I’ve no better, more eloquent way to put this — Gus Van Sant‘s Restless is awful, pandering, painfully acted, lazily written, up its own ass schlock. It’s bad. This is not the Van Sant that pulled beautiful, nuanced performances from his actors in Good Will Hunting, gave us solid, dark, indie-fare like Elephant, or even the almost total airball remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. This, perhaps, is a sign that Van Sant has taken his title as arthouse darling and run it completely off the rails.

In Oranges and Sunshine, Emily Watson brings her Oscar-nominee-worthy acting to a leading role that sees her investigating a decades-old crime perpetrated en masse by a religious order. That crime? The conning and subsequent deportation of thousands of children to work camps in Australia. What’s most harrowing about the story is that it’s true. Watson plays Margaret Humphreys, the social worker who uncovered the scandal, shined a light on it, and worked to reunite now-adult children with their families. She’s joined by Hugo Weaving and David Wenham, and the trailer looks absolutely gripping:

Why Watch? A tortured young man, an experimental drug, and a fantasy that fights to become a reality. The depths of losing love are explored in this short with a window into one man’s coping mechanism. Unfortunately, that coping mechanism pulls too strongly, blurring the lines of which world he wants to live in – a painful reality or a blissful fantasy that doesn’t exist. All the signs of directorial potential are here alongside a few rough edges, but over all, writer/director Pat Altema‘s work is a slight twist on the usual failed relationship story. It’s noteworthy for its feel and empathetic main character, and it shows off a strong foundation for a young filmmaker (who’s still looking for representation). What does it cost? Just 15 minutes of your time. Check out Dream for yourself:

With the entire original run of The Twilight Zone available to watch instantly, we’re partnering with Twitch Film to cover all of the show’s 156 episodes. Are you brave enough to watch them all with us? The Twilight Zone (Episode #69): “The Passerby” (airdate 10/06/61) The Plot:  A Confederate soldier rests for a spell on the front porch owned by Lavinia Goodwin – a widow who watches hundreds of soldiers pass by on their march home from the war. The Goods: Season 3 is shaping up to be the strongest season. There are iconic episodes from others, of course, but so far there’s been nothing but quality from the third outing, and it represents a kind of maturity in the writing (which has thankfully gotten away from padding huge chunks of the script) and in the kind of actors that they can hire to guest star. More than just a clever concept, this episode is grandly haunting in its delivery. The effect is thanks to stoic writing, strong acting from Joanne Linville and James Gregory (who are waiting for Godot in the 19th century), and a dreamy set design that places Goodwin’s house both in the midst of a believable southern swamp and in a nowhere space without a horizon.

Why Watch? It has a bit of a slow start, but this story of a game show enthusiast stuck in the rut of a bait and tackle shop finds a winning rhythm that sails because of clever writing, a lead that’s endlessly endearing and a supporting cast that nails down just the right amount of quirk. Dakota Shepard is funny and slightly sad as said game show whiz who’s never been anywhere, Joshua Koopman plays a cartoonish world traveler named Eric, and just about everyone else in the cast colors outside the lines to make the film shine. It’s rare to find adult dramedy that works well (especially in an indie world saturated with them) so this is a nice treat that earns extra points for the bizarreness of its dream sequences. Do Quiet Coyote and give this one your attention. What does it cost? Just 35 minutes of your time. Check out Come On Down for yourself:

Why Watch? Tapping into human nature means scanning the stars and the self. It might have been easy for director Mark Buchanan to deliver airy faux-philosophy with this concept, but he wisely avoids it in exchange for a genuine human story of a troubled family, a piece of technology meant to find life on other planets, and a reminder that we’re not alone. Part science-non-fiction, part Lives of Others, this film is effortlessly engaging through a smart blend of camera work and sound where voices often come from off screen, and writing that makes us ache to learn the people behind those voices. This is human foibles and failings and drama and humor done brilliantly well. What does it cost? Just 12 minutes of your time. Check out The Search for yourself:

I’m not usually interested in writing stories about photos. Most of the time, especially when you’re not dealing with a superhero film, there’s not much room for speculation or any sort of interesting commentary. With these behind the scenes pics for Warrior, not much can be said about them. However, I’ll take any chance I can get to discuss Gavin O’Connor‘s family drama, because it’s just that good. To make an easy comparison, it’s this year’s The Fighter. They are different films, but one big fact they both have in common? They’re genuine crowd-pleasers. Warrior never panders to please. It, mostly, features well-earned drama that wins you over. If you need to feel secure about yourself, make sure to checkout how flabby and out of shape Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton look here. God, I feel bad for these guys.

