Trailer For 'Uncut Gems' Re-Release Featuring Hidden Camera Q&A With Adam Sandler

It's not often that a movie without any awards prospects gets a re-release this late in the season, but that's exactly what's happening with the Safdie Brothers' hit street-hustle film, Uncut Gems. Featuring a career-best performance by Adam Sandler, one criminally overlooked by the Oscars, it's become something of a sensation on social media.  How many "This is how I win" memes have you seen in the last few months?

Uncut Gems is set to return to theaters this weekend, raising the blood pressures of an all-new audience. This will be a different cut of the movie, 18-minutes longer and featuring a hidden camera Q&A with Sandler, who plays a New York diamond jeweler who gets way in over his head in debt as he's unable to refuse a high stakes gamble.  The film also stars Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Eric Bogosian, and Judd Hirsch.

A24 has dropped a new trailer for the re-release which you can check out below.

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The Awards Hype Is On Full Display In The Latest 'Uncut Gems' Trailer

We're right in the middle of awards season, which culminates in February with the Academy Awards, so you've probably noticed that every movie with some connection to an awards nomination if putting that fact front and center. Uncut Gems which is being lauded for Adam Sandler's amazing performance is not different. The awards showcasing aside this trailer serves one perfect purpose that most trailers seem to be unable to do. Summarize what to expect from the movie without giving too much away. While I will agree that this was a quality film and Sandler has put out an undeniable reminder of the talent he can summon, I had a hard time making it through this flick without having an anxiety attack, mostly due to the main character's inability to ever do the right thing....or really ever do something that isn't patently stupid....but at the same time I was glued to the story. Check out the latest trailer below and let us know what you think!

Uncut Gems is in theaters now and you can check out Travis' review here!

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Review: 'Uncut Gems', Adam Sandler Shines Like A Diamond In The Safdies' Chaotic Street-Hustle Thriller

Okay, we can officially retire Punch Drunk Love as the oft-cited example of Adam Sandler's competence as an actor. Sandler is a kinetic force in the Safdie Brothers' wild, breakneck thriller Uncut Gems, a film that races at such a pace, continually raising the stakes to absurd degrees it might be too much for the weak of heart. And Sandler's the guy thriving in the middle of this raging hurricane, delivering the best performance of his career and making it look damned easy.

The Gambler for a new generation, that classic film doesn't conjure up a fraction of the desperation and anxiety created by Uncut Gems.. Set in the New York City diamond district, Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a guy who...frankly, it's really tough to feel sorry for. Howard is that guy you know who just can't keep his mouth shut, he's always in some kind of trouble, usually of his own making. Howard may own a jewelry shop, one frequented by NBA stars such as Kevin Garnett, but he's really just another guy up to his eyeballs in debt. There's scarcely a person in Howard's chaotic existence that he isn't in hock to, and something's got to give.

Claustrophobic cinematography crams us into Howard's shrinking world, and we walk practically in his footsteps through every moment, every risk, every inexcusable high-risk decision.  EVERY decision Howard makes is terrible, by the way, as if he's trying to make his situation worse. It can be exhausting, even when Howard seems to have found a way out, because we quickly learn there is no such thing for a guy like him. His ticket out of this seemingly endless cycle of vigs, threats, hustles, and side-bets is a rare black opal diamond acquired from Ethiopia, literally dug out of the earth by poor miners in a sequence that looks like the beginning of an Indiana Jones movie. Supposedly worth millions, Howard intends to auction the jewel off and strike it rich. But of course, nothing is so simple. Garnett enters the shop, thanks to Howard's associate Demany (Lakeith Stanfield), and becomes entranced by the diamond's mystical qualities. He asks to borrow it, just for one game, believing it to be an inspiration. Howard...well, he's just not a smart guy. He makes the absolute worst decision possible, especially with guy around every corner who want their money and are willing to do terrible things to get it.

