The Los Angeles Film Festival has finally rolled out their full lineup for the upcoming summer fest, and it’s packed with a number of Sundance picks, the return of Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn, and everyone’s favorite film that hasn’t been released just yet, You’re Next. Basically, you should probably start making your schedule now, because this is easily one of LAFF’s best lineups yet. The festival will open with Pedro Almodovar‘s I’m So Excited (Almodovar is a Los Angeles favorite, as he’s also served as guest artistic director for LA’s other big festival, AFI FEST), close with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash‘s The Way, Way Back, and include special gala presentations in the middle of both Refn’s Only God Forgives and Ryan Coogler‘s Sundance winner Fruitvale Station (formerly known as Fruitvale). Didn’t think you could get a large portion of your awards season movie-viewing out of the way in June? Bummed you missed out on Sundance? You were so wrong. Check out the full lineup after the break.

Who doesn’t love a good coming-of-age film? Terrible, terrible people, that’s who. One of the best of the genre premiered at Sundance earlier this year, and while some folks might think I’m referring to The Spectacular Now (which to be fair is a pretty good movie too) I’m actually talking about The Way, Way Back. Screenwriters (and co-stars) Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (The Descendants) make their directorial debut with this comedic drama about an awkward boy coming into his own. My full review is here. Duncan (Liam James) is said awkward teenager on the edge of who knows what, but the last thing he needs is a summer vacation trapped with his mother (Toni Collette), potential step-sister, and annoying soon-to-be step-dad (Steve Carell). He finds solace though in a local girl (AnnaSophia Robb) and part-time job at a water park staffed with weirdos. And lucky for him (and us) the king of the weirdos is played by Mr. Sam Rockwell. Maybe the summer won’t be so bad after all. Check out the trailer for The Way Way Back below.

Films that are submitted to festivals come with many questions. Will my film be accepted? Will people be interested in watching it if it is? Will it get distribution? What will happen if it does get distribution? But these questions are also what make film festivals so exciting – the great unknown and all the possibilities it contains. This year’s Sundance Film Festival gave festival attendees (and soon audiences all over) many different films from comedies to dramas to horror. Signing up to work on an independent festival film can end up being a labor of love, but it can also open doors and catapult otherwise unknown talent into the spotlight. The road to Sundance has been seen through the eyes of writers, directors, and actors (which can be found on the Sundance website), but I wanted to look at the process from the composer side of things and was lucky enough to speak with not just one, but two composers who ended up with a total of three films at this year’s festival between them. Rob Simonsen who composed music for two of Sundance’s most well-received coming-of-age films, the heart-felt The Spectacular Now and the funny The Way, Way Back and Heather McIntosh who created the inventive and sinister soundscape for the surreal The Rambler.

Coming-of-age films are almost as ubiquitous as rom-coms and Resident Evil sequels these days, and it’s not often that one of them manages to stand out in the crowded field. The ones that do succeed usually feature a combination of star power to get their foot in the door, a smart and funny script to keep the audience’s attention and a lead who embodies the joy, frustrations and awkwardness of teen life with equal spirit and veracity. The Way, Way Back succeeds on pretty much all of those counts.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s the ongoing saga of one man’s quest to catalog every great movie and TV-related link the blogosphere has to offer. It happens on weeknights, just before bed time, and you should read it often. Share it with your friends, even. We begin tonight with a first look at The Way, Way Back and its stars Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell, who will get in front of the camera for Jim Rash and Nat Faxon the Oscar winning duo behind The Descendants and two men who have acted their way into your hearts in various other properties. In the case of Rash, it was as the Dean on Community. The NYT has a great piece on the pair and their upcoming film.