Kit Harington and Andy Samberg Serve Up '7 Days in Hell'; Allison Williams is Peter Pan

 Being a part of the HBO family comes with many perks. Not only are you a frequent target for Emmy nominations, but it also leads to some pretty big opportunities outside of the network. And now we're seeing two members of the HBO fam taking on new projects, one that sounds potentially awesome and another that could be disaster in the waiting.

First up, Game of Thrones star Kit Harington will team up with Andy Samberg for the star-studded tennis mockumentary, 7 Days in Hell. Check out the cast being assembled for this one: Fred Armisen, Lena Dunham, Will Forte, Karen Gillan, Howie Mandel, Soledad O’Brien (!!!), Michael Sheen, Mary Steenburgen and Oscar nominee June Squibb. Samberg and Murray Miller developed the story with Miller writing the script, and it follows two fierce tennis rivals during an epic 7-day match at Wimbledon. SNL's Jake Szymanski is directing. [Deadline]

And then there's Allison Williams, who plays vocally-challenged wannabe singer Marnie Michaels on Girls. She'll kind of get her wish in a sense as Williams has agreed to play the boy who wouldn't grow up in NBC's Peter Pan Live. She'll sing and dance alongside Christopher Walken as Captain Hook, and hopefully this won't be as terrible as their live version of The Sound of Music. Ratings be damned, that thing sucked.

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Review: 'Happy Christmas' Starring Anna Kendrick, Lena Dunham, and Melanie Lynskey

NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Sundance Film Festival. Happy Christmas is available now On Demand.

As the most prolific indie filmmaker around with six feature films over the last two years, Joe Swanberg has perfected the art of the loose-knit, improvisational comedy. Last year's Drinking Buddies was his first with actors audiences recognized, and it ended up on a number of "Top 10' lists while increasing his profile signicantly. His latest film, Happy Christmas, is another directionless charmer that touches on a number of ever-lasting themes dear to Swanberg's heart.

Despite the title, Christmas has very little to do with the story, which centers on new parents Jeff (Swanberg himself) and Kelly (Melanie Lynskey). A stay-at-home mom, Kelly is a writer itching to get back to work but is torn between her duties as a mother, taking care of their expressive, scene-stealing son (played by Swanberg's real-life kid). Their lives are comfortable until Jeff's train-wreck sister Jenny (Anna Kendrick) pops in for a visit of undetermined length. Having recently broken up with her boyfriend, Jenny is an absolute mess who threatens to ruin everything.

Hoping to instill some responsibility in Jenny, Jeff and Kelly ask her to babysit, only to have her party too hard the night before with best friend, Carson (Lena Dunham). She hooks up with a pot-dealing nice guy (Mark Webber, stuck in these roles for eternity) and has Kelly worried about having her around, especially after Jenny nearly burns the house down.

But Jenny also proves to be the spark that reignites Kelly's creative side, helping her realize the value in writing trashy novels of the Danielle Steele variety. The film nearly abandons Jenny's dysfunction in favor of Kelly's balancing act between motherhood and parenthood. Swanberg has always favored an improvisational approach, allowing his actors the freedom to personalize their characters, but it works only sparingly here, and always when Dunham is around to anchor. One instance where it shines is during a funny conversation about the language of "mommy porn". The first half of the film moves along glacially, saved only by Swanberg's son who is already a future star. Sometimes you can tell they just plop the camera down and let the little guy go, and it's always a treat. All of the performances are terrific, but Lynskey really stands out as Kelly, who worries if wanting a career makes her a bad mother. Kendrick somehow manages to make you care about Jenny despite her repeated bad behavior.

Issues of parenthood, loyalty, substance abuse, and more are touched upon briefly, but at only 78 minutes in length the film doesn't attempt too much beyond being a funny, warm-hearted slice of life.

 Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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Anna Kendrick and Lena Dunham Share a 'Happy Christmas' in New Trailer

The prolific Joe Swanberg (Drinking Buddies, All the Light in the Sky) has so many movies coming out at all times of the year that he's even got a Christmas movie arriving in the thick of summer. At Sundance he debuted Happy Christmas, which like many of his recent films features a big-time Hollywood cast starring in a film about family dysfunction over the holidays.

