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Netflix is set to bring The Boys from Brazil back to life with Succesion star Jeremy Strong.

Per Deadline, the streaming giant is reportedly developing a remake of The Boys from Brazil, with Strong slated to take the lead. The series will be adapted by The Crown's Peter Morgan, who will executive produce alongside Orchid Pictures' Suzanne Mackie. Netflix declined to make any official comment regarding the report.

Related'It's Tricky': The Hunger Games Director Shares an Update on the Franchise's Next Movie

The Hunger Games' Francis Lawrence explains the inherent difficulties of developing the next prequel film while waiting for the novel to release.

Based on Ira Levin's 1976 novel of the same name, 1978's The Boys from Brazil was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner from a script by Heywood Gould. The film starred Laurence Olivier as Nazi hunter Ezra Lieberman, who joins the search for fellow Nazi hunter Barry Kohler,...

TV had the run of the place for awhile there during the pandemic. But now that vaccinations are speeding up and the weather is warming, it’s film’s time to shine. At least that’s the conclusion that can be drawn from HBO Max’s list of new releases for June 2021.

There are no real original TV series of note coming this month, which is highly unusual for HBO and HBO Max. In their place, however, are some really impressive film offerings. Major Warner Bros. titles like The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (June 4) and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights (June 11) both arrive this month. So too do some interesting documentaries like Revolutionary Rent on June 15 and Lfg on June 24. The former deals with the staging of the musical Rent in Cuba and the latter follows the U.S. women’s soccer team’s fight for equal pay.

While the 2020 SXSW Film Festival has been canceled due to the coronavirus, IndieWire is covering select titles from this year’s edition.

The opening moments of Trey Shults’ 2015 debut “Krisha” established one of the most commanding faces in recent American cinema: The director’s aunt, Krisha Fairchild, embodied a world-weary alcoholic trainwreck through a map of withered features and sunken eyes and created a fiery portrait of rage and profound sadness. It’s hard to imagine another movie as suited to carry that commanding presence than Shults’ semi-biographical debut, but five years later, “Freeland” comes close.

More from IndieWireSXSW 2020 Will Still Hand Out Film Awards Despite Cancellation'i Used to Go Here' Review: Gillian Jacobs Carries a Funny and Smart Study of Millennial Ennui

Co-directors Mario Furloni and Kate McLean’s scrappy character study about an aging pot farmer coming to grips with legalization was shot on actual marijuana farms and adapted from real events,...

“Woodshock” begins with death, as Theresa (Kirsten Dunst), a medical marijuana dispensary employee, provides her terminally ill mother (Susan Traylor, “Greenberg”) with a dignified end by spiking some weed with a toxic, unnamed liquid substance. This sequence is juxtaposed with shots of Theresa in the nearby woods, physically tiny and powerless as she wanders among living, old growth redwoods and their devastated, blunt stumps. (The film was shot in Northern California’s Humboldt County.) A powerful opening, it’s reminiscent of “Wanda,” Barbara Loden’s 1970 independent classic that begins with a miserable housewife wandering through a decimated, coal-blackened landscape in Pennsylvania and.

A California woman is in jail after attempting last week to perform an exorcism on her 11-year-old daughter while on a local beach, authorities allege.

Kimberly Felder, 45, was charged Tuesday with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, felony child abuse and aggravated mayhem, People confirms.. She remains behind bars at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility in Eureka, California. Her arraignment is scheduled for 1:30 pm local time on Tuesday.

Investigators say that on Friday, Felder allegedly stripped her young daughter naked and shoved handfuls of sand in the girl’s eyes and mouth while at Centerville Beach County Park near Eureka in Northern California.

In today's Horror Highlights, we have trailers for The Magnificent Dead and 3 Dead Trick or Treaters, details on Ed Marx editing Death Camp, and news about John Cusack and Christina Ricci joining the cast of Distorted.

The Magnificent Dead: Press Release: Sgl Entertainment is pleased to announce that they have just released The Magnificent Dead an epic western horror film. With a budget of more than a million dollars, this movie has been waiting for more than seven years to be released, but now the wait is over.

Directed by Shane Scott and starring Alexis Celeste Elliott, Jack Wilson, Lavelle White, David Lampe, Gilbert Austinamie Teer, Ric Maddox, Ayla Judson, Venda D’Abato, Sam Anderson, Margaret Hoard, Rick Perkins, John Arkinson, Steve Uzzell, Fred Ellis, Mark A. Hernandez, Joseph Fotinos, Chaille Stidham, Michael Sorrells, Julian Haddad, Karl Anderson, John Weathers, Marita De La Torre, Christian Haddad, Adam Simon, Kale Peel,...

