TRASH IN MY EYE Reviews: Tilda Swinton

Showing posts with label Tilda Swinton. Show all posts

Saturday, December 3, 2022

Review: "THREE THOUSAND YEARS OF LONGING" is a Fairy Tale of Love Stories

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 73 of 2022 (No. 1885) by Leroy Douresseaux

Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022)

Running time: 108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)

MPA – R for some sexual content, graphic nudity and brief violence

DIRECTOR: George Miller

WRITERS: George Miller and Augusta Gore (based upon the short story by A.S. Byatt)

PRODUCERS: Doug Mitchell and George Miller

CINEMATOGRAPHER: John Seale (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: Margaret Sixel

COMPOSER: Junkie XL

FANTASY/ROMANCE/DRAMA

Starring: Tilda Swinton, Idris Elba, Erdil Yasaroglu, Aamito Lagum, Ece Yuksel, Matteo Bocelli, and Nicolas Mouawad

Three Thousand Years of Longing is a 2022 fantasy film and romantic drama directed by George Miller It is based on the short story, “The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye,” which was written by author A. S. Byatt and first published in the Winter 1994 edition of The Paris Review. Three Thousand Years of Longing focuses on lonely scholar and a djinn who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.

Three Thousand Years of Longing introduces Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton), a lonely British scholar and “narratologist.” She travels to Istanbul, Turkey for a conference. While there, Alithea visits Istanbul's “Grand Bazaar” where she enters a store filled with beautiful and intricate glassware. She purchases an odd, antique bottle, and takes it back to her hotel.

While cleaning the bottle, Alithea is shocked to discover that there is something inside it and that she has unwittingly released its contents. Alithea has accidentally unleashed a djinn that was trapped inside the bottle. The Djinn (Idris Elba) offers to grant her three wishes, but Alithea believes that djinn are tricksters and that the wishes they grant turn out to be misfortune for those that did the wishing. So The Djinn tells Alithea three tales that explain how he came to be in the bottle in which she found him. Will this convince Alithea to accept his offer of three wishes – an act that will grant him freedom?

First, I must say that Three Thousand Years of Longing has excellent production values, and I would expect nothing less from a great filmmaker like George Miller, best known for his Mad Max films, including the original Mad Max (1979) and the most recent, the winner of multiple Oscar-winner, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). The costumes, sets, art direction, hair and make-up, the score, and cinematography give Three Thousand Years of Longing a golden hue. It is in the depiction of The Djinn's stories that this film's production values assert their power in transforming Three Thousand Years of Longing into a engaging fairy tale full of wondrous fairy tales

However, these same fairy tales often outshine the main narrative, much of which deals with the impasse in which Alithea and The Djinn find themselves. Luckily, Three Thousand Years of Longing is a story with a beginning, middle, and an end. For it is at the end that we learn that Three Thousand Years of Longing is truly a love story, but a love story that only a fairy tale can tell. Love is a story, and in this story, love, with its endless longing, is different and lives differently.

George Miller and his co-writer, Augusta Gore, could only tell this film story with two extraordinary and exceptional actors. Tilda Swinton, strange chameleon and splendid thespian, and Idris Elba, whose profound voice reveals the deep pool of ability from which it springs, are so perfectly matched in being mismatched and star-crossed, that they make us believe in what their characters ultimately make for themselves. Three Thousand Years of Longing is not perfect, but it is the kind of fantasy film that only exceptional cinematic talents can create.

7 of 10

A-

★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, December 3, 2022

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Thursday, March 17, 2022

Review: "THE FRENCH DISPATCH" is Ultimate Wes Anderson

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 of 2022 (No. 1826) by Leroy Douresseaux

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021)
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPA – R for graphic nudity, some sexual references and language
DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson
WRITERS: Wes Anderson; from a story by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Hugo Guinness
PRODUCERS: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, and Steven Rales
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Yeoman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Andrew Weisblum
COMPOSER: Alexandre Desplat

COMEDY/DRAMA/ANTHOLOGY with elements of fantasy

Starring: Jeffrey Wright, Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Lea Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Liev Schreiber, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Winston Ait Hellal, and Owen Wilson and Anjelica Huston

The French Dispatch (full title: The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun) is a 2021 comedy-drama and anthology film from writer-director Wes Anderson. The film focuses on the French foreign bureau of a Kansas newspaper and the features magazine it produces.

The French Dispatch introduces Arthur Howitzer Jr. (Bill Murray). When he was a college freshman, he convinces his father, the owner of the newspaper, the “Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun,” to fund his transatlantic trip. Junior would in turn produce a series of travelogue columns, which would be published for local readers in the Evening Sun's magazine supplement “Sunday Picnic.” Arthur, Jr. sets up shop in the (fictional) French town of Ennui-sur-Blasé. Over the next decade, young Arthur assembles a team of the best expatriate journalists of the time. In 1925, he transforms the Sunday Picnic into the weekly magazine, “The French Dispatch” (something like The New Yorker).

In 1975, fifty years after he left Kansas, Arthur Howitzer, Jr. dies suddenly of a heart attack. Although it has half a million subscribers in 50 countries, as per his will, The French Dispatch will immediately cease publication following the release of a farewell issue that will feature Arthur's obituary and four articles by magazine's best writers:

In “The Cycling Reporter,” Herbsaint Sazerac (Owen Wilson) gives a sight-seeing tour. It is “a day in Ennui over the course of 250 years” and demonstrates how much and yet how little has changed in Ennui over time.

In “The Concrete Masterpiece,” J.K.L. Berensen (Tilda Swinton) delivers a lecture at an art gallery. She details the career of Moses Rosenthaler (Benicio del Toro), a mentally disturbed artist serving a sentence in the Ennui Prison-Asylum for murder and the two most important people in his lives. The first is Simone (Lea Seydoux), a prison officer who becomes Moses' lover and his muse. Moses paints a portrait of Simone, and that second important person, Julien Cadazio, an art dealer also serving a sentence for tax evasion, is immediately taken by the painting. After buying the painting, Cadazio uses it to turn Moses into an international sensation. However, Moses struggles with inspiration, and his relationship with Simone becomes complicated.

In “Revisions to a Manifesto,” Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand) reports on a student protest breaking out in the streets of Ennui, one that soon boils over into the “Chessboard Revolution.” Krementz fails to maintain “journalistic neutrality” when she falls in love with Zeffirelli (Timothée Chalamet), a college boy who is the self-styled leader of the revolt. She secretly helps him write his manifesto, but Juliette (Lyna Khoudri), a fellow revolutionary who has some feelings for Zeffirelli, is unimpressed with his manifesto – thus, creating a love triangle.

In “The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner,” Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright) is the guest of a television talk show host (Liev Schreiber). Wright recounts the story of his attending a private dinner with The Commissaire (Mathieu Amalric) of the Ennui police force. The meal is prepared by the legendary police officer and chef, Lt. Nescaffier (Stephen Park). Nescaffier is the creator of a kind of “haute cuisine” specifically designed to be eaten by police officers while they are working. The dinner is disrupted when the Commissaire's inquisitive and bright son, Gigi (Winston Ait Hellal), is kidnapped and held for ransom by a large gang of criminals, led by a failed musician known as “The Chauffeur” (Edward Norton).

They mourn his death. Now, the staff of The French Dispatch must put together a final issue with these four stories that Arthur Howitzer Jr. touched in some way?

