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One of the great misfortunes of human life is the fact that much of it is spent in a constant state of worry. Are we doing the right things to reach our potential? Is it too late to start something new, or redo it all? These relatable queries are at the heart of writer-director Michael J. Weithorn’s modestly scaled dramedy “The Best You Can,” an optimistic film that feels truthful about aging, even if it doesn’t say anything we haven’t heard before.

Then again, you can’t really blame a movie for not formulating a brand-new answer to the existential dread around that old question, “How the hell did old age arrive so soon?” (It goes without saying that the definition of “old” depends on whom you ask.) Instead, it feels fairer to acknowledge and praise the lived-in textures that Weithorn fashions, a sense of authenticity that...

Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick bring their vivid screen presence and expert timing to The Best You Can, elevating this low-key, Tribeca-premiering dramedy. With strong performances and a fresh premise about an unexpected friendship in middle age, but far too many creaky comic tropes, the uneven film is always watchable but never pops off the screen in a gripping way.

It’s the second feature written and directed by Michael J. Weithorn, a co-creator of The King of Queens and a veteran writer on other sitcoms. It’s simply descriptive and not a disparagement to say that with its often strained plot and quick-hit sitcom timing, the film is most likely to appeal to an undemanding audience and an older demographic.

Sedgwick plays Cynthia, whose brilliant husband, Warren (Judd Hirsch, reliably on point), once on the staff of the Watergate committee, is now 83 and sliding into dementia. At the start...

Rather remarkably, “The Best You Can” represents the first time real-life spouses Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon have been onscreen together in 20 years. And if their reunion is just as easygoing and unpretentious as their beloved at-home TikToks, well, is that really anything to complain about?

Sedgwick’s Cynthia seems, at first, to be living a pretty ideal life. She and her brilliant husband, Warren (Judd Hirsch), have a gorgeous home in Brooklyn, and she works as a successful urologist while he rests on the laurels of a celebrated career as a Watergate prosecutor. But there are cracks, which get wider every time Warren forgets where he is, or what he’s working on. And these fissures soon make space for Stan (Bacon), a security guard who patrols Cynthia’s neighborhood.

After an apparent break-in brings them together one night, Cynthia and Stan find themselves texting jokes, then daily commentary,...

Making its world premiere in the Spotlight Narrative section of the Tribeca Festival, The Best You Can represents the first major onscreen teaming of real-life husband and wife Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick since 2004’s The Woodsman, and they remain the best reason to see this small but engaging character dramedy about boomers fighting life passing them by. It will also largely appeal to that similar demographic. Nothing wrong with that.

It is hard to believe the ever-young dancing presence of Footloose is now 66 and playing a guy with prostate problems but, hey, everyone gets older and the sweet premise of this film written and directed by Michael J. Weithorn is that maybe it is never too late to find something new to re-energize your life, even if it seems that ship has already sailed.

Sedgwick plays Cynthia Rand, the 25-years-younger wife of Walter (Judd Hirsch) who sadly is experiencing the onset of dementia,...

The indie film Dave Made a Maze is definitely a horror movie but of a different breed. Although the movie takes place within the confines of the protagonist's apartment, Dave's creation illustrates how a person's thoughts can take on a life of its own. While an individual is within their imagination, they can lose sight of reality, and Dave Made a Maze depicts how that can be determinantal and even dangerous to others.

The 2017 indie film Dave Made a Maze is anything but boring. The movie certainly stands out with its creative opening credit sequence and visuals, combining horror, fantasy, adventure and comedy elements. However, the picture tries to engage with its audience on a deeper level than merely taking them on an optical thrill ride with some unorthodox but creative instances of fright. Dave Made a Maze, in short, considers the ramifications of an overactive imagination and how too...

Courtney B. Vance and Niecy Nash are teaming up for Netflix’s latest family drama.

In a People exclusive look at the first trailer for Uncorked, Vance and Nash star Louis and Sylvia, a couple that struggles to accept their son Elijah’s (Mamoudou Athie) ambitious dreams of becoming a master sommelier instead of taking over the family barbecue business.

“My whole life I’ve been told what my future was going to look like. But I just want to find my own thing,” Elijah says in a voiceover.

As he tells his father about his dream, Louis says, “I...

In today’s film news roundup, Kristen Schaal and Holland Taylor have joined the cast of “Bill & Ted Face The Music”; Gravitas sets a pair of release dates; Alamo Drafthouse unveils its “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” plans; and Peter Weir is set for an honor.

Castings

Kristen Schaal and Holland Taylor have joined the cast of “Bill & Ted Face The Music” as characters from 700 years in the future.

