The American Film Market (AFM) has unveiled its full list of screenings, including 80 world and 324 market premieres, for the upcoming edition running November 4-11 in Santa Monica. Over 400 films are scheduled to be screened with more expected to be confirmed as the market approaches.
Among the world premieres are Trespass Against Us (Protagonist Pictures) starring Michael Fassbender and Brendan Gleeson; the John Travolta-starrer I Am Wrath (Hannibal Classics); Daughter Of God (Fortitude International) with Keanu Reeves; The Phenom (Conquistador) starring Ethan Hawke and Paul Giamatti; and Get Squirrely (SC Films International) with voices by John Leguizamo, Will Forte and John Cleese.
Films making their market debuts at AFM include Ithaca (The Exchange) from director Meg Ryan with a cast including Tom Hanks, Sam Shepard and Jack Quaid; the thriller Go With Me (Electric Entertainment) starring Anthony Hopkins, Julia Stiles and Ray Liotta; Urban Hymn (Metro International Entertainment) starring Shirley Henderson; Sky (The Bureau Sales) with Diane Kruger and Norman Reedus; Colonia (Beta Cinema) starring Emma Watson, Daniel Brϋhl and Michael Nyqvist; Janis: Little Girl Blue (Content) directed by Amy Berg; The Confirmation (Arclight) starring Clive Owen, Maria Bello, Patton Oswalt, Jaeden Lieberher and Matthew Modine; Touched With Fire (Myriad Pictures) with Katie Holmes; and Toronto favorite Angry Indian Goddesses (Mongrel International).
To view the entire screening schedule, click here.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More