A filmmaker synonymous with American indie film but hasn’t been picked by Sundance in his first four features in Ape (2012), Buzzard (2014), The Alchemist Cookbook (2016) and Relaxer (2018), perhaps the narrative will change with his fifth feature which moved into production this past summer in Michigan. Joel Potrykus‘ Vulcanizadora sees his muse Joshua Burge for what is naturally a dark comedy.
Gist: This is described as a mind bending ride of comedy, suspense and utter devastation.
Production Co./Producers: Ashley Potrykus, Dan Berger, Dweck Productions’ Hannah Dweck, Factory 25’s Matt Grady.
Prediction: Next.
Sales: Factory 25.…...
Gist: This is described as a mind bending ride of comedy, suspense and utter devastation.
Production Co./Producers: Ashley Potrykus, Dan Berger, Dweck Productions’ Hannah Dweck, Factory 25’s Matt Grady.
Prediction: Next.
Sales: Factory 25.…...
- 11/17/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Dweck Productions has joined Joel Potrykus’ upcoming dark comedy feature “Vulcanizadora” which will star Joshua Burge.
“Vulcanizadora” will be written and directed by Potrykus, marking his fifth feature and fourth collaboration with Burge following “Ape,” “Buzzard” and “Relaxer.” Plot details for the feature have been kept under wraps with production commencing this summer in Michigan. Dweck joins the project as both producer and financier.
“‘Vulcanizadora’ is a mind bending ride of comedy, suspense and utter devastation, and we are thrilled to be producing the bold and daring fifth feature of the great Joel Potrykus,” said Dweck founder Hannah Dweck. “This is the exact type of boundary pushing, genre bending film we love to help bring to the screen. We can’t wait to watch this with an audience.”
Matt Grady, founder of independent film production and distribution company Factory 25, will produce “Vulcanizadora” alongside Ashley Potrykus and Dan Berger.
“I...
“Vulcanizadora” will be written and directed by Potrykus, marking his fifth feature and fourth collaboration with Burge following “Ape,” “Buzzard” and “Relaxer.” Plot details for the feature have been kept under wraps with production commencing this summer in Michigan. Dweck joins the project as both producer and financier.
“‘Vulcanizadora’ is a mind bending ride of comedy, suspense and utter devastation, and we are thrilled to be producing the bold and daring fifth feature of the great Joel Potrykus,” said Dweck founder Hannah Dweck. “This is the exact type of boundary pushing, genre bending film we love to help bring to the screen. We can’t wait to watch this with an audience.”
Matt Grady, founder of independent film production and distribution company Factory 25, will produce “Vulcanizadora” alongside Ashley Potrykus and Dan Berger.
“I...
- 5/22/2023
- by McKinley Franklin
- Variety Film + TV
After a major bidding war, Zach Cregger’s Barbarian follow-up Weapons landed at New Line and now we have a few major updates. With a shoot set to kick off this July, Production Weekly reports Rooney Mara will star in the project and they’ve revealed a logline: “A multi and inter-related story horror epic centered around witchcraft and missing children.” The film was previously described as being tonally in the vein of Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 epic Magnolia, so expect many more cast members to join the ensemble.
After Netflix announced August Wilson’s Broadway play The Piano Lesson is getting the big-screen treatment a few years back, we’ve now gleaned more about the players involved. Production Weekly reports that Malcolm Washington, Denzel Washington’s son, will direct the adaptation, while John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson will reprise their roles. Here’s the official synopsis:
At...
After Netflix announced August Wilson’s Broadway play The Piano Lesson is getting the big-screen treatment a few years back, we’ve now gleaned more about the players involved. Production Weekly reports that Malcolm Washington, Denzel Washington’s son, will direct the adaptation, while John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson will reprise their roles. Here’s the official synopsis:
At...
- 3/9/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
May on the Criterion Channel will be good to the auteurs. In fact they’re giving Richard Linklater better treatment than the distributor of his last film, with a 13-title retrospective mixing usual suspects—the Before trilogy, Boyhood, Slacker—with some truly off the beaten track. There’s a few shorts I haven’t seen but most intriguing is Heads I Win/Tails You Lose, the only available description of which calls it a four-hour (!) piece “edited together by Richard Linklater in 1991 from film countdowns and tail leaders from films submitted to the Austin Film Society in Austin, Texas from 1987 to 1990. It is Linklater’s tribute to the film countdown, used by many projectionists over the years to cue one reel of film after another when switching to another reel on another projector during projection.” Pair that with 2008’s Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach and your completionism will be on-track.
- 4/21/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Alt-j stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live to deliver a lively performance of the rock-inclined track, “Hard Drive Go.”
“Hard Drive Gold” comes off Alt-j’s most recent LP, The Dream, which dropped February 11 via Canvasback/Infectious Music. The Dream, which marks Alt-j’s first studio album since 2017’s Relaxer, was announced with a video for single “U&me” back in September. In a statement about the track, keyboardist and vocalist Gus Unger-Hamilton said, “It’s about being at a festival with your best friends, having a good time, togetherness, and...
