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Interesting core concept struggles to shine through absurd and heavy-handed grotesqueries. Indie film with mismatched humor and shocking scenes lacks consistency in execution. Experiment gone wrong; film fails to polish the concept and crosses too many lines.

The Becomers (2024) has an interesting premise that becomes buried underneath awkward performances and moments that attempt to shock us into thinking it's artsy. While there does seem to be a core message examining the human condition from the perspective of alien invaders, and their developing appreciation and understanding of humans, the message is voided thanks to grotesque and absurd imagery. Despite a valiant effort and passion from writer/director/editor Zach Clark, the movie feels inconsistent and disappointing.

The Becomers (2024) Director Zach ClarkRelease Date August 23, 2024Writers Zach ClarkCast Victoria Misu, Anne Ruttencutter, Keith Kelly, Isabel Alamin, Frank V. Ross, Molly Plunk, Mike Lopez, Russell MaelRuntime 86 MinutesGenres Sci-Fi, Romance, Comedy

When a pair of powerful aliens land on Earth,...

Since Jack Finney’s “The Body Snatchers” was first published 70 years ago, screen adaptations — official and unofficial alike — have taken place in small-town USA, Me Decade San Francisco, a military base, high school and so forth. All had a gist in common: humanity being infiltrated and co-opted by a shape-shifting invasive force from outer space. Loosely playing on that theme, Zach Clark’s “The Becomers” adds a new wrinkle, in that this time the body-hopping entities don’t necessarily intend conquest. They just want to co-exist, peacefully. But it turns out they may have chosen the wrong planet and/or species, because they discover today’s mankind is perhaps too messed up to be worth the trouble.

That’s a good premise for the kind of sly, deadpan absurdism Clark aims for here. But despite its fantastical hook, this episodic narrative lands short of the curiously winsome black comedy quirkiness...

First comes love. Then comes marriage. Then comes…a planetary apocalypse forcing you and your alien soulmate to invade the Earth and possess bodies you don’t understand? Sure, why not.

In Zach Clark’s wonderfully weird “The Becomers,” alien terror collides with a cascading case of mistaken identity. When two genderless extraterrestrials crash-land in different parts of Illinois, they must covertly assimilate through a revolving door of skin-suits before finding each other’s new forms. Clark’s latest is more candy-tart than saccharine-sweet — but for those unfamiliar with his out-there style, this electric portrait of doomsday-defying love serves as a ready-made soft spot for the indie filmmaker.

“The Becomers” writer/director/editor is already known for painting in seriocomic shades thanks to movies like “Little Sister” and “White Reindeer.” He’s exploring themes of complex grief again here, but this time it’s through the lens of a loss...

The Becomers: "Forced to flee their dying planet, two body-snatching alien lovers arrive separately on Earth. Determined to find each other, the aliens jump from body to body, but they quickly learn that it's not easy to inhabit their new, fleshy hosts, and that life in modern-day America is more complicated than they could have ever imagined."

"Writer/director Zach Clark’s acclaimed sci-fi genre-bender The Becomers kicks off its U.S. theatrical release on Friday, August, 23rd and arrives on VOD in North America on Tuesday, September 24th. The film will open in New York on August 23rd at Cinema Village, in Los Angeles on August 30th at Lumiere Music Hall, and in Chicago on September 13th at Music Box Theatre, with more cities listed below.

The latest film from the celebrated American indie filmmaker, the visually striking and outrageously plotted film reverberates with the pulse of politics...

This article is part of IndieWire’s 2000s Week celebration. Click here for a whole lot more.

Let’s get it out of the way: it’s a stupid name. A tossed-off joke made at a bar during the 2005 edition of SXSW. Sound editor and former indie rocker Eric Masunaga technically coined the term, while filmmaker Andrew Bujalski was the first to use it publicly — and also the quickest to try to disabuse people that it applied to anything real. Nevertheless, both the term “Mumblecore” and the loose sub-genre it’s been used to describe have endured longer than any of its practitioners could have likely predicted. In 2007, two years after the Texan premieres of Joe Swanberg and the Duplass Brothers’ debut films, New York’s IFC Center ran a ten-film series entitled “The New Talkies: Generation D.I.Y.” that attempted to capture a moment in American independent film.

As the summer movie season comes to a close, August brings a shockingly stacked slate of offerings, topped by a film that is sure to age like a fine classic in years to come. Elsewhere we have accomplished debuts, action spectacles, and a thriller from the man who has recently returned to perfecting the formula.

