Today we’re launching a new video series of which we’re extremely proud: It’s “Movies That Inspire Me,” presented by FilmStruck. We’ve interviewed a host of great directors, all of whom have taken films to the Sundance Film Festival, about their favorite classic films streaming on FilmStruck from the Turner Classic Movies and Criterion Collection. And the conversations we’ve had are surprising as well as, yes, inspiring.
First up is Pablo Larraín. Currently the director of Oscar contenders “Jackie” and “Neruda,” he brought “No” to Sundance in 2012. His first inspiration is John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under The Influence” (which you can watch on FilmStruck here.)
Upcoming is Larraín talking about the music of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Three Colors: Blue,” as well as appearances by Jody Hill (“The Foot Fist Way,” “Eastbound & Down”), who talks about his love for the Maysles’ Bros. “Gimme Shelter” and Roman Polanski...
First up is Pablo Larraín. Currently the director of Oscar contenders “Jackie” and “Neruda,” he brought “No” to Sundance in 2012. His first inspiration is John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under The Influence” (which you can watch on FilmStruck here.)
Upcoming is Larraín talking about the music of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Three Colors: Blue,” as well as appearances by Jody Hill (“The Foot Fist Way,” “Eastbound & Down”), who talks about his love for the Maysles’ Bros. “Gimme Shelter” and Roman Polanski...
- 12/5/2016
- by Dana Harris
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Gate House Entertainment launches with children’s novel.
Fledgling UK production outfit Gate House Entertainment has acquired rights to Lucy Daniel Raby’s children’s novel, Nickolai of the North.
London-based Gate House comprises former props expert James Enright and former film and TV coordinator Peter Boothby – both company founders - and former Works International sales executive Naomi Weiner, who will serve as development executive.
Nickolai of the North follows the adventures of Nickolai, the last surviving elf, raised by humans in a remote Scandinavian settlement, as he journeys North to uncover the fate of his people and save the world.
Gate House Entertainment acquired the rights to the novel in late 2014 and has set former Broadcast Hotshot Scott Payne (Hollyoaks) – repped by Linda Seifert Management – to adapt the story.
The film will be developed by Enright, Boothby and Weiner.
“The project was introduced to us by Naomi, who had been a long-time fan of the...
Fledgling UK production outfit Gate House Entertainment has acquired rights to Lucy Daniel Raby’s children’s novel, Nickolai of the North.
London-based Gate House comprises former props expert James Enright and former film and TV coordinator Peter Boothby – both company founders - and former Works International sales executive Naomi Weiner, who will serve as development executive.
Nickolai of the North follows the adventures of Nickolai, the last surviving elf, raised by humans in a remote Scandinavian settlement, as he journeys North to uncover the fate of his people and save the world.
Gate House Entertainment acquired the rights to the novel in late 2014 and has set former Broadcast Hotshot Scott Payne (Hollyoaks) – repped by Linda Seifert Management – to adapt the story.
The film will be developed by Enright, Boothby and Weiner.
“The project was introduced to us by Naomi, who had been a long-time fan of the...
- 9/8/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
There’s an oft-used adage that states that in order to appreciate how far you’ve come, you must first look back to the point in which that first step was made. For Call of Duty‘s beloved Zombies Mode, that genesis can be traced back to Treyarch’s World at War back in 2008. Now, almost seven years later, what was one a bonus end-game mode has spawned an entire sub-franchise, and at tomorrow’s Dice summit in Nevada, the studio is set to reveal its immediate future.
That’s according to Treyarch’s official Twitter feed, which has been teasing a countdown to “Zero Hour” over the past few days all in preparation for some form of announcement.
Countdown to Zero Hour. Stay tuned for livestream info regarding Wednesday’s presentation. #Dice#Zombiespic.twitter.com/fgabgCzTeO
— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) February 2, 2015
At this point we can only speculate about this new development for the series.
That’s according to Treyarch’s official Twitter feed, which has been teasing a countdown to “Zero Hour” over the past few days all in preparation for some form of announcement.
Countdown to Zero Hour. Stay tuned for livestream info regarding Wednesday’s presentation. #Dice#Zombiespic.twitter.com/fgabgCzTeO
— Treyarch Studios (@Treyarch) February 2, 2015
At this point we can only speculate about this new development for the series.
- 2/3/2015
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Penal Colony No. 6, it’s seven hours from the nearest city, and based in the heart of a forest the size of Germany where the temperature is a balmy -40 degrees. It houses some 260 prisoners who are responsible for 800 murders collectively. The worst of the worst are the 85 former death row inmates, saved by Russia’s decision to repeal the death penalty and now remanded to this very prison till the end of their days. For most, that rescinding of state ordered death would be reason to be grateful, but for the so-called lifers at Penal Colony No. 6, death would be a blessing.
The access we’re granted here by director Nick Read is nothing short of incredible, and what’s interesting is that there seems to be no fear of these inmates doing something untoward with the access that they themselves have with the filmmakers, sometimes with no bars between them.
The access we’re granted here by director Nick Read is nothing short of incredible, and what’s interesting is that there seems to be no fear of these inmates doing something untoward with the access that they themselves have with the filmmakers, sometimes with no bars between them.
- 5/3/2014
- by Adam A. Donaldson
- We Got This Covered
Title: The Crash Reel Director: Lucy Walker An extraordinarily moving look at what happens when a promising young athlete and would-be Olympian’s life is in an instant snatched away from him, “The Crash Reel” is a movie that taps into the propulsive, cocksure and, yes, dangerous energy and excitement of youth without mocking or selling it short. Oscar-nominated director Lucy Walker, who previously cut through the noise and clutter of a hot-button social issue with the superb nuclear nonproliferation documentary “Countdown to Zero,” here reveals herself to be a humanist of the highest order, telling the true-life story of charismatic snowboarder Kevin Pearce, felled by a traumatic brain injury, and [ Read More ]
The post The Crash Reel Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post The Crash Reel Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 12/20/2013
- by bsimon
- ShockYa
The documentary Project Wild Thing hopes to get kids off computers and embracing nature. But do protest films ever change anything – and who actually watches them?
What are you doing about global warming? Or fracking? Arab democracy? Diminishing bee populations? Nuclear energy? Gun control? Repression in Uganda? Russia? Burma? Increasingly, what we're doing about the world's problems seems to be watching documentaries on them – which does feel like doing something, while at the same time being very close to doing nothing. Now, at least, we can do nothing about more issues than ever before. The current cinema landscape is saturated with documentaries and fictionalised movies highlighting important political, humanitarian or environmental issues. That should be a good thing, but somehow, it doesn't always feel like it.
In the past month we've already had films on bees (More Than Honey), the internet and children (InRealLife), and climate change denial (Greedy Lying...
What are you doing about global warming? Or fracking? Arab democracy? Diminishing bee populations? Nuclear energy? Gun control? Repression in Uganda? Russia? Burma? Increasingly, what we're doing about the world's problems seems to be watching documentaries on them – which does feel like doing something, while at the same time being very close to doing nothing. Now, at least, we can do nothing about more issues than ever before. The current cinema landscape is saturated with documentaries and fictionalised movies highlighting important political, humanitarian or environmental issues. That should be a good thing, but somehow, it doesn't always feel like it.
In the past month we've already had films on bees (More Than Honey), the internet and children (InRealLife), and climate change denial (Greedy Lying...
- 10/17/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Oscar-nominated documentary-maker Lucy Walker has made films about nuclear weapons, the Japanese tsunami – and now, a snowboarder horrifically injured in a half-pipe. She tells Emine Saner why non-fiction is winning the day
• The Crash Reel: first-look review
• Lucy Walker - Sheffield Doc/fest interview
There comes a dawning dread, part way through The Crash Reel, where you wonder if you are watching one long suicide. Lucy Walker, who filmed the pro-snowboarder Kevin Pearce's recovery from a head injury as he became determined to get back on a snowboard – something his doctors tell him would kill him were he to fall again – says she felt the same way as she was making it. "It was horrifying because he was so determined," she says.
After practising a cab double cork – a double backflip with a twist – at a 22ft halfpipe in Utah in December 2009, the American landed on his head...
• The Crash Reel: first-look review
• Lucy Walker - Sheffield Doc/fest interview
There comes a dawning dread, part way through The Crash Reel, where you wonder if you are watching one long suicide. Lucy Walker, who filmed the pro-snowboarder Kevin Pearce's recovery from a head injury as he became determined to get back on a snowboard – something his doctors tell him would kill him were he to fall again – says she felt the same way as she was making it. "It was horrifying because he was so determined," she says.
After practising a cab double cork – a double backflip with a twist – at a 22ft halfpipe in Utah in December 2009, the American landed on his head...
