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Sony Pictures Classics Picks Up TIFF's Lebanon and Get Low

Sony Pictures Classics seems to be the only indie studio buying films this year (read Roger Ebert's article on the state of the indie marketplace). Not only did they pick up A Prophet and The White Ribbon at Cannes, but they just picked up Lebanon and Get Low today following the Toronto Film Festival. SPC announced each separately today. "Lebanon is of those important films that will last forever in the marketplace. We are honored to be bringing Lebanon to the American public," said Sony Pictures Classics. The film is expected to be a big Foreign Language Oscar contender, most likely going head-to-head against SPC's own A Prophet.

⥤ Posted September 21 in Indies, Movie News | 5 Comments

Avatar Launches its Own Unimpressive New Viral Website

By Alex Billington

"You are not in Kansas anymore. You are on Pandora, ladies and gentleman." Just listen to Col. Quaritch, he'll keep you safe on Pandora. I was first sent a link to this new viral site last week but was so unimpressed, I decided not to mention it until it got some more content. Given its a slow news day today, everyone else is picking it up as news today, so I thought why not finally mention it. The site is located at AVTR.com and is all about becoming "a part of the program." The viral AVTR site is self-described as "your daily source of the latest information about the Resource Development Administration's AVTR Program." Read on for more.

⥤ Posted September 21 in Hype, Opinions, Viral News | 15 Comments

Toronto Video Reviews: Defendor & Capitalism: A Love Story

By Alex Billington

"Just call me... Defendor!" Although the Toronto Film Festival has wrapped up, our coverage isn't entirely finished just yet. A few days ago Peter from SlashFilm and I decided to just recorded a video on the streets of Toronto talking about our thoughts on both Peter Stebbings' Defendor and Michael Moore's new doc Capitalism: A Love Story. Not only was it just easier to record all this, but now you get to hear both perspectives on these two films. It's a fun little video that's worth checking out, especially if you want to hear more about either of those films. So without further ado, drop what you're doing and fire this video up!

⥤ Posted September 21 in To Watch, Toronto Film Fest 09 | 4 Comments

Clooney Wants to Direct Damon in 'Hamdan v Rumsfeld'

By Alex Billington

Just when George Clooney was having a good year in front of the screen, he wants to return back behind the camera to direct once again. He last directed Leatherheads, which didn't do too well at the box office, and according to a Bang Showbiz story, now wants to return to direct Hamdan v Rumsfeld. You probably haven't heard of Hamdan v Rumsfeld and that's because it was previously called The Challenge. Or rather, the book that Aaron Sorkin adapted is called The Challenge, but it's mainly about the Hamdan v Rumsfeld trial. "It's about the so called 'War On Terror', but set in a courtroom," Clooney explained to Bang Showbiz.

⥤ Posted September 21 in Movie News, Opinions, Rumors | 6 Comments

Fan Art Contest: Where the Wild Things Ought to Be...

By Alex Billington

Where the Wild Things Are - Max on Wire Fan Art

Spike Jonze, director of the upcoming film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, is currently running a fan art contest on the film's official blog - We Love You So. Scheduled to end on Friday, with the winners announced the following Monday, the only guideline the site gives is as follows: Show them where the Wild Things ought to be -- "the basic idea is to send in images or GIFs or videos inserting Wild Things artwork, clips, etc. into places that could use some 'wilding-up.'" The prize for all of your hard Photoshop work? The complete series of WTWTA skate decks (check these out). Check out a few of these below.

⥤ Posted September 20 in Cool Stuff, Hype, Movie News | 7 Comments

Toronto 2009 Review: Aaron Schneider's Get Low

By Alex Billington

Don't ask why, but I wasn't expecting much out of Get Low. I remember hearing about the story when it was first announced, but I just didn't expect it to be that great. Boy was I wrong. Get Low is a film that mixes emotion and comedy in a hugely impressive way (for a first-time feature filmmaker) and is endearing at the same time. It's led by an incredible performance from Robert Duvall and is a remarkably wild ride, which almost doesn't make sense considering it's a period piece set in the 1930s, but it works. I wasn't expecting to like it, but I fell in love with it, thanks to all the little details that director Aaron Schneider brought to it.

