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Nicholas Hoult starred in Drake Doremus’ Equals, showcasing a dystopian society where neither crime nor human emotions exist. Despite the genetically modified humans living in a meticulously crafted society, Nicholas Hoult’s Silas comes across Kristen Stewart‘s Nia, and the two grow attached to each other. Classic case of forbidden romance!

Equals also stars Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver, along with others. Despite a great cast and an interesting storyline, the film failed to hit the mark. It received mixed to negative reviews from critics, earning a 36% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience wasn’t a fan either, giving Equals an approval rating of a mere 43%.

According to the critical consensus, the aesthetics of the film weren’t enough to “make up for its plodding pace and aimlessly derivative story.” Clearly, one of the biggest challenges Equals faced lies in the movie’s pacing. Doremus is known for intimate,...

The last truly funny, downright gut-busting, Will Ferrell performance was The Other Guys. Most of Ferrell’s best comedies were made with filmmaker Adam McKay, mid-2000s classics like Step Brothers, Anchorman, and Talladega Nights. But ever since Ferrell played off against Mark Wahlberg as a pair of pencil-pushing cops...

Reviews for Cocaine Bear are now in, with critics loving the movie's self-awareness, humor, and bloody mayhem. Directed by Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear tells the story of a large grizzly who ingests large amounts of cocaine before then going on a murderous rampage through a Georgia forest. The film, which is very loosely based on real events, stars Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, Ray Liotta, O'Shea Jackson Jr., and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, among others.

Ahead of its official release tomorrow, February 24, reviews for Cocaine Bear are starting to roll in. At the time of writing, the movie holds a surprising 100% on Rotten Tomatoes (which will surely change as more reviews are added), with critics mostly agreeing that, while not necessarily groundbreaking, Cocaine Bear pretty much gives you exactly what you'd expect in a fun, hilarious, and violent package. Check out some review excerpts below:

Daniel Bayer, Awards Watch

Well, you certainly...

Kristen Stewart is one of the best, most unpredictable performers of her generation. Her portrayal of Bella Swan in "The Twilight Saga" made her a worldwide movie star, and she used that cachet to make a series of artistically ambitious films from the non-mainstream likes of Olivier Assayas, Kelly Reichardt and Pablo Larrain (whose "Spencer" earned Stewart her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress). Five years ago, she branched out and made her first short film, the captivatingly impressionistic "Come Swim," which premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. Her talent seems to know no bounds, so it's exciting to learn that she'll make her feature directing debut with "The Chronology of Water."

Based on Lidia Yuknavitch's 2012 memoir (a finalist for that year's Pen Center USA Creative Nonfiction Award), the project reteams Stewart with Ridley Scott's Scott Free production company, and is set to star Imogen Poots. If...

Before anyone labels “He’s All That” as a rote remake, consider this: It’s a reimagining that — unlike “She’s All That” or the source material that inspired it, George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” — is rooted primarily in the female perspective. It’s a shame though that director Mark Waters and returning screenwriter R. Lee Fleming Jr. don’t put a savvier spin on the conventional, frequently-lampooned tropes and clichés. And while it’s possible to make the formulaic and familiar resound fantastically, that concept has evaded these filmmakers here. Neither bland regurgitation nor innovative retelling, the remake falls somewhere in between, suffering greatly by not establishing a more distinctive identity.

Social media influencer Padgett (TikTok superstar Addison Rae) lives the perfect life — at least, that’s what she wants everyone to believe. She has a 4.0 Gpa and dates burgeoning music superstar Jordan (Peyton Meyer), and her besties Alden (Madison Pettis...

Less of a remake and more a reimagining of the 1992 film, director Nia DaCosta’s new incarnation of Candyman proves to be a wildly entertaining film steeped in the hallmarks of classic horror that proves to be one of the best films of the summer.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in “Candyman.” © 2021 Universal Pictures

The legend of the Candyman, a supernatural killer brandishing a hook for a hand, was a well-known one to the residents of the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood. According to the stories, he can be summoned if you say his name five times while looking into a mirror. Over the years there have been many killings attributed to this particular boogeyman in the area. Now, a decade after the Cabrini towers were torn down and the area was gentrified, and the area repopulated by upwardly mobile millennials, visual artist Anthony McCoy (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) turns...

