James Ponsoldt
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Sundance 2015: ‘The End of the Tour’ a quiet, affecting primer on the life of David Foster Wallace
The End of the Tour is the next offering from director James Ponsoldt, who brought us Smashed and The Spectacular Now. With The End of the Tour he takes us on another odyssey of a mind struggling to survive itself. The late author David Foster Wallace was revered during his time for the novel Infinite Jest and made a significant impact on literature before killing himself in 2008. This film dramatizes a few days in 1996 when Foster Wallace allowed a Rolling Stone reporter to visit and interview him at length. What emerges during the course of their casual and profound conversations is a cinematic think piece about loneliness, success, and American consumerism. More
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Sundance 2015: Most Anticipated in the Premieres Section
The Sundance Film Festival’s Premieres section is “A showcase of world premieres of some of the most highly anticipated narrative films of the coming year.” Mississippi Grind Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck From the writing and directing duo that brought us Half Nelson and It’s Kind of a Funny Story comes […] More
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Sound On Sight Podcast #380: ‘Short Term 12’ and ‘Spectacular Now’
Mevio {Mevio-4d449bb5180a4ab37b9a24ed734fe941} This week, we catch up on some movies we didn’t have a chance to review last year on the podcast. First, we take a look at Short Term 12, from director Destin Daniel Cretton who expands his 2008 short of the same name into a feature film. We also set aside some time […] More
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‘The Spectacular Now’, James Ponsoldt’s Sundance hit, releases its first trailer
Filmmaker James Ponsoldt’s second full-length feature Smashed turned the heads of many film fans as it made its way around the festival circuit in 2012. It was at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, however, that Ponsoldt really made waves, with his new feature garnering a lot of acclaim prior to getting picked up. Titled The […] More
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It’s Hard to Love ‘Smashed’
Smashed Written by James Ponsoldt and Susan Burke Directed by James Ponsoldt USA 2012 imdb Simon Howell’s TIFF review The reason to see Smashed is an amazing performance by Mary Elizabeth Winstead as an alcoholic 1st grade teacher, married to an equally alcoholic music critic. Winstead’s Kate is walking a tightrope made of broken bottles, teetering […] More
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TIFF 2012: Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul-starring ‘Smashed’ gets its first trailer
Mary Elizabeth Winstead has built up an impressive resume of supporting roles over her career, having worked with directors as varied as Quentin Tarantino and Edgar Wright. Having garnered praise for her turns even in movies that received lacklustre reviews as a whole, it was only a matter of time until she was given the […] More
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Mary Elizabeth Winstead gets the spotlight in four new ‘Smashed’ clips
Mary Elizabeth Winstead has been steadily building a name for herself over the past few years, with strong supporting turns in movies such as Sky High, Death Proof, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and The Thing. With some acclaim under her belt, she seems poised to tackle her first clear-cut lead role as an alcoholic […] More