“Dirt Music”
Cast: Garrett Hedlund, Kelly Macdonald, David Wenham
Synopsis: A drama with a haunting love story at its heart set against the powerful backdrop of Western Australia’s evocative landscape.
What You Need to Know: While he is certainly not a household name, director Gregor Jordan’s career is distinctively eclectic. Over the duration of the 2000s, Jordan directed several films ranging from the subversive war dramedy “Buffalo Soldiers” to the Bret Easton Ellis adaptation “The Informers.” However, Jordan has not helmed a film since “Unthinkable” was released in 2010, which, if you have not seen it, is a surprisingly effective psychological thriller that features a genuinely frightening Samuel L. Jackson performance. Nevertheless, “Dirt Music” may propel the director back into the spotlight. Based on the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted novel of the same name, “Dirt Music” promises a sensual, albeit gritty modern western about an affair gone awry in the Australian outback. With Kelly Macdonald and Garrett Hedlund leading the cast, anticipate a performance-driven piece with a side-helping of thrills.
Release Date: TBD – JC
“Endings, Beginnings”
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Sebastian Stan, Jamie Dornan
Synopsis: A 30-something woman navigating through love and heartbreak over the course of one year. During that time, she will unlock the secrets to her life in a sudden turn of events and in the most surprising of places.
What You Need to Know: What’s said to be a tender exploration of love and heartbreak from filmmaker Drake Doremus (“Like Crazy“), well, yeah, duh, that’s basically what Doremus does these days. What started out as a career in funny mumblecore movies quickly transformed to various relationship stories, sometimes a May/December relationship (“Breathe In“), the pains of long-distance relationships (“Like Crazy”), relationships in the future (“Equals“), relationships with artificial intelligence dolls (“Zoe“), etc. etc., love and heartache is always on the brain for Doremus. His latest is a love triangle between Shailene Woodley, Sebastian Stan, and Jamie Dornan. Doremus has had a solid career, but since 2015, almost all of his films (“Equals,” “Newness,” “Zoe”) have had tiny, very-easily-missed releases on VOD channels, so here’s to hoping someone steps up to give this one a proper bow in theaters.
Release Date: TBD– RP
“Synchronic”
Cast: Jamie Dornan, Anthony Mackie
Synopsis: Two New Orleans paramedics encounter a series of horrific deaths linked to a designer drug with bizarre, otherworldly effects.
What You Need to Know: At this point, labeling Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead as auteurs in the making would be an understatement. Their three prior features, “Resolution,” “Spring,” and “The Endless,” are certified cult classics within the horror community that function as testaments to the power of imagination on a limited budget. And now, “Synchronic” possibly holds the key that could open the door to the mainstream that Benson and Moorhead rightfully deserve. Based on face value alone, “Synchronic” appears to be set on a larger scale than their previous work, especially considering that Jamie Dornan and Anthony Mackie, two of the most recognizable actors working today, are cast in the lead roles. However, the directors do not seem to be compromising their art for exposure in the slightest; the synopsis for the film namedrops drugs with “otherworldly effects,” which practically verifies that the film will stay true to the cosmic horror that serves a trademark of the directing duo’s brand. Put simply, “Synchronic” by all accounts should be very, very good.
Release Date: TBD – JC
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1161285814225186821
“Color Out of Space”
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Q’orianka Kilcher, Tommy Chong
Synopsis: A meteor falls to earth and lands on the property of a New England family with insidious, delirious, and psychedelic results.
What You Need to Know: Richard Stanley could have been a star. If you recognize his name at all, you might know him as the director of “Hardware,” a ’90s sci-fi thriller that starred Dylan McDermott. But Stanley’s claim to fame is ironically for what he did not direct. Initially hired to helm “The Island of Dr. Moreau” in 1996, Stanley was fired and replaced by John Frankenheimer, who shaped the film absolutely no one remembers today and pushed Stanley out of the spotlight in the process. That is, until now. After two decades, Stanley returns with “Color Out of Space,” an adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft short story, and he’s bringing Nicolas Cage along with him. Yes, you read that right—everyone’s favorite madman Nicolas Cage is starring in a Lovecraftian sci-fi horror movie. Oh, and Tommy Chong will fit into all of this too somehow. In all honesty, “Color Out of Space” holds all the pieces needed to build a perfectly coordinated midnight movie disaster or one of the greatest directorial comebacks ever made. Either way, keep your fingers crossed.
Release Date: TBD – JC
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1159495283161460736
“Sound of Metal”
Cast: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Mathieu Amalric
Synopsis: A heavy-metal drummer’s life is thrown into freefall when he begins to lose his hearing.
What You Need to Know: It’s about time that another drummer movie took the stage. At the exact moment that the unadulterated greatness of “Whiplash”—or maybe even “Drumline” for all of you Nick Cannon fans out there—faded from your memory, “Sound of Metal” stepped onto the scene to keep the trend alive. Jokes aside, on paper, this film should get your blood pumping. Riz Ahmed teaming with Darius Marder—one of the co-writers for “The Place Beyond the Pines”—to collaborate on a movie about a metal drummer who loses control of his life as his hearing disintegrates? It all sounds too good to be true, no pun intended. Better yet, Olivia Cooke (the rising star from “Ready Player One” and “Thoroughbreds”) and Mathieu Amalric will share the screen with Ahmed in what may be one of the most anticipated titles to premiere at TIFF this year.
Release Date: TBD – JC
https://twitter.com/ThePlaylist/status/1159148237829226496
