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The indie success story of the year is for a movie you maybe haven’t heard of: “Hundreds of Beavers.”

Director Mike Cheslik’s film is a black-and-white, silent, slapstick comedy about a fur trapper and his battles with literally hundreds of dudes dressed in beaver costumes. And despite no formal distribution and a shoestring budget, it has developed a passionate cult following as one of the more talked about films of 2024.

But if you’ve missed one of “Hundreds of Beavers'” vaudeville theatrical screenings/beaver-wrestling matches, you haven’t lost out on the chance to become part of “The Beaverati.”

“Hundreds of Beavers” is set to be released as a special edition Blu-ray via the specialty DVD distributor Vinegar Syndrome, Cartuna, and Ocn Distribution, IndieWire can reveal exclusively. The film’s Blu-ray edition will go live for pre-orders on December 3 and start shipping in time for the holidays. It...

"Stop arguing. Get together. Laugh your tail off." Guess who's back?!

To celebrate the release of Things Will Be Different, which will be available on Blu-ray and Digital Download from 18th November, we are giving a away 2 Blu-Rays to 2 lucky winners!

After evading police following a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low at an abandoned farmhouse. But when a mysterious force emerges, it makes the pair question everything about themselves – and each other.

Lightbulb Film Distribution is thrilled to share the news that their dark and twisted sci-fi horror, Things Will Be Different, will be available on Blu-ray and Digital Download from 18th November.

A brand new feature from Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, the minds behind Marvel’s Loki, Something In The Dirt and The Endless and the distributor who released Hundreds of Beavers into the UK, comes a bold, new, time-travel thriller, starring Adam David Thompson and Riley Dandy.

Blu-ray Special Features:

Audio Commentary with the Director and Producer

Hidden...

The Fithian Group, the theatrical consulting firm co-founded by former National Association of Theater Owners CEO John Fithian with Jackie Brenneman and Patrick Corcoran, will launch a new database in 2025 that will serve as a tool for independent filmmakers and movie theater owners to connect for potential distribution deals without the involvement of a major studio.

The database, called Attend, was developed alongside movie theater technology company Vista Group and will be launched as a pilot program in the United States and Australia in early 2025. The database will allow filmmakers to upload information and materials, including trailers, about their films onto the database for theater owners to view.

Exhibitors can search the database, while Attend also recommends movies to exhibitors based on the preferences of their individual theaters and moviegoers. The platform also can assist exhibitors and filmmakers in the logistics of the self-distribution process.

The program has drawn the...

Hannah Peterson’s film “The Graduates” was stuck in limbo. Its cast included John Cho, Chloé Zhao was an executive producer, it premiered at Tribeca 2023 to excellent reviews… and, it had no distributor. But it did have a fan.

Caryn Coleman, a film programmer who runs non-profit The Future of Film Is Female, was frustrated to see Peterson’s film go unreleased. So she decided to release it herself. Coleman used her connections to land “The Graduates” a New York screening November 1 with expansion to follow, crafting the release strategy in tandem with Peterson.

But The Future of Film Is Female is not technically a distributor and Coleman hasn’t quit her day job. “The Graduates” won’t see many screens; it may be one of just two films Coleman’s company releases all year. Coleman doesn’t even expect to make back the film’s very modest budget. But...

The last five years have been transformative for cinema, between the impact of Covid, the streaming revolution, and the rise of AI technology. Which is exactly why Empire decided to poll an array of top filmmakers in Hollywood – and beyond – on what exactly is going on in the industry, and what it all means for the movies. The result is a major new article – available to read in full in our Mickey 17 issue (order here).

One of the hottest topics is the encroachment of AI, with the industry still figuring out how it could, should – or should not – be used in moviemaking. “It is not creative,” says Gina Prince-Bythewood, director of The Woman King. “It just takes from others’ creativity.” Sofia Coppola – director of Priscilla and Lost In Translation – questions its capabilities beyond creating mere imagery: “It can be helpful, but I think you need a heart and soul to make art.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die (Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah)

Bad Boys: Ride or Die is a film about retribution and redemption. Not just on screen, but in execution. After their last attempt at a blockbuster was shelved in the name of a tax loophole, directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah seem intent on unleashing all their pent-up energy, whether they’re selling us Batgirls or Bad Boys. Even if it bears the baggage of a meta redemption arc for its star, Ride or Die brings enough stylistic gusto to its action in the absence of Michael Bay but has a hard time justifying most other decisions, which adopt the tedium rampant in modern blockbuster filmmaking. – Conor O. (full review...

