Filed in Faults Movies

Faults Gets U.S. Distribution; Release Date Announced

After much wait, it’s been announced that Faults, the cult thriller starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead will be released early next year.

Screen Media Films has acquired U.S. rights to writer-director Riley Stearns’ indie thriller “Faults,” which also stars Leland Orser, Beth Grant, Chris Ellis, Jon Gries and Lance Reddick, the company announced Tuesday.

“Faults,” which serves as Stearns’s directorial debut, made its world premiere earlier this year at SXSW. Screen Media will give the film a nationwide theatrical release on March 6, 2015 that will be accompanied by a day-and-date VOD platform release.

Faults follows Claire (Winstead), who is under the grip of a mysterious cult called Faults. Desperate to be reunited with their daughter, Claire’s parents set out to recruit Ansel Roth (Orser), one of the world’s foremost authorities on cults and mind control. But Ansel’s specialty, deprogramming cult members and returning them to their families, is not an exact science, and a series of financial setbacks has left him in debt to his manager. Ansel warns Claire’s parents that his deprogramming methods are risky and expensive, but they agree to hire him to kidnap and deprogram their daughter. Claire quickly reveals herself to be a formidable challenge. Her belief is unshakeable and her logic is undeniable. A battle of wits develops between the two as they delve deeper and deeper into each other’s mind.

This news comes after it was announced that Mary has the lead in the new film The Cellar.

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Filed in 10 Cloverfield Lane News and Rumors

Mary Makes Her Way Into The Cellar

Chalk up a new film for our girl! Variety is reporting that Mary is set to star in Paramount and Bad Robot’s “The Cellar.”

The majority of the movie takes place in an underground cellar, and revolves around a young woman who wakes up in the cellar after a severe car accident and fears she has been abducted. Her captor, a doomsday prepper (Goodman), tells her he saved her life and that there has been a terrible chemical attack that has left the outside uninhabitable. She does not know what to believe and as tensions rise, she decides she must escape, regardless of the terrors that await outside.

The film will also star John Goodman and filming is scheduled to begin in the fall.

Congrats, Mary! 🙂

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Filed in Alex of Venice Faults Gallery Updates Movies

New Alex of Venice Still and Faults Review

The Deauville Film Festival begins on September 5th and among the films having their premieres, Alex of Venice has landed among the list. That said, a new still has been released via the official festival page. Head to the gallery to check out the full-sized photo.

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Also, the Film List has published a new review regarding Faults which you can read here.

 

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Filed in Faults Film Reviews Got A Girl Music/News Interviews

New Faults Review and Interview with Mary

First up, Mary spoke with the Belfast Telegraph where she says she was cautious about approaching a singing career. She explains she’d been approached about singing before, but nothing ever “struck me as a good idea, because it was just uninteresting pop that tried to cash in on whatever name value I might have as an actor. That’s not something I ever wanted to do,” she said.

Mary added: “Once I hooked up with Dan, I didn’t have any fears.

“I admired him so much musically, that working with him was great. And it was such a good opportunity for me personally, just as a fan of his, that I would never worry about what anyone else would think. You get people who are actors slash models slash singers slash whatever, just because it gets their name out there some more,” Winstead mused. “I’m not interested in that at all.”

Next, Way Too Indie gave Faults a 9/10 score:

Its premiere at SXSW earlier in the year started off the buzz (with our very own Dustin loving it to bits,) but Faults massively blinked on my radar when it was announced for Montreal’s genre festival Fantasia simply because I’ve become a bona fide Winstead fan, after her stunning performance in 2012’s Smashed. The streak continues here; she peels off Claire’s layers with agility and complete composure to reveal a fascinating and devilishly twisted character.

Complex meanwhile also loved the film:

Faults has the feel of a cinematic stage play, one in which Orser and Winstead get it on in an unpredictable battle of wits. First-time writer-director Riley Stearns tightly volleys around from laughs to creepiness, with a constant sense of mystery and subtle dread giving way to a well-earned surprise ending.

Be sure to click on any of the above links to read the reviews in full!

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Filed in Faults Gallery Updates Got A Girl Music/News Interviews The Returned

Pret-A-Porter Interviews Mary About Fashion

Pret-A-Porter caught up with Mary Elizabeth Winstead to talk about her new album, fashion and style. Check out some of the highlights below and then head to the gallery to check out the great, new pics!

We also see that you’ll be starring in the film Faults. How was working on that?

My husband (director Riley Stearns) and I worked on that film together. I’m so proud of it. He wrote and directed it. I’m in it and produced it as well. It was such a blast to make. We just know each other so well that it was so easy. He’s very, very specific in what he wants, which can be frustrating, sometimes, with directors who are specific and if you don’t understand their vision, that can be hard to get there, but because I know him so well, it was so exciting to know exactly what he had in his head and to execute that. It was really fun to go through that process together.

Sounds like you’re very much into vintage. How would you describe your personal style?

I’ve always been pretty feminine and retro. As I’m getting older, I’m starting to add a lot more elements of menswear and comfort, which maybe just a part of getting older. (Laughs.) I think on one hand, I’m starting to like to look a little more powerful so I like a lot of blazers and boots — things that I didn’t used to wear that I’m starting to venture toward like high-waist pants and suits. For a while there, I had nothing but dresses. I didn’t have any shirts or pants. It was just a closet full of ’50s to ’60s  silhouette dresses. I’ve always been a dress girl, and I think part of it has a lot to do with my body shape, which is suited for dresses that are fitted on the waist and then A-lined out so I’ve always been drawn to that because it’s flattering and I’ve always been more drawn to vintage styles. I’m beginning to own my figure more and I don’t mind myself in pants. I used to be like, ‘I don’t want to show my hips and butt.’ I was so self-conscious, but now I’m like whatever. I’ll even do pajama pants sometimes because you know, they’re not always so flattering, but it’s comfortable and cool.

