Flix Premiere Close Up - October 2017

October 2017

FLIX PREMIERE Close-Up

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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 ďŹ lm premieres in each market, to announce new developments on our platform and to provide a CEO update about the exciting current and future plans at Flix Premiere.

Happy reading!

IN THIS ISSUE: October Premieres Snapshot

Co ng ra tu

lat io ns

Learn about our exclusive new premieres showing each week.

US October Premieres Snapshot - pg. 3

Few Opt ion s, All Bad

UK October Premieres Snapshot - pg. 4

Close Up: Premieres Feature Reviews A chance to immerse yourself in the wonderful stories premiering each week.

The Husband - Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Sarah Allen, August Diehl, Stephen McHattie - pg. 5 Sink - Anel Alexander, Shoki Mokgapa, Jacques Bessenger, Amalia Uys, Asante Mabuza - pg. 6 Few Options, All Bad - Kenny Johnson, Erin Daniels, David Marciano, Brad Dourif, Rainn Wilson - pg. 7 Clean Break - Tianna Nori, Samy Osman, Sean Kaufmann, Serge Plourde - pg. 8 Congratulations - Brian Dietzen, Abby Miller, Debra Jo Rupp, Kevin Rankin, Terryn Westbrook - pg. 9

CEO Corner CEO Martin Warner explains how Flix Premiere is transforming the film marketing process for independent cinema and is revolutionizing - pg. 10 the way films reach their audience.

Winte r

Clean Break

PREMIERING OCTOBER 28TH, 2017

Watch the movie Exclusively at flixpremiere.com

“ENTIRELY FRESH...A TRIUMPHANT DEBUT” The Movie Gourmet

“GENUINE & RELEVANT” Variety

“PHENOMENAL” Cinequest Film Festival

a film by Ch ris Brown a CHRIS BROWN film starring SAVANNAH BAILEY HUNTER GILMORE KAI KELLERMAN SIENNA LAMPI NATASHA LOMBARDI JOE MCGEE ISAAC SANCHEZ and ABBY STWEART executive producers JEFF BAKER CORY BYTOF MARTIN WARNER and MARGARET WALLACE producers BRAD MARSHLAND JILL PIXLEY JONATHAN SANFORD associate producer LIZ KELLEY KALYANEE MAM sound editor ANDRE FENLEY production manager LIZ KELLEY consulting producer ROBERT HAWK written directed & edited by CHRIS BROWN © 2016 CB FILMS

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US PREMIERES SNAPSHOT

Starring: Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Sarah Allen, August Diehl, Stephen McHattie

october 6, 2017 - 7pm EST

Starring: Kenny Johnson, Erin Daniels, David Marciano, Brad Dourif, Rainn Wilson

october 13, 2017 - 7pm EST

Starring: Brian Dietzen, Abby Miller, Debra Jo Rupp, Kevin Rankin, Terryn Westbrook, Blaise Miller

october 27, 2017 - 7pm EST

EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE OCTOBER 28TH, 2017

UK PREMIERES SNAPSHOT

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Starring: Anel Alexander, Shoki Mokgapa, Jacques Bessenger, Amalia Uys, Asante Mabuza

october 7, 2017 - 7pm BST

Starring: Tianna Nori, Samy Osman, Sean Kaufmann, Serge Plourde

october 14, 2017 - 7pm BST

Starring: Kenny Johnson, Erin Daniels, David Marciano, Brad Dourif, Rainn Wilson

october 21, 2017 - 7pm BST

SEND MOVIE GIFTS TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY Home of Award-Winning Cinema

www.flixpremiere.com

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere OCTOBER 6 - 7PM EST

The Husband

Near-comic drama handles dark psychological material with a light touch.

John DeFore, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

H

enry Andreas [Maxwell McCabe-Lokos] leads what would be an ordinary life. He works in advertising, is married, and a recent father of a son. But he is the husband of a woman incarcerated for sleeping with a fourteen-year old boy – her student.

Bruce McDonald’s dark comedic drama follows Henry through various stages of grief and trauma in the aftermath of his wife’s arrest, media-packed trial, and her impending release from prison. When we meet Henry, he is almost entirely numbed, juggling the demands of childcare, work, an unreliable automobile, and carceral visitation.

