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The team behind opioid crime thriller “King Ivory” had a somewhat unorthodox journey to the Venice Film Festival this year.

When a delayed flight from New York meant they missed their connection by a matter of minutes, the group of six — including stars Ben Foster and Melissa Leo, plus producer Jeremy Rosen and writer/director John Swab — found themselves in Munich on a long waitlist for the only other plane going to Venice that day.

Thinking that the chances of them all getting seats were fairly slim, Rosen made what he describes as an “executive decision,” hiring a Mercedes Sprinter van for a seven-hour drive that took them from Germany into Italy through the Austrian Alps.

“It was truly like a camp trip… a camp trip for privileged children,” he notes. There was also a hint of danger — Swab claims that about halfway into the ride, he spotted Rosen “falling asleep at the wheel.

The shadow of Steven Soderbergh’s 2000 drug war epic, Traffic, hangs heavily over all the narcs, cartel members, native gangsters and fentanyl addicts populating director John Swab’s hard-nosed thriller, King Ivory. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Taking cues from a modern classic that depicted the battle to stop crack-cocaine from destroying America, Swab repeats the same structure over two decades later to tackle the opioid epidemic, and generally achieves strong results. Less dramatic and poetic than the Soderbergh film, King Ivory nonetheless boasts some harrowingly real action sequences, tough-as-nails characters and an overall level of grittiness that demands attention. Its uncompromisingly bleak view of fentanyl’s damaging hold on the U.S. is not necessarily a crowd-pleaser, but it well deserves a look.

Swab cut his chops directing genre flicks like Ida Red and Candy Land, putting out a whopping seven features since 2019. (He’s already releasing another movie,...

Before she made her debut on Ozark, Sofia Hublitz had already been a recognizable star after she made an appearance on a reality show early in her career. Ozark leads Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, and Julia Garner have received plenty of acclaim for their roles, so it’s easy to forget about other major players like Charlotte Byrde actress Sofia Hublitz. What set Ozark apart from other crime dramas about an illegal family business, like Breaking Bad or The Sopranos, is that the kids are directly involved in their parents’ crimes. Playing a teenager who becomes an accessory to everything from money laundering to murder presented Hublitz with a unique acting challenge.

Sofia Hublitz has little in common with her Ozark character. Whereas Charlotte is cold and brooding, Hublitz is warm and affable. In an interview with Forbes Entertainment’s Scott King, Hublitz reacts to Ruth’s impression of Charlotte on Ozark with good humor.

Several days ago, we were pleased to talk to Frank Grillo, star of Little Dixie. He told us about the movie, his career, his upcoming projects and… Charles Bronson!

A charming person we talked with, thank you, Mr Grillo!

My name is C. Sheriff, and you we’re going to talk about Little Dixie. And the first thing is we saw Little Dixie, and it’s a dark movie. It’s very special. And we would like to know, what do you think that Little Dixie has that makes it different from other thrillers you have participated in?

Frank Grillo: I’ve participated in a lot of thrillers. I don’t know that it’s entirely different, but we have a main character who really lacks a great deal of emotion. Not to say he’s emotionless, but he’s very pragmatic, and he’s very non-sentimental in the way...

Today it is our pleasure to ask John Swab, director of Little Dixie, some questions before the movie premieres in a few days. Firstly, thank you for your time to be interviewed and, first things first: What sensations do you have on the premiere of Little Dixie?

A: We are very excited to premiere this in Rotterdam, then share with the rest of the world. All of these are labors of love. Little Dixie we are especially proud of.

Q: You team up again with Frank Grillo after Ida Red (2021) and Body Brokers (2021). What is your relationship with the star? Was Frank Grillo the inspiration for Little? What does John Swab bring to it and what does Grillo bring to the movie?

A: Frank has become a dear friend and collaborator to myself and producer, Jeremy. We think of him as our modern-day Charles Bronson. With a film like this,...

Exclusive: Grindstone Entertainment Group has acquired North American rights to the crime drama One Day as a Lion, written by and starring Scott Caan (Hawaii Five-0), from Roxwell Films. The film currently in production in Oklahoma boasts a starry ensemble that also includes Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Frank Grillo (Captain America and Purge franchises), Michael Carmen Pitt (Boardwalk Empire), Marianne Rendón (Charlie Says), Taryn Manning (Orange Is the New Black) and Academy Award nominee Virginia Madsen (Sideways).

One Day as a Lion finds Jackie Powers (Caan) down on his luck and desperate to save his son from juvenile delinquency, a fate he knows all too well. Jackie handles collections for Dom Lorenzo (Pitt) and mob outfit boss Pauly Russo (Grillo); not what he envisioned for his life. Failing to collect from local cowboy legend, Walter Boggs (Simmons), he finds himself on the run with waitress turned hostage, Lola...

