Thank you for taking the time, my name is Randall Unger with the Movie Network. So yeah, I saw the film the other day, it was really good, really funny, great timing from the entire cast. I want to know, how did the project originally come about?
Well, that’s a good question, Nick Offerman was the producer of my, the last one that I did. Somebody up there likes me. And Nick has a lot of friends in Hollywood and he and I were doing a Q&A at the Cinefamily in Los Angeles and we, Nick invited Jason Schwartzman, this is in March of 2013. Invited him to moderate the Q&A and they had such blisteringly good chemistry together that we started to joke about making a movie together. And so Nick ended up with a lot of other commitments and he couldn’t do it but Jason stayed on board and we were able to make the movie cause Jason… has a lot of… umm… we were able to get the movie made cause Jason was going to play the lead.
Continue reading Interview: Filmmaker Bob Byington Talks ‘7 Chinese Brothers’ →
Jason Schwartzman is one of the current film industry’s more curious actors. He’s a good looking guy yet his sense of humor and acting style are quirky, offbeat and sometimes, downright strange. He exists in a category all in his own and it’s something that has worked for him since 1998 when he dazzled indie audiences with the titular character in Wes Anderson’s dramedy classic Rushmore. At only 17-years-old, Schwartzman made a name for himself in the film business and has been constantly delighting audiences ever since. He is an alternative leading man and effortlessly breaks away from the pack. His movie and TV roles (Bored to Death) are almost always on the border of dark and fun and his latest cinematic effort 7 Chinese Brothers is a predictable entry in his filmography however there are a few surprises in the sobering tale.
Continue reading 7 Chinese Brothers →
Spotlight Pictures is known the world over for its wide range of quality independent cinema. The company specializes in the selling and distribution of films to the masses. They are truly on top of their game and their latest acquisition is that of the offbeat dramedy 7 Chinese Brothers starring Mr. Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, I Heart Huckabees), Eleanore Pienta (See You Next Tuesday, Bad at Dancing), Stephen Root (Office Space, NewsRadio) and Academy Award-winning actress Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck, Look Who’s Talking. The film is written and directed by Bob Byington (Somebody Up There Likes Me, Harmony and Me) and is proving to be pretty spectacular. 7 Chinese Brothers follows Larry (Schwartzman), a young man who bounces from job to job only to fall head over heels for his current supervisor (Pienta). The film is produced by Faliro of House Productions.
Continue reading Cannes Film Festival: Spotlight Pictures Acquires ‘7 Chinese Brothers’ →
The business of art can be a tricky enterprise to take on. Creativity needs to be commended and credited properly. Plagiarism and fraud can damage a piece’s reputation and the consequences can be disastrous. This scenario is at the forefront in Tim Burton’s latest offbeat dramedy Big Eyes, an unbelievably true story that doesn’t seem true at all. The film has all the makings of a fantastical tale conjured up by imaginative screenwriters and realized visually by one of Hollywood’s most well-known and respected auteurs. It is a fun little movie with excellent performances, a smart script and some of the more subdued elements of Mr. Tim Burton’s signature quirky style.
Continue reading Big Eyes →
Writers are an interesting breed. They see the world in a way that is contrary to most non-creative types. To put together a piece of work that elicits powerful emotion and invites the reader to think, well that is just what knowledge and the pursuit of all things good is all about. The latest independent drama Listen Up Philip is a film that puts writers under the microscope and examines their place in society. With a strong cast and a dry, witty script, this is a film that won’t draw in mass audiences but it will leave an impression on the artsy crowd hungry for eccentric characters with realistic problems.
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Unger the Radar 