Dual Trailer — Riley Stearns‘ Dual (2022) movie trailer has been released by Rlje Films. The Dual trailer stars Karen Gillan, Aaron Paul, Beulah Koale, Maija Paunio, and Theo James. Crew Riley Stearns wrote the screenplay for Dual. Emma Ruth Rundle created the music for the film. Michael Ragen crafted the cinematography for the film. Dual is produced [...]
Continue reading: Dual (2022) Movie Trailer: Karen Gillan Fights Her Clone to the Death in Riley Stearn’s Action Film...
Continue reading: Dual (2022) Movie Trailer: Karen Gillan Fights Her Clone to the Death in Riley Stearn’s Action Film...
- 3/31/2022
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
I love when a film comes along that is like nothing else that I’ve ever seen. When you can describe a movie as combination of two other things that never would go together? Love it. Those of you who pay attention on social media will know that The Art of Self-Defense is a flick I’ve been raving about for months now. Described as what it would be like if Charlie Kaufman wrote Fight Club or if Yorgos Lanthimos directed The Karate Kid. Those are apt comparisons, while also limiting the black comedy magic on hand. It opened in limited release this past weekend, playing to a decent box office. In fact, I even moderated a Q&a in Brooklyn at the Alamo Drafthouse with star Jesse Eisenberg. Now, with it opening wide, I wanted to pay it some further tribute. This is one of the five best things I’ve seen all year.
- 7/18/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
With only two films notched in his belt, Riley Stearns has proven to be one of the more distinctive voices in American independent filmmaking. Delivering both laughs and shocks with a considered precision–and often at the same time–Faults and his new film, The Art of Self-Defense, explore power structures and a twisted sense of community in inspired ways.
Starring Jesse Eisenberg as Casey, a lonely auditor who desires to prove his masculinity, he meets a mentor of sorts at the local dojo, Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), and things only get more intense and darkly humorous from there. John Fink said in our review from SXSW, “The Art of Self-Defense proves to be a twisted comedy with hidden depths that gravitates at times between tenderness and restrained silliness.”
Ahead of the release, I spoke with Stearns about his precise pacing, how he feels being compared to Yorgos Lanthimos, the realities...
Starring Jesse Eisenberg as Casey, a lonely auditor who desires to prove his masculinity, he meets a mentor of sorts at the local dojo, Sensei (Alessandro Nivola), and things only get more intense and darkly humorous from there. John Fink said in our review from SXSW, “The Art of Self-Defense proves to be a twisted comedy with hidden depths that gravitates at times between tenderness and restrained silliness.”
Ahead of the release, I spoke with Stearns about his precise pacing, how he feels being compared to Yorgos Lanthimos, the realities...
- 7/12/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
It’s been 20 years since David Fincher’s ultra-stylized “Fight Club” invited audiences to join its cult of shallow, stifled, macho insecurity, but times have changed. “Fight Club” was a warning shot, offering a vision of the near future in which toxic masculinity eventually formed a cult of personality and become indistinguishable from a terrorist organization. And it’s that world in which Riley Stearns’ similar but fiercely satisfying “The Art of Self-Defense” resides.
“The Art of Self-Defense” abandons the superficial artifice of pop brainwashing and instead portrays the world as it too often feels: lonely, muted, and completely devoid of purpose. Jesse Eisenberg’s protagonist, Casey, isn’t lured into a cult of psychological and physical violence because it has a sexy, MTV allure. He’s attracted to dangerous, disturbing people because they’re just ever so slightly more confident than he is. Or rather, they’re better at...
“The Art of Self-Defense” abandons the superficial artifice of pop brainwashing and instead portrays the world as it too often feels: lonely, muted, and completely devoid of purpose. Jesse Eisenberg’s protagonist, Casey, isn’t lured into a cult of psychological and physical violence because it has a sexy, MTV allure. He’s attracted to dangerous, disturbing people because they’re just ever so slightly more confident than he is. Or rather, they’re better at...
