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There’s risk dealing with a therapy group like that at the center of Berkley Brady’s directorial debut Dark Nature: the narrative quite often needs to turn into a “Trauma Olympics” if it’ll progress. She knows this and even includes the sentiments as a joke early on when one of Dr. Dunnley’s (Kyra Harper) usual patients Shaina (Roseanne Supernault) speaks about why she’s attending this woodland retreat in the Treaty 7 territory of northern Alberta (Brady is a Métis filmmaker) before trivializing those of newcomer Joy (Hannah Emily Anderson). It’s an important moment, reminding us the potency of trauma isn’t about some objective scale of relativity. Whether war (Shaina) or domestic abuse (Joy), the resulting suffering these women face is what matters.

It can be difficult to separate, especially when the correlation aligns for some. While the psychological horrors Joy faces appear stronger than Shaina...

Indie rock outfit Parquet Courts have released a new song, “Walking at a Downtown Pace,” from their next album, Sympathy for Life, out October 22nd via Rough Trade Records.

“Walking at a Downtown Pace” finds Parquet Courts settling into a brisk, bustling groove and coming together for a big chorus of gang vocals: “I’ve found a reason to exist/Written on the tile of the platform wall/Begging not to go extinct to all those who saw.”

“Walking at a Downtown Place” also arrives with a music video, directed by street photographer Daniel Arnold,...

On Saturday evening, six people were shot dead and two were injured in Kalamazoo, Michigan, allegedly by an Uber driver in what authorities called totally unprovoked, random acts of violence.On Monday, the alleged shooter, 45-year-old Jason Dalton, was charged with six counts of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and eight firearms charges, People confirms. He was denied bail at his arraignment on Monday. The following is a list of the six fatal victims. Richard Smith, 53 (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s); if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.

On Saturday evening, six people were shot dead and two were injured in Kalamazoo, Michigan, allegedly by an Uber driver in what authorities called totally unprovoked, random acts of violence". Today, the alleged shooter, 45-year-old Jason Dalton, was charged with six counts of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and eight firearms charges, People confirms. He was denied bail at his arraignment on Monday. The following is a list of the six fatal victims. Richard Smith, 53 (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s); if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.

Tara Subkoff's #Horror is sharp-witted filmmaking Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Art world heavyweights, Urs Fischer, Francesco Celemente, Rob Pruitt, Daniel Subkoff, Adam McEwen, Dan Colen, Adriana Atema, Jordan Wolfson, Tabor Robak, Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe hosted a premiere screening of Tara Subkoff's #Horror with Chloë Sevigny, Timothy Hutton, Natasha Lyonne, Lydia Hearst, Balthazar Getty, Taryn Manning, Stella Schnabel, Annabelle Dexter-Jones and the 12-year-olds: Sadie Seelert, Haley Murphy, Bridget McGarry, Blue Lindeberg, Mina Sundwall, Emma Adler at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Chloë Sevigny with Tara Subkoff Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Scarlett Johansson, Salma Hayek, Waris Ahluwalia, Fred Armisen, Derek Blasberg, Lazaro Hernandez of Proenza Schouler, Arden Wohl, Johan Lindeberg, America Olivo, Christian Campbell, Jeremy Kost, Humberto Leon, Nanette Lepore, Daniel Arnold, India Menuez, Hari Nef, Beatrix Ost, Cipriana Quann, Tk Quann, Rachel Trachtenburg, Josh Moran, Chloe Wise, Nanette Lepore and Natalie Lebrecht were among the guests...

Exclusive: 108 Media has picked up Us rights to the award-winning Canadian comedy and plans a one-week theatrical run in August.

Matthew Kowalchuk directed Lawrence & Holloman, which recently won best feature at the 15th annual Canadian Comedy Awards and has picked up awards across the Canadian festival cicruit including Vancouver and Edmonton international film festivals.

The film charts the exploits of a suicidal debt collector and an ebullient suit salesman whose fortunes change as their friendship develops.

Kowalchuk and Daniel Arnold adapted the stage play by Morris Panych. Ben Cotton, Katharine Isabelle, Amy Matysio and Daniel Arnold star.

108 Media will release Lawrence & Holloman in Los Angeles at the Downtown Independent from August 7-13, followed by VOD release on iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, Vudu, Google Play and other platforms on August 11.

Paul Armstrong, Mary Anne Waterhouse, Andrew Currie, Robyn Wiener and Don Thompson produced.

“108 Media can’t wait to introduce Lawrence & Holloman to the United States,” said CEO [link...

Ever since his breakout role in 2004's Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Joel David Moore has been entertaining audience with his diverse array of talents that span several genres, from comedy (Grandma's Boy) to horror (Hatchet) to serious dramas (Beyond a Reasonable Doubt) to the biggest movie of all time (Avatar). He has even gone behind the camera to bring us the phenomenal indie Spiral, which he co-directed with Adam Green and he currently stars on the ABC drama series Forever. The actor goes back to his indie horror roots with the thriller Grace: The Possession, currently available on DVD and Digital HD, where he plays Luke, a young priest who helps the title character (Alexia Fast) with her "demons," literally.

I recently had the chance to speak with Joel David Moore about Grace: The Possession, the unique first-person/Pov perspective the film was shot in, future projects and much more.

There have been countless movies over the years that involve demonic possession, but director Jeff Chan's new film Grace: The Possession is the first to truly take fans inside the mind and body of a possessed individual. Now available on DVD and Digital HD, Grace: The Possession centers on college freshman Grace (Alexia Fast), who is dealing with temptations such as sex and alcohol for the first time in her life, due to her overly religious upbringing by her grandmother (Lin Shaye). Grace begins to discover that something truly evil lies within her, which is linked to the horrific death of her mother, while consulting with a young priest (Joel David Moore).

I recently had the chance to speak with Jeff over the phone to discuss the intricate process he used to shoot Grace: The Possession completely from Grace's perspective (Alexia Fast also served as...

Lawrence & Holloman is one of those movies you either love or you hate. Based on a stage play from Morris Panych, it tells the story of two very opposite men – successful and sunny suit salesman Lawrence and dour, depressed clerk Holloman – who become friends and, later, foes.

It was a bold move for a first-time feature director, Vancouver’s Matthew Kowalchuk, and Daniel Arnold, who plays Holloman, to attempt to take the text to a different medium. The play is challenging and darkly funny, and its transition from a two-person show to the big screen was full of challenges and changes.

Last week, I sat down for an exclusive interview with Arnold and Kowalchuk, who discussed why their film is like Barton Fink, the biggest changes from stage to screen and when it is ok for a dark comedy to cross the line.

Check it out below and enjoy!

Of...

Dark comedy is a difficult thing to get right. The humor must be daring enough to go to uncompromising places, but mean and sardonic jokes only work if they are funny. The issue with jokes that aim to be savage and nasty is that they are also easy to make: it is simple to poke fun at someone in a vulgar way if the humor depends on humiliating that target. It is too simple for a screenwriter to whip up a joke that emasculates a male character – for instance, one making fun of their lack of sexual prowess – and put it down on the page. Similarly, it also demands little effort to turn the person who is making that crude joke into a boorish stereotype.

On those counts, Lawrence & Holloman is a comedic failure, a film empty of originality, compassion or humanity. Director and co-writer Matthew Kowalchuk does not give...