Catégorie : An Invisible Sign Of My Own

‘An Invisible Sign’ Review + Screencaptures

Jessica Alba looked more like a kawaii Japanese student than an elemantry school teacher in the (most underated film of 2010) dramatic directorial feature debut by Marilyn Agrelo ‘An Invisible Sign’.

Jessica Alba tackles a different kind of role then we are used to seeing her in, and she did a excellent job throughout the film.  I haven’t read the book, but the storyline was all over the place, and not very well put together, which I blame on the director.

I really did not picture her as the lead in this film,” says director Marilyn Agrelo, who is best known for the culty child-performer documentary Mad Hot Ballroom. “I knew her as a piece of pop culture, Fantastic Four, this sort of thing.” In a single meeting, Alba won Angrelo over. “I was so surprised by her intelligence, her thoughtfulness, her poise,” Angrelo says. “She’s a real, flesh-and-blood, fully realized woman.

Costar Chris Messina, who plays a science teacher who becomes Mona’s love interest, describes Alba’s work in the film as “magnificent.” “Jessica’s a beautiful woman, so this business is going to want to put her in a bikini or put a gun in her hand, but she’s just more than that,” Messina Says. “It seemed to me that she really seized this.

The result, according to Agrelo, is a performance that could change the course of Alba’s career. “I remember when Pulp Fiction opened, and people kind of laughed at the idea of John Travolta in that role. He blew everyone away,” she says. “When things like that happen, it’s wonderful. And it’s so rare that you get to be the one who pulls the surprise out of the hat.(ELLE, March 2010)

Don’t forget to put this on your Xmas wish list!!!

‘An Invisible Sign’ out on Region 1DVD & Blue-Ray!

Finally after 3-years of waiting ‘An Invisible Sign‘ staring Jessica Alba, Bailee Madison and J.K. Simmons is available on Region 1 DVD & Blue-Ray yesterday (Released November 1st). I bought my copy for $11.99 on Amazon yesterday, and I shall post a review + screencaptures ones i receive it. Below is a summary of the content of the DVD via Houston Press.

The Set-up: Jessica Alba is Mona, a 20-year-old math whiz who’s somewhat adrift. Her father’s been mentally ill for years and Mona’s way of coping with that has been making deals with the universe. She’ll give up her favorite things and in exchange the universe will give her back her healthy, happy dad. The only thing Mona hasn’t given up is math. When her mother (played beautifully by Sonia Braga) forces her to leave home, Mona gets a job teaching math at an elementary school where she meets a handsome co-worker (Chris Messina).

The Execution: Alba, usually the sexy, sultry beauty plays the geeky, shy Mona to perfection. In baggy, unfashionable clothes, wearing bangs that badly need trimming, she’s still a magnet on screen. Alba doesn’t take a single misstep on her journey from socially clueless outcast to blossoming, creative young woman.

The Verdict: Alba is charming as the awkward Mona. With a less-is-more attitude in her approach to the character, Alba brings Mona to life slowly, carefully and wonderfully. This is a small, quiet movie that holds its own.

The Extras: None.

‘An Invisible Sign’ available for pre-order

According to Amazon, An Invisible Sign will be released on DVD on November 1, 2011. (3 years after it started filming). CLICK HERE to pre-order it.  Below are a few quotes from Marilyn Agrelo (Director) and Costar Chris Messina from ELLE march, 2010. I don’t think anyone has mentioned the film since.

“I really did not picture her as the lead in this film,” says director Marilyn Agrelo, who is best known for the culty child-performer documentary Mad Hot Ballroom. “I knew her as a piece of pop culture, Fantastic Four, this sort of thing.” In a single meeting, Alba won Angrelo over. “I was so surprised by her intelligence, her thoughtfulness, her poise,” Angrelo says. “She’s a real, flesh-and-blood, fully realized woman.”

Costar Chris Messina, who plays a science teacher who becomes Mona’s love interest, describes Alba’s work in the film as “magnificent.” “Jessica’s a beautiful woman, so this business is going to want to put her in a bikini or put a gun in her hand, but she’s just more than that,” Messina Says. “It seemed to me that she really seized this.”

The result, according to Agrelo, is a performance that could change the course of Alba’s career. “I remember when Pulp Fiction opened, and people kind of laughed at the idea of John Travolta in that role. He blew everyone away,” she says. “When things like that happen, it’s wonderful. And it’s so rare that you get to be the one who pulls the surprise out of the hat.”

The Hollywood Reporter reviews ‘ An Invisble Sign’

Jessica Alba stars as a troubled math teacher in director Marilyn Agrelo’s film adaption of Aimee Bender’s critically acclaimed novel.

Whatever it was about Aimee Bender‘s well-received novel that made this team want to turn it into a film remains invisible in An Invisible Sign. Lisa Rinzler‘s well-judged, intensely hued cinematography is the only element of any interest whatsoever in this inert dramatic directorial feature debut by Marilyn Agrelo, whose documentary Mad Hot Ballroom was an out-of-the-blue hit six years ago. IFC’s theatrical release will define the term token, as VOD will prove the perfect place for curious souls to give this a perfunctory look.

