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For his first feature film in two years — quite possibly a record for the prolific writer/director/producer/editor/actor — Joe Swanberg returns with “Win It All,” which is set to premiere at South by Southwest this weekend. Netflix just released a trailer for the movie, which stars co-writer Jake Johnson. Watch below.

Read More: Joe Swanberg’s Filmmaking Factory: How the Diy Filmmaker Is Supporting a Community of Directors on the Rise

Johnson — who previously worked with Swanberg on “Drinking Buddies,” “Digging for Fire” and an episode of “Love” — plays a gambler who vastly overestimates his own abilities (and luck, for that matter). “When he discovers cash in the bag, he’s unable to resist the temptation and winds up deeply in debt,” reads the Netflix synopsis. “When the prison release is shortened, Eddie suddenly has a small window of time to win all the money back.”

Read More:...

Every December it bears repeating: Anyone who thinks this was a bad year for movies simply hasn’t seen enough. In an age of binge-viewing, a preponderance of must-see premium cable shows and, hell, even smartphone apps that command far more attention most feature-length achievements, the true range of quality cinema is often obscured by the noise of an ever-cluttered media landscape. To really assess the state of modern movies, one look beyond the obvious. Sure, it was a weak year for movies that stand out mainly due to star power and sizable marketing budgets, but those options represent only a small fraction of the marketplace.

The film festival circuit provides an ideal alternative to conventional channels for discovering movies worth talking about all year long — and, if they’re lucky enough to land distribution, they quality for year-end celebration on lists like this one. This year, every single finalist...

Back in 2011, director Joe Swanberg made perhaps his most minimalist mumblecore film to date with Uncle Kent, a collaboration with SpongeBob and Adventure Time writer-artist Kent Osborne, in which Osborne plays a pathetic, lovelorn version of himself. The movie didn’t have much of a plot or structure, and its characters weren’t especially engaging or erudite. A short running time and an amiable tone kept Uncle Kent from ever becoming a chore, but aside from one hilariously awkward ménage à trois scene and a poignant final shot, the film was so slight that it almost dared the audience to get anything out of watching.

There’s a sharper point to Uncle Kent 2, although the sequel’s also something of an endurance test, in ways the original never was. Once again, Osborne plays “Kent Osborne,” but a slightly more realistic version this time out: respected in his field ...

In 2011, Joe Swanberg directed the film “Uncle Kent,” about 40-year-old stoner cartoonist Kent (Kent Osborne) who spends a weekend trying to sleep with visiting house guest Kate (Jennifer Prediger), a woman whom he met on Chatroulette. Despite few people actually seeing the film, Swanberg, Osborne and director Todd Rohal have created a sequel “Uncle Kent 2,” a meta-comedy about Kent trying to create a follow-up to the 2011 film by traveling to a comic-book convention and confronting the end of the world. Out of SXSW, Indiewire’s own Eric Kohn described it as “the craziest movie sequel ever” and said that it “provides the ultimate rebuke to formulaic storytelling.” Check out some exclusive posters for fictional sequels in the “Uncle Kent” universe.

Read More: ‘Uncle Kent 2’ Exclusive Book Excerpt: Read a Chapter From The Novelization Based On The Acclaimed Film

Osborne is best known for his long-time work on many...

Last year, Todd Rohal’s “Uncle Kent 2” premiered at SXSW to positive reviews, with IndieWire’s own Eric Kohn calling it “the craziest movie sequel ever.” A follow-up to Joe Swanberg’s 2011 film “Uncle Kent,” a portrait of indie actor and animator Kent Osborne, “Uncle Kent 2” follows Osborne’s quest to come up with a sequel to “Uncle Kent” by traveling to a comic book convention and confronting the end of the world.

Read More: SXSW Review: ‘Uncle Kent 2’ is the Craziest Movie Sequel Ever

Now, Factory 25 has released a novelization of the book by L.P. Eaves. Check out an exclusive excerpt from the book below featuring Uncle Kent’s visit to a doctor to discuss earworms.

Todd Rohal has previously directed the “P is for Scary” segment in “ABCs of Death 2,” and the comedies “Nature Calls,” “The Catechism Cataclysm,” and “The Guatemalan Handshake.” Meanwhile,...

“Mary + Jane”

September 5 on MTV

What Is It? From the writer/directors behind the cult favorite “Josie and the Pussycats” adaptation, this series follows two “ganjapeneurs” who run a weed delivery service in Los Angeles.

I’ll Like It If I Like… The “Broad City” influence is pretty clear, as the show is focused on the tight friendship between Jordan (Scout Durwood) and Paige (Jessica Rothe) and their stoner antics.

Why Should I Care? Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont’s unique approach to satirizing La hipster culture really help this show stand out from the pack of other female-led comedies, while also promising a more surreal touch. Durwood and Rothe also make for an enjoyable pairing. For fans of the pot comedy genre, it’s an easy sell.