- 9/25/2013
- by Emine Saner
- The Guardian - Film News
When I first heard the title of Lucy Walker's newest documentary, The Crash Reel, I immediately pictured something along the lines of Jackass. Of course, once I connected Walker's name to her impressive resume of previous documentaries (Countdown to Zero, Waste Land, Devil's Playground), I knew that The Crash Reel would not just be a compilation of snowboarding accidents -- or, if it was, then there would be an ulterior motive, the images would not just be for our amusement. Despite my awareness of the hype about The Crash Reel during Sundance, I somehow was able to avoid learning anything about the content of the documentary. This is a good thing because -- to be brutally honest -- I would have probably never seen The Crash Reel if I knew what it was actually about. Going into The Crash Reel completely cold (mind the pun) allowed me to ride...
- 3/5/2013
- by Don Simpson
- SmellsLikeScreenSpirit
The Contenders
Lucy Walker from Focus Forward Films on Vimeo.
With the weight of critics' attention focussed on the big-name Premiere section and Us Dramatic Competition at Sundance, it's easy to forget about the more low-key sections and events that are nevertheless bubbling away with talent.
A particularly good example of this was the Focus Forward Films competition event, which saw the great and the good from the world of documentary descend on a cinema in Park City to celebrate worldwide innovations and emerging filmmaking voices. The initiative commissioned 30 three-minute documentaries from established documentarians including Lucy Walker (Countdown To Zero), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and Albert Maysles (Salesman) and invited other would-be filmmakers to enter their films for a chance to win a share of £127,000 ($200,000) in prize money.
As 86-year-old Maysles put it during...
Lucy Walker from Focus Forward Films on Vimeo.
With the weight of critics' attention focussed on the big-name Premiere section and Us Dramatic Competition at Sundance, it's easy to forget about the more low-key sections and events that are nevertheless bubbling away with talent.
A particularly good example of this was the Focus Forward Films competition event, which saw the great and the good from the world of documentary descend on a cinema in Park City to celebrate worldwide innovations and emerging filmmaking voices. The initiative commissioned 30 three-minute documentaries from established documentarians including Lucy Walker (Countdown To Zero), Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and Albert Maysles (Salesman) and invited other would-be filmmakers to enter their films for a chance to win a share of £127,000 ($200,000) in prize money.
As 86-year-old Maysles put it during...
- 2/6/2013
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Park City, Utah — It's that time of year again when a tiny ski-resort town becomes the place to be for anyone in show business – stars and directors, distribution executives, musicians, unknown filmmakers hoping that people might want to hear the stories they tell.
Opening Thursday, the Sundance Film Festival takes over Park City for a week and a half every January. Anything resembling a theater is booked with screenings. Directors and their casts trudge snowy streets to introduce films and do interviews. Bars and restaurants are stuffed with people talking deals, or just talking about something crazy or unexpected they just saw on screen.
"It's almost like Burning Man. Once a year, this tiny little town that then transforms itself into kind of a crazy film city for 10 days out of the year," said writer-director Lynn Shelton, a Sundance regular ("Humpday," "Your Sister's Sister") who returns this year with "Touchy Feely,...
Opening Thursday, the Sundance Film Festival takes over Park City for a week and a half every January. Anything resembling a theater is booked with screenings. Directors and their casts trudge snowy streets to introduce films and do interviews. Bars and restaurants are stuffed with people talking deals, or just talking about something crazy or unexpected they just saw on screen.
"It's almost like Burning Man. Once a year, this tiny little town that then transforms itself into kind of a crazy film city for 10 days out of the year," said writer-director Lynn Shelton, a Sundance regular ("Humpday," "Your Sister's Sister") who returns this year with "Touchy Feely,...
- 1/16/2013
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Usually a backdrop for ski/snowboarding, Park City and the fest could serve as an ideal venue to showcase Lucy Walker’s latest untitled film, a docu on Kevin Pearce and his horrible injury/accident which will show in an uncompleted form at the Idfa this year. Walker has so far brought 2002′s Devil’s Playground, 2010′s Waste Land and Countdown to Zero and last year’s Jury Prize Short, The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom to the fest. Also on slate for Walker are shorts films Crooked Lines and Secrets of the Mongolian Archers.
Gist: The dramatic story of one unforgettable character, Kevin Pearce. One eye-popping sport, snowboarding. And one explosive issue, Traumatic Brain Injury.
Production Co./Producers: Tree Tree Tree’s Lucy Walker and Julian Cautherley for Kevin Rides Again, LLC,
Prediction: U.S. Documentary Competition
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
prev next...
Gist: The dramatic story of one unforgettable character, Kevin Pearce. One eye-popping sport, snowboarding. And one explosive issue, Traumatic Brain Injury.
Production Co./Producers: Tree Tree Tree’s Lucy Walker and Julian Cautherley for Kevin Rides Again, LLC,
Prediction: U.S. Documentary Competition
U.S. Distributor: Rights Available
prev next...
- 11/22/2012
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Chicago – Oscar-nominated this year for best documentary short subject, “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” shows how nature can be a rejuvenating and destructive force when it debuts on July 16, 2012 at 9 p.m. Cst exclusively on HBO.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Japan America Society of Chicago hosted a special premiere of the film on Wednesday in Chicago. HollywoodChicago.com attended the packed theatre where these short 39 minutes from filmmaker Lucy Walker left the crowd mostly silent.
A somber but informative panel with Lyric Hughes Hale (the founder of China Online), Robert Karr (executive vice president of the Japan America Society of Chicago) and Hironori Sawada (deputy consul general at the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago) followed the screening.
Lucy Walker (“Countdown to Zero,” “Waste Land,” “Blindsight” and “Devil’s Playground”) intended to film Japan’s passionate connection to its cherry blossom trees, but was derailed by Mother Nature.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the Japan America Society of Chicago hosted a special premiere of the film on Wednesday in Chicago. HollywoodChicago.com attended the packed theatre where these short 39 minutes from filmmaker Lucy Walker left the crowd mostly silent.
A somber but informative panel with Lyric Hughes Hale (the founder of China Online), Robert Karr (executive vice president of the Japan America Society of Chicago) and Hironori Sawada (deputy consul general at the Consulate General of Japan at Chicago) followed the screening.
Lucy Walker (“Countdown to Zero,” “Waste Land,” “Blindsight” and “Devil’s Playground”) intended to film Japan’s passionate connection to its cherry blossom trees, but was derailed by Mother Nature.
- 7/12/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
If women have struggled to regularly breakthrough with the big narrative films that dominate the box office and turn directors into stars, the low-budget/small-crew environment of documentary filmmaking is one area where female directors have excelled. One of the most promising documentarians of the past decade, having been nominated for an Oscar the past two years, is British filmmaker Lucy Walker.
After some work in television, Walker made her entrance on the scene in 2002 with the documentary Devil’s Playground, a gritty and fascinating look at the Amish practice of rumspringa, where teenagers are given a chance to live outside the strict Amish rules in order to decide whether to commit themselves to the community. Equal parts shocking and predictable, the reaction to freedom from these strict constraints can be quite extreme.
Her second effort, 2006′s Blindsight, examines the work of the organization Braille Without Borders mentoring blind teenagers in Tibet.
After some work in television, Walker made her entrance on the scene in 2002 with the documentary Devil’s Playground, a gritty and fascinating look at the Amish practice of rumspringa, where teenagers are given a chance to live outside the strict Amish rules in order to decide whether to commit themselves to the community. Equal parts shocking and predictable, the reaction to freedom from these strict constraints can be quite extreme.
Her second effort, 2006′s Blindsight, examines the work of the organization Braille Without Borders mentoring blind teenagers in Tibet.
- 6/27/2012
- by Erik Bondurant
- SoundOnSight
In the age of the internet, marketing a documentary is all about targeting influencial bloggers and cultivating online communities
Most films find an audience through a few well-chosen ads in newspapers and a handful of reviews. Not Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press's Oscar-nominated documentary about the 84-year-old New York Times fashion photographer. UK distributor Dogwoof made a conscious decision to target fashion bloggers, creating buzz about the film. About 50 of these so-called fashion "influencers" blogged about the film, creating what Dogwoof's chief executive, Andy Whittaker, calls "the perfect social storm". Welcome to marketing documentaries in the age of the internet.
"One of the key tricks is identifying influencers and tapping into them and co-ordinating that into the campaign," says Whittaker. "The first people we wanted to reach were those who understood the importance of Bill Cunningham."
Whittaker, who founded the independent distribution label eight years ago, used to be an executive at eBay,...
