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Talking With Leslye Headland of ‘SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE’

Lesyle Headland couldn’t give a lumpy shit what bad things you have to say about female directors and she won’t stop herself from telling you so. The verbose talent provided some nasty good times when we sat down to discuss her latest film, the truly hysterical Sleeping With Other People [review here]. Leslye proved not only the most crass interview we’ve sat down to but also one of the most candid. We talk being a female director in a male world (with lion and lioness allegories), the film’s infamous bottle scene, her favorite scene that she cut from the film, casting Jason Sudeikis and Alison Brie, crying on set, the misnomer of improvisation, the shift from Bachelorette , movie references and what you would find in her VHS Blu-Ray player. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘SLEEPING WITH OTHER PEOPLE’

*This is a reprint of our 2015 Sundance review

Leslye Headland arrived on the cinematic scene in a roundabout kind of way. Her debut film Bachelorette divided audiences – Reelview’s James Berardinelli gave it zero stars and labeled it “the worst movie of 2012” (we gave it a soaring review) – though it’s gone on to achieve a quiet cult status. Originally written as a screenplay then adapted for the stage, her raunchy theatrical production was discovered, altered back into movie form and green lit with an inspired cast (Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson.) The outcome was a lewd female Hangover bursting with genuine laughs. In 2013, Headland got back on the horse for a new project, one that she just described as “When Harry Met Sally with assholes.” And so came Sleeping With Other People, a satirically formulaic though gravely side-splitting whooper. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘THE VISIT’

I could spend the bulk of this review talking about the precipitous rise and fall of M. Night Shyamalan. I could praise The Sixth Sense and Unbroken, give small credit to Signs and even portions of The Village and bury later “horror” duds like Lady in the Water and The Happening. I could extend a wilted rose towards the cinematic sharts that were The Last Airbender and After Earth but what’s the fun in that? After all, we’re no longer celebrating a funeral so much as a man’s comeback, because make no mistake The Visit is a comeback and a pretty damn entertaining one at that. Read More

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Bumbershoot 2015: 1 Reel Short Film Festival Reviews

Seattle was in shape to party this Labor Day weekend and the fiercest of lightning storms proved unable to stop the rabid fun at Bumbershoot 2015. Though this year’s lineup seemed short on musical prowess (excluding Cake who absolutely blew the top off their set) and big name comedians, their carefully curated One Reel Short Film Festival arrived in tip-top shape, bringing together a pantheon of shorts spanning both the globe and a bevy of genres. As is customary of our coverage, we’ve carefully curated the scoop on Bumbershoot’s 1 Reel Short Film Festival, weighing which shorts demand to be seen down the line in preparation for Oscar season and best of lists and which you can ultimately skip. Read More

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‘KRAMPUS’ Trailer Promises Holiday Frights

The idea of a haunted Christmas is no novelty in 2015 though prior attempts to make a great “evil Santa Claus” movie (see Silent Night, Deadly Night and Santa’s Slay ) have landed with a dull thumpety thump thump. Krampus, with its stand-out indie cast that includes Adam Scott, Toni Collette, Allison Tolman and David Koechner, could just be the first great “Bad Santa” horror movie. Check out the first Krampus trailer below. Read More

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‘DEATHGASM’ Trailer Turns Up the Heavy Metal

The last film I saw at SXSW 2015 was a New Zealand splatter-horror by the name of Deathgasm, a righteous romp through the rolling hills of heavy metal and hell-freed demons. Deathgasm’s trailer celebrates both with torrents of viscus, a head-banging soundtrack and enough KISS makeup to coax your tongue from your righteous mouth. Read More

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BEASTS OF NO NATION Trailer Stuns

Just the other day, we included Beasts of No Nation amongst our Fall 2015 preview, citing its African warlord premise, exciting cast and director each as reasons to start the hype machine early. After its Venice Film Festival premiere two days ago, critics are already swooning over star Idris Elba‘s performance as well as the film itself. No wonder then that Netflix has decided that the Beasts of No Nation trailer ought be seen be all. So it goes, strike while the iron’s hot. Read More

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Out in Theaters: THE TRANSPORTER REFUELED

To say that no one asked for a Transporter reboot is putting things lightly. The franchise in which Jason Statham rose to fame hardly lit up the box office when it set off in 2002, barely crossing the 25 million dollar marker on a 21 million dollar budget. The second installment hardly fared better, scraping up 43 on 32 and by movie numero three, the second-rate action/car staple was hardly scraping by. 7 years later, we have the latest addition to the “Why In Hell Was This Rebooted?” pool in The Transporter Refueled, a near abomination of filmmaking, barely held together by flashy Audi commercial tie-ins, gratuitous sexual violence and Ray Stevenson’s equally flashy grin. At least Ray’s having some fun. We in the audience though are not privy to such leisure. Read More

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Out in Theaters: A WALK IN THE WOODS

*This is a reprint of our 2015 Sundance review.

Robert Redford‘s adaptation of Bill Bryson‘s popular 1998 memoir A Walk In the Woods is an unremarkable journey with a short sprinkling of low-key chuckles and a heaving dose of schmaltzy sentiment. As Redford’s travel companion, co-star Nick Nolte manages to give this low-percolating buddy comedy/road-movie-on-foot at least some minor footing, but its not enough to balance the overwrought equilibrium. Mining the material for all its geriatric sitcom worth, director Ken Kwapis‘ internal clock ticks with the fervor of a retiree, as he fails to charge the material with any sense of driving momentum. As much as Nolte’s character drags his feet, it’s Kwapis who lags most. For a film all about the journey forward, that presents a major problem. Read More

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Fall 2015 Film Preview – 22 Films To Buy Tickets for Now

September is upon us as summer creeps into the rear view. Torrential rains, blistering cold spells and the grotesqueries of changing leaf colors is set to drive the masses into the theaters. But is there anything worth seeing? But of course there is! We’ve compiled our Fall 2015 Film Preview to get the ticket-buying ball rolling and your film nerd anticipation building. Right up until an absolutely action-packed Holiday movie season, there’s a bounty of cinema that’s geared up to do nothing short of blow the doors off. If everything pans out as it should, we ought to be seeing some of the year’s first viable Oscar films as well as some of the year’s biggest blockbusters. Read More