Today we begin a 14 day countdown to the revelation of the 7th Annual Popcorn N Roses Rising Stars list, which will be announced on July 4, 2012 at 12 Noon ET. to kick things off, I’ve compiled a list of ten films, some you have probably heard of, some you probably haven’t, which feature outstanding performances by some of those actors and actresses who have graced previous PNR Rising Stars lists. They’re all excellent films to check out and many of them number among our favorite films. So here we go!
Fierce People (2007) – an incredible cast headed up by RS alum Anton Yelchin, Kristen Stewart, and Chris Evans make this little-seen dramady worth seeking out. Yelchin plays Finn Earle, a 15 year old busted when he’s buying his mother (yes, you read that correctly) drugs. Mom (Diane Lane) decides to make a change and get cleaned up and help her son out in the process, moving them out of New York and to the city-estate owned by a rich former massage client, Ogden Osbourne (Donald Sutherland). The story follows how Finn moves from the streets of NYC to the very rich folk in New Jersey and how his life changes dramatically thanks to an event 2/3 of the way through the film which suddenly shifts the film from comedy to emotional melodrama. One of the most unfairly overlooked movies of the past ten years, this film is what cemented Yelchin as one of my favorite actors currently working (he won Kim’s Best Actor and my best Juvenile Performance for 2007), and showcases fine early performances from Stewart and Evans as well. We will be featuring the film on next week’s edition of Subject:CINEMA MICRO Focus, available Wednesday June 27 at 9 PM ET.
One Last Thing (2006) – One of the trio of movies that made me a Michael Angarano fan for LIFE (the other two being Lords Of Dogtown and Sky High). Here, RS alum Michael plays a cancer-stricken teen who uses his “Make A Wish” like chance to try and meet the supermodel of his dreams; although the wish foundation turns that idea down, eventually he and his two best friends end up in New York to pursue that very dream. Co-starring fellow RS alumni Sunny Mabrey and Matt Bush, along with Gideon Glick, Cynthia Nixon, and Ethan Hawke, this wonderful and uplifting drama will tug at your heartstrings and leave you with tears of happiness at the end…which is why this film has often been referred to as “the jock’s Lifetime movie”, as even the most macho guy is sure to get all choked up…heh heh heh…
It’s Kind Of A Funny Story (2010) – Named my Poppy winner for Best Picture of 2010, this vastly underseen and underappreciated gem of a film follows a suicidal 16 year old teenager named Craig (played by 2010 Poppy Best Actor co-winner Keir Gilchrist) through five days of treatment after committing himself to a local hospital’s psych ward in a desperate, last ditch attempt to get his life back on an even keel. Co-starring Emma Roberts as another teen in treatment and Zach Galifianakas as one of the adults in the ward who becomes Craig’s mentor, and featuring small but excellent supporting performances from 2010 RS alum Zoe Kravitz and 2011 alum Thomas Mann, both of whom have really broken big since their inclusion on the lists (Kravitz in “X-Men First Class”, Mann in “Project X”), as two of Craig’s closest friends, this film touched me on so many levels it’s sometimes hard to talk about without choking up, as witnessed on our 2010 Poppies and Rosies podcast…this film is a MUST SEE gem…please seek it out…
Quiet City (2008) – Boston’s wonderful Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film often plays host to small films looking for an audience, and when they were still running the Sunday morning Eye-Opener, we trucked into Cambridge’s beloved Brattle Theatre to catch this little mumblecore treasure, which both Kim and I have named to our Personal Pantheon lists. Shot in just five days for $5000 in Brooklyn, the film is 48 hours in the life of Jaime, who comes to Brooklyn to visit a friend, and Charlie, the young local – a total stranger she meets on the train platform - who invites her to stay on his couch when her friend fails to show up to meet her. Over the course of 48 hours, Jamie and Charlie become friends, learn about each other, go breaking-and-entering together (you have to see it, it’s HILARIOUS) and in general, start to figure out their individual lives, both of which have been a bit askew lately. We named QC stars Erin Fisher (Jaime)and Cris Lankeneau (Charlie) to our Rising Stars list that year; Lankenau has gone on to star in QC director Aaron Katz’ follow-up project, the critically-acclaimed 2011 comic-mystery Cold Weather. And when you check QC out, watch it twice – once on it’s own, and once with the commentary track with Fisher and Lankeneau…it’s a riot…
Paranoid Park (2008) – A film so good, it now ranks in the top ten of my Personal Pantheon films – I’ve watched it close to two dozen times since it’s release - and is easily IMHO the best film EVER from director Gus Van Sant. It’s story is very simple – a Portland skateboarder gets mixed up in the accidental death of a security guard, and the film follows Alex (played by RS alum Gabe Nevins –more on him in tomorrow’s RS countdown column) as he tries to cope with what happened. Told in non-linear fashion, and also starring fellow RS alum Lauren McKinney and Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen, Van Sant and award-winning cinematographer Christopher Doyle manage to make even their version of dank, damp Portland Oregon look incredible. Nevins’ performance could have made him a HUGE star…again, more on that tomorrow…but in the meantime, check this little mystery out…you will NOT regret it…
