Stranger Danger
“Stranger Eyes,” Yeo Siew Hua’s powerful film about surveillance and the surveilled, has been selected as the opening title for the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan. The film, which is structured as a co-production between Singapore and Taiwan, stars Taiwan film icon Lee Kang-sheng alongside Wu Chien-ho, Vera Chen and Anicca Panna.
In ‘Stranger Eyes,’ a young couple begins to receive strange videos after the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter and realize that someone has been filming their daily life — even their most intimate moments. As the identity of the voyeur and the truth behind the videos are revealed, the family starts to crumble.
The Taiwan screening will represent the film’s Asian premiere and its first public screening after having its world premiere this week in Venice. Yeo’s previous title “A Land Imagined” won two prizes at the Golden Horse Film Awards.
The...
“Stranger Eyes,” Yeo Siew Hua’s powerful film about surveillance and the surveilled, has been selected as the opening title for the Golden Horse Film Festival in Taiwan. The film, which is structured as a co-production between Singapore and Taiwan, stars Taiwan film icon Lee Kang-sheng alongside Wu Chien-ho, Vera Chen and Anicca Panna.
In ‘Stranger Eyes,’ a young couple begins to receive strange videos after the mysterious disappearance of their baby daughter and realize that someone has been filming their daily life — even their most intimate moments. As the identity of the voyeur and the truth behind the videos are revealed, the family starts to crumble.
The Taiwan screening will represent the film’s Asian premiere and its first public screening after having its world premiere this week in Venice. Yeo’s previous title “A Land Imagined” won two prizes at the Golden Horse Film Awards.
The...
- 9/4/2024
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
See-Saw Films producer Iain Canning, Barnaby Thompson, producer of Wayne’s World, An Ideal Husband and director of the St Trinian’s films, and Boiling Point actor Ray Panthaki have been elected to Bafta’s film committee.
Canning’s See-Saw credits include The King’s Speech, The Power Of The Dog and Apple TV series Slow Horses.
They have been elected by the Bafta membership, made up of 12,000 creatives from across the screen industries.
Journalist and broadcaster Jason Solomons has been re-elected.
They join chair Anna Higgs and deputy chair Emily Stillman, as well as Anthony Andrews, Julie La’Bassiere,...
Canning’s See-Saw credits include The King’s Speech, The Power Of The Dog and Apple TV series Slow Horses.
They have been elected by the Bafta membership, made up of 12,000 creatives from across the screen industries.
Journalist and broadcaster Jason Solomons has been re-elected.
They join chair Anna Higgs and deputy chair Emily Stillman, as well as Anthony Andrews, Julie La’Bassiere,...
- 9/4/2024
- ScreenDaily
BAFTA has added seven new members to its Film, Games, and Television committees.
The new members are Alison Barnett, Iain Canning, Charu Desodt, Alyx Jones, Caroline Levy, Ray Panthaki, and Barnaby Thompson.
The seven newly elected sector committee members are joined today by several re-elected members. Those members are Emma Butt, Des Gayle (also deputy chair of the Games committee), Jason Solomons, Tara Saunders (Games committee chair), and Ade Rawcliffe.
The representatives are elected for two years, voted for by the members. The elections take place every year, with half of the committee retiring each year on rotation. The eligibility, campaigning rules, and voting criteria for the Film, Games, Television, and Television Craft Awards are individually reviewed and set by the sector committees annually.
“We are uniquely fortunate to have a community of over 12,000 creative practitioners,” Sara Putt, chair of BAFTA, said this morning.
The new members are Alison Barnett, Iain Canning, Charu Desodt, Alyx Jones, Caroline Levy, Ray Panthaki, and Barnaby Thompson.
The seven newly elected sector committee members are joined today by several re-elected members. Those members are Emma Butt, Des Gayle (also deputy chair of the Games committee), Jason Solomons, Tara Saunders (Games committee chair), and Ade Rawcliffe.
The representatives are elected for two years, voted for by the members. The elections take place every year, with half of the committee retiring each year on rotation. The eligibility, campaigning rules, and voting criteria for the Film, Games, Television, and Television Craft Awards are individually reviewed and set by the sector committees annually.
“We are uniquely fortunate to have a community of over 12,000 creative practitioners,” Sara Putt, chair of BAFTA, said this morning.
- 9/4/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Season two of Meet the Producer podcast has been launched by the Production Guild of Great Britain. Film critic Jason Solomons talks to six leading producers working in film and high-end television. The series features interviews with Academy Award® and BAFTA-winner Simon Chinn, BAFTA-winner and Academy Award® nominee Malte Grunert, Alexandra Derbyshire, Keith Beauchamp, Academy Award® and BAFTA-winner Iain Canning with fellow See-Saw Films producer Joanna Laurie and Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo.
- 3/10/2023
- by PodcastingToday
- Podcastingtoday
Exclusive: Luxury labels are “naturally evolving” toward producing and making their own indie feature films, says Charles Finch, founder and chief executive of Finch and Partners, the consulting firm that has been the prime mover in enabling “a synergy of content” between the entertainment sector and the crème de la crème of brands.
Related Story Breaking Baz: Ruth Wilson On “Huge Act Of Stamina” Needed To Perform For 24 Hours With 100 Men On London Stage; Mud, Glorious Mud For ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’ Related Story NFL Playoffs Fuel Broadcast Viewing In January; Prime Video Sees Largest Jump In Streaming Usage Due To 'Jack Ryan,' Nielsen Says Related Story Ruby Stokes On What She Misses Most About 'Bridgerton' After Series Exit
For 25 years, Finch tells Deadline, “we have either represented studios in helping to promote their programming or we have brought enormous luxury deals to artists, and...
Related Story Breaking Baz: Ruth Wilson On “Huge Act Of Stamina” Needed To Perform For 24 Hours With 100 Men On London Stage; Mud, Glorious Mud For ‘All Quiet On The Western Front’ Related Story NFL Playoffs Fuel Broadcast Viewing In January; Prime Video Sees Largest Jump In Streaming Usage Due To 'Jack Ryan,' Nielsen Says Related Story Ruby Stokes On What She Misses Most About 'Bridgerton' After Series Exit
For 25 years, Finch tells Deadline, “we have either represented studios in helping to promote their programming or we have brought enormous luxury deals to artists, and...
- 2/16/2023
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Philippe Le Guay’s “The Man in the Basement” scooped the top prize at the U.K. Jewish Film Festival on Sunday evening.
The 2021 film, which stars François Cluzet, Jérémie Renier and Bérénice Bejo, was awarded the prize for best film.
Runner-up “Karaoke,” from director Moshe Rosenthal, which had opened the festival earlier this month, was given a special mention.
The best film winner was selected by a jury comprised of “Made of Honor” director Paul Weiland, Kefi Chadwick, Liraz Chamami, producer Dominique Green, Sharon Levi and Michael Samuels.
“The jury was impressed by this tense thriller, with its strong performances and direction, and bristling with symbolism that intelligently explores France’s hidden history and contemporary issues around antisemitism,” they said in a statement. “‘The Man in the Basement’ confronts Jewish identity, Holocaust denial and attitudes to France’s Jewish minority, but yet the film still works effectively as compelling and suspenseful storytelling.
The 2021 film, which stars François Cluzet, Jérémie Renier and Bérénice Bejo, was awarded the prize for best film.
Runner-up “Karaoke,” from director Moshe Rosenthal, which had opened the festival earlier this month, was given a special mention.
The best film winner was selected by a jury comprised of “Made of Honor” director Paul Weiland, Kefi Chadwick, Liraz Chamami, producer Dominique Green, Sharon Levi and Michael Samuels.
“The jury was impressed by this tense thriller, with its strong performances and direction, and bristling with symbolism that intelligently explores France’s hidden history and contemporary issues around antisemitism,” they said in a statement. “‘The Man in the Basement’ confronts Jewish identity, Holocaust denial and attitudes to France’s Jewish minority, but yet the film still works effectively as compelling and suspenseful storytelling.
- 11/20/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Commissions
“The Freedom Orchestra” (working title), a documentary film presented by Clive Myrie, will tell the story of Ukraine’s newly formed Freedom Orchestra. In the midst of the ongoing war with Russia, 75 of Ukraine’s noted musicians have come together to bring a message of defiance and hope. Some of their family members are on the frontlines, and many have fled Ukraine since the war began.
Myrie follows the stories of the musicians from rehearsing, often alone, in Ukraine, to coming together for their first rehearsal as an orchestra in Warsaw for their inaugural concert — ahead of a tour of Europe and the U.S., including a performance at the BBC Proms on July 31.
