Ads 468 X 60

Iron Man 3 (2013)



Release Date: May 03, 2013
Director: Shane Black
Written By: Drew Pearce, Shane Black
Cast: Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau, Paul Bettany, Robert Downey Jr.
Synopsis:


Iron Man 3 pits genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark (Iron Man) against the Mandarin, an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed by his mysterious antagonist, he embarks on a dangerous quest to find those responsible. His journey will test his character at every turn. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?



Here's the new theatrical trailer for Shane Black's Iron Man 3

Read more

World War Z : It’s a Zombie Movie

Release date: June 21, 2013 (USA)
Director: Marc Forster
Running time: 116 minutes
Screenplay: Matthew Michael Carnahan, Damon Lindelof, Drew Goddard
Story by: Max Brooks, J. Michael Straczynski, Matthew Michael Carnahan

Vultures have been circling the lumbering mega-budget production of World War Z almost since the film went into pre-production. First, fans of Max Brook's highly-regarded novel were up in arms when it emerged that the book's multiplicity of survivors' tales was to be distilled into a star vehicle for Pitt. Then news leaked of multiple drafts from various writers being rejected (the film has writing credits for four different scribes). Early trailers were ill received. It emerged that the entire last act of the film (an epic battle sequence) had been junked and fanboy kryptonite Lindelof brought in to write an entirely new ending.

With the mood on the blogosphere toxic, the trades and mainstream press piled in as the smell of blood in the water grew stronger. Paramount eventually stopped even pretending the film was not troubled, allowing Vanity Fair to publish an astonishing account of the difficult production - further increasing speculation that this was a $200 million dollar plus vanity project for Pitt and his production company, Plan B.
***

***
Now World War Z has finally arrived, and if the narrative behind its making is as compelling as that of any of 2013's blockbusters, the unexpected twist ending is the year's most shocking. Spoiler... the movie is good. In fact, it's not just good - it's great.

Pitt plays Gerry Lane, a former investigator for the United Nations living with his family in cheerfully chaotic domestic bliss, economically sketched out in an opening breakfast scene that is almost the only moment of calm for the next 100-odd minutes - save that the TV in the kitchen is running disturbing news footage of social disorder breaking out in locations across the world. Driving his family into the city, Gerry gets stuck in traffic gridlock and BOOM! All hell breaks loose as the whole world goes to s***in what seems like five minutes flat and director Forster slams the pedal to the metal for the first of many stunning action sequences.

The subsequent globe-trotting story has Lane is drafted back into service for the United Nations to search for the source of the "zombie" plague that within days has brought the world to the brink of apocalypse. The pace is blistering, honestly comparable to Gareth Evans' The Raid, and the scale is as epic as hundreds of millions of dollars can provide. What makes World War Z really work is humanity of its characters. Pitt himself is at the heart of this. To make a film like this commercially viable, it had to have a major star. But Lane is no superman (or Superman). He isn't James Bond, Jason Bourne or Ethan Hunt - in fact, he spends most of the film running away from stuff. Pitt really sells the notion that Lane is a common man in extraordinarily uncommon circumstances, motivated by love of his family to put himself ridiculously in harm's way. I struggle to come up with another male star of his stature that could have pulled this part off.

Pitt is in every scene, but around him are a rapidly-changing collection of characters who join only for sections of the narrative. However by canny international casting characters who often have mere minutes of screen time register memorably. Especially good are Enos (from TV's Big Love and the US version of The Killing) as Lane's wife, and Israeli actress Daniella Kertesz (in a nearly dialogue free role). Nowhere is it more clear that the film has been substantially shaped in the editing room, than from the fact that the highly-billed Fox is essentially a blink-and-you'll-miss-him featured extra. Before remarking on Forster's skills remember that when Terrence Malick does this, he's called a genius.

Where the film really scores is that despite the fact that it is a "zombie" movie (and unusually one where the reason characters use that term is because they have seen zombie movies), the environments and human characters feel real and convincing. The action has a gritty verite feel while never being less than spectacular. While the threat is fantastical, like Romero's best zombie films World War Z takes place in a convincing world - in this case a distinctly post 9/11 one. One sequence in particular is sure to inspire debate over the presence or not of a geo-political subtext, but I'll leave that for you to discover.

World War Z is also often very frightening; despite the lack of gore, this is an extremely intense film and one which parents should be very careful about bringing children to. At the time of writing no BBFC certificate had been announced, but it has received a PG-13 in the US - meaning a 12A is quite possible. This is absolutely not a movie for under-12s, and if you take them, prepare for sleepless nights.

The breakneck pace and sheer shock-and-awe of the film's scale paper over a few cracks. What exactly makes Pitt's character the UN's go-to guy is never exactly made clear, and some of the plot mechanics that propel the story from one part of the globe to the next don't quite hold up to intense scrutiny. However, in my view, one would really have to be committed to not having a good time to find these elements overly troubling. This is widescreen filmmaking at its best.

World War Z is a compelling reminder that for every troubled production that produces a Bonfire of the Vanities or Island of Dr. Moreau, there is Casablanca, Apocalypse Now, or Blade Runner. I'm not putting WWZ quite in that category - only time will tell - but against all the odds, this is the best blockbuster yet seen in the 2013.
By FireLordVinny
Read more

American Pie 2 (2000)


Genre: Comedy/Drama/Adventure

Starring: Jason Biggs, Shanon Elizabeth, Alyson Hannigan, Chris Klien, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Natasha Lyonne, Tara Reid, Seann William Scott, Mena Suvari, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Chris Owen, Eugene Levy

In continuation to where the previous movie left off, the 5 friends head back to East Great Falls for the summer and plan to head to the lake for the rest of the summer. Jim (Biggs), Kevin (Nicholas), Finch (Thomas), Oz (Owen) and Stiffler (Scott) crash at a massive rented house by the lake. Bringing Stiffler along was a decision they had to make with their heads rather than their heart in order to divide the costs more. What ensues is massive partying, a load of people getting drunk, some getting laid and love blossoming. Vicky (Reid) too comes to the lake and Kevin is stuck in a position where he wants her but also does not want to look desperate and lose her. Nadia (Elizabeth), Jim's crush, is coming to meet him and hints that she wants to have a 'romantic' time with him. Jim, in all his desperation, is trying hard to prepare himself. Finch is awaiting his lady love, Stiffler's mom to arrive at the party and his taken up Tantra to increase his sex drive. Sadly, this movie does not come up with an innovative plot line and sticks to pretty much everyone trying to get lucky with their respective ladies. It is pretty objective-less and does not seem to drive to a point. There also is a missing element of humour that the first movie had which was badly needed in this installment. It is still a watchable and enjoyable movie but it has a lot of scope for improvement.

