ROBERT ZEMECKIS TO RECEIVE DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD AT 24th ANNUAL PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS GALA
The 24th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) will present Academy Award® winning director Robert Zemeckis with the Director of the Year Award for Flight. Presented by Cartier, the Awards Gala will be held Saturday, January 5, at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Hosted by Mary Hart, the Awards Gala will also present awards to previously announced honorees Helen Hunt and Naomi Watts. The Festival runs January 3-14.
“For 35 years, Robert Zemeckis has been creating some of the most iconic and indelible images in cinema, garnering international acclaim as a filmmaker of extraordinary vision,” said Film Festival Chairman Harold Matzner. “In his latest work, Flight, Zemeckis continues to tell fascinating stories by combining strong characters with groundbreaking visual effects, which includes one of the most memorable plane crashes in cinematic history, while following the compelling emotional journey of Denzel Washington’s character of an emotionally damaged man dealing with addiction. For these achievements the Palm Springs International Film Festival is honored to present the 2013 Director of the Year Award to Robert Zemeckis.”
Past Director of the Year honorees include Stephen Daldry, Ang Lee, Anthony Minghella, Alexander Payne, Sean Penn, Jason Reitman and David O. Russell.
Currently in theatres, Paramount Pictures’ dramatic thriller Flight, stars Denzel Washington as Captain Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. Afterwards, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault and what really happened on that plane. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by John Gatins, the film also stars Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, John Goodman, Bruce Greenwood, Brian Geraghty, Tamara Tunie, Nadine Velazquez, James Badge Dale and Melissa Leo.
Robert Zemeckis won an Academy Award®, a Golden Globe and a Director’s Guild of America Award for Best Director for the hugely successful Forrest Gump. The film’s numerous honors also included Academy Awards® for Best Actor (Tom Hanks) and Best Picture. Zemeckis has also directed Cast Away, What Lies Beneath, Back to the Future, Back to the Future, Part II and Part III, Contact, Used Cars, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Polar Express, Beowulf and A Christmas Carol. Presently, Zemeckis is at work on Yellow Submarine, for Image Movers Digital and The Disney Studios.
About The Palm Springs International Film Festival
The Palm Springs International Film Festival (PSIFF) is one of the largest film festivals in North America, welcoming 135,000 attendees each year for its lineup of new and celebrated international features and documentaries. The Festival is also known for its annual Black Tie Awards Gala, honoring the best achievements of the filmic year by a celebrated list of talents who, in recent years, have included Ben Affleck, Javier Bardem, Cate Blanchett, Danny Boyle, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Ron Howard, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron and Kate Winslet.
The 24th annual Palm Springs International FilmFestival is presented by Title Sponsor, the City of Palm Springs, which is celebrating its 75 year anniversary in 2013. Presenting Sponsors are Spencer’s, The Desert Sun, Entertainment Tonight, Wells Fargo, Regal Entertainment Group, Bank of America and Wintec. Major sponsors are Panavision, Ocean Properties Development, Raymond Lawrence, Chihuly, Telefilm Canada. The Festival’s Awards Gala is presented by Cartier and sponsored by Mercedes-Benz.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Review: "Batman: Year One" is a Dark Knight That Actually Rises
Batman: Year One (2011) – straight-to-video
Running minutes: 64 minutes (1 hour, 4 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, and for some sexual material
DIRECTORS: Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu
WRITERS: Tab Murphy (based upon the story by Frank Miller and the characters created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger)
PRODUCERS: Lauren Montgomery
EDITOR: Margaret Hou
COMPOSER: Christopher Drake
ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION with elements of drama
Starring: (voices) Bryan Cranston, Ben McKenzie, Eliza Dushku, Jon Polito, Alex Rocco, Katee Sackhoff, Jeff Bennett, Grey DeLisle, Fred Tatasciore, Steve Blum, Robin Atkin Downes, Keith Ferguson, Stephen Root, and Michael Gough
Batman: Year One is a 2011 direct-to-video superhero animated film from Warner Bros. Animation. Starring the DC Comics character, Batman, this is also the 12th feature in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. Executive produced by Bruce Timm, this film is adapted from the “Batman: Year One” story arc written by Frank Miller (300) and drawn by David Mazzuchelli and originally published in the comic book series, Batman #404-407 (February to May 1987 cover date).
