At Last, Duplass!

Hey gang! If you are in Austin, Boston, San Fran, Portland or D.C., make sure to turn out early and often this weekend for the opening of The Puffy Chair. The theatres are listed above, but you have to click on the pic to actually make them legible (Sorry, I haven't quite figured out the "master" part of "webmaster" yet.) The film has been getting some great early press from such fine, classy rags as the SF Bay Guardian, Boston Phoenix, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Portland Oregonian.

And as if that wasn't enough to convince you to head to your local uni- and/or multi-plex, here are a few words from the auteurs themselves:

"Hi everybody,

Our movie "The Puffy Chair" opens in theaters this Friday June 2 in Austin, Berkeley, Boston, Portland, San Francisco, and Washington... and in July we'll be opening LA and New York.

This is where you come in. Puffy needs you. Our campaign for this movie is almost entirely based on word of mouth, so please please bring your friends this weekend and go see it. Also, forward this email along to your friends who live in these cities and encourage them to go, 'cos if we don't do well in the first week, they'll kick our asses to the curb.

Thanks guys!
Jay and Mark

PS you can get all relevant information and watch our new trailer at www.thepuffychairmovie.com"

So, if you don't want to see Duplass ass meet curb, be sure to check out The Puffy Chair starting this Friday, June 2nd. Go lineup now. Camp out. It'll be like Stars Wars. Except not terrible.

Lassie Comes Home to Roadside

Yes, that was cheeseball. Sorry. Anyway, we here at Roadside Attractions are pleased to announce that we, along with Samuel Goldwyn Films, will be distributing the new British version of the timeless boy-meets-dog story Lassie this fall in these United States. The film stars Samantha Morton, Peter O'Toole, Peter Dinklage and, of course, Lassie. Here's what that bastion of cinematic integrity, Yahoo Finance, had to say about the deal. The film recently played at the Sprockets International Film Festival for Children and the Tribeca not-for-children Film Festival in New York. Honestly, it really is a beautiful retelling of Eric Knight's classic story. But don't take my word for it. Here's what the Hollywood Reporter has to say about it. So this September, throw us a bone and take your kids, legitimate or otherwise, to see everyone's favorite telepathic pooch.

The "E" is for "Exhausted"

So, it's pretty much been wall to wall Wah-Wah week around these parts. The film opens tomorrow (May 12th) in New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C. and Dallas. On Monday we screened for Stephen Farber (no relation to Ronald), and a surprising number of South Africans, as part of the Reel Talk series at the Wadsworth Theatre in L.A. Withnail himself, Richard E. Grant, somehow found time between one entirely full day of press and another entirely full day of press to squeeze in a Q&A after the screening, during which he recounted his days growing up in Swaziland and met a man who owns over 3,000 puppets. Don't ask.

Then on Tuesday night, we moved the circus over to the Arclight in Hollywood for an AFI screening of the film followed by a Q&A with Mr. Grant and special guest moderator Steve Martin. Appearing neither wild nor crazy nor jerkish nor cheaper by the dozen (I don't know what that last one means), Mr. Martin conducted a very urbane, sophisticated discussion of the film. Although at one point he did wrestle an audience member for the microphone to the amusement of such celebrity guests such as Eric Idle, Winona Ryder, Eugene Levy and LA's (sole?) resident genius, Nicole Holofcener.

Sorry, I almost tripped over all those names I just dropped. Anyway, be sure to catch Wah-Wah this weekend at fine cinemas everywhere. Or at least everywhere that matters. Kidding! But seriously, take your mom for Mother's Day. I'm sure she'd rather see this than watch Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas drown. Although, come to think of it, that might be nice too.

Movies Take Manhattan

I know it's not as cool as Muppets. But it'll have to do. The annual Tribeca Film Festival takes place from April 25 until May 7 and Roadside will represent, east coast style, with two flicks. Both Wah-Wah and The Road to Guantanamo will be part of Tribeca (which, for those of you making the trip, is hardly only in Tribeca. So be sure to fund your MetroCards accordingly.) Wah-Wah screens on Thursday, May 4th. Guantanamo shows Friday, May 5th. And then both movies will fight to the death on Saturday night, May 6th as they screen head-to-head. May the best pic win. Anyway, individual tickets for all four screenings are currently on sale on the official Tribeca Film Festival site. Although it looks like Saturday night's Wah-Wah screening is already on stand-by only. Score one for Richard E. Grant. Your move, Mr. Winterbottom...