“Going the Distance” is a new romantic company starring real life couple Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. Charlie Day (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”), Christina Applegate (“Samantha Who”), Jason Sudeikis (“30 Rock”), Jim Gaffigan (“My Boys”), Kelli Garner (“Lars and the Real Girl”) and Ron Livingston (“Office Space”) round out the cast, supplying comedic chops and timing to what could have been a predictable and flat story. But isn’t.

Directed by Nanette Burstein (“American Teen”) and written by Geoff La Tulippe (first IMDB credit), the film begins the day Erin (Barrymore) needs to diffuse the stress of interning and Garrett’s (Long) girlfriend breaks up with him. The two end up at the same bar and meet over an Atari game. Garrett immediately introduces Erin to his fiends Dan (Day) and Box (Sudeikis) and from the get go, the chemistry and witty banter between the two becomes evident to everyone.

But there’s a glitch – Erin is only in New York City for the summer and after she completes her newspaper internship, she plans to head back to San Francisco, where, while earning her masters, she lives with her sister Corrine (Applegate), brother-in-law Phil (Gaffigan) and niece Maya (Taylor Schwencke). Both Erin and Garrett agree that for six weeks they will enjoy each other’s company, have fun and keep things light. Of course, by the time he takes her to the airport, the two realize they’re in love, so the plan is to retain a modern long distance relationship.

The rest of the film focuses on Erin’s and Garrett’s struggles to keep the spark and commitment alive with so much geographical uncertainty and distance between them. Garrett works in the music business; Erin wants to write for a paper and neither industry looks promising in this economy. But the two keep trying and, via texting, Skype and phone sex do what they can to stay together, even with no guarantees about their future--professional or otherwise.

“Going the Distance” could have fallen into the romantic comedy abyss that the past decade of cinema has force-fed down audiences’ throats. With the exception of Judd Apatow’s man-child dramedies, the last quality film in this genre was 2003’s “Love Actually.” Since then, this category has done a fantastic job of flattening and dumbing down female lead characters into beautiful but desperate lost souls agreeing to pay for escorts and sperm.

Between the sharp, fast, and in the moment dialogue and Barrymore’s constant ability to be so present and real on screen – she has that rare combination of classic beauty, genuine warmth and, to boot, razor-sharp edge – the movie keeps you interested, laughing and most importantly, rooting for the couple, without one degree of over-simplified sentimentality.  

“Going the Distance” brings back the smart romantic comedy and, hopefully, inspires Hollywood studios to do the same.

DIRECTOR: Nanette Burstein SCREENWRITER: Geoff La Tulippe PRODUCERS: Jennifer Gibgot, Garrett Grant, Adam Shankman CAST: Drew Barrymore, Justin Long, Christina Applegate, Jim Gaffigan MPAA RATING: R

Alex Sukhoy, author of Chatroom to Bedroom, is founder and manager of Creative Cadence LLC, a content and business development company. Additionally, Alex teaches screenwriting and preproduction at Tri-C.    

Ah, the smell of grills in the parking lot on game day. The sound of inebriated fans as they’re carted off by stadium security, their painted faces and chests caught on the Jumbotron. The joy of the surgically repaired knees and the multi-million dollar contracts that depend upon them. And the simple pleasure of an athlete announcing that he has indeed sired another illegitimate child with his fourth baby mama.

Filmslate Magazine honors this special time of year with ten essential football movies that you need for your collection.

“The Longest Yard” (1974) - No, not the formulaic remake starring Adam Sandler, but the original with the incomparable Burt Reynolds. It’s easy to forget that Reynolds was a very capable actor in the 1970s, because most people only remember him making bloated turkey after turkey in the following decade. But in “The Longest Yard,” Reynolds’ turn as Paul Crewe, a disgraced former pro quarterback serving time in a Georgia state penitentiary helped give rise to the sports movie anti-hero. Now a cliché, it was quite revolutionary then, and the movie flourishes with his every wink and trademark clipped laugh. Crewe is forced into leading a team of inmates who must play the polished semi-pro team made up of the guards—all under the watchful eye of the sadistic warden, played by Eddie Albert. Cast with several former NFL and college football greats, “The Longest Yard” combines a great script and some now iconic imagery and stands as one of the most original sports movies in cinematic history.

“The Last Boy Scout” (1991) - Okay, so it’s not truly a football movie in the classic sense. But it is set against the world of professional football, and features one of the all time great opening sequences, as Righteous Brother Bill Medley sings the “Friday Night Football” theme and Tae-Bo king Billy Blanks, playing a burned out running back, kills himself during a nationally televised game. Bruce Willis, at his snarky best, and Damon Wayans, playing a quarterback desperately trying to get back into the game, have great chemistry and elevate this Tony Scott project (with a script by Shane Black) into something that teeters between hyperbole and genuine entertainment.

“The Replacements” (2000) - There is a reason why this Keanu Reeves vehicle receives endless replays on basic cable. Sure, it’s a paint-by-numbers against all odds story, but it’s solidly enjoyable. Gene Hackman (yes, Gene Hackman) plays the crusty coach who must turn a rag tag bunch of scab football players (who are getting the chance of a lifetime during a players’ strike) into winners. Can he do it? Will Reeves, who plays has been quarterback Shane Falco (his second best character name, next to Johnny Utah from “Point Break”) get the girl, who just happens to be head cheerleader? Why not turn on TBS and find out? It’s probably on in fifteen minutes.

