Indie Spotlight Preview: The Magic Stone

Last year I reviewed a movie for our Indie Spotlight segment called One Hour Fantasy Girl. The movie about a lost girl out in LA trying to make money to put away for her future by becoming a fantasy girl to her clients was one of the top indie movies I saw of 2009. I had a great talk with Producer John Paul Rice about the movie and how the concept came about and the research that went into it. The movie was fantastic and I highly recommend people checking it out.

Fast forward to now and this small production company is back again with writer/director Edgar Michael Bravo bringing us a brand new movie called The Magic Stone.

From IMDB:

An 18 year old homeless boy, raised by a violent schizophrenic mother, believes he’s been given a stone that allows him to enter and control the minds and bodies of people.

Sounds just about crazy enough to work. And who said there was no creativity left in Hollywood? With remakes and CGI galore nowadays, this look to be another tough character driven movie built upon relationships in a hard situation. As I gather more information about this movie I will talk about it in more detail and will review and have a giveaway for the DVD when it comes out.

For now, check out the exclusive trailer for the movie The Magic Stone.

Comments : 3 Comments | Category : Independent Movie, Indie Spotlight | Tags : one hour fantasy girl,the magic stone

Focus Makes a Splash at Sundance

Posted by Matt Rosenberg on January 28, 2010 at 12:15 am

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Sundance is currently going on in Utah, and we at themoviebanter are sadly not there. However, that does not mean we are not aware of what’s going on there.

On Monday, the independent picture “The Kids Are All Right” was screened for the first time. The film is about a lesbian couple (Annette Bening & Julianne Moore) and their dealings with introducing their child to his sperm donor (Mark Ruffalo). Apparently the film drew a large applause after its screening on Monday, and is being very well received. Well, Focus Features, Universal’s mini-major studio, bought the rights to the movie for approximately $5 million. This purchase is the biggest film acquisition thus far at Sundance 2010.

Focus has a long track record with gay-themed films (i.e. Milk and Brokeback Mountain). Both Milk and Brokeback were major players during their respective awards seasons and turned out to be huge successes at the box office. Focus has not purchased a film at Sundance since it spent $10 million on “Hamlet 2,” which turned out to be a box office failure. However, the studio does have a pretty solid batting average when it comes to these character driven movies.

Focus apparently outbid Summit for the rights to this film.

Some of the most successful films that have premiered at Sundance over the years include The Blair Witch Project, Little Miss Sunshine, Saw, Shine, Boiler Room, and The Usual Suspects. There are also plenty others that debuted at Sundance but did not hit big until being released on DVD (i.e. Donnie Darko).

It will be interesting to see how the investment in “The Children Are All Right” pays off. Keep your eyes open for when this film hits a theater near you.

Are you interested in seeing this?

Comments : 1 Comment | Category : Independent Movie, Movie News | Tags : Focus Features,The Kids Are All Right

Indie Spotlight – Adam

Posted by Matt Rosenberg on August 5, 2009 at 12:30 am

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Ron Ashley is back to provide some insight on a new indie film he caught a couple days ago. The film is titled “Adam” and is a romantic comedy written and directed by Max Mayer. Starring Hugh Dancy, Peter Gallagher (from the ‘OC’ and Mr Deeds), Amy Irving, and Rose Byrne, the film is about a lonely man with Asperger’s Syndrome, Adam, who develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.

Ron Ashley’s review of “Adam”

“

At a relatively lean 99 minutes, writer/director Max Mayer’s film ADAM is quite charming. This romance and coming-of-age story takes place in New York, a fitting location given the story’s idiosyncratic nature. The current trend in smaller films involves setting one’s slightly off-beat romantic dramedy in a random place and giving at least one of the main characters a decisively unique profession, but this film does not follow a urinal cake salesman in South Dakota as he woos an unsuspecting displaced hipster chick.

Okay, fine, I’ll admit there’s a slightly off-beat tone, but the subject matter distinguishes this character piece from others. Our protagonist, Adam Raki (played by Hugh Dancy), has Asperger’s Syndrome, a condition most simply described as a very high-functioning form of autism. Adam is a brilliant young electrical engineer whose father just passed away. When Beth Buchwald (played by Rose Byrne), an aspiring children’s writer, moves into Adam’s building, he falls in love and in turn, tries to behave like a “normal“ boyfriend. Beth reciprocates these feelings and has to wrestle with the inherent complications of Adam’s condition while dealing with her wealthy accountant father’s indictment for fraud.

The performances truly carry this film. After all, it is a character piece, and the actors deliver. Hugh Dancy is definitely one to watch. His portrayal of this complex young man is captivating without being cheesy. It doesn’t hurt that he’s handsome as hell. Dancy has real star quality; odds are, we’ll be seeing a lot of him in the coming years. Rose Byrne certainly carried her weight. She’s beautiful and effortlessly charismatic. I hope to see more of her in the future.

Gotti ipod While markedly good, ADAM is not an instant classic. This doesn’t strike me as a film that moviegoers will talk about for generations. If put on the spot for a specific reason, I’d say this: the scope of the story is too small, in terms of both plot and character arc. To provide frames of reference, FORREST GUMP had a far more gripping plot, and RAIN MAN boasted more positive changes for both of its main characters. Against all odds, Adam’s life changed as a result of the valuable life lessons he learned, but Beth really just received an education on Asperger’s Syndrome. The sub-plot involving her father changed Beth’s life, but a serious change from her experience with Adam would have been more compelling.

Overall, you should check out ADAM if you believe in love. It’s worth the price of a movie ticket… plus Junior Mints, if you’re into that sort of thing. You might be more of a popcorn or Sour Patch Kids kinda person.

