Thumbsucker

[cron]

Starring :Keanu Reeves, Vincent D'Onofrio, Tilda Swinton, Vince Vaughn, Lou Taylor Pucci, Kelli Garner, Benjamin Bratt

Director: Mike Mills

Screenwriter: Mike Mills

Story Source: The Walter Kirn novel

Production Company: Bull's Eye Entertainment

Premise: A nervous teen with a major thumb-sucking problem seeks help from an orthodontist (Keanu Reeves) and a high-school debate coach in Thumbsucker, based on a novel by Walter Kim and adapted and directed by first-timer Mike Mills.

This could be great , Mike Mills is responsible for the following videos:

1996-mar  Men in black  Frank Black  
1997-jun  Hey hey you say  Pappas Fritas  
1998-jan  Sexy boy  Air  
1998  Legacy  Mansun  
1998-jun  Kelly, watch the stars  Air  
1998-sep  Party hard  Pulp  
1998-nov  Afrodiziak  Bran Van 3000  
1998-dec  All I need  Air  
1999-may  Run on  Moby  
1999-aug  Le soleil est près de moi  Air

[ElPandaRoyal]

Premise: A nervous teen with a major thumb-sucking problem seeks help from an orthodontist (Keanu Reeves) and a high-school debate coach in Thumbsucker

I don't know about you guys, but it's been a dream of mine ever since I was 1 month old to see a thumb-sucking movie.

[El Duderino]

dunno about the plot, but it has a good cast.

[72teeth]

Trailer's up
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2676660

Looks like it could go either-or, but im in.

edit: I just found out that Mike Mills is the director of that volkswagon commercial that was shown in theaters before "Punch-Drunk" that got us all saying, "I can't fuckin wait for this flick!"
"Bubble Boy" can be seen here, along with numerous other Mike Mills gems: http://www.thedirectorsbureau.com/archive_vault/mills/archpop_mm_all.asp

[andrigo]

I saw Thumbsucker at the Berlin film festival in the beginning of this year. I really liked it. The plot is very captivating, and the part played by Keanu Reeves is hilarious.

It will be great fun to watch it a second time.

[Figure 8]

When I first saw the plot I thought it looked kind of dumb, but seeing that trailer, I think this could be really good.

[Pubrick]

I saw Thumbsucker at the Berlin film festival in the beginning of this year. I really liked it. The plot is very captivating, and the part played by Keanu Reeves is hilarious.

It will be great fun to watch it a second time.

u are awesome. introduce urself

[andrigo]

u are awesome. introduce urself

Done. Thanks for telling me about that thread buddy  

[Pwaybloe]

Ha ha ha!

[grumpus]

When director Mike Mills began considering the music that would underscore his coming-of-age teen dramedy "Thumbsucker," he remembered a similar, albeit darker film: Hal Ashby's 1971 classic comedy, "Harold and Maude," which was scored entirely by singer/songwriter Cat Stevens.

Known primarily for his imaginative music videos for '90s hipsters (Air, Cibo Matto, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion), his graphic design and album art (Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth) and his affiliation with Spike Jonze's skate video crew, Mills was originally pegged as an ironist, but hopes the raw and emotional nature of "Thumbsucker" will clear the misconception.

Influenced by Ashby's movie, Mills sought a contemporary analogue to Stevens' folk-inflected songs, and settled upon indie-rock auteur Elliott Smith, who died of an apparent suicide in 2003 (see "Singer/Songwriter Elliott Smith Dead; Friends, Fellow Musicians Pay Tribute"). Before Smith's death, the director approached the singer about scoring his debut film, and to his surprise, the reclusive Smith agreed.

"Elliott has always been an artistic hero of mine," Mills said from his home in Los Angeles, noting that he'd met Smith in 2000, when he designed the artwork for the singer's "Happiness" single. "I gave him the script and I was shocked that he liked it and wanted to work on it."

Then Smith, who had well-documented bouts with substance abuse, dropped from sight at around the same time Mills cast the film and began shooting in Portland, Oregon (ironically, Smith's former hometown). Coincidentally, by the time Mills had completed shooting the film, Smith began his recovery.

"I gave the script to him, and then he dropped off the face of the earth," Mills said. "He went through his whole crazy time, but by the time I was done with the film, he was making From a Basement on a Hill [which was released posthumously last year] and I was shocked that he was actually making music."