Despite its earned cult-classic status, Bernard Rose’s Candyman isn’t without fault. His transposing Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden” from a British neighborhood to Chicago’s Cabrini–Green projects to consider the text’s racial and economic divides was as inspired as casting Tony Todd for the titular, bee-infested boogeyman running on the fuel of a hive mind’s fear. Yet he still centered it all on the shoulders of white savior’s Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen). Rose flirts with the complexity of that choice by having her first act of heroism (being the key witness to putting a copycat monster behind bars) unleash the real monster from hibernation, but ultimately undercuts Candyman’s return as cautionary tale for white supremacy’s unchecked brutality.

The marketing machine can say Nia DaCosta’s Candyman (co-written by producer Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld) is a “spiritual sequel” all it wants,...

“You can really make the story your own. But some of the specifics should be consistent.” So says William Burke (Colman Domingo), the aging keeper of the Candyman legend. And so say writer-director Nia DaCosta (“Little Woods”) and co-writers Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld (“The Twilight Zone”), the inventive re-creators of the “Candyman” franchise.

The filmmakers built their movie by deconstructing another one: Bernard Rose’s 1992 original, which was in turn based on Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden.” Though it was embraced by genre fans at the time (including a teenage Peele), Rose’s version is long overdue for a contemporary revision. It’s hard to imagine one with more searing impact than this.

The pandemic pushed the movie’s release date back a year, so the story opens in 2019 Chicago, long after the Cabrini-Green housing project of the original was razed to make way for gentrification.

Dare To Say It. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman. Candyman…

Oscar® winner Jordan Peele unleashes a fresh take on the blood-chilling urban legend: Candyman. Filmmaker Nia DaCosta directs this contemporary incarnation of the cult classic.

For as long as residents can remember, the housing projects of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green neighborhood were terrorized by a word-of-mouth ghost story about a supernatural killer with a hook for a hand, easily summoned by those daring to repeat his name five times into a mirror. In present day, a decade after the last of the Cabrini towers were torn down, visual artist Anthony McCoy and his partner, gallery director Brianna Cartwright, move into a luxury loft condo in Cabrini, now gentrified beyond recognition and inhabited by upwardly mobile millennials.

With Anthony’s painting career on the brink of stalling, a chance encounter with a Cabrini-Green old-timer exposes Anthony to the tragically horrific nature of the true story behind Candyman.

There’s a charming weirdness at the core of An American Pickle, the latest Seth Rogen star vehicle. It’s a movie that sounds like it could be either amazing or terrible, depending on the execution. Luckily, Rogen and company give it a steady hand, as well as a singular identity, making the comedy a really enjoyable one. By leaning into the premise and its various possibilities, as opposed to getting bogged down in one specific aspect and solely going for laughs there, it’s a fuller meal, if you’ll pardon the expression. As the first HBO Max cinematic release, it’s a good get for the company. Out now, it’s quite entertaining. The film is a comedy, one with a high concept, to boot. 100 years ago, Hershel Greenbaum (Rogen) is a simple gravedigger, one whose dreams of luxury include getting to taste seltzer water. When he meets...

Seth Rogen is one of the most reliable names in cinematic comedy. Even on the small screen, anything he creates or produces is almost certainly given an immediate stamp of quality. So, when he has a new project hitting, it’s fair to have a solid deal of confidence in it. Next month, his latest movie is hitting screens, but now through HBO Max, as opposed to theaters. It’s An American Pickle, a very high concept comedy, one that actually got its first Trailer yesterday. You can see it down below, but first, a bit of discussion about it is in order. Spoiler alert: it looks good. The film is, as you might imagine, a comedy. One of the synopsises found on IMDb goes as follows: “A simple Jewish man named Herschel Greenbaum works in a pickle factory in Brooklyn. One day he falls into a vat of brine and stays there,...

