News

Steve Buscemi's incredible on-screen acting career is certainly no secret, with his roles in Reservoir Dogs and The Big Lebowski, as well as more recent films such as The Death of Stalin and The King of Staten Island. However, a branch of his talents that many may not be so familiar with is his directing work, with credits including the likes of Lonesome Jim, Interview, and most recently The Listener, which received fair plaudits following its festival run in 2022, with its debut at Venice Film Festival and screening at the Toronto International Film Festival catching the attention of many.

Exclusive: Actress Liv Tyler has signed with CAA.

The move comes just a few months after the conclusion of principal photography on Captain America: Brave New World, the superhero flick marking her return to the MCU which will have her reprising her role as scientist Betty Ross.

Tyler first played the part in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk and stars here opposite Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson, Shira Haas, and Harrison Ford. A continuation of Disney+’s miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which saw Mackie’s Sam Wilson assume the mantle of Captain America, the film directed by Julius Onah is currently scheduled for release July 26, 2024.

Most recently seen starring opposite Brad Pitt in James Gray’s sci-fi drama Ad Astra, Tyler began acting at the age of 16 and made her film debut with Warner Bros’ 1994 psychological thriller Silent Fall.

She then went on to...

Looking over actor-director Steve Buscemi’s film directorial work, the theme of loneliness and the hunger for connection jumps out of nearly all of them. His latest feature, “The Listener,” feels closer to his 2005 feature “Lonesome Jim,” itself a story about a depressed man trying to imbue meaning in his life by connecting with someone else.

In the case of “The Listener,” though, that connection is more anonymous, reminding us of the bad early days of the pandemic when we were so afraid that we might never interact with another human that any type of communication, even through the phone, felt like a lifeline.

But what happens when your job is to take on everyone else’s emotional energy? Where does that leave you when you need an outlet but you can only project positivity and reassurance? These are the questions at the center of “The Listener.”

Also Read:

Tessa Thompson...

Steve Buscemi's latest directorial feature, The Listener, will make its North American premiere at this month's Tribeca Film Festival. The Listener follows Beth (Tessa Thompson), a helpline volunteer, through one night of work in her Los Angeles apartment where she takes phone calls from callers struggling with different problems and anxieties. While Thompson is the only actress shown on-screen through the film's 96 minutes run, audiences will hear her interactions with several callers, voiced by actors including Rebecca Hall, Jamie Hector, Margaret Cho, and Alia Shawkat.

In a first-look clip, which you can watch below, Beth is questioned by a caller (voiced by Hall) about the difficulties she faces as a helpline volunteer. Beth shares that the most challenging part is after the caller hangs up when she is left to wonder if she upset or failed them.

The Listener is penned by Alessandro Camon, who earned an Academy Award...

It’s never a great sign when the funniest part of your romantic comedy involves the female lead’s flawless boyfriend being killed by a drunk driver in the opening scene, but in fairness to James C. Strouse’s absurd “Love Again,” this unclassifiable whatsit isn’t a traditional rom-com so much as a grief drama with a severe identity disorder.

Based on a German film called “SMS für Dich” — which sadly doesn’t mean what it sounds like — Strouse’s moribund yet almost intoxicatingly strange new movie is more or less exactly what you would expect to happen if the guy behind depressive indies like “Lonesome Jim” and “Grace Is Gone” decided to make a poppy date flick that adhered to the rhythms and logic of a Lindsay Lohan vehicle from 2006.

Yes, most of the laugh lines in “Love Again” are stale enough that even just hearing them kind of hurts your teeth,...

Exclusive: UTA has signed award-winning actor, director, writer and producer Steve Buscemi and his Olive Productions banner for representation in all areas.

Buscemi currently co-stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe in the TBS anthology comedy series Miracle Workers that’s executive produced by Lorne Michaels. He starred in the HBO drama, Boardwalk Empire, which earned him a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy nominations.

He was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy for his role as Tony Blundetto in season five of The Sopranos and was nominated for Guest Actor Emmy nominations for his appearances on NBC’s 30 Rock and IFC’s Portlandia.

Some of his film credits include Martin Scorsese’s New York Stories; Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train for which he received an IFP Spirit Award Nomination; Alexandre Rockwell’s Sundance Film Festival Jury Award-winner In the Soup; Judd Apatow’s The King of Staten Island...

Click here to read the full article.

Taking a breather from some of the physically demanding and sometimes villainous roles she’s played of late in the likes of Marvel franchises and HBO’s Westworld, Tessa Thompson stars in The Listener as a more unsung sort of superhuman: a crisis hotline worker.

Perhaps seeing a chance to push to nearly the limit that old thespian saying — sometimes attributed to performance coach Stella Adler — that “acting is reacting,” this spare, low-tech work mostly focuses on Thompson’s expressive face as she listens to calls for help from 10 very different people in distress. The voice cast offers a mix of famous (Margaret Cho, Alia Shawkat, Rebecca Hall) and less well-known names, democratically allotted roughly the same amount of air time by the film.

