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Time tugs strangely on the sleeve of “Sweet Thing,” a heartfelt, hopeful yet slightly hollow black-and-white coming-of-ager from American indie stalwart Alexandre Rockwell. A lively, bittersweet meditation on an impoverished childhood that is still rich in innocence and imagination, it feels old-fashioned in a way that does not quite gel with its bid for contemporary grit. In form too, it feels more like a quaint reminder of Rockwell’s early-’90s heyday than a product of our modern times. With verve and vitality it pays a dreamy-eyed retrospective debt to films past, and largely due to the beguiling performance from Rockwell’s own daughter Lana, ultimately delivers a moving, tousled journey of discovery — but it’s through an America that has not existed for decades, if it ever did.

Lana Rockwell plays Billie, the daughter of unreliable, alcoholic but loving Adam (a terrific Will Patton) and older sister to Nico.

“I am positive that if my mentor John Cassevetes were around today he would use Kickstarter to make his films.” Whether Alexandre Rockwell‘s statement about Cassavetes is true or not (we’ll never know), it hardly seems implausible as we see yet another indie film legend going the crowdfunding route. It’s been a long time since Rockwell was a significant name in cinema, but he’ll always be remembered as an important member of the Sundance class of ’92, his quirky black and white feature In the Soup winning the grand jury prize that year over strong contenders like Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Allison Anders’s Gas, Food Lodging. He then came up with the idea for the anthology feature Four Rooms, on which he collaborated with Tarantino, Anders and Robert Rodriguez. More recently, he directed the Peter Dinklage comedy Pete Smalls Is Dead. His latest project, which...

K.C. (Peter Dinklage) has hit rock bottom. His dog has been kidnapped by a loan shark, and now his friend Pete Smalls (Tim Roth) is dead. With no other options, he meets up with his friend Jack (Mark Boone Junior) in La to get the money to save his dog and say goodbye to his friend Pete.

Pete Smalls Is Dead is a roller coaster ride through the seedy side of Hollywood. Although it has some rather funny parts, and a stellar cast, it feels like something is missing. Peter Dinklage is fantastic to watch. His acting is always spot on, and I really admire his subtle delivery. His character was once a film writer with big dreams, but hurt and heartache led him to flee La, leaving his dreams behind. I admired his character for caring about his dog so much. His dog was old, and had cataracts,...

"Bearing a 2008 copyright, the film Human Zoo pops up for a one-week run at the New Beverly, presented by the theater's benefactor, Quentin Tarantino," writes Mark Olsen in the La Weekly. "Best known to moviegoers as the star of Luc Besson's Parisian fantasy Angel-a, model/artist Rie Rasmussen is here writer, director, star and even co-editor, with the story apparently based on the experiences of her adopted sister." Tarantino, notes Jeff Otto at the Playlist, calls Human Zoo "an electrifying directorial debut. It's as shocking and violent as it is moving and charming." Olsen, on the other hand: "Incoherent and self-indulgent, the film can't even manage to be particularly fun — even the supermodel sex scenes are disconcertingly disengaged, and everything is shot with a dingy patina that parades about as gritty realism."

Back to Otto: "Tarantino and Rasmussen have become good chums. She visited the set of Inglourious Basterds...

With a cast that includes the impressive talents of Peter Dinklage, Mark Boone Jr. (Sons of Anarchy), Steve Buscemi, Rosie Perez and Tim Roth, it is remarkable that there hasn't been more buzz about Alexandre Rockwell's La comedy Pete Smalls is Dead. The film hit VOD last Friday and launches into limited theaters this weekend. After hitting rock bottom when his faithful dog is kidnapped by a loan shark, K.C. (Peter Dinklage) sets off on an unexpected and hilarious adventure of redemption and retribution when he agrees to meet up with his long-time friend Jack (Mark Boone Junior) in Los Angeles to attend the funeral of their mutual friend and hot shot Hollywood director Pete Smalls (Tim Roth). Check out the trailer below....

