June 2019
FLIX PREMIERE Close-Up
this month’s UPCOMING PREMIERES
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Welcome Readers: The purpose of this magazine is to share with our movie-goers, the industry and our partners updates about what is happening at Flix Premiere each month. We aim to highlight and explore the upcoming month’s film premieres in each market, and occasionally announce new developments on our platform. Happy reading!
Lon g For go tte n Film s
IN THIS ISSUE:
Sug ar
Abst racti on
June Premieres Snapshot Learn about our exclusive new premieres showing each week. US June Premieres Snapshot - pg. 3
W hi te N ig ht
UK June Premieres Snapshot - pg. 4
Close Up: Premieres Feature Reviews A chance to immerse yourself in the wonderful stories premiering each week. All Mista kes Burie d
Abstraction - Eric Roberts, Ken Davitian, Korrina Rico, Manu Intiraymi, Mindy Robinson - pg. 5 White Night - Sara Mitich, Jonathan Keltz, Natalie Brown, Adam Booth, Parveen Kaur, Kimberly Laferriere - pg. 6 Long Forgotten Fields - Tom Campion, Rebecca Birch, Simon Armstrong, Frances Ruffelle - pg. 7 All Mistakes Buried - Sam Trammell, Vanessa Ferlito, Missy Yager - pg. 8 Few Options, All Bad - Kenny Johnson, Erin Daniels, David Marciano, Brad Dourif - pg. 9
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“Trammell carries the film with the physicality of his performance.” Katie Walsch, Los Angeles Times
US PREMIERE June 21, 2019 - 7pm EST
A lone, struggling addict takes on a dangerous underground criminal ring to retrieve a stolen pendant he believes will save his marriage.
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“Captivating and thought-provoking.” Video Views
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US PREMIERE June 28, 2019 - 7pm EST
After serving 22 years for drug-smuggling, Frank just wants to start over, but with few options he ends up with old crime partners.
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A 17-year-old student finds an unlikely lifeline in her disabled therapist after a sexual transgression.
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US PREMIERES SNAPSHOT
Starring: Sara Mitich, Jonathan Keltz, Natalie Brown, Kimberly Laferriere, Parveen Kaur, Adam Booth
June 7, 2019 - 7pm EST
Starring: Simon Armstrong, Tom Campion, Rebecca Birch
JUNE 14, 2019 - 7pm EST
Starring: Sam Trammell, Vanessa Ferlito, Missy Yager
JUne 21, 2019 - 7pm EST
Starring: Kenny Johnson, Erin Daniels, Brad Dourif, David Marciano
june 28, 2019 - 7pm EST
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UK PREMIERES SNAPSHOT
Starring: Eric Roberts, Ken Davitian, Korrina Rico, Manu Intiraymi, Mindy Robinson
june 1, 2019 - 7pm BST
Starring: Sara Mitich, Jonathan Keltz, Natalie Brown, Kimberly Laferriere, Parveen Kaur, Adam Booth
june 8, 2019 - 7pm BST
Starring: Simon Armstrong, Tom Campion, Rebecca Birch
june 15, 2019 - 7pm BST
Starring: Sam Trammell, Vanessa Ferlito, Missy Yager
june 22, 2019 - 7pm BST
Starring: Kenny Johnson, Erin Daniels, Brad Dourif, David Marciano
june 29, 2019 - 7pm BST
Abstraction
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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review UKUK PremiereAPRIL JUNE 1 ---7PM 7PM 7PMEST BST GMT USPremiere MAY 320
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rand theft specialists, Tommy [Hunter Ives] and Gary [Richard Manriquez], are sidelined and forced into an early retirement after a heist at a mechanic shop goes incredibly wrong. During their botched operation, more than one person died, and their closest criminal associate was caught by the police. In the wake of so much disaster, retreating to a quiet existence of underpaid and underappreciated manual labor seems like the only way to move forward. Enter Scarlet, the unassuming bombshell who strikes up a romance with Tommy after resisting his initial advances. Their love story starts like any typical budding relationship, but it quickly becomes clear that there is more to Tommy’s girlfriend than meets the eye. Scarlet observes the financial hardship that Tommy is suffering and suggests an extreme and unexpected solution – a plot to steal a painting worth half a million dollars. Will Tommy, Gary, and Scarlet succeed in pulling off one last smooth operation?