Schaal will play a messenger while Taylor is set to take on the role of The Great Leader, the most powerful person in the universe. Keanu Reeves will again portray Ted “Theodore” Logan, and Alex Winter will reprise his role as Bill S. Preston, Esq. Other cast members include Scott Mescudi – best known by his stage name Kid Cudi – William Sadler, Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine.

Amy Stoch and Hal Landon Jr. have signed on to reprise their...

Set to enjoy its world premiere tonight at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival, Perception tells of a successful young man who still mourns the death of his beloved wife. A chance encounter with a psychic promises to change everything. We have an exclusive clip from the film, which reveals the doubting Daniel (Wes Ramsey) and a psychic named Nina (Meera Rohit Kumbhani). Here's the official synopsis to put it into context: "When Daniel, a successful real estate developer, must evict Nina, a mysterious small-time psychic struggling to provide for her young son, the last thing he expects in return is a free reading. But when Nina senses the spirit of Daniel's dead wife, a once-promising artist, his desire to reconnect with her quickly becomes...

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

On the tail of a successful festival run, Us home video release, and an upcoming home video release through Arrow Films in the UK, director Bill Watterson's incredible cult oddity Dave Made a Maze has scored a theatrical release in Japan beginning this Friday, October 19th.  When Dave (Nick Thune), a bored homebody who decided to build a complex maze out of cardboard boxes in his living room gets lost, it's up to his girlfriend, Annie (Meera Rohit Kumbhani) and their friends to save him from his own insane/ingenious creation. Dave Made a Maze is a marvel not only of pure creative spirit, but also a hugely impressive feat of art direction and production design.  Building a complex labyrinth out of cardboard boxes and other...

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

So here’s the thing: being an adult kind of sucks. We spend so much of our childhoods yearning for responsibility and the freedom that being of a certain age brings, but most of us probably failed to appreciate just how good we had it as carefree kids. And now, we are expected to transform ourselves into responsible grown-ups who have to spend the rest of our days worrying about bills, jobs, or even living up to the expectations of our significant others or other loved ones.

And those are the predicaments faced by the titular protagonist in Dave Made a Maze: do you settle for the life everyone else expects you to lead, or do you dare to follow the unbeaten path (which, in Bill Watterson’s delightful comedy, leads directly into a magical labyrinth within the confines of a box fort) in hopes of achieving a sense...

Dave Made A Maze Gravitas Ventures Director: Bill Watterson Writer: Steven Sears Cast: Nick Thune, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, James Urbaniak, Adam Busch, Stephanie Allynne, Rick Overton, Scott Krinsky, Frank Caeti, Scott Narver Running Time: 80min Rating: Unrated (language, comedic violence) In Theaters And on VOD August 18, 2017 Dave (Nick Thune, Bad Johnson) is a struggling […]

The post Dave Made a Maze Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Chicago – When the magnificently creative film “Dave Made a Maze” begins, it seems like another Millennial generation stab at micro budget filmmaking, with a claustrophobic set and extreme archetypes instead of characters. But then the “exploration” of the title maze starts, and suddenly “Dave” becomes a marvel of invention, tribute, hilarity and even truth.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

A passionate group of filmmakers got together with a strange idea… what if they were to send this group of archetypes into a cardboard fort that a frustrated artist has built, a group that includes his offbeat lover? And what if once inside that maze, the magic begins, as rooms become expansive and tests the will of the search party, transporting them into fantasies of their favorite adventure films from the last 40 years. Oh yeah, and there has to be a film-within-a-film that a hapless documentary crew is trying to make. Does this sound like...

The premise is silly: stunted artist who’s never finished a project in his life finds inspiration through cardboard boxes and their ability to be molded into a literal labyrinth he’s already erected virtually inside his mind to ensure he will never fail (or succeed) since such a final verdict only comes with completion. So bogged down in existential dread—and made to endure it while girlfriend Annie (Meera Rohit Kumbhani) is out-of-town for a much-needed reprieve from his slacker-infused excuses—Dave (Nick Thune) allows its weight to force him into an abyss of despair he cannot escape alone. The only avenue towards freedom is ultimately found by going farther inward. Dave must finish something, everything … anything. He must commit to the work, to Annie, and to himself.

While that all sounds like some crazy on-the-nose metaphor performed through imaginative dream, you’re only going to find yourself half right.

“A stone-cold cult classic” – The Young Folks Dave Made A Maze In Theaters And on VOD August 18, 2017 Dave Made A Maze features Nick Thune (Knocked Up), Meera Rohit Kumbhani (“The Mindy Project”), James Urbaniak (“Difficult People”), Stephanie Allynne (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates), Kirsten Vangsness (“Criminal Minds”), Scott Krinsky (Jobs), Frank Caeti (Stranger Than Fiction), …

The post Dave Made A Maze – Next Week! first appeared on Hnn | Horrornews.net 2017 - Official Horror News Site...

