Matt Damon ponders how much cooler he would have looked if the production had sprung for a Harley.

(Universal) Matt Damon, Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Julia Stiles, Scott Glenn, Albert Finney, Paddy Considine, Edgar Ramirez, Trevor St John, Daniel Bruhl, Joey Anash, Tom Gallop, Corey Johnson, Colin Stinton . Directed by Paul Greengrass

The most recent installment of the hit film series based on the John Le Carre spy novels, The Bourne Ultimatum picks up pretty much where the last film, The Bourne Supremacy left off, in Moscow. We pick up with memory-challenged superspy Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) being chased by the Moscow police through the back alleys of Moscow. An injured Bourne finally makes his way into a closed for the night medical clinic where he tries to effect crude repairs, but he is interrupted by a pair of clever cops. They aren’t quite clever enough and he escapes once again, disappearing from the CIA grid.

Back in the States, CIA director Ezra Kramer (Glenn) is very eager for Bourne to be caught. Deputy Director Noah Vosen (Strathairn) believes Bourne is a major threat to the agency, whereas Deputy Director Pamela Landy (Allen) thinks Bourne is not necessarily out to take down the agency, but instead to get answers. Landy is put in charge of the hunt for Jason Bourne.

In Turin, a newspaper columnist (Considine) meets with a CIA section chief (Stinton) who gives the columnist information about Blackbriar, the successor to the Treadstone program that created Bourne (and that Bourne essentially destroyed). The CIA, apparently monitoring every cell phone call on the planet, picks up a call from the columnist to his editor that contains the word “Blackbriar” and immediately he is put under surveillance. Bourne by chance reads the man’s column (apparently he’s a big fan of the Guardian newspaper, since he reads it in another country) and realizes that the columnist may have information that Bourne needs. Of course, this sets off all sorts of mayhem, including a chance meeting between Bourne and Nikki Parsons (Stiles), the Treadstone agent who helped Bourne previously. Chased by the CIA, Interpol and quite probably some irate Girl Scouts, Bourne makes his way to New York City with the intention of discovering the truth about himself and possibly bringing an end to the game he no longer wants to play.

In a terse spy thriller like this one, you have to take a few things on faith, and suspend disbelief to a certain extent. It’s hard to believe that an agency with the technical ability to pick out a single word in a phone conversation involving two men not under suspicion for anything are unable to suss out a man entering their country undisguised under a passport they themselves issued. I mean, don’t they have computers at the airport?

Plot holes aside, you come to a Bourne movie for the action sequences, and here the movie doesn’t disappoint. Chased by assassins (and chasing them), evading detection by legions of agents and police, director Greengrass sets up a massive body count (not to mention an auto body count, as the film might just be worse for automobiles than for stuntmen) and extended action sequences which, while breaking no new ground, do cover old ground expertly. He keeps the suspense ratcheted up to 11 throughout most of the movie, with very little breathing room and manages to move the plot along with expository sequences without breaking momentum created by the action scenes – the one in Tangiers, by the way, might be one of the best you’ll ever see. However, be warned many sequences appear to be filmed by hand-held cameras. While this delivers a kind of you-are-there feel to these sequences, in my opinion it’s used a little overly much and gives the movie a kind of jerky quality that I found jarring.

Damon continues to do the part of Jason Bourne with extraordinary aplomb, rarely displaying much emotion but allowing the feelings bubbling below the surface to see the light of day from time to time. Strathairn plays a worthy adversary who picks up after Chris Cooper and Brian Cox from the first two movies and acquits himself nicely. Stiles does some of her best work in the Bourne movies and as the only other actor besides Damon to appear in all three movies, providing some nice continuity.

The movie takes place in several European cities, including Moscow, Turin, Madrid and in Tangiers, Morocco as well as New York City. The movie uses actual locations to add a further air of realism, a nice touch (which created some difficulties for the filmmakers – if you look closely during the train station scene, there are people who notice the cameras and point to them). While many of the secrets of Jason Bourne are explained (including his actual identity), there is certainly enough room left at the end for a sequel if the filmmakers and actors choose to go there which for awhile, it appeared they did until Greengrass recently withdrew from the proposed fourth Bourne film, leaving the status of the movie very much up in the air – Damon’s participation without Greengrass is certainly less likely.