Plenty happens in Ida Red. People are robbed and killed and kidnapped and arrested; fat stacks of money shuffle between shady people; a tangled family dynamic yields a life-altering secret. And yet what it all amounts to feels like not much at all. Competent enough to be dull and nowhere near bold enough to be interesting, the new crime thriller by John Swab (Body Brokers) evaporates from memory even faster than it can dole out plot twists.

The tedium and confusion set in with the very first scene, a truck robbery shot in dark, shaky close-ups that make it nigh impossible ...

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Look, I readily admit that I'm easy. You tell me there's a movie that involves a crime family, a jailed matriarch, and an attempt to pull off one last heist, and I will absolutely watch it. That's the broad strokes of "Ida Red," a new crime drama that recently held its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival last month. The very few reviews that have been published paint a picture of a compelling blend between typical genre trappings and a...

The post Ida Red: Release Date, Cast, And More appeared first on /Film.

The “one last job” trope has been used in crime films for decades. But sometimes, a film can rise above its routine premise and deliver something special. “Ida Red” hopes to be one of those films.

As seen in the trailer, “Ida Red” tells the story of a crime family that is hoping to pull off one last heist to help the matriarch get out of prison. However, as happens typically in this sort of film, the gang is also being pursued by law enforcement, hoping to catch them before they ride off into the sunset.

Continue reading ‘Ida Red’ Trailer: Josh Hartnett, Melissa Leo, Frank Grillo & More Star In John Swab’s Crime Thriller at The Playlist.

"I think they really understand how far her reach goes." Paramount has released the official trailer for a crime thriller titled Ida Red, opening on VOD in November. This actually premiered at the Locarno Film Festival and at Fantasia just last month, though we haven't heard too much about it. "Inspired by films such as Thief, Cruising, Hardcore and Heat, Ida Red is the Neo-Western story of an American crime family in Oklahoma." Crime boss Ida "Red" Walker turns to her son, Wyatt, to help her pull off one last heist to get out of prison before she dies. But with the FBI closing in, Wyatt must choose between family and freedom in this high-octane thriller. Melissa Leo stars as "Ida Red", with an ensemble cast including Josh Hartnett, Sofia Hublitz, William Forsythe, Deborah Ann Woll, George Carroll, Mark Boone Junior, Beau Knapp, and Frank Grillo. This looks solid, and...

Ida Red Review — Ida Red (2021) Film Review from the 25th Annual Fantasia International Film Festival, a movie directed by John Swab, and starring Frank Grillo, Josh Hartnett, Melissa Leo, Deborah Ann Woll, Nicholas Cirillo, William Forsythe, Mark Boone Junior, Sofia Hublitz, Beau Knapp, John Swab, George Carroll, Billy Blair, Bruce Davis, Ben [...]

Continue reading: Film Review: IDA Red: Action-Packed Conclusion Saves Crime Drama From Mediocrity [Fantasia 2021]...

Mama’s in the slammer but she’s running the show in “Ida Red,” a proficiently made crime family drama that sees director John Swab return to his Oklahoma roots. Consciously seeking to emulate action/crime films by Michael Mann, William Friedkin and others, Swab strives so hard to deliver a similar product that his film has no distinctive DNA, and the flawed script wears its influences rather conspicuously, with significant nods to James Gray’s oeuvre, “Animal Kingdom” and any number of Ma Barker offspring.

Headlining Josh Hartnett, with Melissa Leo and Frank Grillo returning to the director’s fold, the film premiered in Locarno’s Piazza Grande section on the heels of Swab’s “Body Brokers” this past February. Good performances and a plot that generally holds the attention could draw audiences, yet success for this Saban Films acquisition will very much depend on finding ways to distinguish...

John Swab‘s fourth feature film as writer-director-producer, “Ida Red,” starts with a police stop that turns out to be a heist. On a deserted stretch of highway late at night, a nicely spoken cop, played by Josh Hartnett, asks politely to see a trucker’s manifest. And when the tired, irascible trucker seeks permission to retrieve it from his door compartment, you feel a frisson of worry.

Continue reading ‘Ida Red’ With Josh Hartnett, Frank Grillo And Melissa Leo Asks: What if ‘Animal Kingdom’ But Dumb And Oklahoman? [Locarno Review] at The Playlist.

New Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, who is the former head of the Venice Film Festival’s Critics’ Week, is starting to put his stamp on the Swiss fest dedicated to indie cinema with a lineup comprising comedies and genre films alongside more straightforward auteur cinema, driven by a desire to make the selection “more audience friendly,” as he puts it. Nazzaro spoke to Variety about some of the choices that reflect this new course. Excerpts.

Since taking the reins you’ve repeatedly talked about taking the fest in different directions. How is that reflected, now that the lineup is out?