15. Blink Twice (Zoë Kravitz; Aug. 23)

While its new title doesn’t quite have the hook of its original, Pussy Island, we’re curious what’s in store for the directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz. Featuring some cast––including Naomi Ackie, Channing Tatum, Simon Rex, Adria Arjona, Haley Joel Osment, Kyle MacLachlan, Alia Shawkat, Christian Slater, and Geena Davis––the story follows a cocktail waitress who becomes infatuated with a tech mogul and travels with him to his private island, where things begin going wrong. Featuring cinematography by Adam Newport-Berra (The Last Black Man in San...

Body-snatching aliens attempt to navigate love in the modern world in genre-bending comedy The Becomers, and exclusive new images reveal just how goopy and gross the body hopping can be.

Dark Star Pictures releases The Becomers in theaters on August 23, 2024.

In The Becomers: “Dropped to Earth and escaping their dying planet, the two extraterrestrials (played by a sequence of actors) seek each other out —jumping from body to body— on our planet while becoming increasingly drawn into the madness of modern-day America.

Written, directed, and edited by Zach Clark (Little Sister), the film was shot in Chicago and stars Molly Plunk (Little Sister, Profane), Mike Lopez (All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, Crimes Against Humanity), Frank V. Ross (Drinking Buddies), Isabel Alamin, and Keith Kelly, and features the voice Russell Mael, lead singer of the explosive pop-rock band Sparks. The Becomers is produced by Joe Swanberg (Depraved, The Rental), and Edwin Linker (Saint Frances,...

White Reindeer and Little Sister director Zach Clark returned to the festival circuit last year with The Becomers, a sci-fi tale narrated by none other than Sparks frontman Russell Mael and starring Molly Plunk, Mike Lopez, Keith Kelly, Isabel Alamin, and Frank V. Ross. Picked up by Dark Star Pictures, they’ve now debuted the first trailer ahead of a U.S. theatrical release on August, 23rd and VOD release on September 24.

Here’s the synopsis: “Forced to flee their dying planet, two body-snatching alien lovers arrive separately on Earth. Determined to find each other, the aliens jump from body to body, but they quickly learn that it’s not easy to inhabit their new, fleshy hosts, and that life in modern-day America is more complicated than they could have ever imagined.”

Jared Mobarak said in his review, “Writer-director Zach Clark has seemingly worked backwards from the Qanon chaos that...

"I guess we're gonna have to start assimilating sooner rather than later." Dark Star Pictures has revealed an official trailer for The Becomers, an indie sci-fi comedy from filmmaker Zach Clark. This premiered at the 2023 Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal one year ago, and is ready for release in US art house theaters + on VOD this fall. A body-snatching alien comes to Earth, reconnects with their missing partner alien, and tries to find their way in modern America. The "visually striking and outrageously plotted film reverberates with the pulse of politics & cultural trends of the last five years – drawing from Covid, Qanon, and constant states of anxiety – while exploring themes of confusion, isolation, and the deep need for human connection through the story of two body-snatching alien lovers." Starring Molly Plunk, Mike Lopez, Keith Kelly, Isabel Alamin, and Frank V. Ross, and featuring narration from Sparks' lead singer Russell Mael.

Indie filmmaker Zach Clark is returning to the big screen with the alien sci-fi dramedy “The Becomers.”

Written and directed by “White Reindeer” filmmaker Clark, “The Becomers” centers on two aliens who realize just how messed up America is after landing on Earth.

The official synopsis reads: “Forced to flee their dying planet, two body-snatching alien lovers arrive separately on Earth. Determined to find each other, the aliens jump from body to body, but they quickly learn that it’s not easy to inhabit their new, fleshy hosts, and that life in modern-day America is more complicated than they could have ever imagined.”

Molly Plunk, Mike Lopez, Keith Kelly, Isabel Alamin, and Frank V. Ross star. Sparks lead Russel Mael narrates.

The film is being released by Dark Star Pictures and includes satirical references to Covid, QAnon, and other divisive issues in American politics. The film debuted at the 2023 Fantasia...

Body-snatching aliens attempt to navigate love in the modern world in genre-bending comedy The Becomers, and Dark Star Pictures announced today that they’ve acquired it for release.

In The Becomers: “Dropped to Earth and escaping their dying planet, the two extraterrestrials (played by a sequence of actors) seek each other out —jumping from body to body— on our planet while becoming increasingly drawn into the madness of modern-day America.

Written, directed, and edited by Zach Clark (Little Sister), the film was shot in Chicago and stars Molly Plunk (Little Sister, Profane), Mike Lopez (All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, Crimes Against Humanity), Frank V. Ross (Drinking Buddies), Isabel Alamin, and Keith Kelly, and features the voice Russell Mael, lead singer of the explosive pop-rock band Sparks. The Becomers is produced by Joe Swanberg (Depraved, The Rental), and Edwin Linker (Saint Frances, Queen of Earth) of Slasher Films.

