Enter our contest for a chance to win an iTunes digital download code for the Australian horror film Scare Campaign, and celebrate the Us release of the film courtesy of your friends here at Daily Dead. Also in today's Highlights: the full online release of Shelter for the Bloodstained Soul and a teaser trailer for Poltergeist Encounters.
Contest: Win an iTunes Digital Download Code for Scare Campaign:
Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) iTunes digital download code for Scare Campaign. It's important to note that the iTunes codes will expire 30 days after they are generated, so after being notified, the winners must download their respective codes before they expire. Codes will be generated after the winners are selected.
How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Scare Campaign Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.
Entry Details: The contest will...
Contest: Win an iTunes Digital Download Code for Scare Campaign:
Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) iTunes digital download code for Scare Campaign. It's important to note that the iTunes codes will expire 30 days after they are generated, so after being notified, the winners must download their respective codes before they expire. Codes will be generated after the winners are selected.
How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Scare Campaign Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.
Entry Details: The contest will...
- 10/24/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Teased in photos, Neca's eight-inch tall Captain Spaulding figure is the perfect addition to anyone's Museum of Monsters and Madmen. The killer clown from House of 1000 Corpses will be released sometime in July! Also in today's Highlights: American Murder Song's latest music video and a new trailer for Shelter for the Bloodstained Soul.
Three Photos & Release Details for Neca's Captain Spaulding Figure: From Neca: "Stop by Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen — it’s fun for the whole family! (If you’re the Manson family!) From the cult Rob Zombie film, our newest retro clothed action figure is Captain Spaulding from House of 1000 Corpses in classic clown attire.
The Captain stands 8” tall and is dressed in fabric clothing similar to the iconic toy lines of the 1970's. He’s fully poseable and truly terrifying! Comes in resealable protective clamshell packaging featuring custom artwork created just for this release!
Three Photos & Release Details for Neca's Captain Spaulding Figure: From Neca: "Stop by Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen — it’s fun for the whole family! (If you’re the Manson family!) From the cult Rob Zombie film, our newest retro clothed action figure is Captain Spaulding from House of 1000 Corpses in classic clown attire.
The Captain stands 8” tall and is dressed in fabric clothing similar to the iconic toy lines of the 1970's. He’s fully poseable and truly terrifying! Comes in resealable protective clamshell packaging featuring custom artwork created just for this release!
- 6/29/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Bollywood star Farhan Akhtar has attended a special screen talk where he reflected on his career and more as part of the fifth annual London Indian Film Festival. The actor and director took part in an ‘in-conversation’ event at the British Film Institute (BFI) with Sight and Sound Editor Nick James. Tickets were sold out a day before the event and the crowds went wild for Farhan as he entered on to the stage. Bollywood mega-producer and director Vidhu Vinod Chopra and his wife and famous film critic Anupama Chopra were also part of the audience to see what Farhan had to say during the screen talk and Q&A. From singing, pulling jokes, hugging his die-hard fans, to even snake dancing on the floor; Farhan went all out to entertain his fans! BollySpice was at the event and loved every minute of it! Check out some of the things...
- 7/18/2014
- by Bodrul Chaudhury
- Bollyspice
For the last five years, the London Indian Film Festival has showcased a unique selection of films from all over India. As they say, going way Beyond Bollywood, Liff brings cutting edge films from some of the world’s most innovative filmmakers. Led by festival director Mr Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Liff has grown to become Europe’s biggest Indian film festival. This year, once again, they are bringing the cool and eclectic along with hard hitting and moving films during the week long festival that runs July 10th through the 17th. We caught up with Mr Sawhney to get the scoop on what audiences will see when they experience Liff this year.
How would you describe the London Indian Film Festival?
London Indian Film Festival is dedicated to profiling the best of new independent films from India and its neighbours. I am glad to say we caught the wave early...
How would you describe the London Indian Film Festival?
London Indian Film Festival is dedicated to profiling the best of new independent films from India and its neighbours. I am glad to say we caught the wave early...
- 7/7/2014
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
By Lee Pfeiffer
Criterion has released a dual format Blu-ray/DVD edition of director Michael Mann's 1981 crime thriller Thief starring James Caan. It's a highly impressive film on many levels, especially when one considers this was Mann's big screen feature debut. He had previously directed the acclaimed 1979 TV movie The Jericho Mile, which was set in Folsom Prison. Mann was inspired by his interaction with the world of convicts and wrote the screenplay for Thief, which is credited as being based on author Frank Hohimer's novel The Home Invaders, but he maintains virtually none of the source material ended up on screen. The story centers on Frank (James Caan), a bitter man with a troubled past. As a child he was raised in state-run homes before being sent to jail for a petty crime. Inside prison, he committed violent acts in order to defend himself but this only resulted in lengthier jail terms.
Criterion has released a dual format Blu-ray/DVD edition of director Michael Mann's 1981 crime thriller Thief starring James Caan. It's a highly impressive film on many levels, especially when one considers this was Mann's big screen feature debut. He had previously directed the acclaimed 1979 TV movie The Jericho Mile, which was set in Folsom Prison. Mann was inspired by his interaction with the world of convicts and wrote the screenplay for Thief, which is credited as being based on author Frank Hohimer's novel The Home Invaders, but he maintains virtually none of the source material ended up on screen. The story centers on Frank (James Caan), a bitter man with a troubled past. As a child he was raised in state-run homes before being sent to jail for a petty crime. Inside prison, he committed violent acts in order to defend himself but this only resulted in lengthier jail terms.
- 2/26/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Henry Winkler's upcoming Cbbc show will debut on BBC iPlayer, it has been announced.
Hank Zipzer will be available to watch a week before it premieres on Cbbc on January 28.
The first episode will be available from January 21, and a new episode will appear on a weekly basis throughout its run.
The move is part of the BBC Trust's trial to premiere 40 hours' worth of programmes across iPlayer.
The 13-episode series is based on the Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever books, which are inspired by Winkler's own experiences as a child growing up with dyslexia.
Victoria Jaye, Head of TV Content for BBC iPlayer, said: "We're thrilled to premiere Cbbc's brand new comedy drama series Hank Zipzer on BBC iPlayer.
"This builds on the success of premiering our first children's series, 4 O'Clock Club, on iPlayer back in December - the first episode we premiered received close to...
Hank Zipzer will be available to watch a week before it premieres on Cbbc on January 28.
The first episode will be available from January 21, and a new episode will appear on a weekly basis throughout its run.
The move is part of the BBC Trust's trial to premiere 40 hours' worth of programmes across iPlayer.
The 13-episode series is based on the Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever books, which are inspired by Winkler's own experiences as a child growing up with dyslexia.
Victoria Jaye, Head of TV Content for BBC iPlayer, said: "We're thrilled to premiere Cbbc's brand new comedy drama series Hank Zipzer on BBC iPlayer.
"This builds on the success of premiering our first children's series, 4 O'Clock Club, on iPlayer back in December - the first episode we premiered received close to...
- 1/16/2014
- Digital Spy
The film festival's 30th edition takes place amid a climate of slumping sales and formulaic movie-making, but it remains a vital showcase for emerging talent
The 30th Sundance film festival kicks off on Thursday in the mountain resort of Park City, Utah, against a backdrop of wintry conditions for the independent motion picture. During the event's 1990s heyday, film-makers flocked to Sundance in search of global fame. Now, say the festival's critics, they come seeking shelter from the storm.
