News

Cinelounge Sunset is partnering with Rustic Films to present an outstanding weekend of movies on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood this weekend, August 17 & August 18.

The lineup includes Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead movies Resolution and The Endless, as well as Jim Cummings’ Thunder Road, a shorts block, and more.

Here’s the full lineup…

‘Resolution’

Resolution. Horror/Mystery. Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead. Written by Benson. Produced by Benson, Moorhead, and David Clarke Lawson Jr.

From Rustic Films. Starring Peter Cilelloa, Vinny Curran, Emily Montague, Kurt David Anderson, Skyler Meacham, Josh Higgins.

Soon-to-be-a-dad Michael makes a last-ditch effort to save his longtime but addicted friend Chris from a foreseeable drug related death. Visiting Chris and handcuffing him to an exposed plumbing pipe, Michael forces his buddy into detox, but while watching over his friend he also discovers that all is not right within the territory Chris has drifted into.

On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age.

First, the spoiler-free pitch for one editor’s midnight movie pick — something weird and wonderful from any age of film that deserves our memorializing.

Then, the spoiler-filled aftermath as experienced by the unwitting editor attacked by this week’s recommendation.

The Pitch: It’s Time for IndieWire After the Dark Underside of Suburbia

I’ve long felt that the premise of “This Suburban Utopia Has Something Dark Lurking Underneath It” is among the lamest, most played-out tropes in all of media. Decades have passed since any serious person viewed the stylized suburban innocence of “Leave It to Beaver” as a remotely accurate depiction of American life, and contemporary attempts at “subverting” it often feel as if artists are mocking the same media that they grew up watching other artists mock without pausing...

He once sang Frank Sinatra in his underwear (The Slums of Beverly Hills). He also once played Head Elf under Kris Kringle (The Santa Clause). Years later, he played an adult film director on the small screen (HBO's The Deuce), and now, acclaimed actor David Krumholtz is back — but this time, he's the lead character in a project. In fact, he's the titular character in Lousy Carter, and don't let the tight runtime fool you.

The new offering hit theaters on Friday, March 29, and packs a punch. We recently caught up with Krumholtz in a hilarious interview to learn more about his latest project and what it means to him to have co-starred in the latest Best Picture winner at the Oscars (Oppenheimer).

David Krumholtz Felt 'Like a Square Peg in a Round Hole'

Lousy Carter (2024) 4/5 Release DateOctober 20, 2023DirectorBob ByingtonCastDavid Krumholtz, Martin Starr, Olivia Thirlby, Jocelyn DeBoer, Trieste Kelly Dunn,...

What would you do if faced with a fast-approaching death sentence? Start cooking meth? Jump into a volcano? Drink yourself silly? A new dry comedy from acclaimed filmmaker Bob Byington (Infinity Baby) explores said notion with hilariously cringe effect. Collaborating once again with beloved character actor David Krumholtz (Oppenheimer) after their work on Frances Ferguson (2019), Byington is an auteur who cannot be stopped. And don't let the tight 80-minute duration (including end credits) of Lousy Carter fool you into thinking this is any sort of throwaway comedy effort.

In addition to Krumholtz sinking his teeth into a deadpan, thought-provoking role he was born to play, other fan-favorite performers like Martin Starr (Party Down) and Stephen Root (Barry) also grace the screen here. But it's perhaps the women who reign superior here, thanks to standout turns by Olivia Thirlby (The Wackness) and newcomer Luxy Banner. The grim and non-commercial subject matter...

Death is inherently depressing but it needn’t be as Lousy Carter explores mortality in its own whimsical way.

Starring David Krumholtz in the title role this comedy follows failing animator turned college professor struggling with where he is in life and his own mortality after being told he only has six months to live.

Ahead of its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival we sit down with director & writer, Bob Byington, and co-star Luxy Banner to discuss improv scenes, unusual hobbies and more!

You can watch the full interview below:

Written & directed by Bob Byington, the film stars David Krumholtz, Luxy Banner, Martin Starr, Olivia Thirlby, Jocelyn DeBoer and Stephen Root.

Man-baby Lousy Carter struggles to complete his animated Nabokov adaptation, teaches a graduate seminar on The Great Gatsby, and sleeps with his best friend’s wife. He has six months to live.

Lousy Carter screens at Glasgow...

Mubi has unveiled next’s streaming lineup, featuring notable new releases, including Felipe Gálvez’s The Settlers, Éric Gravel’s Full Time, C.J. Obasi’s Mami Wata, and Benjamin Mullinkosson’s The Last Year of Darkness.

