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Lifetime is wading into the guardianship debate by greenlighting a fictional movie with the working title The Bad Guardian.

Following the headlines and debate surrounding the guardianships of Wendy Williams and Britney Spears, the network has ordered a movie about a court-appointed guardianship gone wrong.

The Bad Guardian will star Melissa Joan Hart (Sabrina the Teenage Witch) and La La Anthony (La La’s Full Court Life) and “is inspired by countless true stories of individuals who have been put in the care of a guardian by the courts and raises the question — are these caretakers helpful or harmful?”

The official (and a bit spoiler-filled) description: The Bad Guardian is “about one woman’s fight to save her father from the clutches of a corrupt and greedy court-appointed guardian. When Leigh’s (Melissa Joan Hart) father Jason (Eric Pierpoint) suffers a fall while she’s out of town, the courts assign Jason a guardian,...

Sales slate includes completed elevated sci-fi thriller Only starring Freida Pinto.

Santa Monica-based Myriad Pictures has kicked off talks with international buyers on the completed crime thriller Hammer starring Will Patton and Mark O’Brien from recent release Ready Or Not.

Christian Sparkes (Cast No Shadow) wrote and directed the feature about Chris (O’Brien), an ex-con who plots to rob his drug-dealing friend, Adams (Ben Cotton). When the plan goes wrong, Chris turns to his father (Patton) for help.

Jonathan Bronfman, Alison White, William Woods and Chris Agoston serve as producers, and Fraser Ash, Niv Fichman, and Kevin Krikst are the executive producers.

Grief-fueled romantic fantasies can be tricky for filmmakers not named Wim Wenders. Everyone aspires to make “Wings of Desire” with its stirring immediacy, beautiful imagery and pressing poignancy, but most wind up delivering something closer to its decent but dreary American remake, “City of Angels” — which could also be said for writer-director Claudia Myers’ “Above the Shadows.” This magical-realist fairy tale, about a young woman feeling so isolated and insignificant after a tragic loss that she’s literally invisible to everyone except one other struggling soul, is certainly imaginative and intelligent in its ideas. However, the savvy smarts within don’t quite sustain the running time and, much like its protagonist, the film becomes transparent in its motives and sentimentality.

Holly was extremely close to her mom Victoria (Maria Dizzia) growing up. As a middle child sandwiched in between two siblings who outshined her in brains and beauty, Holly felt insecure,...

Gravitas Ventures has picked up the North American distribution rights to Above The Shadows (f.k.a Shadow Girl), a supernatural tale starring Olivia Thirlby, Alan Ritchson, Jim Gaffigan, Maria Dizzia, Tito Ortiz, David Johansen, and Megan Fox. Claudia Myers wrote and directed the pic, which Gravitas will release in limited theaters and on demand July 19. Myriad Pictures is handling international sales and will be screening the film during the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. The story centers on a young woman (Thirlby) who has faded from the world to the point of becoming invisible. After more than a decade existing in the shadows, Holly meets the one man who can see her, Shayne Blackwell (Ritchson), a disgraced Mma fighter. Holly discovers that it was one of her tabloid photographs that caused his downfall, and that she must restore him to his former glory if she wants to regain a foothold in the world around her.

Olivia Thirlby (The Stanford Prison Experiment), Alan Ritchson (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows), Megan Fox (Transformers franchise), and Jim Gaffigan (Chappaquiddick) are set to star in Shadow Girl, a magic realist tale written and directed by Claudia Myers. Set in a timeless metropolis, the pic follows Holly who has faded to the point of becoming invisible and must find her way back into the world. Maria Dizzia (Orange is the New Black) and former Ufc…...

Zosia Mamet and Scott Speedman are set to star in Claudia Myers' romance Shadow Girl. Myriad Pictures is launching sales on the title to buyers in Cannes. The story follows Holly (Mamet), who has faded to the point of becoming literally invisible after the death of her mother as a teenager. After more than a decade of solitude, and making a living in the shadows as a paparazzi photographer, Holly meets Shane (Speedman), a down-on-his-luck former Mixed Martial Arts…...

Zosia Mamet and Scott Speedman to star.

Myriad Pictures has boarded international sales on the romance Shadow Girl to star Zosia Mamet and Scott Speedman.

Claudia Myers will direct from her original screenplay about a young woman who has literally become invisible after her mother’s death and makes a living as a paparazzi photographer.

Years later she meets a disgraced former Mixed Martial Arts champion who is the one person who can see her and whose demise was brought about by one of her photographs.

Minka Kelly and Jim Gaffigan round out the key cast on Shadow Girl, which Hipzee’s Tara Sickmeier and Rob Baunoch III will produce with Boundary Stone’s Mark Schacknies and Khris Baxter.

Myriad chief Kirk D’Amico serves as an executive producer for Daylight Media.

The production will work with leading Mma fighters and trainers andBrazilian former Mma champion Anderson Silva’s renowned coach Marco Morales will oversee Speedman’s training...

Zosia Mamet is moving from Girls to Girl.

The actress, whose six-season run on the HBO series just came to an end, will star opposite Scott Speedman in the romance drama Shadow Girl.

Claudia Myers (Fort Bliss) will direct from a screenplay she wrote. The story centers on Holly, who has faded to the point of becoming literally invisible after the death of her mother. After more than a decade of solitude and toiling in the shadows as a paparazzi photographer, she meets Shane (Speedman), a down-on-his-luck former mixed martial arts champion and the one person who can see her.

...

Title: Wild Oats Anchor Bay Entertainment Director: Andy Tennant Writer: Gary Kanew, Claudia Myers Cast: Jessica Lange, Shirley MacLaine, Billy Connolly, Demi Moore, Howard Hessman, Matt Walsh, Rebecca Da Costa Running Time: 86 min Rated: PG-13 (Language, Sexual Content) Special Features: None Available October 4th on DVD, Digital Download and Demand Eva’s (Shirley MacLaine, Postcards From the Edge) husband has just died and her daughter Crystal (Demi Moore, Margin Call) has invited a realtor to the funeral. Eva’s best friend Maddie’s (Jessica Lange, American Horror Story) husband just dumped her for his secretary after the funeral. As Eva adjusts to singlehood, she looks forward to her husband’s life insurance check [ Read More ]

The post Wild Oats DVD Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Retirement is a time many adults eagerly anticipate, as they feel they’ll finally be able to lead the luxurious life they have always desired. But what’s expected to be a serene period for two best friends actually turns into a chaotic adventure, as they’re forced to evade the police when they become instant celebrities. The companions’ unexpected exploit is chronicled in the new comedy-drama, ‘Wild Oats.’ The action film was helmed by Andy Tennant, who has garnered acclaim for directing such movies as ‘Hitch’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ His latest comedy-drama, which was written by Gary Kanew and Claudia Myers, will be distributed on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment this [ Read More ]

The post Wild Oats DVD Giveaway Follows Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange Going on an Adventure of a Lifetime appeared first on Shockya.com.