Next Thursday, October 17, over Zoom at 2:00 Pm Eastern, Jon Reiss — a longtime Filmmaker contributor and author of the new and highly recommended (and distribution-focused) 8 Above Substack — and I will be hosting a distribution case study on DIY hit Hundreds of Beavers with producer Kurt Ravenwood. We’re going to investigate how the Hundreds of Beavers became a breakout success that grossed over $500K at the theatrical box office — more than tripling their production budget of $150K. Kurt will reveal how their team identified, mobilized and grew their audience, how they eventized their theatrical release and created […]

The post Register Now for Free Hundreds of Beavers Distribution Case Study first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Next Thursday, October 17, over Zoom at 2:00 Pm Eastern, Jon Reiss — a longtime Filmmaker contributor and author of the new and highly recommended (and distribution-focused) 8 Above Substack — and I will be hosting a distribution case study on DIY hit Hundreds of Beavers with producer Kurt Ravenwood. We’re going to investigate how the Hundreds of Beavers became a breakout success that grossed over $500K at the theatrical box office — more than tripling their production budget of $150K. Kurt will reveal how their team identified, mobilized and grew their audience, how they eventized their theatrical release and created […]

The post Register Now for Free Hundreds of Beavers Distribution Case Study first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The largest genre film festival in North America, Montréal’s ever-growing Fantasia International Film Festival celebrated its 28th edition this summer. This was my seventh year covering for Filmmaker, my ninth in attendance and I arrived with a severe case of Fomo: at an industry party last year, I met a man dressed head-to-toe in a gigantic beaver costume, allegedly to promote a feature he had at the festival. He was charming, so I told him I’d make an effort to see Hundreds of Beavers, but a part of me, taken aback by the man’s zany attire and commitment to self-promotion, knew […]

The post Shudder Speed: Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The largest genre film festival in North America, Montréal’s ever-growing Fantasia International Film Festival celebrated its 28th edition this summer. This was my seventh year covering for Filmmaker, my ninth in attendance and I arrived with a severe case of Fomo: at an industry party last year, I met a man dressed head-to-toe in a gigantic beaver costume, allegedly to promote a feature he had at the festival. He was charming, so I told him I’d make an effort to see Hundreds of Beavers, but a part of me, taken aback by the man’s zany attire and commitment to self-promotion, knew […]

The post Shudder Speed: Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Stars: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Doug Mancheski, Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Luis Rico | Written by Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Mike Cheslik | Directed by Mike Cheslik

When my partner asked me what movie I was watching perhaps “checking out Hundreds of Beavers” wasn’t the best of all possible answers. And I suppose trying to clarify it with “big hairy Canadian beavers” didn’t help. But despite the title and opening quote from St. Augustine, “Lord grant me chastity, but not yet!”, this isn’t that kind of a movie.

The new film from director Mike Cheslik and co-writer Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, the pair who gave us the Tews-directed Lake Michigan Monster, never really gets raunchier than an old episode of The Benny Hill Show as it relates the tale of Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) who, as we see in the opening animation, has lost his apple orchard...

From Hundreds of Beavers to In a Violent Nature and Sasquatch Sunset, all have chosen to limit or refrain from dialogue to bring audiences closer to those that cannot speak for themselves

As the old adage goes “nature is red in tooth and claw” but this year’s environmental cinema focuses on a bloodier violence which is far from inevitable. The black and white slapstick comedy Hundreds of Beavers, the gory slasher In a Violent Nature and cryptid movie Sasquatch Sunset all chose to limit or entirely refrain from dialogue in order to offer strange odes to the environment which highlight humanity’s lasting impact on the natural world.

