Father Geek here with Robert's Euro-AICN Column for this week... but as usual here is something that came directly to me here at Austin's World Geek Headquarters...
ORGASMIC CINEMA 13 EXPLOSIVE, EXPULSIVE SHORTS from Cinematexas Short Film Fest's notorious midnight shows
Monday - April 8th - 8 + 10 PM
As "Indiewire" reported last November from the Thessaloniki Film Festival in Greece, Orgasmic Cinema "garnered some of the most enthusiastic and raucous audiences of this, or any festival." For 6 nights, crowds of up to a thousand hot and bothered late-night moviegoers lined up around Thessaloniki's Olympian Cinema for what might be described as the "greatest hits" from Cinematexas midnight shows from '97 through 2001. Now putting the Blue in Blue Screen like never before, we unleash a screening of only the most scandalous shorts from Austin and all over the world culled from 5 years of midnights, plus some new surprises. There won't be a dry seat in the house. OVER 18 ONLY!!
WHAT, WHERE, WHEN - Blue Screen, the best salvage from the video (sometimes
film) underground, at the Blue Theater. The Blue Theater is located at 916
Springdale, Austin, TX, between E. 7th and Airport. Admission: $5 General,
$4 Students/AFS members. Doors open at 7:30PM. Web-site for more info and
schedule updates: www.bluetheater.org
THE LINE UP -
Father Geek back. This fest is the MOST Euro-feeling film event in Texas, not only on the screen, but throughout the audience as well. Cinematexas Festivals have a wonderful way of transporting you from your seat to lands and cultures far far away. I'm sure this one will be no exception. GO, or be patently UNCOOL!
Hi people. I hope all of you spent a very joyful Easter holidays. This week, we had some stuff about Chasing the Dragon, The Wicker Man and The Italian Job remakes. Moreover, we’ll see how Huey Morgan and Jarvis Cocker, respectively lead singers of The Fun Lovin Criminals and Pulp, are planning to debut in movies. And, last but not least, the exciting new project by Hollywood Babylonia writer and underground director Kenneth Anger. Enjoy!
Great news from Showbiz Ireland (http://www.showbizireland.com/news/). They also sent me a pair of reviews of The Royal Tenenbaums and The Count of Monte Cristo. I know that these pics were released a long time ago in the States, but in Europe we can see them just now, so I suppose that european AICN readers could be interested…
The first movie by The Fun Lovin Criminals lead singer
Lead singer of New York band The Fun Lovin' Criminals Huey Morgan jetted into Dublin to party with ShowBizIreland.com for St Patrick's Day. At the opening of his new Dublin Pizza restaurant, Difontane's, he told us "I am also planning to work on my first movie. It is a story about two kids who try and import some drugs from Holland to Ireland. I play the role of the drug dealer just like Gary Oldman in the movie True Romance. I think it starts filming in Ireland in June and I have signed up for it and everything." Go to ShowBiz Ireland for the full story and exclusive photos...
Chasing the Dragon latest news…
Chasing the Dragon starring Cate Blanchett, the new blockbuster movie about the murder of crime journalist Veronica Guerin, is to have its ending changed.
According to reports in the Irish press, the changes come as a result of the acquittal of Paul Ward, who has had his conviction for her murder quashed.
The 18million euro movie, which stars Cate Blanchett as Guerin, is not expected to over-run its buget by too much.
An insider said: "There were really only two scenes where Paul Ward is mentioned by name. Although the end must be changed, the other changes are very slight". Ward was never accused of shooting Ms. Guerin, but it was alleged he had been involved in the planning and the disposal of the gun and motorbike used in the murder.
Blanchett had said that playing the role of Veronica Guerin had been a very "positive" experience. "I'm interested in unlocking the human being the journalist and it's up to me to find out what motivated her. I've never met so many people who said they met her, had dinner with her - everyone in Ireland has an opinion on her - that's incredibly positive for me", she said.
It is expected that Chasing the Dragon, which is directed by Joel Schumacher, will give an precise portrayal of the crime journalists life
The Royal Tenenbaums review
Having seen trailers for The Royal Tenenbaums I was unsure as to what to expect. Even the title of the film is rather obscure. And that all-star cast?
Going by Wes Anderson's 1998 movie, Rushmore, it must surely be something a bit different, right?
Based on the Tenanbaum family, the film begins with a quick back round introduction of each family member. Head of the clan is father Royal (Hackman), a wheeler-dealer type who anyone would find difficult to trust. Etheline (Huston) is the hard working and permanently exhausted looking mother. They have three highly gifted children - Chas (Stiller), a property and finance whiz, Richie (Owen Wilson) a tennis champion who won the U.S. Nationals three years in a row and Margot (Paltrow) a playwright who received a fifty thousand dollar grant in the ninth grade.
