Blu-Ray Review - Federico Fellini's 8½

Genre:
Arthouse, World Cinema, Drama, Classic
Release Date:
11th November 2013 (UK)
Distributor:
Argent Films
Rating:
15
Director:
Federico Fellini
Cast:
Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimee, Sandra Milo, Barbara Steele
Buy 8 ½: [DVD] or [Blu-ray]

8 ½ is one of those films like Citizen Kane or 2001: A Space Odyssey that every film critic pretty much agrees is one of the films that changed film forever. It’s a film that influenced a wide range of films from Brazil to All That Jazz and Woody Allen’s unfairly maligned Stardust Memories. The great Italian maestro film director Federico Fellini was at the helm and it’s quite possibly the greatest film ever made about making a film. 8 ½ was later adapted/remade at the musical Nine but the less said about that the better.

The plot concerns Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) who is a director who is having “director’s block” while trying to finish a science fiction film. Guido is quite obviously based on Fellini and Mastroianni was always director’s alter ego on screen. Guido’s marriage is failing apart and has lost interest in finishing the film. The film is a classic mixture of fantasy, memories and reality and at times it’s never clear which is which.

8 ½ like many of the truly great films like Citizen Kane or Brazil it’s all really a great big magic trick. Fellini was first and foremost a dreamer like Orson Welles and Terry Gilliam, who cites Fellini as his biggest influence and 8 ½ as his favourite film. He tried to make cinematic dreams with his great films and he plays around with time and space but also the form of cinema itself. Its both a film that plays with avant-garde film techniques but simultaneously is also extremely watchable and relatively commercial and in turn it’s a pitch-perfect juggling act.

Fellini was also a cartoonist (like Gilliam) and his post-Neo-Realist films certainly have a cartoonish take on life. The characters at times especially the female characters have an also caricature quality to them in the best possible way. It’s all shot in truly beautiful black and white widescreen by Gianni Di Venanzo who was the Italian cinematographer of the early 60s but he died very young sadly.

8 ½ has rightfully earned its reputation at simply one of the greatest film ever made. It’s really THE Fellini film and you really must experience the film if you haven’t already. It’s film like Citizen Kane that was one of the building blocks of modern cinema.

★★★★★

Ian Schultz

Wolf Children Will 'Howl' Onto Home Release This Christmas

Genre:
Anime, Japanese Animation
Distributor:
Manga UK
Rating:
PG
Format:
DVD & Blu-Ray
Release Date:
23rd December 2013 (UK)
Buy Wolf Children:
DVD / Collector's Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
When your kids get sick, do you take them to the doctor or the vet? That's the sort of dilemma faced by Hana, the young mother of boisterous Yuki and her timid little brother Ame. But then Yuki and Ame are no ordinary children: thanks to their wolf man dad, the two can transform into wolves at will! A charming modern folktale from internationally acclaimed director Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), Wolf Children is a beautiful, touching movie that will appeal to all ages, whether they're anime fans or not.

In March, Wolf Children scooped the prestigious Japan Academy Prize for Animation of the Year - an award that director Mamoru Hosoda also won with his previous film Summer Wars back in 2010.

Co-produced by Hosoda's own Studio Chizu and anime veterans Madhouse, Wolf Children earned over $50 million in Japanese cinemas, making it Japan's fifth highest grossing movie of 2012. Wolf Children has won multiple awards, not only in Japan but also in the US and Europe. Now the film after a very limited UK cinema & festival release now in December you will get a chance to own this film on DVD or Blu-Ray.

19-year-old Hana is studying at university when she falls in love with a mysterious classmate with a highly unusual secret - he is the last descendant of Japan's now-extinct grey wolves, and possesses the ability to transform into a wolf. Not daunted by this, Hana and her wolf man lover start a family, with energetic daughter Yuki ('Snow') soon followed by her more timid little brother Ame ('Rain').

But when tragedy strikes and her wolf man suddenly dies, Hana is left to cope with the two young children on her own - and both Yuki and Ame have inherited their dad's power to shift between human and wolf form. Moving to the countryside and the seclusion of an abandoned old house in the mountains, Hana hopes to raise her family away from prying eyes …but life's not that simple.

