my suicide Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Gabe Sunday's John Lennon 'Yellow Submarine' Audition Tape
Filed under: Music & Musicals », Casting », RumorMonger », Fandom »
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In the past couple days some news reports have surfaced that would make it seem as if Robert Zemeckis has begun the casting process for his Yellow Submarine remake, which is apparently going under the name of The Fab Four Project or The Untitled Fab Four Project for reasons we do not know (perhaps to either mask the real production or perhaps they've decided to go in a different direction and are between titles). Jim Hill noted that they're holding open auditions at a Beatles convention in Stamford, Connecticut this weekend, and The Sun already claims actor Stephen Graham has landed the part of Ringo in the mo-capped feature (though I'd take that piece of news with a huge grain of salt).
It also looks like Zemeckis is considering a wide range of folks for the role of John Lennon, including one of our favorite up-and-coming actors, Gabe Sunday. I first saw Sunday in the buzzed-about indie flick My Suicide and instantly knew he was heading in the right direction. The guy isn't just another wannabee actor -- he's a true artist and collaborator who likes to be involved in the entire filmmaking process. Not only is he working on a narrative film about the great Daniel Johnston, but he apparently threw together a John Lennon audition tape for Zemeckis that's pretty spot-on in terms of becoming the young, experimental Lennon who pals around with buddies and enjoys impromptu jam sessions. No doubt Sunday's usual cronies are behind the look and feel of this audition tape since it squarely belongs in their wheelhouse, and I hate to say it but I'd rather see more of this than whatever colorful mo-capped version Zemeckis has planned.
Either way I truly hope he gives Sunday a shot. The guy is ready to explode onto the scene; he just needs more opportunities to do just that. Watch the video after the jump. Good luck Gabe!
'My Suicide' Takes Top Honors at Gen Art Festival
Filed under: Awards », Newsstand », Gen Art »
The 2009 Gen Art Film Festival came to a close last night with a screening of Finding Bliss followed by a wild party at Blvd. here in New York City, and I'm literally ecstatic to announce that all my favorite films took home awards. My Suicide, which is a film I've been hyping for months now, won the Acura Grand Jury Award, and that film's star, Gabriel Sunday, won the Stargazer Award, which honors break-out talent. My Suicide also took home the festival's Audience Award, joining the fantastic short film Adelaide (which also won the jury and audience awards) in the double-win category. The hilarious Punching the Clown won for best use of music in a film, which was a new award presented by Moby. Check out our reviews of My Suicide and Punching the Clown.
Gen Art's Vice President of Film, Jeffrey Abramson, had this to say to Cinematical: "David Miller (My Suicide) is a pied piper of filmmaking. His immediate and extended family is filled with such incredible creativity and support it's difficult to not catch the fever. The camaraderie that was built across all of this year's filmmakers and talent was infectious and spread to the audience as well. Only at Gen Art can one experience such focused attention and energy."
I was fortunate enough to meet and hang out with all these filmmakers over the weekend, and had an absolute blast. One of the things I love about the Gen Art fest is that it's so damn accessible and intimate; you can watch a short, a feature and then hang out with the filmmakers at the private after party shooting the sh*t about their film, their process and whatever else is on your mind. It's a great festival for film fans, and I'd like to congratulate Gen Art on another successful year. For more, visit the official Gen Art website.
SXSW Review: My Suicide
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », New Releases », SXSW », Theatrical Reviews », Festival Reports »
A recurring theme in my relationship with movies (which began when I was underage and has often been mutually abusive) is that it doesn't matter if a film has the same basic ideas as a hundred other movies, as long as the filmmakers find new ways to express them. A movie is only generic if it doesn't bring anything new to the table.
That's why I like My Suicide, a bit of nobody-understands-me teen angst directed and co-written by video-game producer David Lee Miller. Its point of view is that of a disaffected 17-year-old movie buff who plans to kill himself on camera, so the talk of teen suicide calls to mind any number of similarly themed films. But My Suicide breaks out of the mold with an exhilarating use of stock footage, animations, reenactments, and other audio-visual tricks, vividly reflecting the thought process of today's media-saturated young people who are under-supervised, over-privileged, and too plugged in. I can see this replacing Donnie Darko as the go-to film for alienated adolescents.