Guy Fieri may be the face of one of Food Network’s biggest shows, but he says he wouldn’t be where he is today without the help of his elementary school teacher.

When the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host was in 8th grade, his history teacher, Fran Fischer, helped him enter his pretzel pushcart in that year’s Humboldt County History Day. His parents were unable to take him to present his project, so Fieri says Fischer offered to drive him 45 minutes to the competition, where he ended up taking home the first place prize.

That small act of...

Natalie Griffin and Jenna Santos had just spent two days in Humboldt County in northern California visiting friends when the high school pals were making the three-hour drive back home to Castro Valley Wednesday evening.

It was raining as they drove south on Highway 101 through Mendocino county, with Santos at the wheel and Griffin texting her boyfriend. “The next thing I knew we were hydroplaning, then we were upside down and I felt this really big impact on my head,” Griffin, 19, tells People, of the terrifying seconds as the car flipped over and landed right-side up in a raging creek swollen by rain.

A California college student survived a horrific car crash that killed her best friend by clinging to a tree in a freezing creek for 12 hours, according to the Press Democrat.

Natalie Griffin, 19, escaped the wreckage of the car through a broken rear window after the vehicle veered off Highway 101 in Mendocino County Wednesday and into the fast-moving creek, the newspaper says.

The accident killed Griffin’s Castro Valley High School classmate, Jenna M. Santos,19, Griffin’s cousin, Monica Keyser, told the Press Democrat. The crash is under investigation, a dispatcher with the California Highway Patrol tells People.

The pair had...

Perfectly navigating an intricate balance between a group of diverse friends who are determined to support each other, no matter how distinct their opinions are, can be a challenging, yet equally rewarding and gratifying, process. The four main characters in the new independent comedy, ‘Growing Up & Other Lies,’ which opens today in select theaters and on VOD nationwide, enthrallingly pledge to help each other during their times of identity crisis. The movie’s writer-directors, Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs, who both starred in and produced the project, also remained powerfully loyal to each other on their second feature film collaboration, after they penned and helmed the 2008 comedy-drama, ‘Humboldt County.’ [ Read More ]

The post Interview: Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs Talk Growing Up & Other Lies (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

Jake (Josh Lawson) kicks off a walk down the length of Manhattan with a declaration of defeat: He's heading back to the Midwest after a decade scraping by as an artist. Rocks (Adam Brody), Billy (Danny Jacobs), and Gunderson (Wyatt Cenac) are hoping to talk him out of the move during this day-long, 260-block trek. The question that soon arises isn't why Jake would head home to help an ailing father, but why, exactly, these guys are friends. The seriocomic Growing Up and Other Lies, written and directed by Jacobs and Darren Grodsky (Humboldt County), offers strained male bonding from a quartet sorely out of tune. These former roommates and college buds rely on nostalgia for their once-strong connection, and it's not long past Inwood that strains begin to a...

Friendship, past loves, and the burden of living in New York City as an artist meet in “Growing Up & Other Lies,” an “anti-coming-of-age comedy” from the directors of “Humboldt County.” The Manhattan-centric movie stars Adam Brody, Wyatt Cenac, Danny Jacobs, Josh Lawson, Amber Tamblyn, and Lauren Miller, and is about a man leaving New York who takes his best friends on a walking tour of their greatest memories. Here’s the official synopsis: After struggling for years as an artist in New York City, Jake is calling it quits and returning home to Ohio. On his last day in the city, he persuades his three oldest friends to help him retrace their greatest adventure together: a walk down the entire length of Manhattan. But their attempt to reclaim the glory of their early 20s doesn’t go quite as planned. Over the course of the day, buried conflicts emerge as...

Being a huge fan of Bobcat Goldthwait since his 1987 standup show “Share The Warmth,” I’ve seen him go from actor to comedian to writer-director. Huey Lewis, Barnacle scrapers, and Top Gun were never thought of the same way again after his concert.

There was nothing like him when he first came on the scene and almost thirty years later, the man is still a genius.

Described by Jimmy Kimmel as “Scary and the Hendersons” and by Bobcat himself as “The Blair-Squatch Project,” found footage movie Willow Creek is a radical departure in Goldthwait’s career after directing a string of black comedies (World’S Greatest Dad, God Bless America).

In the great American tradition of people venturing into the woods and encountering absolutely pants-wetting terror, what starts as two dorks with a video camera having a lark in a national park metastasizes into something much deeper, darker, and queasier.

