sundance

The wackiest sci-fi flick at Sundance: Paul Giamatti and filmmaker Don Coscarelli on JOHN DIES AT THE END

JOHN DIES AT THE END, the latest bizarro sci-fi flick from genre filmmaker Don Coscarelli (of BUBBA HO-TEP fame), opens with a bang.

A designer drug called “soy sauce” grants users a paranormal, out-of-body experience, but also transforms them into disgusting, insect-filled zombie creatures. John (Rob Mayes) is frantic. He calls his best friend—and fellow slacker—Dave (Chase Williamson), who rushes over to his house. They soon encounter a cute, unassuming girl with a scar on her face. Before the two guys can say “soy sauce,” she explodes into hundreds of snakes that bite and tear at the two pals. John runs up the stairs to try and escape, but the door handle turns into a penis, which he refuses to turn. Then, various meats from the basement freezer—sausages, steaks, chickens, etc.—begin shooting across the floor, forming a “meat monster” with a turkey for a head who addresses the boys in a demonic voice.

Sundance Film Festival Review Roundup: WIN WIN

Tom McCarthy’s WIN WIN, starring Paul Giamatti as a small-time New Jersey lawyer and high school wrestling coach who takes over guardianship of one of his elderly clients, is shaping up to be an early Sundance Film Festival favorite. Marshall Fine, writing in the Huffington Post, calls the film “touchingly funny” and says it features [...]

Harvey Pekar Dies At 70

On July 12, 2010, Harvey Pekar, creator and writer of the autobiographical comic book American Splendor, was found dead at his home in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.  While the world may never have fully appreciated the richness of his talent, to those in the know, Pekar was one of the great American storytellers. His work focused [...]

THE LAST STATION

Anton Chekhov’s novella “My Life” reads like the first half of Leo Tolstoy’s life. A socially rebellious youth from a wealthy family who rejects the privileges of his class, denounces his education and sets out to make a life for himself amongst the working people. THE LAST STATION, however, is concerned only with the great man’s final days, more concerned, perhaps, than the great man himself. The film, like the ardent young Tolstoyans who hang on his every word, seeks to preserve his legacy even when Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) isn’t so sure what that is. Like Christians who follow the Bible to the letter, he is disappointed, it seems, or perhaps bewildered that his friends and believers obey ideals he once advocated for like abstinence, for example, when he himself doesn’t hesitate to make love to his wife.

The original bromance … John Hamburg’s SAFE MEN

On the eve of a new Paul Giamatti comedy, COLD SOULS (opens 8/7), and with Sam Rockwell’s MOON in theatres now, I decided to return to an early comedy for these talented actors. It’s SAFE MEN (1998), the first film from writer-director John Hamburg, and it’s … well, it’s the Father of Bromance.

Okay, I should say the Father of Modern Bromance. A simple google search got me to the history of the bromance, wherein references to Han and Chewie and Felix and Oscar (bromance amongst all bromances) set me straight. (See IGN.com’s top ten bromance couples here.) Although – side note – they clearly understand bromance as synonomous to The Buddy Film; I understand it more as The Buddy Comedy. And Modern Bromance? 90s-inspired, Apatow-flavored man-love? The general public may think the Apatow craze spawned movies this summer like (Hamburg’s) I LOVE YOU, MAN and HUMP DAY, but I contend it all started with SAFE MEN.

Festival Updates Interview: Sophie Barthes of COLD SOULS

Faith Salie speaks with COLD SOULS director Sophie Barthes and actor Paul Giamatti in the Sundance Channel Studio. Presented by Honda, The Power of Dreams.