Myrie said: “There has always been a cultural frontline in this war and I wanted to reflect that struggle. This documentary, I hope, shines a light on Ukraine’s artistic achievements as well as creative spirit,...
“The Freedom Orchestra” (working title), a documentary film presented by Clive Myrie, will tell the story of Ukraine’s newly formed Freedom Orchestra. In the midst of the ongoing war with Russia, 75 of Ukraine’s noted musicians have come together to bring a message of defiance and hope. Some of their family members are on the frontlines, and many have fled Ukraine since the war began.
Myrie follows the stories of the musicians from rehearsing, often alone, in Ukraine, to coming together for their first rehearsal as an orchestra in Warsaw for their inaugural concert — ahead of a tour of Europe and the U.S., including a performance at the BBC Proms on July 31.
Myrie said: “There has always been a cultural frontline in this war and I wanted to reflect that struggle. This documentary, I hope, shines a light on Ukraine’s artistic achievements as well as creative spirit,...
- 7/29/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The Production Guild of Great Britain (Pggb) has unveiled its award winners for 2022 ahead of the prize ceremony on Saturday. Scroll down for the full list.
The Production Team of the Year Award was won by the crew behind Northman, Robert Eggers follow-up to The Lighthouse, including producer Mark Huffam.
According to jury chair Callum McDougal, the decision was made in part because the film was the first major feature to shoot in Northern Ireland during Covid, which sent “a sign across the world that we could continue to work safely in this country and deliver film successfully.”
A special mention in the category went to the team behind Sarah Gavron’s Rocks.
The Pggb High-End TV Production Team of the Year Award went to Andrew Haigh’s See-Saw series The North Water following a challenging shoot.
“The North Water team demonstrated how to survive the perfect production storm: you...
The Production Team of the Year Award was won by the crew behind Northman, Robert Eggers follow-up to The Lighthouse, including producer Mark Huffam.
According to jury chair Callum McDougal, the decision was made in part because the film was the first major feature to shoot in Northern Ireland during Covid, which sent “a sign across the world that we could continue to work safely in this country and deliver film successfully.”
A special mention in the category went to the team behind Sarah Gavron’s Rocks.
The Pggb High-End TV Production Team of the Year Award went to Andrew Haigh’s See-Saw series The North Water following a challenging shoot.
“The North Water team demonstrated how to survive the perfect production storm: you...
- 3/25/2022
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
The reviews for Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer” are here straight from the Venice Film Festival, declaring that even if the melodramatic-bordering-on-campy film isn’t for everyone, Kristen Stewart’s “genius” take on Princess Diana just might be.
In his review for The Wrap, Jason Solomons describes “Spencer” as an “intense, giddy spectacle with Shakespearean or indeed Racinian ambitions,” before making it very clear that, ultimately, “it’s Stewart’s film.”
“She gets the doe-eyed, pitying tilt of the head and the little posh girl voice down pretty well, but this is no impression — it’s more an interpretation of a classic role, bringing layers of real human complexity to a figure who, for all the mythology that surrounds her, still looms large in the British and global conscience,” Solomons wrote.
“This Diana isn’t the likable People’s Princess or Queen of Hearts whom the public adored. We get none of that.
In his review for The Wrap, Jason Solomons describes “Spencer” as an “intense, giddy spectacle with Shakespearean or indeed Racinian ambitions,” before making it very clear that, ultimately, “it’s Stewart’s film.”
“She gets the doe-eyed, pitying tilt of the head and the little posh girl voice down pretty well, but this is no impression — it’s more an interpretation of a classic role, bringing layers of real human complexity to a figure who, for all the mythology that surrounds her, still looms large in the British and global conscience,” Solomons wrote.
“This Diana isn’t the likable People’s Princess or Queen of Hearts whom the public adored. We get none of that.
- 9/3/2021
- by Alex Noble and Rosemary Rossi
- The Wrap
Check out TheWrap’s digital Cannes magazine issue here. You can find all of TheWrap’s Cannes coverage here.
How busy has Tilda Swinton been this Cannes? She’s got five movies in the festival, she became an Internet meme along with her “French Dispatch” co-stars, and on Friday she picked up the coveted Palm Dog Award.
The prize is a makeshift award created by journalists in 2001 to celebrate the best canine performers in the festival. And Swinton was on hand this year to accept her Palm Dog “collar.” Turns out Swinton stars alongside her own trio of spaniels in Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” which premiered in the Directors Fortnight section. And in accepting her prize, she even welcomed Hogg to the stage by calling her through FaceTime on her iPhone.
Sean Baker, director of “Red Rocket,” also accepted a prize for the Palm Dog on behalf...
How busy has Tilda Swinton been this Cannes? She’s got five movies in the festival, she became an Internet meme along with her “French Dispatch” co-stars, and on Friday she picked up the coveted Palm Dog Award.
The prize is a makeshift award created by journalists in 2001 to celebrate the best canine performers in the festival. And Swinton was on hand this year to accept her Palm Dog “collar.” Turns out Swinton stars alongside her own trio of spaniels in Joanna Hogg’s “The Souvenir Part II,” which premiered in the Directors Fortnight section. And in accepting her prize, she even welcomed Hogg to the stage by calling her through FaceTime on her iPhone.
Sean Baker, director of “Red Rocket,” also accepted a prize for the Palm Dog on behalf...
- 7/16/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Check out TheWrap’s digital Cannes magazine issue here. You can find all of TheWrap’s Cannes coverage here.
While we argued at the halfway point of the Cannes Film Festival that a single film hadn’t quite emerged as the runaway favorite for the Palme d’Or, Asghar Farhadi’s latest “A Hero” is now making a strong case for frontrunner status, with critics calling the Iranian director’s film his best since “A Separation.”
Farhadi has been in the running for the Palme d’Or three times, and he’s picked up prizes for “The Past” and “The Salesman,” along with Oscars for “The Salesman” and “A Separation.” His latest is about a man who is on a two-day leave from prison for an unpaid debt who faces a moral quandary when he comes across a bag of money. “A Hero” premiered on Tuesday and then screened again on Wednesday morning,...
While we argued at the halfway point of the Cannes Film Festival that a single film hadn’t quite emerged as the runaway favorite for the Palme d’Or, Asghar Farhadi’s latest “A Hero” is now making a strong case for frontrunner status, with critics calling the Iranian director’s film his best since “A Separation.”
Farhadi has been in the running for the Palme d’Or three times, and he’s picked up prizes for “The Past” and “The Salesman,” along with Oscars for “The Salesman” and “A Separation.” His latest is about a man who is on a two-day leave from prison for an unpaid debt who faces a moral quandary when he comes across a bag of money. “A Hero” premiered on Tuesday and then screened again on Wednesday morning,...
- 7/14/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Check out TheWrap’s digital Cannes magazine issue here. You can find all of TheWrap’s Cannes coverage here.
Oliver Stone headed to the Cannes Film Festival this week 30 years after the release of his dramatic saga “JFK,” this time with a documentary about the John F. Kennedy assassination murder that aims to get more answers about the 1963 event. But Stone, who was last in the official selection at Cannes with his 2010 sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” returned to the festival in a combative mood.
In his Tuesday morning Cannes press conference, Stone bemoaned the fact that Hollywood and American financiers didn’t step up to fund his latest film, “JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass.” “We have to go, for our own history, to Europe,” he said (via Deadline), alluding that he had the same problem when funding his 2016 drama “Snowden,” about Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden.
His producer,...
Oliver Stone headed to the Cannes Film Festival this week 30 years after the release of his dramatic saga “JFK,” this time with a documentary about the John F. Kennedy assassination murder that aims to get more answers about the 1963 event. But Stone, who was last in the official selection at Cannes with his 2010 sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” returned to the festival in a combative mood.
In his Tuesday morning Cannes press conference, Stone bemoaned the fact that Hollywood and American financiers didn’t step up to fund his latest film, “JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass.” “We have to go, for our own history, to Europe,” he said (via Deadline), alluding that he had the same problem when funding his 2016 drama “Snowden,” about Nsa whistleblower Edward Snowden.
His producer,...
- 7/13/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Pixar Animation Studios’ highly anticipated film, “Soul,” isn’t set to premiere on Disney+ on December 25, but early critics’ reviews indicate the “visually glorious” animated feature will be worth the wait. Oscar-winning director Pete Docter (“Up” and “Inside Out”) is at the helm of this “densely packed, exquisitely executed” feature that recently screened at BFI London Film Festival.