As if the streets weren't punishing enough, the Safdies go even deeper and darker when exploring Howard's personal life. Even at home Howard is living one big con. His marriage to Dinah (Idina Menzel) has been on the rocks for ages, and although they've agreed to divorce they've yet to let the kids know. Even Howard's brother-in-law Arno (played by a menacing Eric Bogosian) is after him, and with a pair of mobbed-up goons at his side, too.  And of course, Howard has a side-chick (Julia Fox) as if the pressure wasn't mounting quite enough. All of this ratchets up in ways that are both hysterically pathetic. When a school function for Howard's daughter ends with him naked and locked inside of a car trunk, you think that would be rock bottom...even though you know deep inside that it isn't.

A trailblazing examination of greed at its most toxic, Uncut Gems is also about a guy who is willing to do anything to carve out his slice of the American Dream. Howard risks everything to make his mark, and at times you can almost respect him for always betting on himself to come out on top. Set to an electric soundtrack and the Safdies' dizzying direction, this is a film that will test your mettle like few others do. Somehow more intense than Good Time and twice as haywire, Uncut Gems reveals the Safdies to be filmmakers who revel in the anarchy they cause, and invite others to revel in it right along with them.

4 out of 5

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'Uncut Gems' Trailer: Adam Sandler Shines Like A Diamond In The Safdie Brothers' Latest

You couldn't miss the high praise coming out of TIFF for the Safdie Brothers' latest, Uncut Gems. The reviews were glowing, and that went double for the performance of Adam Sandler, who apparently shines like the diamonds his get-rich-quick character hustles on the gritty streets of New York's diamond district. But is the film, and Sandler for that matter, really that good?

A new trailer definitely looks like Sandler has found one of those rare roles that remind us of the actor he could be. I mean, he gets to shove around The Weeknd in this piece of footage here, which already means it gets high marks in my book. Sandler plays Howard Ratner, who gambles, hustles, anything slippery he can think of in the pursuit of higher stakes. If it went well for him, this wouldn't be much of a movie, would it?

The film co-stars Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Judd Hirsch, Eric Bogosian, and more, but clealy this is an Adam Sandler joint with some already predicting some love for the guy who was most recently seen in Murder Mystery.  The swings, the extreme highs and lows of Sandler's career, are like a gambler riding the streaks as they come.

SYNOPSIS: From acclaimed filmmakers, Josh and Benny Safdie comes an electrifying crime thriller about Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score. When he makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides, in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.

Uncut Gems opens December 13th.

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Safdie Brothers' 'Uncut Gems' With Adam Sandler Set For Awards Season Debut

The Safdie Bros. followed up their 2014 breakout film Heaven Knows What with 2017's gritty Good Time. It really put kicked the duo up to a different stratosphere, and now there's a great deal of anticipation fr their next film, Uncut Gems, which appears to be headed for an awards season slot.

Elara Pictures, the production company started by the directing duo, has announced Uncut Gems for release on December 13th. While that hasn't been confirmed by distributor A24, chances are they are in sync on this one, as I think this has been the goal all along.

Details on the film are still blurry, but we know it will give Adam Sandler another dramatic role, alongside Lakeith Stanfield, Kevin Garnett (!!!), Idina Menzel, R&B singer The Weekend, Judd Hirsch, and Eric Bogosian.  The story is set in the New York City diamond district and follows a jewelry store owner, and dealer to the rich and famous, who must find a way to pay his debts when his merchandise is stolen.

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'Good Time' Directors And Jerrod Carmichael Team For A '48 Hrs.' Remake

The Safdie Brothers have been plying their trade on the indie circuit for years, but it was with 2014's powerful Heaven Knows What that the rest of Hollywood started to take notice. Then with this year's surprising Palm d'Or-nominated crime drama Good Time they fully broke through, and offers for much bigger projects started to roll in. Now the directing duo have taken on a project that, under normal circumstances, would make us all groan distastefully, but under their guidance could be pretty exciting.

