2014 Austin Film Festival Preview - Part 1

LOOKING FOR LIONS

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Weaving together multiple stories, LOOKING FOR LIONS, tells the story of the lengths we will go for the people that we love. Unable to hold down a job, Ray (Todd Julian) takes a new position as a driver for a company that deals in the black market organ trade. Emmet, played by Norman Lesperance, who also wrote and produced the film, is a struggling husband dealing with the imminent death of his wife, as she is rejected a place on the donor list. Facing a system that has failed them, Ray and Emmet must make decisions that lead them to things they never imagined. 

The film is directed by Bradley W. Ragland and stars Chelsea Gilligan, who was also the executive producer. Three years ago this small crew shot a short film and submitted it to AFF. Though their film was not selected, a note from the festival inspired them to shoot the feature length version of their short. Now, not only have they been accepted, but they have also been asked to speak as panelists during the Screenwriters' Conference. 

Be sure to catch LOOKING FOR LIONS during the festival at the Bullock Texas State History Museum either Sunday (10/26) at 6:15pm or Wednesday (10/29) at 7:00pm. And take a look at the trailer here. 

THE LAST TIME YOU HAD FUN

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Forced into a night out by their friends, four adults meet at a wine-bar and set off together to prove that they’re still young enough to have a fun night out. Clark and Will, played by Kyle Bornheimer and Demetri Martin, meet Alison (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) and her sister Ida (Eliza Coupe) and soon find that their circumstances are all very similar. Through a series of mishaps and impulsive decisions, this film deals with the ins and outs of navigating relationships when they fail to live up to our expectations.

THE LAST TIME YOU HAD FUN is directed by Mo Perkins and written by her husband, Hal Haberman. Her first film also dealt with marriage and won the AFF Audience Award in 2008. 

You can see the film on Friday (10/24) at 7:00pm at the Bullock Texas State History Museum IMAX Theatre or Monday (10/27) at 10:00pm at Alamo Drafthouse Village.

TERRIBLE LOVE

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A veteran comes home from Iraq after suffering an injury to his eye. Rufus, played by Rufus Burns, brings back more than a physical injury to his family and wife Amy (Amy Urbina). As time goes by, the evidence of Rufus’ PTSD becomes clearer to Amy but is shrouded from those around the couple as they figure out how to battle this disorder and repair their marriage.

TERRIBLE LOVE is the debut feature from director Christopher Thomas and producer Luke Helmer. Following in the footsteps of Drake Doremus (LIKE CRAZY), the actors improvised their dialogue after heavy outlining and pre-production work. The grounded nature of this style gives it an immediacy and authenticity that is able to deliver an unflinching look at a devastating disorder. 

Don’t miss TERRIBLE LOVE screening at the Bullock Texas State History Museum IMAX Theater Thursday (10/23) at 9:45pm or at the Galaxy Highland 10 Theater on Sunday (10/26) at 7:45pm.

61 BULLETS

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In 1935, U.S. Senator Huey Long was fatally wounded by the alleged assassin Dr. Carl Weiss. As the story goes, Weiss attacked Long and Long’s body guards responded, emptying 60 bullets into Weiss’s body. For years, no one has been able to explain why Weiss, a well respected doctor with a wife and baby at home, took it upon himself to kill one of the most controversial political characters in our history. With so much evidence either buried or long gone, both sides still hold on to their version of the truth. Through the surviving family and people close to the Long and Weiss family, 61 BULLETS sheds light on the mystery and also asks us to question where our history comes from.

Directed by David Modigliani and Lucy Kreutz, 61 BULLETS was awarded funding by the Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund which aided in the production of this film. It was produced by Modigliani and Yvonne Bourdreaux, granddaughter of Ida Bourdreaux, one of the subjects of the film and relative of Weiss. 

61 BULLETS is showing at the Rollins Theatre Saturday (10/25) at 4:15pm and at the Galaxy Highland 10 Theater on Wednesday (10/29) at 7:00pm.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2 of our AFF preview. 

FURY Review: 'Ideals are peaceful, history is violent'

   On Friday night, I walked into the theater to see Brad Pitt’s new movie Fury. The night started well—by buying my ticket at the door, I got a free Fury shirt. Upon sitting down I immediately got up when the trailers started and Interstellar was the first one. Then later in the weekend, the trailer assaulted me while watching the Bronco’s beat up the 49er’s. Apparently nowhere is safe. 

    In Fury an American tank crew heads behind German lines at the close of WWII to discover they are out gunned and out manned. Writer/director David Ayer (Training Day, End of Watch) brings us a well-crafted war tale focused on this crew as a new member joins after one of their own falls to German attack. 

