Palm Pictures presents "The Directors Label "DVD series Video
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High School Record follows four awkward 17-year-olds as they struggle through their senior year. Like most high school students, they ride a continual wave of embarrassment: crappy after-school jobs, attempted sex in the science room, tinfoil shorts, guitar-strumming hippie teachers and brushes with the law. The only difference is that their moments of humiliation are all caught on tape - our gang of four are the subjects of a documentary shot by fellow classmates. A journey into narrative anarchy, High School Record is an engaging film partially improvised by its young cast. Written by Ben Wolfinsohn and based on his own high school experiences, HIGH SCHOOL RECORD is a painfully funny exploration of the teenage mind. High School Record is a follow up to Wolfinsohn's critically acclaimed music documentary Friends Forever.
Storyline:
From Gerald Clarke, author of the book "Capote: A Biography".
"Truman, I've been asked to write your biography. Will you cooperate?"
From the other end of the telephone there was a short pause and an even shorter answer - "Sure." And so I began.
I thought my book would be relatively easy to write. I had, after all, written many profiles of famous and talented people for Time magazine - a list that eventually included everyone from Mae West to Susan Sontag, Elizabeth Taylor to Joseph Campbell. I had also done a series on writers for The Atlantic and Esquire. Gore Vidal. Allen Ginsberg, the Beat poet Vladmir Nabokov, the creator of Lolita. P. G. Wodehouse, the comic genius behind Jeeves. And, finally, Truman Capote, who was then the most celebrated writer in America-the author of In Cold Blood, the publishing phenomenon of the sixties and a book that has influenced the writing of nonfiction writing ever since. It was that last article that prompted a call from a publisher and my own call to Truman.
I thought my book would take two years, three at most, and that writing it would be a lark, interviews at fancy restaurants and gallons of good vintage wine at the best table in the house. When Truman Capote walked through the door, headwaiters did everything but salaam in their desire to please. "You might say Truman Capote has become omnipotent," said one newspaper, and for a decade and more he very nearly was.
I was right about the interviews in fancy restaurants and the giddy gallons of Beaujolais. But I was wrong about everything else. If he had known how long In Cold Blood would take, and what it would take out of him, he would not have stopped in Kansas, Truman later said. He would have driven on - "like a bat out of hell." I sometimes said much the same. What I had not anticipated was the drama that surrounded every minute of Truman's life, dramas in which I sometimes also became a participant. As a result, my own book took more than thirteen years. Some lark! Writing it was the hardest thing I have ever done. It was also the most exhilarating.
In search of information I crisscrossed the United States and traveled several times to Europe. One of my destinations was of course, Kansas, the setting for In Cold Blood. I came to know all but two of the main characters in Capote, the movie. Harper Lee, who helped Truman with his research and who was soon to have her own hugely successful book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Alvin Dewey, the lead detective for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and his wife, Marie. William Shawn, the editor of The New Yorker. And Jack Dunphy, Truman's longtime companion.
The two I did not interview were the killers, Perry Smith and Dick Hickock. They were executed in 1965. But I got to know them - intimately, I thought - through the forty or so letters they wrote to Truman. Most of their letters run several pages, and they are unsparing windows into life on death row. Truman gave them to me, and Dan Futterman, who wrote the screenplay of Capote, is the only one I've ever let see them. Their dialogue in the movie reflects, almost word for word, what Perry and Dick actually said.
The movie's script is all Dan's - and a very good one it is - but I was happy to answer his questions, large and small Would Truman have said this? Would he have done that? Bennett Miller, the film's director, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, who plays Truman, came out to my house on Long Island and asked more questions. Did Truman wear his glasses all the time? was one of the questions Philip asked. (The answer: like a lot of other nearsighted people, Truman often took off his glasses when he was sitting down.) So he could reproduce Truman's odd, childish voice - Truman did not lisp, as some writers have inaccurately stated - I gave him audio tapes from some of my interviews. Philip did the rest, and through the alchemy a few very gifted actors possess, he has done more than impersonate Truman. For the length of the movie he has resurrected him.
In the last week of June 1984 - he died in August - I had lunch with Truman every day on Long Island, followed by long talks at my house or his. "There's the one and only T.C.," he said at one point. "There was nobody like me before, and there ain't gonna be anybody like me after I'm gone." That's true - who could dispute it? For a couple of hours, however, Philip comes close.
This movie was nominated for numerous Academy Awards. Click here to see videos of other Oscar nominees on Download.com.
