Megamind "MEGA Rap" TV Spot

Megamind (Will Ferrell), brilliant and smartest villains ever. Over the years, he tried to conquer the city of Metro in any way. Every effort is always foiled by the invincible super hero known as Metro Man (Brad Pitt), until one day Megamind successfully kill him. Life Megamind empty. A villain without a hero savior. He realizes that his life's ambition is to reach the worst thing that ever happened to him

The only way to exit the void is creating a new hero named "Titan", bigger, better and stronger than Metro Man. Apparently Titan feels a lot more fun to be a villain than a hero. Titans do not just want to conquer the world, but want to destroy it! Is Megamind will be defeated by his own creation? Will Megamind which will be a hero?


Film Type:
Animation
Producer: Lara Breay, Denise Nolan Cascino
Production Company: Dreamworks Animation
Cast: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Justin Long, Jonah Hill, David Cross, Brad Pitt
Director: Tom McGrath
Authors: Alan J. Schoolcraft, Brent Simons

T r a i l e r

IN THE NAME OF GOD

Two musician brothers from Lahore, Pakistan, caught the wake of September 11. The older brother, Mansoor (Shan) who attend school music in America and then married her classmate, the people of America, (Austin Marie Sayre), accused Al-Qaeda terrorist network, although not proven, but finally was forced to go through the interrogation of the authorities

The younger, Sarmad (Fawad Khan) who is affected by Fundamentalist Islam, leaving his career as a musician and choose to join terrorist networks. Due to religious reasons, Sarmad forced to marry the son of her uncle, Mary (Iman Ali), a girl British citizens of Pakistani descent who were born since living in London with Western culture

Mary's father who can not stand the gossip Pakistani community in London due to Marry a relationship with the white man finally took his daughter to Pakistan, for secretly marrying his daughter to Sarmad. Mary was forced to live in remote areas in Pakistan-Afghanistan border to the British government rescue

One of the Box Office in Pakistan and the film received warm appreciation to JiFFest 2008.

Production : Geo Films
Players : Shan,Iman Ali,Fawad Khan,Naseer Uddin Shah
Austin Marie Sayre,Rasheed Naz
Director : Shoaib Mansoor
Author : Shoaib Mansoor

IN THE NAME OF GOD Film Trailer

PIRANHA

A new kind of terror to divide the beautiful Lake Victoria. After the earthquake under the sea by a sudden release of human flesh-eating fish, prehistoric times, a group of strangers must unite to stop themselves into sharp-toothed fish food. Julie Forester is the Sheriff (Elizabeth Shue) using only chance to save the lake and his family, he must destroy the carnivorous creatures alone


Producer:
Alexandre Aja, Mark Canton, Marc Toberoff
Production:
Dimension Films
Players:
Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Jerry O'Connell, Ving Rhames
Jessica Szohr, Steven R. McQueen, Christopher Lloyd, Richard Dreyfuss
Director:
Alexandre Aja
Author:
Alexandre Aja, Greg Levasseur, Pete Goldfinger, Jo

Trailer

HIGH LANE: Dangerous Ascent

Holiday is a good time to do something completely different from the daily routine. Vacation is an opportunity to escape from the bonds of routine. One interesting activity is to conduct a trip to a strange place. Create Chloe (Fanny Valette) and Loic (Johan Libéreau), their choice fell on mountain climbing event.

Croatia is the location of their choosing. This time the leave is not just Chloe and Loic only. Guillaume (Raphael Lenglet), Karine (Maud Wyler), and Fred (Nicolas Giraud) also participated in this trip. Should this trip is a pleasant journey but there are a hindrance to them.

First, the route was covered with debris and could not continue the ascent. Fred is also a professional climber and then propose to continue the ascent. At first they all think this trip will be easy but over time turned out to climb this time not as easy as they imagined. Not only was not easy but there is a risk lives have been lost because of some accident that happened, not to mention the fact they are not the only one who is on the mountain.

Watch Trailer click here

Genre	:	Thriller
Release Date	:	June 24, 2009
Director	:	Abel Ferry
Script	:	Johanne Bernard, Louis-Paul Desanges
Producer	:	Alain Benguigui, Thomas Verhaeghe
Distributor	:	IFC Midnight

Knight and Day

If you do like me and have no expectations about this film probably you will enjoy it as a true American escapist film with all the necessary elements (action sequences, big names actors, exotic settings, romance, bad guys, etc.) to make the film safe to watch. But there is one (important) element missing: a good/credible story; but the odd thing is that even if the plot is pure absurd fantasy and was not really well-developed, story was entertaining and fun to watch probably because lead actors did well their job and characters became alive above the story.

Film tells about a woman that’s used as a mule to pass a top secret gadget by airport security and as she boards an almost empty plane -after having a hard time getting in as was told flight was oversold- she starts a conversation with the man that use her as the mule. That’s how Diaz and Cruise characters meet and from there on you have a ‘normal’ woman releasing and conquering her action skills and a secret agent trying to not get kill by his CIA’s colleagues. Plot gets so absurd that director has to use fade out techniques to allow characters to escape and remain alive, which was funny after all.

So if you haven’t seen the film yet I suggest you do when you get the ‘urge’ to escape reality for almost two hours, as probably you will enjoy the film if you don’t take it too seriously.

Watch Trailer click here

Winter’s Bone

An intense story and great performance by lead actress Jennifer Lawrence make this Debra Granik sophomore film absolutely must be seen for those that appreciate rare American indie films that transcend the indie standards and take you in a visual and narrative voyage that will delight your senses even when story is not necessarily a pleasant one. In a sense, this indie film made me recall the huge and positive surprise with Frozen River and if you enjoyed this film I’m sure you will enjoy Granik’s film too.

