The Playlist

Review: Idiosyncratic & Hilarious ‘Kings Of Summer’ Heralds The Arrival Of A Fresh New Comic Voice

By Cory Everett
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May 30, 2013 7:26 PM
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2 Comments

Reviews

After the premiere screening at Sundance of his wonderful debut feature “Kings Of Summer,” director Jordan Vogt-Roberts – responsible for the short “Successful Alcoholics” and a veteran of “Funny Or Die Presents…” – told the audience his influences for his first feature included early Amblin films like “The Goonies” with “elements of [Terrence] Malick,” and most surprisingly, “Bad Boys II.” The filmmaker had to clarify that he was not, in fact, joking about Michael Bay’s destruction opus, and his Twitter bio proves it (“Really into Michael Bay”). And so, from these wonderfully disparate influences we have “Kings Of Summer,” a crockpot of comedy and coming-of-age film without a trace of irony.

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Watch: 'The Kings Of Summer' Camping Out In New Trailer & Featurette

By Kevin Jagernauth
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April 15, 2013 3:22 PM
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1 Comment

News

It's no secret that we're fans of Jordon Vogt-Roberts so it's no surprise that his latest film "The Kings Of Summer" (which premiered at Sundance under its original title "Toy's House") is shaping up well for a successful run, garning a good amount of pre-release buzz with some strong promo clips. It's gratifying confirmation of the talent we first saw in his short "Successful Alcoholics." and with a bit of luck the movie will do well this summer, it'll certainly be one of the more original offerings you catch at the cinema, as the brand new trailer demonstrates.

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Watch: Teaser Trailer For Sundance Hit 'The Kings Of Summer'

By Edward Davis
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March 21, 2013 7:07 PM
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0 Comments

News

We had our eye on director Jordan Vogt-Roberts early. Admittedly, by chance. One of us was watching some SXSW shorts randomly with little idea of what was on the docket and up came Vogt-Roberts' very excellent short, "Successful Alcoholics" starring TJ. Miller, Lizzy Caplan, and Nick Kroll and we were instantly smitten and word spread quickly through our ranks. When the short finally hit online, the rest of us were quickly on board. So when it was announced that the filmmaker was debuting his feature length debut, "The Kings Of Summer" (then known as "Toy's House") at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, we were stoked.

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15 Breakout Artists To Watch From The 2013 Sundance Film Festival

By Oliver Lyttelton
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January 25, 2013 1:06 PM
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10 Comments

Features

There's still a couple days left of this year's Sundance Film Festival, but for all intents and purposes it's winding down. Most of the press have departed, pretty much every major movie has screened at least once, and many of them have been bought, or will be over the next few days.

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Sundance Review: Idiosyncratic & Hilarious ‘Toy’s House’ Heralds The Arrival Of A Fresh New Comic Voice

By Cory Everett
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January 21, 2013 10:56 AM
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0 Comments

Reviews

After the premiere screening of his wonderful debut feature “Toy’s House,” director Jordan Vogt-Roberts – responsible for the short “Successful Alcoholics” and a veteran of “Funny Or Die Presents…” – told the audience his influences for his first feature included early Amblin films like “The Goonies” with “elements of [Terrence] Malick,” and most surprisingly, “Bad Boys II.” The filmmaker had to clarify that he was not, in fact, joking about Michael Bay’s destruction opus, and his Twitter bio proves it (“Really into Michael Bay”). And so, from these wonderfully disparate influences we have “Toy’s House,” a crockpot of comedy and coming-of-age film without a trace of irony.

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'Toy's House' Fills Up With Alison Brie, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Megan Mullally, Erin Moriarty & More

By Cain Rodriguez
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June 28, 2012 9:21 AM
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4 Comments

News

After first landing on The Black List way back in 2009, Chris Galletta’s debut screenplay "Toy's House" is finally moving in front of cameras this month under the direction of Jordan Vogt-Roberts (the man behind the “Successful Alcoholics” short film) in his feature film debut. Despite shooting being set to begin next month in Cleveland, we only first heard of the project a couple of weeks ago thanks to Ron Swanson himself, Nick Offerman. And now we have a better idea of the cast that’s been rounded up for the movie.

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'Parks & Recreation' Star Nick Offerman Joins Jordan Vogt-Roberts' 'Toy's House' & 'We're The Millers'

By Benjamin Wright
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June 7, 2012 10:18 AM
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1 Comment

News

We’ve made it no secret that we at The Playlist are big fans of the Amy Poehler-led NBC comedy “Parks and Recreation,” but as the show has become more of an ensemble piece over its four season run, actor Nick Offerman’s character Ron Swanson has become a particular fan favorite. Offerman has proven he can make the potentially one-dimensional Swanson – a manly libertarian who just so happens to be the director of the Parks Department – a fully fleshed-out character capable of having audiences laugh at his way with a socket wrench – and occasionally he’ll warm your heart (especially if it involves Andy). We’ve been hoping he’d find more work on the back of the popularity of his 'Parks' role, and things have certainly been going that way, with parts in this year's Sundance hit "Smashed" and Diablo Cody's forthcoming directorial debut.

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'Wanderlust' Helmer David Wain Planning 'Newsreaders' Spin-Off From 'Children's Hospital'; Donald Sutherland Signs For Sitcom From 'It's Always Sunny...' Writers

By Oliver Lyttelton
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February 21, 2012 9:46 AM
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6 Comments

Television

It's taken a while but "The State" veteran David Wain has cracked the mainstream. Having made his directorial debut a decade ago with the cult classic "Wet Hot American Summer," Wain took a while to get anything going again, but came roaring back with two films in two years, anthology "The Ten" and Paul Rudd/Seann William Scott-starrer "Role Models," the latter of which became something of a sleeper hit.

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Watch: Full, Brilliant 25-Minute Short 'Successful Alcoholics,' With Lizzy Caplan and T.J. Miller

By Oliver Lyttelton
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May 13, 2011 12:37 PM
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9 Comments

So, the weekend is finally here, and you're hopefully getting ready to unwind a bit. We'll be bringing you more from Cannes over the weekend, but to tide you over, the one thing you must watch this weekend (aside from "Bridesmaids," which again, we urge you to see, for your own good, because it's absolutely terrific) is the below short: "Successful Alcoholics."

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Terrific Lizzy Caplan/T.J. Miller Short 'Successful Alcoholics' Now Available On DVD From Wholphin

By Oliver Lyttelton
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April 25, 2011 2:12 AM
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0 Comments

Considering the volume of short films that are being made, and their necessity as calling cards for anyone who wants to work in the industry, it's frustrating that there's no real market for the form. You would think that the bitesize nature of the format would be perfect in the internet age, but outside of the few that make it on to iTunes, normally thanks to festival success or awards nominations, most filmmakers are reduced to lumping their baby on Vimeo and hoping it reaches the right pair of eyes to help them up the ladder.

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