The Listener represents actor-director Steve Buscemi’s fifth directing credit, the second after Lonesome Jim where’s he’s stayed strictly behind the camera.

In his acting life, Steve Buscemi has certainly mixed things up, finding time for Bruckheimer/Simpson blockbusters, Pixar animation and even Adam Sandler movies in a bid to avoid typecasting as the definitive New York indie guy. In his directing career, however, he tends to stick to a certain genre: small, intimate, personal films like his excellent 1996 debut Trees Lounge, which told the story of a melancholic underachiever whose life revolves around a seedy dive bar where the crowd of misfit regulars become his bizarre de facto family. Loneliness is a familiar motif in Buscemi’s work, and he excelled himself with that in 2005’s Lonesome Jim, starring Casey Affleck as a young man who’s failed in the big city and now has to move in with his parents.

The Listener, surprisingly only his fifth movie, contains elements of both these titles, starring Tessa Thompson as Beth, a helpline...

Exclusive: Bankside Films has boarded international sales for Steve Buscemi-directed Venice Film Festival drama The Listener, starring Tessa Thompson (Creed).

Written by Alessandro Camon, the film follows a helpline volunteer who is part of a small army that gets on the phone every night, fielding calls from all kinds of people feeling lonely, broken or hopeless. Above is a first clip for the movie, which will world premiere next week as the closing film in the Venice Days section before being screened in Toronto.

Creed and Passing star Thompson plays protagonist Beth and is the sole onscreen performer, supported by voice-only cast, comprising Logan Marshall-Green, Derek Cecil, Margaret Cho, Blu Del Barrio, Ricky Velez, Alia Shawkat, Jamie Hector, Casey Wilson, Bobby Soto and Rebecca Hall.

Bankside Films will be introducing the feature to buyers at both the Venice Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival, and will be handling foreign sales,...

Exclusive: The Voice Creative and Slew Pictures have acquired feature film development rights to Joan Bauer’s bestselling novel Hope Was Here, with the latter’s founder Bertha Bay-Sa Pan gearing up to adapt it for the big screen.

Hope Was Here tells the story of Hope, a 16-year-old waitress who is no stranger to hardships, heartaches, and betrayal. With her aunt Addie, comfort food chef extraordinaire, she’s moved too much, but always hones her waitressing skills, impressing hungry people everywhere. After losing their restaurant in Brooklyn, Hope and Addie leave the city they love to run a diner in rural Wisconsin, finding themselves in a town divided with real problems and corrupt politics.

Hope’s waitressing has taught her to read people and instinct tells her to trust Gt Stoop, the owner of the Welcome Stairways Diner, who has just ended chemo treatment for cancer by announcing that he’s running for mayor.

Exclusive: Emmy winner Steve Buscemi has wrapped production on his newest feature The Listener, starring Emmy nominee Tessa Thompson, Deadline has learned.

The contained film written by Oscar nominee Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) features only one on-screen role. It tells the story of Beth (Thompson), a helpline volunteer who is part of the small army that gets on the phone every night across America, fielding calls from all kinds of people feeling lonely, broken, hopeless, worried.

Over the last year, the tide has become a tsunami, and as Beth goes through her shift, the stakes rise: is this the night she will lose someone? Save someone? Put a mind at ease? Make someone smile?

Eventually, Beth’s own story comes to light, revealing why she does it. All along we remain with her: listening, comforting, connecting – patching the world back together, one stitch at a time…...

Prolific actor Seymour Cassel, who received an Academy Award nomination for “Faces” and appeared in Wes Anderson films including “Rushmore,” died Sunday in Los Angeles of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 84.

Cassel was a veteran of dozens of independent films, appearing in multiple roles in films directed by John Cassavetes and Anderson. In addition to playing Bert Fischer in “Rushmore,” he appeared in “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.”

Cassel was born in Detroit on Jan. 22, 1935. His early career was tied to Cassavetes and he made his movie debut in an uncredited role in Cassavetes’ first film, “Shadows,” in 1958 and became an associate producer on the project. He co-starred with Cassavetes in “Too Late Blues” and “The Webster Boy” and appeared on “The Lloyd Bridges Show” in the episode “A Pair of Boots” directed by Cassavetes. His early TV credits included “Twelve O’Clock High,” “Combat!,...

Hulu has confirmed that several of its original series will be debuting new episodes on the streaming service in July, including the first season of the highly anticipated Stephen King thriller “Castle Rock” as well as season 2 of the costume drama “Harlots” and season 4 of the comedy “Casual.”

And there will also be new to Hulu seasons of some of your favorites from other networks, including season 2 of “The Strain,” season 4 of “The Vikings” and season 8 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Likewise, there will be plenty of movies making their first Hulu appearances including the first five films in the “Star Trek” franchise and the Oscar-winning “Rosemary’s Baby.”

