In “The Night Clerk,” Tye Sheridan and a very busy Ana de Armas star as a hotel clerk with Asperger’s and the solicitous beauty who shows up after a murder. The chemistry between Sheridan and de Armas is involving. The casting of Helen Hunt as a enabling mother and John Leguizamo as a police detective holds promise. And some of the choices by writer-director Michael Cristofer and cinematographer Noah Greenberg intrigue. But the thriller — in theaters, on demand and available via digital HD on Feb. 21 — never tips into must-catch territory.
Even before the death of a woman checked into the hotel, things get very strange very quickly. Bart (Sheridan) spies on the guests, sometimes on his laptop during the nighttime hours at the suites-style hotel. More often, as he sits in his basement-level apartment surveying an array of monitors that capture different angles on the mundane actions of travelers:...
Even before the death of a woman checked into the hotel, things get very strange very quickly. Bart (Sheridan) spies on the guests, sometimes on his laptop during the nighttime hours at the suites-style hotel. More often, as he sits in his basement-level apartment surveying an array of monitors that capture different angles on the mundane actions of travelers:...
- 2/20/2020
- by Lisa Kennedy
- Variety Film + TV
High art and low art is at war with itself in The Night Clerk, a thriller with aims to be something more. At times, this independent film offers up an intriguing look at an unusual protagonist. At other points, however, it falls victim to cheesy B movie tropes, torpedoing its effectiveness. A surprisingly stacked cast is underwhelming, largely due to the material, preventing them from elevating things much. For every moment that compels, at least one other confounds. This flick has the kernel of something interesting within it, but sadly it’s too far concealed within mediocrity to be worthy of a recommendation. Opening this week, it’s a misfire, all in all. The film is a thriller with some light character study elements thrown in. Bart Bromley (Tye Sheridan) is a night clerk at a hotel chain. Highly intelligent but on the autism spectrum, Bart spends his days observing people,...
- 2/19/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
The morning of August 4, 1892, Lizzie Borden discovered the bodies of her father and stepmother who had been axed to death in their house. She went on to become the prime suspect in the murders, and even though she was eventually acquitted, history turned her into a folk tale used to instill fear in little children who shudder at the idea of her cursed axe. How could it not? After all, Borden became the embodiment of everything a woman was not supposed to be: wealthy, outspoken and unmarried.
In Lizzie, director Craig William Macneill and screenwriter Bryce Kass don’t attempt to further acquit her, but sticking to the idea that Borden indeed murdered her parents, they create a feminist case for her. Not that murder is justifiable of course, but rather than focusing on Lizzie as a figure out of a horror movie or creepy folk tale, she is portrayed...
In Lizzie, director Craig William Macneill and screenwriter Bryce Kass don’t attempt to further acquit her, but sticking to the idea that Borden indeed murdered her parents, they create a feminist case for her. Not that murder is justifiable of course, but rather than focusing on Lizzie as a figure out of a horror movie or creepy folk tale, she is portrayed...
- 9/14/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A lesbian spin on the legendary Lizzie Borden murder case is nothing new — Ed McBain posited the notion in a 1984 novel — but the stylish and haunting “Lizzie” paints a provocative portrait of a woman driven by passions and left with few options in a society that gave her little agency.
In “Lizzie,” we come to know Borden’s inner turmoil, not only by her periodic “spells” but also in the way that the camera captures a bewitching Chloë Sevigny. She’s often off-center in the frame, or reflected in mirrors, or out of focus in the foreground as she imagines what’s happening far behind her.
Screenwriter Bryce Kass (“Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs”) and director Craig William Macneill (2015’s “The Boy”), like everyone else who has tackled this story, are left to their own conjectures and theories as to the how and the why behind the murder of Borden’s father and stepmother,...
In “Lizzie,” we come to know Borden’s inner turmoil, not only by her periodic “spells” but also in the way that the camera captures a bewitching Chloë Sevigny. She’s often off-center in the frame, or reflected in mirrors, or out of focus in the foreground as she imagines what’s happening far behind her.
Screenwriter Bryce Kass (“Outlaw Prophet: Warren Jeffs”) and director Craig William Macneill (2015’s “The Boy”), like everyone else who has tackled this story, are left to their own conjectures and theories as to the how and the why behind the murder of Borden’s father and stepmother,...
