STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS ON DVD THIS MARCH January 27th, 2012 | Posted by Annie

After the usual film festival rounds the 2011 Minnesota indie flick Stuck Between Stations is coming straight to DVD on March 13th. Filmed by a local director and and actors, with a couple of major exceptions like Josh Hartnett and Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”). It currently has a 71% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes which isn’t too shabby for an indie. Extras will include a commentary with the filmmakers that includes Director Brady Kiernan, Co-Writer Nat Bennett, Co-Writer and Actor Sam Rosen, Editor Sam Heyn and Producers Todd Cobery and Spencer Kiernan, and a “Minnesota Originals: Behind-the scenes of Stuck Between Stations” featurette. Source: Joblo.com | DVD Active

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Josh Hartnett’s Stuck Between Stations gets theatrical release November 6th, 2011 | Posted by Annie

Wrekin Hill Entertainment along with NECA Films announced today they have acquired US rights to STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS, a new drama from director Brady Kiernan featuring standout performances by rising indie stars Sam Rosen (THE ORANGES) and Zoe Lister-Jones (BREAKING UPWARDS), and supported by Michael Imperioli (“The Sopranos”) and Josh Hartnett (BLACK HAWK DOWN). The film is written by Nat Bennett and Sam Rosen, and produced by Todd Cobery, Spencer Kiernan, Sam Rosen and Brady Kiernan. Casper, a young soldier home on leave, has a chance run-in with his childhood crush, now a grad student coping with conflicts of her own. In one night, the two traverse a striking Minneapolis cityscape, growing closer but knowing they will inevitably have to part ways at dawn. Wrekin Hill is releasing STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS theatrically at Brooklyn’s ReRun Theater on November 4th and in Minneapolis at St. Anthony Main Theater December 16th, with further dates TBA. The film will be available on DVD and VOD through Lionsgate in March of 2012. “STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS features wonderful performances from Sam Rosen and Zoe Lister-Jones and they are perfectly complimented by the rest of the cast,” said Wrekin Hill Entertainment’s President and CEO Chris Ball. “The filmmakers have skillfully created a terrific film and we’re proud to be bringing it to theatres.” The deal was negotiated for Wrekin Hill by Chief Operating Officer Rene Cogan, with Kevin Iwashina and Christine D’Souza of Preferred Content working on behalf of the filmmakers. Source: IndieWire

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Reviews + Interview: Josh Hartnett Goes Cartoonish Heights for Bunraku September 2nd, 2011 | Posted by Annie

