shrink Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 9/29
Filed under: New Releases », DVD Reviews », New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
Away We Go
John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph star as a couple about to have a child and who journey across the country to find the perfect spot to settle down. In his review, William Goss said: "It's easily the most tender film that Sam Mendes has done to date, and it's easily among the very best films that the year has offered so far." Buy it. Also on Blu-ray.
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Monsters vs. Aliens
Monsters, aliens, superheroes -- it's the sort of fare that's perfect for animation. For the most part, critics and fans seem to agree, although our Scott Weinberg says the film "is NOT one of those transcendent animated features, the sort that bridges the gap between kid stuff and grown-up art with no discernible effort whatsoever. No, Monsters vs. Aliens is a loud, rushed, choppy, silly, colorful Nintendo game of a movie." See for yourself and Rent it. Also on Blu-ray.
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Management
The latest Jennifer Aniston romcom to hit the shelves, this flick watches her get followed around the country by a motel manager (Steve Zahn) eager for her affections. In his review, Nick Schager said that the film's conventions are "delivered with a straightforward sappiness that seems all the more disingenuous in light of the film's variety of off-kilter trappings." Skip it. Also on Blu-ray.
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The Girlfriend Experience
One of Steven Soderbergh's less mainstream films, porn star Sasha Grey stars as a high-priced escort trying to balance her work and personal life. In his Sundance review, James Rocchi wrote: "Sex is everywhere in The Girlfriend Experience, except there's no sex," and instigates a crowd that walks "into the cold night more thoughtful than titillated." Rent it. Also on Blu-ray.
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Also out: Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, Mickey's Christmas Carol, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Lies and Illusions, Stepfather II, The Hills Run Red, The Hanging Woman, The Shortcut, Fermat's Room, Secrecy, Farmhouse, The Storm Riders, Bloodwine, Dinner with a Vampire, Nightmare, Flesh, TX.
Indie Spotlight: New Releases for July 24
Filed under: New Releases », Indie Spotlight »
Here's a quick look at what's opening in limited release this weekend. If they're not playing where you live, keep an eye out as they make the rounds. And if all else fails, there's always DVD.In the Loop (pictured), a smart, snarky, and hilarious British political comedy, is now playing in New York, L.A., San Francisco, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Cambridge, Mass. It's one of the best-reviewed comedies of the year so far, with a 93% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Cinematical's James Rocchi, reviewing it at Sundance, called it "achingly, wrenchingly, dizzyingly funny, with a bleak, bitter sense of humor."
The Answer Man premiered at Sundance under the title Arlen Faber and is now hitting theaters in New York, L.A., and Philadelphia. It stars Jeff Daniels as a reclusive author of self-help books who -- get this -- is actually really screwed up! The mom from Gilmore Girls comes along and disrupts his life. The reviews at Rotten Tomatoes are mostly negative, citing the film's over-reliance on coincidences, easy solutions, sentimentality, and clichés.
Shrink, another Sundance premiere, has a strikingly similar premise, with Kevin Spacey playing a psychiatrist whose personal life is, you guessed it, really screwed up. It opens today in New York and L.A. Once again, the Rotten Tomatoes consensus is mostly negative.
Finally, there's Deadgirl, a splattery zombie horror that's been making the rounds in the midnight section of various film festivals. The Rotten Tomatoes news is not good here either, with three in favor and eight against. You can find it in New York, L.A., Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Austin, Dallas, and St. Louis.
Help Gen Art! Watch Movies! Have Fun!
Filed under: Fandom », Exhibition », Newsstand », Gen Art »
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As some of you may already know, I've been a big supporter of Gen Art for a long time now. Aside from being heavily involved in their annual film festival in New York City (this year I was a programmer), I'm real close friends with the folks who work there and feel their footprint on the indie film community is invaluable. Gen Art, in case you're not aware, is a company (based in New York) that helps promote emerging talent in film, music and fashion all year round. Not only do they host a very cool film festival in NYC in the spring, but they also host a mini-fest in Chicago ... and part one of this post is dedicated to that.
Beginning tonight with the very cute and quirky 500 Days of Summer, the Gen Art Chicago Film Festival will continue through to June 27 and feature other buzzed-about festival films like Mercy, Patriotville and Shrink. Other than opening night, which will set you back $25 for the movie and after party (open bar!), the other three nights will run you a fairly inexpensive $20 for a short, feature and after party w/ open bar. So if you're in Chicago, please head down to the festival and support these small films, as well as Gen Art. You can find out more information on the festival right here.
In addition to the festival, Gen Art is hosting a benefit in New York City tomorrow to help raise money to keep the company afloat while they navigate their way through some tough economic waters. I know -- yet another company hit hard by the recession. But understand that companies like Gen Art -- who make their living and invest everything they have in supporting emerging talent -- don't really exist anymore. And so they need our help.
