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"Those delinquents hot-wired a carnival ride the other night." Hulu has revealed an fun trailer for a holiday comedy called Nutcrackers, the newest comedy directed by David Gordon Green. He spent a long time making his Halloween trilogy, but it's good to see him back directing more lively & funny films like he used to. Nutcrackers premiered at TIFF a few months ago and is opening direct-to-streaming on Hulu at the end of November in time for the holiday season. Dgg's Nutcrackers follows strait-laced and work obsessed Mike as he is suddenly thrust into being a caregiver for his rambunctious, orphaned nephews. In the most unlikely of places, 4 siblings find a loving shelter in an unexpected turn of circumstances. This endearing dramedy draws inspiration from actual events and deftly crafts a gripping story that unites everyone. Starring Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini, Edi Patterson, Tim Heidecker, Toby Huss, Homer Janson, Ulysses Janson,...

Hulu is out with its list of new content coming in July, and highlights include the “Veronica Mars” revival and the series premiere of the new “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” We also have the list of everything that’s being removed from the streaming service at the end of July.

Season 1-3 of the original “Veronica Mars” series will be available starting July 1, so you can brush up on all the background knowledge you’ll need to fully enjoy Season 4 when it drops July 26, with Kristen Bell returning the starring role as the title character after almost 15 years. Here’s everything we know about the revival so far.

The new Mindy Kaling-produced “Four Weddings and a Funeral” series comes July 31, with “Game of Thrones” star Nathalie Emanuel in the lead role. Original star Andie MacDowell will return as a guest star.

Also Read: Summer TV Premiere Dates: Here's...

But who could possibly play Coach? Variety reports that “Stronger” and “All the Real Girls” filmmaker David Gordon Green is in final negotiations to direct a “reimagining” of the 2004 Universal film “Friday Night Lights,” which later spawned a beloved NBC series of the same name. The outlet hastens to add that this new film is both not a sequel to the film, directed by Peter Berg, or based on the series which starred Kyle Chandler as the lauded coach of a Texas high school football team.

Instead, the film will be a “new property” that is “still focused H.G. Bissinger’s non-fiction book about the 1988 Permian High School Panthers as the new Texas football team makes a run towards the state championship.” The book served as the inspiration for both the original film and television series.

Variety adds that Universal has long been eager to get back on the...

Four years have passed since bombs went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon that turned then-27-year old Jeff Bauman into a double amputee. In that time, Bauman’s inspiring story – which for many symbolizes Boston’s strength in bouncing back from the tragedy – has been captured in a book, which was then adapted into screenplay and now, the movie “Stronger,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Bauman. During that time, Bauman’s recovery – physically, emotionally and mentally – did not happen all at once, nor was it a linear process. In fact, according to Gyllenhaal, Bauman was in a dramatically different headspace at the end of shooting “Stronger” compared to when he saw an early version of the movie.

“In this past year he’s gotten sober, he’s in therapy three times a week and he has conscientiously decided to be a deeply involved father to his daughter,...

MaryAnn’s quick take… A rom-com for people who hate rom-coms. A painfully funny movie, full of enrapturing emotion that captures the glorious contradictions of all kinds of love. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): not a fan of romantic comedies

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

How many ways can a movie be spoiled by its own mere existence so that it’s ruined before you even see it? We now know that it’s more than the many ways in which The Big Sick spoils itself, because its multiply-foregone conclusion does not hinder its amusements, lessen its drama, or take away from its big, big, all-enrapturing emotion. It’s kind of amazing.

The Big Sick is the basically-true, just-a-little-bit-fictionalized story of the relationship between actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Goosebumps) and writer and producer Emily V. Gordon,...

“Dunkirk” aside, deep summer looks like a fallow season for major films — but appearances are deceiving. This is perhaps their most-essential moment on the movie calendar, as it’s when distributors huddle, haggle, and negotiate to determine which movies will head for the almighty awards-season launch festivals of Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York.

From the festivals’ perspectives, they’re vying for the starriest red-carpet gala world premieres. (The exception is Telluride, which doesn’t have to vie; it gets to cherry pick its impeccably curated four-day Labor Day Weekend selection in secret.) Ahead of next week’s rollout of announcements, we called around for intel on what we can expect to see.