Conceived as an antidote to mainstream Hollywood, Sundance kickstarted the careers of Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino and David O Russell and became synonymous with a vibrant and ambitious style of low-budget American cinema. Today, however, the independent film sector has fallen victim to changing business models, slumping sales and the decline of traditional arthouse theatres. A recent report in the New York Times predicts that the pictures launched at this year's...
The 30th Sundance film festival kicks off on Thursday in the mountain resort of Park City, Utah, against a backdrop of wintry conditions for the independent motion picture. During the event's 1990s heyday, film-makers flocked to Sundance in search of global fame. Now, say the festival's critics, they come seeking shelter from the storm.
Conceived as an antidote to mainstream Hollywood, Sundance kickstarted the careers of Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino and David O Russell and became synonymous with a vibrant and ambitious style of low-budget American cinema. Today, however, the independent film sector has fallen victim to changing business models, slumping sales and the decline of traditional arthouse theatres. A recent report in the New York Times predicts that the pictures launched at this year's...
- 1/16/2014
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Michael Mann’s “Thief” is a crime movie that’s more about the criminal than his illegal acts. It’s about a man who has been torn down to nothing who slowly puts pieces back into his life, like a love affair and a family, only to learn that he has to give all of them up for his own safety. It’s a fascinating film, stunning in its technical acumen and with stellar performances from James Caan, Tuesday Weld, and Robert Prosky (making his film debut). It’s also a great inclusion in The Criterion Collection, perfectly remastered and with some interesting interview insights.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
What is “Thief”? Like most Michael Mann films, it’s hard to pin down into a genre. Yes, there are traditional elements of the crime film and even some degree of noir but it’s so distinctly character driven that it transcends the cliches of its genre.
Rating: 4.5/5.0
What is “Thief”? Like most Michael Mann films, it’s hard to pin down into a genre. Yes, there are traditional elements of the crime film and even some degree of noir but it’s so distinctly character driven that it transcends the cliches of its genre.
- 1/12/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Newcomer Nick James stars alongside Henry ‘The Fonz’ Winkler in the brand-new comedy drama series, Hank Zipzer which comes to Cbbc this January.
Nick (represented by D&B Management), who had to dye his hair for the role, said: "Playing Hank has been absolutely amazing. I’ve been able to do a multitude of things I’ve never done before and this has been my biggest part to date, so it has been exciting and scary all at once. I have got to meet so many interesting and lovely people in the three months I’ve been away acting."
He added, "It has been very hard work. I’m in nearly all the scenes and then I’ve had to try and keep up with all my school work as well – my mum is really strict about this which is super annoying. It’s not been easy but it’s been a lot of fun.
Nick (represented by D&B Management), who had to dye his hair for the role, said: "Playing Hank has been absolutely amazing. I’ve been able to do a multitude of things I’ve never done before and this has been my biggest part to date, so it has been exciting and scary all at once. I have got to meet so many interesting and lovely people in the three months I’ve been away acting."
He added, "It has been very hard work. I’m in nearly all the scenes and then I’ve had to try and keep up with all my school work as well – my mum is really strict about this which is super annoying. It’s not been easy but it’s been a lot of fun.
- 12/31/2013
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
The first pictures from Henry Winkler's new Cbbc show Hank Zipzer have been released.
The actor, best known for playing The Fonz in Happy Days, will star in the children's show which is inspired by his own upbringing.
Winkler said: "This series is certainly inspired by my childhood and the experiences I had because I learned differently to other people – but it's a comedy first. The emotion is completely relatable but we exaggerate the humour.
"When I was young, teachers and other people used to tell me I'd never achieve anything because I'm in the bottom three percent academically in America.
"I never thought I'd be able to write books, let alone to have them made into a TV show. Outside of having my children, the Hank Zipzer series makes me incredibly proud."
Winkler plays music teacher Mr Rock (Winkler's real-life teacher) alongside Nick James as Henry 'Hank' Zipzer.
The actor, best known for playing The Fonz in Happy Days, will star in the children's show which is inspired by his own upbringing.
Winkler said: "This series is certainly inspired by my childhood and the experiences I had because I learned differently to other people – but it's a comedy first. The emotion is completely relatable but we exaggerate the humour.
"When I was young, teachers and other people used to tell me I'd never achieve anything because I'm in the bottom three percent academically in America.
"I never thought I'd be able to write books, let alone to have them made into a TV show. Outside of having my children, the Hank Zipzer series makes me incredibly proud."
Winkler plays music teacher Mr Rock (Winkler's real-life teacher) alongside Nick James as Henry 'Hank' Zipzer.
- 12/18/2013
- Digital Spy
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Jan. 14, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
James Caan makes the call in Thief.
Filmmaker Michael Mann (Collateral) burst out of the gate with his bold artistic sensibility fully formed with the 1981 crime thriller Thief, his first theatrical feature.
James Caan (Middle Men) stars as a no-nonsense ex-con safecracker planning to leave the criminal world behind after one final diamond heist, but discovering that escape is not as simple as he hoped.
Finding hypnotic beauty in sparks, neon, steel and the rain-slick streets of Chicago, Thief effortlessly established the moody stylishness and tactile approach to action that would define such later iconic entertainments from Mann as Miami Vice, Manhunter, and Heat.
Thief features a memorably pulsing soundtrack by Tangerine Dream and excellent supporting performances by Jim Belushi (The Ghost Writer) and Tuesday Weld (Once Upon a Time in America).
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo of the...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
James Caan makes the call in Thief.
Filmmaker Michael Mann (Collateral) burst out of the gate with his bold artistic sensibility fully formed with the 1981 crime thriller Thief, his first theatrical feature.
James Caan (Middle Men) stars as a no-nonsense ex-con safecracker planning to leave the criminal world behind after one final diamond heist, but discovering that escape is not as simple as he hoped.
Finding hypnotic beauty in sparks, neon, steel and the rain-slick streets of Chicago, Thief effortlessly established the moody stylishness and tactile approach to action that would define such later iconic entertainments from Mann as Miami Vice, Manhunter, and Heat.
Thief features a memorably pulsing soundtrack by Tangerine Dream and excellent supporting performances by Jim Belushi (The Ghost Writer) and Tuesday Weld (Once Upon a Time in America).
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo of the...
- 10/28/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Programming an evening of shorts on the one Saturday evening of your film festival might be a bold choice, but Melanie Iredale’s decision this year speaks volumes on how far Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival (Bfmaf) has developed under her leadership. To be sure, the inaugural shorts competition, sponsored by slow holiday company Inntravel, encapsulated the themes and concerns running through the ninth edition of Bfmaf: cultural contradictions, intergenerational disconnects, familial dysfunction and the not unproblematic nature in which Berwick relates to the Nordic regions.
The eight finalists of the shorts competition – judged by critic Nick James, curator/artist Anna Linder and filmmaker Eva Weber – screened to an extremely receptive Saturday night audience. A mixed bunch from my personal vantage point, the octet nevertheless boasted consistently high production values and demonstrated the diverse range of expressions the short form offers.
Two of the films unfolded like lengthy music promos.
The eight finalists of the shorts competition – judged by critic Nick James, curator/artist Anna Linder and filmmaker Eva Weber – screened to an extremely receptive Saturday night audience. A mixed bunch from my personal vantage point, the octet nevertheless boasted consistently high production values and demonstrated the diverse range of expressions the short form offers.