⥤ Posted September 20 in Opinions, Toronto Film Fest 09 | 4 Comments

Toronto 2009 Review: Ian Fitzgibbon's Perrier's Bounty

By Alex Billington

With so many gritty low-budget British gangster films these days, the better ones really need something that makes unique if they want to stand out. At first I thought that was exactly Perrier's Bounty had - a great cast with a perfect dynamic. But as I watched the story play out, I realized this wasn't at all any different, and it started to follow a formulaic path. By the end I knew what was coming -- well, not entirely, but I knew that he'd get the girl, and I knew that he'd live to see another day. No surprise there. I'm not trying to spoil the film, but rather just criticize it, as it really had a chance of being great but lost its edge once it got going.

⥤ Posted September 20 in Opinions, Toronto Film Fest 09 | 3 Comments

Toronto 2009 Review: Drew Barrymore's Whip It

By Alex Billington

My first introduction to the world of roller derby and thankfully there was no painful initiation. Whip It is no masterpiece, but for the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, it's pretty damn good. I'm looking forward to whatever she directs next, but for her debut behind the camera, I was considerably impressed. As for her stars, Ellen Page has never looked better on roller skates, and Alia Shawkat has never been funnier. It's a sweet, charming, occasionally humorous, and fun little southern film, but it doesn't hit as hard as the girls in the derby do. I wanted to love it but just couldn't. There's just not enough to appreciate, I guess.

⥤ Posted September 20 in Opinions, Toronto Film Fest 09 | 8 Comments

Check These Out: Unused Posters for Duncan Jones' Moon

By Alex Billington

It's always heartbreaking to get a glimpse of the posters that were not used in a film's marketing campaign. One of the most recent examples of this was the beautiful hand-drawn poster for Inglourious Basterds that James Goodridge drew. Another set of unused posters have been dug up by our friends at Quiet Earth for Duncan Jones' brilliant low-budget sci-fi flick Moon that hit theaters earlier this summer. While I liked the actual poster they ended up using (it was handpicked by Duncan), some of these posters are also pretty gorgeous and I'm sad we never got to see them until now. They're definitely worth checking out, so read on!

⥤ Posted September 20 in Cool Stuff, Indies, Posters | 25 Comments

Blogging Live from Toronto '09: Part 3 - Final Fest Wrap-Up

By Alex Billington

To end the Toronto Film Festival, I caught a 9:30PM screening of The Disappearance of Alice Creed at the Ryerson Theater late last night. We arrived just on time, as I had just finished a big dinner with some friends, and decided to sit on the balcony. I'd never set foot up there before (in three years) and thought, why not check it out? The seats were fine, although they were far away, but as is usual when sitting below the projection booth, I could see the light shining in the air from the window all the way to the screen. What a way to end this fest, I thought, getting that true feeling of sitting in a cinema (think Cinema Paradiso).

⥤ Posted September 20 in Editorials, Toronto Film Fest 09 | 10 Comments

Indie Trailer Sunday: Auf Der Heide's Van Diemen's Land

By Alex Billington

A second trailer has debuted for Jonathan Auf Der Heide's Van Diemen's Land, the Australian thriller that has been hiding in the darkness for a while now. We first featured a shorter teaser trailer for this same film back in May (while I was in Cannes) as I was first told about it at the time. The film is now showing at Fantastic Fest next week where I'll finally be seeing it and will have some feedback on it. Van Diemen's Land is about cannibalism during the early 1800s, so tread with caution. The title pertains to an actual piece of Australian wilderness known as Van Diemen's Land, referring to the island of Tasmania. Check it out!

Watch the Trailer ›

⥤ Posted September 20 in Indies, To Watch, Trailers | 17 Comments

Indie Trailer Sunday: Andrea Arnold's Festival Hit Fish Tank

By Alex Billington

With the Toronto Film Festival coming to an end this weekend, I thought it'd be the perfect time to feature the official UK trailer for Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank. I first saw this film during Cannes (read my review) and enjoyed it immensely. I've been following it and supporting it as much as I can ever since. I saw it again in Telluride, where I brought a few friends including Peter Sciretta from SlashFilm and Jason Reitman, who both enjoyed it as well. Fish Tank is about a rebellious teenage girl in England whose life changes when her mom brings home a new guy that she can't decide whether she wants as her dad or her boyfriend. Enjoy!

Watch the Trailer ›

⥤ Posted September 20 in Indies, To Watch, Trailers | 6 Comments

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