Post-Weekend News Roundup – Mar. 23
Remember last week when we said that It Follows was being planned for a slow build in theaters and a Video On-Demand release on 3/27? Well, when you open to the second highest per screen average of the year, plans can change. The unsettling horror film expanded to 32 screens this past weekend, and now according to Slashfilm, distributor Radius-TWC will quickly expand to around 1,000 theaters. The downside is that the VOD release has been postponed, perhaps until the film leaves the big chain theaters it now will be seen in. Truthfully, this is a good trade-off, as It Follows is best seen in a dark room, surrounded by strangers. Here’s what you may have missed from last week’s entertainment news:
SXSW 2015 Wraps, Krisha Wins Top Prize
After premieres of 100 films including first looks at hotly anticipated films Furious 7 and Trainwreck, this year’s SXSW Film Festival was bigger and better than ever. Trey Edward Shults’s family drama Krisha became the first film to win both the Narrative Feature and Audience Award at the the SXSW Film Festival since Natural Selection in 2011. Peace Officer took home the top prize for feature documentary. You can find the complete list of jury winners here. And don’t forget to check out our coverage directly from the fest.
Criterion Collection June Titles Headlined by André and Wallace
The landmark 1981 indie My Dinner with André (Criterion #479) is getting a Blu-ray upgrade, being packaged with already enshrined Vanya on 42nd Street (#599) and new release Jonathan Demme’s A Master Builder for a new boxset focused on the collaboration between theater director André Gregory and actor Wallace Shawn. Other films being released in the June 2015 haul are Bernhard Wicki’s antiwar film The Bridge, Gilliam-Bridges-Williams masterwork The Fisher King, Czech cult film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, and a standalone release of Jack Nicholson’s iconic performance in Five Easy Pieces (the film was original released as part of the BBS boxset).
Amirpour Follow-Up Casts Carrey, Keanu, Momoa
Ana Lily Amirpour’s debut A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night was a striking, original entry in vampire cinema, standing out as one of last year’s best indie films. For her follow-up, she’s turning to cannibalism, a horror subgenre that isn’t as popular but could use a fresh re-imagining. According to Deadline, The Bad Batch won’t be an uncovered gem with the recent casting of Jim Carrey, Keanu Reeves and Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa. The trio will join leads Diego Luna and Suki Waterhouse in this dystopian love story set in the heart of Texas. Production is set to begin in April.
Errol Morris Making True-Crime Series for Netflix
Fresh off the mind-blowing conclusion to HBO’s series The Jinx, documentary legend Errol Morris told the Business Insider that his upcoming project with Netflix “has an element of true crime in it.” It was impossible not to connect recent cultural dynamos Serial and The Jinx to The Thin Blue Line, the landmark in pulpy true crime docs, so it is exciting to the see the originator is back in the game. If you haven’t seen The Thin Blue Line, it is being released by the Criterion Collection tomorrow.
Mondo Takes on Malick
Mondo, the fine purveyors of awesome original posters, recently announced an upcoming series on the work of film master Terrence Malick. The first, for his debut Badlands, was released on Thursday and promptly sold out, as is usually the case for their work. If you want to get your hands on the limited prints for Days of Heaven or The Tree of Life, you’re going to have to act fast. The Badlands print was sold at $45 (275 quantity), with 125 variant editions being sold at $65. The beautiful work and exclusivity are definitely worth the price if you can manage to be one of the lucky few.
Trailer of the Week: Sunshine Superman
Base jumping is one of the most dangerous and awe-inspiring extreme sports. Marah Stauch’s profile of Carl Boenish, who is credited as the movement’s innovator, features incredible footage from his life and many daring escapades. Sunshine Superman premiered at the 2014 TIFF and will open in limited release on May 22. Check out the heart-pounding trailer below!