Read MoreRichard Linklater’s ‘The Last Detail’ Sequel ‘Last Flag Flying’ to Open New York Film Festival

Of course, some films either won’t be ready to screen until year’s end, or will skip festivals and go straight to audiences.

“Dunkirk” aside, deep summer looks like a fallow season for major films — but appearances are deceiving. This is perhaps their most-essential moment on the movie calendar, as it’s when distributors huddle, haggle, and negotiate to determine which movies will head for the almighty awards-season launch festivals of Venice, Telluride, Toronto, and New York.

From the festivals’ perspectives, they’re vying for the starriest red-carpet gala world premieres. (The exception is Telluride, which doesn’t have to vie; it gets to cherry pick its impeccably curated four-day Labor Day Weekend selection in secret.) Ahead of next week’s rollout of announcements, we called around for intel on what we can expect to see.

Read MoreRichard Linklater’s ‘The Last Detail’ Sequel ‘Last Flag Flying’ to Open New York Film Festival

Of course, some films either won’t be ready to screen until year’s end, or will skip festivals and go straight to audiences.

MaryAnn’s quick take… Commits the cardinal sin of cinema: it’s boring. Feels like two hours of highlights from a 20-episode miniseries that only hint at a rich story tapestry. I’m “biast” (pro): have enjoyed Ben Affleck’s previous directorial efforts

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have not read the source material

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

With his fourth film as director, Ben Affleck has finally produced a stinker. Live by Night fails because it commits the cardinal sin of cinema: it’s boring. Which isn’t a thing that should ever be true about a movie with speakeasies and flappers and tommy guns and gangsters in panama hats.

They live by night? Everything happens here in broad daylight.

Joe Coughlin (Affleck [The Accountant, Suicide Squad], also starring) is making a pretty good living in 1920s Boston as a bank robber, with no desire...

MaryAnn’s quick take…

May be unique in the cinematic annals of manchildren in that its protagonist goes from overgrown adolescent to midlife crisis without any intervening adulthood. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

You have two kids,” says the Saintly Sitcom Wife to her husband. “I have three.” Cue laugh tracks sprinkled with a few awwws: it’s so charming and romantic, ain’t it, when a woman has to mother her husband. And it’s very conducive to nookie, of course. Except it isn’t, and there’s nothing charming or funny about a 40-year-old man — like Perry here — who has never grown up.

It’s so charming and romantic, ain’t it, when a woman has to mother her husband.

Ordinary World — titled Geezer when it debuted at Tribeca Film Festival this past spring,...

Over the past half-decade or so, David Gordon Green has jumped ably from television to feature films, helming episodes of “Eastbound & Down” and “Red Oaks,” and then directing the likes of “Joe,” “Manglehorn,” and “Our Brand Is Crisis.” And with his Boston Marathon bombing film “Stronger” in the can, Green is once again headed back to TV, this time collaborating once again with his “Red Oaks” pal Paul Reiser.

Continue reading David Gordon Green To Direct ‘Tonight Show’-Set Comedy Series ‘There’s…Johnny!’ at The Playlist.

Harmony Korine has never hidden himself or his work from controversy, and now he looks to be out and out courting it with a new project he’s reportedly lining up.

Per The Playlist, “during a Q&A last night at the Miami Beach Cinematheque, Korine revealed he’s working on an adaptation of Alissa Nutting‘s controversial and acclaimed novel, ‘Tampa.'” Much like the recent indie outing “A Teacher,” the film follows a young female teacher who seduces a much younger student. While Hannah Fiddell’s beautifully drawn film was more focused on the emotional fallout of the relationship, Nutting’s book is much more sharp, charged and, frankly, just plain dangerous.

Read More: Harmony Korine Directs Gucci Mane In New Supreme Ad — Watch

Here’s the 2013 book’s official synopsis, which gives you some idea of what to expect:

“In Alissa Nutting’s novel ‘Tampa,’ Celeste Price,...

Rough House Pictures (“Eastbound and Down,” “Vice Principals,” “Manglehorn,” “Lawless”) has announced the completion of production on “Dayveon,”Amman Abbasi’s debut feature. The picture is a collaboration between Rough House, James Schamus’ (“Indignation”) production company Symbolic Exchange and producer Lisa Muskat’s (“Suspiria, “Joe,” “Compliance”) Muskat Filmed Properties.

