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"Will you come with me when I go to space tomorrow?" Freestyle Digital Media has unveiled a fun trailer for an indie comedy called Darla in Space, a kooky, wacky creation from the filmmakers Eric Laplante & Susie Moon as their feature debut. This premiered at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival earlier this year, and it'll be out to watch on VOD in October. Darla Peterson just found out she owes the IRS $349,000.22. She teams up with a sentient kombucha scoby named "Mother" who has the ability to grant mind-blowing orgasms to pay off the debt. In exchange, Mother wants Darla's help getting to space. Is this a match made in heaven, or the other place? Alex E. Harris plays Darla, with Constance Shulman, Thomas Jay Ryan, Jenn Lyon, Rasheda Crockett, Eamon O'Connell, and Js Oliver. This is such a weird concept, and it's a real shoestring indie made for less than $100K.

The critically-acclaimed hit Broadway revival of An Enemy of the People has announced a one-week extension at Circle in the Square Theatre. The Ibsen revival will now play through Sunday, June 23, rather than the previously announced June 16.

Producers said today the extension is due to popular demand. The production has done exceedingly well at the box office since its March 18 opening, routinely selling out the Circle in the Square venue. Last week, the play grossed $1,051,306 with standing room only crowds.

Tickets for this extra week are now on sale. A limited number of $39 tickets will be available via digital lottery, subject to availability.

The play stars Jeremy Strong, Michael Imperioli, Victoria Pedretti, Joe Cassidy, Caleb Eberhardt, Matthew August Jeffers, David Patrick Kelly, David Mattar Merten, Max Roll, Thomas Jay Ryan, and Alan Trong.

Directed by Sam Gold, the Ibsen is adapted by Tony Award Nominee Amy Herzog. It began previews on Tuesday,...

This article contains spoilers about the 2024 Broadway production of “An Enemy of the People.”

There will likely be few scenes this Broadway season more harrowing than the climax of Sam Gold’s “An Enemy of the People,” in which a town hall meeting called by Dr. Thomas Stockmann devolves into verbal and physical assault. In the aftermath of the scene’s brutality against the Norwegian doctor, who warns his community that their waters are contaminated, actor Jeremy Strong emerges from a crouched position on the stage floor in the Circle in the Square Theatre, where he has huddled and shrunk his body down to withstand a torrent of blows. It is a visceral moment of live theatre, one that the actor commits to wholeheartedly and that the Tony Awards should nominate.

What leads up to that frightening display of ignorance and animus is made all the richer by Strong’s performance.

When climate protesters disrupted a performance of the An Enemy of the People earlier this month, Victoria Pedretti seesawed between siding with the activists or the agitated audience members. The play had reached a crescendo: The town’s doctor, Dr. Stockmann, prepared to discuss a potential pathogen in the town’s ground water before a dissenting crowd, when Extinction Rebellion NYC members captured the audience’s attention crying “no theater on a dead planet.”

Everyone stayed in character: The town’s mayor (Michael Imperioli) shooed the activist out, whereas Dr.

It has only been 12 years since New York audiences saw a production of Henrik Ibsen’s classic nineteenth-century play “An Enemy of the People.” But unlike that last staging at the Manhattan Theatre Club, the version that just opened at Circle in the Square Theatre on Mar. 18 is a departure, thanks to the vision of director Sam Gold and a new adaptation of the text by Pulitzer Prize finalist Amy Herzog. “Enemy” runs through June 16, the day of the 2024 Tony Awards.

Gold has attracted star-wattage to his remounting of the Ibsen play with Jeremy Strong in the title role of Dr. Thomas Stockmann, who uncovers that the spas that have made his Norwegian town a booming tourist destination are in fact highly contaminated and will cause many visitors to get sick and potentially die. Michael Imperioli is his brother, Peter Stockmann, the mayor of the town who immediately turns on...

“No theater on a dead planet!” is a chanted refrain that does not appear in Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play An Enemy of a People. Nor is it part of the 2024 English adaptation by playwright Amy Herzog, who’s preserved the play’s late-19th-century setting (and who also skillfully adapted A Doll’s House last season). But it was perhaps the most resonant line in the reviewed performance of this production, which, as has now been widely reported, was interrupted by a trio of protestors from the climate activism group Extinction Rebellion.

If you see An Enemy of the People—which, to be clear, you should—chances are that the disruptors will stay home for your performance. But this particular protest was so shrewdly timed, so thematically linked, as to have rendered it impossible for the audience to ascertain whether it was part of the production or not. It’s tough...

