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2009 | 2008 | 2004

16 articles from 2009

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Gird Your Loins for the Fantastic Fest 2009 Line Up

14 July 2009 3:03 PM, PDT | From FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news

A while back, I popped a movie into my SensoSound 2000 (they're still in beta, but all the cool film critics have them) and was greeted not by the normal round of green bars promising trailers that I'd get to skip over, but by the odd likeness of one of the guys from Flight of the Conchords. He was seated stiffly on a couch, claiming to be a bloke named Ronald Chevalier and speaking in really strange tones about how he likes to calm himself down. What I didn't realize at the time, was that it was a teaser ad for a flick called Gentleman Broncos, the third feature from Jared Hess, the director of Napoleon Dynamite. What I also couldn't realize at the time, was that this film would kick off Fantastic Fest 2009 - the all-genre festival that threatens annually to rip the skin off your face with its pure unadulterated awesomeness. And

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Dr. Cole Abaius

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First Batch of Films for the 2009 Fantastic Fest Announced!

13 July 2009 10:46 PM, PDT | From firstshowing.net | See recent FirstShowing.net news

The first wave of content for the 2009 Fantastic Fest held at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas, has been announced today (via the official website)! Leading off the announcement is the opening night film: Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) returns with Gentlemen Broncos. Jared Hess and Jemaine Clement will both be live in person. This is Fantastic Fest's fifth year and it seems to only be getting better each and every year. I attended last year and had a blast and I'm planning to attend again this year. Fantastic Fest is the premium genre film fest; I suggest that anyone who loves foreign or genre films should try to attend! Here is the first batch of films in this year's Fantastic Fest line-up. You can find more info on their website. 42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is

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Alex Billington

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Fantastic Fest Announces First Slate of Films

13 July 2009 2:10 PM, PDT | From The Flickcast | See recent The Flickcast news

Film festivals are often a conumdrum for me because I sometimes wonder how they get started and, more to the point, who picks the films that get shown at them. My problem is that the films selected for many of the festivals don’t usually seem all that appealing (at least to me) and are often a collection of “art for art’s sake” films overwhelmed by their own sense of self-importance.

Fortunately, I don’t have this problem with the Fantastic Fest in Austin, which runs from September 24th to October 1st. The films selected for this festival represent an eclectic mix of genres and filmmakers and what I consider to be some of the most interesting, innovative and creative films being produced today. Sure, they’re not all potential Hollywood blockbusters, nor are they for everyone, but they are all pretty much guaranteed to be interesting, entertaining and in their own way,

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Chris Ullrich

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Jared Hess' Gentlemen Broncos to open Fantastic Fest!

13 July 2009 2:09 PM, PDT | From QuietEarth.us | See recent QuietEarth news

That's right, the first 32 titles have been announced for Austin's Fantastic Fest and the opening film will be the latest from Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) which stars Jemaine Clement (Eagle vs Shark)! I think I'm going this year!

Also playing will be the likes of...

Nicholas Refn's Bronson (review)

Pieter Van Hees Dirty Mind (review)

Esther Gronenborn's Kaifeck Murder (review coming shortly)

Lawrence Gough's Salvage (review)

Cory McAbee's Stingray Sam (review)

Full list of features and shorts after the break.

42nd Street Forever Volume 5: The Alamo Drafthouse Edition

The hugely popular Synapse trailer compilation series 42nd Street Forever is featuring the Alamo Film Archive for it's fifth volume. Here's your chance to check out a sneak preview screening of the actual 35mm trailers which are featured in the DVD compilation

Breathless

(dir. Yang Ik-june, 2009, South Korea)

Breathless is a foul-mouthed drama that delivers an unlikely mix of pathos,

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Fantastic Fest 2009 releases first list of titles

13 July 2009 1:30 PM, PDT | From Hitfix.com | See recent Hitfix news

They've only announced thirty or so titles so far, but already Fantastic Fest 2009 is shaping up as another amazing assortment of titles from around the world, shattering the envelope as frequently and gleefully as possible. I'll be there, right after HitFix wraps up its coverage of this year's Toronto Film Festival, and I can't wait for the craziness.  Here's a rundown of what's already been announced, and some comments on the films I'm particularly excited to see. The opening night movie is the latest comedy from Jared Hess, "Gentlemen Broncos," starring Jemaine "Flight Of The Conchords" Clement.  Here's a description:...

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First TX Fantastic Fest titles announced

13 July 2009 12:48 PM, PDT | From Fangoria.com | See recent Fangoria news

The organizers of Austin, TX’s Fantastic Fest have revealed the first round of movies playing at this year’s event, which runs September 24-October 1. The festival will be playing dozens of full-length and short films in all genres, beginning with a special opening-night showing of Gentlemen Broncos, the latest from Napoleon Dynamite’s Jared Hess.

