April and the Extraordinary World Is Extraordinarily Original With Ordinary Characters

Gkids

Read more of our Fantastic Fest 2015 coverage here.

It’s 19th century France, and — in the world of this story — Napoleon Bonaparte remained in power long enough to pass control of the country to his heirs after his death. In an attempt to engineer a serum for creating the world’s first indestructible foot soldier, France’s leading scientist on the project has a mishap, resulting in the escape of the creatures the solution created and the destruction of the laboratory. We aren’t quite sure what these creatures are, but we know they are young, lizard-like and we know they can speak. They are just not super soldiers. At least, not human ones.

Cut a few years to the turn of the century and most of the world’s top scientists and scholars are in short supply. The world no longer has minds capable of driving technology forward, and instead humanity still relies on coal and steam power as that was the last dominant technology to take hold. A very young Avril watches as her parents and grandfather work tirelessly to create a liquid solution capable of restoring life to dead organisms.

Detective Pizoni is hot on the heels of the family and commandeers a raid on their hideout before they get the opportunity to test out their invention. In their escape attempt (elaborate, and a quite fun piece of animated action that reminded me of some of the best sequences of Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tin-Tin) Avril’s grandfather eludes capture altogether while her parents aren’t quite as lucky. Avril and the family cat Darwin are now on their own.

It’s now years later (what would have been the World War II era) and Paris is covered in a cloud of smog as the world’s leading minds continue to go missing and we are still stuck in the age of steam-power. Avril (now voiced by the sweet sounds of Marion Cotillard), along with her talking and endearingly French cat Darwin, continue to evade the authorities in their quest to finish what the family started years before.

The story, by writer Jacques Tardi, offers up a very well-conceived environment of consequences of its own making. What would the world be like with Napoleon still in power? What would he want to do with the promise of science? What would happen if he took away all of the scientists? What would happen if each of his offspring was no different than he? The answer is we’d be drenched in soot within five decades, and while we can’t make super soldiers, we can make animals talk. However, electricity – never realized, fossil fuels – never realized, radio communications – none doing, and telephones – powered by steam along with everything else.

This might be the picture’s biggest problem. The world (displayed in highly appealing art style that feels both classic and contemporary) is more interesting than its inhabitants. They’re not dull, but aside from the amenability of Darwin the talking cat everyone else is rather ordinary. They’re never unpleasant, but they’re never really more than just cute and agreeable. Luckily, playful banter and engaging personas take a backseat to the plot and setting, and it is the story’s high concept that keeps your attention anyway. It’s full of fun surprises in its acknowledgment of both a world deprived of progressive science, but with an underbelly of vast scientific advancements – like walking houses, and everlasting life – and all with tongue-in-cheek. It may not give you many characters to commit to memory, but it will provide ample imagination and lighthearted adventure – and an appreciation for science, greenery, and maybe even cats.

The Upside: Visually appealing animation-style; conceptually unlike family films you’re likely to be given here in the U.S.; adults can appreciate the concept and imagination while children can appreciate the adventure

The Downside: Aside from Darwin no characters really stand out as memorable, and because of that it may be less likely one has a desire to revisit as often as many other animated classics (however, it would be interesting to see the reaction of someone seeing this both as a child and adult with a little bit of history education).

Read more of our Fantastic Fest 2015 coverage here.

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Watch: Trailer for 'Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans' Documentary

"I'm a driver, I'm an actor, and a filmmaker." FilmRise has debuted the trailer for Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans, a documentary about actor/director Steve McQueen trying to make the racing film Le Mans, which was released in 1971. Apparently it was a very troubled, messy production with all kinds of problems and on-set rivalries - resulting in what was a "poorly received" film that didn't really connect with American audiences. The documentary features plenty of archival footage along with some interviews to present a unique, inside look at the production and what really went down. Of course, found within all that footage is McQueen talking about a love for car racing and filmmaking. "This is the story of racing, man."

