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SXSW Film 2010 Preview | Part 1
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010The Loved Ones, NY Export: Opus Jazz, A Different Path, For Once in My Life, Erasing David, Crying with Laughter, The Phantom of Liberty II, Beijing Taxi
As I mentioned yesterday, we are kicking off our SXSW coverage with previews to the films that were selected into the 2010 Film Festival. Today we have eight reviews from the fingers of our Senior Contributing Writer, Don Simpson. Check out the excerps below and click the links to see the full reviews. Stay tuned for more previews as we inch closer to March 12th opening day to SXSW Film 2010.
Loved Ones, The | Review
“The Loved Ones, a brilliantly creepy feature-length debut from writer-director Sean Byrne, is sure to please some of the more discerning horror fans out there with its brains, creativity and visual panache. From my estimation The Loved Ones is prone to become a “midnight movies” cult favorite ala Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy, and Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive and Bad Taste.”
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NY Export: Opus Jazz | Review
“At 43-minutes long, NY Export: Opus Jazz ends before it ever has the chance to become tedious or boring. For that I am thankful! With no dialogue, the narrative – as abstract as it might be – is communicated via the combination of dance, Robert Prince’s score, colors, locations and camerawork. Admittedly, I am not really a fan of ballet or Robert Prince’s brand of jazz, but NY Export: Opus Jazz held me under a hypnotic spell for its entire duration.”
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A Different Path | Review
“Director Monteith McCollum utilizes abstract animated images that are cleverly intertwined with the stories of Richard Dyksterhuis, Michael Johnson, Dan Hughes and Miguel Cameos. Even the interviews themselves attempt to stay clear of the conventional talking head format as much as possible, preferring to use carefully crafted yet somewhat random images whose intent is to captivate and amaze rather than bore (which talking heads are prone to do) the viewer.”
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For Once in My Life | Review
“For Once in My Life features both heartaches and triumphs; it will cause just as many smiles and laughs as it does tears. When you think of the way disabled people are treated in our society as a whole and how they are often segregated, if not totally forgotten, it is amazing to see these 29 people performing music at as high a caliber as professional musicians with absolutely no disabilities. If anything, it is because of the challenges that they face every day that they are able to get even closer to musical perfection. For Once in My Life is proof that people with disabilities should be given the same opportunities as everyone else. If you close your eyes while listening to The Spirit of Goodwill Band, I guarantee that you would never know that any of the members were disabled.”
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Erasing David | Review
“For better or worse, Erasing David also exemplifies just how paranoid and delusional even the most innocent of people can become by having their privacy invaded. (Bond visits with a therapist on multiple occasions during Erasing David in an attempt to deal with his paranoia and delusions.) There are several occasions that Bond offers up a mental breakdown for the camera, but unfortunately these scenes feel as contrived (read: acted) as footage from The Blair Witch Project (in fact, the nighttime mud hut footage plays like an outtake from The Blair Witch Project).”
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Crying with Laughter | Review
“Written and directed by Justin Molotnikov, Crying with Laughter is as brutally violent and emotionally raw as Joey’s stand-up. To paraphrase Joey, Crying with Laughter is about “abuse, kidnap, torture; just the average Saturday night in Scotland.” But, in all actuality, Crying with Laughter is about revenge; whether one is willing to resort to violence (even murder) in order to punish someone for past deeds or if the past can truly be forgiven, maybe even forgotten. Crying with Laughter is by no means an easy film to watch, but several of the plot’s twists and turns are executed quite masterfully and McCole’s lead performance is chillingly sincere.”
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Phantom of Liberty II, The | Review
“Phantom of Liberty II reveals to us how various people perceive time as well as history. We have the opportunity to spend a slice of time with different types of people – and thanks to indiscriminate time loops we sometimes get to spend the same exact slice of time with multiple people in different places.”
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Beijing Taxi | Review
“This is not just a documentary about taxi drivers; Beijing Taxi functions on a much higher level as well. Wang rarely settles down for talking head interviews; instead she takes to the streets – by foot and by car – to reveal the real Beijing. We witness firsthand what modernity and Capitalism are doing to China’s capital city. Bai goes to a “low cost hospital for ordinary citizens.” It seems like everyone in Beijing smokes cigarettes. Billboards for foreign products are everywhere.”
