During a Screenwriters Lab at the Sun Valley Film Festival, Mark Duplass was introduced to the stage by a moderator as (what Variety calls) a hyphenated individual: Writer-Director-Actor-Producer. Mark’s story begins as many filmmaker’s do—grabbing his parent’s video camera and “fooling” around with his brother, Jay. Eventually, they shot what Mark calls a “Five Dollar Short,” called This is John, and submitted to festivals. The film was well received, so the two brothers went on to make their first feature, The Puffy Chair, which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and the rest is history.

Or is it…

Mark Duplass exists—no, thrives—in a realm many indie filmmakers dream to be: making the movies he wants to do (often with his inner-circle of friends). People respect him for it. More importantly (though some in the indie world may disagree) he makes good money doing it. What is the secret? How does he succeed where so many fail? While luck and abilities certainly play in, the real answer is economics and Mark’s ability to make films frequently and on the cheap.

Many filmmakers who grew to fame in the 90’s have been forced to adapt to the model Mark was brought up under. There is a strong parallel between Mark and Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen, Saving Private Ryan). Ed Burns rose as an indie writer-director-writer-producer. He had huge hits in McMullen and She’s The One. He went on to act in studio films—however, production woes forced Ed to make a jump from $3 million films to the world of $125,000 nano-budgets; the world Mark grew up in. Both—after mastering this low budget field—now produce and star in their own network TV shows.

Ed was able to adapt—realizing that if a film can be made on the cheap, but maintain its quality in story and character, there is a stronger likelihood of walking away with a few dollars in the bank and a body of work to be proud of. Afterall, if a film only earns $600,000 on iTunes, but only cost $150,000 to make, that’s about as close to a home run as you can get (as opposed to a $3 million earning $600,000 and suddenly careers are on the line).

This is by no means a new approach. It’s the Roger Corman model, and has allowed Roger to produce over 300 films in his career—with nearly every single one turning a profit. A track record that is almost unheard of in the studio/low budget realm ($1.5-$10 million), but thrives in the micro-budget world.

But in the world of nickel and dime filmmaking, the million dollar question remains: “How do I do it?”

Here are some excerpts (paraphrased and reworded) from Mark’s talk at Sun Valley. You can hear the entirety of his 50-minute talk at the bottom or listen to it here.

#1 Write. Write Anything. Just Write.

We all have that idea in our minds that is sure to be the next big thing. It’s big though, and bound to be expensive. If you are a first time filmmaker (or even a veteran), how can one possibly attain the funding and crew to bring the idea to life? After all, a wartime drama on the new frontier of Mars can’t be made for money in the piggy bank without looking like a poorly executed homage to Ed Wood.

Mark’s solution is to JUST WRITE. Just write it! Get it out and on paper. Give it life—understand what it looks like—and then put it away and write the version of the story that can be shot in your friend’s mom’s kitchen. The root of any story is character, followed closely by conflict. If you understand these two elements within your writing then the story can be produced anywhere. Make it real—make it YOU. Setting is a luxury you can work towards later, but there is a reason Shakespeare can exist anywhere: from the moors of England, to the African safari, to the halls of an American high school; it’s because the characters and conflicts are strong and timeless (and he wrote it instead of thinking about it).

#2 Practice is Cheap

It’s scary to think the words you write can only be tested when executed. Words on a page are very different from words on a screen. Mark’s advice for getting started is to find a scene from your life—something personal that you respond to—and write it. Real moments play out, and provide a means to invest yourself into the words. Write a 3 or 4-minute scene and shoot it on your phone. Show the scene to people you trust for feedback. If it sucks, it’s fine because it cost nothing to do and you are not out anything. Take your notes from the scene, rewrite for the notes, and shoot it again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Practice will never make perfect (there’s no such thing as a perfect film), but it will always may you better. Eventually, understanding how to write for the screen (sometimes known as screenwriting) will come as second nature once you have the chance to see the words performed as often as possible.

#3 Short film or Feature?

Again, this is a matter of economics. Do you have $5 or $10,000? These were the numbers most often referenced by Mark. We live in a world of incredible technology, which truly puts the tools back into the hands of the artists. You can make a film on your phone (or a very good camera for a couple hundred bucks). The road to longevity in this field is through finding a way to stay profitable (which making money is strangely similar to not losing money). If you are going to do a short, don’t spend a lot of money on it. Use the short as an opportunity to hone your storytelling skills.

This is a very bold statement: $10,000 isn’t that hard to get. That can be covered by a credit card, or by borrowing/begging from people you know (or not buying a cup of coffee every day for 5.4 years). IF/WHEN you are able to get that 10 thousand, do a feature, because you can easily earn it back through transactional VOD outlets. A 10k feature will also showcase your abilities as a storyteller and filmmaker much more than a 10k short, plus it offers you the ability to earn it back.

#4 Get Good People

$10,000 for a feature? Really? Yes. The secret to anything—especially film—is to surround yourself with good people. Mark runs in a very tight group. He works with his brother, his wife, his friends. He works with people who believe and support him, and who also strive to do good. Having people like this onboard with you will make a $10,000 feature very do-able.

Another great solution is profit sharing. When the people you work with have a vested interest in the project, they are more willing to be working on the cheap. It is also the right thing to do. Many of Mark’s film have cost peanuts to produce and no one got rich making them; however, when the returns came in and the crew was able to share the profits they all made more than they would have had they been paid a standard wage. When this happens, they will also gladly return for the second round.

Beware of empty promises, though. There is no guarantee in this business, which is why a profit-share model can really only function within a collaborative group of friends—friends who are happy to work together even if the film never sees a dime.

#5 The Cost of Throw Pillows

Mark is a funny guy. So funny he’s a professional at it. He is also very sincere and knows drama. In his talk, Mark shares a story about working with studios. One blessing to making a film for no money is that you have more freedom. The more that is at risk, the more people will work to mitigate that risk, including requesting prettier throw pillows.

On the set of Cyrus, a studio film, costs of production were significantly higher than Mark’s earlier productions. As costs climb, producers understand their need to sell the film. Some producers believed the key to selling Cyrus would be to make it look “prettier” for the trailers. The discussion came around to the throw pillows in a scene, and producers pressured Mark to reshoot for the throw pillows. In a world (no pun intended) where a detail like throw pillows take precedence over performance and scene execution, an independent director and writer is bound to lose their cool. This is the cost of doing business with the studio and playing with other people’s money, which may be reason enough to happily put the “blockbuster in your mind” on the back-burner in favor of that $10,000 feature where throw pillows can live in the trash can.

The point, understand why you want to write and make films. Knowing this of yourself will make the journey much easier.

For filmmakers, Mark is the older brother some hope to be. He is killing it, and is very fortunate to be working under his own terms. He has come a long way and has even further left to go, but at the end of the day—and I take liberty speaking for Mark—if it meant having to bow down to throw pillows, he would still be just as happy stressing out over an answering machine greeting while his brother hits record on their parents video camera.

Mark Duplass Talks Indie Filmmaking

In her previous film, A Teacher, writer-director Hannah Fidell examined the unconventional affair between a high-school teacher and her student. The filmmaker continues her focus on forbidden relationships in 6 Years when a long-term romance gets tested by betrayal and a new job opportunity. With an improvised script, small-name actors, and a naturalistic relationship, it’s no surprise that indie gods Mark and Jay Duplass were executive producers on the film.

It’s challenging to demonstrate years worth of chemistry, inside banter, and the subtle cadence between two people accurately on film; Fidell doesn’t seem to have that problem here. The two leads, Dan (Ben Rosenfield) and Mel (Taissa Farmiga), portray convincing soulmates who’ve grown up together since childhood and have been dating for six years. They have the kind of relationship that can sense something is wrong from just a tiny inflection in each others voice. And they can easily tell when the other has had too much to drink, regardless of how much the other tries to deny it.

As young college students tend to do, the couple takes full advantage of their freedom and lack of responsibility by spending most of their time drinking and partying with friends. One night a boozed up Mel visits Dan and tries to get frisky with him. But the mood is killed when an argument breaks out after Dan discovers she drove in this condition. A vocal argument turns physical and puts Dan in the hospital with some minor injuries (a gender role reversal in domestic disputes that’s rarely shown in films).

Dan isn’t portrayed as a saint either. Like many troubled relationships, both parties are guilty of making mistakes of their own. Over some beers one night, Dan leans over and kisses his female co-worker (Lindsay Burdge, in a somewhat reprised role from A Teacher). He realizes his mistake right away and stops before anything else happens. But the damage unfolds a few scenes later when Mel borrows his phone and finds a text message that exposes his incident.

