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I had a cousin with whom I shared an especially strong bond in 2022, when we were both looking forward to the lives that awaited us at graduation. But soon, it all spiraled into a cesspool of verbal clashes, emotional distance, and cold shoulders. What pushed me into months—and eventually years—of mental anxiety was the way he concealed it all behind a self-image of being the responsible, mature one: the person who listened to elders and blended in so nicely and amicably. It’s the kind of wound you don’t recover from easily.

Now, this dip into personal sappiness may seem unrelated, yet it mirrors the dark cesspool beneath James Watkins’s bleak and unsettling survival horror “Eden Lake.” An unnerving, all-out exploitative drama in the vein of genre films critiquing the hoodie culture of “Broken Britain,” it unleashes a graphic hunting spree without ever pausing to grant its audience easy gratification.

One girl’s imagination becomes larger than life in Collider’s exclusive first look at the trailer for Sketch. Helmed and penned by Seth Worley, in what will serve as his feature-length directorial debut, the dark yet incredibly colorful comedy features the talents of an all-star cast that includes Tony Hale (Arrested Development), D’Arcy Carden (A League of Their Own), Bia Belle (Lady in the Lake), Kue Lawrence (The Amityville Murders), and Kalon Cox (Preschool in LA). Set for a cinematic release on August 6, the PG-rated production is the perfect summer flick to keep everyone in the family entertained.

Taylor (Hale) is a single dad just trying to do what’s best for his two children, Amber (Belle) and Jack (Lawrence). The sudden passing of his wife has taken a hit on his mental and emotional state. All the while, he’s continued to try and put on a brave...

Angel Studios has drawn up a deal for Seth Worley’s Sketch.

The company behind the box office phenomenon Sound of Freedom confirmed during its CinemaCon presentation at Caesars Palace on Wednesday morning that it has acquired the film for distribution and set a release date for Aug. 6. Wonder Project and UTA’s Independent Film Group negotiated the deal.

Written and directed by Worley, Sketch stars Tony Hale, D’Arcy Carden, Bianca Belle and Kue Lawrence in the story of a single dad who is swept up in an insane adventure when his daughter’s comically dark drawings come to life and terrorize their small town. Hale also produced with Steve Taylor and Dusty Brown.

Sketch debuted at last September’s Toronto International Film Festival to critical raves. “If you were to take the wide-eyed wonder of a Steven Spielberg, the impish mischief of a Joe Dante, plus the vibrant visuals...

Chicago – There’s a reason why the terms “Christian” and “filmmaker” don’t seem to go together. Pictures that push religious agendas tend to sacrifice complex plots and characters in favor of amplifying its message. These films fail not only as entertainment but as quality storytelling. Whenever an aspiring artist attempts to speak for a group rather than oneself, it’s almost always a recipe for tediously preachy dreck.

The mediocre output from studios such as Affirm Films and the mercifully scrapped Fox Faith soured many filmgoers on modern Christian entertainment by displaying an utter lack of interest in artistic integrity. Many doubting Christians found their frustrations mirrored in the 2003 book, “Blue Like Jazz,” a collection of essays written by Donald Miller, who reflected on his evolving faith while auditing courses at Portland’s liberal arts school, Reed College. Director Steve Taylor’s film version of the book functions as...

Adapting Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz presents a bevy of challenges to Writer and Director Steve Taylor’s ambitious plan, chief among them is finding a coherent narrative where originally there was simply a stream of consciousness relating the outlines of experiences as opposed to fleshing them out. Consequently, what arrives on the screen isn’t particularly well-structured, although many of Miller’s ideas and general feelings about the state of Christianity in a sometimes hostile modern world shine through without issue. If there’s one major flaw to be had, it’s in the film’s presentation of characters as basic archetypes which volley ideas about faith, purity, love, and the value of traditional religion back and forth in discussions that fail to capture the introspective spirit that made the book such a pleasure to read.

