Thursday, 2 February 2012

62nd Berlin International Film Festival Lineup

The post has become final and now will try to find the trailers I'm missing from the Competition section plus will include some outstanding films from the many other sections.

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1/31/2012

In today’s press conference the full program was announced and as I did last year, in one post will list all films in the fest different sections, so will be a work in progress until it becomes final.

Films in competition include 18 films that will be vying for the top awards, Golden and Silver Bears; but a total of 23 films will be showing in the Competition program and there will be two special screenings.

Competition

Opening film: Les adieux à la Reine (Farewell My Queen), Benoït Jacquot, France and Spain

A moi seule (Coming Home), Frédéric Videau, France
Aujourd'hui (Tey), Alain Gomis, France and Senegal
Bai lu yuan (White Deer Plain), Wang Quan'an, China
Barbara, Christian Petzold, Germany
Captive (Captured), Brillante Mendoza, France and Philippines
Cesare deve morire (Caesar Must Die), Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, Italy
Csak a szél (Just The Wind), Bence Fliegauf, Hungary, Germany and France
Dictado (Childish Games), Antonio Chavarrías, Spain
En Kongelig Affære (A Royal Affair), Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Germany
Gnade (Mercy), Matthias Glasner, Germany and Norway
Jayne Mansfield's Car, Billy Bob Thornton, USA and Russia
Kebun binatang (Postcards From The Zoo), Edwin, Indonesia, Germany, Hong Kong and China
L’Enfant d’en haut (Sister), Ursula Meier, Switzerland and France
Metéora (Meteora), Spiros Stathoulopoulos, Germany and Greece
Rebelle (War Witch), Kim Nguyen, Canada
Tabu, Miguel Gomes, Portugal, Germany and Brazil
Was bleibt (Home For The Weekend), Hans-Christian Schmid, Germany

Out of Competition
Bel Ami, Declan Donnellan, UK
Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, Stephen Daldry, USA
Flying Swords Of Dragon Gate, Tsui Hark, Hong Kong and China
Jin líng Shi San Chai (The Flowers of War), Zhang Yimou, China
Shadow Dancer, James Marsh,UK and Ireland

Competition Special Screening
Haywire, Steven Sodenberg, USA
Tribute to Meryl Streep: The Iron Lady, Phyllida Lloyd, UK

To read info about each film go here and select competition for all films in the section to appear below.

International Jury
President: Mike Leigh, director, UK
Anton Corbijn, photographer, designer and filmmaker,Netherlands
Asghar Farhadi, director and screenwriter, Iran
Charlotte Gainsbourg, actress, France and UK
Jake Gyllenhaal, actor, USA
François Ozon, director and screenwriter, France
Boualem Sansal, writer, Algeria
Barbara Sukowa, singer and actress, Germany

I’m impressed with this year jury as there are several directors and one actress that I really like and follow by watching all their films. Great. To learn more about each jury member go here.

Haven’t read about all movies but soon will do but I know there are many must be seen for me because of the amazing director or because stars Isabelle Hupert, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, Virginie Ledoyen or Diane Kruger.

Check some trailers and/or synopsis @MOC

Panorama

According to press release this year’s Panorama is presenting 53 feature films: 18 in the main programme, 15 in Panorama Special and 20 in Panorama Dokumente; a few of the topics explored in them will be examined again in four short supporting films. 34 productions from 33 countries are screening as world premieres with six fictional films being directorial debuts and most amazing there are 24 women filmmakers presenting 16 films –still too low but about average.

Panorama Main Program is opening on February 9 with “a new discovery” from Austria, Kuma by Umut Dag that absolutely is must be seen for me.

Main Program
Opening Film: Kuma, Umut Dag, Austria

Bugis Street Redux, Yonfan, Hong Kong
Chocó (Choco), Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza, Colombia
Death for Sale, Faouzi Bensaïdi, Belgium, France and Morocco
Dollhouse, Kirsten Sheridan, Ireland
Fon Tok Kuen Fah (Headshot), Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, Thailand and France
From Seoul To Varanasi, Kyuhwan Jeon, Korea (Very curious, will watch)
Glaube, Liebe, Tod (Belief, Love, Death), Peter Kern, Austria
Highway, Deepak Rauniyar, Nepal and USA
Hot boy noi loan - cau chuyen ve thang cuoi, co gai diem va con vit (Lost In Paradise), Vu Ngoc Dang, Vietnam
Keep The Lights On, Ira Sachs, USA
L'âge atomique (Atomic Age), Héléna Klotz, France
Leave It On The Floor, Sheldon Larry, USA and Canada
Man On Ground, Akin Omotoso, South Africa
Mommy is Coming, Cheryl Dunye, Germany
Rentaneko (Rent-a-Cat), Naoko Ogigami, Japan
Sharqiya, Ami Livne, Israel, France and Germany
The Convoy, Alexey Mizgirev, Russia
Wilaya, Pedro Pérez Rosado, Spain

