BEST Wins Sundance London Short Film Competition
Film by William Oldroyd to screen at Sundance London
Best, a five-minute film from Surrey filmmaker William Oldroyd, was announced today as the winner of the Short Film Competition for the second Sundance London film and music festival, 25-28 April at The O2. The film will screen as part of the official Short Film Programme at the festival, and Oldroyd will receive a three-night stay at The Langham, London as well as additional prizes.
The Short Film Competition was organized by a small team of Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication students, in collaboration with Sundance London organizers, including Sundance Institute, which annually hosts the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A. To correspond with Sundance London’s location at The O2 in Greenwich, the home of Greenwich Mean Time, short film entries focused on the concept of time: ‘The Time is Now; a story that is about being immediate and in the moment.’ Submissions between three and five minutes in length were accepted.
The winning entry was selected by two juries on either side of the Atlantic. The first included: Kate Kinninmont, Women in Film and Television; Chris Collins, BFI Film Fund; Freddie Gaffney, Ravensbourne; Dave Calhoun, Time Out; and director / screenwriter Kat Lo. A second jury, organized by Sundance Institute, included: John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival; Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival; and filmmakers Francesca Gregorini and Roger Ross Williams.
In Best, with one man’s wedding moments away, he and his best friend confront their future.
Oldroyd said: “I am privileged to have my short film presented in my home city as part of this year's festival. There is no better champion of international, emerging film makers than Sundance Institute, and I am grateful for their endorsement and support. I'm really looking forward to meeting the other participants and glad that Best will now get a wider, more diverse audience.”
Groth said: “The other jurors and I were delighted to find in Best a succinct yet moving story that so cleverly exemplifies the tagline ‘The Time is Now.’ Terrifically framed images as well as stellar performances bring to life a story that impressively manages to be tender, raw, visceral and heartbreaking in under five minutes.”
In addition to Best, finalists for the competition were: Double Take, by Sam Hodges; Fill Me In, by Sebastian Thiel; Kickoff, by Zoran Trajkovic / Pet Genius Productions; Outsiders, by William Wirrow; and What’s Past is Present, by Jason Robbins. All finalist films, including Best, are available for immediate viewing at http://competition.sundance-london.com/films/2013/
Extranjero, a short film from Daniel Lumb and Crinan Campbell, was the winner of last year’s Short Film Competition at the first-ever Sundance London.
Tickets for all Sundance London films, panels and music performances are now on sale at www.sundance-london.com. Music performers include Peaches, Gregg Allman and John Paul White of The Civil Wars, and British Sea Power. The film programme, made up of 21 feature films and nine short films, includes the International, European or UK premieres of films from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, including several award winners.
For more information visit www.sundance-london.com or follow @SundancefestUK on Twitter
Monday, April 22, 2013
Review: "Malibu’s Most Wanted" Still Funny
Malibu’s Most Wanted (2003)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sexual humor, language and violence
DIRECTOR: John Whitesell
WRITERS: Fax Bahr, Adam Small, Jamie Kennedy, and Nick Swardson
PRODUCERS: Fax Bahr, Mike Karz, and Adam Small
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mark Irwin
EDITOR: Cara Silverman
COMPOSER: John Van Tongeren
COMEDY
Starring: Jamie Kennedy, Taye Diggs, Anthony Anderson, Regina Hall, Blair Underwood, Damien Dante Wayans, Ryan O’Neal, Bo Derek, Jeffrey Tambor, and Snoop Dogg (voice)
The subject of this movie review is Malibu’s Most Wanted, a 2003 comedy co-written by and starring Jamie Kennedy. The film focuses on the character “B-Rad,” which Kennedy initially used in his stand-up comedy act and later featured on his hidden camera television series, “JKX: The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.”
Brad Gluckman (Jamie Kennedy) is B-Rad, a white Jewish boy from Malibu who is a wannabe rap star and “acts like he’s from the ‘hood.” The problem is that his father Bill (Ryan O’Neal) is a California gubernatorial candidate, and B-Rad’s thuggish behavior might cost him the election.
Tom Gibbons (Blair Underwood), his father’s campaign manager, hires two actors to scare the black out of B-Rad. If Julliard-trained Sean (Taye Diggs) and Pasadena Playhouse thespian P.J. (Anthony Anderson) can convince B-Rad that they’re carjackers, they just might put the white back in Brad’s act. However, B-Rad ain’t having it; before long he’s in love with Sean and P.J.’s accomplice Shondra (Regina Hall), an ambitious young woman with business dreams.