Two of the films unfolded like lengthy music promos.
- 9/29/2013
- by Michael Pattison
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Newcomer Nick James (represented by D&B Management) will star as 12 year old Henry ‘Hank’ Zipzer, in Hank Zipzer, a brand new comedy drama series coming to Cbbc inspired by the book series Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever, written by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver.
Multi-award winning actor Henry ‘The Fonz’ Winkler will also feature in the series.
Fast-paced and funny, the series will follow 12-year-old Henry ‘Hank’ Zipzer, a smart and resourceful boy with a unique perspective on the world. Hank has dyslexia, and when problems arise, he deals with them in a way no-one else would – putting him on a direct collision course with his teachers and parents, who don’t seem to appreciate his latest scheme as much as he thought they would... But, Hank always remains positive and convinced that the next big plan will deliver – after all, tomorrow is another day!
Madeline...
Multi-award winning actor Henry ‘The Fonz’ Winkler will also feature in the series.
Fast-paced and funny, the series will follow 12-year-old Henry ‘Hank’ Zipzer, a smart and resourceful boy with a unique perspective on the world. Hank has dyslexia, and when problems arise, he deals with them in a way no-one else would – putting him on a direct collision course with his teachers and parents, who don’t seem to appreciate his latest scheme as much as he thought they would... But, Hank always remains positive and convinced that the next big plan will deliver – after all, tomorrow is another day!
Madeline...
- 9/19/2013
- by noreply@blogger.com (ScreenTerrier)
- ScreenTerrier
Hollywood and the world's most prestigious film festival, Cannes, have conducted an on-off romance down the years – and now they're closer than ever. But have they got too cosy? As the Croisette opens for business, Xan Brooks investigates
In among the ligging and rigging of last year's Cannes film festival, visitors may have spotted James Toback and Alec Baldwin trudging wearily back and forth along the Croisette. The director and star, it now transpires, were in town to shoot a very meta documentary – a film about their efforts to actually make a film. For a 10-day spell they interviewed everyone from Ryan Gosling to Martin Scorsese, Nicole Kidman to Roman Polanski. Along the way they took the temperature of a festival perched at the intersection between art and commerce. The documentary's title, Seduced and Abandoned, alludes to Baldwin's description of the film industry as "the world's worst girlfriend". But it...
In among the ligging and rigging of last year's Cannes film festival, visitors may have spotted James Toback and Alec Baldwin trudging wearily back and forth along the Croisette. The director and star, it now transpires, were in town to shoot a very meta documentary – a film about their efforts to actually make a film. For a 10-day spell they interviewed everyone from Ryan Gosling to Martin Scorsese, Nicole Kidman to Roman Polanski. Along the way they took the temperature of a festival perched at the intersection between art and commerce. The documentary's title, Seduced and Abandoned, alludes to Baldwin's description of the film industry as "the world's worst girlfriend". But it...
- 5/14/2013
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Sir Kenneth Branagh and George Lucas were among a stellar cast at Windsor Castle for a very royal award ceremony
Last night the Queen invited me and 299 of her closest friends to Windsor Castle for a special celebration of the British film industry – and to witness a unique and historic event. This occurred in front of a crowd of the movie world's most iconic names, including George Lucas, Christopher Nolan, Eric Fellner, David Hare, Tessa Ross, Rebecca O'Brien, Tom Hooper, Leslie Phillips, Idris Elba, Edgar Wright, Minnie Driver and many more. Her Majesty received a Bafta!
This was not for her work with Danny Boyle and Daniel Craig – it was more in the way of a lifetime achievement award, for supporting British film over the 50-year span of her reign.
Of course, many great performers do not care to receive these long-service gongs in the absence of a recognition of any specific performance.
Last night the Queen invited me and 299 of her closest friends to Windsor Castle for a special celebration of the British film industry – and to witness a unique and historic event. This occurred in front of a crowd of the movie world's most iconic names, including George Lucas, Christopher Nolan, Eric Fellner, David Hare, Tessa Ross, Rebecca O'Brien, Tom Hooper, Leslie Phillips, Idris Elba, Edgar Wright, Minnie Driver and many more. Her Majesty received a Bafta!
This was not for her work with Danny Boyle and Daniel Craig – it was more in the way of a lifetime achievement award, for supporting British film over the 50-year span of her reign.
Of course, many great performers do not care to receive these long-service gongs in the absence of a recognition of any specific performance.
- 4/5/2013
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
After unveiling just about everything you’d want to know short of seeing the film, people have actually witnessed Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder as of this morning at the Venice Film Festival — and the reaction is as divisive as expected. Reviews indicate that Ben Affleck indeed just has a few spare lines as rumored, while his presence is reportedly in the backdrop, while Malick focuses on the women, most notably an always moving Olga Kurylenko. As for the film itself, reviews indicate Malick is moving in a more impressionistic, opaquely religious direction from The Tree of Life, but not as drastic as Affleck revealed this weekend.
We’ll weigh in come Tiff time, but for now check out the full reviews, followed by Twitter impressions. And as for when audiences will get to see the film, 01 Distribution confirms a December 14th Italy release for the film. Hopefully Us...
We’ll weigh in come Tiff time, but for now check out the full reviews, followed by Twitter impressions. And as for when audiences will get to see the film, 01 Distribution confirms a December 14th Italy release for the film. Hopefully Us...
- 9/2/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
After the news a couple of weeks ago that Hitchcock's "Vertigo" dethroned Welles' "Citizen Kane" as the greatest film of all time in Sight & Sound's poll, the magazine has posted the complete list of critics' choices on its website. The list can be perused by critics' top 250 consensus, individual films and individual voters. Toh's Anne Thompson voted. Her list on the Sight & Sound website can be found here, and her Toh post on her choices (with Powell and Pressburger's "I Know Where I'm Going" in the top spot) can be found here. Check out Sight & Sound editor Nick James' comments on this year's changes to the list and voters here.
- 8/18/2012
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
Nick James’ introduction to the Sight & Sound poll results gives us some insight into their methodology: As a qualification of what ‘greatest’ means, our invitation letter stated, “We leave that open to your interpretation.
- 8/5/2012
- by Ryan Adams
- AwardsDaily.com
This week on Toh, the box office came down with a case of Olympics syndrome, Sight & Sound announced the Top 50 Films of All Time (with "Vertigo" taking the crown), we remembered avant-garde filmmaker Chris Marker and screenwriter-essayist Gore Vidal, and more! Interviews: Will Roadside's Wall Street Drama "Arbitrage," Starring Richard Gere, Repeat "Margin Call" Magic? Documentary Action: "Invisible War" Sparks Change in the Military's Approach to Rape Immersed in Movies: Previewing Disney's Animated "Wreck-It Ralph" Features: Spend a Sleepless Night and Day with Marilyn Monroe: A Guide to Her Best Roles Critical Consensus: "Vertigo" Tops New Sight & Sound Top 50 List; "2001: A Space Odyssey" Most Recent in Top 10 Sight & Sound Top 50 Editor Nick James Talks Changes in List and Voters Television: "The Girl," Ethel Kennedy...
- 8/3/2012
- by TOH!