In a clever trick that pulls us into the community about to witness the spectacular downfall of the public figure crusading for truth at the center of An Enemy of the People, a bar descends from above during the pause between acts, with theatergoers filing onto the stage to be served shots of aquavit while musicians and singers perform traditional Norwegian songs. Several audience members stay seated around the periphery when the action resumes. The house lights also remain up, giving us no escape from our complicity as town physician Dr. Thomas Stockmann, played with bristling intensity by Jeremy Strong, is pilloried with ridicule that escalates into physical violence.

Sam Gold’s crackling production up to that point has been deceptively traditional, handsomely staged in the round at the Circle in the Square, with a first act that sets the scene for festering conflict in the warmth and cozy domesticity of Stockmann’s home,...

"How valuable can a story be – as an alternative to truth?" Cranked Up Films has revealed a trailer for an indie psychological thriller titled Ghostwritten, from filmmaker Thomas Matthews. This has been finished up for years now, but it only premiered at a few film festivals last year. Finally ready for a VOD release this February. Thomas Matthews' Ghost-Written (aka Ghostwritten), follows a one-hit novelist who is out of his depth on a winter residency, and perhaps losing grip on reality... "From a bird's eye view it's funny and up close it's tragic. Maybe unconsciously we were shooting for that - as it pertains to our movie... I thought the audience would have the best time if they came in thinking about nostalgia, ego and solving a puzzle without getting too serious." Jay Duplass stars as Guy Laury, with Maria Dizzia, Kate Lyn Shiel, and Thomas Jay Ryan. This looks like smart,...

After a season of spending, Freevee knows you don't have to break the bank for quality. The free Amazon streamer has already added several titles to its platform to start the month, including the Tom Hanks-starred "Captain Phillips" and Ryan Coogler's directorial debut "Fruitvale Station," but more great titles will be coming throughout the rest of the month.

Find out The Streamable's top picks for what's here now and what's coming to the streamer throughout January!

Watch Now Free amazonfreevee.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Freevee in January 2024? “Baby Driver” | Monday, Jan. 1

Edgar Wright helms the action thriller starring Ansel Elgort as Baby, a prodigal heist getaway driver and music-loving orphan in for one last job before riding off into the sunset with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James). Eiza Gonzalez, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal, and Kevin Spacey make up the supporting...

Returning for its 30th anniversary edition next year, Slamdance Film Festival has now unveiled its full film lineup for 2024. Kicking off with Oscar-winning filmmaker Carol Dysinger’s One Bullet, this year’s festival will showcase 32 features both in Park City and Salt Lake City from January 19-25 and online screenings will be available on the Slamdance Channel from January 22-28.

“Our 2024 Slamdance lineup is a testament to filmmakers who dare to push their stories to the very edge of filmmaking, making it deeply personal yet globally resonant,” said Festival Director Taylor Miller. “Their raw passion and risk-taking echo our commitment to exploring uncharted territories of cinematic expression. This year, we proudly host the most inclusive and accessible festival we’ve ever had, staying true to the core objectives I aimed to cultivate with our programmers when I took this job.”

The 2024 programming was selected from more than 9,000 submissions, 1,729 of which were features.

Festival runs January 19-25 in person, January 22-28 online.

Slamdance Film Festival has announced the roster for its upcoming 30th anniversary edition, which is bookended by Carol Dysinger’s previously announced post-Afghanistan War documentary One Bullet and Vanessa Hope’s IDFA closing night documentary Invisible Nation, a profile of Taiwanese first female president Tsai Ing-wen.

Running January 19-25 in person and January 22-28 online, this year’s event returns to Yarrow Hotel in Park City where the festival launched and will showcase 32 features, of which 17 are world premieres, as well as 75 shorts, and five episodics.

Festival organisers said this year...

"We can only greet the strange and unusual with love." Mubi in the UK has debuted another official trailer for the psychedelic, mind-expanding hand-drawn animated film Cryptozoo, which initially premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. As cryptozookeepers struggle to capture a "Baku" (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) they begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a cryptozoo or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown. With the voices of Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Alex Karpovsky, Zoe Kazan, Louisa Krause, Angeliki Papoulia, Thomas Jay Ryan, Peter Stormare, and Grace Zabriskie. We already featured two other trailers for this film earlier in the summer before it opened in the US (back in August), but with a European release from Mubi coming up in October, why not share some more footage. If you haven't seen this yet and you love psychedelics,...

United Artists Releasing opens Flag Day, directed and starring Sean Penn, in a uneven specialty market where the Delta Variant spike has theaters in key cities requiring proof of vaccination, theaters are hard to book, and hits have been rare since the industry reopened.

Eventually “We’ll crack the code, because good movie and good stories win out.” said Erik Lomis, President, Distribution at Uar. Older demos — the meat-and-potatoes of arthouse — “are less comfortable coming back than we all hoped. It’s a tough, tough market to crack… but there’s nothing like seeing it in a movie theater.”