As of this writing the film, which is Pixar’s first with a black lead character, has a MetaCritic score of 91 based on seven reviews. Over at Rotten Tomatoes, “Soul” has a perfect 100% freshness rating based on 13 independent reviews to date. Kaleem Aftab from “IndieWire” writes, “Like some of the best jazz compositions, it uses traditional framework to veer off in many unexpected directions, so that even the inevitable end point feels just right.”
This Oscar contender for Best Animated Feature follows middle school band teacher Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx...
As of this writing the film, which is Pixar’s first with a black lead character, has a MetaCritic score of 91 based on seven reviews. Over at Rotten Tomatoes, “Soul” has a perfect 100% freshness rating based on 13 independent reviews to date. Kaleem Aftab from “IndieWire” writes, “Like some of the best jazz compositions, it uses traditional framework to veer off in many unexpected directions, so that even the inevitable end point feels just right.”
This Oscar contender for Best Animated Feature follows middle school band teacher Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx...
- 10/12/2020
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Pixar’s ‘Soul’ Is an ‘Utterly Mind-Blowing,’ ‘Genuinely Profound’ ‘Captivating Journey,’ Critics Say
The pandemic may have pushed “Soul” out of theaters, but if critics’ reviews of Pixar’s latest film are any indication, it is on its way to becoming known as one of the animation studio’s finest films.
While only a handful of reviews have been published so far from the film’s screening at the London Film Festival, “Soul” has been effusively praised as one of Pixar’s most visually and thematically ambitious stories yet. The film follows Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), a music teacher who risks his financially stable job to fulfill his dream of a jazz career.
But just when he nails the audition, a freak accident hurtles him into a dimension of souls, where he is offered a chance to return to his life if he can teach a stubborn soul-in-training named 22 (Tina Fey) that life is worth living.
Under special rules instituted by the Academy...
While only a handful of reviews have been published so far from the film’s screening at the London Film Festival, “Soul” has been effusively praised as one of Pixar’s most visually and thematically ambitious stories yet. The film follows Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), a music teacher who risks his financially stable job to fulfill his dream of a jazz career.
But just when he nails the audition, a freak accident hurtles him into a dimension of souls, where he is offered a chance to return to his life if he can teach a stubborn soul-in-training named 22 (Tina Fey) that life is worth living.
Under special rules instituted by the Academy...
- 10/12/2020
- by Rosemary Rossi and Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Megan Fox says she's endured "genuinely harrowing experiences" as a woman in the entertainment industry, but they do not involve Michael Bay. In a new statement released by the actress on Monday, June 22, Fox responded to the internet's renewed interest in past comments she made about working with the director. Last weekend, thousands of Twitter users engaged with a resurfaced clip from a 2009 interview Fox gave Jimmy Kimmel, where she recalled having to wear a "stars-and-stripes bikini" and "6-inch heels" for a scene in Bad Boys II, which Bay directed. That same year, The Guardian film critic Jason Solomons said Fox told him that...
- 6/23/2020
- E! Online
British producer Jeremy Thomas, whose credits include “The Last Emperor,” “Crash” and “Sexy Beast,” is attending the Marrakech Film Festival where he was interviewed onstage by U.K. film critic Jason Solomons, who introduced him as “the Last Emperor of independent cinema.”
Interviewed by Variety, Thomas talked about Matteo Garrone’s “Pinocchio,” starring Roberto Benigni, which will be released on 600 screens in Italy on Dec. 19 and will be released in Germany, Russia and other European territories on March 20. He is still negotiating English-language world rights.
Garrone is essentially known for his dark films, such as gritty crime movie “Gomorrah,” but has dreamt of adapting Carlo Collodi’s “Pinocchio” since he was a child.
Thomas has previously produced Garrone’s English-language picture “Tale of Tales” (2015), and his crime drama “Dogman,” which competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
Italian comedy star Benigni (“Life Is Beautiful”) – who directed...
Interviewed by Variety, Thomas talked about Matteo Garrone’s “Pinocchio,” starring Roberto Benigni, which will be released on 600 screens in Italy on Dec. 19 and will be released in Germany, Russia and other European territories on March 20. He is still negotiating English-language world rights.
Garrone is essentially known for his dark films, such as gritty crime movie “Gomorrah,” but has dreamt of adapting Carlo Collodi’s “Pinocchio” since he was a child.
Thomas has previously produced Garrone’s English-language picture “Tale of Tales” (2015), and his crime drama “Dogman,” which competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
Italian comedy star Benigni (“Life Is Beautiful”) – who directed...
- 12/3/2019
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The UK Jewish Film Festival (Nov 6-23) has assembled a strong jury lineup for its 23rd edition including BAFTA chairwoman Jane Lush, Bridget Jones’s Baby scribe Dan Mazer, former Storyville boss Nick Fraser and Three Identical Strangers director Tim Wardle. Scroll down for the full list of jurors.
The festival program will be revealed on September 19 and organizers tell us it will be the biggest to date. The hub of the festival will be in London but there are due to be regional screenings in more than 20 cities in the UK.
Last year the Dorfman Best Film Award went to Wardle’s acclaimed doc Three Identical Strangers. There were special screenings for movies including Foxtrot, Promise At Dawn, Working Woman and Philip Roth adaptation The Human Stain. Guests included Simon Chinn, Mélanie Thierry and David Schneider.
The festival featured 85 films from 16 countries, including 51 UK premieres, at 21 cinemas in London,...
The festival program will be revealed on September 19 and organizers tell us it will be the biggest to date. The hub of the festival will be in London but there are due to be regional screenings in more than 20 cities in the UK.
Last year the Dorfman Best Film Award went to Wardle’s acclaimed doc Three Identical Strangers. There were special screenings for movies including Foxtrot, Promise At Dawn, Working Woman and Philip Roth adaptation The Human Stain. Guests included Simon Chinn, Mélanie Thierry and David Schneider.
The festival featured 85 films from 16 countries, including 51 UK premieres, at 21 cinemas in London,...
- 9/11/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Keira Knightley‘s film career started over 20 years ago, something she quickly pointed out when she first sat down at BAFTA’s Piccadilly headquarters to talk with film critic Jason Solomons about “A Life in Pictures.” In the entertaining discussion that followed, the two-time Oscar nominee was relaxed, cracked many a joke and swore a lot. She vividly recalled the highlights of a career that includes “Bend it Like Beckham,” the “Pirates of the Caribbean” trilogy, a hattrick of Joe Wright films — “Pride & Prejudice,” “Atonement” and “Anna Karenina” — and her latest release “Colette.”
Knightley began the evening by recounting the time when, at age nine, she organized a protest and stage a sit-in with her friends across from the school field after they were told they weren’t allowed to play football with the boys. “I’ve always had a f**k you attitude,”she admitted.
That certainly helped...
Knightley began the evening by recounting the time when, at age nine, she organized a protest and stage a sit-in with her friends across from the school field after they were told they weren’t allowed to play football with the boys. “I’ve always had a f**k you attitude,”she admitted.
That certainly helped...
- 12/26/2018
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Beyond The Mountains And Hills, One Week And A Day take home top prizes after 15 days of programming.
The 20th edition of UK International Jewish Film Festival selected its award winners after fifteen days of programming. The festival showcased over 80 world, European and UK premieres of features and shorts from November 5-20.
The Israel-Germany-Belgium co-production Beyond The Mountains And Hills [pictured], directed by Eran Kolirin, took home the award for best feature film. It’s star Mili Eshet collected the prize at the ceremony.
Head of jury Jason Solomons said, “It was felt that Kolirin’s film was a bold step up from his popular debut The Band’s Visit, and we admired his willingness to examine the complexities of modern Israeli life with unflinching views that will challenge some audiences. We were struck and provoked, to varying degrees, by the idea of a family representing a nation in mid-life crisis and representing its fears.
“The film maker...
The 20th edition of UK International Jewish Film Festival selected its award winners after fifteen days of programming. The festival showcased over 80 world, European and UK premieres of features and shorts from November 5-20.
The Israel-Germany-Belgium co-production Beyond The Mountains And Hills [pictured], directed by Eran Kolirin, took home the award for best feature film. It’s star Mili Eshet collected the prize at the ceremony.
Head of jury Jason Solomons said, “It was felt that Kolirin’s film was a bold step up from his popular debut The Band’s Visit, and we admired his willingness to examine the complexities of modern Israeli life with unflinching views that will challenge some audiences. We were struck and provoked, to varying degrees, by the idea of a family representing a nation in mid-life crisis and representing its fears.
“The film maker...