    The movie opens with a beautiful long take of a German soldier on horseback riding through a battlefield. Wardaddy (Pitt) jumps from behind the seemingly broken down tank and kills the soldier. After they get back to base, they say goodbye to their fallen brother and welcome Norman (Logan Lerman) an 8-week green soldier, trained to be a clerk. The tough crew struggles to accept Norman into their fold as they were together since the beginning of the war, through North Africa, France, Belgium, and finally Germany.

    “Wait till you see…what a man can do to another man,” warns Shia LaBeouf’s character Boyd, who everyone refers to as ‘Bible’. Like a lot of replacement soldiers in the war, Norman finds integration hard and Wardaddy even takes drastic actions to bring him up to speed. 

    A few scenes later, we arrive at what might be the most tense scene of the whole film. But it’s not in the form of an action sequence. Wardaddy leads Norman to clear a building and they find two German women. Interrupted by the rest of the crew (LaBeouf, Michael Peña and Jon Bernthal), they share a tiny meal with the two women. It’s during this scene where we hear of the horrors that the crew has seen. After leaving the town, Norman makes his decision that he will kill Germans and won’t hesitate again. The crew is finally brought together when they receive a mission to protect a crossroads from German advances.

    Peña (End of Watch) and Bernthal (Walking Dead) perform very well and Pitt and LaBeouf really shine. Lerman (Noah, Perks of Being a Wallflower) plays his part of hesitant soldier coming around to accept his fate. On the whole, it is a well acted film with Ayer able to take us along on this intense ride. And it’s no wonder—both of Ayer’s grandfather’s served in WWII and he was in the military before turning to screenwriting and directing. The relationships and interactions are grounded in a reality that he knows and has heard much about from those who where there. 

    We’re currently working on a rating system to rate movies, but for now, I would definitely go see this one. 

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA and UNBROKEN Trailers

In the Heart of the Sea is directed by A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13 director Ron Howard. It's based the book of the same name by Nathaniel Philbrick about the sinking of the whaleship Essex in 1820. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) stars with Cillian Murphy and Tom Holland. The film will be released March 15, 2015. 

Unbroken follows the true story of Louis Zamperini, Olympian and war hero. Based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand (“Seabiscuit: An American Legend”), the film is directed by Angelina Jolie, who also produces. During WWII Zamperini and two other crewmen survived in a raft for 47 days but are captured but the Japanese Navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. The film will be released Christmas 2014. 

TOMORROWLAND Teaser Trailer

Check out the mysterious teaser to Disney's super-secret new movie, Tomorrowland, a project from director Brad Bird (The Incredibles and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) and writer Damon Lindelof (co-creator of Lost and writer of The Leftovers and Prometheus). The trailer is narrated by George Clooney's character as he muses about the possibilities of the future and changing the world.

The film also stars Britt Robertson and Hugh Laurie. The trailer was just shown today to at Disney's presentation of the film at New York Comic-Con. Tomorrowland is due out May 22, 2015. 

GONE GIRL REVIEW

This is a post by Emily Palizzi, contributing writer from LA. 

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© 20th Century Fox

“You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.” Wise words and also the premise for director David Fincher’s (Se7en, Zodiac, The Social Network) new thriller Gone Girl, which opened in theaters on October 3rd. The movie, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, is based off the 2012 novel, and New York Times Bestseller, by Gillian Flynn - who also penned the screenplay.

The story centers on Nick Dunne (Affleck) whose wife Amy (Pike) goes missing the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary. Nick instantly becomes the subject of an intense media circus and, along with an all-star supporting cast including Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Kim Dickens, is forced to navigate the many twists and turns surrounding Amy’s disappearance.

Pike and Affleck were the perfect choices to play their respective characters, with Affleck bringing the right amount lovable to Nick and Pike the perfect stoic gentleness required of Amy. They play off each other remarkably well and are able to create the believable illusion of true love, which is the most important piece of the film’s crazy puzzle.

I devoured the novel in three days back in June and saw the movie on Saturday night, in a sold out theater in Los Angeles, and thought it was a suburb adaptation. As a devout Fincher fan, I had no doubts whatsoever in his ability to bring the unique tone of Flynn’s writing to life which, in this case, is a deeply disturbing satire on the institution of marriage.

Gone Girl is one of those stories that will make you stop and think about the kind of society we have become. It shines a piercing light on relationships and the roles of each individual involved, and calls into question the endless competitions, the constant nagging, and the "performances" that can ultimately destroy two people. How we mold our significant other into the person we want them to be, or how we allow ourselves to put on an elaborate act in order to keep our loved ones close. 

Wondering whether to read Flynn’s novel first before seeing the movie? My answer is a resounding YES. Why? As with any adapted work, the source material is almost always better. Even though Fincher’s version of Gone Girl sticks remarkably close to Flynn’s novel, there were thousands of intricacies that had to be left behind in the transfer. Tiny details that help create the suspense, misdirection, and chilling scenes, they are what make this story so deliciously disturbing and can only be found in the novel. Still, Gone Girl is an intense ride through the twisted psyche of a modern married couple and definitely worth the price of a movie ticket.

