Kelly Reichardt’s Certain Women made its debut earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival where it received excellent reviews and was quickly acquired by IFC Films. In advance of its upcoming screenings at both the Toronto and New York film festivals, the film, which stars Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, and Michelle Williams, has its first trailer (above). Based on Maile Meloy’s short-story collection “Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It,” the Montana-set film follows three women in an intertwining narrative. In his review of the film out of Sundance, Filmmaker’s Vadim Rizov wrote, “Reichardt’s films take place in an atmosphere of heightened quiet, […]
Set in Los Angeles, The Greasy Strangler follows Big Ronnie, a man who runs a disco walking tour along with his son, Brayden. When a sexy, alluring woman named Janet comes to take the tour, it begins a competition between father and son. It also brings about the appearance of an oily, slimy, inhuman maniac who stalks the streets at night and strangles the innocent — soon dubbed “the Greasy Strangler.” The off-kilter feature film debut by writer/director Jim Hosking features performances by Michael St. Michaels, Sky Elobar, and Elizabeth De Razzo as well as prominent genre film producers including Theo Brooks, […]
In Zach Clark’s Little Sister, which premiered earlier this year at SXSW, Colleen (Addison Timlin), a young nun and former goth, returns to her childhood home in Asheville, North Carolina where she faces her estranged dysfunctional family. During Colleen’s visit, things intensify with a little help from Halloween, pot cupcakes, and GWAR. The ensemble cast features Ally Sheedy, Peter Hedges, Keith Poulson, Barbara Crampton, and Kristin Slaysman. In a review of the film in Filmmaker, Howard Feinstein called Little Sister “an unaffected masterpiece,” writing that “Clark balances the melancholy with outsized bursts of joy.” Little Sister opens at The Metrograph in New York on October 14th and […]
This video from the Now You See It account gets into the mechanics of the precise timing, cutting and framing it takes to create truly effective scares in horror movies by comparing two versions of the same scene from Lights Out: staged first in the short film, then in the recent feature film expanded from it.
RIP the late Gene Wilder, whose passing at age 83 was announced by his family. Here he is talking with Merv Griffin in 1979, beginning by delving into his childhood and his parents’ influence in an interview for which the set was closed to encouraged personal disclosures. The Hollywood Reporter‘s obit is here.
With five films in theaters this year, including specialty hit Hell or High Water, as well as a turn in the St. Anne’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire, actor Ben Foster is having what’s known as a moment. Now, add one other credit to his enviable run: his directorial debut with a music video for singer Emily Wells, “Pack of Nobodies.” And whereas most music videos feature performance and maybe one narrative storyline, Foster shoots Wells singing as well as five sets of actors in an interlocking series of emotional narratives. From the music video’s press release: The music […]
Cameraperson, Kirsten Johnson’s acclaimed personal documentary, has enjoyed a full festival run since its premiere earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The film incorporates Johnson’s cinematography over the past 25 years, including her work on award-winning films such as Fahrenheit 9/11, The Invisible War, and Citizenfour. Now, in advance of its release from Janus Films next month, Cameraperson gets a trailer (above).
Earth, wind, air, fire: this supercut from Movies in 5 Minutes examines Terrence Malick’s use of the four elements.
In this video from Aperture’s Four Minute Film School (above), DP Julia Swain shares techniques and tips of effectively lighting a round table scene with four actors using only a 3-light kit with a bounce card, soft box, and china ball.
“I have a lot of trolls and a lot of imposters. I’m on Facebook, but it’s not me. I’m on Twitter, but it’s not me,” says Werner Herzog in a recent installment of VICE Talks Films (above). Herzog is doing press rounds to discuss his latest documentary Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World, which is now in theaters, on Demand, on iTunes and Amazon Video. The film, which premiered earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, examines the past, present, and evolving future of the internet in Herzog’s signature voice.