- 11/21/2016
- ScreenDaily
Tom Hanks once again reprises his role as Robert Langdon in “Inferno,” the third cinematic adaptation of Dan Brown’s book series. This time around Langdon teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) after he wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia. Together they race across Europe against the clock to foil a deadly global plot. The first reviews are in, let’s see what the critics are saying.
IndieWire’s Demetrios Matheou said the “third time’s not the charm” and gave the film a C- in his review.
“After ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Angels & Demons,’ ‘Inferno’ makes it three duds in a row. Thanks to Tom Hanks, Langdon is a palpable, enjoyable presence. But once again Ron Howard and his screenwriters have failed to satisfactorily adapt the material around him. If the first film was ploddingly, airlessly faithful to its source, this follows the second in being frantically paced,...
IndieWire’s Demetrios Matheou said the “third time’s not the charm” and gave the film a C- in his review.
“After ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Angels & Demons,’ ‘Inferno’ makes it three duds in a row. Thanks to Tom Hanks, Langdon is a palpable, enjoyable presence. But once again Ron Howard and his screenwriters have failed to satisfactorily adapt the material around him. If the first film was ploddingly, airlessly faithful to its source, this follows the second in being frantically paced,...
- 10/11/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Lovable, accident-prone Brit, Bridget Jones, trying to figure out who fathered her unborn child is a return to the charm of the original “Bridget Jones’s Diary” — and away from the silliness of 2004 sequel “Edge of Reason.” “Bridget Jones’s Baby” received a solid 83 percent on Rotten Tomatoes as most critics found Renée Zellweger‘s 12-year hiatus from the role based on Helen Fielding’s novels didn’t stop her from returning in a blaze of glory — and raucous laughter. TheWrap’s movie critic Jason Solomon said Zellweger “still delivers choice comic expressions and re-creates a much loved, lived-in character.
- 9/15/2016
- by Rasha Ali
- The Wrap
Meryl Streep has sung well in films like “A Prairie Home Companion,” “Postcards From the Edge,” “Into the Woods” and, I suppose, “Mamma Mia!” But her operatic warbling in Stephen Frears‘ “Florence Foster Jenkins” is something else entirely. Playing a real-life society grand dame who sang with enormous enthusiasm but only the vaguest acquaintance with things like pitch, timing and tone, Streep’s Florence is monumentally awful but awfully entertaining; as Jason Solomons wrote in a review for TheWrap, “it is very hard to sing that awfully on purpose, and her twinkling commitment to the part is, as ever, a thing.
- 8/11/2016
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Actress Kristen Stewart's new supernatural drama has become the first film to receive boos instead of applause at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
The 26-year-old Cesar Award-winning star reteamed with her Clouds of Sils Maria director Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper, in which she plays a fashion stylist attempting to speak to the ghost of her dead brother, but the pair's latest project doesn't look like it will as acclaimed as their last.
When the movie was screened at the film festival on Monday (16May16), some viewers were a little underwhelmed by the ghostly flick - and booed as the credits rolled.
However, some well-respected film critics are taking the negativity with a grain of salt, and they have jumped to the Twilight star's defence.
"Personal Shopper got the first boos I heard at #Cannes2016, which led me to only clap harder," The Guardian critic Nigel M. Smith wrote.
The 26-year-old Cesar Award-winning star reteamed with her Clouds of Sils Maria director Olivier Assayas for Personal Shopper, in which she plays a fashion stylist attempting to speak to the ghost of her dead brother, but the pair's latest project doesn't look like it will as acclaimed as their last.
When the movie was screened at the film festival on Monday (16May16), some viewers were a little underwhelmed by the ghostly flick - and booed as the credits rolled.
However, some well-respected film critics are taking the negativity with a grain of salt, and they have jumped to the Twilight star's defence.
"Personal Shopper got the first boos I heard at #Cannes2016, which led me to only clap harder," The Guardian critic Nigel M. Smith wrote.
- 5/17/2016
- GossipCenter
The world of entertainment has been paying tribute to Sir Christopher Lee, who has died at the age of 93.
The prolific British actor was best-known for his work with Hammer Horror as well as The Wicker Man and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and many stars and fans have paid tribute to the star on Twitter today (June 10).
It's terribly when you lose an old friend, and Christopher Lee was one of my oldest. We first met in 1948.
— Sir Roger Moore (@sirrogermoore) June 11, 2015
I'm saddened by the deaths of Sir Christopher Lee and Ron Moody. Both starred in films that are treasured by millions.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) June 11, 2015
The great, always criminally underrated Sir Christopher Lee has left us. A Titan of Cinema and a huge part of my youth. Farewell.
— Mark Gatiss (@Markgatiss) June 11, 2015
An extraordinary man and life lead, Sir Christopher Lee. You were an icon,...
The prolific British actor was best-known for his work with Hammer Horror as well as The Wicker Man and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and many stars and fans have paid tribute to the star on Twitter today (June 10).
It's terribly when you lose an old friend, and Christopher Lee was one of my oldest. We first met in 1948.
— Sir Roger Moore (@sirrogermoore) June 11, 2015
I'm saddened by the deaths of Sir Christopher Lee and Ron Moody. Both starred in films that are treasured by millions.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) June 11, 2015
The great, always criminally underrated Sir Christopher Lee has left us. A Titan of Cinema and a huge part of my youth. Farewell.
— Mark Gatiss (@Markgatiss) June 11, 2015
An extraordinary man and life lead, Sir Christopher Lee. You were an icon,...
- 6/11/2015
- Digital Spy
Steve Coogan and Naomie Harris lead eulogies to late star at London Critics' Circle awards, while Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro and George Clooney also release statements
• Twitter tributes to Philip Seymour Hoffman
The British film industry paid tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman at the London Critics' Circle awards last night, with Steve Coogan and Naomie Harris among the stars lining up to celebrate the work of the late Oscar winner.
Coogan said Hoffman raised the quality of every film he was cast in. "There are actors and there are movie stars and sometimes they're both but he was an actor first and a movie star second," he said. "He did some tremendous work. People have different opinions about actors but you wouldn't find anybody who would have a bad word to say about any of his performances – they were all incredibly nuanced."
Skyfall's Naomie Harris told the ceremony...
• Twitter tributes to Philip Seymour Hoffman
The British film industry paid tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman at the London Critics' Circle awards last night, with Steve Coogan and Naomie Harris among the stars lining up to celebrate the work of the late Oscar winner.
Coogan said Hoffman raised the quality of every film he was cast in. "There are actors and there are movie stars and sometimes they're both but he was an actor first and a movie star second," he said. "He did some tremendous work. People have different opinions about actors but you wouldn't find anybody who would have a bad word to say about any of his performances – they were all incredibly nuanced."
Skyfall's Naomie Harris told the ceremony...
- 2/3/2014
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Lupita Nyong'o and Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years A Slave. Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave won the top prize at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards tonight.
Stars attending the event in the capital were left shocked by the news of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, with film critic Jason Solomons paying tribute to the actor as he opened the awards.
Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave was named film of the year, while its star Chiwetel Eijiofor took home the actor of the year award and co-star Lupita Nyong'o was named best supporting actress.
Alfonso Cuaron took home the director of the year accolade for his space drama Gravity, while French film Blue Is The Warmest Colour took home the foreign language cinema prize. Cate Blanchett continues to sweep all before her, picking up the actress of the year award for her performance in Blue Jasmine, while Dame Judi Dench...
Stars attending the event in the capital were left shocked by the news of Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, with film critic Jason Solomons paying tribute to the actor as he opened the awards.
Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave was named film of the year, while its star Chiwetel Eijiofor took home the actor of the year award and co-star Lupita Nyong'o was named best supporting actress.
Alfonso Cuaron took home the director of the year accolade for his space drama Gravity, while French film Blue Is The Warmest Colour took home the foreign language cinema prize. Cate Blanchett continues to sweep all before her, picking up the actress of the year award for her performance in Blue Jasmine, while Dame Judi Dench...
- 2/3/2014
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Other multiple nominees include Philomena, Blue Jasmine, Filth, Gravity and The Wolf of Wall StreetScroll down for full nominations
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave leads the nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, with nine nods. Stephen Frears’ Philomena follows with five nominations.
Receiving four each were Blue Jasmine, Filth, Gravity and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Films getting three nominations each were American Hustle, Blue is the Warmest Colour, Captain Phillips, Frances Ha, The Great Beauty, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska and The Selfish Giant.
Gary Oldman will be honoured with the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film. Oldman said: “I am truly honoured, and humbled to be named for this prestigious award, especially when one considers both who is doing the awarding and also the inspirational list of past recipients. I can’t wait to be there.”