“Hard Drive Gold” comes off Alt-j’s most recent LP, The Dream, which dropped February 11 via Canvasback/Infectious Music. The Dream, which marks Alt-j’s first studio album since 2017’s Relaxer, was announced with a video for single “U&me” back in September. In a statement about the track, keyboardist and vocalist Gus Unger-Hamilton said, “It’s about being at a festival with your best friends, having a good time, togetherness, and...
- 4/5/2022
- by Emily Zemler
- Rollingstone.com
Alt-j looked to both the past and they present during their Monday visit to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The group performed their latest single “U&me” from their recently released album The Dream on the show before revisiting their 2012 single “Breezeblocks” as a web exclusive to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the British indie rock trio’s Mercury Prize-winning album, An Awesome Wave.
Alt-j recently released The Dream, the group’s first studio album since 2017’s Relaxer. They announced the record with a video for “U&me.” In a statement about the track,...
Alt-j recently released The Dream, the group’s first studio album since 2017’s Relaxer. They announced the record with a video for “U&me.” In a statement about the track,...
- 2/22/2022
- by Kat Bouza
- Rollingstone.com
Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired U.S. rights to “Stanleyville,” starring “Goodnight Mommy’s” Susanne Wuest, ahead of the film’s world premiere at this month’s Fantasia Film Festival.
One of the high-profile Fantasia deal announcements, the pick-up, brokered with Yellow Veil Pictures, will see Oscilloscope open “Stanleyville” in U.S. theaters this Winter.
“Stanleyville” marks the feature film debut of Canadian actor-turned-director Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, who has appeared in a slew of movies and TV series, including “Antibirth,” “Lars and the Real Girl,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “Tin Star.”
Directed by Bruce McDonald, McCabe-Lokos’ first feature screenplay, “The Husband,” which he starred in, premiered at Toronto 2013. His directorial debut, 2016 short “Ape Sodom,” and 2017 short “Midnight Confession” were also both selected for Toronto.
Written by McCabe-Lokos and Rob Benvie, who also took a co-scribe credit on “Midnight Confession,” “Stanleyville” brings McCabe-Lokos’ satirical vision of the state of the modern world to...
One of the high-profile Fantasia deal announcements, the pick-up, brokered with Yellow Veil Pictures, will see Oscilloscope open “Stanleyville” in U.S. theaters this Winter.
“Stanleyville” marks the feature film debut of Canadian actor-turned-director Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, who has appeared in a slew of movies and TV series, including “Antibirth,” “Lars and the Real Girl,” “The Incredible Hulk” and “Tin Star.”
Directed by Bruce McDonald, McCabe-Lokos’ first feature screenplay, “The Husband,” which he starred in, premiered at Toronto 2013. His directorial debut, 2016 short “Ape Sodom,” and 2017 short “Midnight Confession” were also both selected for Toronto.
Written by McCabe-Lokos and Rob Benvie, who also took a co-scribe credit on “Midnight Confession,” “Stanleyville” brings McCabe-Lokos’ satirical vision of the state of the modern world to...
- 8/2/2021
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
One of the breakouts of the 2019 South by Southwest Film Festival was Grace Glowicki’s feature debut “Tito,” the story of an introverted slacker that teeters on the edge between buddy movie and experimental, post-apocalyptic nightmare. As the movie has just been acquired by Factory 25 to be released in virtual cinemas on July 10, IndieWire shares the wild exclusive trailer for “Tito” below.
Tito, played by director and writer Grace Glowicki, is trapped. He’s got the classic slacker look, with long black hair and greasy sideburns, but also an emergency whistle dangling from his neck that tells you something is off. That’s because Tito is so stricken with fear, he’s developed a hunch in his back. Any attempt to venture into the outside world is futile, and met by the hostility of elusive predators who hunt him relentlessly. As Tito is starved for food and security, his...
Tito, played by director and writer Grace Glowicki, is trapped. He’s got the classic slacker look, with long black hair and greasy sideburns, but also an emergency whistle dangling from his neck that tells you something is off. That’s because Tito is so stricken with fear, he’s developed a hunch in his back. Any attempt to venture into the outside world is futile, and met by the hostility of elusive predators who hunt him relentlessly. As Tito is starved for food and security, his...
- 6/23/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
One of the breakouts of the 2019 South by Southwest Film Festival was Grace Glowicki’s feature debut “Tito,” the story of an introverted slacker that teeters on the edge between buddy movie and experimental, post-apocalyptic nightmare. As the movie has just been acquired by Factory 25 to be released in virtual cinemas on July 10, IndieWire shares the wild exclusive trailer for “Tito” below.
Tito, played by director and writer Grace Glowicki, is trapped. He’s got the classic slacker look, with long black hair and greasy sideburns, but also an emergency whistle dangling from his neck that tells you something is off. That’s because Tito is so stricken with fear, he’s developed a hunch in his back. Any attempt to venture into the outside world is futile, and met by the hostility of elusive predators who hunt him relentlessly. As Tito is starved for food and security, his...
Tito, played by director and writer Grace Glowicki, is trapped. He’s got the classic slacker look, with long black hair and greasy sideburns, but also an emergency whistle dangling from his neck that tells you something is off. That’s because Tito is so stricken with fear, he’s developed a hunch in his back. Any attempt to venture into the outside world is futile, and met by the hostility of elusive predators who hunt him relentlessly. As Tito is starved for food and security, his...