Panorama Special
10+10, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Toon, Wu Nien-Jen, Sylvia Chang, Chen Guo-Fu, Wei Te-Sheng, Chung Meng-Hung, Chang Tso-Chi, Arvin Chen, Yang Ya-Che and others, Taiwan
Cherry, Stephen Elliott, USA
Diaz - Don’t Clean Up This Blood, Daniele Vicari, Italy, Romania and France
Die Wand (The Wall), Julian Roman Pölsler, Austria and Germany

Elles, Malgoska Szumowska, France, Poland and Germany (with Juliette Binoche thus must be seen)
Indignados, Tony Gatlif, France
Iron Sky, Timo Vuorensola, Finland, Netherlands, Australia and Germany
La mer à l'aube (Calm At Sea), Volker Schlöndorff, France and Germany
Love, Doze and Niu Chen-zer, China and Taiwan
Mai-wei (My Way), KANG Je-kyu, Korea
My Brother The Devil, Sally El Hosaini, UK
Parada (The Parade), Srdjan Dragojevic, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia
The Woman Who Brushed Off Her Tears, Teona Strugar Mitevska, Macedonia, Germany, Slovenia and Belgium (wow like this director have to see film, plus lead is Victoria Abril)
Xingu, Cao Hamburger, Brazil (like this director will watch film)

Panorama Dokumente
Anak-Anak Srikandi (Children of Srikandi), the Children of Srikandi Collective, Germany and Indonesia
Angriff auf die Demokratie - Eine Intervention (Democracy Under Attack - An Intervention), Romuald Karmakar, Germany
Audre Lorde - The Berlin Years 1984 to 1992, Dagmar Schultz, Germany
“Blut muss fließen” - Undercover unter Nazis (Blood must flow” – Undercover among Nazis), Peter Ohlendorf, Germany
Brötzmann - Da gehört die Welt mal mir (Brötzmann – That’s When The World Is Mine), Uli M Schueppel, Germany
Call Me Kuchu, Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright, USA
Detlef, Stefan Westerwelle, Jan Rothstein, Germany
Herr Wichmann aus der dritten Reihe (Henryk from the back row), Andreas Dresen, Germany
In the Shadow of a Man, Hanan Abdalla, Egypt
König des Comics (King of Comics), Rosa von Praunheim, Germany
La Vierge, les Coptes et Moi (The Virgin, the Copts and Me), Namir Abdel Messeeh, France, Qatar and Egypt
Marina Abramović The Artist is Present, Matthew Akers, USA
Olhe pra mim de novo (Look at me again), Kiko Goifman and Claudia Priscilla, Brazil
The Reluctant Revolutionary, Sean McAllister, UK and Ireland
The Summit, Franco Fracassi, Massimo Lauria, Italy
Ulrike Ottinger - die Nomadin vom See (Ulrike Ottinger - nomad from the lake), Brigitte Kramer, Germany
Unter Männern - Schwul in der DDR (Among Men – Gay in East Germany), Markus Stein and Ringo Rösener, Germany
Vito, Jeffrey Schwarz, USA
Wo men de gu shi (Our Story –10-year ‘Guerrilla Warfare’ of Beijing Queer Film Festival), Yang Yang, China
Words of Witness, Mai Iskander, USA

Panorama Short Supporting films
7 Deadly Kisses, Sammaria Simanjuntak, Indonesia
A Lazy Summer Afternoon with Mario Montez, John Heys, Germany
Green Laser, John Greyson, Canada
ZUCHT und ORDNUNG (LAW and ORDER), Jan Soldat, Germany

Above list was done using the program search and requesting the Panorama films and as you can see doesn’t add to what the press release says; will check later to try to make sure we have all films that belong to each program. To check info about each film go here.

Forum

Main Program
The 42nd Berlinale Forum will be showing 38 films in its main program, including 26 world premieres and 8 international premieres.