Earlier today, a Trailer was releases for a new Candyman, making this property the latest in a long line to get sequels long after the prior installment. Normally, this would only get passing notice and seem like a shameless money grab. However, there’s a mitigating factor here, which is that Jordan Peele is shepherding it to the screen. He’s not directing, but has a writing credit and lends a big seal of approval to the project. Now, it’s one of the year’s most anticipated fright flicks. You can see the First Trailer at the end of this post, as per the usual. The film is a new effort in the Candyman franchise. IMDb lists the plot simply as this: “A “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 horror film ‘Candyman’ that returns to the now-gentrified Chicago neighborhood where the legend began.” Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris are the leads here,...

The death penalty is among the most controversial and debated about laws in American politics, and even worldwide. There are passionate cases made on both sides, arguing for or against capital punishment and the right for the state to take a life. To be sure though, there’s hypocrisy as well, especially when you look at how conservative lawmakers view capital punishment/the death penalty in relation to their feelings on abortion/a woman’s right to choose. Moreover, the rush to judgment in some cases is as infuriating as anything else in the matter. The righteous indignation over that fuels the new film Trial by Fire, opening this week. This film is a true life drama/biopic, centering on the controversial and ultimately tragic case of Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’Connell). When the home he lives in with his wife Stacy Willingham (Emily Meade) burns down, killing their three young daughters,...

Following its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, Drake Doremus’ new romantic sci-fi titled Zoe now has its first trailer. In prior films, Doremus has directed Felicity Jones in Breathe In and Like Crazy, Kristen Stewart in Equals, and now he’s teamed with Léa Seydoux as the titular Zoe. Along with Zoe’s professional colleague Cole (played by Ewan McGregor), the two work together to advance and perfect the compatibility of various romantic relationships. As their work continues, they internally refocus their romantic objectives as they begin to discover unquestionable feelings for one another.

Throughout the last decade, Doremus has continued to showcase his liking for tender, yet imaginative love stories. In Zoe, he revisits the romantic sci-fi angle, once again proposing larger questions that only seem fitting given the exponentially evolving technology that surrounds us–ideas similar to those explored in Her, Ex Machina, and even the Netflix hit Black Mirror.

Not even Christina Aguilera’s cameo as an obsolete robot prostitute can save Drake Doremus’ inanimate story of designer dating,” a high-concept, low-reward romance that hopefully completes the “Like Crazy” filmmaker’s trilogy of lifeless movies about the near future of love.

It began with “Equals,” a moribund Kurt Vonnegut riff about a dystopian society where emotions have been outlawed. It continued with “Newness,” a banal vivisection of relationships in the age of Tinder. Now this informal triptych bottoms out with “Zoe,” a humorless (and characteristically half-baked) glimpse at a tomorrow in which singles are matched together by algorithms, and the tech community has started creating androids — Synthetics — to satisfy people who would rather build their ideal partner from scratch.

It’s Doremus’ third consecutive film to explore the folly of trying to (m)end the heartache that makes us human, his third consecutive film to waste an impressive cast on some very inert material,...

Next week sees the arrival of New York’s 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival, running 18th-29th April, boasting a vast array of film and TV screenings, starry anniversary reunion events, concerts, on stage interviews and discussions, as well as a focus on games and Vr experiences. Below are just some of this year’s highlights, for the full lineup and to purchase tickets for films and events visit the official Tribeca website: https://www.tribecafilm.com/

Stars and filmmakers set to attend this year’s festival include Steven Spielberg, Liam Neeson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sam Rockwell, Alec Baldwin, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Spike Lee, Brian De Palma, Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Viola Davis, Thandie Newton, Saoirse Ronan and Tribeca Co-Founder Robert De Niro.

Opening Night

2018 Tribeca Opening Night ‘Love Gilda’

The 2018 edition opens with the World Premiere of documentary Love, Gilda, directed by Lisa D’Apolito, saluting the career...

Zoe will be the centrepiece gala Photo: John Guleserian The Tribeca Film Festival has announced its feature film line-up, which includes 96 films. The festival, which earlier announced it will open with documentary Love, Gilda, on April 18 will close on April 29 with The Fourth Estate - the first episode of Liz Garbus' documentary following The New York Times' coverage of President Trump's first year in power.

