Margaret is Kenneth Lonergan’s raw and affecting character study of Lisa (Anna Paquin), a high school kid of privilege (and of divorce), grappling with guilt after an impulsive act contributes to a fatal accident.

As Lisa struggles to articulate her culpability, and atone for it, this tempestuous 17-year-old sucks her mother, friends, and teachers into and through a long teenage tunnel of hell. Is that a ray of light at the end?

Paquin is electrifying in this 21/2-hour film shot in 2005 and plagued by editing-room creative differences and lawsuits ever since. Like its central character, it is unfinished, a work-in-progress. Yet it is urgently alive with questions of conscience. Lisa sees morality in black and white while most of the adults around her see shades of gray, or are too involved in their own problems to help her work through hers.

Like a physicist precisely charting the dynamics of cause-and-effect, Lonergan (writer/director of You Can Count on Me) shows how Lisa’s one small action has multiple, huge consequences on others.

Lonergan, who wrote the screenplay in the wake of the 9/11 attack in New York, frames Lisa as a trauma victim struggling to put herself back together again. She represents the New Yorkers who struggled to do the same in the aftermath of the attacks.

In this version of the film, which has gone from editing room to courtroom and back again, the narrative jumps from heated confrontation to corrosive encounter. These are punctuated by lyrical panoramas of the New York skyline that provide breathing room between confrontations, but otherwise are vestigial.

Besides Paquin, who delivers a once-in-a-lifetime performance as the maddeningly inconsistent Lisa, also wrenchingly fine are Jeannie Berlin as the best friend of the deceased and J. Smith-Cameron as Lisa’s actress mother.

Margaret (which takes its title from a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins about an adolescent grieving her loss of innocence) is not a film for everyone. But its hard look at a young, morally confused woman struggling for clarity is nothing short of riveting.

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With a few weeks left before True Blood begins filming again, Anna Paquin has signed on to star in Free Ride, along with Drea de Matteo, in Sarasota, FL.

The movie, which began filming this week, takes place in late 1970s Florida and focuses on a mother (played by Paquin) who, while fleeing an abusive relationship, turns to the marijuana trade to support her daughters.

According to a recent casting call they are still looking for extras too. Check out the details below:

Seeking Extras for a SAG FILM shooting in SARASOTA beginning late October thru late November. Looking for all types, all sizes, all ages, all ethnicities. Really unique faces a bonus! This is set in 1978– men with longer hair and facial hair a plus! Tough Biker types, clean cut types, kids, teens, families, and seniors. This will be a very fun project with well known industry professionals!

TO SUBMIT:
Please E-MAIL a current and clear photo of yourself.
Put in SUBJECT line: Name/ Male or Female/ Age
Put in BODY of E-mail: Your contact info & sizes.
Send all info to:
ICastingExtras@gmail.com

If you spot Free Ride filming in Florida, let us know about it at olv@onlocationvacations.com!

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Margaret centers on a 17-year-old New York City high-school student who feels certain that she inadvertently played a role in a traffic accident that has claimed a woman’s life. In her attempts to set things right she meets with opposition at every step. Torn apart with frustration, she begins emotionally brutalizing her family, her friends, her teachers, and most of all, herself. She has been confronted quite unexpectedly with a basic truth: that her youthful ideals are on a collision course against the realities and compromises of the adult world. In theaters: September 30th, 2011

Production on the comedy starts today in Shreveport, Louisiana under the direction of James Cox. Dave Cole wrote the script for the film, which is described as follows:

“Phillippe portrays a man who’s been in and out of rehab for 10 years and is haunted by the ghost of his dead mother pressing him to return home to the family he turned his back on years ago. Outfitted with nothing more than a bag of pills and a sack of weed, he trots back to Shreveport, only to be faced with his brother’s wife, who’s still pining for him, her first love.”

Holly Wiersma and Rene Besson are producing, with Avi Lerner, Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, John Thompson and Lati Grobman executive producing.

The film, directed by True Blood’s Scott Schaeffer, tells the story of a grieving mother dealing with the loss of her philandering son. She discovers a secret that will profoundly influence her life, the lives around her, and ultimately a new understanding of her son.

Watch the trailer below and for more info visit The Carrier on Facebook.

Anchor Bay Entertainment issues SCREAM 4 October 4. The latest adventures of Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, dodging Ghostface alongside newcomers Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Mary McDonnell, Marley Shelton, Nico Tortorella and others, will be presented in anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound on the DVD and DTS-HD-MA 5.1 audio on the Blu-ray, accompanied by the following special features:
• “The Making of SCREAM 4” featurette
• Alternate opening
• Extended ending
• Deleted and extended scenes
• Gag reel
Special features are subject to change; the Blu-ray/DVD combo also includes a digital copy. Retail price is $29.98 for the DVD, $39.99 for the combo.

Source: Fangoria