Clark...

Dark Star Pictures has acquired the North American distribution rights to Zach Clark’s genre-bending comedy “The Becomers,” with plans for a theatrical release in the third quarter of 2024. The acquisition took place before the commencement of the 2024 European Film Market on Feb. 15.

The alien romance film had its world premiere at the 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal; it subsequently screened at Beyond Fest and the Leeds International Film Festival. The cast includes Molly Plunk, Mike Lopez, Frank V. Ross, Isabel Alamin and Keith Kelly. Russell Mael, the lead singer of Sparks, lends his voice to the film as narrator.

Written in march 2021, the film “reverberates with the pulse of American politics of that time,” according to the description. It draws from Covid, Qanon, and “constant states of anxiety while exploring themes of confusion, isolation and the deep need for human connection through the story of two body-snatching alien lovers.

Body-snatching aliens attempt to navigate love in the modern world in The Becomers, a genre-bending comedy set to make its premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival.

A new clip and poster reveal below gives a glimpse at the weird, funny, grotesque blend of genres in the latestby writer/director Zach Clark (Little Sister).

The Becomers tells “of a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to find their way in modern America.”

Written, directed, and edited by Clark, the film was shot in Chicago and stars Molly Plunk (Little Sister, Profane), Mike Lopez (All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, Crimes Against Humanity), Frank V. Ross (Drinking Buddies), Isabel Alamin, and Keith Kelly, and features the voice Russell Mael, lead singer of the explosive pop-rock band Sparks. The Becomers is produced by Joe Swanberg (Depraved, The Rental), and Edwin Linker (Saint Frances, Queen of Earth) of Slasher Films.

A new, exclusive first-look clip and poster has been released for Zach Clark’s upcoming genre-bending comedy The Becomers ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival later this week on July 22nd. The Becomers tells the story of a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to find their way in modern America. You can check out the exclusive clip and brand-new poster below.

Written and conceived in early 2021, The Becomers reflects the challenges of the real world at the time through its pointedly chaotic portrayal of society, with science fiction elements heavily inspired by the original Star Trek series. A true brew of surprising genres, the film is all at once comedic, horrific, grotesque, and romantic. The imminent premiere of The Becomers marks Clark’s second time screening at the Fantasia International Film Festival following the 2016 Canadian premiere of Little Sister,...

Horror Feature “My (Best Friend’S) Head Exploded” to Premiere in June: "Writer/Director Scott Bryan’s puppet-filled existential horror feature, “My (Best Friend’S) Head Exploded,” will have its two-weekend world premiere this June.

“My (Best Friend’s) Head Exploded” is a rebellious, existential, terrifyingly messy puppet feature made out of material things by actual people. It tells the story of Lydia, a coming-of-ageless vampire forced to deal with the loss of her best friend, Sam, after the pair conjures a moment of complete clarity which causes Sam’s head to explode.

In the aftermath, Lydia must contend with old ghosts, generational trauma, oppressive authority figures, and the confusing fear of infinity to set reality right and save her own sanity.

“I love making weird stuff that a studio would be afraid of and a computer couldn’t replicate,” Bryan said.

The film will show at the Salem Witch Board Museum in Salem,...

The genre-bending comedy features a voice performance from Sparks’ Russell Mael.

Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to Zach Clark’s The Becomers and will launch the genre-bending comedy at this week’s Cannes market.

Clark wrote, directed and edited the film, which tells the story of a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner and tries to find their way in modern America.

Molly Plunk, Mike Lopez, Frank V Ross, Isabel Alamin and Keith Kelly star and Sparks lead singer Russell Mael has a voice role.

Clark said: “During the pandemic, I binged the original...

Yellow Veil Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to “The Becomers,” a genre-bending comedy written and directed by Zach Clark. The company will launch the film at the Marche Du Film in Cannes this week. “The Becomer” tells the story of a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to find their way in modern America.

“During the pandemic, I binged the original ‘Star Trek’ series for the first time and then I made this movie” Clark said about his latest film. “It felt like life as we knew it was ending, but then again, it also felt like that might not be the worst thing either. ‘The Becomers’ is a story of love, longing, and alienation. A kitsch-soaked, pathos-laden melodrama about our sad, sad planet. It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever made and I can’t think of anyone better than Yellow Veil...