Thumbs up: Retains the entertainment from the original movie
Thumbs down: Misses out on humour and a sensible story

Rating: 6.7/10
Read more

Fantastic Mr.Fox (2009)


Genre: Animation/Comedy/Crime/Adventure/Drama

Starring (voice): George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Eric Chase Anderson, Wallace Wolodarsky, Michael Gambon, William Dafoe, Owen Wilson, Robin Hurlstone, Hugo Guiness

Based on the famous book by Roald Dahl with the same name, the story narrates the life of Mr. Fox (Clooney) who lives life by raiding nearby farms. When he learns of his wife's pregnancy, he decides to quit his hobby in favour of the family and their to-be child. Two years later (Twelve in fox years) Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox (Streep) and their son Ash (Schwartzman) move to a new hole under a tree which is close to the fields of three farmers; Boggis (Hurlstone), Bunce (Guiness) and Bean (Gambon). When Ash's cousin Kristofferson (Anderson) comes over to stay over the weekend, Ash feels insecure when everyone praises him and his capabilities over Ash. With Mr. Fox feeding his family with his nightly jaunts, the farmers are tired of the thefts and decide they need to get rid of Mr.Fox once and for all. The movie is made in stop-motion animation technology which gives it a good childish look and feel. Roald Dahl wrote books for children and the movie too aims to target the same segment with the movie. However, in spite of the movie being made for a younger audience the movie can still be very entertaining to the mature mind too. It is a great wholesome entertainer that people of all ages would enjoy. This is what you call a well-rounded entertaining movie.

Thumbs up: Great animation, good plot execution
Thumbs down: None specifically

Rating: 7.7/10
Read more

Conan the Barbarian (2011)


Genre: Adventure/Action/Fantasy

Starring: Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols, Ron Perlman, Rose McGowan, Bob Sapp

Arnold Schwarzenegger made Conan immortal in his 1982 movie where he portrayed the strong and hefty medieval hero. This movie is not a remake but uses the character of Conan in an entirely different story. Conan (Momoa) is a barbarian whose father was killed in the hands of Khalar Zym, a power-hungry warlord, when he was a child. Conan swears revenge and grows up to become a ruthless hero who fights for the justice of his people. Thousands of years ago a Mask was crafted by some sorcerers that gave the wearer immense dark power. The barbaric clans got together to destroy the mask and disperse its pieces in the far corners of the Earth so that no one may be able to rebuild it. Khalar Zym has managed to accumulate all the pieces and now need to find the descendant of the sorcerers of Achelon in whose veins the pure-blood still runs. Tamara (Nichols) is the last surviving member of this identity who is being hunted down by Khalar Zym. Conan would go to any levels to prevent Khalar from finding her and also aims to avenge his fathers death once and for all. A very typical hero movie is what you would find yourself watching. There is nothing very different, the usual villain who wants global control, a big-bodied invincible hero and the innocent and pretty damsel in distress. The action in the movie is one of its talking points, and although it gets a bit bloody, it still very enjoyable. A decent movie but to be watched only for the action.

Thumbs up : Good action
Thumbs down: Nothing different to offer from other such movies

Rating: 6.4/10
***

***
Read more

Fast and Furious 6 : All roads lead to this

Fast and Furious 6
Director: Justin Lin
Writers: Chris Morgan, Gary Scott Thompson (characters)
Stars: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson | See full cast and crew

Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson lead the returning cast of all-stars as the global blockbuster franchise built on speed races to its next continent in Fast & Furious 6. Reuniting for their most high-stakes adventure yet, fan favourites Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges and Elsa Pataky are joined by badass series newcomers Luke Evans and Gina Carano.

Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian’s (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin’s empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete.

Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.
***

***
Fast and Furious 6 is in my opinion one of the strongest and best movies in the franchise yet. However, it still does not match up to the original.

The Fast and the Furious (2001) - 5/5
2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) - 3/5
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) - 2/5
Fast & Furious (2009) - 3/5
Fast Five (2011) - 4/5
Fast & Furious 6 (2013) 4/5

Fast and Furious 6 follows on nicely from Fast Five (2011) and begins with Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and the rest of his gang having retired following their successful heist in Rio. However, they are still not safe and remain as wanted fugitives by U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson). Hobbs, on the other hand, requires their help and agrees to pardon the group and allow them to return home if they help him to take down Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) and his second in command, Dominic's presumed-dead lover Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez).

This film ties up a few of the loose ends and in a post-credits scene reveals something from the third film which sets up the next, Fast and Furious 7.
By J Hobbs
Read more

American Pie (1999)


Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Jason Biggs, Chris Klien, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Alyson Hannigan, Shanon Elizabeth, Tara Reid, Eddie Kay Thomas, Sean William Scott, Eugene Levy, Natasha Lyonne, Mena Suvari, Jennifer Coolidge, Chris Owen

The movie that started it all. American Pie has been unofficially accredited with kick-starting the modern sex comedy rage which later saw a whole bunch of movie modelled on similiar lines. The movie narrates the story of a group of high school friends. Kevin (Nicholas), Chris Oz (Klien), Finch (Thomas), Jim (Biggs) and Stiffler (Scott) are all set to go to college but all of them, except Stiffler, are still virgins and they dont want to enter college like this. They make a pact that by prom, they would all manage to lose their virginity and become men. Kevin has a long time girlfriend Vicky (Reid) whom he is trying to seduce but she isnt quite up for it. Oz joins the choir hoping that some of the 'socially ignored' choir girls would take a liking for him. Jim tries his hand at the Czech exchange student, Nadia (Elizabeth). Finch tries to spread rumours about himself and his fake sexual encounters in a bid to generate some interest amongst the ladies. The movie is good fun to watch and is a hilarious comedy. Slapstick and sexual humour plagues the entire movie and makes for a complete wholesome entertainment. A nice one to watch with your buddies with some beer.

Thumbs up: Great entertainment
Thumbs down: Not LOL funny

Rating: 7.3/10
Read more

Back to the Future (1985)


Genre: Science-fiction/Adventure/Comedy

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Grispin Glover, Thomas F. Wilson, Claudia Wells

Marty McFly (Fox) is the average American kid who loves skate-boarding, chasing girls and getting late to school. His father keeps getting bullied by his supervisor, Biff (Wilson), his mother is an alcoholic and his elder siblings don't seem to have any aim in life. He has be-friended the local crazy scientist, Dr. Brown (Lloyd) whom the entire town considers to be mentally unstable. Dr. Brown has managed to create a time machine by modifying a DeLorean which needs a speed of 88 mph before it can travel through time and which also uses Plutonium. Dr. Brown had stolen the Plutonium from the Libyans and whilst showing Marty the functioning of the device, the Libyans attack Dr. Brown and Marty manages to escape back in time to the year 1955. Since he was out of Plutonium, Marty could not go back to the actual year and hence needed to find the younger Dr. Brown and take his help in going back to the future. 1955 was the year when Marty's father George (Glover) fell in love with his mother Lorraine (Thompson) but sadly, Lorraine takes a liking towards Marty himself. Marty realises that if he comes in the way of his parents, he might alter the future altogether to the point that he himself would seize to exist. The movie is a hardcore science-fiction movie that is a complete entertainment package. Although the story and developments might come across as being cliched, the movie has some very good twists and a gripping climax to make this movie a wonderful watch. Many sci-fi movies end up looking too cheesy because of bad execution of the 'futuristic technology' but this movie seems to pull it off with ease which looks believable even 27 years later. A brilliant movie and a must-watch.

