Goats

Acquisition News: Weinstein Company Picks Up BACHELORETTE, Image Acquires GOATS, and Anchor Bay Nabs EXCISION

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 7th, 2012 at 5:35 pm

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival may be over, but the acquisitions are not. We’ve got three such stories to share with you today. First up, The Weinstein Company has closed a deal for North American distribution rights to the raunchy comedy Bachelorette. The film stars Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Adam Scott, and James Marsden and centers on four high school friends who reunite when the least popular of the group gets engaged to one of the most eligible bachelors in New York City. Matt praised the candidly despicable portrayal of the main characters, but was disappointed when the film tried to redeem their behavior towards the end. You can read his review here.

Deadline reports that The Weinstein Company plans on releasing the film through their new label Radius, which focuses on multi-platform release strategies. They plan on releasing Bachelorette on a multi-platform day and date release with a theatrical component. Hit the jump for acquisition news concerning the David Duchovny pic Goats and the horror film Excision.

Sundance 2012: Matt’s Review Scorecard and Wrap-Up

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 31st, 2012 at 12:39 pm

Like I did last year, I had a great time at the Sundance Film Festival.  It’s tough to complain about weather conditions or getting around when you have the privilege to watch and discover new movies all day.  Even better, plenty of Sundance 2012 films turned out to be pretty damn good.  For me, there weren’t any quite as excellent as Martha Marcy May Marlene or Project Nim from last year, but those movies set an incredibly high bar.  Many of my peers felt they saw something truly special with Beasts of the Southern Wild and I can understand the love even if it didn’t hit me with as much emotional impact.  Most of my peers also loved Liberal Arts and Sleepwalk With Me, and I’m sorry I missed those.  But all in all, the festival ran as smoothly as last year, the volunteers (especially those in the press tent) were awesome, and it’s always a joy to hang out with people from other movie websites.

Hit the jump for my festival scorecard where you can see an organized list of my ratings for the movies I saw (although I highly encourage you to read the full review rather than just glance at a letter).  While this is my wrap-up, Steve will be posting his Sundance interviews throughout the week so keep an eye out for those.

Sundance 2012: GOATS Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 27th, 2012 at 12:26 am

I don’t really care if teenagers learn life lessons anymore.  The coming-of-age genre has become as stolid as the rom-com, but the coming-of-age movies still get a pass because they’re done under the auspices of being indie and artistic.  Goats makes an odd trade-off for the genre.  The movie doesn’t pack its main character full of quirks, but instead of growing as a person, he goes from a mostly-boring kid to a completely-boring kid.  All the quirks are for the one-dimensional characters who have almost no impact on his life.  The only fascinating thing about Goats is the values it preaches.

Sundance 2012: Sundance Film Festival USA to Include Films featuring Frank Langella, Chris Rock, Elizabeth Olsen, Vera Farmiga, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 13th, 2011 at 12:52 pm

In September, we reported that the Sundance Film Festival would be taking its show on the road by offering a handful of festival selections to theaters across the country.  Sundance has now announced the nine films that might be coming to your city provided your city is Ann Arbor, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, San Francisco, or Tuscon.  This year’s Sundance Film Festival USA slate includes movies featuring Frank Langella, Chris Rock, Elizabeth Olsen, Vera Farmiga, Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Isla Fischer, Adam Scott, and many more.

Hit the jump for the line-up and theater which each film will be playing.  The 2012 Sundance Film Festival will run from January 19 – 29th.  All Sundance Film Festival USA screenings will take place on January 26th.

Sundance 2012: First Images from CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER, LAY THE FAVORITE, GOATS, and SHADOW DANCER

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: December 5th, 2011 at 4:27 pm

Today, the 2012 Sundance Film Festival announced their premieres line-up. Along with the announcement comes a boat load of images from the films set to be showcased at the fest. After the jump we’ve got images and syonpses from Celeste and Jesse Forever (starring Andy Samberg, Rashida Jones, and Elijah Wood), Lay the Favorite (starring Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, and Catherine Zeta-Jones), GOATS (starring David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, and Ty Burrell), and Shadow Dancer (starring Andrea Riseborough, Gillian Anderson, and Clive Owen).

The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.

Sundance 2012: Premieres Line-Up Announced; Includes RED HOOK SUMMER, LAY THE FAVORITE, and WEST OF MEMPHIS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 5th, 2011 at 2:13 pm

Last week, we learned what the 2012 Sundance Film Festival had lined-up in its In-Competition categories, plus the out-of-competition Spotlight, Park City at Midnight, Next <=>, and New Frontier selections. But today Sundance has announced the heavy-hitters with the “Premieres” category.  That’s not to say these are the best films or the ones that will get the biggest buzz.  But they’re the ones that will pack the gigantic Eccles Theater bright and early every morning.

