Just back from a weekend at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Lorna's Silence 6/10
A good film but nothing close to the wonderful L'Enfant from the same directors. The last 20 minutes were boring and without purpose.
The Wrestler 7/10
An unexpected strong performance from Rourke is the spine of the film. No actor would be more conviencing than him, but i am afraid that he wouldn't be conviencing in any other kind of role either. Marisa Tomei was good, but Evan Rachel Wood is even better with less screen time.
Rachel Getting Married 6/10
The performances are all the money here. Hathaway is excellent, but all the supporting actors are equally impressive. The Broadway veteran Bill Irwin and Rosemary DeWitt could win Oscar nods, while Debra Winger is also wonderful but i can't see her shortlisted for such a small role.
Linha de Passe 8/10
A wonderful emotional new film by Walter Salles (here sharing the director's credit with Daniela Thomas). Strong screenplay, editing and performances.
Wonderful atmosphere at the festival and some great masterclasses by the following:
Jean Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Oliver Stone
Diablo Cody
Takeshi Kitano
Williem Dafoe
Terrence Davis
Gustavo Santaolalla
Guillermo Navarro
Harris Zambarloukos
This years' jury
Michael Ondaatje (President)
Yesim Ustaoglu
David Robinson
Diablo Cody
Dionysis Savopoulos
Lita Stantic
Emilie Dequenne
This year i am especially excited since one of the 3 favourites to win the Best Picture award in the Greek competition (and thus be Greece's entry for next years' Oscars) is a film written by a friend of mine, directed by another friend and starring (in a supporting role) another friend. Fingers crossed...
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
My beloved Jérémie Renier is in this one; I can't wait to see it.Hustler wrote:L`Heure D´Ete (Olivier Assayas)
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
3rd i South Asian Film Festival came to town:
Maqbool (Vishal Bharadwaj, 2003)
6/10
Adaptation of Shakespeare's "Scottish Play" into Mumbai's Muslim "mafia" has very good performances and plenty of gravitas (even taking into account the musical numbers) but little visual panache. It's a pretty straight adaptation that doesn't really shed new light on the Bard's themes and structures.
Om Shanti Om (Farah Khan, 2007)
8/10
Bollywood at its most lavish and narratively overstuffed, but also in knowingly self-parodistic mode. For a while it seems like the Indian equivalent to what the folks behind Singin' in the Rain were doing for the previous generation of films in 1952, but soon enough it spins off in a dozen or more unlikely directions. If it's as witty as Green & Comden's script, then that doesn't exactly translate across language and cultural barriers. But there's a real ingenuity to the satire derived from the structure of the film. And the film's few annoyances (product placements, bad puns, icky gender roles, and the occasional potty humor) are quickly forgotten into this fast-paced assault of movie references (which I'm sure I didn't catch a quarter of), plot twists, eye-popping dance numbers, and intentionally over-the-top performances.
Maqbool (Vishal Bharadwaj, 2003)
6/10
Adaptation of Shakespeare's "Scottish Play" into Mumbai's Muslim "mafia" has very good performances and plenty of gravitas (even taking into account the musical numbers) but little visual panache. It's a pretty straight adaptation that doesn't really shed new light on the Bard's themes and structures.
Om Shanti Om (Farah Khan, 2007)
8/10
Bollywood at its most lavish and narratively overstuffed, but also in knowingly self-parodistic mode. For a while it seems like the Indian equivalent to what the folks behind Singin' in the Rain were doing for the previous generation of films in 1952, but soon enough it spins off in a dozen or more unlikely directions. If it's as witty as Green & Comden's script, then that doesn't exactly translate across language and cultural barriers. But there's a real ingenuity to the satire derived from the structure of the film. And the film's few annoyances (product placements, bad puns, icky gender roles, and the occasional potty humor) are quickly forgotten into this fast-paced assault of movie references (which I'm sure I didn't catch a quarter of), plot twists, eye-popping dance numbers, and intentionally over-the-top performances.
