News

Ed Wheeler, a veteran actor who appeared in Law & Order, Blue Bloods, Broadcast News, Mickey Blue Eyes and many other films, TV shows, stage productions and commercials, has died. He was 88.

His wife, Messeret Stroman Wheeler, told Deadline that he died August 21 at Englewood (NJ) Hospital of respiratory failure due to pneumonia complications.

Born on February 18, 1936, in Brooklyn, Wheeler got his start in showbiz doing TV commercials, including national ads for the likes of Luvs diapers, Reynolds Wrap, Sudafed, Pepcid AC, Computer Associates and many others.

He trained under Gene Frankel and Vin Diesel’s stepfather Irving Vincent and earned his first screen credits on such TV series as Watch Your Mouth, 3-2-1 Contact and The Core of the Apple. Wheeler’s first film role was opposite William Hurt, Albert Brooks and Holly Hunter in James L. Brooks’ Broadcast News (1987).

He went on to appear in such films as Presumed Innocent,...

Summer is heating up on Max.

Back in May, Max added programming from TLC, HGTV and Food Network. That means Discovery’s popular Shark Week will be available to stream when it kicks off on July 23, with programming to be announced soon.

For fans of unscripted series, Season 3 or “90 Day Fiancé: Love in Paradise: Pillow Talk” (July 4) and Season 5 of “90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way” (July 10) are both streaming, as well as the series premiere of “90 Day Fiancé: UK.”

Home renovation fans will want to catch Season 16 of “Barnwood Builders” (July 6) and the special “Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge” (July 16), hosted by Ashley Graham, just in time for the feature film.

Also Read:

Here’s What’s New on Amazon Prime Video in July 2023

“Project Greenlight” (July 13) returns, with executive producer Issa Rae along with Kumail Nanjiani and Gina Prince-Bythewood serve as mentors throughout the season.

Finally, the six-episode Max Original limited series “Full Circle,...

Max is following DC’s lead with its list of new releases for July 2023.

The two big ticket items this month are of the superhero variety. My Adventures with Superman arrives to Max on July 7 after making its Adult Swim premiere the night before. The end of the month sees Harley Quinn season 4 making its long-awaited debut on July 27. Other original TV titles of note are the Steven Soderbergh-directed Full Circle (July 13) and the third and final season of How To With John Wilson on July 28.

On the movie side of things, documentary Glitch: The Rise and Fall of HQ Trivia premieres on July 20. Before that on July 13 is both a fresh reboot of filmmaking competition Project Greenlight and the movie that came of it, Gray Matter. Library movies in July include Pulp Fiction, V for Vendetta, Lethal Weapon, and more on July 1.

Here is everything else coming to HBO and Max this month.

The original Max series “Full Circle” debuts on July 13. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the new drama investigates a kidnapping gone wrong in New York, revealing the secrets and lies of multiple characters. Or as the trailer warns: “Everything is connected.” The six-episode limited series stars Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes, Jim Gaffigan, Jharrel Jerome, Timothy Olyphant, and Dennis Quaid.

Watch the “Full Circle” trailer:

The four-part documentary “Last Call: When A Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York” is set in the early 1990s as the AIDS crisis worsens. The media’s distorted coverage of the gay victims, coupled with the homophobic biases of the criminal justice system, undermine the investigation. The docuseries — which premieres on Max on July 9 — illustrates how the LGBTQ+ community fought to solve the murders and demand attention for those murdered.

Preview “Last Call: When A Serial Killer Stalked Queer New York”:

Arriving on the platform on...

Timothy Olyphant, Claire Danes, and Dennis Quaid in ‘Full Circle’ (Photograph by Sarah Shatz)

Max’s July 2023 schedule includes the premiere of the drama Full Circle and the return of Shark Week. The hot summer month’s lineup also includes the final season of How To With John Wilson, the premiere of Project Greenlight, and the final episodes of the popular comedy The Righteous Gemstones.

The two-part documentary The Golden Boy about the life and career of Oscar De La Hoya joins the streaming service’s lineup on July 24th. Shaun White: The Last Run, a docuseries about the Olympian, is set to premiere on July 6th.

Series & Films Arriving On Max In July 2023:

July 1

300 (2006)

17 Again (2009)

20th Century Women (2016)

A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

A Walk in the Woods (2015)

American Sniper (2014)

Angels Sing (2013)

Ballet 422 (2014)

Barbershop (2002)

Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004)

Beauty Shop (2005)

Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)

Brandi Carlile: In the...

Paul Dano has played a multitude of complex characters over the course of his over 20-year career. His filmography is one that would make any aspiring actor jealous. Not only has he starred in a number of widely successful and acclaimed films, but he has also held his own against acting greats such as Hugh Jackman and Daniel Day-Lewis. The best Paul Dano movies are those that challenge his acting skills and feature him alongside his well-known peers. They are movies that satisfy both the cinephile and the casual movie-lover with thorough character studies and interesting plotlines.