The French Dispatch has been described as a film that is “a love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional twentieth century French city.” The film presents four of the magazine's stories of the city. Director Wes Anderson has apparently stated that this film is inspired by his love of the venerable weekly magazine, The New Yorker, and that some of the film's characters and events are based on real-life equivalents from that magazine. During The French Dispatch's closing credits, there is a dedication to several writers and editors, many of whom wrote for The New Yorker.

To that end, The French Dispatch is a movie that celebrates magazine writers, illustrators, and editors and the stories they tell. This film is a love letter to stories of local color and of locales written for magazines. The film demands patience and attention on the part of the audience. The French Dispatch is a hybrid. It is an anthology of four main stories and of a few small chapters, although everything connects in the end. The audience has to follow each of the main stories, paying attention from beginning to the end. That is where the pay off comes.

In fact, each of the main stories seems like one thing in the beginning, but fully develops over the course of the narrative in something different. At the end of each, I realized that the story was about wonderful characters living lives both ordinary and extraordinary. In the extraordinary, Anderson gives us a reason to love what is so ordinary and human about them.

This is brilliant character writing on Anderson's part. His gift is to make not only the lead and supporting characters fascinating, but he also makes even the characters who say little and the extras seem worth knowing – even when the narrative passes them by. To that end, I think Roebuck Wright is the character that ties all the characters and stories together. He is the narrator/writer of “The Private Dining Room of the Police Commissioner,” the final story. Both his first meeting and final conversation with Bill Murray's Arthur coalesces the film's theme of expatriate writers, and he begins Arthur's obituary, which also brings together the film's shifts in time. It would have been nice to see Wright receive a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his work here, but The French Dispatch did not receive any Oscar nominations.

The film's production values: art direction and production design, costumes, and cinematography all meet the wonderfully inventive and incredibly imaginative standards that audiences have come to expect from Wes Anderson's films. The French Dispatch looks like no film I have ever seen. Even Alexandre Desplat's score sounds like something entirely new in film music. I described Anderson's 2014 film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, as Wes Anderson art for Wes Anderson's art sake. The French Dispatch is Wes Anderson high art.

9 of 10
A+

Thursday, March 17, 2022

NOTES:
2022 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Costume Design” (Milena Canonero); “Original Score” (Alexandre Desplat), and “Best Production Design” (Adam Stockhausen and Rena DeAngelo)

2022 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actor” (Jeffrey Wright)

2021 Cannes Film Festival: 1 nomination: “Palme d'Or” (Wes Anderson)

2022 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Alexandre Desplat)

The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Review: Excellent "The Dead Don't Die" Recalls George Romero "Dead" Movies

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 24 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

The Dead Don't Die (2019)
Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPAA – R for zombie violence/gore, and for language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Jim Jarmusch
PRODUCERS: Joshua Astrachan and Carter Logan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Frederick Elmes
EDITOR: Affonso Gonçalves
COMPOSER: Sqürl

HORROR/COMEDY

Starring: Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny,Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, Caleb Landry Jones, Selena Gomez, Austin Butler, Luka Sabbat, Rosie Perez, Iggy Pop, RZA, Carol Kane, Maya Delmont, Taliyah Whitaker,Jahi Winston, and Tom Waits

The Dead Don't Die is a 2019 zombie horror-comedy film from writer-director Jim Jarmusch. The film features an ensemble cast and is set in the peaceful town of Centerville, which finds itself beset by a zombie horde after the recently dead start rising from their graves.

The Dead Don't Die opens in the town of Centerville, which has the motto, “A Real Nice Place,” emblazoned upon its welcome sign. Strange things have been happening in the town, or so say Centerville Police Department Chief Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray) and Officer Ronald “Ronnie” Peterson (Adam Driver). After answering a complaint one evening, these officers of the law notice that its 8 PM in the evening and it is still daylight. Ronnie discovers that his watch and cell phone have stopped working.

There are news reports about pets behaving strangely, and Centerville's Farmer Miller (Steve Buscemi) has learned that his farm animals have disappeared. According to a young inmate at a local juvenile facility, “polar fracking” has altered the Earth's rotation. And the song, “The Dead Don't Die,” by country singer-songwriter, Sturgill Simpson, is always playing somewhere in town. When night finally falls, the dead start to rise from their graves. By the second evening, Centerville is experiencing a full-on zombie invasion, and, as Officer Ronnie already knows, all this will “end badly.”

I choose to interpret The Dead Don't Die as a remake and re-imagining of the classic 1968 horror movie, Night of the Living Dead, the forerunner of the modern zombie movie. That film was co-written and directed by the late George A. Romero, the forefather of what is now known as the zombie apocalypse horror genre. Obviously using Night of the Living Dead as a blueprint and using the cinematic language that Romero invented, writer-director Jim Jarmusch offers a deadpan ode to the seminal zombie movie.

In The Dead Don't Die, Jarmusch certainly has a better cast and better production resources than Romero had for Night of the Living Dead. What Jarmusch maintains from the original film is its social commentary and satire and black humor, although Jarmusch gives his black comedy a spin of dry wit. Jarmusch also breaks the fourth wall and throws in some out-of-this-world B-movie silliness, via the always brilliantly on-point Tilda Swinton as Centerville's newest resident, the Scottish mortician, Zelda Winston. Swinton's short time on the screen alone is reason to see The Dead Don't Die.

Everyone in this delightfully diverse and eclectic ensemble cast makes the most of his or her onscreen time. Some movie critics and reviewers have criticized The Dead Don't Die for being too dry and too deadpan. Quite the contrary, I say. I believe that this film's “dry” tone is a commentary on humanity's inescapable dark fate, the result of our childish desire for too many things that we really don't need. Our hubris when it comes to the way we deal with the natural world and the natural order, and the insatiable greed that can never fill the hole in our metaphorical hearts could bring us a fate worse than death. That is why I think that The Dead Don't Die is the smartest and purest zombie film since Romero's first three “Dead” films.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, October 31, 2020

The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Review: "Doctor Strange" Shows Potential for Future Strange Movies

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 3 (of 2017) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Doctor Strange (2016)
Running time: 115 minutes (1 hour, 55 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action throughout, and an intense crash sequence
DIRECTOR: Scott Derrickson
WRITERS: Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson, and C. Robert Cargill (based on the comic books created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee)
PRODUCER: Kevin Feige
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ben David (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Sabrina Plisco and Wyatt Smith
COMPOSER: Michael Giacchino
Academy Award nominee

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, and Stan Lee

Doctor Strange is a 2016 superhero and fantasy film directed by Scott Derrickson and produced by Marvel Studios. The film focuses on the Marvel Comics character, Doctor Strange, who first appeared in Strange Tales #10 (cover dated: July 1963) and who was created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. Doctor Strange the movie focuses on a former neurosurgeon whose journey of healing takes him into the fantastic world of the magic and mysticism.

Doctor Strange introduces Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), an acclaimed neurosurgeon and scientist and also an arrogant and conceited person. After being in a terrible car accident, Strange discovers that his hands are damaged and rendered useless in performing the delicate surgical procedures for which he is celebrated. He obsessively searches for a surgery that will make his hands like they were before, but when he cannot, he turns bitter, even rejecting his co-worker and former lover, Dr. Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams).

Strange learns of a place called “Kamar-Taj” in Kathmandu, Nepal, where he can be cured. What he discovers is The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) and sorcerers like Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor). They introduce him to other dimensions, to the astral plane, and to the mystic arts, but there is a darker side to this that Strange will be forced to confront.

