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The Duplass brothers, Jay and Mark, put together a list of their top nine favorite films available on Sundance Now, the streaming service with award winning films, documentaries and TV series. Their curated collection features the early works of directors like Barry Jenkins, Andrea Arnold and Andrew Haigh, among others.

Since it’s a list for Sundance Now, the brothers recommended movies that in their mind are “quintessentially Sundancian” and have a “rawness of emotion.”

“In my mind, these films have a surprising number of specific elements in common: pin-pointed specific point of view from the director, a first or early film, non-professional actors, an uncontrolled documentary style, low budget, rawness of emotion, and performances that make your subconscious wonder at times if it’s a documentary,” said Jay Duplass. “More than anything, the films feel like they have been made by someone very specific, and you get the feeling...

"You'll never get bored with winning! You'll never get bored!"

— Donald Trump

If you want to understand why Donald Trump will never be President, watch the Rocky movies.

Rocky Balboa is the greatest loser that cinema has ever known. A piddling Philly prizefighter who was considered a bum by the few people who knew his name, the battered bruiser didn't have to beat heavyweight champion Apollo Creed in order to fulfill his destiny as a blue-collar hero. But by "going the distance" — and withstanding an unholy barrage of fists in...

Read More: Watch: Trailer for 'Kumiko the Treasure Hunter' Takes 'Fargo' at Face Value David and Nathan Zellner spent a decade making their offbeat drama "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter," a mesmerizing portrait of a woman who thinks "Fargo" was real. Now you can ask them all about it. On Friday, March 27, the Zellner brothers are participating in an Indiewire live Facebook Q&A (which operates much like a Reddit Ama) to answer all of your pressing "Kumiko" questions. "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter" was inspired by the urban legend of a Japanese woman named Takako Kunishi. In a pre-internet age, the local media reported that a Tokyo-based office worker had died in Minneapolis in search of the suitcase of cash Steve Buscemi's character buries beneath the snow at the end of "Fargo." The Austin-based Zellner brothers also directed "Kid-Thing," "Goliath" and numerous short films. Just pop over to Indiewire's...

Decidedly the psychological state of the protagonist (Rinko Kikuchi) in the David and Nathan Zellner’s Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is slightly off its axis, yet she is one of the more methodical, wholeheartedly determined anti-heroines in recent memory. An urban legend that is born out of fact, generously dipped into fiction and becomes a meta-wink to Coen Bros.’ Fargo, the creators behind effervescent contributions such as Goliath and Kid Thing (2013) received major accolades when it premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. Ioncinema.com partnered with Spot Interactive to present a teaser (soon) to an interview I conducted with one half of the Zellner team. Make sure to click on both parts of my interview with David at the tail end of the teaser. Amplify Releasing releases the pic in theatres today.

"You take me to treasure?" The power of movies is on full display in the Sundance selected Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter. Based on a true story, the film follows Rinko Kikuchi as a woman who discovers a VHS copy of Fargo and actually believes there's a briefcase of money still to be discovered buried in the snow in North Dakota. And so begins a beautiful journey from Japan to the United States. A new trailer and poster have just arrived, both showing off plenty of acclaim for this gorgeous little indie. There's even a pull quote from Werner Herzog calling the film "beautiful." This looks like one you'll want to seek out. Watch! Here's the latest trailer for David Zellner's Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter from IMDb: You can still watch the first trailer for Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter right here. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is directed by David Zellner (Kid Thing,...

After landing a couple of Indie Spirit Award nominations for director David Zellner and star Rinko Kikuchi (Pacific Rim, Cloud Atlas), the indie drama Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is coming to theaters in the spring, and the teaser trailer has arrived. Based on a true story, the film follows a woman who sets out on a journey to retrieve the briefcase full of money that was buried in the frozen ground in the Coen Brothers comedy Fargo. Due to the disclaimer at the beginning of the film calling it a true story (it's not), she's driven to find this treasure. It's quite a unique premise, and it looks like a real gem. Watch it! Here's the teaser trailer for David Zellner's Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, originally from Yahoo: Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter is directed by David Zellner (Kid Thing, Goliath), who co-wrote the script with his brother Nathan Zellner...

Following previous announcements of their film lineup, the Fantasia International Film Festival has released their full lineup of movies to be shown at the 18th Annual festival, starting July 17.