“North Dallas Forty” (1979) - The perfect bookend to the decade that gave us “Slapshot” and “The Bad News Bears,” sports movies populated by flawed human beings and unlikely but ultimately satisfying endings other than, “will the underdogs win the big game” scenarios. Based on former Dallas Cowboy Peter Gent’s best-selling book, “North Dallas Forty” is a thinly veiled account of his time with America’s Team, starring Nick Nolte as the renegade wide receiver who chafes under the strict, hypocritical codes of conduct imposed by his team and the league. Stars are treated differently, injured players are injected with painkillers before games, and the team parties are alcohol and cocaine fueled orgies that quickly get out of control. And not one “win one for the Gipper” speech to be found.

“Wildcats” (1986) - Uneven, but mostly clever, “Wildcats” stars Goldie Hawn as a high school football coach in over her head (there is one thing about football movies—they don’t stray far from convention) that has inherited a group of perennially underachieving, over sexed players from a decaying inner city school. If the 1970s introduced audiences to the three dimensional flawed protagonist, plenty of filmmakers in the 1980s reveled in forgoing character development in favor of endless “Porky’s” rehashes, merely changing the setting. But “Wildcats” understands what it is, and doesn’t try to be more.

“The Program” (1993) - There are two sides to James Caan. There is the Caan that can produce nuanced, layered performances, such as in “The Godfather.” Then there is the James Caan in “The Program.” And this one is infinitely more entertaining. As the scene chewing head coach at ESU, a fictional college with a tradition of winning, Caan, as Coach Winters, knows what it takes to win, and believes that the administration should look the other way as long as he gets results. Throw in some spectacular eye candy in the form of Halle Berry and Kristy Swanson and various subplots involving every sports movie archetype known to man, and the result is a melodramatic romp, but one that’s never boring.

“All the Right Moves” (1983) - First of all, this movie scores huge points for being set in the kind of monolithic, dying steel town that defined Pennsylvania in the 1970s and ‘80s. There is a permanent grayness to this film; a mood that permeates almost every scene. It’s a very poignant look at a high school football player, played by Tom Cruise, and how the walls are closing in on him as his senior year winds down and he  desperately tries to get a scholarship. “All the Right Moves” eloquently captures how very rational people turn irrational and define themselves through the games that their children play. Craig T. Nelson has the unenviable task as the head coach, which can easily turn into another stereotyped performance. But Nelson shows that he has chops, and his turn as Coach Nickerson is simultaneously hard ass and sympathetic. The football action is very well done, and the script, which includes all the major high school subplots, never veers into schlock.

“The Best of Times” (1986) - Kurt Russell and his super sweet head of 1980s hair star alongside Robin Williams as grown men dipping back into their past one last time for a shot at glory. Russell is Reno Hightower (what a great football movie name), a charismatic winner, who unfortunately played with Jack Dundee (Williams) who dropped the big pass that cost their high school team the championship. Several years later, they get a chance at redemption and a rematch to boot. Movies like “The Best of Times” don’t get made anymore. It’s not a singular cinematic achievement. It is, however, simply a funny, down to earth look at how the past can cast long shadows in small towns.

“Paper Lion” (1968) - Alan Alda plays George Plimpton, the erstwhile writer who wrote an article for “Sports Illustrated” about trying out for the Detroit Lions, the only team that would go for his stunt. It’s a charming and funny look at football in a different era, and other than Alda and Lauren Hutton, most of the acting is done by real Detroit Lions players and coaches.

“Brian’s Song” (1971) No football movie list is complete without this TV tearjerker which taught men that it was okay to cry—as long as your best friend is dying. With smooth soul cat Billy Dee Williams as legendary Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers and James Caan as fullback Brian Piccolo, “Brian’s Song” captures the camaraderie of football and how even the toughest men crumble as they face mortality.

George Clooney's new film, “The American,” eschews more than just modern movie conventions. It neglects to give us a protagonist to cheer on. We're left with Clooney's star power and maturing acting skills--which are considerable--and a story which can't rally to save itself in the film's waning moments.

Clooney plays Jack; an assassin whose latest hit while stationed in Sweden goes awry. He takes out his target but also kills an innocent, someone he made the mistake of getting to know too well. So he decides to cool his heels in a quaint Italian hamlet while his boss (Johan Leyson) figures out what went wrong.

Before Jack can decompress he's given another assignment, but it's as mysterious as just about everything else in this minimalist yarn. He must help build a rifle for a fellow killer (Thekla Reuten).

In between long coffee breaks and thoughtfully staring into space, Jack falls for a local prostitute (Violante Placido), a subplot so stale it feels like a jumping off point for a film parody.

Our assassin spends little time working on his cover - he's supposed to be a photographer on assignment. Jack never so much as fondles a camera shutter, and for a man in near constant danger he sure walks around as if there's nothing to fear but a fearfully dull screenplay itself.

"The American" does work when we see Jack handing the tools of his trade. There's a panther-like grace to the way he builds his weapons that makes him menacing without saying a word.

And Clooney has very little to say in "The American." It's like the film was written for Clint Eastwood circa 1970, but Clooney's man with an ordinary name lacks the presence Eastwood brought to his iconic roles of yore.

The film offers hints of Jack as an actual, full bodied character, but no such person ever emerges. Clooney's supporting cast mates try to prop the assassin up, saying he's a good man with a sinful past. They really don't know anything about him, and nor do we. The presence of an avuncular priest also promises to enrich our understanding of Jack's plight. But nothing ever materializes.

"The American" is so thoroughly European you half expect the film to stop in its tracks for a Stella Artois commercial. It's as if director Anton Corbijn gorged himself on '70s era thrillers, the closest domestic films got to that Euro sensibility, but couldn't manage to replicate the reasons why those features gave us so many enduring characters. And, the more we see Clooney as assassin, the less we care about his fate – or the movie as a whole.