Most films find an audience through a few well-chosen ads in newspapers and a handful of reviews. Not Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press's Oscar-nominated documentary about the 84-year-old New York Times fashion photographer. UK distributor Dogwoof made a conscious decision to target fashion bloggers, creating buzz about the film. About 50 of these so-called fashion "influencers" blogged about the film, creating what Dogwoof's chief executive, Andy Whittaker, calls "the perfect social storm". Welcome to marketing documentaries in the age of the internet.
"One of the key tricks is identifying influencers and tapping into them and co-ordinating that into the campaign," says Whittaker. "The first people we wanted to reach were those who understood the importance of Bill Cunningham."
Whittaker, who founded the independent distribution label eight years ago, used to be an executive at eBay,...
- 6/10/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
This week's Cannes festival has been mired in controversy because of the lack of female film-makers. Producer Trudie Styler and director Lucy Walker spill the beans
The male-only Palme d'Or shortlist sparked outrage at the Cannes film festival this week. A group of prominent French film-makers were so angry they wrote an open letter of condemnation. Lucy Walker, director of the Oscar-nominated film Waste Land, and Trudie Styler, who has co-founded Maven, a film production company to support female talent in the industry, talk to Amelia Hill about why, for the 63rd time in the festival's 65-year history, all 22 directors on the shortlist are male.
Lucy Walker: There is a remarkable problem. In Hollywood last year, just 5% of the 250 biggest films were directed by women. That's down from 9% a few years ago. What's going on? It's not that women don't want to do it: in film school, 50% of students are women.
The male-only Palme d'Or shortlist sparked outrage at the Cannes film festival this week. A group of prominent French film-makers were so angry they wrote an open letter of condemnation. Lucy Walker, director of the Oscar-nominated film Waste Land, and Trudie Styler, who has co-founded Maven, a film production company to support female talent in the industry, talk to Amelia Hill about why, for the 63rd time in the festival's 65-year history, all 22 directors on the shortlist are male.
Lucy Walker: There is a remarkable problem. In Hollywood last year, just 5% of the 250 biggest films were directed by women. That's down from 9% a few years ago. What's going on? It's not that women don't want to do it: in film school, 50% of students are women.
- 5/18/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off for the eleventh time starting Wednesday when "The Five-Year Engagement" premieres, and festival organizers have just announced the star-studded jury for this year's edition.
Thirty-nine celebrities -- of various levels of fame and awards kudos -- make up the six juries, with producer Irwin Winkler ("Goodfellas") serving a jury president.
Among those selected by Tribeca this year: Patricia Clarkson, Hugh Dancy, Rosario Dawson, Dakota Fanning, Kellan Lutz, Michael Moore and Olivia Wilde. Also on the list: Brett Ratner. The controversial big-budget director will serve on the Documentary and Student Short Film Competition jury along with Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun, Susan Sarandon and Shailene Woodley, among others.
“We are honored to have this accomplished group dedicate the time and care it takes to view and discuss the films in competition this year,” Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal said in a statement.
For...
Thirty-nine celebrities -- of various levels of fame and awards kudos -- make up the six juries, with producer Irwin Winkler ("Goodfellas") serving a jury president.
Among those selected by Tribeca this year: Patricia Clarkson, Hugh Dancy, Rosario Dawson, Dakota Fanning, Kellan Lutz, Michael Moore and Olivia Wilde. Also on the list: Brett Ratner. The controversial big-budget director will serve on the Documentary and Student Short Film Competition jury along with Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun, Susan Sarandon and Shailene Woodley, among others.
“We are honored to have this accomplished group dedicate the time and care it takes to view and discuss the films in competition this year,” Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthal said in a statement.
For...
- 4/16/2012
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
It’s a star-studded list that includes some interesting, and surprising, names, which is just what you’d expect from the Tribeca Film Festival. The juries have been announced, and you could hardly got a more varied mix.
Juries Announced For 2012 Tribeca Film Festival And Tribeca Film Institute Programs
Academy Award-Winning Producer/Director Irwin Winkler To Serve as Jury President
Patricia Clarkson, Hugh Dancy, Rosario Dawson, Dakota Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Susannah Grant, Kellan Lutz, Michael Moore, Mike Newell, Brett Ratner, Susan Sarandon, Olivia Wilde, and Shailene Woodley are among the Jurors
The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding partner American Express, today announced its jurors – a diverse group of 39 individuals, including award-winning filmmakers, writers and producers, acclaimed actors, respected critics and global business leaders. Irwin Winkler has been named President of the Jury. The Jury will be divided among the six competitive Festival categories and will announce the winning films,...
Juries Announced For 2012 Tribeca Film Festival And Tribeca Film Institute Programs
Academy Award-Winning Producer/Director Irwin Winkler To Serve as Jury President
Patricia Clarkson, Hugh Dancy, Rosario Dawson, Dakota Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Susannah Grant, Kellan Lutz, Michael Moore, Mike Newell, Brett Ratner, Susan Sarandon, Olivia Wilde, and Shailene Woodley are among the Jurors
The Tribeca Film Festival (Tff), presented by founding partner American Express, today announced its jurors – a diverse group of 39 individuals, including award-winning filmmakers, writers and producers, acclaimed actors, respected critics and global business leaders. Irwin Winkler has been named President of the Jury. The Jury will be divided among the six competitive Festival categories and will announce the winning films,...
- 4/16/2012
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
William Turnbull is a painter and sculptor, now approaching his 90th birthday, whose life and work is evaluated in this documentary by his son, Alex. Narration by Jude Law.
*****
Documentaries have always had an important place in the world of film and although there are plenty of high quality examples of the genre going back over the decades, in recent years their profile and success have grown and grown, to the point where films such as Hoop Dreams, Farenheit 9/11 and An Inconvenient Truth garner critical and commercial acclaim and box office success measured in nine figures. Lately the format has found a real niche in the area of alarming polemics about the environment, financial markets and nuclear weapons (Enron, Inside Job, Countdown to Zero, An Inconvenient Truth) and has also given us thrilling drama through Tt: Closer to the Edge and Senna.
Sadly, Beyond time gives us no thrills and nothing much especially engaging either.
*****
Documentaries have always had an important place in the world of film and although there are plenty of high quality examples of the genre going back over the decades, in recent years their profile and success have grown and grown, to the point where films such as Hoop Dreams, Farenheit 9/11 and An Inconvenient Truth garner critical and commercial acclaim and box office success measured in nine figures. Lately the format has found a real niche in the area of alarming polemics about the environment, financial markets and nuclear weapons (Enron, Inside Job, Countdown to Zero, An Inconvenient Truth) and has also given us thrilling drama through Tt: Closer to the Edge and Senna.
Sadly, Beyond time gives us no thrills and nothing much especially engaging either.
- 1/25/2012
- by Dave Roper
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
From the grimness of Tyrannosaur and Neds to Mel Gibson with his hand up a beaver - the year on the silver screen
Downer: The UK On The Big Screen
Tyrannosaur
Come to Leeds! If you're lucky, you'll escape with a kicking! Paddy Considine's ludicrously grim movie heaped abuse after abuse on its poor cast. No one got off lightly, not even the innocent little boy across the road. Or the dog that chewed his face off.
Sket/The Veteran/Junkhearts/Attack The Block/Anuvahood
When they're not busy rioting, Londoners are often to be found selling drugs, wearing hoodies, taking drugs, obtaining firearms and chasing each other through one of about three photogenically claustrophobic council estates – all to a blaring grime soundtrack.
Neds
Come to Glasgow, if you think you're hard enough. Everyone there is either a violent yob who'll end up in prison, or a good kid...
Downer: The UK On The Big Screen
Tyrannosaur
Come to Leeds! If you're lucky, you'll escape with a kicking! Paddy Considine's ludicrously grim movie heaped abuse after abuse on its poor cast. No one got off lightly, not even the innocent little boy across the road. Or the dog that chewed his face off.
Sket/The Veteran/Junkhearts/Attack The Block/Anuvahood
When they're not busy rioting, Londoners are often to be found selling drugs, wearing hoodies, taking drugs, obtaining firearms and chasing each other through one of about three photogenically claustrophobic council estates – all to a blaring grime soundtrack.
Neds
Come to Glasgow, if you think you're hard enough. Everyone there is either a violent yob who'll end up in prison, or a good kid...
- 12/24/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, and the DreamWorks Pictures movie The Help, are joining forces this holiday season to help feed Americans facing hunger. Coinciding with the DVD/Blu-ray release of The Help on December 6, a national donation campaign will run from December 1 to December 11 to generate food and funds to help feed the 1 in 6 people in the United States who do not have enough to eat.
“The economic downturn really hurt American families,” said Feeding America Director of Media Relations Ross Fraser. “As a nation, we need to come together to help our neighbors who are struggling to make ends meet. The collaboration between Feeding America and the producers of The Help is a great example of how we can come together to make a difference.”