Once again micro-budget filmmaker Frank V. Ross has shone his camera lens on the people that you see when you're walking down the street, the blue collar 9-5ers living paycheck to paycheck, that you see each day. Bloomin Mud Shuffle features by far his biggest cast of known actors but the film maintains Ross's insight, intellect and fly-on-the-wall sensibilities.

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– IFC Films has picked up North American distribution rights to the J. D. Salinger drama “Rebel in the Rye,” which stars Nicholas Hoult as J.D. Salinger. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. It will receive a theatrical release in the fall of 2017.

The film was written and directed by Danny Strong, and follows the early years of Salinger’s storied career. It also stars Kevin Spacey, Sarah Paulson and Zoey Deutch. The news was first reported by Variety.

– Gunpowder & Sky Distribution has acquired Rob Meyer’s “Little Boxes,” with a theatrical release set for April 14. Written by Annie J. Howell, the film stars Melanie Lynskey, Nelsan Ellis, Armani Jackson, Oona Laurence and Janeane Garofalo.

The annual Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Screening Series, co-presented by The Museum of Modern Art, Filmmaker Magazine, and Ifp kicks off December 11th at MoMA. The series, now in its tenth year, singles out outstanding films from the film festival circuit that are currently not available in theaters and deserve a wider audience. Each film will screen twice at MoMA from December 11-14. Most screenings will be followed by Q & A’s with the directors and additional talent. The selected films are Bloomin Mud Shuffle, directed by Frank V. Ross; Bob and the Trees, directed by Diego Ongaro; H., directed by Daniel […]...

The annual Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You Screening Series, co-presented by The Museum of Modern Art, Filmmaker Magazine, and Ifp kicks off December 11th at MoMA. The series, now in its tenth year, singles out outstanding films from the film festival circuit that are currently not available in theaters and deserve a wider audience. Each film will screen twice at MoMA from December 11-14. Most screenings will be followed by Q & A’s with the directors and additional talent. The selected films are Bloomin Mud Shuffle, directed by Frank V. Ross; Bob and the Trees, directed by Diego Ongaro; H., directed by Daniel […]...

Peter Labuza is celebrating the third anniversary of the launch of his excellent podcast, The Cinephiliacs, with a conversation with one of cinema's great talkers, James Gray, director of, for example, We Own the Night (2007), Two Lovers (2008) and The Immigrant (2013). Among the many topics covered in 85'44" is Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria (1957). More interviews: Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, Bruno Dumont, Craig Baldwin, Debra Granik, Carolee Schneemann, Mia Hansen-Løve, Frank V. Ross, David Thorpe and Ana Lily Amirpour. » - David Hudson...

Peter Labuza is celebrating the third anniversary of the launch of his excellent podcast, The Cinephiliacs, with a conversation with one of cinema's great talkers, James Gray, director of, for example, We Own the Night (2007), Two Lovers (2008) and The Immigrant (2013). Among the many topics covered in 85'44" is Federico Fellini's Nights of Cabiria (1957). More interviews: Dustin Hoffman, Woody Allen, Bruno Dumont, Craig Baldwin, Debra Granik, Carolee Schneemann, Mia Hansen-Løve, Frank V. Ross, David Thorpe and Ana Lily Amirpour. » - David Hudson...

Think Drive-in sans automobile. Think film festival that isn’t over with the blink of an eye. We’ve mentioned just how important a role it has in supporting works in progress from the participating Ifp’s Independent Filmmaker Lab folks, but it’s also a indie film love-in destination for some of the more innovative items found on the film fest circuit. Brooklynites and visiting cinephiles have several reasons to rejoice as the Rooftop Films folks have unveiled their 2015 Summer Series program and they’ll be serving up a must see plate of indie, docu and shorts.

Among the more tantalizing offerings, Sundance is well repped with Tangerine, The Wolfpack and Finders Keepers and SXSW menu offerings are found in Trey Shults’ Krisha award-winner and in Bob Byington’s 7 Chinese Brothers, which technically opens the 19th edition on May 30th. Here is the list of feature film offerings (dates...

For my money, Frank V. Ross is one of the most inventive, witty and honest low-budget filmmakers that major festival land has neglected to embrace. With the exception of the SXSW-premiering Audrey the Trainwreck, Ross’s films have toured the regional circuit like best kept secrets, with their structurally complex, yet casually rendered studies of modern relationships serving as any program’s unmitigated highpoint. His latest, Bloomin Mud Shuffle, which premieres tonight at the Wisconsin Film Festival, concerns Lonnie (James Ransone), a vaguely alcoholic house painter, and the object of his unsteady affection, Monica (Alexia Rasmussen). Such a distilled synopsis scarcely does justice to Ross’s execution, with its […]...

