SAGIndie

Check out this TAKE SHELTER review that SAGIndie’s Ellen Tremiti did for FANBOY COMICS.

Review of TAKE SHELTER

We admit we’re a week or so behind in getting our Sundance recap out, but better late than never, right? Right, guys?

Overall, Sundance 2011 was a blast. The films were great, the parties were fun, and the weather was amazing. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience to kick off this year’s festival run. Below, a few of us have listed the films we saw and included special commentary on some of the ones that really stuck out for us. We highly recommend checking out all of these if and when they come to a theater near you. Enjoy!

DARRIEN:

The Guard (Just my kind of movie, small, quirky, but really great performances.)
Martha Marcy May Marlene (Intriguing and gripping performances.)
The Ledge
To.get.her
Red State
Cedar Rapids
The Details (For the single best confession scene.)
Sound of my Voice (For leaving me wanting more.)
Homework
The Convincer

WILL:

The Guard
Win Win (Tom McCarthy does it again!)
Red State
Cedar Rapids
The Ledge
The Off Hours (Made by Seattle filmmakers in Seattle. NW represent!)
Terri (I can’t say enough about this film. So funny, touching, and beautifully made.)
The Details (Also made in Seattle.)
The Convincer (A dark, twisted tale that had my attention the entire time.)
Submarine

ELLEN:

The Guard
Martha Marcy May Marlene (well paced, engaging story with great performances.)
The Ledge
Win Win (Paul Giamatti had me laughing from the start.)
Cedar Rapids
Red State (for trying something different and for an indelible performance by Michael Parks.)
The Troll Hunter
Terri
Take Shelter (an extremely well-acted character study, Michael Shannon rocks.)
The Details (for its unique and absurd tone.)
Homework
The Convincer

I can’t wait to see THE TROLL HUNTER because it’s not every day that you get to see a movie based on your life!!!!!

Ed Helms, John C. Reilly, and Clay Davis? Sheeeeeeeeeet. CEDAR RAPIDS directed by Miguel Arteta is definitely one of my most anticipated films at Sundance this year.

A new year has begun and, with it, a new year of film festivals. It all kicks off with SUNDANCE in January. Obviously it’s a great festival for numerous reasons, but for us it’s the fact that the whole SAGIndie team attends together.

Sure, we’ll be there for work– hosting and attending events while spreading the word of SAG’s Low Budget contracts– but we’ll also be spending many hours watching films. Some are pretty small and truly independent while others, of course, are a bit larger in scale.

As a team we like to divide and conquer so we can view as much as possible and get a good feel for what the year will bring. On the rare occasion, we’ll attend a film together. For instance, this year we’re all super stoked to see the premiere of Kevin Smith’s new film, RED STATE. Say what you want to about his more recent work, but after a long career in the industry that began with the game-changing film, CLERKS, Smith seems to have found his way back to the independent arena with his first horror film.

Check out the creepily intriguing teaser trailer if you haven’t yet…

We at SAGIndie have the luxury of seeing numerous indie films due to the fact that we travel (almost non-stop) to festivals all over the place. This year we decided to compile our favorites from the last twelve months and the festivals at which we saw them.

Some of these you’ve heard of and will have the opportunity to see in cinemas around the globe. Others might not even come close to getting a distribution deal. Either way, they’re all great stories told in true, risk-taking style. We strongly encourage you to seek some of these out and continue to support independent film in 2011.

TOP 5 Favorite Films picked collectively by the SAGIndie Staff (in no particular order):

1. Black Swan
2. Winter’s Bone
3. Holy Rollers
4. Blue Valentine
5. Splice

Individual Staff picks:

DARRIEN

1. Black Swan – Cannes
2. Let Me In (U.S. version) – Toronto
3. Winter’s Bone – Sundance
4. Holy Rollers – Sundance
5. Splice – Sundance
6. Night Catches Us – Sundance
7. Hamill – AFI

ELIZA

1. Black Swan – Toronto
2. Black Swan – Toronto
3. The Promise: Making of The Darkness on the Edge of Town – Toronto
4. Blue Valentine – Sundance
5. Black Swan – Toronto
6. Holy Rollers – Sundance
7. Technically it was not a festival screening, but I watched some crazy Lifetime movie in my hotel room when I went to Santa Barbara
8. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives – Cannes
9. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil – Sundance
10. The King’s Speech – AFI (Oh my God, just kidding, I hated this.)
11. Winter’s Bone – Palm Beach

WILL

1. Cyrus – Sundance (Duplass bros. and John C. Reilly, FTW!)
2. Black Swan – AFI
3. Micmacs – SXSW (Jean-Pierre Jeunet was there!)
4. Blue Valentine – Sundance
5. Winter’s Bone – SXSW
6. The Extra Man – Seattle International Film Fest/Sundance
7. Fanny, Annie & Danny – Waterfront 
Film Festival (Check out my interview with the filmmakers!)
8. Tiny Furniture – Maryland 
Film Festival
9. Bass Ackwards – Sundance
10. Holy Rollers – Sundance

ELLEN

1. Hesher – Sundance
2. Splice – Sundance
3. Hermano – LALIFF
4. Black Swan – AFI
5. The Extra Man – Sundance
6. Hamill – AFI
7. Let the Right One In (Swedish ’08 version listed in response to Darrien’s vote for the U.S. version because it is also quite amazing)

The New Orleans Film Festival is underway and SAGIndie’s Eliza Hajek is in attendance. Be sure to follow her on Twitter for all the fun updates from the Big Easy!

twitter.com/sagindie

So, I arrived in Toronto fairly early on Sunday, but extremely tired. My impression of the city is pretty positive – it IS as clean as they say. I’ve only been here once before, and it was many years ago, so I had no idea if that would hold up. (Although it’s clean, it is NOT clean enough to go walking around barefoot – as some little chippy on the street next to us thought. Eewww!) I got my credentials and I’ve managed to actually see a movie already. I’m actually really interested in quite a few movies that are here. It’s an interesting mix of big and small, N. American and foreign. The theatres are good, too.