“The film’s hopeful message of creating change along with its home entertainment release during the holidays inspired...
“The economic downturn really hurt American families,” said Feeding America Director of Media Relations Ross Fraser. “As a nation, we need to come together to help our neighbors who are struggling to make ends meet. The collaboration between Feeding America and the producers of The Help is a great example of how we can come together to make a difference.”
“The film’s hopeful message of creating change along with its home entertainment release during the holidays inspired...
- 12/3/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Few in the UK film industry want to shout about it but the evidence is clear. We are enjoying a renaissance in domestic cinema. Andrew Pulver reports on how audiences developed a taste for homegrown movies
Compared to theatre, cinema is an entirely portable medium – think what our view of film would be like if all we saw were British movies, with occasional touring productions of foreign work. No Hollywood blockbusters, no Korean ultra-violence, no Iranian minimalism. Nothing old, either – no Italian neorealism, or Czech new wave, or French poetic realism. Imagine what life for the British filmgoer would have been like, say, in 1978 – the highlight of your year would probably have been Death on the Nile, or Watership Down. And let's not forget the dark days of 1999 and 2000, when this paper felt compelled to trash the jaw-dropping wave of terrible British films in the wake of the lottery-fund bonanza.
Compared to theatre, cinema is an entirely portable medium – think what our view of film would be like if all we saw were British movies, with occasional touring productions of foreign work. No Hollywood blockbusters, no Korean ultra-violence, no Iranian minimalism. Nothing old, either – no Italian neorealism, or Czech new wave, or French poetic realism. Imagine what life for the British filmgoer would have been like, say, in 1978 – the highlight of your year would probably have been Death on the Nile, or Watership Down. And let's not forget the dark days of 1999 and 2000, when this paper felt compelled to trash the jaw-dropping wave of terrible British films in the wake of the lottery-fund bonanza.
- 10/14/2011
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
It’s the start of another week, so you know what that means – more DVD and Blu-ray releases!. So here’s the rundown of what’s available to buy from today, August 15th 2011.
Picks Of The Week
Source Code (DVD/Blu-ray)
Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) awakens on a speeding commuter train with no idea how he got there. Seeking refuge in the bathroom, he’s shocked to see another man’s reflection in the mirror. Suddenly a massive explosion rips through the train. Almost instantly, Colter is transported to a high-tech isolation unit where he discovers he is on a high-priority mission to identify a bomber who destroyed a train just hours earlier and who plans to kill thousands more with a much larger explosion in the heart of Chicago. A top-secret program, named ‘source code’, allows Colter to exist briefly as another man in the parallel reality of the doomed commuter train.
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Source Code (DVD/Blu-ray)
Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) awakens on a speeding commuter train with no idea how he got there. Seeking refuge in the bathroom, he’s shocked to see another man’s reflection in the mirror. Suddenly a massive explosion rips through the train. Almost instantly, Colter is transported to a high-tech isolation unit where he discovers he is on a high-priority mission to identify a bomber who destroyed a train just hours earlier and who plans to kill thousands more with a much larger explosion in the heart of Chicago. A top-secret program, named ‘source code’, allows Colter to exist briefly as another man in the parallel reality of the doomed commuter train.
- 8/15/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Source Code; Countdown to Zero; Mars Needs Moms
Far from being an intelligent aberration, it now appears that Christopher Nolan's exceptional Inception was the high water mark of a recent resurgent wave of cerebral yet spectacular sci-fi fantasies. Like Solaris, Soylent Green and Silent Running before them, the best of these 60s/70s-inflected flicks have dared to put ideas first, imagining (unfashionably) that modern multiplex audiences are more than capable of keeping up with a moderately complex plot. Thus, while Michael Bay merrily pummels viewers into stupefied submission with his mind-numbing Transformers movies, others have used this adventurously populist genre to spin more interesting yarns such as The Adjustment Bureau (with its Philip K Dick-inspired trademark paranoia) and, more impressively, Source Code (2011, Optimum, 12), a Memento-like puzzle with a rewarding Twilight Zone twist.
Directed by Duncan Jones, who worked such atmospheric wonders with his stripped-down feature debut Moon, Source Code...
Far from being an intelligent aberration, it now appears that Christopher Nolan's exceptional Inception was the high water mark of a recent resurgent wave of cerebral yet spectacular sci-fi fantasies. Like Solaris, Soylent Green and Silent Running before them, the best of these 60s/70s-inflected flicks have dared to put ideas first, imagining (unfashionably) that modern multiplex audiences are more than capable of keeping up with a moderately complex plot. Thus, while Michael Bay merrily pummels viewers into stupefied submission with his mind-numbing Transformers movies, others have used this adventurously populist genre to spin more interesting yarns such as The Adjustment Bureau (with its Philip K Dick-inspired trademark paranoia) and, more impressively, Source Code (2011, Optimum, 12), a Memento-like puzzle with a rewarding Twilight Zone twist.
Directed by Duncan Jones, who worked such atmospheric wonders with his stripped-down feature debut Moon, Source Code...
- 8/13/2011
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Through the camera lens of Emily James, we get a first-hand account of the direct action of a variety of environmental activists, who variously chain themselves together outside Rbs, set up a camp in Trafalgar Square, break into a coal-fired power station and attend rallies in Copenhagen. But will any of this effect any change against the might of capitalism and the commercial interests of those contributing to adverse climate change?
*****
The first and most interesting character we meet in this intriguing documentary is a middle-aged lady who has progressed from making tea for police and campaigners at various rallies and gatherings, to mucking into the more direct action itself. She makes it clear that she is deeply passionate and committed and although later on she expresses some frustration at the less than effective communication within these loosely affiliated groups, she stands by her adherence to consensus as the only viable way of moving forward.
*****
The first and most interesting character we meet in this intriguing documentary is a middle-aged lady who has progressed from making tea for police and campaigners at various rallies and gatherings, to mucking into the more direct action itself. She makes it clear that she is deeply passionate and committed and although later on she expresses some frustration at the less than effective communication within these loosely affiliated groups, she stands by her adherence to consensus as the only viable way of moving forward.
- 7/29/2011
- by Dave Roper
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Adjustment Bureau; Hall Pass; Fair Game; The Resident
With the mechanical porn of Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon creating an horrendous traffic jam in cinemas, what better time for sci-fi fans to stay at home and watch something rather more rewarding on DVD? Based on a typically paranoid short story by Philip K Dick, The Adjustment Bureau (2011, Universal, 12) is a light-footed, fantastical whimsy pitched somewhere between the head-scrambling brilliance of Christopher Nolan's Inception and the Twilight Zone silliness of Richard Kelly's The Box. Matt Damon plays the upcoming politician whose chance encounter with a glamorous beauty (Emily Blunt) causes him to turn his back on fate on the eve of a crucial election. As it turns out, "fate" is actually managed and manipulated by a group of shadowy men in film noir hats who zip around New York city via a Doctor Who-style maze of magic doors,...
With the mechanical porn of Michael Bay's Transformers: Dark of the Moon creating an horrendous traffic jam in cinemas, what better time for sci-fi fans to stay at home and watch something rather more rewarding on DVD? Based on a typically paranoid short story by Philip K Dick, The Adjustment Bureau (2011, Universal, 12) is a light-footed, fantastical whimsy pitched somewhere between the head-scrambling brilliance of Christopher Nolan's Inception and the Twilight Zone silliness of Richard Kelly's The Box. Matt Damon plays the upcoming politician whose chance encounter with a glamorous beauty (Emily Blunt) causes him to turn his back on fate on the eve of a crucial election. As it turns out, "fate" is actually managed and manipulated by a group of shadowy men in film noir hats who zip around New York city via a Doctor Who-style maze of magic doors,...
- 7/2/2011
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
It's champagne corks for Kristen Wiig for hooking the date movie crowd, while Brit romcom Love's Kitchen sank like a soufflé
The winner
Predicting an opening number for Bridesmaids at UK cinemas was always going to be tricky. On the plus side, the film enjoyed good buzz, thanks to critical praise, awareness of Us success and positive word circulating from an aggressive programme of advance free screenings. On the minus, lead actresses Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are both significantly less famous here than Stateside, where they served long stints on Saturday Night Live.
Considering fast-improving weather over the weekend, with grosses dropping heavily for all films on scorching-hot Sunday, Universal will be pretty delighted with Bridesmaids' debut figure of £3.44m, including paid previews of £1.03m. That's not quite Wiig's personal best, since Paul opened in February with £5.52m, including £2.31m in previews, but she was hardly a significant selling point on that occasion.
