Continuing to dominate the indie film world, the Duplass brothers have announced their next project.
Blue Jay finds Mark Duplass (HBO's dearly departed Togetherness) and Sarah Paulson (absolutely incredible in The People v. O.J. Simpson) playing high school sweethearts who reunite by chance. I'm getting a serious Before Sunset vibe, and since that's one of my favorite movies of all time, I'm all in.
Mark wrote the script with first-time feature director Alex Lehmann taking the reins. He'll produce with brother Jay under their deal with Netflix. The film will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The Orchard, which has distributed everything from raunchy comedies like The Overnight to harrowing documentaries like Cartel Land, will handle the theatrical, VOD and home video releases before the film heads to Netflix later this year.
If you're not headed to TIFF, you'll get your chance to see it in limited release starting October 7 or digitally beginning October 11.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