Like most of the third movies, this one is pretty flawed but you can take some solace in the fact that while it doesn’t arise above its own ambitions, the movie nevertheless fulfills those ambitions nicely. In other words, you get exactly what you came to see.

WHY RENT THIS: Awesome action sequences as have become synonymous with this franchise. Exotic locations that bring to mind the cold war spy thrillers that the source material was contemporaneous with. The tension is unrelenting.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: The plot holes are hard to ignore. Too much hand-held camerawork which was cliche even before this was made.

FAMILY VALUES: While the action sequences are terrific, they may be a bit overwhelming for some, as the sudden and sometimes realistic violence will be.

TRIVIAL PURSUITS: Among the pictures of terminated agents that Landy faxes near the film’s conclusion are producer Frank Marshall and actor Richard Chamberlin, who portrayed Bourne in a 1988 TV mini-series.

NOTABLE DVD FEATURES: Nothing listed.

FINAL RATING: 7/10

TOMORROW: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Film Finance Corporation of Australia, total investment versus recoupment, 1988-2008. Source: FFC 2007-08 Annual Report

One of the key themes  of Richard Caves’ 2000 cultural economics monograph, Creative Industries: Contracts between art and commerce is his detailed exploration of the idea that “nobody knows.”

The quote comes from Hollywood screenwriter William Goldman, who famously opined that when it comes to the entertainment industry, “Nobody knows anything.”  (Goldman, by the way, also penned the line “Follow the money” in All The President’s Men – a phrase that doesn’t appear in Carl Bernstein or Bob Woodward’s notes or articles).

If high-powered Hollywood moguls struggle to predict the successes and failures of the films they finance and produce, how well do Australian screen bureaucrats do?

Not very well, if figures from Australia’s Film Finance Corporation are any guide. The FFC, an Australian government film agency, existed for 20 years between 1988 and 2008 before being amalgamated into Screen Australia last year. Unlike arts funding bodies in this country, the FFC was specifically set up to finance film and telelvision projects along commercial lines. As film critic Lynden Barber points out, “FFC production funding was triggered when a project reached a minimum level of pre-sales from mostly private sources.”

The FFC acted as a kind of automatic co-investor. If a producer could arrange seed capital for a promising screen project, the FFC would then top up this private investment with government funding. This meant it acted as a public-sector but commercial investor, taking a cut of the intellectual property and box office returns of projects it financed. In other words, the agency didn’t just hand out money: it actually recouped returns on its investments.

The problem was, these returns were meagre. Over two decades, the agency supported 1165 productions and spent $1.345 billion (these figures are from the FFC’s final Annual Report in 2007-08). Many were critical successes and some of them even won Oscars.  But only a few made money. The FFC states in its “20 years” brochure that this investment translated into a total screen production value of $2.872 billion, a multiplier of roughly two. But total recoupment to the FFC was a paltry $274.2 million. That’s an astonishing cumulative return of -80%.

No wonder Barber points out that “many of the failures of the local industry have been the result of commercial misjudgments — not only by the federal and state funding agencies, but also by private investors, distributors and filmmakers.”

Il conformista. Bertolucci. 1970.

19 Days Left Before Christmas

Hi, it’s Ginger again! You probably already know that I want it to be Christmas all year long, and that I’m looking for ways to make that happen.

Today I took little Gigi to meet the star Gingy from the Shrek movie series. As you can see, we all had a wonderful time!

It’s a special activity for a lot of people during the holiday season to go out to the cinema and see a movie with the family.

Going to holiday movies is special for two reasons, one is that people make the time to do it, and the other is that they pick a movie that everyone in the family, young and old, can enjoy together.

There are many wise people who already do this, because they value the time that adults spend with children, and because they know it builds treasured memories for children as they are growing up, too.

I think that if more people realized how significant going to the movies is, for adults and for children, they would do it all year round, and feel special, the way they do during Christmas.

Today was fun!
See you tomorrow! – Ginger

Iron Man 2 is due to May 7 and right this month, there’ll be a teaser lurking on the web, waiting for all of us, fans, to watch and impantiently wait for it to fulfill our wishes.

