Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan DVD Review

‘Gushing fan boys’ is the phrase that jumps to mind throughout Gilles Penso’s Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan, a documentary that looks at the life , work, and legacy of one of Hollywood’s most innovative creators. It’s not just Penso’s obvious enthusiasm towards an idol, but of everyone else involved; directors like Tim Burton, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Terry Gilliam, John Landis, and Peter Jackson all get on the other side of the camera to explain just how far Harryhausen’s influence reaches into modern cinema.

                Penso covers everything you’d possibly want to know about the trials and tribulations of an up and coming effects maestro, working his way through Harryhausen’s CV and the various methods he deployed to articulate a truly mind boggling understanding of fantasy. With each film, Harryhausen’s methods are peeled back, talked over, and presented in a great collection of sequences sure to inspire interest in any newbies, whilst giving new appreciation to seasoned fans.

Key scenes from all Harryhausen’s works, archival footage and contemporary clips, behind the scenes footage, and original artwork all bolster Penso’s view that we shouldn’t discard the old ways so quickly.  There’s genuine passion and love for the man’s work in every frame of the documentary, a want to educate the viewer beyond CGI hence expanding that part of the viewership that see Harryhausen as a prolific auteur as opposed to just an effects man. At a time when CGI is the accepted mode of “special effects” it’s good to look back and see how things used to be, and the very different type of life they granted a picture. Harryhausen and Spielberg muse at one point as to just how long can CGI grow and grow as a tool before the effects stop being special, and you can’t help but think we’re at that point. Maybe, that’s why films like Clash of the Titans and Jason and the Argonauts are, now more than ever, a genuinely wonderful watch.

An informative and discursive look at the career of a legend delivered smoothly and energetically by a group of loving fans devoted to the preservation of a legacy. Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan can be appreciated by everyone from the biggest fanatic to people just getting into his films.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

Rating: 15
BD/DVD Release Date: 7th March 2013 (uk)
Director: Gilles Penso
Cast: Ray Harryhausen, Peter Jackson, James Cameron
Buy  Ray Harryhausen - Special Effects Titan:Blu-ray / DVD

The Tall Man DVD Review

Back in 2008 French writer/director Pascal Laugier unleashed Martyrs on unsuspecting audiences, casually marketing the film as a horror when in actual fact it was the closest thing I’d seen to a genuine journey into hell. One of those “let’s sit on our own for a while in a nice place and NEVER watch this again” kind of films.  So Laugier’s newest venture (French/Canadian Co-produced) The Tall Man has been something of a pursuit of mine for a while.

In the town of Cold Rock, a dying red-neck tip of ever there was, something is stealing children without a trace. As Julia Denning (Jessica Biel) struggles to fit in as the towns leading medical expert and community pillar, her life is thrown into further turmoil when The Tall Man comes to visit.

The trailer for the film, the general look and feel, and Jessica Biel taking the lead may get your warning bells going like mad, they certainly did for me. In comparison to Martyrs, it just seems a bit too glitzy and that’s down to an entire shift in aesthetic and budget from Martyrs. The story at first glance seems tired and done: who wants another abduction flick? Can we really sit through more monsters in the woods or stalker/slashers with a penchant for kiddies? Thankfully Laugier is totally on the ball, wrapping a thriller in the signs and signifiers of a shameless horror flick. You’ll spend a lot of the film wondering just what the fuck is going on thanks to that conspiracy of genres, but that’s fine, you should expect that from the guy who made Martyrs.  No matter how clever it is though, The Tall Man relies a little too much on the forgetfulness of kids which, by the end, will have you questioning some of the basic principles of the film if you’re not totally distracted by the poignancy of its final note.

Biel is absolutely fantastic proving once and for all she’s a top leading lady and is just as comfortable neck deep in muck, cut and bruised, and losing her shit as she is being composed and commanding. It’s her performance that drives the film, being more of a character piece than you might initially suspect. Jodelle Ferland (Silent Hill) is fast becoming the poster teen for horror, here appearing as a mute daughter of an abusive household. William B. Davis (The Smoking Man from X-Files) pops up as bumbling Sheriff Chestnut, Stephen McHattie (Pontypool) appears as straight-laced FBI agent, and Samantha Ferris shines as Ferland’s struggling mother.