Royal and Etheline separated and as a result the whole family was divided. All memories of the brilliant Tenanbaum children are forgotten and each one of them embark on their own path of self-discovery and lose touch with one another.
Incidentally, this was considered to be their father's fault.
Alec Balwin narrates this account of family history to us and the remainder of the film is told in a chapter by chapter book form. Confused? You won't be - it all works very well.
Once everyone is up to speed on the family history, we continue. Realising that he is broke, Royal Tenanbaum hatches a plan to reunite with his family. Claiming that he is at deaths door, he succeeds in bringing them all together. Of course things don't go quite as he planned and each member of the family have their own individual mini-traumas to deal with.
To describe the Tenanbaums as dysfunctional is an understatement. Ensconced in their New York mansion, they all seem to be madder than March hares. Their preferred taxi company is the Gypsy Cab Co. with it's beaten up cars. The way some of them dress is bizarre - Dame Barbara Cartland would have loved their penchant for pastel pinks! Each character has a 'uniform' of sort which identifies them as individual.
Essentially there is no central character in this film, each one is larger than life and thus played by a well-known actor. Hackman is suited to the role of family head, nobody can balk orders like he can. The normally good-natured Paltrow gives a refreshing performance as Margot, the chain-smoking rebel. Bill Murray is ever funny as Margot's dead pan husband, Raleigh St. Clair.
Steeped in black humour, ala Rushmore, The Royal Tenanbaums is a truly offbeat comedy. As funny and odd as it is, the story remains focused and doesn't stray.
As for the general theme, well, you decide - family values; take a chance; live and let live.
The Count of Monte Cristo review
It is always a hit or miss affair when a classic novel or story is made into an epic film. The Count of Monte Cristo is Alexandre Dumas' classic story of an innocent man who is wrongly but purposely imprisoned and his plan of revenge against those who wronged him.
This is a typical swash-buckling account of betrayal, deception, love, revenge and justice. The tale begins with the introduction of the two central characters, young sailor Edmond Dantes (Jim Caviezel) and his best friend Fernand Mondego (Guy Pearce). They make for an odd pairing as they are from completely different social backgrounds and have diverse personalities.
Dantes is an honest to God hard working man whose plan is to marry his girlfriend Mercedes (Dagmara Dominczyk). Mondego, on the other hand, lives a privileged life and being the son of a count he wants for nothing. As is always the case, those who want for nothing want what they cannot have and Edmond is blissfully unaware that Fernand covets his beautiful girlfriend.
From the outset it is obvious that rich kid Fernand has a devious streak and cannot be trusted. Of course poor innocent (or is it deluded?) Edmond does not see this, which makes him all the more endearing. Taking full advantage of his friend's gullible nature, Fernand hatches a plan of deception, with a view to having the girl for himself. With the help of his friend Villefont (James Frain), a corrupt magistrate, Fernand succeeds in having his best friend incarcerated for a crime he didn't quite commit.
Thrown into Chateau D'If (the interior of which is Ardmore Studios here in Ireland), a murky prison built on an island, poor Edmond is left to die and is soon forgotten by the world. For a long time he bears his imprisonment well, hoping that he will be rescued and that justice will be done, his mantra being 'God will give me justice'.
The years pass by and it dawns on Edmond that maybe God is busy and unaware of his plight. Becoming bitter and twisted, it seems that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, until Abbe Faria (Richard Harris) literally tunnels his way into Edmonds life.
The Abbe has been tunnelling to escape Chateau D'If for years, but miscalculated and took a wrong turn, instead ending up in Edmond's dank cell. The pair continue to tunnel their way back into the world they once knew, banging and scraping beneath the floors of Chateau D'If, making no effort to hush their voices (it's a wonder the guards never copped).
Tragedy strikes though, and old man Abbe dies. This would normally be seen as a massive setback, but it is actually a blessing in disguise for Edmond. Not only has the Abbe told Edmond where he has hidden vast treasures but Edmond also makes good his escape. This may sound very fast paced, but it all works quite well as it spans a period of thirteen years.
Locked up for so long the dashing Edmond is washed up on a beach, looking tanned, albeit quite scraggy. Armed with a massive fortune (not quite sure how much, but it never runs out), Edmond buys his way into the lifestyle enjoyed by his former friend Fernand, who is now Count Mondego. His arrival into high society is launched by an extravagant party, at which he arrives in a hot air balloon set against a backdrop of fireworks. Once ensconced in the world of wealth and privilege he begins his plan of revenge on those who have wronged him and in the end, God does give him his justice.