The trailer for Gabriel Clarke & John McKenna's doc Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans, via Apple:

By 1970, Steve McQueen ruled Hollywood. He was the King of Cool and the world's most notorious ladies' man. Hot off the back of classics like The Thomas Crown Affair and Bullitt, the racing fanatic began production of his passion project, Le Mans, centered on the 24-hour car race in France. But the infamously troubled production was plagued with financial troubles, on-set rivalries and the star's own personal issues. This documentary film interweaves stunning, newly discovered footage and McQueen's private recordings with original interviews to reveal the true story of how this cinema legend would risk everything in pursuit of his dream. The documentary is directed by Gabriel Clarke & John McKenna (When Playboys Ruled the World). After premiering at this year's Cannes Film Festival, Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans will be released in select US theaters starting November 13th later this fall. Who's into this?

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Brit Marling on the Surprising Reason The Keeping Room Shocks Audiences

Drafthouse Films

The Keeping Room is a rare Western in that its main cast is women. Set toward the end of the civil war, the film focuses on two sisters, one of them played by Brit Marling, and a slave, played by Muna Otaru. The sisters watch over the house as they wait for their father to return, which seems less likely as the days go by, and then two Union Soldiers interrupt their quiet existence.

The three women end up having to fight for their lives.

Director Daniel Barber, like he did with Harry Brown, throws characters into an unexpected, violent situation – one they are not totally equipped to handle. That’s an idea that appealed to Marling, who we’ve so far mainly seen in serious dramas, some of which she’s co-written. We’ve yet to see her run from an explosion or star in a romantic comedy. Thus, The Keeping Room is par for her career course, but soon that might change.

You said before the film premiered at Toronto you were interested in the kind of discussion the film would start. What conversations have you heard?

Well, even the response at Toronto was interesting. Obviously I’ve read the script like 100 times, because you have to do the work, and then you see it come together on the set, but I was blown away by the experience in Toronto. The movie is shocking, but you don’t realize it until the end of it. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why at first, but then I realized you never have really seen a group of young women fight to defend their lives, in a way that’s actually physically possible.

You’re used to seeing fighting with choreographed stunt work, stunt doubles and harness work – stuff that’s physically impossible for a girl who’s, like, 120 pounds. Everything that happens in the movie is just doing it. The cuts and bruises on my arm were not makeup. It was real blood, sweat and tears in the movie. I think people just aren’t used to see that with women in a movie.

I didn’t know the director of Harry Brown made The Keeping Room until after seeing the film, and he also showed a different perspective there, when it came to violence.

You’re right. I hadn’t even thought of that comparison, but in Harry Brown, you’ve seen that kind of violence before, but not a man of that age doing it, and being successful at it. It’s also wholly realistic. I think what’s amazing about Daniel Barber is he gives violence a proper weight; it’s never gratuitous or sexy. He makes violence play for what it is, and he does that in The Keeping Room. A part of the thrill is it feels very, very real.

He really focuses on it, not doing quick and easy deaths. The death of the drug addict in Harry Brown is really unnerving.

Unnerving is the right word. It sort of makes you recalibrate all violence in your head. I felt the same way when I watched Harry Brown. The opening image just made me think, “Wow, this movie is really putting violence in its proper place,” peeling back the lip gloss, sexy veneer. The violence is actually what it is – and I felt grateful for that, because I think we’ve really lost touch [Laughs].

[Laughs] When you’re acting in a project you didn’t co-write, do you feel less pressure?

Maybe the same [Laughs], maybe so much more! I find acting so terrifying. It’s maybe the scariest thing I can think to sign up for. You really don’t know if you’re going to be able to pull it off. Maybe it’s because I deliberately try to take on roles where I’m totally out of my depth. I mean, what business do I have playing a girl from 1865? She talks the way she does, shoots guns and rides horses [Laughs]. I guess it’s a feeling of always biting off more than you can chew, and then trying your best to chew it. It’s exhilarating, but it’s also totally terrifying.

Is it always terrifying?

