News
Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On) | Interview
Monday, May 21st, 2012It is 1997 and New York City is in a state of intense flux when documentary filmmaker Erik Rothman (Thure Lindhardt) first meets Paul Lucy (Zachary Booth), a handsome but closeted lawyer in the publishing field. What begins as a highly charged first encounter soon becomes something much more, and a relationship quickly develops. As the two men start building a home and life together, each continues to privately battle their own compulsions and addictions. A film about sex, friendship, intimacy and most of all, love, Keep the Lights On takes an honest look at the nature of relationships in our times. Writer-director Ira Sachs’ Keep the Lights On won the Teddy for Best Feature Film at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival. Our European contributor Anna Bielak chatted with Sachs at Berlinale. Anna Bielak: During the Q&A after the Keep The Lights On screening at the Berlinale you said that there are about three thousand people you would like to thank. What kind of problems did you face during shooting the film? Ira Sachs: To be honest I need to admit that shooting Keep The Lights On didn’t take lots of time. I finished the script in January 2011 and had lots of freedom on the set. I was using money as it came in slowly, but from many different sources. I got enormous support from various homosexual societies in New York, which were interested in my project because of its subject.
Joachim Trier (Oslo, August 31st) | Interview
Sunday, May 20th, 2012Norwegian writer-director Joachim Trier’s second feature — Oslo, August 31st — follows Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie) as he nears successfully completing treatment at a drug rehab in the Norwegian countryside. Anders is permitted to travel to Oslo for a job interview, but he uses the opportunity to attempt to reconnect with friends and family. Anders is as smart and handsome as ever, but he is deeply haunted by all of the past opportunities he has wasted and all of the people he has disappointed. He may feel like his life is already over but he tries to maintain a fleeting glimmer of hope. An official selection at Cannes Film Festival 2011 (Un Certain Regard), AFI Fest 2011, Toronto International Film Festival 2011, Sundance Film Festival 2012 and New Directors/New Films Festival 2012, Oslo, August 31st is a harrowing character study that is certain to leave no viewer unscathed. We chatted with Trier on the eve of Strand Releasing’s theatrical release of Oslo, August 31st in the United States. Don Simpson: What is the significance of the date August 31st? Joachim Trier: We have very clearly defined seasons in Norway. There is something about the last day of summer in Norway — there is a sense of melancholy that I think suits the story perfectly, as the beauty of summer begins to wither. Being a film buff, to name a film after a specific time and place, using the fundamental elements of cinema — space and time. The film is also a farewell letter, and you sign a letter with a place and date. All of that made us arrive at that title.
Here | Review
Sunday, May 20th, 2012Director: Braden King Writers: Braden King, Dani Valent Starring: Ben Foster, Lubna Azabal, Peter Coyote, Narek Nersisyan, Aren Vatyan, Christina Hovaguimyan, Datekiv Kharibyan Will (Ben Foster) is a California-based cartographer on contract in Armenia to confirm the satellite mapping of the country. He travels around Armenia, making frequent stops along the way; he whips out his laptop and antennas, connects to the satellite, then moves on to his next location. It is a lonely existence. Will does not know Armenian, and most of the Armenians he encounters do not know English. The only way Will seems to be able to connect with Armenians is via his penchant for alcohol — Will has a knack for becoming fast friends with Armenians after a few shots of vodka. On one fateful morning, Will is hungover. He just wants to order an omelette at the hotel cafe, but he frustratingly fumbles in his attempts to communicate with the waitress. He can repeat the word “egg” all he wants, but she is never going to understand him.
Laurence Anyways | Review
Saturday, May 19th, 2012Director: Xavier Dolan Writer: Xavier Dolan Starring: Nathalie Baye, Melvil Poupaud, Monia Chokri, Suzanne Clément, Yves Jacques, Guylaine Tremblay, Catherine Bégin, Sophie Faucher I would like to dance to Xavier Dolan movies — especially Laurence Anyways, which screened in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section — I love the rhythm, I like the aesthetics, I appreciate the good companionship; yet, Laurence causes me some troubles. I gave Dolan a lot of credit after watching his truly amazing Les amours imaginaires (2010). Today, I am fond of his latest movie but I am considering the French-Canadian director as an author. Watching Laurence as an individual piece of art might develop into annoyance or into deep fascination. That opinion is good enough to make one go to the cinema, spend nearly three hours of their life there and decide on which side it is better to be –- among those who think that the story is hot or those who judge Laurence as a cold, hard-headed and never-ending story. There is nothing in between but me… I am in the middle of the road between hatred and love. If I choose the latter, I should view Laurence with all of the benefits of the inventory; yet, I cannot do this. I start with recalling my memories of Les amours imaginaires. In the opening sequence of Laurence, a woman walks down the street, people look at her, viewers follow her behind her back. Fever Ray’s “If I Had a Heart” reverberates in the air. Shall she turn away in slow motion? Would we see the confused face of Monia Chokri? No, that would be too much pleasure. Dolan gives the viewers a taste of what he does best -– his style, point of view, and the feeling of eroticism. Yet, after that very promising prologue, Dolan crosses the border of taste too many times and in too many directions.