Benny and Josh Safdie will direct a remake of the buddy cop classic, 48 Hrs., the film that helped turn Eddie Murphy into a megastar. Josh will co-write the script with usual collaborator Ronald Bronstein, joined by comedian Jerrod Carmichael (The Carmichael Show, Transformers: Age of Extinction) and you have to wonder if perhaps he's being groomed for Murphy's old role.

Walter Hill directed Murphy and Nick Nolte in the original 1982 film about a veteran cop and a street-wise convict who team up to catch a pair of cop killers within 48 hours. It's a stone cold classic and, like I said before, this type of story is usually awful news. We'll have to see where this lands on the brothers' schedules because next up for them is the Martin Scorsese-produced Uncut Gems. [THR]

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Review: 'Good Time', Robert Pattinson's Electrifying Night On The Mean Streets

After their powerful breakthrough film Heaven Knows What, Josh and Bennie Safdie are back with Good Time, another electric, gritty, street-level masterpiece. It's also the sibling duo's second straight film to feature a dynamic, breakout central performance, which is weird to say when you're talking about Robert Pattinson as the star. Of course he's been around for years, and has long since broken free of the manufactured image that held him down for so long. But Pattinson, sporting a scraggly beard, shifty eyes, and a burning hunger, has never been quite like this before.

Good Time is a grounded, sentimental, but high-energy twist on the "one wild night" conceit. Pattinson plays Connie, a petty crook and opportunity from Queens who would seem to be the sort who cares about nothing but himself. But it isn't true, as seen in the opening scene as his mentally-challenged brother Nick (played by Bennie Safdie) undergoes a therapy session with his doctor. Just as he seems to be making progress, Connie bursts in, angry, and "rescues" his brother. Connie thinks he's doing for Nick what is best, but as we see soon after, his idea of what's best is generally a really horrible idea.

Connie's not the sort of guy who thinks things all the way through. He's more of a "bull in the china shop" kind of guy. So when he and Nick pull off a bank job, and it goes off a little too well, Connie is too elated to think about the dye pack that's about to explode. A foot chase with the cops ensues, and while Connie gets away, Nick goes crashing through a plate glass window and is caught. He's sent to a brutal holding cell, the stuff of nightmares or MSNBC's prison block documentaries, and gets jacked up in a fight and sent to the hospital.

The Safdies' don't care that you barely have time to breathe between all of this happening; they keep the punishing pace right on going until you begin to feel the same manic energy coursing through Connie. In desperation to get his brother out of prison he partakes in all kinds of hair-brained schemes, finding success...or at least what he thinks is success until an unexpected twist pulls the rug out from under Connie and us. It's a perfectly played moment that could have been done just for laughs, but actually sends the film careening in an even crazier direction. Pretty soon Connie is getting mixed up with brassy teenaged girls (Talia Webster), and chasing a quick pay by selling a soda bottle full of liquid LSD.

Shit gets weird real quick, but the Safdies overcome the usual trap of the genre, the implausibility of escalating events, by rooting everything in Connie's mounting desperation. As he becomes more desperate, he gets more reckless, and he ropes in others who are equally reckless, which creates a cascading effect of impending disaster that is like watching cars revving up before a demolition derby. It's a genuine thrill, and a big part of it is that the Safdies, and Pattinson, never soften up on Connie's rough edges. He's as conniving as he is white-privileged, taking advantage of everybody around him to some degree. The opening bank heist finds him and Nick dressed up as black guys in hoodies; Connie brutally assaults an innocent security guard (Barkhad Abdi) just for getting in the way; and he has no qualms stomping around the home of a black grandmother (and the aforementioned teen) who put her neck out to help him. When he no longer needs these people he discards them like yesterday's news. The only one he won't do that to is Nick, and we find ourselves admiring his loyalty and hating just about everything else about him.

Set afire by the combination of Oneohtrix Point Never's sonic soundtrack and Sean Price Williams' searing 35mm visuals, Good Time is a treat for the senses. As it rages to an inevitably chaotic conclusion, we're left with a bittersweet reminder that Good Time is, at its core, a story about family and one's devotion to it.

