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The freshman series “Abbott Elementary,” “Andor,” “The Bear” and “Severance” and returnees “Better Call Saul,” “Hacks” and “Barry” are among the nominees for the 2023 Writers Guild Awards for television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing announced today by WGA West and WGA East. “The Bear,” “Severance” and “Saul” all landed three nominations apiece, as did “The Simpsons” in animation. “Yellowjackets” and “The Crown” will join “Saul,” “Andor” and “Severance” in the drama series lineup, while comedy series features “Only Murders in the Building” taking on “The Bear,” “Hacks,” “Barry” and “Abbott.” In the new series category, “Bad Sisters” fills out the list alongside “Andor,” “Abbott,” “The Bear” and “Severance.” Vying in the limited series lineup are “The Dropout,” “Fleishman Is In Trouble,” “Pam & Tommy,” “The Staircase” and Emmy/Golden Globes champ “The White Lotus.” See‘Abbott Elementary,’ ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘House of the Dragon’ among big TV...

AMC’s veteran drama series “Better Call Saul” is sharing the spotlight with newcomers FX’s “The Bear” and Apple TV+’s “Severance,” as all three shows scored three nominations for this year’s WGA Awards. Other new series nabbing multiple nominations include Apple TV+’s “Bad Sisters,” ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” and Disney+’s “Andor,” with HBO Max’s “Hacks” also garnering two mentions.

The Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) announced nominees for TV and news categories on Wednesday morning. Winners will be awarded at the guilds’ annual ceremony on March 5.

In animation, Fox’s “The Simpsons” was thrice nominated, with network stablemate “Bob’s Burgers,” Prime Video’s “Undone,” and Adult Swim’s “Tuca and Bertie” rounding out the category.

For limited series, Hulu and HBO/HBO Max split the category, with Hulu’s “The Dropout,” “Fleishman Is In Trouble,” and...

Newcomers “The Bear” and “Severance” and departing drama “Better Call Saul” were among the frontrunners, with three nominations each, as Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America, East announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing during 2022. Winners will be honored at the Writers Guild Awards ceremony taking place Sunday, March 5, 2023. Here are this year’s noms:

Drama Series

“Andor” — Written by Dan Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Stephen Schiff, Beau Willimon; Disney+

“Better Call Saul” — Written by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Ariel Levine, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock; AMC

“The Crown” — Written by Peter Morgan; Netflix

Severance, Written by Chris Black, Andrew Colville, Kari Drake, Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman, Helen Leigh, Anna Moench, Amanda Overton; Apple TV+

“Yellowjackets” — Written by Cameron Brent Johnson, Katherine Kearns, Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Liz Phang, Ameni Rozsa, Sarah L. Thompson,...

The Writers Guild of America has revealed the nominations for its 75th anniversary WGA Awards in the television, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional categories. The full list is below.

Nominees in the marquee TV categories include reigning Comedy Series champ Hacks, but 2022’s Drama Series winner Succession isn’t in play this year. In fact, only Yellowjackets makes a return trip to the nominees circle in that category. It will go up against the category’s newcomers: Andor, Better Call Saul, The Crown and Severance.

Related: 2022-23 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, Grammys, Guilds & More

Meanwhile, Hacks will vie for the Comedy Series prize against triple Golden Globe winner Abbott Elementary, The Bear and Only Murders in the Building — all of which also are up for New Series trophy — and Barry. Andor and The Bear round out the New Series combatants.

The Limited Series race will be among The Dropout,...

The Writers Guild has revealed its nominees in the categories of TV, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional writing.

Abbott Elementary, Andor, Bad Sisters, The Bear and Severance were all nominated in the new series category; Abbott and The Bear also earned nominations for comedy series, while Andor and Severance earned nods for drama.

Better Call Saul, The Crown and Yellowjackets also earned drama nods, while Barry, Hacks and Only Murders in the Building picked up comedy nominations.

The limited series nominees include The Dropout, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Pam & Tommy, The Staircase and The White Lotus.

Better Call Saul earned two additional nominations in the episodic drama category, which also includes nods for Bad Sisters, The Good Fight, Ozark and Severance. In the episodic comedy category, The Bear faces off against Grace and Frankie, Hacks, Julia, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows. A notable...

The Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing for 2022. Winners will be honored at the 2023 Writers Guild Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 5, 2023.

