News

Brian De Palma has been attached to quite a few promising projects over the years. Most exciting of all, the director was going to reunite with his Scarface and Carlito’s Way star, Al Pacino, for a film about coach Joe Paterno. Whether De Palma is still involved with Happy Valley is unknown, and the same can be said for The Key Man and Heat. But […]

The post Brian De Palma’s Next Film Is Chinese Thriller ‘Lights Out’ appeared first on /Film.

Screen Media Films has set a March 6, 2015 U.S. release date for Faults, an indie thriller starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead that premiered earlier this year at SXSW. Winstead stars as Claire, a cult member whose parents hire a deprogrammer (Leland Orser) to kidnap and rehabilitate her, sparking a battle of wits between the two. Writer-director Riley Stearns makes his feature debut with Faults, which was produced by Snoot Entertainment’s Keith Calder and Jessica Calder along with Winstead. Brian Joe is exec producer and Chris Harding and Roxanne Benjamin are co-producers.

Beth Grant, Chris Ellis, Jon Gries and Lance Reddick also star in the film, which will open nationwide theatrically along with a day-and-date VOD platform release. Screen Media’s Seth Needle made the deal after catching the film at SXSW. “Everyone at Screen Media has expressed such passion for the film, and it’s a pleasure to work with...

Snoot Entertainment’s thriller premiered at SXSW and stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Leland Orser.

Screen Media has set a day-and-date nationwide theatrical and digital launch for March 6, 2015.

Riley Stearns wrote the screenplay and makes his feature directorial debut on the story of a battle of wits that develops between a cult member and the deprogrammer hired by her parents to restore her former life.

Beth Grant, Chris Ellis, Jon Gries and Lance Reddick round out the key cast.

Snoot Entertainment’s Keith Calder and Jessica Calder produced Faults with Winstead. Brian Joe served as executive producer.

Screen Media president Suzanne Blech and director of acquisitions and marketing Seth Needle negotiated the deal with Wme Global on behalf of the filmmakers.

Screen Media also acquired a second film from producer Keith Calder and now has all rights to The Key Man starring Jack Davenport, Hugo Weaving, Judy Greer, and Brian Cox.

Screen will distribute...

Cast your mind back to January, when we reported on Brian De Palma attaching himself to a remake of French drama Crime d'amour, called Passion. At that early stage, there was no mention of casting, but it appears the director has two actresses interested in the leads, with Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace now in talks.

Crime starred Ludivine Sagnier and Kristen Scott Thomas in the tale of an ambitious business protege who ends up stealing her older boss's idea. The rivalry burns to such a degree that the older woman eventually turns to murder.

According to Anne Thompson, De Palma plans to twist it very slightly with the boss being the one to steal the idea. He's looking to get started filming this coming March in Berlin.

There's no word on what that will mean for the other film sitting on De Palma's dance card - conspiracy thriller The Key Man...

There are a lot of great con movies. The Spanish Prisoner, The Sting, Dirty Rotten Scoundrel, House of Games, The Thomas Crowne Affair, the list goes on and on. But The Key Man may just have one-upped them all. It's one thing to keep the viewers on their toes, always guessing what's going to happen next, how the scam is going to pull together and whether it's going to pull off without a hitch or collapse in on itself, taking the flim-flam men down with it. But The Key Man is the most meta con flick ever. You put Jack Davenport, Hugo Weaving, Brian Cox and Judy Greer in a film about an insurance salesman getting conned into a get-rich quick scheme, and any reasonable viewer expects good-to-great things. But the viewer turns out to be the ultimate mark, a rube and a sucker, because The Key Man takes 80 minutes...