He seems to neither think nor feel anything about his unenviable situation, until constant pestering from his co-workers and a chance encounter with his wife’s schoolyard lover sends him into a frenzied hunt for answers.

The film withholds fixed answers until the very end, taking us on an emotional journey with Henry who is simultaneously sympathetically framed by the narrative and rendered insufferable by his compulsivity.

Even his surroundings, a busy highway, a sprawling museum, and a night of debauchery seem to conspire against him, and yet he persists in his pursuit.

The Husband is a fantastic achievement, a movie which mines the deep connections of family, relationships and the self only to come to the realization that there are no easy answers...

Marina Antunes, QUIET EARTH

Bruce McDonald brings the mojo to #TIFF13 with the smart black dramedy The Husband. The film, directed by McDonald and written by star

After only 80 minutes, it’s hard to

Maxwell McCabe-Lokos and producer Kelly

decide exactly what the filmmakers

Harms, is a bitingly funny study of masculinity.

want to make you feel about Henry,

Patt Mullen, CINEMABLOGRAPHER

and his wounded masculine pride, but they do make this Husband pretty hard to forget.

The Husband keeps us guessing – will Henry ultimately pursue revenge on the boy, will he straighten himself out and abandon his self-destructive obsession with his “rival,” or will he achieve some kind of catharsis? And what will become of his relationship with his wife and the future of their son?

Ken Eisner, THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT

Screenplay writer Maxwell McCabe-Lokos shines as Henry. As an author-star, we have the impression that he carefully crafted the role to fit his strengths and abilities as an actor.

The pity he inspires at the film’s beginning is as intense as the alarm he causes when chasing his wife’s underage lover. What is more, he is utterly convincing as a man spiraling through different phases of denial, anger, obsession, and a possible catharsis. Sarah Allen compliments his performance as the enigmatic wife who presents as broken and vulnerable in real-life, and a femme-fatale in Henry’s hallucinations.

The Husband is a bold and original film whose story pushes the envelope further into the back of the human psyche than any Hollywood production dare go.

Unafraid to contemplate the messy aftermath of such a troubling sexual encounter, Bruce McDonald takes viewers to new heights of desperation – and reveals it in all of its intensity, irony, and humanity.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Sink

UK Premiere OCTOBER 7 - 7PM BST

S

eated at a dining room table, a white couple stricken with anxiety and a grave tone invites their black domestic servant to seek employment elsewhere, if she so chooses. The latter’s face is one of absolute dejection.

She reluctantly asks to stay, and so in heavy breaths, followed by silence, it is decided that she will resume her duties as their maid on Monday.

Sink is a South African film about one mother’s tragic loss, and another’s struggle with insurmountable guilt due to an unpardonable episode of neglect. As a Mozambican immigrant in Johannesburg, Rachel [Shoki Mokgapa] faces the choice of staying in the employ of a family that has grievously wronged her, or being exiled back to her impoverished homeland. While making conscious decisions about how to navigate this new treacherous landscape, she must tend to the haunting, painful memories that gradually reveal the full contents of her story to the film’s viewers.

Innes also makes clever use of aerial shots to shift perspective on the drama and heighten the play of contrasts in color. Such a move, along with fantastic acoustic choices, turns a backyard swimming pool into an ominous living character in the plot. We see Rachel contemplating her situation from above, as if we were the very character evaluating her life from the outside..

Anel Alexander, Jacques Bessenger and Shoki Mokgapa deliver heart-wrenching performances that unapologetically force us to confront our deepest fears and darkest secrets.

Herman Eloff, CHANNEL 24

Chris Letcher’s beautifully spare score elegantly supports the emotional tone rather than telling you what you are supposed to feel, just as the film gives you a scenario and makes you question how you would deal with it.

Theresa Smith, Independent Online (IOL)

In Rachel’s plight, it is impossible not to feel the weight of the legacy of Apartheid, and not to be disturbed by the social imbalances perpetuated by systemic racism. Director Brett Michael Innes’ composition of the world the Jordaan family inhabits throws these inequities into stark relief. The sleek modernist home that Rachel cleans is made up of sterile, muted tones. Only in the clever use of the reverse-shot to signal a flashback do we pick up a sense of vibrancy, color, and life in the home. These recollections interrupt the deafening emptiness of the present..