The cast of Doctor Strange includes three actors with at least one Academy Award nomination and also one winner (Tilda Swinton). Oscar-nominated Chiwetel Ejiofor appeared in the Oscar-winning “Best Picture,” 12 Years a Slave, and Oscar-nominated Rachel McAdams appeared in this previous year's “Best Picture” Oscar-winnner, Spotlight. Mads Mikkelsen (who plays this film's villain, Kaecilius) has appeared in at least two films that were nominated for foreign-language film Academy Awards.

Doctor Strange needs that acting pedigree because its screenplay is soft and a little weak. Cumberbatch and company go beyond merely making the best of the screenplay. They create character drama, conflict, and tension where it is weak or where there is none in the story. But we know what people are wondering about... the superhero action.

The filmmakers could have taken the material from Marvel Comics Doctor Strange comic books and made something crazy, and they did not play it safe and did indeed make something crazy. Doctor Strange takes the visual effects of Christopher Nolan's 2010 film, Inception, with its shifting buildings and hallways and turns it into something far more nutty.

Every inch of floor, wall, street, bridge, building, structure – everything, y'all, is flipped, shifted, twisted, melted, divided, and sometimes broken. The world of Doctor Strange is like Rubik's cube undergoing an earthquake; Salvador Dali on purple drank, and ice cream cone turned into ice cream dots. Well, you have to see it for yourself, and you should see Doctor Strange.

Doctor Strange is Marvel's weirdest movie; it is the outsider making not only its own corner in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also its own shifting realities. Director Scott Derrickson is known for making low-budget horror films like Insidious. He proves that he can play in the bigger sandbox that is Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Pictures. Doctor Strange is not perfect, but it tries to be as “out there” as a Marvel movie can be and still be part of a universe that includes the Avengers, Iron Man, and Captain America movies. There is so much going on in Doctor Strange that I need to see it again.

7 of 10
B+

Sunday, November 6, 2016

NOTES:
2017 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nominations: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli, and Paul Corbould)

2017 BAFTA Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Production Design” (John Bush and Charles Wood), “Best Make Up/Hair” (Jeremy Woodhead), and “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Richard Bluff, Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, and Jonathan Fawkner)

The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Saturday, April 30, 2016

Review: Amy Schumer Shows Her Brilliance in "Trainwreck"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 (of 2016) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Trainwreck (2015)
Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use
DIRECTOR: Judd Apatow
WRITER: Amy Schumer
PRODUCERS: Judd Apatow and Barry Mendel
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jody Lee Lipes
EDITORS: William Kerr, Peck Prior, and Paul Zucker
COMPOSER: Jon Brion

COMEDY/ROMANCE

Starring: Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Tilda Swinton, Brie Larson, Mike Birbiglia, Evan Brinkman, LeBron James, Amar'e Stoudemire, Colin Quinn, John Cena, Dave Attell, Vanessa Bayer, Randall Park, Jon Glaser, Ezra Miller, Norman Lloyd, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Matthew Broderick, Leslie Jones, Marisa Tomei, and Daniel Radcliffe

Trainwreck is a 2015 comedy and romance directed by Judd Apatow and written by and starring Amy Schumer. The film focuses on a woman who prefers sexual encounters instead of committed relations and who then meets the kind of good guy that she cannot simply leave.

Amy Townsend (Amy Schumer) is a party girl who drinks too much, smokes weed, and sleeps around with other guys, even when she has a boyfriend, as her current boyfriend, the muscle-bound gym-addict, Steven (John Cena), is about to discover. Amy learned her promiscuous ways from her father, Gordon Townsend (Colin Quinn), who once told her that monogamy is not realistic. Strangely, Amy's sister, Kim (Brie Larson), is doing just fine with her boyfriend, Tom (Mike Birbiglia), and she is even more of a mother than a stepmother to Tom's son, Allister (Evan Brinkman).

Amy writes for a raunchy men's magazine, “Snuff.” Her boss, Dianna (Tilda Swinton), assigns her to write an article about a sports doctor named Aaron Conner (Bill Hader). After Aaron helps her with a family matter, Amy feels a bond with him and even has sex with him. However, Aaron sees that as the beginning of a romance, while Amy sees the sex as a one-night stand. Amy tries to find a way to avoid monogamy, even when part of her starts to believe that Aaron could be the good guy she needs to keep.

If you like Amy Schumer (and I do), you will like Trainwreck (and I do – for the most part). As a romantic comedy, however, the film really doesn't work. Bill Hader is a comedian and a professional impersonator (at which he is quite good), but he has no business trying to be a romantic lead. There is nothing remotely interesting about him in this film; he delivers what is almost a zombie performance.

I really don't buy Schumer as a romantic lead or as a magazine writer. Schumer is at her best when she is skewering social, sexual, and gender conventions. The character Amy Townsend is at her best when she is being a one-night stand or is mocking other people's ambitions of respectability. When actress Amy tries to make fictional Amy fall in love... well, it's a trainwreck.

Tilda Swinton gives a killer performance as Amy's despicable boss, Dianna. Swinton can disappear behind even the least amount of movie make-up and hair with the best of them. John Cena delivers a sparkling two-scene performance as Steven. Every time Colin Quinn is on screen as Amy's father, Gordon, he is a delight to see. Director Judd Apatow does not do much here, except get out of Amy Schumer's way, which works when it works, but he does nothing to save the last third of this film which is a... trainwreck.

Still, for most of this movie, Amy Schumer proves why she is currently an it-girl. She is brilliant when she is at the top of her game, and in Trainwreck, she occasionally shows off her brilliance.

6 of 10
B

Friday, January 8, 2016

Edited: Tuesday, April 26, 2016

NOTES:
2016 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Amy Schumer)

The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Friday, October 9, 2015

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 1st to 10th, 2015 - Update #29

Support Leroy on Patreon.

NEWS:

From Variety: CBS cancels "Extant" with Halle Berry, but is developing a legal drama with Berry.

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From InContention: Cinematography Oscar hopefuls.

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From Variety: "The Expendables 4" in 2017.

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From Variety: Disney announces release dates for the next 5 years, including release dates for "Cars 3" and "The Incredibles 2."

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From YahooMovies: Meet the new Disney princess, Moana.

From IMDb: A photo of the young actress, Auli'i Cravalho, who will give voice to "Moana."

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From YahooMovies: What has Rick Moranis been doing.

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From YahooMovies: Francis Ford Coppola talks about one of my favorite movies, his film, "Bram Stoker's Dracula."

From Indiewire: Danny Boyle says he is open to directing "28 Months Later," or whatever the third "28 Days Later" film would be called.

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From Vulture: EEOC to investigate how few women get directing gigs in Hollywood.

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From YahooMusic: Will Smith is reportedly returning to music with an album and world tour next year.

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From TheWrap: The director of "Snowpiercer" is working on a monster movie, and one of his "Snowpiercer" actors, Tilda Swinton, will return for that.

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From BleedingCool: There will apparently be a prequel to "The Shining." Lord, have mercy!

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From HitFix: George Miller would like to do 2 more "Mad Max" films... in addition to some smaller non-SFX films.

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From JoBlo: The search for the director of the 8th "Fast & Furious" film is down to 3, with F. Gary Gray apparently in the lead.

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From TheWrap: The debut season of "Fear the Walking Dead" had better ratings than the original "The Walking Dead" had in its debut season.

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From BoxOfficeMojo: "The Martian" won the 10/2 to 10/4/2015 weekend box office with an estimated take of $55.7 million. That is just short of the October opening weekend record that "Gravity" set in 2013.

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From ScreenRant: Update on the "Power Rangers" movie reboot.

