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As some of the pearl-clutching commentary following the Paris Olympics opening ceremony demonstrated, polyamory is still a subject that provokes strong reactions be that for or against and so it’s understandable that when writer/director Max Novick stumbled across an article about a polycule the seed was sewn for his relationship dramedy Poly. The film drops us into the life of a seemingly blissful throuple as they throw a party to celebrate becoming a four, but unfortunately, all isn’t quite as golden as it seems. Poly and the lives of its three partners could have taken many directions, however Novick’s gripping and at times deeply uncomfortable short is a poignant, bordering on woeful, portrait of jealousy, weighted interpersonal connections and the longing for the return to a life bound by the confines of tradition. Novick’s dramedy delights in its shifting focus on the perspectives of our...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Aftersun (Charlotte Wells)

One of the 2022’s most resonant films, Aftersun looks at the scratchy dynamics between a father and daughter while on vacation. It’s about memory, the finite nature of the relationships in our lives, and the difficulties of a parent’s diminishing mental health. Charlotte Wells knows where to put the camera in her debut—undeterred from taking risks, from placing her characters outside of the frame, from looking at shadows instead of the people themselves. Aftersun is a rare, tremendous first film, full of heart and focused melancholy; it breaks you down and fills you up simultaneously. The consistent inclusion of camcorder footage, and the fact that it enhances the story rather than becoming a distraction, further proclaims...

Molli and Max in the Future is an impressive feature debut from director and writer Michael Lukk Litwak that utilizes its small budget extremely well. The set design is a feast for the eyes, while the story follows a futuristic love odyssey that spans decades. The chemistry between stars Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Athari is palpable, further elevating this movie to greatness. Molli and Max in the Future is hilarious and heartfelt, and a breath of fresh air in both the romantic comedy and sci-fi genres.

The film takes place billions of years from now and follows the titular characters, who first meet as bright-eyed young adults when they get into a spacecraft accident with each other. Molli and Max encounter one another several more times throughout 12 years. But as they live their lives and get into strange intergalactic shenanigans involving robots and a cult, Molli and Max start to...

Despite the fact that much of its plot takes place in a futuristic city called Megalopolis, not a single winery was liquidated to finance “Molli and Max in the Future.” That only makes the existence of Michael Lukk Litwak’s debut feature more remarkable, as his futuristic rom-com creates an expansive sci-fi universe that spans four planets and three dimensions on a fraction of the budget of the studio blockbusters it tries to emulate. Written like a throwback Woody Allen movie — complete with rapid-fire quips and a jazz score —and shot like a stage play that relies on rotating backdrops, “Molli and Max” blends the scale of a space opera with the best and worst clichés of independent film.

Set one billion years in the future, the film begins with the reassuring news that the invention of flying cars has not reduced the prevalence of meet-cutes sparked by minor accidents.

While the age of the classic romantic comedy seems to have passed us by, films like Michael Lukk Litwak’s Molli and Max in the Future remind us that there is still magic to be wrung from well-worn tropes if the filmmaker can manage to skew the lens just so, to give the audience a new angle on old stories. Love is love is love, it’s complicated, charming, frustrating, funny, sad, and sometimes scary, but no matter the individual settings and circumstances, audiences will always enjoy rooting for the big happy ending, especially when we see ourselves in the characters. Playing out like a lo-fi retrofuture When Harry Met Sally in space, Molli and Max in the Future is, if nothing else, a labor of love...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Good romantic comedies seem to be hard to come by these days, even if the nature of relationships is always changing. Maybe that's why filmmaker Michael Lukk Litwak decided that the future was the right place to explore the numerous visible and invisible social expectations, cues, rules, and various stimulae we all encounter in trying to find love (and sex). In a far distant future filled with magic, robots, and gods, Molli (Zosia Mamet) and Max (Aristotle Athari) keep running into each other and trying to decide if their love is meant to be. The film premiered last year at SXSW, and our own Josh Hurtado was a big fan: "Eschewing contemporary aesthetics for a neon-soaked bobo-Bladerunner style future, the film uses its absurd settings...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

"It's me! It's Molli!" Level 33 Entertainment has revealed an official trailer the indie sci-fi romantic comedy called Molli and Max in the Future, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Michael Lukk Litwak. I love this film! It's a nerdy, one-of-a-kind, tiny little sci-fi film riffing on When Harry Met Sally, but set in the distant future. Made on a tiny budget with practical FX and simple sets mostly in one location: a man and woman whose orbits repeatedly collide over the course of 12 years, 4 planets, 3 dimensions and 1 space-cult. Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Athari star as the galaxy-crossed lovers in the future. There's also appearances by a few others including Erin Darke, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Danny Burstein. It premiered at SXSW last year, but I caught up with this one in Sitges, and it's right up my alley. I wrote in my glowing review that "anyone will enjoy it...

