Check out the 10-minute film by clicking here: http://www.facebook.com/BloodyDisgusting?sk=app_113345305387225 and make sure to let us know what you think! Are you impressed with LaBeouf’s directing?

It’s pretty cool to see LaBeouf, now a bankable star commanding pretty A-list street cred, still produce raw film at its finest. Cudi himself is on HBO’s show How To Make it In America.

‘Senna’ and ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ join the three aforementioned films above in the Best Picture category. Almost all of these films received additional nominees in the acting and directing categories but to get a specific look at the official nominees head on over here: http://new.bifa.org.uk/press/nominations-announced/

Is it just me or did ‘Jane Eyre’ feel like it came out a long time ago despite Mia Wasikowska’s nomination for Best Actress?

Who do you think will take home the trophies Banters?

Besides having a legendary writer and director onboard, ‘Twixt’ boasts an impressive cast featuring Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Ben Chaplin, Tom Waits and Elle Fanning.

Check out the synopsis and the trailer below and let us know what you think!

A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V. He’s unsure of her connection to the murder in the town, but is grateful for the story being handed to him. Ultimately he is led to the truth of the story, surprised to find that the ending has more to do with his own life than he could ever have anticipated.

I think this looks very promising, what do you think Banters?

Click here to view the embedded video.

How many movies, TV shows, and news clips have we seen about the tragedy and horror left by September 11th, 2001? That day sticks in our history as one of our darkest moments. However, I bet you didn’t know that there has been tremendously powerful light that has started shining on September 12th, 2001. The help the FDNY and fellow New Yorkers received from Americans from all over the country has inspired the organization (and title of this movie) ‘New York Says Thank You.’

A touching documentary about the power of the human spirit, ‘New York Says Thank You’ tells the story of those New Yorkers who felt inspired by the help they received on 9/11 and their efforts to pay it forward.   The group makes visits to towns and villages all over the country helping local townspeople help rebuild from their very own disasters.  The film is directed by Scott Rettberg, produced by Jeff Stewart of Walnut Hill Media (the people who brought us Love Etc), and has some very moving original music to coincide with quite an emotional story.

Rettberg takes us on a ride with the group’s leader Jeff Parness.  It was actually Parness’s son that had the original idea for the organization in 2003. Each year the organization chooses a US town/city that has suffered terrible tragedy (i.e. tornado, hurricane, fires etc) and makes plans to visit that town to help locals with the rebuilding process. Many of these towns are left in ruins and unable to rebuild from the mess that is left. Survivor’s lives are left in ruins, very similar to how many New Yorkers felt 10 years ago. The film tells the story of the organization making trips to areas in Indiana, Kansas, and Texas and the hope it brought to so many. The incredible thing is that the organization continues to attract new followers each year as people from the towns they had previously helped come onboard to help the next area in need of assistance. We see people in Indiana eventually helping people in Kansas, and people in Kansas helping people in Texas.

We first see the group march into a small town of Indiana to help locals cope with disaster and the tragic deaths of 4 small boy scouts left by the hands of a tornado. Can you imagine being a local in one these towns and then just all of a sudden seeing hundreds of FDNY firefighters storm right into the town looking to help rebuild houses, churches, etc?  The film brilliantly captures the true emotion these people felt as we see countless interviews of these people retelling the horrors they were put through. I think the best part of this film is that it shows the hope that pierced through so much pain and anguish. Several of the FDNY firefighters tell us how doing things like this really puts things into perspective. These guys fight some of the most violent fires in the world, and instead of showing the machoness of these guys, Rettberg cleverly captures them in tears. I can’t even imagine the emotion these guys must have felt.

The film Pay it Forward starred Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, and Haley Joel Osment. It told the story of a boy inspired to pay good deeds to people hoping to inspire them to perform a good deed to another complete stranger. Some people might take away from that film that pure altruism can only be told in the movies. This film proves otherwise. New York Says Thank You is the true story of paying it forward. It is a story of perseverance, hope and the power of the human spirit.

For information on the organization please click here.

We will keep you posted on distribution of the film so that you are made aware of how you can see it.