The 34th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, voted on by 140 members, will be held...
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave leads the nominees for the London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, with nine nods. Stephen Frears’ Philomena follows with five nominations.
Receiving four each were Blue Jasmine, Filth, Gravity and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Films getting three nominations each were American Hustle, Blue is the Warmest Colour, Captain Phillips, Frances Ha, The Great Beauty, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska and The Selfish Giant.
Gary Oldman will be honoured with the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film. Oldman said: “I am truly honoured, and humbled to be named for this prestigious award, especially when one considers both who is doing the awarding and also the inspirational list of past recipients. I can’t wait to be there.”
The 34th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards, voted on by 140 members, will be held...
- 12/18/2013
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The 34th edition of these kudos take place on Feb. 2. Gary Oldman will be feted with the Dilys Powell Award For Excellence In Film. The Lcc, with 140 members, is chaired by Jason Solomons. (Read full report on nominations here.) Best Picture Blue Is the Warmest Colour Blue Jasmine Frances Ha Gravity The Great Beauty Her Inside Llewyn Davis Nebraska 12 Years a Slave The Wolf of Wall Street Best Director Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave Paolo Sorrentino - The Great Beauty Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street Best Actor Bruce Dern - Nebraska Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street Michael Douglas - Behind the Candelabra Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips Best Actress Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine Sandra Bullock - Gravity Judi Dench - Philomena Adèle Exarchopoulos - Blue Is the Wa.
- 12/17/2013
- Gold Derby
All the filmic bits and bobs you need to know on Monday 30 September
Coming up today
Good news for those clawing the walls at the prospect of another Wolverine spin-off: Hugh Jackman has said a new X-men film would have to be "very compelling" to convince him to take the role again.
Jackman, who was talking to journalists at the San Sebastián film festival, has now played the indestructible superhero six times. The Wolverine, the second standalone spin-off for the character after 2009's box office boomer X-Men Origins: Wolverine, received lukewarm reviews earlier this year.
There's plenty of hack 'n' slash to get through before Jackman's done however. He'll appear in Bryan Singer's X Men: Days of Future Past at least, before sheathing the claws for good.
In other news ...
- An actors' union study has found that Lgbt performers continue to face discrimination.
- Warner Bros have trademarked...
Coming up today
Good news for those clawing the walls at the prospect of another Wolverine spin-off: Hugh Jackman has said a new X-men film would have to be "very compelling" to convince him to take the role again.
Jackman, who was talking to journalists at the San Sebastián film festival, has now played the indestructible superhero six times. The Wolverine, the second standalone spin-off for the character after 2009's box office boomer X-Men Origins: Wolverine, received lukewarm reviews earlier this year.
There's plenty of hack 'n' slash to get through before Jackman's done however. He'll appear in Bryan Singer's X Men: Days of Future Past at least, before sheathing the claws for good.
In other news ...
- An actors' union study has found that Lgbt performers continue to face discrimination.
- Warner Bros have trademarked...
- 9/30/2013
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
Your daily movie bulletin bringing you the lowdown on 2 September
Buongiorno! Ciao bella! Today in film is bocco concerned with the Venice film festival, which had a splendido weekend and is gearing up for another lovely day on the Lido.
In case you weren't glued to your computer for the last couple of days, Signores Brooks and Pulver were working all ours to bring us news, reviews and even video from the piazzas. They sang their copy lustily down the phone, gesticulating wildly, where swooning women dutifully transcribed. This is what the results looked like:
• If you were rushed to hospital with serious head injuries, would you want Zac Efron to be the one performing the surgery? That's what happened to poor old JFK, according to Parkland, a new Rosencrantz and Guildernstern take on the deaths of the pres, and then, two days later, in the same hospital, Lee Harvey Oswald.
Buongiorno! Ciao bella! Today in film is bocco concerned with the Venice film festival, which had a splendido weekend and is gearing up for another lovely day on the Lido.
In case you weren't glued to your computer for the last couple of days, Signores Brooks and Pulver were working all ours to bring us news, reviews and even video from the piazzas. They sang their copy lustily down the phone, gesticulating wildly, where swooning women dutifully transcribed. This is what the results looked like:
• If you were rushed to hospital with serious head injuries, would you want Zac Efron to be the one performing the surgery? That's what happened to poor old JFK, according to Parkland, a new Rosencrantz and Guildernstern take on the deaths of the pres, and then, two days later, in the same hospital, Lee Harvey Oswald.
- 9/2/2013
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
The critics rained on Baz Luhrmann's parade but a star was born in Young and Beautiful, and Sofia Coppola hit a nerve with a film about a teen gang robbing the homes of Hollywood stars
Nicole Kidman is here in Cannes, so is Ang Lee, and Audrey Tautou, and a second-generation Jagger, and Justin Timberlake, and Cindy Crawford, and Cheryl Cole, and Pelé, and all of them have been rained on, stubbornly, for days. Rain at Cannes used to be rare, regulars say. Russell Crowe has an anecdote about sitting in a screening wearing sodden zip-ups back in 1991, and Bruce Willis got splashed by a freak wave in 2006 – but for a couple of decades straight, at least, this festival was a dry deal, screenings and parties staged outdoors, everyone "cooked to a turn" (as F Scott Fitzgerald described the local way of sunbathing). Then last year the roof of the Soixantième theatre blew off.
Nicole Kidman is here in Cannes, so is Ang Lee, and Audrey Tautou, and a second-generation Jagger, and Justin Timberlake, and Cindy Crawford, and Cheryl Cole, and Pelé, and all of them have been rained on, stubbornly, for days. Rain at Cannes used to be rare, regulars say. Russell Crowe has an anecdote about sitting in a screening wearing sodden zip-ups back in 1991, and Bruce Willis got splashed by a freak wave in 2006 – but for a couple of decades straight, at least, this festival was a dry deal, screenings and parties staged outdoors, everyone "cooked to a turn" (as F Scott Fitzgerald described the local way of sunbathing). Then last year the roof of the Soixantième theatre blew off.
- 5/19/2013
- by Tom Lamont
- The Guardian - Film News
Jason Solomons meets rising star Marine Vacth and Pelé, Terence Davies signs up Cynthia Nixon – plus the latest gossip from Cannes
Send the Marine!
Cannes has a great tradition of introducing new sex symbols to the world. Following in the dainty footsteps of Bardot, Deneuve and Paradis comes Marine Vacth (as in "pact"), whose performance in François Ozon's Jeune et Jolie had everyone asking, "Who's that girl?" In the film, she plays a gamine, bourgeois 17-year-old who suddenly takes up prostitution. Vacth followed Kate Moss as the face of Ysl perfume La Parisienne having been discovered in a branch of H&M when she was 15. When she did her first undressed shoot, her lorry-driver father sued the magazine and won. In her first-ever English interview, she told me: "My parents now leave me to do what I want. They haven't seen this film yet. But there's nothing they can do about it now.
Send the Marine!
Cannes has a great tradition of introducing new sex symbols to the world. Following in the dainty footsteps of Bardot, Deneuve and Paradis comes Marine Vacth (as in "pact"), whose performance in François Ozon's Jeune et Jolie had everyone asking, "Who's that girl?" In the film, she plays a gamine, bourgeois 17-year-old who suddenly takes up prostitution. Vacth followed Kate Moss as the face of Ysl perfume La Parisienne having been discovered in a branch of H&M when she was 15. When she did her first undressed shoot, her lorry-driver father sued the magazine and won. In her first-ever English interview, she told me: "My parents now leave me to do what I want. They haven't seen this film yet. But there's nothing they can do about it now.
- 5/18/2013
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
The Film That Changed My Life | Argentine Film Festival | Daniel Day-Lewis | Jameson Cult Film Club
The Film That Changed My Life, London
A simple idea to mark the centenary of the Critics' Circle: 14 well-known film critics introduce their favourite movies, and try to change your life. Understandably, most the movies are classics, from Kate Muir's choice (and Martin Scorsese fave) I Know Where I'm Going! to If… and The 400 Blows. From the Guardian/Observer stable, Peter Bradshaw goes for Raging Bull, Philip French Bad Day At Black Rock, and Jason Solomons Annie Hall. For something more alternative, the Evening Standard's Derek Malcolm presents Ship Of Theseus, an acclaimed Mumbai drama made just last year, while Empire's Kim Newman offers an obscure 1960s double bill from Nathan Juran: First Men In The Moon and East Of Sudan.