See Netflix schedule: Here’s what is coming and leaving in July

Available July 1: TV

Alaska: The Last Frontier: Complete Season 4 (Discovery)

Deadliest Catch: Complete Season 11 (Discovery)

Deadly Women: Complete Season 6 (ID)

Dual Survival: Complete Season 5 (Discovery)

Elementary: Complete Season...

Sneak Peek new images of actress iv Tyler in the winter 2017 issue of "Porter" Magazine, photographed by Cedric Buchet:

Tyler began a career in modeling at a young age, debuting as an actress in the feature "Silent Fall" (1994), followed by supporting roles in "Empire Records" (1995), "Heavy" (1996) and "That Thing You Do!" (1996).

Tyler then appeared in director Bernardo Bertolucci's "Stealing Beauty" (1996), followed by supporting roles in the "Abbotts" (1997) and Robert Altman's "Cookie's Fortune" (1999).

Tyler then achieved international recognition as the 'Elf' maiden 'Arwen Undómiel' in the "Lord of the Rings" film trilogy (2001–2003), followed by the 2004 comedy "Jersey Girl", the indie feature "Lonesome Jim" (2005), the drama "Reign Over Me" (2007) and studio features "Armageddon" (1998), "The Strangers (2008) and "The Incredible Hulk" (2008). In 2014, she made her TV debut as a regular on the HBO series "The Leftovers".

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek Liv Tyler...

Animal Factory starring Willem Dafoe will be available on Blu-ray November 28th From Arrow Video

Troubled youth Ron Decker (Edward Furlong, American History X) is sentenced to a ten-year stint in the notorious San Quentin State Prison for a drug-dealing conviction. Inexperienced in the ways of prison life, he’s taken under the wing of Earl Copen (Willem Dafoe, To Live and Die in La), an experienced con with the entire prison in the palm of his hand – inmates and guards alike. But as Ron grows increasingly cocky in his privileged role as Earl’s confidant, is he in danger of biting off more than he can chew with some of the jail’s more volatile inhabitants?

Based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Eddie Bunker (Reservoir Dogs), Animal Factory was Steve Buscemi (Lonesome Jim, Interview)’s second stint in the director’s chair and sees him marshaling a formidable ensemble cast,...

At 41, Casey Affleck still has the air of a young man, but he’s hardly a newcomer. Once primarily known as the younger brother of movie star Ben, the Massachusetts native has paved his own path. With prominent roles in idiosyncratic American indies ranging from Gus Van Sant’s “Gerry” to “Lonesome Jim,” Affleck carved out a niche with his fragile, unassuming screen presence and the flashes of intensity that occasionally broke through. Those attributes have served him well in roles as diverse as his unsettling psychopathic turn in Michael Winterbottom’s “The Killer Inside Me” to Andrew Dominik’s poetic western “The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford,” which landed Affleck his first Oscar nomination.

See More‘Manchester By The Sea’ Trailer: Discover Why Kenneth Lonergan’s Acclaimed Indie Is A Major Oscar Frontrunner

Now he’s back on the awards circuit with “Manchester By the Sea,...

Chicago – Any story involving family interactions is ripe for exploration, and John Krasinski (“The Office”) performs in and takes the director’s chair for the new film, “The Hollars.” This is his second directorial effort, looking at the somewhat dysfunctional title family during a medical crisis involving the mother (Margo Martindale).

John Krasinski is a well known affable guy, mostly for his role as Jim Halpert in the long-running sitcom “The Office.” He was born near Boston, and graduated from Brown University. He’s had a notable film career as well, with supporting roles in “License to Wed” (2007), “Leatherheads” (2008), “Away We Go” (2009), “Something Borrowed” (2011) and “Aloha” (2015). He broke his character mold this year in the Benghazi-inspired “13 Hours,” and now stars in and directs his second feature film, coming after “Brief Interviews with Hideous Men” (2009). He also became part of an official Hollywood “It” couple, with his marriage to actress Emily Blunt...

A great many shows and movies are coming to Hulu next month, some more notable than others. To skip the chaff and go straight to the wheat, allow us to collate and curate a selection of the most notable titles available to stream in July:

“48 Hours” and “Another 48 Hours”

“The Aviator”

“Berberian Sound Studio”

“Broadway Danny Rose”

“The Brothers Bloom”

“Devil’s Pass”

“Dirty Wars”

“Dirty Work”

“‘Don’t Look Now”

“Escape From Alcatraz”

“Finding Neverland”

“Fish Tank”

“Flashdance”

“Gimme the Loot”

“Glory”

Read More: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Reed Morano To Direct Elisabeth Moss In The Hulu Series

“Hackers”

“Hunger”

“The Hunt for Red October”

“In the Loop”

“Jimmy P”

“Liberal Arts”

“Like Someone in Love”

“The Loneliest Planet”

“Lonesome Jim”

“Manderlay”

“Me and You and Everyone We Know”

“Mommie Dearest”

“Phoenix”

“Rosemary’s Baby”

Read More: ‘Transparent’ Ratings Lag Behind Rivals on Netflix & Hulu

“Sightseers”

“Simon Killer...

