News

The Original Queen of TikTok Loren Gray admits to some serious LOLs while filming her first movie role in Incoming, Netflixs hilarious high school romp. As Katrina, the singer/actress/social media influencer was jazzed to play a popular high schooler, but she had to draw from her research of iconic drunk scenes from a hit film to help her shoot a sprawling house party scene, which finds her ultimately binging on Taco Bell while being driven home by two nerdy escorts.

I definitely had some personal experiences to pull from, Gray admitted to MovieWeb in a recent interview about the Netflix hit. Right before that movie, I was like a Taco Bell fiend. I went through three months when I pretty much ate Taco Bell every single day. After I filmed that [drunk] scene, I have not had Taco Bell since. One too many loaded burritos during the shoot perhaps?...

Singer and actress Loren Gray, dubbed The Original Queen of TikTok, has become a mega social media influencer with more than 80 million followers online. Her TikTok account alone has 53.7 million followers and 3 billion likes. But the star of Netflixs new house party comedy, Incoming, recently admitted to MovieWeb that there was another influencer who informed her own choices when it came to pursuing a music career: Taylor Swift.

Several years ago, Gray landed a spot in Swifts music video for The Man, which also featured a cameo from Dwayne The Rock Johnson. During the shoot, Gray was emerging as a social media darling. She said Swift took time out to talk to her, noting, The first thing she told me was not to listen to anybody else when it comes to your project, your creativity, and your art because you know the best and you know your audience the best.

Incoming fails to make viewers invested in characters due to a lack of depth and compelling motivations. The movie emphasizes nostalgic elements over establishing a contemporary connection with Gen-z audiences. Incoming's absurd humor is not fully developed, leaving the film feeling disjointed and failing to justify its outlandish choices.

Netflix's newest foray into teen comedies, Incoming (2024) , harkens back to the golden age of high school party flicks but does little to subvert the well-worn genre. Written and directed by two veterans of TV comedy, Dave and John Chernin, in their feature debut, it's obvious the sibling duo grew up watching classic films set in high school. The movie follows a group of freshmen boys in their first week of high school and the rager they get invited to. Starring Mason Thames as Benji, the lovable but boring protagonist, Incoming has funny moments, but it never hits its stride.

Incoming (2024)

Director John Chernin,...

I always enjoy seeing the horror and Western genres get mixed together, so as soon as I saw that the upcoming film Place of Bones is being described as “action-packed horror Western,” I was sold on checking it out. I didn’t even have to watch a trailer to know I want to see how the movie has turned out – but distributor The Avenue has unveiled a trailer for Place of Bones, and you can check it out in the embed above. The film is set to receive a theatrical and digital release on August 23rd.

Audrey Cummings, who credits include the films Tormented, Darken, and She Never Died, as well as episodes of the TV shows The Haunted Museum, Ginny & Georgia, and Astrid and Lilly Save the World, directed Place of Bones from a screenplay by Richard Taylor, whose credits stretch back to the 1978 car chase flick Stingray...

"These are hard men, they will kill us! Dead in the dirt." "Then we better kill them first" The Avenue has revealed the trailer for Place of Bones, an indie western horror film made by Canadian filmmaker Audrey Cummings. This already premiered last year at the 2023 Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, and it also played at the 2024 Kingston Canadian Film Festival. Set in 1876 – a mother & daughter, alone on a remote ranch, fight for survival against a gang of ruthless outlaws. Heather Graham and her daughter fight for survival when a wounded outlaw seeking refuge brings a notorious bank robber and his vicious gang, all desperate to reclaim a stolen fortune, right to their doorstep in this action-packed horror western. The cast also includes Tom Hopper, Corin Nemec, Brielle Robillard, Gattlin Griffith, & Cowboy Cerrone. This looks brutal! So many shots remind me of Ti West's Pearl, even though...

Joker: Folie à Deux is ready to hit the theaters on October 4, 2024 (Photo Credit –Instagram)

The follow-up to 2019’s movie Joker is back with the title, Joker: Folie à Deux, which means shared madness in French. The first chapter told the origin story of the Clown Prince of Crime and besides becoming extremely successful, it also won numerous awards and made over $1 billion at the box office. As the standalone movie is getting a sequel with a star-studded cast, and some other exciting revelations have been released along the trailer, Warner Bros. can expect another successful win.

Here’s everything we know about the upcoming sequel to Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix.

Joker: Folie à Deux Release Date

Joker: Folie à Deux is set to land in cinemas on October 4, 2024. The date will mark five years since Joker was released and is expected to become a huge awards contender just like the original movie.

“Reverence,” an upcoming thriller from writer-director Kyle Kauwika Harris (“Out of Exile”), has started production in Oklahoma.

The film began principal photography this week, with a logline reading: “‘Reverence’ is a dark and moody missing person’s thriller about a traumatized father coming to terms with his violent military past, while searching for his missing daughter in a small, rural town. As police investigate, the circumstances around the case spiral out of control.”