The Tall Man is very different from Martyrs, but that’s good because churning out the same harrowing experience would be detrimental to Laugier’s reputation. Instead he goes in the opposite direction being perhaps a little more obvious with his questioning but still inspiring thought nonetheless.

An intriguing genre hybrid with a startlingly good performance from Biel, The Tall Man is brave and powerful but perhaps a little too blatant in its last act. Nonetheless it’s a watchable, intense, and thought-provoking thriller from an emerging horror talent.

★★★★☆

Scott Clark

Rating: 15
DVD/BD Release Date: 11th March 2013
Directed By: Pascal Laugier
Cast: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, William B. Davis, Stephen McHattie, 
Win: Tall Man On DVD enter Here
Buy: The Tall Man On Blu-ray / DVD

Hotel California To Sleep Walking, 2013 London Sundance Festival Line Up announced

After years wishing we could attend, 2012 Robert Redford made many British cinephiles dreams come true when he annouced Sundance Festival was coming to UK. After the success of the inaugural festival last year today Sundance Insitute announced it' line up for the 2013 London Sundance  festival which kicks off late next month.

This years festival will showcase 18 feature films and 9 short films spread across 4 sections including the new UK section whose highlight is Michael Winterbottom's Look Of Love starring Steve Coogan as Porn baron Paul Raymond. In total 23 films will make their will make their international, European or UK premieres at Sundance London. Ten are by female filmmakers and six are by first-time feature filmmakers. The films collectively received 12 awards when they premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A..

The Highlights of this years festival include The History Of The Eagles Part One a documentary based on the iconic  American rock band (who are also scheduled to appear), Lynne Shelton's Touchy Feely starring Rosemarie Dewitt, Scoot McNairy getting its International Premier and  Shane Carruth's Upstream Colour getting it's UK premier. Fans of Music may want to check out Peaches Doe Herself a documentary looking at the rise of the singer and her unique brand of 'electro-rock'.

In addition to film screenings and panels, Sundance London will host several live music performances and events. Peaches has been announced as the first headlining act for the 2013 festival, and tickets for that performance are now on sale. Additional music performers will be named. Among the 17 musical acts at the first-ever Sundance London were Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird, Placebo, and Rufus and Martha Wainwright. Among the artists expected to attend Sundance London are Lake Bell, Mike Birbiglia, Jimmy Carr, the Eagles, Barbara Kopple and Peaches, as well as Sundance Institute President & Founder Robert Redford.

Robert Redford said, “We would hope for Sundance London to be another 'Sundance' experience – lively, culturally relevant and fun. We look forward to engaging with audiences as we discover new voices, new points of view and new perspectives.”

The second Sundance London film and music festival, will take place on 25-28 April at The O2. Passes and ticket packages are available at www.sundance-london.com, and individual tickets will be on sale from 9:00 a.m. GMT Friday 15 March.

2013 line-up

Blackfish (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity. (Documentary)

Blood Brother (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Winner of the US Grand Jury Prize: Documentary and the Audience Award: US Documentary presented by Acura at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Documentary)

Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O'Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard. (Narrative)

God Loves Uganda (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law. (Documentary)

In a World... (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: US Dramatic at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Narrative)

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (Director: George Tillman Jr., Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright. (Narrative)

The Kings of Summer (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — A unique coming-of-age comedy about three teenagers who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a makeshift house in the woods. Free from their parents’ rules, their idyllic summer quickly becomes a test of friendship. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie. (Narrative)

Muscle Shoals (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) — Down in Alabama Rick Hall founded FAME Studios and gave birth to the Muscle Shoals sound. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bear witness to the greatest untold American music story. (Documentary)

Running from Crazy (Director: Barbara Kopple) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate. From two-time Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple. (Documentary)