Abstraction excels [...] in the way it twists and turns throughout the story. Jesse Crump, HorrorNews.Net
Abstraction is an action-driven heist film that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats and guessing as it loops through a series of startling plot twists. From the opening shootout at the mechanic shop, through
the surprise ending, director Prince Bagdasarian manifests a keen sense of rhythm and timing in the elaboration of his story. What is more, as a screenwriter, he has crafted a film that generously supports its narrative pivots with a rich and substantive backstory, lending to their plausibility and the overall enjoyment of the lawless gang we are observing. Actors Ives and Manriquez portray the criminal duo of Tommy and Gary, creating a portrait of a pair of friends carrying a long history of collaboration and hardship on their backs. A set of pals keenly aware of each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and pressure points. Korrina Rico
counterbalances this dynamic as the newcomer to the scene, who disrupts the partnership, Scarlet. Striking a mix of ingénue with a hint of femme fatale, Scarlet offers the solution to the economic problems and social castration that the boys are facing. But when Gary becomes jealous of the freshly minted couple, the strength of friendship is tested and the fundamental question arises – who can you, ultimately, trust? For thrill-seekers, Abstraction delights with a well-paced and painstakingly constructed web of action, obstacles, and deceit. Do not miss it on Flix Premiere this month!
White Night
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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere JUNE 7 - 7PM EST UK Premiere JUNE 8 - 7PM BST
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young woman pushes what is truly a mountain of cardboard boxes along a busy Toronto street. What is in them? Well, nothing exactly. But as she tries desperately to carry them in place, they topple over, inevitably, with a roaring thud. Her effort is Sisyphean. And that is entirely the point. White Night (Nuit Blanche) is directed masterfully by a talented team of directors, including Sonny Atkins, P.H. Bergeron, Brian Hamilton, Matt Purdy, and Dan Slater. An atmospheric film centering on the intertwining lives of various people during one night in Toronto at a popular public art exhibit (and that actually exists in the world outside of the film), the movie playfully, texturally, examines the disconnected lives of several people who are all down-on-their-luck, hoping for a connection, and trying to do a little good in the world. They all have different ways of doing it. Emily (Parveen Kaur) is the artist with the boxes, an exhibit that none of the festivalgoers seem to understand. Sully (Jonathan Keltz) and Violet (Sara Mitich) are high school friends teetering around the notion of something more. Melanie (Kimberly LaFerriere) is looking for family.
A fun experiment in multi-character storytelling. Norman Wilner, Now Toronto
White Night crafts a convincing portrait of the city – including its homelessness and violence. Chris Knight, National Post
White Night, which utilizes a Greek chorus of sorts to orient the viewer in the beginning, is a leisurely film, in the sense that it gives viewers the time to grow with the characters. And the characters, in turn, reveal themselves to us, gradually. The performances are all terrific, as the actors seem to have an uncanny ability to make their characters shine, in all of their strengths and vulnerabilities. The film feels electric, successfully capturing the magic of a vibrant, hopeful night in the city. There is a feeling of being witness to an event full of possibility.
The hallmark of the film is a sense of community. White Night is a work in which the characters encourage each other to be most fully present; to pay attention, and to reach out to loved ones. In addition to the strong performances, the writing and directing feel especially memorable. The writing adds a sense of gravitas to the dialogue, while the collaborative directing approach compliments the authenticity of the film’s interconnected nature. A drama with a flare for comedy, White Night is the kind of film that will appeal to those who enjoy an innovative, yet feel-good drama.
