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Since Austin Abrams made his screen debut in the 2011 direct-to-dvd Ticking Clock, the young actor has appeared in numerous movies and TV shows, making a name for himself as a dependable performer in teen dramas and comedies. For the early part of his career, Abrams tended to play either the main character's best friend or arrogant, in-over-his-head adolescent, like in Silicon Valley season 1, episode 6, "Third Party Insourcing", where he played the app-destroying hacker known as “The Carver”. Since then, Abrams has slowly been cast as more fully realized characters.

Abrams has shown a knack for playing roles in an understated and natural manner that is not always easy for younger actors to pull off. After his appearance in The Walking Dead, Abrams came to mainstream attention and a year later appeared in four films in 2017. Abrams has starred in movies and TV shows with both veteran movie stars and in ensembles with talented young actors,...

Netflix’s Kaleidoscope took a colorful crew of thieves and gave a fun spin to the typical heist drama, by detailing past motivations as well as chronicling the aftermath. Did the eight-episode series successfully steal your attention?

Kaleidoscope stars Giancarlo Esposito as Ray Vernon aka Leo Pap, a onetime burglar who escapes prison in the midst of a 25-year sentence to mastermind the robbing of an impenetrable vault containing 70 billion in untraceable bearer bonds. His crew includes Ava Mercer (played by Paz Vega), prison pal Stan Loomis (Peter Mark Kendall), chemical/explosives expert Judy Goodwin (Rosaline Elbay) and her safe-cracker...

Netflix has never been shy about putting experimental TV on its platform, as seen with interactive specials like “Bandersnatch.” Now, the streamer is playing with the medium’s episodic format with “Kaleidoscope,” a new anthology series set to premiere New Year’s Day.

“Kaleidoscope” is loosely inspired by a real-life story of 70 billion in bonds gone missing in Manhattan during Hurricane Sandy, focusing on a group of thieves as they undergo a multi-decade-long plan to pull off the perfect heist on a seemingly unbreakable vault. The first season features eight episodes, with each installment bouncing around a 24-year timeline from when the crew’s preparations began to six months after the heist day itself.

Uniquely, with the exception of the finale — which depicts the actual heist itself — every episode of the series is designed to be watched in any order, and the show randomizes the experience so that each viewer...

Netflix’s new anthology series “Kaleidoscope” will give viewers their own unique experience watching a team of skillful thieves attempt to pull off a robbery they’ve been planning for over 20 years. In a sneak peek clip, the cast and crew share the intricacies of the series and how it’s making a new spin on the traditional anthology series.

“Every episode had multiple connections to every other episode,” said the show’s creator, showrunner and executive producer Eric Garcia in the clip. Garcia is also one of the “Kaleidoscope” writers.

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In the eight-part series, the audience will follow “a crew of masterful thieves and their attempt to crack a seemingly unbreakable vault for the biggest payday in history. Guarded by the world’s most powerful corporate security team,...

Hey, "Elementary" fans. We hope you guys enjoyed the premiere episode 1 this past Thursday night. Now that it's officially in the history books, it's time to take a look at what's in store for the next, new episode 2. CBS was nice enough to deliver a press release for it, which features a teaser description. So, that's what we'll be referencing for this spoiler session. To get things started, CBS' press release revealed that episode 2 is labeled/titled, "Gutshot." Ugh, that sounds mighty rough. Anyways, episode 2 sounds like it will feature more interesting and possible drama-filled scenes as Holmes and Watson try to work an investigation of a badly wounded person. Homes faces heavy legal problems and more! We'll go ahead and start off this spoiler session with the Holmes and Watson investigation. It turns out that these two will get involved in a stateside investigation over in London. The case...

I first meet Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stars Nicholas Podany and Bubba Weiler in the patronus room at Broadway's Lyric Theatre, where it's made abundantly - and immediately - clear that they're big Potterheads. I'm pointing out my patronus, a cat, to Podany before the conversation quickly shifts to what our Hogwarts houses are. Weiler is a Hufflepuff like me, while Podany adds, without hesitation, that he's a Gryffindor. While their houses slightly differ from that of their characters', their real-life friendship is just as endearing as it is on stage.

