Alia Shawkat

When tech billionaire Slater King meets cocktail waitress Frida at his fundraising gala, sparks fly. He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island where wild nights blend into sun-soaked days. But as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question her reality.

The film is told from three perspectives: interviews with the show's three lead writers: Jess Oppenheimer (who was also the show runner) (Tony Hale), Madelyn Pugh (Alia Shawkat), and Bob Carroll Jr. (Jake Lacy); flashbacks; and preparations for a live filming in 1953. Today a show with 15 MM viewers is a mega hit. I Love Lucy had 60 MM viewers. In 1939, Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman), 28, is an actress contracted to RKO Pictures. She gets small parts in big studio productions, but featured mainly in low budget films which gives her the moniker "Queen of the B-Movies." She is cast in the comedy Too Many Girls, a film Pugh describes as a bad stage play made into an even worse movie. She meets one of the film's casts, charismatic 22-year-old Cuban singer Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) and they fall in love instantly. Months after filming, they marry and buy a home in Hollywood. Arnaz has a successful stint fronting the Desi Arnaz Orchestra that tours around the country, while Ball continues her film career with little success. After Arnaz serves in World War II, he resumes his success with his orchestra, with Ball having to accompany him because of his infidelity. Ball finally gets a break when she is cast in 1942's The Big Street. The film is only a modest hit, but Ball's performance is praised. She meets with RKO President Charles Koerner (Brian Howe) confident she will get better scripts on par with established stars like Rita Hayworth and Judy Holliday. Instead, he terminates her contract as several actresses RKO loaned to other studios will be returning and there will be nothing for her (Plus she is 35 years old now). He suggests she use her voice for radio, and with no substantial film roles coming, she does. In 1948, she is cast in the radio show My Favorite Husband, which becomes a massive success. The show draws interest from CBS (Producers Howard Wenke (Clark Gregg) & Joe Strickland (Nelson Franklin)) and cigarette company Philip Morris (rep by Roger Otter (Jeff Holman)), who suggested to turn "My Favorite Husband" into a television show. Ball agrees but only if Arnaz plays her on-screen husband. The executives initially refuse because Arnaz is Cuban, but later concede after Ball refuses to give them the copyright of the show. She also hopes that working with Arnaz will decrease his infidelity and save their marriage. By 1953, the show is renamed I Love Lucy and becomes a smash hit with nearly 60 million viewers each week. A three-camera system, designed by Arnaz, allows viewers on the East Coast of United States to see the show live and without static (since the show is filmed on the West Coast). During production, Ball deals with several issues on the show; Vivian Vance (Nina Arianda) and William Frawley (J.K. Simmons), who play the Ricardos' married neighbors the Mertzes, do not get along, and Frawley is often drunk on the filming set. The crew goes about their normal production day. The dynamics are complex. Lucille is very particular that her character on the show should not come across as dumb or dimwitted. Ball also clashes with the directors (Donald Glass (Christopher Denham), to whom she declares that she has no confidence in his abilities to direct the show) and writers during table reads and scene blocking. Lucille has the ability to imagine the scenes as they are being narrated to her, and this gives her the ability to almost predict audience reactions to the jokes and sense check if certain situations and premises would make sense or not. Particularly troublesome is a scene where Arnaz comes home and covers Ball's eyes while she is setting the table, and she names several different men before he reveals it's him. The couple announce to CBS and Phillip Morris executives that Ball is pregnant. Jess is troubled as Desi wants the pregnancy to be shown on air, while Jess knows that CBS will never allow it. Jess and Desi clash over Lucille's rude attitude towards the other crew members of the show. The executives insist Ball hide the pregnancy behind large objects, but the couple refuses and proposes the pregnancy be shown (though they are never allowed to say the word "pregnant" on air). Lucille continues to undermine Donald's authority during the scene rehearsals. Lucille also comes down hard on Vivian for losing weight. She says that losing weight is not in line with Vivian's character of Ethel. She says that most women want to see themselves on the show, which is a fat, plump Ethel. Ball also deals with Arnaz staying out late, and a photo emerges in the tabloids of him with another woman. Desi tells Lucy that he plays cards on a boat with some other celebrities and sleeps there when he is too tired to come home, and that the picture was taken six months ago. She reluctantly believes him. Frawley has Ball understand that Arnaz's infidelity may stem from her making the business and creative decisions on the show which makes him feel emasculated, though she explains to everyone that he is the one who makes all the decisions. She asks Oppenheimer to give Arnaz a producer credit, hoping it will stop Arnaz's infidelity and save the marriage. Instead, Oppenheimer reminds Arnaz he has top billing, as he is the person saying "I" in I love Lucy, in attempt to placate him. Arnaz responds by sharply scolding Oppenheimer for trying to patronize him. The night of the live filming, a newspaper article deems Ball a Communist, though she was cleared during a HUAC hearing months ago. Ball admits she registered as a member of the Communist Party when she was young and influenced by a relative, but Arnaz insists she lie to the public and claim she accidentally marked the wrong box. Ball refuses to lie to the public, fearing she will be humiliated. Arnaz cancels his usual show warm up with the audience, and instead addresses the audience about the accusations (It's a big gamble, because if the gamble doesn't work, then the show is over then and there). He takes a live call with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who assures all of the audience that Lucy has been cleared of all the charges. As the couple celebrates backstage, Ball shows Arnaz a handkerchief with lipstick on it. Arnaz says it's hers, but Ball shows him another handkerchief with her own lipstick on it, proving Arnaz's infidelity. When filming begins, Ball momentarily loses her concentration. They start over, with Ball being more focused. The film ends with a title card saying Ball filed for divorce after the taping of their last show in 1960.