“Dayveon” follows a 13-year-old boy (Devin Blackmon) who comes to terms with his older brother’s death. Torn between a caretaker who also happens to be his loving sister (Chasity Moore) and the sense of camaraderie offered by his local gang, Dayveon is forced to make harsh decisions that threaten to rob him of his innocence.

Read More: James Schamus – ‘Indignation’ Interview (Toh)

Abbasi is a 27-year-old Pakistani-American writer, director, editor and composer. He was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2016.

“I went about making ‘Dayveon’ in a fairly non-traditional way,” said Abbasi. “I started...

Director Harmony Korine and Gucci Mane have teamed up for a new ad for the apparel brand, Supreme. Filmed at the rapper’s home, the one-minute clip starts off with him playing the piano, singing and talking about the brand. Gucci, dressed in white shirt with the Supreme logo, red pants and scarf, talks about his shopping habits and how he never goes into the store, just simply online shops and “hits the button.”

At the end of the video, the rapper is seen entering his recording studio and jamming to some music. Both Gucci and Korine worked together on the 2012 film “Spring Breakers.” The director also recently visited him while he was in prison at the beginning of the year.

Read More: Rihanna’s “Needed Me” Video: Watch The Nsfw Harmony Korine-Directed, 4/20-Themed Clip

The indie helmer is known for his cult classics such as “Gummo” and “Julien Donkey-Boy.

Subverting the Unexpected

At the end of the 20th century, Bobcat Goldthwait’s legacy read like a cheap joke: He was a screaming comedian from the eighties best known as Zed in the “Police Academy” franchise who once tried at his hand at directing a movie (“Shakes the Clown”). Those achievements barely skimmed the surface of Goldthwait’s ability, as the ensuing years made clear, when Goldthwait completely transformed his career into one of the most provocative American filmmakers working today. With the microbudget “Sleeping Dogs Lie” (aka “Stay”), Goldthwait showed his potential to funnel taboo subject matters into oddly touching, relatable human dramas, a proclivity he kicked up to a whole new level with the subversive black comedy “World’s Greatest Dad,” which features Robin Williams in one of his all-time great roles.

Goldthwait has kept innovating, with each new movie offering a fresh perspective on the naive assumptions...

New Indie: One of my favorite films from last year’s Venice Film Festival came and went from U.S theaters earlier in 2015, so it’s a perfect time to catch up with Manglehorn (IFC Films), which features one of Al Pacino’s finest, subtlest latter-day performances. He stars in the title role as a lonely and embittered locksmith who’s constantly writing letters to a lost love while ignoring the possibility of real-life closeness with his estranged son (played by Chris Messina) and a smitten bank teller (Holly Hunter). Directed by the hard-to-pin-down David Gordon Green — whose work ranges from the delicate George Washington to the bawdy Pineapple Express – Manglehorn has a low-key quality that bleeds into the lead performance; Pacino isn’t...

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★★★★☆ There's a moment near the end of David Gordon Green's Manglehorn (2014) where the titular character sums up the kind of angry person he is, telling his would-be suitor that if he burns toast he'll throw out the toaster. It's a simple but revealing line about a contradictory figure, earning our sympathy one moment then shattering it the next with his maddeningly self-destructive actions. Having resurrected the Nicolas Cage of yore with Joe (2013), Green attempts to offer the same shading and subtlety with lead Al Pacino.

David Gordon Green’s listless character study Manglehorn, starring a pleasantly unassuming Al Pacino arrives on Blu-ray shortly before his next (and unfortunately unpleasant) feature Our Brand is Crisis hits theaters. Premiering in competition at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, Pacino’s demure performance was the title’s championed aspect in an underwhelming follow-up to the Green’s superb duo of 2013 titles, Joe and Prince Avalanche. Unfortunately, the IFC acquisition performed as underwhelmingly at the box office as it did with a lot of critics. Although Green has systematically been injecting incredibly prolific actors into indie-inspired projects, the results often seem compromised in comparison to earlier titles in his filmography.

Green continues his examination of masculine relationships in an adaptation from first time screenwriter Paul Logan. Another Texas set endeavor, Green’s use of a forlorn and raggedly unhappy Al Pacino is definitely the film’s greatest asset, but isn’t...

