News

• Robert Pattinson (Twilight) and Dane DeHaan (The Place Beyond the Pines) are set to star in Life, which tells the story of Magnum photographer Dennis Stock (Pattinson) and his burgeoning friendship with James Dean (DeHaan) as they embark on a road trip on assignment for Life magazine in 1955. Music video and feature director Anton Corbijn (The American, Control) is helming the project from a screenplay by Luke Davies, who penned 2006′s Candy. The shoot is expected to begin this February in Canada. [ScreenDaily]

• Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine) has signed on to star in David Mamet’s thriller Blackbird, about what happens after her character’s grandfather,...

Deception and betrayal drives the plot of this Mo Perkins release entitled A Quiet Little Marriage. It centers around Dax (Cy Carter) and Olive (Mary Elizabeth Ellis), an attractive young couple whose disagreements in their marriage about children, drive them to commit grim deceptions.

A Quiet Little Marriage is essentially a crazy sitcom, minus the comedy. In this production, Perkins creates an interesting couple, who outwardly seem to have a great marriage. In the film's progression however, it becomes evident that their relationship is built on a bed of quicksand. In the script, it is not clear how long the couple dated before tying the knot, but it is clear they failed to discuss their differences beforehand. In a bedroom scene between the couple, when Olive brings up the possibility of having children, Dax brushes off the subject claiming that they had already discussed and dismissed the idea on their first and second date.

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Red Riding Trilogy" (2010)

Directed by Julian Jarrold, James Marsh, and Anand Tucker

Released by IFC Films

Jarrold ("Brideshead Revisited"), Marsh ("Man on Wire") and Tucker ("Shopgirl") take on the epic true crime story of the Yorkshire Ripper, the serial killer that haunted England throughout the '70s and '80s in this three-part series of films: Jarrold's "1974," which stars future Spider-Man Andrew Garfield as a journalist investigating the crime, Marsh's "1980," which follows Paddy Considine's veteran cop who suspects corruption within his own department, and Tucker's "1983," which tracks David Morrissey's detective as he makes the connection between a current kidnapping and those of years ago. (Aaron Hillis' interview with James Marsh is here.)

"Beatdown" (2010)

Directed by Mike Gunther

Released by Lionsgate

Don't you hate it when your brother's murdered, leaving you to make up his debt to a local gangster by...

DVD Playhouse—August 2010

By

Allen Gardner

Black Orpheus (Criterion) Winner of the 1959 Best Foreign Film Oscar and that same year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes, Black Orpheus is a modern-day update of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice reset in 20th century Brazil during Carnival in Rio. Director Marcel Camus offers up a visual feast with some of the decade’s most ravishing color cinematography. A classic. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Archival interviews with Camus and actress Marpessa Dawn; Interviews with Brazilian cinema scholar Robert Stam, jazz historian Gary Giddins, and Brazilian author Ruy Castro; Documentary on the film; Trailer. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.

The Last Song (Touchstone) Sentimental adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ (by Sparks and Jeff Van Wie) sentimental novel about a father and daughter attempting to repair their damaged relationship. Greg Kinnear, as the dad in question, comes off best, while tween sensation Miley Cyrus...

I'm not sure if it's worse to see A Quiet Little Marriage if you haven't decided whether or not you want to have kids, or if you have. But as a provocative portrait of marital disharmony, Mo Perkins takes the idea of dissenting opinions about child-rearing to its ultimate, dramatic end in his feature directorial debut. Mary Elizabeth Ellis, probably best known as Charlie's crush object 'the waitress' on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, plays a hopeful mother whose bid for a baby is scuttled when her husband's troubled family history prompts him to deny her plea for them to start a family.

Olive (Ellis) and Dax (Cy Carter) are happily married, but not without problems: her father Bruce (Michael O'Neill) suffers from Alzheimer's, and his brother Jackson (Jimmi Simpson) is at least a borderline alcoholic who comes around only when he needs money. After Bruce accidentally slugs a nurse...

The 10th annual Ojai-Ventura International Film Festival kicks off Nov. 5 with Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith's documentary, "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," screening at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa in Ojai, Calif.

Under artistic director Steve Grumette, the fest, which runs through Nov. 8 at several venues throughout Ojai as well as Ventura's Brooks Institute, will present more than 60 films.

Actor Peter Graves and cinematographer Haskell Wexler will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Other documentary features on tap include Suzanne Jurva's "Changing Keys," Anne Aghion's "My Neighbor, My Killer" and Cory Taylor's "The Power of the Powerless."

The narrative film line-up includes Mo Perkins' "A Quiet Little Marriage," Jon Gunn's "Like Dandelion Dust" and Giancarlo Esposito's "Gospel Hill."...

With a new film from Sally Potter arriving online and John Boorman and Peter Greenaway's latest work exclusively hitting DVD shelves, enjoying a night at the movies no longer necessarily means at your local theater (though we've got the lowdown of what's playing there as well). From August to October, one doesn't need to move from the couch to see a Val Kilmer double bill, a James Franco-Sienna Miller romantic comedy and the last performance from the late, great Natasha Richardson, not to mention Robert Pattinson and Jet Li imports and a host of foreign films and documentaries well worth your time on demand, online and on DVD.