For my money, Frank V. Ross is one of the most inventive, witty and honest low-budget filmmakers that major festival land has neglected to embrace. With the exception of the SXSW-premiering Audrey the Trainwreck, Ross’s films have toured the regional circuit like best kept secrets, with their structurally complex, yet casually rendered studies of modern relationships serving as any program’s unmitigated highpoint. His latest, Bloomin Mud Shuffle, which premieres tonight at the Wisconsin Film Festival, concerns Lonnie (James Ransone), a vaguely alcoholic house painter, and the object of his unsteady affection, Monica (Alexia Rasmussen). Such a distilled synopsis scarcely does justice to Ross’s execution, with its […]...

Broken SpecsReaders of online criticism probably know the name Ted Fendt for his invaluable French translation work—on this site alone he’s published English-language versions of interviews (with director Jean Eustache and cinematographer Caroline Champetier) and pieces on Straub-Huillet, Bresson, Grémillon, and others. He’s also offered his own perceptive analysis of Paris Goes Away, Rivette’s half-hour Le Pont du Nord rehearsal, and compiled theauthoritative bibliography to Godard’s Goodbye to Language. Less visible, though, has been Fendt’s own work behind the camera—he currently has five narrative shorts to his name, works at once delightfully shaggy dog and rigorously formalist, and they look and feel like little else happening in American independent cinema right now. We’re thrilled to finally present the online premiere of his films Broken Specs (2012) and Travel Plans (2013) on Mubi.Reviewing Fendt’s choice of translation work, you can trace the seeds...

Whether you are a filmmaker, or one of the Sundance programmers whose task it is to identify the films that make up a line-up, it is indeed the most wonderful, panic-filled and nerve racking time of the year. The 31st edition of the Sundance Film Festival kicks off on January 22nd with Park City and Salt Lake City playing host to some of the more innovative, thought-provoking narrative and non-fiction films of 2015. Last year, a Jenga tall order of 4,057 features and 8,161 shorts were submitted. Now let’s think about those numbers for a second.

Twenty years ago, Terry Zwigoff’s Crumb claimed the Grand Jury Prize Documentary award, Living in Oblivion‘s Tom Dicillo was honored with the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and Edward Burns’ micro-budgeted The Brothers McMullen (there is a read-worthy, lively, eleventh hour account on how it was submitted to the fest in Ted Hope’s “Hope...

Blumhouse Productions is best known for its contributions to the horror genre, with such frightfests as Sinister, Insidious and The Purge in its body of work. But if you take one look at its upcoming slate, you’ll begin to understand that Blumhouse is looking to broaden its horizons in a big way. One of the most curious projects in the works over at the studio is a revenge Western called In A Valley of Violence. Though Ti West (The House of the Devil) scribed and also directed, the film still seems more than a little out of the way for the horror-leaning studio. That doesn’t mean, however, that we’re not looking forward to it, particularly with the cast West has lined up. Today, James Ransone joined the film, which already boasts Ethan Hawke, John Travolta, Karen Gillan and Taissa Farmiga.

I’m anticipating that additional details about...

Joe Swanberg has posted his Top Ten list over at Esquire, and in the top slot is Frank V. Ross’s deceptively low-key relationship drama Tiger Tale in Blue — nominated by Filmmaker as one our Best Films Not Playing at a Theater Near You in 2012. In an interview with Ross, Filmmaker‘s Nick Dawson called the film a “beautifully calibrated piece of observational cinema that is emotionally compelling without ever imposing itself upon the viewer.” And here’s Swanberg at Esquire: This is by a director named Frank B. Ross. It was nominated for a Gotham Award last year for Best […]...

Joe Swanberg has posted his Top Ten list over at Esquire, and in the top slot is Frank V. Ross’s deceptively low-key relationship drama Tiger Tale in Blue — nominated by Filmmaker as one our Best Films Not Playing at a Theater Near You in 2012. In an interview with Ross, Filmmaker‘s Nick Dawson called the film a “beautifully calibrated piece of observational cinema that is emotionally compelling without ever imposing itself upon the viewer.” And here’s Swanberg at Esquire: This is by a director named Frank B. Ross. It was nominated for a Gotham Award last year for Best […]...

Chicago – It takes a special sort of filmmaker to hit it big without compromising any artistic principles. This month marks a career high for Chicago’s own Diy trail-blazer, Joe Swanberg, whose microbudget gems have influenced everyone from Lynn Shelton (“Touchy Feely”) to Lena Dunham (“Girls”).

On Friday, August 23rd, two of Joe’s buzzed-about pictures will receive a limited theatrical release.