Long Forgotten Fields
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hen Sam returns home to the countryside of Shropshire England, on leave from military service in Afghanistan, he quickly finds himself in the arms of his girlfriend Lily. Together again, on a picnic in the sprawling fields near where they grew up, a bright future appears to be on the horizon for them. But this sunny outlook quickly dissipates as the time approaches for Sam to return to active duty.
Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere JUNE 14 - 7PM EST UK Premiere JUNE 15 - 7PM BST
Impressive and stunningly shot. Clare Clarke, The Panoptic
At first, the young soldier is merely moody, slightly wincing at references to his imminent return to battle or to his experiences on the frontlines. Quickly, though, he turns paranoid – and even dangerous. When he decides to desert his unit, and evade law enforcement, he frantically recruits his girlfriend to help him hide from the military. Slipping into the clutches of PTSD, he sees violence everywhere. Just as he did at war. Is he capable of inflicting it on those he loves? Will he get help or be discovered before it is too late? Long Forgotten Fields is a drama that takes place in the time in-between war and peace, during a brief reprieve from danger. The trauma of the fight, however, follows young Sam home and haunts him. The film builds suspense and uncertainty around Sam’s psychological episodes, blurring the line between reality and hallucination. Its effect is to give the audience
Harrowing and tense piece, where the boundaries of assimilation become blurred with the violent nature of someone's character. Chris Olson, UK Film Review
a glimpse of the perspective of a person suffering from PTSD, generating a great deal of sympathy for the young soldier even as his actions grow alarming. Writer and director Jon Stanford sets his heartfelt psychological drama that pushes into the borders of the thriller in the idyllic plains of Shropshire. These warm and safe fields naturally contrast with the metaphorical terrain of battle, pushing the viewer to wonder which, in the end, are ultimately “long forgotten” by Sam. Tom Campion brings a wide range of emotion to his portrayal of Sam. The look of despair and desperation on his face builds as the film progresses. Rebecca Birch counters
this intensity with a selflessly loving and committed Lily. Together, the actors impress upon us that these individuals will either transcend Sam’s disease and the obstacles he is facing together or fail united. Perhaps the “forgetting” referred to in the title Long Forgotten Fields is not about Sam forgetting the countryside of his home or the battlefront at all. Rather, it might be a reference to all of those neighbors and fellow citizens back at home who have forgotten about the ongoing wars, and their suffering and fallen soldiers. In Long Forgotten Fields Jon Stanford gives us a drama that reminds us of the human struggle left in the wake of war.
All Mistakes Buried
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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere JUNE 21 - 7PM EST UK Premiere JUNE 22 - 7PM BST
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e find Sonny [Sam Trammell] in an abandoned house, sitting on broken furniture scattered among its ruins. Vacantly smoking in this former meth lab, a tenor’s voice fills the soundscape with a legato melody. This disjointed counterbalance, between spiraling decay and desperation and the trappings of middle-class culture and respectability, frames director Tim McCann’s pulpy action film All Mistakes Buried. But Sonny’s binge drinking and drug trips, we soon discover, are the least of his troubles. Determined to make amends with his wife, who left the picture long ago – when Sonny was a different man – he dives into an increasingly seedy world of organized crime and prostitution in a hapless and crazed effort to recover her favorite ruby pendant. Along the way, he repeatedly crosses the wrong prostitute, pimp, and madam. To make amends, he must agree to aid in a dangerous and high-stakes heist, or else. All Mistakes Buried offers an action film set in a seedy underground world whose relationship with a more familiar suburban reality remains unclear until its very end. Intercutting the two settings through flashback, or dream sequences – it’s not initially clear which – the constant thread is
Trammell’s beautifully unhinged performance offers a compelling vision of a grieving narcissist burrowing into the rabbit hole of his own mind. Serena Donadoni, The Village Voice
So eerily beautiful that the sordid subject matter becomes ennobled, even sanctified. Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
Sonny, who appears to have made a spectacular descent from successful small-business owner to jittery junkie. Through his maneuvers to find a fix, to uncover some extra cash, and to reclaim his wife’s jewelry, we meet a panoply of unsavory and delightful, gritty characters. From a weathered prostitute, to a redneck night motel attendant, and a steely madam and her protectors. We are submersed in all of the dangers and madness of Sonny’s world along with him, occasionally wondering what is reality and what is hallucination until the difficult truth is made absolutely clear.