Check the poster in the link below:

]]> http://andrewsidea.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/thanksgiving-christmas-film-quiz/ Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:39:44 +0000 ZC http://andrewsidea.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/thanksgiving-christmas-film-quiz/

Found this originally here, but I guess it originated on the web over here. I have a strange inability to resist these.

1) Second-favorite Coen Brothers movie.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2) Movie seen only on home format that you would pay to see on the biggest movie screen possible? (Question submitted by Peter Nellhaus)

Andrei Rublev

3) Japan or France? (Question submitted by Bob Westal)

An impossible question. France for inventing, Japan for transcending.

4) Favorite moment/line from a western.

When Rooster Cogburn saves Maggie at the end of True Grit. The Duke was on his way out, but at least he came out on top and with a belly full of whiskey and corn dodgers. But also, seeing John Wayne and Kirk Douglas paired for The War Wagon was a treat.

5) Of all the arts the movies draw upon to become what they are, which is the most important, or the one you value most?

It should be “…value more,” since photography and music have to be the most integral to cinema.

6) Most misunderstood movie of the 2000s (The Naughties?).

Probably Crash (not Cronenberg’s) or Juno. Many people misunderstood and thought they were good.

7) Name a filmmaker/actor/actress/film you once unashamedly loved who has fallen furthest in your esteem.

Maybe Tim Burton or Steve Martin (thanks to the new Pink Panther movies).

Herbert Lom or Patrick Magee?

Herbert Lom, thanks to the old Pink Panther movies.

9) Which is your least favorite David Lynch film (Submitted by Tony Dayoub)

That I’ve seen? Probably The Straight Story, but it’s been almost ten years.

10) Gordon Willis or Conrad Hall? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)

Willis, duh. Who else could’ve shot both The Godfather and Annie Hall?

11) Second favorite Don Siegel movie.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

12) Last movie you saw on DVD/Blu-ray? In theaters?

On Blu-ray, though it wasn’t a “movie” per se: BBC Planet Earth. DVD, The Divorcee. In theaters: The Fantastic Mr. Fox (x2).

13) Which DVD in your private collection screams hardest to be replaced by a Blu-ray? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)

Solaris (the good one)

14) Eddie Deezen or Christopher Mintz-Plasse?

Mintz-Plasse

15) Actor/actress who you feel automatically elevates whatever project they are in, or whom you would watch in virtually anything.

Cary Grant/Audrey Hepburn (is that cheating?)

16) Fight Club — yes or no?

Sure

17) Teresa Wright or Olivia De Havilland?

Olivia

18) Favorite moment/line from a film noir.

All of Gilda, despite what some say about its status as a noir. 2nd place is The Maltese Falcon.

19) Best (or worst) death scene involving an obvious dummy substituting for a human or any other unsuccessful special effect(s)—see the wonderful blog Destructible Man for inspiration.

Brad Pitt’s death in Meet Joe Black

20) What’s the least you’ve spent on a film and still regretted it? (Submitted by Lucas McNelly)

Turned off Slumdog Millionaire 1/3 in and regretted the wasted time.

21) Van Johnson or Van Heflin?

Van Johnson, thanks to 30 Seconds Over Tokyo

22) Favorite Alan Rudolph film.

Don’t have one.

23) Name a documentary that you believe more people should see.

Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred Leuchter, Jr., dir. Errol Morris

24) In deference to this quiz’s professor, name a favorite film which revolves around someone becoming stranded.

Since it’s just “a” favorite film, I’ll say Father Goose and not also add Hell in the Pacific.

25) Is there a moment when your knowledge of film, or lack thereof, caused you an unusual degree of embarrassment and/or humiliation? If so, please share.

The lack thereof, regularly. When I knew so little that I owned and liked Ron Howard movies.

26) Ann Sheridan or Geraldine Fitzgerald? (Submitted by Larry Aydlette)

Ignorant and indifferent.

27) Do you or any of your family members physically resemble movie actors or other notable figures in the film world? If so, who?

Wife sometimes mistaken for Natalie Portman. Darn.

28) Is there a movie you have purposely avoided seeing? If so, why?

Titanic. It’s more fun not to.

29) Movie with the most palpable or otherwise effective wintry atmosphere or ambience.

Doctor Zhivago?

30) Gerrit Graham or Jeffrey Jones?

Gerrit Graham, since he’s not a perv.