One is Ti West’s darkly satirical horror lark, “You’re Next,” which is currently being advertised at every creepy subway station in the Windy City (Swanberg plays an amusingly hatable character with a smug disregard for indie flicks). The other film is Swanberg’s 15th feature effort, “Drinking Buddies,” featuring an all-star cast, cinematography from a Cannes prize-winner (“Beasts of the Southern Wild” Dp Ben Richardson) and an actual budget. Yet Swanberg’s improvisational style and observant eye for naturalistic nuance remains entirely intact. Olivia Wilde is...

Friendly Persuasion: Swanberg Hones His Craft

One of the most notable members of the Mumblecore crew, the often factious Joe Swanberg, at long last seems to have outgrown microbudget miasma with his latest, and arguably best directorial effort to date, Drinking Buddies. Oft criticized for his sloppy, rough around the edges, yet impressive amount of cinematic output (directing twelve films in the span of eight years, plus a good amount of acting gigs is nothing to sneer at), Swanberg seemed forever doomed to be on the wrong end of the quality vs. quantity debate. But now, with his latest mostly improvised gem, the union of content and imagery makes this his most visually pleasing glance at complicated adult relationships to date.

Kate (Olivia Wilde) works as an office manager at a Chicago craft brewery. She’s harried, unkempt, and the only female, but seems to have a comfortably playful...

Chicago – New York filmmaker Ry Russo-Young gave an exclusive interview to Indie Outlook, the independent film blog and podcast created by HollywoodChicago.com writer Matt Fagerholm. The conversation, published this week, details Russo-Young’s fascinating work, from her experimental shorts to her star-studded feature, “Nobody Walks,” which she co-wrote with “Girls” creator Lena Dunham.

Fagerholm will chat about the latest independent films on Vocalo 89.5Fm at 9:20am on Friday, January 25th. One of the titles he’ll be highlighting is “Tiger Tail in Blue,” an acclaimed drama from local filmmaker Frank V. Ross, which screens Saturday, January 26th and Wednesday, January 30th at the Gene Siskel Film Center. The film explores the fractured relationship of a young married couple (deftly played by Ross and Rebecca Spence) whose conflicting work schedules have caused them to grow distant. Mike Gibisser’s excellent cinematography blurs the line between past and present with remarkable subtlety.

I really wanted to break my link posting hiatus on its traditional Sunday yesterday, but a technical crisis prevented me from doing so. But, here we are:

The other reason I only wanted to come out of hiatus was to share this brilliant article by donna k. giving advice to young filmmakers. I was particularly taken with her 3rd note regarding asking oneself the ever important question “Why make this film?” That’s something I’ve come across on my own as a paid screener for a festival, too, but also checking out the films submitted to Bad Lit via email. When a film doesn’t work, the first question I typically ask myself is: “Why did that person even bother?” And I usually assume the answer is just to regurgitate other shit seen in our culture. So, please take Donna’s advice: Be introspective, thoughtful and have a Pov.

Stephenie Meyer's Austenland isn't the only festival-bound flick in the Twilight fold. Four Twilight castmates will have pictures debut at Sundance, and another will see her film hit SXSW later this spring. Here's a run-down. Sundance Film Festival Dakota Fanning (Jane - Volturi) Title: Very Good Girls Premiere date: Tuesday, Jan. 22 Co-stars: Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard D ... Xavier Samuel (Riley Biers in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse) Title: Two Mothers Premiere date: Friday, Jan. 18 Co-stars: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, James Frechevile ... Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria in Eclipse) Title: Magic Magic Premiere date: Tuesday, Jan. 22 Co-stars: Michael Cera, Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Agustín Silva Synopsis: If Alicia could ... Anna Kendrick (Jessica Stanley) Title: Drinking Buddies Premiere date: Tba Co-stars: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Ron Livingston, Ti West, Frank V. Ross, Mike Brune, Joe Swanberg ... Jack Huston (Royce King in Eclipse) Title: Kill Your Darlings Premiere date: Friday, Jan.

Chicago – The wider range of films critics see during a single year, the less susceptible they are to the inevitable onslaught of expensive awards campaigns. Just because a studio can bark the loudest doesn’t mean its product has any bite. The majority of Oscar bait I’ve witnessed during the final months of 2012 have been wildly overrated behemoths weighed down in self-importance and executed with all the calculated precision of a undergrad aiming to score an A on the final. What’s lacking from many of these pictures is the spontaneity and imagination of true artistry, and that is precisely what the films on this list have in spades. From the most criminally overlooked blockbusters to the most invaluable indie gems available online, here are the Top Ten Most Overlooked Films of 2012.