“Atlanta”

September 6 on FX

What is it? Donald Glover of “Community” fame returns to TV in his most ambitious project yet, which he produces,...

[Editor’s Note: Typically, we recommend six or seven series newly available on Netflix in the coming month, but this September is chock full of choices — in part because fall shows are starting up again and networks want to make sure fans are caught up on prior seasons. So, this month, we’ve selected 17 high-priority choices and have highlighted our favorites. Choose for yourself, or settle in for the ultimate binge.]

1. “Easy” Season 1 (available September 22)

Why Should I Watch It? Orlando Bloom, Malin Akerman, Jake Johnson, Marc Maron, Dave Franco, Hannibal Buress, Emily Ratajkowski, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Aya Cash and Elizabeth Reaser star in this new eight-episode anthology series, but even that kind of star power can’t compete with a brilliant creator. Good thing “Easy” springs from the mind of indie favorite Joe Swanberg. The “Uncle Kent” and “Drinking Buddies” writer-director is taking on his first TV series with a comfortable setting — Chicago — and subject — “love, sex, technology and culture.” We can’t wait.

Best Episode: Every episode Aya Cash appears in will be the best, so hopefully she’s in every single one.

Read More: Netflix Orders Joe Swanberg Anthology Series, ‘Easy,’ Starring Orlando Bloom, Aya Cash and More

2. “Call the Midwife” Season 5 (available September 19)

Why Should I Watch It? I know, I know. We badger you about this every year,...

Is “Uncle Kent 2” the craziest movie sequel ever? That’s what our own Eric Kohn wrote of the film when it debuted at SXSW back in 2015, and going off even the most basic of synopses, it sure sounds like the Todd Rohal feature might rank right up there with the big guys.

Wait, a Todd Rohal feature? But didn’t Joe Swanberg direct “Uncle Kent”? What sort of madness is this? It’s “Uncle Kent” madness. Swanberg does direct the first 12 minutes of the film, before passing it over to “Catechism Cataclysm” director Rohal, who takes things very much in his own direction. See? Wild.

Read More: Kent Osborne Explains the Crazy Logic Behind ‘Uncle Kent 2’ and the ‘Adventure Time’ Connection

Per the film’s official synopsis: “In a desperate search to create a follow-up to Joe Swanberg’s 2011 film ‘Uncle Kent,’ Kent Osborne travels to a comic...

Hannah Takes the Stairs and Uncle Kent director Joe Swanberg’s has assembled a star-studded lineup for Easy, a new anthology series headed to Netflix.

Toplining the casting bill are Orlando Bloom, Malin Akerman, Michael Chernus, Marc Maron, Elizabeth Reaser, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jake Johnson, Aya Cash, Dave Franco, Jane Adams and Hannibal Burress – who recently joined the ranks of Paramount’s Baywatch opposite Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron.

Written, directed and executive produced by Swanberg, the indie drama represents a passion project for the creator, and retains elements – albeit slack elements – of mumblecore filmmaking. That is, in essence, a creative process that favors low-key techniques and improvised dialog in order to nurture a lax and ultimately more believable viewing experience. Lena Dunham, the Duplass brothers and Lynn Shelton are among the few creators that still employ such a technique.

As for the general setup of Easy, Netflix’s new series...

"Mumblecore" master Joe Swanberg is headed for Netflix. The filmmaker behind micro-indie films including Kissing on the Mouth, Hannah Takes the Stairs and Uncle Kent has scored an eight-episode, straight-to-series order for comedy Easy. The half-hour single-camera comedy series will, in mumblecore fashion, write, direct and exec produce the series. Easy is described as an anthology that explores diverse Chicago characters as they fumble through the modern maze of love, sex, technology and culture.  The series will feature appearances from Orlando Bloom, Malin Akerman, Michael Chernus, Marc Maron, Elizabeth Reaser, Gugu Mbatha-Raw,

read more...

SXSW Regular Geoff Marslett (Monkey Vs Robot, Mars, Loves Her Gun) is crowdfunding his latest film 'The Day Before Wedding", a film that starts out like your usual indie mumblecore and escalates into something shockingly different. You can visit the Indiegogo page here for more information. Every dollar helps!

 "The Day Before The Wedding is director Geoff Marslett's first thriller. It is a short film set in and shot on location in and around Denver, Colorado. Geoff recently relocated from Austin, Texas, to Colorado with hopes of bringing his experience making localized independent films here to a new and exciting artistic community. 

The film stars Marslett along with Frank Mosley (Upstream Color, Ain't Them Bodies Saints), Jennifer Prediger (A Teacher, Apartment Troubles, Uncle Kent) and Kira Pearson (The Greggs). The film itself is a comedic horror set in the woods of Colorado. It is a surreal look at the...