Farce is not easy to do, which is why it’s a good thing that Roman Polanski got four formidable actors to take on the challenge of Carnage. Based on the play “God of Carnage” from Yasmina Reza, the film version features Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz as two couples (respectively) whose children have been in a schoolyard scrape. They meet for a conversation and all end up losing their minds over the situation. The wine probably helps, but watching everyone succumb to the outrage is hysterical – especially Reilly who pulls off layered, impotent rage like no man on this planet. What’s so great about this first look is that it isn’t funny in the way that, say, The Office is. There’s no passive aggressive awkwardness fueling the cringing feeling for the audience; the comedy comes straight from the breakdown. Bask in the glory of this fantastic trailer for yourself:

There’s a lot of dancing going on in this trailer for Michael Winterbottom‘s Trishna. Typical Bollywood style numbers with their elaborate flair. Intimate undulations between two people falling in love. The kind of dance moves that happen between sheets. They’re all there, and they all look stunning. Winterbottom seeks to confound here a bit, combining several elements from past films and making something that looks nothing like anything he’s done before. There’s a dash of 24 Hour Party People, the sensuality of 9 Songs, and maybe even a taste of A Mighty Heart‘s dramatics, but over all, this story of star cross’d lovers looks like a new animal. It stars Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed as the daughter of a rickshaw owner and the son of a land developer that only have eyes for each other. How much do you want to bet that their love is forbidden? Sink down into the poetry of it all for yourself:

Chris Evans played a wealth of very different roles before he was cast as Captain America. He was Johnny Storm, he was a Harvard Hottie, he was a plucky cop, he was an Evil Ex, he was even a Loser. He was also, apparently, a functioning drug addict/lawyer, thanks to Adam and Mark Kassen’s Puncture. The Kassens’s film follows Evans’s Mike Weiss in a story that sounds a bit like Erin Brockovich mixed with Michael Clayton, but sexier, because it involves a tattooed Evans who does a mountain of drugs in his off-time. Based on a true story (aren’t they all), Evans stars as a hotshot Houston lawyer who also happens to be a drug addict (but a high-functioning one, natch). Mike has his own practice, along with his high-functioning-sans-drugs partner, Paul Danzinger (played by Mark Kassen). Mike and Paul get caught up in a little case that quickly turns into a big one, as they fight for an ER nurse pricked by a nasty needle on the job. The trailer shows how rapidly that case turns into something unexpectedly huge – senators! jolty camera angles! big boardroom tables! a lot of yelling!

Roman Polanski. Christoph Waltz. Jodie Foster. John C. Reilly. Kate Winslet. That list is solid enough to pique any interest, but the premise for Carnage is just as enticing, especially with its insinuation of heavy drama in a tight space. The catalyst is a playground fight between two children, and the story focuses on the parents of one combatant inviting the parents of the other over to have a discussion. Hopefully (and promisingly) it will go as poorly as possible. The acting talent here is unbelievable, which is good, because Polanski has never exactly been an actor’s director. Here, he’s got the talent teed up, and all he needs to do is give them a small house, plenty to fight about, and enough temperature to keep things going for the full run time. Courtesy of Twitch Film, a few shots have been released prior to the film’s showing at Venice, and the images look stark and severe. Great portraits of some of the best actors working today:

Why Watch? Because the combination of animation, experiment, and Welles is a palpable one. In 1977, experimental filmmaker Larry Jordan used work from 19th century French artist Gustave Doré and the thunderous tones of Orson Welles to bring Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s most famous epic poem to life. It’s a potent story of a sea captain who kills an albatross while on the ocean and pays a hefty penalty. But chances are that you already knew that, having had to memorize it for freshman English class in high school. The version here, which is more than a bit different from Raúl daSilva’s 1975 take, is surreal at times but also direct. The engravings are wonderful, but there’s no denying that Welles is the star. What does it cost? Just 40 minutes of your time. Check out The Rime of the Ancient Mariner for yourself:

The first official image of Leonardo DiCaprio playing the gangbusting icon in Clint Eastwood‘s J. Edgar has been released (as you can see above), and it’s just a taste of what the make-up department has in store for the actor as he journeys through the neck-flap, skin-sagging years of J. Edgar Hoover’s life. The film will see DiCaprio wear a ton of aging make-up, because he’ll be playing the adult version of the nation’s former top cop through his rise to power in the 1920 through the man’s death in 1972. Consider it a reverse Benjamin Button. It looks great, but the bigger concern is that Eastwood seems to think he’s a one-take director at this point in his career, and he’s not. His last few efforts have been sorely lacking. However, maybe a biopic about absolute power is just what the doctor ordered. As such, by way of comparison, check out this picture of J. Edgar Hoover to give you an idea of how close DiCaprio is and where he’ll be headed.