There are a few scenes in 6 Years that feel a bit cliche. In two different parts in the film, the couple inadvertently walk in on each other in various sexual situations; Dan needs to borrow Mel’s laptop and finds she was watching porn (another refreshing gender role reversal) and Mel conveniently catches Dan sleeping with someone else. But these few melodramatic spots in the script are overshadowed by stunning performances from Rosenfield and Farmiga. Rosenfield channels his inner Mark Duplass, capturing his introverted and down-to-earth mannerisms, while Farmiga brings a lot of energy and passion to a less desirable role as the “manipulative one.”

6 Years captures what a long-term relationship feels like when it nears the breaking point. First love is a powerful beast, but its fate is often doomed from failing to accept that sometimes ending a relationship is better than trying to stick it out. Fidell illustrates this powerful realization in the final emotional scene of uncertainty. It’s heartbreaking. 6 Years distances itself from other flawed relationship narratives with its excellent acting and fresh take on gender roles.

We welcome our biggest guest ever as we welcome Australian actor/director Joel Edgerton to the show to talk about his new psychological thriller and directorial debut, The Gift. Bernard is also joined by Dustin and Eli to talk about actors-turned-directors and share their Indie Picks of the Week. Plus, Bernard talks about how Edgerton creeped the hell out of his wife. All that and more on this week’s Way Too Indiecast!

This episode is sponsored by MUBI, an curated online cinema that brings its members a hand-picked selection of the best indie, foreign, and classic films. Try it for 30 days FREE by visiting www.mubi.com/waytooindie.

Topics

• Indie Picks of the Week (1:41)
• Actors-Turned-Directors (9:26)
• The Gift Review (29:15)
• Joel Edgerton Interview (34:45)

WTI Articles Referenced in the Podcast

Creep review
Tyrannosaur review
Unbroken review
Submarine review

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Patrick Brice’s titillating new comedy The Overnight comes with a fair share of notable names attached to the project. The film is executive produced by indie darling Mark Duplass, it’s the first feature released by Adam Scott and his wife’s production company’s Gettin’ Rad Productions, and it stars Jason Schwartzman as well as Orange Is The New Black‘s Taylor Schilling. Brice’s film explores a hilarious situation involving a pair of parents to young children arranging an “overnight family playdate” at their home that turns into a sexual exploration; however, The Overnight is only the second narrative piece made by the filmmaker.

Sitting down with Way Too Indie, Patrick Brice discusses his senior thesis documentary on Paris’ last 35MM porn theater, producing his first feature Creep with only Mark Duplass and a camera, as well as the transition into working with a full crew for The Overnight.

Are these premieres exciting for you?
Yeah, they’re very exciting.

It’s good to see it with a crowd?
Oh yeah, it’s the best. When I first wanted to become a filmmaker I never thought I’d make movies where it would be contingent on crowd noise and crowd reaction. I go see my friends’ films that are dramas, and you don’t hear anything at all throughout the movie, so it’s fun to watch this movie with an audience for sure.

Did you want to be a more serious filmmaker? Not to disparage this film.
Yeah, yeah. You mean, make movies with a more serious subject matter?

Just making movies that are more dramatic.
It’s funny. I’m not interested in one particular genre. Both movies I’ve made have been these kind of genre hybrids. That’s just a result of me navigating these stories and deciding what feels right in any given moment. Whether it’s a darker moment or something that’s lighter.

So I was going to ask what it’s like directing prosthetic penises.
[laughs] It’s the best! I mean, it’s hard to do. Everyone is giggling the whole time so it’s this ridiculous, fun—it doesn’t feel like work basically. At all.

I can imagine the diving underwater being hysterical on set, a little tricky to give direction for, but it’s a really funny moment.
For sure. And we couldn’t keep them in the water for that long. They’re made of this sponge-like material, so they actually absorb water. Jason’s was… [Patrick makes hand motions].

It expands more?
Yeah [laughs], it was a bad thing.

What was the initial inspiration for The Overnight?
Mark Duplass and I had worked together on this film Creep, and we were just trying to think of another small project to work on together, he said he would produce a script if I wrote it and I was thinking a lot about what I can do with a small amount of money essentially. An idea of having the film set in one house, and having only four actors. Then reverse engineering it from there in terms of how do you make a single-location space dynamic? I had made a documentary when I graduated from Cal Arts, and my thesis film was about the last porn theater in Paris that still plays 35MM film. So sex has kind of been on the mind for sure.

I was thinking about movies like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and After Hours and these movies that take place in 24 hours, so [I] ultimately decided it would be this film about this foursome. Then it was once again reverse engineering it from there and thinking about how I can create a situation where it’s actually believable that these characters would get to the point that they do.

Do you get excited by that reverse engineering process?
Well it’s all I’ve known so far. I’ve only known working within constraints because I’ve only had a certain amount of money for each of my projects. For Creep we had basically no money because we had no crew. The whole movie was just me, Mark and a video camera.

So then with this movie I knew I was going to have a small amount of crew, and even just having the people around me that I did felt like a luxury because I had this other experience where I had no one. It’s been a great way to ease myself into making stuff, because I recognize each new tool that comes in and find that I’m able to use it consciously more. Actually having a relation with your gaffer, you know? I don’t know if that’s a result of the way that things have gone so far or that’s just my weird way of working but that’s the way it’s gone.

What kind of benefit do you get from having Mark Duplass on as a producer?
I wouldn’t have been able to get all these actors if it weren’t for him, and if it weren’t for his reputation. He was kind of like a godfather figure of this show. We knew that Adam & Naomi had started Gettin’ Rad Productions, their production company, and that Naomi was wanting to produce features. So it was really great bringing those guys in because we kind of had this package of this amazing actor with Adam, and then Naomi who’s one of the best professional relationships I’ve had in my life. She’s just an amazing producer.

It’s been a great relationship working with Mark because he’s not only been someone who’s sort of helped guide me through this world, but he’s also someone who appreciates my sense of humor. To have someone who not only is kind of your boss but also gets you and appreciates you, that’s priceless.

How’d you first end up developing a relationship with Mark?
We have mutual friends. I’m good friends with Adele Romanski, she’s a producer. She produced The Myth of the American Sleepover and a couple other movies. She produced Mark’s wife’s two films The Freebie and Black Rock so it was just through moving to Los Angeles and meeting them. I was still in school, I was in Cal Arts when I met Mark. We had just met for coffee a couple times, you know. Kind of discussing—there are just so many ways your career path can go in terms of film, so it was an organic relationship.

Like you said, you’re expanding the scope in terms of this production. Were there any obstacles to incorporating all these new elements as a filmmaker?
I don’t think I ever felt obstacles with it. I’m a pretty open guy. I’m fairly egoless, so I would go to each new person that I’d be working with that I hadn’t worked with. I hadn’t even made a short before, I had primarily done documentary stuff, and then I made this odd found footage hybrid experiment thing with Mark. For me it was a chance to really understand all of these roles and just try to elevate everyone in their own way. I never pretended to know something I didn’t know. I was with enough people who had enough experience that when there were moments when I felt like I wasn’t the authority, they would step in. I see the role of the director as guiding the energy of a shoot. Obviously I wanted to protect and guide the story for sure. Because I had such smart, conscious collaborators that’s why I was able to make this movie in the way that we did.

How structured was your script?
This was a full, detailed — it was totally scripted.

So it’s not like some of the highly improvised Duplass-produced movies?
No, I had done that. Creep was totally improvised, that was just a 10-page outline, but The Overnight had a full script. Which was great to have that as our sort of anchor, and then people ask if there’s improv in the movie, and there is, but it’s almost peppered within the lines. It was really just trying to create an environment where the actors felt free. Free to play, but we already had a nice guide there for us.

Does that mean like fun run type of stuff, or loose last takes?
We did that a couple times but for the most part it was just someone would say a line in the middle of another line that worked, or there was a reaction that was unexpected or something like that. Going into this we wanted to play it real as much as possible, so we wanted it to feel as natural as possible. I think with some actors that might be kind of scary to say you can play. A lot of people need that sort of structure, but these guys were game.

What’s the next step for you? The film comes out in June, so are you doing mostly press or have you started a new project?
Yeah, I’m writing right now. I’m writing the next project but in between that, the next two months are going to be really crazy. We’re playing a bunch of different film festival: San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago Critics Festival. Then we’re going to be doing New York and L.A. premieres for the movie so it’s going to be a lot of distraction from writing. I’m looking forward to getting back into the “putting on sweatpants and taking my dog on a walk.”

You prefer that aspect?
Yeah, for sure. But this is fun, too, obviously.

