News

In 2006 writer-director Dito Montiel broke out with the autobiographical “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” ushering in a raw new voice. Inspired by his rough childhood growing up in Astoria, the film’s detailed world building and lived-in characters brought a veracity to the well-worn crime-drama genre. Somehow, two decades and half a dozen films later, everything that made his debut film feel fresh has now curdled like bad milk with his latest pitch black comedy “Riff Raff.”

While Montiel is still a great “actors director,” eliciting grounded, and at times wonderfully mordant, performances from his stacked ensemble cast, the script from John Pollono has stranded them in a film that plays like a copy of a copy of a copy of several better films. One scene is even underscored with music that evokes Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours.” If you’re going to rip something off so blatantly, it...

The first question that pops up in connection to Dito Montiel’s dark crime comedy about a messy family reunion, Riff Raff, is how in hell he assembled such a cast of proven talents. Even if they never really mesh as an ensemble, there are pleasures to be had watching an Ed Harris-Bill Murray face-off, Pete Davidson as a depressed gangster, Gabrielle Union classing up the joint and Jennifer Coolidge bringing the tone crashing down as a sloppy drunk with a mouth like a trucker and a raging libido.

Had all those assets been funneled into a movie with some tonal consistency and a script that built credible relationships, the result might have been a nasty bit of fun. Instead, it wobbles awkwardly between creeping mob menace and scrappy sitcom, inching toward a violent climax that still doesn’t acquire cohesion. Montiel, who remains best known for his 2006 autobiographical first feature,...

This summer the Coen Brothers’ ripoffs have been out in force including the August release of Greedy People and the Apple Original Films streaming attraction The Instigators. You might call these, and many others in recent years, Coens-light. But then again even the Coens themselves, or at least Ethan, has more recently tried to replicate their earlier success in this genre with the forgettable Drive-Away Dolls earlier this year. So all hail director Dito Montiel and screenwriter John Pollono for getting it right and reviving the genre in style with Riff Raff, world premiering today at the Toronto Film Festival.

With an outstanding, perfectly-chosen cast, this hilarious crime comedy hits all the right marks, a combination of No Country For Old Men and Grosse Point Blank, throw in a touch of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, season it with a bit of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,...

“It’s amazing what family is willing to do for each other.”

Director Dito Montiel made a name for himself with a stellar debut in the film world by adapting his memoir, “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” ushering Channing Tatum into movie stardom. The film explored estranged family dynamics and what one is willing to do to avoid the seduction of violence. It propelled Montiel into the stratosphere of indie cult followings, aided by the director’s keen sense for flashbacks and comedy to illustrate difficult relationships.

It seems that Montiel’s taste hasn’t changed much since his early 2000s beginnings. The filmmaker continues his signature outlook on life with the new crime comedy “Riff Raff,” which debuts this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. Montiel takes his audience on a wild ride, focusing on a Maine family that appears idyllic from the outside. However, their inner struggles,...

Bill Murray has joined the already-stacked cast of director Dito Montiel’s upcoming crime comedy Riff Raff. More details below.

Dito Montiel’s crime comedy Riff Raff has set up quite a cast. Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, Gabrielle Union, Lewis Pullman, Emanuela Postacchini, Miles J Harvey and Pete Davidson are all set to appear, and the film has just added another star to its ranks.

Bill Murray, who was just seen in Ghostbusters: The Frozen Empire, will also appear in Riff Raff, Variety reports.

According to the same article, Riff Raff – not to be confused with the 1991 Ken Loach film of the same name – follows a former criminal, whose ordinary life is turned upside down when his family shows up for a “long-awaited reckoning”. John Pollono, whose work takes in Grey’s Anatomy, Masters Of Sex, and the 2021 indie comedy Small Engine Repair, has written the script.

We don’t know who plays who yet,...

No man is an island. As much as we hate to admit it, sometimes, no one gets anywhere in life without someone believing in them. The same is true for Hollywood. It takes the stars aligning (pun intended) for any success story for anyone to really make it, and especially to escape the shadow of how they may be initially perceived.

There may be no better example of that than Mr. Channing Tatum. He told GQ in 2009, “I got crazy lucky. Like, sometimes I think I won the lottery or something. I don’t really know how I got here. But I just keep moving forward, and it just keeps getting better and better.” Had the stars aligned differently, he could have been just an exotic dancer and never entered the public consciousness. Or just a model. Or just played a jock. Or just played generic romantic leads. Or just played generic action roles.

