Stalker films were all the rage in the 90s after Fatal Attraction’s bunny-boiler antics astounded audiences. Hand That Rocked the Cradle, Cape Fear, Single White Female and One Hour Photo all followed a standard set pattern. Creep appears, ruins decent person’s life and then is dispatched much to the audience’s relief. Placing a stand-up comedian at the heart of one such story might be misleading, but director Justin Molotnikov knows exactly what he’s doing in this surprise Scottish BAFTA winner which treads a fine line between darkly comic and just plain dark.
When comic Joey Frisk (Stephen McCole) befriends ex-school buddy Frank (Malcolm Shields) during a turbulent week, he little suspects just what an impact old demons between the two might have on the unhinged former marine. On the surface Frank offers Joey some much-needed help when he’s suspected of a nasty GBH charge and made homeless,...
When comic Joey Frisk (Stephen McCole) befriends ex-school buddy Frank (Malcolm Shields) during a turbulent week, he little suspects just what an impact old demons between the two might have on the unhinged former marine. On the surface Frank offers Joey some much-needed help when he’s suspected of a nasty GBH charge and made homeless,...
- 1/19/2011
- Shadowlocked
Cemetery Junction (15)
(Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, 2006, Us) Christian Cook, Jack Doolan, Tom Hughes, Felicity Jones. 95 mins
Those averse to Ricky Gervais's "white-man overbite" will see surprisingly little of it in his second co-directed movie. Set in suburban 70s Reading, this rites-of-passage drama stars newcomers Cook, Doolan and Hughes as three mates growing apart on the threshold of adulthood. The ending may be formulaic, but Gervais and Merchant carve a neat middle path between comedy and pathos to get there.
The Ghost (15)
(Roman Polanski, 2010, Fr/Ger/UK) Pierce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor. 128 mins
While he remains in chokey, Polanki's latest release is an old-school political thriller, starring Brosnan as a slick ex-pm with guilty secrets and McGregor as the hack hired to launder them.
Beeswax (Nc)
(Andrew Bujalski, 2009, Us) Tilly Hatcher, Maggie Hatcher. 100 mins
Mundane mumblecore about the travails of twins.
The Heavy (18)
(Marcus Warren, 2010, UK) Gary Stretch, Vinnie Jones. 102 mins...
(Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, 2006, Us) Christian Cook, Jack Doolan, Tom Hughes, Felicity Jones. 95 mins
Those averse to Ricky Gervais's "white-man overbite" will see surprisingly little of it in his second co-directed movie. Set in suburban 70s Reading, this rites-of-passage drama stars newcomers Cook, Doolan and Hughes as three mates growing apart on the threshold of adulthood. The ending may be formulaic, but Gervais and Merchant carve a neat middle path between comedy and pathos to get there.
The Ghost (15)
(Roman Polanski, 2010, Fr/Ger/UK) Pierce Brosnan, Ewan McGregor. 128 mins
While he remains in chokey, Polanki's latest release is an old-school political thriller, starring Brosnan as a slick ex-pm with guilty secrets and McGregor as the hack hired to launder them.
Beeswax (Nc)
(Andrew Bujalski, 2009, Us) Tilly Hatcher, Maggie Hatcher. 100 mins
Mundane mumblecore about the travails of twins.
The Heavy (18)
(Marcus Warren, 2010, UK) Gary Stretch, Vinnie Jones. 102 mins...
- 4/16/2010
- by Damon Wise
- The Guardian - Film News
Strong directorial debut by Justin Molotnikov with a slice of noir black comedy. By Peter Bradshaw
First-time feature director Justin Molotnikov serves up a tasty slice of Edinburgh noir with this black-comedy-thriller. Stephen McCole is Joey, the obnoxious standup comic with a coke habit and a chaotic private life. Malcolm Shields is impressive as the menacing Frank: an ex-army guy and stalker-fan who claims to have been at school with Joey and wants him to attend a sinister "reunion" he's organising. Molotnikov drives his movie forward with real storytelling skill; there's some interesting location work, and the comedy is at all times satisfyingly nasty. Some untied plot strands at the end let things down a little, but this is a very strong debut from Molotnikov.
Rating: 3/5
DramaThrillerPeter Bradshaw
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...