Directed by Bill Watterson, Dave Made a Maze follows Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career. He builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation. Ignoring his warnings, Dave’s girlfriend Annie leads a band of oddball explorers on a rescue mission. Once inside, they find themselves caught in an ever-changing supernatural world, threatened by booby traps and pursued by a bloodthirsty Minotaur.

Starring Kirsten Vangsness, James Urbaniak, Adam Busch, Stephanie Allynne, Scott Krinsky, Nick Thune, wrestler-turned actor John Hennigan (who plays the minotaur), Rick Overton, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Frank Caeti, Timothy Nordwind, and Scott Narver, Dave Made a Maze is set for a Us release on August 18th.

"If you want to survive this fantasy world, think outside the boxes." Holy mackerel, this looks amazing!! Gravitas has unveiled an official trailer for an indie comedy titled Dave Made a Maze, about an artist who builds a huge fort in his living room out of cardboard. The clever concept here is that as soon as you enter the maze, it turns into something much bigger. Dave builds the maze out of pure frustration, only to end up trapped by the "fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation." This stars Nick Thune, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, James Urbaniak, Stephanie Allynne, Kirsten Vangsness, plus Scott Krinsky. Ohh it looks like it's going to be so, so much fun, kind of like Michel Gondry meets the Duplass Brothers, or something like that. This really does seem like a certified instant cult classic. I'm ready to enter. Here's the first official...

When Daily Dead contributor Ben Larned saw it at the Boston Underground Film Festival, he called Dave Made a Maze a "playful, darkly inventive look into the creative mind" in his review, and Gravitas Ventures' official trailer for the film certainly highlights its humor and the strangely unsettling vibe ahead of its August release.

Synopsis: "An unaccomplished and frustrated artist builds a cardboard box fort in his living room and winds up trapped with a gang of oddball explorers in a fantasy world of his own creation, threatened by booby traps and a bloodthirsty Minotaur."

Directed by Bill Watterson, Dave Made a Maze stars Nick Thune, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, James Urbaniak, John Morrison, Kirsten Vangsness, Stephanie Allynne, and Adam Busch. Gravitas Ventures will release the movie in select theaters on August 18th.

The post Enter a Lethal Labyrinth in the Official Trailer for Dave Made A Maze appeared first on Daily Dead.

Chicago – Truly unique and creative micro-budget films are as rare as a sighting of Bigfoot these days, as so many people are picking up a camera to give it try. The production of “Dave Made a Maze” is a happy exception, a film that delivers the thrills and at the same time makes fun of them. Throw in hipsters-in-peril and homages to 1980s adventure films, and it’s easy to find the way through this fun movie.

The ‘Kubrick Room’ in ‘Dave Made a Maze

Photo credit: Gravitas Ventures

Dave (Nick Thune) is a stay-at-home slacker who never can finish his many creative endeavors, much to the chagrin of his working partner Annie (Meera Rohit Kumbhani). Coming back from a business trip, Annie discovers kid size cardboard fort structure in their living room, and Dave is inside it. In fact, he’s been inside it for three days, unable to...

Exclusive: Company picks up Lemon and Dave Made A Maze.

Screen Media International has boarded Slamdance audience award winner Dave Made A Maze and Sundance selection Lemon [pictured] and is kicking off talks on the Croisette.

Janicza Bravo’s Lemon follows a man whose life unravels after his blind girlfriend leaves him.

Brett Gelman, Gillian Jacobs and Michael Cera star and Magnolia Pictures will distribute in North America later this year

Bill Watterson’s Dave Made A Maze premiered in Slamdance and stars Nick Thune, Meera Rohit Kumbhani and Adam Busch.

The film centres on a frustrated aspiring artist who builds a fort in his living room and gets sucked into its fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and imagined creatures.

Gravitas Ventures handles North American rights and plans a release later in the year.

“Both titles have already been well received at independent film festivals,” Screen Media International president Almira Ravil said. “We also believe...

Keep up with the wild and wooly world of indie film acquisitions with our weekly Rundown of everything that’s been picked up around the globe. Check out last week’s Rundown here.

– Focus Features has acquired the North American and select international rights to Jason Reitman’s “Tully.” Written by Diablo Cody, the comedy stars Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Mark Duplass and Ron Livingston.