Festival darling Willow Creek heads to select theaters and VOD on June 6th, courtesy of Mpi/Dark Sky Films. We now have a new trailer and one-sheet for the Bobcat Goldthwait-directed film to pass along to you. When you're done with the promo, read my review of the film here. Set in Humboldt County, California, Willow Creek centers on Jim (Bryce Johnson, Pretty Little Liars) a Bigfoot believer whose idea of a romantic getaway is to head deep into Six Rivers National Forest in Northern California, video camera in tow, trying to shoot his own Bigfoot footage at the site of the Patterson-Gimlin film.

The post The Latest Poster & Trailer for Bobcat Goldthwait’s Willow Creek appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

The legend of Bigfoot is getting the found footage treatment from none other than comedian turned actor Bobcat Goldthwait (Officer Zed!). He’s done the work for us by describing Willow Creek it as "The Blair-Squatch Project"; I see what he did there. Here’s the synopsis: Set in Humboldt County, California, Willow Creek centers on Jim (Bryce Johnson) a Bigfoot believer whose idea of a romantic getaway is to head deep into Six Rivers National Forest...

The trailer for Bobcat Goldthwait's latest film has dropped from Dark Sky Films and it looks great. Our reviewer Zack Mosley had great things to say about the found-footage Bigfoot horror when he caught Willow Creek at Vff last year and being a fan of Goldthwait's previous work, I'm pretty excited to check it out.

Willow Creek hits VOD June 6, so watch for it.

Long Synopsis:

Set in Humboldt County, California, Willow Creek centers on Jim (Bryce Johnson, Pretty Little Liars) a Bigfoot believer whose idea of a romantic getaway is to head deep into Six Rivers National Forest in Northern California, video camera in tow, trying to shoo [Continued ...]...

We’ve been chatting up Willow Creek from director Bobcat Goldthwait for a while now and we are very close to being able to lay eyes on his Bigfoot masterpiece. To prepare for the June 6h rollout we are being treated to some kickass new poster art, check it out!

Pretty damn sweet in my book!

Need a little refresher on what to expect?

Set in Humboldt County, California, Willow Creek centers … Continue reading →

Horrornews.net...

Mpi/Dark Sky Films has released the first trailer and poster for the upcoming found footage thriller Willow Creek, debuting on VOD formats and in theaters June 6. Bryce Johnson and Alexie Gilmore star as Jim and Kelly, who take a vacation in Humboldt County, California, where Jim tries to capture Bigfoot on camera at the site of the famous Patterson-Gimlin film from 1967. Writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait's new film debuts in theaters and on VOD formats June 6.

Described by Jimmy Kimmel as "Scary and the Hendersons" and by writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait himself as "The Blair-Squatch Project," found footage movie Willow Creek is a radical departure in Goldthwait's career after directing a string of black comedies (World's Greatest Dad, God Bless America). In the great American tradition of people venturing into the woods and encountering absolutely pants-wetting terror, what starts as two dorks with a video camera having a lark in a...

Generally speaking, you often associate the found footage genre with younger filmmakers, working on a smaller budget, hoping to create something accessible, and frankly, somewhat basic with limited financial backing. It’s therefore fascinating to see established directors hone their crafts in this style and inject their experience into the genre, as following on from Barry Levinson’s commendable endeavour The Bay, now Bobcat Goldthwait turns his head to found footage with Willow Creek.

Alexie Gilmore and Bryce Johnson play Kelly and Jim, respectively, a couple who set out to explore the mythology surrounding Bigfoot. The latter is a firm believer in the creature and aspiring documentarian, so they head to Humboldt County in California to speak to locals, and to camp in the very same woods the famous 1967 sighting took place, are find out if the rumours of Bigfoot’s existence are true, once and for all.

The subject matter is brilliant,...

We told you that the sliver of sasquatchploitation from Bobcat Goldthwait known as Willow Creek (review) has scored itself some domestic distribution via Dark Sky Films, and now we have some release details for ya!

Mpi will release the flick in NYC on June 6th at the IFC Center with a theatrical rollout to follow.

Described by Jimmy Kimmel as “Scary and the Hendersons” and by writer-director Bobcat Goldthwait himself as “The Blair-Squatch Project,” found footage movie Willow Creek is a radical departure in Goldthwait’s career after directing a string of black comedies (World’s Greatest Dad, God Bless America).

In the great American tradition of people venturing into the woods and encountering absolutely pants-wetting terror, what starts as two dorks with a video camera having a lark in a national park metastasizes into something much deeper, darker, and queasier.

Set in Humboldt County, California, Willow Creek centers on Jim (Bryce Johnson,...

If you've ever watched Food Network mainstay "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" and found yourself wondering about host Guy Fieri's formative years, then Friday's (Feb. 7) Season 19 premiere (yes -- Season 19!) was tailor-made for you.