DIRECTOR: Anton Corbijn SCREENWRITERS: Rowan Joffe, Martin Booth, PRODUCERS: Anne Carey, George Clooney, Jill Green, Grant Heslov CAST: George Clooney, Johan Leysen, Thekla Reuten, Paolo Bonacelli, Violante Placido MPAA RATING: R

Christian Toto is a Denver-based arts reporter, print and radio film critic and movie blogger (www.whatwouldtotowatch.com)

The biggest challenge every actor will ever face is the ability to create a believable character.

Anyone can memorize lines while others use creative costumes, props or special effects to bring their characters to life. The truly great actors, however, separate themselves from the pack by going the extra yard and creating their characters from the inside out.

Acting, basically, is the ability to become ‘someone else.' If all actors are technically accomplishing this with each role they undertake – what separates the good actors from the great ones?

To simplify things, creating character boils down to 3 basic rules of thumb:

1. COMMITMENT: This is not just about making a commitment to the film you are contracted to making but to also commit to your fellow actors and the subject matter. The best actors take it a step further and challenge themselves with an internal commitment to their own character.

“Most actors don’t think about how to make their portrayals unique and specific to each role they play, but great actors do.” – Sir Laurence Olivier

2. BASE YOUR CHARACTERS ON REAL PEOPLE: Most character actors talk about spending a lot of time observing other people, and either base a character on one particular individual or piece a character together by drawing various aspects from different people.

A recent example of this was actor Daniel Day-Lewis in his Oscar-winning turn for “There Will Be Blood”. The character had already been created as a fictional one originally written by Upton Sinclair in the novel the film was based upon. To make this character his own, Day-Lewis wanted to create a manner of speaking that was unique. To do so, he imitated the speech pattern of late director, John Huston (whom he had never met but had seen interviews of) and thus made the character of Daniel Plainview more than what was written in the script.

3. FINDING ASPECTS OF YOURSELF THAT ARE SIMILAR TO THE CHARACTER:  Create convincing characters by combining a character model and appropriate aspects of yourself. This is not the same for everyone – as each actor brings a different life experience to bear every time they are challenged with finding the common center between themselves and their characters.

You will then find actors like the late, great Marlon Brando who needed his character experiences to be fresh each and every time. After a successful career on the stage, Brando wanted to bring that same freshness to his film personas. Later on in his career, Brando would refuse to memorize lines from a script and actually had crew members hold cue cards just out of camera sight so that he could read his lines in that manner and thereby make his personal response to the character and lines extremely fresh and honest every time.

Not everyone has the luxury of taking Drama classes or witnessing a great actor creating a character before their eyes. The challenge you should undertake the next time you’re at the cinema is to become more engaged and try to take note of those actors who are giving you a ‘real’ experience as opposed to those that look like they are just going through the motions.

Paul Thomas Anderson – At 27, Anderson was already evoking Martin Scorsese with the opening shot of “Boogie Nights” - a steadycam follows mythical lost characters of the 1970s porn world around a nightclub as they fantasize about the future. He directed the movie that put him on the map while resurrecting Burt Reynolds’ career and also turning Mark Wahlberg into a bona fide movie star.

“Boogie Nights” introduced the themes to which Anderson would return in later films, including “Magnolia” and “Punch Drunk Love”: the loneliness that comes with power, the sacrifices needed to attain success and the substitution of a career family for a traditional one. Anderson wrings the most profound emotions from his leading actors by flipping the switch on their strengths and allowing his artists to publically surrender to their own vices. Reynolds and Julianne Moore earned their first Oscar nods in “Boogie Nights,” and Tom Cruise was nominated for his work in “Magnolia.” “There Will Be Blood” is a masterpiece that breaks most traditional film rules, yet manages to incorporate references to classics ranging from “Battleship Potemkin” to “Giant.” Daniel Day Lewis won an Oscar for his role as oilman Daniel Plainview and managed to horrify audiences with his anger. Surprisingly, Anderson also has a comedic side and has directed several “Saturday Night Live” specials.

Wes Anderson – In the first scene of his first film, "Bottle Rocket" – which launched the acting careers of brothers Luke and Owen Wilson – a disturbed young man sneaks out of a mental hospital by climbing down a ladder made of bed sheets.  Never mind that he has already been discharged and can walk out the door.  A friend is watching, and the young man feels compelled to make the escape into an adventure. 

Ever since, Anderson has been giving us characters who take the hard road on purpose, just to see if something exciting will happen.  As in life, the reality of the adventure often fails to live up to its potential.  But we enjoy the journey.  And we enjoy spending time in the company of people who would rather explore and learn than simply follow the easy paths in life.  Anderson’s best known movies, “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” and “The Darjeeling Limited,” are usually considered comedies.  But they deal with death, loneliness, and regret – and not in a funny way. 

His regular stable of actors – the Wilson brothers, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and Anjelica Huston – all have comedy in their bones.  But Anderson has extracted from each an equal measure of melancholy.  The result is a series of wistful stories that feel as if they will continue even after the closing credits roll.  Rarely do we laugh.  But we feel heartened at the end, often joyful, and always satisfied. Anderson earned an Oscar nod for the screenplay for “The Royal Tenenbaums,” and just last year he was nominated for best animated feature for “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”

Judd Apatow – His projects sound like bad sitcom pitches.  “An ordinary guy turns 40 without ever having been laid.  We’ll cast over-the-top comic actor Steve Carell as the straight man, letting everybody else do the funny bits.”  “Let’s pick the prettiest actress we can find and get her character so drunk that she has unprotected sex, and gets pregnant by a fat, lazy stoner.”  He has made stars out of camera-unfriendly leading men like Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill.  His films are just as crude and misogynistic as any comedies at the multiplex.  And his characters never really mature – except in the classically unconvincing sitcom way, with hugging at the end.  But his method works. 

