‘Downtown Owl’ Review: Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater’s Directorial Debut Is No Hoot

Alex Edelman has built quite the reputation over the last few years, with sold-out comedy shows and knock-’em-dead late-night performances, honing material for a Broadway debut that does his reputation proud.

holds a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average critic score of 7.5/10. “As a distributor, it’s always exciting to find a new, fresh and hilarious voice,” Magnolia Pictures co-CEOs Eamonn Bowles and Dori Begley said in a statement. “We’re beyond excited to be able to present Joanna Arnow to audiences.” “I am so happy to be bringing this self-deprecating deadpan comedy to audiences with a partner like Magnolia Pictures,” Arnow said. “Magnolia has such a wonderful lineup of powerful, unique independent films, and we are thrilled to be included among them.” Written, directed, edited by and starring Arnow, “That Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed” is produced by Pierce Varous and Graham Swon.

EXCLUSIVE: Reservation Dogs and Letterkenny star Kaniehtiio Horn has revealed the cast for her feature directorial debut Seeds as production gets underway in Ontario. 

Pitchfork. In 1993, she underwent brain surgery, which allowed her to perform again.Teresa Taylor passed away peacefully this weekend after a long battle with lung disease.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros.’s “The Flash” and Disney/Pixar’s “Elemental” made theatrical debuts in China that were in line with their soft starts in North America and other international territories. “The Flash” captured the top spot in China with a $13.4 million (RMB94.8 million) opening weekend ($13.8 million including previews), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It deposed “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” which opened a week earlier and which slipped to second place in its sophomore frame. “Transformers” took a 69% fall and recorded $12.4 million between Friday and Sunday in China. That produces a $61.7 million cumulative after ten days in Chinese theaters.

William Earl Robert De Niro worked the crowd at the Beacon Theater during the Tribeca Festival closing gala on Saturday evening, which served as a 30th anniversary celebration of his directorial debut, “A Bronx Tale.” When asked about the film’s mild box office — earning about $17 million on a $21 million production budget — the director said, “How could you not be disappointed? You do all this work for it. At the same time, I was lucky to be able to make the movie I made.” De Niro also admitted that “I never got asked to do movies after that,” and it was an effort to get his next directorial effort, 2006’s “The Good Shepherd,” made.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Sometimes dreams do come true. When Disney legend Andreas Deja was 11 years old, “The Jungle Book” played at his hometown in Germany and after watching it, he was hooked. He remembers how it cast a spell on him and how he knew right there and then that he wanted to take part in the Disney magic. With the help of his English teacher, he wrote to the Mouse House and to his surprise received a reply. Deja relates: “It basically said that if I was serious about the animation done at Disney, I first had to become an artist in my own right.” From that day on, he began his deep dive into the world of animation, poring over magazines, newspapers and books and later enrolling in art school. While at school, he wrote to Eric Larson, one of the legendary Nine Old Men of Disney lore, who after looking at Deja’s work said he thought he “had what it took.”

EXCLUSIVE: After years of friendship that goes way beyond the two A-listers making it big in Hollywood, Bradley Cooper and Will Arnett are coming on to develop the Searchlight pic Is This Thing On?, with both set to co-star in the film with Cooper also directing. Arnett penned the script with Mark Chappell. The film is still in early development and while Arnett turned in a draft before the Writers strike commenced, Cooper will likely take a crack at script with Arnett and Chappell and won’t be able to till after Strike ends.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic “Bucky F*cking Dent,” the second movie written and directed by David Duchovny (the first was “House of D,” in 2004), is based on a novel by Duchovny that was published in 2016, and whether or not the story is autobiographical, it feels autobiographical, and I mean that as a compliment. Set in the summer of 1978, it’s framed around one man’s obsession with the Boston Red Sox — meaning, of course, the curse of the Bambino, going back to 1918, the last time (until 2004) the Sox won the championship. The man is Ted Fulilove, which is a terrible last name for a movie character, though he’s played by Duchovny as a cussed crab apple with an amusing misanthropic put-down for every occasion (like: “Closure’s for morons”). “Bucky F*cking Dent” has a handful of characters, but it’s essentially a father-son two-hander — one of those dramadies in which the dad is a heartless-on-the-surface coot who was no good when it came to how he treated his family, and the son is a lot nicer and more sensitive, but maybe too sensitive (as a correction to all that paternal dickishness). Which also means that he’s lost.

Roku has picked up the U.S. rights to the new comedy film “First Time Female Director,” which is written, directed and produced by Chelsea Peretti.

If you manage to go in blind to “Eric Larue,” the directorial debut of actor Michael Shannon, you might think the titular character is dead. His parents, Janice and Ron (Judy Greer and Alexander Skarsgård, respectively), go through the motions of their everyday routines with a gaping hole in their emotional lives.

Premiering Saturday night in the Tribeca Film Festival’s Spotlight Narrative category, Eric Larue is an intense and devastating account of the after effects of a school shooting, but the focus is almost entirely on the parents of that boy who shot and killed three male classmates and is now in prison. Adapted by Brett Neveu from his own 2002 stage play, it has taken on new weight in the two decades since it was first presented at Chicago’s Red Orchid Theatre in light of the seemingly endless numbers of school shootings and the fact that the number one cause for deaths of young people is now by gun. But for his feature film directorial debut actor Michael Shannon was most interested in looking at the effects of this traumatic life-changing incident from the point of view of the parents, those of the kids killed, and particularly the pair of the young teen who murdered them.

well, and that includes some of the most heart-wrenching moments of the film. Janice’s meeting with the mothers is a powerhouse of a scene, strapping the audience in for a long, uncomfortable ride on a train of unending harsh realities.

It might sound like a backhanded compliment, but Downtown Owl feels more like a pilot than a feature film and may yet yield a series. In today’s market, that could work out just fine for directors Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe, who, after a choppy start, finesse Chuck Klosterman’s digressive 2007 novel into a thoughtful, broad-canvas ensemble piece. T Bone Burnett helps nail things down with an eclectic alt-country score and soundtrack, infused with the music and spirit of Elvis Costello, but it’s Rabe that holds it all together onscreen with a controlled yet still wildly uninhibited performance.

As often proves the case with talky indies, a single visual flourish in “Downtown Owl” emerges to ensure the film does not become a mere plot and dialogue delivery mechanism. Here, that’s the long lens shot, which flattens out images at the edges to incorporate more information in the visual field.

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Vanessa Hudgens and Lily Rabe are matching in black dresses at the premiere of their new movie!

Rebel Wilson is stepping into the music industry.

If you’re a fan of “Mayans M.C.,” you’re well aware of the work of actor JD Pardo. As EZ Reyes, the lead in ‘Mayans,’ Pardo has imbued his character with complicated emotions, so many different layers, and a charisma that has made this series one of the best on TV.

Desperate Housewives. After a series of guest TV roles and a stint on The Young and the Restless, the now 48-year-old had no idea what was in store for her career when she landed the part back in 2004. Watch Below: "FLAMIN' HOT | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures "“It was like the ninth audition I had that day and I was exhausted. It was pilot season … so I was changing in my car, driving from being a nurse and then, you know, a prostitute.