31) The best cinematic antidote to a cultural stereotype (sexual, political, regional, whatever).

Critique of politics in Nashville.

32) Second favorite John Wayne movie.

Maybe The Green Beret

33) Favorite movie car chase.

Nazis in motorcycles and Richard Burton & Clint Eastwood in a bus at the end of Where Eagles Dare.

34) In the spirit of His Girl Friday, propose a gender-switched remake of a classic or not-so-classic film. (Submitted by Patrick Robbins)

Oceans Eleven

35) Barbara Rhoades or Barbara Feldon?

Feldon, since I was tyke.

36) Favorite Andre De Toth movie.

Superman: The Movie (he was second-unit director)

37) If you could take one filmmaker’s entire body of work and erase it from all time and memory, as if it had never happened, whose oeuvre would it be? (Submitted by Tom Sutpen)

Michael Bay

38) Name a film you actively hated when you first encountered it, only to see it again later in life and fall in love with it.

Maybe Beau Geste or The Birds

39) Max Ophuls or Marcel Ophuls? (Submitted by Tom Sutpen)

Max, by reputation

40) In which club would you most want an active membership, the Delta Tau Chi fraternity, the Cutters or the Warriors? And which member would you most resemble, either physically or in personality?

I got nothin here.

41) Your favorite movie cliché.

Slow-mo with mood-setting music.

42) Vincente Minnelli or Stanley Donen? (Submitted by Bob Westal)

Donen: not because he was better but because his films have more sentimental value.

43) Favorite Christmas-themed horror movie or sequence.

When Santa kicks Ralph down the slide in A Christmas Story, it always terrifies me.

44) Favorite moment of self- or selfless sacrifice in a movie.

The character of Yamamoto in Red Beard.

45) If you were the cinematic Spanish Inquisition, which movie cult (or cult movie) would you decimate? (Submitted by Bob Westal)

Sadly saw Malibu High before knowing what it was. It deserves torture and death.

46) Caroline Munro or Veronica Carlson?

Not really into either.

47) Favorite eye-patch wearing director. (Submitted by Patty Cozzalio)

John Ford, being ignorant of others.

48) Favorite ambiguous movie ending. (Original somewhat ambiguous submission—“Something about ambiguous movie endings!”– by Jim Emerson, who may have some inspiration of his own to offer you.)

Most of Kieslowski’s The Decalogue, I suppose.

49) In giving thanks for the movies this year, what are you most thankful for?

Those very few moments of wonderfulness in films that make all the rest of them worth watching.

50) George Kennedy or Alan North? (Submitted by Peet Gelderblom)

Definitely Kennedy: Spartacus, The Sons of Katie Elder, Charade, Cool Hand Luke, and Cahill U.S. Marshall.

Après 1 semaine de planification, on est allée au cinéma.

Kate, Lina et moi!

Elles voulaient même pas y aller vers la fin, à cause des travaux et que leurs cheveux étaient pas lavés!

Ben en fait, c’est parce qu’on devait aller souper avant.

Mais finalement, elles voulaient tellement aller au cinéma, qu’on a juste dit qu’on allait se rejoindre pour le film.

C’est pas si pire pour un samedi soir non?

Le film, est tellement pas à quoi que je m’attendais.

J’pensais que ça allait être une histoire d’amour entourée de drama.

Mais c’est PLUS que ça.

C’est plus dramatique et profond.

Je sais pas, j’ai aimé ça, mais j’my attendais tellement pas.

Pis y a comme vraiment pas beaucoup d’amour.

J’aimais tellement la petite fille dans l’histoire, c’est tellement la réalité, la façon qu’elle agissait quand elle est frue, je me reconnaissais tellement!

Un film un peu traumatisant par contre, parce que ça parle de guerre!

J-HO

*J’préfère quand même des films cu-culs

I’m now officially in a relationship with Phil.

We went to the cinema, and it was practically empty. I got really into the film, but kept being distracted by the way his fingers were brushing against my arm.

To be honest, he took it really slow. And he made the first move. For which I applaud him. It takes a lot of courage to do that.

I leant into him, to let him know that I was ok with him touching me, before he slowly reached out and took my hand. We held hands on my leg for a while – he was stroking my thumb with his (awww).

