
The UK trailer for Rodrigo Cortes‘ Red Lights has gone online. The film stars Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver as scientists who investigate paranormal activity, and who find a dangerous challenge when controversial psychic Simon Silver (Robert De Niro) comes out of retirement. I caught the movie at Sundance and thought it was terrific up until the ending, which not only leaves the movie on a sour note, but undoes a lot of what was accomplished earlier in the picture. There’s a chance the ending has been changed (most of the people I spoke to at Sundance also had a problem with it), but we’ll have to wait and see. The UK trailer does a fairly solid job of selling the film, although it should play up the paranormal investigations from the first half of the movie since those are the best parts.
Hit the jump to check out the trailer. The film also stars Toby Jones and Elizabeth Olsen. Red Lights opens in the UK on June 22nd and in the US on July 13th.

Director Rodrigo Cortes’ (Buried) thriller Red Lights now has a release date. According to a Wall Street Journal piece (via STYD), the supernatural pic will hit theaters on July 13th. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and stars Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver as two physicists who debunk claims of paranormal activity, but they run up against a man (Robert De Niro) who may actually have special powers. Matt caught the film at Sundance and really liked most of it, but he had issues with the ending. It’s worth noting that filmmakers often make tweaks to their movies following festivals and prior to wide release, so Cortes may have made some changes to the film’s conclusion.
I think the trailer looks pretty solid and I like the cast, so I’m interested to check the thing out this summer. I’m assuming the pic will get a limited release on that July 13th date, but the wide releases opening that weekend include Seth MacFarlane’s comedy Ted and Ice Age: Continental Drift. Hit the jump to watch the trailer for Red Lights.

Over the years, Andrew Niccol has proven himself to be a more-than-capable director of commercially risky films interested in the idea of “identity”. More of than not, these are sci-fi films (in the cases of Gattaca and S1m0ne), but sometimes they’re borderline dark-comedies (as in The Truman Show and The Terminal) and sometimes they’re just the second-best thing Nic Cage has done in ten years (Lord of War). Niccol’s latest film—In Time—seeks to turn Justin Timberlake into the star of an action/sci-fi hybrid. Does he pull it off? Should you pick up In Time on Blu-ray? Find out after the jump, folks.

An English-Language trailer for Rodrigo Cortes’ Red Lights has gone online. For those unfamiliar with the flick, it stars Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver as two physicists who debunk claims of paranormal activity, but they run up against a man (Robert De Niro) who may actually have special powers. I dug almost all of the film when I saw it at Sundance, but the ending needs to be reworked since the execution undermines the power of what came before. The new trailer sells the movie as a straight-up supernatural thriller, and while that’s technically true, the trailer also makes the film look generic and forgettable. There’s more personality and fun in Red Lights than what’s on display here.
Hit the jump to check out the trailer. Millennium picked up Red Lights for U.S. distribution, but no release date has been announced.

It’s been a bit of a wait for the follow up to Cristian Mungiu‘s terrific 2007 feature 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, but it looks like a festival release for his next film is on the horizon. Deadline reports that Wild Bunch has reteamed with Mungiu for the new film, which is “set in an Orthodox convent in Romania,” and “centers on a young woman’s descent into madness, her subsequent exorcism and the police investigation it sparks.” I’m sick to death of exorcism movies, but I’ll make an exception for Mungiu. Wild Bunch’s Vincent Maraval says that the movie “has elements of 4 Months, but with a much more intense twist.” Hopefully, that twist does not involve sending the audience to a website.
Pre-sales on the untitled film will go down in Berlin, with a possible release at Cannes in May. Wild Bunch is also planning to submit Rufus Norris‘ Broken, which centers on “the father of an 11-year old girl living in North London who witnesses a violent attack which changes the way she looks at the world around her.” The film stars Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy, Rory Kinnear, and Bill Milner.

Although the release date for The Raven has been pushed back a month, that’s allowed Relativity to give us more looks at the property, like this new poster. It’s not quite as ink-soaked or blood-soaked as previous efforts and resembles more of a phoenix than a raven, but it’s stylish nonetheless. Here’s what you need to know about the posters we’ve rounded up today:
Hit the jump to check out the full-size posters.

Mysticism and superstition can provide hope. If there’s something beyond our world, something we can’t see, then perhaps there’s a shortcut, a fount of secret knowledge, anything that can provide a solution when the real world doesn’t have one we like. That’s where con artists come in and appeal to our desire for a great beyond. These frauds carry themselves as the special people who will use their gift (and a curse! It’s always a blessing and a curse with these things) to heal the body and/or soul. Rodrigo Cortés supernatural thriller Red Lights puts us on the side of skeptical scientists who aren’t opposed to the paranormal, but have yet to see any evidence of it. Dr. Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and her assistant Dr. Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) use the power of science rather than the supernatural to debunk these phony mystics. But in its second half, Red Lights makes a major narrative turn, shifts the tone, draws the viewer deeper into the possibility of the paranormal, and has its characters struggle to keep a hold on reality. However, the film ends in a serious backfire where a clumsy execution breaks the spell.