“Reverence” stars Adam Hampton (“Out of Exile”), Whit Kunschick (“Country Gold”), Gattlin Griffith (“The Boys”), Connie Franklin (“Agent Jade Black”) and Ryan Francis (“Hook”). Jacob Ryan Snovel produces for SafeHouse Films with Kenny Pitts, Gared Reinke and Nicholas Clement. (Clement is a Variety contributor.) Jeremy Charles produces under Pursuit Films; Vahid Farzaneh and Kelley Gann produce under Freestyle Creative.

Harris, who is of Hawaiian descent and is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation, is known for...

Labor Day is a 2013 drama film directed by Jason Reitman and stars Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. Based on Joyce Maynard's 2009 novel of the same name, the story follows 13-year-old Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith), who is already dealing with the struggles of entering adolescence, but has extra pressure to look after his lonely, recently divorced mother, Adele (Winslet).

When her husband left her, Adele becomes depressed, lonely, and a bit of a recluse, but who can blame her? Longing for love, she doesn't expect what is to follow. Almost ten years after its release, we're still simultaneously drawn into and repulsed by this weird romance story. In honor of the generally unrelated holiday the film takes its name from, let's take a look at what the hell is going on with Labor Day.

A Murderer That Makes Perfect Husband Material

Adele might be a recluse, but she still takes...

The Bloody Disgusting-powered Screambox is home to a variety of unique horror content, from originals and exclusives to cult classics and documentaries. With such a rapidly-growing library, there are many hidden gems waiting to be discovered.

Here are five recommendations you can stream on Screambox right now.

Night of the Demon

Not to be confused with the 1957 film of the same name (also on Screambox), 1980’s Night of the Demon is an unforgettable Bigfoot experience. It’s no surprise that the gory exploitation flick was prosecuted as a “video nasty” by the British Board of Film Classification upon its initial release. It’s best remembered for a scene in which Bigfoot rips off a guy’s manhood — and that’s not even the most outrageous death scene!

The cheesefest plays like an early slasher, but instead of a masked killer lurking in the woods, it’s a guy in a cheap gorilla costume.

Based on its setup, The New Daughter would appear to be a ghost story. A troubled novelist moves his two children into a large and isolated house in rural South Carolina, and immediately they start to experience things that cannot be so readily explained. The audience might soon expect to see spirits of the dead haunting the film’s family, yet the fact is, something else entirely lurks on this cursed property.

Kevin Costner was coming off positive reviews for his villainous role in the psychological thriller Mr. Brooks when he was cast as the father in The New Daughter. Also joining the first directorial feature from Rec screenwriter Luis Berdejo was Pan’s Labyrinth star Ivana Baquero. The talent behind this adaptation of author John Connolly’s short story piqued an interest at the time, but upon its release in 2009, critics largely panned the film, singling out the pacing, the...

Stars: Jay Pickett, Tom Skerritt, Mason McNulty, Gattlin Griffith, Callder Griffith, Cody Jones, Peter Facinelli | Written by Jerry Robbins | Directed by Michael Feifer

Westerns seem to be popping up all over the Dtv and VOD markets in the last year or so. From Hell on the Border, Righteous Blood and the upcoming Apache Junction to western/horror hybrids like The Pale Door and Skinwalker, it seems the Old West is new again. Catch the Bullet is a new one written by Jerry Robbins and directed by Michael Feifer. Should you catch it? Or dodge a bullet and watch something else?

Marshal Britt MacMaster, played by the late Jay Pickett and to whom the film is dedicated, has just gunned down a bank robber and his two accomplices. For the three months it took to track them, his father is watching his twelve-year-old son Chad.

When he finally returns he finds...

"Let's play catch the bullet." Lionsgate has released an official trailer for a direct-to-dvd quality western called Catch the Bullet, from a filmmaker you've never heard of before named Michael Feifer (you don't want to look up the films he's made before this). The story sounds like pretty much every other western as well. A US Marshal, aided by an Indian scout and a bigoted town deputy, ride into hostile territory to rescue his kidnapped son from an outlaw gang lead by a psychopathic killer. I'm already bored just typing that out. Catch the Bullet co-stars the late Jay Pickett, who tragically passed away a few weeks ago at age 60 while filming Treasure Valley in Idaho. The film also stars Tom Skerritt, Peter Facinelli, Gattlin Griffith, Mason McNulty, and Tucson Vernon Walker. This is undoubtedly some direct-to-video junk, not only uninteresting but entirely derivative, with nothing much to offer besides...

“An Inventive, Poignant Modern Twist”– Fred Topel, Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Initiation arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD July 20 from Lionsgate. Check out the terrifying trailer:

Go back to school if you dare…. Murder is trending when Initiation arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital) and DVD July 20 from Lionsgate. Social media turns sinister when Jon Huertas (TV’s “This Is Us”), Lochlyn Munro (The Predator), Isabella Gomez (TV’s “One Day at a Time”), Froy Gutierrez (TV’s “Teen Wolf”), Bart Johnson (High School Musical franchise), Yancy Butler (Kick-Ass franchise), and Gattlin Griffith (Changeling) try to survive pledge week in this fun slasher film. Initiation will be available on Blu-ray and DVD for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.

