Given their volume, scope and scale, studio blockbusters naturally consume the moviegoing conversation every summer, and a good chunk of the audiences’ money. But given the iffy quality of this season’s tentpoles (“The Lone Ranger,” “The Hangover Part III,” “After Earth,” “The Wolverine” et al), 2013 is likely going to go down as the summer when the indie alternatives made for much richer options. Just look at August, it’s overflowing with good indie choices, and one of them likely to long outlive the lifespan of fare like, “Red 2,” “R.I.P.D.” and “White House Down” is James Ponsoldt‘s “The Spectacular Now.” A smart, well-observed and sensitive coming-of-age film, the movie also boasts two terrific performances by up and comers Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley (and note it has a fairly rare 90% Rotten Tomatoes score; check out our Sundance review here).
Currently in just four theaters in limited release, “The Spectacular Now” topped the indie charts this weekend and seems poised to continue doing good business all summer. We listed the film as part of our 13 must-see films of August, and were inspired enough by its themes to look at 25 other movies about falling in love for the first time (a special cinematic rite of passage of course). “The Spectacular Now” also co-stars Brie Larson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Andre Royo from “The Wire,” “Breaking Bad” star Bob Odenkirk and “Hunger Games actor Dayo Okeniyi. A24 Films, the distributor recently released two new clips from the film and also gave us a handful of new photos which you can see below.
“The Spectacular Now” is in limited release now and will continue expanding on August 9th, 16th and 23rd. Current cities and dates can be found right here.
Loved this movie!
Looks great. And I'm surprised with the casting – I've hated Teller in "Project X", but he uplifted preety mediocre "21 and Over", so there's some interesting talent there. Woodley – wow, just wow.