Al Juma Al Akheira (The Last Friday), Yahya Alabdallah, Jordan and UAE
Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank), Marlon N. Rivera, Philippines
Avalon, Axel Petersén, Sweden
Bagrut Lochamim (Soldier/Citizen), Silvina Landsmann, Israel
Bestiaire, Denis Côté, Canada and France
Beziehungsweisen (Negotiating Love), Calle Overweg, Germany
Die Lage (Condition), Thomas Heise, Germany
Escuela normal (Normal School), Celina Murga, Argentina
Espoir voyage, Michel K. Zongo, France and Burkina Faso
For Ellen, So Yong Kim, USA
Formentera, Ann-Kristin Reyels, Germany
Francine, Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, USA and Canada
friends after 3.11, Iwai Shunji, Japan
Habiter/Construire (Living/Building), Clémence Ancelin, France
Hemel, Sacha Polak, Netherlands and Spain
Hiver nomade (Winter Nomads), Manuel von Stürler, Switzerland
Jaurès, Vincent Dieutre, France
Kashi (Choked), Kim Joong-hyun, Korea
Kazoku no kuni (Our Homeland), Yang Yonghi, Japan
Kid-Thing, David Zellner, USA
Koi ni itaru yamai (The End of Puberty), Kimura Shoko, Japan (very interesting!)
La demora (The Delay), Rodrigo Plá, Uruguay, Mexico and France (new movie, must be seen)
Lawinen der Erinnerung, Dominik Graf, Germany
Le sommeil d’or (Golden Slumbers), Davy Chou, France and Cambodia
Mujin chitai (No Man’s Zone), Fujiwara Toshi, Japan and France
Nuclear Nation, Funahashi Atsushi, Japan
Parabeton - Pier Luigi Nervi und römischer Beton (Parabeton - Pier Luigi Nervi and Roman Concrete), Heinz Emigholz, Germany
Paziraie Sadeh (Modest Reception), Mani Haghighi, Iran
Příliš mladá noc (A Night Too Young), Olmo Omerzu, Czech Republic and Slovenia
Revision, Philip Scheffner, Germany
Salsipuedes, Mariano Luque, Argentina
Sekret (Secret), Przemysław Wojcieszek, Poland
Sleepless Knights, Stefan Butzmühlen and Cristina Diz, Germany
Spanien (Spain), Anja Salomonowitz, Austria
Tepenin Ardı (Beyond the Hill), Emin Alper, Turkey and Greece
Tiens moi droite (Keep Me Upright), Zoé Chantre, France
Toată lumea din familia noastră (Everybody in Our Family) by Radu Jude, Romania and Netherlands
What Is Love, Ruth Mader, Austria
Zavtra (Tomorrow) Andrey Gryazev, Russia

Forum Special Screenings
Bakamatsu taiyoden (The Sun in the Las Days of The Shogunate), Kawashima Yuzo, Japan, 1957
Brand X, Wynn Chamberlain, USA, 1970
In Arbeit (In Construction), Minze Tummescheit and Arne Hector, Germany, 2012
Kino to ashita no aida (Between Yeterday and Tomorrow), Kawashima Yuzo, Japan, 1954
Ornette: Made in America, Shirley Clarke, USA, 1985
Peov Chouk Sor, Tea Lim Koun, Cambodia, 1967
Puos Keng Kang (The Snake Man), Tea Lim Kuon, Cambodia, 1970
Puthiesen Neang Kongrey (12 Sisters), Ly Bun Yim, Cambodia, 1968
Suzaki Paradaisu Akashingo (Suzaki Paradise: Red Light), Kawashima Yuzo, Japan, 1956
Swoon, Tom Kalin, USA, 1992
The Connection, Shirley Clarke, USA, 1961

Forum Expanded
To check the films, the exhibitions, shorts, panels and many more activities in the Forum Expanded section please go here.

Definitively the stranger section in fest but there are some new films by directors I highly enjoy. To read about each film in the Forum program go here.

Generation

A Total of 58 short and full-length films from 32 countries have been selected for the Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus competitions; two of these films will be screen out of competition. Eleven children from Berlin between the ages of eleven and 14 as well as seven young adults have been invited to be on the Children’s and Youth Juries. They will award Crystal Bears for the best short and feature-length films. The five members of the Generation International Jury have also been confirmed. They present the awards of the Deutsches Kinderhilfswerk for the best short film and the best feature-length film in the Generation Kplus competition

Generation Kplus
Opening Film: Die Kinder vom Napf (The Children from the Napf), Alice Schmid, Switzerland

Arcadia, Olivia Silver, USA
Gattu, Rajan Khosa, India
Isdraken (The Ice Dragon), Martin Högdahl, Sweden
Kauwboy, Boudewijn Koole, Netherlands
Kikoeteru, furi wo sita dake (Just Pretend to Hear), Kaori Imaizumi, Japan
Lotte ja kuukivi saladus (Lotte and the Moonstone Secret), Janno Põldma and Heiki Ernits, Estonia and Latvia
Nono, Rommel Tolentino, Philippines
Pacha, Hector Ferreiro, Boliva and Mexico
Patatje Oorlog (Taking Chances), Nicole van Kilsdonk, Netherlands
The Mirror Never Lies, Kamila Andini, Indonesia
Zarafa, Rémi Bezançon and Jean-Christophe Lie, France and Belgium

