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Exclusive: Amazon MGM Studios has put a feature rendition of Amy Poeppel’s novel The Sweet Spot into development with Kissing Jessica Stein‘s Jennifer Westfeldt adapting and set to co-star in the female-driven ensemble.

Westfeldt will produce alongside Laura Lewis of Rebelle Media.

The Sweet Spot is a multi-generational, female-driven screwball comedy set in New York City around the chaos of the holiday season. It explores found family, fresh starts, second chances, unlikely alliances, revenge, redemption, unexpected romance, and the ripple effect of seemingly small actions leading to epic consequences in the lives of people you haven’t even met … yet.

Westfeldt previously wrote the romantic comedy The Idea of You for the studio with its filmmaker Michael Showalter. The movie, which starred Anne Hathaway and Nicholas Galitzine and world premiered at SXSW, repped Amazon MGM’s biggest romantic comedy debut ever, drawing nearly 50 million global Prime Video viewers in its first two weeks.

Netflix launched two new film titles and shared details on several projects currently in development at a buzzy showcase this afternoon at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The streamer announced at the event that it will back two new genre projects, Cortafuego directed by David Victori (Cross The Line), and The Black Widow from filmmaker Carlos Sedes (The Summer We Lived).

The Black Widow will be produced by Ramón Campos, Bambú Producciones. The official synopsis shared by the streamer reads: August 2017. The body of a man appears in a parking lot in Valencia, stabbed seven times. Everything points to a crime of passion. The city’s Homicide Group, led by a veteran inspector, begins an investigation against the clock that soon leads them to a suspect that no one expected: Maje, the young widow, sweet and serene, who had been married to the victim for less than a year.

Cortafuego,...

San Sebastian — At one of the biggest industry gatherings at this year’s San Sebastián Festival, Netflix has announced new Spanish movies from “Cable Girls” showrunner Ramón Campos and “Cross the Line” director David Victori, as it unveiled new talent details on four other banner titles.

Produced by Ramón Campos at his Madrid-based label Bambú Producciones, also behind “Grand Hotel,” “Velvet” and “Fariña,” and directed by Carlos Sedes “The Asunta Case,” “Cable Girls”), murder mystery “La Viuda Negra” begins with a body stabbed seven times is discovered in a car park in Valencia. The prime suspect for the city’s Homicide Group is Maje, the dead man’s Maje, young and kind widow to whom the deceased had been married for less than a year.

Billed as a psychological thriller, Victori’s “Cortafuego” is produced by Anxo Rodríguez y Ferrán Tomás of ESpotlight Media and stars a topnotch cast of Joaquín Furriel,...

Exclusive: Angelique Cabral is set to star in the Disney Animation feature Wish, Deadline has learned. She will voice Queen Amaya opposite Chris Pine, who stars as King Magnifico, ruler of the magical kingdom of Rosas, where wishes really do come true.

Wish follows Asha (Oscar winner Ariana DeBose), a sharp-witted idealist who makes a wish so powerful that it is answered by a cosmic force: a little ball of boundless energy called Star. Together, Asha and Star set out to prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen. Alan Tudyk also stars as a talking goat, Valentino Hall.

The film opens November 22.

Oscar-winning director Chris Buck (Frozen franchise) and Fawn Veerasunthorn (Raya and the Last Dragon) are directors, with Peter Del Vecho (Frozen franchise) producing and Juan Pablo Reyes (Encanto) co-producing. Allison Moore is also a co-writer.

Original songs are by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Julia Michaels and Grammy-winning producer-songwriter-musician Benjamin Rice, with a score by Dave Metzger.

Cabral most recently recurred on Season 3 of ABC’s Big Sky in the role of Carla. Other notable TV credits include Fox’s Enlisted, CBS’ Life in Pieces and Prime Video’s Undone. Film credits include 2011’s The Perfect Family alongside Kathleen Turner and Emily Deschanel; Friends with Benefits that same year opposite Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake; 2017’s Band Aid; and All About Nina in 2018. In 2021, she starred in How It Ends written, directed and produced by Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones.

She is repped by Iag, Karen Forman Management & Sbv Talent.

Exclusive: Raúl Castillo (The Inspection), Tony Cavalero (The Righteous Gemstones), Melonie Diaz (The First Purge) and Josh Brener (Silicon Valley) are set to topline Cold Wallet — a crypto-heist thriller from director Cutter Hodierne (Fishing Without Nets), which has wrapped production.