Given that TV is a writer’s medium, the WGA Awards nominations give great insight into what new shows are likely to enter the Emmys race this summer. Scoring multiple nods across the categories were expected newcomers like “Abbott Elementary” and “Severance,” which already had Emmy-winning runs for their first seasons, as well as more recent critical hits “The Bear” and “Andor.” All were nominated in their respective comedy and drama categories as well as for New Series.

In the Limited Series category, the guild finally gets its turn to recognize “The Dropout,” “The Staircase,” and “Pam and Tommy,” but more importantly, for the purpose of looking at 2023 TV awards races,...

Plot: The story of recently divorced 41-year-old Toby Fleishman, who dives into the brave new world of app-based dating with the kind of success he never had dating in his youth, before he got married at the tail end of medical school. But just at the start of his first summer of sexual freedom, his ex-wife, Rachel, disappears, leaving him with 11-year-old Hannah and 9-year-old Solly and no hint of where she is or whether she plans to return. As he balances parenting, the return of old friends Libby and Seth, a potential promotion at the hospital that is a long time coming — and all the eligible women that Manhattan has to offer — he realizes that he’ll never be able to figure out what happened to Rachel until he can finally face what happened to their marriage in the first place.

Review: Jesse Eisenberg is an actor whose mannerisms...

After a six-year hiatus from feature length filmmaking, Spanish director Rodrigo Cortés is finally back with his latest fantasy horror picture Down a Dark Hall – also known by its alternate title Blackwood. Best known for his tense direction on the Ryan Reynolds-led Buried and the Sigourney Weaver-led Red Lights, Cortés is no stranger to the horror-thriller genre. In Dark Hall, Cortés throws a fantastical twist onto things as the film deals with the supernatural – spookily depicted in the first trailer for the film, which Lionsgate has now released.

Down a Dark Hall centers on a troublesome young adult named Kit Gordy who, after a brief altercation with the law, is sent to a mysterious disciplinary boarding school – “Welcome to Blackwood” the stern headmaster Madame Duret (played by Uma Thurman) announces in the trailer. From here, things only become darker. Accompanied by four other similarly aged girls, Kit and her...

Exclusive: Noah Silver and Rosie Day have joined the cast of Lionsgate’s upcoming film Down A Dark Hall, opposite Anna Sophia Robb and Isabelle Fuhrman. Rodrigo Cortés is directing the pic with a script from Michael Goldbach and Chris Sparling. Based on Lois Duncan’s 1974 Ya novel of the same name, the supernatural mystery centers on a troubled teen with a haunted past who is committed to Blackwood, a mysterious school for gifted and disturbed girls. Silver plays Jules…...

Isabelle Fuhrman is set to star in the supernatural thriller Down A Dark Hall. The film adaptation of 1974 Ya novel by Lois Duncan is about a troubled teen with a haunted past who is committed to Blackwood, a mysterious school for gifted and disturbed girls. Rodrigo Cortes is directing the picture from a script by Michael Goldbach and Chris Sparling. Lionsgate's Summit Entertainment label will distribute the film., which is currently shooting in Barcelona. Wick Godfrey…...

"Twilight" author Stephenie Meyer is set to produce a new film adaptation of Lois Duncan's 1974 young adult novel "Down a Dark Hall" for Lionsgate

Meyer optioned the book two years ago but now it looks like the film is finally happening and Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen are also onboard to produce.

The story follows a new female student at a boarding school who must confront the powerful headmistress and her supernatural powers.

Rodrigo Cortes ("Buried," "Red Lights") has signed on to direct from a script by Michael Goldbach and Chris Sparling.

Source: Screen...

Lionsgate has acquired the suspense thriller Down a Dark Hall and set Rodrigo Cortes (Buried) to direct. The young adult novel by Lois Duncan centers on Kit, a new student at Blackwood Boarding School: "It is the opportunity of a lifetime, but Kit quickly realizes something strange is happening behind its walls as she confronts the darkly seductive powers of Blackwood’s headmistress and comes face to face with the supernatural powers that could make her great or destroy her." Michael Goldbach (Daydream Nation) adapted the first draft---Chris Sparling (Buried) has joined the team for additional writing. Stephenie Meyer, Meghan Hibbett, Wyck Godfrey, and Marty Bowen will produce Down a Dark Hall. Check out the press release for more details after the break. Lionsgate Acquires Young Adult Suspense Thriller Down A Dark Hall From Fickle Fish And Temple Hill Entertainment Rodrigo CORTÉS Attached To Direct Film Based On...

The studio has acquired feature rights to Lois Duncan’s 1974 novel Down A Dark Hall and set Rodrigo Cortés to direct and Twilight saga author Stephenie Meyer to produce.