This March also brings Elaine May’s Ishtar, four features by Mia Hansen-Løve, and a collection of films shot by women cinematographers, with Claire Denis’ Bastards, shot by Agnès Godard, and more. Next month’s collection also features retrospectives of radical German director Margarethe Von Trotta, experimental animator Suzan Pitt, and additions to their continuing retrospective of Takeshi Kitano.

Check out the lineup below, and get 30 days free here.

March 1st

The German Sisters, directed by Margarethe von Trotta | Radical Intimacy: Three by Margarethe von Trotta

The Second Awakening of Christa Klages, directed by Margarethe von Trotta | Radical Intimacy: Three by Margarethe von Trotta

The Promise, directed by Margarethe von Trotta | Radical Intimacy: Three...

If you haven’t been following him on Twitter, David Krumholtz has been one of the very few reasons to stay up to date on the happenings of that godforsaken site, sharing gloriously told tales of his time in Hollywood. The Oppenheimer actor’s next feature, Bob Byington’s comedy Lousy Carter, will now arrive this March, which finds him leading an ensemble also including Martin Starr, Olivia Thirlby, Jocelyn DeBoer, Luxy Banner, and Stephen Root. Ahead of the March 29 release, Magnolia Pictures have now released the first trailer and poster.

Here’s the synopsis: “In Lousy Carter, David Krumholtz (Oppenheimer) stars as a ne’er-do-well literature professor adrift on a soulless college campus who learns he only has six months to live. With the clock ticking, will he change his ways? Probably not. Auteur writer/director Bob Byington’s slyly subversive comedy also features comedy all-stars Martin Starr, Olivia Thirlby,...

"Even my therapist is fed up." Magnolia Pictures has revealed an official trailer for an indie comedy titled Lousy Carter, the latest indie film from auteur filmmaker Bob Byington. This originally premiered at the 2023 Locarno Film Festival last year, and it also played at the Philadelphia and Montclair Film Festivals. The film stars Oppenheimer's stand out actor David Krumholtz in a lead role as a very "lousy" guy at a university who is suddenly told he has six months left to live. So he goes off on everyone around him. Man-baby Lousy Carter struggles to complete his animated Nabokov adaptation, teaches a graduate seminar on Gatsby, and sleeps with his best friend's wife. He has six months to live. The film also features comedy all-stars Martin Starr, Olivia Thirlby, Jocelyn DeBoer, Macon Blair, and Stephen Root. This opens in March in theaters and on VOD for everyone to enjoy. This...

Comedy to open in February 2024.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to Bob Byington’s Locarno comedy Lousy Carter and has earmarked a February 2024 release.

David Krumholtz stars as a ne’er-do-well literature professor adrift on a soulless college campus who learns he only has six months to live.

With the clock ticking, will he change his ways? Probably not.

The cast includes Martin Starr, Olivia Thirlby, Jocelyn DeBoer, Macon Blair, and Stephen Root, and will next screen at the Orcas Island Film Festival.

“Bob Byington and his marvelous cast have delivered a twisted comedy of the highest order,...

Exclusive: On the heels of its August world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, the comedy Lousy Carter led by Oppenheimer‘s David Krumholtz has been picked up for North American theatrical distribution in early 2024 by Magnolia Pictures.

Written and directed by Bob Byington (Frances Ferguson), the film follows a ne’er-do-well literature professor adrift on a soulless college campus who learns he only has six months to live. With the clock ticking, will he change his ways? Probably not.

Next set to screen at the Orcas Island Film Festival in Washington, pic also stars Martin Starr (Party Down), Olivia Thirlby (Dumb Money), Jocelyn DeBoer (Greener Grass), Macon Blair (The Toxic Avenger), and Stephen Root (Barry). Byington and Chris McKenna produced, alongside executive producers Stuart Bohart and Tim League.

Said Magnolia Pictures co-CEOs Eamonn Bowles and Dori Begley, “Bob Byington and his marvelous cast have delivered a twisted comedy of the highest order.

What a year it’s been for David Krumholtz. In 2023, the actor has added a Tony-winning play (Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt) and a box-office sensation (you know which one) to his resumé. In both cases that affable face, so often in the margins, nudged toward center stage. Krumholtz goes one further with deadbeat comedy Lousy Carter, a premiere last week in competition at the Locarno Film Festival wherein the actor plays a graduate lecturer who learns he has six months to live and decides to try seducing a student. It’s less creepy than it sounds and, at its best, it’s all his.

Lousy Carter is directed by Bob Byington, returning to the Swiss festival for the first time since 2012, when his Nick Offerman starring Somebody Up There Likes Me took home the Special Jury Prize. Byington’s script plants the nominatively determined character in a community college in Austin,...