Then (after about 20 minutes) he took my other hand too. Now I REALLY wasn’t concentrating on the film. He kept fidgeting, and I knew he wanted to go further, but it took me at least another half an hour to get up the courage to lay my head on his shoulder. He seemed quite shocked, but laid his head on mine for a while, still playing with my fingers.

After a while, he put his arm around me and pulled me around to face him.

And then we kissed.

It was a bit weird. It seemed like his tongue took up most of the space, although I’m sure mine did too.

:S

But yeah. We kissed for a bit, and then stopped to watch a bit of the film, before resuming.

I’ve not got a clue what happened at the end of 2012.

If anyone knows, please comment and let me know!

Turns out, we were the last ones left in the cinema. His lift was there when we came out, but he insisted on waiting with me for mine. We hugged, and separated.

MSN called as soon as I returned, and we spoke for a while (including lots of smiley faces!) before agreeing to go public.

He said I was a really good kisser! ! ! ! !

Hahaha NATURAL

So now the comments are rolling in. Can’t wait till school tomorrow…!

A xxx

Penelope Cruz in Interview Magazine’s latest issue.

Sherlock Holmes is opening on the 26th of December in MAYO MOVIE WORLD CINEMA .

Synopsis: In a dynamic new portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, “Sherlock Holmes” sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.

Starring: Robert Downey, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Eddie Marsan, Mark Strong, Kelly Reilly, James Fox

Director: Guy Ritchie

- John David

Sherlock Holmes is opening on the 26th of December in S.G.C. ENNISCORTHY.

Synopsis: In a dynamic new portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, “Sherlock Holmes” sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.

Starring: Robert Downey, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Eddie Marsan, Mark Strong, Kelly Reilly, James Fox

Director: Guy Ritchie

- John David

Sherlock Holmes is opening on the 26th of December in S.G.C. DUNGARVAN .

Synopsis: In a dynamic new portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, “Sherlock Holmes” sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.

Starring: Robert Downey, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Eddie Marsan, Mark Strong, Kelly Reilly, James Fox

Director: Guy Ritchie

- John David

Presenting the reportedly Excellent fame monster Lady Gaga, wearing a black suit by the Excellently mysterious Maison Martin Margiela, as photographed by Nick Knight for i-D magazine. Broadcast live via internet by SHOWStudio.com.

Excellently backstage as Nick Knight shoots Lady Gaga at Somerset House in London. 11:38 a.m., Sunday, December 6, 2009. Image courtesy i-D magazine via Tweetie.

]]> http://sgcdungarvan.com/2009/12/06/st-trinians-2-the-legend-of-frittons-gold-coming-soon-to-s-g-c-dungarvan/ Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:36:36 +0000 SGC CINEMA DUNGARVAN http://sgcdungarvan.com/2009/12/06/st-trinians-2-the-legend-of-frittons-gold-coming-soon-to-s-g-c-dungarvan/

St Trinians 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold opens 18th of December at S.G.C. DUNGARVAN.

Synopsis: Academic anarchy rules OK as the girls of St Trinian’s go on the hunt for hidden treasure.
It’s well and truly back to school for the goths, emos, trustafarians, geeks and ‘posh totty’ of St Trinian’s – and things are as chaotic as ever.
After saving the school from bankruptcy, the mischievous minxes are off on another adventure. They’ve caught wind of the existence of some booty known as Fritton’s Gold and they’re going to use all their guts, guile and girly charm to find it. But they’ve got company.
Hot on their stiletto heels is the nasty Lord Pomfrey (David Tennant) and his women-hating followers AD1 who are determined to scupper their plans. Can the feisty St Trinians girl-gang outfox their fiendish rivals?

Starring: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, David Tennant, Gemma Arterton, Talulah Riley, Tamsin Egerton, Sarah Harding, Zawe Ashton, Montserrat Lombard, Ella Smith, Christian Brassington, Cloe Mackie, Holly Mackie

Directors: Oliver Parker & Barnaby Thompson

- John David

With the simple qualification that cinema be art, I drafted this list. Two of the choices gave me pause due to their very recent releases, but I feel strongly enough about both to include them here. Admittedly, I have seen each only once, but I continue to feel the impact of these films even now, and am compelled to regard that as proof of their quality.