"Life is so complex... And overwhelming. And it's so hard to figure out what's real and what isn't... What matters and what doesn't. Whether your feelings betray, or if they are your only compass..." Ahhh yes, the eternally mysterious questions about life and love. There's no easy way to answer these ruminations, which is why we tell stories. This is why we make films, sing songs, read books, to spend time with stories that help us figure out our own ways, help us figure out how (or at least guide us) to make sense of the lives we're all living. That is the best intro I can muster for this charming indie romantic comedy discovery. Molli and Max in the Future is a sci-fi romance film written and directed by filmmaker Michael Lukk Litwak as his feature debut, and I fell head over heels for it. The film first premiered...

The author Terry Pratchett, who has a quote for everything, once said this about Lord of the Rings: “J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it’s big and up close. Sometimes it’s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it’s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.”

Molli and Max in the Future, the debut feature by Michael Lukk Litwak, is indeed standing on a mountain, and in this case – because this is a romantic comedy, not a fantasy – that mountain is When Harry Met Sally. It might be set in the future, it might have interstellar craft, robots, fish people, black holes, space...

Exclusive: Molli and Max in the Future, the sci-fi rom-com starring Girls‘ Zosia Mamet and SNL‘s Aristotle Athari that has drawn praise in its run at festivals including SXSW, has been picked up for North American distribution and international sales by Level 33 Entertainment.

Marking the feature directorial debut of Michael Lukk Litwak, who also wrote the script, the film will be released exclusively in 100+ theaters across the country in early 2024 and subsequently across all digital platforms. International sales will commence during the 2023 American Film Market, which kicks off in Santa Monica October 31st.

Set to screen this month at the BFI and Sitges Film Festivals, Molli and Max tells the story of a man and woman whose orbits repeatedly collide over the course of 12 years, four planets, three dimensions, and one space-cult. In addition to Litwak, producers on the pic included Ben J. Murphy, Candice Kuwahara, Mallory Schwartz,...

A rom-com in space?–don’t knock it ’til you’ve watched it. While a “When Harry Met Sally” knock-off set in a future galaxy may be too bold a move for some, writer/director Michael Lukk Litwak‘s feature debut mostly makes the concept work. Sure, he’s guilty of recycling an old favorite, setting it against a chroma-key, and doing so on the cheap. But why fault him for that? With its lo-fi sensibility and winning charm, “Molli And Max In The Future” remixes a genre classic that also offers a mild antidote for what ails current American cinema.

Continue reading ‘Molli And Max In The Future’ Review: Michael Lukk Litwak’s ‘When Harry Met Sally’ In Space Works Surprisingly Well [Lesff] at The Playlist.

The Chattanooga Film Festival Conjures First Wave: "Hot on the haunted heels of their tenth-anniversary announcement, organizers of The Chattanooga Film Festival (Cff) have once assembled a first wave of strange and fantastic cinema for their hybrid edition this year.

First up is the North American premiere of a film primed to knock the socks off Cff’s longtime fans - filmmaker Jonas Trukanas‘ perfectly executed Lithuanian slasher We Might Hurt Each Other. Trukanas' briskly paced hoot of a horror film is one of this year’s true standouts and another title presented by Screambox. We Might Hurt Each Other has all the makings of a deeply satisfying cult classic.

Closing out the festival for those attending in person this year is Trim Season, marking the return of filmmaker Ariel Vida, who first attended Cff in 2019 with a secret screening of Vide Noir. Her latest combines a terrific ensemble cast,...

Upcoming Screambox slasher We Might Hurt Each Other is among the densely packed first full wave of programming for the upcoming Chattanooga Film Festival!

The Chattanooga Film Festival 2023 returns in person and virtually for its tenth year, taking place June 23 through 29! The beloved festival will return to an in person event for the first time since 2019, from June 23 through 25, while still offering a virtual experience from June 23 through 29.

We Might Hurt Each Other joins previously announced Screambox screenings of Onyx The Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls and body horror New Religion. The fest says of the upcoming slasher: “filmmaker Jonas Trukanas‘ perfectly executed Lithuanian slasher We Might Hurt Each Other. Trukanas’ briskly paced hoot of a horror film is one of this year’s true standouts and another title presented by Screambox. We Might Hurt Each Other, has all the makings of a deeply satisfying cult classic.”

For those attending in person,...