This year marks 30 years since Bob Byington’s first feature, though it’s only during the last 15 of those — since SXSW midnight-movie breakout “Rso: Registered Sex Offender” — that the Austin-based director has enjoyed “indie darling” status. During that same stretch, the cultural discourse has changed a great deal, while Byington’s voice remains remarkably (if somewhat frustratingly) consistent, churning out self-deprecating feature-length sitcoms about flaccid man-babies. Those aren’t the kind of movies American festivals are looking for so much anymore, which could explain why his latest, “Lousy Carter,” wound up premiering abroad, at the Locarno Film Festival.

Locarno’s programmers typically gravitate toward austere, experimental and/or formally audacious works of cinema. “Lousy Carter” is none of these things, but neither is it lousy. That unfortunate moniker belongs to the film’s lead character, a lumpy failed animator turned tenured literature professor, who’s rendered all the more pathetic...

Whimsical near-future tale sees a tax inspector sent to audit an elderly bohemian’s dreams fall in love with her as a younger woman

This charming if decidedly silly sci-fi love story unfolds in a near future where clothes and home furnishings look much like the stuff we have today – while some of the tech equipment the props department came up with looks like the prizewinners at a primary school art fair. For example, there’s a headset people can put on as they go to bed, a mass of wires and twinkly fairy lights, which stops invasive advertising (designed to implant the desire for fried chicken or soft drinks) getting into the sleeper’s dreams. Another looks like a cardboard box with dials painted on it.

Writer-director team Kentucker Audley and Albert Birney’s low-budget whimsy aesthetic, propelled by a gently satirical undercurrent, is of a piece with other...

Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Vertical releases the film in theaters on Friday, July 28.

The first 25 minutes of “Susie Searches” is so tight, so hilarious and original, beaming with a buoyant teenage energy that could kickoff an entire film series of adventures, that it’s shocking how unyielding, mismanaged and sappy the next hour of the movie becomes. The drop-off is steep, and unfortunate. An expansion by Sophie Kargman of her same-titled 2020 short, “Susie Searches” aims to be about loss and loneliness, and isolation and recognition. But spins its wheels toward mediocrity, instead.

Susie (Kiersey Clemons) is a college student, with braces strapped across her wide smile and an unquenchable love of whodunits. Every night she records a podcast showcasing her sleuthing skills to her moribund audience. Far from the popular girl at school, she languishes in obscurity, while taking care...

IFC Midnight has an excellent track record with their horror acquisitions, so you'll want to add A Banquet to the list of movies to keep on your radar. Due out in 2021, the movie is the feature debut from Ruth Paxton and stars Sienna Guillory. Here's the official press release from IFC:

"IFC Midnight announced today that it is acquiring North American rights to A Banquet, the feature debut from Ruth Paxton, whose award-winning short films have been exhibited and nominated in competition at numerous prominent film festivals worldwide. A Banquet is a visually arresting, slow-burning psychological horror that uses subtle supernatural elements to create tension within a family in the midst of a breakdown, exploiting the complicated bond between three generations of mothers and daughters.

The film stars Sienna Guillory, British rising stars Jessica Alexander (Get Even) and Ruby Stokes, and award-winning actress Lindsay Duncan Cbe. A Banquet will...

Looking to heat up your summer from the air-conditioned confines of your own home? Shudder has you covered this June with an eclectic set of horror films both old and new, including the Mark Patton documentary Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street, Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses, the horror anthology Scare Package, and much more!

Below, you can check out the full list of titles coming to Shudder in the Us this June, and be sure to visit Shudder's website to learn more about the streaming service and their scary good lineup!

"Scream, Queen! My Nightmare On Elm Street

Some have called it the 'gayest horror movie ever made,' but for Mark Patton, the star of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, it was anything but a dream come true. 30 years after its initial release, Patton sets the record straight about the controversial sequel...

Horror tropes are celebrated and subverted in Scare Package, the new horror anthology created by Aaron B. Koontz and Cameron Burns of Paper Street Pictures. Following its well-received run on the festival circuit (which was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic), Scare Package has been acquired by Shudder and will be released on the streaming service in U.S., Canada, and UK beginning June 18th.

Press Release: May 13, 2020 — Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, announced today that it has acquired all rights in its territories to horror comedy Scare Package, from creators Aaron B. Koontz and Cameron Burns. The anthology film, which delighted audiences at numerous festivals including the Sitges Film Festival in Spain, features seven gleefully ghoulish tales from a range of horror subgenres. Scare Package will premiere on Shudder in the U.S., Canada and the UK on June 18.

“We are...