Because I know of nothing harder than writing about what one loves, I’ve elected, for now, to make no statements about any of the films.

20. American Psycho (Harron, 2000)

19. Dogville (von Trier, 2003)

18. Lost in Translation (Coppola, 2003)

17. I’m Not There (Haynes, 2007)

16. The Royal Tenenbaums (Anderson, 2001)

15. Kill Bill Vol. 2 (Tarantino, 2004)

14. The Squid and the Whale (Baumbach, 2005)

13. A Serious Man (Coens, 2009)

12. Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino, 2009)

11. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Mungiu, 2007)

10. Before Sunset (Linklater, 2004)

9. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Dominik, 2007)

8. Children of Men (Cuarón, 2006)

7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Schnabel, 2007)

6. Punch-Drunk Love (Anderson, 2002)

5. No Country for Old Men (Coens, 2007)

4. Talk to Her (Almodóvar, 2002)

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Gondry, 2004)

2. There Will Be Blood (Anderson, 2007)

1. In the Mood for Love (Wong, 2000)

—

By no means is this list final. Truthfully, I feel content only with my top three – from there on I am racked by doubt. And then there are the large number of films released this decade that I have yet to see, many of which could be strong contenders for a place on this list. In other words, check back for revisions. If anyone has a recommendation, or any thoughts on the current list, please share.

RS

St Trinians 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold opens 18th of December at S.G.C. ENNISCORTHY.

Synopsis: Academic anarchy rules OK as the girls of St Trinian’s go on the hunt for hidden treasure.
It’s well and truly back to school for the goths, emos, trustafarians, geeks and ‘posh totty’ of St Trinian’s – and things are as chaotic as ever.
After saving the school from bankruptcy, the mischievous minxes are off on another adventure. They’ve caught wind of the existence of some booty known as Fritton’s Gold and they’re going to use all their guts, guile and girly charm to find it. But they’ve got company.
Hot on their stiletto heels is the nasty Lord Pomfrey (David Tennant) and his women-hating followers AD1 who are determined to scupper their plans. Can the feisty St Trinians girl-gang outfox their fiendish rivals?

Starring: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, David Tennant, Gemma Arterton, Talulah Riley, Tamsin Egerton, Sarah Harding, Zawe Ashton, Montserrat Lombard, Ella Smith, Christian Brassington, Cloe Mackie, Holly Mackie

Directors: Oliver Parker & Barnaby Thompson

- John David

St Trinians 2: The Legend Of Fritton’s Gold opens 18th of December at MAYO MOVIE WORLD CINEMA .

Synopsis: Academic anarchy rules OK as the girls of St Trinian’s go on the hunt for hidden treasure.
It’s well and truly back to school for the goths, emos, trustafarians, geeks and ‘posh totty’ of St Trinian’s – and things are as chaotic as ever.
After saving the school from bankruptcy, the mischievous minxes are off on another adventure. They’ve caught wind of the existence of some booty known as Fritton’s Gold and they’re going to use all their guts, guile and girly charm to find it. But they’ve got company.
Hot on their stiletto heels is the nasty Lord Pomfrey (David Tennant) and his women-hating followers AD1 who are determined to scupper their plans. Can the feisty St Trinians girl-gang outfox their fiendish rivals?

Starring: Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, David Tennant, Gemma Arterton, Talulah Riley, Tamsin Egerton, Sarah Harding, Zawe Ashton, Montserrat Lombard, Ella Smith, Christian Brassington, Cloe Mackie, Holly Mackie

Directors: Oliver Parker & Barnaby Thompson

- John David

CinAlfama was born straight out of João Gomes’ love for cinema.
The first event was on October 2nd, 2009.

The scene of the crime: a big dark room in Alfama, Lisbon’s old town, with its typical stone-paved streets, dark alleyways, and narrow stairways. I wandered through the neighbourhood to arrive at the headquarters of Grupo Sportivo Adicense. It was dark, and a scene from a movie had just ended. It was another edition of CinAlfama.

The project is bold and daring. It’s focused on cinema, but also on reviving a bit of old Lisbon and attract more locals and tourists to the scene; just like other projects such as the Brazilian traditional music from Roda de Choro – who play regularly at Lusitano Clube, for example.