SEE IT

While most movie talk these days centers around the big summer blockbusters, Tribeca Film and ESPN have revealed some smaller scale but nonetheless exciting movie news today. Tribeca and ESPN announced in a joint press release that beginning on June 23^rd of this year, the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival On Demand will run through August 25^th showcasing independent films about sports and competition. The services will be available nationwide in more than 40 million homes via cable, telco, and satellite systems. Check out part of the press release below:

“For the past five years, an exceptional range of sports films have premiered at the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival. This summer, for the first time together with ESPN, we are excited to be able to bring a selection of high quality and diverse competition themed films to audiences nationwide On Demand,” said Geoffrey Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer, Tribeca Enterprises.

“We are honored each year to partner with the Tribeca Film Festival to deliver compelling sports stories that connect with a diverse audience of moviegoers,” said Connor Schell, executive producer, ESPN Films.  “Being able to offer the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival On Demand gives us yet another platform to reach people who are interested in entertaining content that weaves together competition and sports themes with captivating human stories.”

For a full list of which titles will premiere On Demand from June 23 – August 25^th of this summer head on over to the Tribeca Film website www.tribecafilm.com/tf.

I’m interested to see how successful the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival is considering this is definitely going against the “norm” for On Demand. Tribeca Films On Demand are usually lacking in mainstream viewers but sports are definitely popular nationwide. I’m all for On Demand/Tribeca/ESPN trying something new and am excited to see the outcome!

What do you think Banters? Bring the sports to On Demand or leave that for ESPN?

After embarking on a passionate affair with his evangelical neighbor’s wife (Tyler), Gavin (‘Sons of Anarchy’s’ Hunnam) soon finds himself in a battle of wills that will have life or death consequences. As a non-believing atheist, Gavin is lured by her lover’s husband (‘Insidious’ Wilson) to the ledge of a high rise and told he has one hour to make a choice between his life or the one he loves. Without faith in an afterlife, will he be able to make a decision? It’s up to police officer Hollis (Howard) to save both their lives but the clock is ticking in this edge-of-your-seat film that will leave you gasping until the final frame.

The cast definitely intrigues me and the trailer (below) seems to match IFC Film’s description pretty accurately, a ‘sexy and suspenseful thriller’ indeed.

If this interests you make sure to check out an exclusive online speak preview of ‘The Ledge’ on SundanceNOW.com starting May 11^th. The film will be available nationwide on demand from IFC Films starting May 25^th as well as showing in select theaters starting July 8^th!

Click here to view the embedded video.

As most any independent movie fan will tell you, finding an obscure film, and in good quality, has often proved itself to be a very difficult (and money consuming) task. So, when we here at The Movie Banter were offered a special discount on certain independent horror films for our readers, we just had to share the news!

From our movie-loving ears to your movie-loving eyes:

SundanceNow, a website offering easy access and discussion to hard-to-find independent films from around the globe, is promoting three critically acclaimed independent horror films: Larry Fesenden’s The Last Winter, Glenn McQuaid’s I Sell the Dead, and Bob Badway’s The Uninvited. All three movies are only 99 cents when you enter the codes below.

The Last Winter (2006) stars Ron Perlman and James Le Gros as oil miners in the Arctic region of North Alaska as they struggle to maintain their sanity after witnessing the decline into insanity by another fellow oil miner. Enter the code WINTER for the special promotion.

I Sell the Dead (2008), an official selection at the 2009 Philadelphia and Los Angeles Film Festivals, is set in the 19th century as a convicted grave-robber tells his life story, including tales about zombies, vampires, foggy graveyards and bloodied coastlines, in the few hours he has left to live. Ron Perlman and Dominic Monaghan star in this adventure/horror film. Enter the code DEAD for the special promotion.

The Uninvited (2009) follows a girl as she returns home after spending time in a mental hospital, only to discover the presence of ghostly evil forces. The film stars Marguerite Moreau, Brittany Curan and Colin Hay. Enter the code UNINVITED for the special promotion.

Click here to watch these films and more!

