New interview from FrightFest

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Carrie

Two New “The Loved Ones” Clips

The Loved Ones - Clip One
Uploaded by dreadcentral. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.


The Loved Ones - Clip Two
Uploaded by dreadcentral. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.
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Carrie

Stills from Xavier Samuel's "The Loved Ones"

Crooked Smile

~Robstenfan

New Poster For Xavier Samuel’s Movie The Loved Ones

Above is the new official poster for Xavier Samuel’s movie The Loved Ones.
[Source: TheVampireClub]

~Robstenfan

Trailer & clip for Xavier Samuel’s ‘The Loved Ones’ (Spoilers)

WARNING!! Scary film

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Carrie

Runaways and Loved Ones at Australian Film Festival

Polanski thriller leads festival up the right pathway

AN award-winning film from the director Roman Polanski, a faux documentary by the mysterious street artist Banksy and a film charting the rise and fall of 1970s rockers the Runaways, featuring Twilight's Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, will be among the premieres at this year's Sydney Film Festival.

The festival has released the first part of its program, which its director, Clare Stewart, promises will offer a broad range of big releases and hidden gems.

''It's the place to be if you want to see big films ahead of everyone else but also if you want to engage with the many stories of the world,'' Stewart said.

The full program will be announced on May 5.

Polanski won the award for best director at the Berlin Film Festival in February for the political thriller The Ghost Writer, which stars Ewan McGregor as a writer hired to pen the memoirs of a former British prime minister, played by Pierce Brosnan.

Banksy's comic Exit Through the Gift Shop has received enthusiastic reviews since its debut at the Sundance festival, where The Runaways also had its debut.

Other films include the French comedy Mammuth, starring Gerard Depardieu sporting an impressive beer belly, the low-budget Australian horror-comedy The Loved Ones, and Cyrus, the first studio film from indie favourites Mark and Jay Duplass.

''They've kept all the independent values of their early films and made that transition into a very accessible comedy,'' Stewart said.

After a successful introduction last year, the festival will again program films in ''pathways'' or groupings designed to help filmgoers choose the type of film they want to see.

''It's been exciting this year because we've been more actively programming to those pathways and the program has become texturally more varied,'' Stewart said.

It was too early to announce any festival guests, she said, ''although there are rumours that Banksy will be around. But I'm not sure he'll be on stage.''

The state government's recent increase in funding had given the festival more certainty, Stewart said.

''It means we can focus on new initiatives in future years, whereas it has been an ongoing concern each year to simply be able to deliver the festival.''

The festival runs from June 2 to 14. The full program will be included in the Herald on May 7.

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FYI the Stewart that has quotes is not Kristen, its Clare, festival director.
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Carrie

SXSW Review: The Loved Ones

Yes that is Xavier who plays Riley in Eclipse.

We all remember high school, right?  For some of us it’s not a terribly distant memory and for others it’s so distant that it’s almost a past-life experience.  Some of us were able to flourish and rule our microcosmic domains for four years while others managed to scrape by blissfully unnoticed.  And then there are still others who look back on those years with the same intense dread as traumatized veterans flashback to their days in combat.  Whether you served your four years as captain of the football team or stuffed in a locker, everyone has at least a couple of horror stories from high school.  But I’m willing to bet none of you have a horror story quite like this one.

The Loved Ones is a teen romance that centers on a boy named Brent (Xavier Samuel).  Brent suffers a great tragedy when his father his killed in a car accident and suddenly the carefree teen is transformed into a brooding, dark shell of his former self.  He frequently flirts with the idea of suicide and a void is rapidly growing between him and his mother.  The one thing that does seem to offer him a glint of happiness is his girlfriend Holly.  As the two prepare for the end-of-year dance, Brent is approached by a shy, awkward girl named Lola who also asks him to the dance; an offer he respectfully declines.  That polite refusal amounts to the biggest mistake Brent has ever made because, whether he wants to or not, he will be attending a dance with Lola.  High school may be hell, but prom can be murder.