Beasts of the Southern Wild | Review
Friday, May 18th, 2012Director: Benh Zeitlin Writers: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Jonshel Alexander, Marilyn Barbarin, Kaliana Brower, Henry D. Coleman, Joseph Brown, Nicholas Clark The light in Benh Zeitlin’s Beast of the Southern Wild is similar to the light that Terrence Malick captures in his films. In Zeitlin’s film, the light is imprisoned within the frames of a portrait that depicts a world suffering from a peculiar catastrophe. It haunts my mind and disturbs my soul, but I like it. From the very first scene in which she appears, I am a bit fascinated with Zeitlin’s lead protagonist and her ill father who appears a few minutes later. They inhabit two old and devastated, wooden cottages in the forest near the river. Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) is named after an animal. She is like a little beast of this southern wild. She is sweet and dreadfully intelligent. She knows how to survive. She squeals as if she is the real bird of prey and she sees how the wind blows. With these gifts, Hushpuppy’s senses have become really strong that her(!) world is drawing near its end. Apart from the girl’s hypnotic visions, I find it very interesting how independent filmmakers portray the apocalyptic world. They usually resign to portraying dirt cities (as mainstream directors do) to catch a glimpse of a dying environment (such as Harmony Korine’s Gummo or Jan Kwiecinski’s episode in The Forth Dimension); they focus on a wild, sort of bizarre, beauty. Hushpuppy sees it all, appreciates it all, and drags me into the process of decay. She hardly knows the adult world; yet, as an actress, Quvenzhané Wallis knows perfectly well what to do to magnetize the viewer. Her presence is vital; the demons chasing her in her dreams are essential. She needs to wait for them to come into her reality; she has to face them in a world that is falling apart right in front of her eyes.
Battleship | Review
Friday, May 18th, 2012Director: Peter Berg Writers: Erich Hoeber, Jon Hoeber Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Brooklyn Decker, Alexander Skarsgard, Rihanna, Tadanobu Asano, Hamish Linklater, Peter MacNicol, John Tui, Jesse Plemons, Gregory D. Gadson, Jerry Ferrara When one considers what a film adaptation of the classic guessing game Battleship might look like, images of green radar screens, monstrous steel ships, and World War II military uniforms come to mind. Director Peter Berg’s iteration pairs these expectations with some more random elements to create the desultory alien invasion action flick Battleship. Battleship takes place in an alterna-contemporary universe where a new planet with similar atmospheric conditions to earth has been discovered. Earth’s attempts at communications elicit a less than desirable reaction: an attack by four Transformers-esque ships filled with ambiguously motivated humanoid aliens. At the earth’s defense is a small fleet of Destroyers manned by a handful of U.S. and Japanese naval officers, including Alex Popper (Taylor Kitsch). Popper is one of those standard action film protagonists who is underestimated by his peers but manages to outperform all expectations under true duress. Kitsch is joined at sea by Rihanna, Alexander Skarsgård, Tadanobu Asano, and the ever esteemed Liam Neeson.
Hysteria | Review
Thursday, May 17th, 2012Director: Tanya Wexler Writers: Stephen Dyer, Jonah Lisa Dyer Starring: Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Felicity Jones, Rupert Everett, Jonathan Pryce One of history’s greatest anti-feminist myths has to do with hysteria, the catch all medical term once used to describe “erratic” female behavior such as anxiety, depression, anger, frustration, enthusiasm, and sexual dissatisfaction. Tanya Wexler’s film Hysteria tackles the subject with a study of the invention that allegedly helped treat the disorder: the vibrator. Set in the Victorian era, Hysteria follows the journey of Mortimer Granville (Hugh Dancy), an aspiring young doctor who finds himself employed in a lucrative hysteria treatment office run by Dr. Robert Dalrymple (Jonathan Pryce). Granville discovers that the popular office supplies a unique service: treatment of the disorder through sexual stimulation. As he struggles to succeed in his new position, he juggles interactions with Dr. Dalrymple’s two daughters: the proper Emily (Felicity Jones) and the inflammatory Charlotte (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Charlotte appeals to his desire to actually help people rather than supporting the fabricated concept of hysteria, while Emily represents a lucrative future supporting existing gender roles and societal norms.
Rust & Bone (De Rouille et d’os) | Review
Thursday, May 17th, 2012Director: Jacques Audiard Writers: Jacques Audiard (screenplay), Thomas Bidegain (screenplay), Craig Davidson (story) Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Armand Verdure, Celine Salette, Corinne Masiero, Bouli Lanners, Jean-Michel Correia There is something about Jacques Audiard’s latest film, Rust & Bone (which screened in competition at Cannes 2012), that calls upon my bad memories of Oskar Röhler’s adaptation of Michel Houellebecq’s novel Elementary Particles. Though Craig Davidson’s short stories belong to the prehistory of Audiard’s project, too many of the source elements were lost in translation. Like Röhler, Audiard focuses on the main, most dramatic events of his two characters; the narration expands upon two accidents, and the story in between is filled with naturalistic episodes that seem deprived of authentic psychology. Having in mind (the great!) A Prophet, I was expecting more than an assemblage of tragic attractions that should have been shocking enough to keep the ball rolling.