- Thompson on Hollywood
Best-Movie Poll Shocker: Todd McCarthy's Take on 'Vertigo's' Dethroning of 'Citizen Kane' (Analysis)
The fix was in. Although he obviously couldn’t dictate the results, it was obvious to many of us who have been involved in the process for a decade or more that Sight & Sound editor Nick James was determined to knock Citizen Kane from its throne atop the British magazine’s once-a-decade Best Films of All Time poll, a position the 1941 film had maintained since it first cracked the list in 1962. No doubt it was time for a change, lest Orson Welles’ still-vital and exciting work become further encumbered by the must and dust that inevitably
read more...
read more...
- 8/3/2012
- by Todd McCarthy
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
There's a lot to parse within the BFI's Sight & Sound poll, a once a decade event in which the [air quotes] greatest films of all time /end air quotes] are named. Given that the results are a product of accumulation of individual opinions, I enlisted Team Film Experience for a variety of voices to respond to it and you can see their quotes below. The list is a critic friendly and far more international affair than other famous mainstream rankings like AFI's Top 100. How did they determine the rank? According to Nick James 1000 critics, academics, writers, cinephiles, and directors were polled as to what ten films they considered The Greatest Ever, whether great meant "historical significance", "artistry" or something more personal to them. 846 top-ten lists were received which means we would like to volunteer to replace any of the 164 invitees who couldn't be bothered next time!
Every entry on a top ten list received one vote so rank didn't matter,...
Every entry on a top ten list received one vote so rank didn't matter,...
- 8/3/2012
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
So, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is apparently now the greatest film of all time. Rubbish. What about Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?
Everyone loves a list, don't they? For a decade, Channel 4 successfully filled primetime television with a succession of list programmes, replete with "celebrity" randoms talking nonsense about the 100 greatest gadgets, standups, musicals, cartoons … all to be hotly contested in the comments sections across the land.
This week, the British Film Institute released its own decennial greatest films list, and after 50 years at the top, Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles) has been toppled. In 2012, the panel of more than 800 critics and writers selected Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock) as their No 1 film of all time. "It feels like a much more contemporary film than Citizen Kane," says Nick James, editor of Sight and Sound magazine. "Vertigo is about our inner life."
I hate to break it to Nick and his magazine readers, but this...
Everyone loves a list, don't they? For a decade, Channel 4 successfully filled primetime television with a succession of list programmes, replete with "celebrity" randoms talking nonsense about the 100 greatest gadgets, standups, musicals, cartoons … all to be hotly contested in the comments sections across the land.
This week, the British Film Institute released its own decennial greatest films list, and after 50 years at the top, Citizen Kane (1941, Orson Welles) has been toppled. In 2012, the panel of more than 800 critics and writers selected Vertigo (1958, Alfred Hitchcock) as their No 1 film of all time. "It feels like a much more contemporary film than Citizen Kane," says Nick James, editor of Sight and Sound magazine. "Vertigo is about our inner life."
I hate to break it to Nick and his magazine readers, but this...
- 8/2/2012
- by Bim Adewunmi
- The Guardian - Film News
Alfred Hitchcock 1958 film ends 50-year dominance of Orson Welles masterpiece in BFI's decennial cinematic survey
"It tells a most unlikely tale about a wife-murder, and tells it for more than two hours in a style that is slow, wordy and, apparently, casual," sniffed the Manchester Guardian's film critic 54 years ago. To clarify, what he may have meant to say is that Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is nothing less than the greatest film of all time.
The reappraisal was due on Wednesday after the 1958 film topped the British Film Institute's much-respected Greatest Films poll, which it has been conducting once every decade since 1952.
Vertigo managed to end the reign of Orson Welles's Citizen Kane, which has topped the list since 1962.
"I was a little surprised," said Nick James, the editor of Sight & Sound magazine, which carries out the poll. "I remember hoping last time that Citizen Kane would get knocked off and it never happened,...
"It tells a most unlikely tale about a wife-murder, and tells it for more than two hours in a style that is slow, wordy and, apparently, casual," sniffed the Manchester Guardian's film critic 54 years ago. To clarify, what he may have meant to say is that Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is nothing less than the greatest film of all time.
The reappraisal was due on Wednesday after the 1958 film topped the British Film Institute's much-respected Greatest Films poll, which it has been conducting once every decade since 1952.
Vertigo managed to end the reign of Orson Welles's Citizen Kane, which has topped the list since 1962.
"I was a little surprised," said Nick James, the editor of Sight & Sound magazine, which carries out the poll. "I remember hoping last time that Citizen Kane would get knocked off and it never happened,...
- 8/2/2012
- by Mark Brown
- The Guardian - Film News
We hope somewhere in movie-character heaven Charles Foster Kane still finds comfort in the memory of his childhood sled, because for the first time in 50 years Citizen Kane doesn’t top the Sight & Sound poll.
Every ten years since 1952, the London-based film magazine published by the British Film Institute conducts a sweeping survey of renowned critics and filmmakers to determine what many cinephiles consider to be the definitive list of the greatest movies ever made. The very first poll placed Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves at the No. 1 spot. Ever since 1962, however, Orson Welles’ dazzling fake biopic has taken top honors.
Every ten years since 1952, the London-based film magazine published by the British Film Institute conducts a sweeping survey of renowned critics and filmmakers to determine what many cinephiles consider to be the definitive list of the greatest movies ever made. The very first poll placed Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves at the No. 1 spot. Ever since 1962, however, Orson Welles’ dazzling fake biopic has taken top honors.
- 8/1/2012
- by Christian Blauvelt
- EW.com - PopWatch
Finally, the citadel has been stormed. Orson Welles’s masterpiece "Citizen Kane" is no longer “The Greatest Film of All Time,” according to the latest poll from the influential British magazine "Sight & Sound." The magazine has conducted these polls every 10 years since 1962, and "Citizen Kane" emerged at number one five times. Finally it has been dethroned – in favour of Alfred Hitchcock’s "Vertigo." (Full list of 50 is here; a "Vertigo" trailer with James Stewart and Kim Novak is below.) Why the change? Why now? You could argue that the critical consensus has simply shifted slightly away from Welles. But above all, the "Sight & Sound" poll itself has changed – and broadened its reach considerably. Announcing the result at London’s BFI Southbank film complex, S&S editor Nick James observed that the poll’s previous exclusivity seemed "no...
- 8/1/2012
- by David Gritten
- Thompson on Hollywood
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 28, 2012
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Phil Daniels takes Leslie Ash for a spin in Quadrophenia.
The Who’s 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia, a follow-up to their 1969 ground-breaker Tommy (which was made into movie in 1972), goes cinematic in this 1979 British musical drama film by director Franc Roddam (The Bride).
In the defiant, drug-fueled London of the early 1960s. antihero Jimmy (Phil Daniels, Meantime) is a teenager who’s dissatisfied with family, work, and love. He mainly identifies with the fashionable, pill-popping, scooter-driving mods, a group whose opposition to the motorcycle-riding rockers. Jimmy’s feelings, coupled with the groups’ overpowering intentions, leads to a climactic riot in the streets of Brighton.
Roddam’s rough-edged visuals work and Pete Townshend’s brilliant songs (including “I’ve Had Enough,” “5:15,” and “Love, Reign O’er Me”) work smartly together in this chronicle of youthful rebellion and turmoil.
Co-starring Sting (Dune...
Price: DVD $29.95, Blu-ray $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Phil Daniels takes Leslie Ash for a spin in Quadrophenia.
