Mar 31, 2015
Festival
San Francisco, CA – The San Francisco Film Society announces that Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (USA 2015), Patrick Brice’s The Overnight (USA 2015) and Helen Hunt’s Ride (USA 2014) have been added to the schedule for the 58th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 23–May 7).
In Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, Greg Gaines (Thomas Mann)—a movie-obsessed misfit whose primary preoccupations are hanging out with his best friend Earl (RJ Cyler) and creating his own irreverent films from cinematic classics—is just trying to waltz his way through his senior year of high school. Then Greg meets Rachel (Olivia Cooke), the terminally ill daughter of a family friend, and finds a kindred spirit. Suddenly, this angry young man with a movie camera finds inspiration and connection in the last place he’d ever though he would: real life. The toast of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where it won both the US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award, first-time director Alejandro Gomez-Rejon’s take on boy-meets-sick-girl romance totally upends the subgenre while potently delivering the goods. It’s also a funny, emotionally resonant valentine to cinephilia run amuck. The double act of Mann and Cooke is the heart and soul of this tragicomic tour-de-force that features music by the legendary Brian Eno and strong supporting performances by Molly Shannon, Jon Bernthal and Nick Offerman. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl shows Wednesday April 29, 6:00 pm at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. Fox Searchlight will open the film in theatres nationwide in June 2015.
In The Overnight, Alex (Adam Scott) and Emily (Taylor Schilling) have just moved to LA with their young son RJ. Between relocation and job stress, their love life has become a little lackluster. At the park one afternoon, RJ hits it off with another kid named Max. Max’s dad, Kurt (Jason Schwartzman)—resplendent in an all-white suit and impeccable sunglasses—introduces himself to Alex and Emily, and asks them home to dinner. Desperate for other adults to hang out with and awed by Kurt’s ineffable cool, they eagerly accept his invitation. After a lovely meal with Kurt and his extremely attractive French wife Charlotte (Judith Godrèche), the kids fall asleep, and Alex and Emily start to pick up on the fact that Kurt and Charlotte may have an adult play date in mind. Writer/director Patrick Brice fashions a screwball sex farce for the 21st century with this deeply funny (and oddly deep) film that recalls the early work of Paul Mazursky. Scott and Schwartzman fully devote themselves to go-for-broke performances that rank with the best of their careers, and there is an irresistible twitchy intensity to what both Schilling and Godrèche bring to the screen. The Overnight plays Tuesday April 28, 9:45pm at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. The Orchard will open the film in theatres in June 2015.
In her sophomore directorial effort, Academy Award-winner Helen Hunt plays Jackie, a high-strung New Yorker editor who must learn to let go, and in the process, learn to surf. With strong support from Luke Wilson, Brenton Thwaites and David Zayas, Ride is an effervescent coming-of-age surf movie with no shortage of hijinks. In this film that oscillates between taut drama and screwball comedy, Jackie follows her son Angelo (Thwaites) to Venice Beach after he drops out of college to find his own path in the waves of Southern California. Accompanied by her hired driver Ramon (Zayas) Jackie stalks her son to figure out what could be more appealing to him than being close to her in New York City. Jackie’s mission to reclaim Angelo has unexpected ramifications not the least of which are a romance with surf instructor Ian (Wilson) and the realization that she must come to terms with her painful past in order to do right by her son. Ride will screen Saturday April 25, 12:30pm at Landmark’s Clay Theatre. Screen Media Films will open the film in May 2015.
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58th San Francisco International Film Festival
The 58th San Francisco International Film Festival runs April 23-May 7 at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas, Castro Theatre, Landmark’s Clay Theatre and the Roxie Theater in San Francisco and the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley. Held each spring for 15 days, SFIFF is an extraordinary showcase of cinematic discovery and innovation in one of the country’s most beautiful cities, featuring nearly 200 films and live events, 14 juried awards with nearly $40,000 in cash prizes and upwards of 100 participating filmmaker guests.