Opting for physicality over dialogue, these three films follow in the footsteps of nonverbal nature documentaries such as Victor Kossakovsky’s Gunda and Laurent Charbonnier and Michel Seydoux’s Heart of An Oak. These documentaries offer much more than simple meditative depictions of wildlife and,...

Knapp 80 Filme von 45 Verleihern: Die Filmkunstmesse Leipzig holt einmal mehr die ganze Vielfalt des Arthouse auf die Leinwände der Passage-Kinos, des CineStar Leipzig und der Schauburg als Spielstätte für öffentliche Screenings. Jetzt wurde das Programm bekanntgegeben, das aus deutscher Sicht u.a. die neuen Werke von Tom Tykwer, Tim Fehlbaum oder Andres Veiel umfasst.

Großer Andrang zur Eröffnung: Darauf darf man sich auch bei der 24. Filmkunstmesse einstellen (Credit: Ag Kino-Gilde/Tom Schulze)

Publikums-, Kritiker- und Jurylieblinge des Festivals in Cannes: Sie sind traditionell fester Bestandteil des Programms der Filmkunstmesse Leipzig – und daran ändert sich natürlich auch bei der 24. Ausgabe des zentralen Treffens der deutschsprachigen Arthouse-Szene nichts. Ebenso wenig gilt dies für die immense Bandbreite und Vielfalt der dort für Fachpublikum (und teils auch für die Öffentlichkeit) gezeigten Titel. 78 Filme von 45 Verleihern zählen die Organisatoren der Ag Kino-Gilde diesmal.

Tradition haben auch hochkarätige Eröffnungsfilme am Montagabend – jeweils einer, der nur dem...

Baby-thwapers. Bukkake. Bratislava. Those aren't the three B's that The Office made famous; those are the three B's of Sander Maran's Estonian musical horror comedy Chainsaws Were Singing. The movie plays like a Mad Libs slasher satire of slasher by way of parody musicals, caught somewhere between Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Cannibal: The Musical and Troma's Poultrygeist (or any of the studio's earlier super-gory song-and-dance flicks). It's unapologetically low-budget, confidently goopy, and a ceremoniously silly take on "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre meets Dead & Breakfast." I'd say it can potentially be the next Hundreds of Beavers — an absurd smash-hit indie from out of nowhere — but some pacing issues prevent the film from achieving bulletproof greatness.

Everything starts like your standard Nicholas Sparks romance: just-broken-up-with Tom (Karl Ilves) falls in love at first sight with Maria (Laura Niils) before he throws himself off a bridge. The two...

The People’s Joker has been on my radar since its splashy premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2022, which made headlines when the film was served a cease-and-desist order from Warner Bros., which resulted in the cancellation of all future screenings. All anyone who was not at the premiere of the film really knew about it was that it was some sort of parody of Todd Phillip’s 2019 Joker from a trans perspective. After just under two years of legal dispute, The People’s Joker has finally been released. Kinda. It was shown at the IFC Center in New York City on April 5th of this year and has been touring arthouse cinemas across the country since, only showing in special “one day only” screenings. I suspect this was an agreement that the team behind the film made with Warner Bros to get a release at all.

After all this ruckus,...

Described as “Monty Python meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre meets Les Miserables” Chainsaws Were Singing is a truly insane movie for absolutely deranged people. Luckily, that’s you and me, fellow weirdo. And if that’s not you, and you’ve found your way to this film review by some strange twist of fate, be warned: This ultra silly, heckin’ gory, and brilliantly dumb nightmare may just ruin normal movies for you forever! But if you are feeling brave, come take a walk on the wild side and have a gander at an absolutely bonkers Slapstick-Slasher-Musical.

It’s a little hard to give you a clear synopsis on what actually happens in the movie. I’ll sound like a madman, without some context. At its core, it’s about two young people, Tom & Maria (played by Karl-Joosep Ilves & Laura Niils) who fall in love at first sight, only to be...