The Who’s 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia, a follow-up to their 1969 ground-breaker Tommy (which was made into movie in 1972), goes cinematic in this 1979 British musical drama film by director Franc Roddam (The Bride).
In the defiant, drug-fueled London of the early 1960s. antihero Jimmy (Phil Daniels, Meantime) is a teenager who’s dissatisfied with family, work, and love. He mainly identifies with the fashionable, pill-popping, scooter-driving mods, a group whose opposition to the motorcycle-riding rockers. Jimmy’s feelings, coupled with the groups’ overpowering intentions, leads to a climactic riot in the streets of Brighton.
Roddam’s rough-edged visuals work and Pete Townshend’s brilliant songs (including “I’ve Had Enough,” “5:15,” and “Love, Reign O’er Me”) work smartly together in this chronicle of youthful rebellion and turmoil.
Co-starring Sting (Dune...
- 6/18/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
All the news, reviews, comment and buzz from the Croisette on day six of the Cannes film festival
10.31am: Hello again: Cannes 2012 day six rolls round – after a very good weekend for the competition which we saw a wonderfully well reviewed Michael Haneke film, and good notices for two missing-in-action auteurs, Cristian Mungiu and Thomas Vinterberg, with Beyond the Hills and The Hunt (Jagten) respectively.
Outside the Palme d'Or nominees, things were a tad less rosy. "Pasty" Pete Doherty showed up for a screening of his acting debut, Confession of a Child of the Century: reaction, to be honest, was not good. Catherine will be filing a review later on – the word "catastrophic" was used. Brandon "son of David" Cronenberg debuted Antiviral: again, word was iffy; we'll have Peter's review launched fairly soon. And Henry appears to be giving girl group yarn The Sapphires a qualified thumbs-up: "sugary" would be the key concept here,...
10.31am: Hello again: Cannes 2012 day six rolls round – after a very good weekend for the competition which we saw a wonderfully well reviewed Michael Haneke film, and good notices for two missing-in-action auteurs, Cristian Mungiu and Thomas Vinterberg, with Beyond the Hills and The Hunt (Jagten) respectively.
Outside the Palme d'Or nominees, things were a tad less rosy. "Pasty" Pete Doherty showed up for a screening of his acting debut, Confession of a Child of the Century: reaction, to be honest, was not good. Catherine will be filing a review later on – the word "catastrophic" was used. Brandon "son of David" Cronenberg debuted Antiviral: again, word was iffy; we'll have Peter's review launched fairly soon. And Henry appears to be giving girl group yarn The Sapphires a qualified thumbs-up: "sugary" would be the key concept here,...
- 5/21/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Coveted Palme d'Or likely to go to a screen adaptation, with many of this year's entrants borrowing from literature
The Cannes festival is, famously, the keeper of the flame of the auteur tradition. The ritual of honouring the overarching vision of a single writer-director is entrenched in its history – from Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni to Jane Campion and Andrea Arnold. Since the turn of the millennium, only two winners of the Palme d'Or have been literary adaptations: Roman Polanski's The Pianist, and Laurent Cantet's The Class. Of the remaining films, only one – Ken Loach's The Wind that Shakes the Barley – was not written by its director.
This year, however, things are different: it is a bookworm's Cannes, with directors as likely to have had their noses buried in novels as dreaming up original ideas.
All eyes are on Walter Salles's adaptation of Jack Kerouac's modern classic On the Road,...
The Cannes festival is, famously, the keeper of the flame of the auteur tradition. The ritual of honouring the overarching vision of a single writer-director is entrenched in its history – from Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni to Jane Campion and Andrea Arnold. Since the turn of the millennium, only two winners of the Palme d'Or have been literary adaptations: Roman Polanski's The Pianist, and Laurent Cantet's The Class. Of the remaining films, only one – Ken Loach's The Wind that Shakes the Barley – was not written by its director.
This year, however, things are different: it is a bookworm's Cannes, with directors as likely to have had their noses buried in novels as dreaming up original ideas.
All eyes are on Walter Salles's adaptation of Jack Kerouac's modern classic On the Road,...
- 5/18/2012
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
All the latest news, reviews, comment and buzz from the Croisette
10.07am: That was then, this is now. Day one of Cannes 2012 is so over, drifting off on the breeze of yesterday. We're all about today, day two.
If, like me, you find yesterday is so far away that you've forgotten what happened, here's Charlotte Higgins' summary from last night. And as Cannes is nothing if not about fancy frocks and smirking A-listers, we'll be posting a gallery of the red-carpet show before the festival opener, Moonrise Kingdom. Meanwhile, we'll soon have a video review of the film from Peter, Xan and Catherine.
But let's look forward. The big film today is Rust & Bone, the new one from Jacques Audiard. Now, if anyone is due a Palme d'Or it's him: his awesome A Prophet was unlucky to come up against the terrifyingly brilliant White Ribbon in 2010, and his previous work...
10.07am: That was then, this is now. Day one of Cannes 2012 is so over, drifting off on the breeze of yesterday. We're all about today, day two.
If, like me, you find yesterday is so far away that you've forgotten what happened, here's Charlotte Higgins' summary from last night. And as Cannes is nothing if not about fancy frocks and smirking A-listers, we'll be posting a gallery of the red-carpet show before the festival opener, Moonrise Kingdom. Meanwhile, we'll soon have a video review of the film from Peter, Xan and Catherine.
But let's look forward. The big film today is Rust & Bone, the new one from Jacques Audiard. Now, if anyone is due a Palme d'Or it's him: his awesome A Prophet was unlucky to come up against the terrifyingly brilliant White Ribbon in 2010, and his previous work...
- 5/17/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
Angelina leads the obligatory Hollywood posse this year but tales about Brits in America, explorers in Africa, Nazis in space and the life of Bob Marley offer more interesting viewing
A big beast with a split personality, the Berlinale likes to parade big Hollywood names while playing films of serious political intent. In that sense, Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey is exemplary – what could be more Berlin than a directorial debut by a major movie star with the Bosnian war on its mind? Suffice to say here that Jolie's gauche portrayal of a Night Porter-type relationship between a Serb soldier and his Bosnian captive strains for significance. But it does illustrate Berlin's main problem: how to stay relevant when the better films are all held back for Cannes.
Any event that can line up Jolie, Jake Gyllenhaal (on the jury), Christian Bale (in Zhang Yimou's...
A big beast with a split personality, the Berlinale likes to parade big Hollywood names while playing films of serious political intent. In that sense, Angelina Jolie's In the Land of Blood and Honey is exemplary – what could be more Berlin than a directorial debut by a major movie star with the Bosnian war on its mind? Suffice to say here that Jolie's gauche portrayal of a Night Porter-type relationship between a Serb soldier and his Bosnian captive strains for significance. But it does illustrate Berlin's main problem: how to stay relevant when the better films are all held back for Cannes.
Any event that can line up Jolie, Jake Gyllenhaal (on the jury), Christian Bale (in Zhang Yimou's...