Set among outcasts on the edge of capitalisms grasp, First Cow is a rare tale of the blossoming of a heartfelt male friendship, and one told with sublime gentleness and touching compassion.

A punk band on the road find themselves besieged by neo-Nazi white supremacists in a backwoods Oregon club, in this nail-biting thriller from the director of the cult hit Blue Ruin.

A weekend getaway for four couples takes a sharp turn when one of the couples discovers the entire trip was orchestrated to host an intervention on their marriage. A young couple, Peter and Ruby, are married with three children. On a weekend trip a tight-knit group of friends confront them about their constant bickering and propose they divorce. Reacting in anger, the couple clearly realize the truth in what their friends are trying to say; nonetheless, they remember their old feelings for each other and decide instead to strive to improve their relationship. Later, the intervention is turned around on Annie (Lynskey) and her alcohol problem, while she begins to realize that her conspired marriage intervention for Ruby and Peter may have been based on her suppressed doubts about her own impending wedding. —kwedgwood@hotmail.com

A bartender comes back to his hometown after his parents die, and finds himself in a dangerous situation involving a mysterious woman and a violent criminal. Pierre Hunter (Anton Yelchin), a bartender with unyielding optimism, returns to his tiny hometown after his parents' death. When he falls for the enigmatic Stella (Zooey Deschanel), Pierre is unknowingly pulled into a cat-and-mouse game that involves a duffel bag full of cash, a haphazard yet determined criminal (John Hawkes), and a mystery that will determine all of their fates. With Alia Shawkat, Frank Langella, Aubrey Plaza, and Ciarán Hinds. Zachary Sluser's film, based on the novel by Tom Drury, is a contemporary fable about the ways we struggle to control time and fate in a possibly predetermined universe.

An homage to European exploitation of the 60s and 70s. A man searches for his missing girlfriend, who has been abducted by a clan of vampires, led by an insane Nazi doctor. He must now battle this horde of bloodsuckers in order to retrieve the soul of the woman he loves, and save his own from eternal damnation. —Wild Eye Releasing

MAKE is a feature-length documentary for the modern creative, produced by the team at Musicbed. This film is a question. A conversation starter. It's an examination of the reasons we create and the things that drive us to make something new - passion or success. The film looks to examine the myth of creative success and what it means to live a healthy life as an artist.