Meet some of the best directors working today, who haven't gone down the blockbuster movie route...

Ever find it a bit lame when the same big name directors get kicked around for every high profile project? Christopher Nolan, Jj Abrams, maybe the Russo Brothers? With so much focus on blockbuster films these days, getting a major franchise job seems like the main acknowledgement of success for a filmmaker. And yes, both the financial and creative rewards can be great. But there are plenty of other directors out there, doing their own thing, from art house auteurs to Dtv action specialists.

Here are 25 examples.

Lee Hardcastle

Even if you don’t know his name, you’ve probably seen Lee Hardcastle’s ultraviolent claymations shared on social media. He first started getting noticed for his two-minute remake of The Thing, starring the famous stop motion penguin Pingu. Far from just a cheap one-joke mash-up,...

No one can accuse filmmaker Joe Swanberg of being a layabout: He’s directed 17 features since his 2005 debut “Kissing on the Mouth.” Any consistency he demonstrates, however, has more to do with his output’s regularity than its quality; for every “Drinking Buddies” he directs, there’s a tossed-off, half-baked “Uncle Kent.” His latest, “Digging for Fire,” is such an endurance test that it’s the movie I’ve come closest to walking out of in many a month, and I sat through “Pixels” and “Fantastic Four” through the bitter end. Whether or not you like the term “mumblecore,” Swanberg is considered one.

Read More: 'Uncle Kent 2' is the Craziest Movie Sequel Ever "Uncle Kent," Joe Swanberg's lighthearted 2011 portrait of Los Angeles-based animator Kent Osborne, wasn't exactly screaming for a sequel. But "Uncle Kent 2," which screens in New York at BAMCinemaFest on Saturday following its premiere at SXSW in May, isn't your average sequel. The bizarre project is directed by Todd Rohal, whose loopy "The Catechism Cataclysm" and "The Guatemalan Handshake" display a penchant for surreal, sometimes disorienting humor and baffling sight gags. "Uncle Kent 2," which Osborne wrote, follows suit, while also mocking the idea of sequels and playing with its lead character's creative block. The movie opens — in a segment directed by Swanberg — with Osborn himself pitching the premise for the sequel. The ensuing odyssey finds Osborn coping with a hilariously annoying song stuck in his head, an unsettling journey to Comic Con and possibly the end.

...If it did, this write up would be for a very different film. One, perhaps, closer in resemblance to Uncle Kent 1 - a Joe Swanberg Sundance selection from 2011 that, by no means, begs for a sequel.So what is Uncle Kent 2? It's possible that someone who hasn't actually seen the film would be better equipped to answer this question. Whatever will be said of the film - and I imagine the spectrum of responses will be wide - Uncle Kent 2 is the wtf movie of the year. Though it's not likely to land with, or even screen to, a mainstream audience, Uncle Kent 2 is so thoroughly dedicated to messing with its viewers, the film deserves the very highest accolade at the...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

We live in an era of sequels and franchises, but even we have to admit that we never expectedJoe Swanberg's little 2011 indie flick, "Uncle Kent," would ever get a followup. While it has, don't expect anything straightforward from director Todd Rohal ("The Catechism Cataclysm," "The Guatamelan Handshake"), who takes the reins from Swanberg and leads the narrative into wild, unexpected places. Kent Osborne returns from the first film, playing himself, as he pitches Swanberg on an idea for a sequel for "Uncle Kent." The director turns it down and Osborne soon tumbles into a surreal journey of his own mad mind. In this exclusive clip, a doctor, played by Steve Little, tries to help with his own curious, hilarious examination. And if you like this scene, check out Eric Kohn's review at Indiewire, where he calls it "a defiantly unconventional crowdpleaser." Check the schedule — "Uncle Kent 2" has two more screenings at.

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in TrainwreckPhoto: Universal Pictures With Sundance just wrapping up and Berlin starting up in a few days, we are now immersed in the year-long barrage of film festivals. One such festival in South By Southwest. A few weeks back they announced the first seven films of their program, including the opening night film Brand: A Second Coming. Today, they have revealed the rest of the features to be shown in March (except for the midnight program), and some of it has me very excited. The bigger titles announced do not do much for me. Paul Feig's Spy, starring Melissa McCarthy, and the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart starrer Get Hard leave a lot to be desired in terms of anticipation, as does a work in progress cut of Judd Apatow's latest film Trainwreck. I'm guessing an Apatow work in progress is probably around three and a half hours.

South by Southwest, the multi-faceted film, music and technology festival held annually in Austin, TX will feature such upcoming films as Paul Feig’s Spy, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, and Ondi Timoner’s Russell Brand profile Brand: A Second Coming as headliners in this year’s film festival lineup.

SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.

Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.

