2020 Indie Spirit Awards: 'The Farewell' Wins Best Feature, 'Uncut Gems' Takes Best Director, Best Actor For Adam Sandler

The 2020 Independent Spirit Awards were handed out tonight, hosted for the second straight year by the hilarious Aubrey Plaza, and for the most part it went according to plan. In her opening bit, Plaza poked fun at the changing landscape for independent cinema, a popular target for show hosts, with the emergence of so many streaming services. Some of that was reflected in the winners, with a good number of them debuting on subscription platforms.

It was a big night for Lulu Wang's The Farewell, which took home the Best Feature Award, and a surprising victory for Zhao Shuzhen in the Best Supporting Actress category. Despite a campaign to get her recognized, Shuzhen was snubbed by the Oscars. Taking Best Director was the Safdie Brothers for their high-energy New York thriller, Uncut Gems, which also earned Adam Sandler the Best Actor win.  In what is likely a prelude to Oscar night, Renee Zellweger won Best Female Lead for her performance in Judy. Shocking no one, Bong Joon-ho's Parasite won for Best International Film, a title it's likely to claim from the Academy, as well.

As far as surprises go, the Spike Lee-produced sci-fi film See You Yesterday winning Best First Screenplay was a welcome one. Olivia Wilde overcame a very contentious field to win Best First Feature for her comedy Booksmart, while popular pick The Last Black Man in San Francisco ended the night empty-handed.

Full list of  winners below!

BEST FEATURE – The Farewell
BEST FIRST FEATURE – Booksmart
BEST FEMALE LEAD – Renee Zellweger, Judy
BEST MALE LEAD – Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
BEST DIRECTOR Benny and Josh Safdie – Uncut Gems
BEST DOCUMENTARY – American Factory, directors Julia Reichart, Steven Bognar
BEST SUPPORTING MALE – Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE – Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
BEST SCREENPLAY- Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY – See You Yesterday, Fredrica Bailey, Stefon Bristol
BEST EDITING: Uncut Gems – Benny Safdie, Ronald Bronstein
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM – Parasite, Bong Joon Ho
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Marriage Story Noah Baumbach, Douglas Aibel, Francine Maisler, Alan Alda, Laura Dern, Adam Driver, Julie Hagerty, Scarlett Johansson, Ray Liotta, Azhy Robertson, Merritt Wever
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Give Me Liberty
PRODUCERS AWARD — Mollye Asher
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD -Rashaad Ernesto Green, director of Premature
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD Nadia Shihab, director of Jabboland
THE BONNIE AWARD – Kelly Reichardt

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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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Box Office: 'The Rise Of Skywalker' Passes $700M As 'Little Women', '1917', & 'Uncut Gems' Start Strong

1. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker- $72M/$361.7M
The Rise of Skywalker joined the infamous '$100M losers" club in its second weekend, tumbling 59% for $72M and a $361M domestic total. It joins predecessor The Last Jedi, which lost a whopping $149M in its second weekend, but had a larger debut and thus a $368M haul after 10-days. Worldwide the Skywalker Saga's finale has $724M.
2. Jumanji: The Next Level- $35.3M/$175.4M
3. Little Women (review)- $16.52M/$29M
Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women had a $29M week, beginning with its Christmas Day debut. The star-studded film, which is led by Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Eliza Scanlen, and rising star Florence Pugh (did she win 2019 or what?) as the March girls, along co-stars, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, and Timothee Chalamet, is the 7th film version of the Louisa May Alcott story, and given the strong start and reviews, it's likely to surpass the 1994 movie's $50M run. Personally, I loved the film, finding it to be the first time I've ever cared about this story.
4. Frozen 2- $16.5M/$421.2M
5. Spies in Disguise (review)- $13.2M/$22M
Fox and Blue sky's animated film Spies in Disguise had a $22M week. The film stars Will Smith and Tom Holland, the former playing a super spy who gets transformed into a pigeon while on a world-threatening mission. It's a fun film, not exactly taxing on the brain, and could prove to have long legs like many of Blue Sky Studio's projects do. These are the same folks behind the Ice Age, Rio, and Ferdinand movies, after all.
6. Knives Out- $9.7M/$110.2M
7. Uncut Gems (review)- $9.5M/$20M
The Safdies' critically-acclaimed thriller Uncut Gems expanded to over 2300 theaters, earning $18.6M since Christmas Day and $20M total over 17-days. That's a huge start for A24, as they push to capitalize on the Oscar buzz surrounding Adam Sandler's nerve-racking performance. They'll have to overcome a big split between critics who loved it and audiences who saddled it with a 'C+" Cinemascore.
8. Cats- $4.8M/$17.8M
9. Bombshell- $4.7M/$15.6M
10. Richard Jewell- $3M/$16M