During a university’s pledge week, the carefree partying turns deadly serious when a star athlete is found impaled in his dorm. The murder ignites a spree of sinister social-media messages,...

Here’s Kev with a video review of the brand-new slasher movie Initation, which is out now on DVD in the UK from Signature Entertainment. Also check out our written review here.

Whiton University unravels the night a star-athlete is murdered, kicking off a spree of social media slayings that force students to uncover the truth behind the school’s hidden secrets and the horrifying meaning of an exclamation point.

Initation stars Isabella Gomez, Lindsay Lavanchy, Froy Gutierrez, James Berardo, Gattlin Griffith, Adin Kolansky, Shireen Lai, Patrick R. Walker, Maxwell Hamilton, Bart Johnson, Jon Huertas, Kent Faulcon, Yancy Butler, Lochlyn Munro; and is directed by John Berardo.

Stars: Isabella Gomez, Lindsay Lavanchy, Froy Gutierrez, James Berardo, Gattlin Griffith, Adin Kolansky, Shireen Lai, Patrick R. Walker, Maxwell Hamilton, Bart Johnson, Jon Huertas, Kent Faulcon, Yancy Butler, Lochlyn Munro | Written by John Berardo, Lindsay Lavanchy, Brian Frager | Directed by John Berardo

During a university’s pledge week, the carefree partying turns deadly serious when a star athlete is found impaled in his dorm. The murder ignites a spree of sinister social-media messages, sweeping the students and police into a race against time to uncover the truth behind the school’s dark secrets and the horrifying meaning of a recurring symbol: a single exclamation mark…

From that generic slasher movie-like DVD cover audiences will probably be expecting your typical paint-by-numbers slasher movie. You know the type: masked killer hunts teens and offs them in grisly ways. In this case the teens are college students and yes, the killer does follow...

There is zero interest in the female victim of a sexual assault in this slasher movie that focuses more on the hunt for the perpetrator

Here’s a trashy, slashy horror movie that takes the issue of sexual assault on campus, removes a few layers of complexity and adds a masked serial killer armed with a power drill. It begins at a frat house party where alpha-scumbag Beau (Gattlin Griffith) sets his aim with sniper precision at Kylie (Isabella Gomez), the drunkest, most-eager-to-fit-in of the new sorority intake. Beau offers to take her to the upstairs bathroom; instead he guides her into his bedroom with another guy, Wes (Froy Gutierrez), and locks the door.

The next day Kylie tells sorority president Ellery (Lindsay Lavanchy) that she thinks she might have been assaulted. The frat boys tag her as a “slut” on social media. Ellery, a science major, takes the investigation...

Watch the Short Film Goodnight Darling: "Two sisters wonder if their mother’s strange behavior is a response to a recent family loss, or if something more sinister is at work… “Goodnight Darling” is a horror film about the moment in childhood when we discover our parents aren’t the people we thought they were."

Credits: Adam Azimov, Director/Co-writer Isaac Cravit, Co-writer Pawel Pogorzelski, Editor/Composer Executive Producers: Geno Imbriale Vince Peone Cast: AnnaSophia Robb Vivien Lyra Blair Lauren Bowles April Lan

----------

Dark Spell: "On July 6, the spine-chilling supernatural horror thriller Dark Spell, directed by Svyatoslav Podgaevsky, will debut on major VOD and digital platforms and on DVD & Blu-ray™ from Shout! Studios and Scream Factory™. The DVD & Blu-ray™ will contain both the original Russian language audio track and an English-dubbed option. Pre-order for the physical releases are available now at ShoutFactory.com and other fine home entertainment retailers.

"If this were to spiral out of control..." Saban Films has released an official US trailer for the indie horror Initiation, the latest from director John Berardo (also of The Labyrinth). This premiered at the Sitges & Screamfest Film Festivals last fall, and it will be arriving on VOD this May. Whiton University unravels the night a star-athlete is found murdered in his dorm during pledge week, kicking off a spree of social media slayings that force the students to uncover the truth behind the school's hidden secrets and the horrifying meaning of an exclamation point. What does it all mean, Basil?! Lindsay Lavanchy (who also co-wrote the script) co-stars with Jon Huertas, Isabella Gomez, Froy Gutierrez, Gattlin Griffith, Patrick Walker, Bart Johnson, Shireen Lai, Kent Faulcon, Yancy Butler and Lochlyn Munro. This looks like some crazy campus serial killer horror, not so much any commentary on university culture. Check it out.

A college campus becomes the hunting ground for a masked murderer in the official trailer and poster for the new slasher film Initiation, coming to theaters, On Demand, and Digital on May 7th from Saban Films.