Thumbs up: Good suspense, great performances
Thumbs down: Nothing at all

Rating: 8.2/10
Read more

Just Like Heaven (2005)


Genre: Fantasy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Mark Ruffalo, Donal Logue, Dina Waters

Is it possible to fall in love with someone who does not exist? When David (Ruffalo) moves in to a new apartment, he starts hallucinating about Elizabeth (Witherspoon) who keeps claiming the house to be hers. In reality, Elizabeth suffered from a tragic accident and is currently in a coma. Her spirit still lives inside her house and tries to chase away any tenants that try to live there. David recently lost his wife and is trying to get over her but finds it very hard. Elizabeth was far too involved in her work to worry about her personal life and hence she never could enjoy having a partner. David and Elizabeth somehow find a connection between themselves and realise that whatever they have missed or not been able to get over, they have found respite in each other. A very typical movie in most aspects, although the idea of falling in love with a ghost is slightly absurd. Mark Ruffalo seems to be a bit of a misfit and he just does not seem to cut the role of a heart-broken fanatic. Witherspoon tries her best but the movie is average-ish in most areas and not a very desirable watch.

Thumbs up: A decent all-rounder
Thumbs down: Mark Ruffalo was not up to it

Rating: 5.8/10
Read more

The Matrix Reloaded (2003)


Genre: Action/Adventure/Science-fiction

Starring: Keanu Reaves, Lawrence Fishburne, Carrie-Ann Moss, Hugo Weaving, Jada Pinkett Smith, Harrold Perrineau, Randall Duk Kim, Monica Bellucci, Harry Lennix

Taking off from where the previous movie ended, Captain Morpheus (Fishburne) is asked to attend an emergency meeting called by Captain Niobi (Pinkett Smith) along with all other Zion ship Captains. It is learnt that an army of Sentinels are tunnelling towards Zion which would reach them in 72 hours. Morpheus asks one of the ships to stay out of Zion in case the Oracle tries to communicate with them, which is a direct defiance of order from Commander Lock (Lennix). Lock does not share the opinion that Neo (Reaves) is The One and does not share his belief in The Prophesy and wishes that every possible ship be present within Zion to prepare for attack. Neo is having trouble getting sleep at night and is constantly worried about Trinity (Moss) and dreams of her death inside The Matrix. Neo needs to finally await for the signal from The Oracle so that he may meet her and understand the fate of Zion and the choices that he must make. The movie is actually not a direct continuation to the previous movie and it only now starts the actual story of the film. The first movie was more like a foundation of the plot and the second movie kick-starts the actual plot. Graphics and action is what the movie very heavily focuses on and it tries to use ground-breaking technology to a massive extent to create the entertainment factor that the movie must have. The movie is pure action-entertainment and relies on heavy usage of jargon and complexities as if it is purpose-built to not allow the audience to understand the movie. The movie is a treat for action and sci-fi fans but it needs a lot of attention and focus to actually understand the movie if you really try to.

Thumbs up: Amazing action and graphics
Thumbs down: Too much of jargon makes it tough to understand

Rating: 7.3/10
Read more

Fast & Furious 6 (2013)


Genre: Action/Crime

Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges, Luke Evans, Gina Carano

Every time a movie in this franchisee comes out you always think that this might just be better than the previous movie although there is something at the back of your mind, reminding you not to keep your hopes too high. After Brazil, Hobbs (Johnson) asks Dominic Toretto (Diesel) to help him take down Shaw (Evans) a criminal who is after a computer component that can potentially put the world at risk and shows him a picture of his former girlfriend, Letty (Rodriguez) whom he thought was dead. After being promised a full pardon and a clean slate for him and his team, the group finds themselves in London, England to face their next adventure. Brian O'Conner (Waulker), Roman (Gibson), Han (Sung Kang), Gisele (Gadot), Tej (Bridges) and Riley (Carano) comprise of the team that would assist Hobbs and Toretto in this mission. The producers of the movie aimed at making the franchisee more like a heist movie with cars involved rather focusing purely on street racing. Hence the transition over the years to now have a complete action movie with fast cars. The movie does have enough juice for any car lover to drool and love but you can never compare it to the realism or originality that some of the more epic car scenes in movie history. Yes there are some over-the-top insane stunts, there is more than one unbelievable moment (take for example a never-ending runway, an Alfa Romeo capable of pulling down an army-spec cargo carrier, or jumping across bridges) but these moments seemed to have purposefully put in simply to create the entertainment value. If it is pure automobile action that you lust then the movie delivers, but if it is an action movie with a sensible story and plot that you demand then the movie would not live up to expectations. Enjoy the cars and the girls and forget all the rest.

Thumbs up: Some great cars and good racing
Thumbs down: Somehow the movie expects you to remember every minute detail from the past three movies

Rating: 6.0/10
Read more

Jesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)


Genre: Crime/Mystery/Drama

Starring: Tom Selleck, Kathy Baker, Kohl Sudduth, Leslie Hope, William Sadler

In the small town of Paradise, police chief Jesse Stone (Selleck) is having a hard time keeping up with things. A hitman takes a failed attempt at killing State Police Captain Healey with Stone getting injured too but not before Stone injures him back. The police force of Paradise is thin and Stone recent sacked an efficient and competent officer simply because Stone did not like him. Along with the increasing number of crimes, unmanned speed traps, diminishing revenue from parking tickets  amongst others, Jesse finds himself in a spot of trouble with the town council. Elizabeth Blue's newborn son disappeared from the hospital 7 years ago and whose body was found later with the hospital tag around his wrist. When Elizabeth received a letter saying that 'her son is being taken care of', her own investigations have led her to Paradise and she believes that this town contains some evidence that would help her find her son. Although Jesse does not believe in Elizabeth's story, he grants the investigation although he wasn't too optimistic about it himself. The movie is not actually a feature film but a TV movie and hence has been created in that manner to be appealing to television audiences. The story is a bit jumbled with far too many things happening which makes it difficult for the viewer to keep a track of things. Couple that with a town called 'Paradise' a police officer who is too soft and the movie does not feel like a hardcore cop movie but a softer crime scene investigation. Mostly recommended for someone who does not want anything too intense and thrilling (read: two old people sitting by the fire enjoying it).