Robert Downey Jr. is one of the biggest movie stars of our generation. The actor recently won his first Oscar for his role in Christopher Nolan’s monumental 2023 historical drama Oppenheimer. But, despite his many impressive movie roles, Downey Jr. will forever be Iron Man for Marvel fans.

The 59-year-old actor also won fans over after candidly talking about his battle with drug addiction and how he overcame it. However, long before the Iron Man actor was on his road to redemption, he played the role of a drug addict in a forgotten 1987 thriller. Playing the said role catapulted him further into the dark depths of addiction.

Image from “Sr.” | Robert Downey Jr. | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube Robert Downey Jr.’s Forgotten 1987 Movie Role Foreshadowed His Dark Future

Robert Downey Jr. who was recently praised by his Home for the Holidays director Jodie Foster, also starred in the 1987 drama film Less Than Zero.

Don’t call it a career win because few would argue that Robert Downey, Jr. didn’t deliver one of his best performances ever as Lewis Strauss in Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.” That immense talent was rewarded with his first Oscar in the Best Supporting Actor category at the 96th Academy Awards. One of the most popular actors of the past two decades and a three-time Oscar nominee overall, Downey, Jr. earned his first nomination 30 years ago for “Chaplin.”

Read More: 2024 Oscars Winners As They Are Announced [Winners List]

Best known to global audiences for his role as Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Downey, Jr.’s prolific resume includes ’80s teen classics such as “Less Than Zero” and “Back to School,” cult ’90s comedies such as “Soapdish,” and celebrated films such as “Natural Born Killers,” “Short Cuts,” “Richard III,” “Wonder Boys,” “Bowfinger,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” “Zodiac,” “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,...

The premise of Nancy Meyers' 2006 romance "The Holiday" is rather high concept. Iris (Kate Winslet), a reporter in England, has just broken up with her cheating boyfriend. Amanda (Cameron Diaz), a Los Angeles native and showbiz impresario, has just done the same. By chance, the two heartbroken women discover a want-ad in the newspaper wherein they would swap homes for the holidays and live in each other's respective towns. Amanda, while in England, finds some unexpected romantic company with Iris' visiting brother Graham (Jude Law). The two decide to have a fling, but end up seeing each other more and more. Iris, meanwhile, settling in L.A., finds herself drifting closer and closer toward a friend of her ex, a charming and funny dude named Miles (Jack Black). The film also features Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, Kathryn Hahn, and John Krasinski. Lindsay Lohan makes a cameo. 

The reviews weren't overwhelmingly...

Exclusive: Here’s a fun cast: Emmy winner Jennifer Coolidge (The White Lotus), Emmy winner Brian Cox (Succession) — both of whom are having career moments — Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man), and BET Awards winner Gabrielle Union (The Inspection) have been set to star in crime comedy Riff Raff.

Dito Montiel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) is directing the project, based on a script by John Pollono.

Riff Raff centers on a former criminal’s ordinary life which is thrown upside down when his old family shows up for a long-awaited reckoning. Filming is being lined up for September.

Signature is launching international sales on the project in Cannes, with Capstone repping domestic rights with CAA Media Finance and WME Independent.

Producers are Canopy Media Partners’ Noah Rothman (Small Engine Repair) and Signature Films’ Marc Goldberg and Sarah Gabriel (The Estate).

Coolidge and Cox are coming off career moments...

Robert Downey Jr. has worked with many co-stars in the long list of successful projects he’s done. One of his movie co-stars, actor Rosario Dawson, was once made to antagonize him so much that he couldn’t maintain his character.

Robert Downey Jr. once starred in the film ‘A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints’ Rosario Dawson | Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints was a 2006 project directed by Dito Montiel. It was adapted from Montiel’s memoir of the same name about a successful writer who revisits his childhood neighborhood in Astoria, New York. The film featured an ensemble cast that included Downey, Dawson, Shia Labeouf and Channing Tatum. Downey played Montiel in the flick, and helped get the film made in the first place.

Montiel and a friend of his made a short film using material from his memoir. Then he showed the short film to the Sherlock Holmes actor,...

Click here to read the full article.

Amanda Mackey, the busy casting director who worked on The Fugitive and four other films for director Andrew Davis and shared an Emmy nomination for populating Larry Kramer‘s The Normal Heart, has died. She was 70.

Mackey died Saturday at Calvary Hospital in Brooklyn after a battle with myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of blood cancer, longtime business partner Cathy Sandrich Gelfond told The Hollywood Reporter.