For Podany and Weiler - who play Harry Potter's son Albus and Draco Malfoy's son Scorpius, respectively - joining the Broadway play's second-year cast is legitimately a dream come true. Not only is this their Broadway debut, but they both have such a strong attachment to the franchise, albeit from different times in their lives.

Canadian home video rights to Jenn Wexler's The Ranger have been acquired by Black Fawn Distribution, and the movie will be released on Blu-ray and DVD in Canada on January 22nd. Also in today's Horror Highlights: Nightshift VOD release details, info on Miscreated version 1.0, and a Q&A with Escape Room composer John Carey.

The Ranger Canadian Blu-ray and DVD Release Details: "Black Fawn Distribution has acquired the Canadian home video rights to Jenn Wexler’s festival favorite, the punk rock slasher flick The Ranger. The deal was brokered by 79th & Broadway Entertainment’s Andrew van den Houten, on behalf of the production companies Hood River Entertainment and Glass Eye Pix. Black Fawn Distribution’s Blu-ray/DVD release of The Ranger is set for January 22, 2019, and is packed with special features including audio commentary with members of the cast and crew, 5 making of documentaries, and more.

Directed by...

The creators behind AFI Fest 2018 have announced their Midnight lineup and it consists of films from all around the world. Also: an exclusive clip from Bonehill Road, A71 Entertainment's acquisition of the Canadian home video rights to The Ranger, and details on the Witch City Horror Film Fest in Salem, Ma.

AFI Fest 2018 Midnight Lineup Revealed: "Cam – Lola (Madeline Brewer of The Handmaid’S Tale) is a modern-day camgirl who makes her living through online private chats, but her world is about to turn upside down. Written by former camgirl Isa Mazzei, this thriller is one of the most surprising and intelligent films of the year. Dir Daniel Goldhaber. Scr Isa Mazzei, Daniel Goldhaber. Cast Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters, David Druid, Imani Hakim, Michael Dempsey. USA

In Fabric – A demonic dress haunts the lives of all that come into contact with it in this sexually explicit, phantasmagoric fever dream.

After a very successful festival run, Jenn Wexler's punk slasher The Ranger finds a home at Shudder. It has been officially announced that Shudder acquired the film, with plans for a North American and UK release in 2019. We've included the official press release below and you can learn more by checking out Patrick's festival review and my interview with co-stars Chloë Levine and Jeremy Holm.

New York, NY – Shudder, the leading subscription video on demand service for thriller, suspense and horror, announced today that they have acquired the North American, UK, Anz and Ga rights to acclaimed punk rock slasher The Ranger. The deal, which was negotiated following the film’s SXSW premiere, was done by Shudder’s Emily Gotto and 79th & Broadway Entertainment’s Andrew van den Houten, on behalf of the production companies Hood River Entertainment and Glass Eye Pix.

A wild, neon-colored romp in the...

AMC’s dedicated genre streaming service Shudder has acquired Jenn Wexler’s punk rock slasher “The Ranger” which had its world premiere at South by Southwest festival in the Midnighters section.

Shudder picked up North American, U.K., Australia/New Zealand and Germany/Austria rights. The deal was negotiated by Shudder’s Emily Gotto and 79th& Broadway Entertainment’s Andrew van den Houten, on behalf of Hood River Entertainment and Glass Eye Pix.

Described as reminiscent of “Return of the Living Dead” and “Class of 1984,” “The Ranger” follows a group of young punks who are forced to flee the city and run into a park ranger who shares a mysterious past with one of their own.

The film stars Chloë Levine (“The Transfiguration”), Jeremy Holm (“House of Cards”), Granit Lahu (“The Sinner”), Jeremy Pope, Bubba Weiler (“Puzzle”) and Amanda Grace Benitez (“School of Rock”).

“The Ranger” marks the directorial debut of Wexler,...