The Centerpiece Gala will be one of the 74 world premieres featuring across the programme - Drake Doremus’ sci-fi romance Zoe, which stars Ewan McGregor, Léa Seydoux, Rashida Jones, and Theo James. British filmmakers in the competition line-up including Karen Gillan - whose The Party's Just Beginning recently had its world premiere in Glasgow - and Jamie Jones' Obey, which is set during the 2011 London riots. The spotlight also features motherhood satire Egg, by British director Marianna Palka and drama Jellyfish, directed by fellow Brit James Gardner.

Slowly but surely, Kristen Stewart has been becoming one of our most interesting young actresses. At the same time, filmmaker Drake Doremus has been crafting some under the radar yet memorable work, namely with Like Crazy and Breathe In. Now, they’ve come together for Equals, a science fiction romance opening this weekend that’s really quite interesting. I saw the movie back at the Tribeca Film Festival and found it very compelling, especially for Stewart’s turn, as well as in regards to Doremus as an evolving director. Stewart also has Woody Allen’s new film Cafe Society hitting this week, and I’ll continue my praise of that one in a few days, but today I’m focused on Doremus’ project with her. The flick is in some ways a sci-fi/dystopian take on Romeo and Juliet. It follows Silas (Nicholas Hoult) as he navigates a supposed “utopia...

"Equals," which had its public premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in the middle of a mood-appropriately rainy Sunday, was written by Nathan Parker, who was also the credited screenwriter of the Duncan Jones film "Moon." In this case, it's Drake Doremus bringing Parker's words to life, and like Jones, I think he's working at a different level than the writer. While I don't think Doremus was quite as successful as Jones, in both cases, I think the films work in spite of their scripts, not because of them. If you haven't seen "Like Crazy," you should. It's the best film Doremus has made so far, and it seem to encapsulate everything he does well. It's a pretty simple contemporary story with lovely performances from Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones. Since then, both of his lead actors have headed for deep space, Yelchin onboard the ongoing voyages of the...

Here We Go Again: Evans’ Nondescript Venture a Familiar Recipe of Whirlwind Romance

Love is not a many splendored thing in actor Chris Evans’ directorial debut, Before We Go, a mediocre two-hander requiring a certain finesse not in evidence either before or in front of the camera, at least enough to believably carry us off into the sunset of illogical romantic inclinations. That’s not to say the film is terrible or even evidence that Evans should quit his day job, but mostly how it unfortunately elicits an overall and achingly constant ‘meh.’ Saddled with one of those vaguely poetic titles reminiscent of a slew of emotionally malleable indie films like Before I Disappear or Away We Go, even though it probably wants to be comparable to Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight trilogy, perhaps we shouldn’t be disappointed since the comfortably predictable narrative can’t be accused...

Many argue that homage is the highest form of flattery – especially when it comes to film. If that is indeed the case, then Richard Linklater should be experiencing some extreme ego-inflation right about now – for Captain America himself has clearly chosen to tip his shield to the legendary indie director’s Before Sunrise with his directorial debut, Before We Go.

With Evans also taking the lead role, and Alice Eve (Star Trek Into Darkness) as his co-star, this romantic tale comes from the writer of Rain Man – Ronald Bass – along with Chris Shafer and Paul Vicknair (both screenwriters of the Chris Evans movie Playing It Cool), as well as Jen Smolka (The Good Cook).

You can check out the official plot synopsis below:

“Flustered and fearful after a brush with a mugger, Brooke (Alice Eve) races through Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, desperate to catch the night’s last Boston-bound train.

As part of our "How I Shot That" series, we asked a select group of cinematographers with films at Sundance about the best career advice they've ever received. And now we're sharing it with you. "Surround yourself with good people. This isn’t easy as it sounds because it also means being truthful with yourself about what your own shortcomings are and what you need help with. The energy of the crew suffuses what happens in front of the camera and you want as little as possible to impede the flow of creativity on set. With the right crew, that creativity comes from all directions, the AC, the key grip, etc." - Eric Lin, "I Smile Back" "Be bold and take risks. Don’t be afraid to fail." - John Guleserian, "The Overnight" Read More: Sundance 2015 Cinematographers on How They Captured Their Most Difficult Shots "The best piece of advice...