The two reconnected and Mills screened a working version of the film for an enthusiastic Smith. The plan to score the film was revived, only this time the pair came up with the idea of recording a series of covers. "We didn't even know if we could possibly afford getting all the rights to the music," Mills said, noting that Smith had planned to cover Leonard Cohen's "Sisters of Mercy" and an unspecified Neil Young song. "But that was the goal. It was just a crazy idea, but Elliott was so into it."

Smith was no stranger to soundtrack work: He garnered an Oscar nomination for his work on Gus Van Sant's 1997 film "Good Will Hunting" and was approached by Wes Anderson to record Beatles covers for "The Royal Tenenbaums," though the collaboration never came to fruition (the film did use Smith's composition "Needle in the Hay"). The singer gave Mills a version of Big Star's ballad "Thirteen" (previously released only as a snippet in the Jem Cohen short film "Lucky Three") and "Let's Get Lost," a track that would eventually surface on Basement.

In the last few weeks of Smith's life, he completed a cover of Cat Stevens' "Trouble" for the soundtrack, which is believed to be one of the last songs he ever recorded. According to Mills, Smith also began work on a version of John Lennon's "Isolation" before he passed away.

Distraught over Smith's death and left in the lurch for his soundtrack, the filmmaker attended a show by the Polyphonic Spree — a group that includes a 20-odd-member chorus and performs wearing choral robes — that left him electrified and inspired.

"[The show] really changed all the molecules in my body!" he enthused. "Their performance just made me feel like, 'Why not be happy? Why aren't you choosing to be positive?' I walked out of the theater and [felt], 'That's what I want people to feel like in the film.' "

Galvanized, Mills approached Spree leader Tim Delaughter about picking up where Smith had left off. Soon, the pair were creating a new vision for the film that would combine Smith's vocal songs with the Spree's choral-driven orchestrations.

"They rescued me, big time," Mills said of the Spree. "In more ways than one — personally and the film's emotion. They provided the glue for the film."

To Mills, the balance of Smith's emotionally vulnerable covers and the Polyphonic Spree's inspiring score was the perfect balance for the film's tone. "The Spree is a lot darker than people [think], and Elliott was a lot more positive than most people associate him with being, and in a way they're both very Beatles-influenced, so it's all in a musical family."

"Thumbsucker" is due in theaters September 16; the soundtrack will arrive three days earlier and includes alternate and unreleased Polyphonic Spree tracks not featured in the film

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1507697/20050816/smith_elliott.jhtml?headlines=true

[Garam]

Looks a bit Garden State self-conscious Indie Using-special-techniques-for-the-sake-of-it to me. But ill give it a try.

[Ghostboy]

I saw it today. It's really great in a lot of ways. The plot is really disjointed and episodic and probably way too long, but I didn't really mind at all while I was watching it. There's some really exquisite material in it, and stylistically it very rarely feels self conscious (a la Garden State). There's some really gorgeous photography too (with a few PDL style lens flairs to boot).

Lou Pucci is really awesome. He was good in Chumscrubber too, but that movie was pretty bad overall - he reminds me a lot of Johnny Depp in this movie.

So:  

A good portion of the Polyphonic Spree were at the press screening. Every now and then they'd start quietly humming along to their music - it was kinda funny.

[modage]

'Why not be happy? Why aren't you choosing to be positive?'

something really bugs me about the director working with Elliott Smith to do the soundtrack and deciding after his death 'why not be happy' and going in the COMPLETE other direction.  i mean, its understandable but its still fucked up.

[mutinyco]

There's some really gorgeous photography too (with a few PDL style lens flairs to boot).

Funny, but I was thinking since it was predominantly natural photography and had a high school setting, it reminded me a bit of Elephant.

[Pubrick]

'Why not be happy? Why aren't you choosing to be positive?'

something really bugs me about the director working with Elliott Smith to do the soundtrack and deciding after his death 'why not be happy' and going in the COMPLETE other direction.  i mean, its understandable but its still fucked up.

i thought he said he was going in that positive direction originally, making mention in the article that elliot smith can be positive with a little darkness, and then went over the edge to way-positive after elliot snuffed it and he heard the polyspree.