Even with intriguing plots, settings and casts, some movies never find their footing, left to teeter in the awkward limbo between enjoyable and dreadful known as "boring." The Key Man, from first-time director Peter Himmelstein, assembles a top-notch cast of Hugo Weaving, Brian Cox, Jack Davenport and Judy Greer and drops them in a '70s crime drama with a brainer-than-norm throughline. Amazingly, the film is completely void of life. Bobby (Davenport) is an insurance salesman who struggles to make ends meet for his wife Karen (Greer) and his son. When he's introduced to Irving (Cox) and Vincent (Weaving), two con men looking to bring him into their criminal circle, Bobby finally sees the opportunity he's been waiting for -- fix a few books, make some quick cash and get out clean and happy. Simple. Predictably, the scheme is anything but, sending Bobby downward spiraling into the vortex of the...

I wrapped up my first weekend at SXSW with a Sunday night screening of The Key Man, starring Jack Davenport as a hapless insurance salesman, the ever delightful Judy Greer, and The Matrix's villainous Hugo Weaving as a villainous 1970s con man. Yet, for all the mutton chops, generic wah-wah soundtrack funk, and old-fashioned flip-cut editing in writer/director Peter Himmelstein's polyester period piece, the end result is mainly reminiscent of (and just as forgettable as) an old Charlie's Angels episode — and not even one of the Farrah ones. Things picked up on Monday with Better This World, a thought-provoking documentary by the filmmaking team of Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de le Vega about ethics, activism, and justice in the post-9/11 (and post-Tucson shooting) era. Disgusted with the Iraq War, two idealistic young dudes from W's hometown of Midland, Texas head off [...]...

By Elliot V. Kotek

(March 2011)

That the SXSW Film Conference and Festival (or “South by,” as preferred by insiders), which runs March 11-19 in Austin, Texas, has changed over the past 10 years is self-evident. Once solely a haven for music lovers, the program is now also bursting with interactive new media events, prominent national sponsors and a film slate so solid that distributors have started coming here with an eye to acquisitions.

With truly original and interesting programming across sections named Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Headliners, Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, 24 Beats per Second, Festival Favorites, Lone Star States, Sx Global and Special Events, there’s too much in store to provide the perfect playbook, but be sure to keep an eye out for the following baker’s dozen:

Gourdough’s: It’s not a film; it’s a food truck — and one of the many that will keep you well-oiled during the festival.

By Elliot V. Kotek

(March 2011)

That the SXSW Film Conference and Festival (or “South by,” as preferred by insiders), which runs March 11-19 in Austin, Texas, has changed over the past 10 years is self-evident. Once solely a haven for music lovers, the program is now also bursting with interactive new media events, prominent national sponsors and a film slate so solid that distributors have started coming here with an eye to acquisitions.

With truly original and interesting programming across sections named Narrative Feature Competition, Documentary Feature Competition, Headliners, Spotlight Premieres, Emerging Visions, 24 Beats per Second, Festival Favorites, Lone Star States, Sx Global and Special Events, there’s too much in store to provide the perfect playbook, but be sure to keep an eye out for the following baker’s dozen:

Gourdough’s: It’s not a film; it’s a food truck — and one of the many that will keep you well-oiled during the festival.

The idea of Hugo Weaving and Brian Cox sharing the screen together is basically a total nerd’s wet dream. In one corner you got Agent Smith, V, Megatron, Elron the elf, and Red Skull. In the other corner you got William Stryker, Ward Abbot, Robert McKee, and the original Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Could two leads get any cooler than this? Most likely not. The Key Man is making its premiere here at SXSW this week, so lets hope the film delivers as well as it should. In anticipation of its debut, we’ve got an exclusive first look at the film’s poster. Click to enlarge Official Synopsis: Bobby Scheinman is an insurance salesman struggling to provide for his family. Enter Vincent and Irving, two con men who convince Bobby to join them for a moneymaking scheme that quickly spirals out of control. The Key Man debuts Sunday, March 13 at 7:00 pm at the Alamo Ritz...

Mad Love’s Judy Greer is one of those actresses most women assume they’d be friends with in real life, and after she dropped by EW’s office last week for a chat, we can confirm you’re probably right. It’s hard not to like someone who gets giddy when the receptionist gives them a copy of the Entertainment Weekly issue with Prince William and Kate Middleton on the cover. Someone who admits that she’s not a baby person, so when one of the babies on her show (her character is a nanny) fell asleep in her arms,...

