#FIRSTLOOK: NEW MARCH 2021 RELEASES FROM IFC FILMS

IFC Films present their upcoming slate of releases in March 2021 on both their IFC Films Unlimited Subscription Service and also on VOD, among them LAST CALL starring Jeremy Piven and Bruce Dern.

IFC FILMS VOD releases
*Available to rent on Apple TV

LAST CALL (2021) – March 19, 2021 (Comedy)
*Will be available on IFC FIlms Unlimited Summer 2021

Director: Paolo Pilladi
Starring: Jeremy Piven, Taryn Manning, Bruce Dern, Zach McGowan, Jamie Kennedy, Jack McGee, Cathy Moriarty, Cheri Oteri
Synopsis: A successful developer must decide whether to raze or resurrect his family’s bar after returning to the blue-collar Philadelphia neighbourhood of his youth.

IFC FILMS UNLIMITED
*Available on Amazon Prime Video Channels and Apple TV

A CALL TO SPY (2020) – March 3, 2021 (Drama)
Director: Lydia Dean Pilcher
Starring: Sarah Megan Thomas, Stana Katic, Radhika Apte
Synopsis: In the beginning of WWII, with Britain becoming desperate, Churchill orders his new spy agency to recruit and train women as spies. Together, these women help to undermine the Nazi regime in France.

SHITHOUSE (2020) – March 10, 2021 (Comedy)
Director: Cooper Raiff
Starring: Dylan Gelula, Cooper Raiff, Amy Landecker, Logan MillerSales: Submarine
Synopsis: A homesick college freshman goes to a party at Shithouse and ends up spending the night with his sophomore RA who’s had a shitty day and wants someone to hang out with.

THE HOUSEMAID (2011) – March 17, 2021 (Thriller)
Director: Im Sang-soo
Starring: Do-yeon Jeon, Jung-jae Lee, Woo Seo, Yuh-Jung Youn
Synopsis: A remake of Kim Ki-young’s Housemaid from the 1960s. A strange housemaid joins a peaceful family only to destroy them.

GHOST STORIES (2018) – March 24, 2021 (Thriller)
Director: Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman
Starring: Martin Freeman, Alex Lawther, Andy Nyman, Paul Whitehouse
Synopsis: Professor Phillip Goodman, psychologist and skeptic, has his rationality tested to the hilt when he stumbles across a long-lost file containing details of three terrifying hauntings.

(Photo credit: IFC Films)

#SXSW: “THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON”

Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong

Zak is a 22-year-old male with Down Syndrome who escapes from the retirement home he is forced to be in, in the hopes of meeting his Wrestling hero.

This Film has an enormous amount of heart with one of the most touching stories. The Script is tight with some of the richest characters who have been cast to perfection. The Cast includes Dakota Johnson, Thomas Haden Church, John Hawkes, Bruce Dern and the anchor of the Film Zack Gottsagen who plays Zak. However, the most moving performance is from Shia LaBeouf. He’s completely dedicated and extremely authentic in a different role than we have seen him in before.

The Peanut Butter Falcon screens at SXSW on March 9 at 8 PM at Atom Theatre, March 12 at 4:45 PM at Alamo Lamar D and March 13 at 5:15 PM at Stateside.

#CANNES: “BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOUR” WINS TOP HONOURS AT CANNES

Concluding the 66th annual Cannes Film Festival, the Main Jury (headed by Steven Spielberg,  including Nicole Kidman and Ang Lee) handed-out their Prizes earlier today.  Winning top honours this year, the Palme d’Or, was Blue is the Warmest Colour (La vie d’Adèle), directed by Abdellatif Kechiche.  The racy Drama, clocking-in at over three hours, is about a teenage Girl who has an affair with a Woman.  It also has the distinction of winning the FIPRESCI Competition Prize.

In the acting categories Bérénice Bejo, who received an Oscar nomination for her silent performance in The Artist,  won Best Actress for Italian-French Production The Past, about a Parisian Woman looking to divorce her Iranian Husband.  Bruce Dern won Best Actor for his work in Nebraska, directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants), about a Father and Son who reunite to claim a Sweepstakes prize.  The Drama which stars SNL Alumni Will Forte, gets a November release via Paramount Pictures in North America.

Winning the Grand Prix was eagerly-awaited Coen Brothers Film, Inside Llewyn Davis. Set in the ’60s, the Drama about the Folk Music Scene stars an exciting Cast of Carey Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund, John Goodman and Oscar Isaac.

Mexican Filmmaker Amat Escalante won Best Director for his work on Heli, a Mexican Drama about a Family torn-apart by drugs.

On our radars is Fruitvale Station, to be distributed by eOne Films in select Canadian Citiies on July 26, 2013.  The Ryan Coogler Drama, which was a Hit at Sundance earlier this year, picked-up the Future Prize and is about a 22-year-old Man’s final day on New Year’s Eve 2008.

Clearly on the Awards Trail and release dates scheduled for later this year, perhaps we can expect Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis, The Past and Blue is the Warmest Colour to surface in Toronto at TIFF this September?

Complete list of Winners here.

(Photo credit: Quat’sous Films)