The world of Bunraku is a pretty unique one. When you got the script, did you get a sense of what Moshe was going for? Actually, I got the script second. First, Guy came out to New York to show me a visual presentation, talk about his influences for the film, and then discuss the archetypes for these characters. After that, he let me read the script. I had been warned and guided into a state of complacency before reading the script. I knew the script was going to be really out there, so that helped a lot in getting a sense of what it was going to be like. I’m guessing if I read the script first, I’d say, “What is this? How the hell are they going to do this film? What are they talking about?” Obviously, it was incredibly ambitious. So, the script was pretty spare in details? The script wasn’t as detailed as he was in the presentation. There were explanations for fights in the script that were nonexistent, like, “Here’s a fight!” It didn’t explain much of anything. He got people involved directly, by letting them know what it was going to be and how the fights were going to unfold. What’s that process like of taking stylized dialog off the page to naturally speaking it? Are there ever cases where it reads great, but when spoken, doesn’t work? Some scripts read like an instruction manual [Laughs]. There’s not a lot of passion in some. Some are pretty simplistic about it, so that’s where the actors just have to figure out how to do it. In this particular instance, there were some incredibly wordy sequences. For me, I mostly play mute. I didn’t have to worry about that too much. You’ve worked on films before that require heightened performances. Is it freeing going to those different tonal places, or is it tricky finding a sense of grounding? In the past I was interested in grounding it, and finding the reality of a situation. Lately, I’ve been more interested in pushing it into more bizarre ways. I’m always looking for things that are totally different, because I get bored with the same old coming out week after week. I like film. I like to watch films. I just find myself watching Netflix, and thinking, you have to go back 20 or 30-years to find more interesting films more often than what’s in the theaters. As far as Sin City, Lucky Number Slevin, or The Black Dahlia goes, I was more sold on the writer-director combos, with what those guys were going to do with the material. In this film, I had to put all my faith in Guy. He had never done anything like this before, but he has incredible knowledge of film history. He referenced a lot of interesting places in film history. He gave me some films I was not all that familiar with. Like, Jean-Pierre Melville‘s work. His take was I could use certain things from those films, take all these little things, and stitch them together. It was an interesting way of going about it. Tonally, if one cast member wasn’t on the same page, the film could have easily fallen apart. Was Guy specific throughout the whole process when it came to the tone he was going for? He was incredibly specific about what he wanted at every turn. Sometimes a director will hire who they think are the best for the job, and let them have it. Guy hired who he thought was right for the job, then he would tell everybody what they were doing was wrong. To his credit, he had a very thorough vision, and he pulled off what he wanted to achieve. I love someone like that who can make something he wants. I admire that he plowed through it, and did what he wanted in the face of a lot adversity. It was difficult getting this to the screen. While promoting Resurrecting the Champ, you mentioned how acting is an “incredibly independent” process. For a film like Bunraku, is that still the case? I imagine you’d be playing more off of what other actors are doing, right? The difference between film acting and stage acting — not that I’m an incredibly versed stage actor, but I’ve been on stage a few times. For theater, you have to be incredibly aware of what everyone else is doing at every moment, because things will change. You want the experience to be organic. There’s never anybody playing exactly the same way day after day. It gets old, stale, and then there’s no life to it. In order to keep that inner-peace alive, you have to be shifting little things. It’s this big, organic mass of people. For film, you’re shooting one person on one day, and then another person another day for the same thing. You have to rely on what you hope they’re going to takeaway from what you’ve done. I still think it’s incredibly independent. What’s great about working with a director that’s incredibly specific about what they want — you have a partner in crime. You believe he’s going to steer everyone else in that same direction, so you just feel safe. You’ll try something that doesn’t feel right, and you’ll believe what he says is going to work. We were able to come up with new traits for the characters, which weren’t in the script. For example, the character is afraid of heights. The character had to have some levity, because he’s such a downer. Tonally, I was really proud of how the character turned out. You’ve worked with some perfectionists before, like Ridley Scott. Working under a filmmaker that specific, do you ever feel confined? Can you still get freedom in that type of dynamic? I only like working with perfectionists. If a person doesn’t have an opinion, then it’s much harder for me to give them what they want. Also, it’s much harder for me to argue what I want with someone that’s not sure about what they want. If you come to a director, and say, “This is the way I see it,” and they say that’s cool, then you come away positive. You have your confidence about how you’re going to go about a scene. Then you come back a day later, “Actually, I think the character is coming from a different place. I was rereading the script, and there was ‘this’ and ‘that’.” If the director again says, “Oh yeah, you’re right,” then you feel like they’re not even paying attention, or maybe they’re just afraid of you. All these things start to come to mind, and you don’t feel supported. I like to work with people who have definite opinions. I find myself having opinions. If the director has an opinion, then you can have a great dialog about where you want the character to go. Usually, everybody’s work gets heightened. Nobody can just sit up on a mountain and decree what every decision should be without the decisions becoming repetitive. I think it’s the directors who are opinionated that force you to stretch. Bunraku is currently available on VOD and opens in limited release on September 30th. Source: Film School Rejects And a few new reviews: Huffington Post [proceed] CraveOnline [proceed] IFC [proceed] Filmonic [proceed]

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Josh Hartnett Corduroy Magazine August 19th, 2011 | Posted by Annie