The dynamic package extends Lionsgate’s relationship with Cortés (pictured) after Buried and features writing by screenwriter Chris Sparling – Cortés’ Buried collaborator and a hot property after his Sea Of Trees script formed the backbone of one of this year’s most sought-after pre-sales titles in Cannes.

Michael Goldbach wrote the original adaptation for the screen after Meyer and her Fickle Fish partner Meghan Hibbett optioned the book last year and brought him on.

Fickle Fish Films will produce with Temple Hill Entertainment’s Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen.

Down A Dark Hall follows a girl called Kit Gordy as she starts at an elite boarding school where dark powers lurk and her personal detiny hangs in the balance.

Erik Feig and James Myers oversee for Lionsgate and Robert Melnik...

The studio has acquired feature rights to Lois Duncan’s 1974 novel Down A Dark Hall and set Rodrigo Cortés to direct and Twilight saga author Stephenie Meyer to produce.

The dynamic package extends Lionsgate’s relationship with Cortés (pictured) after Buried and features writing by screenwriter Chris Sparling – Cortés’ Buried collaborator and a hot property in Cannes at the start of the summer with Sea Of Trees.

Michael Goldbach wrote the original adaptation for the screen after Meyer and her Fickle Fish partner Meghan Hibbett optioned the book last year and brought him on.

Fickle Fish Films will produce with Temple Hill Entertainment’s Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen.

Down A Dark Hall follows a girl called Kit Gordy as she starts at an elite boarding school where dark powers lurk and her personal detiny hangs in the balance.

Erik Feig and James Myers oversee for Lionsgate and Robert Melnik negotiated the deal on behalf of the...

Stephenie Meyer is heading into horror with her next film project - and Lionsgate is getting on board. The studio has acquired "Down a Dark Hall," a film adaptation of the 1974 Lois Duncan novel that the "Twilight" scribe is producing, it was announced today. The book centers on teenage protagonist Kit Gordy as she enters the exclusive Blackwood Boarding School, only to come up against supernatural forces within its walls that could ultimately destroy her. Director Rodrigo Cortés ("Red Lights") is set to helm the project from a script by his "Buried" screenwriter Chris Sparling, who will work off a previous draft by Michael Goldbach ("Daydream Nation"). Meyer's previous producing credits include the last two "Twilight" installments as well as "The Host," an adaptation of her sci-fi novel of the same name that suffered from withering reviews and lackluster box office when it was released last March. A number of...

Lionsgate and Buried director Rodrigo Cortés are joining up once again for a big screen adaptation of Lois Duncan’s 1974 young-adult novel Down a Dark Hall. Read on for the first details.

According to THR, the studio will adapt the book with Twilight author Stephenie Meyer producing. Cortés is set to direct. Meyer and Meghan Hibbett, who will also produce, optioned the supernatural novel through their Fickle Fish Films last year.

The story follows Kit Gordy, a new student at the exclusive Blackwood Boarding School who confronts the school's supernatural occurrences and dark powers of its headmistress.

Michael Goldbach was brought on by Meyer and Hibbett to write the original draft of the screenplay. Chris Sparling, who wrote Gus Van Sant's upcoming Sea of Trees and the thriller Buried, will do additional writing on the script.

Duncan's novels have previously been adapted into films including 1997's slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer...

After making an auspicous debut with the claustrophobic Ryan Reynolds thriller Buried, Rodrigo Cortés delivered a wholly disappointing follow-up in the form of Red Lights, a weak alien invasion pic that completely fell apart in its final act. Here’s hoping that the director’s next effort gets him back in our good graces – Lionsgate announced today that it has set Cortés to helm Down a Dark Hall, based on the 1974 Ya novel from I Know What You Did Last Summer author Lois Duncan.

The book, which was initially scripted by Michael Goldbach and is now getting a rewrite by Chris Sparling, is Duncan’s only supernatural thriller. It follows a girl named Kit, who begins to attend the exclusive Blackwood Boarding School but is immediately disturbed by a sense of evil that pervades the place. Quickly, she gets drawn into the supernatural happenings inside Blackwood as she is exposed...

Lionsgate is teaming up with Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and producers Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen for the new adaptation Down a Dark Hall.

We first reported on this project back in April 2012, when Stephenie Meyer optioned the 1974 novel by Lois Duncan (I Know What You Did Last Summer) herself. Down a Dark Hall follows Kit Gordy, a new female student at th Blackwood Boarding School, who must confront the powerful headmistress and her supernatural powers, which could make her great or destroy her altogether.