Making their second Sundance acquisition after picking up Kris Swanberg’s Unexpected, Deadline reports that The Film Arcade has acquired U.S. rights to People, Places, Things. Starring Jemaine Clement has a likeable man-child who is better at illustrating his feelings by toon, than with words, Jim Strouse‘s third feature will be released sometime this summer. While the U.S Dramatic Comp Sundance title funny-boned filled rom com was both tepidly and warmly received, I’m predicting this will make more box office dough than Grace Is Gone did.

Gist: A funny and complex story about a newly single father trying to take care of 6 year old twin girls, reignite his dating life, navigate his co-parenting relationship with his ex and continue work as a graphic novelist. In the film, a recently divorced father must navigate the unknown landscape of single fatherhood and dating in New York City, while...

Chicago – This Thursday marks the beginning of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and yours truly will be in attendance to cover the fest for HollywoodChicago.com. Last year, the Park City, Utah event introduced the world to its 2014-defining sensations like “Whiplash” and “Boyhood”.

Those titles followed in the paths of indie landmarks such as “sex, lies and videotape,” “Clerks,” “Hoop Dreams,” “American Movie,” “Memento,” “Frozen River,” “Winter’s Bone,” and “Fruitvale Station,” among many others.

In pursuit of new favorite films for a new year, I’ve composed a relatively solid schedule so that I can devour as much diverse Sundance goodness as possible. Narratives, documentaries, white supremacists, nasty babies, Neil Hamburger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, stolen cop cars, and much, much more are all in play. But with hopes that everything I witness is the next “Boyhood”-like zeitgeist, I’ll be sure to report back here on what’s worth,...

Exclusive: Jemaine Clement, best known as one half of the comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, has linked up with Grace Is Gone helmer James C. Strouse for indie feature People Places Things. New Zealander Clement stars as a newly single, under-employed graphic novelist navigating life, his young twin daughters, a case of writer’s block, a classroom full of students, and a new love while letting go of the woman who left him.

Strouse recently wrapped principal photography, directing from his own script. Regina Hall, Stephanie Allynne, and Jessica Williams round out the cast of People Places Things. Michael B. Clark and Alex Turtletaub are producing for Big Beach spin-off shingle Beachside. Beachside’s Tim Foley is exec producer alongside Summer Shelton. Sundance award-winner Strouse, a recipient of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, made his writing debut with 2005’s Lonesome Jim for director Steve Buscemi and also penned Grace Is Gone...

Best known for his portrayal of the snarky but lovable Jim Halpert on the American version of The Office, John Krasinski has been carving a path in film with standout roles in Away We Go and Promised Land. But for his next project, this actor will pull triple duty, producing, starring and helming the dramedy The Hollars. Deadline reports John Krasinski has lined up The Hollars as his next directorial effort. He also fronts the feature alongside Anna Kendrick, Richard Jenkins, and Margo Martindale. The Hollars is being produced by Krasinski's production company Sunday Night. Its screenplay by Grace is Gone and Lonesome Jim writer James C. Strouse is being described as a cross between Steel Magnolias and Garden State. Intrigued? Krasinski will star in The Hollars as John Hollar, a struggling artist who lives in New York City with his girlfriend, played by Kendrick. But when his mother (Martindale...

The Office alum John Krasinski directed his first feature film, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, in 2009, and will be stepping behind the camera once more for a drama called The Hollars. Deadline reports that the actor will star in the movie as well, and has enlisted Anna Kendrick, Richard Jenkins, and Margo Martindale to round out the cast.

The film is described as Steel Magnolias meets Garden State, and tells the tale of a NYC artist named John Hollar (Krasinski), who takes his girlfriend (Kendrick) back to his Middle America hometown on the eve of his mother’s (Martindale) brain surgery. There, he comes face to face with the crazy life he left behind, as he deals with his dysfunctional family, high school friends, his father (Jenkins), and his over-eager ex.

The Hollars was written by The Winning Season and Lonesome Jim scribe James C. Strouse, and though it doesn...

In their latest film, the Duplass brothers give us an unconventionally positive view of the expanding generation of overgrown adults who still live with their parents

Grownup children still living with their parents get a pretty bad press. In Britain and America they're labelled "Kippers" (Kids In Parents' Pockets Eroding Retirement Savings) or "Yuckies" (Young Unwitting Costly Kids). In Australia it's "Slops" (Singles Living Off Parents). In Italy it's "Bamboccioni" (Big Babies). The Japanese are even less delicate: their "parasaito shinguru" translates as "Parasite Singleton".

Still, the implication that these cuckoos in the nest are cramping their hosts' lifestyle seems not without foundation. Surveys suggest that parents are having to sell their cars, remortgage their homes or postpone retirement to support their boomerang offspring. All the same, the beneficiaries of such sacrifice have plenty of gripes of their own. They bemoan their lack of privacy, dignity, autonomy and somewhere seemly to shag.