Silly horror movies are awesome. I’m gonna go on record here and say that Ronny Yu’s 2003 horror orgy Freddy vs. Jason is one of my absolute favorites. Yes…I said it! (It feels so good to come clean.) It’s hilarious, fun, and in some ways a precursor to the superhero mash-ups so fashionable in today’s multiplexes. Thoughtful horror movies are awesome, too; Splice, the 2009 film by genre great Vincenzo Natali, is an imaginative “thou shalt not play God” cautionary tale full of wonderful pseudoscience and body horror that, while delectably genre-tastic, has still got a brain about it and poses some interesting ethical quandaries.

David Gelb’s The Lazarus Effect is a medical horror thriller that tries to be dumb fun, but ends up being just plain dumb. It tries to be thoughtful, too, but again: just plain dumb. Not campy enough, not smart enough–this is a movie that paces back and forth, unable to commit to any one direction. It winds up lost in the middle of nowhere, a sort of genre-movie limbo reserved only for the most listless of wares. Legend refers to this mysterious place as “the bargain bin”.

At the center of the film’s plot are married scientists Zoe (Olivia Wilde) and Frank (Mark Duplass), who have discovered the key to waking the dead: they zap some white goop with electricity, spout some vaguely science-sounding nonsense (they might as well be chanting “ooga-booga ooga-booga”), flip some switches and…voila! They bring a dead blind dog back to life (his sight restored, no less)! They call the white goop “the Lazarus serum”, a miracle drug engineered to “bring someone back” from the great beyond. According to the giddy science duo, its purpose is to extend the window surgeons have to resuscitate immediately following a flatline. But let’s be real: this is immortality they’re messing with.

Joining Zoe and Frank in their sparsely-lit, unnecessarily shadowy lab (because horror movie) in the bowels of a fictitious California university are their two assistants, Clay (Evan Peters) and Niko (Donald Glover), and Eva (Sarah Bolger), a college student making a documentary about the team’s breakthrough for a class project (she’s really just there to be our surrogate). The team is left in a state of awe following their canine resurrection, but the dog’s strange behavior–it doesn’t eat, doesn’t want to play, looks clinically miserable–has alarmed Clay, who fears the ol’ pooch could “go Cujo” on them if they’re not careful. When Zoe and Frank bring the dog home (yes, they’re that stupid, and yes, they are also somehow scientists), dog hops on their bed and looms over Zoe as she sleeps. This shot, like the rest of the movie, is meant to evoke, uh…something (laughter, fear, suspense–I dunno), but doesn’t really stimulate anything; the dog stares blankly at Zoe, we stare blankly at the dog staring at Zoe. Crickets.

What follows is a torturously predictable series of events, all of which ape from other, better movies. When the big bad corporation that funds the school confiscates all of the team’s equipment and threatens manufacture the serum for profit, the nerd-squad sneaks into the lab late at night to replicate the experiment and document the process, beating the suits to the punch. An accident occurs during the experiment and one of them dies and…need I go on? Oh alright, alright. For the sake of journalism, I guess. One of them dies during the experiment and is hastily ushered back into the world of the living. But guess what? They don’t come back the same! Now they’re evil! Bwahahaha!

The generic jump-scares and store-brand horror imagery (floating furniture, little girl standing in long hallway, blacked-out “evil eyes”) pile up like shovels of dirt on the movie’s grave, and all the while we’re desperate for a breath of fresh air–a new idea, a kill we haven’t seen before–anything to save us from the blood ‘n’ guts coma we’re slipping into. But alas, the film never breaks loose from convention. Its most earnest attempt is when Zoe and Frank have a theological impasse early in the film about what happens to us at the moment of death. Frank thinks we hallucinate as a result of our brain flooding our body with DMT, Zoe thinks the DMT is meant to usher our soul from this plane to the next. But the debate is essentially only an explanation for the nutty things we see later in the movie rather than real food for thought.

What hurts the most is that Gelb managed to assemble such an exceptional cast. It feels misguided to have a capable funnyman like Glover play a low-key everyman, while Duplass, who plays a great low-key everyman, instead plays a frantic, senseless mad scientist. (Duplass is much better casted in last year’s The One I Love, an excellent sci-fi film you should run to right now if you haven’t seen it.) Wilde doesn’t fit her role either, her slinky charm feeling at odds with Zoe’s violent mental collapse late in the movie.

If you want to have some raucous, childish fun, go watch Freddy vs. Jason, be ready to laugh, and leave pretension at the door. If you fancy a moody chiller that’ll give your brain a little something more to chew on, Splice it up. The Lazarus Effect tries to do what those movies do so well, but gets lost along the way and mucks it all up, leaving us dead cold. The characters in this forgettable piece of horror schlock can “bring back” all the dead dogs and dead people they want; just please, please don’t bring me back. I don’t want to go back.

Let me first start out by saying that this review contains some spoilers found in The One I Love. Normally I believe spoilers shouldn’t be discussed in reviews, but in this case the “twist” is revealed almost immediately and it ends up being the main topic of the film–there wouldn’t be much to talk about without acknowledging it. Knowing this twist only takes some of the fun out of the discovery, but by no means doesn’t it ruin the experience. Having said all that, you’ve officially been warned.

In effort to save their troubled relationship Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss) agree to go on “the perfect getaway” suggested to them by their therapist (Ted Danson). So the couple travel to a secluded vacation home for a relaxing weekend retreat. But the couple soon realize they’re getting way more than they bargained for. Not only do they discover the house has a neat little guest house, it’s what they find inside the guest house that completely baffles them.

Like something taken from a Twilight Zone episode, one of them enters the guest house to find an exact replica of the other partner. As expected, Ethan and Sophie are freaked out by this discovery at first. But once they realize that their doppelgangers are actually better versions of their partner—more charming, attractive, and fun to be around—the couple decide to spend time with their upgraded better half. Even with the proper ground rules this becomes a dangerous game because they end up falling in love with them.

Not only does The One I Love ask what qualities would you change in your partner, it also asks how you would change yourself. At one point Ethan admits that his doppelganger is about “20% cooler and 20% more emotionally involved” than he is. What’s more, he understands that he won’t ever be that perfect person. Accepting these imperfections in other people as well as yourself is the moral of the story.

The One I Love carefully avoids the trap of making sense of the metaphysics involved by telling its own characters not to question the “magic”. Ethan explains how an animal doesn’t question how electricity works, they simply embrace that lights magically turn on. The point isn’t how it works, so just roll with it. Essentially, it’s a subtle way to tell the audience not to nitpick at the logistics. Which is wise since the film leaves major questions unanswered like where did these doubles come from or how do they even exist?

Duplass and Moss do their best to portray better versions of themselves, changing their mannerisms significantly when playing their double. Sophie’s doppelganger uncharacteristically allows Ethan to eat bacon (the real Sophie would never allow for that!) and Ethan’s suddenly becomes interested in art. But unless they’re onscreen at the same time it can be difficult to visually tell which character they’re playing. Perhaps it was intentional to show only subtle alterations to their physical form, making them slightly more attractive to the other partner, but I’m not sure if it was completely necessary. The One I Love helps those who miss the tiny indicators by explicitly pointing out that Duplass looses his glasses and Moss pins her hair back when playing the doppelgangers.

The One I Love uses an innovative way to demonstrate how relationships tend to lose their spark over time. The film nearly paints itself into a corner by revealing its “twist” so early on, making the second act seem sluggish. It’s not that the story ever gets boring, but it shifts into cruise control for a while. However things start to come to live in the final act. A late film development makes it interesting again in time for a satisfying conclusion. The One I Love might not win over everyone, but Charlie McDowell demonstrates distinct talent as a young filmmaker in his feature debut.

The One I Love trailer

Something’s strange at this seemingly idyllic retreat. The grounds are beautiful, the amenities look perfect, but there’s something very weird going on in the guest house. Mark Duplass and Elisabeth Moss play a married couple seeking to feel, “renewed,” as marriage counselor Ted Danson phrases it; however, upon arriving at their getaway, the couple can’t help but be drawn to the strangeness of the house in the backyard.

Produced by the Duplass Brothers as well as Mel Eslyn, The One I Love comes from director Charlie McDowell and writer Justin Lader, both making their feature film debut here. Despite the relative inexperience of the film’s creators, The One I Love (read a brief review) nimbly incorporates its extremely unique sci-fi twist into more familiar relationship-dramatic-comedy territory. The movie’s a compelling one that keeps finding inventive ways to utilize its novel premise, examining the tribulations of committed relationships.

After premiering at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and bouncing around the festival circuit since then (including Tribeca where I interviewed McDowell), The One I Love comes out in limited release on August 15th. Check out the intriguing trailer to one of the coolest films so far this year below:

Trailer for The One I Love

The One I Love

The One I Love is a genre-bending psychological, comedic (in some parts), dramatic romance story that follows Ethan (Mark Duplass) and Sophie (Elisabeth Moss), an unhappily married couple seeking new thrills through their couples therapy sessions. The story is well written and the film is excellently executed. Duplass exemplifies the emphatic character with his extremely likeable mannerisms and familiar character traits. The dramatic reflection of married life is well paced and had the audience emotionally invested as their story progressed. Using only one location, Duplass and Moss were able to express a very personal experience to the unlikely implications of a relaxing “weekend away” to rebuild their relationship. In the end, The One I Love is a surreal, surprising, and enjoyable fantasy version of marriage counseling.

