Bird is the Word: Meyer’s Debut a Well Meaning But Slight Observation
Bird watching seems to be something of a recent cinematic inspiration, though has yet to show much potential in the narrative realm thus far, with David Frankel’s 2011 comedic misfire The Big Year now joined by Rob Meyer’s directorial debut, A Birder’s Guide to Everything. Grappling with loss, strained familial relationships, and coming of age essence, various dilemmas congeal into a mostly light-hearted effort that seems to feel genuinely about its cluster of characters, even though, beyond the crux of its protagonists’ snazzy and oft unexplored hobby, Meyer and his cast can never mold the narrative into anything more than a standard affair. A few acute observations aside, it’s a slight film that feels most effective when utilizing the heavy hitters in its supporting cast.
David Portnoy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a 15 year old birding...
Bird watching seems to be something of a recent cinematic inspiration, though has yet to show much potential in the narrative realm thus far, with David Frankel’s 2011 comedic misfire The Big Year now joined by Rob Meyer’s directorial debut, A Birder’s Guide to Everything. Grappling with loss, strained familial relationships, and coming of age essence, various dilemmas congeal into a mostly light-hearted effort that seems to feel genuinely about its cluster of characters, even though, beyond the crux of its protagonists’ snazzy and oft unexplored hobby, Meyer and his cast can never mold the narrative into anything more than a standard affair. A few acute observations aside, it’s a slight film that feels most effective when utilizing the heavy hitters in its supporting cast.
David Portnoy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a 15 year old birding...
- 3/17/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
School Ties: Kent’s Latest Film Doesn’t Make the Grade
If you’re at all familiar with director Billy Kent’s previous film, 2006’s The Oh in Ohio, then his latest effort, HairBrained, will seem like an even greater disappointment. An oddly paced film revolving around mismatched underdogs wading through an overwhelming miasma of collegiate clichés feels far removed from the real world and isn’t charming or engaging enough to achieve the status of a situational parody or satire. Instead, Kent’s screenplay, which was co-written with Sarah Bird and Adam Wierzbianski, presents itself as a potential gimmick that soon reveals itself as nothing more than a cobbled together formula of wan dramatic tension with a grating finale that’s egregiously stale.
Eli Pettifog (Alex Wolff) is a 13 year old genius that’s skipped five grades and is about to enter his freshmen year in college. Sporting an unkempt bowl of gnarly,...
If you’re at all familiar with director Billy Kent’s previous film, 2006’s The Oh in Ohio, then his latest effort, HairBrained, will seem like an even greater disappointment. An oddly paced film revolving around mismatched underdogs wading through an overwhelming miasma of collegiate clichés feels far removed from the real world and isn’t charming or engaging enough to achieve the status of a situational parody or satire. Instead, Kent’s screenplay, which was co-written with Sarah Bird and Adam Wierzbianski, presents itself as a potential gimmick that soon reveals itself as nothing more than a cobbled together formula of wan dramatic tension with a grating finale that’s egregiously stale.
Eli Pettifog (Alex Wolff) is a 13 year old genius that’s skipped five grades and is about to enter his freshmen year in college. Sporting an unkempt bowl of gnarly,...
- 2/28/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
HairBrained is a dumb movie about a smart character named Eli Pettifog, a 13-year-old prodigy that does not have a discernible area of expertise for his talents, except for an encyclopedic mind. In Billy Kent’s prodigy-heads-to-college comedy, we rarely see him reading, studying or behaving like a regular person with an invaluable intelligence. He feels more like a quirky tool ripped off from Max Fischer’s precociousness and other hyperintelligent characters from books and the movies than a fully realized creation. Eli’s wacky, Einsteinian hairdo is his most unique quality.
Alex Wolff, already a multi-talented musician, plays Eli with a sarcastic tone and rarely offers more than a sullen look. In HairBrained, the young prodigy begins classes at Whitman, which he tells the audience is “the 37th best liberal arts college on the East coast.” He is 13 years old on his first day, while dorm neighbour Leo Searly (played by Brendan Fraser,...