Part of Apatow’s genius certainly is that he makes us care about his bizarre characters.  There’s an appealing vulnerability to his protagonists that reminds us of ourselves.  We may have lost our virginity in the 1980s (thanks for asking!), but we can still relate to Andy Stitzer’s worries about whether a girl will remember him when he calls, or whether she’ll think he’s too hairy when she first sees him naked. 

As with all great comics, Apatow’s best gift is his timing.  Special effects have become so lifelike, and the explosions have become so real, that we’re sometimes scared to enter the theater.  On television, reality programming has all but killed the sitcom.  It’s nice to spend a couple of hours relaxing with Apatow’s version of the classic comedy formula: silly characters are introduced, the lead couple pairs off, a misunderstanding causes them to separate, they mature, and they reconcile.  If only life were so simple.  And so consistently funny.

Darren Aronofsky – Aronofsky’s films are often hard to watch. His debut feature, “Pi,” is shot with a herky-jerky handheld and makes the viewer feel the main character’s descent into madness. “The Fountain” is a glorious mess, beautifully shot on a full budget – and incomprehensible. “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Wrestler” give up-close – maybe even too-close – views of the stomach-churning lives of marginal characters. Who could forget a beaten and bloody Randy “The Ram” Robinson pulling staples from his body after a brutal “professional” wrestling match?

Aronofsky’s actors have been known to lose a few screws while immersing themselves in their parts. But they give the most amazing, unselfconscious performances. Ellen Burstyn earned an Oscar nod for “Requiem for a Dream,” and Mickey Rourke and Marisa Tomei were both nominated for their work in “The Wrestler.” An Aronofsky film is mesmerizing. Like road kill, it may be hard to watch, but you cannot pull your eyes away. The characters are too compelling, too crazy, too real to ignore. To date, Aronofsky’s films have mostly bombed at the box office. His luck may change with “Black Swan,” set for release later this year.

Sofia Coppola – Born into a cinematic dynasty, this Coppola carved out her own distinct voice as writer, director and producer. Building on the success of “The Virgin Suicides,” “Lost in Translation,” delicate in its sensibilities yet strong in its message, propelled Scarlett Johansson to the A-list and brought out a sensitivity in Bill Murray rarely before shown.

Coppola won the best original screenplay Oscar for that movie, claiming her own place in what is still, mostly, an exclusive men’s club. Several years later, with “Marie Antoinette,” she directed her cousin Jason Schwartzman and actress Kirsten Dunst to perform their roles as though they were the age the royal couple would have been at the time they first met, a few years before the French Revolution – as teenagers.

To drive the point home further, alternative bands from the 1980s provided most of the soundtrack. Combining the music of teen angst with visually luscious costumes and scenes lent a punk tone to European history. Coppola has a strong ear for music, and in all her films the soundtrack becomes its own character. Who could ever forget the karaoke moment in “Lost in Translation,” in which Murray unleashes a series of pent-up emotions by belting out Elvis Costello’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?"

Sam Mendes – Mendes was considered a first-rate stage director for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He showed surprising mastery of the film medium with his debut feature, “American Beauty,” which captured Oscars for best picture, best original screenplay, best cinematography, and best actor for Kevin Spacey. Mendes took home the trophy for best director. While films of gritty decay, both urban and rural, are nothing new, Mendes shattered the image of the idealized suburb to reveal the moral decay inside its picture-perfect homes. None of life’s big topics – marriage, children, houses, neighbors or cheerleaders – was spared.

Mendes revisited this dystopian theme nearly a decade later with “Revolutionary Road,” directing his now-estranged wife, Oscar winner Kate Winslet, and nominee Leonardo DiCaprio, in tormenting performances. In between these two films, he also directed Paul Newman and Tom Hanks in “Road to Perdition” and an ensemble cast in “Jarhead.” Last year’s “Away We Go” revealed a softer, funnier and more relaxed Mendes. The film features John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph as an unmarried, expecting--and very much in love--couple.

As we observe their quest for the right home in which to welcome their baby, we see their tenderness toward each other contrasted against an array of feelings exhibited by a series of other couples. The message? Perhaps the most functional love stories are those in which two people decide what works for them and ignore the outdated social rules that provided such great material for Mendes’s first big film.

Christopher Nolan – This director likes head games. His first movie, “Memento,” co-written with and based on a short story by his brother Jonathan, is famously told in reverse. The brothers earned an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay. Each Nolan film operates like a puzzle, including this year’s “Inception,” which features layer upon layer of puzzles nestled inside each other. In “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Prestige,” Nolan created complete and dark worlds that seem familiar but operate under their own convoluted logic. Everything about a Nolan film is tight: the setting, the characters, the plot, and, with growing budget, the visuals. From the simply-shot “Memento” to the elaborate sets and international production of “Inception,” in a cheap motel or in a city bending upside down, every detail is meticulous and intentional. Best of all, Nolan makes the special effects serve the story, rather than letting the story serve the effects. Movies are supposed to take us where we have never been. Nolan acts as tour guide, ensuring that our trip is memorable and, yet, puzzling.

Jason Reitman – He was enrolled in a pre-med program before his producer-director father advised him to drop out and pursue what he loved. Fortunately, the son listened. Jason Reitman infuses his stories with a personal passion that has resulted in three of his films defining an entire decade. He wrote and directed “Thank You for Smoking,” directed “Juno,” and wrote, directed and produced “Up in the Air.”

