Although some found being trapped in a box with Ryan Reynolds for 90 minutes a bit much, Rodrigo Cortés‘ claustrophobic thriller Buried garnered critical acclaim following its premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. His follow-up film, the paranormal thriller Red Lights, shows much more promise for Cortés’ as a writer and director – even if it fumbles in the third act. Featuring a strong cast and fantastic visuals from cinematographer Xavi Giménez, Red Lights tackles a slew of weighty themes like perception, reason, and faith while remaining firmly grounded in reality. If only it could have stuck the landing. Hit the jump or my full review of Red Lights on Blu-ray.

The dramatic thriller Red Lights, from writer/director Rodrigo Cortes (Buried), follows a pair of top paranormal researchers facing their greatest challenge, as they set out to discredit a powerful psychic.  Dr. Margaret Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and her partner, Tom Buckley (Cillian Murphy) are the world’s foremost investigators of paranormal phenomena.  When legendary blind psychic Simon Silver (Robert DeNiro) comes out of retirement after 30 years, Tom becomes determined to discredit the seemingly genuine showman, regardless of the consequences.

At the film’s press day, actor Cillian Murphy talked about creating this character and the world he lives in, how skeptical he personally is of paranormal activity, working with his esteemed co-stars, how his nationality affects him as an individual, and the type of work that he looks to do.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Today, we have an exclusive clip for Rodrigo Cortes‘ thriller Red Lights. The story focuses on two physicists (Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver) who investigate hoaxes, but must wrestle with the possibility of the supernatural when they encounter renowned psychic Simon Silver (Robert De Niro).  In this clip, we see Silver talking up his audience before he performs some seemingly supernatural healing ability, but what the clip really showcases is how De Niro can still turn in a strong performance when he wants to.

Hit the jump to check out the clip, and click here for my film review from Sundance.  The film also stars Elizabeth Olsen as a student who joins Murphy and Weaver’s characters.  Red Lights opens July 13th.

Following the release of these character posters earlier this week, a new trailer for director Rodrigo Cortes’ supernatural thriller, Red Lights, has gone online.  The picture stars Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver as two paranormal investigators with a long track record of debunked psychics, faith healers and outright frauds.  One such mystic who has escaped their deductive logic is the blind psychic, Simon Silver (Robert De Niro).  When Silver comes out of retirement, the junior investigator sees a chance for a big win for science and recruits his star pupil (Elizabeth Olsen) to help, even while being warned to back off by his partner.  The new trailer features a bit more footage than the previous one and highlights the stand-off between Murphy and De Niro.  As a bonus, it’s introduced by the lovely Ms. Weaver.  Hit the jump to check it out.

Millennium has released four character posters for Rodrigo Cortés‘ supernatural thriller Red Lights.  The story focuses on two physicists (Cillian Murphy and Sigourney Weaver) who investigate hoaxes, but must wrestle with the possibility of the supernatural when they encounter renowned psychic Simon Silver (Robert De Niro).  I dug almost the entire film when I saw it at Sundance, but the ending really leaves a bad taste in the mouth, and I’m hoping Cortés will have tweaked it when the film opens this summer.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  The film also stars Elizabeth Olsen and Toby Jones.  Red Lights opens July 13th.

A couple of heavy hitters in casting news today.  Here are the headlines at a glance:

• John Cusack may join Elijah Wood in the indie thriller, Grand Piano.
• Jude Law will star in the title role of Richard Shepard’s Dom Hemingway.
• Liam James joins Steve Carell and Toni Collette in indie drama, The Way, Way Back.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

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.

One of the many films that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was writer-director Rodrigo Cortes (Buried) Red Lights.  Starring Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Toby Jones, Joely Richardson, Elizabeth Olsen, Craig Roberts, Leonardo Sbaraglia and Adriane Lenox, Red Lights is a paranormal thriller that questions the supernatural and whether a world-renowned psychic is actually gifted or just a charlatan.  Shortly after premiering at the Festival, Millennium Entertainment picked up the film for domestic distribution, so I’d imagine it’ll be released later this year.  For more on the film, here’s Matt’s review.