Yesterday, Sundance announced the line-up for their Premiere’s category. This is where the biggest films will play but not necessarily the best. The best movies I saw at Sundance this year were Project Nim and Martha Marcy May Marlene and both have stayed with me the past 11 months. But there’s no reason great films can’t be part of the premieres category (Win Win was terrific), and hopefully 2012 will have more selections that leave a strong impression.
After the jump you’ll find images for Jake Schreier‘s Robot and Frank (starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon), Michael Walker‘s Price Check (starring Parker Posey), and Rodrigo Cortés‘ Red Lights (starring Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Elizabeth Olsen, and Toby Jones). The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.

[Disclaimer: When I use the word "time" (or any variation thereof) figuratively, I'm not trying to make a pun. It's just a common and useful word for our vernacular.]
Andrew Niccol‘s In Time has the opportunity to take its solid sci-fi concept and thoughtfully explore social and existential issues. Unfortunately, the movie skips along the surface, making its obvious points repeatedly and with decreasing clarity. While the need to make a smart sci-fi concept palatable to the masses is understandable, Niccol takes his appropriate action coating and runs it into the ground. In Time has so many things it wants to be and to say, but it ends up tripping over the words after the first few sentences.

This year’s Fantastic Fest went by in a blur, a seven-day avalanche of drinking, interviews, more drinking, and kick-ass genre-films that—from time to time—could feel a little overwhelming. While I managed to catch almost everything I planned on seeing during Fantastic Fest 2011, I was forced to skip a few flicks thanks to an already-crowded schedule. And so, when the folks behind one of those films– Carl Tibbetts’ Retreat– dropped me a line asking if I’d like to catch the film now, I was all too happy to say “Yes”. So, did I miss out on this one back when Fantastic Fest was in full swing, or would it turn out that Retreat was better left unseen? Find out after the jump, folks.

Tim Roth is currently looking for a new TV series since Lie to Me was canceled earlier this year. In the meantime, he’s signing on to star in the drama Broken and the dark comedy The Liability. Directed by Rufus Norris, Broken co-stars Cillian Murphy and newcomer Eloise Laurence, and has Roth playing “the father of an 11-year old girl living in North London who witnesses a violent attack which changes the way she looks at the world around her.” At which point, Roth becomes The Abomination. Okay, that doesn’t really happen, but I think that should happen in all of his movies from now on. Filming on Broken begins this month in England.
As for The Liability, Deadline reports the story centers on an “aspiring hitman and a veteran assassin who hates protégés and dreams of retiring. They come across a beautiful and deadly female vigilante, who forces them to pool their resources to survive.” How to survive: become The Abomination. Directed by Craig Viveiros (Ghosted), the film co-stars Talulah Riley and the great Peter Mullan. The Liability will also shoot in the UK.

An international trailer for writer/director Andrew Niccol’s (Gattaca) sci-fi/thriller In Time is now available online. Starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, and Olivia Wilde, the film is set in the “near future” when time is used as currency and people only live until they’re 25 unless they acquire more of it. As the story goes, Will Salas (Timberlake) is accused of a murder he didn’t commit and goes on the run with Sylvia Weis (Seyfried) in an attempt to stay alive.
I’m a shameless fan of Niccol’s so I’ll most likely be checking this one out. That said, based on what I’ve seen from the film thus far, the action seems to fall a little flat while the sci-fi elements and explicit social commentary keep me interested. Check out the international trailer for yourself after the jump. In Time opens on October 28th.

I thought we had already covered this trailer for In Time so I put off writing it up. I could have sworn there was a new trailer released only a week ago, and I was right. But this is a new trailer! It’s pretty similar to the old trailer! It hits you with a cool sci-fi premise (there’s a future where everyone lives until their 25 unless they have more time so time is used as currency) and then aims for broader appeal by selling an action flick where Justin Timberlake is on the run with Amanda Seyfried as his hostage/protection from evil rich people and the cops. I really want In Time to work as smart sci-fi and not just as the premise for a standard action movie. Adam liked what he saw at the film’s Comic-Con presentation so that’s a good sign.
Hit the jump to check out the new-ish trailer. The film also stars Cillian Murphy, Vincent Kartheiser, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki, and Olivia Wilde. In Time opens October 28th.

A new trailer for Andrew Niccol’s (Gattaca) sci-fi thriller In Time has been released. Just last week the director unveiled a wealth of footage at Comic-Con and online, but it appears they’re antsy to reveal as much of the movie as possible. This trailer gives us our first look at Olivia Wilde as Timberlake’s mom (yes, it’s kinda creepy), and focuses a bit less on the story than the previous footage. It’s not a bad trailer, and I really liked what I saw at the Comic-Con panel, I just hope the movie doesn’t turn out to be another generic “on the run” thriller. Nevertheless, I like the cast, I like the concept, and I like Niccol so I’m willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The movie stars Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy, Olivia Wilde, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Galecki, Matt Bomer, and Vincent Kartheiser. In Time opens October 28th.

A trailer for first time director Carl Tibbetts’ thriller Retreat is now available online. Starring Cillian Murphy, Jamie Bell, and Thandie Newton, the film tells the story of a couple (Murphy and Newton) who retreat to an island in an attempt to patch up their relationship following a family tragedy. While shades of Lars von Trier’s Antichrist come to mind at first glance, the trailer establishes Retreat‘s main threat as coming in the form of an injured Jamie Bell who washes onto the island warning of a fatal airborne disease. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but it should also be noted that there aren’t any talking foxes in the two-minute cut.
Hit the jump to check out the trailer for yourself. Sony Pictures will distribute Retreat in North America although a release date is still withstanding.
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