Related Story A24 Sets Disaster Comedy ‘Y2K’, To Be Directed By ‘SNL’ Alum Kyle Mooney; Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison & More To Star Related Story Alicia Sanz & Raúl Castillo Set For Horror-Thriller 'Open House' From 'The Djinn' Filmmakers Related Story Quiver Acquires Snoop Dogg-Produced Buddy Comedy 'Bromates' Starring Lil Rel Howery & Josh Brener – First Look

The film inspired by real stories, which was in production when news of the Ftx scandal broke, follows a rag-tag team of Redditors who lose everything in a crypto ponzi scheme and plot to kidnap the ‘financial influencer’ who screwed them over. Script was written by John Hibey — the...

Exclusive: Ace Entertainment has launched production in Yorkshire, England on A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow—a new film based on the New York Times bestselling novel by Laura Taylor Namey, which will star Maia Reficco (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin), Kit Connor (Heartstopper) and Kate del Castillo (La Reina del Sur).

The Latinx YA novel, originally published by Simon & Schuster’s Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2019, follows the heartfelt story of Lila Reyes. After the loss of her grandmother, Lila leaves her life at Abuela’s Cuban bakery in Miami to spend the summer cooking at her Aunt’s inn in Winchester, London. It’s there that she falls in love with the quaint British countryside, fusion cooking and a charming British tea shop clerk…ultimately using food as a way to bridge two cultures and heal her heart.

Details as to the roles the...

Exclusive: Kate Del Castillo, the Mexican actress who stars in Telemundo’s hit drama La Reina del Sur, has signed with Buchwald.

One of the highest rated Spanish-language series in the world, La Reina del Sur adapts the bestseller by Spanish novelist Arturo Perez-Reverte. In the crime drama, which recently wrapped filming for Season 3, Del Castillo plays Teresa Mendonza, a woman from Mexico who becomes the most powerful drug trafficker in southern Spain.

Castillo recently completed a two-series deal with Telemundo. Her production company, Cholawood, has a first-look development deal with Boomdog, the Mexico City-based division of Endemol Shine North America.

The actress starred opposite Will Smith as the villain in Sony’s Bad Boys for Life, also recently featuring on NBC’s sitcom Mr. Mayor, from creators Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, and the Netflix animated series Maya and the Three, created by Jorge R. Gutiérrez. She gained notoriety...

At a virtual ceremony, Natalie Qasabian was awarded the 2021 Sundance Institute / Amazon Studios Producers Award for Fiction Filmmaking for her film, Run. The awards honor bold vision and a commitment to continuing work as a creative producer in the independent space.

Qasabian’s husband/partner Sev Ohanian won the award two years ago for his work on Searching, which they produced together. Qasabian was presented by the award with her frequent collaborator, director Aneesh Chaganty (Searching, Run).

“As producers, we may doubt whether or not we can do something: but we can’t ever doubt if it’s worth doing,” Qasabian said in accepting the award. “If we don’t cast the people that haven’t been cast before, if we don’t hire the crew member that hasn’t been hired before, tell the story that hasn’t been told before, or work with that first-time director who’s never been produced before…...

Once she’s done helping Will Smith fight a younger version of himself in “Gemini Man,” Mary Elizabeth Winstead will team up with Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez and Jurnee Smollett-Bell in Warner Bros. female-led anti-hero comic book flick “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of the One Harley Quinn).”

Winstead will play Huntress, who in the DC comics was once a mafia princess whose family was killed in a mob hit. She eventually becomes a vigilante hell bent on taking the mob down.

“She’s kind of an odd character… She’s weird, and funny and awkward,” Winstead said during a conversation about her upcoming film “Gemini Man,” in theaters Oct. 11. “You sort of get to tell this story of this girl who grew up training to be an assassin and didn’t ever have friends, and doesn’t know how to fit in socially, and doesn’t really...

Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been steadily showing up in movies for almost 15 years. From early films like “Final Destination 3” to more recent stuff like the underrated “All About Nina,” Winstead is a familiar face amongst film fans. But perhaps her two biggest films, both in terms of budget and potential superstardom are still ahead of her with this year’s “Gemini Man” and next year’s “Birds of Prey.”

And as she explained in a new interview with the New York Times, the actress had to go through some pretty rigorous training to become the action film star that she is going to be in both films.

Continue reading Mary Elizabeth Winstead Calls ‘Birds Of Prey’ “Funny And Weird” & Says It Reminds Her Of A ’90s Film at The Playlist.

Exclusive: Kate del Castillo, whose wildly popular run as Teresa Mendoza in Telemundo’s La Reina del Sure series even drew the headline-making attention of El Chapo, will return to the New York stage this summer in the Off Broadway production of Isaac Gomez’s the way she spoke, directed by Jo Bonney as the next Audible Theater production at the Minetta Lane Theatre.