First Trailer for AMERICAN SNIPER

Take a look at the first trailer for American Sniper, the film based on Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's memoir which was a New York Times best-seller. Clint Eastwood directs and Bradley Cooper stars as Kyle. 

Kyle's memoir came out in 2012 and after reading it Cooper was passionate about bringing it to the screen. He pursued the rights and was able to have only one conversation with Kyle before the sniper was killed on Feb. 2 2013. 

From what we can tell, the film will be sure to be more of a character study than a war movie, as it follows Kyle from rodeo clown to the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history, and finally back home. The film is slated to be released Christmas Day 2014, with a wider release in January. 

New Interstellar Trailer

Although our film editor Aaron Brunhofer refuses to see or hear anything regarding this movie (you can read why here, as well as his Fall movie preview). We decided to share the new trailer for the upcoming Chris Nolan film Interstellar.  All of here are pretty excited about this film and can't wait until it comes out!

Austin Film Festival 2014 Slate Announced

Austin Film Festival & Screenwriters Conference announced their slate for 2014 to take place October 23-30. 

The festival was founded in 1993 and was the first of its kind to focus on the contribution of writers in filmmaking. It initially started as a conference for screenwriters, providing a place for professionals and screenwriting hopefuls to network and work on their craft. Since then it has grown to incorporate a film festival, which this year plays host to 15 World Premiers with films from 20 countries. Past participants include Wes Anderson, the Coen brothers, Russell Crowe, Bryan Singer, Oliver Stone, Jason Schwartzman, Owen Wilson and many, many others. 

This year’s conference and festival hosts writers from last years big movies (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 12 Years a Slave, American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club) and will feature television creators, writers, and producers from shows such as Mad Men, True Detective, Breaking Bad, Fargo, Justified, and Orange is the New Black. In attendance this year: True Detective director Cary Fukunaga, closing night presenters Jon Stewart and Maziar Bahari, writer/director Jay Duplass, Rita Wilson, Scott Eastwood, Jason Ritter, Alex Anfanger, Glenn Morshower, and others. 

THE IMITATION GAME

(L-R) Keira Knightley, Matthew Beard, Matthew Goode, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Allen Leech.

WILD

Reese Witherspoon produces and stars with Dallas Buyers Club director Jean-Marc Vallée at the helm.

BIG HERO 6

From Walt Disney Animation Studios featuring voices of T.J. Miller, Jamie Chung, and Maya Rudolph. 

THE HOMESMAN

Tommy Lee Jones stars alongside and directs Hillary Swank.

If you’ve taken a look at our Fall Preview you’ll recognize two films - Wild and The Imitation Game. We’ll have updates, reviews, and recommendations on those two films and also others including AFF’s marquee selections Escobar: Paradise Lost, The Sound and the Fury, The Homesman, Black and White, Big Hero 6, Red Army, 21 Years: Richard Linklater, and Dawn Patrol which is based on a script out of the Screenplay Competition.

For further info and cool happenings around the festival check out onstory.tv and austinfilmfestival.com

You can find the full schedule of films and conference events here. 

We’re very excited to head down to Austin this year and cover the festival for all of you! 

Tarantino’s “Hateful Eight” to shoot near Telluride

In some great local news for the film industry, the state Economic Development Commission approved a $5 million incentive package to bring writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s new film, The Hateful Eight, to Colorado. The production is slated to start in December on a ranch near Telluride. 

The Denver Post reports that, according to state film commissioner David Zuckerman, the whole film will be shot in state with a total budget for the film set at $44 million. 

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It’s been a big few years for the film commission; in July of 2012, Lone Ranger spent three weeks and $7 million shooting the Johnny Depp movie in Creede, the small Jessica Alba film Dear Eleanor was given a $500,000 incentive package in 2013, and earlier this year Fast and Furious 7 shot scenes over Monarch Pass and Pikes Peak, spending around $13 million and getting $700,000 in incentives. 

The 2014-15 budget for incentives in the state was upped to $5 million from just $800,000 in 2013-14, which is a good sign for the industry. 

As far as Tarantino and The Hateful Eight are concerned, the production plans to build sets and put about 170 Coloradan crew to work. This is great news as the state has yet another opportunity to shine and show that not only do we have a beautiful state, but we have the incentives, people, and passion to support major Hollywood film and TV productions.

Fall Movie Preview

After another summer of big movies and loud explosions, the fall season turns out award hopefuls and festival favorites. As in any fall lineup, it’s not just the award chasing movies that are released. Scary movies pepper October in preparation for Halloween (Annabelle, Before I Go To Sleep, Horns). We have returns of sequels, with Horrible Bosses 2, Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, and The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. And there are also animated offerings with Big Hero 6 and Penguins of Madagascar. While some of these look more entertaining than others, this fall preview focuses on the stories and characters we’re most excited about seeing on the screen.
 