Stars: Chloe Levine, Jeremy Holm, Granit Lahu, Jeremy Pope, Bubba Weiler, Amanda Grace Benitez, Larry Fessenden, Nicholas Tucci | Written by Giaco Furino, Jenn Wexler | Directed by Jenn Wexler

Having your debut feature play at London’s Frightfest is a huge honour. So for Jenn Wexler’s debut, The Ranger to also play on the festival’s opening night is a very big deal…

The Ranger tells a tried and tested genre story. In very simple terms, a group of teens go to stay in a cabin in the woods. There’s no evil spirits, no zombies, no ghosts, no aliens, just – as the title would suggest – one park ranger. But he is nasty enough to cause plenty of problems for the group. Jeremy Holm plays The Ranger, he looks nasty, angry and continuously like he wants to start a fight. And although I wouldn’t say I felt any sympathy for him,...

Chelsea (Chloe Levine) is introduced looking the part if not quite one hundred percent committed to the zero consequence, wild lifestyle those around her have embraced as their core identity. Punk rock blasts from the stage of a hole-in-the-wall venue that’s probably not actually open to the public considering an eventual police raid shutting it all down. Her friends consider themselves a family who do everything together whether getting wasted, stealing drugs at knifepoint, or stabbing cops to get away. They protect one another from the “pigs” of the world, embracing their anarchist ways until blood comes pouring out punctured eardrums. And they’ve adopted Chelsea’s lost soul into the mix regardless of her ability to acknowledge her presence as more than a tourist hiding from herself.

When director Jenn Wexler and co-writer Giaco Furino place their lead character in a tight corner and let her boyfriend Garth...

Kelly Macdonald on working with Puzzle director Marc Turtletaub and Irrfan Khan, David Denman, Bubba Weiler, Austin Abrams, and Liv Hewson: "It's very much on the day, on set, I believe that's when it really begins for me." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

In the second half of my conversation with Kelly Macdonald at the Langham Hotel in New York we go from Natalia Smirnoff's Rompecabezas to Anna Karenina, Robinson Crusoe, and Philippa Lowthorpe's Swallows And Amazons based on the book by Arthur Ransome. Kelly's feelings about jigsaw puzzles are revealed: "I love them"; and she talks about her upcoming projects which include working again with The Child In Time director Julian Farino on a BBC and Netflix mini-series Giri/Haji, created by Joe Barton, and a Sherlock Holmes comedy directed by Etan Cohen, starring Will Ferrell and John C Reilly as Holmes and Watson with Ralph Fiennes, Hugh Laurie,...

Featuring an outstanding cast that includes the brilliant Irrfan Khan, the amazing Kelly MacDonald and the excellent David Denman, Marc Turtletaub’s Puzzle opens in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on July 27th.

A powerful but uneven adaption of the Argentinean film Rompecabezas, Puzzle transplants the tale from Buenos Aires to Yonkers and New York City. It is the story of a very repressed, closed off woman coming into her own and finding her true self.

Puzzle is a small portrait of the small life of Agnes, who has reached her early 40s without ever venturing far from home, her family or the tight-knit community in which her widowed father raised her. That sheltered, predictable life begins to change in a quietly dramatic fashion when Agnes receives a jigsaw puzzle as a birthday gift and experiences the heady thrill of not only doing something she enjoys, but also being very,...

A wife and mother in her 40s is at the center of Sony Pictures Classics’ Sundance fest acquisition Puzzle starring Kelly Macdonald and making its theatrical bow this weekend in New York and Los Angeles. Directed by Marc Turtletaub, the feature, which also stars Irrfan Khan, is based on an Argentine film from 2009. Greenwich Entertainment is taking doc Scotty And the Secret History of Hollywood to select locations this weekend. Based on a best-selling memoir, the film spotlights Scotty Bowers who provided for the sexual needs of some of Hollywood’s biggest stars during its Golden Age. And Music Box Films is going out with its Toronto ’17 fest feature The Captain, based on a true story about a German army deserter who finds a captain’s uniform in the waning days of World War II. The film will have an exclusive New York run this weekend before heading to other cities.