Retirement is a time many adults eagerly anticipate, as they feel they’ll finally be able to lead the luxurious life they have always desired. But what’s expected to be a serene period for two best friends actually turns into a chaotic adventure, as they’re forced to evade the police when they become instant celebrities. The companions’ unexpected exploit is chronicled in the new comedy-drama, ‘Wild Oats.’ The action film was helmed by Andy Tennant, who has garnered acclaim for directing such movies as ‘Hitch’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’ His latest comedy-drama, which was written by Gary Kanew and Claudia Myers, will be distributed on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on [ Read More ]

The post Wild Oats’ Home Release Shows Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange as Clever Fugitives appeared first on Shockya.com.

It's nonsensical that actress Michelle Monaghan isn't a bigger name in Hollywood. She is an excellent foil to Robert Downey Jr. in cult dark comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and inspires Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code. She was even in the lauded first season of True Detective (which I didn't watch). Fort Bliss, a film written and directed by Claudia Myers, is a special treat for Monaghan fans. Instead of supporting an A-list actor onscreen, Monaghan gets her chance to lead a film.

She plays Staff Sgt. Maggie Swann, recently returned from service in Afghanistan. Maggie is an army medic, quick to respond to injuries in the field, yet thrown by the changes that have occurred while she's been abroad. Her young son Paul (Oakes Fegley, This Is Where I Leave You) has lived with Maggie's ex-husband Richard (Ron Livingston, Office Space) and grown extremely close to Richard's new wife Alma (Emmanuelle Chriqui,...

“American Sniper," the $60 million budget feature, so effective reaching all sides of the war opinionists (pro, anti, veterans and civilians), started in four locations (N.Y., L.A. and Texas where Chris Kyle is so popular) and in its opening weekend made $677,000 over Christmas weekend, averaging $75,000 per theater. It earned $107.2 million when it expanded nationwide over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend and has now

grossed $ $242.2 million, or 24 percent, of the total $1 billion grossed in January a mark hit for the first time since 2010! Even with a steep third weekend drop, “Sniper” remains on track to wind up over $330 million, which will rank second all-time among R-rated movies behind “The Passion of the Christ” ($370.8 million). (Thank you Ray Stubers of Box Office Mojo for this financial summary.)

One interesting article about “American Sniper” appears in Variety by guest writer, Paul Rieckhoff, and I am glad he mentions "Fort Bliss" a war story sleeper directed by Claudia Myers which never broke out but was, as he says, "masterful." Now Haifaa Al Mansour ("Wadjda") is making "Be Safe I Love You", another film about a young woman soldier who returns home to the U.S. after a tour in the Middle East and must grapple with Ptsd and the past she left behind.

Haifaa’s previous film “Wadjda," the first Saudi Arabian feature film and of course the first ever by a woman in Saudi Arabia was released in U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics and sold widely by The Match Factory. It opened September 2013 to critical acclaim and was the staple of the awards season. The National Board of Review awarded the film with the Freedom of Expression Award. It was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Non-English Language Film and was Saudi Arabia’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film for the Academy Awards.

Al Mansour received her Bachelor’s Degree in Literature at the American University in Cairo and completed her Master’s Degree in Directing and Film Studies from the University of Sydney.

She lives with her American husband in Bahrain where living among the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain “has given me a unique perspective on these young men an women we have designated warriors. Tough, simple, and full of life, they were suddenly real these humans who have been turned into machines to kill. I always wonder about the families they left behind. The female soldiers, whose images rarely make the news and whose stories have never sufficiently been told, especially fascinate me.”

“I have seen first hand the affects of war on the fresh faced, child-like soldiers that come from the U.S. to serve in the Middle East. The ancient hatreds and tribal wars of our region seem capable of swallowing them whole, of tearing apart the beliefs and narratives that hold their world together.”

This film, “Be Safe I Love You” is a thriller, with a tempo and urgency that we can only follow or comprehend through Lauren’s eyes as this young soldier’s two worlds – a world at war and a world of peace -- collide in her memory.

“Be Safe I Love You” is being produced by Anonymous Content. Haifaa Al Mansour is being managed and mentored by the remarkable producer – manager, Rosalie Swedlin and is represented by UTA’s Rena Ronson, another outstanding figure in our independent cinema world.

She is also the winner of this year’s Sundance Institute’s Global Filmmaking Award. And still she believes in trusting her gut instinct and being humble enough to criticize herself. We wish her the greatest success as her career takes off.

By Scott Feinberg

The Hollywood Reporter

Michelle Monaghan, one of the most underappreciated actresses working today, has starred in two films — both tiny indies — in which she portrays a character employed in a stereotypically masculine job who is struggling to juggle her work responsibilities with the stereotypically feminine responsibility of raising a young child.

The first, which came out six years ago, was James Mottern‘s Trucker, and she deserved a best actress Oscar nomination for her work. (Don’t take my word for it; the late Roger Ebert wrote at the time, “Her performance clearly deserves an Oscar nomination.”) Unfortunately, though, despite the best efforts of the film’s tiny distributor, Monterey Media, the film never quite made it onto the radar of the Academy’s acting branch.

The second, which was released in New York over the weekend, is Claudia Myers‘ Fort Bliss, in which Monaghan is equally...

In the indie drama Fort Bliss, U.S. Army medic and single mother Maggie Swann (Michelle Monaghan) struggles to find her place in her five-year-old son’s life, after returning home from an extended tour of duty in Afghanistan. When news of another deployment threatens the tentative bond she’s formed with her son, she’s forced to find a way to reconcile her duties as a mother with her obligations as a soldier. Written, directed and produced by Claudia Myers, the film also stars Ron Livingston, Manolo Cardona, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Pablo Schreiber and Dash Mihok. During this exclusive phone interview with Collider, actress Michelle Monaghan talked about how she got involved with Fort Bliss, why she found the story so compelling, how intense the experience was, and how putting on the uniform really affected the way she carried herself. She also talked about her experience on True Detective,...

It figures that Michelle Monaghan, one of too many underutilized actresses usually relegated to playing the hero's wife, would have to go shoestring in order to find a role that allows her to display the range of her talents. She's at her best as Army medic/staff sergeant Maggie Swann in writer-director Claudia Myers's Fort Bliss, a returning-soldier drama that answers the annoyingly ubiquitous "Can women have it all?" question with an exasperated "no." After a 15-month deployment, Maggie returns home to a young son who hardly remembers her. Comfortable living with his dad (Ron Livingston) and soon-to-be stepmother (Emmanuelle Chriqui), he'd much prefer to keep things as they are than honor his parents' agreement to have him go home with his mother. Maggie is ins...

Avoiding the clichés one might expect to abound in a film about a beautiful young mother who enlists not once but twice to serve in Afghanistan, this is a feat of expert script writing and filmmaking.