Previews begin Monday, July 8, with opening night set for Thursday, July 18. The Minetta Lane, in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, is home base for Audible’s live performances, with productions recorded and released by Audible as audio plays.

the way she spoke follows an actress who enters a theater, picks up a script, and begins to read a story that reveals “disturbing and haunting accounts of the murder of thousands of women in Juarez, Mexico and one playwright’s journey of discovery and responsibility.” According to Audible’s description,...

Exclusive: Sonoya Mizuno, who played Araminta Lee, a.k.a the bride, in Warner Bros hit rom-com Crazy Rich Asians, has been tapped as the title character in 20th Century Fox’s Wes Ball-directed Mouse Guard, the film adaptation to David Petersen’s Eisner-winning comic book series. She joins Andy Serkis, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, and Idris Elba in the film, which will be shot using motion capture.

The story takes place in medieval times and follows a brotherhood of mice sworn to protect the fellow rodents in their midst.

Matt Reeves is producing the film through his 6th & Idaho shingle along with Boom! Studios’ Ross Richie and Stephen Christy, as well as Ball and Wes and his producing partner Joe Hartwick via the OddBall production company banner.

In addition to Cra, Mizuno starred in the Netflix miniseries Maniac and appeared in the indie film All About Nina, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common.

Yesterday, the Tribeca Film Festival announced its lineup for 2019. Each year, the fest offers up a number of interesting movie options, some of which have even gone on to crack my year end top ten lists. Last year, for example, All About Nina remained one of my top five films of 2018 from its debut at Tribeca through the conclusion of the season. Coming right before the summer movie season, it offers up a tonic before the blockbusters fully descend upon us. What will this year bring? Well, that’ll be determined in late April when the festival begins, but the lineup offers a few hints about the higher profile titles that will be playing. Tribeca will be home to Georgetown, for example, marking the directorial debut of Christoph Waltz. He’ll also star. Jared Leto will screen his documentary A Day in the Life of America for the first time.

Kate del Castillo (All About Nina) has achieved worldwide fame as an actress, and after eight years she is reprising her role as Teresa Mendoza in La Reina del Sur. Even with all of her experience, coming back as Mendoza was a daunting (yet welcome) adventure.

“You get more mature during the years,” said del Castillo. [...]

The post Kate del Castillo Is “Very Proud” of the Huge “Ambition” Behind ‘La Reina del Sur’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

Today we are recognizing All About Nina, as well as writer/director Eva Vives, plus star Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Our Hollywood Film Tributes recognize films and talent for their excellence in the art of filmmaking. Few things this season have been as disappointing as All About Nina not being a factor during the precursors. The script that Eva Vives wrote, as well as the performance by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, are Academy Award worthy. In fact, Winstead’s turn is the absolute best of 2018. The fact that she wasn’t on Oscar’s radar is a tragedy. So, today we right that wrong with this citation. Here is a bit from our rave review published back in September: There’s a movie opening this week that you should be paying more attention to. It’s one of 2018’s very best, features an Oscar worthy lead performance, and announces a brilliant female...

Wow. We’ve gotten here, arguably against all odds. Just over 350 movies later (a record breaking number for yours truly), my year is complete. It’s now time to put a nice little bow on the cinematic gift that was 2018, ladies and gentlemen! As just mentioned, it was the year where I saw more films than ever before. If I’m being honest, a lot of that had to due with the deluge of content on Netflix, original film wise, but that’s another story. I also just always try to see more than the year before, so a stupidly large number like this was probably unavoidable. Interestingly, while this was the year where I gave the least amount of four star perfect reviews (only three in total), I’d still consider it an overall fairly solid year for cinema. It’s just a quirk of the rating system, as...

Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of film critics a question pertaining to the contemporary movie landscape.

This week’s question: What’s a criminally under-appreciated 2018 movie that people should be sure to watch before the end of the year?

Tomris Laffly (@TomiLaffly), Freelance



I would like to draw everyone’s attention to Yen Tan’s exquisite AIDS crisis drama “1985”–a compassionate and gorgeously shot black & white film that follows a young, closeted man as he visits his conservative parents in a small Texan town and harbors heartbreaking secrets. It’s a true tearjerker, delicately small-scaled and features some of the most fully-realized character journeys I’ve seen on screen this year. I believe it comes out on DVD/Blu mid-December; hopefully it will be available for digital rental at that point as well.

Danielle Solzman (@DanielleSATM), Solzy at the Movies/Freelance

Even though it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes,...

Variety celebrated the 2018 class of 10 Actors to Watch on Sunday with a brunch and panel discussion in partnership with Newport Beach Film Festival at the Resort at Pelican Hill.