- 6/23/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Exclusive: U.S. sales outfit Yellow Veil Pictures has scored a raft of territory deals across its slate, including a five-picture deal with Australia/New Zealand releaser Umbrella Entertainment.
Umbrella has picked up territory rights for Rob Grant’s lost-at-sea crowd-pleaser Harpoon, Josh Lobo’s mystery-horror I Trapped The Devil, Jack-Henry Robbins’ retro comedy VHYes, Joel Potrykus’ apocalypse comedy Relaxer, and Larry Fessenden’s horror thriller Depraved.
Yellow Veil has sold four titles to Spanish outfit Wild Duck Productions: Depraved, I Trapped The Devil, as well as A.T. White’s cosmic-horror Starfish, and Tilman Singer’s German thriller Luz; HBO Europe has boarded Luz for Central and Eastern European countries.
Finally, German releaser Koch Films has taken Harpoon for German-Speaking Europe, and The Great Company has taken the movie for South Korea. In Harpoon, rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension emerge when three best friends find themselves stranded on...
Umbrella has picked up territory rights for Rob Grant’s lost-at-sea crowd-pleaser Harpoon, Josh Lobo’s mystery-horror I Trapped The Devil, Jack-Henry Robbins’ retro comedy VHYes, Joel Potrykus’ apocalypse comedy Relaxer, and Larry Fessenden’s horror thriller Depraved.
Yellow Veil has sold four titles to Spanish outfit Wild Duck Productions: Depraved, I Trapped The Devil, as well as A.T. White’s cosmic-horror Starfish, and Tilman Singer’s German thriller Luz; HBO Europe has boarded Luz for Central and Eastern European countries.
Finally, German releaser Koch Films has taken Harpoon for German-Speaking Europe, and The Great Company has taken the movie for South Korea. In Harpoon, rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual tension emerge when three best friends find themselves stranded on...
- 2/24/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
“Chained for Life” opens with a long quotation from Pauline Kael, the point of which is difficult to disagree with: actors and actresses tend to be more beautiful than the rest of us. Though the reason for this phenomenon is simple enough — people enjoy looking at pretty things, including and especially other people — its effects tend to be more complicated.
One case in point is writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s film, which makes good on its epigraph by exploring our conception of beauty (among many other things) with unexpected tenderness — unexpected because, at first glance, it looks like an ill-advised riff on “Freaks” that could easily turn exploitative.
Alongside Jess Weixler (“It Chapter Two”), who’s one of countless thespians to demonstrate Kael’s point, the film stars Adam Pearson, a performer familiar both for his scene-stealing turn in “Under the Skin” and for a condition called neurofibromatosis, which covers his face in tumors.
One case in point is writer-director Aaron Schimberg’s film, which makes good on its epigraph by exploring our conception of beauty (among many other things) with unexpected tenderness — unexpected because, at first glance, it looks like an ill-advised riff on “Freaks” that could easily turn exploitative.
Alongside Jess Weixler (“It Chapter Two”), who’s one of countless thespians to demonstrate Kael’s point, the film stars Adam Pearson, a performer familiar both for his scene-stealing turn in “Under the Skin” and for a condition called neurofibromatosis, which covers his face in tumors.
- 9/10/2019
- by Michael Nordine
- The Wrap
A modern-day reimagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein from one of the most influential and innovative voices in independent horror, Larry Fessenden’s Depraved has been acquired by IFC Midnight for Us distribution.
As shared by The Hollywood Reporter, Depraved is expected to receive a release in the Us this fall from IFC Midnight (following its screening at the upcoming Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans).
Check out the full press release with more details below, and in case you missed it, read our recent interview with Fessenden, who discussed the making of Depraved.
Press Release: Cannes - May 14, 2019 – IFC Midnight announced today that it is acquiring U.S. rights to Larry Fessenden’s Depraved, his modern Brooklyn-set Frankenstein adaptation. The film stars David Call (The Sinner), Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project), Alex Breaux (Bushwick), Ana Kayne (Another Earth), Chloë Levine, and Addison Timlin (The Town That Dreaded Sundown...
As shared by The Hollywood Reporter, Depraved is expected to receive a release in the Us this fall from IFC Midnight (following its screening at the upcoming Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans).
Check out the full press release with more details below, and in case you missed it, read our recent interview with Fessenden, who discussed the making of Depraved.
Press Release: Cannes - May 14, 2019 – IFC Midnight announced today that it is acquiring U.S. rights to Larry Fessenden’s Depraved, his modern Brooklyn-set Frankenstein adaptation. The film stars David Call (The Sinner), Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project), Alex Breaux (Bushwick), Ana Kayne (Another Earth), Chloë Levine, and Addison Timlin (The Town That Dreaded Sundown...
- 5/14/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSThe Cannes Film Festival has announced its official poster, a tribute to the late Agnès Varda. The poster depicts Varda on the set of her very first feature, La pointe courte (1955). We are saddened by the news that the brilliant Swedish actress Bibi Andersson died at the age of 83. Best known for her remarkable turns in The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, and Persona, Ronald Bergan provides a thorough obituary of the timeless artist for The Guardian.Recommended VIEWINGThe first teaser for J.J. Abrams conclusion to the new Star Wars trilogy, Episode IX: The Rise Of Skywalker. We published an extensive 5-part dialogue conducted last year that wrestles with George Lucas's much contested prequels.Kino Lorber's trailer for the re-release of Frank Simon's The Queen (1968), a documentary about the Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest,...
