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Exclusive: Fabien Frankel, who played the son of Detective Andy Sipowicz in ABC’s recent NYPD Blue pilot, is to star in British indie comedy Venice At Dawn.

Frankel, who also features in Paul Feig’s Last Christmas and Netflix/BBC One co-production The Serpent, is joined in the film by Greta Bellamacina and Tanya Burr, who both starred in indie feature Hurt By Paradise, which was directed by Bellamacina.

Venice At Dawn is directed by Jamie Adams, who directed Colbie Smulders’ Songbird, Alice Lowe’s Black Mountain Poets and Laura Harrier’s Balance Not Symmetry.

The film is a modern take on the classic British stage farce, a comedy of misunderstandings centred around a relationship break up and a painting called Venice At Dawn.

The film, set in London, follows the spurned fiancé of a wealthy and egotistical man, who tries to make sure she does ok out of...

Exclusive: Girls star toplines feature from Black Mountain Poets director.

UK comedy-drama Wild Honey Pie has wrapped a four-week shoot in Wales.

The film marks writer-director Jamie Adams’ fifth feature, his previous credits include Black Mountain Poets, which played at Edinburgh and SXSW in 2016.

Wild Honey Pie stars Jemima Kirke (Girls) alongside Alice Lowe (Prevenge). Joanna Scanlan, Sarah Solemani, Brett Goldstein and Richard Elis round out the cast.

Screen can reveal a first look at the film [top] featuring Jemima Kirke’s lead character.

The project is produced by Adams’ Twenty Dollar Pictures, alongside David Wade and Maggie Monteith for Dignity Film Finance and Fivelanes Films, in partnership with Noel Clarke and Jason Maza through Unstoppable Entertainment.

Unstoppable previously produced director Adams’ Cobie Smulders-starring feature Songbird, which wrapped earlier this year and was picked up for world sales by Amp International.

Wild Honey Pie follows a woman who is pressured to move beyond her meandering writing career...

04.27.17: This list is now final. While I may in the future see additional films that were released in the awards year of 2016, no more films will be added to this list. (I may add links to reviews of films listed here.)

This ranking includes only new theatrical releases viewed for the awards year of 2016 (for eligibility for the Academy Awards and the Ofcs and Awfj awards); some films released in the UK without Us releases (and so ineligible for those awards this year) may also be included, for my own bookkeeping purposes. Links go to my review. Numbers after each entry are Date First Viewed/NYC Release Date/London Release Date; year is 2016 unless otherwise noted.

worth paying multiplex prices for

[5 stars]

Arrival (10.10/11.11/11.10)

La La Land (10.07/12.09/01.13.17)

A Monster Calls (10.06/12.23/01.01.17)

The Lobster (07.16.15/05.13/10.16.15)

Zootropolis (aka Zootopia) (02.22/03.04/03.25)

A Bigger Splash (10.08.15/05.04/02.12)

Miss Sloane (11.20/11.25/05.12.17)

London Road (06.03.15/09.09/06.12.15)

The Girl with All the Gifts (07.26/02.24.17/09.23)

I, Daniel Blake...

MaryAnn’s quick take… Fresh feminist horror of a very welcome taboo-smashing kind. Nasty, hilarious, outraged and outrageous, and as poignant as it is blackly funny. I’m “biast” (pro): love Alice Lowe, desperate for movies about women

I’m “biast” (con): not generally much of a horror fan

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

This is what happens when women make movies: We get movies that do not look like anything we’ve seen before. And I promise you, you have never experienced anything like writer-director-star Alice Lowe’s Prevenge: it’s nasty, hilarious, outraged and outrageous, and magically exactly as genuinely poignant as it is blackly, sarcastically funny.

Sure, there have been bad-fetus movies before, and movies about strange creatures growing inside human bodies and taking over. (Two recent awful examples: Devil’s Due and The Unborn.) But to a one, as far as I am aware,...

Exclusive: First look image of Unstoppable Entertainment comedy about a 90s Britpop singer.