SMELLS LIKE SCREEN SPIRIT | SXSW FILM 2010 COVERAGE
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010This Friday March 12th, the strapping young lads you see above will kick off nine days of press coverage for SXSW FILM 2010. We will be bringing you the scoop around the festival, reviews, daily recaps, interviews, and other behind the scenes info to all things South by Southwest.
Tomorrow (March 10th) will begin our two day SXSW FILM PREVIEW which will include reviews to many of the films selected for this years film fest. Make sure that you are also following us on Twitter & Facebook for realtime updates as the festival gets underway.
In the meantime, head over to our About page or click on the links below and get to know the staff…
Dave Campbell | Editor-In-Chief
Don Simpson | Senior Contributing Writer
Dirk Sonniksen | Contributing Writer
JP Chapman | Contributing Writer
SXSW FILM 2010 will include films such as: Cold Weather, Elektra Luxx, Hubble 3D, Lemmy, SATURDAY NIGHT, Predators, Kick-Ass, Cyrus, Micmacs, Bear Nation, MacGruber, American Grindhouse, Trash Humpers, The People vs. George Lucas and may more…
Click here for the full schedule:
The 82nd Academy Award Winners | Oscars
Monday, March 8th, 2010History was made tonight by Kathryn Bigelow for becoming the first female to ever win the Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker. Shortly after another bomb exploded when seconds after she walked off stage Tom Hanks announced that The Hurt Locker was also the Best Picture, beating out the favorite Avatar and team Cameron. The Iraq War drama earned six total Oscar wins at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.
In the Best Actress/Actor categories, Sandra Bullock beat out Meryl Streep for Best Actress for her role in The Blind Side, and “The Dude” himself – Jeff Bridges took home the Best Actor Award for is role in Crazy Heart. The Best Supporting Actress went to Mo’Nique in Precious, while Christoph Waltz won the Best Supporting Actor Award for his part in Inglourious Basterds.
Check out the full list of Sunday nights winners below:
BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
WINNER: The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
BEST DIRECTOR
WINNER: Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
BEST ACTRESS
WINNER: Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
BEST ACTOR
WINNER: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
WINNER: Mo’Nique, Precious
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
WINNER: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WINNER: Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman, The Messenger
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, A Serious Man
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson & Tom McCarthy, Up
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci & Tony Roche, In the Loop
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
WINNER: Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
Nick Hornby, An Education
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Best Foreign Language Film
WINNER: El Secreto do Sus Ojos (Argentina)
Un Prophete (France)
The White Ribbon (Germany)
Ajami (Israel)
The Milk of Sorrow (Peru)
Best Animated Film
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
WINNER: Up
Best Documentary
Burma VJ
WINNER: The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
Best Editing
Avatar
District 9
WINNER: The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Best Visual Effects
WINNER: Avatar
District 9
Star Trek
Best Score
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
WINNER: Up
Best Cinematography
WINNER: Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon
Best Sound Mixing
Avatar
WINNER: The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Best Sound Editing
Avatar
WINNER: The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up
Best Costume Design
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
WINNER: The Young Victoria
Best Art Direction
WINNER: Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
Best Makeup
Il Divo
WINNER: Star Trek
The Young Victoria
Best Live-Action Short
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
WINNER: The New Tenants
Best Documentary Short
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
WINNER: Music by Prudence
Rabbit à la Berlin
Best Animated Short
French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
WINNER: Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
Best Song
“Almost There,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans,” The Princess and the Frog, Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname,” Paris 36, Reinhardt Wagner & Frank Thomas
“Take It All,” Nine, Maury Yeston
WINNER: “The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart, T-Bone Burnett & Ryan Bingham
Alice in Wonderland (2010) | Review
Friday, March 5th, 2010Director: Tim Burton
Writers: Linda Woolverton (screenplay) Lewis Carroll (book)
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry, Alan Rickman, Christopher Lee, Barbara Windsor, Paul Whitehouse, Matt Lucas, Michael Gough, Timothy Spall
Music: Danny Elfman
In continuation of the Lewis Carroll novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, Alice in Wonderland follows the curious and free spirited Alice, now 19 years of age. The story starts off as Alice and her mother approach an afternoon garden party. Taking the stance of an early champion in the feminist movement Alice rebels against the “proper” social place the woman of this era held. To the horror of her mother, Alice isn’t wearing the stockings and corset that are to accompany the dress she is wearing for an event that is secretly about her. Alice’s unfortunate suitor Hamish, has had his parents throw this gathering as a stage for his engagement, but Alice remains to be a girl of dreams and “what ifs?”.