The suburban enclave of Lemoncurd — “a charming town full of charming people leading charming lives and eating charming food” — is surely home to many delightful residents, but only three of them really matter: a trio of Debras who, as the title of the bite-sized Adult Swim series tells us, are very busy indeed. Busy with what, you may ask? Only upending the social order, taking aim at the patriarchy, and engaging in all manner of crimes along the way (in pristine white outfits to boot).

Created by and starring the eponymous Debras — Mitra Jouhari (“High Maintenance”), Sandy Honig (“Isn’t It Romantic”) and Alyssa Stonoha (“Rules of Cool”) — the series is a canny fit for Adult Swim, which has long trafficked in off-kilter programming populated by fresh faces. The trio, all members of the Upright Citizens Brigade improv and sketch community, first started working together in 2015 when they teamed up to...

The first trailer for Scare Package has arrived, a new horror-comedy anthology that brings together some of the brightest rising stars in horror filmmaking today. This splatter-packed, deviously clever throwback pays homage to horror classics with seven hilarious, meta tales of terror, each exploring-and subverting-different genre tropes. All wrapped around every horror fan's beloved stomping grounds: an old school video store. Check out the first trailer and official poster below... if you dare.

Chad, the owner of Rad Chad's Horror Emporium, recounts a series of bone-chilling, blood-splattering, and gleefully ghoulish tales in an effort to illustrate the rules of the horror genre to his newest employee. Each story takes aim at different tropes, paying homage to and subverting the timeless clich&#233s of the beloved genre with a cast that includes Noah Segan (Knives Out), Baron Vaughn (Mystery Science Theater 3K) Chase Williamson (Beyond the Gates), Jocelyn DeBoer (Greener Grass...

With a release planned for this summer, we have the first trailer for Scare Package, an anthology movie featuring seven tales of hilarious horror:

Austin, TX --- February 26, 2020 --- We’re thrilled to present the first trailer for Scare Package, a new horror-comedy anthology that brings together some of the brightest rising stars in horror filmmaking today. This splatter-packed, deviously clever throwback pays homage to horror classics with seven hilarious, meta tales of terror, each exploring—and subverting—different genre tropes. All wrapped around every horror fan’s beloved stomping grounds: an old school video store.

Chad, the owner of Rad Chad’s Horror Emporium, recounts a series of bone-chilling, blood-splattering, and gleefully ghoulish tales in an effort to illustrate the rules of the horror genre to his newest employee. Each story takes aim at different tropes, paying homage to and subverting the timeless clichés of the beloved genre with...

"What would happen in a horror movie now?" Paper Street Pictures has debuted the first official trailer for an indie horror anthology film titled Scare Package. This premiered at the Sitges Film Festival last year, and also played at the Telluride Horror Show and FrightFest London. This new horror-comedy anthology with seven different stories "brings together some of the brightest rising stars in horror filmmaking today. This splatter-packed, deviously clever throwback pays homage to horror classics with seven hilarious, meta tales of terror, each exploring—and subverting—different genre tropes. All wrapped around every horror fan's beloved stomping grounds: an old school video store." Starring Noah Segan, Baron Vaughn, Chase Williamson, Jocelyn DeBoer, Jeremy King, Dustin Rhodes, Zoe Graham, Hawn Tran, Chelsey Grant, Jon Michael Simpson, Josephine McAdam, and more. Looks like some crazy good fun! Enjoy. Here's the official trailer (+ rad poster) for Paper Street Pictures' Scare Package, direct from YouTube: Seven directors.

Courting comparisons from David Lynch to John Waters, Tim Burton to Mary Harron, Greener Grass, the directorial debut from Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe is an instant cult classic. A social satire which takes place in an exaggerated, parallel universe (think if we skipped the sexual revolution thanks to nuclear fallout and the Us has morphed into a perverse mimicry of 1950s suburban ideology) headlined by the co-directors. Premiering at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival before embarking on an extensive festival circuit trail (which included SXSW and Locarno), DeBoer and Luebbe have a new cinematic niche of Nouveau Weird with a debut that’s a marvelous mix of striking elements while managing to be as funny as it is oddly heartfelt.…...

Uncut Gems wins best lead actor, directing, editing.

Lulu Wang’s The Farewell was named best feature at the Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday (8) in a night that recognised female directing talent in stark contrast to tomorrow’s Oscars.

Olivia Wilde won best first film for Booksmart, and American Factory, co-directed by Julia Reichert, (alongside Steven Bognar), won best documentary.

Renée Zellweger won best actress for Judy and has virtually swept the boards this awards season ahead of Sunday’s expected win at the Academy Awards.

Adam Sandler was a popular winner for Uncut Gems, which took home...