Film tells about a seventeen-years-old girl that is forced to look for her father after learning that if he does not appear in court she will lose her house and land that father posted as part of bail. Her search becomes an intense personal voyage into the darkish side of living in an American poor rural area as is set in the Ozarks where moonshine, pot, methamphetamine and OxyContin put inhabitants in the wrong side of the law. Kudos to Granik and Anne Rosellini for a great screenplay based on Daniel Woodrell novel as what could have been a told-many-times story becomes anew in this film.

But it’s Jennifer Lawrence performance what makes this film out-of-the-ordinary and makes this film her film; just to watch Lawrence’s performance the film is more than worth watching so the icing in the cake comes from the well developed story and quite nice visual narrative. Lawrence been getting Oscar buzz and if she gets a nomination will be more than well-deserved as she is really good here.

Film won Grand Jury Prize and Screening Award at 2010 Sundance fest plus the CICAE Award and Tagesspiegel Reader Award at the 2010 Berlinale and don’t doubt that will get more honors during the current award season, starting with the many nominations at the Gotham Independent Film awards, probably followed by the Spirit Awards and surely Oscar that now has 10 slots for Best Film. But this year has been so good for American indie films that races in different awards will be tight.

I liked the film a lot more than I imagined as watch it like in one very long sigh with my eyes glued to the screen all the time. Very intense. Absolutely must be seen for many that read this blog and enjoy strong women stories, but also to those that like very rare but excellent American indie cinema.

Enjoy!!!

RED: these Retirees are Extremely Dynamics

Much similar to the Sylvester Stallone-directed "The Expendables" this recent summer, "RED" brings together an ensemble of veterans, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich and Helen Mirren as retired C.I.A. operatives who bring a fresh take on the espionage adventure and punctually topple the showbiz myth that action movies are a young actor's realm. However, contrasting to “Expendables”, which lived in denial of the aging process and looked outrageous as a result, “RED” is a dynamic mix and every one of those veterans does their job to precision, but what gives this otherwise solid content an extra boost is the humor. Yep, since the smiling ex-CIA operative (Freeman) says, “we’re getting the band back together,” it’s an indicator of the free-wheeling humor of this action movie. Directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, The Time Traveler's Wife) from a script by Whiteout's Jon & Erich Hoeber based on the cult DC Comics graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer, while the comic was written into a brooding, intense, extremely violent, fairly hopeless story, “RED” movie version is a somewhat lighthearted actioner that pulls out the entertainment from its story and characters from every turn. So it is true that “RED” not nearly as loyal as “300” or “Watchmen” or even “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”. But it’s still good.

Ex-CIA agent Frank Moses (Willis) isn't tuning well to retirement. He's totally bored, and the barely bright spot in his otherwise dreary days is chatting with Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker), whom he flirts regularly on the phone under the guise of not receiving checks. He rips them up to talk to her. Soon the two are planning a face-to-face meeting which Frank is absolutely delighted about. But his vision of a nice evening with Sarah is dashed after his residence is riddled with bullets by a troop of hitmen. One thing leads to another and soon he's holding Sarah against her will in attempt to save her life - which is definitely not anyone's idea of a good first date. So now Frank's forced out of retirement - not that he minds - and forced into seeking out his old (as in also retired) buddies from the CIA. Joe (Freeman) lives in a retirement home and seems to have adjusted reasonably well. Victoria (Mirren) looks completely comfortable in her gorgeous home, arranging flowers and carrying on as though she's embraced retirement. But looks are deceiving as she's taking 'odd jobs' on the side that have nothing to do with putting together pretty floral arrangements. And Marvin (Malkovich) is a loony conspiracy theorist who was given LSD on a daily basis while he was still in the CIA. Together they must figure out why they're being targeted by killers. And to complicate matters, a rising star in the CIA, William Cooper (Karl Urban), would like nothing better than to bring in Frank and his reactivated sidekicks.

# Director Robert Schwentke shows he’s an adept director of over-the-top action, and benefits from good chemistry among a cast that’s having too much fun to be put out to pasture. He also orchestrates the unlikely merger of action, comedy and tart romance with solid craft and a stimulating sense of fun.

# Even with the story changed to accommodate a larger cast, it still did not lose the feel the original conveyed.

# One of the film smarter tricks is throwing a familiar face in every 30 minutes or so between fast-paced shootouts and explosions.

# The film does not rely to much on epic explosions and gunfights, but it’s much more a character driven, relying on the strength of its actors to create jokes and to connect with the audience.

# Willis formerly appeared in "The Expendables" brief scene opposite Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger but he truly comes alive in "RED" with a mix of humor and fighting equal to his best "Die Hard" moments.

# With his weirdness and doughy physicality, John Malkovich will have even the hardest-hearted person laughing hysterically by the end.

# Morgan Freeman with his wizened world-weariness and Helen Mirren with her steely elegance also bring some humanity to the cold-blooded killers group that makes the film feel organic and helps the story flow seamlessly.

# Karl Urban gives Cooper a deadly, laser-guided hyper-competence. This guy is so steady you could use him as a building foundation.

# Other honorable mentions should goes to Brian Cox, as a Russian spy with a soft spot for Victoria, who’s solid and charming with his accent, Richard Dreyfuss who turns in another solid performance as a spoiled smart-ass arms dealer, also memorable cameo role of Ernest Borgnine.