Touchy Feely (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother's foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. (Narrative)

Upstream Color (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. Winner of a US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Sound Design at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and from the director of the 2004 Sundance Film Festival US Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic-winning film Primer. (Narrative)

History of the Eagles Part One (Director: Alison Ellwood) — Iconic American rock band the Eagles have earned countless awards and sold more than 120 million albums worldwide, including the best-selling album of all time. Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Includes an extended Q&A with the Eagles. (Documentary)

Peaches Does Herself (Director and screenwriter: Peaches) — On the advice of an old stripper, Peaches makes sexually forthright music. This electro rock opera follows Peaches' rise in popularity and her love affair with a beautiful she-male that ultimately leads her to realize who she really is. Cast: Peaches, Danni Daniels, Sandy Kane, Mignon, Sweet Machine Band, Jolly Goods. Sundance London will also host a performance by Peaches. (Narrative

Sleepwalk With Me (Director: Mike Birbiglia, Screenwriters: Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Joe Birbiglia, Seth Barrish) — Reluctant to confront his fears of love, honesty, and growing up, a budding standup comedian has both a hilarious and intense struggle with sleepwalking. Cast: Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, Carol Kane, James Rebhorn, Cristin Milioti. Winner of the Best of NEXT <=> Audience Award, Presented by Adobe Systems Incorporated, at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Includes an extended Q&A with director and screenwriter Mike Birbiglia, moderated by comedian Jimmy Carr. (Narrative)

In Fear (Directed and story by: Jeremy Lovering) — Trapped in a maze of country roads with only their vehicle for protection, Tom and Lucy are terrorized by an unseen tormentor exploiting their worst fears. Eventually they realize they've let the evil in – it’s sitting in their car. Cast: Alice Englert, Iain De Caestecker, Allen Leech. (Narrative)

The Look of Love (Director: Michael Winterbottom, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. (Narrative)

The Moo Man (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Co-director: Heike Bachelier) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. (Documentary)

The Summit (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers' code, he might still be alive. Winner of the Editing Award: US Documentary at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. (Documentary)

The Apocalypse (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Zuchero) — Four uninspired friends try to come up with a terrific idea for how to spend their Saturday afternoon.

Black Metal (Director and screenwriter: Kat Candler) — After a career spent mining his music from the shadows, one fan creates a chain reaction for the lead singer of a black metal band.

The Date (Director and screenwriter: Jenni Toivoniemi) — Tino’s manhood is put to the test in front of two women when he has to host a date for Diablo, the family’s stud cat. Winner of the Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Irish Folk Furniture (Director: Tony Donoghue) — In Ireland, old hand-painted furniture is often associated with hard times, with poverty, and with a time many would rather forget. In this animated documentary, 16 pieces of traditional folk furniture are repaired and returned home. Winner of the Short Film Jury Award: Animation at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Jonah (Director: Kibwe Tavares, Screenwriter: Jack Thorne) — When two young men photograph a gigantic fish leaping from the sea, their small town becomes a tourist attraction in this story about the old and the new. From the director of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Grand Jury Prize-winning film FISHING WITHOUT NETS.

Reindeer (Director: Eva Weber) — A lyrical and haunting portrait of reindeer herding in the twilight expanses of the Lapland wilderness. Winner of a Short Film Special Jury Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Until the Quiet Comes (Director and screenwriter: Kahlil Joseph) — Shot in the Nickerson Gardens housing projects in Watts, Los Angeles, this film deals with themes of violence, camaraderie and spirituality through the lens of magical realism. Winner of a Short Film Special Jury Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

Whiplash (Director and screenwriter: Damien Chazelle) — An aspiring drummer enters an elite conservatory’s top jazz orchestra. Winner of the Short Film Jury Award: US Fiction at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

The Whistle (Director: Grzegorz Zariczny) — Marcin, a lowest-leagues football referee who lives in a small town near Krakow, dreams of better times. At his mother’s urging, he decides to change his life and find himself a girlfriend and a better job. Winner of the Short Film Grand Jury Prize at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

The Master DVD Review

So accomplished is director Paul Thomas Anderson’s catalogue of work, that every new film he presents is met with a degree of excitement and expectation reserved for only the most celebrated and enduring of filmmakers. Despite a relatively short career (one comprising less than two decades), Anderson has already hit the high notes with an excellent portfolio of work that includes, amongst others, Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood. Anderson has never really produced a poor film, and the notion of seeing him reunited with long-term accomplice, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, to cast their creative eyes over the thorny subject of a pseudo-religious cult, is a prospect certainly worth relishing.

