Category: Movie news

Documentary film The Computer Accent opens in selected theaters nationwide

The Computer Accent opens this week nationwide. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

The Computer Accent is a documentary following the boundary-pushing pop group Yacht as they try something terrifying and new: handing over the reins of their entire creative process to Artificial Intelligence. Working with technologists and leading AI researchers, Yacht uses cutting-edge data analysis tools, machine learning, neural networks, sci-fi instruments, and generative composition strategies to create a new kind of human-machine album—music, lyrics, artwork, videos, and all. Putting AI to the test in the name of art, Yacht is a guide through the brave new world of machine intelligence. Along the way, they will question their own roles in a future where software anticipates, generates, and synthesizes human work. (The Computer Accent, 2022)

The Computer Accent opens theatrically:

October 21 – New York (Metrograph) (With Live Performance) 

November 17- San Francisco (Roxie Theater)

November 17- Los Angeles (Laemmle Theaters)
Including Laemmle Noho, Laemmle Glendale, Laemmle Newhall, Laemmle Monica. Film screenings and performances throughout October and November in major cities including Portland, Bellingham, Austin, Minneapolis, and more.

Documentary, Running time: 83 minutes, USA

Sebastian Pardo and Riel Roch-Decter founded Memory at the start of 2014 and together have produced and distributed award-winning fiction and non-fiction films. They have collaborated with multi-hyphenate filmmakers and artists to bring their debut films to fruition, such as: Celia Rowlson-Hall’s MA, Carson Mell’s Another Evil, Dean Fleischer-Camp’s Fraud, Theo Anthony’s Rat Film, Marnie Ellen Hertzler’s Crestone, and Zia Anger’s My First Film project. In 2016, Memory was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film, and in 2020 Memory was awarded the Cinereach Producing Award for their work in “shaping new ways of filmmaking.” Memory’s latest production, Theo Anthony’s All Light, Everywhere won a Special Jury Prize for Non-Fiction Experimentation at Sundance 2021. The Computer Accent, which world premiered at CPH:DOX 2022, is their debut feature film as a directing team. 

Yacht began in 2002, as the design studio Young Americans Challenging High Technology, but the group is neither young nor American. For 20 years, Jona Bechtolt, Claire L. Evans, and Robert Kieswetter have shape-shifted through multiple lineups and musical styles, releasing albums internationally on DFA Records and Downtown Records. YACHT has created and sold unplayable compact discs, published a philosophical handbook, built a 62-foot video installation for Dolby, designed an eyewear collection, created a fragrance, campaigned against NSA surveillance, programmed large- scale public art activations, and has been commissioned to speak, curate, and perform by organizations including The Getty Center, Adobe, TEDx, Wired, Moma Lacma, Rhizome, Vice, and more. Their seventh album, Chain Tripping, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Immersive Audio Album.

Also featuring: 
Kenric Allado McDowell, founder of Artists in Machine Intelligence
Research scientists Douglas Eck, Jesse Engel, Adam Roberts of Google Magenta 
AI music experimentalists Dadabots
Algorithmic music pioneer Dr. David Cope
Creative technologist and poet Ross Goodwin 
AI art curators Luba Elliott and Josette Melchor
Creative Computing researcher Dr. Rebecca Fiebrink 

Eddy Lee Ryder’s new single Smoke and Mirrors

Eddy Lee Ryder’s new single finds a home with multiple audiences; it is featured in cult slasher film Terrifier 2, out now. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Singer, songwriter, and free spirit Eddy Lee Ryder creates haunting songs that tell dramatic stories through a slightly warped lens. Eddy’s unconventional, theatrical approach to songwriting explodes and sparkles with ‘70s good-time rock riffs, spiced with complex poetry. Proclaimed “demented pop,” her music is propelled by her charismatic voice and lyrics inspired by an intense bizarre world. “My songs are about a quest for utopia on the open road. Wandering through the world, writing and singing songs about the people I meet.” Her uproarious performances invite audiences to dance with her through the apocalypse. Self-confessed demented-pop artist Eddy Lee Ryder has been writing songs and performing them in quite the nomadic way since she was a teenager, but her new single “Smoke and Mirrors” ended up in a place even she could not have imagined; a hardcore slasher horror film. (Eddy Lee Ryder, 2022)

Through a series of informal introductions to Ryder’s music through mutual friends, Damien Leone—creator, director, and writer of Terrifier 2—ended up using “Smoke and Mirrors” in his film after a search for something that sounded like Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush. “It was actually my friend Jeff Harris, who also was brought into the Terrifier family as a photographer, who messaged me one morning. ‘Can you email Damien? I don’t know why but they are looking for music in your genre, I don’t know how it fits with a slasher flick but that’s what they want!’” remembers Ryder. 