# Talking about action scene, Willis and Urban actually throw down in one of the best physical fights which I think is even better than anything in “The Expendables”.

# Schwentke directs large, complicated setpieces in which you can always follow the action clearly and you always know where every character stands in relation to the others.

Kak ya provyol etim letom (How I Ended This Summer)

A visually breathtaking film by Alexei Popogrebsky that absolutely will blow your mind with many extraordinary sights of real Artic Circle landscapes as film was really shot on a real meteorological station in the Arctic which besides the visual poetry gives so much realism to the very-slow paced story that becomes sort of a thriller between the two technicians that work at the remote station.

Absolutely not a movie for everyone as for two hours you will watch awesome landscape after landscape, with very little dialogue, absence of sounds, only two characters not really getting along, and tension built more from not really knowing why the younger character is doing what he’s doing. You actually will not really know so will be up to you to deduce motivations when you reach the open ended story finale.

For one third of time film tells about the routine of the two meteorologists, one third about the younger one not telling the older the important news and the last third about what happens after the younger man tells the important news. That’s it very simple yet complex story.

Film was in competition at the 2010 Berlinale were won the Outstanding Artistic Achievement in the Category Camera and both actors, Grigory Dobrygin and Sergei Puskepalis shared the Best Actor Award.

I liked the film and was marveled by the beauty of the Artic circle, but at moments lost interest in the narrative as wasn’t sure what to think about the younger man motives and got not many clues to like or dislike what he was doing. Perhaps a little more info will have allowed me to ‘forget’ about the story and concentrate on watching so many outstanding sights. A must be seen film only to those that appreciate art cinema.

Enjoy!!

Край Kray (The Edge)

An entertaining film by Aleksei Uchitel that to my surprise is a love story told using all the western stereotypes of Russia (taiga, bears, moonshine, etc) plus one element that I’m sure will excite more some viewers (male) than others (female) showing train races with early 20th century built locomotives.

Set shortly after the end of WWII in the Siberian hinterland among Russians and Germans with damaged personal stories and a strange transformation: the victors seem to be crawling into the skins of the defeated, and vice versa. Ignat arrives to the small village and stirs the population with his ways and driving a locomotive when he was clearly forbidden to do. Eventually he goes to an island to rescue an old abandon locomotive which he succeeds thanks to the help of a German woman that spent the war alone in the island and survived after four years. So, it’s the very unconventional –yet very commercial- love story between Ignat and Elsa.

As Uchitel said in an interview, this is the most commercial film he has done and consequently appeals to a wider audience and unfortunately it’s true as looks and feels like a very-entertaining but very-commercial film. Still there were a few (too few) outstanding and breathtaking scenes that recall how Uchitel can be poetic framing scenes.

I enjoyed the film that grabbed my attention for every minute and didn’t let go until the very end with an extraordinary aerial view of grayish Siberian forest in winter. So commercial does not mean bad, but I absolutely missed visual poetry and slower pace that allows feeling and live everything told in the story. Puzzles me that’s Russia’s Oscar submission, but seems whoever chose this film was thinking in a film that could please Academy voters to –of course- get the Oscar.

So if you’re in the mood of watching mainstream Russian cinema with a very-unconventionally told love story this is the film to watch and I’m sure you’ll enjoy beyond what you imagined. Then I’m positive that men will love also the film for all the locomotive action that the film portraits.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @MOC

4th Annual Asia Pacific Screen Awards Nominations

Today APSA announced the nominations for this year awards, with a total of 31 films from 15 countries and areas. Here are the nominations

Best Feature Film
Tangshan dadizhen (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng, China and Hong Kong
Bal (Honey), Semih Kaplanoglu, Turkey and Germany
Báng-kah (Monga), Doze Niu, Taiwan
Paju, Chan-ok Park, Korea
Shi (Poetry), Chang-dong Lee, Korea

Best Children’s Feature Film
Boy, Taika Waititi, New Zealand
Bran Nue Dae, Rachel Perkins, Australia
Shui Yuet Sun Tau (Echoes of the Rainbow), Alex LawHong Kong
Digari (The Other), Mehdi Rahmani, Iran
Udaan, Vikramaditya Motwane, India

Best Animated Feature Film
Ibara no Ou (King of Thorn), Kazuyoshi Katayama, Japan
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, Zack Snyder, Australia and USA
Mai Mai Shinko to Sennen no Maho (Mai Mai Miracle), Sunao Katabuchi, Japan
Hottarake no Shima – Haruka to Maho no Kagami (Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror), Shinsuke Sato, Japan
Piercing 1, Liu Jian, China

Achievement in Directing
Feng Xiaogang for Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), China and Hong Kong
Semih Kaplanoglu for Bal (Honey), Turkey and Germany
Doze Niu for Báng-kah (Monga), Taiwan
Chang-dong Lee for Shi (Poetry), Korea
Quanan Wang for Fang Zhi Gu Niang (Weaving Girl), China

Best Performance by an Actress
Xu Fan in Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng, China and Hong Kong
Tejaswini Pandit in Mee Sindhutai Sakpal (I am Sindutai Sakpal), India
Seo Woo in Paju, Chan-ok Park, Korea
Yun Jung-hee in Shi (Poetry), Chang-dong Lee, Korea
Yu Nan in Fang Zhi Gu Niang (Weaving Girl), Quanan Wang, China

Best Performance by an Actor
Chen Daoming in Tangshan dadizheng (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng, China and Hong Kong
Tony Barry in Home by Christmas, Gaylene Preston, New Zealand
Sergei Puskepalis in Kak ya provel etim letom (How I Ended This Summer), Aleksei Popogrebsky, Russia
Mark Ivanir in The Human Resources Manager, Eran Riklis, Israel, Germany, France and Romania
Atul Kulkarni in Natarang, Ravi Jadhav, India

To check nominations in other categories go here or here. The film with most nominations (6) is China’s Oscar submission Aftershock that APSA Nominations Council unanimously praised for its ability to deftly balance a large scale epic story with the intimate drama of one family dealing with the aftermath of the devastating Tangshan earthquake and I humble absolutely agree with this well-deserved honor. Haven’t seen Bal that I know will blow my mind as much as Semih Kaplanoglu’s two previous films in this story that’s told backwards, but wonder if the third installment is more accessible to those voting for the awards.