The film from MGM Studios premiered at Cannes and debuts in 24 theaters in 10 markets. It expands next weekend to 24 markets and 50 theaters. “We’ll continue to roll out like that until we really step on the gas depending upon market conditions,...

This review of “Cryptozoo” was first published after the film’s premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

If you ever talk to an animator, they are likely to share two opinions very quickly: one, “Animation is not a genre.” And two, “Animation isn’t exclusively for children.” Dash Shaw is one of many contemporary artists expanding the idea of what animation can do, and who it can be for, and with his second feature, “Cryptozoo,” his well of imagination is matched only by his precision at executing his ideas.

“Cryptozoo” delivers on the promise of Shaw’s first feature, “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.” This time out, the writer-director (in collaboration with animation director Jane Samborski) is even more assured as both a storyteller and as a crafter of images, be they outrageous or gorgeous, haunting or hilarious.

Underneath it all, Shaw seems to revel in genre,...

"I dedicated my life to keeping Cryptids safe." Magnolia Pictures has released another official US trailer for the eccentric, psychedelic, wacky hand-drawn animated film Cryptozoo, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. This earned some rave reviews from various critics, mostly because it's insanely original and unlike anything you've ever seen before - the latest from the filmmaker behind the film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea. As cryptozookeepers struggle to capture a "Baku" (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) they begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a cryptozoo or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown. With the voices of Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Alex Karpovsky, Zoe Kazan, Louisa Krause, Angeliki Papoulia, Thomas Jay Ryan, Peter Stormare, and Grace Zabriskie. If you've been looking for movies that are unlike anything you have ever seen before - don't miss this one.

In the sea (one might say glut) of contemporary animation—a form that, by its very nature, is most often supported by the ever-watchful eye of major studios—breaths of fresh air are desperately needed. Directed by Dash Shaw, with animation direction from Jane Samborski, the sui generis Cryptozoo truly galvanized us at Sundance, our critic calling it “one of the most gorgeous works of American animation in ages.”

You’ll find that quote in the trailer Magnolia have released ahead of Cryptozoo‘s August 20 release. Having not seen the film myself, I’m rather jazzed by what’s here—ever shot offering something new to observe, a gorgeous score to boot. As Juan Barquin said, “With John Carroll Kirby’s haunting and seductive original music still playing in my head long after the credits have rolled, Cryptozoo has embedded itself into my mind. Every fascinating creature has been brought...

“Cryptozoo” broke out of the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year as one of the most innovative animated features of the year. Animator turned director Dash Shaw (“My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea”) builds a psychedelic world like you’ve never seen, envisioning hallucinatory creatures and casting voice talents Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, and Grace Zabriskie. Watch the exclusive official trailer for the film below.

A moving collage of rich, hand-drawn animation, where nearly every frame is a visual stunner, the film follows “cryptozookeepers through a richly drawn hallucinatory world as they struggle to capture a baku (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) and begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a zoo, or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown,” according to the synopsis.

IndieWire’s Eric Kohn wrote that...

We all look for signs and interpret them how we see fit, whether doing so is correct or not—and despite those so-called “signs” proving nothing but coincidences to which we’ve ascribed unearned meaning. It’s how we find comfort. It’s how we wake up in the morning. And it’s the point where spirituality and religion intersect before ultimately diverging, since the former deals in faith’s freedom and the latter in faith’s commoditization. One allows us to believe what we believe without putting a name to it. The other sells us an unconditional clean slate by request no matter what heinous crimes we’ve committed yesterday. When opportunism becomes a better road towards salvation than compassionate morality, something has gone horribly wrong. It’s “money talks” and “piousness walks.”

Leave it to a filmmaker like Onur Tukel to take such a cynical (albeit true) interpretation of organized religion,...

"Without dreams there can be no future..." Madman Films in Australia has released the first official trailer for the extremely funky, hand-drawn animated film Cryptozoo, which initially premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It also stopped by this year's Berlin Film Festival, and is arriving in theaters starting in August. This earned some rave reviews, mostly because it's insanely original and unlike anything you've ever seen before - the latest from the filmmaker behind the film My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea. As cryptozookeepers struggle to capture a "Baku" (a legendary dream-eating hybrid creature) they begin to wonder if they should display these rare beasts in the confines of a cryptozoo or if these mythical creatures should remain hidden and unknown. This features the voices of Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Alex Karpovsky, Zoe Kazan, Louisa Krause, Angeliki Papoulia, Thomas Jay Ryan, Peter Stormare, and Grace Zabriskie.