Trailer Park: Shrinking Toys in the Twilight
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Trailer Trash », Family Films »
The Final Destination
Take note of the definite article "the," as this is supposedly the final chapter in the Final Destination franchise. As with the other entries, a group of teens cheat death but are slowly claimed by a series of supernatural Rube Goldberg-ian death traps. This minor bit of scary movie fluff is made all the more interesting by the use of 3-D and I have to admit the man eating escalator (pictured above) looks pretty cool. Carnage ensues on August 28.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
I haven't seen the original and I'm pretty far removed from the target demographic, but the overwrought dialog and performances here are a real cringe inducer. Suffice it to say if you like your teens angsty and your vampires sparkly then this Twilight sequel will be right up your alley. The ante has been upped by the introduction of werewolves to the story. Watch for this one on November 20.
Exclusive: 'Shrink' Poster Premiere!
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Movie Marketing », Images », Posters »
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Click image below to view full poster
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.
Gallery: 'Shrink' Poster Premiere
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Sundance in 60 Seconds: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Filed under: Sundance », Festival Reports », Cinematical Indie »
Sundancers enjoyed unseasonably warm weather (41 degrees in the afternoon) as the festival headed toward its concluding weekend.
Deals. After picking up the Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow, IFC Films added another comedy to its roster, acquiring Armando Iannucci's In the Loop just hours before its premiere, according to Mike Jones at Variety. The film stars Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, and Steve Coogan. A 2009 theatrical release is planned, per indieWIRE. But where's the bidding wars for docs? A. J. Schnack of All these wonderful things writes: "For the first time in anyone's recent memory, the first half of the fest had come and gone without a major doc sale."
Reviews/Interviews. Would-be comedy Paper Heart is "partially built around Charlyne Yi's persona," says Eric D. Snider, "and I find her persona boring." Oh, dear. The "typically hilarious" Michael Cera also appears. James Rocchi was busy, interviewing the great Kevin Spacey about Shrink and talking with actor / director / writer John Krasinski about Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. James also reviewed Ondi Timoner's documentary We Live in Public, which he called "incisive, exciting and thought-provoking."
Prison drama Bronson, from Pusher trilogy director Nicolas Wining Refn, has created a fair amount of buzz, and Scott Weinberg knows why, describing it as "raw, blistering, harsh and compelling." Scott also took a bemused gander at Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad, with Robin Williams essaying the titular role of a father dealing with life after his teenage son "dies while masturbating." Yes, folks, it's a comedy! To end on a musical note, Erik Davis caught The Carter, a doc about rapper Lil' Wayne, "a passionate, talented man who's slowly losing himself." You can check out all our coverage at the fabulous Sundance hub at Moviefone.
Blog Talk. After the jump: Woody Allen's soul, Bobcat's schedule, and Paris Hilton.
Sundance Interview: Kevin Spacey of 'Shrink'
Filed under: Drama », Independent », Sundance », Festival Reports », Podcasts », Interviews »
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.
Casting Bites: Jesse Plemons, Doris Roberts, and Brian Baumgartner
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Independent », Casting »
Have a happy Canada Day with these casting bites!When I heard that Gore Vidal was going to pop up in Shrink, I went into literary fangirl heaven, which quickly became a fan rant. The movie stars Kevin Spacey as a shrink who isn't able to deal with a personal tragedy and becomes a burn-out pothead. And now The Hollywood Reporter posts that some young blood is being injected into the indie. Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights) gets to co-star as a pot dealer named Jesus. I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's the shrink's drug connection.
Meanwhile, Doris Roberts, who became a household fixture as the overbearing mom and grandma on Everybody Loves Raymond, has picked up a new film gig. Variety reports that she's starring with Ernest Borgnine in a new film called Another Harvest Moon. She'll play "a relentlessly peppy septuagenarian in a nursing home." The film has got a pretty sweet cast that boasts the likes of Piper Laurie, Anne Meara, Cybill Shepherd, and Amber Benson.
Finally, there is Brian Baumgartner. Variety has posted that The Office star has picked up a gig in Into Temptation. This is the flick about the prostitute who plans to kill herself on her birthday, and the priest who tries to talk her out of it. Baumgartner will play a fellow priest named Fr. Ralph O'Brien.
Kevin Spacey Becomes a 'Shrink'
Filed under: Drama », Independent », Casting », Deals »
If you've seen American Beauty, then you already know Kevin Spacey can do a mean pothead on screen -- especially one that is a little ticked at the way his life has turned out. Both skills will come in handy now that Variety has announced that Spacey has signed to star in the indie drama, Shrink. Jonas Pate is already on board to direct Thomas Moffett's script about a celebrity shrink in the midst of a personal crisis.Spacey will play a psychiatrist to the stars who's thrown for a loop by a personal tragedy. When he is unable to deal with the loss, he becomes a chronic pothead and all-around burn out; eventually losing faith in his ability to help his patients. Starring as his various celebrity clients are Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Griffin Dunne, Robin Williams, Pell James, Robert Loggia, Keke Palmer, Laura Ramsey, Gore Vidal, Dallas Roberts and Mark Webber.
Interracial Harmony: 'Ninja Assassin' vs. 'Blind Side'
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 11/24_thumbnail.jpg)
Exclusive 'Nine' Poster Premiere!
Exclusive: Title Track for 'The Road' Soundtrack
Movie Popcorn is Bad for You? Who Knew?
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