Before the Film Independent Spirit Awards kicked off inside a drafty tent in Santa Monica, IndieWire was set up on the blue carpet ahead of the ceremony, as the stars of independent film breezed by in their Saturday best — but not before taking a minute to talk about their nominated films. And with the Oscars just a day away, one question everyone was eager to answer was, “What was your best picture of 2019?” The answer, almost unanimously, was “Parasite.” Or “Uncut Gems,” sadly shut out of the Oscar race but feted with five Indie Spirit nominations.

“Parasite” fans on the Indie Spirits blue carpet included, well, pretty much everybody — from “Greener Grass” filmmakers Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe to young “Marriage Story” star Azhy Robertson. “‘Parasite’ is the easy answer because it’s the best film of the year,” “The Climb” star and screenwriter Kyle Marvin told IndieWire. Academy Award-winning...

As you’re reading this, the 35th Independent Spirit Awards are being held. Oscar will have their say tomorrow evening, but today, it’s the indie films getting their turn! Will this awards show honor the likes of The Farewell, The Lighthouse, Marriage Story, or Uncut Gems? Maybe some combination of them all? We’ll know in a few hours, that’s for sure. What this space for the Spirit Award results once the show is over. A number of deserving movies and performances are about to have one last moment in the sun, before the Academy Awards suck up the last bit of awards season oxygen. If nothing else, it’s a fun, more casual moment, before the pomp and circumstance of the Oscars… Leading the way was Uncut Gems, which took home Best Actor for Adam Sandler, Best Director for Josh Safdieand Benny Safdie, Best Editing for Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie.

The 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Saturday in recognition of the best in indie films from 2019.

Willem Dafoe won the first award, Best Supporting Male, for his role in “The Lighthouse.” “Uncut Gems” won Best Editing, while the Best Documentary award went to “American Factory.” Best Cinematography went to Jarin Blaschke for “The Lighthouse.”

Kelly Reichardt was awarded The Bonnie Award, which recognizes a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant. The John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for under $500,000, was given to “Give Me Liberty.”

Also Read: Independent Spirit Awards 2020: Aubrey Plaza's Best Jokes (So Far)

“Parasite” won Best International Film. Zhao Shuzhen won Best Supporting Female for her role in “The Farewell.” “Marriage Story” won Best Screenplay. Adam Sandler won Best Male Lead for his performance in “Uncut Gems” and Renée Zellweger received the Best Female Lead for her role in “Judy.

The winners of the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards are being announced live during today’s ceremony, hosted for the second year in a row by Aubrey Plaza (fresh off rave reviews from Sundance for her performance in the indie “Black Bear”). Unlike the Oscars where Netflix is the most-nominated studio, the Spirit Awards are dominated in 2020 by A24. The indie distributor boats 18 nominations across four movies: “The Lighthouse,” “Waves,” “The Farewell,” “Uncut Gems,” and “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.” The Safdie brothers’ “Uncut Gems” and Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse” lead all movies with five nominations each. Both of these films are nominated for Best Feature along with Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” and Chinonye Chukwu’s “Clemency.”

Last year’s big Spirit Award winner was Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk,” which won prizes for Best Feature,...

The 35th annual Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent cinema, took place Saturday in Santa Monica.

Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” won best picture, while Adam Sandler and Renee Zellweger took home the top acting prizes.

Full list of winners.

Best Feature

A Hidden Life

Clemency

The Farewell (Winner)

Marriage Story

Uncut Gems

Best Director

Robert Eggers – The Lighthouse

Alma Har’el – Honey Boy

Julius Onah – Luce

Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – Uncut Gems (Winner)

Lorene Scafaria – Hustlers

Best First Feature

Booksmart (Winner)

The Climb

Diane

The Last Black Man In San Francisco

The Mustang

See You Yesterday

Best Female Lead

Karen Allen – Colewell

Hong Chau – Driveways

Elisabeth Moss – Her Smell

Mary Kay Place – Diane

Alfre Woodard – Clemency

Renée Zellweger – Judy (Winner)

Best Male Lead

Chris Galust – Give Me Liberty

Kelvin Harrison Jr. – Luce

Robert Pattinson – The Lighthouse

Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems (Winner)

Matthias Schoenaerts – The Mustang

Best Supporting Female

Jennifer Lopez...

Aubrey Plaza will return to host the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday in Santa Monica.

The 35th annual Spirit Awards are set to air live on the IFC Channel beginning at 5 p.m. Et/2 p.m. Pt. The network will live stream the ceremony on its website, though audiences will need a cable login to watch. TV subscribers can also watch the show live on IFC app’s, available on iOS and Android, Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Xbox, and Android TV devices.

This year’s top Spirit Award nominees include Robert Pattinson’s “The Lighthouse” and Adam Sandler’s “Uncut Gems,” with five nods each. Shia Labeouf’s “Honey Boy” and Kirill Mikhanovsky’s scored four nominations.