Each Friday I send out a free email newsletter with an original Editor’s Letter along with viewing recommendations and festival deadlines. The Editor’s Letter is usually not reposted here on this site. As a way of encouraging sign-ups — you can join for free here — I’m posting here a slightly edited version of last week’s edition, in which I draw some production and distribution conclusions from the success of the Mike Cheslik’s independent hit Hundreds of Beavers, drawing info from linked interviews, now unpaywalled, from our current print edition. — Editor Because I edit Filmmaker and am supposed to […]

The post Ten Takeaways from Hundreds of Beavers‘ Success first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Each Friday I send out a free email newsletter with an original Editor’s Letter along with viewing recommendations and festival deadlines. The Editor’s Letter is usually not reposted here on this site. As a way of encouraging sign-ups — you can join for free here — I’m posting here a slightly edited version of last week’s edition, in which I draw some production and distribution conclusions from the success of the Mike Cheslik’s independent hit Hundreds of Beavers, drawing info from linked interviews, now unpaywalled, from our current print edition. — Editor Because I edit Filmmaker and am supposed to […]

The post Ten Takeaways from Hundreds of Beavers‘ Success first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

On this week's Empire Podcast we have another brace of cracking guests. First up, It Follows star Maika Monroe returns to the show to talk to Chris Hewitt about her terrifying new horror film, Longlegs [25:43 — 39:01 approx], inadvertently inspiring Chris to launch the Empire Podcast Hall Of Fame for repeat guests in the process. Elsewhere, making his long, long overdue debut on the pod is the great Griffin Dunne, star of An American Werewolf In London and After Hours, who sits down with Chris to talk about his memoir, The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir [59:29 - 1:19:24 approx]. It's a conversation that runs the emotional gauntlet from the funny to the tragic, and we hope he comes back many times — a Hall Of Fame spot surely awaits.

Either side of our star interviews, Chris is joined in the podbooth this week by Helen O'Hara and Alex Godfrey to tackle this week's Gladiator II inspired...

If you predicted that one of the most entertaining films of the summer would be a deranged $150,000 comedy about a man battling beavers in the frozen north, then congratulations, you are more prescient than us. Much like a stealthy Castor canadensis bent on munching its way through tasty oak, this film seems to have materialised out of nowhere — only aficionados of micro-budgeted 2018 film Lake Michigan Monster, the previous collaboration between Ryland Brickson Cole Tews and Mike Cheslik, will have seen it coming.

Yet come it has, and we’re glad it has, because Hundreds Of Beavers will surely prove one of 2024’s most surprising joys. Essentially The Revenant meets the Road Runner, it’s more-or-less indescribable, but try to imagine a black-and-white survival tale, powered by relentless sight gags and video-game sound effects, in which a hero — Tews, as the splendidly named Jean Kayak — faces down an army of human-sized beavers,...

Disney blockbuster “Inside Out 2” led the U.K. and Ireland box office for the fourth consecutive weekend with £5.1 million ($6.5 million). It now has a running total of £40 million, taking it past Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Two” to become the year’s highest-grossing film in the region. It also surpassed the lifetime box office of 2015’s “Inside Out.”

Paramount’s “A Quiet Place: Day One” held onto second place in its sophomore frame, earning £1.6 million and bringing its cumulative total to £6.1 million. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” from Sony rounded out the top three in its fifth week, adding £446,578 to reach a total of £11 million.

Universal’s horror entry “MaXXXine” debuted at No. 4 with £388,043, while the studio’s “The Bikeriders” dropped to fifth place in its third week, collecting £374,066 for a total of £3.1 million.

Indian sci-fi epic “Kalki 2898 Ad” from Dreamz Entertainment landed at sixth with £187,610 in its second week,...

If you keep an ear to the ground in the world of cult cinema, you’ve likely heard a distinctive rumbling coming from the United States – the unmistakable sound of Hundreds Of Beavers. Because the scrappy and raucous debut feature from filmmakers Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews – featuring, yes, hundreds of beavers; or, at least, people in mascot-type beaver costumes – has become a word-of-mouth sensation for its wild slapstick, unpredictable energy, and audience-riling exploits. And now, it’s finally about to make its way to UK cinemas, bringing Beaver fever across the pond. Get ready for a film that Cheslik and Tews pitched as “‘The Revenant but funny’.”