Directed by John Berardo from a screenplay by Berardo, Brian Frager, and Lindsay Lavanchy, Initiation stars Jon Huertas, Isabella Gomez, Lindsay Lavanchy, Froy Gutierrez, Gattlin Griffith, Patrick Walker, Bart Johnson, Shireen Lai, Kent Faulcon, with Yancy Butler and Lochlyn Munro.

Synopsis: "During a university’s pledge week, the carefree partying turns deadly serious when a star athlete is found impaled in his dorm. The murder ignites a spree of sinister social-media messages, sweeping the students and police into a race against time to uncover the truth behind the school’s dark secrets…and the horrifying meaning of a recurring symbol: a single exclamation mark."



The post Watch the Official Trailer for Initiation appeared first on Daily Dead.

Starring: Jon Huertas, Isabella Gomez, Lindsay Lavanchy, Froy Gutierrez, Gattlin Griffith, Patrick Walker, Bart Johnson, Shireen Lai, Kent Faulcon with Yancy Butler and Lochlyn Munro Directed By: John Berardo Written By: John Berardo, Brian Frager, Lindsay Lavanchy During a university’s pledge week, the carefree partying turns deadly serious when a star athlete is found impaled …

The post Official Trailer & Poster – Initiation Starring Jon Huertas, Isabella Gomez, Yancy Butler and Lochlyn Munro- Releasing May 7th appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Next month, the 2020 SXSW Film Festival kicks off in Austin, Texas, and this week, we finally have a look at the fest’s killer Midnighter slate, which includes one of this writer’s favorite films from Sundance, Natalie Erika James’ Relic. The 2020 lineup also features another Sundance 2020 title, Run Sweetheart Run, as well the latest from filmmaker Natasha Kermani (who recently helmed Imitation Girl), entitled Lucky, and The Void co-director Steven Kostanski’s latest gore-fest, PG (Psycho Goreman).

Other featured Midnighters include Dembanger from John Berardo, Elle Callahan’s Witch Hunt, The Vigil from writer/director Keith Thomas, and the Belgian zombie flick, Yummy. Check out the full rundown to see all of this year’s Midnighters, which will play during SXSW 2020 this March.

Dembanger

Director: John Berardo, Screenwriters: John Berardo, Lindsay Lavanchy, Brian Frager

Ellery Scott's world unravels when her star athlete brother is murdered on campus amidst a brewing scandal,...

The annual South by Southwest Conference and Festival is known for having a lineup of programming that makes Austin bust at the seams — and its slate for the 27th edition of the film festival isn’t any different. After already unveiling its initial roster of films, SXSW has now announced its lineup of Midnighters, Festival Favorites, Shorts, Episodic Pilots, Special Events and more.

SXSW Midnighters section is a favorite among festival-goers as it includes weird, electric, and sometimes terrifying selection of titles. Featuring 10 genre films, the Midnighters slate includes an array of dark comedies, thrillers, sci-fi, mystery and slasher pics with a mix of established and first-time filmmakers. With Midnighters and addition of Festival Favorites as well as 10 additional film, the SXSW Film Festival now has a robust 135 total features on its slate.

SXSW runs March 13-22. Below you can read additions to the 2020 SXSW Film Festival lineup. You can...

After unveiling its first lineup of feature film offerings last month, the SXSW Film Festival is rolling out more additions to its 2020 program. The annual Texas festival has already announced its features and episodic premieres, and now those picks are joined by Midnighters, Festival Favorites, Shorts, and Special Events, plus late-addition features and the full list of Episodic Pilot Competition shows.

This year’s program has 135 Feature Films, including 99 world premieres, nine North American premieres, five U.S. Premieres, 75 films from first-time filmmakers, and 119 short films. The lineup also features music videos, episodic premieres, pilots, special events, and Vr projects.

Today’s announcement sees additions to nearly every section of the feature film lineup, including the popular Midnighters section. Standouts include there Shana Feste’s “Run Sweetheart Run” and Natalie Erick James’ “Relic,” both of which premiered at Sundance in January, along with the U.S. premiere of Keith Thomas...

The SXSW festival has announced its program for the Midnighters, Festival Favorites, Shorts, Special Events, Episodic Pilot Competition, and late addition Features for its 2020 film festival.

This year’s program has 135 feature films, including 99 world premieres, 9 North American premieres, 5 U.S. premieres, and 75 films from first-time filmmakers. The SXSW Midnighters section is a favorite for festival attendees who like the weird, electric and terrifying selections. It includes dark comedies, thrillers and slasher horror.

“Programming the Midnighters section this year felt especially invigorating,” Jarod Neece, SXSW Senior Film Programmer, said. “The filmmaking teams, while particularly diverse, all seem to be using their films as a cathartic lens to view the modern-day world. One trend we noticed was the presence of a strong female protagonist fighting off everything from hordes of zombies, bad dates, creepy rideshare drivers and supernatural forces. As always, genre filmmaking can be found throughout the SXSW program, and...

At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's streaming on Netflix, we've got you covered.