In 2022 alone, Dano showed off his incredible range as well as his talent for picking interesting projects. He began the year with his unsettling villainous turn in The Batman as The Riddler and ended it with his reserved and heartwarming fatherly role in The Fabelmans. Though two popular and acclaimed movies are just...

If you’re looking for something to watch on HBO Max this month, you may want to prioritize the following titles that are leaving the streaming service throughout February. Below, we’ve assembled a complete list of everything leaving HBO Max in February, which ranges from Oscar-winning blockbusters to stone-cold classics to delightful comedies.

Noteworthy films leaving HBO Max this month include “Dunkirk,” “Blade Runner 2049,” “Amistad,” “Pitch Perfect,” “Independence Day,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” “The Goonies,” “Joker” and “The Lego Batman Movie.” It’s also last call for DC films “Wonder Woman,” “Aquaman,” “Birds of Prey” and “Suicide Squad.”

The end of February will also mark the departure of a number of documentary series that aired on CNN, including “The Bush Years,” “The Seventies,” “The Eighties,” ”The Nineties,” ”The Movies” and ”The Story of Late Night.”

Check out the full list of everything leaving HBO Max in February 2022 below.

Erlingsdóttir previously oversaw legal and business affairs for the London-based sales, production and finance company Rocket Science.

Icelandic production company Zik Zak Filmworks has appointed Ragnheidur Erlingsdóttir as its new CEO.

Zik Zak’s former CEO Skúli Malmquist is now managing director of the Iceland Dance Company.

Erlingsdóttir previously oversaw legal and business affairs for the London-based sales, production and finance company Rocket Science. She is an Iceland native who worked as a producer there (on films including Xl and Rainbow Party) before moving to the UK for four years.

Zik Zak’s current slate – also overseen by producer Arnar...

The summer movie season may be winding down, but HBO Max is keeping the movie ball rolling in September 2021. HBO Max’s list of new releases this month is heavy on the film side of things – both in library and original offerings.

Two Warner Bros. films of note arrive this month. The James Wan-directed horror tale Malignant premieres on Sept. 10 and is followed by Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho on Sept. 17. The next installment in Adventure Time: Distant Lands (which is kind of like a film series!) is titled Wizard City and opens the month on Sept. 2

Of course, it wouldn’t be a new month of HBO Max releases without some interesting evergreen Warner movie titles. Sept. 1 finds all eight Harry Potter movies returning to WarnerMedia’s streaming service. They will be accompanied by The Goonies, The Evil Dead, Cloverfield, and more. Later on in the month, Mortal Kombat (Sept.

On September 1, all eight Harry Potter films return home to HBO Max.

September also brings Clint Eastwood’s latest film Cry Macho on the 17th and director James Wan’s Malignant on the 10th. Both Cry Macho and Malignant will be available in theaters and on HBO Max the same day. They will stream on the $14.99/month ad-Free HBO Max plan for 31 days after their debuts.

See all of the new content on HBO Max for September, 2021, below. The list is organized alphabetically by date.

September 1:

A Hijacking

The Animal

Army Of Darkness

The Benchwarmers

Bodas de Oro – aka The Anniversary

The Cell 2

Cloverfield

Dead Again

Deck the Halls

Detour

Drinking Buddies

Epic Movie

Event Horizon

The Evil Dead

Evil Dead 2

Flawless

The Forgotten

Fun Size

The Gallows

The Good German

The Good Heart

The Goonies

Green Lantern

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the...

Craig “Mums” Grant, an actor and poet who appeared in all six seasons of HBO’s prison drama Oz among dozens of film, TV and stage credits, died Thursday, apparently of natural causes, according to his representatives. He was 52.

Billed as muMs da Schemer, the name he used during his early slam-poetry years, Grant guested or recurred as Arnold “Poet” Jackson on Oz during its entire 1997-2003 run, appearing in all but seven episodes. His character was a heroin addict who is released from “Emerald City,” only to return after killing a drug dealer. A member of the Homeboys prison gang, the character often recited poems about social and political injustice endured by Black Americans.

Born and raised in New York City, Grant competed in at the 1996 National Poetry Slam as a member of the Nuyorican team and was featured in the 1998 feature documentary Slam Nation: The Sport of Spoken Word.

Brian Cox rages robustly and arrestingly against the dying of the light in “The Etruscan Smile,” an unabashedly formulaic yet undeniably affecting coming-to-terms drama that may cause as much discomfort as delight for those who recognize bits and pieces of their own fathers (or themselves) in the cantankerous character Cox portrays so persuasively.