Ultimately, The Master is a film which provokes an immense sense of awe, chiefly through the performances of its double-act of leading men; but it’s one which also instils a lingering sense of doubt and, dare I say it, disappointment.

As the Second World War draws to a close, US seaman Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is little more than a drunken, sex-obsessed husk. As his comrades frolic on Pacific island beaches, Freddie is quietly mixing drinks, cavorting with women made of sand and draining and drinking the fuel from his ship’s torpedoes. It is abundantly clear that Freddie is struggling with post-traumatic stress, his efforts to maintain a steady job post-war end in disaster, violence, and soaked in home-made booze.

Ultimately Freddie’s penchant for hooch leads to the accidental poisoning of an elderly co-worker forcing him to flee his job for his own safety. Tired, desperate and inebriated, Freddie stows away on a passing boat unaware that it currently plays host to an eccentric cabal known as The Cause, led by their enigmatic and beguiling leader Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), known to his acolytes as “Master”.

Freddie is welcomed into the fold and joins the ensemble in spreading Dodd’s good news, learning the ins-and-outs of the exercise known as “processing”, while simultaneously battling those outside influences who would seek to derail The Cause.

Hoffman’s Master is of course a thinly-veiled reference to author and founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard; and his performance as the mesmeric leader of The Cause is a thing to behold, as Hoffman imbues the leader with a tangible sense of self-assurance and thoughtfulness. Watching the commanding Dodd deliver his sermons to an adoring congregation, with their bizarre lectures on quasi-psychology and spirituality is as tempting as it is baffling. As a study of the cult of personality, it’s genuinely unnerving. Whilst every reasonable bone inside you should reject the nonsense on offer, it’s all too easy to see how Freddie and the rest of the herd become so affected and entranced by the Master’s teachings, so powerful and believable is Hoffman’s delivery.

As a counterpart to Dodd’s measured sermonising, Freddie’s alcohol-soaked, rotten futility is excellent too. Joaquin Phoenix brings a demoralising physicality to a role that under normal circumstances would elevate itself above the rest. The fact that it’s a performance that plays second fiddle says more about Hoffman’s presence in the piece than it does about Phoenix’s.

Together the performances are, save for the odd mumble of Phoenix’s, as damn-near pitch perfect as is possible. The setting in which these two performances are to be found is a beautiful, studiously reconstructed image of post-war USA. It’s a USA in which the iron curtain of atomic-age paranoia has most definitely descended; and yet the vestiges of hopefulness, of dewy-eyed belief in the American dream, still remain.

If Paul Thomas Anderson is guilty of anything, it’s that his stories can have a tendency to find themselves coughing and spluttering towards a resolution. There Will Be Blood’s grind towards the finishing line was expertly aided by its visual and aural magnificence; there was little room for dissent as you were being so firmly and skilfully grasped by the balls. Boogie Nights took a descent into a drug-fuelled hell which contrasted with its upbeat and romping (albeit sleazy) opening salvos, but maintained some sense of urgency; in the case of The Master ,the culmination of nearly two-and-a-half hours of soul-searching appears to be less assured.

A final act which appears to tread much of the same water trod in the film’s middle third feels like Anderson is searching for an ending which never comes. Freddie’s vision, experienced towards the end of the film, is one which exists as a symptom of his general lack of growth both spiritually and practically. For all the processing and sermonising, he’s never really moved on. A sobering thought, but it’s one which belies the fact that, as an audience, neither have we. Despite the mesmeric performances of Hoffman and Phoenix, you are left with a nagging feeling of dissatisfaction at a film which very much feels like it has a beginning, and a middle.