Between the two stints in the Army, decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother Maggie Swann must renew her relationship with her five-year old son, adjust to her ex-husband’s new live-in and establish a new romance with a blue-eyed Mexican car mechanic, played by Manolo Cardona, who played Santiago in “Contracorriente” (“Undertow”) and is heart-throbbingly gorgeous. And she suffers from recurring memories of her stint in Afghanistan which don’t allow her to sleep much.

Michelle Monaghan who played Maggie Swann reminded me a little too much of Sandra Bullock though she is a good actress, playing the two ends of the emotional spectrum so well that I actually cried with her. Returning home and to Fort Bliss in Houston Texas after a horrendous stint in the army where she served as a medic, unable to sleep much and determined to take back her son, she plays the stoic decorated U.S. Army medic that she has become and yet, to win back her son and establish any other loving relationship, she must (and does) allow her emotions to rule in the end.

The director, Claudia Myers, who also wrote the screenplay was at the screening answering numerous questions afterward in both English and French. She is American but grew up in France. She worked extensively with the military making training movies and wanted to write a story about a woman with a career and family. This extreme situation of a career in the military also appealed to her because the woman had to play such emotional extremes, from not showing emotion in the worst circumstances of war to allowing her emotions for her son and for her lover to have free reign. This is the second feature she has directed after the 2006 Showtime movie, “ Kettle of Fish”.

The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival 2013 and is being sold internationally by Voltage who has sold it for Showgate for Japan and Umbrella for Australia, and Phase 4 for North America. “Fort Bliss” won the Audience Award at the Champs Elysees Film Festival this past June.

If only there were a family-friendly version, I would take my young grandson and his mother to see this as I think a child would empathize with the little boy, played marvelously by Oakes Fegley, if two very hot (and very meaningful) sex scenes were edited out for a family-friendly version.

The sex scenes, however, were great in that each showed the psychological needs of a long emotionally-suppressed military woman and latter the sad and determined lust of her and her lover. That was one cliché less: instead of showing the usual dreamy and loving sex motives of most films, sex revealed the emotional states of people under pressure.

The second cliché avoided was the emotional bond between mother and son. It was a film even a child could respond too, much the way children respond to the story of “Bambi” on film, and yet it avoided any sappiness. And the Army wants to see this story told, despite it showing troubling subject matter like Ptsd, reintegrating into society and sexual assault -- but to their credit they have supported it and helped the film get made in terms of accuracy.

The credits offered thanks to the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss,American Legion, American Red Cross, Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, CA, Patriot Guard Riders, U.S. Army Public Affairs, Union Editorial and the United Service Organizations (Uso).

“Fort Bliss” stars Michelle Monaghan (“True Detective”, “Source Code”), Ron Livingston (“Boardwalk Empire,” “Office Space”), Manolo Cardona (“Undertow”, “Beverly Hills Chihauhua”), Gbenga Akinnagbe (“The Wire”), Emmanuelle Chriqui (“Entourage”) and Pablo Schreiber (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Orange is the New Black”).

Producers are John Sullivan, Adam Silver, Patrick Cunningham, Claudia Myers, and Brendan McDonald. Executive Producer is Matt Chessé. Cinematography is by Adam Silver with editing by Matt Chessé and Carsten Kurpanek. Original music by Asche & Spencer.

• Winner: Best Narrative Feature at the GI Film Festival

• Winner: Audience Award for "Best Feature - Independent American Film” at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival

• Winner: Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking Honors at the 2014 Newport Beach Film Festival

1 Hour, 49 Minutes / Not Yet Rated

"Fort Bliss" will play day-and-date in theaters and on VOD September 19 and will come out on DVD October 14. This is a film you want to see.

If you’re one of Vimeo’s 30 million users, brace yourself for more on-demand titles coming your way. Entertainment One Films (eOne) just signed a distribution deal with the video site for four of its fall titles, including Robin Williams’ A Merry Friggin’ Christmas, along with more releases from its library. According to Variety, the first title to be released will be Claudia Myers’ Fort Bliss on September 19. Ryan Phillipe’s directorial debut, Catch Hell, arrives on October 10, and The Culture High, which Vimeo obtained directly through the documentary’s producers instead of through eOne, arrives on October 17. Finally, fans of the recently-deceased Robin Williams can enjoy AMerry Friggin’ Christmas starting November 7. All films will be available in North America for rental or purchase through the Vimeo on Demand site. eOne and Vimeo’s announcement lines up with the Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff). Vimeo is partnered with Tiff this...

Vimeo has signed a deal to distribute digitally titles from eOne’s library including four day-and-date autumn releases.

The Vimeo On Demand slate kicks off with Claudia Myers’ Fort Bliss (pictured) on September 19, followed by Catch Hell on October 10, The Culture High on October 17 and A Merry Friggin’ Christmas starring the late Robin Williams on November 7.

Additionally, Vimeo has closed a separate deal with the filmmaking team behind The Culture High to extend the film to global audiences by working on the worldwide release.

“As the industry’s largest global independent distributor, eOne, is a powerful partner for Vimeo and our mutual dedication to connecting content creators with audiences around the world makes it even more exciting,” said Vimeo’s vp of content acquisitions and business development Sam Toles.

“The Culture High is the perfect celebration of this, with eOne releasing the film on our platform to North American audiences while we directly empower the filmmaker to extend...

Michelle Monaghan stars as a decorated Army medic who returns from a 15-month tour of duty in Afghanistan and tries desperately to reconnect with her 5-year-old son, who initially wants nothing to do with her. As they try to restore a bond, she is faced with redeployment — and the likelihood of losing everything she worked to rebuild. Ron Livingston, Pablo Schreiber, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Dash Mihok and young newcomer Oakes Fegley co-star in Fort Bliss, from writer-director-producer Claudia Myers. Phase 4 Films opens the drama September 19 in theaters and VOD. Here’s the new trailer:...

Paris! What could be better than to be in Paris, when it sizzles and drizzles, with spectacular lightning, and an evening view of the Arc de Triomphe every night as the participants of the Champs Elysees Film Festival, U.S. in Progress and Paris Coproduction Village drink champagne and eat exciting and uniquely presented hors d’oevres.

Even as we left for the airport after our five nights at the festival, at 6 am we were treated to a full moon and the Eiffel Tower on our right, still enveloped by the navy blue night and on our left, the Seine River and the sun turning the sky rose with its long fingers of dawn.

The beautiful and erudite Jacqueline Bisset, Bertrand Tavernier, Agnes Varda, Keanu Reeves, Whit Stillman and Mike Figges were all here in this intimate and quintessentially Parisian film festival, being celebrated and giving master classes to a public which is eager to soak in American films and French films in the only film festival in Paris.