As always, keep bantering, or you will die slowly and painfully.“

Thanks for the good words Ron.

Comments : Post a Comment | Category : Independent Movie | Tags : Adam,Max Mayer Independent Movie

Want to See a Good Movie? Don’t Talk About It: Why Hype (and ‘Avatar’) Sucks

Posted by Craig Kessler on August 1, 2009 at 9:53 am

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Before James Cameron

, director of Titanic, snagged the title of Avatar for his new movie, I would always think of that lame anime-wannabe of a cartoon on Nickelodeon. Now we can think of both! M. Night Shyamalan is making a feature-film out of Avatar: The Last Airbender while Cameron is doing a movie simply called Avatar. It had to be the talk of Comic-Con this year, banners waving advertising the festival, pictures and more plot info released, etc. Some fans were even screened twenty-five minutes of footage from the sci-fi flick. Now they’re talking about a holiday entitled “Avatar Day” set for August 21st : Fifteen minutes of the movie will be shown in IMAX theaters and online, according to Fox. Urgh. I’m one of the many people who are excited to see Avatar, but whose fault is that? Hype’s fault! Because of hype, pretty much every major movie has sucked so far. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, King Kong. Next up to bat? G.I Joe: Rise of Cobra. Or Inglourious Basterds. Although advertising has been cut down on it, so maybe that actually has a chance.

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Most times independent films like 500 Days of Summer and The Hurt Locker Perfect Stranger divx

receive so much praise is because of the down-low on its release. Think about it: how many times have you actually waited for an independent movie to come out? Movie studios spend a fortune on constant advertising of their latest wide release. So much in fact that people will be angry that it wasn’t better than watching Jesus Christ being resurrected for the second time! With Avatar being called the “most-anticipated movie of the year” (topping New Moon, respectively), we should automatically expect it to suck. James Cameron is getting cocky on this too, saying to MTV on worries of special screenings affecting ticket sales “If you’re there, then you liked what you saw. So you’ve already answered the question, ‘OK, can they do the kind of emotional reality that’s been missing from CG?’ And I think all those questions about ‘Can they do it?’ ‘Will it live up?’ — that’s going to be set by the wayside. So now, in a way, you’re free to enjoy the world and enjoy the ride. That’s why I don’t mind showing stuff at this (Comic-Con) stage.” From the sound of this, it seems that Cameron is expecting his first major film since 1997 to be the next Titanic. However, it’s highly unlikely that it’ll gross over $1,800,000,000 worldwide (Titanic remains to be the highest-grossing movie of all time, both overseas and domestically). To answer the original title question, if you want to see a good movie, catch an unheard of one in limited release; that’s bound to please. Enjoy it until major studios catch on to the charm of independent film and destroy it. Destroy it, I tell you!

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Comments : 4 Comments | Category : Independent Movie | Tags : Avatar

Indie Spotlight – A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Posted by Matt Rosenberg on July 7, 2009 at 12:10 am

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In this riveting story about life in Queens in the 1980’s, “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” proves to be a nostalgic recap of why a person would choose to leave home. The movie has an all-star cast including Robert Downey Jr., Shia LaBeouf, Channing Tatum, Chazz Palminteri, Dianne West, Rosario Dawson, and Melonie Diaz. The film is written and directed by Dito Montiel

(Fighting) who also adapted this autobiography of his life from book to film.

The film takes place through eyes of Dito, an angry and frustrated boy living in Queens, who begins to realize that his current dead-end life is full of violence, grief and boredom. His curiosity to expand his realm of reality leads to him befriend a new kid in school, much to the dismay of his extremely intense best friend Antonio. His mother and father (Palminteri and West) treat Antonio as a second son and consider all the boys members of the family. The movie flips back and forth between the 1980’s and present day as we see the life of young and old Dito (Downey and LaBeouf) make more sense. Also, the young relationship between LaBeouf and Diaz is one of the most intriguing aspects of the film as well. Overall, this movie excels in its storytelling ability and the emotional connection you develop for each character.

Last week in my Shia LaBeouf A-Lister post Blindman full movie The Lazarus Child divx , I wrote that “The Greatest Game Ever Played” was Shia LaBeouf’s star quality coming-out party. He really did carry that movie. Well if that movie was the first display of his star quality, “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” is the first film that shows Shia’s long range acting ability. He doesn’t have to run aimlessly from robots or bullets here, instead he has to emotionally carry the film. His character Dito is the focal point of the film as every other character (Tatum, Diaz, Palminteri, West) develops off their love for him. If Shia wasn’t believable, then this film stinks because the rest of the cast would just look awkward. That was really how important his role was, and I am here to say that he succeeds. LaBeouf is an excellent actor.

The IMDB trivia portion of the film tells us that originally, Dito Montiel did not want LaBeouf for the role; he was set on casting an unknown. However, after LaBeouf demanded a second audition, he stormed into the room, punched a hole in the wall, and convinced Montiel he could bring a raw and angry element to the character. Additionally, if you look into Dito Montiel’s resume you will see that all his movies star Channing Tatum. Film insider also tells The Movie Banter that the two are very good friends. Montiel directed this past year’s “Fighting” which also featured Channing.

Th film is unmistakenly acted from the heart. The ensemble put on an emotionally captivating performance that make you feel like you’re living in the humid Summer of Queens, New York with them. You can also feel the built up anger that Downey shows as he questions why he is coming home.

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Check out “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” on DVD.

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Five Star Final

Keep Bantering

Comments : Post a Comment | Category : Independent Movie | Tags : Shia Labeouf

Snap Review of One Hour Fantasy Girl

Posted by Craig Kessler on May 15, 2009 at 2:30 am

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