My idea is that a festival can be quite highbrow and entertaining at the same time. That is why in this year’s lineup we have three comedies –– or sort of, it depends on your idea of humor –– we also have some “genre” films, and also some straightforward auteur films.

The Locarno Film Festival, long known as a safe haven for indie cinema, is taking a turn into genre territory while remaining true to

its origins.

“People know what the mission is for Locarno,” says the fest’s new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro, referring to the prestige of the event — the 74th edition runs Aug. 4-14 — that is known worldwide as a festival of discovery.

But Nazzaro, an Italian film critic and former chief of the Venice Critics’ Week, now intends “to broaden the moral imagination of this mission,” as he puts it, by digging deeper into genre cinema, and “also into the [festival’s] relationship with the U.S. studios and what people would consider as [pure] entertainment.”

Significantly, this year’s Locarno opener is Netflix Original “Beckett,” a thriller toplining John David Washington as an American tourist who becomes the target of a political assassination while vacationing in Greece, and...

Quebec’s Fantasia Festival has unveiled the third and final wave of titles set to screen at this year’s 25th edition and announced that Takashi Miike’s latest feature “The Great Yokai War – Guardians,” will close the festival. The world premiere of Julien Knafo’s Quebec zombie flic “Brain Freeze” will open the festival following an Aug. 4 pre-fest screening of James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad.”

“The Great Yokai War- Guardians” is the follow-up to Fantasia 2006 opener “The Great Yoki War,” and unspools in a fantasy world of Japanese demons, kaiju and pop culture references which proved a hit in Montreal the first time around.

Other key titles featured in the third wave lineup include Lee Won-tae’s “The Devil’s Deal,” his first film since “The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil” won Sitges’ best film award in 2019. BAFTA-winner Paul Andrew Williams’ (“Murdered for Being Different”) “Bull,” a revenge thriller,...

Masterclasses and special awards for Stephen Sayadian, Phil Tippett, Shunji Iwai.

Takashi Miike’s The Great Yokai War – Guardians will close Fantasia International Film Festival (August 5-25), which festival heads have turned into a hybrid event after adding a limited roster of in-person screenings in Montreal.

Japanese horror specialist Miike’s sequel to his family fantasy epic and Fantasia 2006 opener The Great Yokai War gets its international premiere and centres on a battle between Japanese monsters that will determine the fate of the world.

Paul Andrew Williams’s (London To Brighton) UK crime thriller Bull is among world premieres in...

Saban Films has acquired the North American and UK rights to “Ida Red” starring Frank Grillo, Melissa Leo and Josh Hartnett, the distributor announced on Thursday.

John Swab wrote and directed the action thriller, and the supporting cast includes Sofia Hublitz, William Forsythe, Deborah Ann Woll and George “Slaine” Carroll.

Jeremy M. Rosen produced along with Robert Ogden Barnum and Swab for Roxwell Films, in association with Bondit Media Capital.

According to Swab, “Ida Red” is “the Neo-Western story of an American crime family in the Oklahoma heartland.” It follows Ida “Red” Walker (Leo), who may not survive her 20-year prison sentence for armed robbery. She turns to her son (Hartnett) for one last job to regain her freedom.

The film wrapped production amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. It will make its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival on Aug. 11.

“John Swab is an incredible talent whose films speak...

Saban Films has landed North American and U.K. rights to action thriller Ida Red, starring Josh Hartnett, Melissa Leo and Frank Grillo.

The film — the product of one of the few feature shoots that took place during the summer of 2020 — was directed by John Swab (Body Brokers, Run With the Hunted), who described it as “the neo-Western story of an American crime family in the Oklahoma heartland.”

Sofia Hublitz (Ozark), William Forsythe (The Rock), Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood), Mark Boone Junior (Memento), Beau Knapp (The Nice Guys) and George ‘Slaine’ Carroll (The Town) round out the cast.

The ...

Saban Films has landed North American and U.K. rights to action thriller Ida Red, starring Josh Hartnett, Melissa Leo and Frank Grillo.

The film — the product of one of the few feature shoots that took place during the summer of 2020 — was directed by John Swab (Body Brokers, Run With the Hunted), who described it as “the neo-Western story of an American crime family in the Oklahoma heartland.”

Sofia Hublitz (Ozark), William Forsythe (The Rock), Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood), Mark Boone Junior (Memento), Beau Knapp (The Nice Guys) and George ‘Slaine’ Carroll (The Town) round out the cast.

The ...

The 74th Locarno Film Festival will take place in person from August 4 to August 14 in Locarno, Switzerland, and the festival’s film lineup has been announced via The Hollywood Reporter. The Swiss event was founded back in 1946 and is one of the longest-running film festivals in the world.