New additions to the lineup include 2014 Cannes Selection When Animals Dream, directed by Jonas Alexander Amby and the return of Fantasia’s showcase of animated films, Axis.

Tickets for the festival go on sale starting July 16, and the festival runs through August 5.

View the whole press release of additional announcements below:

Fantasia Celebrates Its 18th Birthday

With Over 160 Feature Films Montreal, Thursday July 10, 2014 – 2014 is the year that Fantasia turns 18. We can’t believe it either. Fantasia’s 18th birthday means over 160 features and something in the neighborhood of 300 shorts, many being shown for the first time on this continent, a good number screening here for the first time anywhere in the world.In addition to being stacked with a multitude of breathtaking debut filmmaker discoveries,...

Direct from its world-premiere screening at the Cannes Film Festival, Sff and Vivid Ideas are proud to present the Australian Premiere of the highly anticipated futuristic thriller The Rover and host director David Michôd, actors Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson and producer Liz Watts at the State Theatre on Saturday 7 June. The Rover screens as part of Sff’s Official Competition. Michôd, Pearce, Pattinson and Watts will also give a talk as part of Vivid Ideas at Town Hall on Sunday 8 June.

Actor Cate Blanchett will attend the Festival to introduce a special screening of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 the second chapter of the epic trilogy in which Blanchett is the voice of the character Valka. The screening is held at 2pm on Public Holiday Monday, 9 June, at Event Cinemas George Street.

UK visual artists and film directors Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard introduce Sff’s Opening Night Film,...

David and Nathan Zellner are no strangers to Sundance. Along with a number of short film premieres at the festival, the brothers debuted their second feature, Goliath, in 2008's now-defunct Spectrum category, and their follow-up, Kid-Thing, as part of 2012's Next. With Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, the Zellners take a leap to the competition category. Though it didn't pick up top honors, the movie went home with a nod to its score by longtime Zellner collaborators The Octopus Project, a pair of executive producers (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor), and the respect of fest-going audiences (The

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Austin-based sibling directors David and Nathan Zellner have been cranking out offbeat, surrealist comedy features and shorts that have gained a minor cult following on the film festival circuit for over a decade, but the profoundly engaging "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter" successfully broadens their sensibilities. Anchored by the remarkably sensitive presence of lead actress Rinko Kikuchi in every scene, the Zellners' elegant portrait of an alienated Japanese woman intent on discovering the fictional buried treasure from "Fargo" elevates its zany premise to poetic heights. But make no mistake: This weirdly touching and ultimately quite sad character study echoes previous Zellner outings "Goliath" and "Kid-Thing" with its focus on interminably solitary individuals led down the rabbit hole of their absurd quests — only in this case, the outlandish aspects of the plot have been carefully embedded in the entirely believable pathos of its delusional star. The brothers' strongest emotional...

About the Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition: “Presenting the world premieres of 16 narrative feature films, the Dramatic Competition offers Festivalgoers a first look at groundbreaking new voices in American independent film.”

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig in “The Skeleton Twins”

The Skeleton Twins

Directed by Craig Johnson

Written by Craig Johnson and Mark Heyman

Saturday Night Live alumni Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig headline a drama as twins reconnecting with each other and life. The plot seems vaguely reminiscent of The Savages, which starred Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as siblings bonding over the slow death of their father. However, with these characters focusing solely on one another, the built-in chemistry Hader and Wiig have together will no doubt factor heavily into the audience’s enjoyment, especially if viewers are already fans. They played a couple in charge of an amusement park in the 2009 comedy Adventureland and have a...

Another Little Girl Down the Lane…

While the latest feature length film from the Zellner Brothers, Kid-Thing, may not be meant for children, its stammered nature definitely plays itself out as an adolescent affair. Their latest feature (after 2008’s comedic Goliath) is set in the Texas countryside, right outside of Austin, certainly a locale primed for ominous and terrifying happenings. Yet one can’t help but feel that the opaque and ambiguous tone of their latest effort squanders an excellent opportunity to have been a better film.

At the center of Kid-Thing is the 10 year old Annie (Sydney Aguirre), a motherless child left to her own devices while her goat farmer father (Nathan Zellner) engages in demolition derby and wastes a considerable amount of time engaging in inane activities with his equally simple friend, Caleb (David Zellner). A gas leak at her school has forced it to close for an...