First, let me say that Malibu’s Most Wanted is simply hilarious. I laughed as much as I did at any other recent film including Bringing Down the House. Malibu Most Wanted, like the latter film, involves a traditionally, but especially of late, touchy subject: the portrayal of African-American (or just plain black folks) and black culture in Hollywood films. The film allegedly pokes fun at white kids who embrace hip hop culture, but who also embrace it with such relish that they try to “act black.”
However, the film makes a point of differentiating between poseurs and whites who are really into that chocolate flava. A friend of mine called white poseurs, “Negro lite” – all the style and coolness without the persecution of being black. When it comes down to it, there’s nothing wrong with white people embracing hip hop culture or black language, style, fashion, attitude, and lifestyle. People of different backgrounds and cultures cross pollinate; the Romans certainly enjoyed copying the Greeks.
Some people seem to think that it was beneath African-American actors to participate in movies like Malibu's Most Wanted and Brining Down the House. Black actors just go where the work is. Lord knows that Taye Diggs, handsome, talented, and possessing a deft comic touch, should be a leading man fighting off producers who constantly beat at his door to have him be the star of their next film. That’s not happening. And Anthony Anderson is no less funny than Seann William Scott (American Pie and Dude, Where’s My Car?), so he should also have many comic vehicles coming his way, shouldn’t he?
Regina Hall is sexy and beautiful, capable of being more than just the black girl with an attitude. After seeing her in Malibu's Most Wanted, I left the theatre wondering why I haven’t seen more of her; then, I pass by a poster for the overexposed Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and a Ho. Oh, nothing on Reese. I love her, and all things being equal, Regina came into the world with the exact same chance for opportunity as Reese, right? So they go where the work is. Besides, I love the subtle, sly, and wink-wink/nudge-nudge performances by Diggs, Anderson, and Blair Underwood.
Jamie Kennedy, his writers and the director, John Whitesell (a veteran director of various episodes of many television programs) do a good job with what could have been a one-note joke that dies quickly. The script is pedestrian in a number of ways, but especially in the story’s resolution. B-Rad justifies himself and his interest in hip hop, connects with the black folk, and makes up with his dad, but there are also lots of nice touches. Hell, he even gets the black woman, which I thought the filmmakers would avoid like the plague. Even the predictable material has a nice, funny spin on it. The main point of this movie is to be funny, and it’s damn funny. Its secondary nature is to make a lot of good points, and despite Malibu Most Wanted’s often tactless script, it does that, too. When all is said and done, Malibu’s Most Wanted is funny, and in the long term, it’ll be an important work in the canon of films about black culture.
How many people notice that for all the parody of hip hop that is done in this film, B-Rad is absolutely and honestly in love with hip hop? For all the whining that many people do about how “black culture” is ignored, they should notice the adoration, even when it is disguised as a sow’s ear.
6 of 10
B
Sunday, April 21, 2013
"Only God Forgives" Due July 19, 2013
Radius/TMC PRESENTS
ONLY GOD FORGIVES
An official selection of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival
A film by Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm
IN THEATERS JULY 19th
Ryan Gosling and the director of DRIVE, Nicolas Winding Refn, are back with this visionary Bangkok-set thriller. Julien (Gosling) is a drug kingpin tasked with avenging his brother's death, but a mysterious, unhinged policeman is following his every move.
What's neon without a little flicker?
Follow @RadiusTWC to see an animated version of the poster.
#OnlyGodForgives
#WannaFight
Check out the redband trailer on Yahoo! Movies: http://movies.yahoo.com/trailers/red-band/?cache=clear
Review: "Bulletproof Monk" Not a Misfire
Bulletproof Monk (2003)
Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violence, language and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Paul Hunter
WRITERS: Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris (based upon the Flypaper Press comic book)
PRODUCERS: Terence Chang, Charles Roven, Douglas Segal, and John Woo
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stefan Czapsky (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Robert K. Lambert
COMPOSER: Eric Serra
MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION with elements of adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, Jamie King, Karel Roden, and Victoria Smurfit
The subject of this movie review is Bulletproof Monk, a 2003 martial arts and fantasy film starring Chow Yun-Fat and Seann William Scott. The film is a loose adaptation of a three-issue comic book miniseries published in the late 1990s.