The winner
Predicting an opening number for Bridesmaids at UK cinemas was always going to be tricky. On the plus side, the film enjoyed good buzz, thanks to critical praise, awareness of Us success and positive word circulating from an aggressive programme of advance free screenings. On the minus, lead actresses Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are both significantly less famous here than Stateside, where they served long stints on Saturday Night Live.
Considering fast-improving weather over the weekend, with grosses dropping heavily for all films on scorching-hot Sunday, Universal will be pretty delighted with Bridesmaids' debut figure of £3.44m, including paid previews of £1.03m. That's not quite Wiig's personal best, since Paul opened in February with £5.52m, including £2.31m in previews, but she was hardly a significant selling point on that occasion.
- 6/30/2011
- by Charles Gant
- The Guardian - Film News
Skilfully crafted and smoothly assembled by London-born film maker Lucy Walker, the documentary Countdown to Zero raises the all but forgotten question of nuclear war and leaves us petrified, in almost no doubt it will happen. It's a handy guide to the history of the bomb and how to make your own. There are more than 23,000 bombs still active on Earth. Most troubling are the "loose nukes", the warheads strewn about the former Soviet countries where plutonium factories rust silently and where, it seems, Georgian smugglers have enriched uranium stuffed inside their packs of contraband fags.
Meanwhile, former CIA counter-terrorist experts create a typically American climate of fear, demonising North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan while also brazenly telling of cold war near-misses, such as when a flock of geese on the radar put Russia on red alert. It's an oppressive yet weirdly entertaining watch and Walker lines up some...
Meanwhile, former CIA counter-terrorist experts create a typically American climate of fear, demonising North Korea, Iran, Iraq and Pakistan while also brazenly telling of cold war near-misses, such as when a flock of geese on the radar put Russia on red alert. It's an oppressive yet weirdly entertaining watch and Walker lines up some...
- 6/25/2011
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Bridesmaids (15)
(Paul Feig, 2011, Us) Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, 125 mins.
Having recovered from the shocking revelation that women can be funny, rude, and entertaining in the absence of men, we can at last put the debates and Hangover comparisons this movie has prompted behind us now and just enjoy a satisfying prenuptial comedy. Led by Wiig's anxious maid of honour, it certainly matches male equivalents in the grossness stakes at times, but it also finds deeper, smarter ways to make us laugh.
Incendies (15)
(Denis Villeneuve, 2010, Can/Fra) Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette. 131 mins.
A mother's death sets her two children on an investigation into their personal and political history in this powerful mystery, set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country.
Countdown To Zero (Nc)
(Lucy Walker, 2010, Us) 89 mins.
Not got enough things to worry about? That's because you forgot about the threat of nuclear annihilation that still hangs over us.
(Paul Feig, 2011, Us) Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph, Jon Hamm, 125 mins.
Having recovered from the shocking revelation that women can be funny, rude, and entertaining in the absence of men, we can at last put the debates and Hangover comparisons this movie has prompted behind us now and just enjoy a satisfying prenuptial comedy. Led by Wiig's anxious maid of honour, it certainly matches male equivalents in the grossness stakes at times, but it also finds deeper, smarter ways to make us laugh.
Incendies (15)
(Denis Villeneuve, 2010, Can/Fra) Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette. 131 mins.
A mother's death sets her two children on an investigation into their personal and political history in this powerful mystery, set in an unnamed Middle Eastern country.
Countdown To Zero (Nc)
(Lucy Walker, 2010, Us) 89 mins.
Not got enough things to worry about? That's because you forgot about the threat of nuclear annihilation that still hangs over us.
- 6/24/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
It's a good weekend for moviegoing in the UK, starting with the pleasantly surprising revival of Ivan Passer's Cutter's Way (1981). "Much as womanizing slacker Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) finds himself late one evening in a rainy Santa Barbara alleyway at the same time as a silhouetted figure dumps a young woman's body there, Cutter's Way suffered the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," begins Anton Bitel in Little White Lies:
Adapted from Newton Thorburg's 1976 novel Cutter and Bone, Ivan Passer's film was released under the same title, only to receive a critical drubbing, be withdrawn from screens a week later, and then renamed and repackaged for United Artists' arthouse division, and ultimately for VHS (where its reputation really grew). This was the early Eighties, when American cinema, ruled over by Spielberg and Lucas, had become all about action, spectacle and escapism,...
Adapted from Newton Thorburg's 1976 novel Cutter and Bone, Ivan Passer's film was released under the same title, only to receive a critical drubbing, be withdrawn from screens a week later, and then renamed and repackaged for United Artists' arthouse division, and ultimately for VHS (where its reputation really grew). This was the early Eighties, when American cinema, ruled over by Spielberg and Lucas, had become all about action, spectacle and escapism,...
- 6/24/2011
- MUBI
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker has crafted an impassioned prayer for nuclear disarmament, unlikely to convince anyone that the solution to world security is further proliferation. It’s a whirlwind tour of human failure and balls out paranoia, sporting a cast of characters seemingly all committed to Durkheim’s doctrine of egoistic suicide. It’s not just hard to identify with these people, it’s impossible. Such difficulties affirm one’s own humanity but leave you a little less secure at the close.
It’s a curiously apolitical film, one unafraid to splice in the oratory of hypocrites who nevertheless strike a supportive tone. It’s one thing to use a grandiloquent speech by John F. Kennedy to frame the debate; stirring talk of abolishing the weapons of war before they abolish us and so forth, but Kennedy was a president that played on the fears of ordinary Americans,...
Documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker has crafted an impassioned prayer for nuclear disarmament, unlikely to convince anyone that the solution to world security is further proliferation. It’s a whirlwind tour of human failure and balls out paranoia, sporting a cast of characters seemingly all committed to Durkheim’s doctrine of egoistic suicide. It’s not just hard to identify with these people, it’s impossible. Such difficulties affirm one’s own humanity but leave you a little less secure at the close.
It’s a curiously apolitical film, one unafraid to splice in the oratory of hypocrites who nevertheless strike a supportive tone. It’s one thing to use a grandiloquent speech by John F. Kennedy to frame the debate; stirring talk of abolishing the weapons of war before they abolish us and so forth, but Kennedy was a president that played on the fears of ordinary Americans,...
- 6/24/2011
- by Ed Whitfield
- Obsessed with Film
The Us film critic backed down after criticising dead Jackass star Ryan Dunn for apparently drinking alcohol before fatal accident
The big story
Us film critic Roger Ebert caused controversy this week by tweeting his judgments on the death of Jackass star Ryan Dunn. The actor and a fellow passenger were killed after their car hit a tree only hours after they tweeted pictures of themselves apparently drinking alcohol. "Friends don't let Jackasses drink and drive," wrote Ebert, provoking an immediate storm of outrage from his own followers and friends of Dunn. Jackass co-star Bam Margera tweeted back: "Millions of people are crying right now, shut your fat fucking mouth!" Ebert later admitted he may have acted insensitively, writing on his Chicago Sun-Times blog, "I don't know what happened in this case, and I was probably too quick to tweet. That was unseemly." However, he also added: "Nobody has any...
The big story
Us film critic Roger Ebert caused controversy this week by tweeting his judgments on the death of Jackass star Ryan Dunn. The actor and a fellow passenger were killed after their car hit a tree only hours after they tweeted pictures of themselves apparently drinking alcohol. "Friends don't let Jackasses drink and drive," wrote Ebert, provoking an immediate storm of outrage from his own followers and friends of Dunn. Jackass co-star Bam Margera tweeted back: "Millions of people are crying right now, shut your fat fucking mouth!" Ebert later admitted he may have acted insensitively, writing on his Chicago Sun-Times blog, "I don't know what happened in this case, and I was probably too quick to tweet. That was unseemly." However, he also added: "Nobody has any...
- 6/23/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
This week, Jason Solomons meets the man behind Us comedy Bridesmaids, which hits these shores tomorrow. Paul Feig's name is a hallmark of comic quality in TV following his cult Judd Apatow collaboration Freaks and Geeks, but can he continue his success on the big screen?
Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw joins Jason to review some of this weeks other releases, including Incendies, which tells the story of a brother and sister's quest to discover the truth about their mother's life, a rerelease of 1981's Cutter's Way (featuring a very young Jeff Bridges) and a doomsday scenario in the documentary Countdown to Zero.
Finally, we speak to director Matt Porterfield about Putty Hill, his visually striking and inventive portrayal of his home town. Matt discusses the hybridisation of documentary and fiction techniques in his film and the cinematic pull of Baltimore.
• Subscribe to the podcast for free via iTunes...
Guardian film critic Peter Bradshaw joins Jason to review some of this weeks other releases, including Incendies, which tells the story of a brother and sister's quest to discover the truth about their mother's life, a rerelease of 1981's Cutter's Way (featuring a very young Jeff Bridges) and a doomsday scenario in the documentary Countdown to Zero.
