Here’s a little something I came across today in my emails; after premiering at Sundance earlier this year, the fidelity comedy The Freebie is set to come out here in the US on September 17th courtesy of Phase 4 Films. This was one of festival films that I figured had a fifty-fifty shot of actually getting to play outside of the festival circuit so here’s to hoping it was a good choice. Below is the film’s official synopsis and trailer:
“Darren (Dax Shepard) and Annie (Katie Aselton) have an enviable relationship built on love, trust and communication-they still enjoy each other’s company and laugh at each other’s jokes. Unfortunately, they can’t remember the last time they had sex. When a dinner party conversation leads to an honest discussion about the state of their love life, and when a sexy bikini photo shoot leads to crossword puzzles instead of sex, they begin to flirt with an idea for a way to spice things up. The deal: one night of freedom, no strings attached, no questions asked. Could a “freebie” be the cure for their ailing sex life? And will they go through with it? THE FREEBIE is an insightful and humorous look at love, sustaining relationships, and the awkwardness of monogamy when the haze of lust has faded. The film was produced by Adele Romanski and executive produced by Aselton and CYRUS director Mark Duplass.”
Courtesy of Cinema Purgatorio, a damn fine touring distributor that has rolled out some great indies over the past few years like The Flaming Lips’ Christmas on Mars, Tony Manero, I Can See You, etc. just announced today their upcoming screening dates for the new documentary “Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo”.
Directed by Bradley Beesley, longtime Flaming Lips collaborator as well as director of The Fearless Freaks and co-director of Mars, serves up a look behind prison walls as cowgirl inmates were allowed to participate in the 2007 Oklahoma State Penitentiary Rodeo.
It was the first time females were allowed to participate in this male-dominated event before finally ending in 2008. As such, the story becomes not only an odd tale of female empowerment but elegy to a system that has since passed, perhaps barbaric and exploitative but still a means of escaping the equally brutal reality of prison life.
Listed below are upcoming screenings (dates,city,theater) with more to follow:
Date City Venue
09/11/10 Montreal Blue Sunshine
09/17/10 – NYC IFC Center
09/23/10
09/17/10 Austin, TX Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz
-09/23/10
09/24/10
-09/30/10 Los Angeles, CA Downtown Independent
09/27/10 Las Cruces, NM Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility
09/28/10 Tempe, AZ Madcap Theaters
09/30/10 San Francisco, CA Red Vic Movie House
10/04/10 Bellingham, WA Pickford Cinema
10/05/10 Seattle, WA Northwest Film Forum
-10/07/10
10/07/10 Tulsa, OK University of Tulsa
10/08/10 Portland, OR Hollywood Theatre
10/08/10
-10/14/10 Denver, CO Starz Film Center
11/16/10 Columbia, MO Ragtag Cinema
11/17/10 Kansas City, MO Screenland Crossroads
I’ve been a fan of LA-based rockers Echoes de Luxe for quite some time now; unlike most other bands foisted on me these days by either MTV or VH1 (when they actually get around to playing music videos) or other douchey hipsters trying to exert their own inflated sense of cool by talking up one obscurely-named, emo-influenced, noise groups, Echoes can actually play their own instruments well and the singer can ACTUALLY SING!
Moreover, the band’s mix of electronic texturing mixed with shifting rhythms, solid guitar playing, and contemplative lyrics make for post-Floyd space rock with enough space to move into various other sonic spaces at will. The guys recently posted their latest work, The NotreMonde Demos, online for free download for anyone interested.
The 7-song playlist is a marked step up from their initial EP and shows a band that is further settling into their sound with confidence building. Most importantly, the guys are putting it up for free!
At the very least, you get a great set of music for zero pennies and at best, are turned onto a new band that puts faith back into us disappointed by the Bieber onslaught.
I happened upon this great little clip from one of my favorite avant-garde singers Diamanda Galas not long ago, courtesy of the always awesome Brainwashed.com; anyone who has an vocal range on par with Mariah Carey but instead uses it to explore the power & layers of screaming, comes up with song titles like “Wild Women With Steak Knives” and jams with John Paul Jones post-Zeppelin but pre-Them Crooked Vultures is fine by me.