Barbican, EC2, Fri to 2 May
Argentine Film Festival, London
Cinema won't settle the Falklands/Malvinas dispute,...
The Film That Changed My Life, London
A simple idea to mark the centenary of the Critics' Circle: 14 well-known film critics introduce their favourite movies, and try to change your life. Understandably, most the movies are classics, from Kate Muir's choice (and Martin Scorsese fave) I Know Where I'm Going! to If… and The 400 Blows. From the Guardian/Observer stable, Peter Bradshaw goes for Raging Bull, Philip French Bad Day At Black Rock, and Jason Solomons Annie Hall. For something more alternative, the Evening Standard's Derek Malcolm presents Ship Of Theseus, an acclaimed Mumbai drama made just last year, while Empire's Kim Newman offers an obscure 1960s double bill from Nathan Juran: First Men In The Moon and East Of Sudan.
Barbican, EC2, Fri to 2 May
Argentine Film Festival, London
Cinema won't settle the Falklands/Malvinas dispute,...
- 4/13/2013
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Seth MacFarlane's Oscars opening song has caused uproar - deservedly so?
Reading on mobile? See the video here
Over in La, the last reveller has staggered out of the final Oscars party. Yet in the aftermath of this year's ceremony, far more than the actual winners, people are discussing comedian Seth MacFarlane's opening song, We Saw Your Boobs - mainly in highly negative terms.
The case for the prosecution is that it kicked off Hollywood's biggest night by belittling its most powerful women - and at an event, as Buzzfeed pointed out, where only one woman has ever won the highest individual prize, the best director award.
So since I don't own a television, I hadn't actually seen 'We Saw Your Boobs' until now. Now I have. I'm speechless with misery and rage.
— Nancy Durrant (@NancyDurrant) February 25, 2013
The defence is MacFarlane was employed partly to puncture the event's pomposity,...
Reading on mobile? See the video here
Over in La, the last reveller has staggered out of the final Oscars party. Yet in the aftermath of this year's ceremony, far more than the actual winners, people are discussing comedian Seth MacFarlane's opening song, We Saw Your Boobs - mainly in highly negative terms.
The case for the prosecution is that it kicked off Hollywood's biggest night by belittling its most powerful women - and at an event, as Buzzfeed pointed out, where only one woman has ever won the highest individual prize, the best director award.
So since I don't own a television, I hadn't actually seen 'We Saw Your Boobs' until now. Now I have. I'm speechless with misery and rage.
— Nancy Durrant (@NancyDurrant) February 25, 2013
The defence is MacFarlane was employed partly to puncture the event's pomposity,...
- 2/25/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Join Jason Solomons and guests, award-winning novelist Naomi Alderman, Middle East analyst at Chatham House and director of International Relations at Regents Park College Yossi Mekelberg, and writer and documentary-maker Alexander Bodin Saphir.
The elections in Israel may be over and the votes counted, but such is the complexity of coalition politics in Israel, the final makeup of Binyamin Netanyahu's government is still being negotiated. But what happened to the predicted surge to the extreme right?
What do the panel make of Gerald Scarfe's controversial cartoon in the Sunday Times, depicting Netanyahu building a wall on the bodies of Palestinians and using their blood as cement?
And as Oscar night approaches, we take a look at two of the shortlisted documentaries, The Gatekeepers and 5 Broken Cameras: both from Israel but with very different takes on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We ask the director of The Gatekeepers, Dror Moreh, what motivated...
The elections in Israel may be over and the votes counted, but such is the complexity of coalition politics in Israel, the final makeup of Binyamin Netanyahu's government is still being negotiated. But what happened to the predicted surge to the extreme right?
What do the panel make of Gerald Scarfe's controversial cartoon in the Sunday Times, depicting Netanyahu building a wall on the bodies of Palestinians and using their blood as cement?
And as Oscar night approaches, we take a look at two of the shortlisted documentaries, The Gatekeepers and 5 Broken Cameras: both from Israel but with very different takes on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We ask the director of The Gatekeepers, Dror Moreh, what motivated...
- 2/11/2013
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Renewed interest in 'lost' sci-fi movie Lord of Light, the best worst films, and an update on the Florida Versailles
Argo for that
Hoping to continue its good awards form at the Baftas tonight is Argo. Ben Affleck's film is also back in cinemas, mopping up anyone who may have missed it first time around. Also increasingly hopeful with every new victory is Barry Ira Geller, the original author of the sci-fi screenplay within the film of Argo. Affleck's film is, of course, based on the true story of the CIA posing as a film crew, and Geller's 1979 screenplay, which the CIA subsequently acquired, was originally supposed to be made into a movie called "Lord of Light", based on a 1967 novel by Roger Zelazny. To date the film remains unmade. Ownership appears a bit of a mess, as the CIA bought the script to use as cover for its hostage rescue,...
Argo for that
Hoping to continue its good awards form at the Baftas tonight is Argo. Ben Affleck's film is also back in cinemas, mopping up anyone who may have missed it first time around. Also increasingly hopeful with every new victory is Barry Ira Geller, the original author of the sci-fi screenplay within the film of Argo. Affleck's film is, of course, based on the true story of the CIA posing as a film crew, and Geller's 1979 screenplay, which the CIA subsequently acquired, was originally supposed to be made into a movie called "Lord of Light", based on a 1967 novel by Roger Zelazny. To date the film remains unmade. Ownership appears a bit of a mess, as the CIA bought the script to use as cover for its hostage rescue,...
- 2/10/2013
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
It's nominations time again. Our experts give their verdicts on the list, the likely victors, the nominees who should win but won't – and the fantastic films that were ignored entirely
Best Picture
Nominated: Beasts of the Southern Wild; Zero Dark Thirty; Amour; Argo; Life of Pi; Les Misérables; Lincoln; Silver Linings Playbook; Django Unchained
Philip French, Observer film critic
Will win: Lincoln
Should win: Lincoln
This is one of the best ever Oscar lineups, films of every kind from a California-bred spaghetti western to a British musical of a French novel, from death quietly contemplated in a Parisian flat to a killing violently perpetrated in a Pakistani compound. Lincoln, the film I most admire and expect to win, is a work of dignity and seriousness that speaks to Obama's America and the world at large about the great issues of democracy and human rights, how they were fought for by...
Best Picture
Nominated: Beasts of the Southern Wild; Zero Dark Thirty; Amour; Argo; Life of Pi; Les Misérables; Lincoln; Silver Linings Playbook; Django Unchained
Philip French, Observer film critic
Will win: Lincoln
Should win: Lincoln
This is one of the best ever Oscar lineups, films of every kind from a California-bred spaghetti western to a British musical of a French novel, from death quietly contemplated in a Parisian flat to a killing violently perpetrated in a Pakistani compound. Lincoln, the film I most admire and expect to win, is a work of dignity and seriousness that speaks to Obama's America and the world at large about the great issues of democracy and human rights, how they were fought for by...
- 1/13/2013
- by Philip French, Jason Solomons, Mariella Frostrup, Liz Hoggard
- The Guardian - Film News
Directors Michael Haneke and Paul Thomas Anderson will go head to head with nominations in seven categories
Two of the year's major festival hits, Michael Haneke's Amour and Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, will lead the charge for the annual London Film Critics' Circle awards with seven nominations each.
Amour, Haneke's Cannes-winning tale about an elderly French couple dealing with the aftermath of a series of debilitating strokes, will compete for best film, best director, best screenwriter and best foreign language film, as well as best actor (Jean-Louis Trintignant), best actress (Emmanuelle Riva) and best supporting actress (Isabelle Huppert). The Master, Anderson's period drama about an L Ron Hubbard-style cult leader, is up for best film, best director, best screenwriter, best actor (Joaquin Phoenix), best supporting actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and best supporting actress (Amy Adams). The film, which won several prizes at the Venice film festival...
Two of the year's major festival hits, Michael Haneke's Amour and Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, will lead the charge for the annual London Film Critics' Circle awards with seven nominations each.
Amour, Haneke's Cannes-winning tale about an elderly French couple dealing with the aftermath of a series of debilitating strokes, will compete for best film, best director, best screenwriter and best foreign language film, as well as best actor (Jean-Louis Trintignant), best actress (Emmanuelle Riva) and best supporting actress (Isabelle Huppert). The Master, Anderson's period drama about an L Ron Hubbard-style cult leader, is up for best film, best director, best screenwriter, best actor (Joaquin Phoenix), best supporting actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and best supporting actress (Amy Adams). The film, which won several prizes at the Venice film festival...