Rating: 4 out of 5



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Robert Pattinson Is On The Run In Gritty New Trailer For 'Good Time'

It's always exciting when actors try new things, but usually you have to wait until late in their career for it to happen. But in Robert Pattinson's case, he hasn't even hit his prime yet, and already he's moved from just being that vampire dude from Twilight, into a serious actor that the best directors are clamoring to work with. And his latest move against the grain can be seen in Good Time, a gritty thriller from directors Josh and Benny Safdie.

Working alongside the always-great Jennifer Jason Leigh and Captain Phillips' Barkhad Abdi, the film finds a virtually unrecognizable Pattinson as a desperate man fleeing the law while also trying to get his brother out of jail after a bank robbery goes wrong.  This isn't the sort of role we expect from Pattinson, but that's also why it's a film worth looking forward to.

Good Time opens August 18th.

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Jonah Hill Finds 'Uncut Gems', Viggo Mortensen Goes Off Grid For 'Unabomb'

So who went and made today Safdie Brothers Day?  After debuting the wild trailer for their film Good Time (starring Robert Pattinson), now comes word the siblings have a new project on the way that will star Jonah Hill. And if that wasn't enough, Martin Scorsese will produce. Damn. Hill has taken the lead in Uncut Gems, which Josh and Benny Safdie will write and direct. Plot details are slim, but Hill takes on the role of Howard Ratner in a story set in New York City's corrupt diamond district. Hill is prepping his directorial debut, Mid 90s, and has Cary Fukunaga's Netflix series Maniac coming up, so we may be waiting a while for this one. [Deadline]

If Viggo Mortensen's Oscar nomination for Captain Fantastic means we'll see more of him on the big screen then I'm all for it. Mortensen will star in Unabomb, which you probably guessed is all about the Unabomber, the reclusive terrorist and boogeyman who led a terror campaign stretching for nearly two decades until the FBI apprehended him in 1996. Screenwriter Randy Brown and director Robert Lorenz, who previously teamed on Trouble with the Curve, are behind this project which is an adaptation of FBI agent Jim Freeman's book about the manhunt to capture the Unabomber aka Ted Kacyznski. Much like Captain Fantastic, it's another film in which Mortensen plays a guy who has withdrawn from society at large, the same way he withdrew from Hollywood. Think he's trying to tell us something?

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Robert Pattinson Has One Crazy Night In First Trailer For 'Good Time'

Quietly, Robert Pattinson's career has become one of the most interesting to follow, much like his Twilight co-star and former ex Kristen Stewart. He's made it a point to work almost entirely with auteurs, and experimental underground filmmakers on projects that fulfill him creatively even if they'll never see the inside of a multiplex. I encourage you to check out his understated yet powerful performance in The Lost City of Z, which is in theaters now. And Pattinson continues his streak by joining with Heaven Knows What directors Josh and Bennie Safdie for Good Time, which looks like a thrill-a-minute experience.

Also starring Barkhad Abdi and Jennifer Jason Leigh, the film follows one wild night in New York City as a failed bank robber tries to get his brother out of jail and avoid the long reach of the law. The synopsis pounds on the self-congratulatory hyperbole so let's hope it lives up to the hype:

Following the mind-bending HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT, celebrated filmmakers Josh and Benny Safdie return to the mean streets of New York City with GOOD TIME, a hypnotic crime thriller that explores with bracing immediacy the tragic sway of family and fate. 

After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Constantine “Connie” Nikas (Robert Pattinson) embarks on a twisted odyssey through the city’s underworld in an increasingly desperate — and dangerous — attempt to get his brother Nick (Benny Safdie) out of jail. Over the course of one adrenalized night, Connie finds himself racing against the clock to save his brother and himself, knowing both their lives hang in the balance.

Anchored by a career-defining performance from Robert Pattinson, GOOD TIME is a psychotic symphony of propulsive intensity crafted by two of the most exciting young directors working today. Josh and Benny Safdie’s transcendent vision is an intoxicating portrait of desperation and destruction that will not be soon forgotten.

