The endearing new indie film Win Win screened at Austin’s SXSW film fest last week, and I had the opportunity to sit down with leading man Paul Giamatti and director Thomas McCarthy. They took the time to discuss their new film, released today in theatres, about a harried wrestling coach and a neglected teen.
A fantastical thriller, Limitless makes you want to yell “I’ll have what he’s on!” In theatres everywhere March 18th, this sleek sci-fi starring Bradley Cooper plays like a morality tale on speed.
Based on a novel by Alan Glynn, Limitless explores the normally untapped heights of human potential. The movie starts with main character Eddie Morra (Cooper) standing on a ledge. He’s about to jump, and to explain how he got to this point in his life he takes the audience back to the beginning of all his trouble.
I had the opportunity to sit down with Nick Frost and Simon Pegg this week at Austin’s SXSW film fest to discuss their new sci-fi themed comedy Paul. Director Greg Mottola joined us as well as we discussed the story, the culture of comedy, and the alien effects.
A thoughtful study of relationships and family dynamics, Win Win wrestles the competition to the ground. The Fox Searchlight indie drama surrounding a young wrestler and his harried coach screened at Austin’s SXSW Film Festival last week, and comes out in theatres March 18th.
Win Win is the touching tale of Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti), a less-than-successful lawyer who is having money troubles. He’s also the high school wrestling coach of perhaps the worst team in the district. Mike finds himself in an ethical dilemma as he faces an opportunity to make an easy buck, but has to act questionably. A senior citizen named Leo, who suffers from dementia, is about to be declared a ward of the state. Mike discovers that he can make some money if he declares himself Leo’s legal guardian under the promise of watching out for him and allowing him to live in his own home instead of a state home. Mike has a strategy, which doesn’t include letting Leo live in his own home. His plan seems to be working out perfectly until Leo’s grandson shows up.
Jodie Foster’s The Beaver had its moments, but the overall premise just didn’t fly. It premiered at Austin’s SXSW film fest last night, and will be out in theatres this May. Mel Gibson stars as a mentally ill family man who uses a beaver hand puppet to deal with his issues. Though this emotional drama had tender moments, the story just wasn’t strong enough to make it a great film. Instead it came across as somewhat contrived and just plain mediocre.
Hesher is one of those movies you want to like, because it stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman and it’s off-balanced. Unfortunately it doesn’t know what it wants to be though, and with a main character as unlikable as fingernails on a chalkboard, I found it difficult to take. Hesher screened this week at Austin’s SXSW film fest, and after watching it I know two things: Gordon-Levitt has amazing range, and Hesher is a drama in that it meanders for about two hours and then ends with an unsatisfying whimper.
Hobo with a Shotgun is a film in the tradition of those ridiculous 70s exploitation films. But unlike most grindhouse films, Hobo with a Shotgun is actually a lot of fun. Starring Rutger Hauer as the titular hobo, the movie screened at this week's uber popular SXSW film fest in Austin to sold-out theatres. The response was overwhelming, and luckily for those not attending SXSW this entertaining genre film gets a theatrical release this spring.
I had the opportunity to sit down with The Divide’s director Xavier Gens this week during Austin’s SXSW film festival to discuss his adrenalin-pumping new post-apocalyptic thirller. Michael Biehn, who plays one of the central roles in the film, was there as well.
Xavier Gens, most well known for films like Hitman and Frontier(s), brings us his disturbing new vision which is a visceral post-apocalyptic thriller that explores the darker side of human nature. The Divide isn’t just a thrilling survival film set against the back-drop of a nuclear holocaust; it’s a dark and disturbing look at humanity at its worst.
SXSW is stock-full of creative types and film brilliance. They’ve flown in from all over the world to see the best of the best, and I had the opportunity to sit down with Source Code’s Duncan Jones and discuss his newest film offering. We talked to Duncan back in January about the film but this time, as the film is about to hit theatres, he had some new information to share. Read on to find out what he had to say.
Source Code hefted some great directorial skill and creativity in Jones. Jones' last film, which was also his first, Moon, was a plodding introspective sci-fi with a great edge of touching humanity. Source Code is another hard sci-fi with heart, as the emotional journey of the main character Colter (Jake Gyllenhaal) is as important as the sci-fi elements of the story.
At SXSW 2011 I had the opportunity to sit down with Jake Gyllenhaal, the star of Source Code, and discuss his character in the film. Gyllenhaal plays Colter, an Air Force pilot who wakes up in someone else’s body and must figure out who set off a bomb on a train. He has to re-live the same eight minutes over and over again as part of a new scientific program called the source code. Duncan Jones directs this sci-fi thriller and Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga and Jeffrey Wright co-star.