GONE GIRL - October 4

Based on the gripping novel by Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl follows Nick Dunne, played by Ben Affleck as he reports that his wife, Rosamund Pike, has gone missing. As pressure from both the police and media grow, Nick’s account of a happy marriage begins to fall apart and everyone is left asking if Nick actually did kill his wife. I've heard the book is heavy as it twists and turns, so it's fitting that it's handled by Seven and Fight Club director, David Fincher. 

Fun fact for us in the Mile High City, Fincher was born in Denver.
 

WHIPLASH - October 10

For all of you jazz fans out there, this is one not to miss. Miles Teller stars as Andrew Neyman, a jazz drummer, relentlessly seeking to be the top of his class at his music conservatory. An instructor at the school, Terence Fletcher, played by J.K. Simmons, recruits Andrew for his band. Known for his talents as a teacher and intimidating techniques, Fletcher pushes Andrew to the limits of his ability. 

Writer/director Damien Chazelle's original screenplay was first featured on the Black List before he turned the script into an 18 minute short that garnered much interest at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Whiplash took home the top audience and grand jury awards at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
 

BIRDMAN - October 17

Birdman stars Michael Keaton as a washed-up actor trying to reclaim his glory days as he struggles through family trouble and the opening of a Broadway play. The film is directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, Oscar nominee for Babel, and is lensed by Oscar winning cinematographer of Gravity, Emmanuel Lubezki. Birdman also stars Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, and Naomi Watts.

It seems that this is the film with all the buzz out of Venice, Telluride and going into the upcoming New York Film Festival. Early predictions are that this will land best director, best cinematography, and best actor nods.
 

RUDDERLESS - October 17

In William H. Macy's directorial debut, a father spirals out of control after his son’s death. In his descent, he finds his son’s demo tapes and lyrics and discovers an unknown musical talent which he uses to form a band and hopefully find peace. 

Rudderless features some great music and stars Billy Cruddup, Anton Yelchin, Jamie Chung, and Selena Gomez.
 

FURY - October 17

As World War II comes to a close in Europe, the small crew of a Sherman tank heads behind enemy lines. With the odds stacked against them, the five-man crew faces a larger and better armed force in their attempt to strike the center of Nazi Germany.

The movie is directed by Training Day and End of Watch writer, David Ayer. Fury stars Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf and Logan Lerman.
 

INTERSTELLAR - November 7

In his first film after wrapping up the trilogy of Batman movies, Christopher Nolan brings a stellar cast together headlined by Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine, of course. The film is again scored by Hans Zimmer. Nolan writes the film with his brother Jonathan Nolan, co-writer of Memento and The Dark Knight.

I wish I could share more, but 1) I haven’t watched the trailer and refuse to do so on principle and 2) have avoided any news or plot synopsis like the plague. And if there is any doubt in Nolan’s ability to wrap fascinatingly complicated characters into even more complicated plots, you should go back and watch Memento and Following again.
 

FOXCATCHER - November 14

Foxcatcher is based on the true story of Mark Schultz, an Olympic wrestler. The film, directed by Moneyball director Bennett Miller, follows Schultz, played by Channing Tatum and his relationship with his sponsor John du Pont, played by Steve Carrell, in a strikingly different turn for the comedic actor. Schultz’s brother, Dave Schultz is played by Mark Ruffalo.

These are new roles for both Tatum and Carrell, but expect them to excel. The film is produced by Annapurna Pictures, the company headed by Megan Ellison, producer of Oscar nominated films Her, American Hustle and Zero Dark Thirty.
 

THE IMITATION GAME - November 21

In the second movie on this list about World War II, Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, legendary cryptanalyst. Based on the true story, Turing and his team race the clock as a part of Britain’s top-secret Government Code and Cypher School in their attempt to break Nazi Germany’s secret Enigma code.

This is another film at the top of the list coming out of the Telluride Film Festival and was the winner of the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Morten Tyldum, Norwegian director of Headhunters, the film also stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode.

Other films to keep an eye on...

The Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything (11/7), Reese Witherspoon in Wild (12/5), Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice (12/12), and Christian Bale as Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings (12/12). 

Ultra5280 Film

Welcome to the Ultra5280 Film Section! 

We are expanding our horizons and beginning this film section to include our recommendations, reviews, new trailers, and film festival news. 

We’ll be starting with a Fall Preview to drop later in the week. Look out for that and more coming into the festival and awards season. 

If there’s something you’ve seen and like, or don’t, let us know what it is and why! 

You can reach me at:
aaron@ultra5280.com