Last month, we brought you the first the trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger, which gave us our first look at The Howling Commandos, and featured a very brief (blink and you would miss it) shot of Hugo Weaving (The Key Man) as The Red Skull.

Now, thanks to Paramount Pictures we have the first, official, high resolution, full costume photo of Weaving as the villainous Johann Schmidt / The Red Skull. Check it out below, along with some words from director Joe Johnston about the film via EW .

[Click Image To Blow Sh!t Up]

Upon the release of this photo of Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull, director Joe Johnston spoke about what makes Captain America such a relatable character:

“What I like is he’s not a superhero in the true sense of the word. He becomes a superhero but doesn’t have any super powers. He is just the best possible, human specimen.

The 2011 SXSW Film Festival will feature the North American premiere of Marie Losier‘s The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, a much-anticipated documentary that chronicles the love story of industrial music pioneer Genesis P-Orridge and his late wife Lady Jaye. Screening times have not been released yet, but the festival runs this year on March 11-19 at its regular home of Austin, Texas.

Genesis and Lady Jaye had a unique relationship in which, in addition to getting married, they attempted to meld together as a single pandrogynous entity known as Breyer P-Orridge. (The “Breyer” portion of the name coming from Jaye’s maiden name.) The couple both underwent plastic surgery and hormone therapy together, as well as starting to cross-dress and adopt perfectly identical mannerisms and behaviors.

Unfortunately, Jaye passed away in 2007, although Genesis continues to live his life as Breyer P-Orridge.

Production on the film began a few...

The South by Southwest Film Festival announced its feature film line-up Wednesday, piling heaps of cinematic goodness on an already stellar program that includes Jodie Foster’s The Beaver, Duncan Jones’ Source Code, Ti West’s The Innkeepers, Conan O’Brien’s tour documentary, and the latest Simon Pegg-Nick Frost comedy, Paul, with Seth Rogen.

Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) returns to the festival with her latest film, Red Riding Hood starring Amanda Seyfried, after the writer-director spoke on a screenwriting panel in 2009.

Plus a few favorites from the Sundance Film Festival last month, like Tom McCarthy’s Win Win, Morgan Spurlock’s The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, and Max Winkler’s Ceremony.

I’m extremely excited, even if I’m already having flashbacks to intense sleep deprivation. Like the last two years, I’ll be on the ground covering as much of the festival as I can within the packed 9 days of screenings,...

‘Tapping into the cultural zeitgeist,’ at SXSW 2011

Austin, Texas – The SXSW 2011 Feature Film Lineup was unveiled Wednesday afternoon. The festival lineup will consist of 130 features, in nine full days of programming, promising to deliver a film-going experience unlike previous years.

With a reputation for taking chances on relatively unknown filmmakers, the SXSW panel of judges carefully picked 130 films from 1,792 feature-length film submissions, (1,323 U.S. and 469 international). The program consists of 60 World Premieres, 12 North American Premieres and 16 U.S. Premieres.

The main competition categories return with eight Narrative Features, and eight Documentary Features, both competing for their respective Grand Jury Prize. New for films in competition this year, are awards for screenplay, editing, cinematography, music, and acting.

(The Midnighters and SXFantastic feature sections, along with the short film program, will be announced next week.)

Here are a few of the Features to be screened, among many others.

Narratives:

The Beaver (World Premiere)

Dir.

Readers of Sound On Sight can be sure that we will indeed be covering the SXSW Film Festival once again. As previously reported, Duncan Jones’ latest film Source Code is opening the festival and there will also be premieres for the documentary Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, Greg Mottola’s Paul, and Jodie Foster’s The Beaver. Now the full line-up has been announced it is incredible.

Hit the jump to check out the line-up, and be sure to visit our site during the event.

The 2011 SXSW Film Festival runs from March 11 – 19th in Austin, Texas.

