Bridesmaids

The Museum of Modern Art has announced the program for The Contenders, its annual screening series of the most notable works from the year in film.  Choices are made by the museum’s Department of Film and quite a big deal to Indie Movie fans.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I am sitting here watching the very engaging 2008 documenatary kicking It on ESPN and feeling very enlightened on the Homelessness issue. The movie follows six homeless men from around the world as they gear up for the 4th annual Homeless World Cup soccer tournament in Cape Town South Africa. I recommend you go here to learn more about the movie and keep an eye on ESPN2 because I am sure they will be airing it again.

Anyways, while watching Kicking It, I was reminded of a trailer I had seen earlier in the day for a film called The Soloist. This film stars Robert Downey Jr. as real life L.A. Times Journalist Steve Lopez who discovers a left behind homeless musical genius named Nathaniel Ayers, played by Jamie Foxx. And while this film clearly takes a more Hollywood approach to the issue (read across from Resurrecting the Champ, August Rush, and Reign Over Me), it clearly hits all the right notes. Take for example two excellent actors, Jamie Foxx with a Miles David haircut circa Amandla era, and a running soundtrack of Bach Cello Prelude in Gm. And seeing as Foxx already won an Oscar in a musical role for his work in Ray, I don’t think that Oscar buzz for this movie is out of the question.

The Soloist, which will debut November 21st, is conceived from Steve Lopez’s original articles, written by Susannah Grant (28 Days and Erin Brockovich), and directed by Atonement’s Joe Wright.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The point is, we see so many World War II movies released every year, that many good ones are often overlooked. So with the impending release of big name WWII dramas like Defiance and Valkyrie, don’t forget about the two indies shown blow.

Good is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, written by John Wrathall, based on a C.P. Taylor play, directed by Vicente Amorim, and stars
Viggo Mortensen and Jason Isaacs. The IMDB plot synopsis follows:

“John Halder (Mortensen) is a ‘good’ and decent individual with family problems: a neurotic wife, two demanding children and a mother suffering from senile dementia. A literary professor, Halder explores his personal circumstances in a novel advocating compassionate euthanasia. When the book is unexpectedly enlisted by powerful political figures in support of government propaganda, Halder finds his career rising in an optimistic current of nationalism and prosperity. Seemingly inconsequential decisions lead to choices, which lead to more choices… with eventually devastating effect.”

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is expected to be released on Nov. 7, written and directed by Mark Herman, and is based on the John Boyne novel of the same name. The IMDB plot synopsis follows:

“Set during World War II, a story seen through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, whose forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.”

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Opening on February 13, New York, I love You is composed of 12 stories, written and directed from various who’s who, that come together in some way throughout the film. Among the many to star include:

Kevin Bacon, Justin Bartha, Maggie Q, Orlando Bloom, James Caan, Hayden Christensen, Blake Lively, Julie Christie, Bradley Cooper, Chris Cooper, Drea de Matteo, Carla Gugino, Ethan Hawke, John Hurt, Irfan Khan, Shia LaBeouf, Cloris Leachman, Natalie Portman, Rachel Bilson, Christina Ricci, Olivia Thirlby, Goran Visnjic, Eli Wallach, Robin Wright Penn, Anton Yelchin, and Burt Young.

And among the many to direct include:

Yvan Attal, Scarlett Johansson, Shekhar Kapur, Mira Nair, Natalie Portman, Brett Ratner, Jiang Wen

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Well now, thanks to Sony Pictures, nostalgic twenty somethings everywhere will be able to enjoy these pseudo literary tales with their children, girlfriends, and little friends with the Big Brothers Program. Larry Karaszewski and Scott Alexander, screenwriters of Man on the Moon, Agent Cody Banks, and Ed Wood, are hired to write the scripts. Is it just me or would you rather see big screen adaptations of Eerie Indiana and Are You Afraid of the Dark?? Was anybody out there actually a fan of these books?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Check out the trailer below and if you thirst for more knowledge on the subject, go here to read an interview with Flow’s director Irena Salina. Now in hopes of lightening the woe that accompanies the end of the world as we know it, check out the relevant clip from Penn and Teller’s HBO show Bullshit on the truth about bottled water. I promise you will not be disappointed.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

According to IMDB, “Phoebe in Wonderland” is “The fantastical tale of a little girl who won’t – or can’t – follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.”

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Below is the trailer for “Dance of the Dead” (premiering in October) and “Jack Brooks – Monster Slayer” (premiering mid-August). No need to waste precious internet space going into the plot details on these two flicks, other than they both explore countless ways to kill the undead. I guess that is what makes horror such a good fit with independent cinema. Fake blood, makeup, and severed limbs are cheap and easily accessible, noteworthy acting and award winning screenwriting are unnecessary, and unique ways of killing zombies are plentiful and always appreciated by audiences. Be forewarned, both trailers are red band material.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Bret Easton Ellis strikes again; Wayfarers, New Order, drugs, sex, and rich LA brats. Welcome to the first look at “The Informers”, the film adaptation of Ellis’s 1994 novel of the same name in which he also wrote the screenplay.

“The drama is set over the course of a week in 1983, in the chillingly nihilistic world of Ellis’ youth in Los Angeles. Seven storylines intersect, involving movie execs, rock stars, a vampire and other morally challenged characters.”

Now, I have to admit that of Ellis’s work, I have only read “American Psycho”, and have never been a fan of his film adaptations (“American Psycho”, “The Rules of Attraction”, “Less Than Zero”) . I can however say that, in its favor, “The Informers” has a decent cast including Winona Ryder, Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Billy Bob Thornton, and Brad Renfro in his last film appearance before his death. And if you ask me, all of these actors are a step up from Ellis’ previous star ensembles including Jams Van Der Beek, Jessica Biel, Andrew McCarthey, and James Spader.

The trailer below is most definitely “R’ rated so beware before you take a look. Then be sure to let me know what you think. Are Ellis’s films worthy? Will “The Informers” surprise audiences?

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

In the 1950′s Hollywood was producing around forty westerns per year, that number fell to twenty during the 60′s, around ten per year in the 1970′s through 90′s, and in the new millennium, we are lucky to get five westerns each year. But when those westerns are of the caliber of 2007′s “3:10 to Yuma”, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”, and “No Country for Old Men”, quality over quantity is clearly the appropriate adage.

Since 2008 has already graced us with South Korea’s “The Good, The Bad, and The Weird”, I was surprised to see how amazing today’s trailer for “Appaloosa” looks. The film is co-written, directed, and co-starred in by Ed Harris who shares the screen with Viggo Mortensen. And if there is anybody out there who neglected to see “A History of Violence” let me just say, these two were destined to play alongside each other. “Appaloosa” is based on a 2005 Robert B. Parker novel of the same name and also stars Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons.

IMDB lists the plot as “Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow”. Check out the trailer below or go to MSN to see this trailer in HD. Expect an October release date for “Appaloosa”.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.