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By Allen Gardner

A Separation (Sony) This drama from Iran won the 2011 Best Foreign Film Oscar, telling the story of a couple who file for a legal separation, with the wife pushing for a divorce. He won’t leave his Alzheimer’s-afflicted father behind, while she is wanting to take their young daughter with her to the United States. After a series of misunderstandings, threats and legal actions, the couple find that there is more than just their marriage that’s on the line. Hyper-realistic to a fault, reminiscent of the neo-realist films that came out of post-ww II Europe, but also repressive and redundant in the extreme, with the characters seeming to throw the same temper tantrum for two hours straight while the story, meanwhile, seems stalled. Wildly overpraised film is a real litmus test, with viewers seeming to be staunch defenders or equally impassioned detractors. It did win an Oscar,...

An adaptation of Christian author Donald Miller’s New York Times bestseller listed memoirs, Blue Like Jazz is a film that is going to face an unusual level of critique, scrutiny and judgment, likely to come particularly from those at both ends of the religious spectrum. A challenging book to turn into a film due to its stream of consciousness narration, director Steve Taylor and crew have for the most part succeeded in turning out a generally entertaining film, but one that will probably be too centered on Christianity for those averse to religion and too “edgy” for those of the Christian faith who like their films Kirk Cameronesque. We had the opportunity to met up with writer/director Steve Taylor and star Marshall Allman at SXSW 2012 and have a conversation about Blue Like Jazz. Enjoy! Linc Leifeste’s full review of Blue Like Jazz.

Blue Like Jazz

Directed by: Steve Taylor

Cast: Marshall Allman, Claire Holt, Jason Marsden, Justin Welborn

Running Time: 1 hr 47 mins

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: April 13, 2012 (Chicago)

Plot: A young man (Allman) with extremely religious roots leaves his Southern Baptist bubble to enter the “most godless college in America,” located in Portland, Oregon. While there, he meets a political young girl (Holt) and a punk who dresses up as the pope (Welbern).

Who’S It For? If you’re tired of cheesy religious movies, or crazy people ruining the positive aspects of faith, this movie is definitely for you. That being said, it’s the rare type of religiously-focused movie that will give the Ned Flanders’ of America a true heart attack.

Overall

It’s not any type of revelation to say that a great deal of religious entertainment can be substandard to mainstream entertainment, and not just in the discussion of budget.

Blue Like Jazz represents Steve Taylor’s sophomore outing as a feature director. A riotous adaptation of Donald Miller’s book of essays reworked by Taylor, Miller and co-writer Ben Pearson into a tale of coming of age and crisis of faith, the films follows young Donald Miller (Marshall Allman) as he breaks free from his fundamentalist Christian life in Texas to explore the larger world via Portland, Ore....

Blue Like Jazz makes a rambling adaptation of Donald Miller's popular memoir about self-discovery at college in Portland. Donald Miller's memoir Blue Like Jazz is a rambling but likable book about faith and personal spirituality and director and co-writer Steve Taylor's adaptation is a rambling but somewhat likable movie focused on Miller's relocation from Pearland, Texas to Portland, Oregon and his awakening at Reed College. More pleasant diversion than a must-see indie drama, Blue Like Jazz arrives in theaters at time when us vs. them culture politics is at full force due to the upcoming presidential election...

Blue Like Jazz makes a rambling adaptation of Donald Miller's popular memoir about self-discovery at college in Portland. Donald Miller's memoir Blue Like Jazz is a rambling but likable book about faith and personal spirituality and director and co-writer Steve Taylor's adaptation is a rambling but somewhat likable movie focused on Miller's relocation from Pearland, Texas to Portland, Oregon and his awakening at Reed College. More pleasant diversion than a must-see indie drama, Blue Like Jazz arrives in theaters at time when us vs. them culture politics is at full force due to the upcoming presidential election...

Blue Like Jazz makes a rambling adaptation of Donald Miller's popular memoir about self-discovery at college in Portland. Donald Miller's memoir Blue Like Jazz is a rambling but likable book about faith and personal spirituality and director and co-writer Steve Taylor's adaptation is a rambling but somewhat likable movie focused on Miller's relocation from Pearland, Texas to Portland, Oregon and his awakening at Reed College. More pleasant diversion than a must-see indie drama, Blue Like Jazz arrives in theaters at time when us vs. them culture politics is at full force due to the upcoming presidential election...