Shoki Mokgapa delivers a powerful performance through subtlety as Rachel. Delicately balancing the pathos of her loss and the pragmatics of her circumstances, she plays both the noble victim and an active agent in deciding her future. Anel Alexander and Jacques Bessenger deliver as the neurotic high-bourgeois Jordaans. They convince us that the tragedy unfolding about them is just a symptom, or a hazard of everything that makes up their way of life.

Sink is a powerful story about loss, and an incredible metaphor for the difficulties and the possible rewards of reconciliation. It is absolutely not to be missed.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Few Options, All Bad

US Premiere OCTOBER 13 - 7PM EST UK Premiere OCTOBER 21 - 7PM BST

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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.

fter spending nearly half of a lifetime in prison, ex-convict Frank [Kenny Johnson] 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.

[Few Options, All Bad] is a drama of moody temperament

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.

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.

with solid acting, particularly from the star, Kenny Johnson.

Charlie Steffens, UNSUNG

This is an intelligent film, with strong characters and a believable

FILMS

story, one worth seeing.

R. Rose McKesson, GATHER ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

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.

Few Options, All Bad is aptly named for the predicament in which the story’s protagonist finds himself. 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 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?

Kenny Johnson’s work here, under George Pappy’s fine direction, is really something to see.

Thomas Ethan Harris, THE AMERICAN CINEMATHEQUE

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.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Clean Break R

UK Premiere OCTOBER 14 - 7PM BST

(Clean Break’s) style is slick, the slow unfold mild-mannered, and the

elationships are messy, and ending one even more muddled. But Tracy [Tianna Nori] has discovered a way to simplify and tidy up the separation process. She murders her exes in cold blood.

bloody torture playful.

Becky Roberts, HORROR TALK

Enter Scott, the shy nice guy who is struggling to find work and unlucky in love. His encounter with Tracy appears to be the work of fate. Who would suspect that his new devoted girlfriend, though, is also a serial killer of men that have scorned her? In her social life, Tracy is committed to her relationship, settling down in a home, and raising a family. These are her primary obsessions and they define the outward projection of her character into the world. But she will eliminate any obstacle or any person who stands in the way of her achieving marital bliss.

...Clean Break retains a good deal of intrigue right to the end resulting in a very entertaining, albeit brisk watch.

Eric Marchen, DORK SHELF

Clean Break is director Tricia Lee’s second feature and thriller. From the first scene, we are brought into the deadly dance of Tracy’s breakup routine. And from its shocking beginning, the film moves at a fast clip that keeps us on the edge of our seats and guessing about the fate of Scott and his unsuspecting roommates. With no small dose of irony, Lee’s camera turns the everyday accoutrements and trappings of domesticity into objects of horror. The ultimate girl next door, the one you might take home to your mother, converts into a grave threat with any sharp object that she wields.

Clean Break is directed superbly by Tricia Lee, who creates an immersive world for us to pry into and the script and story itself, written by Corey Brown is very accomplished.

The film deservedly won best drama feature at the Atlanta Horror Film Festival and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for some gripping drama and mischievous laughs in their horror viewing.

Adrian Hall, HORROR MOVIES UNCUT

Tianna Nori balances the Jekyll and Hyde faces of Tracy with ease, convincing us both of her quintessential ordinariness and menacing natures. Jumping quickly from brooding depression to lethal action, she displays an impressive range. Sean Kaufmann plays the pity-inspiring Scott as a genuine good guy. His almost insufferably self-assured and good-looking roommate, Cam, is marvelously portrayed by Samy Osman. The film’s original score by Aaron Gilhuis evokes a light and carefree mood with jumping piano chords, playfully counter-balancing the bloody plotline.

Clean Break takes its viewers on a thrilling adventure in the wake of an unlikely killer, assuring that we never consider the end of a relationship in the same light again. Be sure to include it in your Halloween plans this October.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Congratulations

US Premiere OCTOBER 27 - 7PM EST

J

im [Brian Dietzen] carefully planned a weekend road trip with his girlfriend, Bridget [Abby Miller], to visit his mother.

