Independent Film Company

Nicolas Cage is back in full eccentric mode. IFC just picked up Best Pancakes in the County, a shoot-’em-up thriller that traps a diner full of dangerous people in one explosive night.

Cage plays The S.O.B., a cunning criminal caught in a deadly standoff between rogue federal agents, a fast-talking con man (Justin Long), and a waitress with secrets (Shelley Hennig). As tensions boil over, survival comes down to who can outthink and outgun everyone else.

Writer-director Ken Sanzel reunites with Cage after their 2019 action thriller Kill Chain. He wanted a character who could be funny, dangerous, and unpredictable all at once. “And then he took it to wilder and more unexpected places than I could have imagined,” Sanzel says.

The film was shot in Arkansas with backing from Beno Films and CaliWood Pictures. The ensemble also includes Lauren German, Ravi Patel, and Brandon Mychal Smith.

IFC’s Mark Ward is clearly excited. “BEST PANCAKES IN THE COUNTY is exactly the kind of eccentric and wildly entertaining ride that Nicolas Cage does better than anyone else.”

The film hits select theaters and VOD on November 20.

SFFILM just handed its Sloan Science in Cinema Prize to Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Project Hail Mary, and they’re backing it up with a $20,000 check and a splashy event.

The prize celebrates films that make science central to the story, not just window dressing. Project Hail Mary, starring Ryan Gosling as a lone science teacher on a spaceship racing to save Earth’s dying sun, fits the bill. The adaptation of Andy Weir’s novel leans hard into physics, astronomy, and microbiology to solve its interstellar crisis.

“This deeply entertaining and emotional film never skirts the scientific process, but instead fully embraces it at every turn,” says Anne Lai, SFFILM’s Executive Director.

The celebration happens October 28 at San Francisco’s Premier Theater at One Letterman. Lord, Miller, and screenwriter Drew Goddard will join VFX Supervisor Paul Lambert, Sound Designers Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, and Dr. Ron Radeztsky, the astrophysical scientist who worked on the film’s astrometric modeling. Expect a deep dive into how they balanced spectacle with actual science.

Past winners include Oppenheimer, Twisters, Don’t Look Up, Hidden Figures, and The Martian. The Sloan Foundation has backed over 900 science and film projects, trying to close the gap between hard science and Hollywood storytelling.

For indie filmmakers chasing authenticity, this prize proves there’s an appetite for smart science on screen, not just CGI explosions.

They meet. They fall hard. Then reality kicks in.

In Spite of Ourselves, a new indie romantic comedy from writer-director Josh Loeb, follows Hannah, a baker in Portland, and Archie, a comedian based in LA, as they navigate what happens after an intense two-week romance ends and distance forces them back to their separate lives. The film opens Friday at New York’s Quad Cinema, with Portland and LA dates rolling out in the following weeks.

The story leans into the messy, relatable side of modern relationships. Chemistry is easy. Commitment, not so much. According to festival reviews, the film delivers both laughs and heart, with Unseen Films calling it “an absolute gem” and Film Snob Reviews praising the leads’ chemistry and gorgeous direction.

Brett Dier and Conor Leslie star, supported by Mo Mandel, Alyssa Limperis, and Glenn Morshower. Loeb produced alongside Michelle Lewitt, Gabe Mayhan, and Tim Harms, with cinematography also by Mayhan.

*In Spite of Ourselves* premiered earlier this year at Cinequest and made the rounds at Heartland, Portland, and Mystic film festivals. It’s the kind of small-scale romantic comedy that used to fill theaters before studios mostly abandoned the genre. For indie filmmakers still making them, that’s exactly the point.