Title: Blue Like Jazz Director: Steve Taylor Starring: Marshall Allman, Claire Holt, Tania Raymonde, Justin Welborn Offbeat and shaggy but never emotionally false or hollow, director Steve Taylor’s “Blue Like Jazz” is a precious, precocious coming-of-age story that highlights the difficulties of reconciling the manner in which one has been raised with the discovery and integration of new thoughts, ideas and belief systems. Based on Donald Miller’s semi-autobiographical novel of the same name — and adapted for the screen in a somewhat unusual but decidedly fruitful collaboration between Miller, Taylor and cinematographer Ben Pearson – the movie, a world premiere at the recent SXSW Festival, is a delightfully engaging dramedy that wrestles [ Read More ]...

Blue Like Jazz is based on the New York Times best-selling book of the same title by Donald Miller, and an official selection in the SXSW (South By Southwest) Film Festival. This alone may be enough for some to count this film as an unwavering success, but despite the film’s valiant efforts, it is not without it’s flaws. That being said, the film is also far from being a waste of the viewer’s time… in fact, I encourage seeing this film for what it is, flaws and all, because it’s the kind of movie we rarely see in theaters, and one that is rarely as accomplished as this one has turned out within it’s distinct genre of storytelling.

Directed by Steve Taylor, Blue Like Jazz is a story of faith and how it collides with one’s struggle to find his place in the world.

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Chicago – Donald Miller’s “Blue Like Jazz” is a beloved book that spent 43 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and sold over 1.5 million copies. I haven’t read it. But I have to believe that it worked on its fans in a way that Steve Taylor’s film simply cannot. This is clearly a personal story, one that touched people by relating to issues they’ve grappled with in their own lives. By taking Taylor’s memories and turning them into cinema, the ability to touch has been removed another degree of separation and the resulting film is a misstep, the kind of work that thinks it’s saying something important but feels more pretentious than precious.

Marshall Allman (“True Blood”) plays Don, the film’s central character and its biggest problem. Don is intended to be a young man on a journey of self-discovery but he...

Get ready for a new cinematic trope: Boy loses religion. Boy goes to weirdo college, sleeps beside a lesbian, and starts drinking beer. Boy regains religion after sliding a huge condom over a church steeple and being elected the campus Pope. Boy begins a relationship with a religious girl who enjoys traipsing among the impoverished in India.

God. No God. Ale. Lesbian. Condom. God. Gets girl.

Imagine Animal House starring Rick Santorum. No, make that Mitt Romney. No, that's unfair. How about Donny Osmond?

Based on what I've been told is an autobiographical, 1.5 million-copy bestseller, Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller, the book has been adapted for the screen with lots of love -- and less skill -- by Miller, Ben Pearson, and director Steve Taylor.

What's significant here is that much of the budget for the film was raised by the book's fans on Kickstarter.

Capsule Options is a new weekly column intended to provide reviews of nearly every new indie release. This week's capsules are written by Indiewire's Chief Film Critic, Eric Kohn, but future installments will include additional contributors. Reviews This Week: "Blue Like Jazz" "Budz House" "The Cabin in the Woods" "Comic Con: Episode IV - A Fan's Hope" "Detention" "Here" "Hit So Hard" "Kids of Today" "L!fe Happens" "Lockout" "Monsieur Lazhar" "Post Mortem" "Blue Like Jazz" Based on Donald Miller's best-selling semi-autobiography about a sheltered Christian teen rebelling against his roots by attending the uber-liberal Reed College in Portland, director Steve Taylor's adaptation (from a screenplay co-authored by Miller) is an inoffensive wash. Marshall Allman credibly...

I was Donald Miller.

Once upon a time, a lot of us were. Some of us still are.

I, too, grew up in the church. Then it hurt me. So I walked away -- injured, disillusioned and pissed off.

I, too, went away to college and left my faith behind me, with no intention of ever looking back.