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barrybrooks8
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Big Magilla
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Damien, where did you see The Story of Three Loves? IMDb doesn't even show it ever being released on VHS.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
a Fool There Was (Frank Powell, 1915)
A rare surviving Theda Bara film, and noteworthy as the one that made her a star, but the tight range of shooting techniques combined with intertitles that do little to advance the story (based on a familiar stage play of the time, which was in turn based on a famous Rudyard Kipling poem) make it difficult to appreciate except in isolated moments. Bara's acting exhibits some real surprise and power at times, but her role is not as large as one would hope- most of the film focuses on the victims of her 'vampirism'.
3/10
A rare surviving Theda Bara film, and noteworthy as the one that made her a star, but the tight range of shooting techniques combined with intertitles that do little to advance the story (based on a familiar stage play of the time, which was in turn based on a famous Rudyard Kipling poem) make it difficult to appreciate except in isolated moments. Bara's acting exhibits some real surprise and power at times, but her role is not as large as one would hope- most of the film focuses on the victims of her 'vampirism'.
3/10
The Story Of Three Loves
10/10
Extraordinary, just extraordinary. Over the top romanticism as good as it gets. And the film -- which consists of three vignettes -- conveys the unique enchantment of falling in love as well as any other picture I can think of. Vincente Minnelli, of course, but who knew Gottfried Reinhardt?. Penelope, you're gonna love this. Great performances by Moira Shearer, James Mason, Ricky Nelson, Ethel Barrymore, Farley Granger, Kirk Douglas and Pier Angeli. It's not just uninihibitedly romantic, it's very intelligent and sophisticated as well. And it possesses a tender heart. All this and Rachmaninov, too.
Edited By Damien on 1226731072
10/10
Extraordinary, just extraordinary. Over the top romanticism as good as it gets. And the film -- which consists of three vignettes -- conveys the unique enchantment of falling in love as well as any other picture I can think of. Vincente Minnelli, of course, but who knew Gottfried Reinhardt?. Penelope, you're gonna love this. Great performances by Moira Shearer, James Mason, Ricky Nelson, Ethel Barrymore, Farley Granger, Kirk Douglas and Pier Angeli. It's not just uninihibitedly romantic, it's very intelligent and sophisticated as well. And it possesses a tender heart. All this and Rachmaninov, too.
Edited By Damien on 1226731072
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
Fort Saganne (1984; Alain Corneau) 7/10
French soldier Gérard Depardieu rises through the ranks by displaying valor and ingenuity in battling Algerian rebels (and other French officers) just before WWI, while getting caught up in a romantic triangle involving heiress Sophie Marceau and free-thinking journalist Catherine Deneuve. Leisurely paced epic boasts gorgeous cinematography by Bruno Nuytten and an exquisite score by Philippe Sarde (both marvelously preserved in this DVD), but despite incidental moments of power, film as a whole is rather inert. I'm probably being too lenient, but you know I'm a sucker for French historical epics.
French soldier Gérard Depardieu rises through the ranks by displaying valor and ingenuity in battling Algerian rebels (and other French officers) just before WWI, while getting caught up in a romantic triangle involving heiress Sophie Marceau and free-thinking journalist Catherine Deneuve. Leisurely paced epic boasts gorgeous cinematography by Bruno Nuytten and an exquisite score by Philippe Sarde (both marvelously preserved in this DVD), but despite incidental moments of power, film as a whole is rather inert. I'm probably being too lenient, but you know I'm a sucker for French historical epics.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
Damien wrote:Reza wrote:Penelope wrote:Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train (1998; Patrice Chéreau) 6/10
What is with movies like Rachel Getting Married and this one: a bunch of great actors giving great performances, but at the service of a ridiculous, pretentious script that never really makes any sense, and offers characters that are so distasteful you keep hoping Jason Vorhees will turn up to bring it to a quick end. That said, the last few minutes are breathtaking.
Really??? I guess 11 Cesar nods don't mean a thing then!
Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train is probably my least favorite film of the 1990s. I absolutely despise that vile piece of misanthropic crap.
LOL
I really have to watch this now!!
Edited By Reza on 1226715269