The awards ceremony will be held on Australia’s Gold Coast on December 2, 2010 at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and like last year there will be a Live webcast.

2010 Gotham Independent Film Awards Nominations

We officially start the awards season with the first nominations for indie films and here they are according to the live announcement and press release that can be found here.

Best Feature
Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky (lesbian Interest)
Blue Valentine, Derek Cianfrance
The Kids Are All Right, Lisa Cholodenko (lesbian interest)
Let Me In, Matt Reeves
Winter’s Bone, Debra Granik

Breakthrough Director
John Wells for The Company Men
Kevin Asch for Holy Rollers
Glen Ficarra and John Requa for I Love You Phillip Morris
Tanya Hamilton for Night Catches Us
Lena Dunham for Tiny Furniture

Breakthrough Actor
Price Adu in Prince of Broadway
Ronald Bronstein in Daddy Longlegs
Greta Gerwig in Greenberg
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone
John Ortiz in Jack Goes Boating

Best Ensemble Performance
The Kids Are All Right
Life During Wartime
Please Give
Tiny Furniture
Winter’s Bone

Best Documentary
12th & Delaware, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Inside Job, Charles Ferguson
The Oath, Laura Poitras
Public Speaking, Martin Scorsese
Sweetgrass, Lucien Castain-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash

Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You
Kati with an i, Robert Greene
Littlerock, Mike Ott
On Coal River, Francine Cavanaugh and Adams Wood
Summer Pasture, Lynn True and Nelson Walker
The Wolf Knife, Laurel Nakadate

There are a total of 26 films that were nominated across the six categories and haven’t seen one single film! There are two that are must be seen for me but I’m looking forward to watch all five nominated for best feature, which is going to be something as I promised myself that I was not going to watch the American remake of my favorite Swedish vampire movie. But I will and honestly hope to not get mad because the destruction of an excellent concept and film.

As always all the films in my favorite category, Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You, will be screened to the public at MoMa from November 18 to 22. This year the IFP created a new award, The Festival Genius Audience Award; to be eligible a USA film must have won an audience award at USA or Canadian film fest from Nov 09 to October 2010. The Festival Genius community, 200,000 film fans worldwide, will vote online for the winner. The nominees will be announced in early November and the winner will be revealed at the Gotham Awards ceremony.

The 20th Anniversary and awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 29th at Cipriani Wall Street. Actors Robert Duvall and Hilary Swank, director Darren Aronofsky and James Schamus will each be presented with a career tribute.

Cheers!

SHANGHAI

In the months leading up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, an American man (Cusack) arrives in Shanghai to find his friend Conner recently murdered. After further investigation, Cusack realizes Conner had an affair with Japanese Captain Tanaka's lover, Sumiko. Unconvinced that Sumiko betrayed Conner, he later dons his Nazi-sympathizer/German cover and he meets Mr. Lang-Ting and Captain Tanaka. Paul later uncovers numerous photos Conner took, in his darkroom, some of which include Captain Tanaka and his officers.

After a few bizarre encounters with Ms. Lang-Ting and Antony Lang-Ting, Paul realizes that Mrs. Lang-Ting secretly leads the Resistence-a group that is anti-Japanese,while her husband, Anthony, who is partners with Captain Tanaka's soldiers, is oblivious to this. In investigating his friend's death, he stumbles upon a secret the United States government has been keeping and falls in love in the process.

Producer : Mike Medavoy, Barry Mendel, Jake Myers

Production :The Weinstein Company

Players :John Cusack,Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Gong Li,Chow Yun-Fat,Ken Watanabe,Rinko Kikuchi,Nicholas Rowe

Director :Mikael Håfström

Author :Hossein Amini

4th Abu Dhabi Film Festival

Two days ago the most magnanimous festival (award money prizes are the highest in the fest circuit) had its opening ceremony with none other than Secretariat opening the every year more famous festival.

Most films at the Narrative Competition are known to the blog, but I suggest you check the films at the New Horizons Competition here.

I’ll be posting award winners when announced. Been trying to add a video here but for whatever reasons does not work, if you feel like watching some videos from the October 14 opening ceremony go here.

15th Pusan International Film Festival

The festival screened 306 films from 67 countries with 101 world premieres and 52 international premieres which are record numbers for the fest. Yesterday was the awards ceremony and here are the winners.

New Curents Award
The Journals of Musan, Park Jung-Bum, Korea
Bleak Night, Yoon Sung-Hyun, Korea

Flash Forward Award: Pure, Lisa Lngseth, Sweden
Special Mention: Erratum, Marek Lechki, Poland


FIPRESCI Award: The Journals of Musan, Park Jung-Bum, Korea
NETPAC Award: Dooman River, Zhang Lu, Korea
Audience Award: My Spectacular Theatre, Lu Yang, China

To check awards for documentaries and shorts go here and to browse films go here.