Rodrigo Cort&#233s (Buried, Red Lights) has signed on to direct, working from a script originally written by Michael Goldbach (Daydream Nation), which will now be rewritten by Chris Sparling (Buried, Atm).

Stephenie Meyer is producing with her Fickle Fish Films partner Meghan Hibbett, alongside Temple Hill Entertainment's Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen. No production schedule was given.

Down a Dark Hall is in...

Lionsgate is going Down a Dark Hall. The studio will adapt Lois Duncan's 1974 young-adult novel for the big screen, with Twilight author Stephenie Meyer producing. Rodrigo Cortés is set to direct. Photos Teenage Dreams: The Most Popular Ya Properties Adapted for TV and Film Meyer and Meghan Hibbett, who will also produce, optioned the supernatural novel through their Fickle Fish Films last year. It follows Kit Gordy, a new student at the exclusive Blackwood Boarding School who confronts the school's supernatural occurrences and dark powers of its headmistress. Michael Goldbach was brought on by Meyer and Hibbett to write the original

read more...

Lionsgate has acquired the rights to young adult thriller novel “Down a Dark Hall” and set Rodrigo Cortés to direct the big-screen adaptation, the studio announced Wednesday. The film is based on the 1974 young adult best-seller from author Lois Duncan, who also wrote “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Screenwriter Michael Goldbach wrote the original adaptation, and Chris Sparling is now doing a rewrite. Also read: ‘Pretty Little Liars’ Creator to Adapt Horror Novel for Lionsgate The story follows Kit Gordy, a new student at the exclusive Blackwood Boarding School. It is the opportunity of a lifetime, but Kit quickly realizes something.

Lionsgate has acquired rights to Down A Dark Hall based on the 1974 Ya bestseller from Lois Duncan (I Know What You Did Last Summer) with Rodrigo Cortés attached to direct. Screenwriter Michael Goldbach wrote the original adaptation for the screen, and Chris Sparling (Sea of Trees, Buried) has come aboard to also write on the film. Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and Meghan Hibbett will produce via their Fickle Fish Films along with Temple Hill Entertainment’s Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen. Meyer optioned the book last year and brought on Goldbach to write the adaptation. The supernatural suspense novel follows […]...

Rodrigo Cortes has been tapped to direct Down a Dark Hall for Lionsgate. Duncan penned the novel upon which I Know What You Did Last Summer is based upon. Down a Dark Hall was published in 1974. Screenwriter Michael Goldbach wrote the original adaptation for the screen, and Chris Sparling (Buried) has come aboard to also write on the film.

The post Lionsgate Developing Adaptation of Lois Duncan’s Down a Dark Hall appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

Lionsgate has acquired rights to the project "Down a Dark Hall," which Rodrigo Cortes (Buried, Red Lights) will direct. The film is based on the 1974 young adult best-seller from author Lois Duncan ("I Know What You Did Last Summer"). Screenwriter Michael Goldbach wrote the original adaptation for the screen, and Chris Sparling (Sea of Trees, Buried) has come aboard to also write on the film.

Following on the heels of big cousin Tiff, the Atlantic Film Festival may be smaller in scope but not in variety. Each year the film festival taking place in late September in Halifax, manages to strike a delicate balance between international arthouse and smaller, Canadian and even local films. Some of my favourites from last year’s festival included Mike Leigh’s quiet drama Another Year, Michael Goldbach’s appropriately dreamy Daydream Nation, Jacob Tierney’s follow up to his hit The Trotsky, Good Neighbours and legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker’s thrilling doc Kings of Pastry. While all engaging and dynamic films, they vary in subject matter, genre and scope. Some boast big names, others introduce us to previously unknown names but they were all found playing side-by-side at last year’s festival. After coming away from last year’s festival feeling positive about what it had to offer, I...

Brand new on Blu-ray from Anchor Bay is Daydream Nation, the directorial debut of Michael Goldbach and one of the first lead roles for Kat Dennings. The story of a teenage girl coming to grips with living in a new town and seeking to find love. All while an industrial fire endlessly burns, and a serial killer is stalking young girls, both of which threaten the safety and livelihood of the town.

Read more on New on Blu: Daydream Nation...

Director/writer: Michael Goldbach.