His movies have been well received by the Motion Picture Academy. “Juno” won Diablo Cody an Oscar for best original screenplay and earned nominations for best picture, best director and best actress. “Up in the Air” generated Oscar nominations for George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, and Reitman was nominated for best original screenplay, best director and best picture.

Reitman’s stories provide a running commentary on our times. In each of his films, the lead character tries to balance his or her flaws against an idealized perception of family while facing an uncertain and often gloomy sense of self. At the same time, Reitman provides his characters with both humor and hope while avoiding clichéd sentiment and mawkishness. Reitman has outgrown his father’s shadow to produce some of the most powerful movies about modern adulthood.

Guy Ritchie – Writer, director and producer Ritchie is known as much for his marriage to, and divorce from, Madonna as for his films. This is a shame considering that, “Swept Away” aside, his movies are great entertainment. Starting with “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” Ritchie introduced us to England’s underworld of crooks, thieves, mobsters and hoodlums, with a frenetic pace cut at irregular intervals by signature slow-motion action.

Whether it’s Brad Pitt as a gypsy boxer taking a dive in “Snatch,” or Robert Downey Jr. defending his manliness in last year’s “Sherlock Holmes,” Ritchie gives us, well, guys. The dialogue is fast, the editing faster. The cast of characters includes Brits, Americans, Africans and everybody in between. In Ritchie’s gangland, race becomes the afterthought to the one thing his stories have in common: people – rich and poor, desperate and powerful – behaving badly to get what they want: money, guns or women.

His original leading man, Jason Statham, has made a career out of playing this same bad-boy character for many other directors. Ritchie’s movies feel like a series of extended music videos, and he manages to inject humor into the most absurd situations. Guy Ritchie movies are sexy and pure fun.

M Night Shyamalan – How you view “The Sixth Sense” depends largely upon whether you guessed the secret.  We confess ignorance until the very end, which is why we consider it a work of genius.  Unfortunately, such a trick can be pulled only once.  Shyamalan has so conditioned us to expect a big surprise that each subsequent story’s twist is almost always a letdown. 

And it only gets worse when, as in “The Happening,” there isn’t much of a twist at all.  No wonder, then, that in our view the quality of his work has deteriorated over time.  Whereas most artists establish certain mastery as they age, Shyamalan seems to experience a gradual diminution of his talent.  Still, his gift of suspense is prodigious.  And it’s often more fun to watch a movie where we keep guessing at the secret than to watch one where the ending is foreordained.  Shyamalan’s casting has been hit-or-miss.  Only in “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs” did we accept all the leads as plausible.  And some of his plots are downright silly. 

But we still believe he has great work ahead of him.  Alfred Hitchcock, the director with whom Shyamalan is unavoidably compared, turned out his best work – and lots of it – in his 50s.  Shyamalan, who just turned 40, has the promise of such a legacy.

Alex Sukhoy, author of Chatroom to Bedroom, is founder and manager of Creative Cadence LLC, a content and business development company. Additionally, Alex teaches screenwriting and preproduction at Tri-C.

“The Last Exorcism,” directed by Daniel Stamm, involves a preacher trying to atone for his sins – pretending to perform exorcisms for cash. It’s hard to believe there’s still plenty of life left in the “found footage” genre that sparked both “The Blair Witch Project” and “Paranormal Activity.”

The Rev. Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) has a confession to make. He’s been performing exorcisms for years and making a pretty penny from it. But it’s all a ruse. He knows how to rattle household items on cue and say the right mumbo jumbo to make it seem as if the devil was exiting a body. So he hires a documentary crew of two to capture his last exorcism, his exit from a pretty seedy business.

The found footage is presented in a more streamlined fashion than the reels at the core of “Blair Witch” or “Paranormal.” But the movie cheats a bit. This footage comes with standard horror movie music spliced in, which makes for an awkward hybrid. Still, the effect is like we were dropped into the lives of some ordinary people facing extraordinary events. Cotton gets a shock, however, when the so-called “possessed” girl he’s called in to save (Nell Sweetzer) could be the real deal.

“The Last Exorcism” never delivers the big scare – we do get several mid-sized shocks, but the story is enthralling all the same. The movie goes light on the bloodletting and even lighter on special effects, and it doesn’t suffer for it. Our collective knowledge of exorcisms, born mostly from the 1973 film, is used as effective context without exploiting our affection for that horror classic.

Fabian is terrific as Cotton, a man uncomfortable with both his faith and past behavior. A good heart still beats beneath those contradictions. It might be the best horror movie performance in recent memory.

The film tries to fight back against the sub genre’s traps, and it partially succeeds. At one point the camera man shows real trepidation about continuing to shoot, and the documentary format allows for different camera angles, even though we only see one camera throughout.

“The Last Exorcism” is a crafty mix of “The Exorcist” and “The Blair Witch Project,” one that capitalizes on the strengths of both films. But the final reel is scary in all the wrong ways, proving even the most clever concepts have trouble sticking the landing.

DIRECTOR: Daniel Stamm SCREENWRITER: Huck Botko, Andrew Gurland PRODUCERS: Marc Abraham, Thomas A. Bliss, Eli Roth, Eric Newman CAST: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Nell Sweetzer, Tony Bentley MPAA RATING: PG-13

Christian Toto is a Denver-based arts reporter, print and radio film critic and movie blogger (www.whatwouldtotowatch.com)

Not all bank robbers live hand to mouth and look as if they spent their last nickel on cheap booze. The thieves at the heart of “Takers,” directed by John Luessenhop, like slick suits, expensive booze and the freedom to live off the spoils of their work. That contrast gives the new film bite, but a muddled story and flat finale render all those smooth moves meaningless.