Alex Wolff, already a multi-talented musician, plays Eli with a sarcastic tone and rarely offers more than a sullen look. In HairBrained, the young prodigy begins classes at Whitman, which he tells the audience is “the 37th best liberal arts college on the East coast.” He is 13 years old on his first day, while dorm neighbour Leo Searly (played by Brendan Fraser,...
- 2/28/2014
- by Jordan Adler
- We Got This Covered
All his life Eli, a 14-year old genius, has wanted to go to only one school. Harvard. But when the school rejects his application, he finds himself enrolled at Ivy League wannabe, Whittman College. When the Mastermind team from Harvard visits Whittman for a round of the competition, Eli has a rough run-in with the Harvard team afterwards. Eli finds some purpose and meaning when he makes himself the captain of Whittman College's Mastermind team. They go on to rout other colleges and Eli finds himself on a collision course with Harvard at the competition finale. Hairbrained rests on the lock-ladened shoulders of young Alex Wolff. He demonstrates a balance of fragility and cockiness in Eli as he finds his place in the school's Mastermind team and...
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- 2/27/2014
- Screen Anarchy
This weekend, Liam Neeson attempts to save his fellow passengers from a hijacked plane in "Non-Stop," the life story of Jesus comes to the big screen in "Son of God," and many more new releases make their way to select theaters.
"Non-Stop" stars Liam Neeson as an air marshal caught in a game of cat-and-mouse with a hijacker during a transatlantic flight. After receiving threatening text messages, the marshal springs into action to find the person responsible for holding the passengers hostage 10,000 feet in the air. Julianne Moore, Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave"), and Michelle Dockery ("Downtown Abbey") star in supporting roles.
From the makers of hit "The Bible" mini-series comes the inspirational "Son of God." The biblical film brings the biographical story of Jesus, from his humble birth through his teachings, crucifixion, and ultimate resurrection, to the big screen.
Also in theaters this weekend: Nominated for Best Animated Feature,...
"Non-Stop" stars Liam Neeson as an air marshal caught in a game of cat-and-mouse with a hijacker during a transatlantic flight. After receiving threatening text messages, the marshal springs into action to find the person responsible for holding the passengers hostage 10,000 feet in the air. Julianne Moore, Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave"), and Michelle Dockery ("Downtown Abbey") star in supporting roles.
From the makers of hit "The Bible" mini-series comes the inspirational "Son of God." The biblical film brings the biographical story of Jesus, from his humble birth through his teachings, crucifixion, and ultimate resurrection, to the big screen.
Also in theaters this weekend: Nominated for Best Animated Feature,...
- 2/27/2014
- by Jonny Black
- Moviefone
Billy Kent's charming HairBrained comes from a long legacy of collegiate comedies but still finds its own identity.
After he fails to get into Harvard, 14-year-old genius and hair farmer Eli (Alex Wolff) must settle for the fictional Whittman College. Ranked the 37th best small liberal arts college on the East Coast, Whittman is home to lovable losers like Leo (Brendan Fraser), a 41-year-old gambler trying to make a fresh start.
The picture's primary relationship isn't so much between Eli and Leo, but rather Eli and the members of Whittman's Collegiate Mastermind Team, who harness his encyclopedic knowledge of useless information in hopes of avoiding getting pounded by the quiz team from Eli's beloved Harvard.
HairBrained avoids becomes a slobs-v...
After he fails to get into Harvard, 14-year-old genius and hair farmer Eli (Alex Wolff) must settle for the fictional Whittman College. Ranked the 37th best small liberal arts college on the East Coast, Whittman is home to lovable losers like Leo (Brendan Fraser), a 41-year-old gambler trying to make a fresh start.
The picture's primary relationship isn't so much between Eli and Leo, but rather Eli and the members of Whittman's Collegiate Mastermind Team, who harness his encyclopedic knowledge of useless information in hopes of avoiding getting pounded by the quiz team from Eli's beloved Harvard.
HairBrained avoids becomes a slobs-v...