Generation 14plus
Opening Film: Electric Children, Rebecca Thomas, USA

Comes A Bright Day, Simon Aboud, UK
Joven & Alocada (Young & Wild), Marialy Rivas, Chile
Kronjuvelerna (The Crown Jewels), Ella Lemhagen, Sweden
Lal Gece (Night of Silence), Reis Çelik, Turkey
Magi I Luften (Love is in the Air), Simon Staho, Denmark and Sweden
Maori Boy Genius, Pietra Brettkelly, New Zealand – documentary
Mustafa’s Sweet Dreams, Angelo Abazoglou, Greee and UK
Nosilatiaj. La Belleza (Beauty), Daniela Seggiaro, Argentina
Orcim LeRega (Off White Lies), Maya Kenig, Isarel and France
Snackbar, Meral Uslu, Netherlands
Two Little Boys, Robert Sarkies, New Zealand
Una Noche, Lucy Mulloy, USA, Cuba and UK
Un Mundo Secreto (A Secret World), Gabriel Mariño, Mexico
Wandeukyi (Punch), Han Lee, Korea

Out of Competition
The Monkey King – Uproar in Heaven 3D, Da Su and Chen Zhihong, China
Vierzehn (Fourteen), Cornelia Grünberg, Germany

To check short films in each section and read the complete press release that includes de jury members please go here and to read information about each film go here.

Perspektive Deutsches Kino

Selection consists of 13 films, including three full-length documentaries and four full-length fictional films as well two sets of three medium-long films each. Section director Linda Söffker sums up the selection: “The GDR was colourful, adolescents are critical and good films end in our minds.”

Ararat by Engin Kundag
Dichter und Kämpfer (Rhymers and Rivals) by Marion Hütter (documentary)
DIE VERMISSTEN (REPORTED MISSING) by Jan Speckenbach
Gegen Morgen (Before Tomorrow) by Joachim Schoenfeld
Karaman by Tamer Yigit and Branka Prlić
Man for a Day by Katarina Peters (documentary)
Rodicas by Alice Gruia (documentary)
Sometimes we sit and think, and sometimes we just sit by Julian Pörksen
Sterben nicht vorgesehen (Dying Not Planned For) by Matthias Stoll (documentary)
Tage in der Stadt (Out Off) by Janis Mazuch
This Ain’t California by Marten Persiel (documentary)
Trattoria by Soleen Yusef
Westerland by Tim Staffel

To read the press release go here and to read about each film go here.

Berlinale Shorts

27 films from 22 countries will be competing for the Golden Bear and Silver Bear Jury Prize, the DAAD Short Film Award and a short film nomination for the European Film Prize. German actress Sandra Hüller, Palestinian artist Emily Jacir as well as filmmaker David OReilly will be picking the winners in 2012.

Most interesting is to discover a 20 minutes short by none other than Claudia Llosa with an intriguing story about Makuti,a middle-aged single mother desperately searching for her 19-years-old daughter; both are no ordinary women as they are transsexuals. Absolutely must be seen for me as I really enjoy the magic-realism in Llosa’s films.

Berlinale Shorts
Ad balloon, Lee Woo-jung, Republic of Korea, 24’ (IP)
An das Morgengrauen, Mariola Brillowska, Germany, 3’ (WP)
Ein Mädchen Namens Yssabeau, Rosana Cuellar, Germany / Mexico, 18’ (DP)
Enakkum Oru Per, Suba Sivakumaran, USA / Sri Lanka, 12’ (WP)
Erotic Fragments No. 1, 2, 3, Anucha Boonyawatana, Thailand, 7’ (IP)
Gurehto Rabitto, Atsushi Wada, France, 7’ (WP)
impossible exchange, Mahmoud Hojeij, Lebanon, 10’ (WP)
Karrabing! Low Tide Turning, Liza Johnson, Elizabeth A. Povinelli, Australia, 14’ (WP)
La Santa, Mauricio López Fernández, Chile, 14’ (WP)
LI.LI.TA.AL., Akihito Izuhara, Japan, 8’ (WP)
Licuri Surf, Guile Martins, Brazil, 15’ (IP)
Loxoro, Claudia Llosa, Spani / Peru / Argentina / USA, 20’ (IP)
Mah-Chui, Kim Souk-young, Republic of Korea, 23’ (IP)
Nostalgia, Gustavo Rondón Córdova, Venezuela, 30’ (WP)
Panchabhuta, Mohan Kumar Valasala, India, 15’ (WP)
PUSONG WAZAK! Isa Na Namang Kwento Ng Pag-ibig Sa Pagitan Ng Isang Kriminal at Isang Puta (THE RUINED HEART! Another Lovestory Between A Criminal And A Whore), Khavn De La Cruz, Philippines, 15’ (WP)
Rafa, João Salaviza, Portugal / France, 25’ (WP)
Say Goodbye to the Story (ATT 1/11), Christoph Schlingensief, Germany, 23’ (WP)
Shi Luo Zhi Di, Zhou Yan, China, 25’ (WP)
Strauß.ok, Jeanne Faust, Germany, 5’ (WP)
The End, Barcelo, France, 17’ (WP)
The Man that Got Away, Trevor Anderson, Canada, 25’ (WP)
Utsikter, Marcus Harrling and Moa Geistrand, Sweden, 12’ (WP)
Uzushio, Naoto Kawamoto, Japan, 6’ (WP)
Vilaine Fille Mauvais Garçon, Justine Triet, France, 30’ (IP)
Yi chang ge ming zhong hai wei lai de ji ding yi de xing wei, Sun Xun, China, 12’ (WP)
zounk!, Billy Roisz, Austria, 6’ (WP)

