Thompson on Hollywood

Magnolia Acquires Sundance and SXSW Music Doc 'Muscle Shoals'

News

Magnolia Pictures likes docs. The indie distributor has acquired US rights to Greg "Freddy" Camalier's Sundance entry "Muscle Shoals," a documentary about the Alabama Muscle Shoals recording studio that spawned some of the greatest records of all time. Produced by Stephen Badger and Camalier, the film includes interviews with Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Alicia Keys, Bono and more. The film is debuting in Austin Tuesday at the Paramount Theater as part of the SXSW Film Festival.

By Anne Thompson
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March 12, 2013 2:29 PM
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SXSW Midnight Deals: 'Haunter' Goes to IFC, Drafthouse Films Looking for 'Cheap Thrills'

Festivals

Per usual, genre flicks are selling at SXSW. IFC Midnight has snapped up rights to Midnight entry Vincenzo Natali’s “Haunter,” starring Abigail Breslin as a girl perpetually on the eve of her 16th birthday, fated to relive the day before she and her family were all murdered. “Haunter” is Natali’s follow-up to 2011’s “Splice,” starring Sarah Polley and Adrian Brody.

By Beth Hanna
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March 11, 2013 11:52 PM
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SXSW 2013: ‘Bates Motel’ Preview a Few Cuts Under Its Pre-‘Psycho’ Potential

Festivals

“Who’s gonna rent a room in the rape/murder hotel?” smokin’ hot Norma Bates (Vera Farmiga) rhetorically asks her introverted son Norman (Freddie Highmore) after a grizzly scene has just unfolded in their creaky house. Based on the first episode of “Bates Motel,” which was unveiled March 11 at SXSW, a number of clunkily-drawn characters will probably swing by the infamous rest-stop, less in the service of true creepiness and more for generic thrills.

By Beth Hanna
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March 11, 2013 11:46 PM
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SXSW 2013: 'Loves Her Gun' Star Trieste Kelly Dunn Talks Improv, Road-Tripping and Directors

Interviews

Geoff Marslet's "Loves Her Gun" will be talked about at SXSW, not only because it centers around violence and gun control, but because the improvised dialogue makes for a naturalistic portrait of a woman's progression from victim to aggressor. Trieste Kelly Dunn, who broke out in SXSW 2010's "Cold Weather" and went on to star in Cinemax's "Banshee." The story starts off with a random act of violence in NYC before a road-trek to Austin, Texas, where the majority of the drama unfolds, complete with hipster band, moustache and river tubing with beer.

By Sophia Savage
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March 11, 2013 7:04 AM
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SXSW 2013: 'Bellflower' Producer Grashaw Talks Directorial Debut 'Coldwater'

Festivals

Vincent Grashaw produced, edited and acted in SXSW's 2010 hit "Bellflower," written, directed and starring his fellow Coatwolf Productions pal Evan Glodell. Now he's back in Austin with "Coldwater," his feature directorial debut, which he also co-wrote. The testosterone-fueled drama centers on a teenage boy (Ryan Gosling look-a-like PJ Boudousque) sent to a privately run reform boot camp for misbehaving youth.

By Sophia Savage
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March 9, 2013 7:32 PM
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SXSW Opens with Raucous 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'

Festivals

The SXSW Film Festival's opening night has been the terrain of celebrity-infused audience-pleasers from "Kick-Ass" to "The Cabin In the Woods" and this year played to a seemingly winning formula. Friday evening, Jim Carrey, Steve Carell and Olivia Wilde took to the stage at the Paramount Theater in the heart of Austin to introduce "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" to a packed and rowdy audience that SXSW seems to breed and studios (and their smaller brethren) eat up. If spontaneous hollers and boisterous guffaws can pass as a barely scientific poll for how a film played, then "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" appeared to be a hit. Brass at New Line, indeed, received what past openers have found here -- a raucous crowd.

By Brian Brooks
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March 9, 2013 12:51 AM
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Watch: SXSW World Premiere 'Snap' Teaser Traps Jake Hoffman and Nikki Reed in a Malevolent Dubstep Underworld

Video

"Snap" stars Jake Hoffman (son of Dustin Hoffman) as a mentally unstable dubstep savant who becomes obsessed with social worker Nikki Reed ("Twilight") and quickly unravels to menacing proportions. The psychological thriller is co-directed by Youssef Delara ("Filly Brown") and Victor Teran, and has its world premiere at SXSW on March 11. Watch a pulsing, enigmatic teaser below.

By Beth Hanna
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March 7, 2013 12:17 PM
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Exclusive Clip: SXSW World Premiere 'The Retrieval' Follows a Budding Friendship Set Against Civil War Bounty Hunting

Video

Check out this clip from "The Retrieval," an African-American Civil War drama having its world premiere in the SXSW Narrative Competition section on March 11. The film is directed by Texan helmer Chris Eska, whose "August Evening" took home the John Cassavetes Award at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards.

By Beth Hanna
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March 7, 2013 11:46 AM
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SXSW Interview: Olivia Wilde Finds Her Inner Slapstick Comedian in 'The Incredible Burt Wonderstone'

Interviews

SXSW opener “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” -- which even Steve Carrell admits “won’t be changing any lives” -- did give Olivia Wilde a chance to get in touch with her “inner Lucy.” What? She pulls a football out from under Jim Carrey? No, she has to act awkward and ungainly and do “my tiny homage to Lucille Ball, who I grew up watching obsessively.”

By John Anderson
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March 6, 2013 12:46 PM
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Trailer Watch: SXSW Narrative Spotlight Comedy 'Kilimanjaro' Follows One Man's Quest to Climb a Mountain and Get a Grip

Festivals

Check out the trailer for Walter Strafford's comedy "Kilimanjaro," premiering at SXSW on March 9 in the fest's Narrative Spotlight section. The film centers on Doug (Brian Geraghty, "The Hurt Locker"), who decides to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in the wake of a bad breakup...