Part slice-of-life drama about the joys and tribulations of single mother Hana raising her half-wolf kids, part rite-of-passage movie about finding your place in the world, Wolf Children is a funny, moving and accessible film directed by a true anime great. With their mixed heritage, Yuki and Ame feel the pull of both sides of their nature …but which world will win out, the human or the wolf?


The Collector's Edition Bonus Disc Contents will include U.S. Actor & Staff Commentary,English Language Trailer,Stage Greetings
,PR Video Director’s Version 01 and 02,Promotional Video,Original Trailer and Original Teaser.
Wolf Children will be released by Manga UK on DVD and Blu-Ray 23rd December 2013.

Watch The Intriguing New Trailers For Kieth Sicat's Woman Of The Ruins

Here at Cinehouse we do love films that are full atmosphere with dark overtones, Kieth Sicat's Woman Of The Ruins certainly fits that bill. Part of Philippines Cinema One originals series a film  that provokes faith in religion possibly how much religion may affect your judgement when you cant fully understand something. That thing been the re-emergence of a woman whom a local village presumed was dead years after a cataclysmic event.

Below are 2 trailers for the film first one was a trailer released last week  show the impressive, intriguing film Woman Of The Ruins looks like be.The second trailer  more recently released a shorter trailer but reveals a little more of the films plot.The film stars Alessandra de Rossi, Arthur Acuña, Elizabeth Oropesa, Peque Gallaga, and Chanel Latorre.





source: Twitch

Literary Genius - Writers in Movies

Stuck in Love is a tale of complicated relationships, headed by divorced couple Bill and Erica, played by stars Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Connelly. Bill is a writer suffering from a block since his wife left him for a younger man, but through his love of novels, his teenage children (Lily Collins and Natt Wolf) begin to find success in the industry. Here, we take a look at films which feature characters whose novelist skills mould the film they are in.

Ruby Sparks (2012)

Paul Dano plays Calvin Weir-Fields, a young novelist struggling to recreate the success of his first novel. Upon an assignment from his therapist, Calvin begins creating a female character named Ruby Sparks who he admits he’s falling in love with. One day he returns home to find Ruby alive and in his kitchen. Directed by duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (the couple behind 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine), Ruby Sparks is an original idea showcasing a novelist’s obsession with creating the perfect character.

Barton Fink (1991)

The Coen Brothers’ audacious mind-bender follows John Turturro’s New York City playwright who is hired to write film scripts in Hollywood; plagued by strange goings-on quite probably fuelled by the insurance salesman next door (played by Coen stalwart, John Goodman), Barton Fink encapsulates a writer’s frustration and downward spiral into a studio system that dictates what you can and can’t write.

The Player (1992)

Robert Altman’s satire follows Hollywood executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) who murders an aspiring screenwriter - played by Vincent D’Onofrio - he believes to have been sending him death threats. Perhaps most renowned for its opening sequence shot lasting 7 minutes (and 47 seconds, to be precise), The Player is a homage to the Hollywood studio system and the paranoia it may cause.

Misery (1990)

Look at most Stephen King adaptations and it’s a pretty good bet your lead character is a novelist; perhaps the most memorable however is Rob Reiner’s Misery, one of the tensest film-watching experiences on offer. James Caan plays the author Paul Sheldon, most famous for creating a series of novels featuring the heroine Misery Chastain. Pulled into safety following a car crash by ‘number one fan’ Annie Wilkes (an Oscar-winning Kathy Bates), Sheldon’s survival turns into a nightmare when Annie is none-too-pleased with the author’s decision to kill off Misery in the new novel. With both legs broken, Paul is forced to re-write a version to the liking of his captor.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Many of Woody Allen’s films feature a central character who is, in one way or another, a writer; whether he’s a comedian or a biographer, Allen loves to focus on characters with a taste for the literal. None more so than in Midnight in Paris in which Owen Wilson’s screenwriter Gil Pender is thrown back to the 1920s at the stroke of midnight during a visit to Paris with his pressurising fiancé, Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her overbearing parents. Whilst there, he encounters his literary influences - ranging from F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston), Cole Porter (Yves Heck) and Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) whom agrees to take a look at his novel.

Adaptation (2002)

Spike Jonze’s bizarre semi-autobiographical film about screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s struggle to bring non-fiction story The Orchid Thief to the big-screen is the offbeat meta-film you’d expect from the blending of these two talents. Played by an on-form Nicolas Cage, Kaufman (and his fictional twin brother) is struck with writers block - heightened by his brother’s latest success in selling his script for six figures. Adaptation is a fulfilling yet surreal experience that gives you the impression of witnessing events as they are being written, such is the strange nature of this story.