- 7/11/2019
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
It’s time for genre lovers to converge on Montreal for one of the best film festivals, pound for pound, in North America: Fantasia International Film Festival. With over 130 features from all across the globe, their 23rd year of fun has something for everyone.
Twenty years after Fantasia debuted Ringu to North American audiences, director Hideo Nakata returns to the franchise’s iconic character for an Opening Night celebration (July 11) with his latest J-horror Sadako. Combine that with a Special Screening of Fox Searchlight’s Ready or Not (July 27) and Closing Night film Promare (August 1) for a trio of hotly-anticipated films spanning the entire three-week event.
Fill out the rest of your schedule with a stellar line-up including the Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg-starring Vivarium, the world premiere of Hirotaka Adachi’s Stare, an advance screening of Abner Pastoll’s A Good Woman Is Hard to Find, Gabriela Amaral...
Twenty years after Fantasia debuted Ringu to North American audiences, director Hideo Nakata returns to the franchise’s iconic character for an Opening Night celebration (July 11) with his latest J-horror Sadako. Combine that with a Special Screening of Fox Searchlight’s Ready or Not (July 27) and Closing Night film Promare (August 1) for a trio of hotly-anticipated films spanning the entire three-week event.
Fill out the rest of your schedule with a stellar line-up including the Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg-starring Vivarium, the world premiere of Hirotaka Adachi’s Stare, an advance screening of Abner Pastoll’s A Good Woman Is Hard to Find, Gabriela Amaral...
- 7/1/2019
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
If Fight Club taught us one thing and one thing only it is to never underestimate the power of a bored single man with nothing to lose. And that is, in some ways, also the central thesis of Riley Stearns’ delightfully twisted The Art of Self-Defense, a pitch-black comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg as sad sack Casey, a lonely auditor who, in the film’s opening scene, is mocked at a distance in French by a couple. He, unfortunately, has become proficient in French, working his way through cassette tapes on his commute to work. He’s an easy and perhaps asexual target, turning to a meticulously photocopied men’s lifestyle magazine for advice and masterbatorial materials.
One night while walking to feed his beloved dog his life is turned upside down in a violent assault in which he’s left for dead for seemingly no reason. The assailants don’t...
One night while walking to feed his beloved dog his life is turned upside down in a violent assault in which he’s left for dead for seemingly no reason. The assailants don’t...
- 3/17/2019
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
IndieWire reached out to the directors and cinematographers behind the scripted narrative features premiering this week at SXSW to find out which cameras, lenses, and formats they used, and why they chose them to create the looks and meet the production demands of their films. Here are their responses.
“The Art of Self-Defense”
Camera: Panasonic Varicam 35 and Lt
Director Riley Stearns: I wanted to stay away from an overly clean image for this film. My cinematographer Michael Ragen and I were impressed with the Varicam’s subtle noise which felt quite filmic — the images coming out of the camera had an aesthetically pleasing grit to them. Additionally, we knew going into the shoot that there would be a lot of scenes shot at night, so the low light capabilities of the Varicam immediately set it apart from other cameras. We knew we wanted to do an Hdr grade of...
“The Art of Self-Defense”
Camera: Panasonic Varicam 35 and Lt
Director Riley Stearns: I wanted to stay away from an overly clean image for this film. My cinematographer Michael Ragen and I were impressed with the Varicam’s subtle noise which felt quite filmic — the images coming out of the camera had an aesthetically pleasing grit to them. Additionally, we knew going into the shoot that there would be a lot of scenes shot at night, so the low light capabilities of the Varicam immediately set it apart from other cameras. We knew we wanted to do an Hdr grade of...
- 3/12/2019
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
The coming-of-age movie is a tired and true staple of independent film, but every once in awhile a movie comes along to shatter genre conventions and make you experience something familiar in a brand new way. Justin Tipping’s directorial debut “Kicks” is one of those movies. The film hits DVD today, and IndieWire is celebrating by giving five readers the chance to win a copy of the film, plus a $25.00 gift certificate to Foot Locker.
