Buried was the hottest property at the Sundance Film Festival this year, earning critical praise and sparking a bidding war between studios (Lionsgate eventually came away victorious). The premise alone had me hooked – a man wakes up buried underground in a coffin with no knowledge of how he got there – and adding Ryan Reynolds to the mix certainly helped pique my interest. But what fascinated me most was the choice director Rodrigo Cortes made regarding how to shoot this film: he decided to film the entire movie inside the coffin, locking the audience in with the character and taking on the challenge of making a compelling film in literally one location.

So did Cortes succeed in creating an interesting movie set entirely inside a coffin? Absolutely. Aided by an inventive script by Chris Sparling, Cortes managed to make a Hitchcockian thriller that remains utterly riveting from the nifty opening credits sequence until the final shot of the film. Locked in the coffin with only a phone and a lighter, truck driver Paul Conroy (Reynolds) is – in perhaps the movie’s one fatal flaw – able to use his phone underground. Through his conversations, we slowly discover the extent of his problem and piece together information that progresses the story and keeps the audience intrigued and involved.

Buried is quite literally a one-man show, since Ryan Reynolds is the only actor seen on screen for the duration of the movie. He has phone conversations with a few supporting characters (played by the likes of Stephen Tobolowsky and some others), but the responsibility for carrying this film lies squarely on Reynolds’ shoulders. To say he rises to the challenge is an understatement, an insult to one of the most captivating performances in recent memory. Reynolds unquestionably commands every scene in this film, earning our trust and empathy seemingly without trying. We feel every labored breath, grimace with every injury, and our emotions rise and fall with his as we listen in on various phone calls that lead toward the film’s conclusion. This is an awards-worthy performance, and comparisons to Tom Hanks in Castaway are not unwarranted.

Eduard Grau, the Director of Photography, impressively only utilized light sources that made sense to the story, contributing a great deal to the film’s realism. This is especially relevant considering the movie plays out almost in real time – there are a few fades to black to allow for some lapses here and there, but for the most part, we’re right in there with Conroy for every second. With the natural light sources shown in essentially real time, the immediacy of the movie heightens our senses and we can’t help but sympathize with his horrific scenario. We’re wondering what’s in each corner of the coffin, but, like Conroy himself, we’re kept in the dark until his lighter illuminates the areas around him. I also assumed the selection of camera angles would quickly get repetitive and stale: not the case. Grau and Cortes evolve their shooting style to reflect Conroy’s emotions, providing shots I didn’t think were possible and never once causing a modicum of boredom.

Aside from the technical achievements and Reynolds’ performance, the most impressive aspects of the movie were the action scenes. Yes, you read that correctly – there are multiple action sequences that take place inside the coffin, one of which caused audible gasps throughout the theater. The suspense Cortes is able to create is palpable, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he does next in Hollywood (or otherwise).

Sparling should be given much of the credit for the effectiveness of the film, and infuses some political commentary into his script. I’d rather not give anything away, but check out this really phenomenal trailer for some further hints into the plot. There is also a chilling indictment of corporate self-interest, so there’s a bit more than meets the eye when it comes to this story. Sparling is sure to be one of the big-name screenwriters in Hollywood upon this film’s wide release, and already has a new minimalistic thriller in pre-production called ATM.

With Ryan Reynolds’ powerhouse performance leading the charge, Buried is one of the most memorable movie-going experiences I’ve had in a long time. The ending will almost certainly inspire debate about the film’s overall quality, but even if you aren’t a fan of the final few shots (I’m still undecided), the impact of this film can’t be denied. Until next time…

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Lionsgate has revealed a thrilling new trailer for Buried, which is directed by Rodrigo Cortes and stars Ryan Reynolds as a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq and wakes up buried in a coffin in the desert with only a phone, a candle and a knife.

The thought of watching a guy in a coffin for 1 hour and 30 minutes may make people feel claustrophobic, so Lionsgate has done something a little different with the trailer which gets the theme of the film across but shouldn’t turn people off.

Watch below:

Buried, which Lionsgate bought at Sundance for $3.5 million, will have a limited release on September 24th followed by a wide release 2 weeks later on October 8th.

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Last year, M. Night Shyamalan struck a deal with Media Rights Capital and formed a label called “The Night Chronicles,” which has him developing and producing one film a year from 2010 to 2012. For the second feature in this deal, Night has joined forces with Buried screenwriter Chris Sparling for a supernatural thriller called Twelve Strangers. After the jump, we’ve got a bunch of info about Night’s other projects.

To recap: the first film in The Night Chronicles is a movie called Devil, which has one of the most simple and effective loglines I can remember: “A group of people are trapped in an elevator, and one of them is the devil.” It’s is post production now, and stars a lot of people I recognize by face, but not by name: Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas, Geoffrey Arend, Bokeem Woodbine, and Bojana Novakovic. Directed by John and Drew Dowdle, it will be released on February 11th, 2011.

