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"I guess we all want what we don't have..." Arrow Video has unveiled an official US trailer for the twisted psychological horror-thriller The Stylist, which originally premiered at last year's Fantastic Fest and Sitges Film Festival in the fall. The film is based on co-writer/director Jill Gevargizian's award-winning short film of the same name. A lonely hair stylist becomes obsessed with the lives of her clients and descends into murderous madness, working as a serial killer by night and collecting their scalps. But one day she tries to leave her deadly side behind, only to "discover that repressing your deadly desires is easier said than done." Starring Najarra Townsend as Claire, with Brea Grant, Laura Kirk, Kyle Ament, Millie Milan, and Sarah McGuire. This looks freaky and similar to the scalper horror Maniac, but reinvented for the times. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Jill Gevargizian's The Stylist,...

No parent should ever endure the loss of their children from a horrific accident.

Veteran actor Blake Robbins makes his directorial debut in the drama “The Sublime and Beautiful.” Robbins also stars in the film as a father coping with the death of his children after DUI driver accidently kills them. The movie touches on the touchy subject of morality, retribution and forgiveness.

Laura Kirk (“The Time Machine”) and Matthew del Negro (“Teen Wolfe” ) also star in the film.

“The Sublime and Beautiful” is currently available on iTunes and VOD via Candy Factory Distribution.

Latino-Review: Where did you come up with the idea for “The Sublime and Beautiful?”

Blake Robbins: I personally had a situation on which I lost my best friend to brain tumor when we were getting out of college. I think I was twenty-seven at the time of his passing. I personally was dealing with grief for twenty plus years now.

Title: The Sublime and Beautiful Director: Blake Robbins Starring: Blake Robbins, Laura Kirk, Matthew Del Negro, Anastasia Baranova, Scott William Winters, Armin Shimerman Solid acting and filmmaking technique breathe a good bit of life into “The Sublime and Beautiful,” a Slamdance Film Festival world premiere and narrative feature competition title, but there is ultimately not enough of distinguished merit to save the movie from a screenplay that trades in rote, plodding dramatic developments and say-nothing symbolism. While not without a couple moments of nicely observed quiet heartache, too much of this impressionistic tale of survivor’s guilt, built around a drunk driving accident that robs a small town couple of their three children, is balanced alongside meandering story [ Read More ]

The post Slamdance: The Sublime and Beautiful Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

David (Blake Robbins) and Kelly (Laura Kirk) are raising three young children in a quaint suburb in Kansas. David works as a college professor who is sometimes tempted by his female students. All the while, Kelly stays at home to take care of the kids. Regardless of David's indiscretions, of which Kelly is probably suspicious, they seem to have a fairly content relationship. One night, while David is on a date with his T.A. (Anastasia Baranova), tragedy strikes his family. In a bold moment of directorial confidence, The Sublime and Beautiful opts not to immediately disclose the precise nature of the tragedy, but we know by the emotional states of the surviving characters that the event was devastatingly horrible. In the aftermath of said tragedy, David is crippled by extreme levels of hatred, blame and guilt.

The Slamdance Film Festival has been making noise in Park City since 1995. An anarchic movie haven, the festival (January 17-23) runs concurrent with Sundance (January 16-26), offering subversively minded filmmakers, whether shut out of Sundance or not, an opportunity to screen their feature debuts with budgets of less than $1 million and without distribution. This year's Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition lineup at Slamdance screens films from all corners of the world including the Us, Canada, Austria, Denmark, Mexico and Israel.Making its world premiere at Slamdance, the performance-driven narrative drama "The Sublime and Beautiful" is written and directed by Blake Robbins (NBC's "The Office," HBO's "Oz"). He stars as a father coping with the death of his children as he wrestles with his morals and desire for retribution, descending into a complicated hell of grief alongside his wife (Laura Kirk). A Toh! exclusive trailer below.

Many filmmakers got their start on the independent film circuit.

So who will follow the greats such as Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Oren Peli (“Paranormal Activity”), Marc Forster (“World War Z”) and Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite”)?

The Slamdance Film Festival announced their lineup for the Narrative and Documentary Feature Film Competition after receiving over 5,000 submissions this year.

All of the competing films are directorial debuts with less than $1 million and without Us distribution. The films include 11 world premieres, 4 North American premieres and one Us premiere.

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will take place January 17-23in Park City, Utah at the Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Main Street.

Here’s the lineup:

Narrative Features Program

Copenhagen – Director & Screenwriter: Mark Raso

(USA, Canada, Denmark) World Premiere

A charming scoundrel visiting the city of his father’s birth, William is drawn to his impromptu guide Effy – wise, spontaneous, and half his age.

Cast: Gethin Anthony,...

Top brass at the upcoming 20th Slamdance Film Festival have revealed their narrative feature and documentary line-up, one day before the first programme announcements are due from Park City neighbour Sundance.

There are 10 narrative and eight documentary films including 11 world premieres, four North American and one Us.

Festival organisers sorted through more than 5,000 submissions to find the 18 titles, all of which are feature directorial debuts budgeted at under $1m and without Us distribution.

Jury awards are presented to feature films in both categories and all films are eligible for the Spirit Of Slamdance Award judged by the film-makers themselves. The festival also presents Audience Awards.

“The 2014 Feature Competition bristles with raw talent and innovative filmmaking,” said Slamdance president and co-founder Peter Baxter. “As an organisation run by film-makers for film-makers, we couldn’t imagine a truer way of representing the first 20 years and beginning our next.”

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival...

Title: Earthwork Writer-director: Chris Ordal Starring: John Hawkes, James McDaniel, Zach Grenier, Laura Kirk, Bruce MacVittie, Chris Bachand, Sam Greenlee, Brendon Glad Wiry and kind of owlish at the same time, looking a bit like the physical model for the animated character of Scrat from the “Ice Age” films, John Hawkes is a bonafide character actor — someone whose face a lot of filmgoers might recognize, but not quite be able to place. That’s in the process of changing. Hawkes has had success and glowing media notices before (Miranda July’s “Me and You and Everyone We Know” was the darling of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival), but achieved a whole...

In his narrative debut, writer/director Chris Ordal undertakes an ambitious biopic that explores the life and works of “crop artist” Stan Herd. While it sometimes stumbles, Earthwork is overall an intimate and uplifting portrait of a man whose art is both literally and figuratively groundbreaking.

Oscar-nominee John Hawkes stars as Stan, a simple man from Kansas whose life ambition is to turn patches of land into living canvases. Earthwork follows Stan’s journey to transform a trash-strewn lot on Manhattan’s Upper West Side into a vibrant work of art before bulldozers make way for a new Trump hotel. When pitching his proposed piece to Trump’s people, Stan hurriedly declares he only needs them to pay for the land – that he’ll cover the cost of all supplies himself. To pay for his materials, he precariously juggles his family’s finances – promising his supportive but long-suffering wife (Laura Kirk...