Archive for the ‘Blogs’ Category

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Live from TIFF: ‘Blindness’ Gets a Major Post-Cannes Reboot - Cinematical

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

Cinematical - Last night, James and I had tickets to the TIFF premiere of Blindness, adapted from the Nobel Prize-winning book by José Saramago. James reviewed Blindness when we saw the film at Cannes, but I’d heard through the Telluride grapevine that the film had undergone a substantial edit since then. The cut we saw back in May was overlayed with a heavy, expositional voiceover throughout that completely killed the film, which I otherwise had liked quite a bit. So when I heard there was a re-edit playing here at TIFF, I knew we had to see it.

I’m happy to report that the newly edited version of Blindness is a vast improvement over what we saw at Cannes. Not only did director Fernando Meirelles (who also made one of the best films ever, City of God) remove the irritating and distracting voiceover, but as a result of doing so had to significantly re-cut, and in the process ended up with a much, much better film. He’s tightened it up a lot, particularly a very troublesome bit concerning a major character arc shift for Julianne Moore’s character, The Doctor’s Wife, which was one of the parts I most had trouble with at Cannes. And while the film’s running time is about the same, it now paces much quicker and thus feels like a tauter, shorter film that’s much more engaging.

In the recut, this arc for Moore’s character (which I can’t give away because it would spoil a major moment in the story) felt far more believable to me. So, overall Blindness is now a much better film, and one that will play better to mainstream audiences, in spite of the apocalyptic vibe. It’s such a substantial change that it felt like watching a completely different film; I was able to focus more on how beautifully the film is shot, and how much better the character arcs worked with the tightened editing. I have a pretty solid memory for what I saw in Cannes, and it seemed that Meirelles also cut down some of the heavier post-apocalyptic stuff to focus more on the characters as well… [Full Story]

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TIFF Viral: Where’s Fluffy? - /Film

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

/Film - A couple days ago I noticed reoccurring graffiti of a bunny on the sidewalks around toronto. Next to the graphic is the words “Where’s Fluffy?” Later when I screened Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, I realized that it was actually viral marketing for a fictional band which is part of the film’s story. In Nick and Norah, everyone in New York City is frantically searching for the rarest show to ever happen. Fluffy is playing a secret show somewhere, just follow the bunnies. Unfortunately, the website url on the flyers, which I found around Ryerson today, only redirect you to the film’s official website… [Full Story]

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A Reader Reports Back From The Venice Film Festival Premiere Of THE WRESTLER! - Ain't It Cool News

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Ain’t It Cool News - Just got back from the Premiere of The Wrestler at the Venice Film festival.

First off I would like to say I’m a huge fan of Aronofskys work and he has been very influential.

The Wrestler received a standing ovation!

Good movie but I would put it at the end of the list of films hes made. The reasons…

I expected something visually amazing, composition wise, art direction etc. As a big wrestling fan in the past, you have to consider that its all eye candy/sensory overload, huge explosions, outrages costumes and Aronofsky could of made us experience this on the largest scale with how he knows to play with sound and visuals. I DO realize The Ram is washed up and going through the after effects of an illustrious career, I think Aronofsky wanted to achieve the same effect in another way with Rourke BEING the visually amazing. But why not do it all? Did he think it would take away from Rourke’s performance? Requiems amazing inventive visuals didn’t take away from Burstyns performance… My favorite scene from the The Wrestler shows Randy the Ram working behind the deli counter at a supermarket and an old fan starts to recognize him, as he starts pointing out who he is, Randy sticks his finger in the cutter that he was using to chop some food up and starts roid raging! Smearing his face with his own blood and yelling at everyone in sight. Just losing it! Part of the film I disliked was the repetitive back shots, If I ever see this film again Ill have to count how much time we spend following Rourke from the back, this started getting annoying after a while, it fills the movie… [Full Story]

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Live from Toronto: Detroit Metal City Rocks Midnight Madness - Cinematical

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Cinematical - …We had to ditch the party a bit early to allow time to grab a bite of dinner, then headed over to the Ryerson; when Detroit Metal City director Toshio Lee and the film’s star, popular Japanese actor Ken’ichi Matsuyama, showed up, a pack of Japanese girls and women who’d been allowed to gather to get an up close view went absolutely wild, screaming so loudly that a guy passing by in front of the red carpet wondered aloud, “Who is it? Brad Pitt?”