FOR GREATER GLORY | Advance Screenings Giveaway
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012Smells Like Screen Spirit & Arc Entertainment invite you
to RSVP for passes to our special advance screenings of
FOR GREATER GLORY
May 22, 2012 at 7:30 PM in
Austin, Dallas, Houston & San Antonio, TX.
Synopsis: What price would you pay for freedom? In the exhilarating action epic FOR GREATER GLORY, an impassioned group of men and women each make the decision to risk it all for family, faith and the very future of their country, as the film’s adventure unfolds against the long-hidden, true story of the 1920s Cristero War the daring people’s revolt that rocked 20th Century North America.
Academy Award® nominee Andy Garcia headlines an acclaimed cast as General Gorostieta, the retired military man who at first thinks he has nothing personal at stake as he and his wife (Golden Globe winner Eva Longoria) watch Mexico fall into a violent civil war. Yet the man who hesitates in joining the cause will soon become the resistance’s most inspiring and self-sacrificing leader, as he begins to see the cost of religious persecution on his countrymen…and transforms a rag-tag band of rebels into a heroic force to be reckoned with. The General faces impossible odds against a powerful and ruthless government. Yet it is those he meets on the journey – youthful idealists, feisty renegades and, most of all, one remarkable teenager named Jose who reveal to him how courage and belief are forged even when justice seems lost.
Director Dean Wright brings a visual power honed from years as a leading Hollywood effects guru on such blockbusters as TITANIC, THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and CHRONICLES OF NARNIA to this real-life tale that has never been told on screen before. The film is written by Michael Love. The producer is Pablo Jose Barroso. Garcia and Longoria lead a stellar multinational cast that includes the legendary Oscar®-nominated and Oscar® Lifetime Achievement recipient Peter O’Toole, rapidly rising star Oscar Isaac (DRIVE), recording star and actor Ruben Blades (SAFE HOUSE), Bruce Greenwood (STAR TREK, SUPER 8), Nestor Carbonell (THE DARK KNIGHT RISES), Bruce McGill (LINCOLN), Santiago Cabrera (“Heroes,” CHE), Oscar®-nominated Catalina Sandino Moreno (MARIA FULL OF GRACE) and Eduardo Verástegui (BELLA).
Shooting on historic locations throughout Mexico, the equally accomplished behind the scenes team includes director of photography Eduardo Martinez Solares (BAD HABITS), Oscar®-nominated editor Richard Francis-Bruce (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, SEVEN, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE), production designer Salvador Parra (VOLVER) and Oscar®-winning composer James Horner (AVATAR, TITANIC, BRAVEHEART).
Director: Dean Wright
Starring: Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, Peter O’Toole, Oscar Isaac, Santiago Cabrera, Catalina Sandino Morena, Bruce Greenwood
Studio: Arc Entertainment
MPAA Ratinng: R
Release Date: June 1, 2012
Screening Info: Tuesday, May 22nd at 7:30PM
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.
Austin click here to RSVP
Dallas click here to RSVP
Houston click here to RSVP
San Antonio click here to RSVP
Michael | Footage
Tuesday, May 15th, 2012Writer/Director: Markus Schleinzer
Starring: Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger, Christine Kain, Ursula Strauss, Victor Tremmel, Xaver Winkler, Thomas Pfalzmann
Not to be confused with the Nora Ephron film starring John Travolta, Austrian writer-director Markus Schleinzer’s Michael is an everyday portrait of a pedophile. (Yes, you read that correctly.) A very average-looking thirtysomething, Michael (Michael Fuith) spends his mundane days working in an insurance office. Then, when he arrives home after work, Michael closes the shutters of his windows nice and tight and heads down to the basement to visit Wolfgang (David Rauchenberger), the 10-year-old boy whom he keeps locked up down there. Michael and Wolfgang have dinner, wash dishes, watch movies and play games; then Michael ushers Wolfgang back to the basement and locks him up again… Schleinzer makes Michael’s disturbing sexual deviancy seem surprisingly normal. Except for one scene, Michael never becomes the stereotypical, creepy and deranged pedophile that Hollywood has consistently revealed to us. (Mind the pun.) Instead, Michael is all about keeping up the appearances of a banal, middle-class, suburban existence. He is a model employee at work, keeps his home impeccably tidy and clean, maintains regular contact with his sister and mother, goes on a ski trip with some buddies… Strand Releasing released writer-director Markus Schleinzer’s Michael on DVD in the United States today. To celebrate, we figured that we would post a clip from Michael. And let’s just say that after watching this clip, “Sunny” will have an entirely new meaning…