I, too, met an beautiful young woman who showed me a different side of what life as a follower of Jesus could be.

And though my journey has been nothing as remarkable as Miller's, it's no less improbable.

As the old song goes, I once was lost, but ... well, you know.

My journey took an even more unlikely turn this week when I had opportunity to sit down with 40-year-old Miller, whose "Blue Like Jazz" memoir has sold more than 1.5 million copies (and counting) since its publication in 2003, to talk about the book,...

Trailer for Steve Taylor's Blue Like Jazz, starring Marshall Allman, Claire Holt and Tania Raymonde In Blue Like Jazz, Don, a pious nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college, impulsively decides to escape his religious upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at one of the most progressive campuses in America, Reed College in Portland. Upon arrival, Reed’s surroundings and eccentric student body proves to be far different than he could possibly imagine from the environment from which he came, forcing him to embark on a journey of self-discovery to understand who he is and what he truly believes. Roadside Attractions distributes Blue Like Jazz which opens on April 13th, and also includes Pic is produced by Steve Taylor, J.Clarke Gallivan and Coke Sams.

Trailer for Steve Taylor's Blue Like Jazz, starring Marshall Allman, Claire Holt and Tania Raymonde In Blue Like Jazz, Don, a pious nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college, impulsively decides to escape his religious upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at one of the most progressive campuses in America, Reed College in Portland. Upon arrival, Reed’s surroundings and eccentric student body proves to be far different than he could possibly imagine from the environment from which he came, forcing him to embark on a journey of self-discovery to understand who he is and what he truly believes. Roadside Attractions distributes Blue Like Jazz which opens on April 13th, and also includes Pic is produced by Steve Taylor, J.Clarke Gallivan and Coke Sams.

Trailer for Steve Taylor's Blue Like Jazz, starring Marshall Allman, Claire Holt and Tania Raymonde In Blue Like Jazz, Don, a pious nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college, impulsively decides to escape his religious upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at one of the most progressive campuses in America, Reed College in Portland. Upon arrival, Reed’s surroundings and eccentric student body proves to be far different than he could possibly imagine from the environment from which he came, forcing him to embark on a journey of self-discovery to understand who he is and what he truly believes. Roadside Attractions distributes Blue Like Jazz which opens on April 13th, and also includes Pic is produced by Steve Taylor, J.Clarke Gallivan and Coke Sams.

Kid doesn’t like his family, isn’t really into the strict Christian upbringing that’s tied him down his whole life, jumps ship for a super-liberal college in Portland, where growth and hijinks inevitably ensue. Standard stuff, right? Well, that’s the brief outline for Steve Taylor‘s Blue Like Jazz. But while the plotline for the new film doesn’t really stand out, the film’s background does. Taylor’s film is based on Donald Miller’s wildly popular book, “Blue Like Jazz: Non-Religious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality.” Miller’s collections of semi-autobiographical essays spent forty-three weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, and inspired legions of fans to help Taylor’s production make it the the screen (more on that later). Will it be worth it for them? This new trailer alone doesn’t inspire a lot of hope in me – it’s loaded with scenes we’ve seen before, clunky...

Roadside Attractions has just revealed the second teaser trailer for their upcoming film, Steve Taylor’s Blue Like Jazz, which will be premiering at the SXSW Film Festival next month. Coming of age comedy starring Marshall Allman (Tommy on True Blood), Claire Holt (Vampire Diaries) and Tania Raymonde (Alex Rousseau on Lost). Based on the NY [...]

Continue reading Blue Like Jazz New Trailer and Poster Unveiled on FilmoFilia.

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"Forgot everything you think you may know, because you do not know anything." Time for something fun. Roadside Attractions has unveiled a fantastic first teaser trailer for their upcoming SXSW film titled Blue Like Jazz, directed by Steve Taylor, based on Donald Miller's book about a junior college kid from Texas who tries to escape his Bible Belt upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at the "most godless campus in America." The cast includes Marshall Allman (True Blood), Claire Holt (Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars) and Tania Raymonde (Lost). This looks surprisingly good, I'd love to see it if I were down at SXSW. Watch the first official teaser trailer for Steve Taylor's Blue Like Jazz, in high def from Apple: Don (Marshall Allman), a nineteen-year-old sophomore at a Texas junior college, tries to escape his Bible Belt upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at the...

Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. rights to "Blue Like Jazz," prior to its world premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section at the upcoming 2012 South-by-Southwest Film Festival. The film, directed by Steve Taylor ("The Second Chance") and based on the hit semi-autobiography by Donald Miller, will open theatrically on April 13. Lionsgate will handle DVD, VOD and TV releases. "Blue Like Jazz" stars "True Blood" star Marshall Allman as Don, a 19-year-old sophomore in Texas, who decides to escape his religious upbringing. Here's a teaser: Full release below: For Immediate Release Roadside Attractions Set To Release Blue Like Jazz, The Much-anticipated Film Adaptation Of Donald Miller’S New York Times Best-selling Book Among the first high-profile fan-financed films; Extensive grassroots campaign in place leading up to an April theatrical release Los Angeles, CA (February 21,...

Exclusive: Roadside Attractions has acquired U.S. rights to Blue Like Jazz, the Steve Taylor-directed film that will have its world premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section of SXSW on March 13. The film is based on the Donald Miller semi-autobiographical bestseller. It was adapted by the author, the director and Ben Pearson. True Blood‘s Marshall Allman plays Don, a pious 19-year old soph at a Texas junior college who leaves the shelter of his conservative religious upbringing to attend Portland’s Reed College, a progressive campus. The culture clash forces him to discover himself and what he really believes. Claire Holt and Tania Raymonde also star, and Taylor, J. Clarke Gallivan and Coke Sams produced. Lionsgate will handle DVD, VOD and TV through its output deal with Roadside. They teamed on Margin Call. Roadside’s Howard Cohen made the deal with the director and V.T. Murray for the Tennessee-based The Panda Fund.

In less than a month the SXSW Film Festival will kick off (Friday, March 9, to be exact), and the line-up keeps getting better and better. The festival has announced some exciting additions to their already-stellar line-up including the Sundance hits Safety Not Guaranteed, Searching for Sugar Man, Chasing Ice, Shut Up and Play the Hits, Sleepwalk with Me along with the world premiere of Steve Taylor‘s Blue Like Jazz, and Todd Rohal‘s Nature Calls. They have also added the Oscar nominated Montreal film Monsieur Lazhar which we have championed since its World Premiere at Tiff.

You can find the lineup of today’s film announcements below, and check the entire schedule, complete with both screening and conference dates and times, at www.sxsw.com/film.

Narrative Spotlight

Blue Like Jazz

Director: Steve Taylor, Screenwriters: Donald Miller, Steve Taylor, Ben Pearson

A Texas college student flees the hypocrisy of...

SXSW has announced a few late additions, rounding out a lineup that already includes high-profile world-premieres from Nelson George, Lena Dunham, Drew Goddard, Caveh Zahedi, and the Duplass Brothers. Notably, Todd Rohal’s Nature Calls, his Johnny Knoxville and Patton Oswald-starring followup to last year’s surrealist comedy The Catechism Cataclysm, will premiere in the Narrative Spotlight section, while Sundance favorites such as Shut Up and Play the Hits, Safety Not Guaranteed, and Sleepwalk with Me will screen as well.

The full list of additions:

Narrative Spotlight

Blue Like Jazz

Director: Steve Taylor, Screenwriters: Donald Miller, Steve Taylor, Ben Pearson

A Texas college student flees the hypocrisy of his religious upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at ‘the most godless campus in America.’ Based on the New York Times bestseller by Donald Miller.

Cast: Marshall Allman, Claire Holt, Tania Raymonde, Justin Welborn, Eric Lange (World Premiere)

Nature Calls

Director...