Nbff also presented honors to several artists, including Topher Grace, Colman Domingo, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who were all recognized with artist of distinction awards. Robert Forster received the icon award.

Domingo, star of “Fear the Walking Dead” and soon to be see in “If Beale Street Could Talk,” dedicated his award to his mother, who passed in 2006. He recalled how she would tell him, “I wrote to Oprah!” to help her son. He noted when his mother passed away, “I was so distraught and destroyed, I said, ‘I don’t know what to do with all this love.’” His friend told him, “You’re going to put it all into your work.” He then noted he has since worked with...

This year, Variety will honor its 10 Actors to Watch with the Newport Beach Film Festival at a brunch taking place on Nov. 11 at the Resort at Pelican Hill. Nbff will also present honors to several artists, including the Icon Award to Robert Forster (now on screens in “What They Had”) and Artist of Distinction Awards to Topher Grace (“BlacKkKlansman”), Colman Domingo and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“All About Nina”).

Variety has been bestowing 10 Actors to Watch honors since 1998. Past honorees include many future Oscar winners and nominees, such as Mahershala Ali, Timothée Chalamet, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Brie Larson and Lupita Nyong’o.

Icon Award

Robert Forster

Being honored with an Icon Award is great, but Forster has a lot left in the tank. “I don’t know what an icon is,” Forster says. “And I don’t feel like one, and I certainly don’t feel like I’m 77, either!

What was supposed to be an easy theft turns into a fight for their lives for a trio of robbers in the subversive home invasion movie Monster Party. The second feature film from writer/director Chris von Hoffmann (Drifter), Monster Party has been acquired by Rlje Films for North American distribution, with a theatrical, VOD, and Digital HD release slated for November 2nd (giving horror fans a chance to extend their spooky celebrations beyond the 31st):

Press Release: "Los Angeles, Oct. 2018 – Rlje Films (Nasdaq: Rlje), has acquired all North American rights to the upcoming the horror/thriller Monster Party from writer/director Chris von Hoffmann (Drifter). The film stars Julian McMahon (“Nip/Tuck”), Robin Tunney, Sam Strike (Leatherface), Erin Moriarty (Blood Father), Lance Reddick, Brandon Micheal Hall (“Search Party”), Virginia Gardner (Project Almanac), and Diego Boneta (“Scream Queens”) . Rlje Films will release the film nationally in theaters, VOD and Digital HD on Nov.

Telepool, the German licensing group acquired by investors led by World War Z director Marc Forster and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s family office, The Smith Family Circle, has come on board as co-producer and co-financier of a slate of genre films to be produced by Eric B. Fleischman's Defiant Studios.

Together with Maurice Fadida's Kodiak Pictures, Telepool will help finance and produce the genre slate, starting with the horror anthology Phobias. Fleischman's credits include Sundance titles Slight and Carnage Park and the recent comedy All About Nina, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, which premiered in Tribeca this year.

Phobias is ...

Telepool, the German licensing group acquired by investors led by World War Z director Marc Forster and Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s family office, The Smith Family Circle, has come on board as co-producer and co-financier of a slate of genre films to be produced by Eric B. Fleischman's Defiant Studios.

Together with Maurice Fadida's Kodiak Pictures, Telepool will help finance and produce the genre slate, starting with the horror anthology Phobias. Fleischman's credits include Sundance titles Slight and Carnage Park and the recent comedy All About Nina, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, which premiered in Tribeca this year.

Phobias is ...

Sundance doc Studio 54 played a solo New York engagement over the weekend, taking in $15K with sold out shows. The film is the second release for filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer who also had Scotty And The Secret History of Hollywood in theaters over the summer.

20th Century Fox rolled out The Hate U Give in three dozen locations, grossing a half million. Racking up the big numbers, though, was Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Free Solo, topping a million over the weekend with a $590K three-day gross in 41 theaters.

Cohen Media Group bowed fellow doc The Great Buster: A Celebration with two runs, taking in $7,234. Fox Searchlight expanded Robert Redford starrer The Old Man & The Gun to 49 theaters, grossing $385K. Neon jumped Monsters And Men to 143 theaters in its second frame grossing $146K, while The Orchard planted All About Nina in 23 theaters in its second frame, taking...

There’s a lot going on in the new film “All About Nina.” Without spoiling too much, there’s a reveal towards the end of the film that changes the tone of the work and adds a new layer to the indie film about a young stand-up comedian trying to figure out her life. And the woman at the center of it all is none other than Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

Continue reading Mary Elizabeth Winstead Details Joke About Accusations Against Louis C.K. That Was Cut From ‘All About Nina’ at The Playlist.