Thumbs up: Decent crime story
Thumbs down: Too many stories inter-woven, too soft and composed

Rating: 5.1/10
Read more

Vacation (1983)


Genre: Comedy/Adventure/Drama

Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron

The Griswald family decides to go on a road trip, or at least that is what Clark Griswald (Chase) wants to do. After convincing his wife Ellen (D'Angelo), son Rusty (Hall) and daughter Audrey (Barron) of the entire plan, the family decides to drive from Chicago to L.A. where they intend to go to the Wally World theme park. When Clark gets screwed on the deal when he goes for a new car, he doesn't know what all is in store for him for the rest of the trip. The journey is plagued with high's and low's from carry a dead grandmother on the top of the roof, dragging a dog tied to the car for a hundred miles and getting scammed by a mechanic in the middle of the desert. Watching the movie is like watching Road Trip with a typical '80s family feeling to it. Yes there is more than one funny moment but it is no American Pie, although there are some scenes that might qualify it to be. A fun entertainer that is worth a watch and is more or less guaranteed to make you laugh.

Thumbs up: Great humour
Thumbs down: Too family-ish and could have had some more sexual comedy

Rating: 6.9/10
Read more

Honor Flight (2012)


Genre: Documentary/Drama/War/History

Starring: (various)

This review is posted by a guest reviewer, Audrey. The review does not hold the views of this blog or of the other authors on this blog and is the sole ownership of the guest reviewer.
 
Honor Flight is a movie that follows four brave WWII veterans during their trip to Washington D.C. for the flight of their lives. This program allows veterans from across the United States to fly to D.C to be honored by the memorial that was built in their honor. The organization predicts that 800 WWII Veterans die each day, so their mission is to take as many Veterans as possible to the memorial. Joe, Harvey, Orville and Julian are all Veterans who fought during WWII. Some of them fought in the Pacific and some of them were in the East fighting in Europe. As the movie develops, it is clear that these men made distinct contributions to the War and it becomes more apparent that they need to be honored. This movie is touching, funny, but more than anything else, you walk away knowing that these men not only survived to see US soil again, but they saved the world.

 Rating: 9/10
Read more

Adventureland (2009)


Genre: Drama/Romance/Comedy

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Matt Bush, Bill Hader, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig, Margarita Levieva, Ryan Reynolds

James Brennan (Eisenberg) wants to attend university but his parents broke the news to him that they cant afford to pay for his education and James needs to get a summer job if he wants to go to Columbia. The only job he manages to land himself in is at a theme park, Adventureland where he is appointed to work for 'games'. His childhood friend, Tommy Frigo (Bush) who too works at the park but in the more glamorous 'rides' division. James meets Emily aka Em (Stewart) who is a co-worker with at the games division and the two seem to get along well and eventually fall in love. James does not know that the mechanic, Mike (Reynolds) who in spite of being married, has regular sexual encounters with Em. Both Em and Mike keep this as a secret between themselves with no one being the smarter. Enter Lisa P. (Levieva) who is the hottest girl working at Adventureland who immediately starts to flirt with James. Not being able to resist Lisa's moves, James gives in and puts his and Em's relation on a roller-coaster ride. The movie suffers from being too slow and dragged with developments happening at their own pace. The movie is not too funny but isn't very high on emotions either. It tries to be something in between and hence not a very entertaining option. The movie does, however, have an interesting plot line which is different and not like the conventional romance. Hence, if unconventional romance is what you seek, this movie delivers but if it is humour or the chance to enjoy an emotional movie, then this movie doesn't.

Thumbs up: Interesting story
Thumbs down: Very slow

Rating: 5.9/10
Read more

Go Goa Gone (2013)


Genre: Fantasy/Adventure/Action/Comedy

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Vir Das, Kunal Khemu, Anand Tiwari, Puja Gupta

Whenever Bollywood has tried to explore a new Hollywood concept, most of the times the movie has fallen flat on its face. Be it superheroes, science-fiction, creepy aliens or, in this case, zombies, they never seemed to have seriously worked. Luv (Das), Hardik (Khemu) and Bunny (Tiwari) are three flatmates where Luv and Hardik only want to enjoy life and who also get high on anything they can lay their hands on. When Bunny has to go for an office assignment to Goa, Luv and Hardik decide to hitch-hike along with him. Luna (Gupta) is a random girl who becomes Luv's love interest for the rest of the movie. When Luna invites Luv to an underground rave party organised by the Russians, the three friends decide to go there to have the ultimate time of their lives. Boris (Khan) is ex-Russian mafia who is also the party organiser. The party is for the launch of a new drug which is more lethal than anything you might have come across. What he doesn't know is that the drug has a massive side effect which turns the person into a zombie. Daybreak and the three friends cant seem to find their boat or know where they are. What they do realise is that the island is teeming with zombies, all thirsty for their blood. After rescuing Luna and meeting Boris, the team decides to stick together to get out of this island for good. The movie seems to be heavily inspired from Shaun of the Dead, which is not very surprising considering that most 'innovative' Bollywood movies seem to have roots from outside the industry. The good part is that whenever you come across the Bollywood-ish moments when you think that the movie has screwed things up, the movie happily admits to its own doing. Like Saif playing a Russian with a fake accent to begin with and some parts lifted from other movies. The humour is good and very different from the sexual slapstick that you end up seeing in movies these days. A movie worth the watch, that is if you don't mind the occasional intestine ripping, blood spitting, hand-broken zombie.

Thumbs up: Amazing zombie look, good humour
Thumbs down: Still has some Bollywood elements attached to it

Rating: 7.1/10
Read more

The Expendables (2010)


Genre: Action/Crime

Starring: Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Giselle Itie, Terry Crews, Bruce Willis, Gary Daniels, Mickey Rourke

Go back in history and Hollywood is littered with action heroes who have made a mark for themselves. The raw, unshaven and tough men have entertained audiences for years and now have beloved fan following. So how do you make the ultimate action movie? Go back in time and get all the big names that you can possibly assemble and ask them to appear in one movie. Forget scripts, forget acting but just remember to get tons of bombs and arsenal. A team of mercenaries formed by collecting elite but retired army men from around the world to carry out operations for anyone who has the money. Headed by Barney Ross (Stallone), the team consists of a blade specialist Lee Christmas (Statham), martial artist Yin Yang (Li), sniper Gunner Jensen (Lundgren), weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Crews) and demolitions expert Toll road (Couture). A man going by the name of Mr. Church (Willis) offers The Expendables, or as the mercenaries like to call themselves, an assignment to go to Vilena, an island off Mexico, to kill General Gaza (Zayas) the dictator of the island. Their rendezvous, Sandra (Itie) was supposed to help them but they get discovered by a team of Americans, loyal to a Mr. Monroe (Roberts). It appears that Monroe has been funding cocaine production on the island which has put the people in poverty and Gaza is now getting tired of Monroe's bullying tactics. The Mercenaries find themselves in a tight spot and hope that they can wriggle out of it, alive. Like I had mentioned, don't bother looking for a plot because this movie does not have one. The only things that it does have is either a gunshot or a blast, every three minutes. The movie is all about random objects blowing up, the lead hero never getting hurt and ridiculously insane stunts being pulled off with too much ease. The movie is a action-lovers delight but is forgettable otherwise.