- 9/13/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Filmmaker Craig William Macneill hasn’t been one to shy away from creating compelling, layered characters led by their darker impulses, and his latest feature, Lizzie, is another startling reminder of how isolation can drive people to do terrible things. Starring Chloë Sevigny in the titular role, and featuring a talented ensemble that includes Kristen Stewart, Fiona Shaw, Jamey Sheridan, and Denis O’Hare, Lizzie doesn’t dawdle on the shocking events that transpired that fateful day when Mr. and Mrs. Borden were brutally murdered with an axe—instead, it turns its focus inward on Lizzie and how the repressive society she was brought up in caused her to live a life of isolation and bottled-up rage.
Daily Dead recently caught up with Macneill for a Q&A in honor of Lizzie’s release this Friday via Saban Films and Roadside Attractions, and he discussed what drew him to the project,...
Daily Dead recently caught up with Macneill for a Q&A in honor of Lizzie’s release this Friday via Saban Films and Roadside Attractions, and he discussed what drew him to the project,...
- 9/12/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
This week, IndieWire is rolling out our annual fall preview, including the very best indie movies coming out this year, all the awards contenders you need to know about, and even some blockbuster fare that will please the most discerning viewers. Check back every day for a new look at the best the season has to offer.
“Bisbee ’17” (September 5)
On July 12, 1917, nearly 2,000 striking miners — most of them Eastern European and Mexican immigrants — were rounded up by their deputized friends and neighbors, herded onto cattle cars, and abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Known as the Bisbee Deportation, this traumatic event has since benefited from an impressive act of collective forgetting, as many of the locals are descendants of those responsible and would rather ignore (or erase) that chapter of the history books. “Kate Plays Christine” filmmaker Robert Greene wasn’t going to let them do that. Greene, whose documentaries regularly...
“Bisbee ’17” (September 5)
On July 12, 1917, nearly 2,000 striking miners — most of them Eastern European and Mexican immigrants — were rounded up by their deputized friends and neighbors, herded onto cattle cars, and abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Known as the Bisbee Deportation, this traumatic event has since benefited from an impressive act of collective forgetting, as many of the locals are descendants of those responsible and would rather ignore (or erase) that chapter of the history books. “Kate Plays Christine” filmmaker Robert Greene wasn’t going to let them do that. Greene, whose documentaries regularly...
- 8/14/2018
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn, Anne Thompson, David Ehrlich, Chris O'Falt, Jude Dry, Jenna Marotta, Michael Nordine, Zack Sharf and Jamie Righetti
- Indiewire
The 33rd Independent Spirit Awards took place on Saturday, March 3 in Los Angeles. The full winners list is below.
Best Feature
“Get Out”
Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele
“Call Me by Your Name”
Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman
“The Florida Project”
Producers: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou
“Lady Bird”
Producers: Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin
“The Rider”
Producers: Mollye Asher, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Chloé Zhao
Best Female Lead
Frances McDormand
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Salma Hayek
“Beatriz at Dinner”
Margot Robbie
“I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan
“Lady Bird”
Shinobu Terajima
“Oh Lucy!”
Regina Williams
“Life and Nothing More”
Best Male Lead
Timothée Chalamet
“Call Me by Your Name”
Harris Dickinson
“Beach Rats”
James Franco
“The Disaster Artist”
Daniel Kaluuya
“Get Out...
Best Feature
“Get Out”
Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele
“Call Me by Your Name”
Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Rodrigo Teixeira, Marco Morabito, James Ivory, Howard Rosenman
“The Florida Project”
Producers: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch, Kevin Chinoy, Andrew Duncan, Alex Saks, Francesca Silvestri, Shih-Ching Tsou
“Lady Bird”
Producers: Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill, Scott Rudin
“The Rider”
Producers: Mollye Asher, Bert Hamelinck, Sacha Ben Harroche, Chloé Zhao
Best Female Lead
Frances McDormand
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Salma Hayek
“Beatriz at Dinner”
Margot Robbie
“I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan
“Lady Bird”
Shinobu Terajima
“Oh Lucy!”