The American films showing here are indies, relevant, funny, and all special. The Official Selection of American features include Sundance premiere films “Obvious Child” which also screened in Rotterdam and is now playing in U.S., “See You Next Tuesday”, “American Promise”, “Rich Hill” (also played in Hot Docs) and “Test”; the Toronto hit about the French photographer of U.S. street scenes in 1940s and ‘50s U.S. “Searching for Vivian Maier”; Tiff’s “Fort Bliss”; Urbanworld Ff’s “The Magic City” the debut film of R. Malcolm Jones; the critical hit “Locke”; last year’s U.S. in Progress and Tiff films “ 1982”; “Summer of Blood” which went on to play in Tribeca and “Sunbelt Express” in its world premiere.

I have to mention that very relevant French films, both new and classic, are also showing. For me the standout is Jacques Tati’s “Playtime” with English subtitles by Art Buchwald which came out 1967 to the great surprise and delight of the American public lucky enough to see it. In this adventure, Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner. (Written By Leon Wolters <wolters [at] strw.LeidenUniv.nl>)

Writing this after “Fort Bliss” won the Audience Award is great because I loved that film.

That it could avoid the clichés expected to abound in a film about a beautiful young mother who enlists not once but twice to serve in Afghanistan was a feat of expert script writing and filmmaking.

Between the two stints in the Army, Maggie Swann must renew her relationship with her five-year old son, adjust to her ex-husband’s new live-in and establish a new romance with a blue-eyed Mexican car mechanic, played by Manolo Cardona, who played Santiago in “Contracorriente” (“Undertow”) and is heart-throbbingly gorgeous.

Michelle Monaghan who played Maggie Swann reminded me a little too much of Sandra Bullock though she is a good actress, playing the two ends of the emotional spectrum so well that I actually cried with her. Returning home and to Fort Bliss in Houston Texas after a horrendous stint in the army where she served as a medic, unable to sleep much and determined to take back her son, she plays the stoic decorated U.S. Army medic that she has become and yet, to win back her son and establish any other loving relationship, she must (and does) allow her emotions to rule in the end.

The director, Claudia Myers, who also wrote the screenplay was at the screening answering numerous questions afterward in both English and French. She is American but grew up in France. She worked extensively with the military making training movies and wanted to write a story about a woman with a career and family. This extreme situation of a career in the military also appealed to her because the woman had to play such emotional extremes, from not showing emotion in the worst circumstances of war to allowing her emotions for her son and for her lover to have free reign. This is the second feature she has directed after the 2006 Showtime movie, “ Kettle of Fish”.

The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival 2013 and is being sold internationally by Voltage who has sold it for Showgate for Japan and Umbrella for Australia), and Phase 4 for North America.

If only there were a family-friendly version, I would take my young grandson and his mother to see this as I think a child would empathize with the little boy, played by if the two very hot (and very meaningful) sex scenes were edited out for a family-friendly version. The sex scenes, however, were great in that each showed the psychological needs of a long emotionally-suppressed military woman and latter the sad and determined lust of her and her lover. That was one cliché less: instead of showing the usual dreamy and loving sex motives of most films, sex revealed the emotional states of people under pressure. The second cliché avoided was the emotional bond between mother and son. It was a film even a child could respond too, much the way children respond to the story of Bambi on film, and yet it avoided any sappiness. And the Army wants to see this story told, despite it showing troubling subject matter like Ptsd, reintegrating into society and sexual assault -- but to their credit they have supported it and helped the film get made in terms of accuracy.

The credits offered thanks to the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss,

American Legion, American Red Cross, Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, CA, Patriot Guard Riders, U.S. Army Public Affairs, Union Editorial and the United Service Organizations (Uso).

Also playing were my favorite Tiff film “Searching for Vivian Maier” and “1982” which we (the jury) voted Best Film of Us in Progress last year in Paris and which also went on to play in Toronto. We’re waiting to see how Tommy Oliver releases it. He is now producing two other films: “ Halfway” and “Black Eyed Dog”.

Watch this moving picture of Tommy Oliver lighting up for the Us in Progress organizer Ula Sniegowska, Trust Nordisk’s Silje Glimsdal and others last year in Paris at the Champs Elysees Film Festival

My other personal favorites and wonderful discoveries were “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”. The next blog will be about these two films and their filmmakers.

The Champs Elysees Film Festival: American Independent Film Competition

My runner-ups to the Audience Favorite, “Fort Bliss” are “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”.

“Sun Belt Express” was named in 2012 as the Indiewire Project of the Day as it began its trajectory by raising money on Kickstarter.

See the article Here

"Sun Belt Express" is a funny movie about illegal immigration, set to the south of Tucson in the Sonoran Desert. The story follows Allen King, an offbeat ethics professor who ends up on a run across the Mexican border with his conservative teenage daughter in tow - and four illegal immigrants in the trunk. What follows is a family road trip where anything that can go wrong – does. Set on both sides of the border, the film is a testament to the enduring power of humor, even in the most trying of situations.

My interview with the Writer – Director Evan Buxbaum and the Producer Noah Lang took place at the Hotel Marceau, not far from the Champs Elysees where seven theaters were showing films from the Champs Elysees Film Festival, put on for the third year by Sophie Dulac – producer, distributor, arthouse exhibitor and vice-president of family-founded, Publicis, the third largest advertising agency in the world.

Women to Watch: Sophie Dulac and the Champs Elysees Film Festival

Evan Buxbaum started life as a totally unexposed-to-the-world upper Westside (NY) Jewish boy. He didn’t even go to film school. He studied political science and political conflict resolution at Swarthmore. He graduated in ’06 and learned filmmaking by making three or four shorts at the same time as he tended bar.

His “barback” (that is the busboy for bars) Gregorio Castro, shared his story of how he came to U.S. As they became better friends, Evan met other Latinos who had some insane stories about crossing the border which were oddly uplifting. They always showed an indominable spirit in telling these tough stories; they always laughed. It was a unique way to approach life with such a sense of humor.

He and Gregorio set about writing a script and made a 10 minute short, “La Linea” about people in the trunk of a car, as a test of the concept, to see if it would resonate in the way they wanted. They wanted to create a film in a space that didn’t exist. Terrible things happen on the border and the film gave him the opportunity to explore humor in adversity.

The short played in a lot of festivals and some people wanted to finance his feature and so his life was shaped over the next five years (from ages 20 to 30).

Producer Noah Lang -- who incidently is the son of actor Stephen Lang, who played a cameo in this film and was the bad guy in “Avatar” and will be again in “Avatar” 2, 3 and 4 – also went to Swarthmore but did not know Evan there. Noah was working at Cinetic when he went to Headsets and Highballs, a networking operation in NYC where a producer, telling a funny story, got him interested him in reading the script. Over the next four months, while working at Cinetic, he helped out in the development of the script and subsequently left Cinetic to produce independently and subsequently was accepted into a program The Dogfish Accelerator. There he met one of the producers and got involved. That was two years ago…and he didn’t grow broke.