- 4/17/2019
- MUBI
RelaxerThere is no clear, direct film comparison to provide for Joel Potrykus’s Relaxer. It can feel like a blender of one director’s proclivities and tastes. That speaks well for Potrykus’s imagination, one who alchemizes and is inspired by polar opposite film sensibilities, as there are times Relaxer looks and goes in directions uncharted by current American independent cinema. In its play-like staging, gross-out humor, and signifiers of the end of the century that tease an alternative reality, Relaxer is a gnarly, minimalist tour de force, Sartre’s No Exit for the Y2K period slacker. Slackerdom is hardly the new exploration in American indies. Richard Linklater built his career on such character types. His slackers, however, carried an air of pretension to occupy themselves, like reading the classics or deep-diving into conspiracy theories. Even with Linklater’s Rohmerian style of centering philosophical conversations, his works had an...
- 4/17/2019
- MUBI
Occasionally, some trailers slip through the cracks. That’s where a trailer roundup comes in handy. Below, watch as Taylor Schilling tries to bond with a juggalo, Molly Shannon plays Emily Dickinson, Dolph Lundgren fights zombies, and more films that may not have huge blockbuster heat, but are still worth checking out. Family In Family, Taylor Schilling is […]
The post Trailer Roundup: ‘Family’, ‘Wild Nights With Emily’, ‘Relaxer’, ‘Who Would You Take to a Deserted Island?’, ‘Dead Trigger’, ‘Kevin Hart: Irresponsible’, ‘Our Planet’ appeared first on /Film.
The post Trailer Roundup: ‘Family’, ‘Wild Nights With Emily’, ‘Relaxer’, ‘Who Would You Take to a Deserted Island?’, ‘Dead Trigger’, ‘Kevin Hart: Irresponsible’, ‘Our Planet’ appeared first on /Film.
- 3/29/2019
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
A brief and ugly affair, Tito is a weird for the sake of weird midnight cult film that overstays itself welcome by design: the patriarchy and its byproduct of obnoxious, drunk men have also overstayed their welcome. In a year where SXSW offered mindless sex comedies like Good Boys alongside thoughtful ones like Yes, God, Yes, Tito aims to offer an angrier response: a striking horror film about victimhood without providing easy answers. Reaching this conclusion requires heavy lifting and the testing of patience; like last year’s masterpiece Relaxer, Tito offers a universe that is quite difficult to enter and inhabit.
Written, directed, and starring Grace Glowicki, she plays Tito, a cisgendered male who befriends an obnoxious geek John (Ben Petrie), an intruder from next door who arrives in Tito’s life and refuses to leave. Like Relaxer, the film offers a good chunk of hanging out and discussion that seems to go nowhere,...
Written, directed, and starring Grace Glowicki, she plays Tito, a cisgendered male who befriends an obnoxious geek John (Ben Petrie), an intruder from next door who arrives in Tito’s life and refuses to leave. Like Relaxer, the film offers a good chunk of hanging out and discussion that seems to go nowhere,...
- 3/24/2019
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
When it comes to indie filmmaking, few directors get as much mileage out of their limited budget than Joel Potrykus. Rooted in an often humorous, dark perspective, his work puts character first and his latest film, Relaxer, is perhaps the most ideal example of his inventive eye. Arriving in theaters in the director’s hometown of Grand Rapids today (and expanding to NYC and beyond starting next week), the film follows a couch-bound challenge taken to the extreme as Y2K approaches. We’re pleased to present an exclusive clip from the film, which features Joshua Burge getting a visit from Andre Hyland (who also steals the show in the Sundance hit The Death of Dick Long) as they discuss Jerry Maguire and present a challenge within a challenge.
John Fink said in our review, “While many indie filmmakers like Andrew Bujalski started making films in apartments with their friends...
John Fink said in our review, “While many indie filmmakers like Andrew Bujalski started making films in apartments with their friends...
- 3/22/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It’s been over a week since we shared the trailer and release information for Joel Potrykus’ latest “slacker horror” movie, Relaxer. Steeped with 90s-era nostalgia and Y2K paranoia, it looks both extremely entertaining and vastly gross. Relaxer was a smash at SXSW in 2018 and will enjoy a limited theatrical release beginning this Friday, March […] The post Exclusive Clip from Slacker Horror Relaxer Accepts an Outlandish Challenge appeared first on Dread Central.
- 3/20/2019
- by Josh Millican
- DreadCentral.com
Sitting on a couch playing video games can be a ton of fun. The experience, whether alone or with friends, has been a staple of adolescent and adult entertainment for over a generation now. Some look at it like the lark that it can be. Others, they see it as a detriment to society and part of humanity’s downfall. To some degree, that’s explored in Relaxer, an independent comedy hitting theaters this week. However, what’s more fully on display is a bizarre exercise in discomfort. It’s going to prove divisive for those who see it. This humble critic did not care for it one bit. In fact, it was an actively unpleasant experience. The movie is supposedly a comedy, set in the year 1999. With the impending potential Y2K apocalypse fast approaching, Abbie (Joshua Burge) is stuck on a couch, undergoing abuse from his older brother...