Anthony Lapaglia is a man who embarks on an unlikely friendship with an elderly woman in this insightful yet underwhelming film

Whimsy is a difficult tone to master. Too often, attempts at magical realism can come off as forced and overly cutesy. At last year’s Toronto film festival, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn went full throttle with its unusual flourishes and ended up as a grating misfire. This year, Australian comedy drama A Month of Sundays, promises a suburban bucketload of the stuff and it delivers mixed results.

Related: Born to be Blue review – Ethan Hawke jazzes up unconventional Chet Baker biopic

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Read More: The 2015 Indiewire Telluride Bible George Clooney was originally slated to play the scheming political strategist hired to salvage a Bolivian presidential candidate in "Our Brand is Crisis," but her role isn't the only transition on the screen. For over a decade, director David Gordon Green has shifted between melancholic character studies ("George Washington," "Joe") outrageous comedies ("Pineapple Express," "The Sitter"), and unclassifiable hybrids ("Prince Avalanche," last year's "Manglehorn"). With "Our Brand is Crisis," however, Green assembles the lively vision of ruthless political machinations with a sturdy hand and irony to spare, but mostly takes cues from his vibrant lead and the material itself. Billed as being "suggested by" the 2005 Rachel Boynton documentary of the same name, "Our Brand is Crisis" takes that movie's portrait of the marketing tactics behind...

Here’s your first look at the brand new trailer for director David Gordon Green’s Our Brand Is Crisis, starring Oscar winners Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) and Billy Bob Thornton (Sling Blade).

The film will debut this coming weekend at the Toronto International Film Festival and then in theaters on October 30th.

In the film, a Bolivian presidential candidate failing badly in the polls enlists the firepower of an elite American management team, led by the deeply damaged but still brilliant strategist “Calamity” Jane Bodine (Bullock). In self-imposed retirement following a scandal that earned her nickname and rocked her to her core, Jane is coaxed back into the game for the chance to beat her professional nemesis, the loathsome Pat Candy (Thornton), now coaching the opposition.

But as Candy zeroes in on every vulnerability – both on and off the campaign trail – Jane is plunged into a personal crisis...

The career of David Gordon Green is so wide-ranging that it seems almost random. Green will helm a rash of studio comedies (“Pineapple Express,” “The Sitter”) and he’ll also just run and gun on small indies (“Prince Avalanche,” “Joe”). What’s clear is that no matter the size of movie, some big name stars are always willing to collaborate with this adventurous filmmaker. Nicolas Cage put in a terrific subdued performance in “Joe,” and most recently Al Pacino led “Manglehorn.” If the director is making a bucket list of great actors to work with, the next on his docket is Sandra Bullock. A political drama produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smoke House Pictures, “Our Brand Is Crisis” seems like it might be an odd fit for Green, but the filmmaker is so malleable that it’ll be interesting what side of his arsenal he brings out of the tool shed.

App will give Virgin Media customers access to independent films.

Curzon has struck a deal that will bring its VOD service to TiVo in the UK.

The launch of the Curzon Home Cinema app on TiVo will give Virgin Media customers access to a range of independent films at the same time they are released into UK and Ireland cinemas, as well as classic and themed collections selected by exhibitor/distributor Curzon.

Titles on the service include Oscar-winning Still Alice and the recently released Manglehorn starring Al Pacino. Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed 45 Years will be available on the non-subscription service from Aug 28.

The move is indicative of the growing consumer appetite for instant access to day-and-date movie releases.

The app will offer a ‘pay as you watch’ rental system and - once paid for - the film will be made available to the viewer across several platforms (viewers can pause then resume watching on another device).

Phil...

★★★☆☆ This was supposed to be the year of Al Pacino's big comeback. Instead, the lamentable The Humbling (2014), which saw the venerable actor indulged as an unstable monologuing thesp, snuck straight onto DVD in the UK as The Last Act. Meanwhile, Danny Collins (2015) received a theatrical release in this country, but was an equally turgid affair in which Pacino's ageing crooner proved the least palatable element. Fortunately, while it is far from perfect, David Gordon Green's Manglehorn (2014) rights the ship, somewhat - not least in the form of Pacino's own understated and fragile lead performance as a lonely and melancholic locksmith.

Pacino – with waistcoat, fob watch and greasy hair – is the pining ex-coach at the heart of David Gordon Green’s gentle small-town drama

Al Pacino: ‘What’s the point of quitting?’