"It would give people hope..." MPI Media has unveiled a trailer for an indie drama titled Scenes from an Empty Church, the latest humble film from Turkish-American filmmaker Onur Tukel. He explains it's "a departure from my previous work, which has often been cheerfully dark & cynical... I chose to embrace hope & spirituality at a time when the masses (specifically New Yorkers) were fraught with despair. Though the movie centers around two Catholic priests and their parishioners, the film explores many ideas – organized religion, paganism, nihilism, astral projection, free will, thelink between Judaism and Catholicism." The story is about two priests that open their doors during the NYC lockdown. "We've come to understand the importance of bodies and the flesh, being in the same room with someone, and looking them in the eyes." Starring Kevin Corrigan and Max Casella, Thomas Jay Ryan, Paul Reiser, Natalie Carter, Annie McCain Engman, and Edward Carnevale.

The Chattanooga Film Festival lead the pack and set a high bar for virtual festivals last year and they're back again this year with another virtual edition! Taking place June 24 - 29, the opening and closing night films have been announced, along with special events from Clay McLeod Chapman and Grady Hendrix:

Chattanooga, Tenn. - After holding one of the first successful virtual film festivals in May of 2020, the Chattanooga Film Festival (Cff) returns again virtually this year June 24 - 29, 2021.

Kicking things off opening night is the world premiere of Dark Sky Film’s Scenes From An Empty Church. Though audiences have already started to see films that take place during the pandemic or use the fear, loss of hope and isolation it has caused to inform their stories, no film has managed so brilliantly to ponder the long-term effects of Covid-19 on the human condition than this film. Director...

“Cryptozoo,” an animated film that premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was quickly acquired by Magnolia, took over four years to make, mainly due to the different animation techniques used to craft the film.

“I love an early animator named Winsor McCay… and I saw an unfinished short he did called ‘The Centaurs,’ that was elegantly drawn and sophisticated and the fact that he never made this movie felt like there was something there,” writer and director Dash Shaw told Beatrice Verhoeven during TheWrap’s Sundance Studio presented by Nfp and National Geographic.

At the same time, he said, his animation director and wife Jane Samborski “ran an all-women’s ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ group in Brooklyn and I had to leave the apartment every time these people came over — Jane painted most of the cryptids in the movie.”

Samborski explained the “collaged process” of the film, saying, “we went...

Match Factory handles international sales.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights to Sundance animation Cryptozoo by Dash Shaw

Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, Grace Zabriskie and Angeliki Papoulia are among the voice cast.

Cryptozoo takes place in the 1960s and frames a war between the authorities who want to capture and weaponise a mythical creature, and those who seek to protect the fantastic beast and other cryptids in the titular establishment.

Shaw’s (My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea) wife and collaborator Jane Samborski directed the animation.

Magnolia plans a 2021 release.

Dash Shaw’s animated fantasy film “Cryptozoo” has sold to Magnolia out of the Sundance Film Festival, with the distributor acquiring the film’s North American rights.

The film, which played in the Next section of Sundance, follows Cryptozookeepers who try to capture Baku, a dream-eating hybrid creature of legend, and debate whether they should display these creatures or keep them hidden from the world.

Lake Bell, Zoe Kazan, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause, Peter Stormare, Thomas Jay Ryan, Grace Zabriskie and Angeliki Papoulia all voice animated characters in the film. And Magnolia is planning to release “Cryptozoo” later this year.

“Cryptozoo” was written and directed by Shaw, who is also known for his film “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.” Jane Samborski directed the film’s hallucinatory animation, which critics have referred to as a blend of “Yellow Submarine” and “Jurassic Park.”

“‘Cryptozoo’ is a rare creature indeed...

“Cryptozoo,” the dazzling animated feature from cartoonist Dash Shaw, takes place in the past and feels like it hails from another dimension. At the same time, in its hectic blend of a colorful, imaginative universe and evil forces stacked against it, the movie has a unique connection to the modern era. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the opening minutes, when a pair of ‘60s-era hippies (voiced by Louisa Krause and Michael Cera) wander the woods, and one shares a dreams of storming the Capitol to reboot society. His partner is skeptical. “Utopias never work out,” she says.

In Shaw’s — a cluttered symphony of erratic line drawings, psychedelic colors, and recycled genre tropes galore — that sentiment looms large. “Cryptozoo” is all over the place, but it’s a total joy to immerse in Shaw’s expansive look at conflicting worldviews and environmentalist feats, bound together in a delightful...

The current state of American animated cinema is more than a little disappointing; Pixar, Disney, Dreamworks, and more regurgitate the same formula and offer nothing new but a juxtaposition of cartoon designs and hyper-realistic imagery; animation for adults is all too rare. When something like Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski’s Cryptozoo comes along, it’s easy to recognize as one of the most gorgeous works of American animation in ages.