London-based sales outfit Amp International has boarded world sales on UK comedy Songbird, starring Cobie Smulders (Jack Reacher: Never Go Back), Noel Clarke, Jessica Hynes (Bridget Jones’ Baby), Griffin Dunne (After Hours) and Emily Atack (The Inbetweeners).

Currently in post-production, the film follows the lead singer of a 90s Britpop band whose star has fallen considerably since her glory days.

When on a drunken night out she accidentally enrolls at a university she is shocked to discover that her fellow students have no idea who she is and are far more into yoga and kale smoothies than wild parties.

Songbird was written and directed by Jamie Adams (Black Mountain Poets) and is produced by Jason Maza and Noel Clarke of Unstoppable Entertainment (Brotherhood) and Maggie Monteith (Searching For Sugar Man) of Dignity Film Finance.

Rising actress Smulders, pictured above in...

“American Honey” took the top prize at the 2016 British Independent Film Awards, which was held on Sunday at London’s Old Billingsgate.

“American Honey” was named Best British Independent Film, and also scored three additional awards (including Best Director for Andrea Arnold). Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” was the night’s only non-uk winner, picking up honors for Best International Independent Film.

The 19th annual Bifa ceremony, hosted by Jennifer Saunders, also presented Clare Binns with the Special Jury Prize for her “unstinting efforts in bringing independent film to new audiences.”

Naomie Harris was also presented the Variety Award by Danny Boyle, in recognition of the global impact she made this year in helping to focus the international film spotlight on the UK.

Read More: La Film Critics Association Name the Best Films and Performances of 2016

The Richard Harris Award was given to Alison Steadman by Richard Harris’ granddaughter Ella Harris and...

★★☆☆☆ The last chapter in his 'Modern Romance Trilogy' sees writer-director Jamie Adams and a band of British talent take to the hills in quirky, sardonic comedy Black Mountain Poets. Combining a hippy writers retreat with a shambolic Duke of Edinburgh expedition, it revolves around the uncontrollably mischievous antics of sisters Lisa (Alice Lowe) and Claire (Dolly Wells). Less than successful con artists on the run after the failed theft of a Jcb digger, the reasons for which are left intriguingly unexplained, they stumble upon the Poet's Poetry Society gathering by mistake after stealing the car of renowned verse-writing duo The Wilding Sisters. It's an oddball, meandering journey where demons must be excised, navel-gazing is more important than any physical destination and pretence must be maintained at all costs, for there is an £11,000 prize at stake.

Victoria | Eddie The Eagle | Ran | Papusza | Motley’s Law | Black Mountain Poets | Battle Mountain: Graeme Obree’s Story | Anguish | Mammal | Pandorica

The “all in one take” conceit gives this Berlin thriller an invigorating immediacy and a technical wow-factor, even if real-time storytelling has its drawbacks. It starts like a freewheeling urban indie: trusting Spanish clubber meets random trio of tearaways for nocturnal carousing and potential romance. But the story shifts several gears into nailbiting heist-thriller territory, where all bets are off.

Continue reading...

There are few environments quite as rife for ridicule than improvised, spoken word poetry gatherings – and it is here that writer/director Jamie Adams has set his latest, and third endeavour, Black Mountain Poets. But this comedically inclined piece is by no means poking fun at any such community, as we’re surrounded by endearing

The post Black Mountain Poets Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Jamie Adams’ latest film Black Mountain Poets plays at SXSW later this month, before hitting cinemas here in April. Telling the story of a hare-brained scheme gone madly wrong in which two criminal sisters steal a car, assume the identity of the owners and find themselves as celebrity poets at a rural retreat. We’ve all

The post Take an Exclusive look at the hilarious new trailer for Black Mountain Poets appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Simply put, the SXSW Film, Music and Interactive Festival is one of the biggest, most prestigious events in the media calendar. Taking place annually in Austin, Texas, it is beloved by film fans and filmmakers from all over the world, and has reached such heights by building a reputation for showcasing excellent content. This results in a high level of competition, with the Narrative Feature category alone having received 1442 submissions this year, and the documentary feature category having received 1,013.