Another gem within the range of a potential offer from CinAlfama are the acting workshops. There have been several already, conducted by the actress Sílvia Balancho. I still haven’t found the time to attend it yet, but I’ve talked to those who have. In general, it was a fantastic idea, allowing for people to discover things about acting, while acting allows them to find out things about themselves. In one word: fun.

So if you’re into movies (who isn’t?) and visiting Lisbon: you have the info, and the links above, so you can’t go wrong. Here’s lookin’ at you.

—

photo by guitarra pirata

بكيت كثيراً عند مشاهدتي لهذا الفيلم … فهو فيلم مؤثر جدا ، فيلم
“my sister’s keeper”
تدور القصة حول فتاه تعاني من مرض اللوكيميا “والعياذ بالله” وهي صغيرة
فانهارت الاسره كثيرا و بعدها أنجبت الأم أخت لابنتها المريضة لتساعد الأخيره في محنتها فأعطتها الكثير من جسدها لتبقى حيه…!

الفيلم من بطوله / كاميرون دياز- ابيغيل بريسلين- صوفيا فاسيليفا
انتاج عام : ٢٠٠٩

Acho que ver filmes no cinema não é o programa preferido da Bárbara. Pudera né, ela tem 3 anos, muita energia pra correr, pular, pintar paredes e ficar perguntando o porquê de tudo - e pouca paciência pra ficar sentadinha de boca fechada por 90 minutos. Mesmo assim, ontem fomos até o Via Sul (arf), porque eu tinha a intenção de ver Tá Chovendo Hambúrguer, mas por um erro de cartão de crédito/comunicação, minha irmã aparece com os ingressos pro Planeta 51.

Eu quase choro. O que foi bom por um lado, porque, pelo menos, como eu tinha concentrado as expectativas em outro filme (ao que parece, a Bárbara também: no meio do filme ela perguntou ‘Cadê os hambúrgueres? Por que não tá chovendo hambúrguer ainda?’), Planeta 51 até que não foi ruim (contrariando o consenso geral dos críticos de cinema). Gostei das músicas anos 50.

Detesto críticos de cinema e tudo mais, mas é impossível não ficar deprimido depois de saber que o filme que você viu tirou um 2 enquanto o que você queria ter visto passou na média com 8,6.

Director Rose Riddell and D.O.P. Tom Burstyn on set

I’m in New Zealand writing the production blog for ‘The Insatiable Moon’, a movie based on the 1997 novel by Mike Riddell – a magic realist story of mental health and miracles among marginalised people in Auckland.  I’ll re-post some of the journey here too – you can follow the whole story here.

There was a time when the term ‘independent film’ was a near-guarantee of quality or at least interest – making a film like ‘sex lies and videotape’ or ‘Reservoir Dogs’ required so much superhuman effort that it was a miracle if they were even finished. Distributors, alas, needed an economic reason to invest, rather than merely their aesthetic sense, and if your small film with no stars didn’t happen to be lucky enough to attract the attention of a wealthy gatekeeper, it wasn’t likely to be released.

It was easier for big-budget special effects-laden extravaganzas to get seen simply because audiences can be trusted to flock to them simply because we all want to see ever more spectacular ways of destroying New York, or to the latest film starring whoever happens to be really famous at the moment merely on account of the fact that they’re in it. Without the stars, or a decapitated Statue of Liberty for much of the audience, there is no show. Or so the superficial received wisdom goes…

Independent film-making eventually adopted major stars, and you’re now as likely to see a marquee name in an independent film as you are to see a well-known character actor from the 1970s in a Roland Emmerich disaster movie. The lines have become blurred – indie has become cool, and of course, indie has become far more accessible than ever. The equipment has never been as cheap, the opportunities to learn from the internet never more available. Everybody wants to make a movie. And sometimes remarkable things occur when people put the resources of time and talent and money to the service of a human story. Tom Burstyn, Director of Photography on ‘The Insatiable Moon’ has been on both sides of the indie/corporate canyon, having shot more than 70 movies, and worked with actors including Oprah Winfrey, Matt Dillon, Jessica Tandy; he shot Paul Newman’s late classic ‘Where the Money Is’, a vastly underrated, smart little film, and has worked on massive mini series such as a recent endeavour to represent the life of Marco Polo on screen.