In the hour long special, Fieri took his fans on a culinary tour of his hometown of Ferndale, Calif., making sure to visit the spots that were so instrumental in his formative foodie years.

There was the Hotel Ivanhoe, where the chef had his first kitchen job ever. Then the Ferndale Meat Company, where he was apparently making beef jerky after school in fifth grade. Next, it was on to The Awesome Pretzel Cart, a business he began at 12 that is now run by local school kids (this stop was also the perfect opportunity for Fieri to show he could donate $100 like it was no big deal).

Apparently, Ferndale didn't have enough locations to fill the hour (seriously,...

Another spin on the classic and truly twisted Edgar Allan Poe tale The Tell Tale Heart will be causing a stir at this year's Cannes Film Market, and we have the trailer and sales art for you right here. Dig it!

From the Press Release

Darclight Films, the edgy genre-driven label of Arclight Films, announces the acquisition and release of first-look footage of John La Tier’s inspired directorial debut The Tell Tale Heart starring Rose McGowan (Grindhouse, TVs "Charmed," Jawbreaker, Scream), Peter Bogdanovich ("The Sopranos," Humboldt County, Festival In Cannes, TVs "The Simpsons") and Patrick John Flueger (Footloose, Brothers, TVs "The 4400"). Based on the classic short story of the same name penned by Edgar Allan Poe, America’s first master of horror over 150 years ago, La Tier, who also co-wrote the script, transplants the gloomy Gothic story into vibrant and enchanting modern day New Orleans. Darclight Films will...

New York — Cupcake makers, pawnbrokers and storage container raiders have all had their moments in reality television's spotlight. Now the time may be right for marijuana growers – and the people who chase them.

The Discovery network debuts a six-episode series, "Weed Country," at 10 p.m. Wednesday and will replace it with "Pot Cops" in April. Both examine the marijuana trade in northern California.

It fits Discovery's efforts to introduce interesting subcultures to viewers, said Nancy Daniels, the network's executive vice president for production and development on the West Coast. Discovery tried a series about a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland two years ago, "Weed Wars," and is sticking with dope even though the show didn't do very well in the ratings.

"We still think it's an interesting world and maybe we didn't tap into the right part of it," Daniels said.

Based on its first episode, "Weed Country" is a...

I’ll admit I had no idea what Dinotasia was until I read the following press release, and since then, it’s climbed up my Netflix queue like Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger. Or something that climbs well. The feature length animated film is co-directed by Werner Herzog as well as narrated by the guy (who has one of the top 24 voices in showbiz), and described as Sopranos meets prehistoric times. It has psychedelic drugs, violence, and some awesome visuals. Really, why hadn’t I heard of this before?! Get onboard people. It’s out now on DVD and Blu-Ray. Check out the press release, a trailer, and the cool poster.

From the Press Release:

Creative Differences announces the Tuesday, November 6, 2012, release of Dinotasia, an animated feature film narrated by Werner Herzog, on DVD/Blu-ray and digital platforms in the U.S. and Canada through Flatiron Film Company, a label of...

Dinotasia is a feature-length animated film with narration by Werner Herzog being released November 6th on DVD/Blue-ray and digital platforms, and while you can't quite call it horror, dinosaurs + violence/sex/psychedelics + Herzog = a unique sub-category that we think will appeal to a lot of you.

From the Press Release:

Creative Differences announces the Tuesday, November 6, 2012, release of Dinotasia, an animated feature film narrated by Werner Herzog, on DVD/Blu-ray and digital platforms in the U.S. and Canada through Flatiron Film Company, a label of Cinedigm Entertainment Group (Nasdaq: Cidm). A marriage between classic visual storytelling and CGI dinosaurs, the film is an anthology of humorous prehistoric stories created in the cartoon-style of the Golden Age of animation. The film is co-directed by long-time Herzog collaborator Erik Nelson and Disney character designer David Krentz. The DVD/Blue-ray includes the 83-minute feature film plus an extended scene, a mating rites extra story,...

Corey Grant is an African-American director with such titles as Hip-Hop Task Force and its follow-up, Studio, on his resume. Stereotypically speaking, he's not your typical horror director.

But this fearless filmmaker recently trekked to Northern California with his crew and brought back Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes, which opens this Friday, October 19th.

"It's about a disgraced television host who was hoaxed by a fictional UFO story on a previous show, and it killed his career," Grant said in describing Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes. "Now he stages his comeback when he finds out there is a Bigfoot hunter who supposedly has an image of Bigfoot. So he figures he can do a show, but this time do it about people who pull hoaxes. Then he can bring his career back. So, of course, they travel up to Northern California to find this Bigfoot hunter, but when they get up there,...