The upbeat song itself has a much different backstory. “It’s about friends of mine, amazing independent awesome women, who started doubting themselves or losing themselves after getting married to men who didn’t treat them very well,” says Ryder. “One of the husbands I reference in this song would text other girls but the messages would pop up on my friend’s synced iPad. He once said, ‘Sometimes I wait for her plane to burn in flames.’ That line made it into the song. And this was coming from a guy who would judge me for not being married!”

Fans can hear “Smoke and Mirrors” here. Terrifier 2 is out in theaters and on streaming services including Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video.

New movies to watch this Halloween season

The Institute will be available this Halloween on Vudu. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

With Halloween right around the corner, here is a list of movies now available or coming soon that are perfect for the season. (October Coast, 2022)

Croc! – Now available on digital/DVD
Lisa and her family unite at a wedding venue, excited for the big day. However, unknown to the family, a nest of hungry crocodiles has been living in the nearby lake. As the crocodiles crash the wedding in a blood thirsty massacre, the remaining family members must survive the night against these Jurassic beasts.

The Mystery Spot – Now available on digital
A number of lost souls find refuge in a small motel in the middle of nowhere, its only distinguishing characteristic being the ruins of an old Mystery Spot—a long-dead roadside attraction with strange metaphysical powers.

Frost – Now available on digital
The story of a young woman and her father who have to fight for survival after being stranded on a remote mountainside during a storm.

The Murder Podcast – Available on October 26 on digital
Two amateur podcasters start investigating a murder in their hometown only to become wrapped up in a terrifying adventure full of supernatural threats.

The Institute – Available on Halloween on Vudu
The acclaimed supernatural horror film hits Vudu for Halloween. Fixes on a young couple who begin to suspect the fertility clinic they have booked themselves into is up to something sinister. They become suspicious when the medical regimen brings on psychological side effects.

Demons at Dawn – Available on October 26 on digital
Starring John Altman, Ben Silver, Amanda Himsworth, Amber Doig-Thorne, Dani Thompson and Chris Sanders, the frightening, thrilling profusion of The Professional and End of Days follows a retired hitman who is blackmailed into taking one last job. During his mission, he uncovers an elite Satanic cult that uses human sacrifice to summon Demons.

Unnerving Swedish horror film Reportage November set for worldwide release

Reportage November hits digital and Video On Demand worldwide on October 14 from Terror Films. Photo: Terror Films, used with permission.

Carl Sundström’s Reportage November, starring Signe Elvin-Nowak, Jonas Lundström, and Isabel Camacho, will premiere on digital and Video On Demand this October from Terror Films. (Terror Films, 2022)

Reportage November – The mysterious death of a mother and the disappearance of her child leads a group of freelance journalists to the outback of Sweden. The group of four, led by the famous journalist Linn Söderqvist, will make a reportage about the happening and search for leads missed by the police. Equipped with cameras and supplies to survive in the forest for days, they wander out in the woods to find the truth.

The film, penned by Nathaniel P Erlandsson, was shot in Sweden.

“Many years ago when I got my first glance of the second act of Cannibal Holocaust, I felt that faux documentaries was the best ways of touching the audience deep inside. A way to create a genuine feeling through a documentary format and bring the horror out from the screen into the real world. Ever since then I have been an avid found footage fanatic who appreciate the story telling from a POV perspective. To have the slow burn concept where you get to know the characters thoroughly and you are feeling like a part of the story. A style of film where you cannot show more than the characters see. What they know, you know, and what you know, they know. Reportage November is made for found footage lovers and while writing it we had all aspects and rules of what makes this genre great in mind. A film that focuses on suspense and mystery to bring the viewer to the edge of the seat. We have created a film that is just as much about the slow build-up of the story as the horror. I hope that you enjoy this slow burning thrill that takes place deep in the Swedish outback. “ – Director Linn Söderqvist

Reportage November hits digital and VOD worldwide October 14 from Terror Films.