Capote (2005)

We couldn’t write this list without including a biographical portrayal of a famous author, and we settled for Capote, then factual depiction of events that occurred in the lead-up to Truman Capote’s novel In Cold Blood. Oscar-winning Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the softly-spoken effeminate writer who is captivated by the news story he reads in The New York Times of a family friend finding the bodies of a family murdered in Kansas. Amongst other things, Bennett Miller’s film showcases the friendship between Capote and To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

This 1950s film noir stars William Holden as unsuccessful screenwriter Joe Gillis and Gloria Swanson as faded silent movie actress Norma Desmond, who draws him into a fantasy world where she dreams of making a triumphant return to the big screen. Beginning with his death, Gillis narrates the events that led up to this moment.

Wonder Boys (2000)

This critically-acclaimed film from Curtis Hanson features Michael Douglas as a creative writing university teacher; bogged down by his new-found single lifestyle when his young wife leaves him, Grady Tripp is suffering from a serious bout of writer’s block. Things get worse when his editor (Robert Downey, Jr.) arrives in town to read his latest novel but express interest in one of his students (Tobey Maguire). A flop upon release, Wonder Boys has found love since and is a critical achievement.




Stuck In Love is out now on Digital Platforms and released on Blu-ray and DVD on 18th November 2013 from Koch Media

Let The Bodies Hit The Floor In The Raid 2: Berandal First Teaser Trailer

Whenever I get asked what was one of my cinematic highlights of 2012, I always say right away The Raid and the Glasgow Frightfest screening (with star and director in attendance). 2014 the most anticipated action film The Raid 2: Berandal will explode in cinemas near you but for now lets get excited as the first teaser trailer has arrived!

It's not over yet and thanks to the good folks at Twitch we get our first taster of the action and boy it's mayhem! The scale and scope of The Raid 2 is alot  grander  plus it looks like the sequel is not confined to one building but several but why our hero Rama is locked up we don't know but what he does to that silhouette on the wall he's mighty pissed off. If we're to go by the scum of Indonesian crime underbelly we met in The Raid we can expect we ain't seen anything yet. The trailer shows the major players of the new film (Tegar Satrya and Yayan Ruhian) plus a first look at new characters  Assassin(Cecep Rahman) ,Hammer Girl (Julie Estelle). What will get fans of the first film excited is the return of Yayan Ruhian aka Mad Dog though he's playing Prakoso whom we expect will be as insane as his previous character.

The set pieces look as bone crushingly insane as before, possible Jackie Chan style shopping mall chase? No one should be standing in front of cars but when it's a car in a Gareth Huw Evans film well you'll just have to watch the trailer!



No word on a UK release date or distributor, but don't be surprise if The Raid 2: Berandal makes an appearance at Film4 Glasgow or London in 2014. The film stars Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Alex Abad, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusadewo, Julie Estelle, Cecep Arif Rahman, Cok Simbara, Yayan Ruhian, Matsuda Ryuhei, Endo Kenichi, and Kitamura Kazuki.

source:Twitch (via Thepeoplesmovies)

Revenge Is A Bitch In International Trailer For Lucky McKee's All Cheerleaders Die

Revenge is a bitch for Lucky McKee and his latest All Cheerleaders Die revenge is clearly a bitch after it's film festival stint the film has now been picked up and tonight we have the film's international trailer.

Opened up this years Toronto Film Festival Midnight Madness programme All Cheerleaders Die is a remake of 2001 movie McKee made with his co-director Chris Siverton.When tragedy rocks Blackfoot High, rebellious outsider Mäddy Killian shocks the student body by joining the cheerleading squad. This decision drives a rift between Mäddy and her ex-girlfriend Leena Miller — a loner who claims to practice the dark arts. After a confrontation with the football team, Mäddy and her new cheerleader friends are sent on a supernatural roller coaster ride which leaves a path of destruction none of them may be able to escape.

Cinehouse's Scott Clark watched the film for us at Toronto (read his review here)describing the movie as"his most shameless step into black comedy and madcap yet" but was ruined by awful effects and ridiculous concepts. It's a film that's left many folks undecided if they actually liked it or not, judge for yourselves check out the trailer below which is a sales trailer.