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From Variety: Sony plans an animated "Ghostbusters" film.

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From ThePlaylist: Lionsgate wants a "Cabin in the Woods" sequel. So do I.

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From Variety: "The Ring" sequel, "Rings" has lost its Nov. 13th, 2015 date, and will move to 2016, may the first quarter.

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From YahooCelebrity: Porsche responds to Paul Walker lawsuit. This will get ugly.

COMICS - Titles and Films:

From YahooNews: "Ant Man" will have a sequel, "Ant Man and the Wasp."

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From SlashFilm: In addition to being considered for "Furious 8" (the eighth "Fast & Furious" flick), F. Gary Gray is reportedly talking to Marvel about their "Black Panther" film, which is due in 2018.

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From Variety: Seth Grahame-Smith, who is writing the "Lego Batman" movie and wrote the novel, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, is in talks to direct "The Flash" movie...

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From BleedingCool: Another Marvel comic book is headed to ABC. This time, it's the late Dwayne McDuffie's "Damage Control."

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From YahooNews: The surprising choice for director "Thor: Ragnarok" is Taiki Waititi.

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From IGN: Marvel boss, Kevin Feige, talks about Ronda Rousey's campaign to be Captain Marvel.

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From YahooNews: Marvel's "Doctor Strange" will be an origin story.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Review: "The Grand Budapest Hotel" is Stylish and Quirky, of course

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 17 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – R for language, some sexual content and violence
DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson
WRITERS: Wes Anderson; from a story by Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness (inspired by the writings of Stefan Zweig)
PRODUCERS: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, and Scott Rudin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Yeoman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Barney Pilling
COMPOSER: Alexandre Desplat
Academy Award winner

ADVENTURE/COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of fantasy

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Tony Revolori, F. Murray Abraham, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Jeff Goldblum, Mathieu Amalric, Harvey Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Lea Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Bob Balaban, and Owen Wilson

The Grand Budapest Hotel is a 2014 comedy-drama and adventure film from writer-director Wes Anderson. Anderson and Hugo Guinness, who wrote the film's story with Anderson, were inspired by the writings of Austrian, Stefan Sweig (1881-19420, a novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. The Grand Budapest Hotel focuses on the adventures of a legendary concierge at a famous hotel and the lobby boy who becomes his trusted sidekick.

The Grand Budapest Hotel opens in the present day, before moving back to 1985. The film moves back again to the year 1968. A man, known as “The Author” (Jude Law), travels to the Republic of Zubrowka (a fictional Central European state). He stays at a remote mountainside hotel in the spa town of Nebelsbad. The Author discovers that the Grand Budapest Hotel has fallen on hard times. He meets the owner of the hotel, an elderly gentleman named Zero Moustafa (F. Murray Abraham). Moustafa tells “The Author” how he came to own the Grand Budapest Hotel.

That takes the story back to the year 1932, during the hotel's glory days. Monsieur Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) is the Grand Budapest Hotel's devoted concierge. He manages the hotel's large staff and sees to the needs of the hotel's wealthy clientele, Gustave also often has sexual relationships with some of the hotel's elderly female clientele. One of the aging women who flock to the hotel to enjoy M. Gustave's “exceptional service” is Madame Céline Villeneuve "Madame D" Desgoffe und Taxis a.k.a. “Madame D” (Tilda Swinton).

After Madame D dies, M. Gustave discovers that she has left him something in her will, a highly-sought after painting by Johannes van Hoytl (the younger), entitled, “Boy With Apple.” M. Gustave also learns that Madame D was murdered and that he is not only the chief suspect, but that he is also caught up in a dispute over a vast family fortune. M. Gustave is in trouble, but luckily he has hired a most capable and talented new lobby boy, Zero (Tony Revolori). M Gustave's most trusted friend and protege, Zero, may be the only one who can help a legendary concierge save himself.

I said that Ethan and Joel Coen's 2010 film, True Grit (a remake of the classic John Wayne western), was a movie in which the brothers got to work out and to employ their visual tics, cinematic style, and storytelling techniques on a Western. It was a good film, but it was truly “a Coen Bros. movie.”

In a similar fashion, The Grand Budapest Hotel is Wes Anderson employing everything that is eccentric, quirky, and unique to his films going back at least a decade. Embodied in this movie, the Wes Anderson style is wonderful and invigorating and a joy to watch. Truly, The Grand Budapest Hotel has a striking and an eye-catching visual style. Anderson's mix of ornate visual environments and eccentric characters with deeply held emotions makes his movies hard to ignore, if you give them half the chance.

Those characters can be a problem, though. For this film, Anderson easily offers 20 characters worth knowing, but other than M. Gustave and Zero, Anderson uses the others as quirky backdrops or as caricatures upon which he can hang his plot. Thus, The Grand Budapest Hotel is beautiful, but depth of character is lacking. The adventure of M. Gustave and Zero plays as if it were something straight out of a beloved children's book. Much has been made of Ralph Fienne's performance in this film, and it is indeed a good one. It must be noted that Tony Revolori as Zero is also quite good. Still, the adventure of the two leads would be better with more interplay from the other characters than the film offers. Adrien Brody's Dmitri Desgoffe und Taxis is wasted, and Willem Dafoe's J.G. Jopling is not so much a menacing villain as he is a bad guy straight out of Jay Ward Productions.

However, while this movie does not fail to burrow into the imagination, it does not really plant its roots in the viewers' hearts. It is gorgeous on the surface, but Anderson seems to avoid the deeply emotional ideas he introduces, making The Grand Budapest Hotel an exceptional film, but keeping it from being truly great. It is Wes Anderson art for Wes Anderson's art sake.

8 of 10
A

Friday, April 10, 2015

NOTES:
2015 Academy Awards, USA: 4 wins: “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Milena Canonero), “Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling” (Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier), “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (Alexandre Desplat) and “Best Achievement in Production Design” (Adam Stockhausen-production design and Anna Pinnock-set decoration); 5 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven M. Rales, and Jeremy Dawson), “Best Achievement in Directing” (Wes Anderson), “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Robert D. Yeoman), and “Best Achievement in Film Editing” (Barney Pilling), and “Best Writing, Original Screenplay” (Wes Anderson-screenplay/story and Hugo Guinness-story)

2015 BAFTA Awards: 5 wins: “Best Original Music” (Alexandre Desplat), “Best Costume Design” (Milena Canonero), “Best Production Design” (Adam Stockhausen and Anna Pinnock), “Best Original Screenplay” (Wes Anderson), and “Best Make Up & Hair” (Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier); 6 nominations: “Best Film” (Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven M. Rales, and Jeremy Dawson), “Best Leading Actor” (Ralph Fiennes), “Best Cinematography” (Robert D. Yeoman), “Best Editing” (Barney Pilling), “Best Sound” (Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio, Pawel Wdowczak), and “David Lean Award for Direction” (Wes Anderson)

2015 Golden Globes, USA: 1 win: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical;” 3 nominations: “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Wes Anderson), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Ralph Fiennes), and “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Wes Anderson)

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Monday, March 2, 2015

Review: "Snowpiercer" is Unique and Thrilling

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 11 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

Snowpiercer (2013)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: South Korea
Running time: 126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, language and drug content
DIRECTOR: Bong Joon Ho
WRITERS: Joon-ho Bong and Kelly Masterson; from a screen story by Joon-ho Bong (based on the comic book, Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand, and Jean-Marc Rochette)
PRODUCERS: Tae-sung Jeong, Wonjo Jeong, Miky Lee, Tae-hun Lee, Steven Nam, and Chan-wook Park
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kyung-pyo Hong
EDITORS: Steve M. Choe and Changju Kim
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

SCI-FI/DRAMA/ACTION

Starring: Chris Evans, Song Kang Ho, Tilda Swinton, Ko Asung, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ewen Bremner, Vlad Ivanov, Marcanthonee Jon Reis, Emma Levie, Allison Pill, and Ed Harris

Snowpiercer is a 2013 South Korean science fiction film from director Bong Joon Ho. The film is based on a series of French graphic novels that began in 1982 with the first book, Le Transperceneige (Snowpiercer). Snowpiercer the movie takes place on a class strife-ridden train that is the only home of the last humans alive on Earth.