Kelly Macdonald with producer Wren Arthur and director Marc Turtletaub on her Puzzle costumes: "Mirren Gordon-Crozier did a great job." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

The day after Marc Turtletaub introduced me to Kelly Macdonald at Sony Pictures Classics, the star of Puzzle met with me for a conversation that started out with the meal that Kelly as Agnes prepares for her husband Louie (David Denman), their two sons Ziggy (Bubba Weiler) and Gabe (Austin Abrams), and his girlfriend Nicki (Liv Hewson). Kelly and I leap from Isabelle Huppert's shoes to the stoop that Jack Lemmon sits on in Billy Wilder's The Apartment, from a Fred MacMurray resemblance to her The Child In Time co-star Benedict Cumberbatch to Cameron Crowe's persistence, and her character in Marc Turtletaub's Puzzle.

Kelly Macdonald on appearing saintly as Agnes in Puzzle: "I knew that Chris Norr, the cinematographer, was filming it in...

Marc Turtletaub (with producer Wren Arthur) on Catholicism in Puzzle and an Alfonso Cuarón film: "I want it to be in the background, much like when you watch Y Tu Mamá También." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Puzzle, co-written by Oren Moverman and Polly Mann, stars Kelly Macdonald (Joe Wright's Anna Karenina), Irrfan Khan (Ang Lee's Life Of Pi), and David Denman with Bubba Weiler, Austin Abrams, and Liv Hewson. Based on an Argentinian film, Natalia Smirnoff's Rompecabezas, starring María Onetto (Damián Szifron's Wild Tales), first-time director and long-time producer Marc Turtletaub, sets up his protagonist's life with an elegant and surprising opening sequence that makes us understand in a flash the dynamics between Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) and her nearest and dearest and propels us into the personal riddles to be explored.

Puzzle co-screenwriter Oren Moverman with his The Dinner and Time Out of Mind star Richard Gere Photo:...

Puzzle Sony Pictures Classics Reviewed by: Harvey Karten Director: Marc Turtletaub Screenwriter: Oren Moverman, adapted from the Argentine movie “Rompecabezas” (“Puzzle”) Cast: Kelly Macdonald, Irrfan Khan, David Denman, Bubba Weiler, Austin Abrams Screened at: Sony, NYC, 6/7/18 Opens: July 27. 2018 If Agnes (Kelly Macdonald) ever gets tired of working on jigsaw puzzles she can […]

The post Puzzle Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Jenn Wexler directed Midnighters selection.

Octane Entertainment will represent select international sales in Cannes on SXSW slasher film The Ranger from Hood River Entertainment and Glass Eye Pix.

Andrew van den Houten, horror veteran Larry Fessenden, Ashleigh Snead, Heather Buckley and Jenn Wexler produced the story of teen punks on the run from the law who face off against an unhinged park ranger.

Chloë Levine (The Transfiguration), Jeremy Holm (Mr. Robot), Granit Lahu, Jeremy Pope, Bubba Weiler, and Amanda Grace Benitez (School Of Rock) star in the SXSW Midnighters selection. First-timer Wexler directed from a screenplay she co-wrote with Giaco Furino.

It’s hard to imagine anything that sounds more low stakes than putting together jigsaw puzzles, but Marc Turtletaub’s “Puzzle” turns a relatively benign hobby into the catalyst for charming new drama. Scottish actress Kelly Macdonald stars in the film, which debuted at Sundance in January, and the combination of Turtletaub’s graceful direction and Macdonald’s satisfying and humane performance result in a mid-life crisis film with a darling edge.

Turtletaub’s film – his second feature, though he’s got a slew of producing credits, including previous Sundance favorites “Jack Goes Boating” and “Safety Not Guaranteed” — revels in the possibilities of finding something new in a wholly ordinary life. For Macdonald’s sheltered character Agnes, that starts with the literal opening of a birthday gift, one that contains a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle that ignites in her not only a new passion, but also the long-dormant sense that she’s excellent at something.

"I'm here about the puzzles." Sony Pictures Classics has revealed a trailer for the lovely indie film Puzzle, from producer + filmmaker Marc Turtletaub, his second feature film that he's directed. This premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and ended up being one of my favorites of the fest, it's just so very delightful and elegantly inspiring. The supremely talented Kelly Macdonald stars as a suburban mother who discovers she has a knack for putting together puzzles fast. She befriends Irrfan Khan as her puzzle partner and he helps her grow and break out of her monotonous existence. The cast also includes David Denman, Bubba Weiler, Austin Abrams, and Liv Hewson. I raved about it in my Sundance review, praising "how such a simple story told with such humility and sensibility, can result in a wonderful film." It really is quite special. Here's the first official trailer for Marc Turtletaub's Puzzle,...