There is a moment maybe on set where you cross the threshold and really become that person – and a weird metaphysical exchange happens. I know Brit is still in there, but I can’t access her anymore. Sometimes I think acting is a real flirting with madness. You really do surrender to this imagined reality. There’s something kind of schizophrenic about it, once you start collecting all these experiences.

When you’re playing pretend, I don’t think your nervous system knows the difference between imagining someone shooting or pretending someone is about to bust into the house. I think if you’re good at your job, you’ll trick your body into believing it’s real – and then you’re holding all those experiences in your body. I wonder what it looks like at the end of your lifetime, after you’ve collected all these crazy experiences. Do you even have a self anymore? [Laughs] I don’t know.

With films like The Keeping Room or I Origins, you’ve made a living so far out of dramas. Will we ever see you in a romantic comedy or an action movie?

I’m so down for that. I’m so down for an action movie or a sci-fi franchise. I think it just needs to be the right story. I don’t feel in any rush. I think when the right thing comes along and a character moves you, then you say yes and have that experience. It’s a totally different kind of filmmaking, but it’s the same thing at its heart, when you have a character you really care about – and that’s the only thing that matters to me. I never think about, “How much is this going to be made for?” I just think if I’ll be sustained being on set for days on end, pretending to be this person. Yeah, that might happen sooner than you think [Laughs].

The Keeping Room is now playing in limited release.

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Zoom Is Too Ambitiously High-Concept For Its Own Good

Elevation Pictures

Read more of our Fantastic Fest 2015 coverage here.

Alison Pill is Emma, an aspiring comic book artist who earns her living making real-girl sex dolls. She has a sexual friendship (probably more sex than friend) with co-worker Bob (the reliably comical Tyler Labine) that’s comprised of having sex in a back area of the warehouse during lunch breaks. They seem to have a mutual understanding of their relationship – Emma doesn’t really have many friends, and Bob probably doesn’t have a ton of sex, but there’s no semblance of expected exclusivity. Bob uncovers a doodle Emma made in which she drew herself as a comic-book style superhero – with the common and applicable size quadruple D’s one would find on a sketch of Wonder Woman and most other super-heroines. Bob suggests to Emma that she doesn’t need abnormally large breasts to be accepted (her current size A’s are so friendly), which, of course, suggests to Emma that she needs some abnormally large breasts to be more than just accepted.

The ideas of acceptability, the confidence that comes with comfort in ones attractiveness to suitors, and getting past body issues, drives two other stories in Pedro Morelli‘s Zoom. In her frustration with Bob’s comments Emma begins to conjure her idea of a perfect man. She sketches that of a confident, passionate film director of the testosterone-y Michael Bay variety who happens to desire making his next film in more of the poetic Terrence Malick-y variety. He will be Spanish, he will be a man about town, he will say all the right things to ladies, and he will be all of this because he is Gael Garcia Bernal with a huge package.

Like Emma, Michelle (a gorgeous and melancholy Mariana Ximenes) also suffers from body issues, but it has nothing to do with confidence and self-acceptance. Michelle is a Brazilian model with aspirations of being a novelist. It’s difficult to look the way Michelle looks and be taken seriously as someone who can be strong in literary depth. By happenstance she meets a publicist while killing time at an aquarium looking at jelly-fish. The man asks her to submit some chapters of her book to him, and she does. A few days later she hears back from the man and he asks if she can send in some more – because he liked it. Michelle’s boyfriend (Jason Priestley) sees what he perceives to be a ruse to get her in bed and deeply angers Michelle. She leaves town to seclude herself and find out whether she can be the kind of artist that can transcend the stereotypes of a woman who looks as good as she does.

What each of these people don’t realize is that each is a character in another’s creations. It’s clever, because each character represents an artistic creation born out of the frustration the artist has in their own life, but that idea of a snake eating its own tail in artistic expression sounds better when you’ve had too much to drink, or reading a Keanu Reeves “What If” meme. It results in a film that looks like it wants to say a lot about how we deal with body issues and the importance of being satisfied with what you have despite external forces perceiving you otherwise, but it ends up saying more about how its storytelling concept is ridiculous in its own self-referential way.