- 12/18/2012
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Some witty person relatively recently came up with the phrase 'Bromance', but strong and abiding male friendships have long been played out on the big screen.
The film genre has become a recipe for major box office successes, with Academy award-winner Joachim Back recently directing not one but two films about the trials, tribulations and idiosyncrasies of modern male friendships.
Created for Chivas Regal, Here’s to Big Bear and Here’s to Twinkle follow four successful guys as they look back at the misadventures that helped to cement their everlasting friendship.
Inspired by these films, Jason Solomons, film critic for the Observer newspaper and Chairman of the London Film Critics' Circle, has paid homage to the brilliance of the genre by compiling his list of Top 10 brotherhood of men's moments in film...
What's your favourite buddy movie - is it in the top ten below?...
The film genre has become a recipe for major box office successes, with Academy award-winner Joachim Back recently directing not one but two films about the trials, tribulations and idiosyncrasies of modern male friendships.
Created for Chivas Regal, Here’s to Big Bear and Here’s to Twinkle follow four successful guys as they look back at the misadventures that helped to cement their everlasting friendship.
Inspired by these films, Jason Solomons, film critic for the Observer newspaper and Chairman of the London Film Critics' Circle, has paid homage to the brilliance of the genre by compiling his list of Top 10 brotherhood of men's moments in film...
What's your favourite buddy movie - is it in the top ten below?...
- 9/18/2012
- by The Huffington Post UK
- Huffington Post
After unveiling just about everything you’d want to know short of seeing the film, people have actually witnessed Terrence Malick‘s To the Wonder as of this morning at the Venice Film Festival — and the reaction is as divisive as expected. Reviews indicate that Ben Affleck indeed just has a few spare lines as rumored, while his presence is reportedly in the backdrop, while Malick focuses on the women, most notably an always moving Olga Kurylenko. As for the film itself, reviews indicate Malick is moving in a more impressionistic, opaquely religious direction from The Tree of Life, but not as drastic as Affleck revealed this weekend.
We’ll weigh in come Tiff time, but for now check out the full reviews, followed by Twitter impressions. And as for when audiences will get to see the film, 01 Distribution confirms a December 14th Italy release for the film. Hopefully Us...
We’ll weigh in come Tiff time, but for now check out the full reviews, followed by Twitter impressions. And as for when audiences will get to see the film, 01 Distribution confirms a December 14th Italy release for the film. Hopefully Us...
- 9/2/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
The Oscar-nominated director and writer Nora Ephron has died aged 71. We look back over her career in clips
Nora Ephron's first screenwriting effort never saw the light of day: a polish on the script for All the President's Men, based on the case of her then-husband, Carl Bernstein. Director Alan J Pakula scrapped that version, but it was a heavyweight kick-off to a career largely remembered for its lighter moments.
In fact, Ephron's first work to make it to the big screen was similarly serious and scrupulous: Silkwood, a 1983 drama directed by Mike Nichols inspired by the true-life story of a whistleblower at a malfunctioning plutonium plant who died in a suspicious car crash.
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view
It was a fine film, an auspicious start; not least because it led, three years later, to Heartburn – also directed by Nichols, also starring Streep – and based...
Nora Ephron's first screenwriting effort never saw the light of day: a polish on the script for All the President's Men, based on the case of her then-husband, Carl Bernstein. Director Alan J Pakula scrapped that version, but it was a heavyweight kick-off to a career largely remembered for its lighter moments.
In fact, Ephron's first work to make it to the big screen was similarly serious and scrupulous: Silkwood, a 1983 drama directed by Mike Nichols inspired by the true-life story of a whistleblower at a malfunctioning plutonium plant who died in a suspicious car crash.
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view
It was a fine film, an auspicious start; not least because it led, three years later, to Heartburn – also directed by Nichols, also starring Streep – and based...
- 6/27/2012
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Dexter Fletcher tells Jason Solomons about his forthcoming cockney western
Wild Bill team go west
Following the success of his directing debut, Wild Bill, former child actor Dexter Fletcher is making a full-blown western, set in Arizona. However, he tells me, Provenance will still be made up of Londoners, this time seeking their fortune in the frontier towns of the American west. "I've always loved westerns but have never been able to be in one," Dexter says. "I tried to work a lot western ideas into Wild Bill and I feel really lucky to be able to actually get to make one of my own, in real western country." BBC Films is backing the film and Mark Strong is set to star, alongside Sammy Williams, the kid in Wild Bill who also featured in Joe Cornish's Attack the Block. The rest of the cast has yet to be confirmed...
Wild Bill team go west
Following the success of his directing debut, Wild Bill, former child actor Dexter Fletcher is making a full-blown western, set in Arizona. However, he tells me, Provenance will still be made up of Londoners, this time seeking their fortune in the frontier towns of the American west. "I've always loved westerns but have never been able to be in one," Dexter says. "I tried to work a lot western ideas into Wild Bill and I feel really lucky to be able to actually get to make one of my own, in real western country." BBC Films is backing the film and Mark Strong is set to star, alongside Sammy Williams, the kid in Wild Bill who also featured in Joe Cornish's Attack the Block. The rest of the cast has yet to be confirmed...
- 6/23/2012
- by Jason Solomons
- The Guardian - Film News
Jean-Louis Trintignant, Amour / Love (with Emmanuelle Riva) Cannes Film Festival Best Actor contenders are many. On top of the list is veteran Jean-Louis Trintignant in Michael Haneke’s romantic tragedy Amour / Love. Amour is the 81-year-old Trintignant’s first film in nearly a decade; it may also turn out to be his last. That in itself makes Trintignant the sentimental favorite for the Cannes 2012 Best Actor Award. If that weren’t all, both Amour and its cast have earned singularly enthusiastic notices, e.g., "utterly captivating," as per The Guardian‘s Jason Solomons. If Trintignant does take home the Best Actor prize, that’ll mark his second Cannes victory: the first was for his judge in Costa-Gavras’ political drama Z, 43 years ago. Other strong Best Actor possibilities include the following: Robert Pattinson surprised those who believed he actually was a vegetarian vampire who sparkled in the sunlight. As an arrogant...
- 5/27/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
It's all about R Patz today, as Cosmopolis takes a bow on the Croisette
9.22am: Bonjour! It's a lovely morning in London, but let's hot-tail it to the south of France, where the critics are streaming out of Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg's adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel. And I can see the smiles from here.
9.23am:
Blown away by Cosmopolis at Cannes. A film of cool, diamond brilliance. Perfectly fitted, a tale for the times. Note to jurors: this one
— Xan Brooks (@XanBrooks) May 25, 2012
Enjoyed Cosmopolis; odd and funny
— Damon Wise (@yo_damo) May 25, 2012
Cronenberg's Cosmopolis talky but terrific, with a steely, sinuous turn from Pattinson. Chillingly current too. #cannes
— Robbie Collin (@robbiereviews) May 25, 2012
Themes of Cannes 2012: white stretch limos, A-listers pissing, dead dogs, financial crisis, Twilight actors, Matthew McConaughey...
— Charles Gant (@charlesgant) May 25, 2012
Of Pattinson, Xan reckons:
@alexneedham74 Perfect as tragicomic billionaire vampire. Plus Mathieu Amalric as phantom pie-thrower,...
9.22am: Bonjour! It's a lovely morning in London, but let's hot-tail it to the south of France, where the critics are streaming out of Cosmopolis, David Cronenberg's adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel. And I can see the smiles from here.
9.23am:
Blown away by Cosmopolis at Cannes. A film of cool, diamond brilliance. Perfectly fitted, a tale for the times. Note to jurors: this one
— Xan Brooks (@XanBrooks) May 25, 2012
Enjoyed Cosmopolis; odd and funny
— Damon Wise (@yo_damo) May 25, 2012
Cronenberg's Cosmopolis talky but terrific, with a steely, sinuous turn from Pattinson. Chillingly current too. #cannes
— Robbie Collin (@robbiereviews) May 25, 2012
Themes of Cannes 2012: white stretch limos, A-listers pissing, dead dogs, financial crisis, Twilight actors, Matthew McConaughey...
— Charles Gant (@charlesgant) May 25, 2012
Of Pattinson, Xan reckons:
@alexneedham74 Perfect as tragicomic billionaire vampire. Plus Mathieu Amalric as phantom pie-thrower,...
- 5/25/2012
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
In the wake of raves and revulsion for Holy Motors last night, join us on the day On the Road premieres
9.57am: Hello and welcome back to the Cannes liveblog. After a slightly in-transit day yesterday, we're hoping to hit the Croisette running (from the comfort of a high-speed internet connection back in London). I'm back in the office today, and Andrew Pulver is soaking up the rays in the south of France.