“Tully” tells the story of Marlo (Theron), a mother of three who is gifted a night nanny by her brother (Duplass). Hesitant to the extravagance at first, Marlo comes to form a unique bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging young nanny named Tully (Davis). The film will premiere in U.S. theaters on April 20, 2018.

Read More: Film Acquisition Rundown: Oscilloscope Picks Up ‘November,’ The Orchard Buys ‘Flower’ and More

– Electric Entertainment has acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights to Rob Reiner’s “Lbj,...

The film will be released day-and-date on August 18.

Gravitas Ventures has acquired North American rights to Dave Made A Maze, the Slamdance audience award-winner for best narrative feature.

First-time director Bill Watterson’s offbeat comedy starring Nick Thune centres on an artist who builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation.

The film, co-written by Steven Sears, also stars Meera Rohit Kumbhani, James Urbaniak, Stephanie Allynne, and Kirsten Vangsness.

“We wanted to re-imagine classic 80’s adventure films with a comedic edge and a higher body count,” Watterson said. “To reignite that tactile sense of wonder triggered by those films, we played in the sandbox of old-school practical effects – puppetry, miniatures, stop motion animation, and in-camera optical illusions.”

Gravitas Founder and CEO Nolan Gallagher said: “We’d never seen anything like Dave Made A Maze before. We were drawn...

Few films can get away with creating entire sets, villains, plot beats, and characters out of cardboard. Then again, few films in recent years have conjured the playful, metaphysical spirit that infuses Bill Watterson’s Dave Made a Maze. This purely independent and fully realized vision was one of the greatest joys of this year’s Boston Underground Film Festival lineup.

While his girlfriend Annie is away on a business trip, unsuccessful artist Dave decides—as the title suggests—to make a maze. But he goes too far and gets lost in his creation. Upon returning home, Annie finds the maze in her living room, much smaller than Dave’s echoing voice suggests. She enlists the help of Dave’s filmmaker friends to help him escape, but when they enter the maze, they find it to be huge—and haunted by a Minotaur that seeks to destroy them before they can escape.

Dave Made a Maze is ridiculous. It's the story of Dave (Nick Thune), an aimless 30-year-old artist who still borrows money from his parents, who builds a cardboard maze in his living room while his girlfriend Annie (Meera Rohit Kumbhani) is away on a business trip. He gets lots in the maze which, he later explains to a gathered group of friends including a film crew, is far bigger and more elaborate on the inside than it appears to be on the outside. Against Dave's wishes, Annie leads a crew of explorers into the maze, including (obviously) the film crew, to rescue Dave.

It may also be the most innovative movie I've seen in some time.

The concept itself, this idea that someone builds a cardboard maze in their living room which encompasses an entirely new world inside is or [Continued ...]...

Programmers at the Park City jamboree’s upcoming 23rd edition announced on Monday the 11 narrative and eight documentary selections that will play in January.

The 2017 showcase will also feature Dig (Digital, Interactive & Gaming), a platform of eight works by emerging artists working in cutting-edge digital media, while Polytechnic is a series of free workshops exploring disruptive perspectives on filmmaking from industry insiders.

“As filmmakers themselves, the Slamdance programmers and staff share the same creative spirit as the festival artists,” said Slamdance co-founder and president, Peter Baxter. “Our stories are different but our divergent attitude is the same.

“Together, we give a voice to Diy filmmaking. Empowering emerging artists is what we do, and you are about to see a great group at Slamdance 2017.”

The feature competition roster includes 16 premieres – 12 world, 3 North American and one Us. All competition films are feature directorial debuts with budgets of under $1m and without Us distribution.

Jury awards...

Emily Tarver (Black-ish), Meera Kumbhani (Weird Loners) and Fiona Robert (Chicago Pd) have booked recurring roles on USA Network’s Donny!, a semi-scripted comedic series toplined by Donny Deutsch that's described as a satirical look at the media, wealth and modern romance. Deutsch, chairman of ad agency Deutsch Inc. and a regular on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, stars as a fictionalized version of himself: a famed ad man, single dad and TV personality. Production began today in…...

Network: Fox

Episodes: Six (half-hour)

Seasons: One

TV show dates: March 31, 2015 -- May 5, 2015

Series status: Cancelled

Performers include: Becki Newton, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Nate Torrence, and Zachary Knighton.

TV show description:

There are lots of happy couples in the world but this sitcom revolves around the others -- those who just can't seem to figure it out. It follows four relationship-challenged people in their 30s who are unexpectedly thrust into one another's lives, forming unlikely bonds while living in a townhouse in Queens, New York.

(more…)...

Fox has decided to break up with their Weird Loners sitcom. It's been cancelled after a short season of six episodes.