Presented with this life changing proposition, Alice flees to follow the reappearing White Rabbit who takes her down the rabbit hole and into the place she visited 12 years prior, Wonderland (Underland). Wonderland is now looking for the champion savior who will stand against the Red Queen and slay her Jabberwocky on Frabjous Day with the Vorpal sword. Still following me here? By coincidence the very savior they seek is pictured in a magic scroll and looks just like an older Alice in body armor. Most are certain that Neo, excuse me I mean Alice, is the chosen one but some feel that she is not the right Alice. Will Alice be able to face her new grown up responsibilities, or will she face them in unconventional ways to define her own path…
Tim Burton’s new vision on the classic Lewis Carroll tale takes Alice into new territories and mediums. The 3-D is welcomed but really unnecessary to the environment, minus a few particular moments. Danny Elfman again represents his position as the second arm to Burton’s tone and environment with another score that bears witness to why you can’t have a Tim Burton film without Danny Elfman (minus Sweeney Todd). The overall look to Wonderland is Burton-esque, but not as much as I had hoped. This is a step in the dark direction for Disney whom you might remember pulled their label from Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas just before it’s release in 1993. The number of eye impalements, decapitated heads, and hookah puffs will surely have the crazies from fundamentalist religious groups protesting Disney over this film.
As far as stand out performances from the film, Mia Wasikowska really nailed the young adult version of Alice for me. With Alice approaching the ripe age of 20, she seems wise and beyond her years in many ways but also holds onto the innocence and endearing wonderment of youth. It’s a nice blend that really works for the continuity of Alice’s character.
Anne Hathaway was very well cast as the White Queen, but at times she almost seems like a parody of the standard Disney princess. She gracefully floats around almost singing her lines, but her overdone hand and arm posturing make me want to join the mad tea party. Helena Bonham Carter is also pitch perfect as the charmingly nasty Red Queen. It took me a minute or two to get past her enlarged head, but her presence is a solid pillar to the experience.
The Cheshire Cat was always one of my favorite things from Disney’s 1951 animated Alice in Wonderland and the trend continues here. The combo of spectaular CG and the voice talent of Stephen Fry make the Cheshire Cat one of the most rewarding elements to the film. He’s also the only thing that really merits the 3-D. As well done as the creatures of Wonderland are rendered, there are some issues with the live action characters that are digitally manipulated, most notibly being Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts. I must mention Glover was excellently cast and gave a spot on character performance, but the falseness of his movements really stood out to me. His actual physical performance and the digital layer never seemed to meet a fluidity that married the two together.
The biggest problem I had with this tale of Alice is the focus that was put on the Mad Hatter, or rather Johnny Depp. In all honesty, the Mad Hatter might very well be the cause to the disfunction of this film. Too many excuses are made sacrificing the plot just to bring in Depp and rack up his screen time. Instead of falling into the character with Depp, it was hard to get past the overkill circus of his clown make-up, costume, and multiple accents. I got pulled out of the film as he transitioned from a lisp-y English whisper, to ranting like an angry Scottish man, and finishing off with a very Jack Sparrow-ish pirate garble. I know he is the Mad Hatter and all, but did the role also gain multiple personalities for the character and this film?
Besides my earlier statement about the Hatter, the costumes for the film are pretty damn fabulous. The piece that really stood out was the dress that the Red Queen had made up for Alice to wear in her court – it’s award winning great. The rest of the film was technically well done but cinematography and art design seemed muted to me by the 3-D that Hollywood is forcibly spoon feeding us.
Being an avid Tim Burton fan, my first viewing of Alice in Wonderland concluded in confusion. Moments of enjoyment were had, but not at the cost of disappointment. What seems like the perfect vehicle for Burton to run wild with his unique vision of style and tone, he more-or-less finds himself a little lost in the rabbit hole.