Lee briefly introduced the film — currently the #2 film in Japan and being seen tonight for the first time outside Japan — which was adapted from an enormously popular manga , by telling the crowd that if they had, in fact, thought they were coming to see a film about Detroit, they were in for a big surprise, and he’d gladly refund their money. Judging by the crowd’s reaction to the film, I don’t think Lee has anything to worry about.

In brief, the film is a bright, loud tale that immerses you into the story as if you’ve stepped into the pages of a manga. It tells the tale of a kind, gentle young man named Negishi Soichi, who just wants to make people happy by singing Swedish pop with his acoustic guitar. Instead, life takes a different turn for Negishi, who finds himself the reluctant lead singer of a death metal band called Detroit Metal City (DMC for short), and it’s Neghishi’s conflict with the dual sides of who he’s become, and a love interest who hates DMC but has no idea that he’s in the band, that drives the story. It’s a fun, loud, riot of a film, and a perfect addition to this year’s Midnight Madness… [Full Story]

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Early Buzz and Video Clip: Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler - /Film

Saturday, September 6th, 2008

/Film - Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler appears to be a big hit at the 65th Venice Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter claims that the film created “a buzz that had been absent for most of the festival.” Anne Thompson reports that the film is hoping to land a distributor which could “ramp up a release before year’s end so that [Mickey] Rourke can qualify for Oscar consideration” making a December release very likely.

Here is a small excerpt from Variety’s review: “Talk about comebacks. After many years in the wilderness and being considered MIA professionally, Mickey Rourke, just like the washed-up character he plays, attempts a return to the big show in “The Wrestler.” Not only does he pull it off, but Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky’s fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle, although it will require deft handling by a smart distributor to overcome public preconceptions about Rourke, the subject matter and the nature of the film.”… [Full Story]

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EXCLUSIVE: ‘Happy-Go-Lucky’ Poster Premiere! - Cinematical

Friday, September 5th, 2008

Cinematical - Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for Happy-Go-Lucky, directed by Mike Leigh (Vera Drake, Secrets & Lies). The film, which premiered in Telluride and is currently screening at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, stars Sally Hawkins as an eternally optimistic teacher living and working in North London. Apart from the exclusive clip we debuted on Cinematical earlier in the week, Kim had this to say about the film: “All in all, I quite liked Happy-Go-Lucky; it’s certainly one of Leigh’s more mainstream-friendly films, and will appeal to moviegoers beyond the dress-all-in-black, gloom-and-doom cinephile crowd, while still retaining enough of the Leigh touch to satisfy most of the purists.”… [Full Story]

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Appaloosa Movie Posters - /Film

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

/Film - Four stark profile posters for Ed Harris’s revival Western, Appaloosa, have popped up at IMP Awards. The film reunites Harris with his A History of Violence co-star Viggo Mortensen for a tale of “two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.” The widow is played by Renee Zellweger, and the antagonist by Jeremy Irons, who seems like a inspired choice for this type of genre and setting.

Harris’s previous film, the 2001 biopic Pollock, garnered two Oscar noms including Best Actor for his performance. Opening this October, early buzz for Appaloosa from the TIFF is mixed, with disappointed comparisons to recent feted Westerns like The Proposition and 3:10 to Yuma. We’ve included the other two posters after the jump, as well as the original one-sheet released earlier this year. And for Western buffs, the film is an adaptation of Robert Parker’s novel, not a remake of Marlon Brando’s The Appaloosa (1966). Factoid: the title refers to a breed of horse… [Full Story]

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Exclusive Clip: ‘JCVD’ - Cinematical

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Cinematical - Cinematical is very excited to bring you this exclusive clip from the new flick JCVD, which, surprisingly, has watched a tremendous amount of buzz build around it since it first screened at this past Cannes Film Festival. Now, as part of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival midnight slate (it premieres tonight!), JCVD will receive a more proper introduction (or should I say, re-introduction) to the world. JCVD, of course, stands for our good friend Jean-Claude Van Damme, star of such action flicks as Kickboxer, Timecop, Universal Solider (first bootleg I ever watched), Double Impact, Death Warrant … shall I go on?