Daydream Nation is a Canadian shot romantic drama, which was produced by Michael Goldbach over a six year period. Getting his first film just right, there are themes here of perfection, while a serial killer looms just out of camera range. Anchor Bay Entertainment recently released this title on to DVD and Blu-Ray, May 17th, and Daydream Nation is a coming-of-age film, with Kat Dennings playing a cunning woman, outfoxing the desirous men in her life. Dramatic and interesting, this film uses a great deal of character interplay to keep the attention, while the film offers some deeper, yet almost unreachable themes of temporality.

Caroline (Dennings) is the new girl at a local high school. Her mother recently passed away and her father struggles to fill dual roles. The film centrally focuses on Caroline, while a sidebar distracts from the main story. A serial killer is...

With his feature debut, Daydream Nation, director/screenwriter Michael Goldbach wanted to find a voice of his own. Although the film has a few flaws, it is one of the most memorable films from 2011 that I've seen so far.

Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings) moves from the city to a small town with her widowed father. She's to finish High school and most of her classmates try to figure out how to get high in order to escape their quotidian boredom. Caroline decides to seduce her English teacher (Josh Lucas) and have sex with him.

To cover it up, she starts dating Thurston (Reece Thompson), probably the most sympathetic of her stoner classmates. However, both the English teacher and Thurston end up vying for Caroline's love. As life goes on, people in the town also try to cope with an industrial fire in a nearby town and a serial killer with...

Chicago – Michael Goldbach’s little-seen quirk-fest is a feature filmmaking debut like many others. It feels less like a final draft than an overcrowded sketchpad. There seems to be no end to the amount of intriguing ideas that Goldbach wishes to tackle, but he has little idea of how to string them together. His various stylistic conceits distract from the narrative rather than enhance it, resulting in an ungainly picture.

Luckily, “Daydream Nation” is blessed with two young leads so appealing and authentic that they make viewers forget the film’s sizable flaws for long passages of its running time. Kat Dennings has spent the last few years being tossed from one so-so vehicle to another, but she always emerges unscathed, thanks to her self-deprecating charm and unshakable charisma. She deserves to be a star in the same league as Emma Stone, as does her co-star Reece Thompson, still best...

Year: 2010

Director: Michael Goldbach

Writer: Michael Goldbach

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: Marina Antunes

Rating: 7 out of 10

Small town living isn't for everyone. It certainly isn't for Caroline, the sassy teen at the centre of Michael Goldbach's directorial debut Daydream Nation.

With only her father left, Caroline moves around quite a bit and for her last year of high school, dad ends up in small town Canada, a little place where the boys are generally bored and the girls spend "half of their lives planning for a wedding and the other half regretting it." Though it's not a new thought, it's definitely a good line and one that does a fairly good job of encapsulating teen life in this small corner of the world.

So we have Caroline, the mature teen girl who seems lost among the other girls and the group of stoners she immediately falls in line with.

"A onetime yakuza turned jailbird turned filmmaking enfant terrible, the now-75-year-old Japanese director Kōji Wakamatsu has long been loved by cinema cultists for an outrageous string of 1960s provocations made under the guise of the pinku eiga — or 'pink' film." Steve Dollar at GreenCine Daily: "These typically low-budget sex romps could be as insane, surreal, or mind-bending as possible, as long as they included a minimum amount of nudity and softcore humping. Wakamatsu, seizing the opportunity, used the form to pursue the extremes, reveling in obsessive sex and violence as a leftist critique of Japanese society. Beyond the outrage and sleaze of The Embryo Hunts in Secret [1966]; Go, Go Second-Time Virgin [1969]; and Ecstasy of the Angels [1972], was a form of perverse shock treatment. Wakamatsu took a break from the camera in 1977, and didn't return for 27 years. But he still wants to mess with your head."

Steve Erickson for Moving...

Daydream Nation Review

Daydream Nation is the directorial debut for Canadian director Michael Goldbach. Kat Dennings, Josh Lucas and Reece Thompson star in this dramedy about a teenage girl who gets caught up in a dangerous love triangle. Stylish and smartly directed, this Juno-esque film gives Dennings a chance to finally shine and carry a film by herself, which she does so admirably. While it's not without problems, Daydream Nation is a wholly acceptable directorial debut from Goldbach and leaves me interested to see where he goes next. The film follows Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings), a sophisticated, defiant and intelligent girl. She's lives in a small town, which she describes as "a stupefyingly friendly place full of wholesome God-fearing, gun-bearing folk” and “with more incest than in an Atom Egoyan film.”. At her school, she's more of an outsider and doesn't fully fit in. And so, she starts up a...

