“Henry’s Crime” was co-written by Sacha Gervasi, the director of the great “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” — yay! However, Gervasi also wrote “The Terminal,” for which I cannot summon a yay. As to how “Henry’s Crime” will turn out, it’s hard to say tell from the trailer below. Keanu Reeves plays a guy who…
Tom Shone has a few “Good Will Hunting”-centric excerpts from a recent interview he did with Matt Damon on his blog. One particularly tasty anecdote involves Damon and cowriter Ben Affleck getting notes from Terrence Malick, who, Shone notes, “happened to be best friends with Affleck’s godfather”: “We just asked if we could have a…
It took Derek Cianfrance a dozen years to get his second feature, “Blue Valentine,” made, but now that the indie romance is finally in theaters, raking in dough in a limited release, generating awards talk for leads Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams and ending up on plenty of year-end top ten lists (including my own),…
As many have pointed out, if there was a major major theme to 2010, it was the blurry or even unknowable between the truth and the made up. Which makes it fitting that this year’s incarnation of the Cinema Eye Honors, which salute the best in nonfiction filmmaking, have a new category for that very…
He acts. He writes. He stars in soaps. He’s directed a doc. He makes arty/silly-sounding multimedia projects. He’s co-hosting the Academy Awards. He’s enrolled in, like, three dozen graduate programs. And now, according to Showbiz 411‘s Roger Friedman, James Franco is in talks to helm adaptations of William Faulkner’s “As I Lay Dying” and Cormac…
“At the Movies,” the last incarnation of the review show Roger Ebert and the late Gene Siskel started over three decades ago, came to an end last year. But Ebert isn’t letting the dream of televised criticism fade — alongside his wife Chaz, he’s been producing a shiny new series, “Ebert Presents… At the Movies.”…
“True Grit,” the Coen brothers’ Western starring Jeff Bridges as a tough marshal hired by a stern young girl to track down her father’s killer, has become their highest grossing movie. In honor of their latest, this week’s IFC News podcast looks through the Coens’ filmography and genre-jumping, from the neo-noir of “Blood Simple” and…
I was saddened to read this morning that Pete Postlethwaite passed away yesterday at age 64 after a long battle with cancer. The English actor, a veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company, had a distinctive, rugged face and an intense screen presence that made him stand out in roles like the lawyer Kobayashi in “The…
Alison:It’s an idea we’ve kicked around in this series of posts before, and I do think it’s one that’s central to “Undeclared”‘s failure to find a larger audience — college just isn’t an inherently interesting setting for a show. Despite everyone being a sexy young thing, despite how much time everyone has for partying and…
RG: I think it’s badass that she leaves. She has to choose to love herself more than someone else. I think it’s a really strong, bold move and it’s just not something you see very often in film. And I hope that women recognize that and pull strength from that. We have tons of antiheroes…
On Tuesday, Anne Thompson reasoned out why “The Kids Are All Right” will likely get nominated for best picture, but not director. The Academy, she explains, is full of “Steak Eaters”: They’re red-blooded males (not just American–Europeans and Aussies too), often directors, writers and craftspeople. They’re the guys who voted for The Silence of the…
This review originally ran as part of our coverage of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Sundance is best known as the home of the American indie narrative, the primordial festival ooze from which first emerged the likes of “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” and “Clerks” and “The Blair Witch Project.” And while the film landscape has…
In the second part of our look back at the memorable moments of the past year, we also look forward to what we’re anticipating in 2011. DOWNLOAD MP3, 1:03:53 minutes, 61.4 MB SUBSCRIBE iTunes | XML This week’s keyword game giveaway is a grab bag where six winners will receive one of the following DVDs:…
This review originally ran as part of our coverage of the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. A confession: I passed over “The Red Chapel” a few times on the festival circuit before I finally sat down to see it. I’d glance over the description — “small theater troupe,” “Denmark,” “cultural exchange visit,” “North Korea” — and…
It’s not unusual to hear that Jon Lovitz is the funniest part of a movie. It’s more so to discover that that movie isn’t a traditional comedy — it’s “Casino Jack,” George Hickenlooper’s caper-like take on the downfall of Jack Abramoff and the director’s last before his death in October at age 47. Lovitz plays…
As we left our screening of “Somewhere,” a colleague observed that he’d never been to the Chateau Marmont, where much of the movie is set, but that he “couldn’t believe how crappy it looked.” I’ve never been there either, and while I’m not sure that that’s the description I’d choose, as it’s sketched out in…
Jafar Panahi, of “The White Balloon,” “Crimson Gold” and “Offside,” is one of major Iranian filmmakers — though his films are banned in Iran, and his support of the Iranian Green Movement has made him a persecuted figure in his own country. Last year he was arrested and temporarily jailed for his participation in a…
We’re already offered our picks for the best films of 2010. But what about the best final shot of a film this year? The most unfairly maligned movie? The greatest fight scene? In the first of a two-part episode, we look at some of our favorite scenes, moments, performances and images from the year in…
Animator Don Hertzfeldt, that Oscar-nominated maestro of stick figures, has a new short that’s part of a Showtime program called “Short Stories.” The short’s called “Wisdom Teeth,” it had its premiere at Sundance last year, it’s in a fake Scandinavianish language and features gruesome stick figure-on-stick figure violence. You can watch it below.
Back in January, Miramax closed up shop, prompted many to muse over its marking the end of an era. And an announcement this morning of a deal made involving the company’s library of films suggests we’re moving on to a new era. A lamer era. The Weinstein Company has reached an agreement in which they’ll…
Matt Singer: 10. I’m Still HereDirected by Casey Affleck I kind of resent Joaquin Phoenix for taking two years off from acting to make it, and I still don’t buy Casey Affleck’s line about how “the idea of a quote, hoax, unquote, never entered [his] mind,” (The word “hoax” appears in the film at least…
“The Tree of Life”! “The Tree of Life”! “The Tree of Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiife”! That is all. Well, okay. The trailer for Terrence Malick’s long, long-awaited new film — starring Brad Pitt, Sean Penn and Jessica Chastain — has finally officially hit the web. You can watch it below, but I’d recommend checking it out in HD…
Miranda July’s debut film “Me and You and Everyone We Know” made a splash at Sundance five years ago — Roger Ebert stumbled into it on a whim and came out declaring it the best film at the festival. And now her second feature, entitled “The Future,” will be making its premiere in Park City…
Julian Assange has been granted bail, pending an appeal filed by the Swedish authority, with a little help from Michael Moore. The documentarian posted a note on his website this morning entitled “Why I’m Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange,” attesting to his support for the WikiLeaks editor in chief and his commitment of $20,000…