- 2/19/2012
- by Nick James
- The Guardian - Film News
In 2009, the best film in Competition at the Berlinale was Maren Ade's Everyone Else (Fwiw, it came away with 1.5 Silver Bears, the 1 for Best Actress Birgit Minichmayr, the .5 for tying with Adrián Biniez's Gigante for the Jury Grand Prix; the Golden Bear that year went to Claudia Llosa's The Milk of Sorrow). Three years on (!), the trio that made Everyone Else worth talking up to this day (see, for example, Kevin B Lee's new video essay on a key scene at Fandor; see, too, Mike D'Angelo on the same scene a year ago at the Av Club) is back in Competition, albeit in three different films. Lars Eidinger has drawn the shortest straw, taking on the lead in Hans-Christian Schmid's rather dismal Home for the Weekend. Minichmayr's fared better opposite Jürgen Vogel in Matthias Glasner's new film, though I seriously doubt many of us will...
- 2/18/2012
- MUBI
I've placed this clip right at the top of this entry because it's taken from the first few minutes of Captive, just after armed terrorists have stormed what appears to be a small town or encampment on the beach somewhere out there in the Pacific, nabbed whoever's available and forced them at gunpoint onto boats waiting in the harbor. Because you know you're watching a film by Brillante Mendoza, you assume all this is taking place in the Philippines. Otherwise, unless you've Googled "Abu Sayyaf" and learned that it's "one of several military Islamist separatist groups based in and around the southern Philippines" or read the program notes ("The attack was intended to target employees of the World Bank, but they have already left the resort. The abductees are tourists and Christian missionaries who are now forced on a grueling foot march through the Philippine jungle"), you'll be disoriented as...
- 2/14/2012
- MUBI
Of all directors working in Germany today, Christian Petzold has the surest hand and, while, after just one viewing, it's too early to stake a claim for Barbara as his best film yet, it is, in many ways, a culmination of his stylistic progression towards a classic yet vividly contemporary cinematic language. Referencing influences in interviews — like many directors who can afford the time, Petzold likes to screen films for his cast in the weeks of rehearsal before shooting begins — he's been citing quite a few of late from both Golden Age and New Hollywood. The ghost of Marnie moves through Yella (2007) in the way a camera follows a woman up a set of stairs. Jerichow (2008) transposes The Postman Always Rings Twice from the oppressive shadows of film noir to a sun-drenched summer in present-day Germany. Of the three films that comprise Dreileben (2011), Petzold's Beats Being Dead is the one...
- 2/13/2012
- MUBI
Hailed by John Hurt as the 'best of the bunch', Oldman is a working-class hero acclaimed for his acting and directing
Gary Oldman returns to London this weekend in the role of prodigal son, the wayward talent brought in from the cold. He arrives from California to find a landscape very different from the one he left in the early 1990s.
The fiery social-realist BBC teleplays that provided an early calling card have bitten the dust. The cult of the raw-boned working-class British performer has been largely replaced by a roll call of Etonians and Harrovians: a rash of Redmaynes, Hiddlestons and Cumberbatches. And so, at the age of 53, Oldman touches down like some disreputable Rip Van Winkle, a reminder of times gone by. All of which makes him more striking – and arguably more necessary – than he was before.
If they handed out awards for nuance and subtlety, shade and stealth,...
Gary Oldman returns to London this weekend in the role of prodigal son, the wayward talent brought in from the cold. He arrives from California to find a landscape very different from the one he left in the early 1990s.
The fiery social-realist BBC teleplays that provided an early calling card have bitten the dust. The cult of the raw-boned working-class British performer has been largely replaced by a roll call of Etonians and Harrovians: a rash of Redmaynes, Hiddlestons and Cumberbatches. And so, at the age of 53, Oldman touches down like some disreputable Rip Van Winkle, a reminder of times gone by. All of which makes him more striking – and arguably more necessary – than he was before.
If they handed out awards for nuance and subtlety, shade and stealth,...
- 2/10/2012
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
Though it barely edged out Asghar Farhadi's A Separation in indieWIRE's "Annual Critics Survey 2011," Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life is enjoying an even stronger run in the major polls than David Fincher's The Social Network did last year. Fincher's Facebook movie was voted the best film of 2010 in polls conducted by indieWIRE, Sight & Sound and the Village Voice, but came in second behind Olivier Assayas's Carlos in Film Comment's poll. We've yet to see the Voice poll, but so far this year, The Tree of Life has come out on top of Sight & Sound's poll of 100 or so critics and curators ("by a country mile," according to editor Nick James), Film Comment's poll of over 120, and now indieWIRE's survey of "162 critics, journalists and other tastemakers," as Eric Kohn puts it in his introduction.
Whatever the reasons behind the two sets of results, 2010 and 2011, they can't be the same.
Whatever the reasons behind the two sets of results, 2010 and 2011, they can't be the same.
- 12/20/2011
- MUBI
The first item that needs mentioning is Sight & Sound's followup to last week's tweets and sneak peeks, "2011 in review: The full poll," 101 critics and curators listing their top five films and generally reflecting on the year that was. Editor Nick James introduces the bundle.
The second order of business would be the obligatory mention of David Fincher's commenting on the David Denby vs Scott Rudin brouhaha (briefly: the New Yorker critic reneged on his promise not to run a review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before the embargo would be lifted on December 13; the producer blew his top). Talking to Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald, Fincher naturally comes down on the side of his producer, but also adds: "Embargoes… look, if it were up to me, I wouldn't show movies to anybody before they were released…. But by the same token, when you agree to go...
The second order of business would be the obligatory mention of David Fincher's commenting on the David Denby vs Scott Rudin brouhaha (briefly: the New Yorker critic reneged on his promise not to run a review of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before the embargo would be lifted on December 13; the producer blew his top). Talking to Rene Rodriguez of the Miami Herald, Fincher naturally comes down on the side of his producer, but also adds: "Embargoes… look, if it were up to me, I wouldn't show movies to anybody before they were released…. But by the same token, when you agree to go...
- 12/7/2011
- MUBI
It is almost December, which means the onslaught of year-end lists have begun. I’ve already posted a list of our favourite horror films/thrillers of 2011 as well as our favourite documentaries. I’ll be posting a list of the best soundtracks and scores later this week. For now, I turn the spotlight to Sight & Sound magazine’s annual critics’ poll, who have revealed their top ten list, which comes from 100 different critics, who all submitted their personal top five. Its 100 contributors range from writers on their staff as well as others including Peter Bradshaw and Armond White. Topping the list, with no surprise, is Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life, which editor Nick James reports won by a landslide. Its runner-up, Asghar Farhadi‘s A Separation received only half as many votes. We will be posting our own list sometime between Christmas and New Years. Our lists are...
- 11/30/2011
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
"The Tree of Life" tops Sight & Sound's critics' poll of the year's best: "It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that Terrence Malick's 'The Tree of Life' would top the list: divisive it may be, but the film remains unrivalled as the critical talking point of 2011. It won the poll by a comfortable margin: editor Nick James reveals that it had half as many votes again as the similarly predictable runner-up, Asghar Farhadi's 'A Separation.' Check out the full list ..." In Contention Why the Oscars might not move up its awards date in 2013 after all: "The Academy’s broadcast partner ABC has a say in these plans and I have been told by a very informed Acad source that the January 27, 2013 date has been ruled out and the earliest they could go is February 3. Problem is that happens to be the date of the Super...
- 11/29/2011
- Gold Derby
It is almost December, which means the onslaught of year-end lists are about to reign down. The Gotham awards are tonight, the New York Film Critics announce tomorrow morning and today we’ve had our first major list. Sight & Sound magazine have revealed their top ten list, which comes from 100 different critics, who all submitted their personal top five. High up on the top of the list is Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life, which editor Nick James (via In Contention) reports won by a landside. Its runner-up, Asghar Farhadi‘s A Separation had only half as many votes.