Tews stars as drunken 18th-century applejack salesman Jean Kayak, who – after a run-in with a bunch of belligerent beavers – takes up fur-trapping, and must collect “hundreds of beavers” to win the hand of a merchant’s daughter. That basic plot...

The Dark Lord is rising, and the battle for Middle-earth is about to begin. The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power returns to our screens this summer for a second season that sees the stakes higher than ever – Sauron has revealed himself, Galadriel is out for redemption, war is coming, and there are some of those titular rings in play.

Empire has a giant, world-exclusive look at the show’s return in our brand new issue, on sale and hitting newsstands from Thursday 4 July – but for now, here’s a sneak peek at what’s inside.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power

One show to rule them all – as we prepare to return to Middle-earth, Empire goes on the brand new UK set of Prime Video’s Tolkien fantasy epic, speaking to showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, stars Charlie Vickers, Morfydd Clark, Sophia Nomvete and Daniel Weyman,...

Clear CutScreenshot: Lionsgate Movies/YouTube

2024 is halfway over and we’ve already seen the best film about logging we’re going to get until December—or likely for the decade. That is, without question, Hundreds Of Beavers, the wildly imaginative silent film that takes as much inspiration from Mario...

The phrase “word-of-mouth indie theatrical hit” sounds as outdated in 2024 as “coming soon to LaserDisc.” And yet, the slapstick fur-trapping adventure comedy Hundreds of Beavers has graduated from its lengthy festival run to become that rarest of things, a star-free independent film that has already grossed more than double its $150,000 production budget during its self-distributed gradual cinema rollout. First-time feature writer-director Mike Cheslik previously teamed with lead actor/producer/co-writer Ryland Brickson Cole Tews on the latter’s feature directorial debut, the black-and-white adventure comedy Lake Michigan Monster. In classic independent […]

The post Of Mascots and Men: Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickston Cole Tews on Hundreds of Beavers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The phrase “word-of-mouth indie theatrical hit” sounds as outdated in 2024 as “coming soon to LaserDisc.” And yet, the slapstick fur-trapping adventure comedy Hundreds of Beavers has graduated from its lengthy festival run to become that rarest of things, a star-free independent film that has already grossed more than double its $150,000 production budget during its self-distributed gradual cinema rollout. First-time feature writer-director Mike Cheslik previously teamed with lead actor/producer/co-writer Ryland Brickson Cole Tews on the latter’s feature directorial debut, the black-and-white adventure comedy Lake Michigan Monster. In classic independent […]

The post Of Mascots and Men: Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickston Cole Tews on Hundreds of Beavers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Clockwise from top left: Green Border (Kino Lorber), I Saw The TV Glow (A24), Evil Does Not Exist (Janus Films), Kinds Of Kindness (Searchlight Pictures), Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Warner Bros.) Graphic: AVClub Now that the film festivals have settled down and the blockbusters have started rolling out in earnest,...

Clockwise from top left: Green Border (Kino Lorber), I Saw The TV Glow (A24), Evil Does Not Exist (Janus Films), Kinds Of Kindness (Searchlight Pictures), Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Warner Bros.)Graphic: AVClub

Now that the film festivals have settled down and the blockbusters have started rolling out in earnest,...

The question Seed&Spark founder Emily Best often gets from indie filmmakers is this: “What the fuck is happening in distribution, and what are we supposed to do about it?”

“They weren’t even asking at this point, ‘How do I get distribution?’ said Best, who launched the indie film crowdfunding platform in 2012. “They were like, ‘Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it. If only I knew what are the tools and what are the things that I need.’”

Best described the situation as a “black box” for creators who felt stuck and powerless as to how they should navigate distribution, with a few companies acting as gatekeepers. She said more people kept entering that box: As distribution became more challenging for everyone, even established filmmakers were now asking questions.

So after years of calls, seminars, and panels at film festivals, Best assembled everything you need to...

Fantasy horror Hundreds Of Beavers is to be released in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand by Lightbulb Film Distribution, following a festival run including Fantastic Fest, Fantasia and Sitges.

