick little boy -- because she cannot afford the $55 price tag.) Alternate plot threads involve a pair of young druggies in love, a mega-clean couple who aim to open a health food store, and a cocky adolescent who (slowly) learns how to treat a lady.

While she's getting ready to film Eagle Eye in November, and also has a series of webisodes on the way, the unstoppable workhorse otherwise known as Rosario Dawson is going to be in yet another new movie. She's spending September in Philadelphia to be in a new indie flick called explicit ills., according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. The movie will mark the directorial debut of actor Mark Webber, who recently starred in Ethan Hawke's The Hottest State -- and who happened to win the Rising Star award at the Philly Film Fest.

The film is about "the effects of drugs and poverty and the choices that people make," which sounds like anything but an upper, although Mike Lemon, who cast the feature, says "it's uplifting." It's also quite reminiscent of Webber's own life. He was raised in the slums of North Philly by his single mom, and spent part of his youth homeless after a welfare fiasco. Dawson will play a woman who has an asthmatic son, but no insurance. The cast is looking to be an indie smorgasbord -- there's also Paul Franklin Dano, the big, silent brother from Little Miss Sunshine, the Pirates of the Caribbean voodoorific Naomie Harris, the infamous indie Thumbsucker Lou Taylor Pucci, and Roots rapper Tariq Trotter (who has had stints in films like Bamboozled and Perfume). Production will continue through the month, and I imagine we'll get to see it some time in the next year.

The Hottest State is one of the most inauthentic films I've seen in a long time. Written and directed by Ethan Hawke, and from his own novel no less, the film plays out like some version of hell where everyone is being forced to perform in an acting class skit that will never end. The story follows William (Mark Webber), a 20-year-old aspiring actor who is hanging around the Manhattan bar scene when he runs into Sarah, the girl of his dreams. The casting of Sarah is the movie's fatal flaw. As written, she's an aspiring singer who is gaga over William, but Catalina Sandino Moreno is an actress who, it's clear from the get-go, can't sing a note and worse, seems ready to climb the walls to get away from her co-star throughout the picture. I've seen more sexual chemistry from two doorknobs. Watching this mess, you have to believe that Ethan Hawke, as talented as he is, must have realized he was making a colossal turkey but was too far into the thing to back out.

And that's only the start of it. The Hottest State is structurally odd -- something that's sometimes a necessity in the case of book adaptations, but especially true in this case, since what begins as a romance ultimately takes on the trappings of a thriller in the third act. I won't go into specifics in case you plan to see it for yourself, but let's just say that if the entire movie were on the same wavelength as the third act, I think we'd actually have an interesting, tough little film here. I also think Hawke must have known this too on some level, because it's only in the third act that his personality as a director begins to shine through -- interesting and creative camera choices, powerful acting moments and an earned level of tension that are present only during this part of the movie. The first two-thirds of the film are a cloying, obnoxious romantic fable about two young people bouncing around in Manhattan and down in Mexico, lounging around and pretending, for our benefit, that they actually love each other.

Since Ethan Hawke seems to have better luck with movies than he does in the literary world, if anyone was going to make a film from his debut novel, it might as well have been him. ThinkFilm has just released the trailer for the film version of Hawke's book, The Hottest State. Hawke wrote and directed the story about a struggling actor in a tempestuous relationship with a singer -- throw in some parental abandonment issues and you have your typical Generation X love story. The film marks the third directorial effort for Hawke; the last time was back in 2001 with the ensemble piece Chelsea Walls. State stars Mark Webber, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Michelle Williams, Laura Linney, and Hawke even makes an appearance to play Webber's father in flashbacks.

The book was released back in 1996, and while reviews were somewhat harsh -- it doesn't get much worse than, "His callow cynicism about women and his flattened out, '90s rendition of Holden Caulfield grow wearisome". It's hard to say whether it was because critics had their knives out for an actor-turned-author, or maybe the book just wasn't that good. The film premiered at the 2006 Venice Film Festival, but much like the book, reviewers weren't exactly falling over themselves with praise. Hawke seems to be through with directing for now though, and the actor has since signed for double "vampire duty" in the horror flick Daybreakers, and The Countess with Before Sunrise co-star Julie Delpy. The Hottest State is set for a limited release on August 24.

Six more have signed on to star in some hot roles for Buddy Giovinazzo's Life is Hot in Cracktown. Based on Giovinazzo's own book of short stories, pic will show how the lives of several people intertwine within a crack-infested community. Lara Flynn Boyle, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Mark Webber, Shannyn Sossamon, Tony Plana and Vondie Curtis-Hall have joined Victor Rasuk, Evan Ross, Michael Rapaport, Ileana Douglas and Kerry Washington in the pic, which was written and will be directed by Giovinazzo. Back when we first reported on this film, there weren't many plot details or character descriptions available.

However, the Hollywood Reporter now shares with us a whole mess of crack-related coolness -- like, how Lara Flynn Boyle will play a "cruel whore," Mark Webber will give us his take on a transvestite prostitute and Kerry Washington (who already played a prostitute in her last film, The Dead Girl) gets to go all transgender on us. Oh, but there's more to life in Cracktown; Rasuk's character is in charge of running the drug-infested tenement building, while his wife (Sossamon) cares for their sick child. Also, Plana plays an alcoholic and Edoardo Ballerini will give us his best abusive boyfriend routine. Fear not residents of Cracktown, the cops are also on the case: Nicholas (best known from his days wooing Tara Reid in American Pie) will play the rookie, and Curtis-Hall takes on the role of tough veteran. No word on who Evan Ross (son of Diana Ross) will play; all we're currently missing is a hard-edged drug pusher to wrap this feel-good story up nicely.