COMPLIANCE Trailer Drops!

It seems that there's a film every year that causes a stir at Sundance. Last year it was THE WOMAN, and this year it was Craig Zobel's psychological thriller, COMPLIANCE. The first screening at Sundance was met with walkouts and shouting matches during the Q&A's.

We were lucky enough to see this film at this year's Dallas International Film Festival. Even though I squirmed in my seat and felt so much anger during the film, it ended up being one of my favorites of the festival. It delves in and gets under your skin and never lets up. There even was a very, very heated Q&A after the screening I attended. I had never seen a movie draw that kind of reaction before.

Now that it's made its way through the festival circuit, we have our first trailer for its upcoming release.

Check it after the break.

DIFF 2012 Review- AMERICA'S PARKING LOT

AMERICA'S PARKING LOT

Directed by: Jonny Mars

Starring: Stan "Tiger" Shults and Cy Ditmore

Synopsis: A documentary chronicling the last year at Texas Stadium through the eyes of the Gate 6 Tailgaters. 

DIFF 2012 Review- FIRST POSITION

FIRST POSITION

Directed by: Bess Kargman

Starring: Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer Yemini, and Michaela DePrince

Synopsis: Documentary following 6 young ballet dancers as they train for the Youth America Grand Prix.

DIFF 2012 Review - THE PACT

THE PACT

Directed by Nicholas McCarthy

Written by Nicholas McCarthy

Starring: Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien, Agnes Bruckner, Sam Ball, and Haley Hudson

Synopsis: A young woman goes back to her childhood home after the death of her mother to find her sister and begins to experience odd occurrences. 

DIFF 2012 Review- TORMENTED

TORMENTED

Directed by: Takashi Shimizu

Written by: Sôtarô Hayashi, Daisuke Hosaka, Takashi Shimizu

Starring: Teruyuki Kagawa, Hikari Mitsushima, Tamaki Ogawa

Synopsis: A young boy's psyche starts to break down in the aftermath of him killing a rabbit in front of his classmates. Said rabbit starts to show up in his nightmares, and his half-sister is forced to help him fight off the rabbit.

DIFF 2012 Review - THE IMPOSTER

THE IMPOSTER

Directed by: Bart Layton

Starring: Adam O'Brian, Anna Ruben, and Cathy Dresbach

Synopsis: After three years missing, a Texas boy comes back to his family. But why does a boy who was blond with blue eyes now speaks with a thick foreign accent and has brown eyes?

DIFF 2012 Review- COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN'S HOPE

COMIC-CON EPISODE IV: A FAN'S HOPE

Directed by: Morgan Spurlock

Written by: Joss Whedon, Morgan Spurlock

Starring: Jessica Merizan, Skip Harvey, Stan Lee, Kevin Smith

Synopsis: A loving look at the pop culture juggernaut that occurs every summer in San Diego

DIFF 2012 Review- THANK YOU FOR JUDGING

THANK YOU FOR JUDGING

Directed by: Michael Urie, Selma Al-Faqih, Travis Flournoy, and Sean Fornara

Synopsis: Actor comes home to follow a group of a highly talented group of teenagers as they train to participate in an acting competition.

DIFF 2012 Review - ANIMATION COMPETITION

Javi here. People that know me know that I'm a huge fan of animation, so of course I had to check out the animation competition this year's Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF). The short films that were shown were SLOW DEREK, 663114, WILD LIFE, MOXIE, A MORNING STROLL, DR. BREAKFAST, and IT'S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY.


This was honestly a very solid block of programming. There were a lot of short films that felt like they were something for everyone, from the technically dazzling, the morbidly hilarious, and downright touching. What was really strange was that I had actually seen two of the short films already at Fantastic Fest, the upside to this was that I could appreciate them in a completely different manner.  I'll be talking more in-depth about top three short films, discounting A MORNING STROLL  and WILD LIFE, since they were the Fantastic Fest repeats. This is not to say that any of the shorts are bad, but these are my favorites. 


One thing to note is that this year's selections more than any year might as well have shown up in the Late Night Shorts block of programming. Needless to say, they are pretty dark and not all that suitable for kids. Check out the reviews after the jump.

DIFF 2012 Review - DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER

DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER

Directed by: Fumihiko Sori

Written by: Jeffrey Scott

Starring: Colleen Clinkenbeard, Chuck Huber and Luci Christian

Synposis: Set between the first and second DRAGON AGE video games, this installment of the series follows famed dragon hunter and seeker, Cassandra, as she takes down a plot that threatens the ruling order.

2012 DIFF Movie Review - LIBERAL ARTS

LIBERAL ARTS

Directed by: Josh Radnor

Written by: Josh Radnor

Starring: Josh Radnor, Richard Jenkins, Elizabeth Olsen, Allison Janney

Synopsis: When his favorite college professor asks him to speak during his retirement dinner, a 35 year old gladly goes back to his college town and develops a relationship with a 19 year old.

DIFF 2012 Review- SAVE THE DATE

SAVE THE DATE

Directed by: Michael Mohan

Written by: Michael Mohan, Jeffrey Brown, and Egan Reich

Starring: Lizzy Caplan, Alison Brie, Geoffrey Arend, Martin Starr, and Mark Webber.

Synopsis: Two sisters work through life, love, and relationships. 

Dallas International Film Festival Survival Guide

As we ramp up for the 2012 incarnation of the Dallas International Film Festival, we figured we'd share some of the little hints that we have learned in our collective three years of covering the festival. These can (and will) apply to other festivals, and some suggestions might be more obvious than not, but hey, whatever keeps you going during this time.

Most Anticipated Films of DIFF 2012- Jessica Edition

It's been too long, blogosphere. It's Jessica, and I'm pleased to bring you my most anticipated films of DIFF 2012. Festivals make my inner-planner so giddy, and this year is no different. I can't wait 'til next week when I'll be unofficially living out of my car while eating way too much Urban Taco all because of DIFF. While browsing the selection this year I found it increasingly difficult to scale down my most anticipated to only five, but I managed to do it, so check them out below!

Damon's Most Anticipated DIFF Films

Good day my victims of milkshake theft! I am Damon and will be covering a few films from the upcoming Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF) in a couple weeks. Javi and Jonesy asked if I would like to contribute and I jumped at the chance. Not only will I get to see some great films but I’ll get to do so with some good friends. It was hard to pare down my list of most anticipated films from DIFF but I did so and I think I have some good picks. Still I bet you could be safe with any of the Midnight Specials (my favorite category by far) or just by walking into a random theater during the fest. Without further ado, here they are in alphabetical order. 

Most Anticipated 2012 DIFF Movies- Javi Edition

Javi here. It's that time of the year when I'll be bingeing on movies for 10 days straight during the Dallas International Film Festival. Even if there's issues with the festival itself, I've always enjoyed their selection. We'll be starting a series of articles that lead up to the festival, starting with this article, followed by (in no particular order) Jonesy, Jessica and Damon's most anticipated movies, and a "survival guide". Also, if you are interested in purchasing any tickets to these individual movies, follow the links to the DIFF site. If you are interested in the festival passes, you can go here for prices and more information. Stay tuned for these articles and more!