The film is US director Mike Cheslik’s feature debut, and is a dialogue-free homage to silent cinema about a drunken19th century cider salesman whose stock is ruined by hungry beavers and tries to recover his fortune by becoming North America’s greatest fur trapper.

Toronto-based genre specialist Raven Banner has international sales rights. Lightbulb will release the films in UK and Irish cinemas on July 9.

Ryland Brickson Cole Tews...

A wordless sasquatch film is certainly an audacious idea on paper. But it hasn’t been a month since we had an almost wordless beaver film (Hundreds of Beavers), which was fantastic. Clearly, cinema in 2024 is going way beyond the usual, and Sasquatch Sunset is a profound example of that. In the David and Nathan Zellner-directed Bigfoot film, the main characters refrain from saying anything, which only adds value to it. Despite the lack of dialogue, Sasquatch Sunset has a pretty clear narrative, which turns the story into a four-season tale. It’s often hard to sit through thanks to its extremely gross nature, but it is also quite an experience if you have a thing for a certain kind of weirdness. The film categorizes itself as a comedy, but it is quite heavy and also packs a message by the end. In case you are feeling lost after watching Sasquatch Sunset,...

Trying to sell someone on the indie comedy "Hundreds of Beavers" is an exercise in comedic persuasion. Do you talk about how it's a black-and-white movie without dialogue evoking the approach of Charlie Chaplin? Do you highlight the slapstick physical comedy that would make "The Three Stooges" proud? Or do you simply say, "This dude fights people in animal mascot suits in the snow" and let the universe work its magic? First debuting on the festival circuit in 2022 and now finally available on VOD, "Hundreds of Beavers" has quietly become the must-see oddball indie flick for cinephiles everywhere. It's a seemingly algorithm-proof movie that, as /Film's Matt Donato described in his review, exists at the crossroads of Looney Tunes, Benny Hill, "Cannibal: The Musical," "Blazing Saddles," and Adult Swim mindsets. It's also a delightfully Midwest movie, embracing a sense of humor that has been missing from major comedy films for far too long.

(Welcome to Under the Radar, a column where we spotlight specific movies, shows, trends, performances, or scenes that caught our eye and deserved more attention ... but otherwise flew under the radar. In this edition: the haunting genre-bender "The Beast," the farcical indie "Hundreds of Beavers," and HBO's "The Sympathizer" all stand out as clear highlights.)

Buckle up, folks: The theme of this month's edition of "Under the Radar" falls under the category of weird and wild.

More so than in previous years, this past April marked something of an awkward transition point in the overall release calendar. While Oscar season is well and truly behind us, the summer blockbuster season still remains a few weeks away from truly ramping up in earnest. Sure, the one-two punch of "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" and "Furiosa" technically kick off the festivities in short order, but June and July are when the real heavy-hitters -- hello,...

In October 2018 while sharing beers in a frigid Milwaukee bar with his soon-to-be leading man Ryland Tews, director, visual effects artist and editor of “Hundreds of Beavers” Mike Cheslik conceived the film based on three simple elements: his After Effects skills, familiarity with snow and Tews’ uncanny ability to fall over.

“We knew that the image of a guy in a mascot costume falling down was fundamentally funny,” Cheslik explains. “And if that is in every shot, even if our gags aren’t working well, we have the fundamental comedy of mascot animal. Is that right, Ryland?”

“Absolutely,” Tews says in response. “We just wanted to make a movie that looked like nothing else.”

Ryland Tews and Mike Cheslik on the set of “Hundreds of Beavers.”

This would begin the five-and-a-half-year journey to the theatrical release of one of 2024’s most successful indie films. Entirely self-distributed, “Hundreds of Beavers” has...

Hundreds of Beavers premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2022 and released digitally in April of 2024.

I didn’t know much about the Mike Cheslik directed film prior to seeing it. I had heard the name and initially believed it was a nature documentary. I was very wrong. After reading the description I thought it might be a horror-comedy in the vein of 2015’s Zombeavers. Wrong again. It’s a genre-defying mishmash comprised of absurdist slapstick humor, and I absolutely loved it.