- 2/26/2014
- Village Voice
Former Nickelodeon star Alex Wolff is off to college. In HairBrained, he plays a 13-year old genius who gets into Whittman College but wishes he was attending Harvard. In the film, we see college can be a wild and dangerous place for a kid, but then again, not long ago Alex was a 10-year old TV and pop star which offers its own dangers. "I think there are similarities. Eli is there because he loves the academic part of college but he also has to deal with ... how hard it is to experience these things he doesn't want to experience just yet. I guess there's a part of me that relates to that, I love the acting and the music," Alex says of being in the Naked Brothers Band and its Nick show, "but I didn't always want to deal with some of what comes with it. I think for...
- 2/25/2014
- by tara@kidspickflicks.com (Tara the Mom)
- kidspickflicks
Vertical Entertainment has acquired all Us rights to the college comedy Hairbrained starring Brendan Fraser and Alex Wolff. Premiere Entertainment will handle international sales at Afm.
Billy Kent directed from the screenplay he co-wrote with Sarah Bird and Adam Wierzbianski about a teenage prodigy and Harvard reject who strikes up a friendship at college with a 41-year-old gambler.
Hairbrained is scheduled for release in February 2014.
Bird, Kent and Avram Ludwig produced and Stacy Blain, Stephanie Ingrassia, Tim Ingrassia and Jason Mraz served as executive producers.
Vertical and Premiere struck the deal.
Billy Kent directed from the screenplay he co-wrote with Sarah Bird and Adam Wierzbianski about a teenage prodigy and Harvard reject who strikes up a friendship at college with a 41-year-old gambler.
Hairbrained is scheduled for release in February 2014.
Bird, Kent and Avram Ludwig produced and Stacy Blain, Stephanie Ingrassia, Tim Ingrassia and Jason Mraz served as executive producers.
Vertical and Premiere struck the deal.
- 11/1/2013
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
We Are What We Are, breakout starlets, Julia Garner and Ambyr Childers will be attending the Cannes Film Festival. Julia a genre and indie queen in her own rightstarted out with a memorable supporting role in Martha Marcy May Marlene, echoing the trauma to come that Elizabeth Olsen's character endured and recently completed shooting for Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.
Julia recently wrapped Billy Kent's Hairbrained, starring Parker Posey, as well as David Chase's Not Fade Away with James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire). She can also be seen in Stephen Chbosky's The Perks Of Being A Wallflower.
Ambyr Childers started her career with an established spot on the daytime soap opera All My Children before breaking out in a pivotal role as the daughter of Philip Seymour Hoffman's character in the Oscar Nominated The Master. Recently, Ambyr can be seen in Gangster Squad and will soon be seen in the new Liev Schreiber show on Showtime, Ray Donovan.
In We Are What We Are, a re-imagining of the 2010 Mexican film of the same name, Jim Mickle paints a gripping and gruesome portrait of an introverted family struggling to keep their macabre traditions alive.
A seemingly wholesome and benevolent family, the Parkers have always kept to themselves, and for good reason. Behind closed doors, patriarch Frank (Bill Sage, Boardwalk Empire) rules his family with a rigorous ferver, determined to keep his ancestral customs intact at any cost. As a torrential rainstorm moves into the area, tragedy strikes and his daughters Iris (Ambyr Childers) and Rose (Julia Garner) are forced to assume responsibilities that extend beyond those of a typical family. As the unrelenting downpour continues to flood their small town, the local authorities begin to uncover clues that bring them closer to the secret that the Parkers have held closely for so many years.
Also starring Michael Parks (Django Unchained), Kelly McGillis (Stakeland), Nick Damici (Stakeland), Wyatt Russell (This is 40) and newcomer Jack Gore. Written by Mickle and Damici. The two previously collaborated on the screenplays for Mickle’s first two features, Mulberry Street and Stakeland (winner of the “Midnight Madness” Audience Award at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival).
Produced by Rodrigo Bellott, Andrew D. Corkin, Linda Moran, Nicholas Shumaker and Jack Turner.
Trt: 100 minutes
*We Are What We Are will have it's U.S. theatrical release this Fall through eOne.*
*Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight Premiere:*
May 21st, 2013 9:00Pm @ Theater Croisette
* Cannes Film Festival's Press Screening* May 21st, 2013 11:30Am @ Theater Croisette...
