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Stars: Brody Bett, Alexandra Paul, Jared Laufree, Kareem Ferguson, Chris Demm | Written by Jeff Cox, Daniel Robinette, Michael Scott, Aaron Sorgius, Kayla Stuhr, Jeremy Tassone, Cooper Thornton | Directed by Daniel Robinette

A young boy named Solomon (Brody Bett) who we quickly realize is blind and tethered to the cabin he lives in, checks animal traps with a long stick as his mother Nidia looks on. Back home she oversees his efforts to gut and clean a squirrel caught in one of them.

Years later the now grown Solomon (Jared Laufree) lives alone, his mother having vanished with no explanation. He lives alone, but still follows the three rules she drilled into his head. To always give back to the forest which provides for him, when his will is almost gone, find comfort in their song, and, most importantly, never, ever let go of the rope.

Director Daniel Robinette, who is...

Chicago – Finding the adult button and hitting “on” is becoming more of a challenge as the tech generation morphs into their thirtysomething era. Comedian Nick Kroll (“Kroll Show,” “The League”) ponders this situation in the new film “Adult Beginners,” a primer on growing up and moving on.

Kroll portrays Jake, a entrepreneur whose new tech gadget goes bust. Left with no life and no income, he moves back in with his sister (Rose Byrne) and brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale). There is a twist – Jake’s nephew Teddy needs a daytime caregiver, and Nick is now available. As he takes on his new duties, he begins to understand that life has different angles, especially when it comes to raising children.

Nick Kroll Portrays Jake in ‘Adult Beginners’

Photo credit: Radius-twc

Nick Kroll is a multi-tasker. After graduating from college in 2001, he began his career as a stand-up and in improvisation groups, and...

Arrested Development: Katz’s Debut an Affectionate Familial Dramedy

A familiar yet generally charming vehicle that impressively utilizes a pair of actors known mostly from a mainstream comedic realm, Adult Beginners is a low-key dramedy assembled from unpredictable voices. Premiering at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival before making its Us bow at SXSW earlier in 2015, it serves as producer Ross Katz’s feature debut (previously he directed the 2009 television drama Taking Chance, starring Kevin Bacon), with Nick Kroll credited with the story, and a screenplay penned by Liz Flahive (“Nurse Jackie”) and Jeff Cox (Blades of Glory, 2007). Neither as broadly comedic or serious minded as the credits would seem to indicate, the title serves as an estranged sibling reunion film that plays like the lighter, rosy faced cousin of last year’s The Skeleton Twins. Produced by the increasingly philanthropic Duplass Bros., the film displays the sort of vibrant charm...

Adult Beginners Radius-twc Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes. Grade: B Director: Ross Katz Screenwriter: Jeff Cox, Liz Flahive Cast: Rose Byrne, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Caleb Paddock, Matthew Paddock Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 3/25/15 Opens: April 24, 2015 Given the convenience of air travel and the mobility of us Americans, we’d be surprised to find members of the same family living within five miles of one another. When a guy shows up unexpectedly at his sister’s home, we shouldn’t be surprised to note that they don’t immediately recognize each other, as they may have been separated for five years, ten years or more. Then [ Read More ]

The post Adult Beginners Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

SXSW 2015 Film Review

complete coverage of the SXSW Film Festival 2015

7 Chinese Brothers

Director/Screenwriter: Bob Byington

A man unaccustomed to telling the truth learns to at least describe it. Cast: Jason Schwartzman, Tunde Adebimpe, Eleanore Pienta, Olympia Dukakis, Stephen Root. (World Premiere) (film synopsis from sxsw.com)

Overall

The film is almost about nothing, just like the title of the film. Most of the time this doesn’t matter because we get to watch Schwartzman do many Schwartzman things, including acting opposite his real-life dog. There is a very sweet and surprisingly authentic death involving a key character. Besides that moment, when the film ends, you’ll quickly forget about it and move on.

Final Score: 6/10

Adult Beginners

Director: Ross Katz, Screenwriters: Jeff Cox, Elizabeth Flahive

Out of a job after a disastrous product launch, a big-city yuppie retreats to his suburban childhood home, in this heart-warming and hilarious film about crashing hard,...

A young, hipster entrepreneur (Nick Kroll) crashes and burns on the eve of his company’s big launch. With his entire life in disarray, he leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged pregnant sister (Rose Byrne), brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale) and three year-old nephew in the suburbs — only to become their manny. Faced with real responsibility, he may finally have to grow up — but not without some bad behavior first.

From director Ross Katz, here’s the new trailer for Adult Beginners.

Katz made his directorial debut with the HBO film “Taking Chance.” Beginning as a film producer, the Adult Beginners director said, “My dream came true when a script called “Brother’s Keeper” (now titled “Adult Beginners”) landed on my desk. Written by the brilliant Liz Flahive and Jeff Cox, with a story originated by comedian and actor Nick Kroll, I was absolutely blown away as I tore through the script.

A young entrepreneur is forced to start over again from scratch in the first trailer for Adult Beginners. RADiUS-twc acquired the comedy back in September, after its successful debut at the Toronto Film Festival. The story is based on an original idea by star Nick Kroll, with Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive writing the screenplay.

