Father Geek Back, WOW!!! A second window of opportunity. I haven't been able to post this mucn since I returned from Spain over a week ago...
Hi people. Yesterday I had the pleasure to see one of the best movies of this year so far and a serious contender for the Oscars, even considering his victory at the Cannes Film Festival. Of course, I'm talking about Roman Polanski's The Pianist. It 's incredible how a person who lived himself this terrible experience (Polanski survived as a child in Warsaw's ghetto) was able to tell this story without being rhetoric. Instead, we have a very raw movie, which succeed to move the audience without trying to make the people crying. The Pianist has many great qualities, but the most remarkable one is absolutely Adrian Brody. His performance is unbeliavable and the audience suffers with him during his dramatic journey. I'm absolutely sure he will be nominated between the five best actors at the Academy Awards. If you want to see 24 pics of the movie (most of them are unpublished), click here:
YES Right Here
Then, click at "Guarda la galleria multimediale" at the right of the page to see the pics.
And now, let's start with the column...
And now, let's start with the column...
Marina Pascuzzi followed this festival in Gent and here is her report 29th Flanders International Film Festival: Good Music and Low Profile
GENT, October 21st- The latest edition of the Flanders Film Festival came to an end last Saturday in Gent, one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Belgium. With twenty-five international films in the official competition and over 250 in total, the Festival offered a good opportunity to view a selection of non-commercial films, as well as some unexpected classic jewels.
‘The Man Without A Past’ by Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki was this year's winner of the Grand Price of the Flemish Community for Best Film. Additionally, Canadian director David Cronenberg received a Special Jury Price for his complete work.
Also, For the second year running, the World Soundtrack Awards was presented. This year, the competition focused on the “Impact of music on film” and. Howard Shore received the World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Soundtrack of the Year and the Public Choice Award. Other winners were Patrick Doyle (World Soundtrack Award for Composer of the Year, for Gosford Park), Randy Newman (World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film, for Monsters Inc.), and Klaus Badelt (World Soundtrack Award for Discovery of the Year, for Time Machine).
Although French stars Juliette Binoche, Jean Reno and Jeanne Moreau were among the top level guests present at the festival, there were many absences this year. Most remarkably Peter Greenaway, who sent a written apology stating that he was caught in Moscow in the middle of his latest production. Films-wise, there were not that many world premieres, perhaps reserved for festivals with a higher profile, such as Cannes. Two Belgian films, “Hop” and “Science Fiction” were among the most remarkable world releases. Marina Pascuzzi
Is it possibile that a movie starring Al Pacino, Tea Leoni and Kim Basinger can be released in Italy before american audiences can see it? Yes, it is...
Hi,
I have seen the new Al Pacino/Kim Basinger movie PEOPLE I KNOW on my latest vacation in Rome last week. It opened there on October 4th but has yet no release date in the US!! This is a shame since the movie is pretty good. I'll make it short, since englisch is not my mother language and I don't want to give away too much... PEOPLE I KNOW is about a rich and renowned NYC publicist (Pacino) who has long lost his idealism and has become a cynical, drug abusing wreck. But now he wants to regain his "purity" and seeks kind of "redemption" by organising a big social event. But then one of his most famous clients gets involved in a huge scandal (I won't give away what kind) and everything is in danger of going down the drain... This is a small but powerful movie about the dark side of New York City's High Society. Pacino's acting is excellent, since he isn't overdoing it this time, a mode in which he is always best (like in DONNIE BRASCO or CITY HALL or INSOMNIA). Basinger is great, too, as are Ryan O'Neal and Tea Leoni.
I did not expect this kind of quality product from director Dan Algrant, whose first film NAKED IN NEW YORK I loathed. Of course, this is no "perfect" film at all. Flaws are to be found in the screenplay, which tries to pack in too much sometimes and falls a bit flat towards the end. But given the acting and overall mood and tension of the film, this is rather a minor flaw. If a director and some A-list-stars at least TRY to make a challenging, daring movie, I forgive them a lot, because such movies are a rare thing these days. Special mention must go to director of photography Peter Deming (who shot many David Lynch films). He gives the film a gritty, yet elegant look, moody but not in a show-off way - subtle and effective.