Prince of Persia (The Sands of Time)

That said, according to Persian legend, anyone who has an hourglass containing the Sands of Time (sands of time) will be able to reverse time. This hourglass is the gift of the gods that can not be used carelessly. n the hands of good people, at this sand can bring good and vice versa in the hands of bad people who caused the destruction is also not inconceivable.

The only person who can issue a 'sands of time' is from the hourglass is Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal)who has the Dagger of Time (dagger of time). Dastan, the prince, not a bad man but with his trickery vizier (Gisli Orn Gardarsson), Dastan finally release 'sands of time' and cause chaos everywhere.

Lourdes

There are movies that just mesmerize you like this Jessica Hausner film that will absolutely mesmerize you in so many levels that will blow your mind watching the layered story, the astonishing images and most of all the amazing storytelling. I was really dubious if I should watch or not this film, but finally decided to just watch and mentally ‘prepare’ myself to whatever was going to see.

As film has so many layers, let me start by sharing the one that spontaneously got me inside this mesmerizing film. I was born Catholic and was baptized in a rush because died when I was days-old and well, came back as I’m still here; but after my religious fifteen-years-old mass, religion left my life. Still had time to learn a lot about Catholicism so the first and second thirds of this film was a true experience of reliving rites and beliefs that I chose to leave behind and my honest reaction was to nervously laugh at the absurdity –yet puzzling- reactions, rites, belief, faith, etc that people have at was have been called the “Disneyland of Miracles”. The last third marveled me with people’s reactions to the miracle. This is a brief summary with my reactions to one layer of this amazing film but there is another layer that I feel like sharing.

From a cinematic point-of-view the layer that I enjoyed most even above the ‘emotional’ voyage was the one related to an almost perfect film about religion that is not religious. This is an extremely well designed voyage into the nature of miracles very similar to films by Cavalier, Rivette, Bresson, Reygadas and most of all Dreyer’s Ordet, which Hausner confirms was her source of inspiration. Aesthetically film belongs to this group, but Hausner does something different when approaches the idea of miracles with a detached, quizzical eye; this is what makes this film not only really mysterious but extremely interesting to watch if you are or are not familiar with the Catholic Church rites, as honestly maybe the film first third will enlighten you with objective facts that happen at Lourdes. Is the first third of the movie what looks and feels like a Lourdes pilgrimage documentary but also has other layer that works as an introduction to Christine, brilliantly played by Sylvie Testud, with her perspective of everything she’s seeing and living.

Second third starts to explore the small group perspective about what they’re living and doing in this pilgrimage. Most amazing is the joke told by one member from the Order of Malta about Virgin Mary approving God’s idea to go to Lourdes, as she never has been there; this serves as an example of the wry humor found in this segment and sets the mood to many other pilgrims behavior we will watch.

Final third is the most astonishing exploration about human and Catholic Church reactions to a (possible) miracle, which specifically tells about needs and dissatisfaction's of film other characters. Here is where Testud performance becomes the true miracle when her facial expressions and body language tell and reflect absolutely everything that words don’t tell; before this moment Testud performance was marvelously done only with her face as she was paralyzed from her neck down thanks to multiple sclerosis.

Definitively there are more layers to this story that some consider ‘blasphemous’, others call it Buñuel-esque, while others saw a profound yet controversial religious sentiment, etc. To me was obvious that the ample range of opinions prove the deliberate ambiguity of this cinema masterpiece by Jessica Hausner.

How can a filmmaker do this outstanding film? Not really a surprise but I was glad to find that Jessica Hausner was Michael Haneke’s pupil and ‘script girl’ which easily explains (to me) her amazing ability to so objectively tell a story about what many tend to do very subjectively. Chapeau to this outstanding director that shows superb mastery even when is only her third film.

Yes the film absolutely blew my mind and is one that I strongly recommend as excellent cinema that I believe could profoundly engage many even when movie has a slow pace, not much dialogue, many silences (but some extraordinary music score moments like when Bach’s Toccata and Fugue plays or when Herr Jesu Christ plays which not coincidentally is the theme from Tarkovsky’s Solaris –and there are more moments where music score is totally integrated to narrative), and many, but many, mind blowing takes with absolutely beautiful framed scenes. Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous.

Have to close with a line that have to share with you all as according to me brilliantly resumes what this film is all about: “The mysteries of life (which some call God) may remain unknowable, but in Hausner’s remarkable film, the needs and doubts of mankind are made all too clear.”

A must be seen film for many that honor me visiting this blog.

Big Enjoy!!!

BOO (BOO)

A haunted hospital where deadly secrets when a group of students looking for a Halloween thrill. For years rumors of ghosts in the corridors of Santa Mira Hospital still haunt the local community. Want to test your nerve, five college students on Halloween night go to the hospital just to prove the truth of these rumors. They are not the only people trapped, but every time they hope to be able to see the sun rise again, giving way to screams of terror out of the ghost who thirst for death.

Film Type: Horor

Producer :David E. Allen

Production :Graveyard Filmworks

Players :

Trish Coren
M. Steven Felty
Jilon Ghai
Dee Wallace
Nicole Rayburn

Director :Anthony C. Ferrante

Playing with country submissions to the Foreign Language Film

Finally today the Academy released the official list with 65 films that can be considered as ONE of the best films produced in each country and since a few days ago I been thinking about using the list as a database to play a little for fun.

Here is me dissecting the long list for useful and useless data.

