BALLAST, FROZEN RIVER Lead Independent Spirit Nominations

Three indies earned six 2009 Independent Spirit Award nominations, announced this morning. Two remarkably impressive debuts join the work of an acclaimed veteran: Lance Hammer’s Ballast, Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River and Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married. Each film received Best Feature and Best Director nominations, but here’s the part I really dig – the three leads for these […]

Horror Preview: MIDNIGHT MOVIE

We love rooting for small indie films, so when we learned Midnight Movie is rolling out, we couldn’t resist — especially considering our Halloween mood. The killer thriller boasts a pair of big wins from last month’s Chicago Horror Film Festival: Best Cinematography and Best Picture. Here’s the creepy-as-hell poster, first used for the January ‘09 DVD release, now for some theatrical buzz… […]

Trailer, Images: Clint Eastwood’s CHANGELING

Using a word like ‘accomplished’ to define Clint Eastwood’s career is an immense understatement. Let’s forget the iconic acting and the timeless characters. If you consider just his directing — which started with no fee to helm Play Misty for Me (1971) — Eastwood’s won two Oscars (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby) and earned two other nominations. He’s also been nominated […]

Coen Brothers Begin Shooting A SERIOUS MAN

As the Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading unofficially kicks off the fall movie season tomorrow, the Oscar-winning team has begun work on their next film, A Serious Man. Shooting is taking place in the brothers’ home state of Minnesota. Shooting is set to run through early November.
A Serious Man isn’t so serious, really. It’s another […]

2008 Telluride Film Festival “Movies to Watch”

As you regular readers know, we Lobby scribes ain’t full time just yet. In fact, it’s just Allison and me holding down the MITL fort. So any film festival coverage that’s not East Coast-based is really what we know, who we know, and what we think. Since our Sundance preview was well received, we continue. Here […]

Movie Poster Monday: SCORCHER VI, FATTIES 2, SATAN’S ALLEY

Parody this good is worth celebrating. So even though these Tropic Thunder fakes have been out there a little while, we want to enjoy them all in one bite, now that so many people have seen Tropic Thunder. Don’t you wish you could see these movies too? Okay, maybe not. (click on the posters for […]