First-time feature director Justin Molotnikov serves up a tasty slice of Edinburgh noir with this black-comedy-thriller. Stephen McCole is Joey, the obnoxious standup comic with a coke habit and a chaotic private life. Malcolm Shields is impressive as the menacing Frank: an ex-army guy and stalker-fan who claims to have been at school with Joey and wants him to attend a sinister "reunion" he's organising. Molotnikov drives his movie forward with real storytelling skill; there's some interesting location work, and the comedy is at all times satisfyingly nasty. Some untied plot strands at the end let things down a little, but this is a very strong debut from Molotnikov.
Rating: 3/5
DramaThrillerPeter Bradshaw
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds...
- 4/15/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Rating: 8/10
Writers: Justin Molotnikov
Director: Justin Molotnikov
Cast: Stephen McCole, Malcolm Shields
Crying With Laughter is one of those movies that hits you like a ton of bricks, and the best part is that you never see it coming. From the title and the short synopsis I read, I went into the film expecting a fun, dark comedy, but from the first opening minutes, I was proven wrong– in a good way.
Read more on SXSW 2010 Review: Crying With Laughter…...
Writers: Justin Molotnikov
Director: Justin Molotnikov
Cast: Stephen McCole, Malcolm Shields
Crying With Laughter is one of those movies that hits you like a ton of bricks, and the best part is that you never see it coming. From the title and the short synopsis I read, I went into the film expecting a fun, dark comedy, but from the first opening minutes, I was proven wrong– in a good way.
Read more on SXSW 2010 Review: Crying With Laughter…...
- 3/23/2010
- by Wilhem Oliva
- GordonandtheWhale
Movies of all kinds have entered into my own personal pantheon of favorites, for various different reasons. All of them are great, but there are some that are successful due in part to how well they.re constructed, utilizing the film.s time and pacing in such an efficient manner that I lose track of time and am thoroughly immersed in the story.
Crying With Laughter is one of these films. Written and directed by Justin Molotnikov, this film took hold of my reigns right from the beginning and drove me hard straight through to the end of the trail, before I even knew the ride was done. My blinders were on and the world outside of this film no longer existed.
Enough of the horse metaphors, I promise. Crying With Laughter is a story about Joey Frisk, one of the top stand-up comics in Scotland. Joey Frisk, played by Stephen McCole,...
Crying With Laughter is one of these films. Written and directed by Justin Molotnikov, this film took hold of my reigns right from the beginning and drove me hard straight through to the end of the trail, before I even knew the ride was done. My blinders were on and the world outside of this film no longer existed.
Enough of the horse metaphors, I promise. Crying With Laughter is a story about Joey Frisk, one of the top stand-up comics in Scotland. Joey Frisk, played by Stephen McCole,...
- 3/15/2010
- by Travis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Director: Justin Molotnikov Writer: Justin Molotnikov Starring: Stephen McCole, Malcolm Shields, Andrew Neil, Jo Hartley, Laura Keenan, Micaiah Dring Joey Frisk (Stephen McCole) is a Scottish comedian. Fueled mostly by cocaine and booze, Joey’s comedy is brutally violent and emotionally raw – you might even say it’s frisky. We meet Joey as he appears on stage; he is bloodied up with a massive shiner that looks like it stings like a mother-fucking bee. Joey is in a damn sorry state, you might say. Rather than flat-out jokes, Joey begins to recollect the chain of events that made him this way. The audience seems uncomfortable. Where is Joey taking us with all of this? Where is the punch-line? (Pun intended.) Well, patience my dears. This film is told in flashback from this point onward, so you will just have to sit back and enjoy the ride… While swimming at the local pool,...
- 3/10/2010
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
Less than a week worth of recovering from the Sundance Film Festival, and we are already looking forward to our next, big film fest coverage. That would be the South by Southwest Film Festival held annually in Austin, Texas. Last year, Scott and I brought you all kinds of coverage from the Lone Star State, and this year doesn’t look to be much different.
With that, the announcement came last night of the feature films that will be playing at the SXSW Film Festival. Previous announcement were already made about films like Cold Weather, Electra Luxx, Hubble 3D, Lemmy, Saturday Night, and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights making their debut. Kick-ass was recently announced as the opening night film, as well.
Among the other films being presented this year are some Sundance darlings, a few, highly anticipated premieres, and MacGruber.
Check out the full list...
With that, the announcement came last night of the feature films that will be playing at the SXSW Film Festival. Previous announcement were already made about films like Cold Weather, Electra Luxx, Hubble 3D, Lemmy, Saturday Night, and The White Stripes: Under Great White Northern Lights making their debut. Kick-ass was recently announced as the opening night film, as well.