When writer Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman teamed up on the 2007 film, Juno, the responses were mixed. Some people liked it quite a bit, not just because it was clever and quippy, but also because it presented a realistic, affecting look at the inherent drama of teenage pregnancy. Other people thought that it was painfully self-conscious in its hipness and insufferably annoying in its quirk, so they raged against any praise that came its way. Their next team-up, Young Adult, was different though. Not only did this look at a washed-up Ya author traveling back to her home town in order to break up her high school sweetheart’s marriage do well with Juno fans, it did quite well with those who couldn’t stand Cody’s writing up to that point, as well. Charlize Theron’s painfully honest protagonist and Patton Oswalt’s achingly tragic supporting character really hit home for most. On...

Visionary film-maker at the forefront of American cinema's digital revolution

The director and producer Gary Winick, who has died of brain cancer aged 49, was at the forefront of American cinema's adoption of digital video (Dv), along with more high-profile names such as Steven Soderbergh and David Fincher. Winick believed that the discreet, lightweight equipment involved, and the flexibility it afforded film-makers, could lead to more direct and emotionally authentic movies, citing "the intimacy that occurs with the actors because of the small cameras". His own work, notably the 2002 coming-of-age story Tadpole, provided some persuasive evidence. His Dv-oriented production company, InDigEnt (Indpendent Digital Entertainment), gave others the funds and encouragement to experiment for themselves. While he insisted on preparation and professionalism ("Don't think that going digital means you can just 'wing it'," he advised newcomers), spontaneity lay at the heart of his approach: "One of the things I always say is:...

Following a long, tough battle with brain cancer, director/producer Gary Winick has died at the age of 49.His name might not have the instant recognition factor of, say, a Tarantino or a Scorsese, but Winick skipped easily between more mainstream films such as 13 Going on 30 and, more recently Letters to Juliet, and indie pics, most successfully with Tadpole.But it’s his contribution to other filmmakers’ work that might have even more resonance, since he co-created digital video collective IndigEnt with John Sloss and IFC Films, which helped get the likes of Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity, Steve Buscemi’s Lonesome Jim and Richard Linklater’s Tape made on thrifty budgets.Winick got his start in horror, directing the 1989 film Curfew. His varied career saw him acting as an editor, producer or director on a raft of movies, including Sam the Man, Chelsea Walls, Charlotte’s Web, and, as mentioned above,...

The day of the Oscar ceremony is supposed to be the most celebrated night on the film calendar but Matt Dentler tweeted last night the tragic news that director Gary Winick had passed away, just weeks short of his 50th birthday.

“Gary Winick died today. Too late to make the Oscars tribute, but way too early. He leaves behind a legacy of supporting indie film and NYC.”

Winick was an active studio director, having turned in the melodrama Letters to Juliet just last year, and previously for helming Bride Wars, 13 Going On 30 and Charlotte’s Web. Without a doubt he was pivotal in the shaping of Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway and most recently Amanda Seyfried into genuine film stars, giving them a loving direction (his camera was always in love with his beautiful film stars & their locale) and a generous platform to shine – but according to Coming Soon, his biggest...

Director Gary Winick passed away yesterday at the age of 49.  Winick's debut feature was the 1989 horror film Curfew, but his varied filmography spanned to include acclaimed indie dramas like 2002's Tadpole to lovable crowd-pleasers like 13 Going on 30.  However, as IFC points out in their obituary, Winick's most enduring legacy might be "InDigEnt, the collective he created with Cinetic's John Sloss and IFC Films to make films for under $100,000 on digital video." Through InDigEnt, Winick produced an array of celebrated indie films including Rebecca Miller's Personal Velocity, Peter Hedges' Pieces of April, Richard Linklater's Tape, and Steve Buscemi's Lonesome Jim. Our deepest condolences go out to Mr. Winick's friends and family.

Indie filmmaker Gary Winick died over the weekend after losing a bout with brain cancer. He was 49.

Winick first emerged as a director on the indie film scene in the 90's before selling 2002's "Tadpole" to Miramax for $6 million at the 2002 Sundance film Festival.

He went on to helm several studio films including "Charlotte's Web," "13 Going on 30," "Bride Wars" and most recently "Letters to Juliet". He also produced such features as "Starting Out in the Evening," "Pieces of April," "Uptown Girls," "Lonesome Jim" and "Puccini for Beginners".

Producer-director Gary Winick sadly passed away last night at the age of 49 after battling brain cancer for several years. Here's what his longtime manager, Rosalie Swedlin had to say about the director's passing.

"He was suffering from brain cancer for quite some time, and it ultimately metastasized throughout his body. What's remarkable is that after his first surgery, he was able to direct Letters to Juliet. It was a battle that we thought he had won, and ultimately they just didn't get it all."