Shot three years ago in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, New York, the picture is like a handsomely constructed house with nobody at home. None of the characters comes alive or has anything engaging to say, while the central concerns of the story, which have to do with mathematics, symbols and people finding their places in the world, are treated in a way that feels both trite and pretentious.

Painfully withdrawn, reticent and lacking in confidence since her genius mathematician father (John Shea) began to go nuts, Mona Gray (Jessica Alba) is cajoled into taking a job as a first grade math teacher despite a lack of credentials. Without a clue of how to proceed, Mona feels her way with some unusual methods while enduring insults from a bratty girl and developing a bond with another student, Lisa (Sophie Nyweide), whose mother is dying of cancer.

Mona’s urge to help this game but troubled girl at least has a modest emotional pull, which is more than can be said for her tentative involvement with unappealing science teacher Ben (Chris Messina); when Ben comes on to her the first time and, after kissing him, she says, “I’m not into it. Please leave,” you wish that would be the end of it. Unfortunately, it’s not, and Messina’s lack of energy and his and Alba’s total lack of chemistry make their subsequent scenes arduous to endure.

The same is true for Mona’s mania for a numerology system picked up from a retired math teacher (J.K. Simmons), a plot strand the film manages to make register not at all.

Expressing Mona’s specific fear of human interaction and general anxiety by overreacting fearfully to even the most minor eventuality, Alba demonstrates a convincing inability to carry a picture by herself; she can’t illuminate what might actually be going on inside her recessive character and certainly doesn’t evince any affinity for math.

Favoring a view of the material that could be described as whimsical or insipid depending upon how charitable one felt at the moment, Agrelo does not apply the rigor or toughness that might have helped grapple with such key elements such as mental illness, struggling students and the strength it takes for Mona to reverse her natural tendency to withdrawal. She opts for a superficial feel-good approach, which does neither her characters nor the film any favors. (TheHollywoodReporter)

An Invisible Sign Trailer

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IFC, MPI acquire Jessica Alba pic

IFC Films and MPI have teamed to acquire North American rights to the Jessica Alba drama “An Invisible Sign.”

The distribs will jointly release the pic in theaters and on VOD during the second quarter.

Marilyn Agrelo directed from a script by Pamela Falk and Michael Ellis, who adapted Aimee Bender’s book “An Invisible Sign of My Own.”

Pic stars Alba as a math teacher who must help her students through their own crises. Bailee Madison (“Just Go With It”) plays the younger version of Alba’s character, a lonely girl who finds salvation in math after her father becomes ill. Chris Messina, J.K. Simmons and Sonia Braga co-star.

Jana Edelbaum and Lynette Howell produced along with Falk and Ellis, while Katie Mustard and Rebecca Rivo co-produced. Exec producers include Justin Berfield, Jason Felts, Michael Lesser, Rachel Cohen, Daniel Crown and Stephen Hays.

In an effort to help reach young female auds, the Museum of Mathematics has teamed with Edelbaum’s iDeal Partners to coordinate outreach efforts, and Bill and Melinda Gates’ Get Schooled Foundation is exploring opportunities to get involved.

IFC head of acquisitions Arianna Bocco and MPI’s Greg Newman negotiated the deal, while Josh Braun of Submarine Entertainment negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers. (Variety.com)

So Excited! I’ve been waited for the longest for this movie!!

Predictions 2010 Sundance Film Festival

An Invisible Sign of My Own – For those who don’t know the story, Mad Hat Ballroom, Marilyn Agrelo’s doc film wasn’t good enough to get into Sundance, but was the hot title pick up from Slamdance. Based on Aimee Bender’s book, Jessica Alba, J.K. Simmons, Chris Messina and Sonia Braga star in the film that “centers around Mona Gray (Alba) is a 20-year-old loner who, as a child, turned to math for salvation after her father became ill (Simmons). As an adult, Mona now teaches the subject and must help her students through their own crises”. Sundance Selection Forecast: 70% Chance. With Alba in a parka, Kimmel International will want to use the fest to close up final sales and production co. Silverwood Films have been provided Sundance fair since 2006.

The Killer Inside Me – With Michael Winterbottom already coming to the fest for The Shock Doctrine, I’m thinking that he might bring this film in the same suitcase. Written by Robert Weinbach and John Curran and based on Jim Thompson’s novel, the story follows a West Texas sheriff (Casey Affleck) and his downward spiral from a boring small-town cop into a ruthless, sociopathic murderer. Jessica Alba plays a prostitute. Sundance Selection Forecast: 50% Chance. Low budget pulp film is available for domestic pick-up. Look for the title to end up in Berlin as well.

Source: Ioncinema.com

An Invisible Sign Of My Own Promotional Still

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Here is the first promotional still for ‘An Invisible Sign Of My Own’. According to the site, it was released in November 2008, but i haven’t seen it until now. Check it out by clicking on the image above.

The film is a coming-of-age drama based on Aimee Bender’s quirky novel about a 20-year-old loner named Mona Gray (Alba) who as a child turned to math for salvation after her father became ill. As an adult, Gray now teaches the subject and must help her students through their own crises.

On Set: An Invisible Sign Of My Own

November 14, 2008.

November 15, 2008.

November 23, 2008.

An Invisible Sign of My Own: On Set – Nov 9

Jessica Alba on location for “An Invisible Sign of My Own” in Brooklyn, New York on November 9, 2008.