Read More: Review: Jahking Guillory is a Major Discovery in ‘Kicks’
“Kicks” stars the breakout Jahking Guillory as Brandon, a bullied 15-year-old street kid who dreams about a fresh pair of sneakers. Working hard to get them, his kicks are soon stolen, prompting Brandon on a coming-of-age odyssey to get them back. It’s a simple story rendered with infectious creativity and some serious human spirit.
In his review, IndieWire Chief Film Critic Eric...
Read More: Review: Jahking Guillory is a Major Discovery in ‘Kicks’
“Kicks” stars the breakout Jahking Guillory as Brandon, a bullied 15-year-old street kid who dreams about a fresh pair of sneakers. Working hard to get them, his kicks are soon stolen, prompting Brandon on a coming-of-age odyssey to get them back. It’s a simple story rendered with infectious creativity and some serious human spirit.
In his review, IndieWire Chief Film Critic Eric...
- 12/6/2016
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The coming-of-age movie is a tired and true staple of independent film, but every once in awhile a movie comes along to shatter genre conventions and make you experience something familiar in a brand new way. Justin Tipping’s directorial debut “Kicks” is one of those movies.
Read More: Review: Jahking Guillory is a Major Discovery in ‘Kicks’
One of the best films to come out of the Tribeca Film Festival this year, “Kicks” stars the breakout Jahking Guillory as Brandon, a bullied 15-year-old street kid who dreams about a fresh pair of sneakers. Working hard to get them, his kicks are soon stolen, prompting Brandon on a coming-of-age odyssey to get them back.
In his positive review out of Tribeca, IndieWire Chief Film Critic Eric Kohn praised Guillory as a major discovery. As for Tipping’s filmmaking: “He constructs a lyrical atmosphere that suggests Terrence Malick for the hip-hop set,...
Read More: Review: Jahking Guillory is a Major Discovery in ‘Kicks’
One of the best films to come out of the Tribeca Film Festival this year, “Kicks” stars the breakout Jahking Guillory as Brandon, a bullied 15-year-old street kid who dreams about a fresh pair of sneakers. Working hard to get them, his kicks are soon stolen, prompting Brandon on a coming-of-age odyssey to get them back.
In his positive review out of Tribeca, IndieWire Chief Film Critic Eric Kohn praised Guillory as a major discovery. As for Tipping’s filmmaking: “He constructs a lyrical atmosphere that suggests Terrence Malick for the hip-hop set,...
- 10/11/2016
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Actors and their stories fared well at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Demetri Martin’s “Dean” took home the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature, receiving $20,000. The stand-up comedian wrote, directed, and starred in the comedy about one man’s uncertain future following a recent break-up and the sale of his childhood home. Mackenzie Davis (“Always Shine”) received the Actress prize in a U.S. Narrative Feature for her turn in a thriller about two female actors in different places in their careers and the jealous rage that it sparks. Director Sophia Takal was one female director of the 40 percent that made up this year’s directorial slate. Meanwhile, Michael Ragen (“Kicks”) won a prize for cinematography, and “F to 7th” Web series creator Ingrid Jungermann’s “Women Who Kill” earned kudos for her screenplay about two women who create a female serial killer podcast and become paranoid after...
- 4/25/2016
- backstage.com
One of the final films that I got to see last week at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival was also ironically the best of the bunch. That film was Dean, the cinematic writing and directorial debut of actor/comedian Demetri Martin. Not only was it absolutely fantastic, it was also declared an award winner at the festival, taking home the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature. That’s a big feather in this one’s cap as it begins to plan for a release in theaters, presumably later on this year. I know I can’t wait for you to see it, though I’ll have more on it later. For the moment, this will also be a piece highlighting all of the award winners, so let’s do that now! Quickly though, a bit on the film itself. As mentioned, Martin writes, directs, and stars in this dramedy about grief.