Sam Mendes' WWI film 1917 (review here) exploded into 11 theaters on Christmas Day and came away with $1M. From Fri-Sun it made $570K for an average of nearly $52K per site. Shot to look as if it was done in a single continuous take, the film is my pick for best of the year and the Oscar buzz surrounding it should carry through for a long time as it rolls into expansion.

Meanwhile, courtroom drama Just Mercy debuted on Christmas in just four theaters, totaling $229K for the week. The film stars Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larson who is reuniting with her Short Term 12 and The Glass Castle director Destin Daniel Cretton.

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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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Martin Scorsese's 'The Irishman' Takes Top Prize From NYFCC

It's been two days of somewhat expected New York dominance for Martin Scorsese's The Irishman. One day after winning Best Film from the NY-based National Board of Review, Scorsese and Netflix's mobster drama has been awarded Best Picture by the New York Film Critics Circle.

This is another huge win for Netflix which recently saw Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story win top prize from the Gotham Awards. The streamer is on a Hell of a roll.

The NYFCC surprised some folks by awarding the Safdie Brothers the Best Director prize for another New York-set drama, Uncut Gems. Antonio Banderas won Best Actor for Pain & Glory, while Lupita Nyongo's creepy, dual performances in Us won her Best Actress. Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood got some love with a Best Screenplay victory.

The full list of winners is below:

Best Picture: “The Irishman”
Best Director: Benny and Josh Safdie, “Uncut Gems”
Best Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”
Best Actress: Lupita Nyong’o, “Us”
Best Actor: Antonio Banderas, “Pain & Gory”
Best Supporting Actress: Laura Dern, “Marriage Story” and “Little Women”
Best Supporting Actor: Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”
Best Cinematography: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire”
Best Animated Feature: “I Lost My Body”
Best Non-Fiction Film: “Honeyland”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Parasite”
Best First Film: “Atlantics”
Special Award: Randy Newman

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Adam Sandler Makes Hilarious Threat If 'Uncut Gems' Doesn't Get Him An Oscar Nomination

We're in the thick of the awards season right now, and naturally that means we need to talk about Adam Sandler. Okay, those things don't normally go together but in this case, it's definitely so. His performance in Uncut Gems has definitely turned heads and made him a likely Oscar contender, and like others in the mix Sandler is out there campaigning to win...albeit in unusual fashion.

Basically, give him the Best Actor win or he'll make a movie that's worse than any of us could imagine. I'm talking Ridiculous 6: Part Deux or something.

Appearing on The Howard Stern Show, the normally camera-shy Sandler opened up about his recent burst of media appearances to promote Uncut Gems, and basically it's all about his love for the Safdie Brothers' film that has him out there so much, including a recent New York Times profile...

“I did like an asshole. The Safdie Brothers and everybody worked so hard on the movie that I didn’t want to do what I usually do and just go, ‘Eh, I can’t help you out there.'”

It was then that Sandler launched his most diabolical gambit to get an Oscar nomination, by threatening to make a movie that will somehow be worst than some of the truly awful shit he's already done...

“If I don’t get it, I’m going to fucking come back and do one again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay,” he said. “That’s how I get them.”

He's certainly joking, but then again I don't want to see what happens if he's not. 