The official line-up for the 2012 SXSW Film Festival, held in Austin as part of the SXSW conference, has already been revealed with 130 feature films playing in the festival, with some Sundance hold-overs, new premieres, and plenty of surprises. We've already highlighted the midnight releases hitting the festival (including the horror anthology V/H/S/ which we loved at Sundance last month), and now the festival has just rounded out its selections with an additional small batch of films in various categories including other Sundance favorites like Sleepwalk with Me and Safety Not Guaranteed. See the new additions below! Narrative Feature Competition Blue Like Jazz Director: Steve Taylor, Screenwriters: Donald Miller, Steve Taylor, Ben Pearson A Texas college student flees the hypocrisy of his religious upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at ‘the most godless campus in America.’ Based on the New York Times bestseller by Donald Miller. Cast: Marshall Allman,...

After a few announcements, the 2012 South by Southwest Film Festival has firmed up their schedule, adding a number of notable films including a few we saw at Sundance. Among them include the LCD Soundsystem documentary Shut Up and Play the Hits (review here), Mike Birbiglia‘s Sleepwalk With Me (review here) and Safety Not Guaranteed (review here) starring Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass. Also jumping out as one of my most-anticipated is Todd Rohal‘s The Catechism Cataclysm follow-up Nature Calls, with Patton Oswalt, Johnny Knoxville and Rob Riggle. Check them all out below for the festival kicking off March 9th.

Narrative Spotlight

Blue Like Jazz

Director: Steve Taylor, Screenwriters: Donald Miller, Steve Taylor, Ben Pearson

A Texas college student flees the hypocrisy of his religious upbringing for life in the Pacific Northwest at ‘the most godless campus in America.’ Based on the New York Times bestseller by Donald Miller.

Brace yourself, SXSW attendees and fans, we’re about to hit you with a metric ton of new information. Leading off with the big stuff! SXSW has just added a number of new films to be screened, including a fistful of Sundance hits, including Safety Not Guaranteed, Sleepwalk With Me, Shut Up and Play the Hits, Searching for Sugar Man, and Chasing Ice. That news alone should excite you, but it comes bundled up with still more, including the complete conference line-up, along with the news that all screening and panel dates and times are finally live. Meaning? If you’re a psychotic planner like me, you can get cracking on crafting your schedule for maximum fun and consumption. I’m frankly afraid to look at the schedule just yet, because it will send me spiraling into a fit of planning that I might not emerge from for many hours. But...

The 2012 SXSW Film Festival has announced some exciting additions to their already-stellar line-up. The Sundance flicks Searching for Sugar Man, Chasing Ice, Monsieur Lazhar (my review), Safety Not Guaranteed (my review), Shut Up and Play the Hits, and Sleepwalk with Me will all be showing up at this year's SXSW. I heard nothing but good things about Chasing Ice and Sleepwalk with Me, and I'm glad I'll have a second chance to see them. SXSW 2012 will also have the world premiere of Steve Taylor's Blue Like Jazz, and Todd Rohal's Nature Calls starring Patton Oswalt, Johnny Knoxville, and Rob Riggle. Hit the jump for more on all of the new additions. The 2012 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 9 – 17th. Narrative Spotlight Blue Like Jazz Director: Steve Taylor, Screenwriters: Donald Miller, Steve Taylor, Ben Pearson A Texas college student flees the hypocrisy of his religious upbringing for life in...

Most films don't tap into moviegoer wallets until they reach theaters. But Blue Like Jazz, an adaptation of Donald Miller's faith-based book, waged a 30-day campaign that raised $346,000 from 4,495 supporters. That allowed the film to overcome a budget shortfall and begin production yesterday in Nashville. Marshall Allman (True Blood) plays the lead role of Miller, Tania Raymonde (Lost) and Justin Welborn (The Crazies) also star. Steve Taylor is directing. The dough was raised through Kickstarter.com, and  the flm's backers claim it's the largest crowd-sourced creative project ever. The book is about the author's spiritual journey and the donation campaign started when the author blogged that the movie version of his book would be placed on indefinite hold because an investor fell out for $250,000. Two fans, Zach Prichard and Jonathan Frazier, created a grassroots save-the-film campaign by launching Savebluelikejazz.com. One of the film's backers agreed to match the...