Actor Also Talks 'Knights of Badassdom' & 'Game of Thrones' Peter Dinklage – he of the recent Emmy win for the HBO series “Game of Thrones”--has been in his fair share of indie films (“The Station Agent,” “Living in Oblivion,” “Human Nature,” “Saint John of Las Vegas”). So when his friend Alexandre Rockwell ("In the Soup," "Four Rooms") approached him to star in his new film, the noir-ish dramedy “Pete Smalls Is Dead”--which hits VOD today, November 4th--the actor offered to take on an additional role as a producer. “Producer titles kind of get handed out like candy a little…...

In what is expected to be an unusually active Cannes Film Festival and Marche du Film marketplace, here are the latest acquisitions, deals and projects to be announced. For more, see TheWrap's full lists of Cannes deals and announcements: Cannes Film Festival Official Selections Marche du Film Marketplace Acquisitions Marche du Film Project Announcements "Pete Smalls Is Dead"– The Los Angeles and Vancouver-based W2 Media has acquired North American distribution rights to the comedy with Peter Dinklage, Tim Roth, Seymour Casssell, Rosie Perez and Steve Buscemi. The film was directed and co-written by Alexandre...

With Sundance and Slamdance in full swing in Park City, I got to sit down with Peter Dinklage and writer-director Alexandre Rockwell for their new movie Pete Smalls is Dead. If you saw the trailer, you know it's got an all star cast featuring Dinklage, Mark Boone Junior, Tim Roth, Michael Lerner, Seymour Cassel, Theresa Wayman, and Rosie Perez. In the film, Dinklage plays a former screenwriter turned downtrodden East Coast Laundromat owner who finds himself back in Los Angeles after his dog is kidnapped by loan sharks. He begrudgingly comes to L.A. as he's been promised the money to get his dog back, but his friend has an ulterior motive. Pete Smalls is a noir that's loaded with "strange situations and crazy characters. From dealings with idiot producers (Buscemi, Lerner) and the Armenian mob (headed by Cassel), to romancing with a beautiful French editor (Wayman) and conducting a...

By Christy Karras

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Friday and Saturday marked the first two days of the big first weekend of Sundance, which meant an abundance of celebrity sightings …

Wait. What’s going on over there? Oprah? Oprah is in town? She’s right there? She’s waving and smiling? Oh my god!

Sundancers mob Main Street to get a glimpse of Oprah

Yes, Oprah is in town, and for a celebrity-primed crowd like this one, there is no bigger fish. Except maybe Bono. And Oprah did indeed wave and smile for the packed masses from inside a glass-fronted building on Park City’s Main Street before she slid, surrounded by a phalanx of enormous bodyguards, to her waiting SUV. Teenage girls screamed and probably would have fainted if not for the propping-up effect of a packed crowd.

As she publicizes her new network Own, Oprah needs to be...

Filed under: Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical

Celeb Sightings

BieberFever hits Sundance in the form of a flash mob. The ever rising stardom of James Franco gets a fashion boost from a blonde wig ... and sings. Eliza Dushku dons a hat for festin', while Carmen Electra wears white. 'Bones' fans -- and of course, hockey fiends -- can dig into a Luc Robitaille-hosted charity hockey match, with celeb players including Alan Thicke and Andie MadDowell. Danny Glover, Shar Jackson, Kevin Sorbo and more get caught on tape.

Our Coverage

Christopher Campbell zipped over to competing fest Slamdance to dig into the documentary 'Superheroes': "There are a few John C. Reilly movies in Park City this year, but I'm certain the best is the Slamdance documentary 'Superheroes,' a humorous and well-rounded look at the current national phenomenon of real life superheroes."

Erik Davis caught Tom McCarthy...

Filed under: Movie News, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical

Celeb Sightings

BieberFever hits Sundance in the form of a flash mob. The ever rising stardom of James Franco gets a fashion boost from a blonde wig ... and sings. Eliza Dushku dons a hat for festin', while Carmen Electra wears white. 'Bones' fans -- and of course, hockey fiends -- can dig into a Luc Robitaille-hosted charity hockey match, with celeb players including Alan Thicke and Andie MadDowell. Danny Glover, Shar Jackson, Kevin Sorbo and more get caught on tape.