"There is a montage in the middle of the movie where all four of our characters are in a swimming pool. We knew we wanted to have some underwater shots as part of this montage, but I was worried about the time and resources it would cost for us to put a camera and operator in the pool for just a couple of shots. I ended up having the idea to put a GoPro on an old $10 monopod and just dunking it in the water and following the action around. This was difficult because I couldn’t monitor the camera while shooting. I was just hoping for the best and luckily, it worked out great." - John Guleserian, "The Overnight" "When you are capturing documentary material in a vérité style, every shot is difficult because you don't know what is going to happen next. Everything is the spur of the...

John Guleserian has previously shot films including "Like Crazy," "Breathe In," "About Time," "Song One" and "Equals." With "The Overnight," he captures the intimacy and awkwardness of a family "playdate" in Los Angeles that gets increasingly weirder as the night progresses. What camera and lens did you use? We shot with two Canon C500's with Zeiss Superspeed Lenses, as well as a Canon 5D Mkiii with a Lomography 80mm Petzval Lens, and a GoPro for some underwater shots. This was the most difficult shot on my movie -- and this is how I pulled it off: It's hard to determine what the most difficult shot was on any movie. There is a montage in the middle of the movie where all four of our characters are in a swimming pool. We knew we wanted to have some underwater shots as part of this montage, but I was worried about...

Following 2014’s Song One and 2013’s Breathe In, cinematographer John Gulesarian returns to Sundance with his third film in three years, The Overnight. Directed by Patrick Brice and starring Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling, the film is set during a long Los Angeles night, one in which a chance encounter between two families leads to what the program calls “a painfully funny take on sexual frustration and parenthood.” The film premieres Friday, January 23 in the Dramatic Competition. Below Gulesarian talks about small crews, practical lights, and how a $10 piece of equipment can save the day. Filmmaker: How and […]...

Following 2014’s Song One and 2013’s Breathe In, cinematographer John Gulesarian returns to Sundance with his third film in three years, The Overnight. Directed by Patrick Brice and starring Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling, the film is set during a long Los Angeles night, one in which a chance encounter between two families leads to what the program calls “a painfully funny take on sexual frustration and parenthood.” The film premieres Friday, January 23 in the Dramatic Competition. Below Gulesarian talks about small crews, practical lights, and how a $10 piece of equipment can save the day. Filmmaker: How and […]...

“Tracking Shot” is a monthly featurette here on Ioncinema.com that looks at a dozen or so projects that are moments away from lensing (or in a couple of titles below have been shooting since July). This August we’ve got a good number of projects that will start surfacing as early as next year’s Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin Film Fests. With Dakota Johnson having been just announced, we’ve got Luca Guadagnino’s long awaited (remake) A Bigger Splash, getting ready for a poolside shoot. Gus Van Sant comes out of the woodworks to move into the woods for Sea of Trees. Sundance alumni Rick Alverson is wrapping up Entertainment, Reed Morano is set to make her directorial debut this mid-August with Meadowland, while Douchebag, Like Crazy, Breathe In‘s Drake Doremus is stationed in Japan for a weighty cast and futuristic tale in Equals. Here are some...

Filmmaking increasingly doesn't involve film at all as the majority of films -- both Hollywood blockbusters and small independent films -- are shot digitally. It's so noteworthy for films to be shot on film that The Hollywood Reporter recently highlighted the handful of films at the Sundance Film Festival that were shot on film, including "Listen Up Philip," "Low Down" and "Happy Christmas." As part of our "How I Shot It" series, we've asked cinematographers with films at Sundance 2014 to tell us if the shift from film to digital is good or bad. Here's a selection of their responses:  "It's great! Digital cinema tools are giving us new ways of telling stories, and not taking any of the old ones away. Storytelling isn't about pixels and noise vs. emulsion and grain. It's much bigger than that." -- Cinematographer John Guleserian ("Song One") "The shift from film to digital for me,...