I first came across her via the aforementioned Jones in interview mentions and finally picking up a copy of their album collaboration The Sporting Life. Still kicking myself that I wasn’t old enough to catch them out on tour. Ah well, here’s still a nice taste of the Greek diva herself.
Speaking of Vultures, I think Jones should put in a good word for this gal on some future collaborating with Homme and company; now THAT would be epic
Looking to branch out into the seamier side of the City of Angels, LA Weekly and its parent company Village Voice Media have just launched AfterDarkLA.com; seeking to bridge the gap between sex-oriented companies and individuals seeking a legitimate forum through which to share information, stories, tips, etc. of a sexual nature, one hopes that the website can deliver on this promise, building off of earlier similar sites like Nerve.com.
Personally, I think it would be great if it took on the vibe of HBO’s Real Sex series & assorted programs, shows that I grew up with and learned more about the variety of sexual activities and philosophies a helluva lot more than any public-school sanctioned sex ed class.
The site boasts a current slate of contributors including, but not limited to, adult superstars Jessica Drake, Joanna Angel, Lisa Ann, and Kayden Kross, sex therapists Dr. Ava Cadell and Dr. Lori Buckley, and sex educator/author Jayme Waxman.
Thankfully, the blog will cater to both newbies and experienced sexual provocateurs as it dispels event listings, sex advice, and sales deals in addition to L.A. Libido, a sex column composed entirely of user-submitted sex stories and encounters too juicy to keep quiet. Sort of like Penthouse Letters but real for once.
In anticipation of M. Night Shyamalan’s new film “Devil”, both he, Penthouse Pet Ryan Keely, and MTV star Josh Horowitz braved the horrors of being trapped on a lone escalator and exposure to pure evil in the good-hearted spoof “Escalation”.
Despite the good-nature fun behind the production, at least one participant did not let the value of this opportunity go unnoticed. Keely commented “I was humbled, honored and excited to work with Josh Horowitz and M. Night Shyamalan…I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in one afternoon. Making the spoof was an unforgettable experience.”
Click below to check out “Escalation” for yourself:
Image courtesy of Roadside Attractions and Liddell Entertainment
After the past couple of years of waiting in limbo for US audiences, Roadside Attractions and Liddell Entertainment just acquired the U.S. and Canadian rights from EuropaCorp to I LOVE YOU PHILLIP MORRIS, co-directed and co-written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (co-writers of BAD SANTA), based on the non-fiction book by former Houston Chronicle investigative reporter Steve McVicker, and starring Jim Carrey, Ewan McGregor, Leslie Mann (Knocked Up, Funny People) and Rodrigo Santoro (300). The movie has been on people’s radars since screening at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival as well as the Director’s Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival.
However, controversy over the subject matter (namely the rise of a charming conman, his various escapes from justice, and most notoriously homosexual love affair) all but made this poison to most remaining US indie film distributors despite garnering plenty of great reviews and maintaining a high level of buzz despite the gap between its premiere and today’s announcement as well as performing relatively well in its European screenings earlier this year.
Apparently, Roadside has been looking to snap this film up for quite some time now according to Co-President Howard Cohen “This is a film that everyone has been talking about, and we’re thrilled it became available again, as we had been in hot pursuit of it at Sundance and were disappointed it was one that got away.”
Well now the pursuit is over and as of now, the film has a scheduled release date of December 3rd, 2010. To keep up to date with any other developments, you can check out Roadside’s website, www.roadsideattractions.com
Also be sure to check out www.vegas-outsider.com for new interviews, reviews, & news as it comes.
Arguably Francis Ford Coppola’s final masterpiece, Apocalypse Now finally makes the transition to Blu-Ray in two brand new editions set to drop on October 19th, 2010, courtesy of Lionsgate. Both versions, dubbed the 3-Disc Full Disclosure Edition and 2-Film Set respectively, are formatted for 1080p Widescreen as well as being presented in their original theatrical widescreen ratio (2.35:1).