While at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival, Daily Dead had the opportunity to catch up with the cast and crew from co-writer/director Jenn Wexler’s punk slasher The Ranger, which follows a group of rebellious teens into the woods as they square off against a murderous forest ranger who doesn’t take kindly to folks who don’t like to follow the rules of his wooded domain.

Wexler is no stranger to the realm of indie filmmaking, as she’s been a producer on numerous movies at Glass Eye Pix, and we heard from her about making the transition to director for her newest project and putting the film together with the cast and crew that were also in attendance for the press day for The Ranger, including her co-writer Giaco Furino, producers Heather Buckley, Andrew van den Houten, Ashleigh Snead, Chad Ghiron, and Darryl Gariglio, as well as cast members Chloe Levine,...

Entering its 14th year of entertaining, educating, and enthralling audiences with ambitious genre movies, Arizona's International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival has another eclectic lineup this year, including To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story, Downrange, David and Rebekah McKendry's All the Creatures Were Stirring, and the world premiere of Cynthia.

Read on for the list of highlighted films from the International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival lineup below, and visit HorrorSciFi.com and PhoenixFilmFestival.com for more information.

Press Release: It’s that time of year again Horror and Sci-Fi friends, that time to cozy up with your popcorn and cold beverage to watch the horrific, bizarre, otherworldly sights we have planned at the 14th Annual International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival which takes place at Harkins Scottsdale 101 from April 6th-15th.

We have expanded to 10 days and have more programming for your eyes to feast upon at the festival this year.

Tagline: "Every Year, Millions Visit Our National Parks, Not Everyone Gets to Leave!" Quiet Earth has debuted the trailer for The Ranger. This indie horror title recently had its World Premiere, at the SXSW Film Festival, in Austin. The film is a collaboration between Hood River Entertainment and Larry Fessenden's Glass Eye Pix. Within The Ranger, several punks head out into the hills. They are looking to drug the day and night away, until a sociopathic park ranger turns up. The Ranger stars: Chloe Levine (The Defenders), Amanda Grace Benitez (All Cheerleaders Die), Bubba Weiler and Grant Lahu. The film's official trailer and poster are hosted here. The official synopsis mentions a tussle with the local cops. Now, these punks are fleeing the city, while taking the drug Echo. In an old family hideout, a local park ranger has an axe to grind with the hallucinating punks. But, one...

This throwback to the VHS days just premiered at the SXSW Film Festival. The Ranger is the feature directorial debut from Jenn Wexler. It was written by Giaco Furino and Jenn Wexler.

The Ranger stars Chloë Levine, Granit Lahu, Jeremy Pope, Bubba Weiler, Amanda Grace Benitez, Jeremy Holm, with The Last Winter director Larry Fessenden (always a plus).

Synopsis:

When Chelsea and her friends get in trouble with the cops, they flee the city and go on the run. Fueled by a hallucinogenic drug called Echo, they hope to lay low—and get high—in an o...

"This isn't a place for you kids to party." Here's another teaser trailer for a slasher film playing at the SXSW Film Festival. This one is titled The Ranger, and it's the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Jenn Wexler, who has worked as a producer on a bunch of great indie films before this. This 80's horror thriller is about teen punks, on the run from the cops and hiding out in the woods, who end up facing off against the "local authority"—an unhinged park ranger with an axe to grind. The Ranger's cast includes Chloë Levine, Granit Lahu, Jeremy Pope, Bubba Weiler, Amanda Grace Benitez, Jeremy Holm, with Larry Fessenden. This teaser doesn't reveal much, and not much of the Ranger himself, but it still looks like fun. Here's the first teaser trailer for Jenn Wexler's The Ranger, direct from Vimeo (via Tmb): Description from SXSW:...