Chris Banks(@Chris_in_2D)

★★★★☆

Rating:15
BD/DVD Release Date:11 March 2013 (UK)
Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix , Amy Adams,
Buy The Master on:Blu-ray / DVD

Let's Go Shopping, Watch Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring Teaser Trailer

The world is getting smaller and the price of fame is your followed in every media outlet available printed, online. Fans are obsessed and in Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring they take that Obsession one step further, watch the first teaser trailer.

In The Bling Ring Emma Watson leads a group of fame obsessed teens who stalk out local celebrities in order to rob from them in a film thats based on actual events. 2013 seems to have a running theme of  teens cause trouble with Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers arriving next month in UK. The Bling Ring does look slightly more sophisticated than Korine's effort which seems to go for style over substance, however Coppola does rubber stamp her own style on the film though at the same this is slightly off-kilter for her.It;s nice to Emma Watson chosing her steps wisely post Harry Potter taking the independent film route rather jumping into mainstream big blockbusters which should help loose Hermoine Grainger label with great ease.

The Bling Ring co-stars Leslie Mann, Taissa Farmiga, Claire Julien, Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Georgia Rock, and Gavin Rossdale. The film doesn't have a UK&Irish release date but Stateside you can catch the film on limited release 14th June.


source:BeyondHollywood (via Thepeoplesmovies)

Thou Art Watch U.S Trailer For Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing

It's amazing what you can do in under 12 days with a bunch of your friends, after Avengers Assemble Joss Whedon decided to make Much Ado About Nothing, check out American trailer.

Shakespeare's classic comedy is given a contemporary spin in Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing . Shot in just 12 days (and using the original text), the story of sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick offers a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that we call love. A Special Presentation at Toronto International Film Festival 2012 and the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013, Much Ado About Nothing was also selected as the Closing Night film for the Glasgow Film Festival 2013.

Begs the question is Shakespeare for all the masses? Answer should be yes but as seen in in last years Coriolanus, even Anonymous box office they could be considered as failures as they weren't seen as films aimed at the general cinephile (with exception of Anonymous) but the sophisticated arthouse cinephile. With Whedon's background in delivering some of 1990's iconic fantasy/horror tv shows Much Ado About Nothing may just be the film that introduces Shakespeare to an whole new generation.

So who are Joss Whedon's friends who decided to help out their old mucha? Amy Acker, Emma Bates, Spencer Treat Clark, Alexis Denisof, Reed Diamond, Nathan Fillion, and Clark Gregg. They always say Shakespeare is an literature education and your eduction will start in UK&Ireland on 14 June

source:Yahoo

Watch UK Trailer Antonio Campos' SIMON KILLER

Eureka Entertainment announced today the theatrical release of Simon Killer , a deeply disturbing character study of a ‘post-graduation summer’ in Paris, by a handsome sociopath in the making, from Director Antonio Campos, the Writer and Director of the critically acclaimed feature film Afterschool.

Brady Corbet plays Simon, a recent college graduate full of promise and potential, who goes to Paris to begin a trip around Europe after a bad break-up with his long-time girlfriend. Although he’s leaving behind a bad memory, he can’t manage to shake off his feelings of loss. Like many young people living overseas and away from home for the first time, he’s both an adventurer and an outsider in a very strange land. When Simon falls in love with a young, mysterious prostitute (Mati Diop), their fateful journey begins.

Emotionally compelling and visually stunning, Simon Killer is a film of casual brutality and profane sexuality, all cut to a killer soundtrack starring Brady Corbet (Melancholia, Thirteen, Martha Marcy May Marlene),Mati Diop, (35 Shots of Rum), Constance Rousseau, and Solo.

 SIMON KILLER will be released in the UK in cinemas nationwide from 12 April 2013, followed by a DVD &Blu-ray in the UK and Eire on 10 June 2013.

