Safety Not Guaranteed – Way Too Indie http://waytooindie.com Independent film and music reviews Fri, 02 Dec 2016 17:34:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Way Too Indiecast is the official podcast of WayTooIndie.com. Our film critics grip and gush about the latest indie movies and sometimes even mainstream ones. Find all of our reviews, podcasts, news, at www.waytooindie.com Safety Not Guaranteed – Way Too Indie yes Safety Not Guaranteed – Way Too Indie dustin@waytooindie.com dustin@waytooindie.com (Safety Not Guaranteed – Way Too Indie) The Official Podcast of Way Too Indie Safety Not Guaranteed – Way Too Indie http://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/waytooindie/podcast-album-art.jpg http://waytooindie.com 2013 Independent Spirit Award Winners http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2013-independent-spirit-award-winners/ http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2013-independent-spirit-award-winners/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=10826 The 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards were filled as many laughs from the host Andy Samberg as there were shocks from some of the voting. Silver Linings Playbook walked away with four major awards but surprisingly only one of them was from the acting category. Jennifer Lawrence was awarded Best Female Lead for her role […]]]>

The 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards were filled as many laughs from the host Andy Samberg as there were shocks from some of the voting. Silver Linings Playbook walked away with four major awards but surprisingly only one of them was from the acting category. Jennifer Lawrence was awarded Best Female Lead for her role in the film but the biggest upset of the night was a welcoming one, John Hawkes for The Sessions beat out Bradley Cooper. The other wins for Silver Linings Playbook were Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

As far as my predictions went, I started off strong with five of the first six awards correctly picked. The start of the Spirit Awards themselves did not go as smoothly. The first announced winner was Derek Connolly from Safety Not Guaranteed spent over 5 minutes at the mic before people awkwardly ushered him off the stage. There was little doubt Amour would lose Best International Film and I had a hunch Middle of Nowhere would win the John Cassavetes Award, while The Perks of Being A Wallflower was more of a lucky pick from me. But I expected Beasts of the Southern Wild to win the top prizes of Best Feature and Best Director and it appeared as if the actual winner Silver Linings Playbook felt the same; they kept giving nods to Beasts of the Southern Wild when they were on stage accepting the awards. All in all, I predicted only 7 of the 13 categories correctly, which gives me only a 53% accuracy this year (a far cry from my 69% (or 9 of 13) accuracy last year).

2013 Independent Spirit Award Winners:

(The winners are highlighted in bold red font)

Best Feature:

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep The Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director:

Wes Anderson – Moonrise Kingdom
Julia Loktev – The Loneliest Planet
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs – Keep The Lights On
Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best First Feature:

Fill The Void – Rama Burshtein
Gimme The Loot – Adam Leon
Safety Not Guaranteed – Colin Trevorrow
Sound of My Voice – Zal Batmanglij
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower – Stephen Chobsky

Best Male Lead:

Jack Black – Bernie
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
John Hawkes – The Sessions
Thure Lindhart – Keep The Lights On
Matthew McConaughey – Killer Joe
Wendell Pierce – Four

Best Female Lead:

Linda Cardellini – Return
Emayatzy Corinealdi – Middle of Nowhere
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Mary E. Winstead – Smashed

Best Supporting Male:

Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike
David Oyelowo – Middle of Nowhere
Michael Pena – End of Watch
Sam Rockwell – Seven Psychopaths
Bruce Willis – Moonrise Kingdom

Best Supporting Female:

Rosemarie DeWitt – Your Sister’s Sister
Ann Dowd – Compliance
Helen Hunt – The Sessions
Brit Marling – Sound of My Voice
Lorraine Toussaint – Middle of Nowhere

John Cassavetes Award:

Breakfast With Curtis – Laura Colella
Middle of Nowhere – Ava DuVernay
Mosquita y Mari – Aurora Guerrero
Starlet – Sean Baker
The Color Wheel – Alex Ross Perry

Best Documentary:

How To Survive A Plague – David France
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present – Matthew Akers
The Central Park Five – Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
The Invisible War – Kirby Dick
The Waiting Room – Peter Nicks

Best International Film:

Amour – Michael Haneke
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Rust and Bone – Jacques Audiard
Sister – Ursula Meier
War Witch – Kim Nguyen

Best Cinematography:

Yoni Brook – Valley Of Saints
Lol Crawley – Here
Ben Richardson – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Roman Vasyanov – End of Watch
Robert Yeoman – Moonrise Kingdom