Regina Williams
“Life and Nothing More”
Best Male Lead
Timothée Chalamet
“Call Me by Your Name”
Harris Dickinson
“Beach Rats”
James Franco
“The Disaster Artist”
Daniel Kaluuya
“Get Out...
- 3/4/2018
- by William Earl
- Indiewire
The murders have already been committed by the time Craig William Macneill’s “Lizzie” opens, two bodies lying dead in the cursed Borden family home in Fall River, Massachusetts, a shell-shocked Lizzie Borden (Chloe Sevigny) being questioned by the police, and a terrified young maid (Kristen Stewart) milling at the corners. A revisionist take on a classic American legend that’s already gotten plenty of revisionist takes (the Lifetime channel alone made one film that proved so popular that the cable outfit turned it into an entire limited series), Sevigny’s longtime passion project infuses new insight into the story of Borden and her 40 whacks, but a listless quality keeps it from exploding into the kind of drama necessary for a story rooted in so much rage.
In Macneill and screenwriter Bryce Kass’ script, Lizzie is a willful woman (Lizzie was 32 at the time of the murders, a detail many...
In Macneill and screenwriter Bryce Kass’ script, Lizzie is a willful woman (Lizzie was 32 at the time of the murders, a detail many...
- 1/20/2018
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The 1892 murder of Lizzie Borden’s father and stepmother has inspired numerous books, TV movies and even stage musicals but few feature films. That changes with the arrival of Lizzie from director Craig William Macneill. His film pairs two of the leading actresses of American independent cinema: Chloë Sevigny as Borden and Kristen Stewart as Bridget, her live-in maid and kindred spirit. Lizzie debuts in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Prior to its premiere, Filmmaker spoke with cinematographer Noah Greenberg (Most Beautiful Island) about the film’s naturalistic (and claustrophobic) visual palette. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]...
- 1/19/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Psychological thriller won grand jury prize at SXSW.
Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have acquired North American rights to Ana Asensio’s Most Beautiful Island.
Asensio stars alongside Natasha Romanova, David Little, Nicholas Tucci, Larry Fessenden and Caprice Benedetti.
Fessenden’s New York-based Glass Eye Pix produced Most Beautiful Island, which takes place in the world of undocumented female immigrants in New York City.
The film chronicles one day in the life of one of the young women as she becomes part of a cruel game for the perverse entertainment of a privileged few. The film won the grand jury prize at SXSW earlier this year.
Asensio wrote the screenplay and also produced with Jenn Wexler, Chadd Harbold, Fessenden, and Noah Greenberg. Peter Phok, Jose María Garcia, Ahmet Bilgen, Selim Cevikel, Christohper Todd, and Gill Holland served as executive producers.
The film receives its New York premiere on Wednesday at Bam Cinemafest.
Peter Goldwyn negotiated...
Orion Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films have acquired North American rights to Ana Asensio’s Most Beautiful Island.
Asensio stars alongside Natasha Romanova, David Little, Nicholas Tucci, Larry Fessenden and Caprice Benedetti.
Fessenden’s New York-based Glass Eye Pix produced Most Beautiful Island, which takes place in the world of undocumented female immigrants in New York City.
The film chronicles one day in the life of one of the young women as she becomes part of a cruel game for the perverse entertainment of a privileged few. The film won the grand jury prize at SXSW earlier this year.
Asensio wrote the screenplay and also produced with Jenn Wexler, Chadd Harbold, Fessenden, and Noah Greenberg. Peter Phok, Jose María Garcia, Ahmet Bilgen, Selim Cevikel, Christohper Todd, and Gill Holland served as executive producers.
The film receives its New York premiere on Wednesday at Bam Cinemafest.
Peter Goldwyn negotiated...
- 6/20/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Ana Asensio’s Most Beautiful Island is a stormy, unpredictable endurance test from start-to-finish. At its core, immigration fears and female perspectives sing a plight of New York City’s rough waters. Command and circumstance manipulate those less fortunate, who will do anything to survive. Undocumented “citizens” walk alongside more entitled Americans, yet their experiences are so disconcertingly different. Do they always involve a life-threatening game of chance, as Asensio’s film engages? I would assume – maybe incorrectly – that answer is no. But still, given cinematic context, messages of tenacity are read loud and clear. Strung with tension, and heated to an aggressive boil.