Born from a conversation between Austin Film Society programmer Lars Nilsen and local actor/filmmaker Jonny Mars, a new Afs recurring series starts in July: "That's Genius." In the words of Nilsen, the film series will serve as "a way for film professionals to share works that they [think represent] 'genius' in the world of some film discipline."

Austin filmmakers David and Nathan Zellner -- who directed the features Kid-Thing and Goliath -- have selected the inaugural movie in this series: the 1982 animated movie The Plague Dogs [tickets], which screens on Thursday, July 25 at the Marchesa. The Zellners will host the event, and filmmaker Martin Rosen will attend for a post-screening Q&A.

The Plague Dogs, which Rosen adapted from the novel by Richard Adams, follows two dogs who escape from a lab that has been performing tests on them. As a result of the experiments the lab has been running on animals,...

The following is a list of all comic books, graphic novels and special items that will be available this week and shipped to comic book stores who have placed orders for them.

Abrams

Art Of Daniel Clowes Modern Cartoonist Hc, $40.00

Garbage Pail Kids Hc, $19.95

Gonzo A Graphic Biography Of Hunter S Thompson Tp, $17.95

Abstract Studios

Rachel Rising #1 (Terry Moore 3rd Printing Variant Cover)(not verified by Diamond), $3.99

Rachel Rising #2 (Terry Moore 3rd Printing Variant Cover)(not verified by Diamond), $3.99

Rachel Rising Volume 1 Shadow Of Death Tp, $16.99

Antarctic Press

Last Zombie Neverland #2 (Of 5), $3.99

Arcana Studio

Space Mn Gn, $14.95

Archaia Entertainment

Black Charity Hc, $19.95

Archie Comic Publications

Archie #631, $2.99

Betty And Veronica Friends Double Digest #223, $3.99

Jinx Hc (resolicited)(not verified by Diamond), $16.99

Jinx Sc (resolicited)(not verified by Diamond), $9.99

Life With Archie #18, $3.99

Aspen Mlt

Lady Mechanika #0 (Cover H 4th Printing), $2.99

Audiogo Ltd

Doctor Who And The Silurians Audio CD, $29.95

Docter Who Earthshock Audio CD,...

by Maian Tran

My first visit to Austin—and, therefore, my first South by Southwest film festival experience—was like falling down a rabbit hole into an intoxicating new world. I witnessed the clash between the city and the fest, the idiosyncrasies between the laid-back natives versus the three, wild-eyed, visiting breeds of SXSW-goer (interactive / film / music), a month's worth of rain poured over three days, the New Orleans-style craziness of 6th Street at night, and transcendentally good BBQ. Fortunately, the films were also a fantastic escape into self-contained explorations of adolescent turmoil, memory, community spaces, and how to take down thirty floors' worth of goons in the most badass martial-arts epic in years.

Credited as sole director, Austin-based filmmaker David Zellner—who co-created Goliath and numerous shorts with his brother Nathan, credited here as producer and cinematographer—incorporates the duo's dark, quirky brand of comedy to their beautifully shot Southern Gothic fairy tale Kid-Thing.

Kid-Thing, the latest feature from local indie film lynchpins David and Nathan Zellner, screened last night, coming home after a successful run at Sundance and Berlin. Today the pair along with their young star Sydney Aguirre sat down with me to discuss the film.

We take a moment to get to know each other before jumping into the interview. The Zellner Brothers had small but memorable roles on the first feature films I ever worked on as a lowly Pa, 2009′s Beeswax, from writer/director Andrew Bujalski.

One of the first things I was struck by while watching your film is how the setting becomes a character in the film. Having spent a lot of time growing up in rural Texas that’s something I was drawn to. Is that something you experienced a lot of growing up?

David Zellner: Yeah, and I think some of that was done...

In the cold Park City night air, professional stuntman Nash Edgerton (Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith) teaches filmmaking brothers Nathan and David Zellner (Goliath) how to throw a punch in this “home movie” by journalist/curator/filmmaker Mike Plante for the Sundance Film Festival. You know, it’s not as easy as it looks.

Edgerton, who doubled for Ewan McGregor in two Star Wars films and did stunts for The Matrix, Superman Returns and other high-profile blockbusters, is also an indie filmmaker himself who broke into his profession by producing short films showcasing his stunt work. Which is really a pretty smart way to go about things, provided one is as professional and serious about his work as Edgerton is, otherwise weaker souls might just end up dead, really.