At the beginning of Snowpiercer, we learn that humans made an attempt to halt global warming by spraying the chemical, CW-7, into the atmosphere. That backfired, and the result was the start of an ice age so severe that almost all life on Earth was destroyed.

The only human survivors are now living in Snowpiercer, a massive train that travels on a globe-spanning train track. However, a rigid class system pervades Snowpiercer with the elites living in the front of the train; people useful to the elites occupying in the middle; and the utterly poor and destitute inhabiting the tail of the train.

In the year 2031, the tail inhabitants prepare to launch another rebellion against the elites. Although past rebellions have failed, this new rebellion may have finally found the one man who can lead the poor people to the very front door of Wilford (Ed Harris), the creator of the train. This new leader's name is Curtis Everett (Chris Evans), and he has a plan to get past Snowpiercer's security system and its armed guards. In order for his plan to work, however, Curt must rely on Nam Kung Min Soo (Song Kang Ho), a drug addict who doesn't speak a word of English, and also on his kooky daughter, Yona (Ko Asung).

Snowpiercer is one of the best films of 2014. Everything about it is high-quality, especially its beautiful cinematography and its production design, which is both imaginative and inventive. Considering the narrow spaces with which production designer Ondrej Nekvasil had to work, he managed to recreate a diverse cross section of modern humanity's interior living environments in a way that is almost too impressive for words.

The ensemble cast is also excellent, with Tilda Swinton delivering a splendid performance as Mason. This is a character that is so odd that anyone other than a highly-talented and skilled actor would fumble. My favorite performance, however, is that of Chris Evans as Curtis Everett.

Evans began his rise as a movie star by showing his ability to be funny or to deliver light comic flourishes whenever a film in which he appeared desperately needed some genuine humor. He was often the saving grace of 20th Century Fox's 2005-2007 Fantastic Four film franchise. Evans then showed that he could be an action movie star in Marvel Studio's Captain America films by bring dramatic heft and gravitas to both Captain America films and to Marvel's The Avengers, in which he also appeared as Captain America.

In Snowpiercer, Evans puts a lock on leading man status. He looks like a leader, and, in this performance, he carries and embodies this film's social commentary in Curtis Everett's physicality and his emotions, and especially in his spirit. Evans leaves no doubt that he is not only the real deal as a movie star, but also as an actor.

Co-writer and director Bong Joon Ho (or Joon-ho Bong) gives Snowpiercer visual scope, creating a big picture in a setting that is both intimate and claustrophobic. Bong shows that science fiction can be more than just imaginative and speculative about the future. It can and should speak to the modern condition; the genre wants to be more than just escapism. I still wish that Snowpiercer had spent more time with more of its amazing cast of characters. That does not keep me from declaring that this is a unique science fiction film because its themes and ideas are both non-fiction and important.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

NOTES:
2015 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture” (Octavia Spencer)

The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Las Vegas Film Critics Name "Birdman" Best Picture of 2014

The Las Vegas Film Critics Society (LVFCS) is a non-profit organization that describes itself as “progressive” and “dedicated to the advancement and preservation of film.” The LVFCS membership is comprised of “select” print, television and internet film critics in the Las Vegas area. The LVFCS presents its "Sierra" awards each year for the best in film, including The William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award, which is named for the late Academy Award winning actor.

2014 Sierra Award winners:

Best Picture
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Best Actor
Michael Keaton, “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Best Actress
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”

Best Supporting Actor
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”

Best Supporting Actress
Tilda Swinton, “Snowpiercer”

Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Best Screenplay
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Best Cinematography
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Best Film Editing
James Herbert and Laura Jennings, “Edge of Tomorrow”

Best Costume Design
Alexandra Byrne, “Guardians of the Galaxy”

Best Art Direction
“The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

Best Visual Effects
“Interstellar”

Best Foreign Film
“Ida” (Poland)

Best Documentary
“Citzenfour”

Best Animated Film
“The Lego Movie”

Best Family Film
“The Lego Movie”

Best Horror/Sci-Fi Film
“Babadook”

Best Comedy Film
“Top 5”

Best Action Film
“Guardians of the Galaxy”

Best Ensemble
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Best Score
“Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)”

Best Song
“I Love You All,” Stephen Rennicks – “Frank”

Youth in Film
Jaeden Lieberher, “St. Vincent”

Breakout Filmmaker of the Year
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”

William Holden Lifetime Achievement Award
Bill Murray

Cinema Heritage Award
Prof. Francisco Menendez, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Film Dept. Chair

LVFCS Top 10 Films of 2013:

1. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

2. Boyhood

3. Whiplash

4. Nightcrawler

5. The Grand Budapest Hotel

6. Wild

7. Selma

8. The Imitation Game

9. Snowpiercer

10. Under the Skin

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Monday, January 12, 2015

Central Ohio Film Critics Name "Selma" Best Film of 2014

Monday, January 5, 2015

Central Ohio Film Critics Association Announces 2014 Award Nominations

The Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA) was founded in 2002 and is made up of film critics based in Columbus, Ohio, and the surrounding areas. Its membership currently consists of more than 21 print, radio, television, and new media critics. Each January, COFCA votes on a number of awards, recognizing excellence in the film industry.

The 13th Annual Central Ohio Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 2014, will be announced Thursday, January 8, 2015. The nominees were announced this past weekend.

2014 / 13th Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award nominees:

Best Film
- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
- Boyhood
- Gone Girl
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- The Imitation Game
- A Most Violent Year
- Nightcrawler
- Selma
- Snowpiercer
- Whiplash

Best Director
-Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
-Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
-Ava DuVernay, Selma
-Alejandro González Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
-Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Best Actor
-Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
-Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
-Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
-David Oyelowo, Selma
-Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Actress
-Essie Davis, The Babadook
-Scarlett Johansson, Under the Skin
-Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
-Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
-Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Supporting Actor
-Josh Brolin, Inherent Vice
-Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
-Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
-Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
-J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress
-Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
-Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
-Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
-Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
-Tilda Swinton, Snowpiercer

Best Ensemble
- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
- Foxcatcher
- Gone Girl
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Guardians of the Galaxy

Actor of the Year (for an exemplary body of work):
-Jessica Chastain (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Interstellar, Miss Julie, and A Most Violent Year)

-Benedict Cumberbatch (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies and The Imitation Game)

-Jake Gyllenhaal (Enemy and Nightcrawler)

-Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy and The LEGO Movie)

-Tilda Swinton (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Only Lovers Left Alive, Snowpiercer, and The Zero Theorem)

Breakthrough Film Artist
-Damien Chazelle, Whiplash – (for directing and screenwriting)

-Ava DuVernay, Selma – (for directing)

-Jennifer Kent, The Babadook – (for directing and screenwriting)

-Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle and Beyond the Lights – (for acting)

-Justin Simien, Dear White People – (for directing and screenwriting)

