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SXSW 2016: 'Vice Principals' Director David Gordon Green on How TV Isn't Different From Film at a Festival
15 March 2016 9:27 AM, PDT
David Gordon Green very clearly loves SXSW, which makes the festival premiere of HBO's "Vice Principals" all the more sweet for the veteran indie director. Starring Danny McBride (Green's longtime friend and collaborator) and Walton Goggins as two bad behaving school administrators who team up for what (in their eyes) is the greater good — at least for themselves — the upcoming comedy should please any "Eastbound and Down" fans in search of more. Read More: The 2016 Indiewire SXSW Bible: Every Review, Interview and News Item Posted During the Festival While Green's early films were arthouse darlings, in recent years he's moved to a more mainstream audience. But when he explains what led him to his current project, it's clear that his motivation has nothing to do with selling out. Instead, he's just out to have a good time. Below, the man behind films as disparate as "All the Real Girls" and »
- Liz Shannon Miller
Director Naomi Kawase Set to Lead 2016 Cannes Cinéfondation and Short Film Jury
15 March 2016 9:09 AM, PDT
The Cannes Film Festival has been very good to director Naomi Kawase in the past, and now the filmmaker is returning to the place where her ambitious career really first started. The festival announced today that Kawase, who became the youngest winner of the Camera d'or for her feature "Suzaku" back in 1997 and followed that up with a Grand Prix award ten years later for "The Mourning Forest," will serve as the president of both the festival's forward-looking Cinefondation section and its Short Film Jury. She previously served on the Feature Film Jury in 2013. Read More: Cannes Film Festival Cinéfondation Names 16 New Filmmakers to Watch Of the news, Kawase said, "Films enrich people’s lives, and their worlds inspire new possibilities. It is a little over 100 years since the advent of films, and their potential is ever expanding. They are exceptional media that can embody the diversity of world cultures, »
- Kate Erbland
'Cuban Food Stories' Highlights the Country's Culinary Treasures and the People Who Make Them
15 March 2016 9:05 AM, PDT
Here's your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress -- at the end of the week, you'll have the chance to vote for your favorite. In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments. Cuban Food Stories Logline: "Cuban Food Stories" is the first feature length documentary about food, society, and culture on the island of Cuba. A unique world of flavors and breathtaking locations like you have never seen before. Elevator Pitch: Over the course of 45 days, we went on a road-trip adventure all around the island to discover the authentic Cuban cuisine. We had unprecedented access to regions that are so remote that you can only get there by raft, horseback, or swimming. Our journey took us through every province in Cuba, where we found twelve unique stories. A street vendor that lives from carnival to carnival, »
- Indiewire
Watch: Bonnie Raitt, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and More Describe the Magic of 'Sidemen - Long Road to Glory'
15 March 2016 8:56 AM, PDT
Oftentimes, the best and brightest of our musical talent never get to take center stage as an adoring crowd cheers them to glory. Some of the industry's most talented players happily occupy backstage roles, studio slots or, in the case of the subjects of Scott Rosenbaum's SXSW premiere "Sidemen - Long Road to Glory," careers as sidemen. Rosenbaum's new documentary focuses on some of American music's most skilled (and most unheralded) stars, so-called "sidemen" Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Hubert Sumlin, lovingly bringing the three men's individual and collective stories to the big screen in a toe-tapping, eye-opening new feature. Read More: SXSW 2016 Coverage From Indiewire Per the film's official synopsis, the film is "an intimate look at the lives and legacies of piano player Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie 'Big Eyes' Smith and guitarist Hubert Sumlin, all Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf sidemen. The film captures some of the. »
- Kate Erbland
Watch: Matheiu Amalric Cannot Escape the Past in Lyrical 'My Golden Days' Clip
15 March 2016 8:53 AM, PDT
For his latest feature, director Arnaud Desplechin mines some very relatable territory: The intersection and influence of the past on the present and, in turn, on the future. In "My Golden Days," Desplechin takes this idea to some logical extremes, utilizing flashbacks and unexpected memories and the insertion of younger characters into their elder selves' presents. For Paul, played in his adult years by Mathieu Amalric, the past is a living, breathing thing, and one that is seemingly impossible to ever fully escape. That concept is on full display in a new clip from the film, which seamlessly weaves together adult Paul, teen Paul and a whole mess of uncomfortable memories. Read More: Nyff: Arnaud Desplechin on Why 'My Golden Days' Feels Like His Debut Feature Film The film's official synopsis tells us: "'My Golden Days' is the story of Paul Dédalus, an anthropologist preparing to leave Tajikistan (played »