Finally, we speak to director Matt Porterfield about Putty Hill, his visually striking and inventive portrayal of his home town. Matt discusses the hybridisation of documentary and fiction techniques in his film and the cinematic pull of Baltimore.
• Subscribe to the podcast for free via iTunes...
- 6/23/2011
- by Jason Solomons, Jason Phipps, Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Having brought you our review of the fascinating but troubling nuclear weapons documentary Countdown to Zero and an exclusive interview with Oscar-winning producer Lawrence Bender, we now have an additional video to add to our coverage so far.
In this video which has been conducted and given to us by our friends at Upbeat, the writer and producer Lucy Walker talks about some of the themes and emphases of the documentary, interspersed with clips from the film itself that give a helpful indication of some of what it covers.
Although Countdown to Zero will no doubt struggle to find a extensive nationwide release falling as it does amidst the summer blockbuster season, it deserves to be seen and I would encourage you to track it down.
...
In this video which has been conducted and given to us by our friends at Upbeat, the writer and producer Lucy Walker talks about some of the themes and emphases of the documentary, interspersed with clips from the film itself that give a helpful indication of some of what it covers.
Although Countdown to Zero will no doubt struggle to find a extensive nationwide release falling as it does amidst the summer blockbuster season, it deserves to be seen and I would encourage you to track it down.
...
- 6/23/2011
- by Dave Roper
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Ever since 1945′s Robert Oppenheimer-led Manhattan Project gave the world its first nuclear weapon, the nuclear arms race has run and run. Several nations are now in possession of viable nuclear weapons and despite the Cold War having ended 20 years ago, ridiculous numbers of wareheads and missiles remain active, able to be launched at the press of a button.
*****
Lawrence Bender, the producer behind the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth and Good Will Hunting, brings his considerable clout to bear in producing this fascinating and troubling documentary about the growth of the nuclear arms race. It goes without saying that there are far more viable nuclear weapons ready to be launched than could possible be sensible, but to find out just how easily the essential nuclear material can and does fall into the wrong hands is disconcerting to say the least.
Although the essential madness of the Us and Russia pointing...
*****
Lawrence Bender, the producer behind the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth and Good Will Hunting, brings his considerable clout to bear in producing this fascinating and troubling documentary about the growth of the nuclear arms race. It goes without saying that there are far more viable nuclear weapons ready to be launched than could possible be sensible, but to find out just how easily the essential nuclear material can and does fall into the wrong hands is disconcerting to say the least.
Although the essential madness of the Us and Russia pointing...
- 6/21/2011
- by Dave Roper
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The stars have shunned it and the big films are missing. What's gone wrong at the Edinburgh film festival?
Times are tough for the Edinburgh film festival. I haven't been in the city more than an hour before a senior film executive – who did not want to be named – tells me this year's is a "disaster".
It's not that there's anything wrong with the films themselves. I went to screenings of David Hare's elegant spy drama Page Eight; James "Man on Wire" Marsh's heartrending chimp doc Project Nim; a Studio Ghibli reworking of The Borrowers called Arrietty; and Béla Tarr's austere fable The Turin Horse. But media coverage, particularly in Scotland, has been largely negative.
Examples? The opening screening of John Michael McDonagh's The Guard – normally a red-carpet sellout – was only two-thirds full and suffered a projector breakdown. Compared to last year, about half the number of...
Times are tough for the Edinburgh film festival. I haven't been in the city more than an hour before a senior film executive – who did not want to be named – tells me this year's is a "disaster".
It's not that there's anything wrong with the films themselves. I went to screenings of David Hare's elegant spy drama Page Eight; James "Man on Wire" Marsh's heartrending chimp doc Project Nim; a Studio Ghibli reworking of The Borrowers called Arrietty; and Béla Tarr's austere fable The Turin Horse. But media coverage, particularly in Scotland, has been largely negative.
Examples? The opening screening of John Michael McDonagh's The Guard – normally a red-carpet sellout – was only two-thirds full and suffered a projector breakdown. Compared to last year, about half the number of...
- 6/20/2011
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Life In A Day (12A)
(Kevin Macdonald, 2011, Us)
Compiled from amateur submissions of what people all over the world did on 24 July 2010, this documentary sets itself an almighty challenge. It's fashioned into some sort of narrative order, with recurring themes and music, and moments of emotion and illumination, which saves it from becoming a random global channel-surf. But you could say the subjective "direction" and homogenising technical treatment are at odds with the democratic intentions.
The Beaver (12A)
(Jodie Foster, 2011, Us) Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin. 91 mins
Having crucified Jesus, Gibson now nails himself to the cross in a bizarre talk-to-the-hand family drama that feels more like the actor's own public therapy session.
Green Lantern (12A)
(Martin Campbell, 2011, Us) Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard. 114 mins
Like banks, summer superhero movies are now too big to fail. But will Reynolds's charm, a virtual costume and some interplanetary effects be...
(Kevin Macdonald, 2011, Us)
Compiled from amateur submissions of what people all over the world did on 24 July 2010, this documentary sets itself an almighty challenge. It's fashioned into some sort of narrative order, with recurring themes and music, and moments of emotion and illumination, which saves it from becoming a random global channel-surf. But you could say the subjective "direction" and homogenising technical treatment are at odds with the democratic intentions.
The Beaver (12A)
(Jodie Foster, 2011, Us) Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, Anton Yelchin. 91 mins
Having crucified Jesus, Gibson now nails himself to the cross in a bizarre talk-to-the-hand family drama that feels more like the actor's own public therapy session.
Green Lantern (12A)
(Martin Campbell, 2011, Us) Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard. 114 mins
Like banks, summer superhero movies are now too big to fail. But will Reynolds's charm, a virtual costume and some interplanetary effects be...
- 6/17/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Cinema's Architects Of The Uncanny, London
Artist Pablo Bronstein has taken over the Ica and temporarily remodelled it to disorienting effect, but you'll find no refuge in the cinema. Instead, you'll get a selection of great artists who've achieved similarly surreal architectural effects on celluloid. The weirdest ones seem to last the longest. Buñuel mischievously swapped dining rooms and lavatories for The Phantom Of Liberty's infamous dinner party, and prevented guests from leaving another one in The Exterminating Angel. There are spooky houses exerting sinister influences in the likes of Dario Argento's Inferno, Rivette's Celine And Julie Go Boating and Orson Welles-led oddity Malpertuis. In Repulsion, all Roman Polanski needed was a London apartment and Catherine Deneuve.
Ica Cinema, SE1, Wed to 30 Jun
Ray Davies, London
You can hear the Kinks on screen in everything from Hot Fuzz to Juno, but how many have seen Ray Davies's acting?...
Artist Pablo Bronstein has taken over the Ica and temporarily remodelled it to disorienting effect, but you'll find no refuge in the cinema. Instead, you'll get a selection of great artists who've achieved similarly surreal architectural effects on celluloid. The weirdest ones seem to last the longest. Buñuel mischievously swapped dining rooms and lavatories for The Phantom Of Liberty's infamous dinner party, and prevented guests from leaving another one in The Exterminating Angel. There are spooky houses exerting sinister influences in the likes of Dario Argento's Inferno, Rivette's Celine And Julie Go Boating and Orson Welles-led oddity Malpertuis. In Repulsion, all Roman Polanski needed was a London apartment and Catherine Deneuve.
Ica Cinema, SE1, Wed to 30 Jun
Ray Davies, London
You can hear the Kinks on screen in everything from Hot Fuzz to Juno, but how many have seen Ray Davies's acting?...
- 6/17/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Lawrence Bender has produced such well regarded and award-laden films as Good Will Hunting and An Inconvenient Truth, as well as each of Quentin Tarantino’s films (though he’s not working with him on Django Unchained), yet he considers himself to be a political activist at heart, involving himself in documentaries in order to further an overall message that is close to his heart.
He was recently presented with an award by the National Wildlife Federation for his contribution to the protection of wildlife and is serving as producer on Countdown to Zero, a new documentary by Lucy Walker about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and what can and must be done to stop it.
I had the privilege and pleasure of speaking with Lawrence Bender recently in order to discuss Countdown to Zero and the process of it making its way to the screen. We also discussed the...
He was recently presented with an award by the National Wildlife Federation for his contribution to the protection of wildlife and is serving as producer on Countdown to Zero, a new documentary by Lucy Walker about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and what can and must be done to stop it.
I had the privilege and pleasure of speaking with Lawrence Bender recently in order to discuss Countdown to Zero and the process of it making its way to the screen. We also discussed the...