Josh Hartnett is on the cover of the 9th issue of Corduroy Magazine. You can now purchase it online at www.corduroymag.com. You can also read a snippet of the article: Shortly after graduating high school, Josh Hartnett was accepted into the State University of New York’s prestigious acting conservatory. He was kicked out six months later. Frustrated with what he perceived to be unrealistic expectations, he wrote to the dean of the program telling him that constant evaluations were strangling the students’ creativity. The dean, he says, responded by asking him to leave. Years later, Harnett is reclining on a leather couch in a non-descript photo studio in West Hollywood, talking about stepping-stones. There’s this idea that every experience, whether positive or negative, propels you closer to your goal, he explains. Still, “you want the stepping stones to also be worth being part of.” It’s late in the afternoon and Hartnett is restless. He’s been filming the colonial drama, Singularity, in Australia, but is in town for a few weeks “takings meetings.” Hartnett hasn’t lived in L.A. for a few years now (he splits his time between an apartment in New York and his hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota) so he’s spent the past few weeks living out of a room at the Chateau Marmont. “You wanna do this at the Chateau?” he asks, though it’s not clear if he’s asking more for him or for us. We decide to stay in the quieter and paparazzi-free confines of the studio that we have rented for the day’s shoot. Hartnett is 32 and handsome; no longer the boyish heartthrob with moppish hair that graced teen magazine covers and posters at the on-set of his career, but not exactly grizzled and graying at the sides Brad Pitt-style either. On this day, he’s arrived in a loose-fitting Henley top, dark jeans and black boots, with a pair of gold-rimmed Ray-Bans dangling from his collar. He’s also wearing a knit “beanie,” which has become an unintended signature of sorts for him over the years. You get the impression the hat is more to help him keep a low profile than to make any kind of fashion statement. “I’ve taken a couple years off from acting in film,” Hartnett says, as if to confirm the sentiment. “For a while now, I’ve been kind of uninspired to act.” (Tim Chan) - To read the rest of this story, pick up Issue 9 of Corduroy… I know that Josh has been in Norway for the past few days. I will upload those pictures shortly. Sorry for the delay!

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ARC Entertainment Signs On-Demand Contract With Rentrak August 2nd, 2011 | Posted by Annie

Rentrak Corporation (NASDAQ: RENT), the leader in multi-screen media measurement serving the advertising, television and entertainment industries, today announced an OnDemand Essentials contract with ARC Entertainment.ARC Entertainment provides brand marketing, retail strategy, physical distribution and sales services for consumer products, with an emphasis on entertainment-based products. ARC Entertainment recently released Ironclad and John Carpenter’s The Ward on VOD. Upcoming VOD releases include the Sarah Palin documentary The Undefeated and Bunraku starring Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore and Ron Perlman. “With the growth of independent film, ARC Entertainment is offering our own movies-on-demand service and it is essential to have timely and insightful performance reporting in order to drive usage and revenue, especially given the competitive on-demand platform,” said Rich Goldberg, president, ARC Entertainment. “Signing Arc Entertainment underscores the growing trend of movies-on-demand networks recognizing the importance of subscribing to the census-based OnDemand Essentials service to accurately and granularly measure their content. Rentrak is excited to provide Arc Entertainment with the tools necessary to manage and improve their business,” said Gordon Jones, Rentrak’s Vice President of OnDemand Essentials. Rentrak’s OnDemand Essentials processes daily, census-level on-demand data representing over 90 million set-top boxes from 38 cable, telco and satellite providers and 100% of the top-25 operators offering video-on-demand. Rentrak’s extensive on-demand data is used by more than 150 network and studio clients. Source: Sys-con.com

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Josh Hartnett’s Bunraku Blu-ray Release July 29th, 2011 | Posted by Annie

“Bunraku” DVD & Blu-ray release will be pushed back from August to October 3rd, 2011. This is probably because “Bunraku” now has a September theatrical and VOD release.” I added some “Bunraku” promotional materials: Buy/Rent DVD here: Lovefilm.com Zehnachtzig.de And also, Bunraku will be playing at the Otakon in Baltimore today at 4:30pm. Let the reviews roll in!