Thumbs up: A big fat dose of action
Thumbs down: Nothing else worth looking out for, not even eye candy

Rating: 6.2/10
Read more

You, Me and Dupree (2006)


Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance

Starring: Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon, Michael Douglas, Seth Rogen

A friend in need, is a friend in deed. Or is it? When Carl (Dillon) is getting married to Molly (Hudson), he makes his best friend Dupree (Wison) as his best man. What comes after that is something that even Carl never imagined. Dupree is jobless, homeless, car less and penniless and taking pity on his unfortunate plight, he decides to let Dupree stay back for a few days much to the ire of Molly. Dupree's stupidity and antics doesn't win him too much love from the newly weds and Carl and Molly repeatedly feel they did the biggest mistake. Molly is the daughter of Bob Thompson (Douglas) who is the owner of the company where Carl works. Carl repeatedly feels the Bob is trying to put him down and is not very happy with their marriage. Bob suggests Carl drops his last name in favour of Molly's, makes his life at work difficult, does not show any concern or love to his new son-in-low and also proposed that he should undergo a vasectomy. The movie has some light humour and can be called 'funny' to an extent. It is a very typical romance-comedy movie and has more or less all the elements that one would expect. It is not outright funny or heavy on the romance bit and balances the two very well. 

Thumbs up: Good, interesting story
Thumbs down: Humour is a bit cliched

Rating: 6.5/10
Read more

Defiance (2008)


Genre: War/Historical Event/Biography/Action/Drama

Starring: Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, George MacKay, Alexa Davalos, Allan Corduner, Mark Feuerstein, Mia Wasikowska, Iben Hjejle, Ravil Isyanov

Based on the true-life story of 4 Jewish brothers who escaped from the Nazi genocide and went on to create a Jewish resistance movement. Tuvia Bielski (Craig) along with his younger brother Zus Bielski (Schreiber), Asael Bielski (Bell) and Aron Bielski (MacKay) escape from their Polish village and attempt at hiding out in the forest. Slowly and steadily, more Jewish survivors find their way to the Bielski brothers and very soon a small community of Jewish survivors come under the leadership of the Bielski partisans. Zus and Tuvia have a difference of opinion where Zus wants to join hands with the Soviets and fight the Germans and not care about the community. Tuvia, on the other hand, wants to help those who cannot fight for themselves and offer them a chance to live. The movie uniquely showcases the brutality of war without focusing too much on violence and blood. Daniel Craig and Schreiber do complete justice to the role, with talking in Polish, having an accent et al. A good war entertainer which does not offer anything exceptional but is still watchable and enjoyable.

Thumbs up: Great acting, good story
Thumbs down: Everything is above average and not exceptional

Rating: 7.3/10
Read more

Iron Man 3 (3D) (2013)


Genre: Action/Science-fiction/Crime/Adventure

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyenth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Ben Kingsley

The third (and perhaps) final installment of the Iron Man series sees a paradigm shift in the movies concept. It tries to amalgamate elements from Christopher Nolan's Batman movies but yet keep the Iron Man action because of which it became so famous. Tony Stark aka The Iron Man (Downey Jr.) has become so obsessed with being the Iron Man and all his machines and gadgets, that he has forgotten about his personal life, his wife Pepper (Paltrow) and everything else that mattered to him. This starts taking a toll on his health with him being unable to sleep, having nightmares and regular anxiety attacks. Dr. Maya Hansen (Hall) a botanist had developed a technology that would allow plants to regrow and was working on improving the idea. When approached by a crippled scientist, Aldrich Killian (Pearce) Tony turns him down arrogantly and Killian vows revenge. Present day, Killian and Maya have collaborated on the technology, allowing crippled people to heal themselves and become normal once more. The Mandarin (Kingsley) is an extreme Islamic terrorist who is spreading terror within the world and vows to destroy the USA and Iron Man for good. With personal, physical and political problems coming upon Stark at the same time, life is not easy for him and may never be. Like I mentioned earlier, the movie tries to be more than Iron Man and has been more or less successful in doing so. Tony Stark is more realistic and natural and not over the top like in his previous movies. The biggest draw back is gripping and entertaining action, don't get me wrong cause there were more than enough explosions but they hardly seemed to make sense. A great action entertainer that has matured well over the past 2 movies. This might be the last one.

Thumbs up: Good maturity levels in the movie, improved story
Thumbs down: Some more 'entertaining' action

Rating :7.2/10
Read more

My Cousin Vinny (1992)


Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama

Starring: Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Gwynne, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill

So what is the most absurd thing for which you can get possibly arrested? Bill Gambini (Macchio) and Stan (Whitfield) are two friends who are on a road trip and stop by at a convenience store in Alabama. Bill forgets to pay for a can of tuna and drives off, only to realise later. Stan starts getting extremely worried and fears arrest and prosecution which Bill does not agree with. Much to both their surprise, they do get pulled over and are shocked to find that it is not just tuna but murder. The store keeper was shot soon after they left the store and the two are prime suspects in the case. Being in Alabama and fearing the harshest of judgements, Bill calls his cousin, who is a New York lawyer, to represent them. Vinny (Pesci) has failed his bar exam 6 times, never been to court, been practicing for 6 months, deals only in personal injury cases and seems to know nothing about the law. His girlfriend, Mona Lisa Vito (Tomei) has accompanied him on the trip and seems to know more than Vinny on what should be done at court. With the prosecution throwing evidence after evidence and Vinny not being able to do anything, the chances of acquittal for Stan and Bill seem to be bleak. Although the movie has a very stereotyped story, it is funny and different. It is not the slap stick stupidity of Jim Carrey but is the more sensible and laughable humour. Although the humour is not in abundance, it is still enough to make you laugh hard. Pesci and Tomei have put on a good performance and special credit needs to go to Tomei, especially for her accent.

Thumbs up: Marisa Tomei, good entertainer
Thumbs down: Should have had a bit more jokes

Rating: 6.8/10
Read more

2013 German Film Award Winners

Posting winners as they are announced via Twitter and facebook.  When info becomes available at official site, will confirm winners.  All winners are confirmed in official site that you can check here.