As the film opens, Bruce Wayne (Ben McKenzie) returns to Gotham City after a 12-year absence from his hometown. Meanwhile, policeman detective James Gordon (Bryan Cranston) and his pregnant wife, Barbara (Grey DeLisle), move to Gotham from Chicago. Gordon quickly discovers how corrupt the Gotham City Police Department is after meeting his new partner, Detective Arnold Flass (Fred Tatasciore), who savagely assaults civilians and accepts bribes from the mob. Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb (Jon Polito) seems more like a kingpin of crime than a police commissioner.
Bruce Wayne has decided to fight the street crime that took his parents lives and to put an end to the corruption of the city’s elites. Wayne’s first mission in his war on crime goes badly, but he is soon inspired to put on a weird costume that strikes fear into the hearts of criminals. Soon, the media is calling this mysterious vigilante figure, “The Batman.” Inspired by The Batman, Selina Kyle (Eliza Dushku), a prostitute, puts on a costume and becomes The Catwoman.
After watching the first 10 minutes of Batman: Year One, I didn’t hold out much hope that it would amount to much. However, it turned out to be a very entertaining film. The animation is good, not great, but the script is excellent. The writing captures the motivations of the characters and hits the conflicts dead center. It makes clear the reasons for disputes and the consequences that will result depending on how these clashes are settled. The conflicts, personal strife, and internal battles drive the drama in Batman: Year One.
When it comes to Batman: Year One, the Dark Knight rises, indeed.
7 of 10
B+
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
"Star Trek Into Darkness" Plot Revealed?
The plot for the upcoming "Star Trek Into Darkness" has been kept secret. Monday night, Paramount Pictures snuck a plot synopsis for the sequel to its 2009 hit, Star Trek, onto its media site. It is only four paragraphs long and it is still vague, but it's better than nothing. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch signed on to play a villain, but there have been no details on his character. For your reading enjoyment:
In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes "Star Trek Into Darkness."
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
That's it. "Star Trek Into Darkness" stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho and Benedict Cumberbatch and is due in theaters on May 17, 2013.
In Summer 2013, pioneering director J.J. Abrams will deliver an explosive action thriller that takes "Star Trek Into Darkness."
When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis.
With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.
As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
That's it. "Star Trek Into Darkness" stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, John Cho and Benedict Cumberbatch and is due in theaters on May 17, 2013.
Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Stay Together
Warner Bros. Entertainment and Village Roadshow Pictures Extend Partnership Through 2017
Village Roadshow Pictures Secures $1.125 Billion Film Production Facility and Celebrates 15-Year Anniversary
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Entertainment and Village Roadshow Pictures Group (VRPG) have extended their long-standing partnership and will continue to co-produce and co-finance films through the end of 2017. In concert with the Warner Bros. deal, VRPG also renewed and upsized its now 15-year film production facility to $1.125 billion through the end of 2017 to finance its future slate of motion pictures. JPMorgan Chase and Rabobank continue as joint syndication agents.
“We now have the firepower of the financing locked away, the best management in the business and the renewal of our long-term relationship with Warner Bros. which puts us in fantastic shape. Warner Bros. continues to be the industry leader in production, distribution and marketing,” said Graham Burke, Chairman of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG).
“We have had a long, successful relationship with Village Roadshow, and we are pleased they will continue to be our partner in making great movies,” said Barry Meyer, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros.
“We are pleased to have accomplished our strategic goal of closing the financing hand in hand with the extension of our Warner Bros. deal. We are fortunate to continue our partnership with a great studio and grateful to have a diverse group of investors on board,” said Greg Basser, CEO of VREG.
Celebrating its 15th anniversary, VRPG is one of the industry’s leading producers and financiers of studio released motion pictures, amassing a library of 72 films, 68 of which were released in partnership with Warner Bros. – representing the studio’s longest continuous relationship with an independent film financing and production company.
“Working together, our companies have produced and released many popular and successful films, and we expect that to continue into the future with this agreement,” said Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.
“We look forward to expanding upon the solid 15-year foundation and continuing to grow our slate of tent pole and star-driven films under the Warner banner,” said Bruce Berman, Chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures. “We’re excited to start the New Year with action-packed 'Gangster Squad' releasing in January followed by the highly anticipated summer event film 'The Great Gatsby' in May.”