There is a willingness to experiment with animation and layers that is present from the very first frames of Cryptozoo that makes it immediately captivating. One simply watches two hippies roaming through the forest, engaging in their erotic and philosophical musings, without the realization that something so small and dark and intimate will explode into a psychedelic adventure that asks an important question: can humans and cryptids ever truly co-exist in peace?

As amusing as the notion of potentially...

It is the 1960s and a loved-up, blazed-up hippie couple, sketched in itchy black lines, have snuck into the monochrome nighttime woods to swap bodily fluids and woozy observations on life. Naked and stoned and mumbling about revolutions, they happen on a tall fence and climb it, entering, unbeknownst to them, the “Cryptozoo” of animators Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski’s combined imagination: a place in which griffins and winged horses keep company with will o’ the wisps, dragons and a startled unicorn.

If the sex and politics (complete with doubtless accidental but nonetheless yoinks-worthy reference to “storming the Capitol”) make this gorgeously psychedelic illustrated adventure appear more adult than the filmmakers’ 2016 debut, “My Entire High School Sinking into the Sea,” it’s slightly misleading. The drawing style is more mature — the lines slenderer, the transitions more inventive, the watercolored hues richer and more strange, featuring mottled mossy greens, dusky pinks and cloudy blues.

Voice cast includes Lake Bell and Michael Cera.

Leading German sales company The Match Factory has acquired international rights to Dash Shaw’s Cryptozoo, a feature animation set to receive its world premiere at Sundance this week.

The hand-drawn animation marks the second feature of US comic-book artist and writer Shaw, whose distinctive debut My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea premiered at Toronto in 2016 and went on to screen at the Berlinale.

His follow-up is a fantastical, psychedelic feature set amid the counterculture of the 1960s, with a voice cast led by Lake Bell and Michael Cera. It...

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival, beginning Thursday, will look quite different. Forging ahead during the pandemic, they’ve to continue offering some of the year’s finest independent discoveries, with a new online platform, drive-ins, screenings at independent arthouses around the country, and more.

We’ll have extensive coverage from the festival (which one can follow here or on Twitter). Before reviews arrive, we’re counting down our most-anticipated films. If you’re interested in experiencing Sundance from home, one can see available tickets here.

15. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (Jane Schoenbrun)

Year after year, Sundance’s Next section offers independent cinema’s most compelling new voices; one that’s caught our eye is Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. Shot by Daniel Patrick Carbone and scored by Alex G, it follows a teenager (Anna Cobb) whose reality begins blurring when she plays an online horror role-playing game.

As we are now about halfway through the Broadway season, and there are currently nine productions of musicals set to open this spring. Could we be seeing any of them contend at this year’s Tony Awards? Below, we recap the plot of each musical as well as the awards history of its author, cast, creative types, the opening, and (where applicable) closing dates.

“West Side Story”

In the fifth Broadway revival of Arthur Laurents, Lenoard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim’s 1957 classic inspired by William Shakespeare’s famous play, “Romeo & Juliet,” this musical is set in the Upper West Side neighborhood of New York City. The story explores the rivalry between two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds. The Jets, a white gang, and the Sharks, who are immigrants from Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Tony, a former member of the Jets and best friend of the gang’s leader,...

Casting for director Ivo van Hove’s upcoming Broadway revival of West Side Story was announced today by producers Scott Rudin, Barry Diller and David Geffen, with what they’re calling an unprecedented 23 actors making their Broadway debuts.

The production, with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s all-new choreography in place of the familiar moves of Jerome Robbins, begins performances on December 10 at the Broadway Theatre, with opening night set for February 6, 2020.

The cast will include Shereen Pimentel as Maria, Isaac Powell as Tony, Yesenia Ayala as Anita, Amar Ramasar as Bernardo, Ben Cook as Riff, Ahmad Simmons as Diesel, Danny Wolohan as Officer Krupke, Jacob Guzman as Chino, Kevin Csolak as A-Rab, Matthew Johnson (debut) as Baby John, Dharon E. Jones (debut) as Action, Zuri Noelle Ford (debut) as Anybodys, Daniel Oreskes as Doc, Pippa Pearthree as Glad Hand and Thomas Jay Ryan as Lt. Schrank.

The ensemble will include...

NewFest kicks off on Wednesday, celebrating the 30th year of New York City’s premier queer film festival. Each year, NewFest presents some of the buzziest titles from all over the world, but it also plays home to brand-new fiction films and documentaries that you can’t see anywhere else.