A full cast listing for the indie ensemble comedy Growing Up (and Other Lies) has been announced. Adam Brody, Amber Tamblyn, Wyatt Cenac (The Daily Show), Josh Lawson (The Campaign), Danny Jacobs (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns), and Lauren Miller (For a Good Time, Call…) round out the cast of the film. The story centers on a 30-year-old (Lawson) “who on his last day in New York City before he moves back home to the Midwest recruits his three oldest friends to help him retrace their greatest adventure: walking the entire, 260-block length of the island of Manhattan in one day.” Variety reports that Jacobs and Darren Grodsky (Humboldt County) are directing the pic from their own script. Production is currently underway in New York City on what sounds like a fairly promising premise with a strong ensemble cast.

Right under our noses, Adam Brody, Zachary Quinto, Amber Tamblyn and Taran Killam were all filming an indie in Manhattan. Word of this production has only now arrived as the film, titled Growing Up (and Other Lies), is getting some work done in upper Manhattan; a fan even caught Brody shooting in their neighborhood.

It was revealed that Saturday Night Live star Killam (who also has a part in Steve McQueen‘s Twelve Years a Slave) would headline as an artist headed back home to run the family business, and whose ambitions are hurt by an ex-girlfriend (Tamblyn). But now we have more, thanks to the film’s production company, so check out that synopsis below.

“A day before 30-year-old Jake Reznowski moves from New York City back home to Ohio, he recruits his three oldest friends to retrace their greatest adventure in the city: walking the entire, 260-block length...

Taran Killam is a fairly recent addition to NBC's Saturday Night Live, but one expected to help fill the enormous hole left by exiting cast members Kristen Wiig, Andy Samberg and (possibly) Jason Sudeikis. Killam has been great in his two years on the sketch comedy show so far and before returning for extra responsibilities this fall, he's lined up a few impressive feature film roles. The actor recently landed a supporting role in Steve McQueen's Twelve Years A Slave opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt (oddly enough, one of Killam's impressions) but first he'll appear in two smaller films. Variety reports that Killam is set to star in Danny Jacobs and Darren Grodsky's new movie called Growing Up (and Other Lies). From the writer-directors of Humboldt County), Growing Up is a comedy about four friends who make a pact to walk the length of Manhattan...

• Jason Bateman, Zac Efron, Goldie Hawn, Leslie Mann, Malin Akerman, and Jason Sudeikis are all in negotiations to star in the ensemble comedy This is Where I Leave You, author Jonathan Tropper’s adaptation of his own novel about four grown siblings who return home to grieve their deceased father. Adam Shankman is attach to direct. [Deadline, Variety]

• Michelle Pfeiffer is in talks to play Robert DeNiro’s wife in the dark comic thriller Malavita, about a mob family that moves to France under witness relocation, and falls back on old habits. Director Luc Besson adapted the script from Tony Benacquista’s unfortunately titled book Badfellas.

Candidate Andy Caffrey made a name for himself by promising he would smoking a marijuana cigarette on the steps of the Capitol building if he won his Congressional bid in his home district in Humboldt County, California. Caffrey visited Now with Alex Wagner to make the case for legalization, arguing that marijuana was not just a medical product in his eyes, but a potentially integral part of his district's economy.

Casey Casseday takes viewers into the fields of the American medical marijuana farmer in The Green Rush, available on iNDEMAND today!

Some might think they know the truth, but few actually do, about the growing and selling of medical marijuana. The popular documentary The Green Rush provides an in-depth expose on this burgeoning industry that is still, quite literally, in its infancy. Starting this Monday, August 15th, the film, which is the winner of Best Documentary at Ava Gardner Film Festival, and the "Golden Ace" Award Winner for Best Documentary at the Las Vegas Int'l Film Festival, will be made available on iNDEMAND.

Now, you can watch The Green Rush on Time Warner, Comcast, Cox, and Brighthouse Cable VOD. To find out how you can also view the film without cable, clickHere.

This exclusive piece of investigative journalism takes you deep into the world of medical marijuana growers in Northern California,...

Everett Justin Kirk and Alexander Gould on “Weeds”

Judging by the intensity of this week’s “previously on ‘Weeds’” introductory recap segment, today’s episode is going to answer some very important questions.

From her low-rent halfway house bedroom, Nancy is taking a call from Silas, who apparently has returned from his stint as a pot picker for Heylia James out in Humboldt County, California. As part of the deal with Heylia, Silas has returned with 30 pounds of vacuum-sealed, Grade...

Everett Mary-Louise Parker and Aidan Quinn in “Weeds”

We’re ready to put a little bit of Heylia James back in our lives.