SXSW Film Announces 2011 Features Lineup

Austin, Texas – February 2, 2011 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the features lineup for this year’s Festival, March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas. The 2011 lineup continues the SXSW tradition of tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, highlighting emerging talent and breakthrough performances and supporting first-time filmmakers.

"Win Win," starring Paul Giamatti, left, and Alex Shaffer, will screen at SXSW

Aimée Lagos’ thriller “96 Minutes,” starring Brittany Snow; Chris Eyre’s “A Year in Mooring” and “American Animal” from writer-director Matt D’Elia are among the films that will screen in competition at next month’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

These films will be joined in the Headliners section by Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan in Tom McCarthy’s “Win Win,” Takashi Miike’s “13 Assassins,” Rainn Wilson in “Super” and others previously announced including Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver,” Greg Mottola’s “Paul,” the documentary “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” from director Rodman Flender, and the opening-night world premiere of Duncan Jones’ “Source Code.”

The following are highlights from the lineup announced Wednesday, with descriptions provided by the festival.

Narrative Feature Competition “96 Minutes”

Director, Writer: Aimée Lagos

Four young lives. One night. One terrifying event.

"Win Win," starring Paul Giamatti, left, and Alex Shaffer, will screen at SXSW

Aimée Lagos’ thriller “96 Minutes,” starring Brittany Snow; Chris Eyre’s “A Year in Mooring” and “American Animal” from writer-director Matt D’Elia are among the films that will screen in competition at next month’s South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.

These films will be joined in the Headliners section by Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan in Tom McCarthy’s “Win Win,” Takashi Miike’s “13 Assassins,” Rainn Wilson in “Super” and others previously announced including Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver,” Greg Mottola’s “Paul,” the documentary “Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop” from director Rodman Flender, and the opening-night world premiere of Duncan Jones’ “Source Code.”

The following are highlights from the lineup announced Wednesday, with descriptions provided by the festival.

Narrative Feature Competition “96 Minutes”

Director, Writer: Aimée Lagos

Four young lives. One night. One terrifying event.

The South By Southwest Film Conference and Festival announced this year's features lineup. The festival takes place March 11-19 in Austin, Texas.

There are a total of 130 features screening this year including 60 world premieres, 12 North American premieres and 16 U.S. premieres! This year the a total of 1,792 feature-length films were submitted, which is the most ever.

There are going to be some amazing films shown this yea. Opening night kicks off with Duncan Jones' Source Code (Moon). The fest rolls on with Jodie Foster‘s The Beaver, Greg Mottola‘s Paul, Sundance Grand Prize doc winner How to Die in Oregon, Errol Morris‘ Tabloid, Victoria Mahoney‘s Yelling to the Sky, Azazel Jacob‘s Terri. There will also be a special screening of Catherine Hardwicke‘s Red Riding Hood.

The Midnight and SXFantastic sections will be announced with the shorts program next week.

See the complete lineup below via...

The South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW) just announced their entire 2011 feature film lineup, and there’s isn’t a lot of note, with regards to this blog’s focus.

Titles you should be aware of – all of which we’ve previously profiled on Shadow And Act – include, Victoria Mahoney’s feature film debut, Yelling To The Sky (which will actually make its world debut at the Berlin Film Festival later this month); plus Blacktino, the first feature film from writer/director Aaron Burns, a self-described “blacktino nerd from Austin, Texas,” who got his start at Robert Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios doing visual effects; Benda Bilili, a documentary about a band of homeless, disabled Congolese; and last, but not least, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, a documentary about the black man that happens to be the man behind the puppet (which also played at Sundance).

There might be...

The South by Southwest Film Festival has announced their features lineup for the 2011’s Festival, which will take place March 11th to the 19th in Austin Texas. Read the full press release after the jump. SXSW Film Announces 2011 Features Lineup Austin, Texas – February 2, 2011 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the features lineup for this year’s Festival, March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas. The 2011 lineup continues the SXSW tradition of tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, highlighting emerging talent and breakthrough performances and supporting first-time filmmakers. The Midnighters and SXFantastic feature sections, along with the short film program, will be announced next week. “This is the most exciting moment for us. After a fantastic festival of discovery in 2010, we can finally unveil the line up for this year’s event,” says Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “SXSW prides itself on taking chances, sifting for...