- Kate Erbland
FilmRise Acquires Worldwide Rights to SXSW Documentary 'Silicon Cowboys'
15 March 2016 8:51 AM, PDT
Film and television distributor FilmRise announced today it has acquired the worldwide distribution rights for the SXSW documentary premiere "Silicon Cowboys." Directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jason Cohen and produced by Ross Dinerstein and Glen Zipper, the film "chronicles the David vs. Goliath story of Compaq Computer and offers a fresh look into the explosive rise of the 1980’s PC industry, delivering a surprising alternative to the familiar narrative of Jobs, Gates, and Zuckerberg." According to its official synopsis, "Launched in 1982 by three friends in a Houston diner, Compaq Computer set out to build a portable PC to take on Ibm, the world’s most powerful tech company. Many had tried cloning the industry leader’s code, only to be trounced by Ibm and its high-priced lawyers. 'Silicon Cowboys' traces the rise, and eventual demise, of the unlikely upstart – that would alter the future of computing and shape the »
- Kate Erbland
SXSW 2016: 5 Tips From the Brains Behind 'Mr. Robot' On How to Make a Great Show
15 March 2016 8:30 AM, PDT
One year ago, "Mr. Robot" premiered at SXSW. Now, with a Golden Globe and a hit show that's transformed an entire network (USA), series creator Sam Esmail returned to Austin, along with his two stars (Rami Malek and Christian Slater) and a 100-foot Ferris wheel, to thank his now rabid fans. Read More: SXSW 2016 - Joe Swanberg Gets Honest About Making a Living in Indie Film During their SXSW panel, the "Robot" trio was extremely tight-lipped about season two during their SXSW, which just started production, except to say the ramifications of Elliott's (Malek) actions at the end of season one would introduce law enforcement into the show. What Esmail was far more open discussing was what he believes makes "Mr. Robot" work as show and what can be learned from their success. Rolling Takes"Mr. Robot" is filled with acting challenges for Malek, whose character's grip on reality is less than firm, »
- Chris O'Falt
SXSW 2016 Review: Netflix's Horror Movie 'Hush' Proves the Effectiveness of the Blumhouse Model
15 March 2016 8:21 AM, PDT
Read More: SXSW 2016 Coverage From Indiewire In the pantheon of home invasion horror movies, "Hush" offers one unique hook: the woman struggling to survive the night is deaf. It's only a slight conceptual twist on "Wait Until Dark," the 1967 thriller with Aubrey Hepburn as a blind women facing similar circumstances. "Hush" doesn't resemble that movie much aside from its main fear factor. Writer-director Mike Flanagan's creepy follow-up to 2013's first-rate "Oculus" gives the killer a built-in advantage over his prey, while she spends the movie figuring out how to perceive his attacks. Whereas "Oculus" featured a haunted mirror that messed with its victims' perception of the world, "Hush" offers two opposing ways of experiencing it at once. One of the countless modestly budgeted genre efforts from producer Jason Blum's Blumhouse model, "Hush" is a solid example of its effectiveness. With a main cast of two and »
- Eric Kohn
Watch: Meet the Real Dr. Bennet Omalu in Exclusive 'Concussion' Featurette
15 March 2016 8:13 AM, PDT
Will Smith turned in one of last year's most criminally overlooked roles with his turn in the fact-based drama "Concussion." Starring as the real-life Dr. Bennet Omalu, Smith believably brought to the screen the trials and tribulations of the forward-thinking doctor, the first person in the medical community to draw some very strong lines between football and the debilitating disease Cte. But just how good was Smith's performance in comparison to the real Dr. Omalu? Turns out, pretty good! As Omalu confesses in our exclusive featurette, at times it was hard for even him to tell the difference between photos of himself and of Smith once he slipped into character. Smith, for his part, also amusingly illuminates some of the decisions he made when it came time to imitate Omalu's distinct Nigerian-American accent. Take a look up above. Read More: Review: 'Concussion' Starring Will Smith Struggles To Maintain Lasting Resonance"Concussion" was. »
- Kate Erbland
Why 'Luther' Creator Neil Cross Can't Say Goodbye to Idris Elba's 'National Treasure' of a Detective
15 March 2016 8:13 AM, PDT