The film is about a young girl who may or may not want to kill herself due to the recent outburst of online suicide. It also involves about the online predator watching her videos and trying to find a way to meet her. These could easily be two separate movies, and the biggest problem is that the two story lines don’t necessarily need to meet. While both are serious, combining the two felt a little forced, especially considering the movie is under ninety minutes.

However, there are clear signs of light beneath the wreckage. First time actor Bella Nelson is great as a teen, most likely because she is one. The debating TV personalities and priests and parents are great because their points come across like they do on any news channel. It’s a fair representation of what is happening in the media right now.

The kids in this film are making their suicides very public, posting the videos where anyone can see them, even other kids contemplating the same thing. The same TV people, anchors, celebrities, they don’t necessarily do anything to help the situation. Instead it is another topic for them to argue about, another debate. World Full of Nothing gets this across perfectly.

Unfortunately, when it comes together, it does not feel complete. Most of it needs slight tweaking. I would have enjoyed it much more with stronger performances by some of the co-stars and less perspective of the cyber stalker.

World Full of Nothing is incredibly relevant to the world right now which is why it could have been so much better; we’re living in this reality. It addresses serious issues. We now spend too much time in front of computers. So much so that nothing is off limits. While the film is sympathetic to the topic, it doesn’t build itself up to be the film it could be. However, there are plenty of areas that show future promise for director Jesse Pomeroy.

Tune in tomorrow for an interview with director Jesse Pomeroy.

We disclose in full that we were offered compensation to review World Full of Nothing but the opinions and thoughts of the review were not affected by the compensation at all.  Compensation was strictly for the time required to watch/write a review, not the content associated with it.

Independent filmmaker Bill Plympton’s newest project, Idiots and Angels, will be released at IFC Center (New York) and Laemmle Sunset 5 (Los Angeles) starting October 6^th. Plympton, who has also animated popular shorts like Your Face (nominated for an Academy Award) and Guard Dog, built the film around the basic idea of an angel who does not want his wings. The animated feature is a dark comedy where Angel (yes, that’s his name, ironically) not only fails all attempts to rid himself of the wings, but cannot will them to succumb to any of his selfish plans. I won’t say anymore about the plot, but you should all check the film out for its stylistic choices too.

Plympton describes the style as Eastern European, or, my favorite analogy, something David Lynch would make if he ever animated a film. Also, the film has no dialogue, just music playing throughout. I personally think those are great choices for a film surrounding moral struggles, especially because music plays such a huge role in determining a film’s tone. Music is a language of its own that invokes emotion. Without any dialogue to process, you’ll be left to experience the film based on emotion, not logic. We all secretly wish we could play a soundtrack to our lives (you know you play Cobrastyle in your head after you’ve done something bad ass or Sound of Silence when you’re feeling sorry for yourself—hopefully you’ve never resorted to that one, it’s just an example), so just imagine what the film will be like.

How does this short sound to you?

Edward Burns’ latest film ‘Nice Guy Johnny,’ which premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival, will be released on October 26 via cable VOD, DVD, and iTunes. The film is a rom com with a bit more com than rom, and is definitely enjoyable.  It’s a light movie about a mid 20′s guy who considers giving up the pursuit of his dream job due to pressures from his over bearing fiance.  Of course he meets a beautiful girl that begins to change his life.  The film stars Matt Bush and Kerry Bishe and of course Burns himself.  Check out my complete Tribeca review of the film here.

I think Burns has done a great job trying to promote his small indy film via various means especially Twitter. I am a follower of Burns’ Twitter account and really think that his down-to-earth personality really comes through in spreading the film’s buzz (although he is a Mets fan – come on Edward).  If you follow his account, you know all the different places and steps he took to obtain distribution, something that most film insiders don’t do a good job at. Instead you usually get all the glitzy and glamourous things your favorite stars are doing.  Stuff that I could care less about.  Burns keeps his followers intrigued and up-to-date on the many steps it takes to get a film shown as well as giving everyone a real (un-glitzy tainted) taste of life as a film maker.

The trailer to Nice Guy Johnny is also up on the Apple website. Click here for the trailer.

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