After a series of jokey retro teasers, disgruntled reports about its rejection from Sundance and SXSW, and plenty of gossip questioning its (thus far unseen) artistic merits, Paul Schrader's The Canyons is ready to see the light of day. To celebrate (?!), it has received a serious trailer that looks quite accomplished, hip, cool, modern, kinda jazzy, kinda Valley porn-y, what have you.
It also has an official, serious synopsis:
Notorious writer Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho) and acclaimed director Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver and director of American Gigolo) join forces for this explicitly erotic thriller about youth, glamour, sex and surveillance. Manipulative and scheming young movie producer Christian (adult film star James Deen) makes films to keep his trust fund intact, while his actress girlfriend and bored plaything, Tara (Lindsay Lohan), hides a passionate affair with an actor from her past. When Christian becomes aware of Tara's infidelity, the young Angelenos are thrust into a violent, sexually-charged tour through the dark side of human nature.
The film will receive a limited theatrical release in the U.S. on Friday, August 2, and will also be available via various VOD platforms. It will receive its world premiere at Lincoln Center in New York on Monday, July 29, at an event that is already sold out; Schrader will appear in person and presumably stem the tide of negative press by the power of his personality. And maybe the movie will be good, too!