RATING: 8.7

Little Accidents

Pinpointing the exact reason why this film is worthy of this rating is difficult, there are so many. Little Accidents is not only a beautifully shot film, but it also had the collectively incredible cast whom were unwavering in their individual performances to portray isolation, betrayal, heartache, and the wonder of the human spirit in the face of sorrow. Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook and Jacob Lofland are the films driving force and carry the weight of their character profiles extremely well. Little Accidents is a heartbreaking story of loss and the pressure of a society that has conformed to a poverty stricken way of life. The towns inhabitants work their fingers to the bone and some are at risk of life threatening conditions all to put food on their tables and a shirt on their back.

Little Accidents was shot entirely on location in West Virginia and has a very convincing authenticity about it. The grey, misty atmosphere, the natural forest backdrops and rundown neighborhoods are all suggestive that what you’re seeing is real. It’s easy that this traumatic event had a lasting effect on the town.

RATING: 8.8

The Voices

The town of Milton is home to pink overalls, pink trucks, pink forklifts, and a population of 4,000 including one disturbed young man named Jerry (Ryan Reynolds). This endearing, yet mentally unstable, factory worker initially tries his very best to blend in to society–volunteering to help organize the office party, doing his best to always wear a smile. However, as unfortunate events occur, Jerry loses his ability to lead a normal life and becomes increasingly more involved and allied to his psychosis and is unable to identify what is reality.

The Voices aims to bend the rules of the psychological comedy genre by featuring a unique storyline. Reynolds plays a fantastic l”oveable” psycho serial killer and the comedic values he brings to this film are brilliant and welcomed. The film is a tremendous accomplishment. I’m sincerely optimistic for it to have a universally enjoyed worldwide release.

RATING: 8.9

When a film has the name Mark Duplass attached to it, the film typically contains an in-depth look on human behavior with an empathic, yet slightly offbeat voice. Ergo, my interest is peaked whenever Duplass is involved with a project. In his latest role, he uncharacteristically plays the part of the anti-hero who generates screams as well as laughs in the comedy/horror/thriller film Creep.

After the world premiere of Creep at SXSW, I met up with director Patrick Brice and star Mark Duplass to talk about their latest film. In this panel interview, the two describe what makes a good found footage film, what they discovered while showing the film, and how the official still from the film was an accident.

How did you guys come up with the original idea?
Mark Duplass: It was a series of conversations, we’re close friends. We wanted to work together and we wanted to find something that we could perform in together. I think we are obsessed with how interesting people can be. We are people watchers. Most of our conversations gravitate towards these intricate details of human behavior and human interactions that we find funny or weird or interesting.

Once we came up with this idea of, you walk into someone’s home on a Craigslist encounter without knowing anything about them, it can lead to things that are maybe a little funny, maybe a little weird, and depending on which turn it takes, could get kind of fucking crazy. So we decided to explore that wormhole.

I remember seeing the first poster with Peachfuzz [as the title], when and why did you decide to change the title to Creep?
Duplass: Throughout the process, we showed the movie to a lot of people and discovered something really interesting. Which is that when you are making a movie that’s about very small human interactions, you want people’s brains focused on that. When we told people it was called Peachfuzz, they were trying to figure out for a while why it was called Peachfuzz. But when you tell people that the movie is called Creep, they know what they are going into, they know what they are looking for and their brain is focused solely on our faces. And the movie played intensely better.

Speaking of reactions, I found it particularly rewarding watching the film with an audience. Some would be laughing while others would be gasping. Did you expect to get such mixed reactions from the audience?
Patrick Brice: We anticipated it for sure. That’s been the reaction all the way through whenever we’ve shown this to friends. That was our primary hope. So last night was super validating.

Duplass: It’s a nice conversation piece. In particular, last night when we were walking out of theater there was a couple outside literally arguing with each other. Kind of angry with each other about one of them had laughed and the other had screamed in that moment. She was just like shocked that he could find it funny and he was shocked that had thought that it was scary. And I was like that is great, that’s a successful screening for us.

Mark, this isn’t your first comedy/horror type film that you’ve been apart of, was there anything you brought to Creep from making Baghead?
Duplass: This was a very unique film in that we [had] a pretty small crew and we shot a lot of the film off of an outline. Then we would edit, show it to people, then we would come back and reshoot. We shot this movie over the course of a year and a half. I have never done a movie like that before, so we were definitely in uncharted territory.

In terms of the tonal complexity of it, we started the movie off as an odd Craigslist encounter and wanted to see where it would go. The footage and the nature of the movie was begging us to go in the realm of something more thriller or horror oriented. We couldn’t stop it.

Brice: And it was a chance for you to explore the darkness a little bit.

Duplass: Yeah. I haven’t done that as much so it was fun.

With such a loose script organic shooting process, were there any major happy accidents that happened?
Duplass: [thinks about it a moment] Patrick was very thoughtful about where the cameras should be at all times and how to justify it. So in terms of the blocking of things, that stuff was pretty tightly executed.

That being said, there was some set pieces that we stumbled upon that we were like ‘Oh, this is very, very cool. We should shoot it this way.’ I think there was a moment where I play a little bit in silhouette, that we didn’t like…

Brice: The still from the film.

Yeah, the one where he is at the top of the staircase with the light.
Brice: Yeah, Mark is literally walking up the stairs and…

Duplass: Patrick is like, “Don’t move! Get back in here and we’re going to redo it.” [laughs] Every now and then you get some things [like that].

From start to finish it seems like you guys had a lot of fun with the project, but were there any sections or particular scenes that were especially difficult?
Duplass: There was stuff that we had to dial in [to make sure that] while this is a “POV” or “found footage” movie, that we could make [it] creditable. So we wanted to make sure that we kept our eyes and attention [to that]. Patrick did a real good job of make sure it was justified why we were seeing it from this perspective. We had to always think about that. It’s not always the most fun thing. That’s homework.

You worked with Jason Blum on this project, how involved was he?
Duplass: We made this film and then brought it to Jason. We knew that the partnership between what we do, which is more relationship oriented, and what he does, which is more horror oriented, would be something cool. To be quite honest, we love the idea that even the nature of the partnership of the Duplass Brothers and Blumhouse, asks the question, how the fuck is that going to work? [laughs] That to us is the exact question we want people asking when they walk in the theatre.

Yeah. Seemed like there was a lot of attention brought to when to insert certain jump scares at certain intervals. Was that something that you borrowed from them?
Brice: Oh, for sure.

Duplass: Yeah. We thought about it through the way and we wanted this movie to be odd and unique and interesting. But [we] also want horror fans to know that [they] can come see this and you’ll see something different, but we’ll also give you what you are looking for.

You’ve stated before that you are both not big fans of the found footage genre, what is it that you don’t care for and how did you go about addressing it in Creep?
Duplass: That’s tricky. Our feeling is that a lot of people go to make found footage because they feel like it’s an easy way to make a movie and a cheap way to make a movie. So most of the things we don’t like are the people who are just trying to make a found footage movie [for that reason]. Usually their story has a lot of holes in it and the performances are not what they could be because they are approaching it from the wrong reasons. Those are the things we don’t like–an overused and overexploited genre.

So what we feel like we have to offer is that we’re relationship people. We make sensitive movies. So we thought we could at least get the story right and get the performances right. Then we almost backed into it being a horror movie because the nature of it got really, really strange when we got to shooting.

So it wasn’t like you wanted to do a found footage film and then built something off of that.
Brice: Right. We started with the characters and getting you to care about them. Then hopefully the viewer is going to forget they are watching a found footage film.

Yeah. I certainly did at times.
Duplass: Yeah. There is nothing inherently wrong with the form. It’s just a form. It’s just how you use it.

There are really good ones. But for every good one there is about a hundred bad ones.

[everyone laughs]

Duplass: A hundred thousand! [laughs]

So you guys cited that your editor [Chris Donlon] was a big part of the process, could you explain the importance of him?
Duplass: He was the third filmmaker really. He was with us every step of the way and one of Patrick’s oldest friends. We are all very close. He not only edited the whole film and helped us produce it, and it’s hard to explain, but Patrick and I are verbal and vocal and we move quickly, and Chris is quiet and sweet.

If you examine 4 hours in a process, 3 hours and 57 minutes of that are Patrick and I talking, and then the 3 minutes of that are Chris being quiet and asking, “What if you do this?”