Neil Cross' work as a writer for television includes several episodes of "Spooks" and "Doctor Who," as well as the NBC pirate drama "Crossbones," but by and large, the British native is best known for "Luther," the Idris Elba-starring detective drama that became an international success, racking up an impressive number of Emmy nominations in America as a BBC America miniseries. Here's an interesting twist, though: Cross may be British, but he no longer lives in Britain. As he put it in a recent phone interview with Indiewire, "My dirty little secret is that I actually live in New Zealand." According to him, though, that's an essential aspect to his process in writing the drama, which digs into the complicated psychology of not just Detective John Luther, but the dark and complicated London where he lives. Cross also spoke about the original industry trends that led the BBC »
- Liz Shannon Miller
IFC Midnight Picks Up U.S. Rights to Festival Hit 'Carnage Park'
15 March 2016 8:00 AM, PDT
IFC Midnight has picked up U.S. rights to Mickey Keating's "Carnage Park," reports Variety. The horror-thriller about a 1978 kidnapping premiered in January as part of Sundance's Midnight section and is currently playing at SXSW in its similarly themed Midnighters section. Per the film's official synopsis: "The year is 1978. After botching an ill-conceived bank robbery in a desolate California town, two wannabe crooks named Scorpion Joe and Lenny flee the scene with a hostage, Vivian, and lead the local lawmen on a dangerous high-speed chase. With his partner suffering from a gunshot wound and losing blood fast, Joe takes to the back roads to dodge the heat, but he unwittingly steers them into the path of a far more dangerous evil: a psychotic ex-military sniper who doesn’t take kindly to strangers. Thrust into a wicked game of cat and mouse with a highly trained and mentally imbalanced killer, »
- Kate Erbland
Popular Film Social Network Letterboxd Debuts Long-Awaited iPhone App
15 March 2016 7:55 AM, PDT
Beloved film social network Letterboxd has today delivered something fans of the movie-tracking and review-sharing site have long desired: A handy mobile app to really take things on the move. The company announced this morning the release of their much-anticipated iPhone app, now available in the Apple App store. Per the company, "The free Letterboxd iPhone app makes it easy to instantly log watched films, add ratings, reviews and tags, and find and follow friends to see what they’re enjoying. The app also lets you update your watchlist of films, see how films are rating at a glance, view and maintain lists of films (such as top tens or director rankings) and comment on others’ content." Read More: Today on Letterboxd: '12 Years a Slave' Criticism and Crazy 'Counselor' Theories Of the release, Letterboxd co-founder Matthew Buchanan said, "The Letterboxd app has been worth the wait, and is a »
- Kate Erbland
Hot Docs 2016 Adds More Documentary Features to Slate, Including 'Sonita' and 'De Palma'
15 March 2016 7:31 AM, PDT
Toronto's own Hot Docs Film Festival has announced the addition of 14 documentary features that will screen as part of this year’s Special Presentations program. Per the festival, Special Presentations section "features a high-profile collection of world and international premieres, award winners from the recent international festival circuit and works by master filmmakers or featuring some star subjects." This year's picks are rife with captivating subjects, from Bobby Sands to David Byrne, Brian De Palma to Mel Brooks. This portion of the slate also includes a number of award-winning docs, including Sundance winners "Sonita," "Trapped" and "Life, Animated." Read More: 8 Great Documentary Discoveries from Hot Docs 2015 The 2016 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival will run from April 28 - May 8 in Toronto. The complete Special Presentations program and the full selection of films set to screen at the »
- Kate Erbland
Watch: Chow Down on the Hilariously Deranged First 'Sausage Party' Trailer
15 March 2016 7:26 AM, PDT
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg had a very, very big day yesterday at SXSW, debuting both their "Preacher" TV pilot and a work-in-progress cut of their raunchy animated feature film "Sausage Party." Billed as the first R-rated CG animated movie, the film "is about one sausage leading a group of supermarket products on a quest to discover the truth about their existence and what really happens when they become chosen to leave the grocery store." The film features the voice contributions of a number of huge comedic stars, including Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton and Salma Hayek. Read More: SXSW 2016 Coverage From Indiewire The film's first trailer has arrived on the heels of what sounds like a particularly raucous showing of the film (any event that involves Rogen expounding on the MPAA rating bestowed on features. »
- Kate Erbland
For a City as Diverse as Los Angeles, Are There Too Many TV Shows About White People?