Our Coverage

Christopher Campbell zipped over to competing fest Slamdance to dig into the documentary 'Superheroes': "There are a few John C. Reilly movies in Park City this year, but I'm certain the best is the Slamdance documentary 'Superheroes,' a humorous and well-rounded look at the current national phenomenon of real life superheroes."

Erik Davis caught Tom McCarthy...

By Christy Karras

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

For opening night this year, Sundance programmers scheduled a slew of screenings in multiple categories rather than shine the spotlight on one or two films. But of course everyone knew which was the “real” opening-night premiere, because that honor will always fall on whatever screens first in the enormous Eccles theater on the festival’s first Thursday.

Opening-night screenings are your best chance to see festival founder Robert Redford (around here, we call him “Bob”), and he was on hand for last night’s screening of “Sing Your Song,” a Harry Belafonte biopic that aptly set the tone for a festival that has always tried — amid pushy industry insiders, gawking fans and preening celebrities — to focus on the art of storytelling. Belafonte got a standing ovation and urged his fellow artists to be “radical” rather than bowing down to outside pressures. “No force on earth,...

The 17th annual Slamdance Film Festival is all set to run for eight days and nights Jan. 21-27. The festival is featuring a bold theme this year of “All Is Not Lost” where — due to the current devastating economic climate — Slamdance will donate 10% of ticket proceeds back to the filmmakers.

The fest is screening 14 feature films — 10 of which are in competition — and 8 feature documentaries, all of which are in competition. In addition, there will be 56 short films screening.

Plus, there are a couple of special screenings, including the Straight 8 event where anybody can register to receive a single roll of Super-8 film that they can use to direct their own in-camera edited mini-masterpiece. Also, on the 26th, there will be a special retrospective of the works of renegade ’60s filmmaker J.X. Williams.

The full film lineup is below, but for more information on the site please visit the official Slamdance website.

Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade and Kevin James talk about their friendship, and the upcoming comedy “Grown Ups” by director Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) and starring Adam Sandler (Little Nicky, Bedtime Stories, The Zookeeper), Steve Buscemi (Pete Smalls Is Dead, Big Fish), Salma Hayek (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Maria Bello, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade. Synopsis: Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from “Grown Ups” and Happy Madison Productions.

Happy Madison Productions released this hilarious new poster featuring Adam Sandler for the upcoming comedy “Grown Ups” by director Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) and starring Adam Sandler (Little Nicky, Bedtime Stories, The Zookeeper), Steve Buscemi (Pete Smalls Is Dead, Big Fish), Salma Hayek (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Maria Bello, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade. Synopsis: Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from “Grown Ups” and Happy Madison Productions.

Cannes -- Christopher Walken is negotiating to join the action-comedy "Wild Oats," from writer Claudia Myers and director Scott Marshall.

Shirley MacLaine, Maria Bello, Christina Ricci, John Corbett and Bill Pullman already are aboard the project about a widow who finds herself heading to Las Vegas with her granddaughter after a pile of money falls in her lap. Blythe Frank and Agathe David-Weill are producing the film; Michael Mailer is an executive producer.

Toronto-based Peace Arch Entertainment is repping presales of the project at the Marche du Film. Shooting is scheduled to begin in Connecticut and Nevada in August. CAA and Icm packaged the film.

  The Icm-repped Walken most recently appeared in "Balls of Fury," "Hairspray" and "Man of the Year." He has Tony Vitale's comedy "Life's a Beach" forthcoming, and he's starring in Jonathan Hensleigh's "The Irishman," which Lightning Entertainment is selling at the Cannes market.

Peace...