In the car, he has packed a blanket and a picnic. He knows exactly where he wants to stop for a romantic lunch in the woods. Most importantly, he has brought a large diamond ring with him to accompany the big question that he intends to ask. Everything goes according to plan, and even better – until Bridget declines his proposal.

When they arrive at the house, Jim is so stunned and upset that he has forgotten to phone ahead and warn his mother that the engagement is not going to happen. Which means they are greeted by a congratulatory banner and the promise of an engagement party the very next day to fête their nuptials. The excitement and enthusiasm of Jim’s mother, who is mourning the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death, is too bright and sunny a departure from her usual melancholia for Jim to destroy it with the truth.

So, the couple plans to pretend that they are engaged for the duration of the trip. The ensuing stay offers a series of comic and ironic circumstances that quickly puts their relationship to the ultimate test. Will the pair’s love be able to survive both the rejection of Jim’s proposal and a weekend of pretending otherwise?

Congratulations leaves the viewer guessing until the very end what the fate of the couple will be with an original story that conveys more depth

Brian Dietzen’s Jim displays a range and breadth of character that is atypical of a masculine lead in a comedy. Abby Miller brings her uncanny ability to convey strength, brokenness, and fragility all at once to the role of Bridget. The volatile and relatable pair are accompanied by Debra Jo Rupp, who shines as the well-intentioned but overbearing mother.

than we are accustomed to finding in the genre.

Juan Cardarelli and Eric Levy team up to direct this romantic comedy that does not shy away from asking tough questions about love, marriage, and family. The typical rom-com announces the inevitable reconciliation and engagement of its protagonists far in advance of the resolution of all of the obstacles that they must overcome to get to the wedding chapel. Congratulations leaves the viewer guessing until the very end what the fate of the couple will be with an original story that conveys more depth than we are accustomed to finding in the genre.

... the film’s reliance on concise storytelling and fantastic acting performances is thoroughly appreciated and understood.

Kaiderman, MAN, I LOVE FILMS

Congratulations is a comedy of errors – both small and profound that is not to be missed.

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CEO CORNER Our passion to stay connected with a movie’s journey, by connecting our audience to the movie release period, enables us to create better and more focused exposure for each movie. In turn this enables wider opinions to develop,

REACHING

more reviews from moviegoers, and time for consumers to watch recommendations that have been curated for them.

This magazine (Flix Premiere Close Up) is just one element of

THE WORLD

how we are doing this.

Another service we offer our subscribers is the chance to

ONLINE...

send ‘movie gifts’ to friends, family or colleagues - initially aimed as a fun way to introduce new people to the service, it became so much more than that - it enables the sender to express themselves, and show that they are thinking of someone by selecting a specific film based on mood, experience, holiday, feeling, or film preference. Moreover, it enables the customer to review the movie and express

W

their thoughts directly to the person receiving the gift. We

elcome readers to this month’s issue of ‘Close Up’.

are going to see more consumer curation and opinion in the

I wanted to draw attention to an important goal for Flix Premiere, and one that is part of the vision we have for exhibiting movies to our customers. In this transforming world of online content, especially for films - it has never been more important to recognise that content creators and exhibitors have to make it easy for customers to access their content.

future - stay tuned.

Before signing off, I wanted to announce ORIGINAL’S DAY - our inaugural Original film premiere for The Other Kids which has been set for Saturday, October 28th, 2017. We are looking forward to releasing our first Original and very

Today, the movie-going consumer market as a whole is fragmenting, with a sea of movies and customers coming online. With a plethora of platforms, from desktop, and apps, to SmartTVs (Flix Premiere can be found on all of these) - the consumer doesn’t want to think about which platform to access, but rather that a movie is simply available on the platform they like to use.

At Flix Premiere our approach and vision is to be the best exhibitor and distributor for our movies. What does that mean? From the very moment we announce a movie playing at Flix Premiere, we are thinking about its audience, and how we

excited to showcase such a groundbreaking film. Much more on this very shortly, and in fact, keep an eye out for a Special Edition Magazine coming soon...

Enjoy reading about this month’s premieres.

Warmest regards, Martin

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We are busy transforming the film marketing process for independent movies so that it becomes easier for consumers to discover great new movies.

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