So they asked Al Pacino if he wanted to play a locksmith and he said: “Sure – I’ll make it low key.” The great man indeed takes it down a few notches in this gentle, oddball character study of a Texas small-town resident moping doggedly for a lost love. It’s hard to entirely buy his Manglehorn, though. With his waistcoat, fob watch and long, greasy hair, you can’t see Pacino as an ex-Little League coach; lording it over an East Village drama workshop, possibly.

Director David Gordon Green is a frustratingly erratic talent: this is one of his more serious films, close to his recent Nicolas Cage vehicle, Joe. It drifts at its own sweet pace, but eccentric,...

The Manglehorn actor’s long and varied career spans bespoke comic roles, Oscar-nominated dramas and a stint as an Incredible. Here are the highlights of her time in film

With the release of Manglehorn, in which Holly Hunter co-stars with Al Pacino, we look back at some of the highlights of the charismatic actor’s long and varied career. Over the years, Hunter has portrayed highly individual and memorable characters.

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In a film that’s a marked improvement on some of his other recent releases, Pacino plays a locksmith trudging mournfully through an America he no longer understands

Related: Al Pacino's Manglehorn wins appeal to scrap R rating

Perhaps it’s inevitable that actors with a career as venerated as Al Pacino’s slip into revery. The stage has his heart. His films – when they come – smartly play on the legend. Other recent releases (Wilde Salomé, Danny Collins, The Humbling) have seen the 75-year-old give creative ennui a nod and a wink. Manglehorn is a more sage assessment of a talent maturing with age.

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The film team review this week's big releases, including the first family of Marvel's latest lacklustre adventure and Al Pacino, returned and - mildly - rejuvenated as a grumpy locksmith

Henry Barnes and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our weekly review of the big cinema releases. This week the team watch the first family of Marvel set out on another lacklustre film adventure in Fantastic Four; listen to the confessionals to a pair of mixed-up teens in the 70s-set comedy-romance The Diary of a Teenage Girl and transgender family drama 52 Tuesdays; and see Al Pacino (slightly) rejuvenated as a grumpy locksmith rusty with grief in David Gordon Green's Manglehorn.

• This is the audio-only version of this week's Guardian film show.

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Henry Barnes and Benjamin Lee join Xan Brooks for our weekly review of the big cinema releases. This week the team watch the first family of Marvel set out on another lacklustre film adventure in Fantastic Four; listen to the confessionals of a pair of mixed-up teens in the 70s-set comedy-romance The Diary of a Teenage Girl and transgender family drama 52 Tuesdays; and see Al Pacino (slightly) rejuvenated as a grumpy locksmith gone rusty with grief in David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn

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We are now very much acquainted with the quirky indie delights of director David Gordon Green, with last years Joe proving Nicholas Cage can still give a gripping performance. His latest film, Manglehorn, pairs the director with another legend, Al Pacino. In what is the third in the David Gordon Green ‘Texas Trilogy’, we speak to the man himself about his latest film

The post Exclusive Interview: David Gordon Green on collaborating with Al Pacino in Manglehorn appeared first on HeyUGuys.

The star of The Godfather and Scarface, who now supplements his income selling seats on his private jet and doing meet and greets, talks about marriage, ageing and death – and why, with his new film Manglehorn out in August, he has no intention of giving up acting

In 2011, Al Pacino roasted himself. In the Adam Sandler comedy Jack & Jill, he falls for the twin sister of a Los Angeles advertising executive (Sandler), the buxom, boorish Bronxite Jill (also Sandler). Pacino plays himself as a sell-out and a creep, mocking the roles that made him famous by rapping for Dunkin’ Donuts coffee (“You want creamy goodness? I’m your friend. Say hello to my chocolate blend”), carelessly allowing his Oscar to be smashed while trying to impress Jill during an impromptu game of stickball. He is befuddled, paranoid, pretentious and hopeless. He’s confused by La and adrift within his own celebrity.

The star of The Godfather and Scarface, who now supplements his income selling seats on his private jet and doing meet and greets, talks about marriage, ageing and death – and why, with his new film Manglehorn out in August, he has no intention of giving up acting

In 2011, Al Pacino roasted himself. In the Adam Sandler comedy Jack & Jill, he falls for the twin sister of a Los Angeles advertising executive (Sandler), the buxom, boorish Bronxite Jill (also Sandler). Pacino plays himself as a sell-out and a creep, mocking the roles that made him famous by rapping for Dunkin’ Donuts coffee (“You want creamy goodness? I’m your friend. Say hello to my chocolate blend”), carelessly allowing his Oscar to be smashed while trying to impress Jill during an impromptu game of stickball. He is befuddled, paranoid, pretentious and hopeless. He’s confused by La and adrift within his own celebrity.

