Showing posts with label greta gerwig. Show all posts
Showing posts with label greta gerwig. Show all posts

22 June 2013

EIFF 2013 - Frances Ha Review

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Rating:
15
Release:
21-22 June (EIFF) 26th July 2013 (UK Cinema)
Director:
Noah Baumbach
Stars:
Greta Gerwig,
Mickey Sumner,
Adam Driver


Chances are the most charming film you will see at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival is Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha. The feature sees him team up with Greta Gerwig in what serves as a love letter to New York and an amusing glimpse at the crossroads in life that many twentysomethings will undoubtedly find themselves at.

Frances is an amusingly awkward young woman (who her friend dubs 'undateable') drifting between her student-like lifestyle and ever approaching adult responsibilities.

Baumbatch's feature has a real sense of authenticity and addresses issues that many young people will undoubtedly feel after moving on from years of studying. We see Frances' best friend move into a serious relationship, her struggle to make her career as a dancer work out, and her failure to connect with adults. These are showcased through Gerwig and Baumbatch's smart screenplay and Gerwig's immediately likeable and rich performance. Whilst it does have a tendency to drift Frances Ha ultimately works because Frances is a character that simply finds herself drifting through life.

There's a great self-awareness to Frances Ha - it is clear that she is incredibly awkward (hilariously showcased on one scene where she attempts to play fights with someone who does not get her) - yet this is what makes her such a fascinating and undeniably watchable protagonist. There is something admirable about such a lost and aimless character in today's nine-to-five society, but she is also one driven by fun and expression. Gerwig packs her performance with a slight sensitivity and manages to craft a sense of sympathy in a role that may have lacked it in an another actor's hands.

The setting of New York and black and white style immediately echoes the charm of Woody Allen's earlier features, whilst Baumbach appears inspired from the likes of the French New Wave to Lena Dunham's Girls. Baumbach's soft, intimate direction crafts a delicate sense of breezy light-heartedness which makes Frances Ha a very absorbing watch.

Frances Ha's charming aesthetic and amusing yet sympathetic narrative and characters results in a stellar concoction, perfectly channelled through Gerwig's pitch perfect leading performance. Frances Ha is a film viewers will be unlikely to forget.

★★★★

Andrew McArthur



5 March 2013

Dance Your Sorrows Away In First Trailer for Noah Baumbach's Frances Ha

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 If you look back at American independent films over the last 20 years or so there's always going to be a few  directors names who will always pop due to their distinctive style, vision of film making; Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch and you have to also say Noah Baumbach. Since Summer 2012 on the festival circuit Baumbach's Frances Ha has been gathering some critical acclaim on it's travels and now it's time for the film to go theatrical and tonight we have the film's first trailer.

Frances Ha  sees Baumbach co-write the film with the film's main star Greta Gerwig who plays Frances a young New York woman who yearns to get more from life and relationships. Apart from the classic Modern  Love by David Bowie the film is delivered in black and white  to me is quint essential American independent. Frances Ha proves once again Greta Gerwig qualities in indie films rather than mainstream (Arthur remake) and Baumbach certainly knows how to get the best out of his leading lady lady. Visually this reminds me of Woody Allen's Manhattan with the tone and dialogue of Len Dunham's Girls, Frances Ha maybe sliding into that 20 something in crisis type film which we've seen a millions times but Noah Baumbach seems to deliver something more engaging and panache.

No word on a UK release so the film may creep into some UK based film festivals this year, Frances Ha will get a 17th May U.S limited release. The film co-stars Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen and Patrick Heusinger.



source:The Playlist





18 January 2013

Ti Amo Roma! Woody Allen's To Rome With Love Home Release This February

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Press Release:

Experience the allure of the eternal city when Woody Allen’sTO ROME WITH LOVE arrives on DVD February 11 from Sony Pictures Classics and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. This enchanting romantic comedy, set in Rome, features a star-studded cast including Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin (TV’s “30 Rock”), Academy Award® winner Roberto Benigni (Best Actor, Life is Beautiful, 1999), Academy Award® winner Penelope Cruz (Best Supporting Actress, Vicky Cristina Barcelona,2009), Judy Davis (A Passage to India), Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Greta Gerwig (Damsels in Distress) and Ellen Page (Inception). Alison Pill (TV’s “The Newsroom”) and Allesandra Mastronardi also star in the film.

TO ROME WITH LOVE is told in four independent vignettes about four characters whose adventures change their lives forever: an average Roman wakes up one day to find himself a well-known celebrity; an American architect revisits the streets on which he used to live as a student; a young couple on their honeymoon are pulled into separate romantic encounters; and an American opera director tries to turn a singing mortician into a star.

The DVD comes with the special featurette “Con Amore: A Passion for Rome,” providing a first time glimpse into the secretive world of Woody Allen’s filmmaking process featuring exclusive cast and crew interviews with Alec Baldwin, Penélope Cruz and Greta Gerwig.

The film, which opened the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival, was written and directed by Allen, produced by Letty Aronson (Midnight in Paris), Stephen Tenenbaum (Midnight in Paris), Faruk Alatan (Pope Joan) and Giampaolo Letta with co-producers Helen Robin (Midnight in Paris) and David Nichols (The Tourist), and    co-executive producer Jack Rollins (Midnight in Paris). 

TO ROME WITH LOVE has a run time of approximately 107 minutes and is rated 12.


Pre-Order/Buy To Rome With Love:DVD / Blu-Ray