After I first saw trailers and television commercials for Bulletproof Monk, I was sure that the movie was going to be a giant turkey bomb. The fights looked like cheesy, Matrix, bullet time, rip-offs, and the idea of a kung-fu mentor looking for a “chosen one” rang all too familiar. Worst of all, the film had Chow Yun-Fat spouting instant pudding Far East mystical mumbo-jumbo. The ads turned out to be quite misleading (in fact, those responsible shouldn’t necessarily lose their jobs if this film flops because of poor ads, but they should, at least, get demerits from their bosses), and the film is quite good, although the film still has one of those chosen one characters and lots of mystical quasi-Buddhist wisdom dialogue that even fortune cookie makers wouldn’t touch.
Somewhere in Tibet is an ancient scroll wherein is written the secrets to great power. Every sixty years, a new monk is chosen via prophetic signs to protect the scroll. In 1943, the Monk with No Name (Chow Yun Fat, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) takes responsibility for the scroll. 60 years later, the monk is in New York running from Strucker (Karel Roden), a sadistic Nazi holdover from the Forties who wants the secrets of the scroll. His granddaughter Nina (Victoria Smurfit) now leads the chase to capture the Monk with No Name. During one of those chases, the monk meets Kar (Seann William Scott), a young pickpocket who just so happens to possesses some formidable martial arts skills. Of course, the relationship between the two begins as an edgy one, but soon it’s sometimes difficult to tell who is the mentor and who is the “mentee.”
Director Paul Hunter, known for his music videos, shows great ability in creating a sustained rhythmic style in Bulletproof Monk. The material is old hat; Hunter just makes the film exciting and energetic. He creates a sense of drama, suspense, mystery, and intrigue through the flow of the film. He even stages the mystical and philosophical musings so that they seem interesting and move the story forward. Rather than just being the standard dialogue you’d hear in a martial arts flick, the wit and wisdom of the monk actually serves the story.
The acting is good. Fat has never seemed more comfortable and relaxed in an English language film than he does here. He’s the coolest silent, stoic hero since Clint Eastwood, and the camera loves him. There’s just something heroic and, well, mystical about his visage when it appears on a giant movie screen, and like Eastwood, his best work needs to be seen in a theatre. Seann William Scott, forever burdened with the Stifler character from the American Pie films, proves himself to be a screen idol in the mold of Keanu Reeves. Like Reeves, the camera loves Scott; he has a naïve and goofy, but charming look that can sell him as a part time rogue, but a rogue destined to be a hero. His performance and his character’s transformation really remind me of both Reeves performance and of the character Neo’s transformation in The Matrix.
Bulletproof Monk is pure fun and very entertaining. You don’t have to check your brain at the door because the film isn’t that simpleminded. There’s chemistry between the leads that is actually heartwarming and inspiring. The evolution of the teacher/pupil relationship here is one that rings true. They are the center of the story, and when their dynamic works and the fight scenes are good, then, the movie is probably good.
Bulletproof Monk does have some shaky moments, and sometimes, the characters don’t always ring true. The villains are such stock characters that the actors precariously balance appearing both pathetic and dangerous, although Ms. Smurfit plays her part with absolute relish. Still, Bulletproof Monk is a good action film with some excellent fight scenes in the spirit of The Matrix, and the soundtrack is also pretty cool.
Though I do wonder why, after centuries of having Asian protectors, the protectors of the scroll all of a sudden have to be white people. Would predominately white audiences accept Jet Li as King Arthur?
6 of 10
B
Saturday, April 20, 2013
"Iron Man 3" Kicks Off Capetown Film Fest
Screening Offers Festival Goers a Sneak Preview of Marvel’s Highly Anticipated Iron Man 3
Entertainment Weekly announced that a complimentary advance screening of Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” will kick off the EW CapeTown Film Festival (CapeTown) at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 30. The inaugural film festival, co-presented by Entertainment Weekly and American Cinematheque, and sponsored by TNT’s Falling Skies, will host a screening of Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” before the film opens in theaters on May 3. Following the screening, there will be a Q&A session with Kevin Feige, producer of Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” and Marvel Studios’ President.
Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy's hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale with Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley, Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” is directed by Shane Black from a screenplay by Drew Pearce & Shane Black and is based on Marvel’s iconic Super Hero Iron Man, who first appeared on the pages of “Tales of Suspense” (#39) in 1963 and had his solo comic book debut with “The Invincible Iron Man” (#1) in May of 1968.
Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures and DMG Entertainment. Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige is producing and Jon Favreau, Louis D’Esposito, Charles Newirth, Victoria Alonso, Stephen Broussard, Alan Fine, Stan Lee and Dan Mintz are executive producers. The film releases May 3, 2013, and is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Twitter: @SidGrauman
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Tuesday, April 30
8:00pm Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” Complimentary Fan Appreciation Screening
Special guest: Kevin Feige
Review: "Dirty Harry" is a Famous Mediocre Film (Remembering Don Siegel)
Dirty Harry (1971)
Running time: 102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)
MPAA – R
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Don Siegel
WRITERS: Harry Julian Fink & R.M. Fink and Dean Reisner, from a story by Harry Julian Fink and R.M. Fink
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Bruce Surtees
EDITOR: Carl Pingitore
COMPOSER: Lalo Schifrin
DRAMA/CRIME/THRILLER
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni, John Vernon, Andy Robinson, John Larch, and John Mitchum
The subject of this movie review is Dirty Harry, a 1971 crime film from director Don Siegel. The film stars Clint Eastwood in what would become a signature role for him, that of San Francisco Police Department Inspector Harry Callahan A.K.A. “Dirty Harry.” Dirty Harry would yield four sequels, beginning with 1973’s Magnum Force. Writers Jo Heims contributed to the story and John Milius contributed to the screenplay, but respectively did not receive screen credits.
After a decade of political assassinations, the Vietnam War/conflict, social upheaval, rising crime rates, etc., perhaps America was ready for Dirty Harry, the police thriller starring Clint Eastwood in his seminal role as Inspector Harry Callahan, also known as “Dirty Harry.” Harry is a tough-talking, streetwise, pop-a-cap-first homicide detective who is a far-right wet dream. In this first film in the (thus far) five-part “Dirty Harry” series, Inspector Callahan must learn the identity of a rooftop sniper known as the Scorpio Killer (Andy Robinson), who has killed two people. Scorpio eventually buries a young woman alive and threatens to let her suffocate if the city of San Francisco doesn’t pay him a $200,000 ransom. Harry is determined to nail the killer – even if he has to break some police rules and violate some inconvenient Constitutional rights.
The film plays loosely and sloppily with police procedures and what are the rights of criminal suspects and the accused, doing what most films do – change real life facts for dramatic impact. The screenwriters (and for all I know the director and star) go to ludicrous extremes to show that murderers can get away with murder if an aggressive cop doesn’t get a warrant or read some criminal “his rights.” When Clint Eastwood says the word “rights,” it’s like he has fecal matter on his sneaky tongue. Less than a decade later, presidential candidate and later President Ronald Reagan (via his speechwriters and puppet masters) would play up the idea that criminals had more rights than victims to good effect, as the U.S. public just sits back and watches the country increasingly become a police state.
As for the film, it’s neither a good police procedural nor an effective right wing political screed simply because the script is garbage in spite of its good central concept. The characters (with such well-thought out monikers as The Mayor and The Chief) are wispy, and Harry, except for a few revealing moments, is little more than a cipher. In fact, it is Andy Robinson’s intense, passionate, and crazy performance as Scorpio that gives life to the cop/suspect dynamic. Eastwood handles his half of the cop/villain conflict with his signature acting style for this film – a snarl and half-whispered lines delivered through bad teeth – lines that usually end with the word “punk.” Don Siegel’s direction doesn’t help much; the first half of the film is a listless detective film, while the second half struggles drunkenly to be a good police thriller, which it occasionally is.
Although Eastwood’s best work as an actor is in westerns, a genre for which he seems tailor made, Dirty Harry is the role for which many film fans still fondly remember him. However, this first Dirty Harry film is little more than a cultural curiosity and a sign of its times. Except for a few moments that stand out as exceptional, Dirty Harry is a famous, but mediocre film.
4 of 10
C
NOTES:
2012 National Film Preservation Board, USA: National Film Registry
Friday, April 19, 2013
New "Star Trek Into Darkness" Kirk Poster - April 16 2013
IN SELECT THEATERS IN IMAX 3D MAY 15th
IN THEATERS EVERYHWERE MAY 17th
WWW.STARTREKMOVIE.COM
#StarTrek #IntoDarkness
In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice.
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.
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