The Count of Monte Cristo (for that is what Edmond calls himself), is a contemporary take on a classic story. It is true to the novel and succeeds in capturing the imagination, as did the novel. It has a first rate cast (keep a future eye on young Henry Cavill who plays Mondego's son, Albert) who demonstrate the variety of emotions experienced by each character.
It's not all hum-drum seriousness though, as there are some funny moments and witty one liners scattered about. If swash-buckling period dramas aren't your thing, The Count of Monte Cristo may well surprise you.
Did you adore Mulholland Drive, even if you had some trouble with the last forty minutes? Thus, Preston has something really interesting for you…
Hi there! I normally wouldn't e-mail you something like this, but it's just too funny and unique to pass up. It's a short movie I came across on IFILM called "Mulholland Drive Support Group." (You suppose David Lynch knows about this?!) Here's the link if you're curious: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,2425020,00.html
As usual, the latest news by Ratbert…
Hi all, Ratbert's Roundup for this week. Featuring: nightmare US remakes of classic British films (all Britons who hold The Italian Job and The Wicker Man close to their hearts - and there are many of us - stop Hollywood NOW!); Hugh Grant does a Blair; pop stars turn director; devil worship - the movie; and a Royal accolade for one of Britain's great actors.
The Italian Job, the classic 1968 Michael Caine Mini Cooper caper, is to be remade by F. Gary Gray, the director of The Negotiator. Production is due to begin this summer, and the film should be in cinemas in mid-2003. This reworking of the 1969 Caine classic will start in Italy and end in LA, but few other details have been released, and no cast members have been announced. It follows the disappointing (utterly crap in fact) remake of Caine's iconic Get Carter, which starred Sylvester Stallone.
Nicolas Cage is to star in a remake of The Wicker Man. Cage will also produce the film which is being directed by Neil LaBute. The original film was made in the 1970s and starred Edward Woodward as a Scottish policeman investigating the disappearance of a little girl. The policeman travels to a remote island where he is shocked to discover a colony of modern-day pagans. The new film will be set in present-day America (aaarrrgggghhhhh!!!!)
Kenneth Anger, the actor, author of Hollywood Babylon and cult film-maker, is preparing to make a 40-minute film version of The Gnostic Mass, an old occult ceremony set out by the notorious Satanist Aleister Crowley in 1910, with Sir John Paul Getty backing the film. There have been rumours of a film version in the past but most attempts have been scotched by budget considerations. The bill for Anger's effort now looks like being in the region of some $50m. Anger's last film was 1980's Lucifer rising. He was honoured last week at Argentina's Mar del Plata Film Festival. The cast has not been finalised but it is believed that Anger has approached Chloe Sevigny to play the priestess, Vincent Gallo as the priest and Dennis Hopper as the deacon.
Jarvis Cocker (lead singer of ace UK band Pulp) says the producers of his new film had reservations about letting him direct it.Cocker expects to start work soon on an adaptation of Harland Miller's novel Slow Down Arthur Stick To 30. The film is about growing up in Sheffield in the 1970s and '80s. "I've been discussing directing the film for 18 months with the producers who bought the rights," said Cocker. "The producers have reservations about me doing it, because I've not done a film before. But I think I've convinced them I'm not interested in doing it as a pop star's hobby."
Ben Kingsley received his knighthood at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday March 19. Now Sir Ben Kingsley, the 58-year-old actor said after the ceremony that he had told the Queen that winning an Oscar "pales into insignificance - this is insurmountable". The actor will be at the Academy Awards in the US later this week as he has been nominated for best supporting actor for his role in British film Sexy Beast. He won the best actor award at the 1983 Oscars for Ghandi. But he claimed that "I will be sitting there, in Los Angeles, thinking I'm a knight bachelor". Kingsley has recently been working on the Victorian fantasy drama Tuck Everlasting and an adaptation of Pierre Marivaux's play The Triumph of Love.
To conclude this column, I had some information about two italian festivals (actually, one of them is showing italian movies in Los Angeles). I hardly get some information about italian movies and events, so I’m really happy to pass to all of you these news…
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF FILMS ON ART AND THE LIVES OF ARTISTS
ASOLO, ITALY: The 2002 edition of the International Festival of films on art and the lives of artists, which is under the patronage of the “Giunta Regionale del Veneto” for the second consecutive year, will be held in the city of the “hundred horizons” (G. Carducci, famous Italian poet) between the end of September and the beginning of October.
For the first time, the competition has dedicated a special prize for national and international cinema schools.