Know what was surprising? That there are plenty of volunteers on hand – and they actually seem to know what’s going on! Every festival has volunteers, and they should all be lauded and thanked upon spotting because no festival could last without them. But let’s face it, not all volunteers really know everything they should (shockingly, not every customer service operator you get on the phone is interested in helping you with your problem, either. I hate to be the one to tell you that).

We haven’t figured out the food, yet. I mean, what is Canadian cuisine? We had maybe the world’s worst Mexican food today. By people who have never SEEN anything Mexican beyond the fake pinata from the party store they have hanging from the ceiling. We had to show them how to make the margaritas better (um, if that’s what we were drinking – which is clearly NOT what we were drinking, of course). So we plan to explore a bit more, gastronomically. The lunch at the English pub yesterday was really quite good (and the cider we did NOT drink was tasty, too).

Films I’m looking forward to: NEVER LET ME GO; THE BLACK SWAN; LET ME IN, BEAUTIFUL BOY and maybe, just maybe L.A. ZOMBIE (if you know it, you know it. lol)

Stay tuned. And check out the statue of Winston Churchill. He looks like a crotchety old man swearing at kids to stay off his lawn.

UPDATE (9-14-10):

The weather in Toronto is a bit psychotic. Blazing hot one minute, threatening showers the next.  I feel like a pack mule – schlepping my  “oh so cool” aviators alongside my umbrella. What I need is my own Farnsworth Bentley to walk beside me and hold an umbrella over my head.  But my FB would never get a chance to talk!

UPDATE (9-15-10):

HENRY’S CRIME probably won’t win any awards, but it was a nice change of pace from the uber dramatic fare of festivals. Keanu Reeves, Vera Farmiga, and James Caan make for a cast with fun chemistry. It won’t make anyone’s Best of the Fest but I’m glad I saw it. I will say that, in a theater of over 1,200 people, I have never heard such a number of ridiculous questions asked by any group who are not 6th graders. I mean, really people.

UPDATE (9-17-10):

One thing mroe I can say about Toronto – it has had great films. We’ve seen a good amount of them, and it was pretty easy. Usually, if you don’t have tickets when you arrive to a big festival, you are likely out of luck. But, Toronto has been surprisingly easy. We have managed to see every film we wanted. The biggest challenge was just getting out of bed (but that’s just typical for me). The festival is run smoothly, and everything has been easy. In fact, we kept arriving to films really early because we were sure that “this one” would be the one with crazy lines, etc. Never happened (and we often looked silly lined up so early. Like those guys in Seattle who waited in line for 2 weeks for Star Wars – episode 51a). The films, we’re really pleased with them.  I don’t often rave about a film. Usually, like most film people, I stay ambivalent so that, when I give my opinion, all my film snob friends can’t then say they hated it and make me feel stupid. (aahhh, good times). But I have to say that I loved, LOVED, BLACK SWAN. Darren Aronofsky has made a film so intense, so beautiful, so well crafted that I want to use words like “tour de force” and “revelatory” – you know, strange critic speech.

Seriously, I don’t think I’ve been so amazed by a film in recent years.  I came out breathless and exhausted.  I like Natalie Portman just fine, but I never knew she had THIS in her. This performance is better than any I’ve seen by an actress this year. And yes, we’re not done with the year. I know that there are holiday films coming and maybe one will be great. But she deserves a Best Actress nomination, and right now, she deserves to win. Period. However, there are nay-sayers. I haven’t heard of anyone saying they didn’t like the film. But there has been talk about whether the film is “too intense for an American audience”.  ???? When did we become such a soft, namby-pamby country that we’re too sensitive for a film ABOUT BALLET?  Really people.  It is crazy intense, it’s a bit frightening and surreal – but it’s a movie. If our American sensibilities are too fragile to appreciate this film, then we need to stop calling ourselves a Super Power (we might want to do that anyhow, but….).

So there you have it. I’ve said it. I think this is Aronofsky’s best work – even better than THE WRESTLER (though I nearly hurled at times from scenes in both). Anyone who doesn’t like it, come see me. I have a diaper I want you to wear.

Hey! If you’re attending the Traverse City Film Festival be sure to go see ME AND ORSON WELLES directed by Richard Linklater. SAGIndie is sponsoring the screening!

More info HERE.

The 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival, starting June 17th and running until the 27th, will be happening downtown this year and, as a sponsor, we couldn’t be more excited!

As you can see from the map above, everything will be pretty much taking place at L.A. LIVE (right near the Staples Center), and also at venues only blocks away. If you’re in Southern California, we highly recommend you try and attend.

Check out the great line-up: http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/tixSYS/2010/filmguide/
And more info on the venues: http://filmguide.lafilmfest.com/2010/venues/