Rating: 5/10
Fish Tank | Review
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Director: Andrea Arnold
Writer: Andrea Arnold
Starring: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender
As an heir apparent to the British social realist tradition of Ken Loach’s working-class dramas, director Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank is a painfully bleak portrait of modern life on an Essex estate (which, for us Yanks, is a half-step up from the ghetto) – a steely urban wasteland located somewhere near Tilbury.
We never witness the protagonist – an aggressive and jaded 15-year-old named Mia (Katie Jarvis) – attend school (apparently she has been expelled and may be going to boarding school next) and she is rarely out of her life’s uniform of choice: hoodie and sweat pants. Mia resides in a dreary non-descript council flat with her mother – more like a slutty, foul-mouthed and foul-tempered older sister – Joanne (Kierston Wareing) and a potty-mouthed, beer drinking and cigarette smoking prepubescent younger sister – Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths). Together (with no father in sight) they are indeed the poster family for “broken Britain” – the hopelessly marginalized class of high-rise, low-income Britain. The most unpleasantly sour, piss-off existence if ever there was one. Together they personify the mantra of the prominently-featured Nas track: “life’s a bitch and then you die.”
Apparently the only form of communication for Mia’s family is yelling at outlandishly loud decibels (Arnold’s casting agent discovered Jarvis in the midst of an argument with her boyfriend at Tilbury station in Essex) – and their language is riddled by profanity and hatred. When a working man – an Irishman named Connor (Michael Fassbender) – enters their lives as Joanne’s new boyfriend, the three intense females begin to mellow out thanks to the lulling nature of his attentive charm and apparent kindness. In fact, Connor seems to be the only factor that can keep the three females in the same room without an incredibly violent combustion. Connor even goes as far as ushering them to the country – thus forcing them to peacefully coexist for an extended period of time while in the restricted confines of a car. During this excursion, Connor introduces them to his favorite music – it is “weird shit” (as Joanne calls it), like Bobby Womack’s “California Dreamin’” and “Get Up Offa That Thing” by James Brown, but they adapt to it quickly. It is not long before Womack’s “California Dreamin’” is Mia’s favorite song and it becomes the soundtrack to her fantasy of escaping the concrete jungle of Essex.
Connor’s cooling affect seems to be strongest with Mia – when she is around Connor her personality is toned-down to somewhere around content bordering on pleasant. Yet, we are not fooled by this: from Connor’s initial ogling of Mia as she sensually dances in the kitchen (“like a black” – which, according to Connor, is a compliment) to Mia’s wanting stare of Connor’s bare-chested body, it is easy to predict down which path this story will eventually travel. Their relationship becomes disturbingly more heated as they endlessly alternate between being the victim and the perpetrator in the pedophilic scenario. Mia just wants someone to love her (she certainly does not receive any positive affirmations from her mother or sister) while Connor is just hoping to get those damn sweat pants off of Mia.
Trapped on the wrong side of the unforgiving glass walls of lower-class Britain (most likely the fish tank to which the film’s title refers), Mia’s pent-up anger and frustration is busting at the seams. The question is whether or not Mia will ever be strong enough to shatter the glass in order to break free of the inherent restraints of her family’s class. Cramped in a claustrophobic 4×3 ratio, director of photography Robbie Ryan purposefully and effectively encages (and enrages) Mia’s energies – as she quite literally pounds against the outer frames of the screen while she dances.
This is definitely not a healthy environment for a 15-year old (and especially her younger sister) to be raised – no hope, no future and no love. It is overtly apparent that Joanne only cares about getting drunk and getting laid; her children are pesky annoyances that continually get in the way of her fun. Joanne’s feeble efforts to keep Mia away from the bumping and grinding parties going on in their living room at night is most likely due to sexual competition, not good parenting (it is obvious that Joanne does not care about keeping Mia and Tyler away from alcohol).
Such a grim picture, but we do glimpse some goodness and naivety within Mia. For one – she is fascinated by, and repeatedly attempts to free, a dying old horse helplessly chained in a parking lot alongside a highway. But, Mia has her excessively evil moments as well – such as the harrowing sequence on the Essex marshes with Connor’s young daughter Keira (Sydney Mary Nash).