Brice: [laughs]

Duplass: And then we are like, “Yes! We got it!”

She’s Lost Control

As a surrogate partner therapist, its Ronah’s (Brooke Bloom) job to try to heal people of their sexual intimacy issues through various sessions and stages of erotic contact (think Helen Hunt in The Sessions). While at work she is seems to have all the answers on how to be intimate with a smile on her face, yet her home life reveals nothing but the opposite. She can barely crack a smile and has no one she can share herself with. It becomes increasingly apparent that Ronah doesn’t practice what she preaches she informs one of her clients how important it is to move on, yet she forms a personal relationship with him and is unable to let go.

She’s Lost Control is a quiet and slow moving film about the difficulties of separating emotions from sex. Though the film does bring up an interesting topic, it fails to explore it beyond just the surface. Also, the title is a bit of a stretch as her life never seemed to be in control. Temporarily bringing life to the picture is a brutal scene near the end that generated a collective gasp from the crowd in an otherwise mostly stagnant film.

RATING: 6.3

The Heart Machine

John Gallagher Jr. is an actor who needs no introduction here in Austin after starring in the cherished film Short Term 12 last year at SXSW. In The Heart Machine he stars as Cody, a New Yorker who is currently in a long distance online relationship with Virginia (Kate Lyn Sheil). The two have never met in person and because she’s thousands of miles away living in Berlin, they utilize services such as Skype and Facebook to interact with each other.

Everything is going swimmingly until Cody notices that the background sound of an ambulance siren on her end sounds an awful lot like an American one (apparently this is common knowledge). Soon he begins to question if she really is in another country as she claims. His suspicion starts off moderately legitimate but quickly escalates into complete obsession.

Watching Cody use his makeshift detective skills makes The Heart Machine an exhilarating ride as he gets closer and closer to discovering the truth about her real location. But it was Andy Warhol who said, “The idea of waiting for something makes it more exciting,” which is especially the case here as the final reveal is much less stimulating than the events leading up to it.

RATING: 7.2

Creep

Even though it was 9:00 p.m. it certainly felt like midnight at the Stateside Theatre tonight in Austin. That’s because this offbeat film from Patrick Brice has fun mixing comedy with horror that caters perfectly to a rowdy midnight movie audience. Though Creep’s effectiveness will be limited when played to a slightly broader audience.

Creep starts off as a typical found footage horror film when a man named Aaron (played by director Patrick Brice) decides to document his travels up to a remote cabin in the mountains to meet a mysterious man named Josef (Mark Duplass). But the film is far from typical. True to the title, Duplass’ character is downright creepy, often blurring the line between sincere and sinister. Each jump scare Duplass conjures up is followed up by some ridiculous stunt that generates laughter. Not all of the jokes landed, nor were all of the scares successful. But never in my life did I expect to be so haunted by the sight of Duplass.

RATING: 6.9

It comes as a bit of a surprise that, with so many recent horror films aping off of different subgenres from the past, no one has really attempted to tackle the creature feature. Jacob Vaughan’s Bad Milo! sticks out from today’s oversaturated horror market simply because it harkens back to a group of films that haven’t been touched by anyone else in the last several years. Films like Ghoulies, Gremlins, and Critters show their influence throughout, but they’re only reminders of why these kinds of movies stopped getting made.

Bad Milo! has a plot that will immediately divide viewers. After opening with a flash forward to the film’s climax (a device that was already getting overused years ago), we cut back to Duncan (Ken Marino) and Sarah (Gillian Jacobs) at the doctor’s (Toby Huss, in a very funny bit part) discussing a large mass that has appeared in Duncan’s colon.

The doctor says it’s nothing to worry about, and is most likely a result of stress. It immediately becomes apparent just how stressed Duncan is once he leaves the doctor’s office. His mother (Mary Kay Place) pressures him to become a father to the point where she grills him on sexual issues over dinner; his boss (Patrick Warburton) merely uses and abuses him as much as possible, and Duncan’s strained relationship with his father (Stephen Root) dominates his life. It turns out that the lump in Duncan’s colon is the titular monster, a small creature that periodically crawls out of Duncan’s ass to devour anyone who makes his life more stressful than it already is.

Bad Milo! is backed by a surprisingly good cast given the scatological subject matter, but only a few people get enough material to shine. Peter Stormare, playing Duncan’s therapist, hits the right balance between a campy and straight-faced approach. Marino carries the film fine, even when he’s covered in feces and screaming in pain, but his talents are put to better use when he sticks to the rude, obnoxious characters he tends to play in other projects. The rest of the cast feels wasted, merely there as an obstacle for Duncan or a future victim for Milo. Jacobs, a great comedic actress, doesn’t do much other than being the doting wife.

Once Duncan realizes what’s living inside him, and starts confronting the problems in his life to avoid increasing the body count, Bad Milo! takes a sentimental turn that falls flat. There’s a playful quality to the subject matter that works sometimes (a scene where Duncan gets a colonoscopy is the film’s highlight), but asking viewers to emotionally invest in Duncan’s father issues when they’re watching an ass monster movie is asking for too much. Films with similarly gross stories, like James Gunn’s Slither, know how to hit the right notes of camp and seriousness. Bad Milo! relies too much on generating an emotional response, and fails at it.

It’s a wacky story, and it inspires a few laughs, but it’s also a one-joke premise that can barely sustain itself over such a short runtime. The casting elevates the material to the point where Bad Milo! makes for passable viewing, but don’t expect much outside of a few funny jokes and a surprisingly cute monster covered in shit.

Bad Milo! trailer:

The production of Black Rock is a husband and wife collaboration between Mark Duplass handling the screenwriting duties and Katie Aselton coming up with the story and working as the director for the second time in her career. Making its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2012, this stalker thriller earns merit through effort only as the film does not achieve what it intends to do. It is bad when the characters are even asking themselves, “Is this it?”, only ten minutes into the film. By the end the viewer has no choice but to wonder the same.

The film starts off with two childhood friends, Sarah (Kate Bosworth) and Lou (Lake Bell), looking to reconnect by retreating to a remote island in Maine for a weekend. But Lou’s excitement hits a speed bump when she realizes that a third friend named Abby (Katie Aselton) was also invited. These two have an unresolved issue with each other that goes way back. Just as the two make up their minds about bailing on the expedition, Sarah convinces them to forget about their disagreements and continue on with exploring the remote island just as they did back when they were kids.

Lou and Abby get into a heated argument not long after they reached the island, but as they are about to finally make amends they are frighteningly interrupted by the sight of three men with guns walking through the woods. It turns out that these men were recently discharged from the Army and came to the island to hunt deer. After the initial shock of not being the only ones on the island wears down, they invite the three men to their campfire. The night quickly grows out of hand after the excessive amount of alcohol is consumed, and the girls soon become the hunted target.

At about the halfway mark, Black Rock is still thrilling and entertaining, but unfortunately the film peaks just as it starts to become interesting. The film ends up playing out just as one would expect it to, offering no real surprises along the way. The real irony here is that a character flat out states, “Sometimes you can’t go by the book. You can’t follow every single rule.” Yet the film does not follow its own advice.

Much of the dialog in the film feels improvised and with Duplass in the credits that should not come as a surprise. The part that is surprising is how poor the dialog works. There are multiple instances where the characters seem to be at a loss of words while trying to extend the scene. Furthermore, the film verbally spells out what is happening rather than letting the scene speak for itself; most noticeable when the man with a gun shouts, “I am going to find you and kill you.” as if his intentions were not made obvious enough.

Black Rock is a bit peculiar as some of the best moments of the film occur while it is still setting up the exposition. When the story actually develops it quickly becomes less interesting and more far-fetched. In its final act things completely fall apart with a downright laughable ending that is completely unimaginative. To put it nicely, Black Rock is a rare misstep for Mark Duplass and a largely disappointing film as a whole.

I was initially intrigued by Black Rock when I heard it was written by Mark Duplass and directed by his wife Katie Aselton, who also stars in the film. A trailer for Black Rock has landed and it looks to be a gripping thriller about three young women who travel to an island but soon discover they are not alone. Though the trailer may reveal a little too much of the plot, as most tend to do these days, it certainly looks like it will be one hell of a ride.

Watch the official trailer for Black Rock:

Safety Not Guaranteed thankfully takes its science fiction framework and keeps it in the background, instead putting the focus on its characters and how they grow over the film’s short running time. For the most part the movie gets by on its low-key charm, with two good central performances but the sitcom-like structure drives a giant wedge into the film’s stronger qualities.