The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce the features lineup for this year's Festival, March 11 - 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas. The 2011 lineup continues the SXSW tradition of tapping into the cultural zeitgeist, highlighting emerging talent and breakthrough performances and supporting first-time filmmakers. The Midnighters and SXFantastic feature sections, along with the short film program, will be announced next week.

"This is the most exciting moment for us. After a fantastic festival of discovery in 2010, we can finally unveil the line up for this year's event," says Film Conference and Festival Producer Janet Pierson. "SXSW prides itself on taking chances, sifting for films that are the seedlings of the next generation of must-see artists. This year's line up is full of emerging voices and filmmakers who transcended the resources they had on hand, often with an alchemist's touch."

Over the course of nine days, 130 features will...

NEW YORK -- Christopher Buckley's Wall Street satire God Is My Broker is being brought to the big screen by Edward R. Pressman Film Corp., Polsky Films and Stephen Belafonte's WhiteShark Films, with screenwriter Peter Himmelstein set to adapt the novel.

Buckley (Thank You for Smoking) sold Pressman the rights to his 1998 book, which centers on an alcoholic stock broker who gives everything up and joins a monastery. But when the monks' vow of poverty begins to take a financial toll, the former broker uses his old skills to save them, turning his new home into a frightning parallel of the world he desperately tried to escape.

Pressman, Alan and Gabe Polsky and Belafonte will produce the project. Pressman Films' Alessandro Camon and Sarah Ramey will serve as executive producers.

Himmelstein is finishing production on his feature writing and directing debut, the black comedy/thriller The Key Man, starring Jack Davenport, Brian Cox and Hugo Weaving.

Broker is the first project of the new production outfit Polsky Films.

• In a unique blend of art and structure, famed New York architect Peter Himmelstein has collaborated a second time with L.A. based Occupant films for Peep World, a voyeuristic look into a day in the life of a darkly comedic family tormented by fact, fiction, and mortality. The pic, penned by Himmelstein, was one of the “Luck 13” chosen for the 2004 Sundance Institute’s Filmmakers and Screenwriters Lab. Occupant Films has signed on to produce the project, with Himmelstein again holding the helm. Occupant’s previous collaboration with the director was the recently completed thriller The Key Man, which Himmelstein again scripted and directed. Himmelstein’s talents range from bold designs in construction peppering the Northeast United States, to such an ever-growing film base including "The Lost Boys of Sudan," "Beautiful, Baby," "Electroboy" and "A Memoir of Mania." The young director’s collaboration with Occupant is rather appropriate as

...

NEW YORK -- Writer-director Peter Himmelstein's dark comedy Peep World, a script selected for the 2004 Sundance Screenwriters and Filmmakers Lab, is coming to the big screen from production/financing outfit Occupant Films.

In World, Occupant's third feature, a tense gathering for a father's 70th birthday party falls apart over the seedy family revelations unearthed in one of his children's novels, titled Peep World. Production is slated to begin in the summer.

The project made its formal debut at the Sundance Institute Screenplay Reading Series, staged in New York in December 2004 with Jason Biggs, Shalom Harlow, Michelle Monaghan, Roy Scheider and Lili Taylor.

World marks Himmelstein's second directorial effort after his writing-directing debut, the insurance salesman thriller The Key Man, also for Occupant. The company scored big at September's Toronto International Film Festival by selling the Weinstein Co. worldwide rights to its first film, the teen horror flick All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, for $3.5 million.

Occupant, founded by producers Keith Calder, Felipe Marino and Joe Neurauter in August 2005, is in postproduction on Man, which stars Jack Davenport, Hugo Weaving, Brian Cox and Judy Greer.