Eva Vives’ feature directorial debut “All About Nina” stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a provocative stand-up comedian whose career is just taking off. The movie premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, where the director teased that her original script featured a joke about Louis C.K. that ended up being cut from the movie. Winstead recently spoke to Vulture and revealed the details of the C.K. joke.

“I was making a joke about my appearance and saying like, ‘At least I’m not Louis C.K.,’ or something,” Winstead said. “‘You get to see a hot girl onstage.’ And then the audience was supposed to boo. Because they didn’t like me making fun of Louis C.K., and then I was gonna say, ‘It’s okay, he locks women in rooms and masturbates in front of them.'”

The scene was written and filmed before five women revealed C.

Ang Lee’s upcoming science fiction action thriller “Gemini Man” had been languishing in Hollywood development for more than two decades. But thanks to modern moviemaking technology, the film, which wrapped production in July, is finally seeing the light of day. And star Mary Elizabeth Winstead told us it could change how audiences watch movies altogether.

Winstead caught up with TheWrap over the phone while promoting her new film “All About Nina,” and talked about working with “the most wonderful person,” Will Smith, and what audiences can expect from “Gemini Man.”

“We started in February, so it was a long project, but it was really amazing,” Winstead said of filming. “It’s this big action movie, but with a heart. You know with Ang Lee directing you’re going to have some thoughtfulness behind it. Really it was a wonderful thing to be a part of.”

Also Read: Mary Elizabeth...

Indie distributor The Orchard finished first in the hunt for North American rights to “Hurley,” a documentary about a queer race car driver who kept his sexuality a secret over much of his lengthy career.

Directed by Derek Dodge and executive produced by “Grey’s Anatomy” star Patrick Dempsey, the doc premiered at the Inside Out Lgbt Film Festival earlier this year and will hit theaters sometime in 2019.

“Hurley” follows Hurley Haywood, a successful endurance sports car racing driver who hid his homosexuality in a culture of toxic masculinity amid the bravado of auto sports.

“Hurley the person and ‘Hurley’ the movie are one and the same — inspiring, surprising and a window into a world many haven’t traversed,” Paul Davidson, The Orchard’s Evp Film and Television, said in a statement.”

Dempsey said he’s “thrilled that people are going to get an opportunity to learn about Hurley Haywood...

In “All About Nina,” Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Nina Geld, a smart, angry and often vexing stand-up comedian on the rise. But, her life is a mess: Her romantic relationships are toxic and she has demons in her past that need exorcising. And it just so happens, that’s exactly what piqued Winstead’s interest about the project.

“As an actress, you’re often tasked with fitting into some sort of mold that pleases everybody all the time both on and off screen. The fact that she’s not always likable is probably one of the main things that drew me to the role,” Winstead told TheWrap during a recent phone interview. “It was kind of liberating to get this opportunity to play a character that’s unapologetic in the way that she behaves and the way that she acts and the way that she is on stage, even if...

The creators of All About Nina aren't waiting around for others to point out their film's resonance in September 2018 — they're staging screenings that will make the comedic drama's relevance explicit.

On Friday, writer-director Eva Vives and star Mary Elizabeth Winstead announced that they will be holding free screenings of the movie, which is being released this weekend, in New York and Los Angeles to support sexual-abuse survivors.

All About Nina follows the eponymous Nina, a stand-up comedian who flees her life, and an abusive boyfriend, in New York to pursue an opportunity in L.A....

The creators of All About Nina aren't waiting around for others to point out their film's resonance in September 2018 — they're staging screenings that will make the comedic drama's relevance explicit.

On Friday, writer-director Eva Vives and star Mary Elizabeth Winstead announced that they will be holding free screenings of the movie, which is being released this weekend, in New York and Los Angeles to support sexual-abuse survivors.

All About Nina follows the eponymous Nina, a stand-up comedian who flees her life, and an abusive boyfriend, in New York to pursue an opportunity in L.A....

Stand-up comedian Nina Geld throws up after every set. That’s just one of the painful details we learn about the wonderfully complex character Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays in “All About Nina,” a striking and at times uncomfortably personal feature debut from writer-director Eva Vives that makes good on its title by not shying away from the emotional damage that makes its protagonist so compelling.

It takes guts to be this brutally honest onstage, and even more to do so on-screen, where the movie serves as a fossil record of the enormous weight its creator needed to get off her chest, but Vives gets it: If you’re going to unload this kind of baggage, you might as well do it through comedy — or in this case, through an unusually turbulent romantic comedy, wherein New Yorker Nina flees to Los Angeles to escape an abusive lover (Chace Crawford) and pursue...