The story centers on a young, narcissistic entrepreneur (Kroll), who crashes and burns on the eve of his company's big launch. With his entire life in total disarray, he leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged pregnant sister (Rose Byrne), brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale) and 3-year-old nephew in his suburban childhood home - only to become their nanny. Adult Beginners is a comedy about priorities, growing up and beginning again...as an adult.

Adult Beginners features a dream ensemble cast including Rose Byrne, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Joel McHale, Bobby Moynihan, Mike Birbiglia, Jane Krakowski...

If you're familiar with Nick Kroll, then you're probably used to his wacky characters that he brings to life on "The Kroll Show," which is in the middle of finishing its third and final season on Comedy Central, or his fantasy football antics on "The League." But in the trailer for the indie Adult Beginners, Kroll shows a less goofy and more serious side in the story of an entrepreneur whose life and career is a mess after a massive failure. In an attempt to figure things out, he moves in with his sister (Rose Byrne) and her husband (Bobby Cannavale) and their little boy. Basically, this looks like something the Duplass Brothers would direct, or even a slightly more accessible Joe Swanberg, and that's definitely a compliment. Watch below! Here's the first trailer for Ross Katz's Adult Beginners from EW: Adult Beginners is directed by Ross Katz (Taking Chance...

South by Southwest, the multi-faceted film, music and technology festival held annually in Austin, TX will feature such upcoming films as Paul Feig’s Spy, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn, Alex Gibney’s documentary Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, and Ondi Timoner’s Russell Brand profile Brand: A Second Coming as headliners in this year’s film festival lineup.

SXSW runs from March 13 to 21 in Austin and is now in its 22nd year. Variety has details of the 145 films and 100 world premieres bowing at this year’s festival. Brand, as previously reported, will be the festival’s opening night film.

Other notable titles on the list are the Will Ferrell/Kevin Hart comedy Get Hard, a rough cut of Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck, the directorial debut of 28 Days Later screenwriter Alex Garland, Ex Machina, and a new comedy by Michael Showalter, Hello, My Name is Doris.

On the small screen,...

According to Nick Kroll, the initial inspiration for "Adult Beginners," his debut feature as a leading man, came from a botched diaper change after babysitting his sister's young nephew. From there, the comedian brought the idea for a movie about a man-child nanny to his "League" co-star Mark Duplass, who came on-board as a producer, then teamed up with writers Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive (parents of a 3-year-old themselves) and longtime producer Ross Katz, making his directorial debut with the film.

In it, Kroll stars as a self-absorbed entrepreneur who leaves Manhattan to go to live with his pregnant sister (Rose Byrne) and brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale) in the suburbs after his tech start-up implodes, and ends up becoming the nanny for his 3-year-old nephew in exchange for room and board. Fans of Kroll (from his sketch comedy series "Kroll Show" or "The League") won't be surprised to hear that "Adult Beginners" is extremely funny,...

Weinstein Company's genre label Radius-twc has already picked up the promising musical romance The Last 5 Years starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan from the Toronto Film Festival, and now they've grabbed a buzzworthy comedy, too. Adult Beginners comes from In the Bedroom and Lost in Translation producer Ross Katz, making his feature directorial debut, and follows comedian and "The League" star Nick Kroll as a struggling young entrepreneur who heads back home to lick his wounds, the childhood home where his sister (Rose Byrne) and her husband (Bobby Cannavale) live with their three-year old son. And then he finds a job as their new nanny, for better or worse. And apparently it's funny and touching. The press release hypes up the film pretty well saying, "Jeff Cox and Elizabeth Flahive's punchy, humour-filled script is animated brilliantly by the cast. With his dry wit and mischievous grin, Kroll is pure charisma,...

RADiUS proudly announced that it has acquired Us rights to the much buzzed about Adult Beginners which celebrated its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

A crowd pleaser with tremendous heart, Adult Beginners features a dream ensemble cast including Rose Byrne, Nick Kroll, Bobby Cannavale, Joel McHale, Bobby Moynihan, Mike Birbiglia, Jane Krakowski and Josh Charles and is directed by Oscar nominated producer Ross Katz (Lost In Translation) making his feature length directorial debut.

RADiUS has slated a theatrical release second quarter 2015.

In the film, a young, narcissistic entrepreneur (Kroll) crashes and burns on the eve of his company's big launch. With his entire life in total disarray, he leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged pregnant sister (Byrne), brother-in-law (Cannavale) and 3-year-old nephew in his suburban childhood home - only to become their nanny. Adult Beginners is a comedy about priorities, growing up and beginning again.

Weinstein arm RADiUS has nabbed Us rights to buzzed-about Toronto title "Adult Beginners," with a dreamy cast including Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale, Joel McHale, Josh Charles and of course Nick Kroll in the lead. This is Oscar-nominated producer Ross Katz's ("Lost In Translation") feature directorial debut. Slated for a Spring 2015 release, the film centers on a young, self-obsessed entrepreneur (Kroll) who hits rock bottom on the eve of his company's launch. He ups and moves out of Manhattan, and in with his estranged sister (Byrne), her husband (Cannavale) and 3-year-old kid in the suburbs. And he becomes their nanny. Based on a story originated by Nick Kroll, "Adult Beginners" was written by Jeff Cox and Elizabeth Flahive and was produced by Sam Slater and Paul Bernon of Burn Later Productions, Marcus Cox and Karrie Cox of Through Films, Nick Kroll of Good at Bizness, Inc, Jared Ian Goldman and executive produced by Mark Duplass,...

