Exclusive articles:
Kino Becomes Main Passenger for Sergei Loznitsa’s My Joy
I'm glad to see that Kino Int. and film fest curators are seconding my opinion on My Joy - the road trip story from hell -- I recently wrote, I'm happy to see TIFF and NYFF programmers include this difficult film among their lineups, cuz if you like "the road less traveled" roadtrip type of movie, then you'll want to venture into documentarian Sergei Loznitsa's first narrative feature.
Magnet Draws First Blood for ’13 Assassins’
Dubbed as one of Takashi Miike’s best pic in years, Magnet Releasing have made the type of pick-up that demonstrates that it's perhaps the healthiest genre label in the U.S. market (theatrical, fantasy festivals, VOD) on the fantasy genre type film front. Magnet is setting the Venice and TIFF preemed Miike’s 13 Assassins for a first quarter of 2011 release and are placing it as the Closing Night film at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin.
Lorber Films Set ‘Tuesday, After Christmas’ Well After Christmas
On the eve of it's North American NYFF premiere, Lorber Films have scooped up the rights to Tuesday, After Christmas, and are setting it up with a May release (at the Film Forum). For those who might be wondering why the portrait is showing in May, and say, not December, is because the Cannes-selected film isn't a holiday-themed picture but instead, a marriage drama.
National Geographic Makes ‘The First Grader’ Teacher’s Pet
National Geographic Ent have made what could pan out to be an extremely smart pick-up in Justin Chadwick’s The First Grader -- a sappy, button-pushing, tug at the heart, feel-good drama based on a true story that actually placed 2nd for the Toronto Int. Film Festival's “People’s Choice Award”.
TIFF 2010 Top 10 New Faces: #1. Craig Roberts
The number one discovery at TIFF this year in terms of “new” faces/talents comes via the much beloved British import from first time director Richard Ayoade. Unless you live in the U.K. and saw his earlier roles or television's "Young Dracula", then Craig Roberts is less of an unknown, but judging how Submarine played for audiences in Toronto, I'm expecting his name to be synonymous with iconic cult film characters (Rushmore's Max Fischer is often cited and for good reason) because of the character's wit, tone and the actor's sharp delivery.