10.07am: A lot of big stories around today. Leos Carax's Holy Motors split the critics last night. Team Guardian were pretty partial (Peter's five star review will be up soon) but others seemed less keen.
The first press screening of On the Road, Walter Salles's adaptation of the Jack Kerouac's beat novel, has just wrapped up. Early word seems pretty positive; ecstatic when it comes to Viggo Mortenson.
But before that, let's rewind to yesterday,...
9.57am: Hello and welcome back to the Cannes liveblog. After a slightly in-transit day yesterday, we're hoping to hit the Croisette running (from the comfort of a high-speed internet connection back in London). I'm back in the office today, and Andrew Pulver is soaking up the rays in the south of France.
10.07am: A lot of big stories around today. Leos Carax's Holy Motors split the critics last night. Team Guardian were pretty partial (Peter's five star review will be up soon) but others seemed less keen.
The first press screening of On the Road, Walter Salles's adaptation of the Jack Kerouac's beat novel, has just wrapped up. Early word seems pretty positive; ecstatic when it comes to Viggo Mortenson.
But before that, let's rewind to yesterday,...
- 5/23/2012
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
It's a good day to be Ben Wheatley. The director, who's become one of the most talked-about new directors around thanks to "Down Terrace" and "Kill List," is making his Cannes debut today with his dark, Edgar Wright-exec-produced comedy "Sightseers" -- a press screening is underway as we speak, and we'll have our verdict for you later this evening. And just as that film is released into the wild, Wheatley seems to have landed financing for his most ambitious project yet, and is planning yet another film to follow that.
According to Screen Daily, Film4, which was partially behind both "Kill List" and "Sightseers," has decided to reteam with Wheatley on "Freakshift," a cops vs. monsters movie which the filmmaker will direct next year. The company is currently looking for co-financing on the project, which will see the director working on his biggest canvas to date. Screen Daily don't...
According to Screen Daily, Film4, which was partially behind both "Kill List" and "Sightseers," has decided to reteam with Wheatley on "Freakshift," a cops vs. monsters movie which the filmmaker will direct next year. The company is currently looking for co-financing on the project, which will see the director working on his biggest canvas to date. Screen Daily don't...
- 5/23/2012
- by Oliver Lyttelton
- The Playlist
Romanian New Wave director Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills is his first feature since taking home the Palme d'Or in 2007 with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and it's eliciting differing opinions amongst critics. The Hollywood Reporter's Stephen Dalton calls it "an engrossingly serious work, and confirms Mungiu as a maturing talent with more universal stories to tell than those defined by Romania’s recent political past." The articulate Mungiu discusses the themes of his film rather frankly in the press conference, which is recommended viewing.
Other take: Karina Longworth (La Weekly)
John Hillcoat's new film boasts an impressive cast, featuring the likes of Guy Pearce, Tom Hardy and Jessica "throw-a-rock-at-Cannes-and-you'll-hit-her" Chastain, but they're the only thing that Lawless seems to be receiving unanimous praise for. Otherwise, reception has been more lukewarm, noting that it's often effective, but ultimately flawed and conventional. Jason Solomons of The Guardian finds that Hillcoat's...
Other take: Karina Longworth (La Weekly)
John Hillcoat's new film boasts an impressive cast, featuring the likes of Guy Pearce, Tom Hardy and Jessica "throw-a-rock-at-Cannes-and-you'll-hit-her" Chastain, but they're the only thing that Lawless seems to be receiving unanimous praise for. Otherwise, reception has been more lukewarm, noting that it's often effective, but ultimately flawed and conventional. Jason Solomons of The Guardian finds that Hillcoat's...
- 5/21/2012
- MUBI
All the news, reviews, comment and buzz from the Croisette on day five of the Cannes film festival
3.52pm: Hello everyone. Today's live blog is back with me after Catherine and Henry's sterling work - and again, it'll be on the truncated side unfortunately. Weekend working hours, sad to say.
Be that as it may, Cannes 2012 has been going off like a rocket all day, and in Peter's eyes at least, we have the first solid Palm d'Or contender, in Michael Haneke's Amour, which screened this morning.
Here's Peter's five star review.
And here's some more reactions on the thing called Twitter:
Haneke's Amour is as tender, beautiful and uncompromising as you've heard. Here's @AskDebruge's #Cannes review: bit.ly/KnPol7
— Justin Chang (@JustinCChang) May 20, 2012
Michael Haneke's Amour has been the best film in competition so far. Tender, compassionate and desperately sad. Chapeaux #cannes
— Charlotte Higgins (@chiggi) May 20, 2012
The...
3.52pm: Hello everyone. Today's live blog is back with me after Catherine and Henry's sterling work - and again, it'll be on the truncated side unfortunately. Weekend working hours, sad to say.
Be that as it may, Cannes 2012 has been going off like a rocket all day, and in Peter's eyes at least, we have the first solid Palm d'Or contender, in Michael Haneke's Amour, which screened this morning.
Here's Peter's five star review.
And here's some more reactions on the thing called Twitter:
Haneke's Amour is as tender, beautiful and uncompromising as you've heard. Here's @AskDebruge's #Cannes review: bit.ly/KnPol7
— Justin Chang (@JustinCChang) May 20, 2012
Michael Haneke's Amour has been the best film in competition so far. Tender, compassionate and desperately sad. Chapeaux #cannes
— Charlotte Higgins (@chiggi) May 20, 2012
The...
- 5/20/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
All the latest news, reviews, comment and buzz from the Croisette
10.07am: That was then, this is now. Day one of Cannes 2012 is so over, drifting off on the breeze of yesterday. We're all about today, day two.
If, like me, you find yesterday is so far away that you've forgotten what happened, here's Charlotte Higgins' summary from last night. And as Cannes is nothing if not about fancy frocks and smirking A-listers, we'll be posting a gallery of the red-carpet show before the festival opener, Moonrise Kingdom. Meanwhile, we'll soon have a video review of the film from Peter, Xan and Catherine.
But let's look forward. The big film today is Rust & Bone, the new one from Jacques Audiard. Now, if anyone is due a Palme d'Or it's him: his awesome A Prophet was unlucky to come up against the terrifyingly brilliant White Ribbon in 2010, and his previous work...
10.07am: That was then, this is now. Day one of Cannes 2012 is so over, drifting off on the breeze of yesterday. We're all about today, day two.
If, like me, you find yesterday is so far away that you've forgotten what happened, here's Charlotte Higgins' summary from last night. And as Cannes is nothing if not about fancy frocks and smirking A-listers, we'll be posting a gallery of the red-carpet show before the festival opener, Moonrise Kingdom. Meanwhile, we'll soon have a video review of the film from Peter, Xan and Catherine.
But let's look forward. The big film today is Rust & Bone, the new one from Jacques Audiard. Now, if anyone is due a Palme d'Or it's him: his awesome A Prophet was unlucky to come up against the terrifyingly brilliant White Ribbon in 2010, and his previous work...
- 5/17/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
All the latest news, reviews, comment and buzz from the Croisette, as it happens
9.53am: Bonjour mesdames et messieurs, it's Wednesday 16th May and that can only mean one thing: the 2012 Cannes film festival is open for business. They've dusted down the red carpet, springcleaned the cinemas, and installed thousands of metal barriers for the 12-day frenzy of film on the Riviera.
Right around now the world's critics are pushing and shoving their way into the press screening for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, the festival opener; in a couple of hours from now we'll know whether it's hot... or not.
We've sent a crack team out to the Croisette to bring you all the news, reviews and reactions: Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Charlotte Higgins, Jason Solomons, Henry Barnes and Elliot Smith. We'll also be running a daily live blog to be your one-stop shop for all things Cannes-related.
9.53am: Bonjour mesdames et messieurs, it's Wednesday 16th May and that can only mean one thing: the 2012 Cannes film festival is open for business. They've dusted down the red carpet, springcleaned the cinemas, and installed thousands of metal barriers for the 12-day frenzy of film on the Riviera.
Right around now the world's critics are pushing and shoving their way into the press screening for Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom, the festival opener; in a couple of hours from now we'll know whether it's hot... or not.
We've sent a crack team out to the Croisette to bring you all the news, reviews and reactions: Peter Bradshaw, Xan Brooks, Catherine Shoard, Charlotte Higgins, Jason Solomons, Henry Barnes and Elliot Smith. We'll also be running a daily live blog to be your one-stop shop for all things Cannes-related.
- 5/16/2012
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.