Cinematographer John Guleserian recently worked on "Like Crazy," "Breathe In," and "About Time." His latest project is "Song One," Kate Barker-Froyland's melodic drama starring Anne Hathaway and Mary Steenburgen and screening at this year's Sundance Film Festival. What camera and lens did you use? We shot primarily on Arri Alexa with Leica Summilux C Lenses. We also used the Canon C300 and GoPro Cameras. What was the most difficult shot on your movie, and how did you pull it off? I find that the most difficult shots are not always the most impressive shots. Often an insert will take massive amounts of time and energy, while an intricate camera movement with several moving parts and extras will just click, and happen naturally. On "Song One" the most difficult shot to get was, in fact, an insert of a ticket stub that we ended up re-shooting three times. Who is your favorite cinematographer and why?...

It’s that time again. The biggest American film festival is upon us, and this year the Ioncinema crew will be descending on Park City with eight feet on the ground and eight eyes on Park City’s various and plentiful screens. Eric Lavallee, Nicholas Bell, Caitlin Coder and I will be covering just about every inch of this year’s festival here at Ioncinema.com, as well as on that ever increasingly vibrant instanews network – Twitter. Be sure to follow @ioncinema and, as stated above, my personal handle @Rectangular_Eye, as we’ll be tweeting throughout the festival with breaking news, reviews, and sightings, all the while trying to keep up with the massive amount of content sure to be coming from this year’s Sundance filmmakers themselves, most of which have their own Twitter accounts and are listed at length below (minus the world & short programs). Whether you...

The first in this year’s Guide to the Sundance Twitterverse series is the complete U.S. Dramatic Competition, which just at first glance has an immense amount of tweeting going on. Don’t miss the Hellion crew, headed by Writer/Director Kat Candler (@katcandler), nor the official Dear White People feed, (@DearWhitePeople). There’s more to come throughout the day.

U.S. Dramatic Competition

Camp X-Ray - @CampXRayMovie

Cold in July

Producer René Bastian - @renebastian

Dear White People - @DearWhitePeople

Writer/Director Justin Simien - @JSim07

Producer Lena Waith - @hillmangrad

Producer Julia Lebedev - @thisisresearch

Actor Tyler James Williams - @TylerJamesWill

Actress Teyonah Parris - @TeyonahParris

Fishing Without Nets - @fishing

Writer/Director Cutter Hodierne – @MyNameIsCUTTER

Writer/Producer John Hibey - @somaliproduced

Producer Raphael Swann - @raphaelswann

Producer Brian Glazen - @bglazen

Cinematographer Alex Disenhof – @adisenhof

God’s Pocket

Producer Sam Bisbee - @sambisbee

Composer Nathan Larson...

★★★★☆ When Drake Doremus' heartbreaking Like Crazy (2011) premièred at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011, the signs were encouraging; a Grand Jury Prize win as well as an all-night distribution bidding war. But despite this initial promise, Like Crazy became the unfortunate victim of the annual Oscar purgatory for films released at the height of award season without the nominations to provide the requisite box office aphrodisiac. Having already enjoyed a high-profile opening slot at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, ahead of this week's theatrical release, Breathe In (2013) will hopefully avoid its predecessor's fate.

A mature and expressive work, Doremus' latest is a beautifully restrained marvel about the stifling disappointments of adulthood. Breathe In stars Guy Pearce as former rock musician Keith Reynolds, who has traded the uncertainty of life as a touring musician for the stability of the leafy upstate suburbs teaching music in a local high school. Yearning for...

The touching, beautiful and romantic drama Like Crazy debuts May 28, 2012 on DVD from Paramount Home Media Distribution.

We have 3 copies of the DVD to give away to our readers.

Director Drake Doremus expertly captures the thrilling exuberance and heartbreaking fragility of first love. Featuring the incandescent Felicity Jones—who was given Breakthrough Awards by the National Board of Review and the Gotham Awards, as well as a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for her performance—and the terrifically earnest Anton Yelchin—who received a Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival and Special Recognition for a Breakthrough Performance at the Hamptons International Film Festival— Like Crazy explores how a young couple faces the very real challenges of being apart…and of being together.