Aside from directing movies such as Bride Wars, Charlotte's Web, 13 Going on 30, and Tadpole, Gary Winick founded InDigEnt, an independent production company which produced 19 indie features since being founded in 1999. InDigEnt is also noted for sparking the digital revolution, using digital cameras to produce high-quality indie films with budgets under $100,000.

Filmmaker Matt Dentler first announced the passing of Gary Winick over Twitter last night. Here's what he had to say.

By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: Filmmaker Gary Winick passed away Sunday evening. He was 49.

“Gary Winick died today,” Matt Dentler Tweeted during the Oscar telecast. “Too late to make the Oscars tribute, but way too early. He leaves behind a legacy of supporting indie film and NYC.”

A producer and director, Winick crossed most people’s radars when he directed the indie hit “Tadpole” in 2002. He quickly moved to mainstream success with Jennifer Garner’s “13 Going on 30” and the live-action updated of “Charlotte’s Web.” His last picture was the romantic drama “Letters to Juliet,” with Amanda Seyfried.

“By luring the likes of Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke and then-budding auteurs like Rodrigo Garcia and Rebecca Miller, Winick gave digital filmmaking credibility at a time when it didn’t seem like the inevitability it is today and, better yet, produced 19 films between 2001 to 2007 that included gems such as Linklater’s ‘Tape,...

Very Sad News: Director/Producer Gary Winick has died at 49. Winick graduated from directing indie films like Tadpole to studio fare like Charlotte's Web and recently Letters to Juliet, but he kept one foot firmly planted in the indie film world, and helped untold number of filmmakers, with his digital filmmaking collective InDigEnt. Under the initiative, which proposed that filmmakers make digital features for under $100,000, he produced 19 films including Richard Linklater's Tape, Rebecca Miller's Personal Velocity and Steve Buscemi's Lonesome Jim. Cause of death is not yet known. [@MattDentler via IFC]...

As Cinetic's Matt Dentler sadly noted in his tweet announcing the passing of Gary Winick last night, the timing was "too late to make the Oscar [in memorium] tribute, but way too early." In a cruel twist of fate, it wasn't unusual for the writer/director, who was set to turn 50 next month, to be ahead of his time.

Winick was of course a filmmaker first, leaving behind a dozen films that grew from small-scale indie dramas to crowdpleasers such as "Charlotte's Web" and "Letters to Juliet" that charmed audiences by the millions. Yet his most enduring legacy is likely the one he left on a smaller community, the thousands of filmmakers who have and will continue to benefit from his work as a digital pioneer at the turn of the century as the founder of InDigEnt, the collective he created with Cinetic's John Sloss and IFC Films [our corporate sibling] to make films for under $100,000 on digital video.

Ah, and there’s the entire movie for ya. Just saved ya ten bucks. I remember this flick from my childhood, when it was called The Bad News Bears. This is from filmmaker James C. Strouse, who made the indies Grace Is Gone and Lonesome Jim. I guess he figured arthouse sadness wasn’t working for him, so he went in the other direction, toward goofy feel-good sports movies. I never thought of Sam Rockwell as the new Walter Matthau, though. That’s kinda sad for Rockwell, actually. I’ll tell ya why everyone will be renting this someday: to see an early performance by Rooney Mara. She’s not even mentioned in the trailer, but she’s the English-language girl with the dragon tattoo.

Paramount Famous Productions has released the first movie trailer for The Romantics. Director and screenwriter Galt Niederhoffer has adapted her own novel, The Romantics, a "zeitgeist love story and generational comedy, takes place over the course of one night at a deluxe seaside wedding." The cast includes Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel, Anna Paquin, Adam Brody, Malin Ackerman, Elijah Wood, Candice Bergen, Jeremy Strong, and Dianna Agron. Niederhoffer received the 2007 Sundance Audience Award for producing Grace is Gone. She also produced the Sundance Film Festival films Lonesome Jim, Dedication, Diminished Capacity, Birds of America, and Hurricane. Watch the trailer now embedded after the jump. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below. Click below to watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple: Official Plot Synopsis: Over the course of one raucous night at a seaside wedding seven close friends, all members of a tight, eclectic college clique, reconvene to watch...

Sam Rockwell has done some pretty great work over the past decade, often comfortably occupying that undefined space somewhere between comedy and drama. I vaguely remember hearing that he had starred in a sports comedy called The Winning Season recently, but when it premiered at Sundance last year I think it must have been somewhat overshadowed by that other great Rockwell performance in Duncan Jones' Moon. Now the movie is finally getting a theatrical release from Lionsgate and the first trailer has arrived online, although after watching it I can't say I'm sold. For all intents and purposes, this looks like a very typical feel good comedy about a washed up coach taking over a high school girls basketball team full of misfits and underdogs. However, the fact that Rockwell is in it, and the fact that it is written and directed by James Strouse (Grace Is Gone, Lonesome Jim...

Casey Affleck is Lonesome Jim. Tired, bored and frustrated Jim heads back to his childhood home to figure out his life. But instead of being uplifted, he gets sucked into his brother's depression and has to help out with the family business after his brother attempts suicide. Liv Tyler also stars in this Steve Busemi directed film.