More Fall Preview: [Theatrical Calendar]

[Repertory Calendar] [Breakout Performances]

On Demand The slow days of summer may be drawing to an end, but our sister company IFC Films is already ramping up for the fall with a slate heading straight from the festivals to the...

Closing its 15th year, the Slamdance Film Festival announced the winners of its 2009 edition Friday night with Mo Perkins's A Quiet Little Marriage winning the Best Narrative Feature Award. The full list of winner are below. Best Narrative Feature A Quiet Little Marriage, directed by Mo Perkins Special Jury Mention for Best Performance: Larry Fessenden in I Sell the Dead Best Documentary...

Mo Perkins' "A Quiet Little Marriage" copped the grand jury award for best narrative feature at the 15th annual Slamdance Film Festival, which concluded Friday in Park City, Utah.

The indie-minded fest, which runs separate from but concurrently with Sundance gave its grand jury award for best documentary feature to Zachary Levy's "Strongman."

Gregory Viens' "Punching the Clown" earned both the audience award for best narrative feature and the IndieRoad Award.

Beth Toni Kruvant's "Heart of Stone" picked up the audience's documentary feature award. Audiences also voted Eva Flodstrom's "The Tides" best anarchy film, while Aaron Marshall and Erik Mauck's "Zombie Girl" and Frank Feldman's "Vapid Lovelies" tied for the Spirit of Slamdance Award.

Writers Awards went to Neil McGowan's "Numbered" for best screenplay and Mark Seidel's "Crybaby" for best short screenplay.

Richard Lopez was the recipient of the Kodak Vision Award for...

The Slamdance Film Festival, for those who don't know, is unofficially Sundance's little sister. It takes place the same week as Sundance in Park City, Utah and always features films that either didn't make it into Sundance or are a better fit for this fest. Last year, two films you might recognize, Jack Brooks and Dear Zachary, both premiered at Slamdance. This year, 29 films will be featured at the fest, 20 of which are part of their competition categories that are "strictly devoted to films without domestic theatrical distribution and budgets under $1 million, from first-time feature directors." You can find the full line-up of films playing this year on their site or we've featured a few highlights to keep an eye on below. A Quiet Little Marriage - Written/Directed by Mo Perkins Cast: Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Cy Carter, Jimmi Simpson. A loving young couple square off against each other in...

The Slamdance competition is open only to under-$1 million budgeted films from first-time filmmakers and runs at the same time as Sundance (in Utah) to show a more truer "independent" film style. This year they've got some great looking films, including a sweet looking vampire flick which has the Karate Kid Ralph Macchio himself, Rosencantz and Guildenstern are Undead. I Sell the Dead which was well received at Tad will be opening the fest. Also playing will be The Broken Lizard's latest film The Slammin' Salmon, and Mum and Dad.

Checkout the full lineup after the break!

Narrative Feature Competition

The Ante

Max Perrier (Director), Danek S. Kaus, James Chancellor & Simon Perrier (Writers)

West Coast Premiere, Black Comedy/Thriller, 2006, Canada, 82 minutes

An innocent man becomes the killer everyone wants him to be when he gambles with his freedom in order to save it.

A Quiet Little Marriage

Mo Perkins (Director/Writer)

Utah Premiere,...

• Glenn McQuaid’s black comedy horror film “I Sell the Dead” and the latest from the Broken Lizard clan are among the 29 films from first time filmmakers in both narrative and docu categories that have been announced for the 15th edition of the Slamdance. I’ve never really cared for the film fest, only because it simultaneously takes place during the Sundance film fest, but what I find really appealing this year is if you are a buyer looking to cut expenses this year you can download the entire fringe film fest from www.indieroad.net/slamdance. With the exclusion of the short film selections, the festival's four programming sections (Narrative Features, Documentaries, Special Screenings and Twilight Screenings) is listed below. Narrative Feature Competition The AnteMax Perrier (Director), Danek S. Kaus, James Chancellor & Simon Perrier (Writers) West Coast Premiere, Black Comedy/Thriller, 2006, Canada, 82 minutes An innocent man becomes the

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"I Sell the Dead," Glenn McQuaid's darkly comic horror tale about bumbling grave robbers starring Dominic Monaghan and Ron Perlman, will serve as the opening-night film of the 15th annual Slamdance Film Festival, which runs Jan. 15-23 in Park City.

The fest will screen 29 narrative and documentary features, 20 of which come from the U.S. and 31% of which were directed by women. The 100-film lineup also includes shorts and, for the first time, music videos.

"This year we look forward to increasing our audience through new online formats we believe have the ability, in the long run, to level the playing field for the independent filmmaker," Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter said.

Bringing the fest to a worldwide audience for the first time, the films also will stream live at a new Web site, indieroad.net/slamdance, part of Slamdance's newly formed online venture with Indieroad.net.

The...