Good Time opens August 18th but will debut at Cannes shortly.

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Robert Pattinson Joins 'Heaven Knows What' Directors for Grindhouse Film 'Good Time'

Whatever one may think of Robert Pattinson as an actor, he's not shy to work with up 'n coming filmmakers. After dropping out of the western Brimstone recently, Pattinson has filled his schedule with a new film from directors Josh and Bennie Sadie, who recently made waves with their gritty drama, Heaven Knows What.

Pattinson will star in Good Time, described as a neo-grindhouse flick about a bank robber's attempts to escape the dragnet closing in around him. A grindhouse caper film isn't the kind of thing we'd expect to see Pattinson do, but then again he's been venturing into some unexpected roles of late.

Next up for Pattinson is James Gray's The Lost City of Z which starts filming later this year. [THR]

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Review: 'Heaven Knows What' Starring Arielle Holmes and Caleb Landry Jones

As film production gets cheaper and more accessible, we were supposed to get a democratization of content, where all sorts of different stories get told.  As it happens, the means of production is still generally in the hands of upper-middle class white guys, and most of them want to tell stories either about how their dad was mean or what if this one girl loved them back.  As interesting as those stories can be the first time around, they're kind of low on the scale of problems worth thinking about.

You know what's a real problem? heroin addiction.  Not in the glamorous way of Lou Reed or Vincent Vega or Trainspotting, but in the slow grind of day-to-day addiction while homeless on the streets of a major urban center.  Josh and Benny Safdie may be relatively privileged themselves, but they use their camera to tell the stories that Arielle Holmes wrote down for them in her unpublished memoir Mad Love in New York City, and they've adapted these stories into Heaven Knows What, a powerful and unapologetic film starring Holmes herself as the lightly-fictionalized "Harley".

Most of the time we spend with Harley is about getting her next fix.  It's not even about getting high; she needs twenty bucks for her maintenance dose of two hundred-milligram packets, or "bags", of heroin just to keep from feeling sick.  If she wants to feel a rush, she needs two more bags.  That's at least morning and night, and before she's even considered where she's going to sleep.

There are shelters, sure, but they aren't about to let her shoot up under their roof.  Besides, Harley had to leave the last shelter after a giant falling-out with Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones); we just see the end of this at the start of the film when Harley slices her wrist open in a bizarre act of contrition.  It's a stupid and silly decision on her part -- especially for a guy who treats her the way Ilya does -- but life as a homeless addict doesn't usually come from or lead to the best decision-making skills.

So Harley sticks close to her dealer, Mike (Buddy Duress), who crashes at some lady's apartment for fifteen dollars a night.  That brings her budget up to at least $55 every day just for heroin and shelter.  She gets most of what she can from "spadging" -- begging for spare change -- but she's resourceful.  An unattended mailbag means grabbing a handful of envelopes in case one of them contains something valuable; shoplifted convenience store energy shots can be resold to newsstands for below their wholesale price.  And she can always hustle to make a deal with Mike and hope his own habit keeps him from remembering what exactly she owes.

There's a whole life and culture that exists here at the margins of the city, and most of us just look right past it.  Harley and Ilya have no problems fighting and yelling out in the open because they're invisible to most of the people around them.  Besides, when you're living on the street there's not a lot of other, more private places to go.  Harley also carouses with her friends, often in the parks at night with a bottle of liquor someone has scared up during the day, still studiously ignored by the rest of the city.

The Safdie brothers don't present a nice, neat story of redemption here.  The real Arielle Holmes seems to be pulling her life together now, but it's largely on the back of this project, not within the film itself.  Heaven Knows What shows us a few days -- maybe a week -- in her life.  It's as raw and real as anything you can find on the screen, and it's not about playing to some patronizing mainstream narrative script of how an addiction story should be.  As much as we've learned to look away from those on the margins, the Safdies push us to look and see the person right in front of us, and to take her for who she is.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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