In above home movie, Plante includes clips from Edgerton’s short film Lucky, where he leaps around a speeding car,...

Austin-based sibling filmmakers Nathan and David Zellner make movies in a loony vacuum in which the only constant is a fixation on the bizarre. While technically geared toward comedy, neither their feature-length "Goliath" (which also premiered in the Next section, at Sundance 2009) nor innumerable offbeat short films commit themselves to punchline-driven humor. Instead, they allow the absurdity of individual moments to transform otherwise bleak scenarios into simultaneously funny and oddly perceptive observations. "Goliath" was a heartfelt story of a man coping with the loss of his beloved cat, and yet it elevates that premise to a level of strange hilarity without sacrificing the emotional truth sustaining it. "Kid-Thing," the brothers' latest feature-length effort (for which David takes solo directing credit), pushes that style in a less comic direction while remaining distinctly Zellnerian. Unfortunately for Zellner fans, it has too...

Directors: Bob Ray, Spencer Parsons, Rusty Kelley, Berndt Mader, Amy Grappell, Karen Skloss, Duane Graves, Justin Meeks, Paul Gordon, Johnny Stranger, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Jay Duplass, John Bryant, Sam Wainwright Douglas, Ben Steinbauer, Elisabeth Sikes, Mike Dolan, Geoff Marslett, Bradley Beesley, Bob Byington, Clay Liford, Carlyn Hudson, Miguel Alvarez, Scott Meyers, Pj Raval, Chris Eska Writers: Bob Ray, Spencer Parsons, Rusty Kelley, Berndt Mader, Amy Grappell, Karen Skloss, Duane Graves, Justin Meeks, Paul Gordon, Johnny Stranger, David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Jay Duplass, John Bryant, Sam Wainwright Douglas, Ben Steinbauer, Elisabeth Sikes, Mike Dolan, Geoff Marslett, Bradley Beesley, Bob Byington, Clay Liford, Carlyn Hudson, Miguel Alvarez, Scott Meyers, Pj Raval, Chris Eska Starring: Bob Ray, Chris Doubek, Maggie Lea, Hilah Johnson, Robert Lambert, Leslie Naugle, John Wesley Coleman, Kelli Bland, Justin Meeks, Jonny Mars, Ashley Spillers, Jen Tracy Duplass, Jay Duplass, Chris Trew, Sam Wainwright Douglas, Anna Margaret Hollyman, Luke Savisky,...

In celebration of Slacker's 20th anniversary, local filmmakers are re-creating scenes from the Richard Linklater movie for Slacker 2011, a fundraising project benefitting the Texas Filmmakers Production Fund (Tfpf). As we await the August 31 premiere, we're chatting with some of the filmmakers participating in one or more of the short films that will comprise the project -- check out our interviews so far.

Today's interview is with David Zellner. David and Nathan Zellner are an Austin filmmaking team -- they're brothers -- who have brought us such comically twisted short films as Sasquatch Birth Journal 2, Aftermath on Meadowlark Lane and Quasar Hernandez (available online). They also wrote and directed the feature Goliath, which played SXSW in 2008 and is now on DVD.

Slackerwood: Which scene from the film did you reshoot?

David Zellner: The jilted boyfriend throwing his typewriter/tent off a bridge.

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On Monday night, I headed to Alamo Drafthouse Ritz for an evening titled "Zellneroids! The Zellner Brothers Short Film Cavalcade," not sure what to expect. I did not expect live tap-dancing and singing, that's for sure.

Nathan and David Zellner are Austin filmmakers who have been making films in Austin, primarily shorts, for more than 10 years. Their short films have played festivals around the world, including Sundance. Sundance was also where their feature film Goliath premiered in 2008. I reviewed Goliath earlier this year when it was released on DVD.

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Okay, I've seen some weird marketing tactics -- especially this week at SXSW -- but this one takes the cake. Or gives away the pie, actually. The producers of Andrew Bujalski's film Beeswax have cooked up a very funny contest to market the movie's DVD, which will be released by Cinema Guild on April 6.

Here's the deal: The DVD package you buy includes a small snippet of 16mm film with a frame or two from Beeswax. Very nice. One of the snippets is from a sex scene in which Austin filmmaker (Goliath) and occasional actor David Zellner is dressing and has his back to the camera. In other words ... Zellner butt. If you get this priceless piece of indie cinema memorabilia, someone from the Beeswax cast or crew will meet you for free pie. They're betting that the winner will live in or near a city easily accessible to one of them,...