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Adam Sandler Gets Serious, Here are Your Nominees for the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards!

It's officially that time of year, Awards Season!! With their announcement this morning the Independent Spirit Awards kick of the first of many industry awards culminating with the Oscars (including our very own Washington Area Film Critics Awards)

The Spirit awards, whose nominees are limited to those with a budget of less then $22.5 million (knocking out big names like The Irishman) have been a fairly good indicator of what is going to be on the slate for that year's Academy Awards not to mention bringing to light plenty of films that haven't gotten the attention they deserve. A nomination here can be the launching pad for an Oscar campaign and a healthy box office.

The big surprise for those who haven't been following film news as of late would be Adam Sandler's nomination for his upcoming film Uncut Gems with a number of nominations for the film itself. Sandler is always supremely underrated as an actor due to his usual choice in roles, but the guy has the talent and, while I haven't yet seen it, it would appear he's unleashed that skill for this film. I also love that the Spirit awards have some fun categories, like 'Best First Feature'. The big boys over at Oscars house really need to start paying attention to things like this if they want to inject some juice into their ratings. Check out the full list of nominees below and tune into the Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 8th, 2020

Best Feature
A HIDDEN LIFE
CLEMENCY
THE FAREWELL
MARRIAGE STORY
UNCUT GEMS

Best Director
Robert Eggers – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Alma Har’el – HONEY BOY
Julius Onah – LUCE
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – UNCUT GEMS
Lorene Scafaria – HUSTLERS

Best First Feature
BOOKSMART
THE CLIMB
DIANE
THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
THE MUSTANG
SEE YOU YESTERDAY

Best Female Lead
Karen Allen – COLEWELL
Hong Chau – DRIVEWAYS
Elisabeth Moss – HER SMELL
Mary Kay Place – DIANE
Alfre Woodard – CLEMENCY
Renée Zellweger – JUDY

Best Male Lead
Chris Galust – GIVE ME LIBERTY
Kelvin Harrison Jr. – LUCE
Robert Pattinson – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Adam Sandler – UNCUT GEMS
Matthias Schoenaerts – THE MUSTANG

Best Supporting Female
Jennifer Lopez – HUSTLERS
Taylor Russell – WAVES
Zhao Shuzhen – THE FAREWELL
Lauren “Lolo” Spencer – GIVE ME LIBERTY
Octavia Spencer – LUCE

Best Supporting Male
Willem Dafoe – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Noah Jupe – HONEY BOY
Shia Labeouf – HONEY BOY
Jonathan Majors – THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
Wendell Pierce – BURNING CANE

Best Screenplay
Noah Baumbach – MARRIAGE STORY
Jason Begue, Shawn Snyder – TO DUST
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie – UNCUT GEMS
Chinonye Chukwu – CLEMENCY
Tarell Alvin Mccraney – HIGH FLYING BIRD

Best First Screenplay
Fredrica Bailey, Stefon Bristol – SEE YOU YESTERDAY
Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen – DRIVEWAYS
Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy – BLOW THE MAN DOWN
Jocelyn Deboer, Dawn Luebbe – GREENER GRASS
James Montague, Craig W. Sanger – THE VAST OF NIGHT

Best Cinematography
Todd Banhazl – HUSTLERS
Jarin Blaschke – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Natasha Braier – HONEY BOY
Chananun Chotrungroj – THE THIRD WIFE
Pawel Pogorzelski – MIDSOMMAR

Best Editing
Julie Béziau – THE THIRD WIFE
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie – UNCUT GEMS
Tyler L. Cook – SWORD OF TRUST
Louise Ford – THE LIGHTHOUSE
Kirill Mikhanovsky – GIVE ME LIBERTY

John Cassavetes Award
BURNING CANE
COLEWELL
GIVE ME LIBERTY
PREMATURE
WILD NIGHTS WITH EMILY

Robert Altman Award
“Marriage Story”

Best Documentary
AMERICAN FACTORY
APOLLO 11
FOR SAMA
HONEYLAND
ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS

Best International Film
INVISIBLE LIFE, Brazil
LES MISERABLES, France
PARASITE, South Korea
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE, France
RETABLO, Peru
THE SOUVENIR, United Kingdom

Piaget Producers Award
Mollye Asher
Krista Parris
Ryan Zacarias

Someone to Watch Award
Rashaad Ernesto Green – PREMATURE
Ash Mayfair – THE THIRD WIFE
Joe Talbot – THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

Truer Than Fiction Award
Khalik Allah – BLACK MOTHER
Davy Rothbart – 17 BLOCKS
Nadia Shihab – JADDOLAND
Erick Stoll & Chase Whiteside – AMÉRICA

Annual Bonnie Award
Marielle Heller
Lulu Wang
Kelly Reichardt

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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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'Uncut Gems' Teaser: Adam Sandler Is All Bloodied Up In The Safdie Brothers' Latest

Following sky-high reviews out of TIFF, a new teaser for Uncut Gems has dropped. It's the first real look most of us will get of the new film by The Safdie Brothers, still hot from their film Good Time, and another chance for Adam Sandler to prove what a strong dramatic actor he can be with the right material.

Based on the praise Sandler's already getting, he does exactly that. Although he does seem to be playing a loudmouth blowhard, something he's already good at.  He plays a jeweler in New York City's Diamond District who gets in over his head while trying to land the biggest score of his life. The cast includes Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, Judd Hirsch, Pom Klementieff, Mike Francesa, and Eric Bogosian.

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. Watch out for a full trailer on Tuesday, September 24th.

09.24.19 💎 pic.twitter.com/qU13nvislf

— A24 (@A24) September 19, 2019

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First Look At Adam Sandler In The Safdies' 'Uncut Gems'

While Adam Sandler's recent Netflix comedy Murder Mystery was a step up from the other crap he's done for the streamer, it's still a far cry from the promise he showed with dramatic turns in Punch-Drunk Love and Reign Over Me. The Safdie Brothers, directors of Good Time, may be looking to tap into that promise with Uncut Gems, which we now have a first look at.

Debuting alongside the film's reveal as part of the TIFF lineup, the image shows a different Sandler than we've been seeing of late. He's surrounded by the New York City diamond district, where he plays jeweler Howard Ratner, who tries to juggle his personal drama with a high-wire attempt at the biggest score of his life. The film co-stars Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Judd Hirsch, Pom Klementieff, Eric Bogosian, The Weeknd, and Kevin Garnett.

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.

After its world premiere at TIFF, A24 plans to release Uncut Gems on 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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Lakeith Stanfield Joins Adam Sandler In 'Uncut Gems'

The last couple of years you'd have to make a special choice to avoid a Lakeith Stanfield movie. On top of his notable work on FX's Atlanta, he's starred in eight movies with one more, The Girl in the Spider's Web, on the way. In rapid time he's become one of the most recognizable and sought after stars around, and his addition to any film is a plus. That bodes well for The Safdie Brothers who have just cast Stanfield in their upcoming film, Uncut Gems.

Stanfield will join the previously-cast Adam Sandler, Eric Bogosian, and Judd Hirsch in the duo's followup to the acclaimed crime drama, Good Time.  As the title suggests, Uncut Gems takes place in New York City's diamond district, where Sandler plays a jewelry store owner with mounting gambling debts and juggling two relationships. Stanfield will play a friend to one of the store's famous clients.

More good news, as Netflix has come aboard as Uncut Gems' distributor internationally. A24 will handle things on the domestic side, just as they did with Good Time.  [Deadline]

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*Update* Adam Sandler Confirmed For The Safdie Brothers' 'Uncut Gems'

*UPDATE* It's official. Deadline reports Adam Sandler has been officially cast in Uncut Gems, the followup film from Good Time directors the Safdie Brothers. The report doesn't mention the previously-cast Jonah Hill, so we can probably assume Sandler has replaced him as suspected. You can read the original story below.

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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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