Best Screenplay:

Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
Zoe Kazan – Ruby Sparks
Martin McDonagh – Seven Psychopaths
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias – Keep The Lights On

Best First Screenplay:

Rama Burshtein – Fill The Void
Derek Connolly – Safety Not Guaranteed
Christopher Ford – Robot & Frank
Jonathan Lisecki – Gayby
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack – Celeste and Jesse Forever

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2013 Independent Spirit Award Predictions http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2013-independent-spirit-award-predictions/ http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2013-independent-spirit-award-predictions/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=9822 There is some stiff competition this year at the Independent Spirit Awards, forcing me to do a lot of pondering and second guessing. See who I predicted to win Independent Spirit Awards at this years awards show.]]>

We are a mere 36 days until the official winners are announced at the 2013 Independent Spirit Awards, so I will offer my predictions of who the winners will be this year. Last year my predictions were pretty solid, with an roughly 70% accuracy I correctly predicted 9 of the 13 unannounced awards. Unlike last year’s juggernaut The Artist, I believe this year there are two films that could both easily win the top awards. Both Beasts of the Southern Wild and Silver Linings Playbook stand good chances of being winners, making the predictions more difficult this year. I predict that Beasts of the Southern Wild will win the top two awards while Silver Linings Playbook cleans up the top acting awards. In addition to picking the winners for each category, I explain the reasoning behind my picks in detail under the categories.

Watch IFC on Saturday, February 23rd to see how my predictions hold up.

2013 Independent Spirit Award Predictions:

(My prediction for the winners are highlighted in bold red font)

Best Feature:

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep The Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

MY REASONING:
As I mentioned in the opening, I believe two films have a great chances of walking away with the top prizes. I believe Beasts of the Southern Wild will slightly edge out Silver Linings Playbook for the Best Feature Award. But both probably have equal chance of winning as both films also got an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. I will have to go with my instincts on this, even though Silver Linings Playbook is more of an audience pleaser.
Best Director:

Wes Anderson – Moonrise Kingdom
Julia Loktev – The Loneliest Planet
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs – Keep The Lights On
Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

MY REASONING:
Just like the Oscars, this category is closely tied with the Best Feature category. Typically, the winner of this category will go on to win the other. So I will stick with Beasts of the Southern Wild and say Benh Zeitlin will win, with David O. Russell in a close second. Glad to see Wes Anderson on this list though.
Best First Feature:

Fill The Void – Rama Burshtein
Gimme The Loot – Adam Leon
Safety Not Guaranteed – Colin Trevorrow
Sound of My Voice – Zal Batmanglij
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower – Stephen Chobsky

MY REASONING:
Rules state that a film cannot be in both the Best Feature and Best First Feature category, so when Beasts of the Southern Wild got slated for Best Feature, this category really opened up. I believe The Perks Of Being A Wallflower received the warmest reception and is the most well-rounded film of the bunch, so it is a safe pick. Safety Not Guaranteed might be the dark horse here.
Best Male Lead:

Jack Black – Bernie
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
John Hawkes – The Sessions
Thure Lindhart – Keep The Lights On
Matthew McConaughey – Killer Joe
Wendell Pierce – Four

MY REASONING:
Bradley Cooper should walk away with this award. His biggest competition should be previous Spirit Award winner John Hawkes, but likely will not be much of a “fight”. The sleeper pick here would be Jack Black for Bernie, but consider it an hefty long-shot.
Best Female Lead:

Linda Cardellini – Return
Emayatzy Corinealdi – Middle of Nowhere
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Mary E. Winstead – Smashed

MY REASONING:
Jennifer Lawrence probably has a little more momentum behind her to be the favorite in this category. But not by much. Quvenzhane Wallis is likely right on her heels and I will be rooting for her to win.
Best Supporting Male:

Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike
David Oyelowo – Middle of Nowhere
Michael Pena – End of Watch
Sam Rockwell – Seven Psychopaths
Bruce Willis – Moonrise Kingdom

MY REASONING:
I thought about this pick the longest out of all the categories, but feel the least confident in my choice. The reason being is that I do not see a clear standout here. If it were me voting, I would pick Michael Pena. But I will say the actual voters go with David Oyelowo.
Best Supporting Female:

Rosemarie DeWitt – Your Sister’s Sister
Ann Dowd – Compliance
Helen Hunt – The Sessions
Brit Marling – Sound of My Voice
Lorraine Toussaint – Middle of Nowhere

MY REASONING:
This is probably the most solid category form top-to-bottom, any one of theses nominees could easily win here. But I think Helen Hunt has the best odds of winning because of her daring role in The Sessions.
John Cassavetes Award:

Breakfast With Curtis – Laura Colella
Middle of Nowhere – Ava DuVernay
Mosquita y Mari – Aurora Guerrero
Starlet – Sean Baker
The Color Wheel – Alex Ross Perry

MY REASONING:
Middle of Nowhere generated some buzz last year at Sundance, earning two nominations and one win. For that reason, my bet is on it to win this award. Sean Baker’s Starlet has a real solid shot at winning though.
Best Documentary:

How To Survive A Plague – David France
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present – Matthew Akers
The Central Park Five – Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
The Invisible War – Kirby Dick
The Waiting Room – Peter Nicks

MY REASONING:
There are two nominees here that were also nominated for an Oscar, How to Survive a Plague and The Invisible War but I feel like the former will win. Joining the tight race is Ken Burns’ The Central Park Five, which makes this category a competitive one.
Best International Film:

Amour – Michael Haneke
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Rust and Bone – Jacques Audiard
Sister – Ursula Meier
War Witch – Kim Nguyen

MY REASONING:
I believe for the second year in a row, the winner of the Oscar and Independent Spirit Award for foreign film will be the same. Before last year, it had been 25 years since the same film won in both award shows. Amour is the clear front runner to win at the Academy Awards and should win here as well, despite the rest of the films all being worth-while watches.
Best Cinematography:

Yoni Brook – Valley Of Saints
Lol Crawley – Here
Ben Richardson – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Roman Vasyanov – End of Watch
Robert Yeoman – Moonrise Kingdom

MY REASONING:
My pick here goes to Moonrise Kingdom, in what I think will be the only award the film will win. I am not sure if you can call it an upset, but I think it will beat out Beasts of the Southern Wild, which might seem like the most likely to win.
Best Screenplay:

Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
Zoe Kazan – Ruby Sparks
Martin McDonagh – Seven Psychopaths
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias – Keep The Lights On

MY REASONING:
The two films that have the best odds of being declared the winner are Silver Linings Playbook and Moonrise Kingdom. It was great to see Ruby Sparks nominated for an award and Keep The Lights On nominated for four, but I think the winner here is Silver Linings Playbook.
Best First Screenplay:

Rama Burshtein – Fill The Void
Derek Connolly – Safety Not Guaranteed
Christopher Ford – Robot & Frank
Jonathan Lisecki – Gayby
Rashida Jones and Will McCormack – Celeste and Jesse Forever

MY REASONING:
Because Safety Not Guaranteed will likely get edged out of the Best First Feature award by The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, which is not present in this category, it has the best shot at winning in my eyes.
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2013 Independent Spirit Award Nominations http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2013-independent-spirit-award-nominations/ http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2013-independent-spirit-award-nominations/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=8953 Film Independent announced the nominations for the 28th annual Independent Spirit Awards this morning by Zoe Saldana and Anna Kendrick. Last year many of the award winners went on to win Oscars but I suspect that will be a little different this year. The winners will be announced at the 28th annual Film Independent Spirit […]]]>

Film Independent announced the nominations for the 28th annual Independent Spirit Awards this morning by Zoe Saldana and Anna Kendrick. Last year many of the award winners went on to win Oscars but I suspect that will be a little different this year. The winners will be announced at the 28th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 23th and the broadcast will air at 10 p.m. ET/PT on IFC.

There were two films that tied for the most amount of nominations and those were Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom and David O. Russells’s Silver Linings Playbook with five total nominations. Both of the films will be competing for the top award of Best Feature.

It was a little shocking to see that the Sundance standout Beasts of the Southern Wild did not have quite as many nods but four is a healthy amount of nominations to receive. The film bypassed Best First Feature even though it is technically Benh Zeitlin’s first and step up to the bigger category Best Feature (rules prohibit a film from being in both). Beasts of the Southern Wild was ousted from the Best Screenplay category.

John Hawkes makes his third straight appearance in the nomination list with his role in The Sessions. This time he will move up to the Best Lead Male category against some pretty strong contenders. Hawkes was nominated for Best Supporting Male last year for Martha Marcy May Marlene and won the award in the previous year for Winter’s Bone. Matthew McConaughey will get two chances to win for two different films. He got a nod for Best Male Lead (for Killer Joe) and Best Supporting Male (for Magic Mike).