International titles with strong acclaim are some of the best films in this year’s slate, many making their NYC debuts: the Kenyan lesbian love story Rafiki, which premiered at Cannes, is the festival’s International Centerpiece; Mario from the Locarno Film Festival; and Hard Paint from the Berlin Film Festival. Yen Tan’s critically acclaimed AIDS drama 1985 starring Cory Michael Smith will open the festival, followed by Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased as the U.S. Centerpiece. NewFest closes out with Making Montgomery Clift, directed by the actor’s nephew Robert Anderson Clift and Hillary Demmon.

We selected 10 titles...

A new Broadway season is gearing up, and there are currently nine productions of plays set to open this fall. Could we be seeing any of them contend at next year’s Tony Awards? Below, we recap the plot of each play as well as the awards history of its author, cast and creative types and the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“Bernhardt/Hamlet” (opens September 25; closes November 18)

In this world premiere play by two-time Emmy nominee Theresa Rebeck, international stage actress, Sarah Bernhardt, sets out to tackle her most ambitious role yet: Hamlet.

The production presented by Roundabout Theatre Company stars Tony winner Janet McTeer, Tony nominee Dylan Baker, two-time Drama Desk nominee Jason Butler Harner, Ito Aghayere, Matthew Saldivar, Drama Desk nominee Nick Westrate, Tony Carlin, and is directed by Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel.

“The Nap” (opens September 27; closes November 11)

In the Broadway premiere of this new play by Richard Bean,...

Chicago – In animation, the real innovators who evolve the artform are the risk takers who stamp their own inspiration on those cartoon images. Director Dash Shaw is one of those breakthroughs, who creates a work of anarchistic art in “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea.”

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Turning the institutional concept of high school literally upside down, the animated epic uses an extreme (and somewhat comic) disaster to separate the true heroes from the pretenders. The insecurities, social cliques and outsiders are all present, and writer/director Shaw uses them as society’s pecking order, on a Titanic that has become their school building. The voice actors are familiar – Susan Sarandon portrays a kick-ass lunch lady with gravel-voiced sincerity – but the real star is Dash Shaw’s cartoon vision, which mixes his simple line drawings with a kaleidoscope of amazing colors and surreal set pieces. With shadings of “Yellow...

James Franco can toggle between blockbusters, indies, comedies and dramas without a missing a beat. Later this month, he’ll appear in “Why Him?” but if you’re looking for something slightly edgier from the actor, you’ll want to seek out “Burn Country.”

Read More: ‘King Cobra’ Starring James Franco Is A True Crime Trifle [Review]

Directed by Ian Olds and featuring a strong cast including Dominic Rains, Melissa Leo, Rachel Brosnahan and Thomas Jay Ryan, the film follows Osman, a former fixer for Western journalists reporting on the war in Afghanistan.

Continue reading Exclusive: Take A Ride With James Franco In Clip From ‘Burn Country’ at The Playlist.

"You got a scoop?" Samuel Goldwyn has debuted a trailer for an indie drama titled Burn Country, which premiered at Tribeca earlier this year. The film is a fictional feature version of a real-life story of a "fixer" journalist from Afghanistan who decides to move to a town on the coast in Northern California. However, once he begins working at a newspaper there he gets drawn into the strange "backwoods of this small town", stumbling into local corruption and other dangers. Iranian actor Dominic Rains stars as Osman, and the cast includes Melissa Leo, James Franco, Rachel Brosnahan, Thomas Jay Ryan, Tim Kniffin, and James Oliver Wheatley. This looks damn good, like it offers a unique perspective not often seen on film. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Ian Olds' Burn Country, originally from EW.com: After being exiled from Afghanistan, a former war journalist (Dominic Rains) who...

Refresh for latest… Samuel Goldwyn Films and Orion Pictures have acquired Ian Olds’ mystery thriller Burn Country, which was called The Fixer when it premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Dominic Rains, who won the Best Actor prize at that fest, stars alongside Melissa Leo, James Franco, Rachel Brosnahan and Thomas Jay Ryan. A December 9 day-and-date is planned, and Mongrel International is selling international rights at the Toronto Film Festival. Rains stars…...

Samuel Goldwyn Films and Orion Pictures have acquired from CAA the mystery thriller Burn Country (formerly The Fixer) directed by Ian Olds.

Paul Felten and Olds wrote the screenplay to the film starring Tribeca Us Narrative Competition best actor winner Dominic Rains, Melissa Leo, James Franco, Rachel Brosnahan and Thomas Jay Ryan.

Mongrel International handles international sales in Toronto on the story of an Afghan man who served as a fixer for Western journalists during the war in Afghanistan.

When he settles in a small town in northern California and finds work as a crime reporter, the new arrival uncovers the town’s dark secrets.

Caroline von Kuhn’s Ace Productions produced in association with Night & Day Pictures, Rabbit Bandini Productions, Gigi Films, Amphora Pictures, Green Street Film Company, Heart-Headed Productions, Raa Ventures and Relic Pictures.