Available on Netflix.

His older brother is famously cast as the romcom heart-throb. But Casey Affleck would rather play the violent psychopath in Michael Winterbottom's disturbing new film

On a hot Saturday afternoon, Casey Affleck comes down a New York street bouncing a ball, looking as rangy and innocent as a teenager, and nothing like Lou Ford, the psychotic sheriff who murders two women in Michael Winterbottom's violent new thriller, The Killer Inside Me. After watching Affleck's performance, I was a little unnerved to meet him. The 34-year-old plays the role with the kind of fish-eyed creepiness that lingers in the mind for days.

"Uh-oh," Affleck says when I mention the eye thing. "Have I done it at lunch?"

To be Ben Affleck's more interesting younger brother seems a particularly sorry designation in life, except that Casey has in the last few years played such good roles, with such quiet integrity,...

Sundance-bound and tired of flipping through each film individually on the schedule? Staying comfortably home, but don't want to be left out of the conversation about the indies likely to dominate the discussion for the next year? Well, we've got a guide for you.

We've put together the ultimate cheat sheet to this year's Sundance Film Festival. Although it's useful as a preview to the 113 features this year's fest (every title links to its respective Sundance page), consider it a living, breathing document with Facebook and Twitter links to follow filmmakers and our own Matt Singer (@mattsinger) and Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) as they negotiate the snowy slopes and occasionally treacherous festivalgoing experience that Park City has to offer, not to mention our constantly updated Sundance home page.

Sections: [Spotlight] [Next] [U.S. Dramatic Competition] [U.S. Documentary Competition] [World Cinema Dramatic Competition] [World Cinema Documentary Competition] [New Frontier] [Park City at Midnight]

Sundance Premieres

"Abel" (IMDb)

The Cast: José María Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragon, Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza

Director: Diego Luna

The Gist:...

Mandalay Entertainment is venturing into indie film financing.

Mandalay Vision will be headed by former co-head of Plum Pictures Celine Rattray and focus on films budgeted at $15 million or less.

Rattray's Plum credits include work on "Lonesome Jim," "Grace Is Gone," "Trucker" and "New York, I Love You."

Mandalay touted Rattray's "ability to raise and deliver financing steadily over a number of years, despite the overall economic downturn as well as major changes in distribution opportunities for independent pictures."

She will report Mandalay's Peter Guber, Paul Schaeffer, Cathy Schulman and Peter Strauss. Based in New York, Rattray will begin staffing the new unit shortly.

Mandalay Vision's initial film development slate includes "Salvation Boulevard," based on a Larry Beinhart novel that Mandalay Pictures optioned in 2009. George Ratliff ("Joshua") will direct from a script by Ratliff and Douglas Stone.

Mandalay Vision has also come aboard "The Kids are All Right" -- directed...

One month, 280 films and 70,000 words later, my guide to the films of 2010 is now complete. I hope you've enjoyed reading it all - it's been utterly exhausting but an ultimately rewarding venture I've been single-handedly pulling together since early December. If you have liked it, my only request is that you help spread the word about it now that it's all done.

If you're a fellow blogger or site owner, please give it a plug on your site. If you're a reader, give it a mention on Facebook, Twitter or other online places you might venture. A lot of effort went into this, the greatest reward so far has been seeing it talked about and hearing your reactions. I'm glad many of you have gotten a lot of use out of the previous pages, so I hope you enjoy this final part:

Vincere

Opens: 2010

Cast: Filippo Timi, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Corrado Invernizzi,...

A Prophet

Opens: February 12th 2010

Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi, Reda Kateb

Director: Jacques Audiard

Summary: Sent to prison, Malik El Djebena falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins their confidence but uses his intelligence to discreetly develop his own network.

Analysis: Finally scoring a limited release in the Us in February, Jacques Audiard's violent and hard-edged prison drama won the Grand Prix at Cannes, scored Best Film at the London Film Festival, and is already the hotly tipped favourite to take the Oscar for Best Foreign Film late next month.

Reviews have been stellar around the world for the film which quickly became the most universally admired entry in the often hotly contentious first week of Cannes back in May. From a breakout performance by Tahar Rahim,...

The Sundance Institute announced Monday three late additions to the 2010 Sundance film festival program, running Jan. 21-31.

The new films are "It's a Wonderful Afterlife," a comedy directed by Gurinder Chadha and written by Paul Mayeda Berges and Chadha; "The Romantics," a comedy directed by Galt Niederhoffer, who adapted the script from her own novel; and "The Kids Are Alright," directed by Lisa Cholodenko, who wrote the screenplay with Stuart Blumberg.

All three films are world premieres that will screen out of competition, and all three filmmakers have had their work screened at Sundance in the past.

"When the opportunity to screen the latest films from three extremely innovative storytellers presented itself, we knew we could not deny our audiences," said festival director John Cooper. "As an added bonus, all three are alumni of the festival, so we are thrilled to be able to support them returning to Sundance with their newest work.