New on DVD and Blu-ray

"The Good Lie"

Although Reese Witherspoon's face is on all the posters, the real stars of "The Good Lie" are the actors who portray young survivors of the brutal civil war in Sudan. Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, and Emmanuel Jal star as the Sudanese "Lost Boys" who start a new life in Kansas City, Mo. Philippe Falardeau ("Monsieur Lazhar") directed the movie, based on a script by Margaret Nagle ("Boardwalk Empire").

"Pride"

Critics loved this crowd-pleasing film based on a true story about two disparate groups who come together in solidarity during Margaret Thatcher's term as Pm. Lgbt activists are trying to raise money to support the families of striking miners, but they're not having any success. Eventually, the group,...

Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week

"Escape from Tomorrow"

What's It About? A trip to the House of Mouse becomes a surreal nightmare for a father of two.

Why We're In: Filmed secretly on location at Disney World and Disneyland, "Escape from Tomorrow" is creepier than "It's a Small World."

Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week

"Il Sorpasso" (Criterion)

What's It About? A wild bachelor and an uptight law student go on a road trip for the ages in this adored Italian comedy.

Why We're In: It's been spiffed up and digitally restored, and even the subtitles got a makeover. Plus, there are all the Criterion bells and whistles we know and love.

New on DVD and Blu-ray

"Bad Country"

What's It About? Willem Dafoe and Matt Dillon star as a cop and a criminal who are forced to work together to bring down an even bigger baddie. Neal McDonough,...

Labor Day Blu-ray Labor Day is a quiet movie about an extraordinary event that occurs as a young man is growing up and finding his way in the world. It.s a lonely movie, about a mother and her son who feel very out of tune with the rest of the world and who inexplicably begin to awaken once a stranger enters their lives. We.re introduced to Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith) through a lovely sequence narrated by Tobey Maguire that explains the young man.s relationship with his mother, Adele (Kate Winslet). Henry.s father, Gerald (Clark Gregg), left some time prior to the events of the film to start a new family. Because of this, Henry has taken on many of the traditional male household roles. When a known fugitive named Frank (Josh Brolin) enters their lives, his appearance during Labor Day weekend offers a breath of fresh...

Director Jason Reitman explores the complex character Henry, portrayed both by Gattlin Griffith and Tobey Maguire, in our exclusive featurette for Labor Day, currently available on Digital HD before arriving on Blu-ray and DVD April 29. This adaptation of Joyce Maynard's novel follows a single mother (Kate Winslet) and her young son (Gattlin Griffith) whose lives are changed when they help a mysterious stranger (Josh Brolin) over Labor Day weekend. The filmmaker explains how Tobey Maguire's voice was perfect to narrate the film as the older version of Henry, along with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Tobey Maguire and Josh Brolin on the set of this drama.

From writer/director Jason Reitman, the Academy Award-nominated director of Up in the Air and Juno, comes "a beautiful and endearing love story" (Shawn Edwards, Fox-tv) based on the New York Times best-selling novel by Joyce Maynard. "Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin are exquisite" (Karen Durbin,...

Jason Reitman's winning run comes to a halt with this sickly tale of an escaped convict helping out at Kate Winslet's house

Jason Reitman has directed some acerbic comedies, notably Up in the Air and the gloriously misanthropic Young Adult. Labor Day shows his soft, sweet side – as soft, sweet and indeed squidgy as the pies that figure prominently. Kate Winslet is depressed small-town divorcee Adele, whose home is chosen one summer as a hideout by an escaped convict. As it turns out, Josh Brolin's Frank is a tender, decent fugitive and a solicitous pair of hands around the house – doing repairs, playing surrogate dad to Adele's teenage son (Gattlin Griffith) and preaching the therapeutic value of pie-making in a scene that's bound to be spoofed for years to come.

The initial Hitchcockian tension soon slackens into slop, with a dash of lukewarm eroticism. A quality cast rises above the pulpiness,...

Adapting the novel of the same name from Joyce Maynard, Labor Day sees writer/director Jason Reitman delivers a movie far removed from the comedy dramas, such as Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air, that made his name. This is pretty much a slow burn, a beautifully shot, and heart breaking, coming of age story about 13 year old Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith), juggling the perils of puberty with caring for his recently divorced mother Adele (Kate Winslet), who has fallen into a deep depression. One fateful Labor Day weekend in 1987, escaped convict Frank Chambers (Josh Brolin) comes into their lives, and turns them upside down. From a narrative point of view, Labor Day emulates the feel of a lazy holiday weekend, slow with nothing much happening, save for some brief flashes of activity. It is an exquisitely shot movie, Reitman capturing the beauty of the New Hampshire setting with every frame,...

Starred Up | Labor Day | Yves Saint Laurent | Gbf | The Robber | The Machine | Salvo | The Unknown Known | A Long Way Down

Starred Up (18)

(David Mackenzie, 2013, UK) Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend. 106 mins

We've seen enough prison movies to know the drill, but this is closer to A Prophet than The Great Escape – a bracing mix of brutal thriller, institutional critique and complex character drama. Conviction is key, both in the day-to-day details and the natural performances, particularly O'Connell – a young offender violent enough to be housed with the grown-ups, including his own father. It feels like things could kick off with every scene.