“Uncut Gems,” Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” Chinonye Chukwu’s “Clemency,” Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” are up for best feature.

Here’s the full...

In her review, Heather Wixson wrote that Greener Grass is "...one of the weirdest movies I’ve seen this year...," and if you missed the feature-length directorial debut from Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe (who also co-star in the film) in theaters, Scream Factory is bringing the IFC Midnight movie to Blu-ray on February 11th, and we have a look at the cover art and full list of bonus features:

Press Release: Please keep off the lawn, because the grass might not always be greener on the other side. The weird only gets weirder in this bizarre slideshow of a world of murder, braces, and plastic ball babies. Making its Blu-ray debut February 11th, 2020 from Scream Factory, in conjunction with IFC Midnight, you too can join the neighborhood! This release also includes the original Greener Grass short film as well as deleted scenes as bonus features. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.

Further new openers include ‘Harriet’, ‘Blue Story’, ‘Greener Grass’.

Disney’s latest blockbuster Frozen II is looking to challenge the highest openings for an animated title in the UK when it launches this weekend.

Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck return to direct this second instalment, which follows sisters Anna and Elsa as they travel to an ancient forest looking for the origin of Elsa’s powers.

The first Frozen opened to £4.8m in December 2013, two weeks later in the year than the second title. It pulled in a £9,368 location average from 508 locations – a wide release, but not fully so.

This...

Best international film nominees include Parasite, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and The Souvenir.

Uncut Gems and The Lighthouse have emerged as the top contenders for this year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards with five nods apiece while A24 leads the distributor pack on 18 nominations.

Adam Sandler from Uncut Gems will face off against The Lighthouse’s Robert Pattinson and others for best lead male and the Safdie brothers and Robert Eggers are among the best director nominees for each film, respectively.

Other best feature nominees announced on Thursday (21) are A Hidden Life, Clemency, The Farewell and Marriage Story.

Best international film nominees include Parasite, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and The Souvenir.

Uncut Gems has emerged as the top contender among nominees for this year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards, with the Adam Sandler drama getting nominations in five categories including best feature.

Other best feature nominees are A Hidden Life, Clemency, The Farewell and Marriage Story.

The Lighthouse also got five Spirit Award nominations and other films with multiple citations included Give Me Liberty and Honey Boy with four each and Clemency, Hustlers, The Last Black Man In San Francisco, Luce, Marriage Story and The Third Wife with three each.

The nominations for the 35th Independent Spirit Awards have been announced, and it was a big morning for “The Lighthouse” and “Uncut Gems.” The annual indie awards ceremony is presented by Film Independent and takes place the day before the Academy Awards on the beach in Santa Monica, California. The Spirit Awards have become known over the last decade for showcasing nominees that are a mix of underdog films and higher-profile awards contenders.

It’s important to note the Indie Spirit Awards has a budget ceiling of $22.5 million, meaning any movie made for more than this amount is ineligible for nominations. For this reason, Martin Scorsese’s Netflix-backed “The Irishman” was not eligible for 2020 nominations (the film had a budget north of $150 million). Netflix’s other top Oscar contender, Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” is eligible for Spirit Awards and landed a Best Feature nomination. As has become common over the last several years,...

A soccer mom casually gives away her baby to an admiring neighbour in a comedy with echoes of The Stepford Wives

Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe are La comedy actors and veterans of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre improv group who are now jointly making their feature debut as writer-director-stars of this elaborately deadpan suburbia satire inhabited by squeaky-clean people with hints of Stepford and Todd Solondz. The title might lead you to think that it is all about envy – the gnawing torment that your neighbours’ lawn is lusher, their SUV bigger etc – but it’s not, or not exactly.

DeBoer and Luebbe play Jill and Lisa, two best frenemies and competitive stay-at-home soccer moms whose husbands do the breadwinning; they live in a manicured little community where people drive around in golf carts. Jill has a strange need to please people, so when Lisa says that Jill’s new baby is adorable,...

Written and Directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe Starring Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe, Beck Bennett, Neil Casey, Mary Holland and D’Arcy Carden In a day-glo-colored, bizarro version of suburbia where adults wear braces on their already-straight teeth, everyone drives golf carts, and children magically turn into golden retrievers, soccer moms and best friends Jill …

The post The Suburban Hellscape of “Greener Grass” Expands! appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

The best examples of surrealist cinema plunge into perturbed characters and enrich their anxiety, giving an audience for their unconscious. The more laborious specimens tend to indulge their weird world too much, and the characters become almost secondary. Greener Grass — the colourful yet aimless debut from Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe (who also star) — has a lot of discombobulating fun, wandering blindly in its bizarre neighbourhood. But it doesn’t delve deep enough into its apparently contented citizens to hold our attention for long.