A first feature is usually sheer blindness, stupidity and luck. Financing began with Kickstarter to raise seed money. That was the most difficult part of making the movie. Kickstarter is a great platform to make you do something! They had 650 donors and raised $40,000 to hire actors, an attorney, asting director and location scout. Kickstarter also created a big following. From crowdfunding they moved to private equity and cash flowed through New Mexico tax credit. They raised some money from Indiegogo for post-production and their very rough cut won the Us in Progress prize in the fall of 2013 in Wroclaw, Poland, sharing with “Lake Los Angeles ” for color, sound, foley and a full music mix. They will still use the Polish Us in Progress prize to do a final print mix and color pass and get a Dcp.

Says Noah: “This account of how we raised money is not a replicating model. The first film is a constant bargain for what you can do.”

The creative notes they received during Us in Progress were very important. It was the first time they knew what they needed to do.

“In editing you’re blind. The emotional connection is very powerful, the process however is a slog, filled with doubts,” Evan says.

The speed dating model of networking gave Evan and Noah a way to approach problems.

One French distribution company showed interest in the film and lots of international sales agents gave them advice. Some told them that the film would do well in U.K. and Russia, but would not play to a French audience.

Here in Paris, however, many people gave them their cards for French distribution. The French audience was very good and made them optimistic as their reception was overwhelmingly positive, in fact some in the audience were very passionate about the immigration issue.

“And this was supposed to be the difficult audience”, they said.

Even the French international sales agents had underestimated the French audiences. The strength of this well told story was in dealing with the issue of transplantation in a humanized, humanitarian way. The audience was very emotional and spoke of their own or their great-grandparents’ coming to France. I noticed questions were asked by Africans and North Africans as well as by French.

They are now in talks with sales agents and a domestic distributor. Stay tuned!

They have several projects jockeying for priority now. One is to work with the “Summer of Blood” team on a coproduction. This is still pre-script stage. More on “Summer of Blood” and their team to follow. Both the investors in “Summer of Blood” and “Sunbelt Express” are interested in continuing.

For more information, go to SunBeltExpressMovie.com.

Based on Noah Lang and Evan Buxbaum’s recommendations and on the fact that like it had also been in Us in Progress and in Tribeca Film Festival, I went to see “Summer of Blood” and was not disappointed.

In fact, I was surprised by the humor of this so-called “mumble gore” movie which Mpi is releasing in the U.S. The best of it all was the presentation and post screening Q&A by the director and star Onur Tukel, a Turkish Woody Allen. This is a New York story of a guy who is afraid to commit and becomes a vampire and is still afraid to commit but has a great time having sex until he realizes his former girlfriend is still the one he loves.

Onur, a Turkish guy who grew up in North Carolina, and his producer Clifford McCurdy were in Paris with “Summer of Blood”. The two could not appear more disparate. One loose, dresses in plaid shirts, has a beard and long hair, the other straight-laced, short haired, reserved. When Onur begins talking, you don’t know if he is serious or joking and he gets pretty outrageous. He says this film is a cross between “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “True Blood” and it is very Woody Allen. One of the actresses, Juliette Fairley was also there. She was sexy, drole, perky and funny in the movie. Her mother – French Jewish, her father African American met when he went to France during World War 2. She has a script about it which she is also beginning to show people. At one point in the Q&A, someone in the audience asked how Onur could be so brazen about how he portrayed his Jewish landlord or the African American date in one scene (Juliette) and he had no shame or trace of bigotry in his answer. As a Turkish American growing up in North Carolina, he had never met a Jew until he moved to New York and his landlord was actually like the landlord in the movie…why not? The question was made to seem like one in “Sunbelt Express” when the daughter asks her father how he can dare to call these people “Mexicans” and he replies, “but they are Mexicans”. The fun of poking holes in peoples’ politically corrected prejudices make both of these comedies subversively funny.

See the movie when Mpi releases it. As for “Sun Belt Express”, you’ll have to wait until they sign a distribution deal.

The fog of war is no match for the domestic tempest experienced by an Army medic back home in Fort Bliss, writer-director Claudia Myers’ well-observed and endearing account of one woman grappling with allegiances to her fellow soldiers and her estranged 5-year-old son. Starring Michelle Monaghan in a demanding role that further brings out a dark side revealed last year on True Detective, this character-driven drama offers up a unique distaff viewpoint on a subject usually reserved for men, underlining the burdens placed on mothers torn between their country and their family. Though it drags

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Once again I have the good fortune of spending some time with Sophie Dulac who is not only President of the Champs Elysees Film Festival but producer currently of three coproductions, one with Germany and one with Armenia and whose past co-productions include "Hannah Arendt" by Margarethe Von Trotta, "Last Days in Jerusalem" by Tawfik Abu-Wael and "The Band's Visit". She is also a distributor of over 70 films since the 2003 founding of Sophie Dulac Distribution with films of Bela Tarr, Frederick Wiseman, Alexandre Sokourov, Jacques Doillon and Theo Angelopoulos as well as new talents like Katel Quillévéré or Eva Ionesco, from festivals such as Cannes, Locarno, Berlin, Toronto, Sundance or Venice among others.

She also owns key theaters in Paris without whose support films would flounder and die. The company, Screens in Paris (Les Ecrans de Paris), is a circuit of five independent cinemas with 13 screens and 2,300 seats on Paris: Harlequin, the Medici Reflection Panorama El Escorial, the Majestic and Majestic Passy Bastille. When a film shows in some of these, then its success is nearly guaranteed. And last, but hardly least, she is Vice President of Publicis, founded by her grandfather, Marcel Blaustein, in 1926, abandoned while he fought in the Resistance and reclaimed after the war and rebuilt into the third largest public relations/ advertising corporation in the world. Marcel Blaustein was first to use radio as a means of advertising,

When we spoke two years ago, the Champs Elysees Film Festival was just beginning.

See Women to Watch.

Now in its third edition, taking place June 11 - 17, 2014, it has grown in recognition among professionals and the public worldwide, and it is enhancing the Champs Elysees as a place for the French to attend cinema once again. It is also creating ties between the French and American cineastes in many new ways. This popular and festive Franco-American film festival taking place on the most prestigious avenue offered an even more eclectic and exciting program this year. It was presided over by Bertrand Tavernier and Jacqueline Bisset.

Guests of Honor giving master classes include :

- Agnès Varda, present to talk about her films shot in the States

- Keanu Reeves, who presented the documentary "Side by Side" which he produced

- Whit Stillman whose cult film "Metropolitan" was shown in the festival and will shortly be released in France. He spoke French as did many other American filmmakers during their presentations.