A recent college graduate working as an unpaid intern at Seattle Magazine, Darius (Aubrey Plaza) is anti-social and mostly miserable. When Jeff (Jake Johnson), one of the magazine’s writers, takes on a story about an ad looking for a partner to travel back in time with, Darius leaps at the opportunity to work on it. The writer takes Darius along with Arnau (Karan Soni), a nerdy intern who hasn’t been with a woman yet. Darius and Arnau soon find the man who wrote the ad, an awkward grocery store worker named Kenneth (Mark Duplass) who believes he’s being followed and recorded at all times. Darius convinces Kenneth to let her be his time travelling partner, while Jeff tries to get back with his high school sweetheart and Arnau begins to come out of his shell. As Darius gets more involved with Kenneth she starts to fall for him while thinking that he might actually be able to travel back in time.

Plaza and Duplass play slight variations on the kind of roles that they’ve been specializing in over the years. Duplass throws plenty of weirdness on his role as a paranoid outcast, while Plaza brings her character from Parks and Recreation down several hundred notches to something resembling reality. Duplass is terrific at balancing Kenneth’s quirks with the emotional pain his character hides, and Plaza’s greatest strength is the way she gets people to like her without coming across like she’s trying. Their first meeting at the grocery store Kenneth works at is truly enjoyable, showing off their terrific chemistry which is the film’s greatest asset.

Unfortunately Plaza/Duplass’ time is shared with the two subplots involving Jeff and Arnau. Both of the characters’ stories are predictable, and they feel so separate from the main action that at times it feels like they’re in a different film altogether. It also doesn’t help that Jeff’s vain, womanizing qualities make him unlikable while Karan Soni portrays Arnau so broadly that he doesn’t feel like a real person. Each time the film switches its focus to these two it grinds things to a halt.

Luckily the story between Darius and Kenneth is exciting enough to carry things through to the end. The ambiguity over whether or not Kenneth is a genius or a nut is responsible for most of the film’s momentum, and writer Derek Connelly manages to give a definitive answer with a surprisingly satisfying ending. The film’s two subplots feel more like padding which suggests that the time travel story might have been too weak to turn into a feature on its own, but Plaza and Duplass really make the material work. If you can get past the flaws, Safety Not Guaranteed will make for a short but pleasant time.

The Duplass brothers have made quite an impact on indie cinema over the last seven years. As their budgets have increased, so have their fans. Their recent explosion in popularity with studios hindered them from taking this 4 year old project off the shelf. While they were in post-production for The Do-Deca-Pentathlon they got green-lit to make Cyrus. Then the same thing happened for Jeff, Who Lives At Home. Since these were studio opportunities The Do-Deca-Pentathlon took a back seat to these projects.

The Do-Deca-Pentathlon worked well with the things that the Duplass brothers normally get right, such as dialog and making it feel true to life alongside quirky characters that have heart. It had a more raw feeling to it which was more evident in their earlier work. Being that I am an extremely competitive person and have experienced brother rivalry firsthand, I could really relate to the film even though it shows you just how childish it can be.

Sitting in a bath tub, Mark (Steve Zissis) recalls an awful (but hilarious) prank that his older brother Jeremy (Mark Kelly) pulled on him as kids. Even though the two have not kept in touch for many years, he worries that his brother will show up at their mother’s house for his birthday party. Mark is clearly wounded from growing up with his brother, he has doctor visits to prove it. His wife Stephanie (Jennifer Lafleur) tells him not to fret as Jeremy is at a professional poker tournament.

Mark, now relieved, participates in a casual 5K fun-run with his family. But just shortly after the race begins a vehicle comes screeching towards the starting line. Sure enough, it is Jeremy. He sprints to catch up to Mark and his family and subsequently ruining Mark’s weekend. What started out as a casual run now turned into a sibling rivalry and you soon realize that Jeremy would have never passed up an opportunity to compete against is brother.

Come to find out, the two have had a long epic history of competing against one another that dates back to when they were just teenagers. As kids they came up with a pentathlon of 25 events in which the winner became the ultimate champion and the better brother. But there was no clear winner because on the final event of seeing who could hold your breath the longest underwater was interrupted by their grandfather.

So Mark’s birthday weekend now turns into a redux of the Do-Deca-Pentathlon in hopes to bring closure to which brother is really the best. The only problem is that Stephanie does not want him competing in this fierce competition because his doctors told him he needs to take it easy. Mark knows this so he and Jeremy need to form a rare alliance to hold the 25 events without this wife knowing. It was probably one of the few times that the brothers ever worked together as a team.

What follows are 25 ridiculous yet comical events that make up the Do-Deca-Pentathlon which include; Ping-Pong, shooting pool, laser tag, basketball, skee-ball, air hockey, go karting, swimming, long jump, racquetball, tennis, holding their breath the longest, and leg wrestling. It does not take Stephanie very long to catch on their “smokescreen” they put up to disguise the fact they were doing another Do-Deca. Mark must make the decision between saving his marriage or being the best brother.

The Do-Deca-Pentathlon is probably the Duplass brother’s most comical film to date. A ton of laughs were had throughout. However, it did begin the scratch the surface on some deeper relationship qualms. Such as, a son who feels like he cannot talk to his father. And also a wife who feels like she is holding her husband back from doing things he wants to do. I loved the fact that these were brought up but would have liked to have had a little more emphasis put on them. His wife seemingly gives him an ultimatum but in the next scene she forgoes her effort.

I will be honest, for a Duplass brothers film, I was not necessarily as excited to see this film as much as I was with their previous work. Also, I felt like it was not a strong start for the film so I began to wonder if this will be the first Duplass brother film I did not care for. But thankfully, in true Duplass brother fashion, they came through taking ordinary situations and make them entertaining while using their trademark quick zoom camera work.

There were times where I saw a lot of Mark Duplass in Steve Zissis’ character. Which would make sense that the film may be a little autobiographical being that Zissis’ character is named Mark. Also aligning with that theory is the fact that Zissis is the younger brother, just like Mark is to Jay in real life. But they have gone on the record to say that this was based on people they knew growing up in New Orleans.

It is human nature to be competitive but if you grew up with a brother you understand the instinctual importance of sibling rivalry even greater. The Do-Deca-Pentathlon shows that competition can do more harm than good when it turns into an obsession. In this film, both of the characters envied each other’s life while ironically disliking their own. The runtime of 76 minutes may have been a little too concise and even though you can pretty much predict the outcome, it still remained entertaining.

Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at Sundance this year at the Sundance Film Festival was the indie comedy Safety Not Guaranteed. From the producers of Little Miss Sunshine comes a story about how far believing in something can take you. Safety Not Guaranteed stars Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, and Karan Soni.

The film is about three people from a Seattle magazine look to cover a story about a man who believes his can time travel. They respond to his classified ad he put in looking for someone to go back in time with him. The ad states that the person’s safety would not be guaranteed since he has only done this once before.

Safety Not Guaranteed official trailer:

Having liked Lynn Shelton’s previous feature, Humpday, I was anxious to see if she could duplicate her efforts in Your Sister’s Sister. I will tell you right now, she does just that and then some. Shelton’s greatest achievement here is taking simple conventional situations and making them into complex and extraordinary without sacrificing believability. It is something that is commonly tried but rarely achieved, at least to the degree it was here.

Friends gather around having drinks and sharing stories about their friend Tom who passed away a year ago. We never actually meet Tom in the film but from hearing some of the stories it leads you believe he was a nice and likeable guy. That is until his brother Jack (Mark Duplass) gets up and tells the group the side he knows of him, which is a physical and mental manipulative person. Jack has a typical brother assessment but completely inappropriate time and place to express that. Needless to say the crowded room fell awkwardly silent.

Luckily for Jack, he has a close friend who is keeping an eye on him. Her name is Iris (Emily Blunt) and at one point she dated his brother Tom. She tells him that for a year now he has been a mess and that he needs to change his current destructive ways. In order to achieve this she comes up with a plan to send him off to her dad’s remote cabin that is located on peaceful an island.

This cabin has no television or internet, a perfect scenario for Jack not to get distracted and allow him to think about his life just watching the waves in the water that surrounds the cabin. At least that was the plan. But as we all know, life often does not go according to plan, it is especially the case in films.

When he arrives at the cabin he approaches the front door only to see that there is someone already there. Not sure what to do he peers through the window until he makes himself noticed by making a sound. As the woman comes charging out the cabin with an ore in her hand, he notices that it is just Iris’s sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt).

The two did not start out on a good note but eventually make amends when they find themselves sharing a bottle of tequila around the table at 3:00 A.M. Hannah divulges that she has just got out of a 7 year relationship with a female partner. Jack explains how he has had a “shitty year” and came to the cabin for solitude. Several shots later a proposition from Jack arises for the two to hookup, even though she is a lesbian. We are not sure if it was the tequila or the intention to let go by try something different, but she accepts.