On the small screen,...

American Gigola: Olnek’s Hilarious Sophomore Film Reinvents the Masculine Realm of Hustler Bonding

Few filmmakers are able to successfully create a distinctly unique universe of off-kilter comedy both consistent in tone and unwavering quality, especially if it also happens to be cobbled together from a mixture of limited resources. But you can add director Madeleine Olnek to a shortlist of such names with her sophomore film, The Foxy Merkins, an inspired ode to male-hustler buddy films from the vintage 1970s, transposed to modern day and removed from the arena of the heteronormative. Perhaps scrappy and episodic, which only adds to its infectious charm, this is an unfailingly funny film, proving Olnek to be a refreshing voice to behold in an era of repetitive storytelling and mediocre beats within the realm of independent film.

In what appears to be a bid to reconnect with her mother, Margaret (Lisa Haas) takes off to New York City,...

When you think Joe Swanberg, movies like Uncle Kent and Hannah Takes The Stairs immediately come to mind – incredibly independent efforts that helped launch a “mumblecore” movement with the help of similar filmmakers like the Duplass brothers. He’s since gone on to create films like Drinking Buddies, boasting a much grander scope, but its his new film Digging For Fire that could be the filmmaker’s most cinematic departure yet.

Directed by Swanberg, based off a screenplay written with actor buddy Jake Johnson, plot details have been hush-hush to this point, so I decided to find out why that was during a press interview for Happy Christmas. After revealing that filming had concluded on the project, I asked if he could comment on the kind of story his fans could expect.

This is what Swanberg had to say about Digging For Fire:

Joe Swanberg: It’s a...

'Ultra-low budgets and a decidedly fugly aesthetic have rendered his body of work an unappealing prospect to UK distributors'

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American indie demigod Joe Swanberg brings his "mumblecore" movement into the mainstream this week with Drinking Buddies, a story of two intersecting romances (a love quadrilateral, if you will) told against the backdrop of Chicago's craft brewery scene. It's the first Swanberg offering to reach UK shores since his breakout Hannah Takes The Stairs introduced Greta Gerwig to a grateful nation in 2007, though the director's apparent radio silence has not been for lack of trying.

Swanberg has written and directed more than a dozen films in the seven years since Hannah, most of them improvised riffs on the state of contemporary relationships, doused in self-reflexive anxiety (he has a tendency to cast himself as skeezy directors with names like Moe Kwanberg). Ultra-low budgets...

The incredibly prolific Joe Swanberg, whose most recent film "Happy Christmas" recently premiered at Sundance, will be the subject of weekend retrospective at the Museum of Moving Image in Queens, New York. The filmmaker will be present at all of the screenings. The series, titled "A Swanberg Sampler," will feature six of his films: "Hannah Takes the Stairs" (2007), "Nights and Weekends" (2008), "Silver Bullets" (2011), "Art History" (2011), "Uncle Kent (2011), and "All the Light in the Sky" (2013). Read More: Joe Swanberg's New Star-Studded Project Proves No Microbudget Filmmaker Wants to Stay That Way Forever "Swanberg’s film capture the messy, often awkward emotional truths of real life," said Chief Curator David Schwartz, who organized the retrospective. "Much like another great behavioralist director, Howard Hawks, Swanberg’s films are acutely observed, sharply perceptive, and deeply entertaining. While his films may at first seem naturalistic, they also have a...

Most directors would be happy with just getting one film screened at the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival, but filmmaker Josephine Decker has two unspooling — “Thou Wast Mild & Lovely” and “Butter on the Latch.” And Christoph Terhecte, Lead Programmer of the Berlinale Forum Section where the films will play, has a simple reason why both movies are getting space: "I haven't seen such a powerful filmmaking in a long time." In “Thou Wast Mild & Lovely,” Decker turns the camera on star Joe Swanberg, after appearing in his films "Uncle Kent," "Autoerotic" and "Art History." Here, she tells a "East Of Eden"-inspired story set in the blue hills of Kentucky, centering on a father and daughter whose world is turned upside down upon the arrival of a young farmhand. Sophie Traub and Robert Longstreet co-star in the film. Meanwhile, in “Butter on the Latch” — already listed by Film Comment as...

You’ve probably seen his work before.

Director Joe Swanberg is best known for directing “Drinking Buddies” last year that starred Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick. He was one of the collaborators in the cult favorite horror compilation “V/H/S” with the segment called “The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger.”

And maybe you’ve seen him on the big screen like the recent horror thriller “You’re Next,” in which he played as one the family victims.

Swanberg made his directorial debut with the 2005’s indie film “Kissing on the Mouth,” a film about recent college graduates on sex. And then he followed up with “Lol,” that starred with Greta Gerwig. With Gerwig, they further collaborated with 2007’s “Hannah Takes the Stairs” and 2008’s “Night and Weekends.”