What’s been your biggest summer splurge lately?

I am working in Vancouver right now and there’s a store called Gravity Pope. I’m working there for four months and I’m planning on going there once a month to splurge on something because it’s this amazing store that has all the best stuff. I got these great Rag & Bone boots there. I’ve been wanting them for a long time, so I was just, like, ‘I’m going to do it.’

How long will you be in Vancouver for and what’s the project you’re working on?

I’ll be shooting there until the beginning of October. It’s called The Return. It’s a 10-episode series from A&E that’s based on a French show. It’s kind of dark, moody and mysterious. It’s about a small town where all these people who have died there start coming back for no reason. They’re not ghosts, zombies or anything. They’re just there and nobody knows why. It’s about their relationships and the consequences of them coming back where they’re not supposed to come back. It’s a lot of good drama.

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Filed in Faults Film Reviews Got A Girl Music/News

New Got A Girl and Faults Reviews

As the title reads, new reviews for Mary’s debut album as well as her latest film Faults have come online. Click on each link to read the reviews in full.

Faults Review:

FAULTS is a two-hander, with Orser giving the performance of his career as the downtrodden deprogrammer.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Stearns’ partner) plays his unwilling subject, and as always she’s excellent. Winstead excels in indie roles, and the part was probably tailor-made for her and it shows. While Orser probably has the showier or the two roles, Winstead’s part is arguably trickier, with her having to walk a fine line between playing an unwitting victim and possibly something more sinister throughout her lengthy exchanges with Orser. With a good 70% of the movie being confined to a single motel room, it’s impressive how much mileage Stearns is able to get out of the film visually, opting to shoot in scope 2:35:1, which is unusual for such an intimate film. He’s managed to make a very dynamic film, with some interesting shots, and terrific sound design giving this a polished feel that makes it seem like it cost a lot more than it probably did.
NME reviewed the I Love You But I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now album:
Got A Girl are actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead and producer/Deltron 3030 member Dan ‘The Automator’ Nakamura. They met while making Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (she played Ramona Flowers, he wrote the score), and bonded over their shared love of French yé-yé singers such as Serge Gainsbourg and Françoise Hardy. The result is not unlike Lana Del Rey, but with fun instead of fatalistic gloom. Nakamura’s lush arrangements are bolstered by gentle hip-hop beats and Winstead’s seductive voice is given grit by playfully sinister lyrics: “Maybe soon you’ll see the real me”, she sings on ‘Things Will Never Be The Same’. It sounds more like a threat than a promise.

Expect more reviews tomorrow when the album hits stores in the U.S.!
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Filed in Alex of Venice Gallery Updates

New Tribeca Film Festival Portraits!

Thanks to Paige, I’ve added new photo portraits of Mary when she was promoting Alex of Venice at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Head to the gallery to check them out!

The third pic is my favorite of the bunch. 🙂

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Filed in The Hollars

Mary Cast in New Film The Hollars

Mary sure is keeping busy! Aside from her debut album shortly being released on July 22 and currently filming the A&E televison series The Returned, she’s now been cast in John Krasinski’s The Hollars opposite Krasinski (who is directing and starring in), Anna Kendrick, Richard Jenkins and Charlie Day.

The film is about John Hollar (Krasinski), an aspiring NYC artist who takes his girlfriend (Kendrick) back to his Middle America hometown on the eve of his mother’s (Margo Martindale) brain surgery. There he’s forced to navigate the crazy life he left behind as his dysfunctional family, high school pals, his father (Jenkins), and his over-eager ex flood back into his life ahead of the operation.

While it hasn’t been officially announced, Krasinski broke the news Mary was in the film via his Twitter.

Once you have a script… you need a cast. Aaaaand the fact I have these folks is surreal! #TheHollars

Hollars cast

He continued by tweeting… New additions: Charlie day, Sharlto Copley, @M_E_Winstead , @joshgroban , @parkrandall , Ashley dyke and Mary Kay Place!!! #TheHollars

So far all we know is that Mary’s character is named Gwen. Hopefully we’ll know more as filming is set to begin next week in Mississippi!

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Filed in Faults Movies

Faults to Premiere at Australia Film Festival

Aside from premiering at the FrightFest this August, FAULTS will also be premiering at Possible Worlds Australia’s Festival of American and Canadian Cinema on August 16th. It will take place at 6:30 PM at the Event Cinemas George St. You can buy tickets for the screening here.

If you can’t remember, here’s the plot for FAULTS:

Claire (Winstead) is under the grip of a mysterious cult known as Faults. Claire’s desperate parents set out to recruit mind control expert Ansel Roth (Leland Orser) to abduct and deprogram her. Washed out, in debt and in trouble, Ansel agrees. But Claire reveals herself to be a formidable challenge. As it cunningly evolves from black comedy to psychological thriller, Faults remains utterly compelling thanks to a clever script (on the 2013 Black List of unproduced screenplays) and brilliant chemistry between rising star Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim Vs The World) and character actor Leland Orser (Se7en, Taken).

 

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