- Mike Figgis spoke about fashion and film following a documentary and several short films he has made this subject

The Feature Film Competition of newly released American Independent films includes "1982" by Tommy Oliver which won U.S. in Progress in 2013 and will soon be released in the U.S., "American Promise", a documentary by Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, "Fort Bliss" by Claudia Myers, "Obvious Child" by Gillian Robespierre, "Rich Hill" a documentary by Andrew Droz Palermo & Tacy Droz Tragos, "See You Next Tuesday" by Drew Tobia, "Summer of Blood" by Onur Tukel, a former U.S. in Progress entry, "Sun Belt Express" by Evan Buxbaum - another former U.S. in Progress entry, "The Magic City" by R. Malcolm Jones.

There is also a short film competition of over 35 French and American shorts, including a selection from film schools (AFI, USC and Columbia in the States and La Fémis, Eicar, ArtFx and Les Gobelins schools in France).

Since the Paris Film Festival lost its funding by the city earlier this year, Ceff is the only Film Festival in the city and the Paris Coproduction Village moved over to it with 12 features. Run by the same team which runs the Les Arcs Coproduction Village in the French Alps in December, CEO Pierre Emmanuel Fleurantin, head of industry Vanja Kaludjercic, general manager Guillaume Calop and consultant co-founder Jeremy Zelni, it kept up the high quality of its projects. More than 130 companies registered and 160 professionals attended. There were 560 one-to-one meetings over the two days. The main focus of the event is to connect international filmmakers with potential French sales agents and producers but alongside representatives of companies such as Bac Films, Other Angle, Les Films d’ici 2 a number of international companies also attended including the UK’s WestEnd Films, Bankside, The Match Factory and The Works.

The festival poster is a cross between movie icon Marilyn Monroe and the icon of French Liberty, Marianne. Nicknamed "Marilyanne", it is being featured on T shirts, buttons, post cards and are all for sale. A new pass for full entry for the week is offered for 50 Euros.

Demi Moore will be replacing Sarah Jessica Parker in upcoming action comedy Wild Oats, according to reports.

Demi Moore Joins 'Wild Oats' Cast

Moore is joining a star-studded cast in Wild Oats, which includes Jessica Lange, Shirley MacLaine, Judd Hirsch and Alan Arkin, reported Variety. Andy Tennant (Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama) will direct the film from a script by Gary Kanew and Claudia Myers.

Wild Oats follows protagonist Eva Miller (MacLaine), who receives a social security check worth 1,000 times more than what she was expecting – nearly $1 million. In order to hold on to the cash, she recruits her best friend and granddaughter to join her as she embarks on an adventure while trying to stay one step ahead of the authorities.

Moore, 51, was last seen on the big screen in 2013’s Very Good Girls with Dakota Fanning, Clark Gregg, Kiernan Shipka and Elizabeth Olson. The actress, who settled...

Shirley MacLaine is now set to join Jessica Lange, Demi Moore, Judd Hirsch and Billy Connolly in Wild Oats, the Andy Tennant-directed comedy that just got underway in Spain. Blythe Frank and Hilary Shor are producing and Michael Mailer is executive producer. Written by Claudia Myers and Gary Knew, with revisions by Kenneth Lonergan, the film is about a widow (MacLaine) who receives an unexpected windfall check because of a computer glitch and goes on the run from the law, in a cross between The Bucket List and Thelma And Louise. The Weinstein Company is distributing domestically and Sony overseas. […]...

Entertainment One has picked up North American rights to fashion documentary "Dior And I" for a theatrical release later this year. Frederic Tcheng's behind-the-scenes dock looks at the creation of Raf Simons’ first Haute Couture collection for the House of Christian Dior.

Magnolia Pictures has acquired North American rights for Susanna Fogel's "Life Partners". Leighton Meester, Gillian Jacobs, Adam Brody and Gabourey Sidibe star in the story of a straight woman and a lesbian best friend who find their relationship dynamics changing after the former falls for a new man.

Lionsgate has acquired U.K. rights to Adam Smith's directorial debut "Trespass Against Us" which begins shooting this Summer. Michael Fassbender, Brendan Gleeson, Lyndsey Marshal and Rory Kinnear star in the story of three generations of the rowdy outlaw Cutler family.

The Weinstein Company has payed an estimated $3 million for U.S. rights to the Irish filmmaker John Carney...

• Lionsgate has purchased the North American rights for Dark Blood, the last film starring River Phoenix (My Own Private Idaho) before he passed away in 1993. Directed and written by George Sluizer (The Vanishing), the upcoming thriller follows the story of Boy (Phoenix), a young widower living as a hermit on a nuclear testing site in the desert. While traveling solo on his “second” honeymoon, Boy discovers a stranded Hollywood couple. Desiring the woman, Boy decides to hold them captive because he finds himself under the impression that he can create a better world with her. The upcoming drama, set to be released via VOD,...

Exclusive: Phase 4 Films has landed North American distribution on Fort Bliss, the Claudia Myers-directed drama that stars Michelle Monaghan, Ron Livingston, Freddy Rodriguez, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Gbenga Akkinagbe, Pablo Schreiber and John Savage. Phase 4′s Katharyn Howe and brokered the deal with Voltage’s Elisabeth Costa de Beauregard. Pic will be released in the fall. The film tells the story of a decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother who returns home after an extended tour of duty in Afghanistan to discover the bond with her 5-year-old son has been broken. While struggling to reclaim her son’s affection, she must also reintegrate into life after war, haunted by harrowing memories from Afghanistan. Fort Bliss not only explores the incredible sacrifices made every day by men and women in the armed services, but the price that’s paid by their families as well. Myers wrote the script, and...

Sarah Jessica Parker and Jessica Lange have been cast in upcoming comedy Wild Oats.

According to Variety, the actors will join Shirley Maclaine and Alan Arkin in the comedy road trip movie. Andy Tennant is on board as director.

Written by Claudia Myers and Gary Kanew, Wild Oats stars MacLaine as a widow who is mistakenly given a life insurance cheque worth $5 million instead of the expected $50,000.

Cast as the best friend, Lange urges MacLaine's character to deposit the money and retire to the Canary Islands.

Wild Oats has reportedly been in development for several years, with Jackie Weaver previously linked to MacLaine's role.

Parker and Lange both attended the Met's Costume Institute Gala held in New York earlier this week.

Fort Bliss Trailer. Claudia Myers‘ Fort Bliss (2014) movie trailer stars Michelle Monaghan, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Pablo Schreiber, Ron Livingston, and Freddy Rodríguez. Fort Bliss‘ plot synopsis: “After returning home from an extended tour in Afghanistan, a decorated U.S. Army medic and single mother struggles to rebuild her relationship [...]

Continue reading: Fort Bliss (2014) Movie Trailer: Michelle Monaghan is a War Veteran...

Michelle Monaghan is a single mother returning home from Afghanistan as a stranger to her 5-year-old son in the upcoming drama Fort Bliss.

The True Detective actress plays Maggie, a decorated U.S. Army medic who, after saving lives abroad, struggles to balance her own when she discovers her son, Paul, has become more attached to her ex-husband (Ron Livingston) and his new girlfriend. The film, written and directed by Claudia Myers (Kettle of Fish), will premiere later this month at the Newport Film Festival in California as part of the “Women Direct!” series and will later be shown on...

