If someone was to possibly say that they expected Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s directorial debut, a film about porn addiction that debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, to be a serious affair and that they maybe they laughed for five straight minutes when the film introduced Gordon-Levitt’s character, a Jersey Shore reject to top all Jersey Shore rejects and then probably had to quickly rearrange all their expectations in order to fully enjoy the funny, sharp, and insightful film that followed, you wouldn’t judge that person, would you? Question their credentials? No? Great! Yup, Gordon-Levitt’s Don Jon (formerly known as Don Jon’s Addiction) centers on his Jon Martello’s addiction to internet porn, while also tracking the highs and lows of his new romantic relationship with Scarlett Johansson‘s sexy Barbara Sugarman (just call her B-Woww), but it’s not Shame for the porn set. Instead, it’s just very funny and very witty and it’s definitely got something to say about modern romance in a time of flimsy pop culture. Get some good vibrations and check out the first trailer for Don Jon after the break.

Relativity Media has set a release date for their big pick-up from this year’s Sundance Film Festival, placing Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s directorial debut, Don Jon (previously known as Don Jon’s Addiction), in the somewhat surprisingly awards season-friendly spot of October 18th. Gordon-Levitt’s film stars him as a regressed, Jersey Shore-styled man-child who pulls a ton of ladies but can’t seem to get away from his crippling Internet porn addiction. Oh, also, it’s a comedy. The film will now open the same day as two other Julianne Moore-starrers, the Carrie remake and The Seventh Son, along with The Butler, none of which seem to threaten the film’s intended audience. Can’t wait until October? Well, you’re going to have to – but, until then, relive the magic with Allison’s Sundance review of the film.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt made bold choices with his feature debut, Don Jon, previously titled as the misleading Don Jon’s Addiction. Sure, he made a crowd-pleaser out of a potentially dark concept – something we don’t see often from the indie film world – but, as a filmmaker, Levitt took some chances. Not only did go about doing so by shooting on 35mm, but also with a few broad, committed stylistic flourishes. We see the world through Jon’s eyes — who is a self-centered, narcissistic Jersey boy — so at first the film is shot like the most expensive, high-production value porno you’ve ever seen. Once the character’s journey comes to an end, gone is all the cheesy club music and camera whips. It’s a heightened aesthetic that lets an audience know exactly what Don Jon is from the beginning. We spoke with Levitt here about Don Jon‘s style, along with why he wanted to make a movie with a capital “m.”

SXSW 2013 begins in a couple days, and we couldn’t be more excited. By “we,” I mean FSR founder, publisher and beard-model Neil Miller, professional interviewer and lanky ladies man Jack Giroux, and myself. We’ll be descending on Austin this Friday to take in as much festival film-going, socializing and Alamo Drafthouse food as we possibly can. Of course we’re excited to see movies too. A lot of movies. And to give you an idea of what we’re most looking forward to film-wise the three of us have each listed our five most anticipated films of SXSW 2013 below.

Don Jon (Joesph Gordon-Levitt) is — as his name suggests — a modern-day “Don Juan.” He’s a ladies man the girls just can’t seem to say no to. Every weekend Jon stands in the middle of the club with his buddies, scans the room, sets his sights on whichever girl is closest to “dime” status, dances up on her, makes out with her, escorts her into a taxi, and then, well, you can imagine what happens next. At the beginning of Don Jon’s Addiction, Jon tells us there are only a handful of things that matter to him: his body, his pad, his car, his family, his boys, and his girls. But there is one thing that trumps them all: his porn. Jon explains that it’s something “all guys do,” and while he likes the real thing (and certainly has no trouble getting it), he always enjoys his porn more. After a while of running through the same routine, Jon finds himself bored and longing for something more. That “something more” seems to come in the dime sized package of Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson), a curvaceous blonde who fits all of Jon’s stereotypical requirements. Barbara is different, Barbara is special, Barbara is making Jon wait. Barbara wants a real relationship and Jon obliges because Barbara is the “most beautiful thing he has ever seen.” But after finally sealing the deal with Barbara, Jon still finds himself hitting the power button to lose himself in his laptop.

I started the day with a naked, drugged up Shia LaBeouf – a concept that would have thrilled me five years ago, but did not quite do it for me this morning. No – I did not wake up after a crazy night down on Main Street, but I did wake up to head down to Eccels (a venue I quite dig) for The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, featuring Mr. LaBeouf, some nudity, and drug use. Review to come, but I was sadly disappointed with Charlie Countryman as it tried to pack a few too many concepts into a single film. My next film was Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s directorial debut, Don Jon’s Addiction. Sometimes when you are in the middle of a festival, a film that happens to simply entertain you is a welcome respite, and I found Don Jon’s Addiction to be quite entertaining. Gordon-Levitt, who plays a Mike “The Situation” archtype, actually worked really well, delivering the laughs thanks to the film’s sharp cuts and a dynamic relationship with Scarlett Johansson‘s Barbara Sugarman. Before heading out to my final film of the day, I met up with White Bear PR’s Chandler Poling to check out the ASCAP Music Cafe’s cocktail party. Having never made it over to the Cafe (a crime considering it’s across the street from my condo) it was a welcome break and a good time meeting composers and fellow music writers. Plus – you know – free booze.

With the year’s first large scale film fest, the Sundance Film Festival, kicking off later this week, it’s high time that we started making some predictions about some of the films that are most likely to explode off the screen up in snowy Park City. Every Sundance (and, really, every major film festival) churns out its darlings, its favorites, its gems, those films that take weary festival-loving audiences by storm and become not only the talk of the festival, but the talk of the cinematic world. Of course, anyone who has ever attended even a massive festival like Sundance knows that festival buzz doesn’t exactly spell out mainstream success, but it’s sure as hell a nice place to start. While our intrepid Sundance team – myself, Allison, and Rob – have already weighed in our individual “most anticipated” films of the festival, those personal picks don’t cover the full gamut of films poised to become the big ticket films at this year’s festival. Here’s our attempt to sniff those babies out. After the break, check out the fifteen films we’re banking on to light up this year’s Sundance.

Scientists still haven’t proven who the boss was, but Tony Danza is close to playing father to Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s “porn-addicted, modern day Don Juan from New Jersey who sets out to become a less selfish person.” Don Jon’s Addiction was written by Gordon-Levitt and will act as his directorial debut. It’s also the project that kept him (schedule-wise) from joining Django Unchained. As for Danza, why the hell not? He’s an underestimated acting force that has a broader range than his Who’s the Boss? and Taxi roots suggest. Plus, he’d be joining Julianne Moore and Scarlett Johansson, which means the redhead quotient needs to be equaled out considerably. And, honestly, it’s about time Danza got a John Travolta moment. Danza should be playing out his elder statesmen years playing badass roles and getting more movie projects. [Variety]