Now even though both editions contain both Apocalypse Now and Apocalypse Now Redux along with nine hours of brand new special features including behind the scenes footage, interviews, etc. there are a few differences. The Full Disclose Edition also contains Eleanor Coppola’s acclaimed making-of documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (the first time the doc has been packaged with the film) along with a 48-page booklet containing additional archival photos and more material. The Full Disclosure set also comes inside a special keepsake case designed by Japanese artist Eiko Ishioka. Either way though, people unsure about another rehashing of this iconic film should feel a bit better knowing that everything, including the kitchen sink, has been thrown at this Blu-Ray release. Again both sets are scheduled to come out on October 19th with the 2-Film Set coming in at $39.99 and the 3-Disc Full Disclosure priced at $59.99.
Check out the film’s trailer below for your viewing pleasure
A fixture of the New York art boom in the Eighties as well as a talent who, like many before him, gained even greater acceptance and praise after his own life had ended. Jean-Michel Basquiat was this and far more, however little effort has been made to communicate his genuine importance to the art world and culture to a mass audience since his passing twenty years ago. With the exception of Julian Schnabel’s feature debut, “Basquiat”, the man became know perhaps more for his tragic death from drugs.
However, noted director and close friend Tamra Davis has come a long way in addressing that void with her insightful and loving tribute to a lost friend, Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child. Since premiering at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival, the documentary has begun its domestic release courtesy of stalwart art-related film distributor Arthouse Films. Before the film’s release, I spoke with Ms. Davis about the origin of this project and its various facets, including the inclusion of a rare on-camera interview she conducted with Jean-Michel nearly three decades ago that is only now seeing the light of day in this new film. What followed was a fun, insightful discussion that reveals as much about her and her own relationship with the man, both before and after his passing.
To read the full interview transcript and learn more information about the film itself, click here
Recently holding its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival, The Last Rites of Ransom Pride takes the revisionist Western tradition and pushes it into the twenty-first century with bold visuals while hearkening back to the blood and guts operas of Peckinpah and Leone.
Featuring a cast composed of Western music and film legends like Kris Kristofferson and Dwight Yoakam with young guns like Lizzy Caplan (True Blood, Cloverfield, Hot Tub Time Machine) and Jon Foster (The Informers, Pandorum), with veterans like Peter Dinklage to help out. The story is a classic Western tale of vengeance, love lost and regained, and ultimately survival. Director Tiller Russell and I had a chance to speak short before the film’s premiere in which he outlined his vision of the film’s style and how he came to work with such a varied cast.
Russell came across as an incredibly cool cat passionate about his film and how much fun he had making it and I think that comes through without question.
To read the full interview with Russell and learn more about the film, click here
Courtesy of Cinema Purgatorio, a damn fine touring distributor that has rolled out some great indies over the past few years like The Flaming Lips’ Christmas on Mars, Tony Manero, I Can See You, etc. just announced today their upcoming screening dates for the new documentary “Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo”.
Looking to branch out into the seamier side of the City of Angels, LA Weekly and its parent company Village Voice Media have just launched AfterDarkLA.com; seeking to bridge the gap between sex-oriented companies and individuals seeking a legitimate forum through which to share information, stories, tips, etc. of a sexual nature, one hopes that the website can deliver on this promise, building off of earlier similar sites like Nerve.com.
A fixture of the New York art boom in the Eighties as well as a talent who, like many before him, gained even greater acceptance and praise after his own life had ended. Jean-Michel Basquiat was this and far more, however little effort has been made to communicate his genuine importance to the art world and culture to a mass audience since his passing twenty years ago. With the exception of Julian Schnabel’s feature debut, “Basquiat”, the man became know perhaps more for his tragic death from drugs. 
Recently holding its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival, The Last Rites of Ransom Pride takes the revisionist Western tradition and pushes it into the twenty-first century with bold visuals while hearkening back to the blood and guts operas of Peckinpah and Leone.