Why Watch? Because there is beauty all around. This sentimental short film has a lot going for it. Namely, it plays off the last few frames with greatly judged skill and delivers a voice over that’s as melancholy as it is meaningful. It’s a movie that might take you to another world, another time, or remind you of your own experiences. That’s impressive filmmaking, and it comes wrapped in a pristine package here. Just try not to judge that wrapping before you get to the end. What does it cost? Just 4 minutes of your time. Check out Shooter for yourself:

If I had to name a couple current actors that deserve to be huge stars but haven’t quite gotten to that level, Vera Farmiga and Mark Strong would both be up at the top of that list. They both have been getting a lot of jobs lately, and both of them always do strong work in every job they take, but they’re not quite there when it comes to star power. Farmiga has had high profile roles in movies like The Departed, Up in the Air, and Source Code, and Strong has impressed in big movies like Sherlock Holmes and Green Lantern while simultaneously appearing in quirkier films like Sunshine and Kick-Ass. They both have familiar faces and a lot of momentum behind their careers; but if you mention their names to random people on the street, generally they wouldn’t know who you’re talking about. Despite that, either one just needs one perfect role to break through and become a big name in the business. And that’s good news for the upcoming drama Closer to the Moon, because it just cast them in lead roles. Closer to the Moon is an upcoming drama from Romanian director Nae Caranfil set during Romania’s period of communist rule. Strong will play a police officer named Max Rosenthal who is implicated in a bank robbery and sentenced to death due to his Jewish heritage. Before he is to be killed, however, the government forces him to participate in a propaganda film where he and [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

After nearly a decade out of the cinematic limelight, director Lynne Ramsay returned to the film world with her Cannes Film Festival entry, We Need to Talk About Kevin. The film drew stellar reviews at the fest, with most people pointing squarely at Tilda Swinton‘s performance as one to watch. The film was also nominated for the Palme d’Or, which it lost to The Tree of Life. Simon saw the film at Cannes and gave it an A-, with his review paying particular attention to the strengths of the film’s performances, and adding to the kudos heaped on Swinton’s performance. The film tells the story of Swinton and John C. Reilly‘s characters, a regular married couple who have a not-so-regular son in the titular Kevin. Classy festival terminology aside – Kevin is a Grade A whack job, a nutcase of the highest order, an utterly terrifying child who grows up to be an even more unnerving teenager. And if the few glimpses we get at Ezra Miller‘s dead-eyed stare are any indication of his performance in the film, it looks like his eldest incarnation of Kevin will join the pantheon of all-time cinematic creepsters. Basically, watching this trailer will make you never want to have children – ever. You’ll never be able hear a baby cry without listening for a sinister lilt underneath the howls ever again. Fine, you should probably just never have sex ever again, because you may spawn something like Kevin. Consider it birth control by way of movie [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Why Watch? Because kids can be so cruel. We’re lucky enough to feature some short films from directors on the rise, but we’re also lucky enough (thanks internet!) to go back and watch the early work of established talent. I’m not a big fan of Sofia Coppola‘s films, but this short shows a completely different side of her. There’s a momentum here – an almost MTV sensibility – that doesn’t exist in her other movies. Here, in a short that lies somewhere between the tones of The Virgin Suicides and Mean Girls, a group of 7th grade girls plot a secret plan based on “Flowers in the Attic.” As it turns out, 7th grade girls can be real assholes. So can everyone else. For fun – see if you can spot Peter Bogdanovich in a small role. What does it cost? Just 14 minutes of your time. Check out Lick the Star for yourself:

Why Watch? Because this is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time. Earlier in the week, we were amazed at what placing restrictions can do for creativity. Today, we take that to the extreme. What if you had less than a minute to tell a story? This film from Chris Milk answers that question by displaying the most important moments of a life – seen in flashes as an old man lays dying. See if you can spot your own life in there. What does it cost? Just 42 seconds of your time. Check out Last Day Dream for yourself:

Why Watch? Because sentimentality never dies. This short got some attention when it won a contest created by the Phillips Corporation which had a few restraining parameters in place. The films could only have six lines of dialogue, and they had to be: What is that? It’s a unicorn. Never seen one up close before. Beautiful. Get away, Get away! I’m sorry. It’s pretty limiting, but this short is a phenomenal example of where limitations can create something truly inspired. What does it cost? Just 3 minutes of your time. Check out Porcelain Unicorn for yourself:

Zack Snyder has been involved with the upcoming, set in Afghanistan drama The Last Photograph from the very beginning. Since the project’s inception he has served as a co-writer and a producer. When you hear that Snyder is involved with a drama set in a war torn country, the concept instantly sends up some red flags. How would his flashy, comic-booky style fit with more real-world, dramatic subject matter than men in loin clothes eviscerating each other or girls in short skirts fighting giant robots? In the past this wasn’t too much of a concern, however, as Snyder was just in a producer’s role. The director’s job was going to go to someone else, and that someone else ended up being The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo helmer Niels Arden Oplev. He’s good, right? Yay, everyone cheers, and we all live happily ever after. Not so fast. Twitch is now reporting that Oplev has dropped out of the project for mysterious reasons, and seeing as he is already so engaged in it’s development, Snyder is going to step into the director’s role as an easy fit. The Last Photograph should fit perfectly into Snyder’s schedule, as he can slip right into shooting after he finishes work on the Superman reboot Man of Steel. That brings up some problems. Will Christian Bale’s reporter character be doing slow motion spin moves, snapping off photographs in mid air, while mortar shells explode around him? Will we get a scene of Sean Penn’s character [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]