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Intriguing teaser for Shane Carruth's Upstream Color.

He finally finished it? I thought we'd all be dead before he could finance any followup.

knives wrote:He finally finished it? I thought we'd all be dead before he could finance any followup.

It's in competition at Sundance.

knives wrote:He finally finished it? I thought we'd all be dead before he could finance any followup.

I suspect you're thinking of A Topiary, which is a different project

L.A. Times had a good piece on Shane Carruth the other day. I had no idea he was self-distributing Upstream Color. Gotta love the balls on this guy. Takes control the way Gallo does without being a prick about it. Plus his films are known for their remarkably small budget while Gallo is known as the guy who pockets 80% of a relatively large budget.

Think it's safe to say the twitter response for Upstream Color is ecstatic. One person comparing it to Malick, Bunuel and Kubrick.

Alan Smithee wrote:I had no idea he was self-distributing Upstream Color. Gotta love the balls on this guy.

Carruth will be distributing on digital platforms, but has managed to secure theatrical runs in many major U.S. cities. It debuts at the IFC Center on April 5th, and rolls out across the country in the following weeks. You can see the screening schedule on his website.

Alan Smithee wrote:Think it's safe to say the twitter response for Upstream Color is ecstatic. One person comparing it to Malick, Bunuel and Kubrick.

There's definitely some of that, but reactions ended up all over the place, with many finding it completely inscrutable, which is not a bad thing in my opinion! Color me intrigued.


The Guardian: "After the intriguing Primer, hopes were high for Shane Carruth's new movie – but it has turned out to be a baffling, opaque mess." [Grade: 2/5]

Collider: "Upstream Color [is] understandable in its broad strokes, but infuriating in its individual scenes." [Grade: C]

The Hollywood Reporter: "Upstream Colors [sic] certainly is something to see if you’re into brilliant technique, expressive editing, oblique storytelling, obscuritanist speculative fiction or discovering a significant new actress. Tastes running to anything even slightly more conventional should stick with what they know."

The Verge: "Upstream Color is a trippy and enjoyable exploration of connections both direct and indirect."

Cinema Blend: "Carruth is a genuine talent behind the camera, but treatment of his characters as decorations within his wild world rather than as people makes Upstream Color more hollow than spectacular."

HitFix: "Not every audience will be thrilled by the ambiguity or the anxious tone of much of the movie, but I think it is a tremendous return by a gifted filmmaker." [Grade: A]

Movie City News: "Upstream Color is daunting tapestry, the sort that unfurls only in memory or in heated contestation and conversation."

The Playlist: "Upstream Color is a maddeningly abstract and romantic examination of love, who we are as lovers, what our love does to one another, and how that's connected to the nature of all things. It's fleeting, transcendental. Don't ask me what it all means." [Grade: A]

Screen Daily: "As visionary and beautiful as it may be, Upstream Color wears its pretensions a little too proudly."

at "baffling, opaque mess". Go fuck yourself, Guardian.

Who has R1 Primer rights? It's OOP in the US and UK-- I'm kicking myself for not picking it up years ago

The U.S. disc was from New Line via ThinkFilm.

ThinkFilm? Ugh, that explains everything, that company was a mess. It was bought up after it fell apart, but it's definitely nothing like it was before.

domino harvey wrote:Who has R1 Primer rights? It's OOP in the US and UK-- I'm kicking myself for not picking it up years ago

The rights are back with Carruth (dba "erbp"). He offers a 720p download on his site for $15. He ought to license the disc rights to the nice folks at Criterion, maybe alongside the rights to Upstream Color.

Primer is on Hulu and Netflix Instant now.

Finally watched the preview for this. It looks brilliant to me. Those pans look like the same kind of reactions lots of people had to Primer, so my enthusiasm is undimmed by them.

Carruth will be distributing the Blu-ray/DVD combo of this himself too, beginning May 7. You can now pre-order it at Amazon.

Got to see this at the Santa Fe "premiere" event (150-200 people in attendance) with Shane Carruth introducing in person and giving a Q & A afterwards. The Center for Contemporary Arts also hosted a screening of Primer two weeks ago, and Carruth talked to the audience on Skype after that, so it's been an awesome time to hear this director talk about his work, self-distribution, and the transition from film to digital.