Making a rom-com that cuts through the clutter these days can be a tall order. Once a regular date-night megaplex staple, most seem to wind up buried on streaming platforms, easily lost soon after their release. So it’s welcome when a filmmaker comes at the genre with admiration, reverence and ideas about how to make it appealing to a modern audience. In “Molli and Max in the Future,” writer-director Michael Lukk Litwak works from familiar incredients in crafting his story of two mismatched lovers who bicker and feud on their way to realizing that they were meant for each other. There’s fast-talking repartee, witty dialogue and fantastic chemistry between his leads Zosia Mamet and Aristotle Athari. It’s in what he chooses to surround his lead characters with, that he foibles the surefire setup.

Litwak’s clearly inspired by “When Harry Met Sally.” In fact, he lifts his story,...

"Molli and Max in the Future" is an out-of-this-world adorable romantic comedy that transforms the lowest lo-fi means into charms with a tractor-beam pull. Writer and director Michael Lukk Litwak shoots against a modular LED volume to create a cosmic universe where dating is still Earth-grade awkward. Props remind of resourceful high school theater productions of "Tron" while animation aims for "Blade Runner" or "Real Steel" except no more expensive than catering costs — which is never an issue because Litwak's vision explodes like a starburst of relationship charms. "Molli and Max in the Future" is the textbook definition of an indie darling that executes well above its obvious production restraints, as unique and boundlessly ingenious a film you'll find in today's media landscape.

Zosia Mamet stars as crystal harvester Molli — a human — who meets robotics-loving fish man Max (Aristotle Athari) by crashing into his spacebike. Molli gives Max a ride...

In the future, people will still be people, right? Actually, there are plenty of good reasons to think otherwise, but that’s the premise of Michael Lukk Litwak’s gently paced science fiction comedy, which screened as part of SXSW 2023. It follows the titular Molli (Zosia Mamet) and Max (Aristotle Athari) over a number of years as they meet, part ways, meet again, and so on, gradually recognising that there’s something important between them but repeatedly failing to do anything about it.

It’s a cartoonish future which borrows imagery from the likes of Blade Runner and Minority Report, letting us see the future in little snippets which are neither expensive to shoot nor overly distracting, the idea being that what we might find wondrous is really just wallpaper to two self-obsessed but still likeable characters whose concerns are not so different from our own. When we first encounter...

While the age of the classic romantic comedy seems to have passed us by, films like Michael Lukk Litwak’s Molli and Max in the Future remind us that there is still magic to be wrung from well worn tropes if the filmmaker can manage to skew the lens just so to give the audience a new angle on old stories. Love is love is love, it’s complicated, charming, frustrating, funny, sad, and sometimes scary, but no matter the individual settings and circumstances, audiences will always enjoy rooting for the big happy ending, especially when we see ourselves in the characters. Playing out like a lo-fi retrofuture When Harry Met Sally in space, Molli and Max in the Future is, if nothing else, a labor of...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Festival runs in Austin, Texas, from March 10-19.

Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring Taron Egerton are among the second wave of SXSW unveiled on Wednesday.

Festival organisers announced all selections in Visions, Global presented by Mubi, 24 Beats, and Festival Favorites as well as additions to Headliners, TV Premieres, Narrative and Documentary Spotlight.

New to Headliners are world premieres of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby follow-up Bottoms which follows two unpopular queer high school students who start a fight club to have sex before graduation; and Jon S. Baird’s Tetris starring...

“Saturday Night Live” is now sans a few more stars.

After longtime cast members Pete Davidson, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, and Kyle Mooney parted ways with the sketch comedy series earlier this year, “SNL” has now confirmed that Alex Moffat, Melissa Villaseñor, and Aristotle Athari will not be returning for the upcoming season.

Moffat, who frequently plays Eric Trump on the series, joined the cast for Season 42 as a featured player from 2016 through 2018. He was brought on as a full-time cast member in 2018. He has since starred in “Holidate” and “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” with upcoming films “Susie Searches,” “Christmas with the Campbells,” “Jodie,” and series “Bad Monkey” in the works.

Villaseñor also became part of the “SNL” cast in Season 42, similarly starting as a featured player and along with Moffat, becoming a full time repertory player in 2018. Villaseñor started as a contestant on “America’s Got Talent” before booking “SNL.

News of this arrived at the end of last week from a friend of ours, Ted Geoghegan. He, along with another friend to many in our ScreenAnarchy family, Ivy Lam, are co-producers on a sci-fi romantic comedy called Molli & Max in the Future.    Molli & Max In The Future is a grounded romantic comedy set in an absurd world. Max believes people change. Molli doesn't. Over the course of ten years, six planets, four dimensions, and one space cult, they prove each other right.   Molli & Max in the Future will be the debut feature film of Michael Lukk Litwak. Litwak earned many accolades and awards for his 2014 short film The Life and Death of Tommy Chaos and Stacey Danger. We've...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: The Flight Attendant star Zosia Mamet and Saturday Night Live’s Aristotle Athari are leading sci-fi romcom Molli & Max in the Future.