The Premieres category will include Spike Lee‘s Red Hook Summer, Rodrigo Cortes‘ Red Lights, Stephen Frears‘ Lay the Favorite, James Marsh‘s Shadow Dancer, Ice-T‘s Something from Nothing: The Art of Wrap, and the Peter Jackson-produced West Memphis Three documentary, West of Memphis.  There’s plenty more than these few films and you can check out the entire line-up after the jump.  The 2012 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 19 – 29th.

Dakota Johnson Books GOATS, 21 JUMP STREET, and FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: May 3rd, 2011 at 7:25 pm

Dakota Johnson, the young actress who impressed with her handle on the Aaron Sorkin banter while prancing around in Stanford cardinal underwear in The Social Network, has booked her next three projects.  Variety reports Johnson is currently shooting the indie comedy Goats with David Duchovny and Vera Farmiga.  This summer, she’ll film a role on the 21 Jump Street remake led by Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.  Lastly, she’ll join Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie, and Chris Pratt for the romantic comedy Five Year Engagement.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

Vera Farmiga Video Interview SOURCE CODE; Plus an Update on GOATS

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: March 28th, 2011 at 9:39 am

Opening this weekend is Summit Entertainment’s sci-fi thriller Source Code.  Directed by Duncan Jones (who previously made the incredible Moon), the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, and Jeffrey Wright.   If you aren’t familiar with the plot, Gyllenhaal stars as a soldier who wakes up in the body of a stranger on a Chicago commuter train and “learns he’s part of a government experiment called the ‘Source Code,’ a program that enables him to cross over into another man’s identity in the last 8 minutes of his life.”  If you’re nervous that Jones was a one hit wonder, don’t be.  Source Code is an intelligent thriller that’s definitely worth your time.  You can read Scott’s review here. I also definitely recommend it.

A few days ago I did video interviews with the cast and after the jump you can watch my conversation with Vera Farmiga. We talked about how she got involved in the project, did she watch Groundhog Day before filming, what kind of flexibility did she have with the script to add her own lines, what’s her karaoke song, and she talks about two upcoming projects: Henry’s Crime and Goats.

Minnie Driver Exclusive Video Interview BARNEY’S VERSION

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: January 12th, 2011 at 6:51 pm

Opening this weekend, in limited release, is a great movie called Barney’s Version.  Based on Mordecai Richler’s prize-winning comic novel, the movie is about four decades, two continents, and the three wives of Barney Panofsky (played to perfection by Paul Giamatti).  Without saying too much, the film follows Barney’s long and colorful life and over the course of two hours, we really feel like we’ve spent a lifetime with him.  In a good way.  And while I singled out Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Rachelle Lefevre, Dustin Hoffman and Scott Speedman are all fantastic. For more on the film, watch the trailer here.

Anyway, the other day I sat down with Minnie Driver and we talked about how she got cast in the film, what it was like to make it, did she read the book, working with Giamatti, doing accents, her music career, her nex film Goats, and so much more.  Hit the jump for the interview:

David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, Keri Russell, Minnie Driver, and Will Arnett Join Indie Comedy GOATS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 10th, 2011 at 11:51 am

David Duchovny, Vera Farmiga, Keri Russell, Minnie Driver, and Will Arnett have joined Ty Burrell and Graham Phillips (Evan Almighty) in Christopher Neil’s indie comedy Goats.  The film is based on the novel of the same name by Mark Jude Poirier (Smart People).  With the exception of Duchovny, this is a very different cast than the one that was attached a year ago, which according to The Playlist, included Hopper Penn, Robin Wright, Josh Brolin, Jason Schwartzman, and Robert Schwartzman.  Here’s the synopsis from the press release:

The coming of age story follows 15 year-old, Ellis (Phillips) as he moves from Wendy, his flakey, new age mother’s (Farmiga) South-Western home to an East Coast prep school where his estranged father Frank (Burrell) was once a star student.  For Ellis, this means leaving behind the only real dad he has ever known, Goat Man (Duchovny), his pot-smoking, goat herding mentor, and ultimately needing to evaluate his new prep school lifestyle that’s in stark contrast to his stoner upbringing.  Rounding out the cast are Keri Russell as Frank’s new wife, Minnie Driver as Wendy’s best friend and yogic advisor Johanna, and Will Arnett as Wendy’s boyfriend Bennett.

Hit the jump for the full press release.  Filming is set to begin in February.

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