For me, the surreal experience is always a preferable one. For the first twenty minutes or so, it’s a thrill to simply embrace the madness. The grownups all wear braces, everyone drives around in golf buggies, and children can morph into Golden Retrievers without many, if any, questions. When soccer mum Jill (DeBoer) is watching her boy play badly on the pitch, she, out of nowhere,...

The term “midnight movie” has a lot of connotations: Alien babies, giant bunny rabbits, kinky sex dungeons galore. It’s the type of film with a cultish following epitomized by “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Eraserhead,” “El Topo,” “Donnie Darko,” “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” not to mention countless horror movies catering to a young, splatter-obsessed male audience.

But these aren’t the whole story. Over the years, the midnight movie has become a vehicle for women and filmmakers of color to explore issues that more mainstream films might not — and this year, a more diverse group of creators is making midnight movies that are more outside-the-box than ever.

Consider “Greener Grass.” The Sundance discovery, in limited release now by IFC Midnight in select markets and on VOD, marks the directorial debut of Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe. Set in a suburban community where everyone wears pastel sundresses, drives golf carts,...

For this latest review round-up, I’ll be diving into a trio of films that couldn’t be any more different from each other: Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse, The Gallows Act II, and the bizarrely funny Greener Grass from directors and former members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe.

The Lighthouse: Honestly, I’ve struggled with my review of The Lighthouse for quite some time. Not because I didn’t like it—filmmaker Robert Eggers does impressive work here once again—but because I’m not sure how much I have to contribute in the way of real discourse. The film has only been on the festival circuit and in theaters for a relatively short time, and yet I feel like I’ve already seen many great discussions on it that were beyond anything I might bring to the table myself. But suffice to say,...

Described as "Stepford Wives on acid," Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe's Greener Grass takes viewers into the surreal depths of suburbia, and with the film now in theaters and expanding its theatrical reach beginning October 25th, we've been provided with an exclusive clip to share with Daily Dead readers!

Below, you can watch a birthday party take a quirky turn in our exclusive clip from Greener Grass. Currently playing in New York and Los Angeles, Greener Grass will be expanding to more theaters starting on October 25th, including:

October 25 -- Los Angeles Market - Alamo Drafthouse Downtown La October 25 -- Los Angeles Market - Arena CineLounge Sunset

Directed by Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe, Greener Grass stars Jocelyn DeBoer, Dawn Luebbe, Beck Bennett, Neil Casey, Mary Holland, and D'Arcy Carden.

Synopsis: "In a day-glo-colored, bizarro version of suburbia where adults wear braces on their already-straight teeth, everyone drives golf carts,...

The cinematic equivalent of the popular improv exercise “Yes, and…,” Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe’s feature directorial debut, Greener Grass, opens on an extreme instance of absurdity and gobsmackingly builds from there. In picturesque suburbia, competition runs thick amongst cutthroat nuclear families, neighborhood pool parties are all the rage and mom and dad travel to and from soccer practice via the tacky family golf cart. Co-starring the film’s directors as housewives who develop a grating rivalry, the film opens with Jill (DeBoer) giving up custody of her baby daughter to Lisa (Luebbe). Why does Jill do this? Because Lisa expresses interest […]...

The cinematic equivalent of the popular improv exercise “Yes, and…,” Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe’s feature directorial debut, Greener Grass, opens on an extreme instance of absurdity and gobsmackingly builds from there. In picturesque suburbia, competition runs thick amongst cutthroat nuclear families, neighborhood pool parties are all the rage and mom and dad travel to and from soccer practice via the tacky family golf cart. Co-starring the film’s directors as housewives who develop a grating rivalry, the film opens with Jill (DeBoer) giving up custody of her baby daughter to Lisa (Luebbe). Why does Jill do this? Because Lisa expresses interest […]...

Critical darlings at the Sundance Film Festival and winners of the Grand Jury Award at the Atlanta Film Festival for their first feature, “Greener Grass,” actors, writers, producers, and directors Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe are primed to break out in the industry in a grand fashion. The comedians, both alumna of the prestigious Upright Citizens Brigade (Ucb) Theatre, have redefined the suburban satire subgenre in an audacious, unique, and immoderately imaginative fashion.

Continue reading Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe On Their Sundance Breakout ‘Greener Grass’ And Ucb Loyalties [Interview] at The Playlist.

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and an archive of past round-ups here.