Bernal’s film director is stripped of his huge bulge in a moment of anger by Emma as she is having to deal with being dissatisfied with how her newly-acquired synthetic bust (she now looks like the disproportioned sex dolls she makes for a living) is viewed as far too odd by Bob. The director’s ability to direct is tied almost entirely to his self-satisfaction in being able to effortlessly satisfy the opposite sex. His troubles are now projected on Michelle, the lead character in his current film and his desperate attempt to make something meaningful and deep.

Eventually, it all begins to spiral out of control as it interweaves together – and it makes a mess on all of the pages. I will give the film credit that it recognizes it’s making a mess and approaches it with a big sense of humor. However, laughing at yourself as you deviate from making something with a message into making something with a message only about itself isn’t all that funny unless you’re Charlie Kaufman and happen to be really good at that sort of thing. The film doesn’t earn the humorous lunacy it puts forth. It comes across as a movie that started as one idea and changed course midway through when it realized it couldn’t make the first idea work, and tried to write its frustrations forward.

I don’t need another movie that’s too high-concept for its own good. I get it, meaningless movies are unoriginal and worthless, we care too much about the way we look to other people, and yes, it could be cool if a movie was made about a character who drew another character who directed another character who wrote the first character. Zoom just isn’t quite as good as it wants to be de facto originality.

The Upside: Pretty good performances; the concept is at least intriguing, and therefore not boring; occasionally funny; clever mixture of distinguishable visual styles with each story type, making one look like a comic book, another as an Oscar-bait kind of picture, another as an adaptation of a comedy

The Downside: It isn’t as clever as it projects; it isn’t as funny as it desires; it becomes too much about itself

Read more of our Fantastic Fest 2015 coverage here.

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Nicolas Winding Refn: “If Everyone Likes It, You’ve Done Something Wrong”

 

Photo by Gunther Campine

Nicolas Winding Refn doesn’t mind people hating his movies. In fact, he welcomes it.

The director found critical and financial success with Drive, but even that movie had its detractors. His followup, Only God Forgives, had more than its fare share of harsh critics. By this point, you kind of know if Refn’s movies are your thing or not, and having spoken with him many times for the site, it’s apparent he doesn’t plan on changing his style anytime soon to gain more fans — and why should he?

Refn wasn’t at Fantastic Fest to promote his new movie, Neon Demon, which comes out next year, but to promote his coffee table book, “Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing.” It’s a massive collection of beautiful, bizarre movie posters, for movies 99.9% of humanity has never heard of. They’re all posters owned by Refn, who, admittedly, hasn’t seen many of the films either.

What started off as a discussion with the barefoot director regarding his book turned into an interview about his work, intentions and polarizing audiences. Here’s what he had to say:

Refn: Film School Rejects… I love that. I’m a film school dropout.

Why did you drop out?

Because I got money for my first movie, so I was just very, very lucky I was able to raise the money to make my first film. I actually never started film school. I dropped out about eight weeks before I was supposed to start, so I never even entered the campus. It was just pure luck.

Is filmmaking like that in general?

Of course it is. It’s like rolling dice.

Were you interested in movie posters early on in your career?

No. I mean, like everyone else, there was some I thought were great, but I was never a collector.

Did you know any of the posters featured in the book?

No, not at all. I don’t even know what 90% of these movies are. I just bought a collection from a friend of mine about five years ago, because he needed some money. Then a thousand posters arrived, and I didn’t know any of them. I just thought the posters would make for a really interesting coffee table book. I don’t know how the movies are…

Have you seen any of them?

We’re screening three movies from this book at the festival, and we showed the X-Rated Supermarket last night. No one knew what it was. It was a great experience, because everyone was asking, “What is this?”

Was the movie good?

[Pauses] Define good.

[Laughs] Did you enjoy yourself?

Oh, we had a riot. The whole audience was just rioting and laughing. It turned out to be a 61-minute porno movie.