Julia recently wrapped Billy Kent's Hairbrained, starring Parker Posey, as well as David Chase's Not Fade Away with James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) and Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire). She can also be seen in Stephen Chbosky's The Perks Of Being A Wallflower.
Ambyr Childers started her career with an established spot on the daytime soap opera All My Children before breaking out in a pivotal role as the daughter of Philip Seymour Hoffman's character in the Oscar Nominated The Master. Recently, Ambyr can be seen in Gangster Squad and will soon be seen in the new Liev Schreiber show on Showtime, Ray Donovan.
In We Are What We Are, a re-imagining of the 2010 Mexican film of the same name, Jim Mickle paints a gripping and gruesome portrait of an introverted family struggling to keep their macabre traditions alive.
A seemingly wholesome and benevolent family, the Parkers have always kept to themselves, and for good reason. Behind closed doors, patriarch Frank (Bill Sage, Boardwalk Empire) rules his family with a rigorous ferver, determined to keep his ancestral customs intact at any cost. As a torrential rainstorm moves into the area, tragedy strikes and his daughters Iris (Ambyr Childers) and Rose (Julia Garner) are forced to assume responsibilities that extend beyond those of a typical family. As the unrelenting downpour continues to flood their small town, the local authorities begin to uncover clues that bring them closer to the secret that the Parkers have held closely for so many years.
Also starring Michael Parks (Django Unchained), Kelly McGillis (Stakeland), Nick Damici (Stakeland), Wyatt Russell (This is 40) and newcomer Jack Gore. Written by Mickle and Damici. The two previously collaborated on the screenplays for Mickle’s first two features, Mulberry Street and Stakeland (winner of the “Midnight Madness” Audience Award at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival).
Produced by Rodrigo Bellott, Andrew D. Corkin, Linda Moran, Nicholas Shumaker and Jack Turner.
Trt: 100 minutes
*We Are What We Are will have it's U.S. theatrical release this Fall through eOne.*
*Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight Premiere:*
May 21st, 2013 9:00Pm @ Theater Croisette
* Cannes Film Festival's Press Screening* May 21st, 2013 11:30Am @ Theater Croisette...
- 5/20/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Brooklyn Film Festival (Bff) announced their lineup and their opening feature, "HairBrained," starring Brendan Fraser and Parker Posey. This year's festival runs May 31 - June 9 and takes place in Williamsburg with screenings held at indieScreen and Windmill Studios. "HairBrained" centers on the plight of 14-year-old genius Eli Pettifog as he sets off to Whittman College, a second choice for Ivy League rejects. He is paired with another unlikely student, Leo, who is a 41-year-old seeking to start over after his gambling career ends. While initially less than trilled about their shared dorming situation, the odd pair form a friendship. Read below for the full lineup. Go here for more info. Narrative Features: A Wife Alone (USA) Dir. Justin Reichman - World Premiere Black Out (The Netherlands) Dir. Arne Toonen - East Coast Premiere Cut to Black (USA) Dir. Dan Eberle - World Premiere Detonator (USA) Dir. Damon Maulucci & Keir Politz...
- 5/8/2013
- by Cristina A. Gonzalez
- Indiewire
While there are still not enough good roles for women out there, particularly in mainstream Hollywood, that hasn't stopped a batch of young female stars from exploding from out of nowhere in recent years. Head-turning performances have helped launch faces like Carey Mulligan, Mia Wasikowska, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Felicity Jones and many others into the stratosphere, and the success last weekend of "The Hunger Games" has hopefully put to rest the fallacy that huge audiences won't turn up to big movies carried by a woman.
With that in mind, and hot on the heels of our ten picks for actors on the rise yesterday, we've chosen ten actresses who, while yet to be household names, have wowed audiences and casting directors in recent years, and look like strong contenders to headline the big movies of the future. Check our picks our below, and weigh in with your own tips in the comment section.
With that in mind, and hot on the heels of our ten picks for actors on the rise yesterday, we've chosen ten actresses who, while yet to be household names, have wowed audiences and casting directors in recent years, and look like strong contenders to headline the big movies of the future. Check our picks our below, and weigh in with your own tips in the comment section.
- 3/30/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
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