Film-Forward

About Paul Weissman

Paul Weissman is an actor, writer, playwright, and, in the comfort of his own home, an occasional guitar player who lives in New York City. He has appeared in Sean Baker's first film Four Letter Words and will be seen in the upcoming horror film Cryptid. His website is paulweissman.com.

20,000 Days on Earth

Directed by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard
Written by Mr. Forsyth, Pollard and Nick Cave
Produced by James Wilson and Dan Bowen
Released by Drafthouse Films
UK. 97 min. Not rated
Nick Cave must say the word transformation about a half a dozen times in the quash-documentary 20,000 Days on Earth. It’s what he feels art does in life, what […]

By |September 16th, 2014|Music, Pop Culture|0 Comments

At the Devil’s Door

Written and Directed by Nicholas McCarthy
Produced by Sonny Mallhi
Released by IFC Midnight/Video on Demand
USA. 92 min. Not rated
With Catalina Sandino Moreno, Naya Rivera, Ashley Rickards, and Colin Egglesfield
There are horror movies that wink and nudge at you, knowing you understand the tropes and the paces. They allow you to keep an ironic distance from the […]

By |August 7th, 2014|DVD/Streaming/On Demand, Horror, Indie, Top Picks|0 Comments

The Almost Man

Directed by Martin Lund
Released by Big World Pictures
Norwegian, with English subtitles
Norway. 75 min. Not rated
If Alexander Payne ever decided to make a Judd Apatow film, it would look somewhat like The Almost Man. Henrik, played by Henrik Rafaelson, is a 35-year-old man-child (with an uncanny resemblance to Jason Segel) who starts acting out passive-aggressively, sometimes […]

By |July 31st, 2014|Comedy, Scandanavia, Top Picks|0 Comments

Child of God

Directed by James Franco
Produced by Miles Levy, Jolivette, and Caroline Aragon
Written by Franco and Vince Jolivette, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy
Released by Well Go USA Entertainment
USA. 104 min. Rated R
With Scott Haze, Tim Blake Nelson, Jim Parrack and James Franco
James Franco is a talented actor who more than dabbles in, well, everything. The […]

By |July 31st, 2014|Book adaptation, Crime|0 Comments

Cannibal

Directed by Manuel Martin Cuenca
Produced by Fernando Bovaira, Simon de Santiago, Manuel Martin Cuenca, Alejandro Hernandez
Written by Cuenca, Alejandro Hernandez, based on a novel by Humberto Arenal
Released by Film Movement/RAM Releasing
Spain/Romania/Russia/France. 116 min. Not rated
With Antonio de la Torre, Olimpia Melinte, and Alfonsa Rosso
The Spanish film Cannibal is a character study about the most […]

By |July 24th, 2014|Foreign, Psychological thriller, Top Picks|0 Comments

Land Ho!

Written and Directed by Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz
Produced by Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy and Christina Jennings
Released by Sony Pictures Classics
USA. 95 min. Rated R
With Paul Eenhoorn, Earl Lynn Nelson, Karrie Crouse and Elizabeth McKee
Land Ho!, a slight, harmless little film, has charm but ultimately disappoints. Mitch (Earl Lynn Nelson), a geriatric Kentucky surgeon—he’s 70 […]

By |July 10th, 2014|Comedy, Road Trip|0 Comments

Witching & Bitching

Directed by Álex de la Iglesia
Written by Jorge Guerricaechevarría and de la Iglesia
Released by IFC Midnight
Spanish with English subtitles
Spain. 112 min. Not rated
With Hugo Silva, Mario Casas, Pepón Nieto, Carolina Bang, Terele Pávez, Jaime Ordóñez, Gabriel Ángel Delgado, Santiago Segura, Macarena Gómez, and Carmen Maura

It’s been a long, long while since a horror comedy had […]

By |June 12th, 2014|Foreign, Horror, Satire, Thriller, Top Picks|0 Comments

Borgman

Written and Directed by Alex van Warmerdam
Produced by Marc van Warmerdam
Released by Drafthouse Films
Dutch with English subtitles
Netherlands/Denmark. 113 min. Not rated
With Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis, Jeroen Perceval, and Sara Hjort Ditlevsen
Borgman is a sleek, sly, stylish little horror film that is ultimately unsatisfying. It starts intriguingly as we watch three men, one a priest, tramp […]

By |June 8th, 2014|Foreign, Thriller|0 Comments

The Double

Directed by Richard Ayoade
Produced by Robin C. Fox and Amina Dasmal
Written by Ayoade, Avi Korine, based on “The Double” by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Released by Magnolia Pictures
UK. 93 min.
With Jesse Eisenberg, Mia Wasikowska, Wallace Shawn, Noah Taylor, Yasmin Paige, Cathy Moriarty, Phyllis Somerville, James Fox, Sally Hawkins, and Chris O’Dowd
Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) is a non-person. He […]

By |May 8th, 2014|Book adaptation, Comedy, Top Picks|0 Comments