Title: Daydream Nation Directed By: Michael Goldbach Starring: Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Josh Lucas, Andie MacDowell, Rachel Blanchard, Natasha Calis, Quinn Lord, Calum Worthy, Ted Whittall Clearly we tend to get the same sorts of films over and over again for a reason; they work. Then again, that doesn’t give anyone an excuse to just use and reuse at will. There has to be a balance; we need to get what we came for, but also experience something new. Well, Daydream Nation does that in a number of ways through writer-director Michael Goldbach’s script and shooting style and Kat Dennings, all of which know exactly how to satisfy our itch...

While most have their eye on Kat Dennings in this weekend’s new big release Thor, the actress also has another film making its Us theatrical debut, Daydream Nation, a film from first time director, Michael Goldbach. Goldbach wrote that piece that features Dennings as Caroline Wexler, a big city girl who recently moves to a small town and isn’t happy about it. However, soon enough, her boring new existence is spiced up courtesy of a local industrial, serial killer and, of course, boys. Well, in Caroline’s case it’s a boy (Reece Thompson) and a man, her teacher, Mr. Anderson (Josh Lucas). In honor of Daydream Nation‘s Los Angeles and New...

Reviewed by Khia Beauchesne

(May 2011)

Directed/Written by: Michael Goldbach

Starring: Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson and Josh Lucas

The opening shots of “Daydream Nation” set the tone for the confusion of the rest of the film, with warm-colored panning shots of fields, children playing, etc., and the protagonist Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings) starting her almost ceaseless, cynical narrative — leaving viewers mildly perplexed.

The story follows 17-year-old Caroline during her transition to life in a small town with her recently widowed father (Ted Whittall). What sets this boring little town apart from others is the consistent chemical fire that burns on the outskirts and the current mystery serial killer who has been plucking younger girls as his prey — though even these characteristics don’t add much zest. But luckily Caroline knows how to make her own fun, immediately swooping in and seducing her English teacher, Barry Anderson (Josh Lucas), whom she...

Reviewed by Khia Beauchesne

(May 2011)

Directed/Written by: Michael Goldbach

Starring: Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson and Josh Lucas

The opening shots of “Daydream Nation” set the tone for the confusion of the rest of the film, with warm-colored panning shots of fields, children playing, etc., and the protagonist Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings) starting her almost ceaseless, cynical narrative — leaving viewers mildly perplexed.

The story follows 17-year-old Caroline during her transition to life in a small town with her recently widowed father (Ted Whittall). What sets this boring little town apart from others is the consistent chemical fire that burns on the outskirts and the current mystery serial killer who has been plucking younger girls as his prey — though even these characteristics don’t add much zest. But luckily Caroline knows how to make her own fun, immediately swooping in and seducing her English teacher, Barry Anderson (Josh Lucas), whom she...

Three new movies are opening nationwide and this weekend:

The comic book adaptation Thor directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo and Stellan Skarsgaard is expected to top the weekend box office. Patrick Doyle has composed the score for the film and a soundtrack has been released on Buena Vista Records. Check out our announcement for details on the album and audio clips. Also visit Film Music Magazine for a short interview with Doyle on his first comic book/superhero score.

Also opening wide is the comedy Jumping the Broom directed by Salim Akil and starring Angela Bassett, Paula Patton, Laz Alonso, Loretta Devine, Mike Epps and Julie Bowen. Edward Shearmur composed the film’s score and a soundtrack with both score and songs from the film has been released earlier this week by Madison Gate Records.

Director: Michael Goldbach Writer: Michael Goldbach Starring: Kat Dennings, Josh Lucas, Reece Thompson, Andie MacDowell, Rachel Blanchard The year this story takes place is the year that nearly everything happened to 17-year-old Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings) -- or at least that is how Caroline's narration introduces Daydream Nation. Caroline's widowed father (Ted Whittall) has relocated them from a big city to bumble fuck suburbia, a town purportedly with more incest than an Atom Egoyan film...and a white-suited psycho killer (Qu'est-ce que c'est?) is on the loose. Caroline immediately realizes that she is mentally superior to the drugged-out lowlifes in her new high school, so she opts to pursue the one male who she considers to be her intellectual equal, her 30-something English teacher, Barry (Josh Lucas). As a disguise for their tawdry affair, Caroline simultaneously develops a relationship with a sweet and awkward -- but also troubled -- classmate,...