Honorary Lola goes to Werner Herzog; Audience Award Lola to Schlussmacher by Matthias Schweighöfer and Torsten Künstler.

Seems that Oh Boy will win most major awards... only one to go... and went to Oh Boy, which becomes the big winner tonight.

Winners are in BLUE.

3/22/13
A few hours ago the Deutsche Filmakademie (German Film Academy) announced the nominees for the Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards) -better known as Lolas- and Cloud Atlas leads the pack with 9 nods including top award and Best Director closely followed by Jan Ole Gester's debut film Oh Boy with eight nods.

These are the nominees for all the 16 categories.

Best Film
Cloud Atlas, Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer
*Hannah Arendt, Margarethe von Trotta BEST FILM IN SILVER
*Lore, Cate Shortland BEST FILM IN BRONZE
*Oh Boy, Jan Ole Gerster  BEST FILM IN GOLD
Quellen des Lebens, Oskar Roehler
Die Wand (The Wall), Julian Roman Pölsler

Best Director
*Jan Ole Gester for Oh Boy
Margarethe von Trotta for Hannah Arendt
Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski and Tom Tykwer for Cloud Atlas

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Martina Gedeck in Die Wand (The Wall)
Birgit Minichmayr in Gnade (Mercy)
*Barbara Sukowa in Hannah Arendt

Best Supporting Actress
Margarita Broich in Quellen des Lebens
Friederike Kempter in Oh Boy
*Christine Schorn in Das Leben ist nichts für Feiglinge

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Edin Hasanovic in Schuld sind immer die Anderen
*Tom Schilling in Oh Boy
Sabin Tambrea in Ludwig II

Best Supporting Actor
*Michael Gwisdek in Oh Boy
Robert Gwisdek in Das Wochenende (The Weekend)
Ernst Stötzner in Was Bleibt (Home for the Weekend)

Best Screenplay
Pam Katz and Margarethe von Trotta for Hannah Arendt
*Jan Ole Gerster for Oh Boy
Anna Maria Praßler for Schuld sind immer die Anderen

Best Cinematography
Adam Arkapaw for Lore
Jakub Bejnarowicz for Gnade (Mercy)
*John Troll and Frank Briebe for Cloud Atlas

Best Art Direction
Susann Bieling for Die Abenteuer des Huck Finn
*Uli Hanisch and Hugo Bateup for Cloud Atlas
Udo Kramer for Die Vermessung der Welt (Measuring the World)

Best Editing
*Alexander Berner for Cloud Atlas
Anne Fabini for More Than Honey
Anja Siemens for Oh Boy

Best Sound Design
*Christian Bischoff, Uve Haussig and Johannes Konecny for Die Wand (The Wall)
Benjamin Krbetschek and Holger Lehmann for Du hast es Versprochen (Forgotten)
Stefan Soltau, Björn Wiese and Dominik Rätz for Gnade (Mercy)
Markus Stemler, Ivan Sharrock, Frank Kruse, Matthias Lempert, Roland Winke and Lars Ginzel for Cloud Atlas

Best Film Score
*The Major Minors and Cherilyn MacNeil for Oh Boy
Max Richter for Lore
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil for Cloud Atlas

Best Costume Design
*Kym Barrett and Pierre-Yves Gayraud for Cloud Atlas
Stefanie Bieker for Lore
Frauke Firl for Hannah Arendt
Thomas Oláh for Die Vermessung der welt (Measuring the World)

Best Make Up
Jeannette Latzelsberger, Gregor Eckstein, Elke Lebender, Stephanie Däbritz and Julia Rinkl for Quellen des lebens
*Daniel Parker and Jeremy Woodhead for Cloud Atlas
Astrid Weber for Hannah Arendt

Best Documentary
*More Than Honey, Markus Imhoof
Vergis Mein Nicht, David Sieveking
Die Wohnung (The Flat), Arnon Goldfinger

Best Children's Film
Das Haus der Krokodile (Victor and the Secret of Crocodile Mansion), Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert
*Kaddisch für einen Freund, Leo Khasin

To check the official list go here.  Awards ceremony will take place on April 26 in Berlin's Friedrichstadt-Palast, will be broadcast live by ZDF and will be hosted by Mirjam Weichselbraun.

There are many interesting films among the nominees, specially the family/personal dramas that seem to have interesting stories but there are a few period films and/or historical real life people  that also could be interesting. Among the documentaries The Flat has become must be seen for me. Great.
Read more

66th Festival de Cannes Official Selection Lineup - Update 1

Today organizers announced five (5) more films in the Official Selection, with Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive (with Tilda Swinton) going into the Competition, Claude Lanzmann's Le Dernier des Injustes out of competition and three (3) films in Un Certain Regard: Lucia Puenzo's Wakolda, Hiner Saleem's My Sweet Pepperland and Katrin Gebbe's Tore Tanzt.

4/18/13
A few minutes ago the Official Selection lineup was unveiled and yes, there are some very positive surprises for me even when most films in the main competition are the ones everyone was buzzing and speculating will make the selection. The surprises: the latest film by master filmmaker Jia Zhangke, one of my favorite Sixth Generation Chinese directors, and none other than Amat Escalante that even when his films are quite violent, truly mesmerizes me with his particular and peculiar style. Fantastic!

My biggest non-positive surprise is to find Steven Soderbergh latest film in the Official Selection (?!) not only is a TV movie (is HBO) but the film stills and promotion material seems truly awful representation of Liberace. Obviously now I know will expect more from this movie that will premier Sunday, May 26 at 9pm on HBO.

As have been doing in previous years in one post will list ALL films that made this year selection and will update as soon as they announce new films in any section.

Competition

Behind the Candelabra, Steven Soderbergh, USA
Borgman, Alex van Warmerdam, Netherlands
Grisgris, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France and Chad
Heli, Amat Esclante, Mexico
Inside Llewyn Davis, Ethan and Joel Coen, USA
Jeune et Jolie, François Ozon, France
Jimmy P. (aka Jimmy Picard) (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian), Aranud Desplechin, USA
La Vie d'A Adèle (aka Le Bleu est une coleur chaude), Abdellatif Kechiche, France
La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty), Paolo Sorrentino, Italy and France
La Vénus à la fourrure (Venus in Fur), Roman Polansky, France
Le passé (The Past), Asghar Farhadi, France
Michael Kohlhaas, Arnaud des Pallières, France and Germany
The Immigrant (aka Lowlife), James Gray, USA
Nebraska, Alexander Payne, USA
Only Lovers Left Alive, Jim Jarmusch, USA
Only God Forgives, Nicolas Winding Refn, France and Denmark
そして父になる Soshite chichi ni naru (Like Father, Like Son), Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan
天注定 Tian Zhu Ding (A Touch of Sin), Jia Zhangke, China
Un château en Italie, Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi, France
藁の楯 わらのたて Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw), Takashi Miike, Japan