Which other films have you seen from the book?

I have seen Night Tide and Queen of Blood. They’re in the book more because I was a friend of [director] Curtis Harrington’s before he passed away. I always really liked Night Tide. Curtis had a strange career; he was very bitter when he died about how things had turned out. He’s a forgotten filmmaker, in many ways, but I wanted to resurrect the awareness for Night Tide and Queen of Blood.

They’re unique films. I’ve seen 10 or 12 movies in the book. I would encourage people to see the movies. Feel free. It’s 300 new titles to go find.

Do you plan on seeing more of them? 

I don’t have a lot of time with everything else going on in my life. If I fly I’ll watch a movie on an iPad, but I don’t know if you want to get caught on a plane watching X-Rated Supermarket.

[Laughs] If you see someone watching your films on an iPad, are you just happy they’re watching it?

Just glad someone likes what you’re doing. Watching films has evolved into watching films in multiple scenarios. I still think that the cinema is certainly the best way — and that’s why people still continue to go to the cinema. I also enjoy a really good movie on an iPad or iPhone, if I’m in movement.

I imagine you watch a lot of movies that way.

It’s just a great experience of lying with your headphones on a bed somewhere and seeing something. It is very personal. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Have you see anything good lately?

I saw Peter Bogdonaivch’s directorial debut, Targets, and that was great. What else have I seen? I recently really enjoyed Gone Girl, but that was a year ago. I really haven’t seen a lot. I saw a lot of movies coming in from Europe…

[Laughs] That good, huh?

There’s no point in speaking negatively about a specific movie, because making a film is so hard. I do have to say, when things get too generic, I tend to zone out a lot.

Are there any specific movie posters that made an impression on you as a kid?

I still remember seeing a campaign for a cannibal movie in France, when I was, like, five or six. That’s been imprinted on my brain. I have no idea what it was. I’m sure it was one of those cannibal movies.

How involved are you in the creation of posters for your own films?

A lot. I think it’s important for a director to be involved in how your film is promoted. I have been very lucky to have good distributors who have been great at coming up with various visions for what I do. I encourage different distributors to make different kinds of posters. I enjoy that, personally. It’s a vanity thing.

The Only God Forgives poster is very striking.

That was [Radius-TWC co-presidents] Tom Quinn and Jason Janego. They came up with that dragonhead. Personally, that’s my favorite poster anyone has ever done one of my films. That just hit the nail on the head.

How important is marketing to you, to make sure the expectations are right?

Not really important, in that way. I like to be surprised when I go to the movies. I don’t have to know everything going in, and I prefer the opposite going in. Maybe I’m not in the majority, but what I think art can do is surprise people.

Is it rare for you to feel surprised?

I guess it is. You become more jaded growing up, having seen so much. There’s nothing better than being pleasantly surprised – that’s still a “wow” experience. Actually, I liked It Follows. That was good.

That is a good one. It’s surprisingly divisive.

Hey man, I polarize. I can only say if you’ve polarized, you’ve done something right. If everyone likes it, you’ve done something wrong.

Even the people who hate Only God Forgives still talk about it. 

Best thing ever.

How do you reflect back on your work? 

Every movie is a part of me, but I don’t think back. I don’t romanticize my past. I don’t go, “Oh, I wish I could go back.” I just think, “That movie needed to be made like that.” It was a great joy making something that was so polarizing, and yet, everyone kept talking about it. That’s not always the hope, but it becomes more about your vanity.

There’s a lot of vanity in art. Being the subject of conversation can be very satisfying, because art is also about exhibitionism. You have to be an exhibitionist to create – and not so much physically, but certainly mentally. By people bringing you in the conversation, there’s a personal satisfaction to that. There’s nothing better than people constantly talking about you.

You mentioned you’ve become more jaded as you get older. Does filmmaking play a part in that?

When you start to have experiences of “try this, try that,” it’s like, what’s next on the horizon? I remember when I made my first film, Pusher, I thought, “Oh my God, some festival in Ukraine wants to show my movie.” That was a manifestation of success. As you start to make more movies, your movies get distribution and you think, “Oh my God, some American company is releasing my movie in two theaters!”