Whip It opens five minutes before a beauty pageant in Bodeen, Texas, where one of the contestants is missing. Backstage, 17-year-old misfit and rebel Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) regrets accepting a dare from her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat) which involved dying her hair blue before the pageant. Bliss tries to wash the dye out but ends up going on stage with her hair blue, losing the pageant, much to the disappointment of her mother, Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden). With both Bliss and her mother upset about what happened, Brooke offers to take her daughter shopping in Austin, where Bliss witnesses three roller-derby girls drop promotional fliers at a clothes shop. Mesmerized by them, Bliss takes one of the fliers and learns of an exhibition derby match and asks Pash to come with her. After the team is defeated in the exhibition, Bliss meets the Hurl Scouts, captained by Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) and coached by Razor McGee (Andrew Wilson). When Bliss tells Maggie that the Hurl Scouts are her new heroes, Maggie tells her to "Put some skates on, be your own hero." Bliss lies about her age and decides to attend try outs, keeping it a secret from her parents, who would never approve. Razor can see that Bliss has natural talent and tells her that she has made the cut, welcoming her to the Hurl Scouts. Bliss plays well in her first game, but the Hurl Scouts lose. At the after party, Bliss discovers a connection she has with Oliver (Landon Pigg), a 19-year-old lanky teenage heart breaker and guitarist. He compliments her taste in music, and as they talk, Bliss misses her chance to tell him she's a Derby Girl when she is thrown into a hot tub by Iron Maven (Juliette Lewis), the captain of The Holy Rollers - a rival Derby team. Later at the diner where Bliss works with Pash, she spots Oliver outside in his car and gets Pash to cover for her. Oliver drives Bliss to the arcade where he attempts to impress her with his pinball skills, but after that fails, the two end up driving somewhere secluded and singing together. The next night, the Hurl Scouts win their first game of the season, of which Oliver is in crowd attendance. The Scouts are forced to take their game more seriously and put faith in their coach. After Bliss' performance, she becomes the team's point scorer as their star Jammer and picks her Derby name as Babe Ruthless. As she and Oliver spend more time together, Bliss falls for him and is heartbroken when he tells her his band is going on tour around the states. Bliss develops a strong relationship with Maggie Mayhem as the Hurl Scouts climb the Derby leader boards but has trouble keeping a strong relationship with her mother, who is disappointed in her rebellious activities and her lack of interest in her beauty pageants. After the Hurl Scouts win another match, police show up at the warehouse they are held and order it to be cleared out. In the evacuation, Iron Maven overhears Bliss tell an interrogative police officer that she is only 17. Pash is spotted with a drink in her hand and arrested on the spot for being under-age. Bliss however has disappeared with Oliver and is of no support. Late that night, the two of them break into a public swimming pool where they make love and spend the night together, trading shirts to remember each other while he's away. In the morning, Bliss comes home to her angry parents who received a phone-call from Pash's parents and know about her involvement in Roller Derby. Bliss argues with her mother who is furious that she lied, however Bliss shoots back that she is sick of her mom forcing a housewife lifestyle on her, and she just wants to be her own person. When Iron Maven threatens to tell the League about Bliss' real age, she breaks and is forced to reveal it to her own team. Despite being shocked, the Hurl Scouts accept her and prepare for their final match. Bliss misses Oliver terribly, who won't return her calls. After she looks on his band's website, she finds a photo of him with another girl wearing the shirt Bliss gave him. She is heartbroken and seeks support from her mother, and the two make up with Bliss promising to compete in the Blue Bonnet Pageant, an annual event and very important to Brooke. She is later horrified to discover that the pageant and the final Derby Match between The Hurl Scouts and the Holy Rollers fall on the same night. She decides that her relationship with her mother is more important and attends the pageant. Meanwhile Bliss' father (Daniel Stern) finds footage and promotional photos of her on the website and realizes how much she enjoys being Babe Ruthless. He talks Brooke into letting Bliss skip the pageant for her chance at happiness. Minutes before the League Championship, Bliss is confronted by Oliver who has returned from his tour. She accuses him of cheating on her, and when he denies, she is still heartbroken that he never called and breaks up with him. Babe Ruthless and Iron Maven go head to head on the track, with the game neck and neck for its duration. The Holy Rollers barely defeat the Hurl Scouts, who are shattered at first but get past it, chanting "We're number two!" which is what they shouted when they lost their first match. While still upset with Bliss, Brooke finds the script to her daughter's speech that she would have read had she attended the pageant, in which she claims her mother to be the person she admires most. Pash is accepted into a college in New York, whereas Bliss pursues her love for Roller Derby and expresses interest in moving to Austin. The film closes with Bliss sitting on the roof of the diner, reflecting on her life as of late.