We pick up right where we left off, in the front yard of Heylia’s Humboldt County, California halfway house. She’s got a rifle, and she looks like she means to use it.

Nancy and Silas take cover behind a dumpster, but Heylia doesn’t waste her time. She lets off a few choice shots, breaking...

When I was forwarded this news item I wasn't exactly what to make of it. In fact, I'm still not 100% sure what it is. At first I thought it was a web series but there's constant mention of a joint cd/DVD release later this year. Whatever The Purple Plague is, it's hyper-stylized and features ex-wwe diva Maria Kanellis battling zombies.

Here's the rest of the info I could find on The Purple Plague from the official website of Humboldt Storms.

Maria Kanellis of Playboy, Celebrity Apprentice and WWE Diva fame stars as Lady Jane in "The Purple Plague". Chapter one of the movie will be found on Humboldt Storms Vol. 2 cd/dvd released October 2011. The Purple Plague is being filmed and produced in a new cutting edge style that is an explosive mixture of animation and live action, twisted in a way that makes it a mind-blowing assult on the visual senses!

Eddie Izzard joins Showtime's United States of Tara for Season 3 Multi-faceted comedian and actor Eddie Izzard and multiple award-winning actress Frances Conroy will guest star on the Showtime series United States of Tara. Izzard will appear in eight episodes and Conroy in one episode of the third season opposite Toni Collette, last year's Emmy Award winner and this year's Emmy nominee for her role as Tara Gregson, a wife and mother who struggles with Dissociative Identity Disorder (Did). Izzard will play Tara's brilliant psychology professor who is at first a Did skeptic, but becomes fascinated with Tara as a subject, leading him to further explore the condition. Conroy will star as Max Gregson's (John Corbett) mother, a recluse with a compulsive hoarding problem. Production on season three begins mid-September in Los Angeles for a 2011 premiere.

Eddie Izzard has been hailed as one of the foremost stand-up comedians of his generation.

[Update: We've now have a synopsis about the plot of Devil]

M. Night Shyamalan is one of those divisive directors in Hollywood - not because of politically controversial film topics like say Michael Moore, or over-the-top art house edge like Lars von Trier. He doesn’t even make it into the mainstream news media spouting off-hand remarks, or getting picked up while driving drunk, flinging anti-Semitic racial slurs. No, Shyamalan divides audiences into those that love his work and those that don’t because of his story telling; there’s no real fence-riding when it comes to his films.

Shyamalan’s next story, Devil, a horror-thriller, is being backed by Universal and directed by brothers John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle (Quarantine) with actor Chris Messina (Julie and Julia) attached to star. Brian Nelson (30 Days of Night) wrote the script based on Shyamalan’s story, the details of which are being kept a tightly guarded secret. I’m not really sure...

Five years ago, we all gushed and oohed over how the Internet had shrunk the world, bringing Moscow as close as Massachusetts. Now, in reaction against growing globalism, we celebrate the local, buying carrots from nearby farms, and furnishings made from local materials. Local currencies are emerging as well.

Hyper-localized currencies have been popping ever since the economy went sour--not surprising, since local currencies also gained popularity during the Great Depression. Five local Massachusetts banks have developed Berkshares (above)--there are 185,000 paper notes are already in circulation--each of which is designed by a local artist. California's Humboldt County has distributed $130,000 in currency since 2005, and Canada's Toronto Dollar (below) moved $90,000 worth of currency in the past year.

Douglas Ruskoff, author of Life Inc.,a condemnation of corporate culture published in June, advocates the use of local currencies as a way of preventing national companies from sapping value from neighborhoods without reciprocating.

Madrid -- Vic Sarin's "A Shine of Rainbows" and Nian Liu's "Li Tong" will have their world premieres in competition at the third Ibiza International Film Festival, festival director Xavier Benlloch announced Tuesday as he revealed the lineup of what organizers call the "Cannes after-hours."

Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs' "Humboldt County," Rachel Samuels' "Dark Streets," Uros Stoganovic's "Tears for Sale" and Leonardo Armas' "Radio Love" round out the official competition for the grand prize, called the Falco d'Or.

Scottish director Bill Forsyth, Spanish film critic Jose Eduardo Arenas and Indian producer Rohan Sippy comprise the official jury at the festival, which will showcase Terry Gilliam's work in sidebar.

None of the films in competition have screened in Spain yet, and Benlloch emphasized the festival's strategy.

"A good jury and good films make good festivals," Benlloch said. "Festivals aren't meant to be so Spielberg can premiere his latest film.