Warner Bros. and VRPG will continue to collaborate on high caliber, star-driven films, which have resulted in blockbuster hits including the “Sherlock Holmes,” “Ocean’s” and “Matrix” franchises and Academy Award animated picture winner “Happy Feet.”
Upcoming releases include “Gangster Squad” under the direction of Ruben Fleischer, starring Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone and Sean Penn (U.S. release on January 11, 2013), and “The Great Gatsby” under the direction of Baz Luhrmann, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire (U.S. release on May 10, 2013).
Films currently in production include “LEGO: The Movie,” an animated feature film adventure starring Will Arnett, Will Ferrell and Morgan Freeman directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller; “All You Need is Kill,” an epic sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt directed by Doug Liman; and “Mad Max: Fury Road,” an action adventure starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy directed by George Miller.
About Village Roadshow Pictures Group
Village Roadshow Pictures Group is a leading independent co-producer and co-financier of major Hollywood motion pictures, having produced 72 films since its establishment in 1997 including, as co-productions with Warner Bros., “The Matrix” Trilogy, The “Sherlock Holmes” franchise, “I am Legend,” the “Ocean’s” series, “Happy Feet,” “Mystic River,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Get Smart,” “Sex and the City 2” and “Gran Torino.”
VRPG self-distributes its filmed entertainment through affiliates in several territories around the world, including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
About Village Roadshow Entertainment Group
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group is a leading independent global entertainment company in the business of building leading, content-rich companies within the entertainment industry. It employs innovative strategies to develop, acquire and deliver intellectual property rights with timeless appeal, while taking advantage of group-wide strategic and operational efficiencies. VREG is the holding company of Village Roadshow Pictures, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group Asia and Concord Music Group.
Village Roadshow Limited, a 47.6% shareholder in VREG, is a leading international publicly listed entertainment and media company based out of Melbourne, Australia. VRL has been the exclusive theatrical distributor for Warner Bros. in Australia for over 41 years.
Village Roadshow Pictures Secures $1.125 Billion Film Production Facility and Celebrates 15-Year Anniversary
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Entertainment and Village Roadshow Pictures Group (VRPG) have extended their long-standing partnership and will continue to co-produce and co-finance films through the end of 2017. In concert with the Warner Bros. deal, VRPG also renewed and upsized its now 15-year film production facility to $1.125 billion through the end of 2017 to finance its future slate of motion pictures. JPMorgan Chase and Rabobank continue as joint syndication agents.
“We now have the firepower of the financing locked away, the best management in the business and the renewal of our long-term relationship with Warner Bros. which puts us in fantastic shape. Warner Bros. continues to be the industry leader in production, distribution and marketing,” said Graham Burke, Chairman of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group (VREG).
“We have had a long, successful relationship with Village Roadshow, and we are pleased they will continue to be our partner in making great movies,” said Barry Meyer, Chairman and CEO, Warner Bros.
“We are pleased to have accomplished our strategic goal of closing the financing hand in hand with the extension of our Warner Bros. deal. We are fortunate to continue our partnership with a great studio and grateful to have a diverse group of investors on board,” said Greg Basser, CEO of VREG.
Celebrating its 15th anniversary, VRPG is one of the industry’s leading producers and financiers of studio released motion pictures, amassing a library of 72 films, 68 of which were released in partnership with Warner Bros. – representing the studio’s longest continuous relationship with an independent film financing and production company.
“Working together, our companies have produced and released many popular and successful films, and we expect that to continue into the future with this agreement,” said Jeff Robinov, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Group.
“We look forward to expanding upon the solid 15-year foundation and continuing to grow our slate of tent pole and star-driven films under the Warner banner,” said Bruce Berman, Chairman and CEO of Village Roadshow Pictures. “We’re excited to start the New Year with action-packed 'Gangster Squad' releasing in January followed by the highly anticipated summer event film 'The Great Gatsby' in May.”
Warner Bros. and VRPG will continue to collaborate on high caliber, star-driven films, which have resulted in blockbuster hits including the “Sherlock Holmes,” “Ocean’s” and “Matrix” franchises and Academy Award animated picture winner “Happy Feet.”