Based on the novel “La Sonrisa Etrusca” by José Luis Sampedro, with the original narrative transported from Milan to Scotland and San Francisco by co-writers Michael McGowan, Michael Lali Kagan and Sarah Bellwood, the film focuses primarily on Rory MacNeil (Cox), an irascible septuagenarian who initially seems content to spend his twilight years on the remote Hebrides Island where his family has lived for generations. Trouble is, he fears that, given his noticeably declining health, he may not have many years left. And he’ll be damned if he’s going to die before Campbell (Clive Russell...

Kim Fupz Aakeson, writer of Liam Neeson feature Cold Pursuit, has created a quirky Norwegian comedy for HBO Europe. The premium broadcaster has commissioned eight-part series Utmark/Wilderness, which will be directed by Dagur Kári, director of Paul Dano’s The Good Heart.

Aakeson is also behind AMC’s David Schwimmer drama Feed The Beast, which was based on his Danish series Bankerot. It is produced by Finn Gjerdrum and Stein Kvae at Paradox.

Utmark/Wilderness is a quirky comedy drama set in a small Norwegian town a little north of the middle of nowhere. A sheep lies savaged. A dog runs free. A wife leaves her husband. So begins a chain of revenge that entangles a whole town. Corrupt sheriff, alcoholic shepherd, nature-loving bootlegger, God-hating pastor, grieving pimp…everyone knows everyone in this secluded corner of the Nordic North. Now an optimistic new school teacher rolls in, hopeful for a fresh start.

Fierce, committed and above all, tough — these are the words that collaborators use to describe producer Robin O’Hara, a longtime fixture of the New York independent film scene, who died suddenly last week after complications from cancer treatment.

When O’Hara’s business and life partner Scott Macaulay of Forensic Films posted the sad news on Facebook last Wednesday, hundreds of prominent filmmakers, former crewmembers, and friends from across the independent film world offered an outpouring of condolences, remembrances, and testimonies about O’Hara’s importance in nurturing their art and their careers.

As “Saving Face” director Alice Wu wrote, “She was brilliant and mercurial and hilarious and terrifying. She gave no fucks — unless she did give a fuck — and then she gave everything. Anyone who has been lucky enough to be in her orbit never lets go. She pushed us all … and we became better people.”

Echoing Wu,...

After his breakout performance opposite Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Paul Dano could have drunk the Hollywood Kool-Aid (or the milk shake for that matter) and suited up for the next studio tentpole. Instead, he largely opted for little-seen indies like Being Flynn and The Good Heart, with some sinister supporting roles in 12 Years a Slave and Prisoners mixed in. But with his latest film, Bill Pohlad’s Beach Boys biopic Love & Mercy, Dano finally picked a starring role that all of young Hollywood was chasing: that of tortured music icon Brian Wilson. The 30-

read more...

Danish cinema received a strong vote of confidence and a winning boost this weekend; two films from the Tribeca Film Festival won top dramatic jury prizes. And “Virgin Mountain,” a Danish-Icelandic film directed by Icelandic-born, Danish-raised Dagur Kári (“Noi the Albino” and the sorely underrated “The Good Heart” with Paul Dano and Brian Cox) won the coveted jury prize for best narrative feature film (and two other major prizes; Danish film "Bridgend" took three other baubles). And while the award may set expectations the movie can’t quite match, Kári’s fourth feature film is still a thoughtful, engaging, and compassionate look at the lonely outsider and his quiet emptiness. The movie’s name comes from its protagonist, Fúsi (Gunnar Jónsson), a hulking mass of a man who is untouched, cloistered, and naïve. This is not a foreign version of Judd Apatow’s “The 40 Year Old Virgin,” though on...

The Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren, and Anton Corbijn’s Life, starring Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan, to world premiere at Berlinale.

The 65th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 5-15) is to host the world premieres of Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren; Life, starring Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan; and Dagur Kári’s Virgin Mountain.

The films form part of the Berlinale Special Galas line-up, which will also include the international premiere of awards contender Selma and the European premiere of Bill Pohland’s Love & Mercy, starring John Cusack

Based on a true story, Woman In Gold is directed by Simon Curtis (My Week With Marilyn) and stars Mirren as Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, who takes on the government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.

The UK-us co-production, which also stars Ryan Reynolds (Captives) and Daniel Brühl (Rush), is produced by Origin Pictures, BBC Films and The...