The 2016 event looks to be particularly exciting, with many world premieres and feature debuts already announced. The Narrative Feature category will include Julia Hart’s Miss Stevens, Debra Eisenstadt’s Before The Sun Explodes, Joey Klein’s The Other Half, and Musa Syeed’s A Stray, among others, while the Headliner category will feature Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some.

The Narrative Spotlight category includes 9 Rides by Matthew A. Cherry; The Waiting...

Exclusive: Sightseers co-writer and star is directing and starring in Prevenge while seven-and-a-half months pregnant.

Sightseers co-writer and star Alice Lowe is set to start shooting her directorial debt feature, provisionally titled Prevenge, on Thursday (Oct 29) in Cardiff. Western Edge Pictures/Gennaker is fully financing.

Lowe, who is seven-and-a-half months pregnant in real life, also stars as a pregnant woman on a killing spree, targeting individuals from different walks of life. Her motivation for revenge is gradually revealed.

Lowe described Prevenge as a “post-feminist revenge movie”. The writer-director has structured a narrative for the film and said it is “a classic revenge tale and very episodic, so the structure was quite laid out,” but will also employ improvisation on set.

“We’re using improvisation a lot and that’s quite a good tool if you are confident enough to use it,” Lowe told ScreenDaily.

“You can get really, really exciting results from that that give it a freshness...

Exclusive: Sightseers co-writer and star is directing and starring in Pre-Venge while seven-and-a-half months pregnant.

Sightseers co-writer and star Alice Lowe is set to start shooting her directorial debt feature, provisionally titled Pre-Venge, on Thursday (Oct 29) in Cardiff.

Lowe, who is seven-and-a-half months pregnant in real life, also stars as a pregnant woman on a killing spree, targeting individuals from different walks of life. Her motivation for revenge is gradually revealed.

Lowe described Pre-Venge as a “post-feminist revenge movie”. The writer-director has structured a narrative for the film and said it is “a classic revenge tale and very episodic, so the structure was quite laid out,” but will also employ improvisation on set.

“We’re using improvisation a lot and that’s quite a good tool if you are confident enough to use it,” Lowe told ScreenDaily.

“You can get really, really exciting results from that that give it a freshness. It’s kind...

Exclusive: Metrodome haul includes Toronto doc, Partisan and 2000Ad.

UK distributor Metrodome has finalised deals on a collection of festival titles including Toronto documentary The Hard Stop, comic book documentary Future Shock! The Story of 2000Ad and Ariel Kleiman’s Partisan.

UK documentary The Hard Stop, directed by George Amponsah, charts the story and background of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who in 2011 was shot and killed whilst being arrested by armed police in Tottenham.

The incident ignited riots that escalated into a week of the worst civil unrest across the country in recent history.

Metrodome will release the Toronto and Lff title, produced by Dionne Walker, next summer, which will be the fifth anniversary of the 2011 riots.

The deal was negotiated between Metrodome MD Jezz Vernon and Cinephil.

From Protagonist, Metrodome has picked up UK rights to Ariel Kleiman’s Sundance thriller Partisan and Berlin thriller One & Two.

Vincent Cassel stars in the former, about an 11 year-old...

The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film goes to Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years.

The Michael Powell Award for Best British Feature Film at the 69th Edinburgh International Film Festival has gone to Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years, which received its UK premiere at the festival.

The film follows an eldery married couple (Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay) in the five days leading up to their forty-fifth wedding anniversary. After the body of the husband’s first love is discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps, their relationship becomes strained.

The award for Best Performance in a British Feature Film was shared between James Cosmo for his performance in The Pyramid Texts and Charlotte Rampling for her performance in 45 Years.

The Michael Powell Jury, which also awarded the main acting prize, was chaired by La Times film critic Kenneth Turan.