Perhaps the most interesting category this year belongs to the Best International Film section as there was quite a bit of potentials for it this year. Michael Haneke’s Amour made the cut, unsurprisingly, and will likely be the favorite to win (as well as for the Oscar). It was a bit of a surprise to not see Holy Motors in that list but seeing War Witch get a nod was lovely as it is definitely a film worth seeing. I didn’t expect to see Paradise: Love or Goodbye First Love on this list but it would have been if it were up to me.

Watch for our predictions for the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards post to come in the coming weeks.

Full List of 2013 Independent Spirit Award Nominations:

Best Feature: (Award given to the Producer)

Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep The Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director:

Wes AndersonMoonrise Kingdom
Julia LoktevThe Loneliest Planet
David O. RussellSilver Linings Playbook
Ira SachsKeep The Lights On
Benh ZeitlinBeasts of the Southern Wild

Best First Feature: (Award given to the director and producer)

Fill The Void – Rama Burshtein
Gimme The Loot – Adam Leon
Safety Not Guaranteed – Colin Trevorrow
Sound of My Voice – Zal Batmanglij
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower – Stephen Chobsky

Best Male Lead:

Jack BlackBernie
Bradley CooperSilver Linings Playbook
John HawkesThe Sessions
Thure LindhartKeep The Lights On
Matthew McConaugheyKiller Joe
Wendell PierceFour

Best Female Lead:

Linda CardelliniReturn
Emayatzy CorinealdiMiddle of Nowhere
Jennifer LawrenceSilver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhane Wallis Beasts of the Southern Wild
Mary E. WinsteadSmashed

Best Supporting Male:

Matthew McConaugheyMagic Mike
David OyelowoMiddle of Nowhere
Michael PenaEnd of Watch
Sam RockwellSeven Psychopaths
Bruce WillisMoonrise Kingdom

Best Supporting Female:

Rosemarie DeWittYour Sister’s Sister
Ann DowdCompliance
Helen HuntThe Sessions
Brit MarlingSound of My Voice
Lorraine ToussaintMiddle of Nowhere

John Cassavetes Award: (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)

Breakfast With Curtis – Laura Colella
Middle of Nowhere – Ava DuVernay
Mosquita y Mari – Aurora Guerrero
Starlet – Sean Baker
The Color Wheel – Alex Ross Perry

Best Documentary: (Award given to the director)

How To Survive A Plague – David France
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present – Matthew Akers
The Central Park Five – Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
The Invisible War – Kirby Dick
The Waiting Room – Peter Nicks

Best International Film: (Award given to the director)

Amour – Michael Haneke
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia – Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Rust and Bone – Jacques Audiard
Sister – Ursula Meier
War Witch – Kim Nguyen

Best Cinematography:

Yoni BrookValley Of Saints
Lol CrawleyHere
Ben RichardsonBeasts of the Southern Wild
Roman VasyanovEnd of Watch
Robert YeomanMoonrise Kingdom

Best Screenplay:

Wes Anderson and Roman CoppolaMoonrise Kingdom
Zoe KazanRuby Sparks
Martin McDonaghSeven Psychopaths
David O. RussellSilver Linings Playbook
Ira Sachs and Mauricio ZachariasKeep The Lights On

Best First Screenplay:

Rama BurshteinFill The Void
Derek ConnollySafety Not Guaranteed
Christopher FordRobot & Frank
Jonathan LiseckiGayby
Rashida Jones and Will McCormackCeleste and Jesse Forever

Robert Altman Award: (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)

Starlet
Director: Sean Baker
Casting Director: Julia Kim
Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ranson

Piaget Producers Award: (Award given to a producer)

Alicia Van CouveringNobody Walks
Mynette LouieStones in the Sun
Derrick TsengPrince Avalanche

Truer Than Fiction Award: (Award given to the director)

Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena ParavelLeviathan
Peter NicksThe Waiting Room
Jason Tippet and Elizabeth MimsOnly the Young

Someone to Watch Award: (Award given to the director)

David FensterPincus
Adam LeonGimme The Loot
Rebecca ThomasElectrick Children

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Safety Not Guaranteed http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/safety-not-guaranteed/ http://waytooindie.com/review/movie/safety-not-guaranteed/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=8023 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.]]>

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.