Hundreds of Beavers Plot

Also Read: Straight Outta Compton and Obi-Wan Kenobi Star Lays It All on the Line for Naughty Dog’s Contentious Sequel

Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) has his life flipped upside down when beavers destroy his home. While attempting to survive in the brutal cold of winter, he finds himself at odds with various wildlife. Rabbits, racoons, wolves and beavers continuously outsmart the dimwitted man.

It’s a slow weekend for theatrical releases but a great one for streaming debuts. The hottest title is a surefire Oscar candidate, and the others have become fan favorites with long shelf lives ahead.

The contender to watch this week: “Dune: Part Two“

Denis Villeneuve‘s first “Dune” won six of its 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Original Score and Best Visual Effects. His second, 2024’s highest-grossing movie to date, could show up in many of the same categories next year. Timothée Chalamet probably has a better shot at a nomination for the Bob Dylan biopic he’s currently shooting, and if Zendaya deserves recognition for anything, it’s “Challengers.” But even without acting contenders, “Dune: Part Two” could rank among next season’s biggest players. It’s still in theaters, but you can now ride the sandworm at home by renting or purchasing the film on VOD.

Other contenders:...

Ryland Brickson Cole Tews in Hundreds Of Beavers Image: Srh If you’ve had a chance to catch Hundreds Of Beavers during its recent roadshow tour, or at any of the many festivals where it’s played to enthusiastic audiences, you already know what a weird and wonderful film it is.

Mike Cheslik behind the scenes of Hundreds Of BeaversImage: Srh

If you’ve had a chance to catch Hundreds Of Beavers during its recent roadshow tour, or at any of the many festivals where it’s played to enthusiastic audiences, you already know what a weird and wonderful film it is.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Asphalt City (Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire)

I entered Asphalt City at last year’s EnergaCAMERIMAGE festival with nothing but morbid curiosity. Having engendered some rank responses from its Cannes premiere and not secured any known U.S. distributor, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s film had the right kind of bad-object energy one needs at the jetlagged start to their week in a small Polish city. (Or just the comfort I personally get from a Brooklyn-shot feature featuring two Club Random guests.) I walked away boasting complicated, fascinated enthusiasm: nearly every second is ridiculous and never boring, and it doesn’t not deserve to play at a cinematography festival––having the most cinematography counts for something. Starting and ending with a blatant homage to The New World...

So, you say you want to see something different, offbeat, out-of-the-ordinarry on your next visit to the cinema. Well, this weekend brings a true test for adventurous filmgoers. A few days ago I posted a review of the slapstick farce Hundreds Of Beavers, which is basically a silent movie “homage” since there’s almost no spoken dialogue. Much the same can be said for this new film, though it has a full soundtrack with lots of ambient background audio. Oh, and the characters do communicate, though it’s mainly via hand gestures, body language, and various grunts, growls, and groans. That’s because the four main characters are those “urban legend” icons, Bigfeet (Bigfoots just doesn’t sound right). No humans, just this quartet, romping around the forest all day until the big Sasquatch Sunset.

It all begins though, with the sunrise over a vast wooded area, perhaps in the great Northwestern US.

The existence of a film like Hundreds of Beavers in 2024 is a marvel. How else can you put it, given that it feels like something that was actually made in another era—when motion pictures used to be much different—and, most importantly, without words? To think that director Mike Cheslik has actually made a micro-budget (almost) silent film that is very much in line with Looney Tunes but also has a clear Midwestern influence, considering the subject matter and the settings, is astonishing! And the fact that it actually works out pretty well is surprising, as well as reassuring for filmmakers who’re out there thinking about doing something unimaginably different. Hundreds of Beavers is what can happen when someone actually shows courage.

Spoilers Ahead

What Happens In The Film?

If you’re reading this, then I’m assuming you’re here only after watching the film. If you haven’t yet done so,...