Due to the large number of enrolments and continuous requests to partecipate in the Festival from all over the world, the management board has opted to extend the deadline for application to April 30, 2002.
The competition is devided into five sections:
- FILMS ON ART: for audio-visuals on subjects such as painting, sculpture, architecture, music, cinema, theatre, dance and any other form of artistic expression;
- LIVES OF ARTISTS: for historical and critical biographical films on people in the world of art;
- VIDEO ART and COMPUTER ART: for works using electronic and computer audio-visual means as direct artistic expression;
- NET ART: for works of art on the web that are transmitted via internet;
- EXPERIMENTAL CINEMATOGRAPHIC, TELEVISION, VIDEO AND INFO-GRAPHIC PRODUCTIONS made in specialised courses of cinema schools and special institutes of higher education.
A qualified committee will select the works and a prestigious international jury, composed of distinguished personalities of the cinema and the art world, will give the prizes, including the prestigious prize “Gran Premio Asolo” for the best cinematographic, television, video and computer art work.
In addition, there will be two special prizes: the first will be given for the best experimental production made in workshops/classes of cinema schools or similar institutes; the second prize “Premio Gian Francesco Malipiero” for the best sound track.
For further information please contact :
www.artfilmfestival.com
e-mail artfilmfestival@libero.it
4TH ANNUAL LOS ANGELES ITALIAN FILM AWARDS
GREENLIGHTED FOR APRIL 25TH, 2002
The Los
Angeles Italian Film Awards (LAIFA) will be held in
Hollywood, California from April 25th to April 29th,
2002.
The awards will feature a collection of cinematic
experiences both cutting edge and classically styled
with an impressive guest list as well as program of
events.
This year's fest will include films from both Italians
and Italian-Americans, as well as premiere an
extraordinary collection of short documentary and
feature films from Italy. The program will also
include seminars for aspiring filmmakers of all
nationalities.
One to watch, LAIFA helmer, Luigi Campanile, had this
to say, "Every year, it gets better and better. We
couldn't believe the turnout last year and as this
year's awards approach, we find ourselves scrambling to
meet demand for tickets."
Not surprisingly, it's not just the films that pack
them into this highly touted fest. Among the sponsors
are some of the best ristorantes in town. The menu for
every event is one that most Angelenos would have a
hard time getting a reservation for in the private
sector.
LAIFA is also quite a sleeper event for stargazers and
the cognocenti. Honorary board members include Melanie
Griffith, Dennis Hopper and more. Every film that
plays has a wild variety of actors, fans and the
glitterati of both modern and classic Italian cinema.
For more information, contact LAIFA at (213)955-1888 or
log on to http://www.italfilmfest.com.
That's all for today
See you next week
Robert Bernocchi
euroaicn@yahoo.com
http://www.caltanet.it/2003/?id_arg=2003&desc=CINEMA
A qualified committee will select the works and a prestigious international jury, composed of distinguished personalities of the cinema and the art world, will give the prizes, including the prestigious prize “Gran Premio Asolo” for the best cinematographic, television, video and computer art work.
In addition, there will be two special prizes: the first will be given for the best experimental production made in workshops/classes of cinema schools or similar institutes; the second prize “Premio Gian Francesco Malipiero” for the best sound track.
For further information please contact : www.artfilmfestival.com
e-mail artfilmfestival@libero.it
4TH ANNUAL LOS ANGELES ITALIAN FILM AWARDS GREENLIGHTED FOR APRIL 25TH, 2002
The Los Angeles Italian Film Awards (LAIFA) will be held in Hollywood, California from April 25th to April 29th, 2002.
The awards will feature a collection of cinematic experiences both cutting edge and classically styled with an impressive guest list as well as program of events.
This year's fest will include films from both Italians and Italian-Americans, as well as premiere an extraordinary collection of short documentary and feature films from Italy. The program will also include seminars for aspiring filmmakers of all nationalities.
One to watch, LAIFA helmer, Luigi Campanile, had this to say, "Every year, it gets better and better. We couldn't believe the turnout last year and as this year's awards approach, we find ourselves scrambling to meet demand for tickets."
Not surprisingly, it's not just the films that pack them into this highly touted fest. Among the sponsors are some of the best ristorantes in town. The menu for every event is one that most Angelenos would have a hard time getting a reservation for in the private sector.
LAIFA is also quite a sleeper event for stargazers and the cognocenti. Honorary board members include Melanie Griffith, Dennis Hopper and more. Every film that plays has a wild variety of actors, fans and the glitterati of both modern and classic Italian cinema.
For more information, contact LAIFA at (213)955-1888 or log on to http://www.italfilmfest.com.