- 3/18/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
NEWSCarolee Schneemann by Lynne SachsThe great Carolee Schneemann has died, gifting us with an inimitable legacy as a trailblazing avant-garde feminist filmmaker, painter, cat lover, performance artist, and much more. Lynne Sachs's 2017 documentary, Carolee, Barbara and Gunvor, previously screened on Mubi in partnership with the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. Read Sachs's introduction of the short film, and recollection of a life's friendship with Schneemann, here.The master film editor Thelma Schoonmaker has announced plans to publish the diaries of her late husband, filmmaker Michael Powell (The Red Shoes). "I want people to be able to read about all the great movies we lost," she states. "The ones he had hoped to make.” Recommended VIEWINGOlivier Assayas's satirical comedy on book publishing, the changing media landscape, and, of course, romantic coupling get a U.S. trailer.In the event of its new restoration, the controversial British dancehall cult-classic Babylon has a shining new trailer.
- 3/14/2019
- MUBI
The writer-director behind the upcoming film “Relaxer,” Joel Potrykus, is able to sum up his incredibly unique film best when he says, “All I’ve ever dreamed about is living on a couch, playing video games with no one bugging me. ‘Relaxer’ is the nightmare version of my fantasy.”
As seen in the first trailer for “Relaxer,” the nightmare aspect of the statement is shown to its fullest extent.
Continue reading ‘Relaxer’ Trailer: Filmmaker Joel Potrykus’ Video Game Nightmare Is Disturbing & Hilarious at The Playlist.
As seen in the first trailer for “Relaxer,” the nightmare aspect of the statement is shown to its fullest extent.
Continue reading ‘Relaxer’ Trailer: Filmmaker Joel Potrykus’ Video Game Nightmare Is Disturbing & Hilarious at The Playlist.
- 3/8/2019
- by Charles Barfield
- The Playlist
“All I’ve ever dreamed about is living on a couch, playing video games with no one bugging me. Relaxer is the nightmare version of my fantasy,” so says Joel Potrykus when it comes to his latest unsettling, yet riveting film. A fitting companion with his brilliant Buzzard, the Y2K-set feature stars Joshua Burge as he undertakes a challenge with grave consequences. Oscilloscope Pictures has now released the first trailer, which grabs a quote from our SXSW review.
John Fink said in our review, “While many indie filmmakers like Andrew Bujalski started making films in apartments with their friends and scaled up to larger projects, Michigan-based madman Joel Potrykus has gleefully and unapologetically scaled down as his career has progressed. His fourth outing, Relaxer, barely even takes place in an apartment, but rather in the corner of a living room where Abbie (Joshua Burge) is stuck on a couch for nearly six months.
John Fink said in our review, “While many indie filmmakers like Andrew Bujalski started making films in apartments with their friends and scaled up to larger projects, Michigan-based madman Joel Potrykus has gleefully and unapologetically scaled down as his career has progressed. His fourth outing, Relaxer, barely even takes place in an apartment, but rather in the corner of a living room where Abbie (Joshua Burge) is stuck on a couch for nearly six months.
- 3/8/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"You do not leave this couch until the challenge is completed!" Oscilloscope Labs has debuted the trailer for a demented, wacky indie film titled Relaxer, which premiered at the SXSW Film Festival last year. Relaxer is the latest work from American filmmaker Joel Potrykus, who has been making some super funky little films including Ape, Buzzard, and The Alchemist Cookbook. This one is just as funky as all of those: With the impending Y2K apocalypse fast approaching, Abbie is faced with the ultimate challenge - the unbeatable level 256 on Pac-Man - and he can't get off the couch until he conquers it. A survival story in a living room. Starring Joshua Burge, David Dastmalchian, Andre Hyland, Madi Bachman, & Amari Cheatom. This looks totally gross and ridiculous, but apparently "an unforgettable experience" according to one critic. Here's the first official trailer (+ crazy poster) for Joel Potrykus' Relaxer, direct from YouTube...
- 3/7/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
I've been playing a lot of Red Dead Redemption 2 lately. A Lot. I make sure I get my work done, but at a certain hour, this wild west video game calls to me, and my cat snuggles on my lap while I immerse myself to the point of not even turning my head when my boyfriend comes home. So I understand what writer/director Joel Potrykus means when he says of his new film, "All I’ve ever dreamed about is living on a couch, playing video games with no one bugging me. Relaxer is the nightmare version of my fantasy." Doom and gloom are on the way. The Y2K apocalypse can't be stopped. Abbie's older brother issues him the ultimate challenge before it goes down:...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 3/7/2019
- Screen Anarchy
The post-apocalypse can be a lonely place, especially when you think you might be the only human left alive. Following its world premiere at Fantastic Fest last year (read Heather Wixson's interview with writer/director A.T. White here), Starfish (starring Virginia Gardner from 2018's Halloween) will be released in select theaters this March and April ahead of its Digital and VOD release on May 28th from Yellow Veil Pictures and The Orchard, and you can now watch the cosmic horror film's mind-bending trailer.