I do not understand why Miramax hesitates to release this film in the USA. Because of the the dark tone and cynical depiction of NYC citicizens politicians which might not fit the current political mood? Give me a break!! This reminds me of Miramax' stupid and graceless handling of THE QUIET AMERICAN which they didn't want to release for the same reasons - until it got rave reviews at the Toronto festival... What has become of the once daring studio/distributor??? Michael Caine in THE QUIET AMERICAN is now considered an Oscar-contender, but so should Al Pacino in PEOPLE I KNOW!!
Tony M
Teenage Filmaker has two reviews for us and one of them is the latest effort by spanish director Jaume Balaguero, which impressed me with his first movie Nameless...
Darkness (2002) **** ½
Directed by Jaume Balagueró With Anna Paquin, Lena Olin, Iain Glen, Stephan Enquist, Fele MartÃnez and Fermà Reixach
You may don’t know who Jaume Balagueró is. You may ignore his debut film, “The Nameless” (Los Sin Nombre) which – undeservingly – became a cult film worldwide. Well, I am one of the few film lovers who knows Balagueró work since his breakthrough shorts “Alicia” and “DÃas sin Luz”, two visually stunning and disturbing films that put him in the map of Spanish fantastic cinema. While “Alicia”, was promising but obviously overrated, “DÃas sin Luz” showed that this man could do one day an horror classic. When “Los Sin Nombre”, his debut film appeared, my hopes were high, and buzz was that it was great. My deception ranks between the biggest I ever had while watching a movie. “Los Sin Nombre” was complete, absolute garbage... obsessed in being the new “Se7en”, the acting wasn’t engaging and the stunning visuals were completely empty. Worst of it all is that I could see the great story beneath the trash that was offered to my eyes. I hated Balagueró.
But years pass and I hear news that one of my favorite actresses, Anna Paquin has signed to star in Balagueró’s new movie, “Darkness”. I seriously didn’t know what to think. After thinking a bit and learning about the shooting in Barcelona, my interest grew. It reached the point of really anticipating the movie when I heard that Lena Olin and Giancarlo Giannini joined the cast. The acting, this time, simply couldn’t go wrong, could it? Three Academy Awards nominees (one of them, winner) couldn’t be that bad. But then I remembered “Los Sin Nombre” and fear came back.
So, I went to see this movie just after watching “Austin Powers in Goldmember” dubbed to spanish in one of the WORST dubbings I’ve ever heard in Spain (I had previously seen the movie in English, so I can judge the movie in its own merits, ***) and I was feeling a little disturbed... was it going to be two deceptions in a row?
And the movie started... it wasn’t long into the movie when Balaguero’s trademark visuals appeared. I was starting thinking in “Los Sin Nombre” when suddenly the plot and the cast hooked me. I must warn that this movie’s first half is SLOW. Don’t expect much to happen, but what happens NEEDS to be shown, in order to fully construct the movie. Paquin and Olin gave two remarkable performances, and Iain Glen and Stephan Enquist are two pleasant surprises, and is no wonder Giannini does a great job. Fele Martinez, however, doesn’t shine but does a just OK job.
You may notice that I’m avoiding the plot. Confide in me, the lesser you know about this one, the better. I’ll just hint films this movie somewhat resembles: “The Others”, Robert Wise’s “The Haunting”, “Rosemary’s Baby” and “In the mouth of Madness”. Yes, mix all those movies and you’ll get close to what this movie offers. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear reviewers blame Balagueró of copying, but it would be unfair. “Darkness” is a movie in its own, and deserves to become a classic horror movie.
Why? Because this one is all what “Los Sin Nombre” could have been and isn’t. The same subjects lie beneath its frames. The same sad feeling. But this time, a superb cast and an inspired Balagueró (even thought he occasionally inserts too much) gave me a great experience.
I won’t lie to you. Some people didn’t like the movie at all. Even a couple walked away from the theater saying “even it wasn’t an horror movie”... well, I wonder if they actually paid attention to the anguish the finale had. But apart of this couple, the rest of the people still were in shock. There are some twists that you can predict, and Balagueró knows that, so he just offer a wide range of possibilities, including of course the real one, and lets you guess for yourself what CAN happen next, but not what is going to happen for sure. From the movie’s half, things begin to show, to happen, to puzzle the characters... when a great sequence is shown (the potatoes) and you think it won’t be toped, the next one tops it... and so on till the magnificent finale that is LONG, and emotionally overwhelming and left the audience exhaust. It is not only horror, it is emotions... and there’s a choice that can puzzle at first, but it makes total and horrifying sense.