Image Entertainment have picked up the American rights to the All Cheerleaders Die,no word on a UK release but we have our sneaky suspicions that Frightfesters heading To Glasgow Frightfest in February this film maybe on the line up. The film stars Caitlin Stasey, Sianoa Smit-McPhee and Tom Williamson.
source:Twitch

Bite Into First Trailer For Jim Jarmusch's Vampire Film Only Lovers Left Alive

When Jim Jarmusch announced he was to make a counter vampire film to Twilight he was greeted great sarcasm now few years on that film Only Lovers Left Alive has it's first trailer and we have to say we love what we're seeing!

Love him or hate him when a filmmaker such as Jarmusch dips his fingers into a genre you wouldn't expect from his stature it can be quite exciting to see the end product. After receiving fairly positive response from Cannes, Toronto and New York fans of the director can breathe easily Only Lovers Left Alive has all the trademark weirdness, stylings you want to see.

Set against the romantic desolation of Detroit and Tangier, Adam (Tom Hiddleston) an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction of human activities, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover Eve (Tilda Swinton). Their love story has already endured several centuries at least, but their debauched idyll is soon disrupted by her wild and uncontrollable younger sister. Can these wise but fragile outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them?



This isn't a vampire film that's  focusing on sterotypical cliches of the vampire mythos but has the mythology on parallel with drug addiction looks to work well as our lead characters ive a rock  'n' roll lifestyle. It looks minimal, stylish more engaging than other vampire flicks you'll probably see.

Ony Lovers Left Alive doesn't have a official UK or even U.S release date however the film's rights have just been picked up by Sony Picture Classic so expect a release date probably 2014. The film also stars Mia Wasikowska, John Hurt and Anton Yelchin.

Philomena Review

Rathing:
15
Distributor:
Pathe (UK)
Release Date:
1st November 2013 (UK) 27th November 2013(USA)
Director:
Stephen Frears
Cast:
Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Mare Winningham, Michelle Fairley

Simultaneously heartfelt and amusing, you would be hard pressed to find a film more charming than Philomena this year. This is hardly surprising when you have the wit of a screenplay penned by Steve Coogan and the acting might of Dame Judi Dench involved.

Stephen Frears' film tackles the true story of Philomena Lee (Dench) - an Irish woman who teams up with political advisor turned-journalist, Martin Sixsmith (Coogan), to track down her long lost son who was put up for adoption by her convent.

Frears directs Philomena with a warm sense of hopefulness which remains throughout this quietly uplifting film. Coogan and Jeff Pope's screenplay takes us in a number of directions, interacting with a huge spectrum of human emotions - from initial hopefulness to crushing disappointment which builds to a somewhat angry and subsequently uplifting conclusion. Focused performances from Dench and Coogan ensure that every twist and turn of this screenplay finds its way to the audience with Philomena inspiring, amusing, and on more than a few occasions tugging at the heartstrings.

The odd-couple dynamic makes for an amusing and occasionally difficult watch. The sweet (yet surprisingly aware) Philomena's relationship with the cynical Oxford educated Sixsmith is often endearing, and ultimately heart-warming. This is showcased mainly through Sixsmith's slight transformation as a character (who is originally horrified by the prospect of working on a human interested story for the "weak minded and easily manipulated"), yet grows to have a very deep personal involvement in Philomena's case.

Dench is truly sublime as Philomena. Seeing the character's optimism and hope being shaken as she delves into the past has the emotional weight of a ton of bricks. Dench remains charming and downright loveable, whilst showcasing just exactly why she's a national treasure. The actress can convey a tremendous emotion and tragedy in the smallest of glances or gestures, whilst also getting plenty of opportunities to show off an impressive comic streak.

Coogan is given the chance to remind us that he is a solid dramatic actor (just as he did in What Maisie Knew, earlier in the year) delivering a far more understated and emotionally low-key performance to that of Dench.

Philomena is understated yet tremendously powerful, thanks to a touching and effortlessly amusing screenplay from Coogan and Pope. Frears directs with an endearing optimism whilst Dench and Coogan make for a tremendously watchable on-screen double act.