That was the next level of success. Now it’s that your movie is being launched this weekend, so how much money is it going to make? That’s the next level of how you define if you’re successful, and it gets more stressful, because more and more things are at stake. That’s what jades you. What’s the next pure satisfaction?

Do you know what it might be?

I haven’t gotten there. [Pauses] I guess you create a family and get other things that are more important.

“Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing” is now available to pre-order.

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16 Good Movies to Stream on Netflix in October 2015

The Cinema Guild

Looking for an easy way to watch movies? Then streaming them on Netflix is the answer. Looking to watch only good movies, though? That’s a little bit trickier, because Netflix has piles and piles of crap that you could spend your whole life scrolling through. That’s where we come in. We’ve got recommendations for solid new additions to the service, like clockwork, every month. Here’s a list of what’s new and good in October.  As always, click on the films’ titles to be taken to their Netflix pages.

Pick of the Month: About Elly (2009)

Given that recent additions to Netflix include both a Wes Anderson movie and the movie I most wore out on VHS as a kid, it’s pretty danged impressive that something else got dubbed ‘Pick of the Month.’ Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly is just that good though.

Much like Farhadi’s Oscar-winning film from 2011, A Separation, About Elly is a very simple, human story that’s able to elevate things like breakdowns in communication between its characters and the social awkwardness that comes from societal constraints into high drama. The story starts with the disappearance of a young school teacher (Taraneh Alidoosti) during a weekend holiday with friends and goes on to explore the mystery of whether she just ran off or if she’s dead, what the repercussions are going to be when it’s revealed to her family that she was on a trip alongside a single man (Shahab Hosseini), and who’s going to take the heat when the truth of what happened comes to light. About Elly is insightful, character-focused, full of great performances, and better at building tension than can be conveyed in words. If for no other reason, watch it for Golshifteh Farahani, who throws herself completely into her role, going to deep, dark emotional places, and giving one of the most affecting performances you’re likely to see all year.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

When Mike Judge’s demented skewering of youth culture, Beavis and Butt-Head, was at its peak in the mid-90s, it was absolutely everywhere. The animated duo were showing up on awards shows, on merchandise, they were all over the evening news, and middle schoolers everywhere would talk in their voices all day long, driving anyone over the age of twenty insane—so of course Hollywood got involved and made a Beavis and Butt-Head movie. It was a pretty good one too. Sure, Beavis and Butt-Head are a relic of the 90s, but there are plenty of evergreen gags in here that still work. If you haven’t watched Beavis and Butt-Head Do America because the cartoon had a reputation for being dumb, but you’ve gone on to like other things Judge has done like King of the Hill or Silicone Valley, then now’s your chance to catch up with what everyone was loving back in the day. You’ll probably be surprised at how much smart satire got snuck into all of the lowbrow humor in here.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

It’s true that The Blair Witch Project was such a phenomenon upon its release that it created a huge and inevitable backlash, and it’s true that we’ve spent the last sixteen years suffering through the deluge of horrible found footage imitators that it spawned, but there has to have been something great about the film itself in order for it to be able to have such a profound effect on the movie industry, right? Right. People tend to forget just how good Blair Witch is at building tension, and how it knows better than to show the audience too much, instead leaving its threats mostly off camera and in the viewers’ imaginations, where spookiness is always more spooky. There probably still hasn’t been a found footage movie released that’s been able to do basic horror movie stuff as well as this one did since it kicked off the whole craze. If you somehow didn’t see it when it was big, and you’ve been avoiding it because you think you hate all found footage horror, give it a try. There is a way to do this genre well, and it turns out Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez cracked the code all the way back in ’99.