10. “Cloud Atlas”

Cloud Atlas

I’ll be the first to admit that Tom Tykwer and the Wachowski...

In the battle of the Andersons, it was Wes who beat P.T for Best Feature at the 2012 Gotham Awards. Moonrise Kingdom would go 1 for 2 as Lynn Shelton’s Your Sister’s Sister easily among the year’s the best, for its natural, on-screen chemistry was handsomely awarded the Best Ensemble Performance prize. Making it an almost all Sundance Film Festival takes Gotham kind of year, in the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You it’s Terence Nance’s An Oversimplification of Her Beauty which gets an extra boost for theatrical play. Pic was produced by Andrew Corkin who is lining up Jim Mickle’s We Are What We Are for festival play next year.

The heavy favorite in all categories combined was Beasts of the Southern Wild‘s Benh Zeitlin as Best Breakthrough Director and Audience award, while in the Breakthrough Actor category, it’s Emayatzy Corinealdi...

If you’re in New York this weekend head over to the Museum of Modern Art for the museum and Filmmaker‘s annual screenings of the nominees for our “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” Gotham Award. Playing are Terence Nance’s wildly inventive doc/fiction relationship deconstruction, An Oversimplification of her Beauty (pictured); Amy Semitz’s psycho-noir romance, Sun Don’t Shine; Alex Karpovsky’s real-life filmmaker comedy, Red Flag; the Zellner Brothers darkly humorous metaphysical exploration, Kid-Thing; and Frank V. Ross’s subtle and affecting relationship drama, Tiger Tail in Blue. I’ll be joining Nick Dawson, Alicia Van Couvering, MoMA”s Josh Siegel and the Ifp’s Milton Tabbot to intro and do Q&A’s with the filmmakers and actors. The complete schedule is here at the link.

At Indiewire, Eric Kohn previews the program and includes individual assessments of the films. From...

If you’re in New York this weekend head over to the Museum of Modern Art for the museum and Filmmaker‘s annual screenings of the nominees for our “Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You” Gotham Award. Playing are Terence Nance’s wildly inventive doc/fiction relationship deconstruction, An Oversimplification of her Beauty (pictured); Amy Seimetz’s psycho-noir romance, Sun Don’t Shine; Alex Karpovsky’s real-life filmmaker comedy, Red Flag; the Zellner Brothers darkly humorous metaphysical exploration, Kid-Thing; and Frank V. Ross’s subtle and affecting relationship drama, Tiger Tail in Blue. I’ll be joining Nick Dawson, Alicia Van Couvering, MoMA”s Josh Siegel and …...

MoMA's Department of Film, in collaboration with Independent Film Project and Filmmaker Magazine, will screen the five nominees competing for the Gotham Awards' Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You title. This year's screenings, running November 16-19, include David Zellner's "Kid Thing," Terence Nance's "An Oversimplification of Her Beauty," Alex Karpovsky's "Red Flag," Amy Seimetz' "Sun Don't Shine" and Frank V. Ross' "Tiger Tail in Blue." The nominees were selected by Filmmaker's editorial staff and MoMA associate film curator Joshua Siegel. The films represent a sampling of the best currently undistributed works from the American festival circuit. The winner gets the sweet deal of a $15K grant, ad support in the New York Times and a one-week run of his or her film at Cinema Village. Descriptions of the five nominated films: Kid-Thing Director: David Zellner The...

Bernie, Middle of Nowhere, Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern Wild each received a pair of nominations for the 22nd Gotham Independent Film Awards, but the big surprise has to be the Best Picture snub of Benh Zeitlin’s Sundance and Cannes winner. The jury of five favored Moonrise Kingdom, Bernie, Middle of Nowhere, The Loneliest Planet and The Master over other well-received truly indie titles such as Craig Zobel’s Compliance and James Ponsoldt’s Smashed. The awards will be handed out on November 26th.

Best Feature

Bernie

Richard Linklater, director; Richard Linklater, Ginger Sledge, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Liz Glotzer, Matt Williams, David McFadzean, Judd Payne, Dete Meserve, producers (Millennium Entertainment)

The Loneliest Planet

Julia Loktev, director; Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Helge Albers, Marie Therese Guirgis, producers (Sundance Selects)

The Master

Paul Thomas Anderson, director; Joanne Sellar, Daniel Lupi, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison, producers (The...

