It‚Äôs been a little less than a week since all the line-ups, the galas, the 22 screenings, the star encounters and interviews, the eating on the run and everything else that goes along with the madness that is The Toronto International Film Festival. I have had a few days now to rest, relax and ponder on all that I have seen at TIFF. While I didn’t have the...
Monthly Archives: September 2009
(enlarge) Three of our finest actors play old-timers kickin’ it hardcore this year. Walt Kowalski, what hast thou wrought? That Evening Sun: (Hal Holbrook) An aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm. Harry Brown: (Michael Caine) An elderly ex-serviceman and...
THE GYPSY IN MY SOUL MONTREAL FILM FESTIVAL WRAP UP 2009 by Stephen Holt The lovely, enchanting tr√®s fran√ßais city of Montreal always brings out the gypsy in my soul. And this year’s Montreal Film Festival was bringing out the Gypsy in everyone’s soul with its top awards-getter “Korkoro” by director Tony Gatliff, whose own Gypsy heritage...
From Neuromancer to eXistenZ, Videodrome to next year’s Inception, science fiction authors and filmmakers have long been fascinated by the prospect of jacking into the brain to elicit specific emotional reactions. Thanks to glimmer for plugging us in to this Wired article explaining how the art of mindfucking has been elevated to a science. MindSign Neuromarketing...
The Independent Filmmaker Project announces today that director Kathryn Bigelow, actors Natalie Portman and Stanley Tucci, and producers Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, are to be honored with a career tribute at the Gotham Independent Film Awards, November 30th: This year’s Tribute selection represents a range of individuals – all veterans well-versed in the journey...
And Newmarket Films “saw that it was good,” stepping up to the plate today to distribute Jon Amiel’s Creation. The press release reads, in part: In CREATION, Amiel (The Singing Detective, Entrapment) and Collee (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) bring to life a psychological love story that gives a unique and intimate perspective on Darwin,...
Writer, Aaron Sorkin. Director, David Fincher. Star, Justin Timberlake. LOS ANGELES (AFP) ‚Äì Pop star Justin Timberlake has landed a role in an upcoming movie about the meteoric rise of social networking website Facebook, it was reported Wednesday. Timberlake, 28, will play Facebook’s founding president Sean Parker in the film, titled “The Social Network,”...
HollywoodFest announces this year’s early honorees — Carey Mulligan, Jeremy Renner, Lee Daniels, Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe, Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. Mulligan will receive the “Hollywood Breakthrough Actress Award,” Renner will get the “Hollywood Breakthrough Actor Award,” director Lee Daniels will receive the...
I need to post this because Jeff Wells just posted an absurd run-down of why the poll is wrong. He gives various reasons why – most do not hold water — A Single man has “gay-o-vision,” Amelia has been dissed by an “insider” and therefore has no shot. Food, Inc. is a “doc” and therefore has no chance to make the Best Pic cut....
I keep reading that the 2009 Oscar season has officially begun (and here I thought it started on Feb 23rd). Now that Venice, Telluride and TIFF are behind us, leaving in their wake new titles bobbing to the surface, perhaps it’s time to take another shot at a Best Picture poll. Last time we did this, on June 30th, we cautiously called it a poll of “Hopefuls.”...