giving us the impression that each gesture, or each bad decision, that Sonny makes is preceded by some hesitation or judgment imposed by his formerly put-together self. The result is a studied portrayal of a maddened spiral into personal ruin, alongside of the back story that sets up the conditions for such a fall. Trammell delivers an award-winning performance and is well-paired with Vanessa Ferlito as the vixen madam, Franki.
Tim McCann sets a neo-noir mood for the film, whose action is anchored by Sam Trammell’s riveting performance as Sonny. The character is made up of complex layers, with Trammell
A unique pairing of serious drama and action-driven plot, All Mistakes Buried will give you new perspective on your own life and liven up your movie-viewing agenda!
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Few Options, All Bad
Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere JUNE 28 - 7PM EST UK Premiere JUNE 29 - 7PM BST
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fter spending nearly half of a lifetime in prison, ex-convict Frank is eager to turn over a new leaf. In his early twenties, he was busted for trafficking cocaine across state lines. But, having paid his debt to society, he seeks to start a new life. If only the world outside of prison were ready to allow him to succeed. Instead, Frank finds himself unable to find work, struggling to maintain a roof over his head, and desperate to access even basic government documents that many take for granted. Nobody wants to hire an ex-con, and fewer, still, of his old acquaintances and relatives are willing to house him. The only break Frank gets is when a former friend offers him a minimum wage security guard job. Even that position, though, does not come without strings. This is the same pal that roped him into the drug trade so many years ago, and their old boss has a new mission in mind for Frank. What is more, if he refuses to cooperate, they are threatening to harm Frank’s ailing mother in her retirement home.
a drama of moody temperament with solid acting Charlie Steffens, Unsung Films
Few Options, All Bad, is aptly named for the predicament in which the story’s protagonist finds himself, then. A social drama about the plight of those leaving the prison system and the challenges they face in reintegrating themselves into society, it maintains the viewer’s peak interest through various threads of human intrigue. Will Frank carry out revenge on those responsible for his imprisonment so long ago, or will he
A strong, believable story with phenomenal characters that grabs your attention to the very last frame. Video Views
cooperate with them as he has no other feasible plan to support himself? Can he reconcile with his mother, or hope to find love in his new life? Frank comports himself with an air of gentlemanly nobility over a gruff exterior, suggesting that his manners and view of the world have been frozen in time since the day he was incarcerated. Director and screenwriter George Pappy exploits this quirk of his character by acknowledging in several small gestures just how little Frank understands about the world as he finds it after prison. Kenny Johnson delivers a compelling and
original performance as Frank, the hardened criminal with a soft side and a compulsion toward honesty and good behavior that surprise for their ingenuity. Erin Daniels compliments his performance as a potential love interest, Helen. When she is not dancing at the stripper bar, Helen begins to take an interest in Frank and invites him to lunch. The two actors paint a touching portrait of a pair of damaged individuals who find solace and strength in one another. And perhaps even a way to move on and improve their lives together. Few Options, All Bad is a moving drama, and a viewing choice that you are certain not to regret.
HOME OF AWARD-WINNING CINEMA AND MORE “presented with a great [...] intensity, drama, suspense, tragedy and thrills” Lee B. Golden III, Film Combat Syndicate
UK PREMIERE June 1, 2019 - 7pm BST In this life changing story, a workaholic attorney is forced to reinvent her life after her husband Two friends - One final heist -suddenly Who can leaves. you trust?
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“An Insight to a war torn soldier’s mind.” Adnan Kundi, The London Tree
UK PREMIERE June 15, 2019 - 7pm BST On Sam's return from the war, Lily is set on revitalising their relationship, but with Sam's PTSD, she is drawn into his post-war world.
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