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Sneak Preview of Martial Arts Film Bunraku at Otakon 2011 July 6th, 2011 | Posted by Annie

If you are in Maryland, go see the movie! We are pleased to announce a rare sneak preview of the martial arts action film BUNRAKU for Otakon 2011, featuring J-rock star Gackt alongside a handful of bona fide Hollywood stars. Fresh off the festival circuit, BUNRAKU blends fantasy and reality and is inspired by traditional “bunraku” puppet theatre. A mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett) and a young Japanese warrior Yoshi (Gackt) both arrive in a town that has been terrorized by outrageous and virulent criminals. Each is obsessed with his separate mission, and guided by the wisdom of The Bartender (Woody Harrelson) at the Horseless Horseman Saloon, the two eventually join forces to bring down the corrupt and contemptuous reign of Nicola (Ron Perlman), the awesomely evil “woodcutter” and his lady Alexandra (Demi Moore), a femme fatale with a secret past. Otakon 2011 will be held July 29 – 31 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Source: AnimeNewsNetwork

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AM2 Announces Exclusive “Sneak Peek” of Bunraku June 10th, 2011 | Posted by Annie

There is an advanced screening of BUNRAKU in LA, so if you are around there, definitely check it out! AM2 Announces Exclusive “Sneak Peek” of Highly Anticipated Computer-Animated Live Action Fantasy Film Bunraku Based on a 400-year-old form of Japanese puppet theatre, BUNRAKU, is a classic tale re- imagined into an entirely fresh visual context, set in a unique world that mixes skewed reality with shadow-play fantasy. Set in a unique world that mixes skewed reality with shadow-play fantasy, a place where even the landscape can betray you. Heroes triumph here only because the force of their will transforms and transcends both space and time. The world of BUNRAKU is past and present, fantasy and reality, Samurai and Western all combined. Like SIN CITY and 300, it gives classic conflict a whole new graphically supercharged dynamic. Resonating through a wide range of cultures and showcasing a mind-blowing array of martial arts disciplines, BUNRAKU is a fresh arena for breathtaking fight action. “We are honored to have the exclusive screening of this highly anticipated film”, states Chase Wang AM2 representative, “the story line is amazing, the visual effects are stunning and the talent is impeccable! BUNRAKU is definitely a “must see”! Get your Passports today and experience the difference!” • “Wildly ambitious and visually inventive…an eye-popping alternate world. This is a gorgeous film to look at, every corner of every frame filled with something to look at or someone doing something incredible.” –Twitch • “It looks amazing, the universe [Guy Moshe] has created utterly original and unique. From a technical standpoint, it’s little short of a masterpiece, a feast for the eyes throughout. Striking visuals and stunning action.” – Chris Tilly, IGN (UK) • “Intriguing in its design and eye-popping with its fight choreography…Hong Kong martial arts by way of spaghetti westerns, video games and samurai films.” – The Hollywood Reporter Screening Date: Sunday; July 3, 2011 Screening Time: 3:00 pm Screening Location: Video Room 1 More info here. But, it also seems that the Blu-ray & DVD are coming out on August 8th. [Details here] And new picture:

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“bunraku” UK distributor May 10th, 2011 | Posted by Annie

U.K. independent distributor G2 Pictures sealed a multi-picture deal for U.K. rights with IM Global for a slew of movies including Bunraku, starring Woody Harrelson, Josh Hartnett, Ron Perlman and Demi Moore. The British outfit, set up by industry vets Thomas Hedman, Nik Hedman and Alan Partington in 2008, also took all U.K. rights to comedy drama Everything Must Go, based on a Raymond Carver story and starring Will Ferrell and Rebecca Hall. Other pics in the pact include the After Dark; Joel Silver produced actioners such as Dragon Eyes 1 and 2, with Jean-Claude Van Damme; Jim Caviezel starrer Transit; and Dolph Lundgren‘s turn in Stash House. G2 Pictures also said it has sealed a deal for the next eight films in the After Dark Originals horror series. “We are very happy to be continuing our relationship with IM Global and to be releasing such exciting titles later on in the year,” says G2 director Nik Hedman. Source: Hollywood Reporter

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