Happy Madison Productions just released another brand new movie trailer for the upcoming comedy “Grown Ups” by director Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) and starring Adam Sandler (Little Nicky, Bedtime Stories, The Zookeeper), Steve Buscemi (Pete Smalls Is Dead, Big Fish), Salma Hayek (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Maria Bello, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade. Synopsis: Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from “Grown Ups” and Happy Madison Productions. Name: Email: URL: - Name: Email: URL:...

Happy Madison Productions and Sony Pictures UK released this new movie trailer for the upcoming comedy “Grown Ups” by director Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) and starring Adam Sandler (Little Nicky, Bedtime Stories, The Zookeeper), Steve Buscemi (Pete Smalls Is Dead, Big Fish), Salma Hayek (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Maria Bello, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade. Synopsis: Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from “Grown Ups” and Happy Madison Productions.

Happy Madison Productions released this new movie poster for the upcoming comedy “Grown Ups” by director Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) and starring Adam Sandler (Little Nicky, Bedtime Stories, The Zookeeper), Steve Buscemi (Pete Smalls Is Dead, Big Fish), Salma Hayek (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Maria Bello, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade. Synopsis: Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from “Grown Ups” and Happy Madison Productions.

Happy Madison Productions released these new movie stills from the upcoming comedy “Grown Ups” by director Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) and starring Adam Sandler (Little Nicky, Bedtime Stories, The Zookeeper), Steve Buscemi (Pete Smalls Is Dead, Big Fish), Salma Hayek (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Maria Bello, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade. Synopsis: Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from “Grown Ups” and Happy Madison Productions.

Happy Madison Productions just released the first official movie trailer for the upcoming comedy “Grown Ups” by director Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) and starring Adam Sandler (Little Nicky, Bedtime Stories, The Zookeeper), Steve Buscemi (Pete Smalls Is Dead, Big Fish), Salma Hayek (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Maria Bello, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade. Synopsis: Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from “Grown Ups” and Happy Madison Productions.

Happy Madison Productions just released this brand new movie poster from the upcoming comedy “Grown Ups” by director Dennis Dugan (You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry) and starring Adam Sandler (Little Nicky, Bedtime Stories, The Zookeeper), Steve Buscemi (Pete Smalls Is Dead, Big Fish), Salma Hayek (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant), Maria Bello, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade. Synopsis: Thirty years after their high school graduation, five good friends reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend. Stay tuned to Shockya.com for the latest movie news and more from “Grown Ups” and Happy Madison Productions.

Persistent Entertainment, Pantry Films and Zenescope Entertainment are teaming up to produce an adaptation of Zenescope's comic "The Piper."

"Piper" aims to take a dark look at the Pied Piper of Hamelin fable. The story will center on a much-bullied high school band student who unintentionally channels the spirit of the mysterious Pied Piper and triggers terrifying consequences of his actions beyond his control.

The project -- brought to Persistent by exec Aaron Cruze, who will shepherd its development -- is out to writers.

Headed by Matthew Rhodes, Persisent has produced more than 20 films in its 10 years. Those include Richard Kelly's "Southland Tales" and the upcoming Nailed," starring Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Pantry Films and its principal Dan Keston produced "Felon," a drama starring Val Kilmer and Stephen Dorff. The company recently wrapped "Pete Smalls Is Dead" starring Peter Dinklage, Tim Roth, and Steve Buscemi.

Rhodes and Keston...

Tom McCarthy has come aboard to direct HBO's fantasy pilot "Game of Thrones," on which the star of his first feature, "The Station Agent's" Peter Dinklage, has been tapped for a key role.

Based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling "Songs of Fire and Ice" novels, "Thrones" is described as an epic struggle for power set in a vast and violent fantasy kingdom. Dinklage will play Tyrion, the Queen's brother who is treated as an outsier because of his size.

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss penned the pilot script and are exec producing. HBO Entertainment president-turned-producer Carolyn Strauss, Management 360's Guymon Casady, Vince Gerardis, Ralph Vicinanza and Martin serve as co-exec producers, and Mark Huffam and Frank Doelger are producers.

"Thrones" is slated to film in the third quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in what the country's First Minister Peter Robinson hails as "the first TV production of...