Why, then, do we find him in a small Baptist church on Jervois Road in Ponsonby, shooting with a hand-held Fig Rig, only using two lights, and with a crew small enough to fit in my living room?

One obvious thing about Tom is his love of the local, so when we sat down for some food to talk about his philosophy of cinema, it was for the most amazing bowl of Vietnamese chicken noodle soup I’ve ever had. He had some mint spring rolls, but they sat quietly on the plate while he talked at length about what he calls ‘frugal film-making’.

Tom’s critique of the status quo could be summed up as his view that ‘Producers are too often obsessed with gimmickry rather than being interested in expressing an idea’ – so fifteen lights and computer generated graphics and an exploding suspension bridge take precedence over the way the breeze is bending flowers and the look in a character’s eye. ‘The system of film-making is fear based,’ he says, with the ultimate fear being that the film being made won’t turn a massive profit for whatever bank owns it. Of course, the possibility of profit is partly determined by how much is being spent on the movie in the first place; and fear, you might imagine, and creativity do not happy bedfellows make.

Hence Tom’s passion for frugal film-making; a manifesto rooted in the notion that, as he puts it, once you have ‘a good script, a good director, and a good cast…artistry is taking things out, not adding them’. (You can read more about frugal film-making here.) Tom’s made two films with a crew of two; so ‘The Insatiable Moon’ must feel like a riot; but as I’ve observed him work over the past few days, it’s clear that his unruffled demeanour pays dividends among the rest of the crew. Too often film sets and other creative endeavours are full of anxiety; writers will perhaps contend that you need this – that a creative foment can occur when you take a work seriously enough to be anxious about it. Fair enough – but I think us writers would also say that, for the most part, it’s up to us to feel the anxiety and turn it into words before we arrive on set.

The principles of frugal film-making being applied to ‘The Insatiable Moon’ certainly make it a set not driven by fear; but it doesn’t diminish the quality of the work either – the actors are given room to breathe because they’re not worried about being in the right position vis a vis an invisible Godzilla that will be painted in later; and they’re not worn out by unnecessary multiple takes. The people embodying the characters of the people on Jervois Road go in, incarnate their lines, and the crew collect the information. Tom Burstyn once wrote a document called ‘Kamikaze Film-making: A Sociopolitical Manifesto on the Enlightenment of a Film-Set’; I’m not sure what the ‘kamikaze’ was referring to, because I think he’s slaying myths about the way movies are supposed to be made, rather than shooting himself (or anyone else) in the foot.

Salem’s Lot (1979)
★ / ★★★★

I have a lot of patience when it comes to miniseries, especially the ones based on Stephen King’s novels, because the first hour or so usually consists of slow build-ups. However, this one completely rubbed me the wrong way because it did not have enough small payoffs during the first nintey minutes of exposition. Clichés such as a man (David Soul) returning to his hometown to deal with his traumatic past, the husband and the cheating wife, and a strange man (James Mason) taking care of an even stranger home quickly began to pile up. The horror and the mystery became secondary which is always a bad thing when it comes to movies that are supposed to be scary. I haven’t read King’s novel of the same name so I can’t comment on how closely this film followed its source. However, having been familiar to some of King’s novels, I doubt that the book was as slow-moving, boring and hollow as this one. Perhaps Tobe Hooper, the director, is to blame because he directed the picture with such a lack of urgency. In my opinion, when people start dying in a small town, one would expect the residents to gossip, form outlandish guesses on what was really happening and all kinds of histrionics. In this movie, everyone stayed quiet at home and awaited being visited by a vampire. It just wasn’t believable even for a horror movie. After all, half the fun of watching a movie about strange happenings are observing the reactions of the individuals who are directly affected by such. I was also very annoyed with its use of soundtrack. Like in most horror movies, whenever the soundtrack would come blasting from the speakers when nothing profound was happening on screen, I’m immediately taken out of the situation and I start questioning why the movie is directing me to feel something. For me, a strong movie shows what it wants to show and it has the confidence to allow the audiences feel any sort of emotion. The soundtrack should only fascilitate the emotion and never force it down the audiences’ throats. I’d have to say that “Salem’s Lot” is a complete misfire for me. I really tried to like it because I enjoy most miniseries based on King’s novels. But the more I tried to like it, the more I ended up hating it.