Liv Tyler, who last starred in The Incredible Hulk and the horror hit The Strangers, will headline The Romantics, an independently financed romantic comedy from indie-producer turned director Galt Niederhoffer. Niederhoffer adapted the script from her own novel. The story takes place on the eve of a seaside wedding celebration. Seven close friends convene to watch two of their pals get married. Laura (Tyler) is the maid of honor, but she and the bride have had a long rivalry over the groom. Niederhoffer’s producing credits include Steve Buscemi’s Lonesome Jim, which Tyler appeared in, The Baxter, Grace Is Gone, Birds of America, Bart Got a Room and the upcoming Sam Rockwell comedy The Winning Season. Team Todd's Suzanne and Jennifer Todd will produce with Plum Pictures. The Todds are also developing with Niederhoffer an adaptation of her debut novel, Taxonomy of Barnacles. Production on Romantics begins in the summer.

At Sundance in 2005, I fell in love with a little movie called Lonesome Jim, which was directed by Steve Buscemi and starred Casey Affleck. The film wasn’t necessarily incredible, but the screenplay by newcomer James C Strouse really connected with me, even though my life is nothing similar to anything shown in the film itself. I connected to the authenticity behind the characters and the story. I told one of my friends at the time that Strouse was going to be a screenwriter in demand five years down the line.

Strouse decided to direct his next screenplay effort, 2007’s Grace is Gone, which was a Sundance hit, and a record breaking sale at the time. I really loved the film but felt that it was a bit too melodramatic. Not necessarily the screenplay, but some of the performances were a bit over the top. The fact...

James C. Strouse’s second feature film The Winning Season stars Sam Rockwell as an adult alcoholic misfit brought on to coach his local girl’s high school basketball team. Rockwell has described the movie as Bad News Bears meets Half Nelson meets Hoosiers. Emma Roberts, Rob Corddry, Shareeka Epps and Emily Rios co star. Festival director Geoffrey Gilmore calls the film “a completely gratifying cinematic drama marked by sharp dialogue and perfectly toned performances.” Watch the first clip from the film after the jump.

Video clip courtesy of McN and Trailer Addict.

Related Stories

The Winning Season Added to Sundance 2009 Line-Up Now That Grace is Gone, Lonesome Jim has become an Alcoholic Basketball Coach Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell Cast in Iron Man 2 Movie Poster: Sam Rockwell’s Moon First Look: Sam Rockwell’s Sci-Fi Thriller Moon Tiff Review: Lymelife...

Sundance announced today that they have added The Winning Season from writer/director Jim Strouse (aka James C. Strouse) to the 2009 Sundance Film Festival line-up. The film stars Sam Rockwell as a has-been coach who is given a shot at redemption when he's asked to run his local high school's girls basketball team. You may recognize that plot synopsis, as we've written about the film previously when it was first announced as Strouse's follow-up to his directorial debut Grace is Gone (which premiered at Sundance last year). "We are thrilled to welcome back to the festival Jim Strouse who once again displays his talent for storytelling in this superbly witty film," said Sundance Director Geoffrey Gilmore. The Winning Season is the 17th film in the Premieres section of the 2009 Sundance line-up. Jim Strouse first made his debut at Sundance as the screenwriter of Steve Buscemi's Lonesome Jim. In 2007, he...

It’s not unusual for last minute selections to be added to the Sundance Film Festival line-up in the weeks leading up to the Park City Festival. Last year it was Hamlet 2, and this year it is screenwriter turned director James C. Strouse’s second feature film The Winning Season (note: this news has been rumored elsewhere, but this is the first time Sundance has officially confirmed the report).

The film stars Sam Rockwell as an adult alcoholic misfit brought on to coach his local girl’s high school basketball team. Rockwell has described the movie as Bad News Bears meets Half Nelson meets Hoosiers. It’s worth mentioning that Strouse’s semi-autobiographical first screenplay Lonesome Jim involved a story line where Jim (played by Casey Affleck) has to take over his brother’s girls youth basketball team.

The film’s cast also includes Emma Roberts, Rob Corddry, Shareeka Epps and Emily Rios.

Cinematical has received this exclusive image from the film The Winning Season, which will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Monday, January 19th. Directed by Jim Strouse (Lonesome Jim, Grace is Gone), The Winning Season stars Sam Rockwell as an adult misfit who's brought on to coach the local girl's high school basketball team. Also appearing in the flick, which I've heard is like Bad Santa meets The Bad News Bears, is Emma Roberts, Rob Corddry, Shareeka Epps and Emily Rios. The Winning Season was a late addition to the Sundance slate, and my friend's who've seen it vouch that it's, well, a winner. Both Strouse and Rockwell (who also stars in another Sundance film called Moon) are veterans of the fest and have had good luck in the past. I see no reason why this one won't immediately sell and hit theaters at some point next year.