KillerMovies (Free subscription) | 09/10/2008
"Frozen River" writer-director Courtney Hunt has set her next project: the drama "Northline" for Jeffrey Sharp's Sharp Independent at HarperCollins. Hunt will write and direct the film, based on Willy Vlautin's novel..
Frankly My Dear... (Free subscription) | 09/10/2008
Courtney Hunt, whom I chatted up re: her harrowing and terrific Frozen River, has gotten a deal to direct Northline, based on a Willy Vlautin novel about a Vegas woman who flees a bad relationship and gets as far as...
Entertainment News - MovieWeb.com (Free subscription) | 09/10/2008
writer-director Courtney Hunt will write and direct the drama Northline, based on Willy Vlautin's novel, for Jeffrey Sharp's Sharp Independent at HarperCollins., the project centers on a woman who flees Las Vegas and a troubled life with her boyfriend for a new start in Reno, Nev. She also begins to seek comfort via imaginary conversations with Paul Newman.Hunt, who won a Grand...
Variety.com (Free subscription) | 09/30/2008
SPC sends out 'Frozen' screenersEarly-bird strategy could continue to pay offRevving up the awards season, Sony Pictures Classics is touting its "Frozen" assets.On Monday, many Academy voters received the first awards-screener of the season, "Frozen River." The package touts Melissa Leo for lead actress consideration and Courtney Hunt for director and original screenplay.Among studio...
Variety.com (Free subscription) | 09/27/2008
Film News: Company closes deals in San Sebastian -- Rezo Films has closed a swathe of deals on Courtney Hunt’s “Frozen River,” adding to the multi-territory pact agreed with Sony Pictures Classics at Sundance.
Festival21.com (Free subscription) | 09/20/2008
... Borders' alumni include some of the most acclaimed independent films of the past decade including Courtney Hunt's Frozen River, Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden's Half Nelson, Joshua Marston's Maria Full of Grace, Miranda July's Me And You and Everyone We Know, Eran Riklis' Lemon Tree, Sam Garbarski's Irina Palm and the upcoming Weinstein/Miramax release of Stephen Frears' Cheri.Among the...
LA Times (Free subscription) | 09/14/2008
Movies are shifting from the journey itself to the issues that crop up after arrival, exploring how the changes affect everyone, including members of the affected communities. IN COURTNEY HUNT'S absorbing new feature film "Frozen River," an Upstate New York blue-collar mom decides to take a job in one of America's hottest growth industries: people smuggling.
Baltimore Sun (Free subscription) | 09/05/2008
'River' is a satisfying story about pair who help smuggle immigrants *** Frozen River takes place during hard times in upstate New York, but there's no economic problem to the storytelling. Writer-director Courtney Hunt swiftly establishes a two-pronged narrative formula that keeps an audience on tenterhooks.
Orlando Sentinel (Free subscription) | 09/05/2008
There were days and especially nights in the winter of 2007 when aspiring moviemaker Courtney Hunt had to wonder if it was worth it.
The Washington Times (Free subscription) | 08/29/2008
It's late July. Humidity and Melissa Leo's cigarette smoke hang in the air outside Georgetown's Four Seasons Hotel. The actress is enjoying a rare break between the endless interviews and photo sessions that come with pre-release movie promotion - in this case for first-timer Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River," a chilling drama about a Mohawk woman and a Caucasian woman, both mothers, who...
Arizona Republic (Free subscription) | 08/28/2008
'Frozen River' {4stars} Melissa Leo is terrific as a suddenly single mom who must resort to smuggling illegal immigrants across the U.S./Canadian border to support herself and her sons. Also good is Misty Upham as the Mohawk tribal member who accompanies her. First-time director Courtney Hunt illuminates with documentary-like intensity the lives of the struggling poor. (R - 97 minutes)...
KOMO - News - Entertainment (Free subscription) | 08/27/2008
"Frozen River" is so quiet and precise and self-assured, you'd never know it's the feature debut of writer-director Courtney Hunt. Here, she's come up with that rare thing: a film that feels completely original.
Detroit Free Press (Free subscription) | 08/29/2008
... coming in, Ray's inclined to believe her. Maybe she won't lose her new house deposit after all.Courtney Hunt's "Frozen River" is the first great film of the fall. It has great actors playing vivid characters in a setting that makes for a clash of cultures. The state police won't stop Ray "because you're white," Lila spits out at every opportunity. Her tribe doesn't approve of what...
Cincinnati Enquirer (Free subscription) | 08/29/2008
feels so real and immediate that it plays almost like a documentary.That's much to the credit of first-time writer and director Courtney Hunt, as well as Melissa Leo and Misty Upham as two women trying to keep their families together. It's a moving and powerful film, heartbreaking and intense. It's also a look inside what the poorest of American families face. Struggling to get by in...
Orlando Sentinel (Free subscription) | 08/28/2008
"This is free trade between [Mohawk] nations," Lila insists. With the money coming in, Ray's inclined to believe her. Maybe she won't lose her new house deposit by Christmas after all.Courtney Hunt's Frozen River is the first great film of the fall. It has great actors playing vivid characters in a setting that makes for a clash of cultures. The state police won't stop Ray "because you're...