“An Education” helmer Lone Scherfig and “The Hunt” writer-director Thomas Vinterberg are among the Scandanavian directors banding together to form a filmmaking collective called Creative Alliance whose mission is to create English-language films for the international marketplace. Filmmakers Per Fly (“The Inheritance”), Ole Christian Madsen (“Superclasico”), Dagur Kari (“The Good Heart”) and Janus Metz (“Love on Delivery”) have also joined the group, along with producers Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy of Parts & Labor International (“Beginners”), Nikolaj Vibe Michelsen and Jacob Jørgensen. All of the Creative Alliance films will be developed out of Denmark in concert with the Danish Film Institute and other Scandinavian and European funding bodies. “We are eager to join forces and develop films together,” said the directors, “to share our energy and expertise —...

Six Scandinavian directors are joining together to form a filmmaking co-op called Creative Alliance with the goal of making six English language films. The biggest name in the bunch is probably that of Lone Scherfig, who directed the coming-of-age story "An Education" in 2009, scoring a Best Picture nomination for her efforts.  The other members include Per Fly ("Manslaughter"), Ole Christian Madsen ("Kira's Reason - A Love Story"), Dagur Kari ("The Good Heart"), Thomas Vinterberg ("The Celebration") and Janus Metz ("Love on Delivery"). The films will be produced by Lars Knudsen and...

"The Deep" Oscar hopeful Baltasar Kormakur will produce "Rocketman," fellow Icelandic director Dagur Kari's next film, under Kormakur's Blueeyes Production banner. "Rocketman" is Kari's first Icelandic movie since 2003's "Noi the Albino," his first feature-length film. He has since made the Danish-language "Dark Horse," which screened at Cannes in 2005, and the English-language "The Good Heart," starring Brian Cox and Paul Dano. The new project, a co-production with Denmark's Nimbus Film, will begin production in February. An intense character study of a man in his 40s still rooted in childhood, it unites Kari...

It's sincerely mind blowing that a country of just over 300,000 people can have the creative output that Iceland does. That's about half the amount of people that reside in Wyoming, the least populated state in America. But despite its size, Iceland has an incredible amount of internationally renowned visual artists, architects, musicians and, yes, filmmakers. From Fridrik Thor Fridriksson (whose "Children of Nature" was nominated for a foreign language film Oscar in 1992) to Dagur Kári Petursson (who recently made his English language debut with the Brian Cox-Paul Dano starrer "The Good Heart") to Baltasar Kormákur (who made "Jar City" and is Iceland's Oscar hope this year with "The Deep"), Iceland has no shortage of cinematic minds.  All three of those noted filmmakers were among those with upcoming work being presented at a special event thrown by the Icelandic Film Centre in Reykjavik last Friday. In...

Hello and welcome to tearjerkers! Adaptation of Jenny Downham’s novel Before I Die, Now Is Good is the British drama which stars Hollywood child-star Dakota Fanning and War Horse’s new rising star Jeremy Irvine. Well, a weepy and fairly sweet trailer has arrived, sporting a chic English accent and a darling pixie cut that works [...]

Continue reading Now Is Good Trailer and Poster; Starring Fanning, Irvine on FilmoFilia.

Related posts: Elizabeth Olsen and Dakota Fanning are Very Good Girls Jeremy Irvine to Star with Helena Bonham Carter in Adaptation of Dickens Novel Great Expectations The Good Heart Trailer and Posters...

Based on a controversial book about Iceland's seedy underbelly, which is largely based on real events and people, the film Black's Game (Svartur á Leik) revolves around how a young man is pulled in to the world of organized crime. Far from being glamorous the film directs its eye on the dark and the gritty reality of drug trafficking and casts a light on what many Icelanders refuse to even believe it exists in their picture perfect country. The film is produced by Zik Zak, producers of Noi the Albino and The Good Heart and commercial production house Filmus and is executive produced by Nicholas Winding Refn and Chris Briggs, producer of the Hostel films. The film is written and directed by first time feature director...

I haven't talked about this film much as it's been in the pipeline for seems like ages but only recently got the go ahead to start filming. Based on a controversial crime novel by Stefán Máni Black Curse revolves around the Icelandic underworld and is based on actual events that took place in the 90's as the author spent time riding along with thugs and generally bad people to get his material. Director Oskar Thor Axelsson makes his feature film debut based on his own script. The film is being produced by Zik Zak the people behind The Good Heart and Noi Albinoi along with production outfit Filmus and executive produced by Nicolas Winding Refn and Hostel's Chris Briggs and is slated to be released...

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has announced the nominations for The 37th Annual Saturn Awards. Among others, Director Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic, Inception leads the pack with 9 nominations. Director Joseph Kosinski‘s long-awaited Tron: Legacy pulled in 7 nominations, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 earned 5 nominations.

Check out all the nominees below!

The 37th Annual Saturn Award Nominees

Best Science Fiction Film:

Hereafter (Warner Bros.)

Inception (Warner Bros.)

Iron Man 2 (Paramount/Marvel)

Never Let Me Go (Fox Searchlight)

Splice (Warner Bros.)

Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney Studios)

Best Fantasy Film:

Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney Studios)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (20th Century Fox)

Clash of the Titans (Warner Bros.)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (Warner Bros.)

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (Universal)

Twilight: Eclipse (Summit Entertainment)

Best Horror/Thriller Film:

The American (Focus)

Black Swan...

It's that time of year again: The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has announced the nominations for its 37th Annual Saturn Awards.

From the Press Release:

Leading the charge is Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending sci-fi thriller “Inception” with 9 nominations. Overture/Relativity Media’s “Let Me In” and Disney’s “Tron: Legacy” downloaded 7 nominations apiece; Clint Eastwood’s thought-provoking “Hereafter” received 6; while “Alice in Wonderland,” “Black Swan,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” “Never Let Me Go” and “Shutter Island” earned 5 nominations each.

In the television categories, Frank Darabont’s zombie-drama “The Walking Dead” (AMC) came to life with 6 nominations. “Breaking Bad” (AMC), “Lost” (ABC) and “Fringe” (Fox) tied with 5 nominations. “Leverage” (TNT) and “True Blood” (HBO) earned 4 apiece, followed by “Dexter” (Showtime) and “V” (ABC) with 3 and “The Closer” (TNT), “Smallville” (CW) and “Spartacus: Blood and Sand” (Starz) with 2.

The Academy was founded in 1972 by noted...

The full list of award nominations have been unleashed for The 37 Annual Saturn Awards. Inception rules the nomination list with nine, Let Me In and Tron: Legacy also took seven nominations each. As for TV The Walking Dead it ended up walking away with the most nominations with six, and Breaking Bad, Lost and Fringe got five noms each. This is an award ceremony all of us geeks can get behind.

The 37th annual Saturn Awards take place in June in Burbank. Heres the complete list of film and TV nominations below:

Film

Best Science Fiction Film

Hereafter

Inception

Iron Man 2

Never Let Me Go

Splice

Tron: Legacy

Best Fantasy Film

Alice in Wonderland

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Clash of the Titans

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Best Horror/Thriller Film...

So far I've collected six separate 2010 compilation videos looking back at the this year's collection of films. To the best of my knowledge, these six videos include clips from 303 films and together they total 34:34. I have included the complete list of films on the second page if you are interested. Let me know if I'm missing any, but I think it's pretty safe to say if you liked a film in 2010 one of these following videos will feature it.

So, have a watch and leave your thoughts on which one is your favorite in the comments below and if you find another one online that I should add to the collection shoot me an email.

By: Zack Young

By: The Sleepy Skunk

By: Matthew Shapiro

By: Gen I

By: Kees van Dijkhuizen

On the next page is one final compilation piece, but it plays automatically once the page is...

Each year around this time we get a mash-up of the best (and worst) cinematic offerings of the past 12 months. First out of the gate is YouTube’s Genrocks, with a great video mix. See it below and then check out the long list of films it uses, in order from Iron Man 2 to Hubble 3D, as well as the musical choices.

Music:

1. Ratatat – Nostrand

2. Kanye West – Power

3. Rooney – Not In My House

4. Apartment – Fall Into Place

5. Civil Twilight – Letters from the Sky

6. Sunbears! – Little Baby Pines

Films in Order of Appearance:

01. Iron Man 2

02. The Social Network

03. Saw 3D

04. Tron: Legacy

05. Never Let Me Go

06. Legion

07. The Book of Eli

08. Easy A

09. The Runaways

10. Farewell

11. Kick-Ass

12. Jonah Hex

13. Harry Brown

14. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

15. Percy Jackson & The Olympics: The Lightning Thief

16. Despicable Me

17. Stone

18. Dinner For Schmucks

19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

20. Hereafter

21. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...

If you were trapped under a rock this year (it happens) take six minutes to watch this YouTube short. Half music video, half trailer remix, “Filmography 2010″ cuts together the year’s hits, flops and everything in between to catchy music.

Even if you’re a jaded movie buff who hates year end schmaltz, the recap should pluck your heartstrings. So many great and touching moments this year, it’s enough to make you wonder how the Golden Globes managed to totally blow their nominations.

But we digress. Check out the video after the jump.

How many films do you recognize? Below is full list of the films in the order that they appear. Enjoy!

Music:

1. Ratatat – Nostrand

2. Kanye West – Power

3. Rooney – Not In My House

4. Apartment – Fall Into Place

5. Civil Twilight – Letters from the Sky

6. Sunbears! – Little Baby Pines

Filmography 2010

Films in Order of Appearance:

01. Iron Man 2

02. The Social Network...

Every December these ‘best of the year’ video montages make the last 12 months of cinema seem infinitely more pleasant to sit through than they actually were. Here’s the first of many that are sure to be made before the sand in the hourglass runs out on 2010, this one from a gal going by the name of Gen I, who sent in this effort to /film.