It is nice to see my personal favorite of 2011 top the list, but this list is a great way to catch up on any films one may have missed. Many of them have either had their limited theatrical run or will do so next month. And for those questioning where the more populist,...
It is nice to see my personal favorite of 2011 top the list, but this list is a great way to catch up on any films one may have missed. Many of them have either had their limited theatrical run or will do so next month. And for those questioning where the more populist,...
- 11/29/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Chicago – Movies don’t get much more personally influential than Krzysztof Kieslowski’s “Blue,” “White,” and “Red,” collectively known as the “Three Colors” trilogy, and recently released in one gorgeous box set from The Criterion Collection. As we all do, I was a bit concerned that perhaps my memory of these films had been enhanced with time, but I found the opposite — they’re even better with age and stand as one of the best film achievements of not just their era but of all time. I can’t say enough about Kieslowski’s talent as a director and, while some may point to the “Decalogue” films or “The Double Life of Veronique,” I’ve always considered “Three Colors” to be the greatest accomplishment of one of history’s greatest directors. And Criterion has done one of their most notable acquisitions justice with one of their best releases of the year.
- 11/28/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Veteran director joins $100m club with his acclaimed new picture despite being written off by critics
Despite years of critical derision and a general perception that his career is in terminal decline, Woody Allen has confounded his critics by engineering a commercial renaissance – joining the $100m club in the process.
Allen's 41st feature as director, Midnight in Paris, which is due for release in the UK on Friday, is already his highest-grossing picture: its worldwide take stands at more than $107.4m (£68.7m).
Allen has not reached these heights at the box office since the mid-80s, when Hannah and Her Sisters took $40.1m in the Us, compared with Midnight in Paris's $54.4m. Manhattan (1979) and Annie Hall (1977) are the next highest, with $39.9m and $38.3m respectively.
The reasons behind the success of Midnight in Paris are open to debate. In recent years Allen's commercial credibility has been on the rise,...
Despite years of critical derision and a general perception that his career is in terminal decline, Woody Allen has confounded his critics by engineering a commercial renaissance – joining the $100m club in the process.
Allen's 41st feature as director, Midnight in Paris, which is due for release in the UK on Friday, is already his highest-grossing picture: its worldwide take stands at more than $107.4m (£68.7m).
Allen has not reached these heights at the box office since the mid-80s, when Hannah and Her Sisters took $40.1m in the Us, compared with Midnight in Paris's $54.4m. Manhattan (1979) and Annie Hall (1977) are the next highest, with $39.9m and $38.3m respectively.
The reasons behind the success of Midnight in Paris are open to debate. In recent years Allen's commercial credibility has been on the rise,...
- 10/3/2011
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
New York (Reuters) - The Telluride Film Festival wrapped up on Monday after a long weekend of screenings, seminars and other programs, with George Clooney and Tilda Swinton receiving top honors.
The 38th annual festival in the Colorado ski resort town saw Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" win a rapturous reception, with star George Clooney on hand to discuss the comic drama being released in November.
Other films that drew strong response included silent film "The Artist," which also made a splash in Cannes, and "Albert Nobbs," a period piece in which Glenn Close's character lives most of her life disguised as a man. Close was also in town for the festival.
The festival's three surprise films, which were not announced in advance, included Jim Field Smith's "Butter," starring Jennifer Garner and Ty Burrell, all of whom made appearances. "Crazy Horse," Frederick Wiseman's look at the glamorous Paris cabaret,...
The 38th annual festival in the Colorado ski resort town saw Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" win a rapturous reception, with star George Clooney on hand to discuss the comic drama being released in November.
Other films that drew strong response included silent film "The Artist," which also made a splash in Cannes, and "Albert Nobbs," a period piece in which Glenn Close's character lives most of her life disguised as a man. Close was also in town for the festival.
The festival's three surprise films, which were not announced in advance, included Jim Field Smith's "Butter," starring Jennifer Garner and Ty Burrell, all of whom made appearances. "Crazy Horse," Frederick Wiseman's look at the glamorous Paris cabaret,...
- 9/6/2011
- by Reuters
- Huffington Post
At the Telluride FIlm Fest, I'm tracking more mainstream titles that folks may actually see in theaters, while Meredith Brody is the lucky one who tracks the rarer events here.At the Press Office I run into assorted Festival attendees and guests; director/film buff Allan Arkush downloads an app called NeoReader that can scan a Nabokovian figure complete with butterfly net placed around the Festival to learn updates such as Tba slots and whether there are seats available or not in a screening. We run into Nick James, editor of the British Sight and Sound, who's here to receive a Special Medallion for a “hero of cinema – an organization or individual – that preserves, honors, and presents great movies.” He’s still vibrating from a first-ever ...
- 9/3/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
George Clooney, Pierre Étaix and Tilda Swinton
to receive Silver Medallion Awards Over twenty-five new features plus revival programs
and unique programming from Guest Director Caetano Veloso will be presented as part of the 2011 exhibition
Telluride, Co (September 1, 2011) . Telluride Film Festival (September 2-5, 2011), presented by the National Film Preserve, announces its program for the 38th Telluride Film Festival. Featuring diverse programming from around the globe, Tff once again sets the stage for some of the year.s most highly anticipated films.
Tff opens its 38th year with over twenty-five new feature films plus special artist tributes, Guest Director programs selected by Caetano Veloso, Backlot programs, classics and restorations, shorts, student films, seminars and conversations, each introduced or proceeded with a Q&A by its filmmaker, actors, writer or producer. Telluride Film Festival opens Friday, September 2 and runs through Labor Day, Monday, September 5.
The .Show.
38th Telluride Film Festival is proud...
to receive Silver Medallion Awards Over twenty-five new features plus revival programs
and unique programming from Guest Director Caetano Veloso will be presented as part of the 2011 exhibition
Telluride, Co (September 1, 2011) . Telluride Film Festival (September 2-5, 2011), presented by the National Film Preserve, announces its program for the 38th Telluride Film Festival. Featuring diverse programming from around the globe, Tff once again sets the stage for some of the year.s most highly anticipated films.
Tff opens its 38th year with over twenty-five new feature films plus special artist tributes, Guest Director programs selected by Caetano Veloso, Backlot programs, classics and restorations, shorts, student films, seminars and conversations, each introduced or proceeded with a Q&A by its filmmaker, actors, writer or producer. Telluride Film Festival opens Friday, September 2 and runs through Labor Day, Monday, September 5.
The .Show.
38th Telluride Film Festival is proud...
- 9/1/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Release Date: Nov. 15, 2011
Price: DVD $59.95, Blu-ray $79.95
Studio: Criterion
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blue, White and Red receive the Criterion treatment this November.
Legendary Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy, a boldly cinematic trio of stories about love and loss, was a defining event of the art house boom of the 1990s. The films — Blue (1993), White (1993) and Red (1994) — were named for the colors of the French flag and stand for the tenets of the French Revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. But that only hints at the film’s beauty, richness and humanity.
Set in Paris, Warsaw and Geneva, Blue, White, and Red (Kieślowski’s final film) range from tragedy to drama to comedy. They follow a group of ambiguously interconnected people experiencing profound personal disruptions.