Featuring a dreamy indie-rock soundtrack that quickly turns sour, a sense of disenfranchised teenage romanticism that curdles under its own emo, twee-ness and some occasionally charming performances and admittedly clever quips, the indie film, “Daydream Nation” can’t hide the fact that it is absolutely callow--riddled with vapid coming-of-age cliches expressed first and foremost by a rather painful voice-over and endless slo-motion music-video montages. Directed and written by Canadian filmmaker Michael Goldbach (co-writer of Don McKellar’s "Childstar"), the tedious and cloying picture reads and sounds like the diary of a deluded and guileless college-kid who assumes the world is dying to…...

Daydream Nation director Michael Goldbach discusses working with Kat Dennings, shooting in British Columbia, future projects, and much more.

Michael Goldbach is a writer-director that more people will surely start to take notice of in the very near future. He co-wrote the 2004 Sundance hit Childstar, and wrote for the TV series Odd Job Jack, although he could make a big splash with his latest movie Daydream Nation, which marks his directorial debut. The movie stars Kat Dennings as a big city girl forced to move to a tiny town and, when she discovers she has no interest in the younger kids of this town, she develops a crush on her teacher (Josh Lucas). Daydream Nation opens in limited release in New York and Los Angeles on May 6, and will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on May 17.

I recently had the chance to speak with writer-director Michael Goldbach over the phone about his new drama,...

Interview With Michael Goldbach On Daydream Nation

Receiving a limited release this week, followed by a Blu-Ray/VOD release next week is Michael Goldbach's debut film Daydream Nation, a dramedy starring Kat Dennings and Josh Lucas. Dennings plays Caroline Wexler, a rebellious young teenager who gets caught up in a love triangle when one of her classmates (Reece Thompson) falls for her. The only problem is, Caroline has fallen for someone else, her teacher (Josh Lucas). The two start an affair and with it comes a number of problems, which only further complicates Caroline's life. We recently spoke to director Michael Goldbach about the film. He talked about how he got the idea for it, the casting, the soundtrack and more. Check it out below.

Thanks for reading We Got This Covered...

In the troubled small town of Michael Goldbach’s Daydream Nation, the soundtrack’s always tuned into some evocative alt-rock song and a fume-spewing, possibly symbolic industrial fire forever rages in the background. It’s a “backwards hick town” per the narration of star Kat Dennings, who plays a high-school transplant looking at a new year in yet another town where she’ll have trouble making friends. Instead of trying, or falling in with a drugged-out burnout crowd eager to accept her, she sets about seducing a young teacher (Josh Lucas) who proves easy pickings. But one of the burnouts ...

“Juno as reimagined by David Lynch, or a funnier, sunnier Donnie Darko.” That’s how Variety described Michael Goldbach’s Daydream Nation. Add in the underrated Josh Lucas and the always fascinating Kat Dennings, and we’re all in on this one. Here’s an exclusive clip from the new film, which opens in theaters tomorrow. Check it out and let us know what you think....

Michael Goldbach begins his directorial career with an independent feature film on life in a small town. However, this film, Daydream Nation, "is not a documentary".

After Childstar (2005), which he co-wrote with Don McKellar, Goldbach wanted to direct a film. It took him 7 to 8 years to find the financial support. "It's very difficult to raise money for a first film," he mentioned. Although "Daydream Nation is not an auto-biography", it still contains a few references to what he has known in high school in Arva, a small town in Ontario near London.

During the first minutes of the interview, Goldbach speaks quickly and with enthusiasm. After all, Daydream Nation will be released tomorrow in select theatres in New York and Los Angeles.

As he was in the city of angels to promote his first feature film, Goldbach explained on the phone that he wanted to offer a different vision of...

Writer Michael Goldbach directs Kat Dennings and Reece Thompson in the upcoming romantic comedy Daydream Nation, which follows the plight of a teenage girl who moves from the big city to a very small town in the middle of nowhere only to find herself in a love triangle with a teacher and a troubled classmate. We have an exclusive clip from Daydream Nation featuring Kat Dennings and Reece Thompson as they attempt to get to know each other a little better. Check it out in the video below.

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Daydream Nation comes to theaters May 6th, 2011 and stars Kat Dennings, Reece Thompson, Josh Lucas, Andie MacDowell, Natasha Calis, Genevieve Buechner, Luke Camilleri, Landon Liboiron. The film is directed by Michael Goldbach.

Her fine figure, pillowy lips and obvious acting talent have landed 24-year-old Kat Dennings on Hollywood’s "Next Big Thing" list.