15 March 2016 6:30 AM, PDT
"Too much TV' is so 2015, but what about "too much good TV"? That answer may seem obvious until you put it into the perspective of a certain subgenre that's popped up of late. In the golden age of television, dramas and comedies have seen a boom in quality, but comedies set in Los Angeles are all starting to look a little...pale. Among recent high-profile releases set in the City of Angels, most are made up of exclusively or predominantly white casts. Take the last two Netflix offerings: "Flaked" tells the story of two white roommates living in Venice, played by Will Arnett and David Sullivan, and even features a rather prominent storyline regarding the threat of corporate ownership overwhelming local cultures — all of which appear to be protected and/or established by white folk. The Judd Apatow comedy "Love" offers similar sensibilities on the East side of Los Angeles, »
- Indiewire
Watch: You Will Never See Patrick Stewart the Same Way After This 'Green Room' Trailer
15 March 2016 6:01 AM, PDT
Jeremy Saulnier's "Green Room" hasn't pulled any punches when it's come to its hyper-violent, dizzyingly terrifying marketing, including a couple of trailers that have scared the pants right off of us. This newest trailer does pretty much the same thing, but with one hell of an added twist, as it finally puts main baddie Patrick Stewart (Patrick Stewart! of all people!) front and center, all menacing weirdness and inexplicable motives. Sorry about the nightmares, and make sure you stay away from that fan. Read More: Cannes Review: 'Blue Ruin' Director Jeremy Saulnier Scores Again With Bloody 'Green Room' The official synopsis for the film reads: "The Ain’t Rights, down-on-their-luck punk rockers, are finishing up a long and unsuccessful tour and are about to call it quits when they get an unexpected booking at an isolated, run-down club deep in the backwoods of Oregon. What seems merely to be »
- Kate Erbland
The Cast and Creators of 'Better Call Saul' Aren’t Interested In Happily Ever Afters
15 March 2016 6:00 AM, PDT
Let's face it — "Breaking Bad" was never going to be easy to follow. After having an international phenomenon on their hands, "Better Call Saul" creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould knew that they had a bit of a challenge when it came to expanding the world of such a universally beloved show with a spin-off prequel. However, as "Saul" embarks further into its second season, the show has proved itself as absolutely worth the risk. The series centers around Jimmy McGill, six years before he enters the world of "Breaking Bad," and features exactly what led the formerly goodhearted lawyer to the shady person he becomes, along with the cast of characters that assisted in that transformation. Although Jonathan Banks (Mike) wasn't present, Bob Odenkirk (Saul/Jimmy/Gene), Rhea Seehorn (Kim), Michael McKean (Chuck), Patrick Fabian (Howard) and Michael Mando (Nacho) were all on hand and more than eager to »
- Nix Santos
SXSW: Food Sex and F-Bombs Dominate Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's 'Sausage Party' at Work-in-Progress Screening
14 March 2016 11:44 PM, PDT
Read More: SXSW 2016 Coverage From Indiewire For years, Pixar has been the high water mark for giving life to inanimate objects, but the R-rated comedy "Sausage Party" takes that tradition to edgier extremes. An unlikely passion project eight years in the making from co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the movie envisions talking food products in a grocery store who cuss and screw their way through a 90-minute romp. "Sausage Party" plays out like "Toy Story" by way of alt-comics icon Robert Crumb, which is just as ridiculous as it sounds. Even in the wildly unfinished version that premiered at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival, the August 12 release is subversive comedy gold. It's also legitimately well-directed by veteran animators Conrad Vernon ("Shrek 2") and Greg Tierana, who give the world its own loony internal logic. But seriously, "Sausage Party" is really unfinished. In his introduction to a packed house at Austin's. »
- Eric Kohn
Review: 'Better Call Saul' Season 2 Episode 5, 'Rebecca' Gives Kim the Spotlight
14 March 2016 8:00 PM, PDT
Last Week's Review: 'Better Call Saul' Season 2, Episode 4, 'Gloves Off' Is Brutal Without the Blood Case SummaryA flashback to Chuck prior to his illness finds him living a very comfortable, quiet life with his wife Rebecca. Though when Jimmy comes to dinner, Chuck clearly feels overshadowed by Jimmy's charisma and charm. In the present, though, Jimmy isn't feeling very charming. Instead, he's trying to get back in Kim's good graces. Kim, however, isn't interested in his help, telling him to focus on obeying the rules while she works on her own to get out of the doghouse at Hamlin Hamlin & McGill. Her solution, to drum up new business for the firm, seems to work... until Hamlin sticks her back in in the dungeon. However, there's a glimmer of hope for her after a conversation with Chuck leads to a promise that he'll try to get Hamlin to stop "wasting" her talents. »
- Liz Shannon Miller
The Screening Room's Home Viewing Platform Gets Peter Jackson's Support
14 March 2016 4:26 PM, PDT
Major directors, from Peter Jackson to Ron Howard and at least one major exhibition chain, are initially supporting Facebook and Napster cofounder Sean Parker's The Screening Room, the controversial new day-and-date home viewing option for new releases. Art House Convergence, the association of independent specialized theater owners (though not industry leader Landmark Theatres), has sent an email polling their members about what their formal response should be, as all sides assess The Screening Room's potential impact on the industry. Parker's The Screening Room would sell home viewers a $150 device, which would give them 48 hours to watch new movies on the same date they open at theaters for a $50 dollar per household charge. This would equate roughly to the expense of four adult full price tickets plus more expensive theater concessions plus driving/parking costs, but with the convenience of not leaving home. Read More: Would You Pay $50 To Watch A First-Run, »
- Tom Brueggemann
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