Comet (2014)

Before he started building a buzz by creating the technology and mental health drama Mr. Robot for television, writer/director Sam Esmail made this comparatively low-concept romantic drama, Comet, for the big screen. It’s one of those indie movies that shows us the lifespan of a romantic relationship between two characters, but shows the big moments of their time together out of sequence, in order to create interesting juxtapositions in behavior and to give us insights into character and whatnot. It’s a pretty well-worn storytelling strategy at this point, but Esmail has nonetheless been able to take one of the more interesting pokes at the conceit. Comet’s shot beautifully, it’s well-written, it adds an interesting wrinkle by focusing on a main character (Justin Long) who’s pretty inherently unlikable, and it puts Emmy Rossum in hipster glasses, as if checking off a list of my fetishes was a prerequisite for it existing.

Long and Rossum are both good as the leads, but it’s Long especially who’s able to shine here by first completely alienating you with narcissistic behavior and then bringing you back around to his side after he experiences a moment or two of emotional truth. He gives a big romantic speech near the end that’s moose pimple-inducing. Who knew he had it in him? Keep this one in mind next time you have a Netflix date night coming up.

Roadside Attractions

Dear White People (2014)

Discussions regarding race relations have been all over the media for the past few years, for dour and depressing reasons. Justin Simien’s satire about a group of black students attending an Ivy League college, Dear White People, comparative to real life, is able to tackle the divisions that exist between people of different races with much more wit and humor, with considerably lower stakes, and without reducing people to stereotypes, which makes the debate not just more palatable, but downright entertaining.

The characters here are well-developed and three-dimensional, the quips they throw at each other are biting and hilarious, and in general there’s just a lot to love about this movie. The biggest asset it’s got going for it is Tessa Thompson though. She plays a conflicted young woman who hosts a college radio program that shares a name with the film, and she’s a revelation. This girl’s got a real star quality, and she’s bound to start showing up everywhere, very soon. Get on the TT train now so you can look cooler than everyone else later.

Fido (2006)

Sick of the same kind of zombie movies that tell the same kind of zombie stories? Then Fido might be the movie for you. This one takes place in a world that looks like a strange satire of 1950s suburban life, but with zombies. You see, instead of living in an out of control place where survivors are constantly stalked by the undead, the people in the world of Fido have harnessed the potential of zombies by creating personal servants out of them. Co-writer/director Andrew Currie mixes humor with horror grossness well here, and he manages to tell a story that throws some effective satirical shade at things like our consumer culture, the way that we treat the sick and elderly, and the rot that exists under the glossy surface of suburban life. Fido is sick and fun, it’s got Tim Blake Nelson and Billy Connolly in it, and it features the sleaziest Dylan Baker performance this side of Happiness. That should be more than enough incentive to give it a chance.

Hackers (1995)

Look, nobody’s going to pretend like Hackers is a good movie. It’s dated as hell, and even back when it was first released it played as being mostly silly. If you were a teenager in the 90s though, chances are you hold it dear as a guilty pleasure. It offered up the allure of letting you peak inside of a hidden subculture, it pandered to a young audience by doing that thing where teenagers are portrayed as being competent and revolutionary while adults are painted as being ignorant and obsolete, it introduced a generation of young, straight boys and young, suddenly curious girls to Angelina Jolie, and it’s got a solid techno soundtrack that not only makes the era come alive, it proves that this current generation of kids has just stolen the music and the drugs of the previous generation and given them new names. Now that Hackers is on Netflix, you’re going to give it at least one drunken, late night watch. You know you are. Even if it’s just to see Fisher Stevens skitching behind a limo on a skateboard while wearing a black trench coat, AKA, the most 90s thing that’s ever happened.

Hardball (2001)

It seemed like a lot of movie fans were recently caught by surprise that Keanu Reeves had the power to make them cry while they watched John Wick, but true Keanu fans have known for a long time that stoner astonishment isn’t the only emotion he has to offer. Hardball is a little cheesy, and it sticks way too closely to the inspirational sports movie formula, but cheesiness paired with inspirational sports stories usually works well, so it makes for good comfort food. Hardball is like a cross between The Mighty Ducks (Keanu goes from sleaze to good guy) and The Bad News Bears (the kids he coaches are foul-mouthed street rats), which has to sound appealing, unless you’re a monster.