World economies are crumbling, so maybe we should just scrap them completely and start over. That's the idea behind Mexican artist Minerva Cueva's S.Coop coins, which have been given to retailers in London's Petticoat Lane Market. When customers receive change from a purchase in the market, they receive S.Coop coins that can be redeemed at Cueva's Monochrome ice cream parlor.

Cueva's S.Coop project fits with the ideals of the burgeoning Transition Town movement, which seeks to make communities completely self-sustaining. By providing money that can only be redeemed at physical stores, local currencies reduce our tendency to buy books on Amazon instead of walking to the local bookstore down the street (if any of those still exist).

Hyper-localized currencies have been popping up more and more as the economy gets weaker--not surprising since local currencies also gained popularity during the Great Depression. The Berkshires' Berkshares currency is...

South By Southwest (SXSW), the yearly music, film and interactive festival in Austin, Texas, is gradually becoming a more relevant festival for filmmakers to debut their films. Several big-name and indie films will premiere there this year.

Last year at SXSW, according to the Hollywood Reporter, "Humboldt County," a high school politics documentary "Frontrunners" and two documentaries, "They Killed Sister Dorothy" and "One Minute to Nine," were shown. All films were picked up by distributors; HBO picked up the docs, Magnolia took "Humbolt County," and Oscilloscope took "Frontrunners."

As for big-name films, last year Columbia premiered the blackjack drama "21" at SXSW. New Line Cinemas debuted "Harold and Kumar: Escape From Guantanamo Bay."

"In the last few years, South By [aka SXSW] is breaking out of the impression people have had of it as a regional event and is become a tastemaking festival," Producer Thomas Woodrow told the Hollywood Reporter. Woodrow chose to debut his movie,...

When producer Thomas Woodrow began debating the ideal launchpad for his movie "True Adolescents," he ran through the usual festival suspects: Sundance, Cannes, Toronto and Telluride.

But Woodrow decided to premiere his $1 million comedy featuring Oscar nominee Melissa Leo at South by Southwest, a fest that until recently was known as an afterthought to the powerhouse music event that runs alongside it.

Sure, "Adolescents" is music-oriented, aimed at the same young, hip audience that flocks to Austin each March, and its star, Mark Duplass, is well-known locally.

But more importantly, "the fact a golden handful of distributors who are potential partners are certainly going to be there made it the obvious choice," Woodrow says.

His decision to go with South by Southwest (SXSW or "South By," as it is known) reflects the increasing relevance of the fest heading into its 16th go-round, which begins today and runs through March 21.

Although hardly a busy acquisitions market,...

Last year, it seemed too strange to be true that Werner Herzog and David Lynch were teaming up for a film together -- My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done. Almost any other directorial combo I could see, but the minds of Herzog (director) and Lynch (producer)? Merging directorial quirks is one thing, but when two men have distinct visions and artistic sense, that isn't the most stable situation. Who wins out when grizzlies face backward-talking little people?

Surprisingly enough, the project is still in motion, and it's definitely not featuring any common Lynch players. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Michael Peña (Lions for Lambs), Brad Dourif (Humboldt County), and Bill Cobbs (Night at the Museum) have joined a cast that already includes Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, and Chloe Sevigny.

The last three aren't big surprises (but very welcome and excellent choices) since each has had their share of alternative feature work,...

TitleBox OfficeSummary The Family That Preys$37.1MKathy Bates and Alfre Woodard are two matriarchs tested by scandal. Mirrors$30.6MAn evil force utilizes mirrors to enter a cop's home. Appaloosa$20.1MTwo lawmen bring a malevolent rancher to justice. My Best Friend's Girl$19.2MDane Cook, Kate Hudson, and Jason Biggs form an unlikely love triangle. Swing Vote$16.2Ma beer-slinging dad (Kevin Costner) will determine an election. Brideshead Revisited$6.4MOne Oxford student gets tangled up with British aristocrats. Brick Lane$1.Ma Bangladeshi woman arrives in London to an arranged marriage. Humboldt County$82,357Medical student finds haven with a clan of marijuana farmers.

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Link | Posted 1/13/2009 by reelz...

J.K. Simmons and Chris Messina have signed on to join Jessica Alba in Marilyn Agrelo’s upcoming drama “An Invisible Sign of My Own.”

Based on the novel by Aimee Bender, the film follows a reclusive math teacher (Alba) whose life takes a turn when a new science teacher starts working at her school.

Details about Messina’s and Simmons’ roles are unknown at this point. Variety describes the project as an "Amelie"-style indie.

Simmons can currently be seen onscreen in “Burn After Reading.” His future projects include “Jennifer’s Body” and “Crazy on the outside.”

As for Messina, he most recently starred in Woody Allen’s “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Humboldt County.” He’ll also appear in Nora Ephron’s “Julie & Julia.”