- 6/17/2011
- by Dave Roper
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
A new documentary, Countdown to Zero, highlights the many reasons why nuclear annihilation remains our biggest threat
We never loved the bomb, but we did at least learn to stop worrying about it. According to new documentary Countdown to Zero, though, we shouldn't have. As Lucy Walker's film details, there's even more to worry about today: terrorists seeking to acquire nuclear materials, former Soviet countries trying to sell them, nuclear stockpiles, the club of nuclear-capable countries expanding to include states such as North Korea, Iran and Pakistan. Countdown to Zero has been described as the Inconvenient Truth of nukes, though judging by its terrifying revelations, our species is destined to destroy itself by nuclear means long before climate change gets a chance.
"Unfortunately, there's nothing I learned making this film that made me less worried," says Walker. Like most British children of the 1980s, she remembers what it was...
We never loved the bomb, but we did at least learn to stop worrying about it. According to new documentary Countdown to Zero, though, we shouldn't have. As Lucy Walker's film details, there's even more to worry about today: terrorists seeking to acquire nuclear materials, former Soviet countries trying to sell them, nuclear stockpiles, the club of nuclear-capable countries expanding to include states such as North Korea, Iran and Pakistan. Countdown to Zero has been described as the Inconvenient Truth of nukes, though judging by its terrifying revelations, our species is destined to destroy itself by nuclear means long before climate change gets a chance.
"Unfortunately, there's nothing I learned making this film that made me less worried," says Walker. Like most British children of the 1980s, she remembers what it was...
- 6/16/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Kaboom (15)
(Gregg Araki, 2010, Us) Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Juno Temple, Chris Zylka, Roxane Mesquida. 86 mins
This could be the best teen movie of the year, or at least the horniest, surely. Set on a sunny Californian college campus with a "beautiful people only" admissions policy, it's a poppy pick'n'mix of uninhibited bi-curious couplings (and triplings), hallucinogenic drug experiences and strange, supernatural events, but none of this is treated as in any way edgy or shocking. Instead, it's warm, witty and guilt-free, even as it gets increasingly, apocalyptically bonkers – prime cult material!
Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG)
(Jennifer Yuh, 2011, Us) Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman. 90 mins
Does the sequel do what you'd expect? Do pandas defecate in the bamboo forest? Actually they don't in this anthropomorphised action animation, but it's a fun and lively tribute to old-school martial arts movies with some darker shadings than its predecessor.
Mother's Day (18)
(Darren Lynn Bousman,...
(Gregg Araki, 2010, Us) Thomas Dekker, Haley Bennett, Juno Temple, Chris Zylka, Roxane Mesquida. 86 mins
This could be the best teen movie of the year, or at least the horniest, surely. Set on a sunny Californian college campus with a "beautiful people only" admissions policy, it's a poppy pick'n'mix of uninhibited bi-curious couplings (and triplings), hallucinogenic drug experiences and strange, supernatural events, but none of this is treated as in any way edgy or shocking. Instead, it's warm, witty and guilt-free, even as it gets increasingly, apocalyptically bonkers – prime cult material!
Kung Fu Panda 2 (PG)
(Jennifer Yuh, 2011, Us) Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman. 90 mins
Does the sequel do what you'd expect? Do pandas defecate in the bamboo forest? Actually they don't in this anthropomorphised action animation, but it's a fun and lively tribute to old-school martial arts movies with some darker shadings than its predecessor.
Mother's Day (18)
(Darren Lynn Bousman,...
- 6/10/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Forget tortured vamps and flash-tearing mermaids, the scariest thing you'll see this year could well be Countdown To Zero. Don't believe us? Try watching this new clip from the documentary without being reminded of the Kubrickian madness of Dr. Strangelove or that bit in T2 when La goes all melty. Told you.Yup, the nuclear codes are easier to work out than your pincode. It's scary stuff. Fear not, though: Judgment Day is not necessarily pending. Produced by Lawrence Bender, Lucy Walker's doc is the spearhead of a global campaign for nuclear disarmament, Global Zero. It's aimed to pressure world leaders to dial down their nuclear programmes and follows in a line of activist documentaries - An Inconvenient Truth chief among them - that audiences can participate in. Demand Zero Day gets the ball rolling on June 21.brightcove.createExperiences();Walker's Waste Land impressed the Academy enough to snaffle her an Oscar nomination.
- 6/6/2011
- EmpireOnline
X-Men: First Class (12A)
(Matthew Vaughn, 2011, Us) James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones. 132 mins
Considering the odds were stacked against this – preceding as it does four X-Men movies (including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine), entering a superhero-stuffed summer schedule, juggling scores of characters, and telling a story fans know already – this does a remarkably good job. The cold war setting offers a new take on closeted mutanthood, and a parallel version of the Cuban missile crisis, not to mention Bond-like stylings, and McAvoy and Fassbender add dramatic ballast to some overbearing special effects.
Senna (12A)
(Asif Kapadia, 2010, UK) 106 mins
A Formula One doc that doesn't follow the formula, this assembles a compelling, even moving, biography of the superstar Brazilian driver using only archive material and audio interviews; no talking heads or modern-day footage. The racetrack excitement is contagious.
Last Night (12A)
(Massy Tadjedin, 2010, Us/Fra) Sam Worthington,...
(Matthew Vaughn, 2011, Us) James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones. 132 mins
Considering the odds were stacked against this – preceding as it does four X-Men movies (including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine), entering a superhero-stuffed summer schedule, juggling scores of characters, and telling a story fans know already – this does a remarkably good job. The cold war setting offers a new take on closeted mutanthood, and a parallel version of the Cuban missile crisis, not to mention Bond-like stylings, and McAvoy and Fassbender add dramatic ballast to some overbearing special effects.
Senna (12A)
(Asif Kapadia, 2010, UK) 106 mins
A Formula One doc that doesn't follow the formula, this assembles a compelling, even moving, biography of the superstar Brazilian driver using only archive material and audio interviews; no talking heads or modern-day footage. The racetrack excitement is contagious.
Last Night (12A)
(Massy Tadjedin, 2010, Us/Fra) Sam Worthington,...
- 6/3/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Edinburgh fails to entice, Don Draper steps behind the camera, and Gérard Depardieu proves that the French believe in Dutch courage
Scotched festival
What's happened to Edinburgh? The world's longest-running film festival is in peril and there appears little can be done as the start date of 15 June approaches. Recent patrons Tilda Swinton and cameraman Seamus McGarvey will not be in attendance (Swinton's shooting Wes Anderson's new film, Moonrise Kingdom, with Bruce Willis, go figure; McGarvey is filming superhero mash-up The Avengers in Hollywood). Even more worrying is the absence of perennial supporter Sean Connery. The Bond star and local boy made good celebrated his 80th year with a screening of The Man Who Would Be King at the festival last year, but has withdrawn his involvement for this latest edition. The festival, under new management and seeking new direction after the departure of Hannah McGill, has even jettisoned the Michael Powell award,...
Scotched festival
What's happened to Edinburgh? The world's longest-running film festival is in peril and there appears little can be done as the start date of 15 June approaches. Recent patrons Tilda Swinton and cameraman Seamus McGarvey will not be in attendance (Swinton's shooting Wes Anderson's new film, Moonrise Kingdom, with Bruce Willis, go figure; McGarvey is filming superhero mash-up The Avengers in Hollywood). Even more worrying is the absence of perennial supporter Sean Connery. The Bond star and local boy made good celebrated his 80th year with a screening of The Man Who Would Be King at the festival last year, but has withdrawn his involvement for this latest edition. The festival, under new management and seeking new direction after the departure of Hannah McGill, has even jettisoned the Michael Powell award,...
- 5/28/2011
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Heartbeats (15)
(Xavier Dolan, 2010, Can) Xavier Dolan, Monia Chokri, Niels Schnieder, Anne Dorval. 101 mins.
He's young (22), talented, he directs, writes, produces and acts: don't you hate Xavier Dolan already? Those green with envy will find plenty to object to about the French-Canadian's second movie, not least the fact that it's rather good. It's a love triangle for our times: at its apex a charming Adonis who becomes the covert object of desire for two friends, a guy and a girl. Like its characters, it's not quite as sophisticated as it wants to be, but it's honest, accomplished and recklessly romantic.
The Hangover Part II (15)
(Todd Phillips, 2011, Us) Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms. 102 mins.
The location is different (Bangkok – or at least the movie version) but this sequel to the hit amnesiac prenuptial buddy comedy takes no risks with formula or cast (even Mr Chow is back). The adult humour, though,...
(Xavier Dolan, 2010, Can) Xavier Dolan, Monia Chokri, Niels Schnieder, Anne Dorval. 101 mins.