"ATL" tells the story of four teens coming of age in a working class Atlanta neighborhood where hip-hop music and roller skating rule. As the group prepares for life after high school, challenges on and off the rink bring about turning points in each of their lives. The film is loosely based on Dallas Austin and Tionne Watkins' experiences growing up in Atlanta and hanging out at a local skating rink called Jellybeans.
"Duck Season" takes you into one particular Sunday morning in the lives of two fourteen-year old boys, Flama and Moko. With their neighbor Rita and pizza delivery man Ulises, they create their own adventures to overcome their boredom. "Duck Season" explores the loneliness of childhood, the effects of divorce and the curious power of love and friendship. Winner of numerous awards, including an unprecedented 11 Ariel Awards, the Jury Award at AFI Fest, and the MTV Movies Award - Mexico. The film was produced by Christian Valdelievre, Lulu Productions and Cinepantera and executive produced by Jaime Ramos. Warner Independent Pictures and Alfonso Cuaron's (director of "Y Tu Mama Tambien" and "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban") Esperanto Films will distribute. Directed by Fernando Eimbcke, the film stars Enrique Arreola, Daniel Miranda, Diego Catano and Danny Perea.
From filmmaker Sam Raimi and acclaimed Japanese director Takashi Shimizu comes a terrifying tale of horror in the tradition of "The Ring" and "28 Days Later." Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as an American nurse who has come to work in Tokyo. Following a series of horrifying and mysterious deaths, she encounters the vengeful supernatural spirit that possesses its victims, claims their souls, then passes its curse to another person in a spreading chain of horror. Now, she must find a way to break this supernatural spell or become the next victim of an ancient evil that never dies, but forever lives to kill.
"Elizabethtown" Internet music trailer
Director Cameron Crowe speaks about the wedding of music and film and its importance to "Elizabethtown".
A one-time tennis pro, Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) was used to falling just short in his life. But when he befriends Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode) and marries his sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer), the doors are opened to the kind of money and success that Chris has once only dreamed of. Chris should have settled for happiness, but he is torn by his attraction to Tom's impossibly beautiful and sensual fiance, Nola (Scarlett Johansson). The attraction turns to an obsession that forces Chris to make a critical choice. Now everything in his life hinges on if Chris falls short again...and whether or not his luck runs out. "Match Point" is a drama about ambition, the seduction of wealth, love, and sexual passion. Perhaps most importantly, however, the story reveals the huge part luck plays in events, refuting the comforting misconception that more of life is under our control than really is.
This movie was nominated for an Academy Award. Click here to see videos of other Oscar nominees on Download.com.
Hollywoodland is a uniquely compelling exploration of fame and identity, inspired by one of Hollywood's most infamous real-life mysteries.
"Thank You for Smoking" trailer
The hero of "Thank You for Smoking" is Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart), chief spokesman for Big Tobacco, who makes his living defending the rights of smokers and cigarette makers in today's neo-puritanical culture. Confronted by health zealots out to ban tobacco and an opportunistic senator (William H. Macy) who wants to put poison labels on cigarette packs, Nick goes on a PR offensive, spinning away the dangers of cigarettes on TV talk shows and enlisting a Hollywood super-agent (Rob Lowe) to promote smoking in movies. Nick's newfound notoriety attracts the attention of both tobacco's head honcho (Robert Duvall) and an investigative reporter for an influential Washington daily (Katie Holmes). Nick says he is just doing what it takes to pay the mortgage, but he begins to think about how his work makes him look in the eyes of his young son Joey (Cameron Bright).
Newburgh, N.Y., which boasts the largest historic district in New York State, was once called "The Best All-American City" by a leading publication. Nearly fifty years later, it has been labeled "The State's Most Violent City". Drugs and crime run rampant. Newburgh's history is not unlike many other Hudson River cities. Urban Renewal destroyed many of the magnificent buildings. The building of a bridge, and the introduction of shopping malls took people away from waterfront shopping. But in Newburgh, the added politics and corruption lead to blight. The 2004 documentary examines the past, then provides a revealing probe into the 2003 administration, which was rife with controversy. "Honest Mayor Wanted: Apply Newburgh, N.Y." bumper stickers were left around the city by outraged citizens after $380,000 of city funds were mysteriously transferred to friends of the mayor. An underground web-site sprung up discussing both political and personal issues. As four candidates began their bid for the job of mayor, the notion of "working together to make this a better place" seemed far-fetched. The film follows each candidate in their bid for the mayor's seat, as well as several prominent Newburgh citizens, 'fighting' to bring the city back.