Manglehorn director to take on film about Jeff Bauman, who lost both his legs in the attack on the Boston marathon in 2013

Director David Gordon Green has come on board a film of the story of Boston marathon bombing survivor Jeff Bauman, who lost both his legs in the 2013 attack, it has been reported.

Called Stronger, after Bauman’s book of the same title, it details Bauman’s story of endurance and tracks his recovery and rehabilitation. Bauman had been cheering for his girlfriend on the day of the attack, and is said to have looked directly at one of the bombers responsible for the two pressure cooker bombs that killed three and injured 260. “I saw the bomber,” Bauman wrote. “He took my legs, but he didn’t break me. He only made me stronger.”

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Stronger, a film about the Boston Marathon bombing, has found its director.

David Gordon Green will helm the film, adapted from survivor Jeff Bauman's book of the same title, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

On April 15, 2013, two pressure cooker bombs exploded at the annual marathon in Boston, taking three lives and injuring about 264 people.

Bauman, who was waiting for his girlfriend at the finish line, lost both of his legs during the attack.

In the book, written by Bauman and Brett Witter, Bauman shared his experience being a key witness in the trial of bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his journey to rehabilitation after the attack.

Stronger is one of the three movies being made about the Boston Marathon bombing.

CBS Films is making Patriots Day with Mark Walhberg as the star and Fox plans for Boston Strong which apparently is looking for a director after Daniel Espinosa left the project.

David Gordon Green is an interesting director. The acclaimed filmmaker behind movies like George Washington, Joe, Prince Avalanche, and Manglehorn is also known for less artistic fare like Your Highness and Pineapple Express. His next film looks to be a blend of mainstream and dramatic fare that should play well to his strengths as a filmmaker and will join multiple projects developing at the same time... Read More...

Images from the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings are still seared into the hearts and minds of people around the world, and so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that multiple film projects about the terrorist attack are in the works. Today, Manglehorn director David Gordon Green has signed on to helm one such pic, titled Stronger and set to focus on Jeff Bauman, who lost both legs in the attack.

Lionsgate is behind the inspirational true story, which is based on the autobiographical book Bauman co-wrote with Bret Whitter.

Bauman was at the finish line of the marathon on April 15, 2013, waiting for his girlfriend to finish the annual race, when he was caught in the blast from a pressure cooker bomb left at the crowded event by terrorists Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The explosion took both his legs. When he awoke in a nearby hospital, Bauman was able to identify...

When I ask cinematographer Tim Orr if – after ten feature films together with director David Gordon Green – their references are most frequently their own movies, Orr replies, “Well, you don’t want to make the same movie over and over again.” No one is going to accuse the duo of that. In a collaboration that dates back to their days at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Orr and Green have made everything from lyrical Malick-esque meditations and medieval stoner comedies to surreal odes to lovelorn locksmiths. The latter describes Manglehorn, an odd mixture of magical […]...

When I ask cinematographer Tim Orr if – after ten feature films together with director David Gordon Green – their references are most frequently their own movies, Orr replies, “Well, you don’t want to make the same movie over and over again.” No one is going to accuse the duo of that. In a collaboration that dates back to their days at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Orr and Green have made everything from lyrical Malick-esque meditations and medieval stoner comedies to surreal odes to lovelorn locksmiths. The latter describes Manglehorn, an odd mixture of magical […]...

Director: David Gordon Green; Screenwriter: Paul Logan; Starring: Al Pacino, Holly Hunter, Harmony Korine; Running time: 97 mins; Certificate: 12A

"I'm losing hope in tomorrow," groans Al Pacino's lonely locksmith Manglehorn midway through this lethargic movie. It's a feeling we can relate to, given the failure of an engaging narrative to emerge and take the titular character on an absorbing journey.

It's a real shame, as Pacino excels as a man who can't let go of the love of his life despite her continued absence. Anyone who has looked someone in the eyes and felt such pure love for them, only to have it taken away, can relate to his heartbroken predicament. He even has his own creepy room containing a stash of mementoes and photos from their time together, along with numerous letters he wrote to her that were 'returned to sender'.

