Indie Archives - Award-Winning Writer and Graphic Designer

Getting our ‘Kicks’ at TFF with Justin Tipping and newcomer Jahking Guillory

dorriolds — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 10:04:16 +0000

Tribeca Film Festival’s red carpet for the movie “Kicks” was a blast. In attendance were cast members Jahking Guillory, Mahershala Ali, Kofi Siriboe, Christopher Jordan Wallace, Christopher Meyer and Michael Smith. Director and co-writer Justin Tipping was brave enough to be vulnerable. He exemplifies the best aspect of indies—raw emotion.
Synopsis: Brandon (Guillory), 15, dreams of a pair of fresh Air Jordans but right after he gets them, they’re stolen by local hood Flaco (Siriboe), causing Brandon and his two friends go on a dangerous mission through Oakland to retrieve them.

Dorri Olds: What inspired this story?
Justin Tipping: I got jumped with a pair of Nikes when I was 16 and [felt] the humiliation of that. I remember talking to a brother and he was like, “Oh, good, you’re a man now.” It was that moment that I felt proud but in retrospect that is completely backwards. Why are we supposed to think violence is about becoming a man? Why does that make me a man? There’s no reason for it but it’s always perpetuated in society. It’s all around us. Like you hear, “Man up.” But why is that? What does that even mean? Why isn’t it “Do good in school?”
“Kicks” played during Tribeca Film Festival 2016. And now it’s available On Demand. This indie is a winner. Don’t miss it. Rated R. 87 min.

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Satisfying ‘Detour’ with Tye Sheridan and Emory Cohen

dorriolds — Tue, 27 Dec 2016 11:31:36 +0000

One of Tribeca Film Festival’s highlights this year was “Detour,” a suspenseful neo-noir thriller deliciously saturated in drugs and alcohol. The central character, Harper (heartthrob Tye Sheridan) is stepson to alcoholic no-goodnik Vincent, played by Stephen Moyer of “True Blood.”

Harper blames the lying, cheating Vincent for putting his mom in a coma. While she lies in a hospital bed fighting for her life, Harper drowns his pain in alcohol. Wasted, he shoots his mouth off to the wrong dude: tattooed sociopath Johnny Ray, played by Emory Cohen (co-star of the Best Picture Oscar-winner, “Brooklyn”). Johnny Ray offers to whack Vincent for $20,000 dollars. In his drunken haze, Harper says yes to the violent thuggery. In the hungover and sobering light of day, Harper decides to back out. The problem is Johnny Ray won’t let Harper renege on their financial agreement and vows to go through with the murder.

Kudos to British writer and director Christopher Smith who gave us “Black Death, starring Sean Bean and Eddie Redmayne. In “Detour,” Smith uses split-screen to go back and forth in time and it works. No easy feat. Smith also wrote the film’s screenplay and deserves much credit for his spot-on casting. In addition to Sheridan and Cohen, Smith cast Bel Powley (“Diary of a Teenager Girl”) as the femme fatale. She rocks it in this clever and engaging tale.

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Dysfunctional Dad Christopher Walken and Alcoholic Amber Heard

dorriolds — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 12:02:54 +0000

Amber Heard hungover

Amber Heard and Christopher Walken

Although loaded with inherited musical talent, she’s only good at drinking. Self-loathing and systematic self-destruction make Jude (Amber Heard) incapable of making it on time to even sing commercial jingles.

Amber Heard in ‘One More Time’

With no money, and no motivation, she slinks back to live with her father Paul Lombard (Christopher Walken), a faded Sinatra-ish crooner who lives in the “poor” section of the Hamptons. Multiple Andy Warhol-like portraits of Paul loom over the living room and illustrate how suffocating it is to be anywhere near Paul. Back in his home means Jude is embroiled in family dysfunction. Her bitter, yet highly-functional sister, Corinne (Kelli Garner), is married to Tim (Hamish Linklater) who was in a relationship with Jude long ago before Corinne stole him away.
Burned-out Paul is married for the gazillionth time; his current wife, Lucille (Ann Magnuson), is a lush. Being drunk seems the only way to survive being in love with overbearing, narcissistic Paul.

Christopher Walken in One More Time

Oliver Platt shines as Alan, a long-time family lawyer and friend who seems the only one in Jude’s life who sees and loves her despite her nothing-but-flawed lifestyle. The plot is light but the strength of this film is the two charismatic leads, Walken and Heard, who make you care about these comically heartbreaking characters.
One big perk is hearing Walken and Heard perform music. Written and directed by Robert Edwards.
“One More Time” is available On Demand. Official Selection at Tribeca Film Festival 2015. Comedy drama. Not rated. 97 min.