From what I understand, JCVD follows Van Damme (who stars as himself) as he travels back to his home country in an attempt to find peace and tranquility after whatever was left of his career seemed to vanish. We’ll have a review coming up very soon, but in the meantime check out this very funny clip below as it should give you an idea of the vibe this flick is going for. Dare I say this might be one of my most anticipated films of the fall season? JCVD will also play Fantastic Fest before arriving in theaters (in limited release) on November 7… [Full Story]

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Telluride Roundup: ‘Slumdog Millionaire,’ ‘I’ve Loved You So Long,’ and More - Cinematical

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Cinematical - The Telluride Film Festival has wrapped up and we’re gearing up for our non-stop coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival, which starts tomorrow. Just in case you missed any of our coverage from the Telluride Film Festival, here’s a roundup of what we saw there. Most of these films will also be playing at Toronto as well; if you attended Telluride or are going to TIFF, be sure to let us know which films you love or hate — we always enjoy hearing what our smart Cinematical cinephiles think about the films they catch at fests.

Slumdog Millionaire (dir. Danny Boyle): Fans of director Danny Boyle’s work will find much to appreciate in his latest film, Slumdog Millionaire, a sweeping, hopeful story about a boy in the slums of India who becomes an instant celebrity after he wins millions on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

Happy-Go-Lucky (dir. Mike Leigh): With his latest effort, Happy-Go-Lucky, director Mike Leigh takes a departure from the dark mood evoked by most of his films with a charming little tale about an eternally optimistic school teacher, Poppy (Sally Hawkins, previously seen in smaller roles in Leigh’s films Vera Drake and All or Nothing), who breezes through life, always seeing the glass half full.

Flame & Citron (dir. Ole Christian Madsen): Director Ole Christian Madsen began his career as an adherent to Dogme 95, the famous minimalist filmmaking movement began by fellow Danes Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. I haven’t seen Madsen’s previous two non-Dogme films, Nordkraft and Prague, but the remarkable, ultra-stylized Flame & Citron is about as far from the Dogme aesthetic as you can get and still have a movie. Perhaps not coincidentally, it’s also one of the most exciting films I’ve ever seen at Telluride: bold, brave and one of a kind… [Full Story]

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Slumdog Millionaire Video Clip - /Film

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

/Film - Sunday night at the Telluride Film Festival, I was sitting in a half empty theater waiting to watch the new Mike Leigh film. I later learned that my friend was also at a half empty screening during the same time slot. A volunteer for the festival came over and began to make small talk with me. He said “You know, this is the first screening at this theater that is not to sold out.” I responded that it was strange, especially considering Happy-Go-Lucky was getting good buzz at the fest. You see, buzz is to a film festival like gas is to a car. The volunteer looked at me and said he knew why. He waited for for me to ask why. “Slumdog,” he said. Danny Boyle’s latest film Slumdog Millionaire was the smash hit of Telluride. I have yet to meet or talk to one person who didn’t like it. I’m not sure if the theater was really half full because everyone as trying to get into the Slumdog screening that night, but it makes for a fun story.

Fox Searchlight is hoping to capitalize on the buzz and has released a clip from the film. I think the biggest obstacle Slumdog has to contend with is its own logline. People read “Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and instantly turn off. But as I wrote in my review, the game show plot line is just a framing device to tell a City of God like tale about two orphaned brothers growing up on the streets, and a love story that spans a decade. Watch the clip below or on the official website… [Full Story]

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