Berlinale Shorts Extra
Magyarország 2011, András Jeles, Ágnes Kocsis, Ferenc Török, Simon Szabó, Márta Mészáros, Péter Forgács, László Siroki, György Pálfi, Bence Fliegauf, András Salamon, Miklós Jancsó, Ungarn, 75' (IP) presented by Béla Tarr

To read the complete press release go here and to read about each film go here .

Berlinale Special

Among the activities in this section most interesting is the screening of Doris Dörrie (remember Cherry Blossoms?) latest movie Glück (Bliss) starring none other than Alba Rohrwacher which obviously is must be seen for me. Also Alex de la Iglesia latest La Chispa de la Vida (As Luck Would Have It) that surely has a story that I have to see (name comes from Coca-Cola slogan, lol) as is a satire about what I used to do in previous life.

There will be a Special Tribute to Theo Angelopoulos, a biodoc about Bob Marley, a restored Oktjabr (October) by none other than Sergej M. Eisenstein, and many other interesting films including the one by Angelina Jolie and Jason Reitman’s Young Adult starring Charlize Theron.

To check all the events and movies in this section plus read about each film go here.

Retrospective & Homage

Most interesting is to learn that The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has become partner with the Deutsche Kinemathek and the Berlin International Film Festival to enrich the Retrospective section of the festival that this year is entitled “The Red Dream Factory. Mezhrabpom-Film and Prometheus 1921 – 1936”, the legendary German-Russian film studio that wrote film history from 1922 to 1936. If you wish to read the press release with more info go here.

This year the Homage and Honorary Golden Bear goes to Meryl Streep and several of her movies will be screened during the fest. On February 14 Streep will be awarded the Honorary Golden Bear and The Iron Lady will be screened. To learn more go here.

Culinary Cinema

Perhaps my favorite section in the fest as what’s better that watching –good- films plus each great food by renown chefs? This year there are films from France, Spain, Portugal, Italy Mexico, USA, Korea, Taiwan, and Germany. Perhaps the one that really calls my attention is a “sweet” movie from Mexico called Canela with a battle between Mexican traditional food and an international chef, yum just to think about it I’m hungry! lol. To check films in this section go here.

Berlinale Talent Campus

The 10th edition of the Berlinale Talent Campus received 4382 applications from up-and-coming filmmakers from 137 countries; only 350 filmmakers from around 90 countries were accepted and 150 experts from all over the world will join them to meet, talk, mentor and intensively coach them. Will take place from February 11 to 16 and to read more go here.

European Film Market & Co-Production Market

From February 9 to 17 the EFM will open its door making it the first meeting and trade platform for the international film industry; from February 12 to 14 the Berlinale Co-Production Market opens for the ninth time with producers and directors of 39 selected film projects from 30 countries will meet with 450 potential co-production and financing partners. But most interesting will be the panel discussion “Distribution in a Crossmedia World” that will talk –obviously- about the new digital platforms that are bringing radical changes to the distribution and consumption of film.

World Cinema Fund

At the 15th session of the World Cinema Fund (WCF) jury, five new film projects were selected for production funding. The WCF jury made their selection from 113 submissions from a total of 38 countries and awarded production funds totalling 210,000 €. Jury members are film scholar and curator Viola Shafik (Germany/Egypt), documentary producer Marta Andreu (Spain), distributor and producer Jan De Clercq (Belgium) and WCF project managers Sonja Heinen and Vincenzo Bugno. To learn the projects from mexico, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Uganda go here.

Special Presentations

Studio Babelsberg is celebrating its 100th anniversary in February 2012. The world’s oldest large-scale film studio complex was not only the birthplace of German film but also a major force in the development of cinema internationally. In honor of the studio’s 100th anniversary, the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival has put together a review of Studio Babelsberg’s history: ten films, one from each decade, will be presented in the “Happy Birthday, Studio Babelsberg” special series. Among the films perhaps the best known internationally are Polanski’s The Pianist and Daldry’s The Reader, but there are eight more that you can discover here.