At first glance, Goliath is the simple tale of a man and his cat. But, look a little deeper, and you'll realize that it's obviously about so much more. A somewhat “artsy” film (the DVD cover artwork is decidedly hip), it's still relatable enough that a child could understand what it's really about: a man (David Zellner) whose life has fallen apart to the point where all he really has going for him is the loyal love of his feline companion, Goliath (or at least, had going for him — it's not long into the film before he realizes that kitty is missing).

Let's recap: This guy — who remains unnamed throughout the movie, but for the sake of argument we'll call him David — is in the midst of a divorce. At work, he is ordered to fire one of the custodians, and then take over said custodian's duties. He doesn't appear...

DVD Playhouse—January 2010

By

Allen Gardner

The Hurt Locker (Summit Entertainment) Absorbing character study follows the leader (Jeremy Renner) of a bomb squad unit in Iraq and his growing addiction to the adrenaline-fueled life and death edge that he and his men must walk on a daily basis. Director Kathryn Bigelow, an unheralded great filmmaker for nearly two decades, has finally hit paydirt with this gut-wrenching examination of war as drug, as opposed to hell. That said, The Hurt Locker is 2/3 of a great movie that takes a wild left turn in a subplot involving Renner’s character and that of a local boy to whom he takes a shine, and never quite recovers its momentum. In spite of that hiccup, it remains one of the best films of 2009 and, thus far, the finest cinematic exploration of America’s war in the Middle East. Also available on Blu-ray disc, in...

The first feature from Austin's filmmaking team of David and Nathan Zellner, Goliath, hit the DVD shelves (and Netflix) on Tuesday. David Zellner wrote and directed the locally shot comedy, and plays the main character; Nathan produced and edited the film, and has a small but quite memorable role. I interviewed the Zellners before their film played SXSW 2008.

The movie is about a nameless everyschlub (David Zellner) who is dealing with a divorce and some nastiness at work, and at the same time can't find his beloved cat Goliath. Every move he makes is strange and unworkable: shouting a message onto his ex-wife's voicemail, firing a coworker (Wiley Wiggins) at exactly the wrong time, trying to use a balloon to sail a Missing Cat poster through the air. A quick look at his Web browser history seems to tell it all.

Goliath is not a plot-heavy movie. Here's this poor...

by Eric Kohn

Goliath

Directed by David Zellner

2008, 80 minutes, USA

Mpi Home Video

David and Nathan Zellner's Goliath is a passionate ode to old ties and new beginnings, steeped in metaphor, strangely evocative, yet hilariously deranged. The Austin-based sibling filmmakers seemingly know the tropes of mainstream comedy and work against them. A plot synopsis tells you almost nothing: Though essentially the story of one man's ties to his cat, the movie operates on a singularly bizarre narrative plain based around the ramifications of becoming a social pariah. It moves along in fragments of scenes, sudden outbursts and extended pauses. A climactic sequence involves as much emotional finality as it does absurdity and mayhem. In the final minutes, it's like a Looney Tunes cartoon came to life, invaded suburbia and absorbed its discontents. In other words, Goliath is purely unique cinema.

Continued reading DVD Of The Week: Goliath...

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As we head into Thanksgiving week, Austin-area filmmakers and film fans have a lot to be thankful for. Here are a few reasons:

The Academy Award shortlist for Best Documentary Feature nominees was released last week. One of the 15 films was SXSW 2009 selection Garbage Dreams. The doc tells the story of the Zaballeen, who live in "garbage villages" made of the city's garbage, and until recently were the only system in place for trash removal. Their livelihood is now being threatened by international outsourcers. Good news for another movie that premiered at SXSW 2009: B-Side Entertainment has picked up now-Austinite filmmaker Alex Karpovsky's latest film: Trust Us, This is All Made Up. Jette caught the movie in March and although it took a few minutes to get going, really enjoyed the long-form, detailed improv performance staged by T.J. Jagodowksi and David Pasquesi.One more from SXSW, this time...

Fiddlestixx, Ep. 1: Brain Powerz David and Nathan Zellner aren't well-known, but they've already created a few indelible films including Goliath which played at Sundance last year. That movie is the story of a man going through a vicious divorce and trying to find meaning through searching for his lost cat. ...