Apart from writing and directing Most Beautiful Island, Asensio also stars as lead subject Luciana – a New Yorker with many responsibilities. Because she’s undocumented, most of Luciana’s work comes from odd-jobs paid in cash. Babysitting bratty kids and whatnot. Either that, or she scams...
Apart from writing and directing Most Beautiful Island, Asensio also stars as lead subject Luciana – a New Yorker with many responsibilities. Because she’s undocumented, most of Luciana’s work comes from odd-jobs paid in cash. Babysitting bratty kids and whatnot. Either that, or she scams...
- 3/29/2017
- by Matt Donato
- We Got This Covered
The hypnotic opening sequence of Most Beautiful Island — shot with a penetrating eye by Noah Greenberg in handheld Super 16mm and effectively interweaving the thrumming soundscape of New York City with the quiet strains of Jeffery Alan Jones' unsettling score — subtly identifies seven different women among the Manhattan crowds in various locations. All of them are young and attractive, though seemingly unrelated. How much you buy into the dehumanizing spider web that later draws these women together will depend on your willingness to go with writer-director Ana Asensio's lurch from lucid naturalism into queasy quasi-horror.
The no-budget indie's...
The no-budget indie's...
- 3/16/2017
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Giving horror fans enough nightmare fuel to last them until next Halloween, Channel Zero: Candle Cove has cranked up the fright factor to eleven over its first four episodes. Over the past couple of weeks, Daily Dead, along with other journalists, had the opportunity to take part in conference calls with showrunner Nick Antosca, who discussed adapting Kris Straub's unsettling creepypasta, how the show found a home at Syfy, getting Greg Nicotero's help in designing the look of The Tooth Child, and what to expect in season 2, which will focus on Brian Russell's NoEnd House.
Nick Antosca on which puppet-like character scared him growing up and having Don Mancini (Child's Play films) in the writers' room for Candle Cove:
When I was a kid, they used to play that [Child's Play] on USA all the time. I remember seeing Child’s Play 2 and Chucky killing the teacher,...
Nick Antosca on which puppet-like character scared him growing up and having Don Mancini (Child's Play films) in the writers' room for Candle Cove:
When I was a kid, they used to play that [Child's Play] on USA all the time. I remember seeing Child’s Play 2 and Chucky killing the teacher,...
- 11/2/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
As parents, we often stress and worry over whether our children will be born disabled, or whether they’ll grow up happy and be successful. As parents, there are so many things to consider and be concerned about involving the well-being of our children, but it’s almost always centered on one key word… weakness. As parents, the worst thing we often imagine is that our children will be weak and unable to shoulder the burden of living in today’s world.
Perhaps weakness is not the true elephant in the room, or shall I say demon in the closet. What if… instead of raising a child that’s physically, mentally or emotionally weak, you found yourself raising a child that is physically and mentally strong, but emotionally void? What if you found yourself raising a sociopath? Now, what if you didn’t realize your child was a sociopath until it was already too late?...
Perhaps weakness is not the true elephant in the room, or shall I say demon in the closet. What if… instead of raising a child that’s physically, mentally or emotionally weak, you found yourself raising a child that is physically and mentally strong, but emotionally void? What if you found yourself raising a sociopath? Now, what if you didn’t realize your child was a sociopath until it was already too late?...
- 8/13/2015
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Elijah Wood – who’s had his share of genre dippings with Lord of the Rings, Sin City, and the upcoming Maniac remake – will take his love of horror to the next level by heading up an indie film company called The Woodshed.
The Woodshed will produce mainly low-budget genre flicks – those under the umbrella of horror/fantasy/sci-fi.
Elijah Wood is starting the company with Daniel Noah and Josh C. Waller.
Wood speaks about his newest (and riskiest) endeavor:
“I’ve been a fan of horror and genre cinema in general since I was a child and have become increasingly passionate about the idea of there being a space in which horror films that take their subject matter and characters seriously could be produced. What was born out of a conversation of our mutual love for the genre and what we felt was lacking in a broad sense, especially from the U.
The Woodshed will produce mainly low-budget genre flicks – those under the umbrella of horror/fantasy/sci-fi.
Elijah Wood is starting the company with Daniel Noah and Josh C. Waller.