Labor Day (12A)

(Jason Reitman, 2013, Us) Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith. 111 mins

The Juno director tries nuanced domestic drama – and it doesn't really suit him. Erotic tremors are a given when Brolin's escaped convict shacks up with Winslet's lonely single mum, but you'll need to park your disbelief.

Jason Reitman takes a holiday from his normally sophisticated wit in this bizarrely unconvincing film

After excellent movies such as Juno and Young Adult, Jason Reitman has given us a misstep. Actually, it's more like a pratfall. Labor Day is a glossy, cloying nullity of a film, supposedly a "coming-of-age" tale, though the teen character is disconcertingly peripheral to the adult drama, and his personal development is entirely without interest.

Labor Day lacks this film-maker's usual sophisticated wit: it is bizarrely unconvincing, sugary and humourless, like a Walt Disney version of The Night of the Hunter.

Gattlin Griffith plays Henry, a boy who, back in the 1980s, lives with his depressed, divorced mom, Adele, played by Kate Winslet. Out shopping one day, they are effectively kidnapped by Frank (Josh Brolin), an escaped criminal. While laying low in their house, Frank does a few odd jobs, gains their trust, then morphs...

Divorced mom Adele (Kate Winslet) thinks she's found love again when escaped convict Frank (Josh Brolin) unexpectedly enters her life. Initially feeling threatened, she offers him sanctuary while out on a shopping trip with her 14-year-old son Henry (Gattlin Griffith). However, when he helps out around the house, shows an interest in her boy and shows her how to bake the perfect pie, she begins to reassess her feelings towards him.

Director: Jason Reitman; Screenwriter: Jason Reitman; Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Tobey Maguire, Jk Simmons; Running time: 111 mins; Certificate: 12A

Despite getting a critical hammering in the States, it turns out that romantic drama Labor Day isn't all that bad. As the respective hostage taker and his captive homemaker, Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet may seem like a bad match on paper, but they each take a sincere approach - inspired by characters who have little to lose - and this creates a bond that helps tie the film together.

Otherwise, adapting the novel by Joyce Maynard feels like it may have been hard work for writer/director Jason Reitman. It's new ground for the man behind Juno, Up in the Air, Young Adult and Thank You For Smoking - films where an edge of cynicism helps cut through the sentimentalism. In this case, Reitman appears to be angling for the sultry,...

The Labor Day star's past as a Hollywood brat featured more than his share of drugs, booze and tattoos. How much did he draw on his own history in his portrayal of fugitive killer Frank?

Labor Day spins the story of Frank, an escaped convict who gatecrashes suburbia and proceeds to cook a peach cobbler to die for. "Let's put a roof on this house," says Frank, up to his muscled forearms in flour, as he prepares to add the pastry to the filling. Labor Day, it should be noted, is not a film to skimp on its metaphors. The peach cobbler represents the tumbledown family home, sad and broken and in need of repair. No doubt it also represents Frank, whose crusty exterior contains a warm, gooey centre. Perhaps it even says something about the actor who plays him too.

If you're looking for the classic outsider on the inside,...

This Kate Winslet-starring, wholly unconvincing tale of a fugitive who turns out to be husband material is pure housewives' kitsch

All the signs pointed to Labor Day being a failure: the shamefaced January release, the place where Hollywood buries its dead; the trailers that laboriously gave away its entire story; a unanimous critical pile-on reminiscent of a biker stomping; and the presence at the helm and behind the typewriter of over-promoted adapter-director Jason Reitman, proof positive of the tyranny of good taste.

Based on a novel by Joyce Maynard (who also wrote To Die For), Labor Day gives us Adele, a depressed, agoraphobic single mother (Kate Winslet), seen from the perspective of her devoted 13-year-old son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) via a fatal overdose of portentous voiceover by Tobey Maguire as the adult Henry. At the supermarket they're accosted by an injured man who's just escaped from a prison hospital after an appendectomy.

March 7, 2014

300: Rise of an Empire

Director: Noam Munro

Starring: Sullivan Stapleton, Rodrigo Santoro, Eva Green

Running time: 102 mins

Certificate 15

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Director: Wes Anderson

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Edward Norton

Running time: 99 mins

Certificate 15

Paranoia

Director: Robert Luketic

Starring: Liam Hemsworth, Gary Oldman, Harrison Ford

Running time: 106 mins

Certificate 12

The Stag

Director: John Butler

Starring: Andrew Scott, Hugh O'Conor, Peter McDonald

Running time: 94 mins

Certificate 15

March 14, 2014

Need for Speed

Director: Scott Waugh

Starring: Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, Scott Mescudi

Running time: 130 mins

Certificate 12A

Under the Skin

Director: Jonathan Glazer

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Paul Brannigan

Running time: 108 mins

Certificate 15

Veronica Mars

Director: Rob Thomas

Starring: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni

Running time: 110 mins

Certificate Tbc

The Zero Theorem

Director: Terry Gilliam

Starring: Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Thierry, David Thewlis

Running time: 107 mins

Certificate 15

March 21, 2014

About Last Night

Director: Steve Pink

Starring: Kevin Hart,...