I loved this film (appropriately).  It’s the first hardcore horror film I’ve gotten a chance to see at SXSW; granted I missed both Red,White, and Blue and Serbian Film.  But the difference, from what I’ve gleaned about those other two films, is that The Loved Ones is decidedly more entertaining.  The most severe violence in the film is tempered by moments of effective dark humor.  There are moments of dark comedy in both the audacity of the violence employed and in a supplemental story about Brent’s geek friend taking the hottest, most dangerous girl in school to the dance.  The b-story was like watching something by John Hughes’ evil twin; Hughes’ verbal frankness about teen sexuality taken to the next level.

As to the comedy in the violence, The Loved Ones wisely makes the torture bearable by pandering a bit to the horror crowd.  In this case, pandering is not a bad thing because it makes more of an absurd spectacle out of Lola’s brutality so that, while we are cringing, we are enjoying the ride.  The genius of The Loved Ones is that it knows how to use over-the-top horror elements to provide the necessary safety net for the tightrope walk between shock and entertainment.  The dynamic of Lola’s family also seems like a pretty obvious reference to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre so that should also be sure to please us horror geeks.  The choice made by actress Robin McLeavy to play Lola with just as much childish glee as unsettling menace was superb.  She’s evil incarnate but also a spoiled toddler in a teen-aged body.  To us, she’s committing unspeakable atrocities but to her, it’s her birthday party and Brent is her new toy.

There’s a subtext here that may be intentional or may just speak to the universal nature of high school experiences; so universal they even exist in Australia.  High school girls are among the most emotionally volatile creatures this side of fashion models.  As a boy in high school, you have to be constantly walking on eggshells to avoid igniting the powder kegs of drama.  Clearly I am speaking from my own high school memories, but I have a feeling this is not specific to high schools in Indiana.  In the film, this point is emphasized by the fact that Brent is really nice to the shy, seemingly harmless Lola and still pays dearly for rejecting her but at all.  This subtext is really just an exaggerated depiction of the instability of teenage emotional states…with stabbing.  In the equal opportunity department regarding emotional paradoxes, I will say that I love the fact that Brent spends the first part of the film obsessed with suicide but does everything in his power to survive when actually facing death; kids, right?

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Carrie

Xavier talks about The Loved Ones & Eclipse

In this video, Xavier Samuel talks to Moving Pictures about his film The Loved Ones, as well as about Eclipse, done during the Toronto International Film Festival last year.
“Who are you? Are you famous?” LOL  Give it time!
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~Robstenfan

More on SXSW

Yesterday it was mentioned that The Runaways will be shown at this years SXSW.  Kristen and Dakota aren't the only ones showing a film there, Xavier has a film coming.  The film is called The Loved Ones.

'The Runaways' News! Kristen Stewart And Dakota Fanning Flick Will Screen At South By Southwest

Hot off the heels of premiering at Sundancelast month, "The Runaways" will make its second public appearance in Austin, Texas at the South By Southwest film festival in March. The SXSW featured films were announced this week, and "The Runaways" was one of seven"Headliners" selected by the festival.

Along with "The Runaways," the Duplass Brothers comedy "Cyrus" starring John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill, and the Bill Murray and Robert Duvall film "Get Low" are reappearing after Sundance. Two exciting films that arepremiering for this first time at SXSW, however, are the much anticipated "Kick-Ass"(which will be the opening night film) and "MacGruber."

"Twilight" fans rejoice, because Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning won't be the only "Twilight" stars with films showing at the festival. Xavier Samuel, who won't really enter the Saga until this summer's "Eclipse," has his film "The Loved Ones" screening at the festival as well. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year, but this is the first time the film is hitting the States. It is in the "Midnighters" category of the festival, which we believe is self-explanatory as to when the film will be screened. ("Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil" is also in this category.)

With the focus of SXSW being a combination of film and music, it seems like the prime place for Kristen and Dakota to hop on stage and perform with Joan Jett & The Blackhearts like they did at Sundance. While we haven't seen any confirmed appearances, we wouldn't be surprised if all three made their way down south to promote the film. Which leads us to wonder: when will "The Runaways" premiere on the East Coast??

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Carrie