Fish Tank’s bravado is a hard kick in the balls for all of the sexist and demeaning jokes that have been made about Essex women over the years. Despite Mia’s penchant for liters of booze and profane tirades, she exudes a relentless and spirited will to do better for herself. Mia is motivated not by role models or the support of friends and family, but solely by the hope that there is something better out there than what she currently has.
First-timer Jarvis gives a bitterly honest lead performance, one that is a schizophrenic (or at least hormonal instability) mix of tenacity, meanness and fragility. The character of Mia exudes so many emotions in so little time – yet Jarvis ties them all together so authentically and effortlessly. The greatest compliment to an actor is to say that they did not appear to be acting – and Jarvis is not portraying Mia, she is Mia.
Admittedly, I did not enjoy much of the music per se but the soundtrack of Fish Tank is flawless nonetheless. Not only do the songs fit the characters and mood of the film like a glove, but the lyrics of the songs provide greater meaning and depth to the onscreen events. In some instances, the song lyrics literally become part of the dialogue as if the singer was an omnipotent narrator. Fish Tank is proof of one of the great potentials of soundtracks – the use of lyrical songs to work with and advance the narrative of the film.
Fish Tank scored the Prix du Jury at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Andrea Arnold won Best Director and Katie Jarvis won Most Promising Newcomer at the 2009 British Independent Film Awards.
Rating: 8.5/10
Austin Nordic Film Festival | February 27, 2010
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Nordic (a.k.a. Scandinavian) Cinema – films made in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – is known for its stark and foreboding landscapes, slow pacing, and strange humor that seems to toggle between absurdism, surrealism and just plain silly. Those are, admittedly, some over-arching stereotypes; but, personally, I most enjoy Nordic films that match those stereotypes to a tee. In fact, many of my favorite directors are from Nordic nations (Ingmar Bergman, Aki Kaurismäki, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Lasse Hallström, Lars von Trier, Lukas Moodysson, Susanne Bier, Risto Jarva, Erik Skjoldbjærg, Tomas Alfredson, Bent Hamer, Baltasar Kormákur, Dagur Kári, and Olaf de Fleur). I’m not sure what that says about me as a person? To the best of my knowledge, I am not of Nordic ancestry – so I cannot explain where I gained this strange affinity for Nordic cinema. In which case, I’ll just lay all of the blame on the incorrigible genius of Ingmar Bergman whom I first discovered in film school…
I could go on and on about Nordic Cinema, but I’ll spare you the lecture and instead I will just get right down to the business at hand…
February 27th was a Saturday. It came and went just like any other Saturday. But unbeknownst to most of Austin, something special happened on February 27th – the Austin Nordic Film Festival at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum. Somehow the prior years of the Austin Nordic Film Festival slid beneath my radar; but thanks to the powers of Facebook, the 2010 incarnation of this festival caught my attention. The fact that Danish film Flame & Citron (directed by Ole Christian Madsen) was playing was just a bonus – it was apparently released theatrically in Austin in November 2009 but it was gone before I ever realized it was here.
Running for essentially seven straight hours in one theater (ample endurance-building for the upcoming SXSW Film Festival), The Austin Nordic Film Festival featured a total of eight short films and two features, plus a free after-party at Shultz’s Beer Garden for all attendees. The films were separated into three blocks, with the assumption that some people may skip the second block of films (comprised of three short films) in favor of dinner (and the Austin Nordic Film Festival deserves kudos for being considerate enough to provide the attendees with a list of several local eateries within walking distance of the Texas History Museum).
With the utmost regret, I must report that I was only able to attend the first block of films (I was very distraught to have to miss the second feature film – Everlasting Moments). So, unfortunately, I can only report on the first block of films (I have no doubts that the rest of the festival was wonderful):
The Lake (Järvi) – This Finnish short features two women in a rowboat out on a lake. They are searching for something – and that something turns out to be a “lost” boyfriend. He had “fallen overboard” earlier that day. As it turns out, there are plenty of exes bobbing around in the lake – sort of a literal play on the saying “there are many fish in the sea.”