- 4/25/2016
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Learning to become a man from the shoes up, Brandon (Jahking Guillory) is taught the value of his new Jordans through a chaotic and lively couple of days spent on the streets of Oakland. The debut feature film from director Justin Tipping, Kicks tells a familiar story but accomplishes its goals with gorgeous flashes of joy-inducing cinematic flair. It’s an uneven, yet often absorbing coming-of-age adventure in the hood, and one that I greatly enjoyed.
15 years old and still waiting on an adolescent growth spurt, Brandon walks with his head down, hiding from violent gangbangers behind his long, curly locks. His best friends Albert (Christopher Jordan Wallace) and Rico (Christopher Meyer) make fun of his girly hair whenever they’re not flirting with high school girls. Meanwhile, Brandon keeps his focus on the shoes everyone wears.
In a neighborhood full of young men without job opportunities, who command respect...
15 years old and still waiting on an adolescent growth spurt, Brandon walks with his head down, hiding from violent gangbangers behind his long, curly locks. His best friends Albert (Christopher Jordan Wallace) and Rico (Christopher Meyer) make fun of his girly hair whenever they’re not flirting with high school girls. Meanwhile, Brandon keeps his focus on the shoes everyone wears.
In a neighborhood full of young men without job opportunities, who command respect...
- 4/23/2016
- by Zachary Shevich
- We Got This Covered
David Byrne is all smiles as Bill Ross lV and Turner Ross' Contemporary Color captures two awards Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Contemporary Color, under Dp Jarred Alterman and with the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz, Devonté Hynes, Nelly Furtado, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, St. Vincent, Money Mark, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, providing some of the music to David Byrne's color guard extravaganza, has scored twice at this year's Tribeca Film Festival awards.
Us Narrative Competition winners
Dean, directed by Demteri Martin; Actor Dominic Rains in Ian Olds' The Fixer; Actress Mackenzie Davis in Sophia Takal's Always Shine; Cinematography - Michael Ragen for Justin Tipping's Kicks; Screenplay - Ingrid Jungermann for her Women Who Kill. The Nora Ephron Prize - Rachel Tunnard for Adult Life Skills; Albert Maysles Award - David Feige for Untouchable. Best New Narrative Director - Priscilla Anany for Children Of The Mountain.
Contemporary Color, under Dp Jarred Alterman and with the Beastie Boys' Adam Horovitz, Devonté Hynes, Nelly Furtado, Nico Muhly, Ira Glass, St. Vincent, Money Mark, Holly Laessig and Jess Wolfe, providing some of the music to David Byrne's color guard extravaganza, has scored twice at this year's Tribeca Film Festival awards.
Us Narrative Competition winners
Dean, directed by Demteri Martin; Actor Dominic Rains in Ian Olds' The Fixer; Actress Mackenzie Davis in Sophia Takal's Always Shine; Cinematography - Michael Ragen for Justin Tipping's Kicks; Screenplay - Ingrid Jungermann for her Women Who Kill. The Nora Ephron Prize - Rachel Tunnard for Adult Life Skills; Albert Maysles Award - David Feige for Untouchable. Best New Narrative Director - Priscilla Anany for Children Of The Mountain.
- 4/23/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The 15th annual Tribeca Film Festival juried awards ceremony on Thursday evening rewarded a wide roster of selections as organisers honoured separate Us and international narrative competition categories for the first time.
In the Us Narrative Feature Competition, the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Dean (pictured) by Demteri Martin, who receives $20,000, sponsored by At&T, and the art award Waking Up In The Painted World by Stephen Hannock.
Best actress in a Us Narrative Feature Film went to Mackenzie Davis in Always Shine, while Dominic Rains of The Fixer earned the best actor award.
The best cinematography prize went to Michael Ragen for Kicks along with $50,000 in post-production services donated by Company 3. Screenplay honours and $2,500 sponsored by Freixenet Cava were awarded to Ingrid Jungermann for Women Who Kill.
