From the opening scenes of Gabriel, the debut feature from writer/director Lou Howe, the audience is immediately tossed into the ongoing tumult that is the life of the title character, a troubled young man brilliantly played by Rory Culkin. We’re not given any clues to the drama, other than a years-old love letter from a girl named Alice, to […]
When actresses and audiences alike lament the lack of interesting roles for—and movies about—women as central characters, Alex of Venice should be held up as a shining example of what could be. The independent feature, which premiered this week at the Tribeca Film Festival, stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Smashed, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) as the title character, […]
Part of the pleasure of attending an established film festival like South By Southwest is the caliber of emerging talent it attracts: when you’re seeing a new director’s feature debut, you can rest (reasonably) assured that the cream of the submissions pile has risen to the top. Such is the case with Zachary Wigon’s first film, The Heart […]
Obscuring the terrifically expressive and sometimes terrifying (12 Years a Slave) face of actor Michael Fassbender may seem like sacrilege, but that’s just what director Lenny Abrahamson (What Richard Did) does in Frank, a film that premiered at Sundance but is—appropriately, for reasons that will be explained—also playing this week at South By Southwest. Screenwriters Jon Ronson (The Men Who Stare at Goats) […]
It’s no surprise that Robert Duvall is a cantankerous (and charming) old coot in his new film, A Night in Old Mexico, helmed by the Spanish director and composer Emilio Aragón. The 83-year-old is still in fine and feisty form as Red Bovie, an old cowboy forced off his land by developers turning the area into sad excuses […]
At just 23, Emma Roberts is about the same age her aunt Julia was when she shot to stardom with the iconic hit Pretty Woman. But times have changed, and in Emma’s latest rom-com — Scott Coffey’s Adult World, which premiered last year at the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival — she plays not a hooker with a heart of […]
Zoe Kazan is back, this time playing identical twin sisters in The Pretty One. First-time writer/director Jenée LaMarque’s quirky film also stars Jake Johnson and Ron Livingston, but the film centers around Kazan’s layered performance as Laurel and Audrey, sisters whose similarity stops at genetics… Throughout the film, LaMarque explores themes of imitation vs. forgery—Lynch’s character is a painter who […]
Sometimes the chemistry on a set works just perfectly, and you can just tell the cast had a ball making the movie. Such is the case with Life After Beth, Jeff Baena’s directorial debut, which premiered last week at the Sundance Film Festival. The zombie comedy has a lively cast led by Aubrey Plaza and […]
One of the most buzzed-about films at Sundance last week was director Alex Ross Perry’s latest, Listen Up Philip, starring Jason Schwartzman as a misanthropic novelist without a filter in what’s being called “his best role since Rushmore.” The stellar cast is rounded out by Elisabeth Moss as Philip’s long-suffering girlfriend, Jonathan Pryce as his egotist-author […]
I Origins stars Michael Pitt as Dr. Ian Gray, a molecular biologist whose studies of the human eye break new ground in the interplay between science and spirituality. Sounds like heady stuff, but while Mike Cahill (writing solo this time) once again asks his audience to confront big ideas, he invites us in by weaving […]
Formerly VP of Digital Media at Tribeca (where she won two Webby Awards), she is currently a Programmer and the Director of Publications for the Hamptons International Film Festival, and the Program Manager for Science on Screen®, a grant program of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation administered by the Coolidge Corner Theatre.
Kristin works seasonally with other film festivals, including the Provincetown International Film Festival and the Key West Film Festival. Past clients include Montclair Film, German Films, the Maui Film Festival, the Naples International Film Festival, and DOC NYC.