He's young (22), talented, he directs, writes, produces and acts: don't you hate Xavier Dolan already? Those green with envy will find plenty to object to about the French-Canadian's second movie, not least the fact that it's rather good. It's a love triangle for our times: at its apex a charming Adonis who becomes the covert object of desire for two friends, a guy and a girl. Like its characters, it's not quite as sophisticated as it wants to be, but it's honest, accomplished and recklessly romantic.
The Hangover Part II (15)
(Todd Phillips, 2011, Us) Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms. 102 mins.
The location is different (Bangkok – or at least the movie version) but this sequel to the hit amnesiac prenuptial buddy comedy takes no risks with formula or cast (even Mr Chow is back). The adult humour, though,...
- 5/27/2011
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
UCLA’s school of theater, film and television will honor Dreamworks c0-chairman & CEO Stacey Snider, Quentin Tarantino’s favorite producer Lawrence Bender and “The Kids Are All Right” co-writer and director Lisa Cholodenko with awards during the school’s annual festival, June 3-9, 2011.
Slated to receive the Champion Spirit Award, Snider has already been honored by the university’s law school (from which she graduated in 1985), and is best known for helming Universal Pictures as CEO before taking on her current role with Dreamworks Studios.
Bender, the 2011 recipient of the Tft PGA Vision Award, is famously a producer of Tarantino’s films, including “Inglourious Basterds” and “Pulp Fiction,” as well as a host of Oscar-worthy projects such as “Good Will Hunting” and Davis Guggenheim’s Al Gore documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Bender is a tour de force as a producer and, through his projects, a political activist. He recently produced Lucy Walker’s documentary,...
Slated to receive the Champion Spirit Award, Snider has already been honored by the university’s law school (from which she graduated in 1985), and is best known for helming Universal Pictures as CEO before taking on her current role with Dreamworks Studios.
Bender, the 2011 recipient of the Tft PGA Vision Award, is famously a producer of Tarantino’s films, including “Inglourious Basterds” and “Pulp Fiction,” as well as a host of Oscar-worthy projects such as “Good Will Hunting” and Davis Guggenheim’s Al Gore documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Bender is a tour de force as a producer and, through his projects, a political activist. He recently produced Lucy Walker’s documentary,...
- 5/9/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
UCLA’s school of theater, film and television will honor Dreamworks c0-chairman & CEO Stacey Snider, Quentin Tarantino’s favorite producer Lawrence Bender and “The Kids Are All Right” co-writer and director Lisa Cholodenko with awards during the school’s annual festival, June 3-9, 2011.
Slated to receive the Champion Spirit Award, Snider has already been honored by the university’s law school (from which she graduated in 1985), and is best known for helming Universal Pictures as CEO before taking on her current role with Dreamworks Studios.
Bender, the 2011 recipient of the Tft PGA Vision Award, is famously a producer of Tarantino’s films, including “Inglourious Basterds” and “Pulp Fiction,” as well as a host of Oscar-worthy projects such as “Good Will Hunting” and Davis Guggenheim’s Al Gore documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Bender is a tour de force as a producer and, through his projects, a political activist. He recently produced Lucy Walker’s documentary,...
Slated to receive the Champion Spirit Award, Snider has already been honored by the university’s law school (from which she graduated in 1985), and is best known for helming Universal Pictures as CEO before taking on her current role with Dreamworks Studios.
Bender, the 2011 recipient of the Tft PGA Vision Award, is famously a producer of Tarantino’s films, including “Inglourious Basterds” and “Pulp Fiction,” as well as a host of Oscar-worthy projects such as “Good Will Hunting” and Davis Guggenheim’s Al Gore documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Bender is a tour de force as a producer and, through his projects, a political activist. He recently produced Lucy Walker’s documentary,...
- 5/9/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
While on the one hand I'm glad that it's Wednesday because now that "Mythbusters" is back there's actually a purpose to Wednesdays I'm still having one of those weeks where I'm like "It's only Wednesday? How Is That Even Possible!" and start contemplating the wisdom of partaking in my local bar's Ladies Night specials which happen on Wednesdays before remembering why that's a bad idea. (Hint: Thursday.) Then I remember that every passing day brings me closer to the day that I have to hand in my not-thesis and internship reflection so I can get my Masters degree and then I think maybe it's not such a terrible thing that it's only Wednesday since I still have at least 1,000 more words to write and a whole bunch of editing to do. But, see, now I've gone off on one of those little tangents about me that make people complain. Damn.
- 4/13/2011
- by Intern Rusty
A remarkable documentary by rising British director Lucy Walker offers terrifying insights into an issue many people think is a political dead letter – nuclear war. Plus the best of the rest
Countdown to Zero (dir Lucy Walker) ★ Star pick
Lucy Walker is fast becoming one of Britain's most remarkable, and remarkably prolific, film-makers. It has hardly been a month since she was on the Oscar red-carpet as an Academy Award nominee for her fascinating documentary Waste Land. Now she gives us an extraordinary and quite terrifying documentary about a subject that most of us think is a political dead letter: nukes.
You might believe that worrying about nuclear war went out in the 1980s with Norman Tebbit and Katharine Hamnett T-shirts. Wrong. Walker talks to a range of interviewees including Mikhail Gorbachev and Tony Blair – who appears to rediscover his leftist youth with a plea to reduce nuclear weapons to...
Countdown to Zero (dir Lucy Walker) ★ Star pick
Lucy Walker is fast becoming one of Britain's most remarkable, and remarkably prolific, film-makers. It has hardly been a month since she was on the Oscar red-carpet as an Academy Award nominee for her fascinating documentary Waste Land. Now she gives us an extraordinary and quite terrifying documentary about a subject that most of us think is a political dead letter: nukes.
You might believe that worrying about nuclear war went out in the 1980s with Norman Tebbit and Katharine Hamnett T-shirts. Wrong. Walker talks to a range of interviewees including Mikhail Gorbachev and Tony Blair – who appears to rediscover his leftist youth with a plea to reduce nuclear weapons to...
- 4/6/2011
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The James Cameron produced 3D adventure movie Sanctum has done reasonable business in the west. The film, directed by Alister Grierson and inspired by events experienced by its screenwriter Andrew Wright, has already made double the money invested in it despite universally poor reviews, and hasn’t yet made it to the Far East. That date now looks to be set back even further following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that has struck Japan’s coastline this month.
Sanctum was scheduled for a theatrical release on April 22nd, but given the volume of people who have died in the devastated towns on Japan’s east coast, scenes from the film in which a cyclone endangers the characters by sending gallons of water down the cave have been deemed potentially insensitive by distributors Toho-Towa. Other films that have been delayed as a result of the earthquake have been Battle: Los Angeles,...
Sanctum was scheduled for a theatrical release on April 22nd, but given the volume of people who have died in the devastated towns on Japan’s east coast, scenes from the film in which a cyclone endangers the characters by sending gallons of water down the cave have been deemed potentially insensitive by distributors Toho-Towa. Other films that have been delayed as a result of the earthquake have been Battle: Los Angeles,...
- 3/22/2011
- by Ben Szwediuk
- Obsessed with Film
A look at what's new on DVD today:
"Fernando Di Leo Crime Collection"
Directed by Fernando Di Leo
Released by RaroVideo
Fans of badass '70s cinema and the stoic Henry Silva rejoice! Underappreciated Italian crime master director Fernando Di Leo finally comes to the U.S. via this set of four films -- "Caliber 9," "The Italian Connection," "The Boss," and "Rulers of the City" -- that shows what made him an influence of filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and John Woo.
"The Absent" (2011)
Directed by Sage Bannick
Released by Passion River
Twin brothers are bonded by the experience of having their parents try to kill them for insurance money, only to become killers themselves in this slasher film from Sage Bannick.
"Be My Teacher" (2011)
Directed by Lakisha R. Lemons
Released by Maverick Entertainment Group
A student's (Derek Lee Nixon) flirtations with his English teacher (Lateace Towns-Cuellar) has serious...
"Fernando Di Leo Crime Collection"
Directed by Fernando Di Leo
Released by RaroVideo
Fans of badass '70s cinema and the stoic Henry Silva rejoice! Underappreciated Italian crime master director Fernando Di Leo finally comes to the U.S. via this set of four films -- "Caliber 9," "The Italian Connection," "The Boss," and "Rulers of the City" -- that shows what made him an influence of filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and John Woo.
"The Absent" (2011)
Directed by Sage Bannick
Released by Passion River
Twin brothers are bonded by the experience of having their parents try to kill them for insurance money, only to become killers themselves in this slasher film from Sage Bannick.
"Be My Teacher" (2011)
Directed by Lakisha R. Lemons
Released by Maverick Entertainment Group
A student's (Derek Lee Nixon) flirtations with his English teacher (Lateace Towns-Cuellar) has serious...
- 3/14/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
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