Stars: Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Doug Mancheski, Olivia Graves, Wes Tank, Luis Rico | Written by Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Mike Cheslik | Directed by Mike Cheslik

When my partner asked me what movie I was watching perhaps “checking out Hundreds of Beavers” wasn’t the best of all possible answers. And I suppose trying to clarify it with “big hairy Canadian beavers” didn’t help. But despite the title and opening quote from St. Augustine, “Lord grant me chastity, but not yet!”, this isn’t that kind of a movie.

The new film from director Mike Cheslik and co-writer Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, the pair who gave us the Tews-directed Lake Michigan Monster, never really gets raunchier than an old episode of The Benny Hill Show as it relates the tale of Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) who, as we see in the opening animation, has lost his apple orchard...

Since it seems that the big action blockbusters are taking over the multiplex far in advance of their usual Summertime occupancy, what’s out there for lovers of silent-movie style slapstick and Golden Age cartoon short lunacy (as in those “Tunes”)? Well, a recent “midnight movie” indie hit on the “film festival circuit” is now available to rent or buy via streaming. Oh, but that title might raise a few “red flags” on your business search engine when getting some info on it. Not to worry, since most rating boards would probably give it a “PG-13” rating, at most, due to some scatological humor and some sexy gymnastics for a few seconds. Ah, but let’s delve a bit more into the movie with the ‘eyebrow-raising’ moniker, the fantasy fable/farce concerning Hundreds Of Beavers.

Well, it does resemble a silent comedy from a hundred years ago just before we...

Hundreds of Beavers Hits Streaming This April Following Critical Acclaim and Sold Out Shows on North American Theatrical Tour Underground Frostbitten Epic Bows on Prime Video and Apple TV April 15th via FilmHub Debuts April 19th as an SVOD Exclusive on Fandor Recent Reviews: “You’d do well to satisfy your craving for knockabout …

The post Frozen Slapstick Epic Hundreds Of Beavers Thaws onto Streaming April 15th appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Reuniting the team that brought Lake Michigan Monster to audiences in 2019, frostbitten slapstick epic Hundreds of Beavers sets its digital debut after a successful festival and theatrical run.

Look for Hundreds of Beavers to be available for rental and purchase on Prime Video and Apple TV nationwide through FilmHub starting April 15, 2024. Other major Tvod platforms will follow. The frostbitten epic comedy will be available as an SVOD exclusive on Fandor beginning April 19.

The film stars Ryland Brickson Cole Tews as the intrepid hero of this frostbitten inventive epic, co-written by Tews and Mike Cheslik making his feature directorial debut.

About Hundreds of Beavers: “In this silent supernatural epic, a drunken applejack salesman is thrust into the frigid wilderness. Can he go from Zero to Hero, become North America’s greatest fur trapper, and defeat hundreds of beavers?”

Tews plays Jean Kayak, who “finds himself stranded in a surreal winter landscape...

Mark Wahlberg in Arthur The King Photo: Carlow Rodriguez/Lionsgate SXSW review: The Fall GuyFresh off of his show-stopping performance of “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars, Ryan Gosling headed to South By Southwest to support his next project, The Fall Guy, where he introduced the film before its world premiere.

Photo: Universal Pictures/Eric Laciste, The Chosen/Mike Kubeisy, A24, Carlow Rodriguez/Lionsgate, Image: Universal Pictures, A24, Srh, Lionsgate, Graphic: The A.V. Club, The A.V. ClubSXSW review: The Fall GuyRyan Gosling in The Fall GuyPhoto: Universal Pictures/Eric Laciste

Fresh off of his show-stopping performance of “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars,...

Ryland Brickson Cole Tews in Hundreds Of Beavers Image: Srh With influences including Charlie Chaplin, Guy Maddin, Looney Tunes, Trey Parker, Joe Carnahan’s The Grey, and a handful of Nintendo games, Hundreds Of Beavers is one of the most distinctive movies you’ll see all year, and one made...

Wes Tank in Hundreds Of BeaversImage: Srh

With influences including Charlie Chaplin, Guy Maddin, Looney Tunes, Trey Parker, Joe Carnahan’s The Grey, and a handful of Nintendo games, Hundreds Of Beavers is one of the most distinctive movies you’ll see all year, and one made for midnight viewings if ever anything was.