But can he move on from that with...

The Colin Trevorrow feature Jurassic World continued to hold strong in its second weekend, bringing in $102 million to retain the top spot at the box office. Jurassic World‘s total earnings to date also brought it to second place among the highest grossing films of the year, ahead of Furious 7 and just behind Avengers: Age of Ultron. The Chris Pratt-starring feature managed to hold off the newest Pixar film Inside Out, which earned $91.1 million in its opening weekend, ending up in second place. The box office totals saw a steep drop-off from that point, as the Melissa McCarthy-starring Spy‘s $10.5 million total was enough to land it in third place.

Inside Out wasn’t the only new film to land a spot on the box office chart, as Rick Famuyiwa’s newest film Dope landed in fifth place with a $6 million total, behind the earthquake film San Andreas,...

David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn is a character study that starts off pretending to be something else – though I can’t say for sure what that something else is. The character in question is a sad-sack Texas locksmith, played by Al Pacino. He’s got a commodities trader son (Chris Messina) and an ex-wife he claims he never loved. He’s got a granddaughter he adores. He’s got a pimp pal (Harmony Korine!) in a porkpie hat, eager for his business. He’s got a sick, constipated cat, whom he cares for greatly. He’s got a lovely bank teller friend (Holly Hunter) with whom he could pursue something more – but he seems curiously oblivious to her charms. There are many doors, it seems, that he could open and walk through to a better, more fulfilling life. But no. That van he drives around, emblazoned with the words “Manglehorn Lock & Key,...

A bee's nest beneath a mailbox. A boat bedecked in copies of a photograph. A cat who’s swallowed a key. A mime, a buffet, an earthquake, a multi-vehicle car accident inexplicably strewn with smashed watermelons. David Gordon Green’s slow, indulgent but fathomless “Manglehorn” contains all of these motifs and more, sometimes playing out in double exposure, sometimes woozy slow motion, often counterpointed by Al Pacino’s gravelly narration. It should all be a terrible mess, and certainly it’s less accessible than Green's genre-tinged “Joe” or the sweetly straightforward “Prince Avalanche.” But it’s also fascinating to those of us willing to let its meditative currents take us through a mosaic of moods, mysteries, magic and melancholy. This is all anchored by a quietly assured performance that not only may be among the most atypical of Pacino’s career, but may also be one of his best. Even...

Al Pacino’s naturalism is a great gift to cinema. As an ageing locksmith afraid to retire and stuck on a woman who left him decades earlier, he lives alone in a small town. His closest friends are his cat and an addict, the owner of a local tanning/massage parlour (Harmony Korine). He behaves just like that person. He knows how to cut a key, jimmy a clock, cuddle his cat and you know him. His situation sounds melancholy but Pacino gives Manglehorn contentment and a spirit that seldom flags. Pacino imbues this anonymous person with heart and soul with extremely […]...

Al Pacino fully arrives at old-coot-dom, ushered in by David Gordon Green in an apparent self-parody of his usual elegiacal visual style. I’m “biast” (pro): I’m hot and cold on David Gordon Green…

I’m “biast” (con): …but mostly cold lately

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

Manglehorn. It sounds like the site of a Victorian-era mountaineering disaster. But it’s only Al Pacino, who has now fully arrived at old-coot-dom, as a lonely Texas locksmith of that portentous name. His film does not live up to it in any way. Manglehorn is a wounded man with real pain in his heart, which we know because he says, “I’m a wounded man… I got real pain in my heart.” He pines for an absent woman named Clara, who may have left him to go save the world with her eyes, which we...

Read More: Al Pacino Is Essentially Just Playing Himself in David Gordon Green's 'Manglehorn' Among American filmmakers whose careers firmly exist in the 21st century, David Gordon Green has followed one of the more unpredictable paths. A film festival darling with his expressionistic character drama "George Washington" in 2000, he remained on that path with his next three features — "All the Real Girls," "Undertow" and "Snow Angels" — only to take a hard right turn into the studio comedy arena with "Pineapple Express," and he stayed on that route with "The Sitter" and "Your Highness." From there he made "Prince Avalanche," which merged the sensibilities from both stages of his career, before veering back to familiar turf with the southern-fried drama "Joe." Now comes "Manglehorn," one of the more peculiar entries in Green's ever-surprising filmography. The...

