Gus Van Sant’s new film Promised Land has been getting significant Oscar buzz. The Matt Damon-starring drama about the controversial practice known as “fracking” opens in limited release on December 28, with a larger roll-out on January 4. Other cast includes Frances McDormand, John Krasinski, Scoot McNairy, Rosemarie DeWitt, Titus Welliver, and Hal Holbrook. Check out these stills below.
Fifteen documentary features have been shortlisted for the 85th Academy Awards. Of these, five will receive nominations, which will be announced on Thursday, January 10 at 8:30am EST. The shortlisted films are as follows:
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Bully
Chasing Ice
Detropia
Ethel
5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
The House I Live In
How to Survive a Plague
The Imposter
The Invisible War
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God
Searching for Sugar Man
This Is Not a Film
The Waiting Room
(Notable snubs include The Central Park Five and Love, Marilyn.)
It doesn’t take much to realize that Alfred Hitchcock is my favorite director (as is established by the giant visual homage to the “Master of Suspense” on my living room wall). So imagine my excitement that two Hitchcock-themed movies are coming out shortly, each delving into one of the first two of his movies that I’ve seen: Psycho and The Birds. (Psycho is my favorite of his films.) Also, each movie is being released by either Fox Searchlight (my favorite film distributor) or HBO (my favorite TV network). Check out the trailers below. Which looks most appealing to you, and who do you think portrays the famed filmmaker best: Anthony Hopkins (Hitchcock) or Toby Jones (The Girl)? (And, incidentally, has anyone else noticed that Jones seems to “always” play the “other” person in movies? He played Truman Capote in the “other Capote movie” [Infamous, 2006; in contrast to Philip Seymour Hoffman’s portrayal in Capote, 2005] and now he’s playing Alfred Hitchcock in the “other Hitchcock movie.”)
Continue reading Hitchcock vs. Hitchcock: The Battle of the Trailers
(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZepXBymtkUQ]Screening: Thursday, October 11, 9pm
Venue: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC
Series: NYFF50: Main Slate
In The Gatekeepers, documentarian Dror Moreh does something unprecedented by interviewing six former heads of the Shin Bet, Israel’s Secret Service. Individually, the “gatekeepers” reflect on their successes and failures during the ongoing struggles between Israel and Palestine and the mission for peace. In what is surely considered a strong contender for a Best Documentary Oscar nomination, this film is among the most astonishing documentaries of the year. (Moreh sites 2004 Oscar-winning documentary The Fog of War as an inspiration.) The level of access Moreh achieves is remarkable, offering a point of view never previously heard in such a medium. The film is ripe with strong narratives as told by each of the six men, as well as varied “textures” that are achieved through sit-down interviews, revealing archival footage, well-composed graphics, and a score that underlines the visuals in a subtle-yet-impactful manner. The narrative can be a bit cumbersome to follow for those not familiar with the political and social struggles between Israel and Palestine, but even still one would be hard-pressed not to appreciate the film’s obvious achievements.
Limité Rating: 4/5
Director: Dror Moreh
Genre: Documentary
Countries: Israel, France, Germany, Belgium
Language: Hebrew with English subtitles
Runtime: 97 min.
The 50th New York Film Festival runs from September 28 – October 14, 2012.
For the past two years, I’ve been a member of the Hamptons International Film Festival’s (HIFF) screening committee. I watch dozens of submitted films and write brief reviews for and rate each, helping the programmers to decide which films to accept into this prestigious festival. This year, HIFF turns 20 and I made sure to attend for the first time.
My friend Erin and I took the train from the western tip of Long Island to the eastern side, a three-hour ride. (There’s a reason it’s called “Long Island.”) This was my first trip to the Hamptons, home of New York’s well-to-do and known for some of the most pristine beaches on the East Coast.
Continue reading 2012 Hamptons International Film Festival: A Personal Account
(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekjfj8sLFqs]Screening: Saturday, October 6, 3pm
Venue: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC
Series: NYFF50: Main Slate
Winner of this year’s prestigious Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, legendary filmmaker Michael Haneke’s Amour tells the story of an octogenarian couple living in France. After Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) suffers multiple strokes, her devoted husband Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) loyally stays by her side, caring for her throughout the duration of her deteriorating health. Amour tells a simple, truthful, emotional, tragic, haunting, and beautiful story—one that is likely to remain with the viewer long after the end credits roll. Both veteran French actors Riva and Trintignant offer exceptionally brave performances, only achieved by baring every bit of themselves to each other and on screen. Though the film’s pacing is slow, it reflects a feeling of quiet sadness that hangs heavily over the couple’s Parisian apartment. Amour is Austria’s official 2012 Oscar entry for Best Foreign Language Film and is considered an easy favorite for a nomination.