Amber Heard as Jude

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Michael Shannon and Imogen Poots Star in ‘Frank & Lola’

dorriolds — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 11:08:03 +0000

“Frank & Lola” is a brooding noir about love, sex and jealousy shown through two very damaged people. Michael Shannon plays a chef in Las Vegas who meets Lola (Imogen Poots), a wannabe fashion designer. When they meet it sets off a tsunami of passion and they feel instantly connected. Frank’s psyche is tested when Lola comes home one night crying and confesses that she cheated on him. The script is not unlike other movies we’ve seen but it is heightened by the level of talent in both of the starring actors.
The indie is written and directed by Matthew Ross. Michael Nyqvist plays a creepy, wealthy Frenchman from her past. Lola’s mother is played by Rosanna Arquette. And Justin Long plays her new boss. Frank bristles at the thought of any other man near Lola. It’s as if he felt starved for love so he squeezes it too tight in a complex maze of fear, anger and envy.
I’ll watch anything with Michael Shannon in it. The towering actor can look terrifying one minute and vulnerable the next—but there is always something creepy lurking behind his eyes. I’ve met him twice and he seems just as intense and mercurial in person. Shannon as Frank is fascinating because it’s hard to think of him as a love interest.
In person, Shannon gives off the energy of a guy sitting on a pressure-cooker of rage, yet he seems polite enough. During press events he didn’t seem to like eye contact and appeared uncomfortable in his own skin. But that fragility, and otherness, is probably what makes him such a compelling actor. He looks haunted—and troubled people often work harder in an attempt to outrun their demons.
But for all I know, he’s a calm, serene guy. Yet I don’t think so. Especially based on what some of his colleagues have said. They all seem to admire Shannon but describe him as strange.
When I interviewed him for “The Iceman,” Shannon talked about his character, serial hitman Richard Kuklinski, in unexpected terms, “I found him to be a very fragile person embalmed in a facade of machismo. He’s actually a very delicate person.”
In an interview for ‘Elvis & Nixon,” Johnny Knoxville told me, “He’s very focused and very intense. And that intensity, that energy, pervades the whole set.” When I mentioned to Ray Liotta that I’d be interviewing Michael Shannon next, Liotta rolled his eyes and said, “Good luck.”
Lola’s character is intriguing, and Poots did a fine job, but the main focus in this flick is Shannon’s portrayal of Frank unraveling.
“Frank & Lola” is in theaters and available On Demand. Unrated. 88 min.
Watch the trailer:

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Twilight Hunk Taylor Lautner Stars in Indie ‘Run the Tide’

dorriolds — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 15:43:13 +0000

Sweet December Indie

Run the Tide stars hunky Twilight alum Taylor Lautner as Rey Hightower, a young man forced to grow up way too quick. His drug addict mother (Constance Zimmer) has been in jail for years and Rey stepped up to raise his younger brother Oliver, played by scene-stealing newcomer Nico Christou. She was a horrid mother even when she wasn’t in jail and Rey sure could’ve used Al Anon and lots of therapy. He’s seething with resentments and justifiable self-righteous anger.

His mother’s boyfriend (Kenny Johnson) cares for the kids and plays a kinda-sorta father figure. But Rey and Oliver are really on their own. The drama that sets everything off is their mom being released from prison. Mom wants to come back to parent Oliver but Rey isn’t having it. He raised the boy and feels uber protective of him. It’s an easy to love character.

Rey lost all trust in his mother’s parenting abilities years ago. He had a high drama, Lifetime-channel worthy childhood. So we get to watch Lautner’s luscious lips, sad/mad eyes, and dark eyebrows while he kidnaps Oliver and they take off together on a road trip.

This is a mostly predictable story with lots of cliches but it is sweet and the acting is good. It’ll be interesting to see where Christou’s career goes. He’s a very talented kid.

Constance Zimmer, Nico Christou, Kenny Johnson

The best audience for Run the Tide will be swooney teenagers who will drool at Taylor Lautner as he plays the brooding brother with a cliche-alert “heart of gold.” And, whoa! When Lautner takes his shirt off, they’ll gasp with delight at how ripped he is. (I did).

Johanna Braddy plays Rey’s ex-girlfriend. Written by Rajiv Shah and directed by Soham Mehta.

Run the Tide is now playing in select theaters and available On Demand/Digital HD. Drama. Rated PG-13. 94 min.

Watch the trailer:

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Yay for a Female-Driven, Pro-LGBT, Pro-Choice Comedy Drama That Delivers and Stars Icon Lily Tomlin

dorriolds — Sun, 17 May 2015 15:55:56 +0000

Photos by Dorri Olds
“Grandma” is Lily Tomlin’s movie. She is in top form in a role created just for her. Writer director Paul Weitz (“American Pie,” “About a Boy”) confirmed that he had written the part for Tomlin after the two had worked together on 2013’s “Admission.”
Yay for a female-driven, pro-LGBT, pro-choice comedy drama that delivers. “Grandma” is Lily Tomlin’s movie. She is in top form in a role created just for her. Writer director Paul Weitz (“American Pie,” “About a Boy”) confirmed that he had written the part for Tomlin after the two had worked together on 2013’s “Admission.”

On the red carpet at the film’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere last month, Weitz smiled as he referred to Tomlin as “so punk rock” and added that she was great as Tina Fey’s mom in “Admission.”
“She was so hardcore, funny and smart that I wanted to do a whole movie with her as the lead.” said Weitz. Before “Admission,” he hadn’t known Tomlin well, “But her intelligence rang like a clear bell,” he said. “It made me think of a character and how much that character would have to offer a young woman under duress.”
Tomlin’s smile lit up the red carpet — corny-sounding, I know, but it did — and she exuded a natural air of hippitude. As I stood next to her on the carpet, she seemed tickled by the grin plastered on my face. I’ve adored her since “One ringy-dingy” and loved her decades later on FX’s “Damages.”

Julia Garner costars with Lily Tomlin in ‘Grandma’

Watch a hilarious clip from the “Grandma” here:
Watch one of my YouTube channel’s most popular videos with Nat Wolff:

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