Kate Winslet & Josh Brolin star in Labor Day, directed by Jason Reitman. Wamg is giving away Run-of-Engagement passes to celebrate this Valentine’s Day Weekend!

If you live in the St. Louis area, all you have to do is enter your name, email address, along with the name of your favorite romantic film, in our comments section below for a chance to win. We will contact you if you are a winner.

No purchase necessary.

Additionally, Cinemark Holdings announces a special ticket offer exclusively at participating Cinemark locations across the U.S.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day weekend, Cinemark is offering a free admission to see Paramount Pictures and Indian Paintbrush’s Labor Day with the purchase of a Labor Day ticket. This offer is valid only from Friday, February 14 through Monday, February 17, 2014 with the presentation of a special online coupon.

Beginning Friday the 14th, the buy one,...

Title: Labor Day Director: Jason Reitman Starring: Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Gattlin Griffith, Tobey Maguire, Clark Gregg, Brooke Smith, James Van Der Beek, Maika Monroe, Alexie Gilmore Four times Academy Award nominee, Jason Reitman, after having portrayed delightfully poignant and irreverent stories, such as ‘Thank You For Smoking,’ ‘Juno,’ ‘Up in the Air’ and Young Adult,’ delivers an intensely suave adaptation of the novel ‘Labor Day’ by Joyce Maynard. It is the very Labor Day weekend that is bound to mark the lives of Adele (Kate Winslet) – a divorced, single mother who rarely ventures further than her house – and her judicious thirteen year old son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith/Tobey [ Read More ]

The post Labor Day Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Now that you've seen it, what did you think? Adapted from Joyce Maynard's bestselling novel, Jason Reitman's latest work, the fifth feature film he's directed, is Labor Day. The film stars Josh Brolin as a drifter along with Kate Winslet plus Gattlin Griffith as her son. It first premiered at film festivals in late 2013, but is now in wide release from Paramount. Check your local listings to see this film in theaters. So how is it? After Juno, Up in the Air and Young Adult, is one of Reitman's better films? How are Winslet and Brolin together? If you've seen it, leave a comment with your own thoughts on Jason Reitman's Labor Day. Spoiler Warning: We strongly urge everyone to actually see the film before reading ahead, as there may be spoilers below. We also encourage all commenters to keep major spoilers from the film to a minimum,...

The steady stream of Oscar prestige movies has finally cooled, so with the end of an era come two last-minute Academy shut-outs, "Labor Day" and "Tim's Vermeer," as well as a romantic comedy for the guys, "That Awkward Moment." Trailers below. Jason Reitman's Joyce Maynard adaptation "Labor Day" intercuts several plots and narrators in different time frames to reveal the back stories behind depressed Adele (Kate Winslet) living in New England solitude with her 12-year-old son Henry (Gattlin Griffith). On an outing to the store, the mother and son are commandeered by a threatening escaped prisoner (Josh Brolin). Reitman takes us on a ride that never flags and often surprises with real emotion, and Winslet gives a delicately sensual performance. Fair to say it's being creamed by mostly male critics. Clearly, this relationship drama plays better for women than men. A fascinating look at one genius inventor's obsession with...

Labor Day

Directed by: Jason Reitman

Cast: Gattlin Griffith, Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, Clark Gregg

Running Time: 1 hr 51 mins

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: January 31, 2014

Plot: Set in a quiet New Hampshire town, Labor Day is the story of single mom Adele (Winslet), her son Henry (Griffith), and Frank (Brolin), a fugitive that the two initially house against their will. As they begin to see more of his true character, he starts to fill in the role of husband and father.

Who’S It For? Those curious about a less usual kind of romance or coming-of-age story.

Read our interview with ‘Labor Day’ author Joyce Maynard

Overall

Labor Day is certainly a change of shade for writer/director Jason Reitman, who previously unearthed the humor in his American character dramas, however dark their content (such as with the dark but funny soul erosion of Charlize Theron’s non-matured mean girl in...

Labor Day takes place in the year 1987, where depressed single mother Adele (Kate Winslet) struggles to function, despite her 13-year old son Henry’s (Gattlin Griffith) best efforts to give her the support she needs. While clothes-shopping for Henry, the pair encounter a suspicious – and bleeding – man named Frank (Josh Brolin), who quietly but firmly makes them give him a ride to their house.

The truth about Frank – that he’s a convict who fled a hospital shortly after having surgery – soon comes out, but the gentle and polite fugitive persuades his captives to let him stay with them until he can flee on a local train. One thing leads to another, and Frank begins providing Adele with the tender care of a loving partner, while also giving Henry ...