Out of Competition
Opening Film: The Great Gatsby, Baz Luhrmann, Australia and USA
Closing Film: Zulu, Jérôme Salle, France
All is Lost, J.C. Chandor, USA
Blood Ties, Guillaume Canet, France and USA
Le dernier des injustes, Claude Lanzmann, France and Austria

The Jury
President: Steven Spielberg, director, USA
Naomi Kawase, director, Japan
Cristian Mungiu, director, scriptwriter and producer, Romania
Lynne Ramsay, director, scriptwriter and producer, UK
Ang Lee, director, scriptwriter and producer, Taiwan
Daniel Auteuil, actor and director, France
Christoph Waltz, actor, Austria
Nicole Kidman, actress and  producer, Australia
Vidya Balan, actress, India

Un Certain Regard

Opening Film: The Bling Ring, Sofia Coppola, USA
Anonymous, Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran
As I Lay Dying, James Franco, USA
(*) Bends, Flora Lau, Hong Kong and China
Death March, Adolfo Alix Jr., Philippines
(*) Fruitvale Station, Ryan Coogler, USA
Grand Central, Rebecca Zlotowski, France
(*) La Jaula de Oro, Diego Quemada-Diez, Mexico
Les Salauds, Claire Denis, France
L'Image Manquante, Rithy Panh, Cambodia
L'Inconnu du lac, Alain Guiraudie, France
(*) Miele, Valeria Golino, France and Italy
My Sweet Pepperland, Hiner Saleem, Turkey, Iran, Irak
Norte, Hanggan ng kasaysayan (Norte, The End of History), Lav Diaz, Philippines
Omar, Hany Abu-Assad, Palestine and USA
(*) Sarah préfère la course, Chloé Robichaud, Canada
(*) Tore Tanzt, Katrin Gebbe, Germany
Wakolda, Lucía Puenzo, Argentina, Spain, France, Germany and Norway

Un Certain Regard Jury
President: Thomas Vinterberg, director, scriptwriter and producer, Denmark

Special Screenings
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight, Stephen Frears, USA (TV movie)
Seduced and Abandoned, James Toback, USA (Documentary)
Stop the Pounding Heart, Roberto Minervini, Italy, Belgium and USA
Week End of A Champion, Roman Polanski, UK, 1972 (Documentary)

Midnight Screenings
盲探 Man Tam (Blind Detective) , Johnnie To, Hong Kong
(*) Moonsoon Shootout, Amit Kumar, India and UK

Cannes Classics
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1958

Jerry Lewis' Tribute
Max Rose, Daniel Noah, USA

Gala Screening, Tribute to India
Bombay Talkies, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap and Dibakar Banerjee, India

Short Films Competition
37°4 S, Adriano Valerio, France, 11'
Bishtar az do saat (More Than Two Hours), Ali Asgari, Iran, 15'
Condom Lead, Mohammed Abou Nasser and Ahmad Abou Nasser, Palestine and Jordan, 14'
Hvalfjörður (Whale Valley, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson, Iceland and Denmark, 15'
Inseki to Impotence (The Meteorite and Impotence), Omoi Sasaki, Japan, 10'
Mont Blanc, Gilles Coulier, Belgium, 14'
Olena, Elżbieta Benkowska, Poland, 14'
Ophelia, Annarita Zambrano, Poland, 14'
Safe, Moon Byoung-gon, South Korea, 13'

Cinéfondation Selection
Asunción, Camila Luna Toledo, Chile, 21', (Pontificia Universidad Catolica)
Au-delà de l'Hiver (After the Winter), Zhi Wei Jow, France, 19' (Le Fresnoy)
Babaga, Gan de Lange, Israel, 26' (The Sam Spiegel Film & TV School)
Contrafábula de una Niña Disecada (Fable of a Blood-Drained Girl), Alejandro Iglesias Mendizábal, Mexico, 25' (CCC)
Danse Macabre, Małgorzata Rżanek, Poland, 5' (Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw)
Duet, Navid Danesh, Iran, 24', (Karnameh Film School)
En Attendant le dégel (Waiting for the Thaw), Sarah Hirtt, Belgium, 20' (INSAS)
Exil (Exile), Vladilen Vierny, France, 16' (La fémis)
Going South, Jefferson Moneo, USA, 15' (Columbia University)
În acvariu (In the Fishtank), Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, Romania, 20' (UNATC)
Mañana Todas Las Cosas (Tomorrow All The Things), Sebastián Schjaer, Argentina, 17' (UCINE)
Needle, Anahita Ghazvinizadeh, USA, 21' (The School of the Art Institute of Chicago)
O Šunce, Eliška Chytková, Czech Republic, 6' (Tomas Bata University in Zlίn)
Pandy (Pandas), Matúš Vizár, Czech Republic, 12' (FAMU)
The Magnificent Lion Boy, Ana Caro, UK, 10' (NFTS)
The Norm of Life, Evgeny Byalo, Russia, 23' (High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors)
Seon (The Line), Kim Soo-Jin, South Korea, 27' (Chung-Ang University)
Stepsister, Joey Izzo, USA, 18' (San Francisco State University)

Special Screening
(*) Otdat Konci (Bite The Dust), Taisia Igumentseva, Russia

Short Films and Cinéfondation Jury
President: Jane Campion, director, New Zealand
Majida Abdi, actress, director and producer, Ethiopia
Nicoletta Braschi, actress and producer, Italy
Nandita Das, actress, India
Semih Kaplanoğlu, director, writer and producer, Turkey

(*) First film competes for the Camera d'Or

Main Competition, Out of Competition, Special Screenings and Tributes info, film stills or trailers @MOC
Un Certain Regard info, film stills or trailers @MOC
Check trailers for some Cinéfondation shorts at MOC.

Read basic info for all films but will continue finding more information, film stills and/or trailers and will upload them at MOC. So will update links to each section asap.
Read more

21st L'ACID Selection

Reliable news have already the ACID selection even when it is not posted at the official site of L'Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion, so I'm doing post and will confirm as soon as they publish at official site plus will add the special screenings and any other event they program for this year.

Update
The announcement is up at official site thus films are confirmed.

These are the nine (9) feature films in the 2013 selection

Au Bord du Monde, Claus Drexel, France
Braddock America, Jean-Loic Porton and Gabriella Kessler, France (documentary)
C’est eux les chiens, Hicham Lasri, Morocco
Deux automnes, trois hivers, (Two Autumns, Three Winters), Sébastien Betbeder, France

La Bataille de Solferino, Justine Triet, France
Ô Heureux Jours!, Dominique Cabrera, France (documentary)
Swandown, Andrew Kötting, UK
The Strange Little Cat, Ramon Zürcher, Germany
Wajma, Barmak Akram, France and Afghanistan

For me it is a big surprise to find in L'ACID selection Barmak Akram's film Wajma, which won an award at 2013 Sundance as its presence in this section means that has no distribution.