Dark Star Pictures and Bloody Disgusting announce Shinzô Katayama’s Missing

The Japanese crime thriller Missing will have its US theatrical release on November 4, 2022. Photo: Dark Star Pictures, used with permission.

Dark Star Pictures has acquired the North American distribution rights to crime thriller Missing as part of its ongoing collaboration with Bloody Disgusting. Dark Star and Bloody Disgusting plan a US theatrical release for Missing on November 4, 2022, an On Demand release on November 18, 2022, and the Blu Ray release for the film to follow on December 6, 2022. (Dark Star Pictures, 2022)

Missing had its World Premiere at Busan International Film Festival before screening at Fantasia International Film Festival and had its US Premiere at Fantastic Fest in September 2022. It is written and directed by Shinzô Katayama. The movie stars Aoi Ito, Jiro Sato, and Hiroya Shimizu.

OFFICIAL SELECTION: Busan International Film Festival, Fantasia International Film Festival.

Missing – Depressed and in debt following the death of his wife, Santoshi (Jiro Sato) tells his young daughter he has found a way out. Pointing to a reward note, he vows to find the infamous serial killer “No Name” (Hiroya Shimizu) and cash in, claiming to have seen the man in the flesh a few days earlier. Kaeda (Aoi Ito) cannot take her aloof father seriously but when he goes missing without a trace, she starts to fear the worst—and must begin looking for him.

After working as an assistant director for Japanese films, including Nobuhiro Yamashita’s works, filmmaker Shinzô Katayama crossed paths with Bong Joon-Ho while shooting “TOKYO!” (2008) and served as his assistant director on “Mother” (2009). In 2019, his debut feature, “Siblings of the Cape ” was selected by numerous domestic and international film festivals. He now is one of the most promising, emerging directors in Japan, and his second feature, Missing (“Sagasu /さがす”) will be his commercial film debut.

Japan, 2021 (In Japanese with English Subtitles)

Dark Star Pictures is a new-age North American distribution company, focused on bringing unique and targeted content to audiences across the country. We are committed to releasing auteur-driven, original cinema in the theatrical, digital, and home video space.

Movie adaptation: ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’ by Jessica Knoll

The movie adaptation of ‘Luckiest Girl Alive,’ the bestselling novel by Jessica Knoll, is now on Netflix. Photo: Amazon

Jessica Knoll is the New York Times bestselling author of “Luckiest Girl Alive” and “The Favorite Sister.” She grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia and graduated from The Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. She has been a senior editor at Cosmopolitan and the articles editor at Self. “The Luckiest Girl Alive” follows an unforgettable young woman striving to create the perfect life—until a violent incident from her past threatens to unravel everything and expose her most shocking secret. It has been adapted into a major motion picture from Netflix starring Mila Kunis and is now available for streaming. (Amazon, 2022)

“The Luckiest Girl Alive” – Her perfect life is a perfect lie. As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and a handsome blue blood fiancé, she is so close to living the perfect life she has worked so hard to achieve. But Ani has a secret. There is something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything. With a singular voice and twists you will not see coming, “Luckiest Girl Alive” explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that is bigger than it first appears. The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

New supernatural horror movie: Sawed Off

, Sawed Off will be available on digital and DVD on October 11, 2022. Photo: Uncork’d Entertainment, Used with permission.

Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired Sawed Off, a new supernatural horror feature based on a comic anthology story and starring Eva Hamilton, Jody Barton, and Trae Ireland. The movie will be released on digital platforms and DVD October 11, 2022. (Uncork’d Entertainment, 2022)
 
Sawed Off – In the vein of “The Evil Dead meets Groundhog Day,” the movie centers on two hunters, friends for years and vying for the affections of the same woman, who find themselves on cursed land and keep killing each other and coming back to life. Hunter Johnson is the producer and director. The screenplay is by Barton, Johnson, and Chuck Wagner, based on Wagner’s Eclipse Comics story “Bag Limit,” published in Tales of Terror in 1986. Other producers include Cris Hernandez and Richard Trejo along with Barton and Ireland. Jeff Miller executive produces through his company Millman Productions, along with James Cullen Bressack and his company Sandaled Kid Productions. Special makeup effects are by Oliver Poser. Trejo is Director of Photography.