Click to continue reading ‘Labor Day’ Review

The post ‘Labor Day’ Review appeared first on Screen Rant.

Whenever I hear mention of writer/director Jason Reitman's work, I instantly think of this formula: awkward, lonely lead character + quirky and slightly unrealistic story premise = a somewhat enduring dramady of a film. When I saw the opening credits for Labor Day, I actually let out some bizarre open-mouthed gasp because I didn't realize he had written and directed it -- I'd clearly done my research in advance.

I was waiting to meet the outspoken lead, the one who is cool on the outside but incredibly lost and confused on the inside. It was a great surprise to instead encounter Adele (Kate Winslet), a single mother trying to raise her 13-year-old son Henry (Gattlin Griffith). We meet these two some years after Henry's father has left them, trying to cope with Adele's social anxiety and fear of the outside world. Henry feels the burden of being the only man in the house,...

Are you heading to the movies this weekend? We've got you covered! Our take on the new releases: Labor Day is every bit as gooey a romance as you've heard, but it still works - thanks, in part, to its stars, Oscar winner Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin. On the other hand, Zac Efron's romantic comedy That Awkward Moment can't quite get over itself - though it does have its moments ... and its merits. Plus, why you should check out this year's Oscar-nominated shorts. See This:Labor Day var brightcovevideoid = '3132464550001'; What is it about bad romance that feels so good?...

Jason Reitman is a filmmaker in love with relationships. Whether its a young pregnant woman's relationship with the couple who will adopt her unborn child or the relationship between a young adult writer and the people that she utterly despises, these connections are the driving force behind his films' respective emotions. Labor Day, his latest, is right in line with the rest. In terms of the driving force, that is. The results are varied, but a pair of powerhouse performances keeps Labor Day from being the too-simple-with-too-much-saccharine film it threatens to be. Trashy at times, very messy at others, it's a bag of mixed results, all the while wanting nothing more than to have tears streaming down your face. Read on! Reitman adapted the story from Joyce Maynard's novel of the same name. Set in 1987, it tells of the weekend that changed the lives of young Henry Wheeler (Gattlin Griffith) and his single mother,...

Typically, it’s not considered savvy to open a movie on Super Bowl weekend, what with more than 100 million spending their Sunday afternoon on their sofa, eating nachos, guac, and buffalo wings in front of the Big Game. But Jason Reitman’s Labor Day might qualify as counter-programming. Based on Joyce Maynard’s 2009 novel, the film tells the melodramatic story of a fragile divorcee (Kate Winslet) whose rare excursion out of her house and into town with her 13-year-old son (Gattlin Griffith) is hijacked by an escaped fugitive (Josh Brolin) who demands refuge. But while he looks threatening, he’s a mild soul,...

You'll see Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in many more fine movies, but you'll never look at pie quite the same way again

No actress of modern times has subjected matrimony to more vigorous onscreen interrogation than Kate Winslet. What began in a fit of melodrama, with Winslet threatening to throw herself from the aft of the Titanic rather than face loveless marriage to caddish Billy Zane, has turned into a series of fine-grained portraits – in Little Children, Revolutionary Road, Mildred Pierce – of suburban drudges, marooned in their marriages, doomed by their intelligence, staring at the dust motes.

Her happy marriage to Alan Rickman at end of Sense & Sensibility is beginning to look like the joker in the pack. Winslet's early performances fizzed like firecrackers, giddy with their own freedom, but now she dulls her own innate brightness to play American Madame Bovaries. Then she sets something loose in their...

I don't know where to begin with Jason Reitman's Labor Day. Adapted from the novel by Joyce Maynard, you could have told me it was a Nicholas Sparks adaptation, directed by Lasse Hallstrom and I wouldn't have second guessed the statement. I can't tell if Reitman is having fun with his audience and has actually made a parody of a Sparks adaptation or if he takes this schlock seriously. Either way, it doesn't work. To begin, Labor Day has something of an identity crisis as it's unsure which character it wants to focus on. The voice over that introduces the film is read by Tobey Maguire playing an older Henry Wheeler, the young 13-year-old (Gattlin Griffith) seen throughout the entirety of the film, and son to Adele (Kate Winslet), a woman that has retreated within herself forcing Henry to be the man of the house. Adele was left by...

Chicago – There is a real power when the right filmmaker connects with the right performers. What appears on the surface to be a slight and well-worn story, gains a decided psychological edge. ‘Labor Day’ features Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin, and writer/director Jason Reitman.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The story – adapted from a novel by Joyce Maynard – is about a convict kidnapping a single mom and son after a prison break. In keeping them in place as he hides out, a relationship develops between the lonely matriarch and the escaped prisoner. This theme has been explored before, but Reitman takes it to another level of resolve. The underlying mood and tension involving the emerging adolescence of the captured boy, the break in the psychosis of the newly paired lovers and the overriding feeling that they might be caught at any moment creates a tension that raises the narrative stakes.

Adele (Kate Winslet...