The award for Best International Feature Film went to Marielle Heller’s [link...

Karen Gillan joins jury Photo: Courtesy of Eiff Karen Gillan, Natascha McElhone and Jessica Hynes have been announced as jurors at the 69th Edinburgh Festival.

They will help select the winners in the five award categories - The Michael Powell Award for Best British Film; Best Performance in a British Feature; Best International Feature; Best Documentary; and Best Short Film.

The jury roster also includes La Times film critic Kenneth Turan, American Film Institute director Jacqueline Lyanga, directors Amy Berg and Kyle Patrick Alvarez and actors Archie Panjabi, Denis Lawson and Dolly Wells.

Doctor Who star Gillan will see her directorial debut, short film Coward, have its world premiere at the festival. Fellow jurors Berg is also attending with her films Prophet's Prey and Every Secret Thing, while Alvarez is bringing his Stanford Prison Experiment. Wells is starring three films in the festival line-up - Black Mountain Poets, Doll & Em 2 and 45 Years.

Edinburgh International Film Festival unveils juries and guests for 2015 edition.

The 69th Edinburgh International Film Festival (Eiff) (June 17-28) has revealed the juries that will judge its five award categories - The Michael Powell Award for Best British Film; Best Performance in a British Feature; Best International Feature; Best Documentary; and Best Short Film.

Jurors include:

Karen Gillan, actressNatascha McElhone, actressKenneth Turan, film criticAmy Berg, directorArchie Panjabi, actressKyle Patrick Alvarez, directorJessica Hynes, actressDenis Lawson, actorJacqueline Lyanga, AFI film festival directorDolly Wells, actress.

Doctor Who and Guardians of the Galaxy star Gillan will see her dirctorial debut - short film Coward - screened at the Festival.

Us director Berg’s films Prophet’s Prey and Every Secret Thing will screen at Eiff while Alverez will see his feature, The Stanford Prison Experiment, shown at the Festival.

Wells stars in Black Mountain Poets, 45 Years and Doll & Em 2, all showing at this year’s festival.

Other awards...

New films on Screenbase this week include Jamie Adams’ Black Mountain Poets, Valérie Donzelli’s romance Marguerite and Julien, and Julie Delpy’s France-set romcom Lolo.Global Screen’s Ooops! Noah Is Gone…

This animated film focuses on a fictional species which discovers it cannot board Noah’s Ark. While two of them manage to make it, their children fall off the Ark. The kids then have to learn how to live by themselves.

The film is directed by Toby Genkel and Sean McCormack, who previously made a name for themselves with Niko. German sales company Global Screen has sold the animation to eOne, Eagle Pictures, Scanbox and Smile Entertainment.

Crime thriller Kidnapping Mr. Heineken

Daniel Alfredson’s new feature stars Anthony Hopkins, Jim Sturgess and Sam Worthington. The plot—based on real events—takes place in the eighties, when a gang kidnapped beer mogul Freddy Heinecken. The screenplay is based on Peter R. de Vries’ book...

Benny & Jolene director completes Modern Romance Trilogy with Downton Abbey’s Tom Cullen, Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells.

British director Jamie Adams is preparing to release the final part of his trilogy of improvised films later this year.

Black Mountain Poets stars Tom Cullen (Downton Abbey), Alice Lowe (Sightseers) and comedy actress Dolly Wells.

The relationship comedy was shot in five days last October in the Black Mountains of Wales and was entirely improvised.

It will mark Adams’ third feature in two years when it is released theatrically and on demand this autumn, self-distributed by Jolene Films.

Cardiff-based Jolene Films released Adams’ first feature Benny & Jolene, starring Craig Roberts (Submarine) and Charlotte Ritchie (Fresh Meat), via Verve Pictures in June 2014.

Adams second film, A Wonderful Christmas Time, was the first UK movie to be released exclusively on demand for a month before emerging theatrically in mid-December. It starred Laura Haddock, Oliver Maltman, [link...