So that's it for information, now to enjoy the fest with many very interesting films and activities.

Cheers!

Monday, 30 January 2012

Take Shelter

Not many American films grab me, hold me tight (almost suffocating) and do not release me until well after the movie is over, as a matter of fact can’t recall one that did that to me. But now if you ask me which was the last American movie that kept me captive from beginning to end and beyond, easily will tell you that was Jeff Nichols visually amazing Take Shelter. Yes movie is visually fantastic but is not only a feast to your eyes kind of film as performances by lead actors are so good that make the story told and film as a whole a true intense quite complete cinematic experience.

As movie was in Cannes I knew that was a disaster movie but nothing more and strongly suggest you watch movie without learning much about story as I’m sure you will enjoy it more as Nichols is such an amazing storyteller that converted a very simple story into an intense human drama that many viewers and critics write so many different interpretations that I’ll give mine, so if you haven’t seen movie please skip the next paragraph or continue reading after watching film.

To me film tells a very simple story of a man downturn that takes him from being a very normal man living with a very normal family in a very normal community into the most confusing -for him, his family, his friends, his neighbors, and us his viewers- transformation. Story climax at the very end of movie is key to clarify all confusion, but instead of really clarifying makes confusion wider as opens doors to imagination, interpretation, objectiveness, subjective-ness, and many more qualitative adjectives that allows individuals to see whatever nightmarish vision of their own future fear the most. So read reviews and you will find many that believe story is a parable for what’s going on in USA and well, in many other countries in the world. In the end story could become very complex and layered or –as I saw it- so simple and direct that magnificently confuses. Sigh.

Was reading that Jeff Nichols is Terrence Malick student and surely can be seen in the magnificent visual narrative but none of Malick’s movies I have seen has a story like this one and more impressive, story is developed the way is done here. So if Malick is the teacher, then I’m afraid Nichols surpassed his teacher and with this film he’s starting the hard-to-transit road to become a world master filmmaker. Hope Nichols stays in that road and is not tempted to go back to more traditional American independent cinema.

Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain are the essence of this film and their performances are beyond impressive as not only each complements the other but one pulls the other to the front at the right moments. Most of their performances excellence comes from well delivered dialogues, but what impresses me the most is that they were allowed to act with expressions in deep silences and gee, they were really good. Chapeau Mr. Nichols.

Movie, director and actors have been collecting honors in this award season but none is as impressive as winning the top award at 2011 Cannes Semaine de la Ciritique; all honors are well-deserved but regret that Shannon is not Oscar nominated and most of all, that Jessica Chastain was not nominated for this movie where I know has a lead role, but then is common that lead roles are conveniently converted into supporting role to increase winning opportunities. Nevertheless Chastain should have been nominated for this movie more than any other she was in this year. Sigh.

Strongly recommend to watch this movie that I know could blow your mind but be aware that is NOT your typical American movie or your typical independent (indie) American movie, so you have to love great world-class cinema to enjoy a film that has slowish pace and runs for 2 hours.

Big Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

18th Screen Actors Guild Awards Winners

Last night the largest guild in the American movie industry had their awards ceremony and the big winner was The Help. Maybe was a surprise for some but I still consider the movie to be a serious contender against The Artist and The Descendants. Televised show was not really entertaining so was no surprise that soon enough I fall asleep but I was awake when the top three awards were announced, lol.

What sort-of surprised me is George Clooney not winning and obviously now Jean Dujardin has become the top contender to Oscar, but still Clooney has possibilities when considering the vote of non-actor Academy members. Still believe that Viola Davis, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams have good chances of winning Oscar; out of the three, Williams is perhaps the one with less chances but she's young and surely will continue doing films where her amazing acting abilities will impress viewers/industry/critics until she gets the honor she deserves.

Winners are in *BLUE. To check winners in all categories including TV go here.

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12/12/2011

This is the first industry group that announces their nominations and gives us our first idea of how close or far away are critics from core industry. These are the nominees that were announced a few minutes ago.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Artist (Bérénice Bejo, James Cromwell, Jean Dujardin, John Goodman, and Penelope Ann Miller)
Bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Jill Clayburgh, Ellie Kemper, Matt Lucas, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Chris O’Dowd, Maya Rudolph, and Kristen Wiig)
The Descendants (Beau Bridges, George Clooney, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, and Shailene Woodley)
*The Help (Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Chris Lowell, Ahna O’Reilly, Sissy Spacek, Octavia Spencer, Mary Steenburgen, Emma Stone, Cicely Tyson, and Mike Vogel)
Midnight in Paris (Kathy Bates, Adrien Brody, Carla Bruni, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Michael Sheen, and Owen Wilson).