Read More: ‘Halloween Kills’ To Premiere At Venice Film Festival As Jamie Lee Curtis Honored With Lifetime Achievement Award

Studio pics at the Piazza Grande lineup will include Ferdinando Cito Filomarino’s thriller “Beckett” that features performances from John David Washington and Alicia Vikander, Shawn Levy‘s video game adventure film “Free Guy” led by Ryan Reynolds and Jodie Comer, John Swab’s actioner “Ida Red” starring Melissa Leo, and Liesl Tommy’s biopic “Respect” starring Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson.

Continue reading Locarno Film Festival Lineup Includes ‘Beckett,’ ‘Ida Red,’ Abel Ferrara’s ‘Zeros & Ones,’ Gaspar Noé’s ‘Vortex’ & More at The Playlist.

With Cannes right around the corner, two more prominent European film festivals announced their official lineups for 2021 this week. The 2021 Locarno Film Festival (the 74th edition of the event) is taking place August 4-14 and will feature the world premiere of Abel Ferrara’s “Zeroes and Ones,” plus the Melissa Leo-Frank Grillo starring thriller “Ida Red” from director John Swab. Perhaps the most prominent U.S. title in the Locarno lineup is “Respect,” the Jennifer Hudson-starring Aretha Franklin biopic that has already caught the eye of Oscar pundits here in the states. The film will screen out of competition, as will Ryan Reynolds’ long-delayed Disney-Fox tentpole “Free Guy.”

“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time,” Nazzaro told Variety in a statement. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films.

Abel Ferrara’s contemporary thriller ’Zeros And Ones’ stars Ethan Hawke.

Abel Ferrara’s contemporary thriller Zeros And Ones and Srdjan Dragojević’s dark comedy Heavens Above are among 17 films from 12 countries having their world premiere in the international competition at the 74th Locarno Film Festival (August 4-14) under the new artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro.

Scroll down for full line-up

In his first collaboration with Ferrara, Zeros And Ones sees Ethan Hawke plays an American soldier stationed in Rome who pursues an unknown enemy threatening the entire world after the Vatican gets blown up.

Ahead of shooting in Italy...

The Locarno Film Festival has unveiled a promising lineup combining edgy new works by established auteurs such as Abel Ferrara alongside plenty of potential discoveries by emerging helmers and global newcomers for its upcoming 74th edition.

It will be the first one under new Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro, the former Venice Critics’ Week chief who is steering the Swiss fest known as an international incubator and indie cinema temple on a more audience-friendly course.

“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time” Nazzaro told Variety. “That is why for this year’s lineup we have selected several comedies and also some genre movies, as well as straightforward auteur films,” he added.

As usual the bulk of Locarno’s crowdpleasers will launch from the Swiss lakeside town’s 8,000-seat Piazza Grande square which is Europe’s largest outdoor venue and this year has been approved...

Roxwell Films has cast Olivia Luccardi, Eden Brolin, Sam Quartin, Owen Campbell and Billy Baldwin in the upcoming gritty horror-thriller “Candy Land.”

Written and directed by John Swab, the film follows a young disciple of a religious cult, Remy (Luccardi), who stumbles upon a rag-tag group of truck stop sex workers known as “lot lizards” who take her under their wing. As Remy immerses herself in this new underground world, her true colors are revealed in a way that neither her former family nor new family could have ever imagined. The film has commenced principal photography in Southwestern Montana. It will also star Guinevere Turner, Virginia Rand and Brad Carter.

Robert Ogden Barnum and Michael Reiser serve as executive producers on “Candy Land,” which marks the fourth feature film collaboration between producers Swab and Jeremy M. Rosen. The duo recently released “Body Brokers,” which is a narrative expose about the...

Exclusive: Frank Grillo (Captain America), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Josh Hartnett (Black Hawk Down), and William Forsythe (The Rock) lead cast in crime action-thriller Ida Red, which has been filming in Oklahoma during the pandemic.

Also starring are Sofia Hublitz (Ozark), Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood), Mark Boone Junior (Sons of Anarchy), Beau Knapp (The Nice Guys), Slaine (The Town) and Nicholas Cirillo (Outer Banks).

Written and directed by John Swab (Body Brokers), the film follows career criminal Ida ‘Red’ Walker (Leo) who is battling a terminal illness while serving a 25-year prison sentence in Oklahoma. Under Ida’s tutelage, her son, Wyatt Walker (Hartnett) has sustained the family business, alongside his uncle, Dallas Walker (Grillo). When a job goes awry, local detective and Wyatt’s brother-in-law, Bodie Collier (Slaine), is joined by FBI agent Lawrence Twilley (William Forsythe), to track down the responsible party.

The movie is wrapping production in and around Tulsa,...