We wake from our December holiday production break slumber for a production month of January that has some notable American indie productions, foreign films projects worth signaling out. Tracking Shot is sponsored by Production Weekly. German auteur Wim Wenders returns to Montreal for the winter portion of filming on Everything is Fine – the 3D drama stars James Franco, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rachel McAdams and Marie-Josee Croze. After distinctly break-out indie offerings in Great World of Sound and Compliance, Craig Zobel is packing his bags for New Zealand. Adapted from the classic novel, Z for Zachariah sees Chris Pine, Amanda Seyfried and Chewitel Ejiofor jousting a little during the end of the world. A neighboring production can be found in Australia, David Mamet (his last theatrical release was 08′s Redbelt) is set to unload Blackbird – this is about a grieving granddaughter of a famous special effects artist in Hollywood discovers secrets (plot...

La Vida Robot

Marisa Tomei has signed on opposite George Lopez in a film based on Joshua Davis' Wired magazine story "La Vida Robot" for Pantelion Films. Filming is now underway in New Mexico under the helm of Sean McNamara.

The story follows four undocumented Mexican-American teens from Phoenix who build an underwater robot and beat the reigning champions MIT to win the national robotics competition. Tomei will portray a dedicated and passionate teacher who helps the team to success. [Source: Screen]

Walking With Dinosaurs 3D

Four more names have been announced to have joined the voice cast of Fox‘s "Walking With Dinosaurs 3D".

John Leguizamo will voice Alexomis bird Alex, Justin Long is the Pachyrhinosauruses Patchi, Tiya Sircar will voice Juniper and Skyler Stone will voice Scowler. [Source: Deadline]

Kickback

Rutger Hauer is set to re-team with his "Blade Runner" co-star Sean Young in Raza Mallal's espionage thriller "Kickback" for Talking Lens.

Brother's Keeper has cast Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale and Nick Kroll.

The three will star in the comedy drama directed by Lost in Translation producer Ross Katz, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Kroll will star as a young and self-absorbed entrepreneur who suffers a breakdown on the night that his new company launches.

Fleeing Manhattan, he moves in with his pregnant sister (Byrne) and brother-in-law (Cannavale) and finds himself serving as a nanny for their 3-year-old son.

Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive wrote the script from a story they devised with Kroll.

Byrne will next be seen starring in Neighbors with Seth Rogen and Zac Efron in 2014. Cannavale recently featured in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.

Kroll stars in The League TV series and Kroll Show.

Brother's Keeper will begin shooting in January in New York.

Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale have signed on to star in the indie comedy Brother's Keeper.

The story centers on a young entrepreneur (Nick Kroll) who burns his bridges on the eve of his company's launch. He leaves Manhattan to live with his pregnant sister (Rose Byrne) and his brother-in-law (Bobby Cannavale), becoming the nanny to his 3-year-old nephew.

Ross Katz is directing from a screenplay by Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive, based on an original story they crafted with Nick Kroll. Sam Slater, Paul Bernon, Marcus Cox, Karrie Cox and Jared Goldman are producing, with Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass serving as executive producers. Production is scheduled to begin in January.

Nick Kroll can currently be seen in the Fxx comedy series The League. Rose Byrne most recently starred in the horror sequel Insidious Chapter 2. Bobby Cannavale is currently shooting the Annie remake.

Brother's Keeper, a new indie dramedy executive produced by Mark and Jay Duplass, has landed Nick Kroll (The League), Rose Byrne (Insidious: Chapter 2) and Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire).  Scripted by Jeff Cox and Liz Flahive, the story centers on "a young, narcissistic entrepreneur who crashes and burns on the eve of his company's launch. He leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged, pregnant sister and his brother-in-law (to be played by real-life item Byrne and Cannavale) and his 3-year-old nephew, only to end up becoming their nanny."  Ross Katz (Taking Chance) will direct the film, which plans on starting production in New York in January. (Via THR)...

A producer with exquisite taste (In the Bedroom and Lost in Translation are among the few items he has produced) with only the direct-to-hbo Taking Chance under his belt, it looks like after a couple of failed attempts to lift the book to film adaptation of The Amateur American, Ross Katz will now take on the reigns for a project that has actor Nick Kroll’s fingers all over it. THR reports that Katz will direct, Kroll and real-life couple Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale will star in Brother’s Keeper, an indie dramedy produced by Burn Later Productions’ Kroll, Sam Slater and Paul Bernon (Drinking Buddies), Through’ Film’s Marcus Cox and Karrie Cox and exec produced by Jared Goldman (upcoming The Skeleton Twins) and a pair of brothers who have their hands in many cookie jars in the Duplass bros. Shooting begins in January in New York.

Gist:...