Brick (2006) – Named my Best Picture of2006, we’ve talked about this film endlessly, including on an installment of our newest show, Subject:CINEMA MICRO Focus. The film follows gumshoe Brendan Frye as he digs around into first the disappearance of, and then the murder of, his former girlfriend Emily. The twist in this brilliant piece of neo-noir – it all takes place at San Clemente High School and Brendan and his friends (and suspects) are all mostly students. This film launched the career of director/writer Rian Johnson, and ended up with FIVE of its stars named to the RS list – Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zethener, Meagan Good, Noah Fleiss, and Noah Segan. The film CAN be a bit daunting, with its use of slang and its rapid-fire staccato dialogue, but if you need to, turn the closed-captions on so you don’t miss anything. Trust me, if you’ve never seen this film, you have no idea what an incredible film you’re missing…
Still Green (2007) – Total disclaimer: we’ve been involved with helping to promote this film since it was released to theatres about a year after we first saw it, and the filmmakers were even kind enough to give us props on the DVD cover and in the film’s trailer, which we will always be forever in awe of. A coming-of-age drama about a group of high school friends who rent a beach house together for a week of fun before leaving for college. Events don’t go as they plan, and it leaves the group searching for answers to what life is about, and about their own mortality as well. With a stellar young cast headed up by RS alum Noah Segan and Sarah Jones, this is a once-a-decade type of film…when you see it, you will find yourself asking a lot of deep personal questions as well…and you’ll never forget it…
Cherry (2010) – This coming-of-age comedy from director Jeffrey Fine finally saw a DVD release in 2011 after hitting the festival circuit followed by a small road-show run in late 2010, and was named to our best of lists in 2010 as well. RS alum Kyle Gallner stars as a 17-year-old engineering prodigy who is in over his head as an Ivy League freshman. Aaron would rather be working on his sketches and when he meanders into an art class, he meets 30-something Linda (Laura Allen) who befriends him and gives him a refuge from the craziness of his dorm room. And while Aaron is falling hard for Linda, Linda’s 14 year old daughter Beth (RS alum Brit Robertson) , at first a total bitch towards him, ends up falling for him. This little love triangle gets really fun really fast, and the performances are top-notch. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll love this little gem, and it’s a shame it didn’t get more of an audience during it’s initial run in theaters, because it’s smarter, funnier, and more intelligent than most of the movies that pass as “comedy” these days.
The Kids Are All Right (2010) – Although I didn’t take to this in the way I thought I would – I actually was a little let down after all the Sundance-fueled hype – it’s still a fantastic film with a lot of laughs, and a few tears, and performances that are unforgettable. 2010 RS list-toppers Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson star as two teen siblings who decide to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and find the man who became their sperm-donating father, unknowingly about to introduce all kinds of problems into their family, as their “momses” (I’m spelling that the way Mia’s character pronounces it early in the film) are at first shocked, then sort of grudgingly accepting of the presence of the heretofor unknown father being around for the first time. With Oscar-nominee Annette Beining and Julianne Moore as the two moms, and Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo as the sudden father, ultimately it does worm its way into your psyche. If you haven’t seen it yet, once you’ve seen it you’ll realize WHY we’re SO FAR ahead of the curve on Hutcherson’s career…and why everyone else is SO FAR BEHIND US….heh heh heh…
Win Win (2011) – A word-of-mouth favorite at 2011’s Sundance Film Festival, this dramedy about a full time lawyer and part time wrestling coach and the young star wrestler that enters his family’s life through one of his legal clients is a winner all the way around. Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan play a couple who’s life is suddenly changed for the better by the arrival of the grandson of a client who’s been diagnosed with dementia. With real-life wrestling star and 2011 RS alum Alex Shaffer making his acting debut as Kyle, and fellow RS alum Clare Foley as the couple’s young foul-mouthed daughter, along with Bert Young as Kyle’s grandfather and Melanie Lynsky as Kyle’s drug-addicted mom and supporting performances by the always fantastic Jeffrey Tambor and Margo Martindale, this little charmer is a film you won’t soon forget, and one you will immensely enjoy.
There are plenty more films where these came from and we’ll do some more of them in the upcoming days, as the announcement of the 2012 Rising Stars list gets closer and closer…J