Almost exactly at the half way point in the film, I began to wonder how Shelton would advance the rest of the story. There is an obvious way the film could go and it does but not for very long. Somehow I knew, or maybe just hoped, that it would not stay on that obvious path for very long. Thankfully, it did not. It continued to hold your attention through it’s entirety.

For me, one of the best qualities a film can possess is for it to come off genuine. Do not get me wrong, I adore the weird crazy out-there films as well. But when a film can accurately replicate that awkward moment when someone prepares food in which you must lie by saying it is wonderful because they were so excited for you to try it, like found in Your Sister’s Sister, it is extraordinary.

I was shocked at how well the dialog was considering it was largely improvised. By definition it is a mumblecore film but for those of you who are turned off by that “genre”, do not worry. While the film still captures raw emotions in the moment with everyday dialog, it never feels like it rambles on for too long. It feels loose but not too loose. I guess you could call it Mumblecore 2.0 but the bottom line is that it worked well.

Remarkably, Shelton shot Your Sister’s Sister in just 12 days. When I first heard that I was expecting for it to be evident in the film. However, after watching the film you would never have guessed it was shot in less than two weeks.

I will admit that if you read just the synopsis of Your Sister’s Sister you will most likely think a typical sitcom is in store. Instead, the film is more of an intelligent romantic comedy featuring terrific characters in a very honest manner. It is an excellent example of how wonderful improvisational dialog can be when you have the right cast members and director. To cap it all off, instead of opting for a safe ending Shelton gives us an ending that fit perfectly with the rest of the film.

Before Jay and Mark Duplass directed Cyrus or Jeff, Who Lives At Home the brothers shot The Do-Deca Pentathlon. Perhaps being put on the radar as of late with larger budget hits was what the indie duo needed in order to revive this project. The Do-Deca Pentathlon premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival and has been picked up by Red Flag Releasing and Fox Searchlight.

The film is about sibling rivalry and their own pentathlon of athletic events they created to solve the rivalry. It will star Mark Kelly and Steve Zissis as the brothers. The trailer screams Duplass made but I personally found it less compelling then some of their other films. The only way to find out though is to watch the film when it comes out June 6th.

Official trailer for The Do-Deca Pentathlon:

My ears perk up every time I hear the name Mark Duplass. It seems like he has really exploded as of late, whether it be directing or acting he is everywhere and I am not complaining. The last film he directed, Jeff Who Lives At Home, was highly reviewed by us.

Director Lynn Shelton used Mark in her last film Humpday (which we loved) so the two benefit from working together previously. In Your Sister’s Sister he plays Jack, a man is sent by a friend to stay at her family’s remote cabin when a unexpected relationship forms. The film also stars Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt. The trailer certainly gives off the same vibe I got from watching Humpday and that is not a bad thing. Your Sister’s Sister will be theaters June 15th.

UPDATE: Read our movie review of Your Sister’s Sister.

Official trailer for Your Sister’s Sister:

The first images from Quentin Tarantino’s latest film Django Unchained have been released. One image shows former slave Django (played by Jamie Foxx) alongside a bounty hunter (played by Christopher Waltz) that is helping him to get his wife back from an evil plantation owner. [Paste]

Speaking of Django Unchained, the movie poster has been unveiled for it. It looks pretty wicked if I must say so myself. [IFC]

Despite Hugo having a lackluster overall box office performance (even though critically it did well, winning five Oscars) Martin Scorsese stands firm on his love for 3D. He expects to use 3D in all of his future projects. [Movieline]

Jennifer Connelly and Saoirse Ronan have been confirmed to join Russell Crowe in the cast for Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming film Noah. Playlist reports that Liam Neeson may be playing the villain role. [Playlist]

As if Noah will not be keeping Darren Aronofsky busy, the rumor is he will be doing a biopic about George Washington called The General. [Twitch]

My favorite indie duo, the Duplass brothers, have been hired to adapt a screenplay from Tony D’Souza’s novel Mule. Mark and Jay Duplass will not be directing it though, instead Todd Phillips of The Hangover will be. [Deadline]

Wes Anderson fans are in for a real treat, six clips from Moonrise Kingdom have arrived. The film is one of the most anticipated films of the year and as we reported, it will be opening Cannes film festival this year. [Twitch]

Speaking of clips, the opening scene of The Dictator has been made released by Paramount Pictures. The film stars Sacha Baron Cohen, John C. Reilly, Megan Fox, and Ben Kingsley. Watch the nearly 2 minute clip over on ComingSoon. [ComingSoon]

The indie short film The Southern Belle is now streaming on Snag Films in it’s entirety (10 minutes) for free. You can see the movie review we did on the short film here. [SnagFilms]

Jeff Who Lives at Home is the forth feature film by the Duplass brothers, who were part responsible for the “mumblecore” movement with their first film The Puffy Chair. Similar to The Puffy Chair, Jeff Who Lives at Home is about two brothers who have two completely different mind sets about life that bond over a road trip of sorts. Jay and Mark Duplass have now edged their way into the limelight now, but their style of quick zoom cinematography, loosely scripted dialog, and indie heart felt qualities have remained intact, thankfully.

As the title would suggest the film is about a man named Jeff (Jason Segel) who lives at home. Not only does he have no home of his own, but no job or significant other either. He firmly believes that if you look at coincidences hard enough that you will find they actually happen for a reason as part of your destiny.

His brother Pat (Ed Helms) is looking to fill a void in his life by buying a Porsche, despite his wife’s (Judy Greer) wishes and the fact that he really cannot afford it. Pat does not think very highly of Jeff as he has always had to do everything for him. The two brothers have never truly bonded.

Jeff desperately tries to put connections together for everything that enters his life. He receives a phone call from someone looking for Kevin. They had the wrong number but he considers that a sign. He studies the name to find the significance. Nothing comes to mind although he is able to scramble the letters around in the name to spell knife (adding the letter ‘f’).

It is not until he gets on a bus that he finds the connection. Someone is wearing a jersey with the name Kevin on the back of it. After following him around a little bit he ends up playing basketball with him. The path connects him to a restaurant where he runs into his brother Pat.

Pat is not particularly enthused to have run into Jeff as he received a phone call from their mother (Susan Sarandon) instructing him to straighten Jeff out a little bit. But as destiny would have it, the brothers are given an opportunity to finally bond to one another as they begin to investigate whether or not Pat’s wife is cheating on him.

Jeff knows that the greatest day in history is today and lives his life accordingly. Pat does not see life that way and is envious that Jeff does. It is the first and only time that Jeff has something that Pat does not, which marks a significant moment in each of their lives.

There are at least two situations in the film that were incredibly tense because of how real the relationships feel. The Duplass brothers do an amazing job with films that do not have complex storylines but instead have wonderfully real characters and situations. Some people may say I am biased towards their films but only because I seem to connect so well to them.

Just like how Jeff made connections in the film, I made some of my own to one of my favorite indie films, Me and You and Everyone We Know. The first connection between the films is the original music in both films was done by Michael Andrews. You can hear the resemblance in the score even if you did not catch his name in the opening credits. The second connection I made is that both films feature a character that mostly communicates through instant messenger with people they have no idea who is on the other end.

There is a repetitive theme of a bird flying in the sky throughout the film. The bird to Jeff is a metaphor to fly your own way and to compulsively live life in the now. There is a fantastic scene towards the end where he sees a helicopter that reminds him of the birds he saw in the beginning.

Most Duplass brother films have not always ended the in a way that pleases the audience, they instead end how they should in real life. Jeff Who Lives at Home may be an exception to that but it was done in a way that remained completely satisfactory. After all, who are we to argue with destiny?

The synopsis of Jeff Who Lives at Home is a rather powerful yet whimsical one, it is about believing that things in life happen for a reason. However, the film had just the right amount of laugh out loud moments combined with the right amount of emotional scenes. Achieving that level of balance along with making the film full of heart is something that is rarely done this well. The Duplass brothers make it worth being passionate about films.

The latest from the indie sensation duo of the Duplass brothers is Jeff Who Lives At Home, a film that stars Jason Segel, Ed Helms, and Judy Greer. The film opened on March 16th but for those of you who have still not watched the trailer yet, here it is.

The Duplass brothers are one of my favorite indie directors whose previous work consists of, The Puffy Chair, Baghead and Cyrus, all of which are worth checking out. Some would say they have crossed into the mainstream a little with Cyrus but it still had an indie feel to it. According to IMDB the budget for Jeff Who Lives At Home is estimated at 10 million (3 million more than Cyrus), which would still make the film eligible for next years’ Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Based off their previous work and this trailer, Jeff Who Lives At Home looks like it would be well worth watching.

UPDATE: Read our movie review of Jeff Who Lives at Home.