Women Filmmakers

With the absence of Afghanistan announced submission, there are ONLY eight (8) films directed by women, which means that ONLY 12.3% of honored directors are women. That’s TERRIBLE!!! Not much happened around the world after and because last year a woman won (for the first time ever) the Oscar for Best Director and her film won the top award.

Countries with films directed or co directed by women: Austria, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, India, Nicaragua, Norway, and Switzerland.

Festivals

Doing a very “scientific research” I used the huge blog database and did a search for each of the 65 films. To my surprise almost half, exactly 47.7%,of the movies come from festivals that are listed in this blog. In this year list there are 31 films that have been at festivals since 2007 when the film submitted by Egypt was a project at Locarno, continuing with 7 films that were in 2009 festivals and 23 that were in 2010 festivals. We can say that when films travel the festival circuit they have some good chance of becoming a country submission to the Oscars.

Cannes is the festival that showcases more films that countries select to submit to Oscars; this year there are four (4) that got its premiere at 2009 Cannes and eight (8) screened at 2010 Cannes for a grand total of 12 films coming from this prestigious festival, or 18.4% of the 65 films. These are the countries that submitted films from Cannes

2009 Certain Regard: Greece, Portugal
2009 Quinzaine: Austria, Bulgaria
2010 Cannes
Main Selection: Thailand, Algeria, France, Mexico
Certain Regard: South Africa, Argentina
Quinzaine: Kyrgyzstan, Belgium

But if Cannes has a good presence in this year Foreign Language Film submissions also the Berlin Film Festival or Berlinale has a significant presence with 6 films or 9.2% of 65 films. Just these two festivals represent almost a third of the submitted films or 27.6%

The other 13 films come from other festivals like La Biennale, Locarno, Rotterdam, San Sebastian, Moscow, Montreal, Guadalajara and Pula. I don’t doubt that from the other 34 films that are not listed in this blog, some were also screened in festivals but that’s something we will not know for sure this year as I know that I haven’t covered many festivals during my long hiatus from posting at the blog. The following is the list of festivals and countries that submitted films to be considered at the 83rd Academy Awards.

2010 Berlinale (6): Turkey, Romania, Germany, Colombia, Czech Republic, Iraq
2010 Biennale (3): Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, Chile
Locarno (2): 2007 Egypt, 2010 Switzerland
2010 Rotterdam (2): Estonia, Georgia
San Sebastian (2): 2009 Peru, 2010 Uruguay
2010 Moscow International Film Festival (1): Venezuela
2010 Montreal World Film Festival (1): Kazakhstan
2009 Guadalajara (1): Nicaragua
2009 Pula Film Festival (1): Croatia

Unfortunately have to stop here today, but maybe another day will continue dissecting the list to find that -for example- films produced and co produced by France production companies have the largest representation in the list (or maybe is another country like Germany).

If you have something that you wish to find from this list of films please let me know and gladly will try to find whatever is possible to find.

Enjoy!

83rd Academy Awards – Documentary Short Subject Shortlist

Today the Academy announced that from the 30 eligible entries, eight (8) films have been selected to continue in the selection of three to five that will be honored with a nomination. The following are the eight films.

Born Sweet, Cynthia Wade, Cambodia
Killing in the Name, Jed Rothstein, USA
Living for 32, Kevin Breslin, USA and France
One Thousand Pictures: RFK’s Last Journey, Jennifer Stoddart, UK and USA
Poster Girl, Sara Neeson, USA
Strangers No More, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon, USA
Sun Come Up, Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger, USA and Papua New Guinea
The Warriors of Qiugang, Ruby Yang, China and USA

Nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 25 at 5:30am PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

2011 Oscar Foreign Language Film Submissions Final

Today the Academy released the official list with 65 countries submitting a film to be considered in the Foreign Language Film category and to check the list at the Academy official site please go here. This is the last update for this post that now has become Final.

Next post will be on January 20th when the Academy will announce the shortlist with nine (9) films and on January 25th we will learn the five (5) that will be honored with a nomination.

