The result is that this excellent short, fully deserving of sundances best short prize, is now screening online, for free. A dapted from his 2016 sundance grand jury prizewinning short film of the same name in turn named for a bruce springsteen song, jim cummings thunder road tells the story of a hapless police officer in smalltown texas whos trying to come. Some found it hilarious, some found it awkward, some found it. Small town texas is where jonathan bradshaw learns about friendship, grief and desperation through the eyes of an eccentric police officer who has a penchant for awkward dance moves in thunder road. Thunder road, a 1980s canadian band led by david thompson thunder road, a 2001 song by judas priest from point of entry. We didnt have the locations confirmed nor half the crew. Everyone grieves differently thunder road is a heartfelt, moving, surprisingly funny character study of police officer, jim arnaud played by writer and director jim cummings, grieving the loss of his mother and fighting for the affection of his daughter in 2016, aspiring filmmaker jim cummings wrote a short film whilst on the train to work also titled thunder road that, after a. It was something like 11 or 12 takes and we ended up using the very last one of the day. All of that added up to become my favorite short film that i had ever seen. Thunder road was awarded the short film grand jury prize at the 2016 sundance film festival on tuesday. So when i saw that it was also made into a feature length film, i thought i had to watch it. The short film thunder road won the grand jury prize at the sundance film festival in 2016. Jim cummings has pretty much the same performance here. The film concerns a texas police officer jim cummings, who had a small role as an interrogator in the handmaids tale on the verge of a meltdown.
Jim cummings deeply discomfiting comedy thunder road takes its title from the majestic opening track of bruce springsteens breakthrough album, born to run, but its spirit recalls the bosss throatier cries from the heart and yawls of confused bluecollar emotion. Thunder road makes cringe comedy from despair film. To push things even further, the film was shot in one unrelentless 15 minute take, all brought together by jim cumming who wrote, directed and performed in this memorable piece. Inside the heartbreaking short film that won sundance. The south by southwest conference and festivals has announced its 2018 jury and special award winners of the sxsw film festival awards, with thunder road by director jim cummings taking home the co. However, despite its acclaim, cummings struggled to get funding to make a featurelength version, so instead financed. In 2016, aspiring filmmaker jim cummings wrote a short film whilst on the train to work also titled thunder road that, after a matter of months premiered at the sundance film festival, and won the short film grand jury prize. May 11, 2015 here is a full length video base on the thunder road game by milton bradley. The first minutes of the fulllength feature film includes the original short.
The short film thunder road, written and directed by jim cummings, has been awarded the short film grand jury prize at the sundance film festival. By now, im sure you have heard about the short film turned feature thunder road which is written by, directed by, and stars jim cummings. We couldnt finish the other half of the film because we didnt have the main location, a desolate road. Thunder road is widely considered the best movie about moonshine bootleggers, and its. With jim cummings, kendal farr, nican robinson, jocelyn deboer. Mitchum rose to prominence for starring roles in several classic films noirs, and his acting is generally considered a forerunner of the antiheroes prevalent in film during the 1950s and 1960s. Expanded from a sundanceselected short from a few years ago, the offbeat and intense thunder road has an uncomfortably timely quality of its own.
The short film that won the grand jury prize at the 2016 sundance film festival is the definition of laughing through your tears. Producer and radiotelevisionfilm alumnus film wins grand jury award at sxsw film. The indie film, which earned a grand jury award at this years sxsw film festival, f. The opening 15 or so minutes, which is effectively a remake of the short film on which thunder road is based, follows our hero has attempts to deliver a eulogy at his mothers funeral. The fame of this work is certainly caused by the ability to generate an unsettling emotional ambivalence. The life of this film presents an interesting case study for those who are making short. He succeeded and this is what youre going to be reading about today. Thunder was shot in two parts, the first during the summer of 2014. Were so charmed by the trajectory of jims success, the development of his voice, and thunder road itself, that were ecstatic to announce that the film is making its online premiere on vimeo today. After the short film version of thunder road won the grand jury prize at the sundance film festival, cummings embarked on a quest using the power of crowdfunding to finance a feature length film. Jan 06, 2020 in 2016, aspiring filmmaker jim cummings wrote a short film whilst on the train to work also titled thunder road that, after a matter of months premiered at the sundance film festival, and won the short film grand jury prize.
Preorder the feature of one of the best short films ever made. It also stars kendal farr, nican robinson, macon blair, jocelyn deboer, chelsea edmunson, ammie leonards, and bill wise. Sundance awards short film thunder road grand jury prize. Officer arnaud raises his daughter as a love letter to his mom. Jim cummings wrote, directed and starred in the movie, which is based on his 2016 awardwinning sundance short film. Thunder road cleveland institute of art college of art. Thunder road wins top prize at sxsw producer and department of radiotelevisionfilm alumnus zack parker b. In a terrific opening scene basically a remake of cummings awardwinning 2016 short film of the same title, with one key. The film was directed and written by jim cummings, who also stars alongside melissa.
Jim arnaud, a police officer in a texas town, always tries to do the right thing, but he has. I never saw a grown man crying so much in a movie and still be funny due to his facial expressions whilst crying. Trigger trailer a world of hurt is just one word away duration. How jim cummings adapted his own short with thunder road. Jim cummings performance in the sundance winning, oneshot short film thunder road was the talk of the indie film world in 2016. Based on the sundancewinning short film, thunder road follows a southern police officer jim cummings on his journey to raise his young daughter as a love letter to his late mom. Thunder road wins top prize at sxsw moody college of. Those fortunate enough to have seen jim cummings sundance winning short film, thunder road 2016, wont soon forget it. A case study how a short film turned a successful festival run into a feature film which made its money back through selfdistribution. On top of all that, a new independent film, us funny, was successfully kickstarted just this month. Thunder road wins top prize at sxsw university of texas.