Best Cinematography
-Benoît Delhomme, The Theory of Everything
-Hoyte Van Hoytema, Interstellar
-Daniel Landin, Under the Skin
-Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
-Robert Yeoman, The Grand Budapest Hotel

Best Film Editing
-Sandra Adair, Boyhood
-Spencer Averick, Selma
-Kirk Baxter, Gone Girl
-Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
-Tom Cross, Whiplash

Best Adapted Screenplay
-Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice
-Bong Joon-ho and Kelly Masterson, Snowpiercer
-Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
-Nick Hornby, Wild
-Graham Moore, The Imitation Game

Best Original Screenplay
-Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
-J.C. Chandor, A Most Violent Year
-Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
-Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
-Paul Webb, Selma

Best Score
-Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel
-Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Theory of Everything
-Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Gone Girl
-Antonio Sanchez, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
-Hans Zimmer, Interstellar

Best Documentary
- Citizenfour
- Dinosaur 13
- Finding Vivian Maier
- Jodorowsky’s Dune
- Life Itself

Best Foreign Language Film
- Force Majeure (Turist)
- A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
- Ida
- Two Days, One Night (Deux jours, une nuit)
- We Are the Best! (Vi är bäst!)

Best Animated Film
- Big Hero 6
- The Book of Life
- The Boxtrolls
- How to Train Your Dragon 2
- The LEGO Movie

Best Overlooked Film
- The Babadook
- Blue Ruin
- Edge of Tomorrow
- Enemy
- Locke

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Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Boston Online Film Critics Name "Snowpiercer" as Best Picture of 2014

The Boston Online Film Critics Association (BOFCA) was founded in May 2012. According to the group, BOFCA fosters a community of web-based film critics and provides them with a supportive group of colleagues and a professional platform for their voices to be heard. They collect and link to their reviews every week at a website that also features original content by members, including filmmaker interviews and spotlights on Boston’s vital repertory film scene.

By widening professional membership to writers working in new media, BOFCA aims to encourage more diverse opinions in the field. The Boston Online Film Critics Association has gathered together critics writing for publications that collectively receive over 15 million impressions/page views per month. BOFCA is present on social media year-round with members’ film articles and essays.

The 2014 Boston Online Film Critics Association Awards:

BEST PICTURE: SNOWPIERCER

BEST DIRECTOR: Alejandro González Iñárritu, BIRDMAN

BEST ACTOR: Brendan Gleeson, CALVARY

BEST ACTRESS: Marion Cotillard, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Edward Norton, BIRDMAN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Tilda Swinton, SNOWPIERCER

BEST SCREENPLAY: John Michael McDonagh, CALVARY

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT (Belgium)

BEST DOCUMENTARY: LIFE ITSELF

BEST ANIMATED FILM: THE LEGO MOVIE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: BIRDMAN

BEST EDITING: James Herbert & Laura Jennings, EDGE OF TOMORROW

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Mica Levi, UNDER THE SKIN

BEST ENSEMBLE: BIRDMAN

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF THE YEAR:

1. SNOWPIERCER

2. UNDER THE SKIN

3. BOYHOOD

4. ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE

5. THE BABADOOK

6. TWO DAYS ONE NIGHT

7. BIRDMAN

8. CALVARY

9. INHERENT VICE

10. SELMA

-----------------------

Friday, October 24, 2014

2014 Gotham Award Nominations Announced; "Boyhood" Leads with Four Nominations

Press release:

NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR 24TH ANNUAL GOTHAM INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS BY IFP by Erik Luers on October 23, 2014

New York, NY (October 23, 2014) – The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s premier member organization of independent storytellers, announced today the nominees for the 24th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards by IFP. The Gotham Awards is one of the leading awards for independent film and signals the kick-off to the film awards season. For 2014, the seven competitive awards include Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Actor, Best Actress (presenting sponsor euphoria Calvin Klein), Breakthrough Actor, the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director award, and the Gotham Audience Award. In addition to the competitive awards, Gotham Award Tributes will be given to actor Tilda Swinton, director Bennett Miller and Industry Tribute recipient Netflix’s Ted Sarandos.

As the first major awards ceremony of the film season, the Gotham Independent Film Awards by IFP provide critical early recognition and media attention to worthy independent films. The awards are also unique for their ability to assist in catapulting award recipients prominently into national awards season attention, including recent winners and ultimate Oscar® contenders.

Twenty-four films received nominations this year. In addition, the nominating committee for the Best Actor category voted to award a Special Jury Award jointly to the three leading actors in Foxcatcher – Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, and Channing Tatum – for their ensemble work.

This year the Gotham Audience Award nominees are comprised of the 15 films nominated for Best Feature, Best Documentary, and the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award. The winner will be selected by online voting of IFP members. Voting for that award begins November 19th at 12:01 AM EST and concludes on November 26th at 5:00 PM EST.

“Each year the Gotham Awards honor the best work from our independent storytellers and help new audiences discover their work. We congratulate this year’s nominees, from the master film artists to the talented newcomers, a true representation of the rich and diverse range of today’s independent filmmaking,” said Joana Vicente, Executive Director of IFP and the Made in NY Media Center. “We are grateful to our nominating committees of film critics, journalists, programmers and film curators for their dedication to selecting the nominees from so many worthy submissions.”

Nominees are selected by committees of film critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. Separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors and others directly involved in making films will determine the final Gotham Award recipients.

The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, December 1st at Cipriani Wall Street.

Twenty writers, critics and programmers participated in the nomination process, considering 199 eligible submissions. The Nominating Committees for the 2014 Gotham Independent Film Awards were:

Nominating Committee for Best Feature and Breakthrough Director:
Justin Chang, Chief Film Critic, Variety
Eric Kohn, Lead Film Critic, Indiewire
Christy Lemire, Film Critic, ChristyLemire.com and co-host, What the Flick?!
Andrew O’Hehir, Film Critic, Salon.com
Joshua Rothkopf, Film Editor, Time Out New York

Nominating Committee for Best Documentary:
Charlotte Cook, Director of Programming, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
Bilge Ebiri, Film Critic, New York Magazine and Vulture
Cynthia Fuchs, Film-TV Editor, PopMatters
Tom Hall, Executive Director, Montclair Film Festival
Sky Sitney, Visiting Artist, Georgetown University Film and Media Studies Department

Nominating Committee for Best Actor and Best Actress:
Mark Harris, Editor-at-Large, Entertainment Weekly and columnist, Grantland
Ann Hornaday, Film Critic, The Washington Post
Glenn Kenny, Critic, RogerEbert.com; author, Anatomy of an Actor: Robert De Niro
David Rooney, Film & Theater Critic, The Hollywood Reporter
Elizabeth Weitzman, Film Critic, New York Daily News

Nominating Committee for Breakthrough Actor:
Sam Adams, Editor of Criticwire, Indiewire
A.A. Dowd, Film Editor, The A. V. Club
Sheila O’Malley, Film Critic, RogerEbert.com
Ronnie Scheib, Film Critic, Variety
Stephen Whitty, Film Critic, Newark Star-Ledger

Sponsors
The Premier Sponsor of the 24th annual Gotham Independent Film Awards is The New York Times and the Platinum Sponsor is euphoria Calvin Klein. Additionally, the awards will be promoted nationally in an eight-page special advertising section in The New York Times in November 2014.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Comic That Inspired New Chris Evans' Flick "Snowpiercer" Coming to America

TITAN COMICS RELEASES SNOWPIERCER – THE GRAPHIC NOVEL THAT INSPIRED THE NEW CHRIS EVANS FILM!

