What, When, Where this Weekend - Severed Ways, Tokyo Sonata, Last House on the left, Sunshine Cleaning

What, When, Where is a weekly guide to select screenings, discussions and events in the NYC-area of interest to screenwriters. Have an event you'd like to see listed here? Give us a heads-up at info@screenwritersleague.com.

Opening this week...

SEVERED WAYS, written and directed by Tony Stone


Premise: In the 11th century, Vikings, Indians, and Irish monks collide on the shores of North America in a historical epic adventure of exploration, personal glory, and religious dominance. Abandoned by a Western exploration party and stranded in the New World, two lone Vikings wade through a grand primeval landscape, struggling for survival while still in the grip of their Norse ways.

Playing at: Angelika

If the premise doesn't sound knock-you-on-your-ass awesome enough, this movie has a black metal soundtrack by Burzum, Morbid Angel, Judas Priest and Dimmu Borgir. This has the potential to be the most metal movie ever filmed.

A DIY-Viking Epic? I'm in. Oh, lord, I am so in.

TOKYO SONATA, written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Max Mannix, dir. by Kiyoshi Kurosawa


Premise: An ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company.

Playing: IFC Center, Lincoln Plaza

One of the best-reviewed movies opening this week, and I really enjoyed the director's previous horror films Pulse and Cure. I'll check this one out.

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, written by Adam Alleca and Carl Ellsworth, dir. by Dennis Iliadis


Premise: After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang led by a prison escapee unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging the parents of one of the victims -- a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.

Playing: All over.

A remake of Wes Craven's Last House on the Left, which was a pseudo-remake of Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring. The original was pretty brutal and hard to watch - I'm curious whether they'll change enough in this version to make it worth remaking.

SUNSHINE CLEANING, written by Megan Holley, dir. by Christine Jeffs


Premise: Industrious single mother Rose Lorkowski starts an unusual business in order to send her son to a private school; alongside her unreliable sister, the two women enter the world of biohazard removal and crime scene clean-ups.

Playing: Loews Lincoln Square, Landmark Sunshine

I'm intrigued by the idea alone. There's a lot of potential dark comedy in it, but this'll likely wait for the DVD release...

What are you doing/seeing this weekend?

Tullio Pinelli, frequent Fellini co-screenwriter, 1908 - 2009

Screenwriter Tullio Pinelli has passed away at the age of 100.

Pinelli collaborated on screenplays with Federico Fellini for decades, with screen credits on many of my favorites of his films, including Nights of Cabiria, La Strada, 8 1/2 and La Dolce Vita. He had a long, healthy career, with more than 80 film scripts to his name.

The New York Times obituary can be found here.

Very sad news indeed.