In 2010, Swanberg became extremely busy directing seven films with “Uncle Kent,” “Caitlin Plays Herself,” “The Zone,...

Some filmmakers invest in each new movie with a robustness comparable to a band making a full-fledged musical album, but Joe Swanberg's lean, scrappy approach to each project — even as this year's "Drinking Buddies" indicated a developing interest in bigger productions — often results in works resembling individual tracks. "All the Light in the Sky" is a B-side in the prolific young director's career, astute in various ways without aspiring to much beyond a sincere desire to represent the emotions of its conflicted protagonist. A minor effort in a filmography largely composed of them, "All the Light in the Sky" is nonetheless satisfying on the terms it establishes early on. Anyone following Swanberg's output may find echoes of "Uncle Kent" in the thematic focus of "All the Light in the Sky," which stars Jane Adams in the quasi-autobiographical role of aging Malibu-based actress Marie, a woman coping with changes in both her spirit and physicality.

While Baumbach and Payne got conformable shooting in B&W (see Frances Ha, Nebraska), Joe Swanberg convinced swag-collecting thesps Anna Kendrick to reteam with him again and added Melanie Lynskey, Lena Dunham and Mark Webber to test out 16mm format for a holiday comedy titled Happy Christmas. in Chicago in the non-wintery month of May. Belonging to the likes of Francois Ozon, Woody Allen and Michael Winterbottom in his year in/year out output, Swanberg was only recently included in the Sundance family with 2011′s Uncle Kent and 2012′s V/H/S, and yet despite SXSW officially being the Swanberg home (Drinking Buddies was there last March) I’m thinking this hot potato of a film could easily find itself in Park City and Austin, and count as Cinematographer Ben Richardson’s return to the fest where he broke out with his work in Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Gist:...

We wouldn’t want to say exactly how many movies prolific indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg has directed because he might have finished another one in the time it’s taken to write this sentence. But we can say that his new film, the brewery-oriented comedy Drinking Buddies is his most high-profile to date thanks to a cast which boasts Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston, Jason Sudeikis, and Swanberg’s fellow auteur, Ti West. Drinking Buddies arrives in theatres August 23 — the same day cinemagoers will be able to see both Swanberg and West in the horror-comedy You’re...

Attention fans of dark, surreal drama, there’s a new voice in town and here’s hoping she sticks around. When I came to her new film Butter on the Latch, I didn’t recognize Josephine Decker’s name but a little research revealed I had seen her before, not just in films like Joe Swanberg’s Uncle Kent and the Scooby-Doo inspired thriller Saturday Morning Massacre, but in censored photos recounting [...]...

The Wagner/Cuban Company's Magnolia Pictures announced today that they have acquired North American distribution rights to writer-director Joe Swanberg's Drinking Buddies, starring Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston. Produced by Dark Arts' Alicia Van Couvering and Andrea Roa; Burn Later's Paul M. Bernon and Sam Slater; and Swanberg, the film premiered this month at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. The film was executive produced by Mike Witherill, Ashley Bernon, Jessica Klapman, David Kaplan, Anish Savjani, and Wilde. Magnolia Pictures is planning a theatrical release for later this year.

Drinking Buddies follows the lives of Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) who work together at a craft brewery. They have one of those friendships that feels like it could be something more. But Kate is with Chris (Ron Livingston), and Luke is with Jill (Anna Kendrick). And Jill wants to know if Luke is ready to talk about marriage.

Magnolia Pictures announced today that they have acquired North American distribution rights to writer-director Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies, starring Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston. Produced by Dark Arts’ Alicia Van Couvering and Andrea Roa; Burn Later?s Paul M. Bernon and Sam Slater; and Swanberg, the film premiered this month at the 2013 SXSW Film Festival. The film was executive produced by Mike Witherill, Ashley Bernon, Jessica Klapman, David Kaplan, Anish Savjani, and Wilde. Magnolia Pictures is planning a theatrical release for later this year. Drinking Buddies follows the lives of Kate (Olivia Wilde) and Luke (Jake Johnson) who work together at a craft brewery. They have one of those friendships that feels like it could be something more. But Kate is with Chris (Ron Livingston), and Luke is with Jill (Anna Kendrick). And Jill wants to know if Luke is ready to talk about marriage.

Actors and directors often say that the script is king. Haven.t you seen movies that . despite rich potential . fly off the rails? The issues often can be traced back to a script issue, a plot hole that swallows all effort and can doom even the most noble of projects. Joe Swanberg swears by a different philosophy. The grassroots writer-director behind Hannah Takes the Stairs, Uncle Kent and V/H/S prefers not to lock his cast into a fixed screenplay, opting to let them react to conversations and emotions, which allows his dramas to live in the moment. It's the use of improvisation to search for the beating heart of a particular story helps Swanberg.s latest, Drinking Buddies - which held its world premiere at the South By Southwest Film Festival on Saturday night - stand apart from traditional romantic comedies. The movie boasts Swanberg.s most recognizable...