Translated from the highly acclaimed French classic, soon to be a major motion picture starring Captain America star Chris Evans!

Titan Comics is proud to announce a world-first English translation of the acclaimed French comic, in a pair of graphic novels hitting stores in early 2014 ahead of the US release of the film! Volume 1: The Escape is released January 29, 2014, with Volume 2: The Explorers following February 25, 2014

Coursing through an eternal winter, on an icy track wrapped around the frozen planet Earth, there travels Snowpiercer, a train one thousand and one carriages long. From fearsome engine to final car, all surviving human life is here: a complete hierarchy of the society we lost…

The elite, as ever, travel in luxury at the front of the train – but for those in the rear coaches, life is squalid, miserable and short.

Proloff is a refugee from the tail, determined never to go back. In his journey forward through the train, he hopes to reach the mythical engine and, perhaps, find some hope for the future…

The thrilling original graphic novels have been adapted into an astounding new film directed by Joon-ho Bong (The Host), starring Chris Evans (Captain America), Alison Pill (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia, We Need To Talk About Kevin), Jamie Bell (Billy Elliott, The Adventures of Tintin), Ed Harris (A History of Violence, The Abyss, Apollo 13) and John Hurt (Hellboy, V For Vendetta, Alien, Doctor Who), and distributed in the U.S. by The Weinstein Company, and due for release in Q1 2014

Check out the trailer here.

Written by the late Jacques Lob, winner of the Grand Prix de la ville d'Angoulême, and Benjamin Legrand, the author of numerous thriller novels, screenplays, and comic scripts, Snowpiercer is illustrated by Jean-Marc Rochette, who has worked across a variety of projects and genres, from science fiction comics to children’s cartoons – including adaptations of Voltaire’s Candide and Homer’s Odyssey.

Retailers can order Snowpiercer vol. 1: The Escape from November PREVIEWS (order code: NOV131240). Snowpiercer vol. 2: The Explorers will be available to order from December PREVIEWS.

To keep up-to-date with news about Snowpiercer join Titan Comics on Facebook or follow @comicstitan on Twitter.

For more information about Titan Comics, visit www.titan-comics.com

About Snowpiercer Vol.1 The Escape
From fearsome engine to final car, all surviving human life is here: a complete hierarchy of the society we lost.

The elite, as ever, travel in luxury at the front of the train – but for those in the rear coaches, life is squalid, miserable and short.

Proloff is a refugee from the tail, determined never to go back. In his journey forward through the train, he hopes to reach the mythical engine and, perhaps, find some hope for the future…

Translated from the highly acclaimed French classic, soon to be a major motion picture starring megastar Chris Evans.

Jacques Lob/Benjamin Legrand/Jean-Marc Rochette
Details: HC, 8x11, 112pgs, B/W, $19.99/£14.99
Released: January 29, 2014
Diamond PREVIEWS order code: NOV131240

About Snowpiercer Vol.2 The Explorers
A second train also travels through the snow on the same track, its inhabitants living in constant fear of crashing into the first Snowpiercer.

And from this second train, a small group of scavenging explorers emerges, risking their lives in the deadly cold...

Benjamin Legrand/Jean-Marc Rochette
Details: HC, 8x11, 144 pgs, B/W, $24.99/£19.99
Released: February 25, 2014

About Titan Comics
Titan Comics, a new venture from publishing giant, Titan, offers the best in original creator-owned comics alongside new and classic graphic novels.

Launching in July 2013, Titan Comics has already captured the imaginations of readers, reviewers and retailers with its strong focus on quality, creativity and diversity of genre!

Each new release will also be available on the iPhone, iPad, Web, Android and Kindle Fire.

To keep up-to-date with news on all these new series and future releases from Titan Comics, visit www.titan-comics.com

Connect with Titan Comics:
www.facebook.com/comicstitan
www.twitter.com/comicstitan

Monday, November 26, 2012

Review: Wes Anderson's "MOONRISE KINGDOM" is Simply Fantastic

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 90 (of 2012) by Leroy Douresseaux

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Running time: 94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexuality content and smoking
DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson
WRITERS: Roman Coppola and Wes Anderson
PRODUCERS: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven M. Rales and Scott Rudin
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert D. Yeoman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Andrew Weisblum
COMPOSER: Alexandre Desplat

ROMANCE/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Marianna Bassham, Charlie Kilgore, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, and Bob Balaban

Moonrise Kingdom is a 2011 romance film from director Wes Anderson. Co-written by Anderson and Roman Coppola, the film follows a pair of young lovers on the run from the local search parties out to find them.

Moonrise Kingdom opens in the late summer of 1965 and is set on the idyllic New England locale of New Penzance Island. Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) is a 12-year-old orphan attending a “Khaki Scout” summer camp. Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward) is a local girl who lives with her parents, Walt (Bill Murray) and Laura Bishop (Frances McDormand), and her three younger brothers. After meeting during a local church play, Sam and Suzy run away together.

Captain Duffy Sharp (Bruce Willis) of the Island Police and Khaki Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) launch a search for the missing children. However, adult dysfunction and the approaching Hurricane Mabeline constantly hamper the various search efforts. Meanwhile, young love remains storm-proof.

When I reviewed the Coen Bros. remake of True Grit about two years ago, I said (more or less) that the film, while quite good, seemed like an exercise of the filmmaking brothers’ directorial trademarks and flourishes. I pretty much think the same of Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. This movie is the quirky style and visual eccentricities of Anderson distilled into a fragrant essence that will entice his admirers, both old and new, for ages.

It’s all here. The primary colors have never been this primary, and the deliberate, methodical cinematography captures the intensity of those colors with such clarity that it could leave the viewer in a stupor (which it did to me early on in the movie). Anderson gets good performances that take the screenplay’s flat, one-dimensional characters and transforms them into poignant humans – flawed, but graceful.

Regardless of how quirky it all seems, Moonrise Kingdom is a love story like no other. Rarely do films capture stubborn youth in love as well as this film does. Jared Gilman as Sam and Kara Hayward as Suzy give inimitable performances, and without them, this movie would be nothing but an oddity that was shot in vivid color. Instead, Moonrise Kingdom is a rare romance in which the romantic comedy and drama elements cannot hide the fact that this is a pure love story.

8 of 10
A

Monday, November 26, 2012

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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

San Francisco Film Critics Choose "The Tree of Life"

The San Francisco Film Critics Circle (SFFCC) was founded in 2002 and is comprised of critics from Bay Area publications. Its membership includes film journalists from the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune, the Contra Costa Times, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, SF Weekly, the East Bay Express, KRON-TV, Variety, and RottenTomatoes.com, among others.