The Last Farm (Síðasti bærinn) – This Icelandic short tells the story of an aging farmer as he completes his final chores before boarding up his house for the winter and reluctantly prepares to relocate to a retirement home in the city with his wife. The Last Farm, with its bleak subject matter (Hrafn wife lies dead in their bed – one of the chores he must contend with), is the antithesis of overtly goofy The Lake. Watching them back-to-back was somewhat jarring, but also quite effective in showing the scope of emotions present in Nordic films.
The Magician – This Icelandic short is about a young boy who thinks he has magical powers which enable him to escape from his abusive and perpetually drunken father. The Magician teeters between the dreamy poeticism of the boy’s fantasies and the bleak and depressing realities of his situation at home. The lead character reminds me a lot of Kåre Hedebrant (Let the Right One In), but IMDB.com is providing me with no assistance in finding out the actors’ names for The Magician (I am 99% certain it was not Hedebrant).
My review of the feature-length Flame and Citron (Flammen & Citronen) can be found here.
Flame & Citron (Flammen & Citronen) | Review
Thursday, March 4th, 2010Director: Ole Christian Madsen
Writers: Lars Andersen, Ole Christian Madsen
Starring: Thure Lindhardt, Mads Mikkelsen, Stine Stengade, Peter Mygind, Mille Hoffmeyer Lehfeldt, Christian Berkel, Hanns Zischler, Claus Riis Ostergaard, Lars Mikkelsen, Flemming Enevold, Jesper Christensen
The place is Copenhagen, the year is 1944. Flame (Thure Lindhardt) and Citron’s (Mads Mikkelsen) moral compasses are spinning out of control as they go on a strategic killing spree of Danes who are collaborating with Nazis occupiers, then straight for the jugular of the Nazis themselves.
Citron begins the film as a family man; he is Flame’s sidekick, but he is literally just along for the drive (a stressful job nonetheless causing him to sweat profusely, drink heavily and gulp down pills to quell his nerves). However, it is not long before the lunacy of war takes hold of Citron and never ever lets him go. Even Flame, who is an unwavering killing machine (unless faced with the task of killing a woman) from the moment we are introduced to him, is not built for this brand of cold-blooded murder of unarmed targets caught totally unaware.
Flame and Citron have gone way too far, and the local Nazis under the command of Karl Heinz Hoffmann (Christian Berkel) have offered a significant bounty for their heads on a silver platter. There is no turning back at this point – either continue to kill Nazis or be killed by Nazis. Running away like a coward is not an option. Besides, the Nazis (who were nearing defeat, but still seem indestructible at this juncture) would more than likely track them down.
The resistance duo is only trying to be heroes, but it is not long before Flame and Citron begin to question their leaders’ motives. To confuse matters further, a gorgeous document courier – the femme fatale, if you may – Ketty (Stengade) appears on the playing board; her hair color (which alternates from blonde to brunette to blonde to brunette to blonde…) seems somehow related (but not directly) to whichever team she is working for at any moment in time. Ketty’s allegiance seems to shift with the wind – sometimes working for Flame and Citron’s boss – the Copenhagen police chief, Winther (Peter Mygind) – and other times she is caught palling around with the evil Hoffmann.
Flame & Citron raises a preponderance of questions concerning morality and guilt: With morals lost in the fog of war, when (if ever) can killing be justified? Where can that line be drawn and by whom? What if Flame and Citron were duped and their targets were actually innocent people? Are they at fault for abiding by orders from their superiors? Are they becoming more and more like their enemy? Besides, how different are Flame and Citron from the Nazis after all? In the end, will the resistance (and the proverbial free world) consider Flame and Citron to be heroes or villains?
The most expensive Danish film at the time it was made, Flame & Citron is a delicious and near-flawless WWII noir. There is the obvious (and admitted) influence that Jean-Pierre Melville’s Army of Shadows had on this film from former Dogme ’95 member, Ole Christian Madsen. I also notice some similarities to Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book (a much under-rated film in my book) which, like Flame & Citron, toys brilliantly with noirish conventions (from the femme fatale, to the blurring of allegiances and truths, to the preponderance of black – which in Flame & Citron accentuates Flame’s stunning red hair and everyone’s pale white skin) – Black Book also happens to deal with the resistance of Nazi occupation during WWII, so there’s that too.
The script by Madsen and Lars Andersen is based on the true story of two actual Danish resistance fighters.