Press Release: Yellow Veil Pictures and 1091 Media's The Orchard have released the first trailer for upcoming cosmic horror Starfish, featuring a dazzling lead performance from Virginia Gardner. The film begins it’s theatrical roadshow tour starting in NYC on March 13 with a rollout in other cities through late April, followed by the Digital/VOD release May 28. Full list of theatrical dates can be found below.
Press Release: Yellow Veil Pictures and 1091 Media's The Orchard have released the first trailer for upcoming cosmic horror Starfish, featuring a dazzling lead performance from Virginia Gardner. The film begins it’s theatrical roadshow tour starting in NYC on March 13 with a rollout in other cities through late April, followed by the Digital/VOD release May 28. Full list of theatrical dates can be found below.
- 2/14/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Genre festival will screen the Nordic premiere of Stivaletti’s ‘Rabbia Furiosa’.
Genre festival Night Visions has revealed the line-up for this year’s event which will run from Nov 21-25 in the Finnish capital of Helsinki.
The screenings will include Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria, Gaspar Noe’s Climax, Yann Gonzalez’s Knife + Heart, Jim Hosking’s An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, Quentin Dupieux’s Keep An Eye Out, Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade, Joel Potrykus’ Relaxer, Emma Tammi’s The Wind, Jimmy Henderson’s The Prey, Jonas Akerlund’s Lords of Chaos, and omnibus The Field Guide to Evil.
Genre festival Night Visions has revealed the line-up for this year’s event which will run from Nov 21-25 in the Finnish capital of Helsinki.
The screenings will include Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria, Gaspar Noe’s Climax, Yann Gonzalez’s Knife + Heart, Jim Hosking’s An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, Quentin Dupieux’s Keep An Eye Out, Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade, Joel Potrykus’ Relaxer, Emma Tammi’s The Wind, Jimmy Henderson’s The Prey, Jonas Akerlund’s Lords of Chaos, and omnibus The Field Guide to Evil.
- 10/31/2018
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
James Frey has a fascinating story. Unfortunately for him, the most fascinating (and factual) part of that story didn’t start until after he published his best-selling, Oprah-endorsed 2003 memoir about his substance addiction and subsequent rehab, “A Million Little Pieces.” Only in January 2006, when an investigative report called “A Million Little Lies” alleged that Frey had fabricated many of the details in his book, did his true legacy begin to take shape.
But while some were quick to call it a scandal and throw the baby out with the bathwater, film people were perhaps a bit more forgiving; we work in a medium that’s dependent upon illusion, and intrinsically encourages storytellers to pursue truth even at the expense of facts. Werner Herzog might argue that, if “A Million Little Pieces” was helpful or inspiring for the addicts who needed it most, then a few embellishments are a small price to pay.
But while some were quick to call it a scandal and throw the baby out with the bathwater, film people were perhaps a bit more forgiving; we work in a medium that’s dependent upon illusion, and intrinsically encourages storytellers to pursue truth even at the expense of facts. Werner Herzog might argue that, if “A Million Little Pieces” was helpful or inspiring for the addicts who needed it most, then a few embellishments are a small price to pay.
- 9/11/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Alt-j and Danny Brown explore how our governments perpetuate evil in their disturbing, computer-animated video for the Alchemist/Trooko version of “Deadcrush.”
Brown stars in director Jeron Braxton’s warped clip, which draws on the aesthetic of Nineties video games. The piece is filled with demons, mutant dogs and government agents filtering drugs and weapons onto city streets.
In a statement, Braxton said he wanted to “create something that complemented the dark tones” of “Deadcrush.” He added, “Visually the video tells the story of how the CIA introduced old guns...
Brown stars in director Jeron Braxton’s warped clip, which draws on the aesthetic of Nineties video games. The piece is filled with demons, mutant dogs and government agents filtering drugs and weapons onto city streets.
In a statement, Braxton said he wanted to “create something that complemented the dark tones” of “Deadcrush.” He added, “Visually the video tells the story of how the CIA introduced old guns...
- 9/5/2018
- by Ryan Reed
- Rollingstone.com
Pusha-t and Alt-j traverse an uncanny digital world in the new video for their “In Cold Blood” collaboration, which was produced by Twin Shadow for Alt-j’s upcoming remix album, Reduxer, out September 28th.
The “In Cold Blood” clip follows a digitized version of Pusha-t as he navigates a surreal world built out of choppy, old school 3D animation. Halfway through the video, the rapper seems to uncover a crystal that transports him into a slightly different universe, which the clip’s director, Osean, said was meant to represent the...
The “In Cold Blood” clip follows a digitized version of Pusha-t as he navigates a surreal world built out of choppy, old school 3D animation. Halfway through the video, the rapper seems to uncover a crystal that transports him into a slightly different universe, which the clip’s director, Osean, said was meant to represent the...
- 7/31/2018
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Nosipho Dumisa wins best director award for Number 37.
The 22nd Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal has announced its juried award winners, including Daniel Roby’s best film award recipient and opening night sci-fi thriller Dans La Brume starring Romain Duris and Olga Kurylenko.