She received one Artios Award for her work on A League of Their Own (1993) and shared another one with Sandrich Gelfond for Smokin’ Aces (2006) — she collected 15 Artios nominations in all — and the pair were featured in the eye-opening 2012 documentary Casting By.

Mackey was “an unwaveringly steadfast friend and champion in a time when women weren’t as supportive to other women as they are now,” Sandrich Gelfond said in a statement. “She believed in me, lifted me up and gave me a career.

Amanda Mackey, the casting director behind such films as Best Picture Oscar nominee The Fugitive and A League of Their Own and who earned an Emmy nom for The Normal Heart during a nearly four-decade career, has died. She was 70.

Her longtime friend and business partner Cathy Sandrich Gelfond told Deadline that Mackey died August 27 in her sleep of myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of blood cancer, at Calvary Hospital in Brooklyn.

“Amanda was a singular force — fiercely intelligent, impeccably stylish, wildly passionate about ideas, the state of the world and her work,” Sandrich Gelfond told Deadline. “She loved her daughters profoundly and was an unwaveringly steadfast friend and champion in a time when women weren’t as supportive to other women as they are now. She believed in me, lifted me up and gave me a career. She was the sister I never had and changed my life in countless ways.

Shia Labeouf began his acting career as a teenager on the Disney Channel series “Even Stevens.” He would be nominated for a Young Artist Award in 2001 and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003. He would make his big-screen breakthrough in the form of director Michael Bay’s live-action “Transformers” franchise launched in 2007 as human hero Sam Witwicky, who becomes involved in a war between the mechanical alien foes Autobots and Decepticons.

He was recruited to co-star as Harrison Ford’s greaser son Mutt Williams in 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the fourth installment of the series directed by Steven Spielberg that is set in the 1950s. He ultimately would pull out of the “Transformers” films, allowing Mark Wahlberg to take over as the lead in 2014.

Starting in 2013, Labeouf nixed what would have been his debut on Broadway in the play “Orphans.” He cited creative differences with his co-star Alec Baldwin,...

George Lopez has joined the cast of Dito Montiel’s “Afterward.”

It’s unclear what role Lopez will play in the dramatic thriller, but he joins an ensemble that includes Aaron Eckhart and Terrence Howard. Lionsgate Grindhouse is distributing the film in North America. “Afterward” will shoot this winter in California. Angel Oak Films is backing the movie and pre-sold foreign rights. Production was supposed to begin in the spring, but was delayed due to Covid-19.

The film centers on a father’s struggle to deal with the passing of his daughter, which leads him on a quest for truth and justice against corruption and small-town politics.

Montiel made his feature directorial debut with 2006’s “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.” His other credits include “Fighting,” “The Son of No One,” “Empire State,” “Boulevard,” “Man Down” and “The Clapper.”

Lopez starred in ABC’s “George Lopez,” a situation comedy that...

Actor, artist and provocateur Shia Labeouf has spent much of his career figuring himself out. Now 34, he's been acting for almost his entire life (he actually has an IMDb credit that predates him) and has been famous for nearly as long. He spent his youth on TV, including as a star of the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, and had his breakout role on the big screen in 2003's Holes. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints made an indie darling out of him in 2006. The 2007 thriller Disturbia turned him into the boy-next-door heartthrob. And he became the boy-next-door action hero as star of the Transformers franchise and Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and...

Shia Labeouf began his acting career as a teenager on the Disney Channel series “Even Stevens.” He would be nominated for a Young Artist Award in 2001 and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003. He would make his big-screen breakthrough in the form of director Michael Bay’s live-action “Transformers” franchise launched in 2007 as human hero Sam Witwicky, who becomes involved in a war between the mechanical alien foes Autobots and Decepticons.

He was recruited to co-star as Harrison Ford’s greaser son Mutt Williams in 2008’s “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” the fourth installment of the series directed by Steven Spielberg that is set in the 1950s. He ultimately would pull out of the “Transformers” films, allowing Mark Wahlberg to take over as the lead in 2014.

SEEHarrison Ford movies: 15 greatest films ranked from worst to best

Starting in 2013, Labeouf nixed what would have been his debut...

Best known for the unexpectedly soul-shattering San Francisco suicide doc “The Bridge,” indie filmmaker Eric Steel came out and came of age in 1980s New York at a moment just before AIDS devastated the city’s gay community. Such timing must have been surreal, to assume something so liberating about one’s own identity, only to watch in fear and uncertainty as this fraternity of newfound freedom collapsed around him. One can feel the traces of that experience — nostalgia for old-school, in-person sexual discovery, tinged with survivor’s guilt — lurking in Steel’s narrative debut, “Minyan,” a movie about an outsider among outsiders: a closeted kid adrift in Brighton Beach’s Russian Jewish community circa 1986.