3 From Hell (Rob Zombie)

With 3 From Hell, Zombie is intent on ripping out those sutures, grabbing a hold of the blistered flaps made from that fresh incision, and waving a grisly tapestry that may as well have the red, white, and blue colored on the leathery skin of every casualty we’ve taken to make this country great. This is America let loose, with our violence, trauma, and psychopathy sweeping south of the border in a deluge, our arbiters wearing the indigenous garb of those we’ve already slaughtered to make bedrock. – Mike M. (full review)

Where to Stream: Amazon, iTunes, Google

La Ciénaga (Lucrecia Martel)

With only a few features,...

There’s a certain kind of comedy fan most likely to embrace a satire featuring lines like, “I don’t mean to be a Native American-giver, but now that my only child is a dog, would it be possible to get back the baby I gave you?”

If this head-spinning level of absurdity is your thing, “Greener Grass” will be, too. Writer-director-costar team Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe (former members of Upright Citizens Brigade) are sharp parodists, and they spare no one in their evisceration of suburban superficiality. But they’ve expanded this project from their original short film, and the lengthier treatment may incite some moments of okay-we-get-it antsiness from more impatient viewers.

The movie’s biggest asset is DeBoer, who plays sweetly dim soccer mom Jill with a commitment that’s alternately terrifying and heartbreaking. Jill, who works painfully hard to meet her community’s ideal, always wears...

Envision an alternate reality where David Lynch decided to direct the “Barbie” movie and you’ll see a nightmarishly clear picture of what to expect from “Greener Grass,” an ultra-farcical deconstruction of the suburban upper-middle class in the United States. If you wanted to save time and energy, you could merely label the directorial debut from Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe as “strange” or perhaps “bizarre.” But in doing so, you would rob “Greener Grass” of the praise it rightfully deserves as one of the year’s finest gems.

Continue reading ‘Greener Grass’: Surrealism And Social Satire Fuse To Form A Pastel-Colored Nightmare [Review] at The Playlist.

In an industry increasingly enthused by the possibilities of world-building — or, more appropriately, the creation of worlds expressly for comic book movies that can sustain repeated films and planet-devastating battles while looking oddly familiar to the real world in the process — the ability for any filmmaker to craft something wholly unique and fully realized is still damningly rare. “Greener Grass” does it with two filmmakers. Directed, written by, produced by, and starring Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe, the Not everyone will vibe with the pair’s sharp upbraiding of the modern world, but those that dig what they throw down will love the inventive duo forever.

Based on the pair’s 2015 short film of the same name, DeBoer and Luebbe have further expanded their nutty vision of suburban ennui and the painful consequences of keeping up with the status quo into an unsettling and amusing send-up of human behavior. Set...

Mexican event runs from November 13-17.

Sophie Deraspe’s Canadian Oscar submission Antigone, Matías Meyer’s Modern Love, David Zonana’s Workforce and Michael Angelo Covino’s The Climb are among the Los Cabos International Film Festival’s competitive sections, Competencia Los Cabos and México Primero, announced on Tuesday (15).

Entries in the Competencia Los Cabos are: Modern Loves, Matías Meyer; Antigone (Canada), Sophie Deraspe; Ash (Canada), Andrew Huculiak; Greener Grass (Us), Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe; Honey Boy (Us), Alma Har’el; Holy Beasts, Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas; The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open (Canada), Elle-Máijá...

Following its screenings on the festival circuit (including Fantastic Fest and the Toronto International Film Festival), the cult-centric film The Other Lamb has been acquired for North American distribution by IFC Midnight, with plans to release the movie next year:

Press Release: New York, NY - IFC Midnight is acquiring North American rights to The Other Lamb directed by Małgorzata Szumowska starring Raffey Cassidy, Michiel Huisman, and Denise Gough and is written by award-winning Australian screenwriter Catherine S. McMullen (Two Sentence Horror Stories). The screenplay was featured on the 2017 Black List, Hit List and Blood List and had its World Premiere as a Special Presentation at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. The film most recently screened at the 2019 Fantastic Fest and is currently in competition at the 2019 BFI London Film Festival. Szumowska has previously won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival 2015 for her film Body and subsequently...

Imagine what hell might be spawned if David Lynch and Martha Stewart had a baby that they then gave to John Waters to raise, and you might be somewhere in the neighborhood of the genius that is Dawn Luebbe & Jocelyn DeBoer's Greener Grass. A biting absurdist satire of the suburban upper middle class nestled inside of an insanely hilarious set of picture perfect comedic performances, Greener Grass is an absolute stunner from top to bottom, proving that there is still magic in cinema and not everything has been done before. Jill (DeBoer) and Lisa (Luebbe) live in an idealized suburban planned community painted in pastels somewhere in small town, USA. Within their neighborhood, everyone knows everyone else, and the compliments never stop coming. They...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...