Nosipho Dumisa won the best director award for Number 37, while Isa Mazzei’s Cam received the best screenplay award. Joshua Burge won best actor for his role in Relaxer, and Kim Da-mi won best actress for The Witch Part 1: The Subversion.
Each of these awards was decided by the Cheval Noir Jury, which was led...
The 22nd Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal has announced its juried award winners, including Daniel Roby’s best film award recipient and opening night sci-fi thriller Dans La Brume starring Romain Duris and Olga Kurylenko.
Nosipho Dumisa won the best director award for Number 37, while Isa Mazzei’s Cam received the best screenplay award. Joshua Burge won best actor for his role in Relaxer, and Kim Da-mi won best actress for The Witch Part 1: The Subversion.
Each of these awards was decided by the Cheval Noir Jury, which was led...
- 7/24/2018
- by Jenn Sherman
- ScreenDaily
Alt-j tapped Danny Brown and producers the Alchemist and Trooko to rework their song “Deadcrush” into a sleek jam. The track will appear on Alt-j’s upcoming remix album, Reduxer, out September 28th via Canvasback/Atlantic.
Alchemist and Trooko embrace and expand the steady, spaced-out vibe of Alt-j’s original, deepening its drum groove and slathering singer Joe Newman’s vocals in echo and reverb. Danny Brown’s verses provide a punchy counter-balance with the Detroit rapper spitting, “It’s a war outside, ain’t no one safe/ Wave my...
Alchemist and Trooko embrace and expand the steady, spaced-out vibe of Alt-j’s original, deepening its drum groove and slathering singer Joe Newman’s vocals in echo and reverb. Danny Brown’s verses provide a punchy counter-balance with the Detroit rapper spitting, “It’s a war outside, ain’t no one safe/ Wave my...
- 7/17/2018
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
One has to ask if the residents of North Bend, Washington, will be adequately prepared for what is coming to their quaint little Pacific northwest town during the last full weekend in August this Summer. The inagural North Bend Film Festival is coming the town of Damn Fine Coffee next month; it has announed the final wave of films in the lineup. UK horror comedy musical Anna And The Apocalypse continues to roll out further into the festival circuit and will close the festival. Other festival regulars at this point, Relaxer and Piercing, are also in the lineup this year. There will also be a rep screening of the Pacific Northwest set drama My Private Idaho from Gus Van Sant, starring Keanu Reeves and...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 7/11/2018
- Screen Anarchy
If any Canadian festival is worthy of having its name spoken alongside the behemoth that is Tiff, the Fantasia International Film Festival and its eclectic bunch of genre fare is it. Currently in its 22nd year, the excitement surrounding its line-up has never been better with its fair share of world, international, and Canadian premieres from artists as far-ranging as festival favorite Satoshi Miki to innovator Josephine Decker (Madeline’s Madeline) to retro screenings from the likes of Mario Bava (Blood and Black Lace) and Joe Dante (Gremlins and The Howling).
Things kick off with Daniel Roby’s Olga Kurylenko and Romain Duris starring Dans la brume on July 12th and continue until August 1st drops the world premiere of Kam Ka-Wai’s Big Brother and the Canadian premiere of Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy.
In between comes world premieres of the John Sayles-produced The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot...
Things kick off with Daniel Roby’s Olga Kurylenko and Romain Duris starring Dans la brume on July 12th and continue until August 1st drops the world premiere of Kam Ka-Wai’s Big Brother and the Canadian premiere of Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy.
In between comes world premieres of the John Sayles-produced The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot...
- 7/10/2018
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
The Traverse City Film Festival is celebrating its 14th year in 2018 by bringing together some of the year’s best indies and documentaries, plus classics from Jonathan Demme, Hal Ashby, and more. The Michigan-set festival, backed by Michael Moore, is being run in 2018 by directors Susan Fisher and Meg Weichman, who have worked on the festival for nearly a decade and have been at the helm since December.
Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 (click here for the official festival website). Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15.
The full lineup for the 2018 Traverse City Film Festival is below.
Opening Night: “Rbg”
Centerpiece: “Hearts Beat Loud”
Closing Night: “Burden”
Open Space
“Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich
“Black Panther,...
Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 (click here for the official festival website). Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15.
The full lineup for the 2018 Traverse City Film Festival is below.
Opening Night: “Rbg”
Centerpiece: “Hearts Beat Loud”
Closing Night: “Burden”
Open Space
“Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich
“Black Panther,...
- 6/29/2018
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Top brass unveil full line-up.
The 22nd edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal will close with the world premiere of Donnie Yen martial arts film Big Brother and the Canadian premiere of Nicolas Cage action thriller Mandy.
On Thursday (June 28) the festival released its complete line-up of more than 125 features and 220 shorts, including more than 100 premieres. It runs from July 12-August 1.
Five of the features on the roster originated through Fantasia’s film production market, Frontieres. These are Chained For Life, The Dark, Knuckleball, The Night Eats The World, and The Ranger.
Other Canadian premieres include Demian Rugna’s Terrified,...
The 22nd edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal will close with the world premiere of Donnie Yen martial arts film Big Brother and the Canadian premiere of Nicolas Cage action thriller Mandy.