Albania: Lindje, Perëndim, Lindje (East, West, East: The Final Sprint), Gjergj Xhuvani
Algeria: Hors-la-loi (Outside the Law), Rachid Bouchareb
Argentina: Carancho, Pablo Trapero
Austria: La Pivellina, Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel
Azerbaijan: Sahə (The Precinct), Ilgar Safat
Bangladesh: জুলাই ফারুকী-তিশার বিয়ে Third Person Singular Number, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
Belgium: Illègal (Illegal), Olivier Masset-Depasse
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Cirkus Columbia (Circus Columbia), Danis Tanovic
Brazil: Lula, O Filho do Brasil (Lula, the Son of Brazil), Fábio Barreto and Marcelo Santiago
Bulgaria: Източни пиеси Iztochni piesi (Eastern Plays), Kamen Kalev
Canada: Incendies, Denis Villeneuve
Chile: La Vida de los Peces (The Life of Fish), Matías Bize
China: 唐山大地震 Tangshan dadizhen (Aftershock), Xiaogang Feng
Colombia: El Vuelco del Cangrejo (Crab Trap), Oscar Ruíz Navia
Costa Rica: Del Amor y Otros Demonios (Of Love and other Demons), Hilda Hidalgo
Croatia: CRNCI (The Blacks), Goran Devic and Zvonimir Jurić
Czech Republic: Kawasakiho růži (Kawasaki's Rose), Jana Hřebejka
Denmark: Hævnen (In a Better World), Susanne Bier
Egypt: رسائل البحر Rassayel El Bahr (Messages from the Sea), Daoud Abdel Sayed
Estonia: Püha Tõnu kiusamine (The Temptation of St. Tony), Veiko Õunpuu
Ethiopia: Atletu (The Athlete), Davey Frankel and Rasselas Lakew
Finland: Miesten vuoro (Stream of Life), Joonas Berghällin and Mika Hotakaisen (documentary)
France: Des Hommes et des Dieux (Of Gods and Men), Xavier Beauvois
Georgia: ქუჩის დღეები Quchis dgeebi (Street Days), Levan Koguashvili
Germany: Die Fremde, Feo Adalag
Greece: Κυνόδοντας Kynodontas (Dogtooth), Giorgos Lanthimos
Greenland: Nuummioq, Torben Bech and Otto Rosing
Hong Kong: 歲月神偷 Sui yuet san tau (Echoes of the Rainbow), Alex Law
Hungary: Bibliothèque Pascal, Szabolcs Hajdu
Iceland: Mamma Gógó, Friðrik Þór Friðriksson
India: पीपली [लाइव] Peepli [Live], (Peepli Live), Anusha Rizvi and Mahmood Farooqui
Indonesia: Alangkah lucunya (negeri ini) (How Funny This Country Is), Deddy Mizwar
Iran: بدرود بغـــداد Farewell Baghdad by Mehdi Naderi (not sure if is Khodahafez Bagdad)
Iraq: ابن بابل Son of Babylon, Mohamed Al-Daradji
Israel: שליחותו של הממונה על משאבי אנוש‎ Shlichuto Shel HaMemune Al Mashabei Enosh (The Human Resources Manager), Eran Riklis
Italy: La Prima Cosa Bella (The First Beautiful Thing), Paolo Virzì
Japan: 告白 Kokuhaku (Confessions), Tetsuya Nakashima
Kazakhstan: Заблудившийся Zabludivshiysya (Strayed), Akan Satayev
Kyrgyzstan: Svet-Ake (The Light Thief), Aktan Arym Kubat
Latvia: Amaya (Hong Kong Confidential),Maris Martinsons
Macedonia: Мајки (Mothers), Milcho Manchevski
Mexico: Biutiful, Alejandro González Iñárritu
Netherlands: Tirza, Rudolf van den Berg
Nicaragua: La Yuma, Florence Jaugey
Norway: Engelen (Angel), Margreth Olin
Peru: Contracorriente (Undertow), Javier Fuentes-León (gay interest)
Philippines: Noy, Dondon Santos
Poland: Wszystko, co Kocham (All That I Love), Jacek Borcuch
Portugal: Morrer Como Um Homem (To Die Like a Man), João Pedro Rodrigues (gay interest)
Puerto Rico: Miente (Lie), Rafi Mercado
Romania: Eu Cand Vreau sa Fluier, Fluier (If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle), Florin Serban
Russia: Край Kray (The Edge), Aleksey Uchitel
Serbia:  Беса (Besa), Srđana Karanovića
Slovakia: Hranica (The Border), Jaroslav Vojtek (documentary)
Slovenia: 9:06, Igor Sterk
South Africa: Life, Above All, Olivier Schmitz
South Korea: 맨발의 꿈 Maen-bal-eui Ggoom (A Barefoot Dream), Kim Tae-gyun (Revised Romanization: Maenbalui Kkgeum)
Spain: También la Lluvia (Even the Rain), Icíar Bollaín
Sweden: I rymden finns inga känslor (Simple Simon), Andreas Öhman
Switzerland: La Petite Chambre, Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond
Taiwan: 艋舺 Báng-kah (Monga), Doze Niu
Thailand: ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ Loong Boonmee raleuk chat (Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Turkey: Bal (Honey), Semih Kaplanoğlu
Uruguay: La Vida Util (A Useful Life), Federico Veiroj
Venezuela: Hermano, Marcel Rasquin

ALL films have trailers or scenes. Watch trailers @MOC

If you feel like reading the Academy rules for this category go here.

The excellent news is that I have so many good films to watch that I could spend months watching them!!! (lol) Plus I discovered a Very Good video rental store near to where I live now.

Cheers!!!

54th BFI London Film Festival

I was looking forward to be able to go this year to the fest but well, maybe next year; today is the opening of the fest with the Opening Night Gala of Never Let Me Go by Mark Romanek and starring well-known actresses like Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, Charlotte Rampling, and Sally Hawkins which obviously make the film must be seen for me. Film has three screenings and all are fully booked. The other film I’m dying to see has four screenings and yes, all are fully booked so I should be glad for not going afterall. The ‘other’ film is The Kids Are All Right.

I’ve been checking the 200+ films in this fest since they were announced and most are known to the blog as this yearly festival is the unique opportunity that Londoners have to watch the best films from around the world. Nevertheless if you want to check the films in each of the nine (9) sections here are the links to each one.

Galas & Special Screenings
Film on the Square
New British Cinema
French Revolutions
Cinema Europa
World Cinema
Experimenta
Treasures from the Archives
Short Cuts & Animation

The fest in the past gave a limited number of awards but since 2009 a new annual standalone Awards ceremony was launched to reflect the work of imaginative and original filmmakers plus to reward distinctive and intriguing work. This year Awards ceremony will be on October 27.

For the Best Film Award these are the films that will compete for the Star of London trophy.

127 Hours, Danny Boyle
Another Year, Mmike Leigh
Archipelago, Joanna Hogg
Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky
How I Ended This Summer, Alexei Popogrebsky
The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper
Meek’s Cutoff, Kelly Reichardt
Never Let Me Go, Mark Romanek
The Sleeping Beauty, Catherine Breillat
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Of Gods and Men, Xavier Beauvois

To check films short list for the Sutherland Award go here, shortlist for Best British Newcomer go here and shortlist for Grierson Award go here.