It stars Gabriel Sunday (who also gets a screenplay credit, along with Eric J. Adams) as Archie Williams, a lifelong movie freak and amateur filmmaker who has decided to make his own death the subject of his media class final project. His reasons for wanting to die are mundane: his parents don't pay attention to him -- Mom (Nora Dunn) was a lawyer who resented being forced to give up her career when she got pregnant; Dad (Robert Kurcz) is wrapped up in the chicken-based fast-food franchise he owns -- he's tragically still a virgin, everyone at school thinks he's weird for always having a camera in his hand, yada yada.
Watch This: 'For The Love of Movies' and 'My Suicide' SXSW Trailers
Filed under: Independent », SXSW », Fandom », Trailer Trash », Home Entertainment », Trailers and Clips »
Premiering tomorrow at SXSW is this years-in-the-making documentary called For The Love of Movies: A History of American Film Criticism, narrated by Patricia Clarkson and directed by Gerald Peary and Amy Geller. As the current film critic struggles to find a job, an audience and a purpose, this doc -- according to Jeff Wells -- is a "chronicle of magnificent obsessions and magnificent dreams, and a rise-and-fall story covering scores of critics, the entirety of the Hollywood film culture from the '20s to the present, and hundreds if not thousands of movies." Watch the trailer below and keep an eye on the third dude who pops up and let us know if he looks (and sounds) just the wee bit familiar.Next up is a film I whole-heartedly recommend. A funky, oddly hilarious experimental flick that simultaneously mocks and sympathizes with the Me Generation, My Suicide follows a technology-obsessed high school student who decides to off himself on camera as part of a student project. Though it's still way early, I wouldn't be surprised if the film's lead actor, newcomer Gabriel Sunday, walks away with an acting award or if the film itself takes the audience award. Check out the trailer below ... and more SXSW trailers over here.
I also want to take this time to spit out a reminder that you at home can enjoy a whole lot of the South By Southwest Film Festival right now. IFC currently has four films On Demand via IFC Fest Direct, including the much buzzed-about Alexander the Last (which I was just about to watch myself), Medicine for Melancholy, Zift and Paper Covers Rock. Alternatively, you can watch popular films from last year's SXSW Fest -- like the Potter doc We Are Wizards and The Lost Coast -- on Hulu for free, courtesy of Cinetic Media. There! Plenty to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon, huh?
'Lymelife' to Open 2009 Gen Art Fest
Filed under: Exhibition », Newsstand », Cinematical Indie », Gen Art »
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As a programmer (my first time!) for the 2009 Gen Art Film Festival, I can tell you that finishing this slate was not easy. It required me (and a small group of others) to watch a lot of films ... and I mean a lot of films. The awesome part of this, though, is the discovery. Sure, you'll get the occasional mess -- but then sometimes you stumble across a brilliant piece of work that hasn't been seen by anyone yet, and you just know it's destined for greatness. With that said, the programming is now complete and I'm able to share with you the names of the films playing at this year's Gen Art Film Fest in New York City from April 1 to April 7.
The Sundance and Toronto hit Lymelife (we premiered the poster here) was chosen as this year's opening night film. It's a gem of a family drama starring Alec Baldwin and Cynthia Nixon (watch the trailer on Moviefone), and you should definitely look for it in theaters on April 8. Also from this year's Sundance fest is the romantic dramedy Peter and Vandy, starring my gal Jess Weixler and Jason Ritter. One of the more experimental and cult-ish films screening is My Suicide, which I whole-heartedly recommend as a deep, dark and oddly hilarious flick about the Me Generation. Julie Davis' Finding Bliss (starring Leelee Sobrieski, Denise Richards and Jamie Kennedy) was chosen to close out the fest, while Gigantic (Paul Dano, Zooey Deschanel), Punching the Clown (Slamdance audience award winner) and Picture Me: A Model's Diary (doc about a model) round out this year's slate.
As always, I'll be on the ground at the Gen Art fest looking for whatever I can wrap my brain around -- so definitely stay tuned. But, heck, if you're in the NYC area, you may as well check this sucker out for yourself. The fest runs from April 1-7, and you can find out much more (like how to buy tix) over at the official Gen Art Film Fest website.
Full press release after the jump
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