“Sawed Off is a new twist on ‘cabin in the woods’ stories and features great performances from Jody, Trae, and Eva,” says Miller.


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20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween on Hulu

20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween on Hulu brings 20 spooky shorts from diverse and emerging filmmakers. Photo: 20th Digital Studio, used with permission.

In celebration of Huluween, 20th Digital Studio’s Bite Size Halloween series of spooky shorts is back for a third season. Twenty new shorts from exciting emerging filmmakers premiere October 1 on Hulu, blending genres like horror, comedy, sci-fi, thriller, and more. (20th Digital Studio, 2022)

Shot in seven different countries, this season takes on topical issues such as racism, gender, parenthood, sexuality, and identity. Snatched features Tatiana Maslany (“She-Hulk: Attorney-at-Law”) in her first on-screen role with husband Brendan Hines (“Locke & Key”). Misha Osherovich (“Freaky”) stars as their son.
Other shorts feature familiar faces like Brigette Lundy-Paine (“Atypical”), Lin Shaye (“Insidious”), David Costabile (“Breaking Bad”), and former “Glow” co-stars Rebekka Johnson and singer-songwriter Kate Nash who co-wrote/directed/star in a short featuring Nash’s original music.

“As we launch the first feature films developed with our incredibly talented Bite Size Halloween filmmaker alums, we are thrilled to introduce the next wave of dynamic filmmaking talent and their ingenious short films. We take great pride in showcasing these vital, diverse voices and their very personal twists on horror, thriller and sci-fi.” – David Worthen Brooks, SVP – 20th Digital Studio

The goal of 20th Digital Studio’s short film programs is to continue to guide and finance the growth of these artists’ careers and to transition some of the shorts into longer features. The first two films developed in this way will premiere this month on Hulu: “Grimcutty” from John William Ross on October 10 and “Matriarch” from Ben Steiner on October 21. Shorts from past seasons have played at festivals such as SXSW, Sundance, Tribeca, Fantasia, and more.

20th Digital Studio’s focus on diversity and inclusion continues as prestigious filmmakers from the festival world are featured, including Nuhash Humayun (“Moshari,” SXSW Grand Jury Prize), Sam Max (“Chaperone,” Sundance), Michelle Krusiec (“Bite,” AFI DWW), Zoey Martinson (“Cupids,” Tribeca), and many more.

20th Digital Studio focuses on funding and producing award-winning short-form genre content together with up-and-coming filmmakers from the digital and film festival worlds. 20th Digital develops select shorts into longer form content, packaging new voices with established producers and offering opportunities for growth and representation; always with a goal to create innovative character narrative, voice-driven filmmaking with a social message, cultural impact and box-office or streaming success. Set up in 2008 as a nimble entrepreneurial group within Fox Filmed Entertainment, 20th Digital is now a part of Disney General Entertainment Content.

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New movie release: How Dark They Prey

From Film Valor, How Dark They Prey is now available on Amazon Prime Video and Watch Movies Now. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

From Film Valor and directors Jamison M. LoCascio and Adam Ambrosio, How Dark They Prey is now available on Amazon Prime Video and Watch Movies Now. (October Coast, 2022)

How Dark They Prey – Includes four dark tales about the haunting nature of man and the unknown from WWII to Alien investigation, finding the occult, and kidnap with torture. The highly anticipated horror anthology is written by Adam Ambrosio, Anthony LoCascio and Jamison M. LoCascio. Starring Josiah Schneider, Timothy Paul Jobe, and David Johnson.

New movie release: The Mystery Spot

The Mystery Spot releases on digital and Video On Demand on October 7 from Terror Films. Photo: Google

From director Mel House, and starring Graham Skipper (Re-Animator: The Musical), Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4-5), and scream queen Debbie Rochon, experience the terror of The Mystery Spot this October. (Terror Films, 2022)

The Mystery Spot – A number of lost souls find refuge in a small motel in the middle of nowhere, its only distinguishing characteristic being the ruins of an old Mystery Spot—a long-dead roadside attraction with strange metaphysical powers. Nathan and Rachel find solace in one another, both attempting to escape dark pasts that seem to be using the Mystery Spot to go from being painful shadows of their lives to very real entities of the present. Everyone at the Mystery Spot will be affected by its unique properties, but only some will survive its reality-shattering implications.

The Mystery Spot releases on digital and VOD October 7 worldwide from Terror Films.

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