Around minute 2 the list of movies begin with images in the below video, but if you wish to see the photos pleas go here.

Read more

Batman Forever (1995)





Genre: Science-fiction/Action/Crime


Starring: Val Kilmer, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Chris O'Donnell, Michael Gough

Gotham cities dark knight is back. And when he is back, he is back with a bang. Bruce Wayne aka The Batman (Kilmer) has not one, but two enemies to fight against. Harvey Dent aka Harvey Two-Face (Lee Jones) was previously the district attorney who faced an acid attack that disfigured half of his face for good. He blames The Batman for this and seeks revenge. Dr. Edward Nygma (Carrey) is a scientist who works at Wayne Enterprises who has developed a unique device that can project television images right inside the persons head. Bruce rejects the idea which hurts Nygma's sentiments and he vows to take revenge as The Riddler. Dr. Chase Meridian (Kidman) becomes Batman's love interest and she also finds herself falling for Bruce Wayne, not knowing they both are the same. On one eventful evening at the circus, an acrobat loses his family when Harvey Dent stages an attack. The acrobat, Dick Grayson (O'Donnell) is adopted into Wayne manor and slowly starts blending into Bruce's life. The third installment of the Batman series of movies sees a change of guard at the helm. Val Kilmer being the new Batman, is similarly composed and relaxed as Bruce Wayne but aggressive and tough as The Batman. He fulfills the character far better and seems more suited for the role. Nicole Kidman looks ravishing and she reminds us all of what a magnificent beauty she was in her hay-days. The movie is a decent all round entertainer which has the occasional sprinkling of thrill and excitement. The only biggest let down is the climax, which seemed far too sudden with Dent and Riddler not putting up any fight at all. Maybe something more extended and exciting would have helped in ending the movie at a higher note.

Thumbs up: Great all round entertainer
Thumbs down: Sudden and uninteresting climax

Rating: 7.3/10
Read more

45th Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Lineup

Today Edouard Waintrop, Artistic Director, announced the Directors' Fortnight selection that includes comedies, thrillers, 2 horror films, and 3 documentaries. A total of 21 features will screen with 17 world premieres selected after checking 3,311 titles.

There are some surprises as Yolande Moreau's first solo film, Sebastian Silva's film, the only Romanian film in all Cannes (a short) plus the most surprising duo of Jodorowsky films (!) one by him and another about him.  But most impressive is the fact that I have seen one of the films in the selection, fabulous short film Swimmer by Lynne Shelton!

Feature Films
Opening Film: The Congress, Ari Folman, Israel, Germany, Poland, France and Belgium
Closing Film: Henri, Yolande Moreau, France and Belgium

A Strange Course of Events, Raphaël Nadjari, Israel and France
(*) Les Apaches, Thierry de Peretti, France
(*) Ate ver a luz (After The Night), Basil Da Cunha, Switzerland
Blue Ruin, Jeremy Saulnier, USA
La Danza de la Realidad, Alejandro Jodorowsky, France, Chile and Mexico
(*) L'Escale, Kveh Bakhtiari, France and Switzerland (documentary)
(*) La Fille du 14 Juillet, Antonin Peretjatko, France
(*) Ilo Ilo, Anthony Chen, Singapore
(*) Jodorowsky's Dune, Frank Pavich, USA (Documentary)
(*) Last Days on Mars, Ruairi Robinson, UK and Ireland
(*) Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table!, Guillaume Gallienne, France
Magic Magic, Sebastián Silva, USA and Chile
On The Job, Erik Matti, Philippines
The Selfish Giant, Clio Barnard, UK
Tip Top, Serge Bozon, France
Ugly, Anurag Kashyap, India
Un Voyageur, Marcel Ophuls, France
El Verano de los Peces Voladores, Marcela Said, France and Chile
We Are What We Are, Jim Mickle, USA

(*) Competing for the Camera d'Or

Short Films
Gambozinos, João Nicolau, France and Portugal
Lágy Eső, Dénes Nagy, Belgium and Hungary
Le quepa sur la vilni, Yann Le Quellec, France
Man kann nicht alles auf einmal tun, aber man kann alles auf einmal lassen, Marie-Elsa Sgualdo, Switzerland
O umbra de nor, Radu Jude, Romania
Pouco mais de um mês, André Novais Oliveira, Brazil
Que je tombe tout le temps?, Eduardo Williams, France
Solecito, Oscar Ruiz Navia, Colombia, Denmark and France
Swimmer, Lynne Ramsay, UK

Beyond the selection, Directors’ Fortnight will host a range of peripheral events this year. These include the Taipei Factory, a joint initiative between Directors Fortnight and the Taiwan Film Commission to team four Taiwanese directors with four other filmmakers from around the world. The resulting shorts will be screened at Directors’ Fortnight.

Taipei Factory

The Pig, Singing Chen (Taiwan) and Jero Yun (Korea)
Silent Asylum, Midi Z (Taiwan) and Joana Preiss (France)
A Nice Factory, Shen Ko-Shang (Taiwan) and Luis Cifuentes (Chile)
Mr. Chang’s New Address, Chang Jung-Chi (Taiwan) and Alireza Khatami (Iran)

Other events includes a Tribute to Jane Campion, who this year will receive the Carrosse d'Or and the Directors' Assembly consisting of two panels to discuss key issues impacting the film industry today.

Directors' Assembly Program

Session 1 - Saturday May the 18th
Independent directors’ experiences worldwide

From their experiences, directors will talk about film production conditions and financial support schemes for cinema worldwide. It can be about the independent cinema in the United States, financing schemes in India, China, Brazil, and about everything directors wish to point out as well… They will talk about new creative and economic momentum that they conjure up to make their films. Daring productions sometimes turn away from cinema support schemes, as their heaviness and slowness weigh on creative energy. It will be about putting those systems and those different context to the test of the filmmaking reality and the work methods of each.

A new global and multipolar cinema leads to rapid mutations of our professional practices…

Session 2 - Tuesday May 21st
The European crisis and its consequences on its Member States’ cultural policies

Often in Europe, institutional stakeholders, producers and distributors script debates about cinema economics in which directors have a hard time finding their rightful place. Re-assessment of national cinema support schemes, coproductions difficulties, European funds shrinking… what role can they play in discussions about cultural policies ?

Cinema is not just an industry, neither is it an industry like any other : between cultural ambition and economic power, how to solve the visible contradiction between regulation, competition and cultural exception ?

Will check all films for info, original names, etc. and will update post accordingly ASAP.
Read more