Director, producer, actor and Sundance founder Robert Redford is apparently closing out one area of his impressive resume with the opening of The Old Man & the Gun, which played at the recent Telluride and Toronto film festivals. Also starring Casey Affleck and Sissy Spacek, the title by writer-director David Lowery opens in limited release this weekend en route to hundreds of locations next month via Fox Searchlight. Fellow Telluride and Toronto title, Free Solo, from Meru filmmakers Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, also makes its bow in a busy weekend of new Specialty roll outs with a film that records of feat of human endurance from National Geographic Documentary Film and Greenwich Entertainment.

The Orchard is opening All About Nina, the feature directorial debut of Raising Victor Vargas writer, Eva Vives in New York and L.A. ahead of an expansion to hundreds of theaters. Neon is launching...

We sat down with first-time writer/director Eva Vives to discuss her Tribeca 2018 hit: the provocative love story All About Nina (interview below). Vives subverts the rom-com model with a deeply personal film that unfolds like a slow-motion train wreck. You’ll both laugh and cringe. Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as tortured stand-up comic Nina, who—despite a talent for uninhibited onstage ribaldry—can’t exorcise her offstage demons. Despite a non-existent background in comedy, Winstead kills; she’s also very convincing as her own worst enemy. Meanwhile, Common plays Rafe, her sensitive, goofy love interest—an ideal male companion with toxic masculinity dialed all the way down to zero.…...

Ioncinema.com’s Ioncinephile of the Month feature focuses on an emerging filmmaker from the world of cinema. This past April at the Tribeca Film Festival, Eva Vives premiered her feature debut, All About Nina, which stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the titular lead role. The Orchard folks will release the film on September 28th. Make sure to check out Part 2 of our profile – with Eva Vives’ Top Ten Films of All Time.

Eric Lavallee: During your childhood … what films were important to you?

Eva Vives: Ah, childhood! That time when movies and books leave an imprint on you like never again!…...

Have you ever wondered what are the films that inspire the next generation of visionary filmmakers? As part of our monthly Ioncinephile profile, we ask the filmmaker (this month Eva Vives) to identify their all time top ten favorite films. To be released via The Orchard on September 28th, All About Nina premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. In A to Z order, here are Eva’s top ten films of all time (worth noting: as of September 2018).

A Woman Under the Influence – John Cassavetes (1974)

“I don’t think this is a movie about mental illness but a painful look at what it is to be misunderstood as a woman.…...

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is no stranger to big screen comic book adaptations, having played Ramona Flowers in Edgar Wright’s 2010 cult hit “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” She has also portrayed her share of strong female characters in titles including FX series “Fargo” and 2014 biographical crime drama “Kill the Messenger.” Winstead’s new role as Huntress in Warner Bros.’ upcoming female-led “Birds of Prey” is a completely new and different story, though.

“I’m going to start training, and I’ll be learning how to shoot a bow and arrow, too — which is new for me,” Winstead told TheWrap during an interview for her latest film, a dramedy called “All About Nina,” in theaters this weekend.

TheWrap reported earlier this week that Winstead, along with Jurnee Smollett-Bell (“Friday Night Lights”), have been cast in the Margot Robbie-led DC anti-hero team-up “Birds of Prey.”

Also Read: 'Birds of Prey': Jurnee Smollett-Bell,...

Mary Elizabeth Winstead landed her first TV gig when she was 12 years old, appearing in an episode of “Touched by An Angel.” Since then, she has spent the last 20 years in films that scaled large and small, portraying a wide range of complicated, fully realized women.

Many of these performances deserved attention on the awards landscape, such as her role as a terrorized prisoner in “10 Cloverfield Lane” and turn as an alcoholic in the drama “Smashed,” though she landed an Independent Spirit nom for the part. And it’s still puzzling how her turn Ewan McGregor’s crafty fiancée in the third season of “Fargo” managed to elude more attention.

Now, Winstead is back on the big screen with another bold turn in “All About Nina,” the feature debut from writer-director Eva Vives. So about Nina: She’s a caustic stand-up comedian who exudes confidence onstage but is less...

In “All About Nina,” a scabrous drama about comedy and other serious matters, first-time feature director Eva Vives (who co-wrote “Raising Victor Vargas”) has a lot to say and finds some provocative ways to express it all.

A major late-act revelation, in particular, is likely to be a significant talking point after screenings.

But the movie’s deepest emotional impact comes from an electrifying star turn by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The reliably excellent Winstead takes charge from the moment she swaggers on screen as Nina, a 33-year-old stand-up whose brutal cynicism hides a lifetime’s worth of secrets.

