I’m Here, the latest film by director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, Where the Wild Things Are), is a robot love story that is sweet and heartfelt, and yet tinged with a haunting sadness. Read the full story

One of the most anticipated films at Sundance this past January was Cyrus, the first studio film by Mark and Jay Duplass. Known for their mumblecore hits such as The Puffy Chair and Baghead, many people have been curious how this creative duo would translate their style to this larger budget film, produced by Ridley and Tony Scott and starring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and Catherine Keener. For those who had any trepidation, fear not, for even with studio influences have the Duplass’s maintained their wit and hand-held cameras. Read the full story

Katie Aselton and Dax Shepard deliver strong performances in "The Freebie"

Some may know Katie Aselton (The Puffy Chair, Easier with Practice) as an actress, but this year she made her mark as a writer/director with her new film, The Freebie, a romantic dramedy about a contented, but sexually frustrated, couple’s experiment to allow each other “one night off.” The film is produced by Adele Romanski and executive produced by Aselton and husband Mark Duplass.

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Josh Radnor demonstrates his writing/acting/directing talents (with Kate Mara) in HappyThankYouMorePlease.

Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) made his screenwriting and directorial debut at the Sundance Film Festival with his film HappyThankYouMorePlease.

This trio of intertwined stories involving six New Yorkers dealing with the complexities of love, friendship and identity. While this premise may sound familiar, its charm is refreshing and its character keeps the film from becoming just another romantic comedy. Read the full story

Rumors are swirling about one of the most talked about films at Sundance, a on the fly social media documentary following the real life story of two filmmakers and how one of their brothers becomes entranced in an online romance called ‘Catfish‘. The buzz this documentary has received from Sundance has probably been the best of any film to come out of this year’s festival, with many audience members consensus that this might have the most mainstream potential of most of the Sundance flock. Yesterday it was reported by First Showing, that the film was being screened at a Paramount lot where that attendees should “have seen and enjoyed” films like Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, Slumdog Millionaire or An Inconvenient Truth. Seems like Paramount could be potentially positioning this film to be their next big indie hit. To add fire to these allegations, additional mumblings about Paramount heavyweights J.J Abrams and Jason Blum are also said to be pushing for the film to be released through their studio. However at 1am, Deadline reported that Brett Ratner has made an offer for ‘Catfish‘ with no need for test screenings. The race for the film is heating up and I’m sure filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost are enjoying their options.

Do you want to see “Catfish“?

In this episode of the The Film Stage podcast Jordan Raup and Dan Mecca discuss Tom Vaughan’s Extraordinary Measures and Scott Stewart’s Legion. We also talk about Sundance Film Festival including Buried, The Company Men and Cyrus (read about them here). You can stream the episode below or download it here. (right click + save as…) Read the full story

I love it when music and movies come together. One of my favorite bands, Grizzly Bear scored Blue Valentine (starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams), which is at Sundance. Another film that is premiering at the fest is ODDSAC, a new Animal Collective “visual album”, directed by Danny Perez. Check out the trailer below and his other work here. Read the full story

The Sundance Film Festival is in full swing and I’ve gathered a number of reviews around the web. The first is for Rodrigo Cortés‘ Buried, the Ryan Reynolds indie vehicle (clip and teaser here). The next is for Cyrus, directed by the Duplass Brothers and starring John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei and Catherine Keener. Check out the trailer for that here and the review round-up below. Read the full story

With its exhilarating humor and catchy musical numbers, Bran Nue Dae is the most lighthearted film to come out of the Australian film industry in many years. Based on the 1990 stage musical of the same name, director Rachel Perkins has made an consistent effort to transition the visual dynamics of the production from stage to screen. Beautiful and engaging to look at, the film is nevertheless lacking in substance. The script remains in close affinity with its stage counterpart and, inevitably, Bran Nue Dae retains its simplicity. However, its innocent humor and good-natured coming-of-age theme manages to keep the audience willingly in their seats with a smile on their faces.

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Fox Searchlight has released the trailer for Cyrus, a new film by Mark and Jay Duplass. You may recognize Mark in last year’s Humpday or FX’s The League. Cyrus is premiering this week at Sundance Film Festival and stars John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener, and Matt Walsh. Check it out below via Apple.

Plot: With John’s social life at a standstill and his ex-wife about to get remarried, a down on his luck divorcee finally meets the woman of his dreams, only to discover she has another man in her life – her son. Written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, the iconoclastic filmmaking team behind Sundance Film Festival favorite THE PUFFY CHAIR, CYRUS takes an insightful and funny look at love and family in contemporary Los Angeles.

I haven’t seen their previous feature Baghead yet, but I loved Mark’s work on Humpday and The League. I’m looking forward to seeing the buzz at Sundance and the eventual theatrical release.

What do you think of the Cyrus trailer?