Cheers!

Cosas Insignificantes (Insignificant Things)

Sometimes films that you forgot about it surprise you not only because after a long time you’re able to watch it but also because the film is good. Andrea Martínez debut is a good film for the story, the performances and most of all for the excellent production values that complement a story that would have been very common and make it quite different thanks to very interesting editing that plays crisscrossing with characters stories.

Not everyone will like the editing as probably will surprise –and eventually annoy- many when what you have already seen appears again when following a different character story; but think that if director have not chosen this storytelling technique, story and film would have been common, will look and feel ‘soapy’ and will not be interesting at all. Still what really blew my mind are the occasional extraordinary takes of a Mexico City that never have seen portrayed so beautiful and yet so dramatic. Just to watch the amazing sights of the volcanoes this film is absolutely must be seen.

But film has also very good performances by an ensemble cast of Mexican and Spanish well-known actors with special mention to Barbara Mori that also produced film and maybe because being a producer –plus a good director- gave a performance that shows that she can really act. But is Paulina Gaitan (from extraordinary Sin Nombre; outstanding Capadocia and excellent Las Aparicio)who steals the movie with her character Esmeralda and her story being the central plot where all other stories converge. Acting in this film is more about body language and facial expressions that tell a lot more than what words could ever do.

The movie is a feel-good movie as has a non-conventional positive ending but story deals with sadness, unhappiness, illness, rage, no-future, loneliness, despair, unfaithfulness, etc. and how an unconventional incident (a beautiful snow alike ash rain) detonates characters change of heart for the better. Title comes from Esmeralda’s collection of little and insignificant common things stored in a small box.

I liked the movie more than I could ever imagined but believe that definitively is not a movie for general audiences as storytelling style is not ‘normal’ and there is no ‘explosive’ drama that will move viewers. This is a film that can move viewers because the little insignificant-and-significant things that happen in narrative and visually. Definitively must be seen for those that like arty cinema with a Latin American flavor.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

EAT,PRAY,LOVE

The film Eat, Pray, Love was taken from the novel Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, by Elizabeth Gilbert author of the United States.The novel is noted travel writers throughout the world after he was divorced, and what he found during his travels.In March 2009, this book is in the New York Times Best Seller list for 110 weeks.
The following story

 

Entering the age of 30 years, Gilbert has received all required by a modern American woman, who was a companion of living, luxury homes, and a brilliant career. 
However, it did not make him happy. Gilbert ambitious became panic, sadness, and facing uncertain lives.Gilbert felt the pain of divorce, depression, failure in love, and loss of grip in his life.
To recover herself, Gilbert was taking a pretty extreme step. He left the job and the people who loved to do adventure travel the world alone. 

二十四城记/二十四城記 Er shi si cheng ji (24 City)

Among the so-called Sixth Generation of Chinese filmmakers Jia Zhang ke absolutely is my favorite director and storyteller of ‘ordinary’ Chinese citizens compelling stories, told in what I can call very-realistic style no matter if story is real-life or fiction, or if film is documentary, fiction or a mix of both genres like what happens in 24 City.

It’s very difficult to remain a spectator while watching Jia’s films as characters, story and storytelling technique drag you inside the film quite fast to hold you inside story/ stories until the very last scene where you will feel completely satisfied after visiting the life of some people that exemplifies how China society has changed in the last 50 -or so- years. Using interviewers that we will never see but will hear we will watch amazing performances by actors and non-actors (who tell their real-life story) in what feels and look like monologues with some moments looking directly to camera while others just representing life moments, but all telling their compelling stories that go from how they became factory 420 workers until how the third generation with a more modern lifestyle (very western alike) will live in multi-story buildings with luxury flats at what now is called 24 City and will be built in what used to be factory 420 land.

If you’re familiar with Jia’s films you will recognize the actors from the non-actors as actors have been in many of his films, plus you also have well known actress Joan Chen; but all have great performances, so good that will make you feel and live whatever they’re sharing with you, the viewer.

Have to admit that is not an easy-to-watch style as maybe for some film will look like a series of interviews with people telling some interesting and other not-so-interesting stories; but if you’re familiar with Jia’s films I’m sure you’ll easily grab that film is a lot more than style. So, if you are not familiar with director’s work I strongly suggest you watch some of his films before watching this one, like for example Still Life, Platform or Unknown Pleasures.

I loved the film as a very human tale of China’s transition from a very controlled society to a ‘less-controlled’ society, a change that is happening so fast that learning about it (in films and/or real-life news) will amaze you. Not long ago I was reading about how in 10 years China built a comprehensive (and very modern) infrastructure and how now their efforts will be addressed to create a very-comprehensive ‘human infrastructure’. I feel Jia’s 24 City documents how China was able to address physic infrastructure while not taking much care about ‘human infrastructure’ and imagine that in 10 or so years maybe Jia could tell how the ‘human infrastructure’ was developed. Be sure that if he does I’ll be looking forward to watch his film as a learning experience but most of all as a visual and narrative very complete cinematic experience.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Going The Distance: Love Tested Distance

Once abandoned by her boyfriend, Garrett (Justin Long) met with Erin (Drew Barrymore), an intelligent and honest. In one night they finally brief intimate relationship. Although they agreed to not build a serious relationship, seem to make a match between the two couples decide to remain met for Erin was in New York.

Togetherness is the second pair for Erin to work an internship at a newspaper in New York, Garrett decided to make a more serious relationship.