Official trailer for Jeff Who Lives At Home:

Cyrus is not quite the comedy the trailers have you believe it is. This indie film is much more than your typical John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill slapstick you are accustom to seeing in Judd Apatow films, it adds a touch of dark creepiness. Written and directed by upcoming indie superstar duo Mark and Jay Duplass, Cyrus takes cues from their previous films such as, The Puffy Chair and Baghead. In other words, it is wonderful. I would be lying if I said I was not excited when it was announced they were doing this film.

John (John C. Reilly) is socially inept who openly admits is lonely, depressed and desperate after being separated from his wife for seven years now. Just days away from his ex-wife getting married, she feels bad for John and wants him to move on with his life. She knows he needs a relationship for this to happen, so she drags him to a party.

At a party that he not only was not thrilled on going to, let alone meet someone at, he finds a girl named Molly (Marisa Tomei). Even though John is completely drunk beyond reason, for which he can thank his ex-wife for, Molly looks past that. She is in a lot of ways like John, lonely and single for far too long.

He is overly excited when she comes over for the first date, someone that every male can probably empathize with. He purchases condoms, wine, makes dinner and even puts in a few last minute sit-ups. What John lacks in confidence, which is a lot, he more than compensates in honestly. As in this case, sometimes the two are not completely unrelated. The date goes well but ends mysteriously when she tries to sneak out but is caught by John.

John suspiciously follows her home and accidentally falls asleep in his car. The next morning he discovers that she has a son named Cyrus (Jonah Hill). The two oddly hit it off being completely and sometimes too open with each other. Cyrus being overly welcome, invites him to stay for dinner, which John eagerly agrees to.

Something strange happens the next morning as he is about to leave, his shoes are missing. He becomes a little paranoid that something is up. He consults his ex-wife whom which is also his co-worker it turns out. She tells him to forget about it and pretend it never happened. Partly, because she does not believe they took the shoes but mostly because she wants him to be in a relationship more than anyone.

John, as well as the viewer, begins to question whether or not Cyrus is trying to sabotage their relationship or if the bizarre and overly welcome encounters are legit. The film then shifts it’s focus around Cyrus. Hence, the title of the film. The romantic comedy takes a sharp turn and reveals a darker side.

We see John go through an amazing character development as he transforms into a new person. He goes from the timid and lonely, depressed person, to a smart and tactful one. In many ways, his character is a reprise from his character in Magnolia. I am not only talking about him being in a more serious role in general but specifically similar personalities. I missed that John C Reilly. Apparently, so did others as he was nominated for Best Male Lead at Independent Spirit Awards.

Cyrus does not rely solely on John C. Reilly to carry the film though, nearly equally as impressive are Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill. Tomei is plays a lovable character that is hard not to like. Hill shows that he can play an unlikeable, dark and creepy character instead of the usual pure comedy role. I am not putting down his typical roles, because I find them, and subsequently him, to be hilarious. It is delightful to see this different side of him.

For better or worse, the film was shot in a typical Duplass style. Which feels very amateur, almost home movie style with random snap-zooms. Personally, I think it works here but others may not agree. The dialog between characters was very natural and believable. The film as a whole is completely realistic. Which is tends to be a recurring trademark of the Duplass brothers and what has become known as the mumblecore movement. They achieve this by less script and rehearsal and more improvisation on the set.

Cyrus is a straight forward and incredibly honest film, two simple qualities that big budget films should take note of. It proves that you do not need an overly complicated plot with unrealistic situations in order to make a film interesting. Throw in terrific acting performances by the cast and you have yourself one very superb indie film.

Defining what Greenberg is can be quite difficult. It is a romantic comedy without the romance and comedy. The film does so by removing the typical cheesy gimmicks as it presents itself in a more real life way. There is humor in everyday situations, as this film shows, that are not meant to be funny but to someone watching, it is.

Florence Marr (Greta Gerwig) is a personal assistant to a Los Angeles family. She is an adorable hard worker who recently got out of a long relationship. Her boss’s brother Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) is a 40 year old carpenter from New York who is house-sitting for them while they go on vacation for six weeks.

Roger’s character is somewhat of a mess. He just got released from a mental institution. Although it is never explained why he was there, he is very pessimistic, may have a touch of OCD and has a short temper. Also he does not drive and is a terrible swimmer. He is not exactly a crowd pleaser of any sorts.

Out of the blue it seems, Roger calls up Florence asking her if she wants to grab a drink. The plan is quickly abandoned and then awkwardly tries hitting it off with her. They admit that it is probably a bad idea to try getting together considering she is working for his brother. This makes sense, although that does not seem to stop them from trying to make it work throughout the entire film.

Roger and Florence’s interactions so early on are odd and awkward but mostly unrealistic. As viewers we miss the flirting stage completely and enter the make-a-move stage with barely a hello. Moving too fast, that was their problem but it also goes beyond just their characters. The film moves too quickly as a whole. There was a lack of clarity in the sub-plots that damages the main plot. His friends seem to come into the story then leave without any real significance.

The acting from both Greta Gerwig and Ben Stiller is top notch. It is a performance which you would come to expect from Stiller. He plays the neurotic character on a serious level while throwing in some comedy without trying spot on. Having said that, I feel that nomination for Best Male Lead at the 2011 Independent Spirit Award was deserved but I have a hard time seeing him win it. Same goes for Gerwig. I honestly with there was more Mark Duplass in the film. He has become one of my favorite actors as of late so it was a shame to see him in this for only a few scenes.

I would say that Ben Stiller pulled an Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love with his non-traditional role as the unlikeable, non-slapstick funny, jerk, which may come as a surprise to some, but he has done this role before. Just not in a long time. In fact, most loyal fans know that this is not even his first indie film. Still, it is always a pleasure to see type-casted actor break the mold and be multi-dimensional.

Best Cinematography is another nomination it is up for but also I feel that should not win. It’s too bad that the Independent Spirit Awards do not have a Best Original Score or any soundtrack related category. If they did, I feel like Greenberg would have a decent shot at getting it. The soundtrack was done by James Murphy, the man behind the wonderful band LCD Soundsystem.

Greenberg is basically a character study about Roger Greenberg. It is safe to say that Greenberg had too many ideas going on and overall had little focus and little was accomplished. It is for this reason I do not think most audiences will get into this film. However, it is worth noting that Greenberg is not a total flop. If you manage to stick it out, you will be rewarded with solid acting performances and an original soundtrack and perhaps even a few laughs.

While the basic premise behind Humpday is simple and somewhat idiotic, the film is far from it. This indie comedy won the John Cassavetes Award at 2010 Independent Spirit Awards. It also won the Special Jury Prize and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. And rightfully so.

A longtime friend Andrew (Joshua Leonard) arrives without notice at Ben’s (Mark Duplass) house late one night. They are re-connected for the first time in years. Ben’s life consists of a pretty normal “white picket fence” type lifestyle according to Andrew. Andrew is a free-spirited artist that couldn’t be more different than Ben. The only thing they really share in common now are their old college day memories together. Andrew meets some new people the next day who happen to be artists and invites Ben over for dinner. Coincidentally Ben was originally meaning to invite Andrew over for a home cooked meal that his wife Anna was making just for the three of them. Ben breaks it to Anna that their plans are not going to happen because he feels slightly obligated to stay.

Andrew and Ben end up getting drunk and the newly founded artist friends inform the two of a upcoming local amateur porn festival. Andrew is immediately interested in the festival. Ben feels maybe slightly forced to fit in and drunkenly says that if they want to do something for the festival that it has to be something no one has done before. It must be unique. So he suggests he and Andrew have sex on camera because two straight guys having sex is not something that is usually done.

Sober the next day neither one of them want to back down and still think it’s a good idea. But there was still one more hurdle to get over, Ben needs to inform Anna of their plans. This is not an easy task to say the least.

Mark Duplass seems to play similar characters in his roles, just as in The Puffy Chair, he reminds me so much of myself, which really allows me to connect to the film better. Often mannerisms and what he says in situations are similar to how I am. I get the feeling that Duplass on the screen and off the screen are pretty similar.

Ben doesn’t know why it’s important to him to make this video, although it seems like it’s partly to prove to his good friend that he isn’t just a settled down domestic family man with a “white picket fence”. However, without realizing it they both are trying to prove something to themselves. Ben is trying to convince himself that his marriage is really open and that he can have his own freedom and independence. Also to see if he gets any sort of positive homosexual feelings from it. For Andrew he is trying to live his life the way he perceives his lifestyle should be, but then realizes that he may not be as open minded as he had thought. He is also trying to finally finish something from start to end in his life, something that he struggles to do.

All the actors and dialog seemed very natural in Humpday. It’s incredibly honest. Humpday didn’t really feel like a film because it was so real, instead it felt more like a documentary. There is no overly complicated plot here. Nothing happens in the film that couldn’t easily happen in real life, including the ending. Which some people may not appreciate but you must take it for what it is, realistic.