Among the other films being presented this year are some Sundance darlings, a few, highly anticipated premieres, and MacGruber.
Check out the full list...
- 2/4/2010
- by Kirk
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Late yesterday the SXSW Fim Festival, which runs from March 12-20 in Austin, TX, announced the full lineup of films that will be screening at this year’s event. And baby, it’s quite a list. Mixing big name films with intimate indie gems, the sheer number of films and the vast array of talented filmmakers is sure to be a hit with attendees and critics alike.
This lineup includes premieres of studio films such as Universal’s MacGruber, Lionsgate’s teen superhero actioneer Kick-Ass and smaller films like Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart and Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. With so many films to watch, it will be very difficult to find time to seem them all during the events nine days. But hell, we’re going to try.
For more on...
This lineup includes premieres of studio films such as Universal’s MacGruber, Lionsgate’s teen superhero actioneer Kick-Ass and smaller films like Tim Blake Nelson’s Leaves of Grass, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs, Michel Gondry’s The Thorn in the Heart and Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Going Fine. With so many films to watch, it will be very difficult to find time to seem them all during the events nine days. But hell, we’re going to try.
For more on...
- 2/4/2010
- by Chris Ullrich
- The Flickcast
The 2010 SXSW Film Festival and Conference has announced its initial slate of titles. The list is rife with hot world premieres (Kick-Ass), films fresh from Sundance (The Runaways, Cyrus), hot titles from the 2009 editions of Tiff and Cannes that haven't had much U.S. play (Enter the Void, Dogtooth, Trash Humpers), interesting documentaries (Lemmy, The People v. George Lucas) and much, much more. Simon Rumley's Red, White & Blue, which has received much praise on Twitch based on its Iffr screenings, will have its North American premiere.
Midnight programming courtesy of Fantastic Fest is also back with titles like Higanjima, Monsters, Serbian Film, Outcast, and a yet to be announced special film. Keep eye out for SXSW coverage at Twitch, but for now, pursue the massive list below (descriptions courtesy of SXSW).
Headliners
Big names, big talent: Headliners bring star power to SXSW, featuring red carpet premieres and gala film...
Midnight programming courtesy of Fantastic Fest is also back with titles like Higanjima, Monsters, Serbian Film, Outcast, and a yet to be announced special film. Keep eye out for SXSW coverage at Twitch, but for now, pursue the massive list below (descriptions courtesy of SXSW).
Headliners
Big names, big talent: Headliners bring star power to SXSW, featuring red carpet premieres and gala film...
- 2/4/2010
- Screen Anarchy
Year: 2009
Directors: Justin Molotnikov
Writers: Justin Molotnikov
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 8 out of 10
An intense dark comedy set in my home town of Edinburgh, Scotland, Crying with Laughter is the brainchild of writer/director Justin Molotnikov and stars Stephen McCole (The Acid House) as a cocaine snorting stand-up comedian on the verge of his first big break. The film opens with his character, Joey Frisk, practicing his routine on Portobello Beach, belting booze and shouting at the waves as if they were a rowdy comedy-club crowd. His act is a hit, with wry humour and jabs at a willing audience, but after he bumps into an old school friend while kicking back in a sauna, things start to get creepy.
Frank, played to the hilt by Malcolm Shields, spots Joey and introduces himself with enthusiasm, reminding him of the time Joey drunkenly burnt down a schoolmaster...
Directors: Justin Molotnikov
Writers: Justin Molotnikov
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: projectcyclops
Rating: 8 out of 10
An intense dark comedy set in my home town of Edinburgh, Scotland, Crying with Laughter is the brainchild of writer/director Justin Molotnikov and stars Stephen McCole (The Acid House) as a cocaine snorting stand-up comedian on the verge of his first big break. The film opens with his character, Joey Frisk, practicing his routine on Portobello Beach, belting booze and shouting at the waves as if they were a rowdy comedy-club crowd. His act is a hit, with wry humour and jabs at a willing audience, but after he bumps into an old school friend while kicking back in a sauna, things start to get creepy.
Frank, played to the hilt by Malcolm Shields, spots Joey and introduces himself with enthusiasm, reminding him of the time Joey drunkenly burnt down a schoolmaster...
- 6/21/2009
- QuietEarth.us
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