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
*Viola Davis in The Help
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
*Octavia Spencer in The Help

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in A Better Life
George Clooney in The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar
*Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Armie Hammer in J. Edgar
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Nick Nolte in Warrior
*Christopher Plummer in Beginners

Life Achievement Award: Mary Tyler Moore

To read the official press release and the nominees in Primetime Television please go here.

Very pleased with these nominations! Yes. Best Actress looks to me like what Oscar nods may (or should) look like and the same goes to the supporting role. Can’t deny that I’m surprised with Bichir nomination but what upsets me is no nomination for Michael Fassbender, the others are predictable by now; male supporting role is all right nothing special according to me.

But what really blew my mind is Midnight in Paris cast ensemble nomination and is well deserved as with most –if not all- Woody Allen’s movies actors’ performance makes the film good or not good and this film is good plus very enjoyable. Not so surprised with Bridesmaids as movie had too much buzz. These leaves 3 predictable spots that I’m sure will get an Oscar nod and knowing that the Actors Guild is one of the largest maybe the other two could make the list of seven or eight or whatever amount of films there will be in the Best Film Oscar category.

My favorite TV show has many honors (yay!) and so glad Kate Winslet is nominated for her excellent performance in Mildred Pierce but she is in a category that is not easy to predict a winner as also nominated is Maggie Smith with her outstanding (and sometimes hilarious) performance as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in excellent Downton Abbey.

Can’t say that critics and actors guild members are strictly different as what you assume could happen is happening with both groups; still up-to-this-moment is not easy to be sure how the Oscar nominations will look, which makes this award season more interesting to follow.

Awards ceremony will be on January 29 at 8pm ET with live simulcast on TNT and TBS; red carpet broadcast precedes the ceremony since 6pm and there the stunt categories winners will be announced.

The following 18 minutes video is the recording of this morning announcement.



64th Annual Directors Guild of America Award Winner

Last Saturday night Michel Hazanavicius won top award at the Directors Guild of America; to check winners in all categories go here. Winner is in *BLUE.

Not always the director that wins the DGA wins the Oscar, but the win-win ratio is still very high and there are strong possibilities that Scorsese will not win (yay!) and definitively Hazanavicius has increased its chances to win.

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1/9/2012

A few minutes ago the guild announced the nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2011.

Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
David Fincher for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
*Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo

To check the official announcement go here. On January 12 the guild will announce the documentary nominees and will modify post to include documentaries. Award ceremony will be on Saturday, January 28.

As we know the DGA winner has traditionally been one of the industry’s most accurate barometers for who will win the Best Director Academy Award; only six times since the DGA Awards began in 1948 has the DGA winner not gone on to win the corresponding Academy Award. I'm not yet sure but I think the winner will be Martin Scorsese and probably Oscar nods will be the same except for one that will be substituted for Terrence Malick.

Monday, 23 January 2012

2011 Guldbagge Awards Winners

Watching Awards ceremony live and it's quite entertaining, especially when my Swedish is very basic (lol!) but it takes no genius to understand category and winner. Winners in all categories will be at the official site here. Winners are in *BLUE.

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1/5/2012

Yesterday the Swedish Film Institute announced the nominees for this prestigious award and here they are for the main categories. Simon och ekarna leads with 13 nominations followed by Play with 7 and The Crown Jewels with 5.

Best Film
*Apflickorna (She Monkeys), Lisa Aschan
Play, Ruben Östlund
Simon och ekarna (Simon and the Oaks), Lisa Ohlin

Best Director
Lisa Aschan for Apflickorna (She Monkeys),
*Ruben Östlund for Play
Lisa Ohlin for Simon och ekarna (Simon and the Oaks)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
*Ann Petrén in Happy End
Magdalena Poplawska in Between 2 Fires
Helen Sjöholm in Simon och ekarna (Simon and the Oaks)

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Mikael Persbrandt in Stockholm Östra (Stockholm East)
*Sven-Bertil Taube in En enkel till Antibes (A One-way to Antibes)
Kevin Vaz in Play

To check nominees in all categories go here. Awards ceremony will be on January 23, 2012 at Cirkus, Stockholm and Swedish TV (STV) will broadcast the event live.

Only in Sweden could happen that two out of the three films nominated for Best Film and Best Director are by female directors; know it has to be a milestone and should be celebrated as great achievement. Then somehow I really miss Noomi Rapace in these awards as unfortunately she’s doing very strange films (for her profile and career) so I hope she goes back soon to make outstanding Swedish productions –sigh.

Very Late –almost last minute- 2012 Oscar Nominations Predictions

Been so busy doing nothing that almost forgot to publish my predictions, as nominations announcement is tomorrow around 8:30am EST. The future can be unpredictable, but Oscar is more predictable at least in the basic categories so let’s grab my crystal ball and start guessing.