Safety Not Guaranteed movie

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.

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Watch: Safety Not Guaranteed trailer http://waytooindie.com/news/trailer/watch-safety-not-guaranteed-trailer/ http://waytooindie.com/news/trailer/watch-safety-not-guaranteed-trailer/#comments Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=4485 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.]]>

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:

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Way Too Indie’s Most Anticipated Films of Summer 2012 http://waytooindie.com/features/way-too-indies-most-anticipated-films-of-summer-2012/ http://waytooindie.com/features/way-too-indies-most-anticipated-films-of-summer-2012/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=4024 Summer officially begins on Wednesday June 20, 2012 for the Northern Hemisphere and the staff here at Way Too Indie wants to make sure your cinema schedule is set when summer begins. After careful consideration we came up with our Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of the Summer. We also had four films that may be worth checking out as honorable mentions that did not quite make our Top 10.]]>

Summer officially begins on Wednesday June 20, 2012 for the Northern Hemisphere and the staff here at Way Too Indie wants to make sure your cinema schedule is set when summer begins. After careful consideration we came up with our Top 10 Most Anticipated Films of the Summer. We also had four films that may be worth checking out as honorable mentions that did not quite make our Top 10.

Beasts of the Southern Wild Movie#1 Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beasts of the Southern Wild has generated a ton of buzz wherever it has played. New York Times said it was one of the best films to play at Sundance in two decades and Roger Ebert recently said it is the best film he has seen this year. Perhaps what is most impressive is that all this buzz surrounding the film was accomplished by a first-time filmmaker, Benh Zeitlin. To his advantage, the star of the film Quvenzhané Wallis, has people eating out of her 7-year-old palm with her performance. Whether or not it can live up to all the hype remains the biggest question but that did not stop us from putting it as our most anticipated film for the summer. It is safe to say June 27th has been marked on our calendars; you should probably do the same. [Dustin]

UPDATE: Our review of Beasts of the Southern Wild

Prometheus Movie#2 Prometheus

People predictably went nuts when it was announced that Ridley Scott would, after 30 years, be making another science fiction movie. Then we found out it was possibly but not definitely related to Alien in some capacity (it was originally planned to be a prequel). Then we got a cast with the likes of Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce and Idris Elba. Then came the teaser for the actual teaser, the teaser, the teaser for the actual trailer and finally the trailer itself which blew everyone away. If you could sum up 20th Century Fox’s marketing campaign for Prometheus in two words it’d be “blue balls” but the strategy is working beautifully. Prometheus looks like the movie event of the summer, a smart and terrifying sci-fi film that’ll knock our socks off. Even if the movie ends up being a flop, the marketing team deserves some kind of award for their work. [CJ]

UPDATE: Our review of Prometheus

Killer Joe Movie#3 Killer Joe

Let me start off by saying that I’m a huge William Friedkin fan. I actually wanted to see this at TIFF last year it just didn’t fit into my schedule. I wish I had. The film supposedly has Matthew McConaughey’s best performance to date and is rumored to feature some outlandish scenes involving fried chicken. McConaughey is hired by a red neck family to kill one of their family members for the life insurance. When they can’t foot the bill, McConaughey takes interest in the young girl of the family. I imagine things don’t go as planned in this gruesome thriller. [Blake]

Dark Knight Rises Movie#4 The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan’s newest film has so much buzz around it one wonders if the film will overcome it. Of course, every other film Nolan has done has so you’d think this will have no problem. Based on trailers this trilogy will not have a good ending. Batman’s newest villain Bane seems to want Gotham to burn to the ground. From bringing a football stadium to rubble to blowing up bridges, Bane looks to be giving a serious makeover to the city. The Dark Knight will be a hard movie to outdo, but knowing Nolan, he should have no trouble with this feat. [Blake]

UPDATE: Our review of The Dark Knight Rises

Loneliest Planet Movie#5 The Loneliest Planet

If you haven’t heard of Julia Loktev (and odds are you haven’t), go seek out Day Night Day Night. The movie, which followed a suicide bomber as she prepared for an attack in Times Square, was a nerve-wracking experience that kept piling on as much tension as possible until its final act. While Day Night Day Night had its share of issues, it sounds like Loktev has improved considerably with her next film. The Loneliest Planet premiered last fall on the festival circuit to rave reviews and is finally getting a limited release in August. The synopsis, about a couple backpacking in the Georgian wildness, sounds simple but according to reviews there will be a lot more surprises in store. [CJ]