In the International Narrative Feature Competition categories, Udi Aloni’s Junction 48 earned the best international narrative feature prize along with $20,000 sponsored by Netflix, and the...
In the Us Narrative Feature Competition, the Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature went to Dean (pictured) by Demteri Martin, who receives $20,000, sponsored by At&T, and the art award Waking Up In The Painted World by Stephen Hannock.
Best actress in a Us Narrative Feature Film went to Mackenzie Davis in Always Shine, while Dominic Rains of The Fixer earned the best actor award.
The best cinematography prize went to Michael Ragen for Kicks along with $50,000 in post-production services donated by Company 3. Screenplay honours and $2,500 sponsored by Freixenet Cava were awarded to Ingrid Jungermann for Women Who Kill.
In the International Narrative Feature Competition categories, Udi Aloni’s Junction 48 earned the best international narrative feature prize along with $20,000 sponsored by Netflix, and the...
- 4/21/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
We’re back with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes release details for Out of the Dark, Travelogue of Horror, and The Hunted, a trailer for The Scribbler and The Pyramid, a look at The Walker Stalkers’s music video Talk Dead to Me, advanced screening details for L.A. Slasher, and much more:
Out of the Dark Release Details and Photos: “Vertical Entertainment and Participant Media today announced that Vertical has acquired U.S. rights to Participant’s supernatural thriller Out of the Dark, and slated the film for an early 2015 theatrical release.
Starring Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman, and Stephen Rea, Out of the Dark is a ghost story set in South America, where a young family’s new life turns from promising to terrifying when they are forced to confront ancient legends, ghosts, and a haunting family secret.
Out of the Dark Release Details and Photos: “Vertical Entertainment and Participant Media today announced that Vertical has acquired U.S. rights to Participant’s supernatural thriller Out of the Dark, and slated the film for an early 2015 theatrical release.
Starring Julia Stiles, Scott Speedman, and Stephen Rea, Out of the Dark is a ghost story set in South America, where a young family’s new life turns from promising to terrifying when they are forced to confront ancient legends, ghosts, and a haunting family secret.
- 8/31/2014
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Magnificat Short Film. Riley Stearns‘ Magnificat (2011) short film stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Kristen Cloke. Magnificat‘s plot synopsis: “Winstead plays a woman who’s “tormented by malevolent visions that begin to bleed into reality.”
On the people behind the scenes of Magnificat:
Producer: Jamie Kaye Wheeler
Director of Photography: Michael Ragen
Production Designer: Amber Gerken
Editor: Ryan Brown
Sound Designer: Jacob Riehle
Asst. Director: Justin Carlton
On Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s upcoming projects:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead‘s 2012 is definitely off to a good start. Her starring turn in the indie drama Smashed earned high praise at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and she’s got A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter on her upcoming slate.
Watch the Magnificat short film and leave your thoughts on it in the comments section below. For more short films, visit our Short Film Page.
On the people behind the scenes of Magnificat:
Producer: Jamie Kaye Wheeler
Director of Photography: Michael Ragen
Production Designer: Amber Gerken
Editor: Ryan Brown
Sound Designer: Jacob Riehle
Asst. Director: Justin Carlton
On Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s upcoming projects:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead‘s 2012 is definitely off to a good start. Her starring turn in the indie drama Smashed earned high praise at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and she’s got A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter on her upcoming slate.
Watch the Magnificat short film and leave your thoughts on it in the comments section below. For more short films, visit our Short Film Page.
- 2/25/2012
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
Brrrrrrrrrr. The new Portugal. The Man video for “Sleep Forever” sent the band back up to homeland Alaska to film on the very cold and very frozen tundra. Directed by Michael Ragen, the video features lead singer John Gourley racing on the back of a troop of sled dogs through the wilderness. The 13-minute video opens with Gourley riding peacefully through the snow over “Sleep Forever” and quickly changes to something much, much darker. It’s definitely not for the squeamish....
- 6/8/2011
- Pastemagazine.com
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