Then he turned it into a feature, and it won the grand jury prize at the sxsw film festival. Its achingly sad and brutally funny, both, the long take adding to our discomfort as we watch things go from bad to worse. Thunder road is a 2018 american comedydrama microbudget film directed, written by, and starring jim cummings, based on his 2016 short film of the same name. Thunder road is an original and perfectly constructed short film, winner of the grand jury prize at the 2016 sundance film festival as well as the special jury prize for acting at 2016 south by southwest. Thunder road trailer darkly comic policeman dramedy. Short films, music videos and trailers from texas filmmakers. Oct 18, 2018 the opening scene of thunder road is a doozy.
Jim arnaud jim cummings, a texas cop in his early 30s with a handsome face and a tragicomic pornstache, is delivering his mothers eulogy. Robert charles durman mitchum august 6, 1917 july 1, 1997 was an american actor, director, author, poet, composer, and singer. Thunder road trailer darkly comic policeman dramedy from. Thunder road is a masterpiece in achieving this glorious combination, all while placing you in an uncomfortable, but relatable situation. Its hard to get stronger festival validation than what thunder road has received, and sotw will not present a contrarian positionthe film is fantastic, and we. Cummings also served as coeditor, composer and visual effects artist. The premise was very amusing and funny, and the performance was great, albeit far from perfect. Shot in one take, the film depicts a police officer giving a eulogy for his mother. Using stop motion and special sound effects, i made a movie short about a fight for survival on a post apocalyptic. For years, weve seen his name fly under the producer credit line for many of our favorite staff pick films from the film collective ornana. A clueless texas cop reeling from recent lossesdeceased mother, divorced wife, detached daughterstumbles toward a total meltdown in this tragicomic portrait of middleamerican male powerlessness and rage. Roberts son jim plays his younger brother in the film.
Thunder road is a 2018 american comedydrama microbudget film directed, written by, and starring jim cummings, based on his 2016 short film of the same. A tragicomic portrait of a flailing american authority figure, the film will have you laughing and crying, often within the same sentence. This year at sundance, however, we saw a different jim shine this time as the writer, director, and star of his own short, thunder road. It all began with seeing the thunder road short in 2016 and having an. Based on the sundancewinning short film, thunder road follows a texas police officer who loses his mother, custody of his.
Jim has also written and directed the original topic series still life episodes of which have been vimeo staffpicks and the fullscreen original series the minutes collection episodes of which have screened at sundance and sxsw. Thunder road wins top prize at sxsw radio television film. Production begins on november 5th in austin, texas, and we are producing the feature. Watch an exclusive new trailer for jim cummings thunder road. Filmed in austin, texas for around 180k, thunder road wound up. The ballad of thunder road, a 1957 song cowritten and performed by robert mitchum for the 1958 film thunder road song, a 1975 song by bruce springsteen thunder road, a 1980s canadian band led by david thompson thunder road, a 2001 song by judas priest from point of entry. How many takes did you have to do until yall were satisfied with the single take seen in the thunder road short. Jim cummings chats about his indie hit thunder road. The original short tells the story of a police officer who eulogizes his mother at her funeral by singing and dancing to the bruce springsteen song, thunder road. Thunder road is an expanded version of the awardwinning dramatic short that cummings made in 2016, and the movie is liberated from the clanking machinery of threeact arcs. Nican robinson in thunder road 2018 chelsea edmundson in thunder road 2018. Its a funny, inventive, and thoughtprovoking film, one that makes you. Official facebook page of thunder road pictures filmtv producers of sicario, the messengers, the town, john wick, gods of. Hes taken a magnetic short film and transmogrified it into a featurelength masterclass in the exploration of emotion.
Oct 30, 2018 from the sundancewinning short film, thunder road follows officer jim arnaud jim cummings on his journey to raise his young daughter as a love letter to his late mom. Thunder road is a short comedydrama film written, directed by, and starring jim cummings. It also stars kendal farr, nican robinson, macon blair, jocelyn deboer, chelsea edmunson, ammie leonards, and bill. The new indie film barnstorming across america is jim cummings thunder road. A police officer faces a personal meltdown following a divorce and the death of his mother. The ballad of thunder road, a 1957 song cowritten and performed by robert mitchum for the 1958 film thunder road song, a 1975 song by bruce springsteen. Mar 15, 2018 those fortunate enough to have seen jim cummings sundance winning short film, thunder road 2016, wont soon forget it. His bestknown films include out of the past 1947, the night of the. Things are happening fast for cummings at the moment, and audiences. Some found it hilarious, some found it awkward, some found it hilariously. Jim cummings is raising funds for thunder road on kickstarter. This heartbreaking short film perfectly depicts the pain of losing a. The unlikely path of jim cummingss thunder roada short film about an.
Fullscreen has signed up for 6 new shorts from cummings, which will all adopt the single short format of thunder road, and those are expected to land online in september. Thunder road marks the auspicious feature film debut of writer, director, and actor jim cummings, who seemingly delivers a starmaking performance that is equal parts tragic and darkly funny. Here is a full length video base on the thunder road game by milton bradley. Mar, 2018 thunder road is an expanded version of the awardwinning dramatic short that cummings made in 2016, and the movie is liberated from the clanking machinery of threeact arcs. Jim cummings has had a meteoric rise to prominence in so short a time. I watched the short film thunder road 2016 last year and it was quite intriguing. The south by southwest conference and festivals has announced its 2018 jury and special award winners of the sxsw film festival awards, with thunder. Following a heartfelt public campaign to convince bruce springsteen or, perhaps, his battery of lawyers, publishers and master owners to let him affordably release his short film, thunder road, director jim cummings prevailed.
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