UPDATE: Our review of The Loneliest Planet

To Rome With Love Movie#6 To Rome With Love

Would you have ever expected a light comedy about time travel with Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Salvador Dali to become a hit? I don’t think Woody Allen even imagined that Midnight in Paris would go on to become his highest grossing movie yet, but it ended up being his best film in years and one of the most entertaining movies of 2011. This year Allen continues his tour of Europe, landing in Italy with the likes of Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Ellen Page and Penelope Cruz. It’s unlikely that Woody Allen will have the same amount of success as last year (looking at the rest of his recent output, Midnight in Paris was the exception and not the rule) but even at his worst Allen’s films are light enough that they serve as a nice counterweight to the big blockbusters filling up the majority of the screens over the summer season. [CJ]

Moonrise Kingdom Movie#7 Moonrise Kingdom

It is hard not to be excited for a film that has Wes Anderson’s name attached to it. Add in the fact Moonrise Kingdom has a plethora of talent cast members that include; Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton and is about enough for anyone to be excited for the film. From watching the trailer you can see that Wes Anderson’s uncompromising style is present here as it is in most of his other films. The film is about a boy and girl who fall in love and run away. Laughs, claps, and even tears may be in store for this film. [Dustin]

UPDATE: Our review of Moonrise Kingdom

Your Sister’s Sister Movie#8 Your Sister’s Sister

After watching the film Humpday I have kept director Lynn Shelton on my radar. Which has turned out to be an easy assignment because she has not done a film since Humpday in 2009. My ears perked when I heard she would be doing another film called Your Sister’s Sister. It is easy to see the resemblance in Your Sister’s Sister to Shelton’s previous work. The film was shot in just 12 days and apparently was mostly improvised. It certainly looks like it could provide a genuine and fresh take on a relationship film when the lead character starts to fall for his friend’s sister. Update: I saw the film a day after this was written and I can say it was definitely worth being excited for. Read my review. [Dustin]

UPDATE: Our review of Your Sister’s Sister

Take This WaltzMovie#9 Take This Waltz

Keep in mind I did not see Sarah Polley’s first feature, Away From Her. The film went on to receive a couple of Oscar nominations and had a lot of critical support. This is another film I planned to see at TIFF last year, but was sold out before I could get tickets. Take This Waltz stars Seth Rogen and Michelle Williams as a married couple living in Toronto whose marriage is put to the test when Williams starts to fall for a man who moves in across the street. A good supporting turn by Sarah Silverman backs up the leads. [Blake]

UPDATE: Our review of Take This Waltz

Ruby Sparks Movie#10 Ruby Sparks

It is hard not to compare the plot of Ruby Sparks with Stranger Than Fiction, a struggling writer who in this case does not only hear the voice but can see the fictitious character he made up. However, I believe the creators of Little Miss Sunshine will add something special to the tired plot that has been done before. Paul Dano seems like a perfect choice for the film since directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris worked with him previously in the excellent Little Miss Sunshine. At the very least, it looks like a romantic comedy that is actually worth seeing. [Dustin]

Honorable Mentions: Here are four films that almost made it into our Top 10.
Extraterrestrial
Safety Not Guaranteed
Compliance
Red Hook Summer

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Movie News Roundup: Top 10 Edition http://waytooindie.com/news/movie-news-roundup-top-10-edition/ http://waytooindie.com/news/movie-news-roundup-top-10-edition/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=3621 A couple different Top 10 lists appear in this edition of Movie News Roundup. One is the Top 10 most anticipated indie films this summer and the other is Roger Ebert naming his Top 10 Movies of All Time. LA Film festival announces their film festival lineup. A couple awesome new movie trailers were posted and the new name for the theatre that will host the Oscars for the next 20 years.]]>

The Playlist names their Top 10 most anticipated indie films this summer. Some of them that made the list are; Moonrise Kingdom, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Safety Not Guaranteed, To Rome With Love, and Take This Waltz. [Playlist]

Speaking of Top 10’s recently Roger Ebert names his Top 10 Movies of All Time. The biggest surprise in his list was the inclusion of last year’s Tree of Life. Or maybe it was not such a big surprise, it scored high in our review of the film. [HitFix]

LA Film Festival made their lineup announcement with Steven Soderbergh’s Magic Mike and Wood Allen’s To Rome With Love making premieres. There are almost 200 films playing at that festival which begins on June 14th in downtown LA and ending on June 24th. [LAFilmFest]

Sounds like Spike Lee finally found his villain for his re-make of Oldboy. Sharlto Copley (District 9) will be playing the “mysterious billionaire trying to destroy the life of Joe Douchett (Josh Brolin).” I just hope the remake is half as good as the original (it’s one of our highest rated films). [MovieLine]

We posted a trailer for Beasts of the Southern Wild that we think must be watched by all. The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Drama at Sundance. Watch the trailer now.