Steel took a long time to make his narrative debut, and he comes to the project in the wake of other adolescent tales depicting the same era and milieu, such as Dito Montiel’s relatively...

Dito Montiel to direct.

Angel Oak Films, the new Los Angeles and Brussels-based production and sales company headed by Pascal Borno and Alain Gillissen, have announced with vice-president of development B.I. Rosen they will fully finance and produce the Aaron Eckhart thriller Afterward.

Dito Montiel will direct the story of a father who sets out on a quest for justice after his daughter dies in a small town mired in corruption and ruthless politics.

Angel Oak has started talks with buyers in Tiff and the producers have earmarked a second quarter 2020 production start.

Producing alongside Angel Oak Films are Eckhart...

Cineville has attached writer-director Dito Montiel to the independent dramatic thriller “Afterward,” Variety has learned exclusively.

Production is planned to start in the spring of 2019. Producers are Thomas D. Adelman, production manager on “The Usual Suspects”; Elizabeth Gast Napolitano; Frederic Demey (“Female Fight Squad”) and Carl Colpaert.

The story centers on a father’s struggle to deal with the passing of his daughter, which leads him on a quest for truth and justice against corruption and small town politics.

Montiel made his feature directorial debut on 2006’s “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” followed by “Fighting,” “The Son of No One,” “Empire State,” “Boulevard,” “Man Down,” and “The Clapper.”

“I’m excited to have Cineville behind me as we guide ‘Afterward’ into production,” he said. “While I’m hardly said to have a particular style or type of film I gravitate towards, ‘Afterward’ represents a challenging change of direction and a personal project for me,...

When The CW's reboot of the cult favorite TV series Charmed was announced, the first question on everyone's minds was who would be playing the "Charmed Ones," the trio of supernaturally chosen sister witches. Instead of casting big-name actresses, the network chose instead to select three actresses who have worked steadily but haven't had breakout roles just yet. The middle sister, Mel Vera, is played by Melonie Diaz, a longtime staple of the indie film world.

Diaz began her career in the New York theater scene, appearing in off-Broadway plays and fringe festivals. This work led to her entry into the film world, with supporting roles in small and independent films. Her early-career credits include the direct-to-video dramedy Double Whammy and 2002's Raising Victor Vargas, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival.

Although she briefly appeared on TV (in an episode of Law & Order and in a...

Academy Award nominee Chazz Palminteri will join the cast of his Broadway musical A Bronx Tale in the role of Sonny beginning May 24.

Written by Palminteri, A Bronx Tale features music by Oscar, Grammy, and Tony Award winner Alan Menken and lyrics by Grammy Award winner and Oscar and Tony Award nominee Glenn Slater.

Based on the critically acclaimed play that inspired the now-classic film, the musical draws on the wisdom of the stoops of the Bronx in the 1960s, where a young man is caught between the father he loves and the mob boss he’d love to be. Featuring an original doo-wop score, the story is about respect, loyalty, love and family.

The musical is directed by two-time Oscar winner Robert De Niro and four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks, with choreography by Tony nominee Sergio Trujillo. The show opened on December 1, 2016 and is now playing on Broadway...

Ed Helm (center, with hat) as Eddie and Tracy Morgan (to right) as Chris, in The Clapper. Photo courtesy of Momentum Pictures ©

The Clapper is an indie film about a different side of Hollywood, a kind of romantic comedy about an anonymous worker in Los Angeles who ekes out a living as a paid face in the crowd for audiences for infomercials. It is a job kind of like a movie extra but ranked much lower, as clappers are impersonating ordinary people in audiences in advertisements impersonating television programs. Clappers are part of the background that creates the illusion that producers are selling to their real audience.

Director Dito Montiel adapted the script from his novel “Eddie Krumble is the Clapper,” his second book after “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” which was also made into an indie film.. The story is semi-autobiographical, based on Montiel’s experiences after moving to L.

"Who is The Clapper?" Momentum Pictures has debuted an official trailer for an indie comedy titled The Clapper, the latest from director Dito Montiel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Fighting, The Son of No One, Man Down). The Clapper is about a man, played by Ed Helms, who enjoys his job to be paid to fill seats in infomercial audiences. But when a talk late night TV talk show host discovers and makes fun of him, his whole life gets turned upside-down. Very weird concept for a film, but this trailer actually makes it look kind of amusing, with a sweet side. The cast includes Amanda Seyfried, Tracy Morgan, P.J. Byrne, Charles Halford, and Leah Remini. This probably isn't what you're expecting, but doesn't look too bad. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Dito Montiel's The Clapper, direct from YouTube: Eddie is a guy who gets paid...