Manglehorn

Written by Paul Logan

Directed by David Gordon Green

USA, 2014

Manglehorn dabbles in the strange and peculiar, but at its core, it may be director David Gordon Green’s safest and least rewarding drama yet. The film contains weird scribbles in its margins, but the narrative is overwhelmingly slight. A.J. Manglehorn (Al Pacino) is a grizzled locksmith and wounded soul living in small-town Texas, still aching for a woman named Clara who got away many years ago. He sends regretful letters to her like clockwork but they always find a way back to his mailbox unread. Manglehorn now spends his days cutting locks, looking after his ill cat and making kind, flirty conversation with Dawn (Holly Hunter), the friendly bank teller he visits each week.

It’s often tricky to pigeonhole Green, whose work has shifted from lyrical indie to stoner-comedy, and now, he’s found a brief...

More or less ever since winning an Oscar for Best Actor in Scent of a Woman, Al Pacino has seen less than his fair share of top notch roles. Luckily though, that drought ends this week with David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, which features Pacino doing easily his best work in a long time. As such, I wanted to rank his best work to date, covering both his newest film as well as some of his most exciting early roles. Obviously, someone like Pacino has more than ten great performances under his belt, but these are what make up my personal list. I hope you enjoy! Here now are what I consider to be Pacino’s ten best works to date: 10. Glengarry Glen Ross – He doesn’t have the most iconic role of the lot, but he certainly makes the most of his screen time. Everyone here is uniformly great,...

Having a strong desire to recapture your life’s most meaningful ambitions and emotions, but not knowing how to successfully translate those aspirations into your current life and relationships, can be a daunting process for many people. But as they continuously learn from their past mistakes, and fully grasp how they can positively infuse their long-standing goals into their current relationships, their lives can dramatically improve. That powerful and all-important message is the captivating driving force in director-producer David Gordon Green’s new independent drama, ‘Manglehorn,’ which is set to be released on Friday in select theaters and on VOD. The film compellingly follows the title character as he begins to reclaim [ Read More ]

The post Interview: David Gordon Green Talks Manglehorn (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

Even when charged with excitement over his latest film, David Gordon Green exhibits the same relaxed vibe of any one of the slow-paced small towns he has brought to life on screen. But make no mistake: Green considers “Manglehorn,” his collaboration with Al Pacino, the opportunity of a lifetime. The film showcases a side of Pacino that hasn’t been utilized in ages. He taps into his immersive creative method to conjure the title character, a senile suburbanite navigating his own loneliness in the face of a new romance, a contentious son, and an ailing cat. You wouldn’t be wrong to call “Manglehorn” a “pure Pacino” picture, but it's clearly a result of the creative machinations of Green. The director sat down with us to chat about the perfect storm that arose in mixing his intimate, naturalistic voice with the intensity of his star player, beginning with how a...

Locks of Love: Pacino Engrosses in Slight Narrative from Green

David Gordon Green continues his examination of masculine relationships in Manglehorn, an adaptation from first time screenwriter Paul Logan. Another Texas set endeavor, Green’s use of a forlorn and raggedly unhappy Al Pacino is definitely the film’s greatest asset, but isn’t always enough to overcome a rather nagging sense of narrative meagerness. Buoyed by several flights of tangential fancy amongst a handful of supporting characters, Green does what he can to elide the overreaching metaphor of the lovelorn locksmith, doomed, as if a figure in some Greek tragedy, with the inability to unlock his own box of potent emotional possibilities.

A.J. Manglehorn (Pacino) is a lonely and eccentric locksmith living in small town Texas. Business is slow, and he spends his days mulling over the love of his life, a relationship he mangled nearly forty years ago.

At the Venice press conference for “Manglehorn,” in one of the rare moments when the film's star Al Pacino wasn’t expounding endlessly, before mercifully saying “Oh listen to me go on; I put a blanket on everything” and then going on further, director David Gordon Green was asked why he chose Pacino for this role. His answer said a lot – perhaps a little too much – about his film: He had met Pacino, who he greatly admired, and wanted to work with him – it was as simple as that. He’d had this character in mind, and he and his writer Paul Logan set to work to make it happen, throwing in a bunch of references to Pacino films from the past. There is much to like about “Manglehorn” but one’s vague feeling that something is a bit off can perhaps be tied back to this enthrallment, and indeed to the casting itself.