Last year, two of the films nominated for Best Feature at the Gotham Independent Film Awards went on to earn Oscar Best Picture nominations -- The Descendents and Tree of Life -- and this year two films nominated for Best Feature are currently on my list to be nominated for Best Picture. Those two are Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master and Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, which are joined by Bernie, The Loneliest Planet and the buzzy Middle of Nowhere. Bernie and Moonrise also find themselves nominated for Best Ensemble along with awards season heavyweight Silver Linings Playbook, while Beasts of the Southern Wild enjoys some Breakthrough attention with Benh Zeitlin nominated for Breakthrough Director and 8-year-old star Quvenzhane Wallis nominated for Breakthrough Actor. The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 26 and I have included the complete list of nominations for the 2012 Gotham Independent Film Awards...

The Master, Bernie, and Moonrise Kingdom were nominated by the Gotham Independent Film Awards for Best Feature. One of the first major awards ceremonies of the Oscar season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards focus attention on worthy independent films and breakthrough performances. Mike Birbiglia, who was nominated for a Breakthough Actor award for his performance in Sleepwalk With Me, will also host the ceremony on Nov. 26.

Click below for complete nominations.

Best Feature

Bernie

The Loneliest Planet

The Master

Middle of Nowhere

Moonrise Kingdom

Best Documentary

Detropia

How to Survive a Plague

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present

Room 237...

New York, NY – The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers announced today the nominees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards™. Signaling the kick-off to the film awards season, IFP’s Gotham Independent Film Awards™ nominations were given to a total of 26 films across six competitive categories for Best Feature, Best Documentary, Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor, Best Ensemble Performance, and Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.

The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 26th at Cipriani Wall Street. In addition to the competitive awards, actors Marion Cotillard and Matt Damon, director David O. Russell, and Participant Media founder Jeff Skoll will each be presented with a career tribute.

As the first major awards ceremony of the film season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards™ provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. Previous winners...

Right now on Kentucker Audley’s No Budge website, it’s Frank V. Ross week. If that name elicits a blank response, it’s not an uncommon reaction. Though Chicago-based Ross is one of the original class of mumblecore directors, he never received the attention that was given to so many of his Diy peers, such as Andrew Bujalski, the Duplass brothers or Joe Swanberg (a fellow Chicagoan with whom Ross has collaborated numerous times). Nevertheless, his recent films Present Company (2008) and Audrey the Trainwreck (2010) have gained him a number of champions within the indie community, and those two films have been featured this week on No Budge, along with Tiger Tail in Blue, his sixth feature, which makes its debut online tonight on the site.

A low-key naturalistic drama, Tiger Tail focuses on a recently married couple, Chris (Ross himself), a writer who waits tables at night, and Melody...

Director: Frank V. Ross Starring: Frank V. Ross, Tamara Fana, Anthony J. Baker, Sasha Gioppo, Allison Latta, Lonnie Phillips, Joe Swanberg, Kris Swanberg Christy (Tamara Fana) lives with Buddy (Frank V. Ross) in the basement of her parents' house. As with most couples who reside in a family member's basement, they have no other option. They juggle their respective work schedules with the care of their baby, using Christy's parents as babysitters whenever necessary. Having an unplanned baby much too early in their relationship has trapped this young couple in a very unhappy place. When they are together, their verbal attacks reek of the venomous disdain that they share for each other. By the time we enter their story, Buddy's resentment of his parental obligations have festered into a cancer-like state. He would much rather hang out with his friends -- or date other women -- than be anywhere near Christy.

Director: Frank V. Ross Starring: Frank V. Ross, Rebecca Spence, Megan Mercier Chris (Frank V. Ross) and Melody (Rebecca Spence) are a young married couple with conflicting work schedules. During the day, while Melody is teaching at a local high school, Chris stays at home to write; then, during the evenings, Chris waits tables at a local restaurant. As you can probably guess, Chris and Melody never get to spend quality time together; instead, they are growing more and more disconnected. Time passes faster and faster, all the while nothing seems to improve...

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,...

Continuing an extraordinarily prolific phase that has also encompassed his year-long subscription service, Joe Swanberg premieres his latest film, Caitlin Plays Herself, tonight at Brooklyn’s reRun theater. His new star is Caitlin Stainken, a member of the Neo-Futurists Theater Ensemble.

Here’s the description and a clip.

Making its North American debut, Caitlin Plays Herself is the last in a trio of provocative, self-reflexive new dramas premiering at reRun this season from acclaimed auteur Joe Swanberg (Silver Bullets, Art History). Inspired by Eric Rohmer’s The Green Ray and the life of lead actress Caitlin Stainken (a member of the “Neo-Futurists” experimental theater ensemble), the film screens for a week-long theatrical run from December 2 – 8.

Caitlin, a young Chicago artist, struggles to create work that is both personal and political. A piece she performs about the Bp oil spill sends her relationship into a tailspin when her boyfriend can’t...