During my extended interview with Cortes, he talked about coming back to Sundance after premiering Buried at the Fest two years ago, the plot and themes of Red Lights (he doesn’t spoil anything), how he came up with the idea, the challenges of filming and trying to finish for Sundance, film vs. digital, his writing process, future plans, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.

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:

• Director James McTeigue’s The Raven stars John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe, who joins a detective (Luke Evans of Immortals) to stop a killer who’s committing crimes based on Poe’s works.
• The Imposter, a documentary film by director Bart Layton (Locked Up Abroad) that follows a young Frenchman who posed as a Texas family’s 16-year-old son who had been missing for three years
• From director Rodrigo Cortes (Buried) comes Red Lights, a paranormal thriller that questions the supernatural and whether a world-renowned psychic is actually gifted or just a charlatan. The film stars Robert De Niro, Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver and Elizabeth Olsen.

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.

The teaser trailer for the supernatural thriller Red Lights has gone online. The film is director Rodrigo Cortes’ follow-up to Buried, which took place entirely in a coffin containing Ryan Reynolds, and this time he’s taking on the other-worldly. Robert De Niro stars as a renowned psychic who comes under investigation by a psychologist who specializes in the paranormal, played by Sigourney Weaver. The trailer is incredibly simple, and a nice change of pace from the quick-cut style we’re used to seeing that succeeds only in inducing seizure and giving away 70% of the plot. Cortes has opted instead for mood, putting creepy music and De Niro’s back to good use.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer. The film also stars Cillian Murphy and Martha Marcy May Marlene star Elizabeth Olsen. Red Lights is eyeing a 2012 release.

[Update: We've updated the article with the first poster for the film as well]

The first image from the upcoming thriller Red Lights has gone online.  Directed by Rodrigo Cortes (Buried), Red Lights stars Sigourney Weaver as a psychologist whose studies in the paranormal lead her to investigate a renowned psychic (Robert De Niro).  I don’t want to pull a judgment on this film since I liked Buried and the cast also includes Cillian Murphy and rising star Elizabeth Olsen.  However, looking at this photo of De Niro in sunglasses, I can almost hear him phoning it in.

Hit the jump to check out the image.

In 2002’s Phone Booth, audiences were riveted while watching Colin Farrell stuck in a (you guessed it) phone booth for 90 minutes. 2010’s Buried uses the similar formula of putting a mainstream actor with sex appeal (Ryan Reynolds) front and center for the entire movie. This “bottle episode” style takes the main actor to task, stretching their dramatic range and testing the stamina of their character. While Reynolds outperforms Farrell in Buried, the film succeeds on a number of other levels. Hit the jump to see my review.

Elizabeth Olsen will capitalize on her status as Sundance darling to land a role opposite Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Cillian Murphy in Red Lights.  Directed by Rodrigo Cortés (Buried), the thriller centers on “a psychologist (Weaver) and her assistant (Olsen) whose study of paranormal activity leads them to investigate a world-renowned psychic (De Niro).”  Olsen tells Risky Business, “Cillian Murphy is my love interest, though that’s not a huge part of the story.”

The role is a nice fit since Elizabeth (sister to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) is currently studying psychology at New York University.  Though she claims her education is “always a priority,” it hasn’t distracted from a budding film career: Olsen earned positive notices for the Sundance selections Silent House and Martha Marcy May Marlene.  She’ll have to take another break from school to shoot Red Lights, which is currently in pre-production.

Today, we’re pleased to bring you an exclusive clip from the special features included on the upcoming Blu-ray Combo Pack (includes the DVD, Blu-ray, and digital copy) for Buried.  For those who don’t know, the film centers on a contractor in Iraq (played by Ryan Reynolds) who is kidnapped and wakes up to find himself buried alive with only a lighter and a cell phone as his resources.  Over the course of the film, he speaks with various people, but they couldn’t get the miscellaneous voices on set during filming.  Instead, as director Rodrigo Cortes explains in this clip, they used an earpiece smaller than a coin and had Reynolds interact with his coach, who was in a soundproof booth away from the set.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  Buried is an intense and imaginative film and you should definitely check it out when it hits DVD and Blu-ray Combo Pack on January 18th.