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

 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

Win Tickets To See London Italian Film Festival Closing Film NiNA

Cinema Made in Italy 2013 kicks off on 6 March at the Ciné Lumière in South Kensington, celebrating the third edition of London’s Italian film festival. The event, which has become an annual rendezvous, is organised by the Filmitalia Department of Istituto Luce Cinecittà in Rome and the Italian Cultural Institute in London. It offers cinemagoers in the capital a five day showcase of the best recent Italian productions, never before screened in the UK.

The festival’s five day programme includes ten new Italian films: a selection of eight titles made by Gianni Canova, Italian film critic, Professor of Cinema History and Dean of IULM University in Milan, and a special choice of two films by Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London. The screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with directors and actors. This is a unique chance for both the public and UK distributors to see Italian films that have not yet had exposure in the UK and a rare opportunity to catch up with brand new, cutting edge Italian cinema. The festival will highlight the work of established talent such as Ferzan Ozpetek, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Marco Tullio Giordana and Luigi Lo Cascio, as well as introducing a raft of new names to audiences here. This year’s event also includes a special children’s screening of a new animated version of the classic Italian fairytale PINOCCHIO, screening on Sunday 10 March at the family friendly time of 5.00pm. For a full list of titles please see below.

To celebrate this festival we have a pair of tickets to the festival's closing Film NiNA directed by Elisa Fuksas who will also do an Q&A after the film. The date is Sunday 10th March and to enter please answer the following question:

Q.How many years has The London Italian Film Festival now been running?

To enter Please go to our main site The People's Movies and enter there 

Deadline for this competition is Friday 8th March 12 noon
Winner will be contacted shortly after deadline to arrange for collection of prize
You must be 15 years or older to enter

For full list of films or to book tickets at London Italian Film Festival please check out their website.

Atonioni's La Notte To Get The Masters Of Cinema Blu-Ray Treatment This April

Eureka Entertainment have announced that they will be releasing LA NOTTE on Blu-ray for the first time anywhere in the world on 22 April 2013. One of the most famous international films of the 1960s, directed by the master filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni (L'avventura, Red Desert, Blow Up, Il grido, Le amiche, Zabriskie Point), LA NOTTE stars two of the biggest stars of the European cinema: Marcello Mastroianni (La dolce vita, 8-1/2) and Jeanne Moreau (Jules et Jim, Bay of Angels)

One of the masterworks of 1960s cinema, La notte [The Night] marked yet another development in the continuous stylistic evolution of its director, Michelangelo Antonioni — even as it solidified his reputation as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. La notte is Antonioni’s "Twilight of the Gods", but composed in cinematic terms. Examined from a crane-shot, it’s a sprawling study of Italy’s upper middle-class; seen in close-up, it’s an x-ray of modern man’s psychic desolation.

Two of the giants of film-acting come together as a married couple living in crisis: Marcello Mastroianni (La dolce vita, 8-1/2) and Jeanne Moreau (Jules et Jim, Bay of Angels). He is a renowned author and "public intellectual"; she is "the wife". Over the course of one day and the night into which it inevitably bleeds, the pair will come to re-examine their emotional bonds, and grapple with the question of whether love and communication are even possible in a world built out of profligate idylls and sexual hysteria.

Photographed in rapturous black-and-white by the great Gianni di Venanzo (8-1/2, Giulietta degli spiriti), La notte presents the beauty of seduction, then asks: "When did this occur — this seduction of Beauty?" The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present Michelangelo Antonioni’s haunted odyssey for the first time ever on Blu-ray.



SPECIAL BLU-RAY EDITION FEATURES:

• New 1080p presentation of the film in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio with previously censored sequences restored for the first time

• New and improved English subtitles

• Original Italian theatrical trailer

• 56-page booklet with an essay by film-critic and scholar Brad Stevens, and the transcript of a lengthy Q&A conducted in 1961 with Antonioni upon the film’s release.

Pre-order / Buy: LA NOTTE [THE NIGHT] (Masters of Cinema) (Blu-ray)