Twelve Strangers is still shrouded in secrecy, but Deadline says it “involves a jury deliberating a case involving the supernatural.” I haven’t seen Buried yet, but if writer Chris Sparling can craft an interesting script that takes place entirely inside a coffin, it’s enough to make me curious about his future work. I haven’t completely bailed from the M. Night Shyamalan bandwagon, so perhaps his work as a producer will get him back in the creative groove and move his career forward again.

The enigmatic director has been shopping a new project around Hollywood, only allowing it to be read under the close supervision of one of his assistants. The Hangover and The A-Team star Bradley Cooper is attached to the untitled project, playing a father searching for his missing child who has to delve into the supernatural to locate the kid.

Shyamalan has had a bit of a fall from grace with his last few films – a fall that may or may not continue with the release of The Last Airbender next week. Do you think Night is better off as a producer, or would you like to see him remain in the director’s chair?

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Yahoo! have premiered a rather cool motion poster for Ryan Reynolds’ Buried. It’s a teaser trailer and a poster rolled into one. Click here to get it out!

In the film Reynolds plays a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq and wakes up buried in a coffin in the desert with only a phone, a candle and a knife.

Buried, which Lionsgate bought at Sundance for $3.5 million, will have a limited release on September 24th followed by a wide release 2 weeks later on October 8th. Click here to watch the teaser trailer.

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We saw the first official poster for the film a few days ago, and now Lionsgate has released the first official teaser trailer for Buried. And it really is a teaser. Half of the trailer is just darkness with the voice of Ryan Reynolds on the phone asking for help.

Watch below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePOOljITE9I

In the film Reynolds plays a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq and wakes up buried in a coffin in the desert with only a phone, a candle and a knife.

Buried, which Lionsgate bought at Sundance for $3.5 million, will have a limited release on September 24th followed by a wide release 2 weeks later on October 8th.

Read similar posts to Teaser trailer for Ryan Reynolds’ Buried at Filmonic

FirstShowing got their hands on the first official poster for Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds. In the film Reynolds plays a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq and wakes up buried in a coffin in the desert with only a phone, a candle and a knife.

Lionsgate released a teaser trailer for the film earlier this year which shows Reynolds informing us of his situation, saying that he needs ransom money otherwise he will be left in the coffin to die.

You can check out the full poster here. I don’t know about you but it makes me feel a bit claustrophobic, although I suppose that’s the point. Well done Lionsgate marketing team!

Below is a clip from the film which MTV released in January.

Buried will have a limited release on September 24th, followed by a wide release 2 weeks later on October 8th. Lionsgate bought the film at Sundance for $3.5 million so it shouldn’t have a problem making its money back.

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Following a screening of Buried at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Lionsgate entered a bidding war for the film and eventually won with a bid of $3.5 million. Now they have set plans for a limited release on September 24th, followed by a wide release 2 weeks later on October 8th.

In the film Ryan Reynolds plays a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq and wakes up buried in a coffin in the desert with only a phone, a candle and a knife. The teaser trailer we got last month shows Reynolds informing us of his situation, and says that he needs ransom money otherwise he will be left in the coffin to die.

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Following a screening of Buried at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival (which is taking place now) Lionsgate has decided to buy the film for $3.5 million. We got the first teaser and a clip for Buried last week, both of which show Ryan Reynolds encased in a coffin in the desert with only a phone, a candle and a knife.

Past purchases by Lionsgate from Sundance include Saw and Precious, so Buried should have some success with good marketing. Having Ryan Reynolds in the film should widen it’s appeal.

The L.A. Times say that Lionsgate may be aiming for a late spring release in the US, so we should be hearing something official soon.

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While waiting to suit up for Green Lantern Ryan Reynolds made a small film called Buried. In the film Reynolds plays a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq and wakes up buried in a coffin in the desert with only a phone, a candle and a knife. The teaser below shows Reynolds informing us of his crappy situation, and that he needs ransom money otherwise he will be left in the coffin to die.

It’s good to see Reynolds stretching his acting range and going indie. The film will apparently take place almost entirely in the coffin, and the camera will probably be on Reynolds 99% of the time.

Update: A clip from the film has also made it’s way online, and can be viewed below. It kind of doubles up as a ‘making of’ for the teaser above, as we see him making his video message in the clip.

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Before Ryan Reynolds suits up for Green Lantern early next year he is focusing his attention on a small film called Buried. Reynolds plays a civilian contractor who is kidnapped in Iraq and wakes up buried in a coffin in the desert with only a cell phone, a candle and a knife. The image above from Twitch shows Reynolds in that coffin, and that’s where he will be staying throughout the film. Unless he gets out of course.

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