Samuel Goldwyn plans a December 9 day-and-date theatrical and VOD release.

Charlotte Mickie and her team will kick off sales on the Croisette on Ian Olds’ recent Tribeca winner.

CAA brokered the deal and represents North American rights to the film.

The Fixer stars Melissa Leo, James Franco, Rachel Brosnahan, Thomas Jay Ryan, and newcomer Dominic Rains, who won the Us narrative best actor prize for the title role in Tribeca.

The story follows a former fixer for Us journalists in Afghanistan who relocates to smalltown America where he becomes embroiled in a local mystery.

Olds and Paul Felten wrote the screenplay and Caroline von Kuhn’s Ace Productions produced in association with Night & Day Pictures, Rabbit Bandini Productions, Gigi Films, Amphora Films, Green Street Film Company, Heart-Headed Productions, Raa Ventures and Relic Pictures.

Mongrel International has boarded sales, excluding Canada and the U.S., on Tribeca title The Fixer. The deal was brokered by CAA, which has North America. The drama will make its market debut in Cannes next week. Directed by Ian Olds, who co-wrote with Paul Felten, it stars Melissa Leo, James Franco, Rachel Brosnahan, Thomas Jay Ryan, and newcomer Dominic Rains. Rains scooped the Best Actor prize at Tribeca last month. Inspired by Olds’ documentary about an Afghani guide…...

Recently, CBS revealed the new,official synopsis/description for their upcoming "The Good Wife" episode 15 of season 7. The episode is entitled, "Targets," and it turns out that we're going to see some very interesting stuff go down as a secret panel of attorneys recruits Alicia to join them! Eli attempts to learn more about why the FBI has Peter on their target list, and more. In the new, 15th episode press release: Alicia Joins A Secret Panel Of Attorneys Advising The U.S. Government On A Controversial Case. Press release number 2: Alicia is going to join a secret panel of attorneys advising the U.S. government on a controversial case. Also, Eli will end up hiring Elsbeth Tascioni (Carrie Preston) to find out why the FBI is targeting Peter. Guest stars feature: Patrick Breen (Captain Terrence Hicks), Michael Urie (Stephen Dinovera), Tobias Segal (Tyler Hopkins), Damian Young (Clinton Foyle...

The Missing Girl

Written & Directed by A.D. Calvo

USA, 2015

Part crackpot mystery, part comic-book fable, The Missing Girl is a low-key indie charmer that wears its big heart on its awkward sleeve. Writer-director A.D. Calvo gives his characters plenty of room to breathe, and the result is an intimate, though somewhat languid affair. The real revelation here is Robert Longstreet, whose mopey shop owner fascinates and frustrates like some Harvey Pekar doppelganger. Patience and persistence will be richly rewarded by this observant character study.

Mort Colvins (Longstreet) is the embodiment of ‘gruff but lovable.’ Each day this middle-aged sad-sack trudges into his store, Mort’s Comics & More, and toils over treasured trinkets and limited-edition comics. At night, he retires to his lonely apartment, listening to pre-recorded affirmations on his clunky cassette player. “You are a worthy guy. Do things that make you happy,” he implores himself; advice he obviously never heeds.

Read More: Toronto International Film Festival Reveals Midnight Madness and Vanguard Slate, Including 'Love,' 'Hardcore' and 'Green Room' Robert Longstreet, known for starring in "The Catechism Cataclysm" and being featured in "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" and "Take Shelter." embodies the loneliness of a late bloomer in "The Missing Girl." The synopsis reads: "'The Missing Girl' tells the story of Mort, the lonely and disillusioned owner of a comic book shop, and Ellen, the emotionally disruptive, aspiring graphic novelist he's hired. The story involves the search for a girl who isn’t missing and the discovery that it's never too late for late bloomers." The film also stars Alexia Rasmussen, Eric Laden, Thomas Jay Ryan, Shirley Knight, Kevin Corrigan and Sonja Sohn. "The Missing Girl" will have its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival in the Vanguard section. The festival runs from...

Read More: Melissa Leo Joins James Franco in Ian Olds' Wartime Drama 'The Fixer' Ian Olds' "The Fixer" finally has its title character -- Dominic Rains, known for his roles in "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" and "The Taqwacores."  "The Fixer" tells the story of Osman, a Afghan journalist exiled from his country because of war to a small community in Northern California. He begins to work on the local police blotter in an Afghan-style coverage of local crime and gets drawn into the town's subculture. Rains will star in the film alongside James Franco, Melissa Leo, Thomas Jay Ryan, Rachel Brosnahan and Tim Kniffin. Read More: Seeing The Whole Picture: Ian Olds's "Fixer"...