★★★★☆

Andrew McArthur

Derek Jarman: Pandemonium Exhibition To Celebrate UK Director's Life And Work This January

Derek Jarman: Pandemonium is an exhibition presented by King’s Cultural Institute to mark the 20th anniversary of Jarman’s death from an HIV-related illness in February 1994.

A student of humanities at King’s from 1960 to 1963, Jarman went on to become one of the most important creative practitioners of his generation and a crucial voice in gay politics in Britain. Painter, filmmaker, set designer, diarist, poet, gardener, activist – Jarman’s work across many areas and media was distinguished for its continual innovation and sense of daring.

Derek Jarman: Pandemonium is not a retrospective; rather it focuses on Jarman’s life along the Thames and the ways his work engaged with London – from his student days at King’s, to his time in artistically vital warehouses at Bankside and Butler’s Wharf, where he lived for most of the 1970s alongside contemporaries including Andrew Logan and Keir Smith

The exhibition links Jarman’s studies as an undergraduate – especially the emphasis on the literature and history of the Medieval and Renaissance periods – to his later artistic and intellectual interests, drawing a line from his formative learning in the early 1960s, before he went to art college, with his lifelong passions.

Among his most arresting work in the 70s were his now rarely seen Super 8 films, and the exhibition will be screening three films continuously. Also on display will be a selection of the astonishingly elaborate notebooks he kept for each of his feature films and writing projects, as well as personal and privately loaned material to contextualise his many collaborative relationships.

This immersive exhibition captures the unruly spirit of this truly innovative and multi-faceted artist and his artistic times, especially the collaborative spirit which was so important in cultural production at that time.

Derek Jarman: Pandemonium is part of Jarman2014, a year-long celebration of Derek Jarman’s life & work. Full listings and further information will be available soon at www.jarman2014.org

Derek Jarman: Pandemonium will open on Thursday 23 January until Sunday 9 March 2014 and will take place at Inigo Rooms, Somerset House East Wing, Strand WC2R 2LS

Image credit: Studio Bankside, Derek Jarman, 1973-74 , © LUMA Foundation

Journalists on the Big Screen

On 1st November the story of Philomena will be released. Philomena tells the true dramatic story of a teenager falling pregnant in Ireland. Labelled as a fallen woman, she was sent to a convent where her baby was taken and adopted against her will. Filled with guilt, Philomena cannot keep her 50 year long secret anymore. With the immense help of journalist Martian Sixsmith, she starts a journey to uncover the truth about her son. With the release of this highly anticipated movie, we are taking a look back at some of the greatest real-life journalists portrayed on the screen.

All The President’s Men (1976)

This Academy Award-winning political thriller tells the non-fiction story about the two journalists (played very famously by the legends Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman) investigating the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post. The film received numerous good mentions including two Academy Awards.

Welcome To Sarajevo (1997)

UK journalist Michael Henderson (Stephen Dillane) and US journalist Jimmy Fynn (woody Harrelson) meet at the beginning of the Bosnian war in Sarajevo. As their time in Sarajevo continues, the suffering of the community becomes apparent. Using his power as a journalist, Henderson makes a report on a local orphanage which lies on the front lines of the war where the suffering of the children is overwhelming. Henderson makes the suffering in the orphanage his lead story to draw attention to the war and becomes heavily involved in the evacuation.

Good Night, And Good Luck (2005)

Set in the early days of broadcast journalism, Good Night and Good Luck tells the story of journalist Edward R. Murrow and his loyal team as they refuse to obey the corporate and sponsorship pressure to discredit the tactics used by Joseph McCarthy during his frequent communist allegations. Nominated for six Academy Awards, six BAFTAs, and four Golden Globes, the movie was highly successful.

The Boys Are Back (2009)

This emotional drama follows the story of Joe Warr (Clive Owen) a British sports writer as his life unravels. Warr’s wife is diagnosed with cancer and dies, leaving him as a single parent with the responsibility of balancing writing and parenting.

Philomena (2013)

Steve Coogan plays Martin Sixsmith, a recently sacked political spin doctor and former journalist who has hit rock bottom. Following the extraordinary story of a mother (Judi Dench) and the quest to find her long lost son, Philomena gives Coogan the chance to show off his considerable acting skills in a heartfelt straight role – that he won the best screenplay award at the Venice Film Festival for co-writing the film must be a welcome bonus!



Follow Martin and Philomena as they seek out the truth in PHILOMENA – released in the UK on November 1st.