YellowBrickRoad, an indie horror flick about of a group of investigators trying to solve the 70-year-old mystery of a missing town, has been a genre film festival darling for the last year. Now, thanks to horror film series Bloody Disgusting Selects, it will get a limited AMC theatrical release June 1st.
The Company Men boasts an impressive ensemble cast and a relevant message while delivering some solid cinematic entertainment. At times introspective and slow, this thoughtful drama follows a businessman who finds himself a casualty of the recession after he loses his high-paying corporate job. Helmed by John Wells, The Company Men made the film festival circuit last year and will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD on June 7th.
Beyond some concept art, we haven’t seen much from Pixar’s upcoming animated Highland adventure Brave. This original fairytale about a Scottish princess with a mind of her own is set to hit theaters summer of 2012, and thanks to a release from Disney Pixar France we can catch a look at the first CGI image of the film’s princess Merida.
Terrence Malick (The New World) brings his cinematic quest for the meaning of life and the existence of God to the silver screen in The Tree of Life. This Fox Searchlight production hits theaters today in the midst of major anticipatory buzz. It’s hard to put this film into any particular genre, as its structure is so radically untraditional and experimental. What audiences will take away from this film, besides wondering what the hell it was they just saw, will be a pervading sense of Malick’s yearning for answers in an unresponsive universe.
Much like other avant-garde films, discussion of plot or storyline is almost impossible when it comes to The Tree of Life. This “film” doesn’t follow any linear narrative flow, and jumps around not only in time, but I think in planes of existence. It plays out like a series of scenes meant less to advance the storyline and more to elicit pure emotional response. Malick indulges in an artistic philosophical musing, not caring too much whether his movie has any kind of point.
A true crime action pic, Kill the Irishman follows the life of “Celtic Warrior” (aka Irish mobster) Danny Greene as he rises to power in the ‘70s and takes on the Italian mafia. Though the production values are low, the movie is an explosion-filled gangster tale with all the violence and fat, pasta-eating Mafiosi you could hope for (if you like that sort of thing). Anchor Bay’s Kill the Irishman hits the streets on June 14th on Blu-Ray and DVD.
In news of yet another Frankenstein-themed pic in the works, Deadline reports that Let Me In helmer Matt Reeves is set to direct This Dark Endeavor for Summit Entertainment. Jacob Aaron Estes (Mean Creek) will pen the film adaptation of Kenneth Oppel’s young adult novel “This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein,” which hits bookstores this summer.
The novel is part of a proposed book series (hello, franchise) to be published by Simon and Schuster. The plot synopsis of This Dark Endeavor centers around Victor Frankenstein’s twin brother Konrad, who is gravely ill. Victor sets out with his friend Elizabeth to find the elusive ingredients for the Elixir of Life, a magic serum that bestows the gift of perpetual life. No doubt a romantic triangle develops, and dangerous adventures ensue.
If you have warm recollections about skating rinks and jelly bracelets, then 80s-era indie drama Skateland will probably be a nostalgic movie stroll. It premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and finally got a limited theatrical release last week. Skateland is a solid coming-of-age drama, though the unexceptional storyline and characters offer nothing new.
Shiloh Fernandez (Red Riding Hood) stars in Anthony Burns’ directorial debut as a young man who finds his world suddenly changing. Ritchie and his pals live in small-town Texas in the early 80s, where Ritchie manages the local hotspot skating rink, Skateland. Ritchie is stuck in a rut, and unable to make any big life decisions he’s content to coast along hanging with his female best bud Michelle (Ashley Greene) and partying at the lake with loaded friend Kenny (Taylor Handley).
Maggie Gyllenhaal is set to star in Eric Howell’s supernatural thriller Voice from the Stone. Variety reports that the haunted tale is currently looking for distribution at Cannes, with K5 International shopping it around.
Voice from the Stone is the film adaptation of a novel by Italian scribe Silvio Raffo. The story sounds like an old-fashioned haunted house scenario, with Gyllenhaal playing a nurse in charge of a young boy who complains of malevolent forces lurking in the walls of an old house in the Italian countryside. As she becomes more involved with the family (particularly the father), she ends up the target of the evil entity and must save herself and the family.
No doubt in the same spirit as its title, The Curse of the Buxom Strumpet looks to bring a fun blend of horror hi-jinx and bawdy humor to a starched period drama backdrop. According to Screen Daily, Matthew Butler will helm this zombie horror/comedy set in the 18th century, with acting heavyweights Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen starring.
With only about a $3 million budget, this film project boasts an impressive cast. Dench and McKellen will be joined by Gillian Anderson (X-Files) and Mark Williams (Harry Potter). Butler has dabbled in acting, but it seems he’s passionate about getting behind the camera. The story for The Curse of the Buxom Strumpet, co-written by Butler and Tori Hart, is an extension of his 2010 short film E’gad Zombies. McKellen also narrated Butler’s film short, and had a small cameo role.
Hot on the heels of this weekend’s announcement about Neil Jordan’s upcoming vampire pic Byzantium, comes news of an untitled film project about, you guessed it, the bloodsucking undead. According to Screen Daily, Jim Jarmusch will helm a “crypto-vampire love story” starring Hollywood hot commodities Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender.