The Like Crazy DVD includes commentary by director Drake Doremus, editor Jonathan Alberts and cinematographer John Guleserian, deleted scenes with optional commentary and alternate scenes with optional commentary.

To mark the release of Like Crazy on DVD this coming Monday 28th May, Paramount Home Entertainment have given us 5 copies of the romantic movie to give away.

Director Drake Doremus expertly captures the thrilling exuberance and heartbreaking fragility of first love. Featuring the incandescent Felicity Jones—who was given Breakthrough Awards by the National Board of Review and the Gotham Awards, as well as a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for her performance—and the terrifically earnest Anton Yelchin—who received a Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival and Special Recognition for a Breakthrough Performance at the Hamptons International Film Festival— Like Crazy explores how a young couple faces the very real challenges of being apart…and of being together.

The Like Crazy DVD includes commentary by director Drake Doremus, editor Jonathan Alberts and cinematographer John Guleserian, deleted scenes with optional commentary and alternate scenes with optional commentary.

Called "crazily inventive and totally irresistible" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone), the touching, beautiful and romantic drama Like Crazy debuts March 6, 2012 on Blu-ray and DVD with UltraViolet, for Digital Download and On Demand from Paramount Home Media Distribution. Director Drake Doremus expertly captures the thrilling exuberance and heartbreaking fragility of first love in "the rare love story that honestly conveys the giddy joys and sorrows of two people besotted with each other" (Claudia Puig, USA Today). Featuring "star-making performances" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) by the incandescent Felicity Jones - who was given Breakthrough Awards by the National Board of Review and the Gotham Awards, as well as a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for her performance - and the terrifically earnest Anton Yelchin - who received a Spotlight Award at the Hollywood Film Festival and Special Recognition for a Breakthrough Performance at the Hamptons International Film Festival - Like Crazy...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: March 6, 2012

Price: DVD $19.99, Blu-ray $29.99

Studio: Paramount Home Entertainment

Long-distance love is the subject of the 2011 romance film Like Crazy.

The movie stars Felicity Jones (The Tempest) and Anton Yelchin (Fright Night) as, respectively, Anna and Jacob, who meet at university in Los Angeles and fall in love. The problem is, Anna is British and in the U.S. on a school visa. When her time is up, she stays in America illegally. But when she goes back to England for a family visit, she isn’t allowed to come back, and Anna and Jacob must decide what their love is worth.

Like Crazy, which is rated PG-13, also stars Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class), Alex Kingston (TV’s ER) and Chris Messina (Devil).

The film was released in a limited number of theaters in the U.S. in October 2011, grossing $3.4 million. But its biggest audience is on DVD and Blu-ray.

Chicago – Some films never get a fair shot with audiences. They open in a handful of art house theaters scattered throughout the country before inconspicuously landing on DVD. Passionate movie lovers are left with the task of championing these unjustly obscure titles and helping them to acquire the audience they deserve.

Before I reveal my picks for the top ten Best Overlooked Films of 2011, here are the ten runners-up:

“Autoerotic”

Autoerotic

While Steve McQueen’s magnificent art film, “Shame,” plunges into the dark depths of sexual addiction, Joe Swanberg and Adam Wingard’s “Autoerotic” takes a decidedly more playful approach to similar material. Though Swanberg has made a series of uncommonly intimate films about the sex lives of twentysomething Chicagoans, he’s never attempted a film as overtly comic as this one, and Wingard proves to be an ideal collaborator. “Autoerotic” is easily Swanberg’s most accessible film to date,...

It's a busy week for special screenings. On Saturday, Austin-shot film Mars plays the Austin Film Society Screening Room as part of the Texas Independent Film Network's touring series. On Sunday, the Paramount is screening two Chris Marker films, Sans Soleil and La Jetee, in conjunction with Arthouse/Amoa's current exhibit "The Anxiety of Photography."