Wood speaks about his newest (and riskiest) endeavor:
“I’ve been a fan of horror and genre cinema in general since I was a child and have become increasingly passionate about the idea of there being a space in which horror films that take their subject matter and characters seriously could be produced. What was born out of a conversation of our mutual love for the genre and what we felt was lacking in a broad sense, especially from the U.
- 10/2/2012
- by Matt Granados
- LRMonline.com
It has been announced that Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah, Josh C. Waller have formed The Woodshed, a company that will focus on new horror productions. According to Deadline, they already have a slate of horror films in the works that include:
-Curse The Darkness, a socio-political zombie film scripted by Brandon Maurice Williams to shoot in February in Florida in partnership with Cinipix Films. Building on the research of anthropologist Wade Davis, the film takes a grounded approach to Haitian zombie practices to tackle immigration issues. Lawrence Inglee is also a co-producer.
-Henley, a feature transfer of the 2012 Sundance short written by Clay McLeod Chapman and Craig Macneill. Macneill will direct and Noah Greenberg is producer as well as cinematographer. The film is described as an intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath as he first discovers his taste for killing.
-The Ivan Ford-scripted Harrow, to be directed by...
-Curse The Darkness, a socio-political zombie film scripted by Brandon Maurice Williams to shoot in February in Florida in partnership with Cinipix Films. Building on the research of anthropologist Wade Davis, the film takes a grounded approach to Haitian zombie practices to tackle immigration issues. Lawrence Inglee is also a co-producer.
-Henley, a feature transfer of the 2012 Sundance short written by Clay McLeod Chapman and Craig Macneill. Macneill will direct and Noah Greenberg is producer as well as cinematographer. The film is described as an intimate portrait of a 9-year-old sociopath as he first discovers his taste for killing.
-The Ivan Ford-scripted Harrow, to be directed by...
- 10/1/2012
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Every since we saw Elijah Wood in Sin City, we knew this cat had a love of horror films in him, and the very good news is that he's taken said love to an entirely new level with his new shingle, The Woodshed.
Deadline reports that Wood has partnered with Daniel Noah and Josh C. Waller to form The Woodshed, an indie company that will focus on genre fare. Not surprisingly, Wood is a horror fanatic. “I’ve been a fan of horror and genre cinema in general since I was a child and have become increasingly passionate about the idea of there being a space in which horror films that take their subject matter and characters seriously could be produced,” he said. “What was born out of a conversation of our mutual love for the genre and what we felt was lacking in a broad sense, especially from the U.
Deadline reports that Wood has partnered with Daniel Noah and Josh C. Waller to form The Woodshed, an indie company that will focus on genre fare. Not surprisingly, Wood is a horror fanatic. “I’ve been a fan of horror and genre cinema in general since I was a child and have become increasingly passionate about the idea of there being a space in which horror films that take their subject matter and characters seriously could be produced,” he said. “What was born out of a conversation of our mutual love for the genre and what we felt was lacking in a broad sense, especially from the U.
- 10/1/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
The films that make up Sundance’s Shorts Program II all address issues of basic intimacy and loneliness. Whether telling the story of a homecoming between wife and husband, an unexpected encounter with a stranger, or in one case, the way technology’s interference in everyday life renders a relationship unidentifiable, these young filmmakers are all attempting to understand emotions that still remain mysterious.
Take Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, and Jessie Ennis’ The Arm, for example. The film begins misleadingly. A narrative seemingly about a power struggle between two male teenage friends turns quickly into a darkly humorous depiction of a subject we should probably be taking more seriously — texting while driving. A young couple’s new relationship, which is based completely on texting, is cut short when the girlfriend dies in a car crash because she’s Dwd (Driving While Distracted). Though texting distractions are responsible for thousands of deaths each year,...
Take Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, and Jessie Ennis’ The Arm, for example. The film begins misleadingly. A narrative seemingly about a power struggle between two male teenage friends turns quickly into a darkly humorous depiction of a subject we should probably be taking more seriously — texting while driving. A young couple’s new relationship, which is based completely on texting, is cut short when the girlfriend dies in a car crash because she’s Dwd (Driving While Distracted). Though texting distractions are responsible for thousands of deaths each year,...
- 1/25/2012
- by alexandra byer
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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