Over a decade ago, Dito Montiel made a well received indie movie, “A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints,” but ever since has largely been failing upwards. A string of movies have followed, that find him working with decent names (Dwayne Johnson, Shia Labeouf, Kate Mara, Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Juliette Binoche) but all them have failed critically or commercially or both (“The Son Of No One,” “Empire State,” “Boulevard,” “Man Down“).

Continue reading ‘The Clapper’ Trailer: Ed Helms & Amanda Seyfried Fall In Love at The Playlist.

The Clapper tells the story of Eddie Krumble, a professional audience clapper in a talk show who loses his job and reevaluates his life. The film stars Ed Helms, Amanda Seyfried, Russell Peters, Tracy Morgan, Alan Thicke (his last film), Brenda Vaccaro, Pj Byrne, and more. Dito Montiel directed the film as well as writing the screenplay, based off his novel, Eddie Krumble is the Clapper.

We got an exclusive sit down with both Montiel and Peters at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, where the film had its world premiere on April 23. Read our interview below and be sure to check back for video interviews with Tracy Morgan, Brenda Vaccaro, and Russell Peters.

What was it like working with Tracy after Son of No One?

Dito: We stayed friends and the accident was of course terrifying and I was sure that he would die. Just hearing about how terrible it was.

Now in its sixteenth year, New York City’s own Tribeca Film Festival kicks off every spring with a wide variety of programming on offer, from an ever-expanding Vr installation to an enviable television lineup, but the bread and butter of the annual festival is still in its film slate. This year’s festival offers up plenty of returning favorites with new projects, alongside fresh faces itching to break out. From insightful documentaries to fanciful features, with a heavy dose of Gotham-centric films (hey, it is Tribeca after all), there’s plenty to dive into here, so we’ve culled the schedule for a few surefire hits.

This year’s Tribeca Film Festival takes place April 20 – 30. Check out some of our must-see picks below.

Read More: Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival

“A Gray State”

It might be the craziest story...

Shia Labeouf’s war drama “Man Down” made headlines Tuesday after selling only one ticket during its UK opening weekend, grossing a total of £7 ($8.73), per ComScore. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the film has sold an extra two tickets, making its total gross $26.19.

Read More: ‘Man Down’ Review: A Great Shia Labeouf Performance Is Wasted On a Misbegotten Genre Mash-Up About the Perils of Ptsd

“Man Down” was being screened at only one theater in the UK, the Reel Cinema branch in Burnley, and only once a day. “I think we’ve sold three tickets in total,” the theater manager told THR, adding that she had not “experienced anything like it before.” She also said that the film would “highly likely” end its run.

Read More: Why Shia Labeouf Needs a Career Reboot

Directed by Dito Montiel (“A guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” “The Son of No One”), “Man Down...

 At some point Channing Tatum went from man-candy (what? It's been said) to movie star. His star rose when Step Up stole the hearts of romantic comedy lovers that had waited too long for a new dance film. Seemed like Save The Last Dance had been decades before, despite the fact it actually released only five years prior. But, let's take a look back at Channing's filmography and see exactly where Tatum became something more.

CSI: Miami - Bob Davenport (2004) Never saw it, lets assume he was "okay."Coach Carter - Jason Lyle (2005) Same as CSI: Miami, watching Samuel L. Jackson as a coach just seemed too easy. Yell. Throw Notebook. Win baby, win.War of the Worlds - Boy in Church (uncredited, 2005) Wuh? Did they know he was just in Coach Carter?Havoc - Nick (2005) Is this the Havoc with Anne Hatheway's nude scene? Must go back and pay...

The world is a vast and wonderful place, filled with inexplicable and peculiar things, and one of them is the career of musician-turned-model-turned-author-turned-director Dito Montiel. Perhaps with a backstory as colorful as his it’s inevitable that the first Dito Montiel film, “A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints,” which was adapted by Dito Montiel from a book by Dito Montiel based on the life of 19th century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer — naw, just kidding, based on the life of Dito Montiel — was going to be his best.

Continue reading Self-Serious ‘Man Down’ Starring Shia Labeouf Squanders Its B-Movie Potential [Review] at The Playlist.