As for Keanu, a good deal of his patented awkwardness shows up in the first part of the film where he’s trying to play a rapidly flaming out gambling addict, but he nails the earnestness of the second half in true brow-furrowing fashion. I’m tearing up again just thinking about how much he loves those kids. Oh, and also this movie has Diane Lane!

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John Carpenter to Perform His Scores Live For First Time in Iceland

If there's any one new trend in the film industry that is getting better and better it's the live concerts. For years now, composers of all kinds have been hosting live performances of their favorite work, usually shown alongside with the film during the orchestration. We've seen everyone from John Williams to Clint Mansell to Jonny Greenwood, and now there's another legendary composer jumping into live performances - horror master John Carpenter. That's right, the ATP Iceland music festival taking place in July of 2016 has officially booked John Carpenter for his first ever live performance of his film scores and new compositions. If you're a John Carpenter fan, this sounds like it's a cannot-miss event, so you better book your tickets now.

Fans of John Carpenter already know he recently released a new album of work called Lost Themes, and that many of his scores are being released as vinyl by Mondo. His performance at ATP Iceland next year will be focused on his scores. The press release states: "Carpenter will be performing a musical retrospective of his work, his first solo record of non-soundtrack music Lost Themes, plus brand new compositions. The Horror Master will also be joined on stage by both his son Cody Carpenter, and his godson Daniel Davies (both of whom co-recorded Lost Themes), in addition to a full live band and spectacular stage production." If you're already interested in finding out what they'll play, then you better book your ticket - they're on sale.

Thanks to Consequence of Sound for the tip on this. All the details above + image direct from ATP Iceland.

John Carpenter is an iconic and acclaimed American filmmaker and composer who has been making movies since 1974. It all started with the sci-fi film Dark Star, but his filmography later defined the horror genre - his features include Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Starman (1984), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), Village of the Damned (1995), Escape from L.A. (1996), Vampires (1998) and Ghosts of Mars (2001). While I'm sure there have been live performances of his scores previously in some capacity, this is the first time Carpenter himself will be on stage to perform his work. Let us know if you're planning to attend this show. And maybe pack one of these Mondo sweaters, too.

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First Trailer for 'A Bigger Splash' with Tilda Swinton & Dakota Johnson

"You're pretty domesticated for a rock star." StudioCanal UK has debuted the first fun teaser trailer for A Bigger Splash, a new film made by Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino telling the story of four friends on a nice holiday on the volcanic island of Pantelleria. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson, Matthias Schoenaerts and Tilda Swinton, the film is described as a "sensuous portrait of desire, jealousy and rock and roll, under the Mediterranean sun." This actually looks pretty good, like there will be some interesting discussions and crazy occurrences on this seemingly charming vacation. Don't forget to pack a bathing suit.

Here's the first teaser trailer for Luca Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash, from StudioCanal UK's YouTube:

Rock legend Marianne Lane is recuperating on the volcanic island of Pantelleria with her partner Paul when iconoclast record producer and old flame Harry unexpectedly arrives with his daughter Penelope and interrupts their holiday, bringing with him an A-bomb blast of nostalgia from which there can be no rescue. A Bigger Splash is directed by up-and-coming Italian filmmaker Luca Guadagnino (Melissa P., I Am Love, Bertolucci on Bertolucci), from a screenplay written by David Kajganich, based on a story by Alain Page. The film just premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is also playing at the London Film Festival, with a US release planned for next summer, May of 2016. Stay tuned for more updates if you're interested.

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Errol Morris’s Ten Documentaries to Watch

We may live in a world overloaded with lists, but certain list makers can’t be ignored. Case in point: director Errol Morris has been invited to this year’s International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam to present ten nonfiction films he . . .

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The Beep

As a restoration artist, I am often responsible for the initial assembly of a film. This means putting all the reels together and removing each reel's heads and tails (also known as leader). I always find it interesting to see what’s on the . . .

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