The Philadelphia native, who’s starred in such pics as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and next month's Thor, called Canada home last year when she came north to star in director Michael Goldbach's coming-of-age film Daydream Nation.

Dennings plays Caroline, a worldly teenager who moves to a small town (played by Fort Langley, B.C.) and begins a sexual relationship with her high school English teacher (Josh Lucas).

We spoke with the Dennings at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, where the film made its worldwide debut.

Daydream Nation looks to be another offbeat teen comedic drama in the vein of Easy A. Taking the torch from Emma Stone, we have Kat Dennings as seventeen-year-old Caroline Wexler. She moves to a small town and quickly the rumors about her sex life start to spread like wildfire. Unlike in Easy A, however, Dennings is actually having sex as she acts out in rebellion against her widowed father.

Josh Lucas stars as Dennings high-school teacher crush. It may sound cliche, but there’s a scene in the trailer where Lucas is holding up a revolver. Does anyone smell Scarlett Letter?

Daydream Nation is Directed by Michael Goldbach and stars Dennings, Reece Thompson, Andie MacDowell and Lucas. The film opens in select theaters on May 6th, 2011.

Story:

Seventeen-year-old Caroline Wexler (Kat Dennings) is facing a teenager’s nightmare: her widowed father has moved them from the big city to a...

It’s been over 6 months since Jon put up the first trailer from Kat Denning’s new movie, Daydream Nation but last night, a second trailer was released for the movie. It looks like it’s going to be quite a controversial one when you see the subject matter but from what we’re hearing, it’s a fantastic film.

It’s directed by Michael Goldbach and also stars Reece Thompson, Josh Lucas, Andie MacDowell, Rachel Blanchard, Natasha Calis and is released in the UK

Synopsis: At seventeen things are not always as they seem. Anchor Bay Entertainment releases a defiantly different look at teenage life. Daydream Nation, starring Kat Dennings and Josh Lucas, is, much like the music that inspired it, an alternative gem. A hit at the Toronto International Film Festival, Daydream Nation arrives at Village East Cinemas in NYC and Laemmele Sunset in La on May 6th.

"I'm not here to save you, I'm the main character of my life." Anchor Bay has released the official trailer via Hulu for indie flick Daydream Nation from filmmaker Michael Goldbach. This drama stars Kat Dennings in a coming-of-age tale that apparently involves some weird people in her high school, including Reece Thompson who isn't enough indie films as is. You know, as much as I (used to) love Kat Dennings, I'm starting to get a little wary of her. Or maybe this trailer is just forgettable. It looks so typical, like it hits every indie coming-of-age cliche and more. Check out the official trailer below if you wish to watch anyway. Watch the official trailer for Michael Goldbach's Daydream Nation: Tells the story of a city girl (Kat Dennings) who moves to a small town and becomes entangled in a love triangle with her high school teacher...

Who to choose? A high school teacher or a stoner classmate? Anchor Bay Films released the trailer for indie film “Daydream Nation” on Hulu this week. The film stars Kat Dennings (“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” “The 40 Year Old Virgin”), Reece Thompson (“Dreamcatcher,” “Assassination of a High School President”), Josh Lucas (“American Psycho,” “A Beautiful Mind”), Andie MacDowell (“Groundhog Day,” “Short Cuts”) and Rachel Blanchard (“Snakes on a Plane,” “Road Trip”). Here is the official synopsis: “Seventeen-year-old Caroline Wexler (Dennings) is facing a teenager’s nightmare: her widowed father has moved them from the big city to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. When Caroline realizes she has nothing in common with the burnout losers in her new school she pursues the one person with who excites her interest – her handsome young teacher, Mr. Anderson (Lucas). A bizarre love triangle ensues between Caroline, Mr. Anderson, and a sweet,...

Here is the official trailer for an indie-rock influenced teen drama, Daydream Nation. The film is written and directed by Michael Goldbach and stars Kat Dennings and Josh Lucas. The film is described by Variety as “Juno as reimagined by David Lynch, or a funnier, sunnier Donnie Darko.” Dennings stars "as the new girl in town who ends up falling for one of her teachers, played by Lucas. It's scheduled for a release in New York and Los Angeles on May 6 followed by a release on DVD and Blu-ray May 17.

Official description:

Seventeen-year-old Caroline Wexler (Dennings, Thor, Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist,) is facing a teenager’s nightmare: her widowed father has moved them from the big city to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. When Caroline realizes she has nothing in common with the burnout losers in her new school she pursues the one person with...