I want to give impressions of the film and its style, because I wasn't anywhere near as blown-away by this as I was by Primer. That said, Upstream Color was still a powerful and transcendent experience. The plot is much less inscrutable than Primer (at least in my estimation of both films), and much more about forming connections among the plot threads and themes than about solving some mystery (there are a few of those though). In that way it felt more assured and mature.

Going to spoiler some text as I discuss the plot a little. The lead actress Amy Seimetz is impressive, and carries the movie (Carruth's in a supporting role and his performance is straight-faced and straightforward).

Spoiler

It begins with the slow destruction of Seimetz's life at the hands of a thief - the organic and surgical means by which this thief operates is the central "sci-fi" (if I can say that) conceit of the film, and it is presented as both mysterious and matter-of-fact. After this first act of the film, where much of the action happens, Carruth's character is introduced and the two try to unravel the mystery of their lives and the common link they share (again organic and psychic, a bit unexplainable).

The development of the film shows these two characters attempting to transition out of the cycle they are stuck in, and the metaphor of 30-somethings growing tired of their workaday life is present, intentional or not. The film wants its thematic and visual layers to overlap organically, and this works for the most part. Some of it was downright beautiful, really.

I want to mention the sound design, which is integral to the story and aesthetic of the film. Carruth pretty much handmade the film, including composing the music, and I was impressed at how fully integrated the sound design is with the score, and the movie as a whole.

Spoiler

Reminded me of Inception a little.

The Q & A afterwards was a chance for the audience to give their take on the film, and Carruth kept telling us that we were "getting it" while refusing to answer a few questions here and there because he liked the ambiguity and disagreement we were generating. He mentioned the "divisive" reviews and countered that our appreciation of the film seemed to disprove the negativity. Other than some comments on the development of his filmmaking over the prolonged absence, the most interesting moment for me was when an audience member asked Carruth about moving from script to pre-production to screen, and how much change happened to the story during that time. Carruth's response was that he no longer saw the divisions of the filmmaking process as "real," and that the evolution and stability of his original vision were both part of that process. Interesting stuff from a guy who seems like he's going to stick around.

I don't suppose anyone at the Q&A asked what's next for him or whether A Topiary is totally dead?

Nah. He mentioned A Topiary at the Skype conference two weeks ago, so it doesn't seem "totally" dead. But I'm not sure.

I saw this last night at SXSW. Without reservation, it is my favorite film of the year so far. I really liked Primer and had high hopes for this one, but was surprised that Carruth has surpassed Primer. I found the scifi concept very intriguing, and was really disturbed by what is done to the main characters. The film is oblique, but I didn't find it hard to follow. The cinematography and score were beautiful. I can't wait to see it again.

Carruith's trip was delayed, so he wasn't there for a Q&A, but the producer was. He gave the impression that nothing will be happening with A Topiary for the near future.

Wired profile on Shane Carruth. Some spoilers near the end for Upstream Color. Good details about the years long development of A Topiary I'd never heard before, including Carruth's work on his own VFX for the project and the involvement of Steven Soderbergh and David Fincher.

Upstream Color will be shown at the Ritz 5 in Philadelphia on March 27. Tickets are $10 for the screening, or $25 for the screening plus a pre-show cocktail party with Shane Carruth.

Proceeds from the evening will go to the ongoing restoration of the Roxy Theater.

When is this coming out commercially? When Googled, it says April 5th, but I don't see any other information on that beyond the date here and there.

mfunk9786 wrote:When is this coming out commercially? When Googled, it says April 5th, but I don't see any other information on that beyond the date here and there.

Here's the screening schedule, but I don't think you're gonna like it.

I guess I'm going to this March 27th screening, then!

EDIT: Apparently the process of adding theaters/cities is still ongoing, so it's still entirely possible that Philadelphia, among other cities not listed there yet, will be added in the coming days/weeks. Still going to the benefit screening though; it's a good cause, after all.

Peter Labuza and Daniel Walber discuss this one a fair amount on the former's most recent podcast.

Shane Carruth on The Q&A podcast which also includes about 30 mins or so of Rian Johnson interviewing Carruth as well at CineFamily.

I still haven't made my mind up if i even like the film yet but it has certainly stayed with me since i saw it last week and i guess that's all that really matters.