So, summarizing, this movie is better than “The Sixth Sense” and almost as good as “The Others”. Go see this movie when it open in your country. This SHOULD be a blockbuster. This is the horror movie of the year, or so I guess.
Jaume, if you read this, I forgive “Los Sin Nombre”... what’s next?
And that's all... I'll go now with "Lisistrata", one of the biggest deceptions of the year in Spain, for any comic lover.
Lisistrata (2002) * 1/2
directed by Francesc Bellmunt with Maribel Verdú, Javier Gurruchaga, Juan Luis Galiardo, Teté Delgado, Jesús Bonilla, Aitor Mazo and Albert Trifol.
OK. Let's suppose you don't know who Ralf König is. This guy is a german gay comic author whose comics have been previously adapted to the big screen ("Maybe, maybe not", "The Killer Condom") with different result. Lisistrata is his adaptation of Aristófanes' play about a woman from Athens that begins a women strike in Athens and Spartha till war between both cities is over. You may wonder: what's the big deal with the strike? That they don't have sex with their partners, so they carry all day gigantic erections that prevent them of making war with a minimum of dignity. That is, till the gay and lesbian comunity of both Spartha and Athens notice that this is a golden chance. How the situation develops leads to one of the funniest comic-books ever written, a comic that spread all over Europe becoming a cult classic. It is not strange that the adaptation comes from Spain.Thinking about it twice, only spanish and italian film-makers could have done a good job. And Francesc Bellmunt was in the list of possibilities for developing a good comedy. Add to the cocktail "Y tu mamá también"'s Maribel Verdú as Lisistrata and some good spanish actors and I can't understand how this went so wrong. The problem? It's called "over the top, mediterranean style". The movie never leaves the ground and the funny stuff becomes mostly unfunny (with some exceptions: Aitor Mazo and Albert Trifol's relationship gives the best moments of the movie which have some hilarious shots and situations, but develops with a feeling of "am I supposed to laugh?" most of the time. I won't get further in a movie that doesn't need a more extensive review to disqualify it. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it. It's just simply forgettable.
Go, look for the Ralf König comic-book, read it, and only check out this movie if you're really curious about how it got translated to the big screen. With this, I'm out for now.
I was a teenage film-maker.
Last But not least, a review of Femme Fatale, a movie which seems able to stir a lot of discussions...
Femme Fatale Review By Cafeman
Femme Fatale is maybe the best directed Brian DePalma`s film. This is not to say it is the best film he`s made, but the film language used is simple, elegant and executed to perfection. It`s a film that would probably make a great educational tool at film schools, for every frame, angle, cut, piece of sound effect or music is right in its place. But it is exactly this preciseness that makes the film questionably good. As a result of its firmness of construction, it feels cold, bleak and empty, lacking in emotional depth. This, however, is done on purpose, as we are revealed what the film is really all about in the last 10 minutes.
The things is, there`s nothing particularly wrong with the film that you can put your finger on. There is just this unexplainable void in the viewing experience that you can`t quite fill up, no matter how the film seems to be fulfilling its mission. It lacks in soul, quite simply. Until, like I said, the last 10 minutes.
In terms of story, the film is character driven, and 5 people can tell you 5 different accounts of what the film`s about. Suffices to say it revolves around a women of loose moral code who plays men (and women) for suckers using her looks, and the people she manipulates who deal with it in various ways. But in the end, story takes the backseat to character development, good performances and remarkable visuals. You guessed it, until the last 10 minutes.
In the last 10 minutes, the film takes a turn for the shockingly better, and all of a sudden has a mission, a purpose, a heart, a soul, and most importantly, a point. However, as miraculously original as this is, you feel a little pissed off that the film you saw in the last 10 minutes isn`t the film you were seeing all along. Because, essentially, you walk out of the theatre with the last 10 minutes of the film in mind, which can`t be good, right?
But, enough with the nitpicking. DePalma has returned and proven that he can still make a film, and movie lovers should rejoice. "Femme Fatale" is by no means a great film but it is good, quality moviemaking proving once again that DePalma is a force still to be reckoned with.
So much from me for now, Igor
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