Upcoming releases include “Gangster Squad” under the direction of Ruben Fleischer, starring Ryan Gosling, Josh Brolin, Emma Stone and Sean Penn (U.S. release on January 11, 2013), and “The Great Gatsby” under the direction of Baz Luhrmann, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire (U.S. release on May 10, 2013).
Films currently in production include “LEGO: The Movie,” an animated feature film adventure starring Will Arnett, Will Ferrell and Morgan Freeman directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller; “All You Need is Kill,” an epic sci-fi thriller starring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt directed by Doug Liman; and “Mad Max: Fury Road,” an action adventure starring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy directed by George Miller.
About Village Roadshow Pictures Group
Village Roadshow Pictures Group is a leading independent co-producer and co-financier of major Hollywood motion pictures, having produced 72 films since its establishment in 1997 including, as co-productions with Warner Bros., “The Matrix” Trilogy, The “Sherlock Holmes” franchise, “I am Legend,” the “Ocean’s” series, “Happy Feet,” “Mystic River,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Get Smart,” “Sex and the City 2” and “Gran Torino.”
VRPG self-distributes its filmed entertainment through affiliates in several territories around the world, including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
About Village Roadshow Entertainment Group
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group is a leading independent global entertainment company in the business of building leading, content-rich companies within the entertainment industry. It employs innovative strategies to develop, acquire and deliver intellectual property rights with timeless appeal, while taking advantage of group-wide strategic and operational efficiencies. VREG is the holding company of Village Roadshow Pictures, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group Asia and Concord Music Group.
Village Roadshow Limited, a 47.6% shareholder in VREG, is a leading international publicly listed entertainment and media company based out of Melbourne, Australia. VRL has been the exclusive theatrical distributor for Warner Bros. in Australia for over 41 years.
"Green Lantern: Emerald Knights" Good Space Opera
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011) – straight-to-video
Running minutes: 84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sci-fi action violence throughout, and for some language
DIRECTORS: Lauren Montgomery, Chris Berkeley, and Jay Oliva
WRITERS: Alan Burnett, Eddie Berganza, Todd Casey, Dave Gibbons, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim, Geoff Johns, and Peter Tomasi
PRODUCERS: Greg Berlanti, Donald De Line, and Lauren Montgomery
EDITOR: Margaret Hou
COMPOSER: Christopher Drake
ANIMATION STUDIO: Studio 4’C
ANIMATION/SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION with elements of drama
Starring: (voices) Nathan Fillion, Jason Isaacs, Elisabeth Moss, Henry Rollins, Arnold Vosloo, Grey DeLisle, Kelly Hu, Michael Jackson, Bruce Thomas, and Roddy Piper
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is a 2011 direct-to-video superhero animated film from Warner Bros. Animation. Starring DC Comics characters, Green Lantern and the Green Lantern Corps, this is also the eleventh feature in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies (DCU AOM) line. Executive produced by Bruce Timm, this film is adapted from DC Comics’ Green Lantern mythology.
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is not a direct sequel to an earlier DCU AOM film Green Lantern: First Flight, but both films use the same character designs. Emerald Knights is, like Batman: Gotham Knights, an anthology film, and it tells six stories (about various Green Lanterns) structured inside a larger, framing story. That framing story focuses on the Green Lantern Corps and their battle with an ancient enemy. While the Corps awaits that enemy, a new recruit hears stories about various Green Lanterns, including a story about the unlikely very first Green Lantern.
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights is set on and around the Green Lantern home world, Oa. The planet’s sun is about to become the gateway for Krona, an anti-matter, alien evil that the Guardians of the Universe (essentially the creators of the Green Lanterns) banished ages ago. While they wait for the epic battle to begin, Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Earth (Nathan Fillion), helps a Green Lantern rookie, a young woman named Arisia Rrab (Elisabeth Moss), by telling her stories about legendary Green Lanterns and about pivotal moments in the history of the Green Lantern Corps.
Some of the stories include “The First Green Lantern,” which tells the story of Avra, an unlikely Green Lantern who actually was not the first person to get a Green Lantern ring. “Kilowog” tells the story of the Green Lantern drill sergeant, Kilowog (Henry Rollins), and Sgt. Deegan (Wade Williams), who was Kilowog’s drill instructor. In “Abin Sur,” Hal Jordan’s predecessor, Abin Sur (Arnold Vosloo), hears a dark prophecy from Atrocitus (Bruce Thomas), an alien criminal he captured.