Kelly Macdonald in Puzzle. Dustin O'Halloran: 'The film’s never about being big, it’s about what’s happening inside her and her journey' Photo: Chris Norr

Marc Turtletaub's English-language adaptation of Natalia Smirnoff's The Puzzle - co-written by Oren Moverman - tells the story of under-appreciated mum Agnes (Kelly Macdonald), whose life revolves around her husband Louie (David Denman) and her two sons Ziggy (Bubba Weiler) and Gabe (Austin Abrams), who are on the brink of flying the nest. When Agnes receives a jigsaw for her birthday, it opens a surprising new avenue in her life that leads her to meet Robert (Irrfan Khan), an avid competitive puzzler who triggers a reassessment of her situation.

Turtletaub's film is a subtle character study that allows Agnes to retain her shyness while also evolving her outlook and it is matched by a gently moving, lyrical score from Dustin O'Halloran.

After experimenting with his form of boundary-pushing, cinema-as-memory films to great, succesful lengths with his last three narrative features–not to mention Voyage of Time, which we’re still awaiting an actual U.S. release for–Terrence Malick will return to more of a traditional script with his WWII drama Radegund, hopefully releasing later this year. But first, after splicing in avant-garde and experiential touches with his last few films, he’s making the natural step into virtual reality.

Premiering at South by Southwest Festival–where he gave a rare public talk last year–on March 13 is the Vr experience Together, which is directed by Malick and shot by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Silence, The Wolf of Wall Street, Brokeback Mountain). Clocking in at 5 minutes and 46 seconds and featuring music by Simon Franglen, see the synopsis below, as well as the first look above.

“Together” is a Vr experience about the power of human connection.

Following the announcement that John Krasinski's A Quiet Place will be the opening night movie at SXSW, the anticipated Midnighters genre slate has now been revealed, including the buzzed-about Hereditary (read Heather Wixson's Sundance review here), Leigh Whannell's Upgrade, Jenn Wexler's The Ranger, and Field Guide to Evil.

You can check out the full list of Midnighters below, and visit the official SXSW website for more information on the festival's schedule.

From SXSW: "The SXSW Midnighters section is a perennial favorite for SXSW audiences thrilled by the weird, electric, and sometimes terrifying selections. Featuring 10 genre films, including 6 World Premieres, the slate includes dark comedies, thrillers, Sci-Fi, mystery and slasher horror from a mix of established and first-time filmmakers. The Midnighters, as well as 12 additional films, which are included in the 132 total features now to be screened at the SXSW 2018 Film Festival.

Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative...

Kelly Macdonald and Irrfan Khan will star in Puzzle, the Big Beach project that also will star David Denman.

Marc Turtletaub will direct the film, which centers on a fortysomething suburban mother whose world is consumed with caring for the men in her family. When she discovers she has a gift for assembling puzzles, her world begins to open and her entire family is forced to adjust and grow as well.

Rounding out the cast is Bubba Weiler (The Good Fight, The Ranger), Austin Abrams (Paper Towns) and Liv Hewson (Santa Clarita Diet, Top of the Lake).

Oren Moverman and...

In today's Horror Highlights, we have an update and a video for Clive Barker Presents: Reel Fear Horror Contest, as well as Ghost Brothers clips, The Ranger casting details, info on the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival, and a new zombie-themed song on Coolzey and Soce the Elemental Wizard's new Ep, Coolsay Too.

Clive Barker Presents: Reel Fear Horror Contest: "Are you more of a slasher fan, or would you prefer a paranormal thriller? Do you like blood and guts, or do the twists and turns of psychological horror keep you on the edge of the seat? Well, now’s the chance for you and genre fans everywhere to greenlight your next favorite horror flick.

Public voting for the “Clive Barker Presents: Reel Fear Horror Contest” from Project Greenlight Digital Studios and Shudder officially opens today!

Filmmakers have submitted one-to-three minute pitches for their original horror film concepts on projectgreenlight.

Jeremy Holm (pictured above; “House of Cards”, “Mr Robot”), Chloe Levine (The Transfiguration, The Oa), Amanda Grace Benitez (All Cheerleaders Die) star alongside Granit Lahu, Jeremy Pope, and Bubba Weiler star in Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix and Andrew van den Houten’s Hood River Entertainment The Ranger, which began principal photography this week in New York. The Ranger, directed Jenn Wexler, follows a group of teen punks who get in trouble with […]...