Principal photography on the New York-filmed feature debut from short film director Michael Lukk Litwak has just wrapped and pic has now entered post-production.

Set one billion years into the future and employing techniques used for Disney+’s The Mandalorian, the film is set in an absurd world where lead Max (Athari) believes people change and Molli (Mamet) doesn’t. Over the course of ten years, six planets, four dimensions, and one space cult, they prove each other right.

Rounding out cast is Arturo Castro (Broad City), Michael Chernus (Severance), Aparna Nancherla (BoJack Horseman), Okieriete Onaodowan (Broadway’s Hamilton), Paloma Garcia-Lee (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story), Erin Darke (Good Girls Revolt), Grace Kuhlenschmidt (Search Party), stand-up comedian Matteo Lane and seven-time Tony Award nominee Danny Burstein (Broadway’s Moulin Rouge!

I’ve got a fun sci-fi short film for you to check out today called Alpha Squadron. The film tells the story of a space fighter pilot squadron leader who is trying to keep his group of friends together as they grow apart.

The movie was written and directed by Michael Lukk Litwak who made the film using 100% practical effects. That includes the creation of miniatures and liquid nebulas. The short comes off as being a little silly, but I actually really dig the visual designs and effects. It works for the story and it’s just style of the film. I dig it!

The movie stars Griffin Newman (The Tick), Sunita Mani (Glow), and Jordan Carlos (Adulting). Watch Alpha Squadron below and let us know what you think!

"Who's up for a round of space beers?" "Space beer! Space beer!" Here's another funky, fun new sci-fi short film from filmmaker Michael Lukk Litwak. We previously featured his other funky sci-fi short The Life & Death of Tommy Chaos & Stacey Danger in 2014, and he's back again with another cool short film. Alpha Squadron is about a group of fighter pilot friends who start to fall apart after one of them leaves to go to grad school. Sound familiar? That same ol' story of friends growing up and growing apart. Starring Sunita Mani, Griffin Newman, Jordan Carlos, Will Dagger, and Sebastian Conelli. Most of the spaceships are miniatures which is why this is so clunky, but also why it's so cool. Always enjoy this kind of unique vibe. Thanks to Short of the Week for the tip on this. Brief description: "The story of a fighter pilot trying to keep his...

American indie film love is on full display at a fest that I’ve coined farm version of Telluride. The 8th edition of the Wassaic Project Film Festival will take off at the tail end of the month and the curators have landed Todd Haynes’ masterwork Safe and a foursome of worthy items (not including a special in-progress feature film screening) for the ’15 edition.

Sundance preemed items in Marielle Heller’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl and Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe’s (T)error will be shown alongside SXSW/Cannes profiled Krisha from Trey Edward Shults and Sam Cullman’s Tribeca showcased Art and Craft. The fest runs from July 31st until August 2nd in Wassaic, New York. Pitch up a tent and go watch these features – as well as shorts selected by the Wassaic Project and Jason Sondhi of Vimeo Staff Picks and Short of the Week.

"The Life and Death of Tommy Chaos and Stacey Danger" is easily one of the craziest and most entertaining short films you will have watched in months. The film comes from director Michael Lukk Litwak, and it's a ridiculously epic action-packed romantic adventure! It's an all-around great flick, but one of the main things that I love about it are the dinosaurs that have freakin' lasers attached their heads! According to the director, the movie was “once described by a drunk person as ‘a cross between Blue Valentine and Jurassic Park.’” Buckle up broncos, because you're about to embark on a wildly insane ride! Enjoy!

Via: io9...

"What I do know is that: I love more than a compass loves north." What in the funk is this? "Think Blue Valentine meets Jurassic Park." That's the opening pitch for this short film, but it's something else entirely unique and fun in its own way. The Life and Death of Tommy Chaos and Stacey Danger is a wacky, romantic adventure short from filmmaker Michael Lukk Litwak (@MLLitwak). It has a very hipster vibe to it, I must admit, but it's fun and the score is great (from the same guy who did the Beasts of the Southern Wild score). If you want to see a short film with dinosaurs, spaceships, romance and more, then fire this up. What an ending. Synopsis from the official website: "Dinosaurs have invaded Earth but neither Tommy nor Stacey care anymore, now that they’ve met each other. They escape the war, but whether...

We do love ourselves a good genre mash up here at Twitch and Michael Lukk Litwak's The Life And Death Of Tommy Chaos And Stacey Danger certainly qualifies. Created as a film school thesis project with over a hundred students chipping in to brings its huge ambitions to the screen, Litwak pitches the finished product as a sci-fi / fantasy / action / adventure / comedy / romance and, yep, that's about it.After a lengthy festival run the complete film went online in its entirety earlier today and you can take a look below....

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...