Another trailer worth taking a look at is Your Sister’s Sister. We recently posted the official trailer for the film by director Lynn Shelton that stars Mark Duplass, Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt.

It was nice knowing you Kodak. A deal was struck that The Dolby Theatre will host the Oscars’ for the next 20 years. “Dolby will continue to update the theatre with innovative, world-class technologies to ensure that the theatre remains state-of-the-art, beginning with the immediate installation of its recently released Dolby® Atmos™ sound technology.” [HitFix]

Ever wanted to go behind the scenes with a film festival judge? Follow an IFC contributor who joins a film jury at the Sarasota Film Festival. [IFC]

News hit last week that Windows 8 will not support DVD or Blu-ray playback natively. Because of decoding licenses Microsoft has opted to not support playback by default even if the computer comes with a DVD or Blu-ray drive. Windows 8 will require you to buy an upgrade option in order to play your movies.

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2012 Sundance Film Festival Winners http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2012-sundance-film-festival-winners/ http://waytooindie.com/news/awards/2012-sundance-film-festival-winners/#respond Mon, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 http://waytooindie.com/?p=4311 The 2012 Sundance Film Festival winners have been announced by the juries tonight in Park City, Utah. Beasts of the Southern Wild picked up two wins for Grand Jury Prize Dramatic and cinematography. Fox Searchlight’s other acquisition, The Surrogate, also won two awards at the festival. Click Read More to see the full list of 2012 Sundance Film Festival winners.]]>

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival winners have been announced by the juries tonight in Park City, Utah. Beasts of the Southern Wild picked up two wins for Grand Jury Prize Dramatic and cinematography. Fox Searchlight’s other acquisition, The Surrogate, also won two awards at the festival.

Full list of 2012 Sundance Film Festival winners:

Grand Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Beasts of the Southern Wild

Grand Jury Prize, Documentary:
The House I Live In

World Cinema Jury Prize, Dramatic:
Violeta Went To Heaven

World Cinema Jury Prize, Documentary:
The Law In These Parts

Dramatic Audience Award:
The Surrogate

Documentary Audience Award:
The Invisible War

World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award:
Valley of Saints

World Cinema Documentary Audience Award:
Searching For Sugar Man

The Best of NEXT Audience Award:
Sleepwalk With Me

Directing Award, Dramatic:
Ava DuVernay, Middle of Nowhere

Directing Award, Documentary:
Lauren Greenfield, The Queen of Versailles

World Cinema Directing Award, Dramatic:
Mads Matthiessen, Teddy Bear

World Cinema Directing Award, Documentary:
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, 5 Broken Cameras

Waldo Scott Screenwriting Award:
Safety Not Guaranteed

World Cinema Screenwriting Award:
Young & Wild

Documentary Editing Award:
Detropia

World Cinema Documentary Editing Award:
Indie Game: The Movie

Excellence in Cinematography Award, Dramatic:
Beasts of the Southern Wild

Excellence in Cinematography Award, Documentary:
Chasing Ice

World Cinema Cinematography Award, Dramatic:
My Brother The Devil

World Cinema Cinematography Award, Documentary:
Putin’s Kiss

Special Jury Prize: Dramatic (Acting):
The cast of The Surrogate

Special Jury Prize: Dramatic:
Jonathan Schwartz and Andrea Sperling for producing Smashed and Nobody Walks

Special Jury Prizes: Documentary:
Love Free or Die
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

World Cinema Special Jury Prize: Documentary
Searching For Sugar Man

World Cinema Special Jury Prize: Dramatic
Can

Alfred P. Sloan Prizes
Robot & Frank
Valley of Saints

Sundance/NHK International Filmmakers Award:
Jens Assur, Close Far Away

Short Film Audience Award:
The Debutante Hunters, directed by Maria White

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