There’s 270 movies in this montage below ranging from all the well known blockbusters, to smaller docs, foreign fare and even some Japanese anime! I can’t begin to imagine how long or how much skill it takes to put something as high-quality as this together…

Full list of the tracks and films shown are below;

Music:

1. Ratatat – Nostrand

2. Kanye West – Power

3. Rooney – Not In My House

4. Apartment – Fall Into Place

5. Civil Twilight – Letters from the Sky

6. Sunbears! – Little Baby Pines

Filmography 2010

Films in...

Now that we're about two weeks till the end of 2010, the film industry will be looking back to figure out the best movies of the year and will pick winners during the many awards shows. Today, we have a video that captures 2010 pretty well by showing scenes from the year's 270 films, including some that have yet to hit theaters. There will likely be plenty more of these montages in the next few weeks, but the video is definitely one of the better ones that I have seen. Check out the six-minute video below, in addition to a full list of all the films that were used. Questions: How many of the films listed did you actually see in full? Video: Films in Order of Appearance: 1. Iron Man 2 2. The Social Network 3. Saw 3D 4. Tron: Legacy 5. Never Let Me Go 6. Legion 7. The Book of Eli 8. Easy A 9. The Runaways 10. Farewell 11. Kick-Ass...

It's getting closer and closer to the end of the year, and we've already seen a couple top 10 lists and critic choice awards announced. Since we began posting "best of the year" video montages a few years back, it seems a lot of new wannabe video editors have emerged. Maybe the software has become cheaper or more accessible, or maybe the coverage on sites like /Film and other movie blogs garnered interest in the task. Last year I received a dozen or so best of videos, most of them were not anything we would share on the site. I think we posted three in total last year, two of which were created by video editors we've featured in previous years [1]. Today I was sent the first "best of 2010" video montage of the season, from a video editor named Gen I. I'll admit that while I was expecting the worst, I came out pleasantly surprised.

Wakefield, Nc - Deep in the woods of Raleigh, I felt the ghost of Glenn Gould. He’s been dead since 1982, but there he was at a grand piano playing the first of Bach’s The Goldberg Variations.

His body wasn’t hunched over the keyboard on his collapsible chair. He wasn’t humming away as he played. But it was unmistakably Gould. The keys of the Yamaha Dcfiiiapro were stuck in his iconic way. His music filled the classical music concert hall covered in maple and cherry wood.

How can this be? Who conjured the Canadian classical music genius? Zenph Sound Innovations figured a way to make dead fingers play. This isn’t merely a piano roll, fake stereo treatment or a new noise reduction that goes beyond Dolby.

There is no other way to describe the technological miracle except in spiritual terms. This is the closest we’ll...

Paul Dano’s career has been defined by strong performances opposite award-winning actors. The stunning list of his high-profile onscreen pairings range from his breakthrough, Indie Spirit Award-winning turn for Best Debut Performance in 2001’s L.I.E. as the target of a pedophile, played by fellow nominee Brian Cox, to his portrayal of a nihilistic teen as part of Little Miss Sunshine’s 2007 SAG Award winning ensemble where he shared a backseat in the Hoover’s family van with Alan Arkin in the 76-year-old’s Oscar-winning performance, to his performance of a preacher and his twin (Paul and Eli Sunday) opposite eventual Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis’ unhinged oil man Daniel Plainview in Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood.

Collider caught up with the 26-year-old to discuss his latest big screen partnership in The Extra Man, which opened in Los Angeles this past weekend to continue its national rollout, opposite Kevin Kline.

I guess this week is payback for the awesome week that was last. So let’s sift through what’s there this week:

Grab ‘Em Right Away:

Nothing. Save your money for that rainy day coming soon.

Check it out:

The Good Heart

Directed by: Dagur Kári

Written by: Dagur Kári

Starring: Brian Cox & Paul Dano

Why should you rent this movie? Because no matter how you look at it there are still two phenomenal performances in this movie. Brian Cox and Paul Dano are pitch perfect. Cox plays the asshole bartender who hates everyone and everything – except his bar – so much that, well, eventually you end up loving him; and you love him even more when you see him begin to like Lucas (Paul Dano) and show his more vulnerable side. It’s the perfect 90 minute heart-to-heart (yes I just did that) film that you’ll like to sit...

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Triage" (2009)

Directed by Danis Tanovic

Released by National Entertainment Media

Although a largely tepid reception at last year's Toronto Film Festival and a downer of a subject matter prevented "No Man's Land" director Danis Tanovic's English-language debut from getting American theatrical distribution, Colin Farrell delivers an award-worthy performance as a photojournalist recovering from the ravages of war and the loss of his friend and colleague in this direct-to-dvd drama. Even with Paz Vega to come home to, Farrell's photographer tries to make sense of the horrors he witnessed as his wife (Vega) and the wife of his dead friend (Kelly Reilly) try to get him to open up.