On Thursday (June 28) the festival released its complete line-up of more than 125 features and 220 shorts, including more than 100 premieres. It runs from July 12-August 1.
Five of the features on the roster originated through Fantasia’s film production market, Frontieres. These are Chained For Life, The Dark, Knuckleball, The Night Eats The World, and The Ranger.
Other Canadian premieres include Demian Rugna’s Terrified,...
- 6/28/2018
- by Jenn Sherman
- ScreenDaily
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment where Joel Potrykus decided to blow off the Hollywood studio projects sent his way and instead make wacky movies like “Relaxer,” which takes place in a living room and revolves around a guy playing “Pacman” on the brink of Y2K. But it might have been around the time that time someone suggested he direct a sequel to the found footage party movie “Project X.” He’d reached a breaking point.
“I was offered all these scripts for, like, sequels to mid-level successful movies, and I was like, ‘Why?’” Potrykus said in an interview with IndieWire at the SXSW Film Festival in March. “It’s like painting something and then handing off to someone so they can paint over it. Why spend all that time? I have a job that pays well, so I’m not making movies for money.”
Potrykus teaches...
“I was offered all these scripts for, like, sequels to mid-level successful movies, and I was like, ‘Why?’” Potrykus said in an interview with IndieWire at the SXSW Film Festival in March. “It’s like painting something and then handing off to someone so they can paint over it. Why spend all that time? I have a job that pays well, so I’m not making movies for money.”
Potrykus teaches...
- 6/27/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
For the best in new American independent cinema, Brooklyn’s BAMcinémaFest continually curates the finest selection from previous festivals, as well as new premieres.. They’ve now unveiled this year’s slate for the festival running from June 20-July 1, including some of my favorite films of the year thus far as well as highly-anticipated festival favorites and the world premieres of Michael Koresky, Jeff Reichert & Farihah Zaman’s Feast of the Epiphany, Lev Kalman & Whitney Horn’s Two Plains & a Fancy, and Aaron Schimberg’s Chained for Life.
“We are proud to present work that is compelling, defiant, and ultimately thrilling,”says Gina Duncan, Bam’s Associate Vice President of Cinema. “It feels appropriate to celebrate the tenth BAMcinemaFest with a line-up of films and filmmakers whose energy and adventurousness hints at something profound taking root. I can’t wait to see what it bears.” See the lineup below and for more information,...
“We are proud to present work that is compelling, defiant, and ultimately thrilling,”says Gina Duncan, Bam’s Associate Vice President of Cinema. “It feels appropriate to celebrate the tenth BAMcinemaFest with a line-up of films and filmmakers whose energy and adventurousness hints at something profound taking root. I can’t wait to see what it bears.” See the lineup below and for more information,...
- 5/2/2018
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Great cinema is sometimes grand themes, dramatic camerawork, and sophisticated montage; or, it’s a guy playing “Pac Man” for 90 minutes. Joel Potrykus’ “Relaxer,” the latest wacky gambit from the Michigan-based provocateur, finds the “Buzzard” director reteaming with his perennial star Joshua Burge, again taking a cartoonish lowbrow approach to acerbic social critique. Set on the eve of Y2K, “Relaxer” exclusively takes place in the confines of a living room, where Burge’s character endures prolonged attempts to reach an impossible high score on the the aforementioned video game, while enduring hardships that include milk vomit, fecal matter, overheated cartridges, and rat poison. It’s a grotesque downward spiral, both hilarious and mesmerizing, but above all elevated by its insights into the depraved final gasp of the analog age.
Media scholar Neil Postman diagnosed the ills of entertainment media in his aptly titled 1985 tome “Amusing Ourselves to Death;” that...
Media scholar Neil Postman diagnosed the ills of entertainment media in his aptly titled 1985 tome “Amusing Ourselves to Death;” that...
- 3/10/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The annual multi-pronged South By Southwest Conferences and Festivals — SXSW, of course — is hitting Austin, Texas later this week for days and days of fresh film offerings (plus music, interactive, and a litany of exciting panels and conversations). With it comes the promise of a brand new festival-going season, along with a slew of films to get excited about finally checking out (and, because it’s Austin, lots of tasty barbecue).
From SXSW regulars like Mark Duplass and Joel Potrykus to rising stars like Carole Brandt and Suzi Yoonessi to marquee names like Wes Anderson and John Krasinski, this year’s SXSW Film Festival is offering up a robust new slate. We’ve picked out a dozen worthy new features to add to your SXSW schedule.
Check out 12 new films from this year’s SXSW that you’re going to want to see Asap.
“A Quiet Place”
The last thing...
From SXSW regulars like Mark Duplass and Joel Potrykus to rising stars like Carole Brandt and Suzi Yoonessi to marquee names like Wes Anderson and John Krasinski, this year’s SXSW Film Festival is offering up a robust new slate. We’ve picked out a dozen worthy new features to add to your SXSW schedule.
Check out 12 new films from this year’s SXSW that you’re going to want to see Asap.
“A Quiet Place”
The last thing...
- 3/7/2018
- by Kate Erbland, Eric Kohn, Jenna Marotta, Jude Dry, David Ehrlich and Steve Greene
- Indiewire
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.