Also Read: 'The Old Man & the Gun' Film Review: Robert Redford Goes Out Smiling

For one thing, she’s not quite as together as she appears on stage. She vomits after every show from nerves, drinks way too much far too often, and is involved in an abusive relationship with a married cop.

Saturday Night Live might have some competition in Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The actress, 33, plays a struggling comedian in her new film, All About Nina, and as proven in an exclusive clip from the drama, Winstead can do some killer impersonations.

In the scene, Winstead as troubled Nina, takes to the stage at a comedy club to do not one — but five impressions. The setup: celebrities ordering smoothies.

Winstead’s take on Bjork is no doubt the standout, with the actress nailing the Icelandic singer’s unique inflections. At a close second is her inspired riff on Kristen Stewart’s famous awkwardness.

The first-annual Film Fest 919 (FF919) will open with Alfonso Cuarón’s award-winning film “Roma,” organizers revealed Friday. The festival, which was announced last year at a Chapel Hill, North Carolina event and screening of Sean Baker’s “The Florida Project,” is scheduled to run Oct. 3-7 at Silverspot Cinema at University Place in Chapel Hill.

Boasting the slogan: “Catch the films before they catch on,” FF919 — named for the North Carolina Research Triangle area code — aims to bring rich offerings from the festival circuit to the area’s film-loving audience. “Roma,” which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, will bookend with closer “Wildlife,” Paul Dano’s directorial debut and Sundance entry.

Other screenings will include Toronto People’s Choice Award winner “Green Book,” Yorgos Lanthimos’ Venice prize-winner “The Favourite,” Cannes Palme d’Or champ “Shoplifters,” David Lowry’s “The Old Man & the Gun” with Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek,...

Eight years ago, the La Film Festival hosted June premieres in downtown Los Angeles for a pair of decidedly high-profile movies — “Twilight Saga: Eclipse” and “Despicable Me.”

The festival’s 24th edition, which launches Thursday night, will be very different. Film Independent moved the festival from downtown two years ago to the Arclight venues. Tentpoles are long gone. And it’s moved out of summer and into awards season.

It’s not easy for large-scale, general interest film festivals to make an impact in such a sprawling city, where many people are too busy making movies to watch movies. And some filmgoers focus their attention on the dozens of local niche festivals catering to every interest from horror to French films, with Lgbt-focused Outfest claiming to draw the highest paid attendance of any Los Angeles festival.

The La Film Festival is hoping to regain its place among top local events with more than 200 features,...

Exclusive: Colin Farrell and Common have joined the cast of Voltage Pictures and Freckle Films’ upcoming feature Eve. The character-driven action drama stars Jessica Chastain and is being directed by Tate Taylor.

Voltage will fully finance Eve and handle worldwide sales beginning at the Toronto Film Festival which gets underway today. Nicolas Chartier and Dominic Rustam are producing for Voltage alongside Chastain and Kelly Carmichael who are producing for Freckle Films. Voltage’s Jonathan Deckter is executive producing along with John Norris.

Principal photography is set to begin in Boston on September 24.

Farrell, who won a Golden Globe in 2009 for his role in Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, and nominated again in 2017 for The Lobster, will be playing the role of Simon, the leader of a black ops organization whom Chastain’s title character works for.

Farrell most recently starred in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing of a Sacred Deer, which...

Exclusive: The Orchard has taken the North American distribution rights to Robert Schwartzman’s romantic comedy The Unicorn with an eye on a theatrical and digital release during early 2019.

Nick Rutherford and Lauren Lapkus star as engaged couple, Caleb and Malory who after spending a weekend in Palm Springs with the latter’s parents learn what the secret is to the elders’ 25 years of marriage: Threesomes. Looking to solidify their own relationship, Caleb and Malory go about finding their own “unicorn” or third sex partner for the bedroom. Schwartzman directs, and produced with Russell Wayne Groves. Pic also stars Lucy Hale, Beck Bennett, Dree Hemingway, Beverly D’Angelo, John Kapelos, Maya Kazan, Darrell Britt-Gibson, and Kyle Mooney.

The deal for The Unicorn was negotiated between The Orchard’s Danielle Digiacomo and ICM Partners & Submarine Entertainment on behalf of the filmmakers. The pic made its world premiere at SXSW back in March.

The Oath, the Roadside Attractions holiday comedy directed by and starring Ike Barinholtz and co-starring Tiffany Haddish, will have its world premiere at this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival.