With just a few weeks to go in 2016, it’s time to hit the sand with another film set in the (seems like) ongoing hotspot of the world, the Middle East. And while the recent Allied was set in the days of the second world war, this one deals with the current conflict. This time of year has been the release time for several of those armed forces features. Winter of 2013 had Lone Survivor while the following year American Sniper was a surprise box office smash. Odd, that this year we’ve seen three comedies use the war as a backdrop. There was Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, War Dogs, and Billy Lynn’S Long Halftime Walk (it might be a comedy, who knows?). But things are very grim and dour as Shia La Beouf reunites with writer/director Dito Montiel nearly ten years after A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints for the drama Man Down.

Some people struggle to find sympathy for Shia Labeouf, a talented young actor whose career has so violently careened from studio blockbusters to outsider art projects that it often seems like he’s trolling the entire planet, but to watch him in Dito Montiel’s disastrous “Man Down” — to see how hard he throws himself even into a movie that nothing else going for it — is to recognize once and for all that Labeouf is a performer who never shows up without the full courage of his convictions.

A well-intentioned but woefully misconceived genre mishmash, “Man Down” positions itself as a quasi-allegorical plea for Americans to take better care of their veterans, but even its best ideas are half-baked, and Montiel’s direct-to-video budget has no hope of affording his ambition. And yet, Labeouf doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo; he leans into every line like he’s...

Welcome back to the Weekend Warrior, your weekly look at the new movies hitting theaters this weekend, as well as other cool events and things to check out.

This Past Weekend:

It wasn’t a bad Thanksgiving weekend, especially for the Weekend Warrior who pretty much nailed two of his predictions for the weekend! Disney Animation’s Moana indeed at opened at #1 with $55.5 million for the three-day weekend (exactly my prediction), although it ended up with more--$81.1 million--in its first five days. The Brad Pitt-Marion Cotillard spy thriller, Allied (Paramount), directed by Robert Zemeckis, also opened with $18 million, right on track with my prediction. I guess I could take some comfort on being spot on with two of the Thanksgiving releases—like I said last week, that holiday weekend is a bear to predict—but I way overestimated the other two movies as sequelitis indeed hit Billy Bob Thornton...

A decade ago writer/director Dito Montiel made a strong impression with his directorial debut, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, based on his memoir of the same name. Since 2006, he hasn’t made a movie that’s struck a similar chord with audiences and critics. He’s collaborated with some great talent over the years, including Al Pacino and the […]

The post ‘Man Down’ Trailer: Shia Labeouf and Jai Courtney Star in Dito Montiel’s Post-Apocalyptic War Drama appeared first on /Film.

"What happened in that room is real..." Lionsgate Premiere has released the trailer for a war drama titled Man Down, the latest from filmmaker Dito Montiel (of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints). Set in some kind of post-apocalyptic version of America (or so the synopsis claims), Shia Labeouf plays a marine with Ptsd who goes on a search to find his son. The cast includes Kate Mara, Gary Oldman, Jai Courtney, Clifton Collins Jr., Charlie Shotwell, and Wolé Parks. An oddly impressive cast, but I don't remember hearing a single thing about this when it premiered at festivals - usually a bad sign. It doesn't look that bad. Here's the first official trailer (+ original poster) for Dito Montiel's Man Down, direct from YouTube: In a post-apocalyptic America, former U.S. Marine Gabriel Drummer (Shia Labeouf) searches desperately for the whereabouts of his son, accompanied by his best friend and a survivor.

Dito Montiel helped lead Shia Labeouf to one of his best performances exactly a decade ago with A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. While both the director and actor’s careers have been up and down since that collaboration, we’re certainly curious about a reteam. Their latest effort, the Ptsd drama Man Down, premiered over a year ago at Venice International Film Festival, but now it’ll finally be landing in theaters this December and the first trailer has landed.

We said in our review from Venice last year, “Labeouf and Montiel, who thrive on intensity in their respective professions, sometimes to the expense of subtlety, were both crying profusely after the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It’s not difficult to imagine their care and commitment to a harrowing and personal dive into Ptsd territory, as misguided as it turned out to be.”

Check out...

Writer/director Dito Montiel broke out with “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” a decade ago, but ever since, he’s struggled to inspire the same acclaim. This state of affairs is certainly not due to lack of talent who have signed up to work with him, including folks like Al Pacino and Juliette Binoche in “The Son Of No One,” Channing Tatum for multiple film (‘Saints,’ ‘No One,’ and “Fighting“) and even Dwayne Johnson (“Empire State“).