Green Lantern: Emerald Knights has excellent visuals. I would describe this movie as the hand-drawn animation equivalent of the computer-animated series, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” In fact, the action is on par with the Star Wars animated series, and the voice acting here has range, quality, and emotional resonance.
However, some of the action is laughable, ridiculous, and way too over-the-top even for superhero/space opera fantasy. The framing sequence has a paper-thin plot and story. I’d say that the writers should be embarrassed about this, but I bet they didn’t even notice. Still, the anthology part of this is pretty good, so I’d recommend Green Lantern: Emerald Knights.
7 of 10
B+
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
"Moonrise Kingdom" is Best Picture Winner at 2012 Gotham Awards
The first "best picture" winner of the 2012-13 movie award season is Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. The romance film about a preteen couple caught in the intense throes of young love picked up the top prize at last night's ceremony (Monday, November 26, 2012) for the 2012 Gotham Awards.
The Gotham Awards is an annual film awards ceremony that honors independent films. The Gotham Awards are part of The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers. The Gotham Awards also signal the kick-off to the film awards season.
Nominees are selected by groups of distinguished film critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. Separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors and others directly involved in making films determine the final Gotham Award recipients.
22nd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards Winners:
Best Feature:
Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Focus Features)
Best Documentary:
How to Survive a Plague
David France, director; Howard Gertler, David France, producers (Sundance Selects)
Best Ensemble Performance:
Your Sister’s Sister
Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt, Mark Duplass (IFC Films)
Breakthrough Director:
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Breakthrough Actor:
Emayatzy Corinealdi in Middle of Nowhere (AFFRM and Participant Media)
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You:
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
Terence Nance, director; Terence Nance, Andrew Corkin, James Bartlett, producers
The Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant is a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film.
Stacie Passon, director, Concussion WINNER
The 3rd Annual Gotham Independent Film Audience Award:
Voted on by an independent film community of 230,000 film fans worldwide. To be eligible, a U.S. film must have won an audience award at one of the top 50 U.S. or Canadian film festivals from November 2011 through October 2012. The nominees were announced November 5th, and the winner revealed at the Gotham Awards ceremony.
Winner:
ARTIFACT
Directed by Bartholomew Cubbins
Produced by Jared Leto and Emma Ludbrook
Nominees:
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn
BURN: ONE YEAR ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE BATTLE TO SAVE DETROIT
Directors: Brenna Sanchez, Tom Putnam
Producers: Brenna Sanchez, Tom Putnam
THE INVISIBLE WAR
Director: Kirby Dick
Producers: Amy Ziering, Tanner King Barklow
ONCE IN A LULLABY: THE PS 22 CHORUS STORY
Director: Jonathan Kalafer
Producers: Steve Kalafer, Jonathan Kalafer, Bao Nguyen
The Bingham Ray Award (The recipient of this award was chosen by a close group of Bingham’s friends and colleagues.):
BENH ZEITLIN, director of BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
The Gotham Awards is an annual film awards ceremony that honors independent films. The Gotham Awards are part of The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s oldest and largest organization of independent filmmakers. The Gotham Awards also signal the kick-off to the film awards season.
Nominees are selected by groups of distinguished film critics, journalists, festival programmers, and film curators. Separate juries of writers, directors, actors, producers, editors and others directly involved in making films determine the final Gotham Award recipients.
22nd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards Winners:
Best Feature:
Moonrise Kingdom
Wes Anderson, director; Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, producers (Focus Features)
Best Documentary:
How to Survive a Plague
David France, director; Howard Gertler, David France, producers (Sundance Selects)
Best Ensemble Performance:
Your Sister’s Sister
Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt, Mark Duplass (IFC Films)
Breakthrough Director:
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Breakthrough Actor:
Emayatzy Corinealdi in Middle of Nowhere (AFFRM and Participant Media)
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You:
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
Terence Nance, director; Terence Nance, Andrew Corkin, James Bartlett, producers
The Calvin Klein Spotlight on Women Filmmakers ‘Live the Dream’ grant is a $25,000 cash award for an alumna of IFP’s Independent Filmmaker Labs. This grant aims to further the careers of emerging women directors by supporting the completion, distribution and audience engagement strategies of their first feature film.