Austin's biggest fest, SXSW rolls into town this Friday! We kicked off the preview series yesterday with a look at Headliners and Competition slates. Today we turn our attention to the meat of the lineup, the Narrative Spotlight, Documentary Spotlight, and Visions programs. Check back tomorrow as we lay out the rest of the fest. Narrative Spotlight Drinking Buddies Prolific indie director Joe Swanberg (Uncle Kent, All the Light in the Sky) turns noticeably A-List with this brewery-based romcom that stars Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, and Ron Livingston. Grow Up, Tony Phillips Austin local Emily Hagins has built herself quite a following based on her fun, youth-spirited indie films (Pathogen, The Retelling, My Sucky Teen Romance). Her 4th feature stars Tony Vespe,...

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Alex Karpovsky is a busy, busy guy. He's best known for his role as Ray, the coffee-slinging man-child entangled with the naive Shoshanna on HBO's "Girls," but when he's not wearing his characters Cafe Grumpy apron, you might find Karpovsky in an editing bay, behind a camera, holed up writing, or starring in one of his own films.

Though two of these features, "Rubberneck" and "Red Flag," are both out on VOD and in limited release Friday, their openings and top billing (Karpovsky is writer, director and star of both) are about all they have in common. "Rubberneck" follows meek research scientist Paul (Karpovsky), whose infatuation with a co-worker escalates to dangerous levels, while in "Red Flag," Karpovsky plays himself as a filmmaker struggling with life and love on the road.

Karpovsky sat down in New York to chat with NextMovie ahead of the films' release to talk "Girls," keeping busy,...

This 2.5 films per year filmmaker was a SXSW favorite up until he was first included in the Sundance family with Uncle Kent (Sundance ’11) and V/H/S (Sundance ’12) the following year. Undoubtedly, Drinking Buddies, which lensed in July and has been in post-prod since August is perhaps sometimes actor (see pic with A Horrible Way to Die) Joe Swanberg’s best packaged film with Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jake Johnson and Ron Livingston toplining. Andrea Roa and Alicia Van Couvering are part of the producing team and this is officially Cinematographer Ben Richardson’s first project after Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Gist: Drinking Buddies is the story of what happens when the worlds of home life and work-buddy camaraderie collide. Luke and Kate are two beer geeks in a Chicago brewery. Inseparable on the job, the two share everything from childish inside jokes and a penchant for alcoholic snobbery...

Some filmmakers invest in each new movie with a robustness comparable to a band making a full-fledged musical album, but Joe Swanberg's lean, scrappy approach to each project often results in works resembling individual tracks. "All the Light in the Sky" is a B-side in the prolific young director's career, astute in various ways without aspiring to much beyond a sincere desire to represent the emotions of its conflicted protagonist. A minor effort in a filmography largely composed of them, "All the Light in the Sky" is nonetheless satisfying on the terms it establishes early on. Anyone following Swanberg's output may find echoes of "Uncle Kent" in the thematic focus of "All the Light in the Sky," which stars Jane Adams in the quasi-autobiographical role of aging Malibu-based actress Marie, a woman coping with changes in both her spirit and physicality. However, while "Uncle Kent" took on a largely comedic tone as it.

Filmmaker Sebastian Sommer premiered his debut short at the Tribeca Film Festival this past Spring, and now he is in post on his first feature. Titled Melt the Wings, he described it to me in an email as a mixture of surrealism and mumblecore. The teaser is posted below, along with a director’s statement. Check it out.

Melt the Wings is a feature film that was born out of disassociation with our everyday rituals. Look at your life and think hard about all of the little traditions you go through on a daily basis. People celebrate the day they were born…every year. One has certain times and dates for the consumption of food and drink. And that’s just touching upon the most basic of customs. There is no way to escape it because they get intimate. You are born into a world of ordinance that you must live by.

Before DVDs, before Video On Demand and before Netflix, there was the VHS revolution. It was a time when movie nerds would rush to the nearest Blockbuster (remember that place?) or the local mom and pop video store every weekend to grab the latest home video releases.

It was also before the Internet, so the only way you knew if a movie was good was by watching it yourself. For indie films that had limited or no theatrical distribution, you had to judge the book by its cover. Then the digital age came and took away a large chunk of the fun.

In comes Ti West ("House of the Devil" and the upcoming "The ABCs of Death"), Adam Wingard (director of the highly anticipated "You're Next" and "The ABCs of Death"), Joe Swanberg ("Uncle Kent," "Hannah Takes the Stairs"), Glenn McQuaid ("I Sell the Dead"), David Buckner ("The Signal"), Radio Silence...