Rating: 9/10
AUSTIN FILM FEST OSCAR WEEK PROMOTION
Thursday, March 4th, 2010The 17th annual Austin Film Festival and Conference announced today that Lone Star Badges for the 2010 festival on October 21-28, 2010 are only $75 for the remainder of the week leading up to the Oscars. This promotion is effective immediately and will end at the conclusion of the Oscars on March 7th. Also, anyone who purchases a Lone Star Badge during this time frame is eligible to win a free upgrade to a Weekend Badge ($255 value) during the Oscars. If an AFF09 film wins Best Screenplay (original or adapted), the first person to twitter or post the following on their Facebook wall will win the upgrade.
For TWITTER: Congrats @austinfilmfest alum
For FACEBOOK: Congrats @AustinFilmFestival alum
AFF09 films nominated for writing awards:
Best Original Screenplay
– The Messenger
Best Adapted Screenplay
– An Education
– Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
– Up in the Air
ABOUT AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL
The Austin Film Festival (AFF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to furthering the art, craft and business of writers and filmmakers and recognizing their contributions to film, television and new media. The AFF champions the work of aspiring and established writers and filmmakers by providing unique cultural events and services, enhancing public awareness and participation and encouraging dynamic and long-lasting community partnerships. www.austinfilmfestival.com.
The Austin Film Festival is funded and supported in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
Robert Rodriguez brings PREDATORS to SXSW
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010Austin, Texas – March 3, 2010 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has announced Austin-based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez and director Nimród Antal will present a “First Look” at their upcoming motion picture Predators, at SXSW on March 12, 2010. SXSW also announced the world premiere of Géla Babluani’s 13, the previously announced Super Secret TBA as part of the SX Fantastic midnight section. The 2010 event will take place March 12 – March 20, 2010.
The special presentation of Predators will take place at the Alamo Ritz Theater in downtown Austin, at 10:15pm. Doors open at 9:45pm, and the special event is only open to SXSW Badge-holders on a first-come, first-served basis. An audience Q&A follows the unveiling. SXSW Badges are still available for purchase at www.sxsw.com/attend.
A bold new chapter in the Predator universe, Predators was shot on location under Rodriguez’s creative auspices at the filmmaker’s Austin-based Troublemaker Studios, and is directed by Nimród Antal. The film stars Adrien Brody as Royce, a mercenary who reluctantly leads a group of elite warriors who come to realize they’ve been brought together on an alien planet… as prey. With the exception of a disgraced physician, they are all cold-blooded killers – mercenaries, Yakuza, convicts, death squad members – human “predators” that are now being systemically hunted and eliminated by a new breed of alien Predators. In addition to Adrien Brody, the film stars Topher Grace, Alice Braga, and Laurence Fishburne. Co-starring are Walton Goggins, Danny Trejo, Oleg Taktarov and Mahershalalhashbaz Ali.
Predators was written by Alex Litvak & Mike Finch based upon characters created by Jim Thomas & John Thomas. The producers are Robert Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellàn. Twentieth Century Fox releases Predators in theaters everywhere July 9, 2010.
Commented Robert Rodriguez: “My director Nimród Antal and I are excited to bring this first look at Predators to Austin’s SXSW Film Festival, an event that’s become vital to the filmmaking scene. Austin is my home and I’m proud that Predators was conceived and filmed here.”
Said Film Conference & Festival Producer Janet Pierson: “Robert Rodriguez and Troublemaker Studios are a continued fountain of filmmaking creativity and innovation here in Austin, TX. We couldn’t be more proud to present the unveiling of Predators at our 2010 event.”
Additionally, SXSW has revealed the identity of the Super Secret TBA in its SX Fantastic section – the anticipated world premiere of Géla Babluani’s 13 will take place at Midnight on Saturday, March 13 at the Alamo South Lamar Theater.
13, a remake of the 2005 French film 13 Tzameti, also directed by Babluani, stars Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Ben Gazzara, and Alexander Skarsgard. The thriller follows the story of Vince, who unwittingly becomes involved in a degenerate, clandestine world of mental chaos behind closed doors.