The powerful story about a single mother who tries to balance her career as a decorated U.S. Army medic with caring for her five-year-old son will premiere at the Newport Film Festival in California this month. Part of the festival's "Women Direct!" series, Fort Bliss was written and directed by Claudia Myers and stars True Detective actress Michelle Monaghan (as Maggie Swann), Ron Livingston (Richard), Emmanuelle Chriqui (Alma) and Pablo Schreiber (Staff Sergeant Donovan).  Voltage, the company behind The Hurt Locker, which won the Oscar for best picture and best director in 2008, is handling international sales.  Story: 'True Detective' Was Ultimately About the Journey, Not the Finale  The first look

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Kids. Such as Sex, Lies, and Videotape or Reservoir Dogs before it, and such as Winter’s Bone, Blue Valentine and Fruitvale Station after it, Larry Clark & Harmony Korine’s seminal film is forever connected in “spirit” to the lieu where it received its secret midnight premiere screening in 1995. The Sundance Film Festival might be known as the birthplace of U.S indie filmmaking innovation, avant-gardism, a larger definition of the low budgeted film response to Hollywood in not only narrative but in the non-fiction form, but it is a festival made strong by its renewal and familiarity. That close acquaintanceness exists in Kids‘ starlets Rosario Dawson and Chloë Sevigny filmography/career path trajectory and connection to Park City (both have several indie films slated for ’14 – of which I’ve included in our predictions list) and it is that “familiarity” that is visibly noticeable in how I map out my annual predictions list.

Exclusive: Shortly after director Andy Tennant signed with Paradigm, the agency has set him to direct Wild Oats, a comedy that has Shirley MacLaine, Jacki Weaver and Alan Arkin in talks to star. The film, about a widow who receives an unexpected windfall check because of a computer glitch and goes on the run from the law, is a cross between The Bucket List and Thelma And Louise. The film will be distributed domestically by The Weinstein Company with Sony releasing overseas. Pic is written by Claudia Myers and Gary Kanew, and produced by Blythe Frank and Kip Konwiser, with Michael Mailer executive producing. Production begins in late November in Puerto Rico and Chicago. Tennant most recently had been repped by CAA, where Robert Bookman was part of his rep team. Bookman signed him at Paradigm with Valarie Phillips. Tennant is lawyered by Steve Warren.

Though the two just starred together in Richard Linklater’s Bernie, Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine are already planning a reunion of sorts. It was announced today (via ScreenDaily) that Black and MacLaine will star in the comedy Wild Oats alongside Jacki Weaver and Alan Arkin. The caper follows two fugitives who are forced to outwit a trio of conmen and the law, with Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink) onboard to direct from a script by Gary Kanew and Claudia Myers. The cast is impressive, but Deutch’s recent filmography (My Best Friend’s Girl, The Whole Ten Yards) isn’t exactly up to par with his earlier material. Production on Wild Oats is set to get underway in mid-July, but Black is also attached to star in Charlie Kaufman’s incredibly promising Frank or Francis. That film has a solid cast, but producers are still firming up financing before production can begin.

Maybe Jack Black is getting his career back into shape. Right in the wake of Richard Linklater‘s (reportedly amiable) Bernie getting a tiny release, ScreenDaily reports that he and Shirley MacLaine will collaborate once more on Wild Oats, an independent comedy that Howard Deutch (Pretty in Pink) is directing; Alan Arkin and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom) are also locked to star.

ThePlaylist have some finer points on the story, informing us that Oats (written by Gary Kanew and Claudia Myers) is the story of two women (Weaver and MacLaine) who go to Las Vegas after one is sent a Social Security check for $900,000; there, the friends encounter three criminals who try to swindle the money from their grabs. And, although it’s not confirmed by any means, I’m guessing Arkin and Black will play two of those three fellows, if only because I like to make assumptions based on little-to-no proper information.

Dimension Films continues its acquisitions streak with the pick up of the road-trip comedy Wild Oats featuring a talented cast including Academy Award winner Shirley MacLaine, Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver and Academy Award winner Alan Arkin.

The film is directed by Howard Deutch who helmed the classics Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful, and recently worked at HBO directing shows such as Big Love and Hung. Claudia Myers and Gary Kane penned the script which has been described as a spunky comedy that is a cross between Sideways and Thelma & Louise.

Wild Oats tells the story of a retired widow (Shirley MacLaine) who hits the jackpot when she receives a Social Security check mistakenly made out for $900,000 instead of $900. She and her best friend (Jacki Weaver) then take off for Las Vegas, only to become media sensations and fugitives from justice.

"Howard Deutch has directed some great...

New York, NY, April 9, 2012 – Dimension Films continues its acquisitions streak with the pick up of the road-trip comedy Wild Oats featuring a talented cast including Academy Award® winner Shirley MacLaine, Academy Award® nominee Jacki Weaver and Academy Award® winner Alan Arkin . The film is directed by Howard Deutch who helmed the classics Pretty In Pink and Some Kind Of Wonderful, and recently worked at HBO directing shows such as Big Love and Hung. Claudia Myers and Gary Kanew penned the script which has been described as a spunky comedy that is a cross between Sideways and Thelma And Louise. Wild Oats tells the story of a retired widow (Shirley MacLaine) who hits the jackpot when she receives a Social Security check mistakenly made out for $900,000 instead of $900. She and her best friend (Jacki Weaver) then take off for Las Vegas, only to become media sensations and fugitives from justice. “Howard Deutch...

Dead Man Down

Terrence Howard is set to play the villain in Niels Arden Oplev's action-thriller "Dead Man Down" at Im Global and Original Films. Filming kicks off this month in Philadelphia.

Colin Farrell plays right hand man to an underground crime lord (Howard) in New York City, and his character is seduced and blackmailed by a crime victim (Noomi Rapace) seeking retribution. Dominic Cooper also stars. [Source: Variety]

Fort Bliss

Ron Livingston ("Game Change") has been cast opposite Michelle Monaghan in Claudia Myers' indie relationship drama "Fort Bliss".

The story centers on a female soldier transferred home after a long tour in Afghanistan who struggles to learn how to feel to rebuild her relationship with her 5-year-old son. [Source: Variety]

The Apocalypse

Aziz Ansari has joined Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's comedy feature "The Apocalypse". Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride and more are also expected to star. [Source: Digital Spy]

Pain and Gain...

Dimension Films has announced today the acquisition of the road-trip comedy Wild Oats , featuring a cast that includes Academy Award winner Shirley MacLaine, Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver and Academy Award winner Alan Arkin . The film is directed by Howard Deutch, who helmed classics like Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful and recently worked at HBO directing shows such as "Big Love" and "Hung." Claudia Myers and Gary Kanew penned the script which has been described as, "a spunky comedy that is a cross between 'Sideways' and 'Thelma and Louise.'" Wild Oats tells the story of a retired widow (MacLaine) who hits the jackpot when she receives a Social Security check mistakenly made out for $900,000 instead of $900. She and her best...