Marked by intoxicatingly lush cinematography and memorable performances by such actors as Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Julie Delpy (Guilty Hearts), Irène Jacob (Beyond the Clouds) and...
Price: DVD $59.95, Blu-ray $79.95
Studio: Criterion
Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blue, White and Red receive the Criterion treatment this November.
Legendary Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Three Colors trilogy, a boldly cinematic trio of stories about love and loss, was a defining event of the art house boom of the 1990s. The films — Blue (1993), White (1993) and Red (1994) — were named for the colors of the French flag and stand for the tenets of the French Revolution: liberty, equality and fraternity. But that only hints at the film’s beauty, richness and humanity.
Set in Paris, Warsaw and Geneva, Blue, White, and Red (Kieślowski’s final film) range from tragedy to drama to comedy. They follow a group of ambiguously interconnected people experiencing profound personal disruptions.
Marked by intoxicatingly lush cinematography and memorable performances by such actors as Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), Julie Delpy (Guilty Hearts), Irène Jacob (Beyond the Clouds) and...
- 8/15/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Reverend Billy 'exorcises' Bp while The Tree of Life finds some spiritual support
Reverend Billy rounds on Bp
In these days of insurrection it seems that no institution is safe from assault. Take oil giant Bp, which for the past two decades has been blithely offsetting its business practises by bankrolling exhibitions at London's Tate Modern – only for "Reverend Billy" to come and desecrate the deal. On Monday evening the Rev (a New York-based activist in the guise of a hellfire Pentecostal preacher) stormed into Turbine Hall to perform an exorcism. "Bp money is the devil!" he bellowed. "The destroyer of the Gulf of Mexico cannot be sponsoring the Miró exhibit!"
Egged on by a gospel choir, Reverend Billy, below, duly anointed himself in oil and then rubbed his head against the information board. "For 20 long years, Bp has embedded its foulness deep within the Tate, using the fair face...
Reverend Billy rounds on Bp
In these days of insurrection it seems that no institution is safe from assault. Take oil giant Bp, which for the past two decades has been blithely offsetting its business practises by bankrolling exhibitions at London's Tate Modern – only for "Reverend Billy" to come and desecrate the deal. On Monday evening the Rev (a New York-based activist in the guise of a hellfire Pentecostal preacher) stormed into Turbine Hall to perform an exorcism. "Bp money is the devil!" he bellowed. "The destroyer of the Gulf of Mexico cannot be sponsoring the Miró exhibit!"
Egged on by a gospel choir, Reverend Billy, below, duly anointed himself in oil and then rubbed his head against the information board. "For 20 long years, Bp has embedded its foulness deep within the Tate, using the fair face...
- 7/19/2011
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
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
Updated through 5/28.
The titles below will take you to the roundups, that is, the coverage of the coverage of each film screening in the 2011 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Click the names after the titles for our own reviews, whether they be quick takes or longer considerations. And finally, pointers to assessments of this year's edition, made both before and after the awards are announced, will collect at the bottom of this page.
Competition
Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In.
Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance. Daniel Kasman.
Alain Cavalier's Pater.
Joseph Cedar's Footnote.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike. Daniel Kasman.
Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist.
Aki Kaurismäki's Le Havre. Daniel Kasman.
Naomi Kawase's Hanezu.
Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty.
Maïwenn's Poliss. Daniel Kasman.
Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.
The titles below will take you to the roundups, that is, the coverage of the coverage of each film screening in the 2011 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. Click the names after the titles for our own reviews, whether they be quick takes or longer considerations. And finally, pointers to assessments of this year's edition, made both before and after the awards are announced, will collect at the bottom of this page.
Competition
Pedro Almodóvar's The Skin I Live In.
Bertrand Bonello's House of Tolerance. Daniel Kasman.
Alain Cavalier's Pater.
Joseph Cedar's Footnote.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Once Upon a Time in Anatolia.
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Kid with a Bike. Daniel Kasman.
Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist.
Aki Kaurismäki's Le Havre. Daniel Kasman.
Naomi Kawase's Hanezu.
Julia Leigh's Sleeping Beauty.
Maïwenn's Poliss. Daniel Kasman.
Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.
- 5/28/2011
- MUBI
Updated through 5/23.
Paolo Sorrentino's This Must Be the Place "stars Sean Penn — an amalgam of Dorothy Michaels from Tootsie, the Cure's Robert Smith, and the titular mentally challenged man the actor played in I Am Sam — as Cheyenne, a fey, retired goth rock star who leaves his home in Ireland to return to the Us to track down the man who tormented his estranged father in Auschwitz. Unbearably sentimental — one colleague likened it to this year's Life Is Beautiful — and consistently ridiculous, Sorrentino's movie was inexplicably met with warm applause (and, as far as I could tell, no boos). There's no arguing taste (or cultural differences or festival exhaustion), but figuring out the appeal of a film that includes a Holocaust slide show, Penn's aggressive scenery chewing ('Not having kids has really, really screwed me over!' he weeps at one point), and every lazy American stereotype (fatties, guns,...
Paolo Sorrentino's This Must Be the Place "stars Sean Penn — an amalgam of Dorothy Michaels from Tootsie, the Cure's Robert Smith, and the titular mentally challenged man the actor played in I Am Sam — as Cheyenne, a fey, retired goth rock star who leaves his home in Ireland to return to the Us to track down the man who tormented his estranged father in Auschwitz. Unbearably sentimental — one colleague likened it to this year's Life Is Beautiful — and consistently ridiculous, Sorrentino's movie was inexplicably met with warm applause (and, as far as I could tell, no boos). There's no arguing taste (or cultural differences or festival exhaustion), but figuring out the appeal of a film that includes a Holocaust slide show, Penn's aggressive scenery chewing ('Not having kids has really, really screwed me over!' he weeps at one point), and every lazy American stereotype (fatties, guns,...
- 5/23/2011
- MUBI
Updated through 5/23.
"On Friday, the 64th Cannes Film Festival presented a selection that grabbed critics and could nab the Palme d'Or on Sunday if the jury rises to the occasion," writes the New York Times' Manohla Dargis. "Both beautiful and beautifully observed, with a delicate touch and flashes of humor and horror, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, from the Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, is an ambitious, leisurely inquiry into a specific world — the haunting land of its title — that transcends borders. Touching on life, death and everything in between in 157 minutes, this metaphysical road movie follows a police investigation that, when the story opens, has led its characters into near dark."
"Anatolia's imposing title and 157-minute running time would seem to signify a butt-numbing endurance test for all but the most hardened festival and arthouse patrons," writes Justin Chang in Variety. "Doing little to quell this perception, more...
"On Friday, the 64th Cannes Film Festival presented a selection that grabbed critics and could nab the Palme d'Or on Sunday if the jury rises to the occasion," writes the New York Times' Manohla Dargis. "Both beautiful and beautifully observed, with a delicate touch and flashes of humor and horror, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, from the Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, is an ambitious, leisurely inquiry into a specific world — the haunting land of its title — that transcends borders. Touching on life, death and everything in between in 157 minutes, this metaphysical road movie follows a police investigation that, when the story opens, has led its characters into near dark."
"Anatolia's imposing title and 157-minute running time would seem to signify a butt-numbing endurance test for all but the most hardened festival and arthouse patrons," writes Justin Chang in Variety. "Doing little to quell this perception, more...
- 5/23/2011
- MUBI
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.