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Vicky Krieps and Viggo Mortensen are unleashing original Western film “The Dead Don’t Hurt” this fall festival season.

Slated as a feminist take on the genre, “The Dead Don’t Hurt” is premiering at 2023 TIFF and marks lead star Mortensen’s sophomore effort as a director following his 2020 debut “Falling.” The logline for “The Dead Don’t Hurt” teases that Mortensen and Krieps “try and survive the corruption in a tough Nevada town” in the 1860s. Mortensen writes, directs, and acts in the film centered on two immigrants forging a new life on the frontier.

The full synopsis reads: “French-Canadian flower seller Vivienne Le Coudy (Krieps) and Danish carpenter Holger Olsen (Mortensen) meet in San Francisco. Vivienne is irreverent, fiercely independent, and refuses to wed, but agrees to travel with Holger to his home near the quiet town of Elk Flats, Nevada. There, they begin a life together — Vivienne grows roses and...

I recently had a chance to see a new indie sci-fi film called Time Trap. The movie currently has a limited theatrical release and if it’s playing at a theater near you it’s definitely worth checking out!

The movie has a fascinating, unique, and innovative concept and it was executed really well! The movie was made on a low-budget and it may be a little rough around the edges, but for the most part it’s an awesome movie that I recommend checking out.

It has a smart mind-bending story that follows a group of students who become trapped inside a mysterious cave where they discover time passes differently. The story has some fun playing with the space-time continuum.

The concept is actually pretty terrifying in certain ways. Here’s the synopsis:

A group of students venture into the deep caves of remote Texas to locate a favorite...

You know that old chestnut: don’t go into a big, creepy cave you’re not familiar with in search of a missing person who, incidentally enough, also went into that same cave in search of a family that’s been missing for decades.

Mark Dennis and Ben Foster’s latest film, “Time Trap,” throws that (extremely solid) advice right out the proverbial window in service to an innovative new sci-fi adventure that rips apart both space and time at its very seams. Featuring a cast that includes Cassidy Gifford, Reiley McClendon, Brianne Howey, Olivia Draguicevich, Max Wright, and Andrew Wilson, “Time Trap” takes an already scary premise and bolsters it with some truly twisted riffs on time travel. Again, maybe don’t go in the weird cave.

Read More: ‘Alien: Covenant’ Clip: Demián Bichir Is Attacked in Ridley Scott’s New Sci-Fi Thriller — Watch

Per its official synopsis: “A sci-fi time travel adventure,...

Synkhole is a sci-fi thriller. The film deals with a cavern, the temporal plane and a denizen of creatures. Lightning Entertainment is moving the film towards a release date. And, the film stars Andrew Wilson (Rushmore), Cassidy Gifford and Brianne Howey. A trailer for the film is available here. The film's story begins with a group of archaeology students. They explore an ancient cavern, in search of a missing teacher. They stumble across a bubble in the space-time continuum, which shifts the nature of time. Soon, they are thrust into the future. Here, dangers are plentiful and they are in search of these time travellers. This film was recently completed. So, a release date will be revealed soon. Release Date: Tba. Director: Mark Dennis and Ben Foster. Writer: Mark Dennis. Cast: Andrew Wilson, Cassidy Gifford, Brianne Howey, Reiley McClendon and Hans Marrero. *trailer removed by the filmmakers' request. Source: Synkhole...

Here's the latest in Austin and Texas film news.

A new local documentary about rollerderby will premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival later this month. Leave It on the Track, about two competing Txrd teams, is directed by Benjamin Pascoe and produced by filmmaker/Austin Film Society instructor/derby team manager Jonny Stranger. Check out the trailer at the end of this article, and read Elizabeth's interview with Stranger about his Slacker 2011 segment.Houston-based filmmakers Keith Patterson's and Jack Lofton's documentary Ann Richards' Texas, about the life of the former Texas governor, will have its world premiere June 21 at the AFI Silverdocs festival in Washington, D.C. The movie includes interviews with Bill Clinton, Dolly Parton and Dan Rather.The award-winning indie film Strings can now be purchased or rented exclusively on iTunes through a digital distribution deal with The Orchard, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The Austin-shot thriller,...

 

The 18th Austin Film Festival is here. To help celebrate all the locally connected movies at this year's fest, we've reached out to a number of filmmakers to find out about their Austin and Texas-tied films screening at the fest.

Strings is a a thriller co-directed by Austinite Ben Foster and written by co-director Mark Dennis (pictured above at Tulsa Film Festival with Ben on the left). The film is about a grieving man who opts for an experimental therapy to start a new life with unexpected consequences.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but Austinite Karl Anderson, who has a significant role in the film, was very impressive during the script reading of By Way of Helena at Aff last year, so I can't wait to see his peformance on screen.  In the meantime Ben Foster graciously took the time to answer some questions about Strings, Aff and Austin.

By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: A handful of stellar titles with Oscar aspirations have been programmed into this year’s Austin Film Festival schedule, which begins on Oct. 20 with an as-yet-unnamed Opening Night selection.

In between, Aff audiences will get their first looks at Alexander Payne’s “The Descendants,” Steve McQueen’s “Shame,” Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” Rodrigo Garcia’s “Albert Nobbs” and Sean Durkin’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene” – all films with awards hopes that will screen as part of the festival’s Marquee category.

“We’re proud to be taking our program in some exciting new directions while maintaining our focus on strong writing and engaging stories,” said new Film Programmers Stephen Jannise and Stephen Belyeu.

In addition, the fest has set up special screenings of “Toy Story” (presented by John Lasseter), an “Edward Scissorhands” screening, and a tribute to Polly Platt...