A single-camera comedy, Weird Loners revolves around a quartet of underdogs who find themselves single while most of their peers are married and starting families. They're played by Becki Newton, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Nate Torrence, and Zachary Knighton.

The series debuted on March 31st to poor ratings and registered a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 1.89 million viewers. As bad as that was, the numbers got even worse in later weeks and fell as low as a 0.53 rating with 1.21 million viewers.

Fox has now pulled the plug on the series. The last episode aired this week, on Tuesday, May 5th.

What do you think? Were you one of the few that liked the...

Weird Loners is a tough sell, and though it could become a hit, it has a massive uphill battle in front of it. The main problem, ratings-wise, is that it has too much in common with all the shows that didn’t work for its stars in the past.

Of course, that’s only if you’re looking for ratings.

The shows in question, Zachary Knighton‘s Happy Endings, and Becki Newton‘s The Goodwin Games, were actually great shows, but Weird Loners has a tone, and general style of comedy, that is something of a cross between those shows, and that’s a ratings nightmare.

Worse, the pilot is somewhat nonsensical, having to put forward our establishing excuse that the four main characters get together. It has its moments, but it has to try so hard to force these people together, that it has little time to let them charm us.

Fox hasn't had a hit live-action sitcom in quite awhile. Could Weird Loners become a ratings success story or will it be another stumble? Cancelled or renewed for season two? Stay tuned.

A single-camera comedy, Weird Loners revolves around a quartet of underdogs who find themselves single while most of their peers are married and starting families. They're played by Becki Newton, Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Nate Torrence, and Zachary Knighton.

The ratings are typically the best indication of a show's likelihood of staying on the air. The higher the ratings (particularly the 18-49 demo), the better the chances for survival. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available -- typically the following morning, around 11:30am Est/8:30am Pst. Refresh to see the latest. (more…)...

Look no further than the title of Fox’s Weird Loners to learn exactly what the freshman comedy is about.

The basic premise: Four disparate thirtysomethings, living in New York City, struggle to forge long-lasting romantic relationships because they’re, well, weird.

Before the series premiere really dives into each of its titular outsiders, it would be easy to think, “Aw, those guys are just misunderstood!” But as the episode continues, we soon realize that, no, these people are a little crazy and also sort of terrible.

RelatedApril Dates to Save: Justified‘s Finale, Mad Men‘s Return and 54 Others...

Four unusual 30-somethings forge an unlikely friendship when their lives collide in their shared Queens, N.Y., townhouse. High-strung dental assistant Caryn (Becki Newton), her naive toll-collector neighbor Eric (Nate Torrence), his womanizing cousin Stosh (Zachary Knighton) and free-spirited artist Zara (Meera Rohit Kumbhani) have nothing in common, but they rely on each other as they work to improve their lives despite their charming character flaws. Newton is best known for her role as Amanda, the vapid and snarky assistant on Ugly Betty. I asked Newton what she found similar between Amanda and Caryn, two seemingly different characters, and the actress … Continue reading →

The post On Fox’s “Weird Loners,” Loner Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Alone appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

Meera Rohit Kumbhani got a series lead on Fox’s upcoming “Weird Loners” after submitting a self-taped audition. The New York-based actor had been working in indie film, off-Broadway theater and in regional play productions like “The Who & the What” at southern California’s La Jolla Playhouse. “We weren’t specifically looking for stage experience,” Michael Weithorn, the show’s creator, told Backstage. In fact, they considered casting Priyanka Chopra, a Bollywood actor and former Miss World for the role of Zara. Instead they chose Kumbhani on the strength of an audition that looked like “she taped it in her agent’s office,” said Weithorn, who has a history of handing actor’s a break. He gave comedian Patton Oswalt his network debut on “King of Queens,” a series he co-created with David Litt, and was also a writer on “Family Ties,” which was Michael J. Fox’s debut as a network series lead.

Fox has rounded out the cast of its comedy Weird Loners adding Meera Rohit Kumbhani as a series regular opposite Becki Newton, Nate Torrence and Zachary Knighton. Written by Michael Weithorn and directed by Jake Kasdan for 20th TV, the six-episode, single-camera ensemble comedy tells the story of four relationship-phobic people who are unexpectedly thrust into one another’s lives and form an unlikely bond in a townhouse in Queens, NY. Kumbhani will play Zara, a beautiful young bisexual woman who’s also a free-spirited artist and lifelong heartbreaker who makes people fall in love with her, then unceremoniously dumps them as soon as things get even a smidge serious. Clear Talent Group-repped Kumbhani appeared most recently on ABC drama Black Box and previously on Carpe Noctem and NYC 22.