Continue reading Shia Labeouf Returns Home From War In New Trailer For ‘Man Down’ With Kate Mara, Jai Courtney, Gary Oldman, More at The Playlist.

Andrea Arnold’s tough but tender road trip with a busload of young magazine sellers is dazzling. Even Shia Labeouf can’t spoil it

Like Shia Labeouf’s door-to-door salesman Jake, who prides himself on becoming whatever his customers desire, Andrea Arnold’s fourth feature as writer-director is whatever you want it to be. For some, this story of a teenage Texas girl finding her feet among a travelling group of magazine sellers will be a timeless coming-of-age tale, a young woman’s search for a room (or trailer) of her own. To others, it’ll be a modern-day Easy Rider, a post-Larry Clark/Gus van Sant youthsploitation adventure in which “we explore America, we party – it’s cool”. Detractors may see little more than an overlong pop-video indulgence in which on-the-road outsiders sing along to a celluloid jukebox soundtrack. For me, however, this is Arnold’s best work...

The Charming Potato is joining the cast of Kingsman: The Golden Circle! I remember the moment Channing Tatum clicked for me. It certainly wasn’t on first exposure. Sometimes I see an actor and immediately like what they’re doing, and when I saw A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, it was with some early hype about both the director, Dito Montiel, and this amazing new young star, Channing Tatum. Didn’t work for me at all. He was fine in the Step Up films, but that’s because the dancing was front and center. Films like Dear John or Stop-Loss did nothing to change my opinion of Tatum, and in a few cases, like G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra or The Eagle, I thought his presence actually damaged the overall movie. For me, the first sign that he might actually be worth paying attention to was The Dilemma,...

Exclusive: Comedy set to star Ed Helms and Amanda Seyfried.

Fortitude International has jumped on board new comedy package The Clapper to star Ed Helms and Amanda Seyfried and is in talks with international buyers at the Efm.

The film marks Dito Montiel’s follow-up to the crime thriller Man Down and is based on his novel of the same name about a paid infomercial audience member whose life becomes complicated after he gets his 15 minutes of fame.

Robin Schorr produces The Clapper with Helms and his Pacific Electric partner Mike Falbo, and Montiel, who famously broke out with his 2006 Sundance special jury prize-winner A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints.

Wme and UTA Independent Film Group represent North American rights to the project.

“This hilarious script from Dito Montiel could not have found a better Eddie Krumble than in Ed Helms,” said Fortitude International partner Nadine de Barros.

“This love story between Helms and Amanda Seyfried is a perfect...

The smooth and suave Channing Tatum recently stopped by the Jimmy Kimmel show while promoting Hail, Caesar! (in theaters this week), and while there he romanced a lucky stranger yanked off the street in honor of Valentine's Day (watch the video below), but he also spoke about his worst audition ever for the film Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Back in 2006 -- before the Fast & Furious franchise found its footing again, reuniting franchise stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker in 2009's Fast & Furious -- there was Tokyo Drift. And apparently a young Channing Tatum who was just starting to blossom as an actor (this was around the time of the first Step Up movie and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) auditioned for a role in the Fast & Furious sequel. And he...

Read More...

Exclusive: The film and TV veteran heads to the Efm with his new worldwide sales and distribution venture, kicking off with two projects.

First up on the Bob’s Your Uncle slate is Being Charlie directed by Rob Reiner, about the troubled son of an actor-turned-politician forced to take control of his life. Nick Reiner and Matt Elisofon wrote the screenplay.

Nick Robinson from Sony release The 5th Wave stars with Morgan Saylor, Devon Bostick, Cary Elwes and Common.

The film from Castle Rock Entertainment and Jorva Entertainment Productions was made in association with Defiant Pictures and premiered in Toronto last autumn. Reiner produced with Johnson Chan, Stephanie Rennie and Simon Goldberg.

DuBow has scheduled market screenings in Berlin on February 12 and 16.

John Jarratt makes his directorial debut and stars in Stalkher, about a home invader who chooses the wrong property.

The Ozpix Entertainment Production is produced by Craig A. Kocincki, [link...

Plot: A war veteran (Shia Labeouf) desperately searches for his wife and son in post-apocalyptic America. Review: I'll say this for director Dito Montiel – he never takes the easy road. From his divisive first film, A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints to the much-maligned Son Of No One to his recent Boulevard, Montiel is a hugely ambitious director who consistently aims to make art even if the... Read More...

