I came across the short film called, Pandemic 41.410806, -75.54259 upon its release to YouTube January 12th. The film is about a brother and sister named Tyler and Bree. The YouTube description explains that Bree and Tyler’s parents have developed strange nocturnal behaviors. The children appear threatened by their mother at night but are confident about being around “her” during the day. Interesting? Hit the jump to check out the video.

Bree seems skeptical that her mother still exists inside this new being, but her brother does not want to give up hope. I thought the short video was interesting; although, I think it lacks a fear factor the filmmakers were going for. I prefer to know why things are happening, rather than being left to speculate. Then again, leaving an audience to speculate can help accumulate fear within an audience. The unknown can be a scary thing.

The film was directed by Lance Weiler. It will be in the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, but received an early promotion in this year’s “Official YouTube Screening Room” for the Sundance Film Festival. Do you think it’s a worthy candidate for the festival?

What Do You Think? Discuss.

In this edition of Trailer Trash MASH we have two trailers from two very different comedies. One is a major studio production with a big budget, lots of action, filled with gags and is based on a Saturday Night Live skit. The other is a small-budget dark comedy that is completely character-driven and will be a featured film at this year’s Sundance Film Festival this weekend.

First up is the movie adaptation of the popular reoccurring SNL skit, MacGruber, which of course features Will Forte parodying the famous problem-solving secret agent Angus MacGyver, from the 1980s action-adventure TV series, MacGyver. I think SNL’s writing has become very hit or miss over the last couple years. They either have some side-splitting gems, or some cricket-chipping bombs. The MacGruber skits have never made me pee my pants in agonizing, but they were always amusing and entertaining because of their sheer absurdity.

The movie actually has a pretty impressive cast including: Forte, Ryan Phillippe, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, and the great Val Kilmer as the bad guy. While I’m not sure if I’m going to be lining up on opening day for MacGruber, this first official red band trailer is pretty impressive, containing a few lines that made me chuckle, as well as what appears to be some pretty decent action. MacGruber is directed by fellow SNL star Jorma Taccone, who hasn’t directed any feature films before this, but has directed numerous skits and the always great SNL Digital Shorts over the years. The screenplay was co-written by Will Forte, Jorma Taccone, and John Solomon, another veteran SNL writer. Universal is bringing MacGruber to theaters everywhere starting on April 23rd.

WARNING: This is a red band trailer that features graphic language. Just type in any year before 1993 if it prompts you to.

Next up we have Cyrus. The film has an exceptional cast with John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, and Catherine Keener, and is written and directed by the Duplass Brothers (Baghead). Cyrus is set to premiere at Sundance this weekend, and according to the film’s profile page on the Sundance website, the plot goes something like this: Cyrus becomes a dark, poignant, sometimes hilarious war dance as Molly (Tomei), Cyrus (Hill), and John (Reilly) walk the line between creepy and sympathetic. Each member of this awkward triangle teeters somewhere between bare honesty and furtive manipulation as he or she lets loose all manner of dysfunctionality. The excruciating, delightful fun is seeing where the boundaries ultimately land.

This film looks like a really interesting and dark comedy. I think it could be a breakthrough performance for Jonah Hill, who has thus far only been in films filled with raunchy humor, acting as the snarky sarcastic wit. He displayed great angst and vulnerability in Superbad, but I think Cyrus will be the film that opens the door for dramatic roles in the future, if he so chooses. Check out the trailer for Cyrus below.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

The 2010 Sundance Film Festival kicks off Thursday, January 21 in Park City Utah, featuring a great slate of low-budget and independent films all vying to get picked up by studios for distribution. One film that I’m particularly interested in is Hesher. The film is writtern and directed by Spencer Susser, who made a splash at Sundance last year with his Zombie short film, I Love You Sarah Jane. The film features an awesome cast including Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rainn Wilson. It really looks like it’s going to be a great, unique story, and JGL is seemingly going all out for his character (see picture above).

The film, co-written with David Michod, tells the story of a 13 year old boy named T.J..  After the tragic loss of his Mother, T.J., Along with his pill popping father (Wilson), are forced to live with his elderly Grandmother. A young man with with a troubled past named Hesher (Levitt) assumes the role as both mentor and tormentor, leading T.J into troubles he could never have imagined. A young grocery clerk named Nicole (Portman) steps in to protect T.J from a vicious attack, and becomes the object of T.J’s fantasies. And Hesher moves into Grandma’s home, although uninvited, he is somehow accepted.

Hesher’s profile page on the Sundance website features a behind-the-scenes video, showing footage of the film supplemented by some interesting insight by Susser. Check out the video below. We’ll have wait to see how Hesher performs at Sundance before we know what studio picks it up and when/where it’ll be released.

What Do You Think? Discuss.

Way back in July I posted some news in a Quick Tidbit article on Ryan Reynold’s upcoming indie-thriller, Buried.  The story is about a U.S. contractor working in Iraq who awakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone, it’s a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap. Reynolds of course stars in this one-man show, which is shot completely inside the coffin. The premise certainly raises eye brows because it could either turn out to be brilliant or utterly stupid. Either way, it’s a very intriguing concept.

It goes without saying and has been said many times on The Movie Mash before, but in an era of countless remakes and sequels, it’s always a breath of fresh air to see filmmakers and actors doing projects that are outside the box (pun intended). Reynolds is a fine actor, capable of displaying convincing emotions and it’s very impressive to see his filmography expand in versatility. He’s got his superhero action blockbusters going on right now (Green Lantern/Deadpool), and was recently featured  in the wide-reaching romantic comedy The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. Those films come with hefty paychecks and will open further doors for Reynolds’ career, but you always have to respect a guy who takes a break from the star-studded, big-budget studio films to do a low-budget, indie passion project, which Buried definitely is.

Buried is set to premiere at the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah beginning on January 21. The Sundance website describes the 94-minute film as follows:

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is a U.S. citizen working as a contract driver in Iraq. After a swift and sudden attack on his convoy, he awakens to find himself buried alive inside a coffin with nothing more than a lighter, a cell phone, and little memory of how he ended up there. Faced with limited oxygen and unlimited panic, Paul finds himself in a tension-filled race against time to escape this claustrophobic deathtrap before it’s too late.

If the sheer logistics of this premise are enough to make your head hurt, rest assured that director Rodrigo Cortés tackles these issues with relative ease, aided a great deal by a superbly convincing performance by Reynolds, the lone on-screen actor in the film. The result is a gripping and suspenseful thriller that will leave you gasping for air until the very end.

BloodyDisgusting.com has a few photos of the film featuring Reynolds in his coffin, as well as the actor with the film’s director Rodrigo Cortes, which you can see below:

What Do You Think? Discuss.