2010 marks the second year of the SX Fantastic section, a series of mind-bending international midnight films at SXSW programmed by Tim League, founder of the Austin-based Fantastic Fest. This year features a diverse slate of five action, thriller, sci-fi and just plain fantastic films from all corners of the world. For more information on the SX Fantastic section, as well as the rest of the Festival program, visit www.sxsw.com/film.
Over the course of nine days, the 2010 Festival will host a total of 134 features, including 64 world premieres, and will open with the world premiere of Kick-Ass, directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Aaron Johnson, Cholë Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Nicolas Cage. SXSW will also host more than 80 Film Conference panels, which will take place Friday, March 12 – Tuesday, March 16. For the complete program of films and panels, as well as schedule information, visit my.sxsw.com.
Crazies, The (2010) | Review
Saturday, February 27th, 2010Director: Breck Eisner
Producers: Michael Aguilar, Rob Cowan, Dean Georgaris
Writer(s): Scott Koser, Ray Wright, George A. Romero
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, Danielle Panabacker
I start this review by throwing Smells Like Screen Spirit founder, Dave, under the bus a bit in his foray of getting me to watch and review The Crazies. I am probably the least knowledgeable staff member on the zombie genre, and have a history of not being too “adept” at coping with horror films. Nevertheless, it was probably his subversive goal to get a perspective on the film from someone that doesn’t typically jump into horror movies (but I prefer to assume he was just being lazy). I hope you’re happy, Dave…
A remake of George A. Romero’s film of the same name from 1973, The Crazies isn’t a terrible zombie film, but still remains far from perfect. Throwing in the requisite gore, jumpy moments, and tongue in cheek over-the-top violence present in most films of the genre, it’s a fairly fun movie to watch. However; in the course of viewing it, you can’t help but get the sense that this is a somewhat shallow imitation of not only the original film, but also other films in the zombie canon.
Set in a small farming community in Iowa, The Crazies follows the lives of the town sheriff (Timothy Olyphant), his pregnant doctor-wife (Radha Mitchell), and deputy (Joe Anderson) as they begin to investigate oddly violent behavior amongst different members of the community. One by one, members of the town are beginning to lose focus and lash out at those closest to them. In the course of their investigation, a body of what appears to be a military officer that parachuted out of a plane is discovered in a nearby swamp. While attempting to ascertain the identity of this officer, Sheriff David Dutton and his deputy, Russell, trace the clues left by the body to the wreckage of a plane that has crashed in a local body of water feeding the town’s water supply. Sheriff Dutton begins to suspect the cargo of this plane is what may be leading to the erratic behavior of the townspeople, and urges the mayor to shut off the town water supply. It may be too late for this course of action though, as the town is woken in the middle of the night by huge numbers of soldiers suddenly appearing and herding people they deem as “infected” into quarantine at the local high school, while the “uninfected” are evacuated to safety. Chaos ensues as the townspeople grow increasingly violent, and eventually escape from the high school. Dutton, his wife, and Russell rescue a young teen girl and begin an attempt to elude both their former friends and neighbors, as well as the soldiers that are prepared to kill any remaining townspeople. The duration of the film follows this small group of survivors as they attempt to make it to the outskirts of town, and what they hope is safety.
In many ways, it’s fitting that director Breck Eisner (son of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner) got his start via a combination of commercials and sci-fi channel movies. While they can be creative, commercials are not necessarily known for much depth, and hold to primarily being eye-candy. Additionally, sci-fi channel movies aren’t typically known for their “originality”. This lack of originality and focus on flashiness manages to bleed into The Crazies in a big way; resulting in a derivative film that while somewhat fun to watch, is nothing to write home about. This is not to say that the directing, cinematography, etc. are lazy or bad; they just don’t stand out. The same things could be said for the acting present in much of the film. While it’s not terrible, there’s nothing memorable about any of the performances. In fact, the performances disappointingly feel like Xeroxed versions of other survivor performances in previous zombie films.
I don’t mean to be too harsh on this film. If you like horror movies, and you enjoy zombie movies, you will likely have fun at this movie. It’s just that with the flood of zombie movies in recent years, I can’t help but compare this film to the inventive new takes on the genre such as 28 Days Later or even Zombieland. With all those factors taken into consideration, feel free to check this movie out if you want to jump up a bit and laugh at its moments of ridiculousness; just don’t expect to have a life changing experience.
Rating: 5/10
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