• Parks and Recreation’s Aziz Ansari is joining Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill, and Danny McBride in The Apocalypse, in which all the aforementioned actors play themselves, at a party thrown by Franco, during which the Apocalypse begins (i.e. a typical Saturday in Hollywood). Rogen and writing partner Evan Goldberg are directing from their script. [Grantland]

• Terrence Howard will face off against Colin Farrell in Dead Man Down, as a powerful gangster. Noomi Rapace and Dominic Cooper costar, and Niels Arden Oplev (the 2009 Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) will direct. [Variety]

• Ron Livingston has signed up for Fort Bliss,...

The first thing that comes to mind when most people think of Ron Livingston is Office Space, where he memorably played smug slacker Peter Gibbons who rebels against office politics and bosses in general with a guffaw-inducing indifference. With noteworthy turns in such heralded productions as Swingers, Adaptation. and Sex and the City, Livingston is generally regarded as a comedic actor even though he's won the most critical acclaim for his supporting role in the World War II miniseries Band of Brothers. Perhaps this is what has drawn him to Fort Bliss, an indie drama wherein Variety reports he will co-star opposite the striking but generally underused Michelle Monaghan. The follow-up to writer-director Claudia Myers' feature debut Kettle of Fish, Fort Bliss will center on a soldier (Monaghan) who struggles to rebuild her relationship with her 5-year-old son after returning from a long tour of duty in the war...

I, for the life of me, can’t figure out why or how Office Space didn’t instantly make Ron Livingston a star — or, heck, even why a big role on Sex and the City couldn’t chip in — but much of his career in the time since has been comprised of supporting roles in, at best, medium-profile films. Though these later turns are still the kind of solid, reliable work we’d expect, I can’t help but long for a film landscape that gave him so many big parts thrown to so many lesser talents.

It’s a little consolatory, then, to read that Livingston will star alongside the ever-affable Michelle Monaghan in Fort Bliss. Helmed by Claudia Myers, the picture centers on “a female soldier transferred home after a long tour in Afghanistan who struggles to relearn how to feel to rebuild her relationship with her five-year-old son.

Ron Livingston has joined the cast of indie drama Fort Bliss. The Office Space actor will appear opposite Michelle Monaghan in the relationship drama from Claudia Myers, reports Variety. Myers will direct, write and co-produce the project. Brendan McDonald and Adam Silver will also produce. Fort Bliss centres around a female soldier (Monaghan) who returns home after a long tour (more)...

Claudia Myers' Fort Bliss casts Ron Livingston Helmed and scripted by Myers, who in turn produced with Adam Silver and Brendan McDonald, Fort Bliss follows a female soldier (Michelle Monaghan) who is transferred home after a long Afghanistan tour, and struggles to rebuild her relationship with her son aged five. Pic budgeted at somewhere around $2 million, starts production in June. Livingston's currently shooting The Warren Files, New Line Cinema's horror flick and was recently in HBO's Game Change. Of his highest profile pics is the upcoming The Odd Life of Timothy Green, alongside Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Garner, Cameron 'Cj' Adams, Dianne Wiest, David Morse, Rosemarie DeWitt and Rhoda Griffis...

Claudia Myers' Fort Bliss casts Ron Livingston Helmed and scripted by Myers, who in turn produced with Adam Silver and Brendan McDonald, Fort Bliss follows a female soldier (Michelle Monaghan) who is transferred home after a long Afghanistan tour, and struggles to rebuild her relationship with her son aged five. Pic budgeted at somewhere around $2 million, starts production in June. Livingston's currently shooting The Warren Files, New Line Cinema's horror flick and was recently in HBO's Game Change. Of his highest profile pics is the upcoming The Odd Life of Timothy Green, alongside Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Garner, Cameron 'Cj' Adams, Dianne Wiest, David Morse, Rosemarie DeWitt and Rhoda Griffis...

Claudia Myers' Fort Bliss casts Ron Livingston Helmed and scripted by Myers, who in turn produced with Adam Silver and Brendan McDonald, Fort Bliss follows a female soldier (Michelle Monaghan) who is transferred home after a long Afghanistan tour, and struggles to rebuild her relationship with her son aged five. Pic budgeted at somewhere around $2 million, starts production in June. Livingston's currently shooting The Warren Files, New Line Cinema's horror flick and was recently in HBO's Game Change. Of his highest profile pics is the upcoming The Odd Life of Timothy Green, alongside Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Garner, Cameron 'Cj' Adams, Dianne Wiest, David Morse, Rosemarie DeWitt and Rhoda Griffis...

Shirley MacLaine, Alan Arkin and Jacki Weaver ("Animal Kingdom") will topline Howard Deutch's indie comedy "Wild Oats" at Wild Pictures says Variety.

MacLaine plays a woman who accidentally receives a fortune due to a Social Security cheque misprint. She heads to Las Vegas with her best friend (Weaver) to start a new life.

Said new life is short lived as they become overnight media sensations and fugitives who must outwit a trio of conmen along with dodging Social Security agents.

Gary Kanew and Claudia Myers penned the script and shooting will commence mid-January on location in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas.

Alexander Tabrizi, Blythe Frank and Agathe David-Weill will produce.

Angelina Jolie can do it all. She can act and she can direct, as can be seen in the soon-to-be released In the Land of Blood and Honey. But now Jolie is returning to live-action films and set to star in Ridley Scott’s telling of Gertrude Bell. According to THR, film has been described as the “female version of Lawrence of Arabia”, and will tell the story of a woman who helped established the modern states of Jordan and Iraq in the early 20th century. Ridley Scott‘s Scott Free Productions is developing the picture, with Scott aiming for the director’s spot. Jeffery Caine wrote the script.

Hugo made a big splash at the New York Film Festival and the AFI Film Fest, and with audiences praising Martin Scorsese’s genius. But the director couldn’t do it alone, much of the credit goes to Asa Butterfield‘s performance in Hugo.

Sharon Stone was a big deal in the '90s thanks to Basic Instinct in 1992, but she's got a lower profile lately. She's been working very steadily, but it doesn't feel that way. I can't remember the last time I saw a memorable Stone performance. Probably either Broken Flowers ('05) or Alpha Dog ('06). Law & Order: Svu fans would probably point to her recurring role on that show. I don't know if anyone would point to Basic Instinct 2 ('06) even though the image above makes her appearance in that one look like a different version of the X-Men's Emma Frost. She might get more attention playing the mother of a porn star. Stone is now set to play the mother of Linda Lovelace (possibly played by Amanda Seyfried) in Lovelace. That's one of two Linda Lovelace films in development right now, and the one that will be directed by...