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Interviews

A Rockstar Out Of His Element: So Yong Kim And Paul Dano Discuss ‘For Ellen’

By Gabe Toro
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September 6, 2012 1:25 PM
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0 Comments

Interviews

In “For Ellen,” which opens this week in New York City, Paul Dano plays Joby Taylor, a frustrated rock star who heads to a snowy upstate town to figure out the settlement of a custody battle for his daughter. It’s an atypical role for Dano, usually seen as quieter, less sexualized characters. Even though the actor has tried to transcend genres through a diverse, young career, few could have predicted they would see the former Eli Sunday as a potential rock 'n' roller.

By Gabe Toro
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August 15, 2012 12:59 PM
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2 Comments

News

Among established filmmakers, few have moved as fascinatingly from film-to-film quite like So Yong Kim. The writer-director recently moved from the austere, critically acclaimed Korean picture “Treeless Mountain” to the upcoming “For Ellen,” a quintessentially American indie about a tortured rock star dealing with custody issues with his young child. However, it looks like the writer-director, who has formed an indie super couple with “Exploding Girl”/"Jack and Diane" director Bradley Rust Gray, is about to paint a wider canvas.

By Edward Davis
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August 14, 2012 6:37 PM
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3 Comments

News

From the director of "Treeless Mountain" and "In Between Days," comes "For Ellen," a bleak and moody-looking picture about a fuck-up rocker also trying to negotiate being a father. However, is it far too late? Directed by So Yong Kim and starring Paul Dano, Shaylena Mandigo with appearances by Jon Heder, Jena Malone, Dakota Johnson, and Margarita Levieva, "For Ellen" doesn't exactly look like a great time at the movies, but it does seem to feature a commanding performance by Dano. And perhaps one we've never seen from this young actor.

By Oliver Lyttelton
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January 25, 2012 4:00 PM
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1 Comment

Features

Thanks to her previous films "In Between Days" and "Treeless Mountain," and a none-more-indie cast featuring Paul Dano and Jena Malone, So Yong Kim's latest "For Ellen" had to be one of the most anticipated films of Sundance, at least in certain circles.

By Simon Abrams
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January 23, 2012 7:24 PM
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2 Comments

Reviews

"For Ellen," Korean-American writer/director So Yong Kim’s third film after breakout indie dramas "In Between Days" and "Treeless Mountain," is shot in the same style of her preceding films. The way she films long uninterrupted takes of Joby (Paul Dano), a self-absorbed young rocker, absent father and "For Ellen" lead protagonist, is fascinating, albeit more in theory than in practice. By making us experience the weight of dead air surrounding virtually every beat in Joby’s dialogue, we grow to feel trapped with him through a series of self-inflicted travails and cascading bleak moments.