"Children of Invention" (2009)

Directed by Tze Chun

Released by Indieblitz Releasing

An alum of Sundance 2009, Chun's feature debut centers around a Chinese immgrant single mother's determination to give her children a better life...

Directors: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini Writers: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini Starring: John C. Reilly, Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, Katie Holmes When we first meet Louis Ives (Paul Dano), he is a socially awkward and astutely formal English teacher whose two obsessions – classic literature and cross-dressing – are playfully expressed in the opening dream sequence which references The Great Gatsby. It is not long before Louis is fired from his teaching job, an event which he accepts as a cue to move to New York City and begin his life anew. Upon answering an ad for cheap housing, Louis meets Henry Harrison (Kevin Kline), an older eccentric gentleman who's offering an extra room to whoever can meet his very high standards. A college literature teacher and playwright, Henry, like Louis, is a throwback to the 1920s who speaks in the British-tinged tones of an old aristocrat. Henry may exemplify the virtues of wit,...

Day 6 – Monday was a long but fairly quiet day. I went directly to the Cineworld to catch screenings of…

The Kid, another one of those A Child Called “It” type tales. An abusive childhood, being moved from foster home to foster home, more family drama, a troubled transition to adulthood, and all kinds of dirty dealings along the way. For me it was a bit like a pendulum swing, I cared, then I didn’t, then I was impressed, then I wasn’t. At once dramatic and melodramatic, it was a good story, but didn’t have much in it that you haven’t heard before. If you like those kinds of stories, it’s worth a watch.

After ducking into the wrong cinema for the title sequence of Lola (magical!), I quickly joined The Good Heart, which stars Brian Cox and Paul Dano. Set in New York (without the...

Day 5 is probably the most exhausting day I’ve had yet!

Despite predictions of rain, the sun continues its stunning conquest upon Edinburgh, and a few tan lines are beginning to show… Not really, as we’re all sitting in the dark enjoying the screenings…

The day began with High School, a comedy in which top-of-the-class Henry (Matt Bush) reconnects with his burn-out friend Travis (Sean Marquette) and do what Travis does best – get high. Soon after, the principal of their school announces that he is mandating a drug test of the entire student body. The only logical conclusion? Everybody must get stoned. Adrien Brody gives an outlandish performance as Crazy Ed, their drug dealer. The chaos that ensues is hilarious, with plenty of laughs peppered throughout. With a straight-laced Michael Chiklis as the school Principle and Colin Hanks getting loose as the cool vice-dean, it’s The Girl Next Door...

Two highly-anticipated second feature films from U.S. underground filmmakers will be making their World Premieres all the way over at the 64th annual Edinburgh International Film Festival, which will run for twelve days on June 16-27. The films are Rona Mark’s The Crab and Zach Clark’s Vacation!.

The Crab, which screens on June 21, is the touching story of a verbally abusive man born with two enormous, mutant-like hands; while Vacation!, which screens on June 20, tracks four urban gals let loose in a sunny seaside resort down South.

Both Mark and Clark previously screened their debut features at Eiff. Mark’s Strange Girls screened there in 2008 and Clark’s Modern Love Is Automatic screened in 2009. Both films also ended up as runners-up in Bad Lit’s annual Movie of the Year award, again Strange Girls in 2008 and Modern Love in 2009. Sadly, these two masterpieces are still unavailable on...

The Edinburgh International Film Festival this afternoon published their full line-up for 2010, and it’s looking good. Check out the website - www.edfilmfest.org.uk

I’ll be covering the festival which runs from 16th-29th of June, so keep your eye out for reviews, interviews and insider info in our third year of coverage from Eiff.

The McHenry brothers direct Jackboots on WhiteHall an eagerly anticipated film in which Winston Churchill hides out in lawless Scotland, as an all-star cast voices an alternative animated history of WWII – I can’t wait to see this one! In Ollier Kepler’s Expanding Purple World, the brilliant Edward Hogg (White Lightnin’; Bunny and the Bull) stars in a darkly funny study of one man’s walk on the weird side. Then there’s Cherry Tree Lane, Paul Andrew Willaim’s latest thriller. Pelican Blood by Karl Golden looks pretty incredible and...

May 07, 2010

The Good Heart is a well-intentioned drama with a pair of talented actors but it goes nowhere for a long time before diving head first into a sea of unearned sentimentality. Uncertain of its intention to be a gritty slice of life on the dirty side of the tracks or an inspirational tale of one life changing another, The Good Heart is a wildly inconsistent film that aspires to realism but too often wallows in cliché. Even the roles taken by Brian Cox and Paul Dano too easily play to the two ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com...