In Dito Montiel’s latest film Man Down, Shia Labeouf plays a U.S. Marine, Gabriel Drummer, discharged after a catastrophic error in Afghanistan scars him with Ptsd. Gary Oldman plays a military psychiatrist who helps him to unravel what went wrong. Upon his return to the U.S., he finds his country reduced to a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and must find his wife (Kate Mara) and son (Charlie Shotwell) amongst the rubble. Nearly a decade has passed since Labeouf teamed up with Montiel for the autobiographical film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and they were thrilled to find a

read more...

[Editor's Note: This post is presented in partnership with Time Warner Cable Movies On Demand in support of Indie Film Month. Today's pick, "Boulevard," is available now On Demand. Need help finding a movie to watch? Let TWC find the best fit for your mood here.] Read More: 6 Lgbt Docs You Should Watch for Free On SnagFilms Dito Montiel’s directorial debut, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints," based on his best-selling memoir of the same name, won both the Director’s Award and Special Jury Prize at Sundance in 2006. The former punk rocker's next films all featured macho men (Channing Tatum, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Al Pacino) in tough situations, leaving gunfire and bloody body counts in their wake. Conversely, "Boulevard," his latest effort, quietly reveals the unraveling of a 40-year marriage as Nolan Mack (played by the late Robin Williams) comes to terms with his homosexuality. Masterful performances and...

Want to win “Boulevard” on iTunes via digital download? Tweet @ShockYa to enter (or comment below) and we’ll pick an entry at random. Entries Must be in by 6Pm Est on Monday August 31st. Thanks for entering and good luck!! Boulevard stars Academy Award® winner Robin Williams, Kathy Baker (The Age of Adaline, Take Shelter), Bob Odenkirk (“Breaking Bad”, “Better Call Saul”), Roberto Aguire (Struck by Lightning) and Giles Matthey (“True Blood”). Boulevard was directed by Dito Montiel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, The Son of No One) and written by Douglas Soesbe (The Wrong Woman). Starz Digital released Boulevard in theaters July 17, 2015. Boulevard follows married but [ Read More ]

The post Giveaway: Win Boulevard iTunes Digital Download!!! appeared first on Shockya.com.

Throughout his all too brief career, Robin Williams was rightly praised as a comedic genius. He was also feted quite a bit for his dramatic work, but never quite as much as I felt that he deserved. We all know of his tragic passing, but this week he has one last dramatic performance to share with the world in Boulevard, and go figure…it’s one of his best performances ever. Certainly top ten worthy, if you ask me. While it’s incredibly depressing that he won’t be around to share his gift with us anymore, Boulevard is a wonderful swan song for Williams and a reminder of just what a talent he was. The film is a look at a man struggling with coming out late in life. Nolan (played by the aforementioned Williams) loves his wife, but he’s known all his life that he was gay.

"I didn't want to move or act like a rich man. I wanted to dance in a pair of jeans. I wanted to dance like the man in the streets." – Gene Kelly

It's hard to imagine — let alone remember — living in a world where it wasn't a universally acknowledged truth that Channing Tatum used to be a stripper. Today, that particular chapter of his origin story seems as inextricable from the 35-year-old actor's story as Ginger Rogers is from Fred Astaire's career, or Scientology is from that of Tom Cruise,...

Even though I enjoyed Steven Soderbergh’s 2012 “Magic Mike,” I went into Gregory Jacobs’ sequel “Xxl” with low expectations, expecting to be entertained by Channing Tatum, at least. That's because the well-muscled model-turned-actor, 36, who broke out a decade ago in the gritty street drama “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” and energetic dance romance “Step Up” has become a reliable movie star. What does that mean? No matter how bad the movie—and there have been a few Hollywood clinkers, from “The Dilemma” and the two “G.I. Joe” actioners to “White House Down” and "Jupiter Ascending"—he’s believable. The bad stuff bounces off him like Teflon, and he survives with his charisma intact. Every time. Tatum’s just delightful to watch on screen, no matter what he does, drama ("Foxcatcher," “Stop Loss”) or comedy (the “21 Jump Street” series). Did his background as a stripper make him confident and...

Starz Digital has unveiled the trailer for its upcoming "Boulevard" film, which is the final dramatic performance of the late Robin Williams. Check out the trailer below. Plot: Tells the story of a married but closeted 60-year-old bank manager (Williams), whose life changes in surprising ways after recklessly picking up a young male hustler. The new movie is directed by Dito Montiel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) and already premiered at last years Tribeca Film Festival. It's now set to hit select theaters on July 10th. Trailer:...