Among the fright features confirmed for screening at Fantastic Fest ’09 are: Tom Shankland’s much-praised Brit shocker The Children (pictured); Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman’s chilling documentary Cropsey (see feature story here); Anthony Diblasi’s Clive Barker adaptation Dread; Nobuhiko Obayashi’s surreal 1977 schoolgirls-in-trouble spooker House; Ti West’s early-’80s-horror homage The House Of The Devil (see review here); German director Esther Gronenborn’s psychological chiller Kaifeck Murder; the revenge opus Rampage, from the unstoppable Uwe Boll; Kerry Prior’s unusual vampire opus The Revenant (see item here); Salvage, from British filmmaker Lawrence Gough,

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no-reply@fangoria.com (Michael Gingold)

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First Wave of Fantastic Fest Films Announced

13 July 2009 12:02 PM, PDT | From Cinematical.com | See recent Cinematical news

If you're one of the people who reads reports coming out of film festivals like Sundance and Berlin and thinks "Gee, those movies all sound like a bunch of high-falutin' talking head pieces that'll bore me to tears," then you really need to get your self to Austin, Texas this September for Fantastic Fest. If you're a film lover who enjoys the weird, the esoteric, and the bizarre, then this festival was made for you. They've just announced the first wave of features that will be screening and if you're not a believer yet, just check out this description of Robo Geisha:

"This geisha army can transform into tanks, their nipples can squirt acid or propel rapid-fire bullets, their mouths can contain chainsaws or frog-tongue samurai swords and they are aided by a giant shinto temple robot. The war of the Geishas is beginning, and I'm getting a front row seat!

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Kevin Kelly

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Kenny Begins!  Gentlemen Broncos! Dirty Mind!  First Fantastic Fest 2009 Titles Announced!

13 July 2009 11:33 AM, PDT | From TwitchFilm.net | See recent Twitch news

It’s a big list.  It’s a good list.  It’s got the new films from Jared Hess and Yoshi Nishinura.  It’s got an Estonian musical. It’s got an American musical.  It’s got animated space explorers from Denmark and live action spacemen from Sweden.  It’s got everything a growing boy needs and you’ll find the complete first wave announcement for Fantastic Fest 2009 at the link below!

Todd Brown

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2009 Fantastic Fest Announces 32 Films Including Jared Hess’ Gentlemen Broncos

13 July 2009 10:14 AM, PDT | From /Film | See recent /Film news

Fantastic Fest has announced 32 movies that will be playing at the 2009 Film Festival in late September, including the opening night selection of Napoleon Dynamite director Jarred Hess' Gentlemen Broncos. Check out the full press release after the jump. Gentlemen Broncos to kick off Fantastic Fest 2009 A couple of months ago, the Fantastic Fest programming team had the pleasure of viewing an early cut of Gentlemen Broncos and absolutely loved it. In his third film, Hess continues to craft his very rich alternate-reality universe dominated by awkward but lovable losers, inappropriate fabric pairings and charmingly homespun handicrafts. The themes of creativity and fantasy (let alone the interspersed movie-within-a-movie recreations of our protagonist’s sci-fi epic Yeast Lords) make this the perfect film to kick off the 5th edition of Fantastic Fest. We will be announcing more details about this very special screening and after-party in subsequent press releases, ...

Peter Sciretta

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Gentlemen Broncos Leads Fantastic Fest 2009 Line-Up!

13 July 2009 9:14 AM, PDT | From FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news

For those who don't know, one of the reasons that Film School Rejects has made its home here in Austin is that we love the film scene here in the capital of Texas. We love the late night screenings of the weirdest films you've never heard of, the karaoke sing-a-longs, the classic comedy quote-a-longs and screenings in the park. None of which would be possible without the visionary work of Tim League and his team at the Alamo Drafthouse. And while South by Southwest is Austin's big festival, it's still all about music and interactive, not just film. When it comes to film, there is no greater Austin institution than Fantastic Fest -- the largest genre film festival in the United States. This year, we will be all over Fantastic Fest and with today's release of the first wave of films in its line-up, we couldn't be more excited. Our genre experts -- Coroner's Report author Robert Fure

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Neil Miller

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Looking Ahead: 2009 Toronto Film Festival Line-Up Predictions

13 June 2009 | From ioncinema | See recent ioncinema news

- While Venice remains a fest that strictly selects auteur driven material, Toronto is a beast of a film festival that serves up a huge heaping plate of films rolled up in red carpets. Tiff is also a great place for journalists to follow up on cinematic experiences from Cannes and conduct some in-depth interviews as I plan to do with those behind the Tales From the Golden Age, A Prophet, Dogtooth, Fish Tank and Police, Adjectiv. They'll most likely receive their North American preems at this festival. So what are Cameron and Piers looking at? Read ahead. Usually reserved for the bigger films and Oscar buzz titles, the Galas and Special Presentations section in Toronto should be populated with: the long awaited thriller from Richard Kelly (The Box), Julie Taymor's The Tempest starring Helen Mirren and coincidentally it would make sense for her hubby Taylor Hackford to bring Love Ranch for show.