Mark Ruffalo and wife Sunrise Coigney on the Red Carpet Mark Ruffalo and wife Sunrise Coigney Oscars photo Mark Ruffalo and wife Sunrise Coigney arrive at the 83rd Academy Awards on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre at (almost) the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in downtown Hollywood. Ruffalo was a 2011 Best Supporting Actor nominee for his role as a chauvinistic male slob who disrupts the family life of a lesbian couple in Lisa Cholodenko's Best Picture contender The Kids Are All Right. The dramatic comedy co-stars Best Actress nominee Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, and Mia Wasikowska. This was Ruffalo's first Academy Award nomination. As it turned out, The Kids Are All Right didn't win a single statuette on Sunday night. But at the 2011 Spirit Awards held the day before, Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg's screenplay was chosen as the best of the year among independent films.

Back in the 1990s, Hal Hartley was one of the signature directors of American independent cinema. His films weren’t for all tastes, but they sure were distinct: His aesthetic was colorful, but calm; his actors deadpan, but articulate. The films were often ironic romances, with bursts of casual criminality and tossed-off philosophy. Godard was clearly an influence, as was Jim Jarmusch. But Hartley’s voice was very much his. And, as evidenced in films like The Unbearable Truth and Simple Men, it was perfect for those jaded, scare-quote-friendly times. That’s not a knock: I watched those movies religiously, and I still occasionally revisit them.In 1997 Hartley made what was probably his greatest film, Henry Fool, a surprisingly complex, ambitious comedy about a mysterious, charismatic, but largely talentless novelist (Thomas Jay Ryan), who befriends and inspires a garbage man (James Urbaniak) and romances his sister (Parker Posey). The garbage...

In 1997, writer-director Hal Hartley's "Henry Fool" took the filmmaker's career to new heights with the story of the titular novelist (Thomas Jay Ryan), a garrulous, self-involved man of the world who befriends garbageman Simon Grim (James Urbaniak) and seduces Simon's sister Fay (Parker Posey), who gives birth to a son, Ned (Liam Aiken). The movie was acclaimed on the festival circuit and developed a cult status among cinephiles hip to Hartley's ironic dialogue and inventive characters. But the story didn't end there: In 2006, Hartley made "Fay Grim," an innovative sequel that took the mold of a spy thriller and focused on Fay's life after Henry disappears. This week, the trilogy comes to a close with "Ned Rifle," which shifts focus to Aiken's character — now all grown up and himself eager to confront his father's neglectful tendencies. Read More: Review: 'Ned Rifle,' Starring Aubrey Plaza, is a...

Nineties indie auteur Hal Hartley lends his onetime pseudonym Ned Rifle to the protagonist of his latest film, which caps the talky trilogy begun by 1997’s “Henry Fool” and followed up by 2006’s “Fay Grim.” But the 18-year-old son of the peripatetic literary gasbag Henry (Thomas Jay Ryan) and the incarcerated “lady terrorist” Fay (Parker Posey) likely isn’t an autobiographical creation. Determined to kill his father for landing his mother in prison for the rest of her life — though it turns there’s a lot this foster kid doesn’t know about his birth family — Ned (Liam Aiken) is simultaneously.

Read More: The 10 Indie Films You Must See This April "Ned Rifle" (Vimeo, April 1)Director Hal Hartley's style first came to prominence with 1997's "Henry Fool," the tale of a self-involved garbage man-come-novelist (Thomas Jay Ryan) who romances the hapless Fay Grim (Parker Posey). Whereas that movie poked fun at literary aspirations, plot-heavy 2006 sequel "Fay Grim" grappled with a post-9/11 world in which the elusive Henry became a wanted terrorist. Concluding with Fay taking the fall for Henry and winding up behind bars, the story set the stage for a third character to take prominence in this idiosyncratic indie franchise — the couple's son, Ned (Liam Aiken), whose time has come to wrestle control of the messy situation. With "Ned Rifle," Hartley brings this eccentric trilogy to a close, centering on Henry and Fay's forlorn son as yet another template for skewering American sensibilities. The result consolidates the appeal of Hartley's.

Hal Hartley is nothing if not the progenitor of his own carefully cultivated cinematic world: the Hartleyverse, always filled with comically affected characters, allusions to other works of art, and dry social commentary. It's all there in Ned Rifle, the final entry in Hartley's trilogy that, starting with Henry Fool, examines one deeply eccentric family. Eighteen-year-old Ned (Liam Aiken) is on a quest to murder his notorious criminal father, Henry (Thomas Jay Ryan), for getting Ned's mother, Fay, sent to prison as a result of Henry's terrorist associations. Ned has spent the past ten years in foster care, and has grown into a pious young man with a religiously fervent sense of morality — a welcome contrast against the more ethically malleab...