The film will screen September 25 at ArcLight Hollywood and was one of four gala screenings unveiled today by Laff along with the El Capitan climb documentary Free Solo, Rupert Everett’s The Happy Prince and Eva Vives’ All About Nina.

The Oath, a dark comedy about politics mixing with a family Thanksgiving hits theaters October 12. Nora Dunn, Chris Ellis, Jon Barinholtz, Meredith Hagner, Carrie Brownstein, Billy Magnussen and John Cho co-star.

A teaser was released last week.

This marks the first year Film Independent’s Laff will take place in the fall — it runs September 20-28 — as part of a plan to get in the mix of a heated fall festival season that includes Telluride, Venice, Toronto and New York.

Film Independent's La Film Festival on Wednesday announced the upcoming event's gala screenings, which will include Ike Barinholtz’s directorial debut The Oath.

Also premiering in the galas section are Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s documentary Free Solo, Rupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde movie The Happy Prince and Eva Vives’ All About Nina, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common.

Also announced were several series premieres, including Blumhouse's Into the Dark and Starz's America to Me.

The La Film Festival is set to run Sept. 20-28. The announced fest schedule can be found here.

Film Independent's La Film Festival on Wednesday announced the upcoming event's gala screenings, which will include Ike Barinholtz’s directorial debut The Oath.

Also premiering in the galas section are Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s documentary Free Solo, Rupert Everett’s Oscar Wilde movie The Happy Prince and Eva Vives’ All About Nina, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common.

Also announced were several series premieres, including Blumhouse's Into the Dark and Starz's America to Me.

The La Film Festival is set to run Sept. 20-28. The announced fest schedule can be found here.

The La Film Festival will hold the world premiere of holiday-season comedy “The Oath,” starring Tiffany Haddish and Ike Barinholtz, on Sept. 25 at the ArcLight Hollywood.

“The Oath,” Barinholtz’s directorial debut, centers on a couple whose Thanksgiving takes a turn for the worse when two federal agents wind up being held captive in their living room. Barinholtz also wrote the script. The film also stars John Cho, Carrie Brownstein, Billy Magnussen, Meredith Hagner, Barinholtz’s brother Jon Barinholtz, Nora Dunn, and Chris Ellis.

Roadside Attractions will open “The Oath” on Oct. 12. The movie was one of four gala screenings unveiled Wednesday by the festival, which also announced it will hold the West Coast premiere of Eva Vives’ “All About Nina” on Sept. 23 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts; the Los Angeles premiere of Rupert Everett’s “The Happy Prince” on Sept. 25 at the Annenberg; and the...

Back at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, the best movie, by far, was Eva Vives’ All About Nina. Featuring the best performance to date from Mary Elizabeth Winstead, it was a real gem. With The Orchard putting it out into theaters next month, a Trailer has dropped for the flick. This film remains a real favorite of mine, so it’s one that will heavily mentioned in the weeks to come, you can take that to the bank. Today, we’ll be focusing on the Trailer itself, which you can see below. First up, however, some more raving about this movie. It’s one of my top five films of the year right now, so that kind of goes without saying. Vives and Winstead deserve plenty of attention when the precursor season hits in the late fall/early winter. The movie is a pitch black comedy with a...

"You keep being honest! What's a matter with you?" The Orchard has released an official trailer for an indie comedy titled All About Nina, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a provocative stand-up comedian named Nina Geld working her way close to breaking out. After getting an audition, she decides to head to La and encounters a nice new guy named Rafe, while running into old problems with her ex. The cast includes Common as Rafe, Chace Crawford as Joe, plus Camryn Manheim, Jay Mohr, Mindy Sterling, Angelique Cabral, Clea DuVall, Kate del Castillo, and Beau Bridges. We've seen a few great stand-up comic indie films recently (Don't Think Twice) but it's always good to see another. Especially since they usually to go to very raw, personal places and it's refreshing to see them use comedy to work through issues. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Eva Vives' All About Nina,...

One of the standouts at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival was the rom-com from filmmaker Eva Vives, “All About Nina.” The film, which stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a struggling, up-and-coming stand-up comedian is definitely raunchy, but also laugh-out-loud hilarious. And in the first trailer for the film, set to hit theaters next month, you see exactly why we loved this movie.

Read More: ‘All About Nina’ Is An Excellent, Raunchy Rom-Com That Doesn’t Follow Typical Tropes [Tribeca Review]

Clearly, the trailer leans heavily on the tried and true “gross stand-up stinks at relationships” schtick that many similar films, like “Trainwreck,” have done before.

Continue reading ‘All About Nina’ Trailer: Mary Elizabeth Winstead Is A Filthy, Drunk Stand-Up Looking For Love In L.A. at The Playlist.