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Not Ever Coming to a Theater Near You: 'She-Hulk,' 'Tale of Mermaids'

8 June 2009 12:02 PM, PDT | From Cinematical.com | See recent Cinematical news

You probably haven't heard of Wolf Productions, a small company out of Provo, Utah, run by filmmaker Stephen Groo. But if the trailers and demo reels on the firm's website are any indication, you might soon be hearing a lot about them -- probably in the same breath as Troll 2 and The Room and other holy-crap-can-you-believe-how-bad-this-is? movies.

Groo has made a handful of feature-length films, along with several trailers for potential projects and multiple music videos, developing a cult following in the process. A correspondent of mine in Provo says local bands have started approaching him to make their videos because they want them to turn out as "awesome" (i.e., terrible) as Groo's other work. He graduated from Brigham Young University's film program, by the way, alongside Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess.

What's magical about Groo's films -- which range from sci-fi to comedy -- is that every

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Eric D. Snider

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Gentlemen Broncos Widget Starring Dr. Ronald Chevalier

13 April 2009 10:45 PM, PDT | From firstshowing.net | See recent FirstShowing.net news

It seems like the only worthwhile updates this week have been about viral marketing, but maybe it's just the calm before the storm. One film we haven't heard from in a while is Gentlemen Broncos, the latest comedy from Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess. However, thanks to an update on Wired, we may have something that will hold us over until we get to see a trailer. Found on the official website for the film's main character Dr. Ronald Chevalier, played by "Flight of the Conchords" star Jemaine Clement, is an Aphoristic Fruit of the Day Widget, where the "Oracle" gives an ounce of wisdom every day. It's a fairly straightforward widget without too many bells and whistles. Interestingly, Chevalier's site actually kicked off in August of last year (we wrote about it then). It seems like Fox Searchlight is trying to get Dr. Chevalier inundated into our subconscious as

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Alex Billington

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Blu-Ray Round Up, Feb. 8, 2009: ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ ‘Office Space,’ ‘Sideways,’ ‘Napoleon Dynamite’

8 February 2009 2:19 PM, PST | From HollywoodChicago.com | See recent HollywoodChicago.com news

Chicago – Welcome back to the world of the Blu-Ray Round Up, a safety net for all the Blu-Ray titles hitting store shelves that might otherwise slip through the cracks. Every week seems to see more and more catalog releases and new titles hitting the next-gen format and it’s shockingly easy to miss a title that you’d like to add to your collection. That’s why we’re here.

This edition of the Blu-Ray Round-Up presents an amazingly diverse wave of titles from Fox/MGM that includes comedy classics, two best picture nominees, and a couple of new flicks that barely made a dent at the box office.

“Igor” and “The Pink Panther” were released by MGM on January 20th, 2009.

“Little Miss Sunshine,” “Napoleon Dynamite,” “Office Space,” “The Secret Life of Bees,” and “Sideways” were released by Fox on February 3rd, 2009.

“Igor”

Photo credit: MGM “Igor” is one of

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adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)

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New Edgar Oliver Play Opens For A Limited Encore Run 2/12-28

26 January 2009 3:39 PM, PST | From BroadwayWorld.com | See recent BroadwayWorld.com news

East 10th Street: Self Portrait With Empty House a new play by and about downtown icon Edgar Oliver, hold encore performances 2/12-2/28. This look at a life on the fringes of New York's Lower East Side comes on the heels of what could be Oliver's breakthrough role in the upcoming film from Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess, Gentlemen Broncos, opposite Sam Rockwell as well as a national ad campaign for mobile phones in Ireland that has become a cult phenomenon. This limited run Off-Broadway engagement is directed by Randy Sharp at Axis Theater where it premiered to critical acclaim in November 2008. In East 10th Street: Self Portrait With Empty House, downtown theatre icon Edgar Oliver takes the audience on a macabre voyage through the strange rooms of the apartment house where he has lived since his first years in New York. Inhabiting the dark, mysterious halls of this East Village

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Votd: The Sundance Phone Call

13 January 2009 12:00 AM, PST | From /Film | See recent /Film news

The Sundance Film Festival is the mecca of American film festivals. I’m not sure you can understand how important it is for a first time independent filmmaker to get his film into Sundance unless you are one — it is almost anything. Sundance has launched the careers of filmmakers like Darren Aronofsky, Kevin Smith, Jared Hess, Catherine Hardwicke, Morgan Spurlock, David O. Russell, Bryan Singer and Quentin Tarantino.

The life of a Film Festival programmer isn’t glamorous. Most of the year is spent watching piles of submitted films, most of which probably suck. But for a couple days each year Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival and Director of Creative Development for Sundance Institute John Cooper gets to pick up his phone and change the life of a bunch of aspiring filmmakers. I can’t imagine what making that call must be like. It’s the indie

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Peter Sciretta

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2009 | 2008 | 2004

16 articles from 2009

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