DIRECTOR: John Luessenhop SCREENWRITERS: Peter Allen, Gabriel Casseus, John Luessenhop, Avery Duff PRODUCERS: Chris Brown, William Packer, T.I., Nicolas Stern CAST: Hayden Christensen, Matt Dillon, Chris Brown, Michael Ealy, Idris Elba, Steve Harris, T.I., Jay Hernandez, Zoe Saldana MPAA RATING: PG-13

Christian Toto is a Denver-based arts reporter, print and radio film critic and movie blogger (www.whatwouldtotowatch.com)

The 6th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival (www.hollyshorts.com) came to a close early this past Friday with Nicholas Carmen’s short film “Piano Fingers” taking home the top Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film Presented by Company 3. Carmen took home a $10,000 post production services package from Company 3. Grzegorz Jonkajtys won the Best Director Award also presented by Company 3. Jonkajtys directed the acclaimed Sci Fi short film “The Third Letter” which drew a packed house when it screened on Saturday August 7 at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 and also won a $10,000 post production prize from Company 3. The awards were announced during a special ceremony hosted by Jessica King at MyStudio in Hollywood

This year’s HollyShorts Film Festival drew thousands of attendees with 16 countries in competition and over 200 projects screened including short films, features, webisodes, and music videos. The festival kicked off with a star-studded opening night celebration at the DGA theatre hosted by Ben Lyons and Amy Paffrath, which honored acclaimed director John Dahl (”Rounders”) with the festival’s Indie Maverick Award, given out by Mike Wittlin of Inmoo.com. During the opening night celebration actor James Caan announced the six finalists for his company Openfilm.com and their 1st Get it Made competition. The finalists short films were screened during the festival and the winner will receive $50,000 in cash and $200,000 in financing to develop their short into a feature film and the company’s board consists of James Caan, Scott Caan, Robert Duvall and Mark Rydell.

During HollyShorts opening night, David Arquette who is currently shooting “Scream 4,” took time out of his schedule to premiere his 3D short film “The Butler’s In Love. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom also attended the festivities at the DGA to show his support for the project. On Friday, August 6 Jimmy Jean-Louis hosted a special evening at Bardot with the festival to bring awareness to the relief efforts in Haiti through his organization Hollywood Unites for Haiti. The festival featured an array of packed screenings, exclusive parties and panels all week long at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 theatres.

The festival came to a close this past Thursday with a special screening of the Denis Hennelly indie feature “Bold Native,” at Laemmle’s Sunset 5.

Other big HollyShorts 2010 winners: Gino Gianoli won the Martini Crew Booking Future Filmmaker Award for “The Great Destroyer,” Best Student Short Film went to Eliane Lima for “Djinn,” A.J. Carter won Best International for “Ronan’s Escape,” Brendan Murphy won Best Narrative for “Swerve,” Best Screenplay went to “The Violinist” directed by Carlo Besasie and written by Ryan Plato. Jack Daniel Stanley won two awards Best Music and Best Thriller for his short film “a Little Mouth to Feed,” Heather Harlow’s acclaimed documentary “Nous Deux Encore took home the prize for Best Doc. Adam Christian Clark won Best Cinematography for his short film “Goodbye Shanghai,” Best Drama went to John Wilberding for “Alberta, Detroit.” Best Comedy went to Justin Lusky for “The Action Hero’s Guide To Saving Lives,” Best Webisode went to Joel Huggins for “Fish Out Of Water”. Dick Thompson won Best Editing for his short “Porn Guide.” Best Music Video went to William Stahl for “Keep Me In My Plane.” Michael Godere won Best Actor for his role in “Time Trouble.” Best Actress went to Paulie Rojas from “Lucia Kisses No One”. David Weinstein’s “Azureus Rising” took home the Best Animation prize while Lucas Figueroa’s “Porque Hay Cosas Que Nunca Se Olvidan” won Best Spanish Film. JT Mollner received an Honorable Mention award for his short “Henry John and the Little Bug,” Francisco Ordonez also received Honorable Mention for “Cookie.” Special Jury Prize went to “Charlie and the Rabbit”, directed by Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian. Best Experimental went to Andres Sanz for “Flat Love”.

The 2010 HollyShorts Film Festival Jury consists of:

Ryan Black, Grindstone
Jessy Terrero, Writer, Director, Producer (Soul Plane, music videos for 50 Cent, Sean Paul, The Lox, G-Unit)
Lucas Carter, The Weinstein Co. Director, Production and Development
Peter Russell, Story Analyst (Walden (AFG) Films (The Chronicles of Narnia), and Participant Productions (An Inconvenient Truth), Imagine Films, and CBS Television Network)
Amy Draughn, Production (Josh Brolin Productions)
Jamie Linden, Writer (We Are Marshall, Dear John)
Maurissa Tanchoreon, Writer, Actress (Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog)
Arianna Jackson, Partner, Producer, Chill Entertainment (G, Confessions of a Memory Eater)
Leah Meyerhoff, Writer, Director (Twitch, Unicorns)
Eric Robles , Executive Producer, Animator/Creator Nickelodeon’s Fanboy and Chum Chum
William Olsson, Director, An American Affair
Ray McDermott, Film Radar
Darren Lew, Cinematographer
Deddy Tzur, Composer, The Golden Compass
Frank Chindamo, Fun Little Movies

All HollyShorts 2010 winners received a copy of Roberta Munroe’s ground breaking book “How To Not Make a Short Film” as well as a copy of entertainment attorney Paul Batista’s book “Independent Film Producing.”, and a special subscription to InkTip.