Final word: Sounds like an interesting project, although I’m not quite sure about this “Amelie”-style thing. “Amelie” is a unique masterpiece no one can get remotely close to.

Seventeen days after the attacks on 9/11, Amy Ettinger christened the first ever Scottsdale International Film Festival. It has grown every year, and has featured early opportunities to see Oscar-winning films like The Queen, and nominees like Babel, Lars and the Real Girl, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and The Kite Runner.

This year, the Scottsdale International Film Festival will include What Just Happened? with Robert De Niro, Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, Humboldt County, Dark Matter with Meryl Streep, Phoebe in Wonderland, the documentary Flow: For Love of Water, and the country music bio-pic Crazy, among nearly 20 others.

The festival runs October 3 - 7 at Harkins Camelview in Scottsdale, Arizona, with special screenings at the legendary Valley Art in Tempe.

We recently had a chance to catch up with the very busy Executive Director of the Scottsdale International Film Festival, Amy Ettinger, as final preparations were being made.

It's the eighth year of the festival,...

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="thumbnail-image-block"><span><img class="yui-img" src="http://www.screeninglog.com/storage/reports/humboldt-interview.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1222408484590"></span></span></p><p>Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs' directorial debut "Humboldt County" opens in limited release today, and although they are both quite busy at the moment promoting the film, they kindly agreed to briefly discuss how this project came to life and what experience they encountered during the production process. <br></p><p>"Humboldt Country" tells the story of Peter Hadley (Jeremy Strong, pictured above), a promising UCLA med student who finds himself stranded when he’s deposited at the multi-generational family home of the free-spirited Bogart (Fairuza Balk), following a drunken one-night stand.</p><p>Frustrated and disillusioned with his life after his professor/father (Peter Bogdanovich) fails him on an important exam, the unworldly Peter at first rejects the welcoming yet eccentric pot-smoking strangers, along with their eclectic group of friends and fellow farmers, but soon allows himself to be embraced by their ideals and begins to see life a bit clearer: despite the smoke.

By Neil Pedley

If the old maxim "What I really want to do is direct" still holds true, this week's releases confirm that the filmmaking game is more open than ever. Anyone can have a crack at it; actors, teachers, digital artists, preachers. Perhaps you should have a go yourself. Hell, if Paul W.S. Anderson can get work doing it...

"The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela"

Offering up the most unlikely fairytale you're ever likely to see, Icelandic filmmaker Olaf de Fleur Johannesson draws on his documentary background with this endearing low-budget, semi-improvised Cinderella story. As a young Filipino lady-boy, the spunky, pre-op sex worker Raquela longs to be the belle of the ball as she trawls the Internet looking for love. When an American suitor pledges to be her Prince Charming and proposes a meeting in France, Raquela departs for her long-awaited date with destiny under the glittering Paris skyline.

Directors Arthur Dong, Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass, Chris Eska, Clark Gregg, Davis Guggenheim and Freida Lee Mock are among the participants in Film Independent's fourth annual Filmmaker Forum, which will be held Sept. 26-28 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.

Producer Ted Hope will deliver this year's keynote address at the three-day event, which focusses on the latest developments in independent filmmaking.

The forum will kick off on Sept. 26 with a screening of Rian Anderson's "The Brothers Bloom," followed by a Q&A with producer Ram Bergman and other members of the creative team and a reception in the DGA atrium.

On Sept. 27 and 28, panel discussions will be held on such topics as "Finding the Financial Sweet Spot"; "What's Up Doc?"; "The Micro Budget Film as a Calling Card; New Tools for Audience Building; The Cost of Cutting Corners: Production Dos and Don'ts"; "Keeping Your Documentary on...

Directors Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs will be live in person for a special free sneak screening of their film Humboldt County!

Grodsky and Jacobs’ affectionate nod to 1970s American filmmaking brings together an ensemble of established actors including Brad Dourif, Frances Conroy, Peter Bogdanovich, Fairuza Balk; rising stars Jeremy Strong (The Happening, upcoming on Broadway, “A Man For All Seasons” opposite Frank Langella), Chris Messina (Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and youngster Madison Davenport (Kit Kittredge: An American Girl).

There will be free tickets available at the door, but we had an email rsvp system set up for our Fantastic Fest friends...here's the list of folks who are on will call and are guaranteed a seat (as long as they show up no later than 6:30p!)

Archip, Dana +1

Arp, Ian +1

Bladeys, Shelby +1

Boxer, Nora +1

Brwon, Jenn +1

Chiang, Joy +1

Couch, Andy +1

Crane, Charles +1

Ellis, Becky +1

Evans, Philip +1

Ha,...