Boasting the star power of Anna Kendrick, Lena Dunham, Melanie Lynskey, and Mark Webber, Happy Christmas centers on the hard partying, hard-drinking Jenny (Kendrick) who spends Christmas with her brother, his wife, and their young son. Jenny's life is a wreck after a break-up with her boyfriend, and the irresponsible actions she takes shake-up her brother's happy home.

I enjoyed the film well enough, calling it a "funny, warm-hearted slice of life", but it probably will have a tough time finding an audience outside of Swanberg's most ardent supporters. Happy Christmas hits VOD on June 26th and in theaters July 25th.

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Sundance Review: 'Happy Christmas' Starring Anna Kendrick, Lena Dunham, and Melanie Lynskey

As the most prolific indie filmmaker around with six feature films over the last two years, Joe Swanberg has perfected the art of the loose-knit, improvisational comedy. Last year's Drinking Buddies was his first with actors audiences recognized, and it ended up on a number of "Top 10' lists while increasing his profile signicantly. His latest film, Happy Christmas, is another directionless charmer that touches on a number of ever-lasting themes dear to Swanberg's heart.

Despite the title, Christmas has very little to do with the story, which centers on new parents Jeff (Swanberg himself) and Kelly (Melanie Lynskey). A stay-at-home mom, Kelly is a writer itching to get back to work but is torn between her duties as a mother, taking care of their expressive, scene-stealing son (played by Swanberg's real-life kid). Their lives are comfortable until Jeff's train-wreck sister Jenny (Anna Kendrick) pops in for a visit of undetermined length. Having recently broken up with her boyfriend, Jenny is an absolute mess who threatens to ruin everything.

Hoping to instill some responsibility in Jenny, Jeff and Kelly ask her to babysit, only to have her party too hard the night before with best friend, Carson (Lena Dunham). She hooks up with a pot-dealing nice guy (Mark Webber, stuck in these roles for eternity) and has Kelly worried about having her around, especially after Jenny nearly burns the house down.


But Jenny also proves to be the spark that reignites Kelly's creative side, helping her realize the value in writing trashy novels of the Danielle Steele variety. The film nearly abandons Jenny's dysfunction in favor of Kelly's balancing act between motherhood and parenthood. Swanberg has always favored an improvisational approach, allowing his actors the freedom to personalize their characters, but it works only sparingly here, and always when Dunham is around to anchor. One instance where it shines is during a funny conversation about the language of "mommy porn". The first half of the film moves along glacially, saved only by Swanberg's son who is already a future star. Sometimes you can tell they just plop the camera down and let the little guy go, and it's always a treat. All of the performances are terrific, but Lynskey really stands out as Kelly, who worries if wanting a career makes her a bad mother. Kendrick somehow manages to make you care about Jenny despite her repeated bad behavior.

Issues of parenthood, loyalty, substance abuse, and more are touched upon briefly, but at only 78 minutes in length the film doesn't attempt too much beyond being a funny, warm-hearted slice of life.

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Melanie Lynskey, Lena Dunham, Anna Kendrick, and Mark Webber starring in Joe Swanberg's 'Happy Christmas'

As you well know, we (or maybe it's just me) are huge fans of Melanie Lysnkey around here, and relish any chance to see her whether it's on the big or small screen. Her film Hello I Must Be Going was on my list of 2012's Hidden Cinematic Gems, and frankly I feel she gave the best lead performance of the year. Fortunately, we'll have a chance to see her in action again soon, and it's in a holiday-themed film from the immensely talented and red hot Joe Swanberg.

In a conversation with Indiewire, Swanberg revealed he had completed Happy Christmas, which stars Lynskey, Lena Dunham, Mark Webber, and Anna Kendrick. Kendrick starred in Swanberg's Drinking Buddies, which was a hit out of SXSW and picked up by Magnolia Pictures for release this summer. The film will center on a family during the holiday season. In a change of pace, Swanberg will be venturing away from the digital format that has helped take him to such quick success, working with Beasts of the Southern Wild cinematographer Ben Richardson to shoot it on 16mm film.

Swanberg has the Jane Adams-led film All the Light in the Sky coming up this fall, and another indie film titled 23 Exposures. As for Happy Christmas, it won't be ready until sometime next year, where he hopes it will be hit the festival circuit.

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