The 2010 HollyShorts sponsors consisted of Openfilm, Company 3, Inmoo, Art Lewin & Co. Custom Clothiers, Martini Crew Booking, HD Creative Services, Inktip, Moet, Hollywood Unites for Haiti, Hollywood Film and Acting Academy, Krol Vodka, Ciroc Vodka, Café Bustelo, Stella Artois, OPI, Conair, SLS Hotel, Indie Rentals, h Magazine, Indie Printing, Doomsday Entertainment, Showbiz Software stores, Film Radar, 22 Entertainment, Laemmle’s Sunset 5, Performer Track, Footage Firm, John Kearns, Jr, Hollywood Film and Acting Academy, and Arthouse Shorts.

2010 HollyShorts Winners List

HollyShorts Grand Jury Prize, Best Short Film Presented by Company 3
PIANO FINGERS-Nicholas Carmen
$10,000 post production services package from Company 3.

Best Director Presented by Company 3
The Third Letter-Grzegorz Jonkajtys
$10,000 post production services package from Company 3.

Martini Crew Future Filmmaker Award
The Great Destroyer- Gino Gianoli
$5,000 Martini Crew Booking Camera Rental package

Best Student Short Film
Djinn- Eliane Lima Djinn

Best International
Ronan’s Escape- A.J. Carter
HD Stock footage, 10 HD Stock Footage Collections, from StockFootageForFREE.com , worth $2,500

Best Narrative
Swerve- Brendan Murphy
h Magazine Profile

Honorable Mention-Henry John and the Little Bug-JT Mollner

Honorable Mention-Cookie- Francisco Ordonez

Best Music
A Little Mouth to Feed- Jack Daniel Stanley

Best Documentary
Nous Deux Encore- Heather Harlow

Best Cinematography
Goodbye Shanghai- Adam Christian Clark
$1000 Indie Rentals Prize Package

Best Drama
Alberta, Detroit- John Wilberding
3 Ton Grip and Tungsten/Kino Lighting Package Rental from John Kearns Jr.

Best Comedy
The Action Hero’s Guide To Saving Lives-Justin Lusky
Showbiz Software Prize Package

Best Thriller
A Little Mouth To Feed-Jack Daniel-Stanley
Studio Space Prize package from Hollywood Film and Acting Academy to shoot next project

Best Webisode
Fish Out of Water-Joel Huggins
Cell Phone Distribution Deal with Fun Little Movies

Best Editing
Porn Guide-Dick Thompson

Best Screenplay
The Violinist - Ryan Plato
InkTip Prize Package

Special Jury Prize
Charlie and The Rabbit - Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck, Robert Machoian

Best Music Video
Keep Me In My Plane-William Stahl
Agency Meeting Doomsday Entertainment

Best Actor
Michael Godere-Time Trouble
6-month subscription to PerformerTrack Online donated by fellow performers Kristina Hughes & Brian Vermeire, PerformerTrack is a web-based application that works on Macs & PCs, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Droid, etc. PerformerTrack is the easiest way for a performer on a daily basis to log, track and manage their careers so they can leverage their info and move their careers forward!

Best Actress
Paulie Rojas-Lucia Kisses No One
6-month subscription to PerformerTrack Online donated by fellow performers Kristina Hughes & Brian Vermeire, PerformerTrack is a web-based application that works on Macs & PCs, iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, Droid, etc. PerformerTrack is the easiest way for a performer on a daily basis to log, track and manage their careers so they can leverage their info and move their careers forward!

Best Animation
Azureus Rising-David Weinstein

Best Experimental
Flat Love-Andres Sanz

Best Spanish Film
PORQUE HAY COSAS QUE NUNCA SE OLVIDAN- Lucas Figueroa

Audience Choice Winners

August 6, 2010

Lying Right Here - Chad Knutsen

Jimmy Jean-Louis’s Haiti Documentary

Djinn-Eliana Lima

August 7, 2010

Michael Saints-Katie Mahalic

Verreckt!-Christian Bahlo

The Response-Andrew Speiler

Hit Me-R.C. Davis

August 8, 2010

Henry John and The Little Bug-JT Mollner

Canary Suicides-Natalia Provatas/Valerian Zamel & The Violinist - Carlo Besasie

Devolution-Gavin Heffernan

Never Winter-Moe Charif

August 9, 2010

Gumbo-Veleeta Dacosta

The Way We Are - John Kenney

August 10, 2010

Career Day-Ivette Garcia Davilla

Hours Before-Joel David Moore

New Project: They Are All Not Lost-Dawn Kirk Alexander

August 11, 2010

Jr. Posse-Michele Ervin

Abracadabra-Julie Pacino

August 12, 2010

Real Girl’s Guide-Carmen Elena Mitchell

Lucia Kisses No One-Emanuel Gironi

About HollyShorts
HollyShorts is an organization devoted to showcasing the best and brightest short films from around the globe, advancing the careers of filmmakers through screenings, networking events, and various panel and forums. The HollyShorts Film festival showcases the top short films produced 30- minutes or less. For more information, please visit www.hollyshorts.com.

In “The Switch,” Bateman gets the best role of his still young film career. He plays the best bud of a single gal (Jennifer Aniston) who decides to have a baby via a sperm donor. The title tells the rest of the story, a convoluted one that can’t derail Bateman’s fine work.