One of the signature events of Fantastic Fest, the Fantastic Debates provoke mixed feelings deep within my soul. On the one side, the spectacle of watching two grown men debate some geeky topic or other before donning gloves and proceeding to punch one another is great entertainment. It's bloodlust on an awkward, ludicrous level. And on the other, it is also an event that I have carried a somewhat uncomfortable association with over the past two years, being the man most associated with the fightiest fight in the Debates' history since my participation in 2010. And so I now extend my thanks to Joe Swanberg for lifting that particular mantle from me in the Fantastic Debates 2012.Swanberg - director of Uncle Kent, Art History and...

Chicago – Wildly prolific indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg (“Hannah Takes the Stairs,” “Uncle Kent”) will return to his hometown of Chicago on Thursday, July 5th, for a double feature of two new films, “Caitlin Plays Herself” and “Marriage Material.” The event kicks off at 8pm at Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark St., and will include a live Q&A with Swanberg himself.

Both pictures center on seemingly content relationships that have reached a potential crossroads. “Caitlin Plays Herself” was one of six films that Swanberg made in 2011 (the others are “Uncle Kent,” “The Zone,” “Silver Bullets,” “Autoerotic” and “Art History”). It stars Caitlin Stainken (of Neo-Futurist fame) as an actress whose provocative performance art pieces cause her boyfriend (Swanberg) to feel uncomfortable. It’s her nude performance inspired by the Bp oil spill that pushes him over the edge. 2012’s “Marriage Material,” which made its viral debut in January, explores the repercussions...

You don’t get much more intense than the work of Marina Abramović. Born in Belgrade, the performance artist’s work ranges from replicating a recorded 5-finger fillet game to laying abeyant while participants chose an object to use on her (offerings included honey, scissors, and a gun) -- and it’s this kind of risky, powerful work that eventually led her to her own exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in 2010, titled “The Artist is Present.” Aside from being a retrospective there was also a titular piece, one that involved Abramović sitting across from a willing participant for a certain amount of time. Yes, it’s much more restrained than her a lot of her previous works, but the piece holds an immense strength -- a number of patrons were moved to tears after taking the seat and participating in the performance.

All of this, including the lead up to the show,...

In 2010, performance artist Marina Abramović had the attention of everybody, from snobby Manhattanites to Fox News. Her work (which includes a nude couple standing in a busy doorway, which is exactly what sent Fox News into a rage) was to be recreated by a number of assistants selected by the artist herself while, at the same time, she put on a new piece: “The Artist is Present.” The idea was simple -- Abramović would be seated in a large room, mute and still, with a patron perched across from her -- yet it proved to be intensely powerful for many (some were even moved to tears) and incredibly exhausting for the performer herself. With “Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present,” Matthew Akers attempts to give an informative overview of her oeuvre, while detailing the extensive and strenuous Museum Of Modern Art retrospective of her work and the strangely ethereal titular performance.

Chicago – Ever since stumbling upon his 2005 directorial debut, “Kissing on the Mouth,” I’ve been deeply transfixed by the cinema of Chicago filmmaker Joe Swanberg. There’s a startling honesty to his work that is unmatched by many of his peers, as well as a near-obsessive desire to capture the “truth” in his fictional characters. He never shies away from sexual frankness or raw intimacy if they are required to serve the story.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Though Swanberg earned some of the best reviews of his career for his 2009 effort, “Alexander the Last,” the director later admitted that he felt uncomfortably pressured by the level of expectations surrounding the project. The experience made him realize that he was more interested in making micro-budget films with close friends and collaborators. 2011 marked a creative renaissance for Swanberg, who premiered a series of painstakingly personal films that directly confronted questions raised by various viewers, such...

The clip comes via Filmmaker's Scott Macaulay: "Continuing an extraordinarily prolific phase that has also encompassed his year-long subscription service, Joe Swanberg premieres his latest film, Caitlin Plays Herself, tonight at Brooklyn's reRun theater. His new star is Caitlin Stainken, a member of the Neo-Futurists Theater Ensemble." As always with Joe Swanberg's films, reviews fall on either side of a pretty wide split.

"Co-written by Swanberg and Caitlin Stainken, the movie is a sad, simple, and effective glance at a relationship that, more substantially, explores the blurred distinctions between life and art," writes Henry Stewart in the L. "A lot of the movie's 70 minutes are filled what the title implies: Jeanne Dielman-lite snippets of eating a banana, reading a magazine, rotating compost, writing, rehearsing conceptual theater pieces…. Swanberg, who shares cinematography credit with sometimes-collaborator Adam Wingard, shoots in long takes, never editing within scenes, a realism-enhancing technique that...