2011 San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards winners:

Best Picture
“The Tree of Life”

Best Director
Terrence Malick for “The Tree of Life”

Best Original Screenplay
J.C. Chandor for “Margin Call”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Best Actor
Gary Oldman for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Best Actress
Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

Best Supporting Actor
Albert Brooks for “Drive”

Best Supporting Actress
Vanessa Redgrave for “Coriolanus”

Best Animated Feature
“Rango”

Best Foreign Language Film
“Certified Copy”

Best Documentary
“Tabloid”

Best Cinematography
Emmanuel Lubezki for “The Tree of Life”

Marlon Riggs Award (for courage & vision in the Bay Area film community)
National Film Preservation Foundation, in recognition of for its work in the preservation and dissemination of endangered, culturally significant films

Special Citation for under-appreciated independent cinema:
“The Mill and the Cross”

http://sffcc.org/main/

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Online Film Critics Society Choose "The Tree of Life" as 2011's Best

The full list of winners of the (2011) 15th Annual Online Film Critics Society Awards:

Best Picture: The Tree of Life

Best Animated Feature: Rango

Best Director: Terrence Malick - The Tree of Life

Best Lead Actor: Michael Fassbender - Shame

Best Lead Actress: Tilda Swinton - We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Best Supporting Actress: Jessica Chastain - The Tree of Life

Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris

Best Adapted Screenplay: Tinker Tailor Solider Spy

Best Editing: The Tree of Life

Best Cinematography: The Tree of Life

Best Film Not in the English Language: A Separation

Best Documentary: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Special Awards (previously announced):

• To Jessica Chastain, the breakout performer of the year

• To Martin Scorsese in honor of his work and dedication to the pursuit of film preservation

For more information, visit the Online Film Critics Society at ofcs.org.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Austin Film Critics Name Scorsese's "Hugo" Best Film

The Austin Film Critics Association (AFCA) describes itself as “a group dedicated to supporting the best in film, whether at the international, national, or local level.” The group includes Austin-based members who write for such publications, television media, and websites as Ain't It Cool News, the Austin American-Statesman, the Austin Chronicle, CNN, Fandango, Film.com, Film School Rejects, Fox News, MSN Movies, Movies.com, among others.

2011 AFCA Awards:

Best Film:
Hugo

Top 10 Films:
1. Hugo
2. Drive
3. Take Shelter
4. Midnight in Paris
5. Attack the Block
6. The Artist
7. Martha Marcy May Marlene
8. I Saw the Devil
9. 13 Assassins
10. Melancholia

Best Director:
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive

Best Actor:
Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Best Actress:
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actor:
Albert Brooks, Drive

Best Supporting Actress:
Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter

Best Original Screenplay:
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Drive, Hossein Amini

Best Cinematography:
The Tree of Life, Emmanuel Lubezki

Best Original Score:
Attack the Block, Steven Price

Best Foreign Language Film:
I Saw the Devil, South Korea: Jee-woon Kim – director

Best Documentary:
Senna: Asif Kapadia – director

Best Animated Feature:
Rango: Gore Verbinski – director

Robert R. "Bobby" McCurdy Memorial Breakthrough Artist Award:
Jessica Chastain for her appearances in the films: Take Shelter, The Tree of Life, The Help, The Debt, Coriolanus, and Texas Killing Fields

Best First Film:
Attack the Block: Joe Cornish – director

Austin Film Award:
Take Shelter: Jeff Nichols – director

http://austinfilmcritics.org/

Friday, December 2, 2011

National Board of Review Goes with Martin Scorsese's "Hugo"

The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, which is made up of film enthusiasts, academics, students, and filmmakers, historically launches the movie awards season. The group named the winners for the year 2011 today, Friday, December 2.

Below is a full list of the awards given by the National Board of Review for 2011:

Best Film
Hugo

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Actor
George Clooney, The Descendants

Best Actress
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Supporting Actress
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants

Best Original Screenplay
Will Reiser, 50/50

Best Animated Feature
Rango

Best Documentary
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Best Ensemble
The Help

Best Foreign Language Film
A Separation

Breakthrough Performance
Felicity Jones, Like Crazy

Breakthrough Performance
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Debut Director
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call

NBR Freedom of Expression
Crime After Crime

NBR Freedom of Expression
Pariah

Special Achievement in Filmmaking
The Harry Potter Franchise - A Distinguished Translation from Book to Film

Spotlight Award
Michael Fassbender (A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class)

Top Films
(in alphabetical order)
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Ides of March
J. Edgar
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Top 10 Independent Films
(in alphabetical order)
50/50
Another Earth
Beginners
A Better Life
Cedar Rapids
Margin Call
Shame
Take Shelter
We Need To Talk About Kevin
Win Win

Top 5 Documentaries
(in alphabetical order) Born to be Wild, Buck, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Project Nim, Senna

Top 5 Foreign Language Films
(in alphabetical order) 13 Assassins, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within, Footnote, Le Havre, Point Blank

http://www.nbrmp.org/

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Review: "Michael Clayton" is a Powerful Social Drama (Happy B'day to Goddess, Tilda Swinton)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 15 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux

Michael Clayton (2007)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for language including some sexual dialogue
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Tony Gilroy
PRODUCERS: Jennifer Fox, Kerry Orent, Sydney Pollack, and Steve Samuels
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Elswit
EDITOR: John Gilroy
2008 Academy Award winner

DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack, Michael O’Keefe, Austin Williams, Ken Howard, Robert Prescott, Terry Serpico, Sean Cullen, and David Lansbury

In screenwriter Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton, his debut as a film director, a burned out corporate lawyer who has built a career on cleaning up his clients’ messes faces his biggest mess when a guilt-ridden colleague threatens the settlement of a multi-million-dollar case. Gilroy is best known for writing the three Jason Bourne films, including most recently, The Bourne Ultimatum.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house “fixer” or “bagman” at Kenner, Bach & Ledeen, one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton is burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, but his divorce, a failed business venture, and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. The firm is defending U/North (United Northfield) a giant corporation in a multimillion dollar class action lawsuit, but Kenner, Bach & Ledeen’s brilliant litigator, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has a meltdown that threatens to upend a potential settlement entirely in favor of the plaintiffs against U/North.

Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and life to reign in Edens. Meanwhile, U/North’s general counsel, Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), who operates on a hair-trigger, knows that her career rests on the multi-million dollar settlement that once seemed to be heading to a successful conclusion for U/North. Edens’ rogue status means that Crowder may have to take matters into her own ruthless hands.

At one point in Michael Clayton, Sydney Pollack’s Marty Bach says, “People are fucking incomprehensible,” and that seems to be one of the dominant themes of Gilroy’s absolutely gripping legal thriller. Sure, Michael Clayton is an exposé of what evil corporations can do (poison their customers) and the way corporate law firms help them get away with it. The greed, the lies, and the under-the-table murder-for-hire deals are in evidence here, and while we’ve seen this in other muckraking dramas, what sets Michael Clayton apart is that we’re watching a film about people and not just characters.

It is in these people we see both the beauty and ugliness of humanity. We can admire how George Clooney’s Michael Clayton chases his ideals even if no one else believes in them or even if those ideals are the antithesis of others’ beliefs. The manner in which Gilroy tackles such mature themes through his star Clooney makes this an accomplished movie for adults. It’s a crackling delight full of standout performances including Tom Wilkinson’s Oscar-nominated turn as Arthur Edens and Tilda Swinton’s Oscar-winning performance as the neurotic viper Karen Crowder.

And Clooney: what can I say? He’s a movie star in the Old Hollywood tradition and also an exceptional actor that modern American filmmaking would be lost without.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2008 Academy Awards: 1 win for “Best Performance by Actress in a Supporting Role” (Tilda Swinton); 6 nominations: “Best Achievement in Directing,” “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score” (James Newton Howard), “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox, and Kerry Orent), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role” (George Clooney), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Tom Wilkinson), “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen”

2008 BAFTA Awards: 1 win: “Best Supporting Actress” (Tilda Swinton); 4 nominations: “Best Editing” (John Gilroy), “Best Leading Actor” (George Clooney), “Best Screenplay – Original” (Tony Gilroy), and “Best Supporting Actor” (Tom Wilkinson)

2008 Golden Globes: 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama” (George Clooney), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Tom Wilkinson), and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Tilda Swinton)

Thursday, March 20, 2008

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