Stacie Passon, director, Concussion WINNER
The 3rd Annual Gotham Independent Film Audience Award:
Voted on by an independent film community of 230,000 film fans worldwide. To be eligible, a U.S. film must have won an audience award at one of the top 50 U.S. or Canadian film festivals from November 2011 through October 2012. The nominees were announced November 5th, and the winner revealed at the Gotham Awards ceremony.
Winner:
ARTIFACT
Directed by Bartholomew Cubbins
Produced by Jared Leto and Emma Ludbrook
Nominees:
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn
BURN: ONE YEAR ON THE FRONT LINES OF THE BATTLE TO SAVE DETROIT
Directors: Brenna Sanchez, Tom Putnam
Producers: Brenna Sanchez, Tom Putnam
THE INVISIBLE WAR
Director: Kirby Dick
Producers: Amy Ziering, Tanner King Barklow
ONCE IN A LULLABY: THE PS 22 CHORUS STORY
Director: Jonathan Kalafer
Producers: Steve Kalafer, Jonathan Kalafer, Bao Nguyen
The Bingham Ray Award (The recipient of this award was chosen by a close group of Bingham’s friends and colleagues.):
BENH ZEITLIN, director of BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD
Review: "Blue Steel" is Mixes Horror and Crime Genres (Happy B'day, Kathryn Bigelow)
Blue Steel (1990)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA - R
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow
WRITERS: Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red
PRODUCERS: Edward R. Pressman and Oliver Stone
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Amir Mokri
EDITOR: Lee Percy
COMPOSER: Brad Fiedel
CRIME/THRILLER with elements of horror
Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Ron Silver, Clancy Brown, Elizabeth Pena, Louise Fletcher, Philip Bosco, Kevin Dunn, Tom Sizemore, Matt Craven, and Richard Jenkins
Blue Steel was director Kathryn Bigelow’s third directorial effort (her second solo feature), and like her earlier mixed genre efforts, the film is a horror flick dressed in the clothes of a cop movie.
When rookie policewoman Megan Turner (Jamie Lee Curtis) shoots an armed robber during a holdup, one of the witnesses is Wall Street broker, Eugene Hunt (Ron Silver). A psychotic who hears voices talking to him, Hunt becomes obsessed with Megan. He cunningly removes the robber’s gun, and quietly leaves the store without Megan ever realizing he was there. Hunt carves her name on the bullets and begins a killing spree. Later, Megan meets Eugene, and he woos her into a budding romance, but his extreme mental illness causes him to reveal his crimes to Megan. However, virtually no one believes that he is the killer. As the deadly psychopath draws the young cop into a deadly game of wits, Megan thinks she’s one step ahead of him, but Hunt is much closer than she thinks.
Casting Jamie Lee Curtis as the rookie female policeman was a good move. Having spent much of her early film career playing beautiful young women stalked by mad killers in such films as Halloween (1978), The Fog and Terror Train (both 1980), and Halloween II (1981), Curtis just feels right in Blue Steel as the feisty girl against the seemingly unstoppable mass murderer. She also looks the same in her early 30’s when Blue Steel was filmed as she did when she was just in his 20’s and starring in slasher movies in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The general idea of Blue Steel seems to be that Curtis’s Megan Turner never realizes just how precarious her situation is, whether she is at home (where her father is an abusive husband), in the office (where her colleagues don’t respect her), or on the streets of New York City (where the killer stalks her).
The problem is Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red’s screenplay, which attacks plausibility at every turn. This is a brutal cat and mouse game, and Bigelow presents Blue Steel as an exercise of urban violence and fierce gunplay – the kind that was fashionable in 1980’s action movies such as Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. Much of the violence is a kick in the gut, but this concept plays with the conceit of horror movies (where many things that happen don’t have to make sense) rather than cop movies (where most things should make real world sense). In the Blue Steel, the killer is unstoppable and somewhat supernatural and the girl hero and the police department don’t seem to have much common sense, which they should.
5 of 10
C+
Thursday, May 10, 2007
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