Aniston plays Kassie, a single gal who decides to have a baby on her own after failing to find a partner. So she lines up a handsome sperm donor (an under-used Patrick Wilson) but the titular “switch” leaves her with the genetic material from Kassie’s best pal Wally (Bateman).

Flash forward seven years later, and Kassie’s adorable son (Thomas Robinson) looks and acts just like Wally, something that takes Wally by surprise in the film’s flimsiest plot device. How will the “switch” affect Wally and Kassie’s relationship, and could it push the duo out of the friendship zone into something … more?

“The Switch” isn’t as manic as your standard romantic comedy, so let’s all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The gimmick at its core is silly beyond measure, though, requiring our leads to ground the preposterous material.

They’re both up to the task, even if Aniston’s character is woefully underwritten. It isn’t enough to say a character is female, single and wants a baby. That’s a thumbnail sketch, nothing more.

The romantic chemistry between the actors doesn’t crackle. It wouldn’t even shock you if you rubbed it on shag carpeting.

What we’re left with are the comic performances which are solid throughout. That’s especially true whenever Jeff Goldblum appears as Wally’s boss and sounding board. Their scenes together are flat out terrific – so how about re-teaming them in a road picture ASAP?

Juliette Lewis does similar honors for Kassie, but she simply recycles her wild child screen persona with predictable results.

“The Switch” isn’t the disaster its release date portends – late August is hardly Ground Zero for comedy gold. But it’s a fine platform to show just what Bateman can do.

DIRECTOR: Josh Gordon, Will Speck SCREENWRITER: Allan Loeb, Jeffrey Eugenides PRODUCERS: Jennifer Aniston, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa, Allan Loeb CAST:  Jason Bateman, Jeffifer Aniston, Jeff Goldblum, Juliette Lewis MPAA RATING: PG-13

Christian Toto is a Denver-based arts reporter, print and radio film critic and movie blogger (www.whatwouldtotowatch.com)

Crumb is shy and unprepossessing in appearance and speech, making him the unlikeliest of narrators. But Zwigoff is a patient observer, and Crumb’s thoroughly original voice quickly comes to seem more fascinating than eccentric. He describes his various interests – which include old jazz and blues albums, critiques of mass commercialization, and big-hipped women – in an unwaveringly nasal monotone. Crumb remains aloof in almost every setting, showing delight only when he is permitted to spank and to piggy-back the plump girls whom he fetishizes.

Crumb’s dispassionate tone is mirrored by Zwigoff’s non-judgmental documentary style. The effect is to put the audience deeply and fearlessly into the mind of the artist. The viewer is able to process and appreciate Crumb’s obsession with deviant sexuality, his ironic resentment both of being ignored and of being celebrated, and his troubled relationships with nearly every person in his life, not as the products of a sick mind, but as the inspirations for magnificent art.

Crumb’s work, much of which is featured in the movie, is challenging and personal. His characters frolic through the classic Freudian taboos – rape, murder, and incest – and quite a few additional taboos that Crumb seems to have invented, without ever developing any insights. The critical response could not be more varied. Art reviewer Robert Hughes sees Crumb as a post-modern Brueghel who scathingly satirizes commercial society. Deirdre English, former editor of “Mother Jones,” considers Crumb’s work dangerous and pornographic. And Dian Hanson, a successful pornographer herself, celebrates the very fetishistic and misogynistic qualities of Crumb’s art that give the other commentators such discomfort. Here again, Zwigoff’s neutral approach to the relationship between artist, art, and observer is well-aimed. Because the film operates within a non-judgmental forum, Crumb’s work – including its genius and its grotesqueness – is seen fully from all sides. Zwigoff generously lets the audience draw its own conclusions.

As well as the director presents both Crumb and his work, the most powerful part of the film addresses the family dysfunction that shaped them. The Crumb household in the 1950s was headed by a tyrannical, violent father and an amphetamine-addicted mother. Sadly, the sins of the parents have made victims of their three sons. Middle brother Robert is perhaps the healthiest of the trio. By channeling his depression into art, he gives it both form and release. “If I don’t draw for a while, I get really crazy, depressed, and suicidal,” he claims – and this makes the viewer doubly grateful for his prolific output.

Youngest brother Maxon has sublimated his pain in less productive ways. He sits on a bed of nails and passes a fabric strip through his intestines. For fun, he engages in relatively minor sexual assaults. Maxon seems to have reached an equilibrium in which his oddball behaviors balance out his days and enable him to move forward.

Oldest brother Charles has simply repressed all of his pains and desires. Having managed to be simultaneously one of the best-looking and the least-popular children in his high school, Charles gave up on having a normal life and never moved out of the family home. “Can you give me one good reason for leaving the house?” he asks. Given the lifetime of rejection Charles experienced by the age of 18, nobody can think of one.

Zwigoff captures the reactions of three grown men to the raw pains of a torment-filled childhood. Here, the director does render judgment, to shattering effect. The boys are ill-equipped to live in this world, and their parents are to blame. The brothers are all talented artists, and “Crumb” presents them as examples of the linkage between genius and madness.

If the movie sometimes feels like a therapy session, this may be attributable to the severe depression affecting the director himself during the six years he spent filming. Zwigoff and Crumb are close friends. No doubt, their mutual understanding affected the sensitivity and honesty with which Crumb and his family are portrayed. “Crumb” is a work both of and about artistic genius.

DIRECTOR:Terry Zwigoff  PRODUCERS: Albert Berger, Lianne Halfon, Lawrence Wilkinson CAST: Robert Crumb (himself) Maxon Crumb (himself), Aline Crumb (herself) Charles Crumb (himself) MPAA RATING: R