Limité Rating: 4/5
Director: Michael Haneke
Genres: Narrative, Drama
Country: Austria
Language: French with English subtitles
Runtime: 127 min.
The 50th New York Film Festival runs from September 28 – October 14, 2012.
(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j71yt23H5vw]Screenings: Saturday, October 6, 6pm & 9pm
Venue: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC
Series: NYFF50: Gala Tributes
*CENTERPIECE FILM*
*WORLD PREMIERE*
Suburban New Jersey. Mid 1960s. A group of teens form a band in the shadow of some of the biggest names of the time—Rolling Stones, The Beatles. In his film directorial debut, Sopranos creator David Chase crafts a film that’s as much a love letter to the 1960s as it is to the classic tunes of his youth. Joining forces with an ideal music supervisor, the legendary Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band and himself a patron saint of New Jersey, the duo captures the essence of the era in great detail, though at times the constant in-your-face references breach on annoying. Not Fade Away feels a bit disjointed at times and is not as strong as Cameron Crowe’s 2000 Oscar-winning Almost Famous (an easy comparison), but the film does manage to stand on its own two feet and will surely be enjoyed by any child of the ’60s with a garage band. Above all else, the soundtrack is pretty boss.
Limité Rating: 3/5
Director: David Chase
Genres: Narrative, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Language: English
Runtime: 112 min.
The 50th New York Film Festival runs from September 28 – October 14, 2012.
(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)
Screening: Monday, October 1, 9pm
Venue: Francesca Beale Theater, Lincoln Center, NYC
Series: NYFF50: Cinema Reflected
Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy and girl get married. Girl gets pregnant. Boy and girl split up. Etc. Etc. It’s a rather simple tale, but this reviewer can guarantee you’ve never seen it done quite like this. In Final Cut – Ladies and Gentlemen, Hungarian filmmaker Pálfi György uses brief scenes from nearly 500 films (and some TV shows) to tell this plain story. It’s a remarkable achievement and is the greatest celebration of cinema to hit the big screen in a long time. This is the ultimate movie about movies.
Employing a hodgepodge of scenes from films ranging from The Birth of a Nation (1915) to Avatar (2009), from live-action to animation, from comedy to drama—and everything in between—Final Cutamazingly tells a cohesive narrative from start to finish—one that could have been easily ruined in the hands of a less-skilled filmmaker. The amount of visual and auditory texture in this “epic” is staggering, and yet this visual collage does not strain the eye and is not distracting. Recognizing that so much of what makes a great movie great are the little moments on screen—waking up in bed, a loving stare, an expression of joy—György embroidered a fine tapestry that highlights these singular moments, and in doing so he tells a story of love and loss, of happiness and sorrow—a simple story with great depth, as told through the voice of cinema through the ages.
Limité Rating: 4/5
Director: Pálfi György
Genres: Experimental, Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Hungary
Language: Mostly silent with some lines in English
Runtime: 85 min.
The 50th New York Film Festival runs from September 28 – October 14, 2012.
(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiJRGbCKCu0]Screenings:
Monday, October 1, 9pm (Alice Tully Hall)
Sunday, October 7, 2:30pm (Alice Tully Hall)
Thursday, October 11, 3:30pm (Howard Gilman Theater)
Venue: Lincoln Center, NYC
Series: NYFF50: Main Slate
Voichita and Alina, childhood friends who were raised in the same orphanage, are reunited in the hills of Romania after years of separation. Voichita is a nun in training, living in a pious monastery in the hills without electricity or any other conveniences of modern life. Alina is returning from Germany, where she’s spent the last several years. Feeling anxious and alone, Alina is determined to convince her best friend to return to Germany with her, but Voichita is not the same girl. She’s found God and is under the watchful eye of the resident priest and patriarch of the monastery, simply known as Papa. Alina decides to stay, in hopes that she will be able to persuade her friend to leave the monastery. Things go awry for everyone there once Alina begins to display erratic behaviors, threatening the resident nuns and priest and forcing them to take action.
Continue reading New York Film Festival Preview: Beyond the Hills
(Re-posted from LimitéMagazine.com)
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2GMwWaDSr0]Screening: Wednesday, October 3, 8:30pm (opens in limited release on Friday, October 5)
Venue: Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC
Series: NYFF50: Main Slate
Set in 1960s racially charged southern Florida, two journalists (Matthew McConaughey and David Oyelowo) attempt to exonerate a convicted man (John Cusack) for the murder of a despicable sheriff. Meanwhile, the younger brother (Zac Efron) of one of the journalists falls for the woman (Nicole Kidman) who is romantically linked to the accused man.
Continue reading New York Film Festival Preview: The Paperboy
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