In its seventh weekend, City Island expanded to take first place among limited releases, with Bollywood crime caper Housefull and previous limited champ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo falling just behind it. New movies from Michael Caine and Nicole Holofcener also performed fairly well, while The Good Heart and Mercy failed to spark much interest. After six weeks of relatively decent numbers, City Island more than tripled its theater count this weekend, making $733,338 at 269 locations. The comedy has tallied just under $2.1 million, though based on its per theater average of $2,726 this weekend, it may have finally reached its level of saturation. Housefull pulled in $642,156 at 82 theaters for a per theater average of $7,831. This is the best start for a Bollywood movie since My Name is Khan opened to $1.9 million in February, though that movie had the strength of Fox Searchlight behind it. It's also the best opening for an...

Iceland has laid claim to “The Good Heart.” Although the drama starring Brian Cox and Paul Dano is set in a New York dive bar, it was directed by Icelander Dagur Kári and filmed in downtown Rekjavic. And two years after production, the island nation can’t seem to let go: As the cast and crew prepared for its Manhattan premiere, the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted, covering the European airspace with plumes of ash and grounding plane travel. In Serbia filming Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut “Coriolanus,” Cox couldn’t make it stateside to attend the premiere. He did, however, promote the film by phone from downtown Belgrade.

“I love the film,” he says. “I just think it’s a beautiful film, and I want as many people to see it as possible.”

In “The Good Heart,” Cox plays Jacques, the cantankerous owner of the House of Oysters. Far from the cast...

Andrew Paquin put his directorial debut Open House on the market at Tribeca and spilled the shoot’s bloody details to Collider, along with two of his stars, Rachel Blanchard (Snakes On A Plane) and Brian Geraghty (fresh off The Hurt Locker’s Oscar wins). As the title indicates, Alice (Blanchard) opens her home to prospective buyers. A cold-blooded killer (Geraghty) slips in and hides out until he can take her hostage and slay some houseguests with the help of his sociopathic partner, Lila (Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer). True Blood’s Golden Globe winner Anna Paquin (yes, she’s Andrew’s sister) and her real-life fiancée/series co-star Stephen Moyer make extended cameos.

Hit the jump for the full interviews to hear why Paquin’s house suffered for his art, what it’s like to direct your future brother-in-law in a sex scene that did not involve the bride-to-be,...

Just about every filmmaker alive has at one point or another wanted to make a movie in New York City, but when Iceland's Dagur Kári came to the city to shoot his new movie The Good Heart with Brian Cox and Paul Dano, he decided to play down some of the things that sets New York apart. In fact, much of his movie takes place inside a bar set built in Iceland as Cox and Dano, reteaming for the first time since their indie breakout L.I.E. , play two eccentric characters brought together by chance who must find a middle ground in their personalities to keep the bar running smoothly. Cox is Jacques, the cranky old bar owner whose adherence to a strict set of rules is shaken up when he meets Dano's Lucas, a naïve but generous homeless young man who Jacques hopes will inherit the bar...

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

Check out my new column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp

The Good Heart - Poster Giveaway

Those who saw There Will Be Blood ought to err on the side of hyperbole when describing Paul Dano’s performance in that film.

Movies like Little Miss Sunshine and Gigantic have shown Dano to be an actor who isn’t just earning roles based on how he looks on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, espousing him as the next new “It” actor, he’s getting work because he’s just good at what he does.

That looks like it’s continuing with the movie The Good Heart, a film by Dagur Kári. Kári directed 2003’s wonderful Nói, a movie about a boy looking to escape his life in one of the more honest and truthful...

Early in The Good Heart, morose homeless man Paul Dano is pulled back from the brink of death by doctors and nurses at a New York hospital, who are so moved by his gratitude that they take up a collection to help him get back on his feet. But as soon as Dano leaves the hospital, he runs into some of his fellow street people, and gives all the hospital’s money away. Meanwhile, his hospital roommate Brian Cox, the owner of a nearby shithole bar, finds out from his doctor that he’s eligible for a heart transplant, but ...

A grimly modern fable with a giveaway title, The Good Heart wears it modest narrative intentions -- along with just about everything else -- on its sleeve. A regulation tale of bittersweet uplift involving a saintly young homeless man and a villainous codger with no apparent heirs and a nasty heart attack habit, the film aims not to surprise but to soothe you with the pleasure of its company, its variations on a familiar theme. Despite its capable leads and sturdy framework, in his American debut Icelandic writer and director Dagur Kári relies too heavily on the fleeting rewards of situation for the film to come together as an involving story.