Wednesday is especially crazy: Cinema 41 is showing Agnes Varda's Cleo from 5 to 7 at the Hideout. Doc Nights is screening Nostalgia for the Light at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. At Alamo Village, Best of the Fests brings Berndt Mader's Five Time Champion back to Austin, and Slackerwood's Don Clinchy will moderate the Q&A. And Cine Las Americas wraps up its "Literature in Mexican Cinema" series with Santa, based on Federico Gamboa's novel.

And if that's not enough, Don Hertzfeldt will be at Alamo South Lamar on Wednesday and Thursday...

In his 4 out of 5 stars review of Like Crazy, Wamg writer Jim Batts said the film ”is an emotional rollercoaster and a great showcase for two very gifted young actors.” Like Crazy is not so much a love story as a story about what we experience when we.re in love . the excitement, the inspiration, the communion, the angst and the all-out craziness that envelop us, shake us and leave us wondering what on earth just happened to us. Rather than spin another ethereal fairy tale about the ideal of love, director Drake Doremus decided to get down into the dirt with the sheer emotional reality of falling into it .- and then battling to sustain it, especially in a world in which geography, technology and individuality seem to conspire against it at every turn.

Wamg is giving away passes to a screening of this very special film – Thursday (11/10) at Plaza Frontenac at 7Pm.

Chicago – From the moment filmmaker Drake Doremus and actress Felicity Jones won big at the Sundance Film Festival, their film “Like Crazy” has been garnering a good deal of award season buzz. Jones’ star-making portrayal of Anna, a British college student attempting to sustain a long-distance relationship with her American boyfriend, Jacob (Anton Yelchin), has become the focus of media hype that threatens to drown out the film itself.

What makes the picture stand out from the crowd is its structure. As the helmer of indie gems “Spooner” and “Douchebag,” Doremus has a background in crafting richly layered character studies on a tight budget. “Like Crazy” sidesteps the moments audiences are used to seeing in a romantic narrative in favor of nuances and textures that convey much more than mere plot points. Doremus beautifully depicts the push and pull of a relationship struggling to stay alive against the odds. Each...

The Film Independent Forum (formerly known as the Filmmaker Forum) kicks off tonight at the DGA with a screening of Drake Doremus's Sundance hit Like Crazy. The screening will feature a panel discussion with Doremus, producers Jonathan Schwartz and Andrea Sperling, cinematographer John Guleserian, editor Jonathan Alberts and co-writer Ben York Jones. And if panel discussions are right down your alley, boy do the fine folks at Film Independent have quite a weekend in store for you. Taking place at Los Angeles's DGA, the annual forum is a place for independent filmmakers to network with other filmmakers and industry types and to learn the ins and outs of making their movies work. From raising money to landing distribution (and what happens if you don't),...

Reviewed by Jeremy Mathews

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by: Drake Doremus

Written by: Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlie Bewley, Alex Kingston, Oliver Muirhead and Finola Hughes

Maybe it’s the inorganic interruption in their relationship that haunts Jacob and Anna. If their passionate love for one another had played out in a natural way, it might have flamed out, or they might have stayed together forever — at least they’d know. Instead, the protagonists of “Like Crazy” find their lives caught in a loop — unable to forget the magic that they shared but also attached to the lives they lived in each other’s absence.

Drake Doremus’ film follows the lives of two college students who fall in spectacular young love then face a torturous obstacle. Anna (Felicity Jones) is a budding English writer studying abroad in Los Angeles,...

Reviewed by Jeremy Mathews

(from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival)

Directed by: Drake Doremus

Written by: Drake Doremus and Ben York Jones

Starring: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Charlie Bewley, Alex Kingston, Oliver Muirhead and Finola Hughes

Maybe it’s the inorganic interruption in their relationship that haunts Jacob and Anna. If their passionate love for one another had played out in a natural way, it might have flamed out, or they might have stayed together forever — at least they’d know. Instead, the protagonists of “Like Crazy” find their lives caught in a loop — unable to forget the magic that they shared but also attached to the lives they lived in each other’s absence.

Drake Doremus’ film follows the lives of two college students who fall in spectacular young love then face a torturous obstacle. Anna (Felicity Jones) is a budding English writer studying abroad in Los Angeles,...