"Even Joe Swanberg has to stop to count the number of Joe Swanberg movies out there right now," writes Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times. Uncle Kent premiered at Sundance, Silver Bullets and Art History in Berlin. He's collaborating with Factory 25 on Joe Swanberg: Collected Films 2011, a box set of four films on DVD plus an unusual array of bonus material — records, photo books, posters. Autoerotic, made with Adam Wingard, is available on demand from IFC. And the AFI Fest, opening on Thursday, will be screening Silver Bullets and Art History and hosting the premiere of The Zone, which, as Olsen tells us, "traces the interrelationships of a trio of roommates once an outsider enters their dynamic, before revealing additional layers of psycho-emotional complexity…. If one were to make a diagram of contemporary American independent filmmaking, Swanberg would be somewhere near the center, if for no other reason...

The London Film Festival’s now in full swing, so Michael’s provided a handy guide to what you can still get to see over the next few days...

The 55th London Film Festival is now underway, boasting a programme that includes top-flight flicks like George Clooney’s The Ides Of March, Lynne Ramsey’s We Need To Talk About Kevin, and 360, directed by Fernando Meirelles. However, unless you’re a BFI member, a quick-off-the-mark cinephile, or an industry bigwig, it’s highly likely that you missed the small window of chance for getting tickets for these bigger films.

No need to worry, though, as many of the festival’s 300+ films haven’t yet sold out. Here are just a few notable or geek-friendly deep cuts that, at time of writing, still have tickets on sale.

Anonymous

Despite being one of the festival’s Gala films, two of Anonymous’ screenings still have spare seats going.

Joe Swanberg is collaborating with Factory 25 on Joe Swanberg: Collected Films 2011, which "represents an entirely new way to distribute indie cinema," as the Brooklyn-based independent film and music label puts it in yesterday's announcement.

Filmmaker's Scott Macaulay elaborates: "Swanberg is offering fans a four-film, one-year subscription to his work. For $99.95 subscribers will receive a box that will fill up each quarter with not only DVDs but also bonus material, including 45rpm records, photo books and posters. 'I'm in the nice position right now of having so many [completed] films I'm trying to get out into the world, so I'm taking the plunge and doing something interesting,' says Swanberg. The four films are Silver Bullets and Art History (both of which premiered in Berlin), The Zone, and Privacy Settings. In the latter new film, scheduled to be released Fall, 2012, Frank V Ross plays a peeping tom 'who stumbles into a...

"…and I would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!. Just how many episodes of "Scooby Doo" ended with that line? And did anyone ever wonder why the criminals were able to bamboozle the entire town and police squad with their schemes only to be foiled by a dog and four stoner kids who rolled into town two days earlier in a van that had to smell like malted hops, bong resin and dog farts? We’ve got some info on a new movie where the meddling kids don't necessarily fare so well.

Directed by Spencer Parsons and starring Ashley Spillers, Josephine Decker and Jonny Mars, Saturday Morning Massacrefollows some meddling paranormal investigators trying to make a buck. From the information we've managed to glean thus far, there is no talking dog in this film.

The film is currently in post-production and the official website titsandaxe.

What do you think of when the name Joe Swanberg comes to mind? Our guess: sex. The indie stalwart's latest, "Autoerotic," co-directed by Adam Wingard, falls in line with Swanberg's four other films for IFC Films ("Hannah Takes the Stairs," "Nights and Weekends," "Alexander the Last" and "Uncle Kent"). In short it's a mumbelcore relationship dramedy that features a lot of flesh. Here's how IFC Midnight describes it: "Autoerotic" follows ...

Updated through 6/27.

This year's Los Angeles Film Festival, running through June 26, opens tonight with the latest from Richard Linklater, and Steven Zeitchik talks with him for the Los Angeles Times: "'It was my most difficult one to get made,' he said flatly. 'It took 12 years to happen, and even then it was tough. People can say shooting in 22 days makes a movie better. It doesn't.' … Bernie is a shaggy, idiosyncratic work, possibly the strangest yet in a career full of strangeness. Set in the small town of Carthage, Texas, it tells of an effeminate, musical-loving mortician named Bernie Tiede [Jack Black] who befriends and then commits a horrible crime against a repressed wealthy matriarch [Shirley MacLaine], leaving him to face the wrath of a local prosecutor [Matthew McConaughey]. The movie is a dramatization of an actual case — the script was based on a 1998 Texas Monthly article about Tiede, and Linklater, who attended Tiede's trial,...

Why She's On Our Radar: Sealey's first feature, the relationship drama "A Plus D," played the regional film festival circuit (although Sealey initially generated interest from Sundance). Her latest effort, "How to Cheat," premiered at the L.A. Film Festival last week to generally positive reactions. The film stars Kent Osbourne (most recently the star of Joe Swanberg's "Uncle Kent" and a writer for "Spongebob Squarepants") as a depressed chauffeur who ...