Best Film
1. The Artist
2. The Descendants
3. The Help
4. Bridesmaids
5. Midnight in Paris
6. Hugo
7. Moneyball
8. Drive
9. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
10. The Tree of Life

Movies are in order, so if there are 5, 6, 7, 8 or more up to 10 (maximum possible) ranking becomes my prediction.

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive

Have possibilities: David Fincher and Terrence Malick

Best Actress
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Viola Davis in The Help
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs

Last position could be Glenn Close, Charlize Theron or Elizabeth Olsen. Berenice Bejo is another possibility but for some strange reason is considered more to be in a supporting role, which after watching movie I absolutely said she has a lead role.

Best Supporting Actress
Octavia Spencer in The Help
Jessica Chastain in (which movie?... hmm) The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Shailene Woodley in The Descendants
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs

IF the Academy members consider Berenice Bejo as having a supporting role (which she does not) then she is going to be nominated in this category and probably one of the last two actresses will be replaced by her.

Best Actor
George Clooney in The Descendants
Brad Pitt in Moneyball
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Michael Fassbender in Shame
Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar

Have possibilities Ryan Goslin, Gary Oldman and Michael Shannon; I really wish Fassbender is nominated, but his role is so outrageous that wonder if Academy members will nominate him and know he could easily be replaced by any of those with possibilities.

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Albert Brooks in Drive
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn
Nick Nolte in Warrior

Have possibilities Arnie Hammer and Patton Oswalt

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Diablo Cody for Young Adult
Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig for Bridesmaids

IF Asghar Farhadi is nominated in Original Screenplay, I’ll be VERY HAPPY!!! as honor is well-deserved plus this is his year for great honors after making (directing, writing, and more) several outstanding films.

Best Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin amd Steven Zaillian for Moneyball
Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne and Jim Rash for The Descendants
Tate Taylor for The Help
George Clooney and Grant Heslov for The Ides of March
Hossein Amini for Drive

Let’s stop here with the main categories. In less than 24 hours we will learn the nominees and I’m still hoping for some unexpectedness even when award season started to be too predictable; let’s be positive and let see if I improved my previous years record or not, after all this year have seen almost all movies that most likely will have two or more Oscar nominations.

OOPS! Very absent minded, forgot one important category: foreign language film!

Iran, "A Separation," Asghar Farhadi, director
Germany, "Pina," Wim Wenders, director
Poland, "In Darkness," Agnieszka Holland, director
Canada, "Monsieur Lazhar," Philippe Falardeau, director
Belgium, "Bullhead," Michael R. Roskam, director

Cheers!!!

Sunday, 22 January 2012

Les Bien-aimés (Beloved)

The 2011 Cannes out-of-competition closing film absolutely is a very-very French film by Christophe Honoré that plays again with older French film styles but also integrates more contemporary Honoré style making end result quite interesting, at least for me as been reading around and seems that film is not for all audiences, which made me think that Honoré is an acquired taste for audiences that not particularly care for or like good French Cinema.

But if you like Christophe Honoré then this film will be one of the most enjoyable for the old movies indirect references, an outstanding cast with superb performances and great singing of “paroles chantées”, plus a story about women and the men they love. Actually story is about two women, Madeleine and Véra, mother and daughter, with the one man each loved their whole life; so, story spans from 1964 to 2007.

Young Madeleine (Ludivine Sagnier) escapes from becoming a thief by incidentally discovering street prostitution, only to fall-in-love with Jaromil Passer, a Czech doctor doing a specialization in Paris and her client. Madeleine gets pregnant, marries Passer and goes with him back to Czechoslovakia, but his infidelities plus the Russian invasion, makes her return to Paris with her daughter Véra where he divorces Passer, marries a policeman and lives happily ever after until Passer comes back to Paris and reignites a flame that was never over. I know told a lot about movie, but it’s not much as Madeleine gets older (now performed by Catherine Deneuve), Véra is older (now performed by Chiara Mastroianni), Passer gets older (now performed by outstanding Milos Forman) and story continues with the love between Madeleine and Passer, plus Véra falling in love with Henderson (Paul Schneider) while being with Clément (Louis Garrel), but Henderson is gay; story evolves with relevant vignettes in the life all characters around Madeleine and Véra. All right is not a simple story, yes is complex but will grab you, take you all over the place, squeeze you, touch you, etc. until releases you at the very end.

Film has very high production values and a caring directorial hand that was able to squeeze 40 years in a bit more than 2 hours and extract from very impressive cast extraordinary performances with special mention to great Czech director Milos Forman –he should do more acting-, Ludivine Sagnier in role that feels and looks like a perfectly fit glove to a magnificent hand, and Chiara Mastrioianni performing like I have never seen her before -with many scenes where she looked so much as her real-life father- and somehow stealing scenes when she was on screen. Then Deneuve and Garrel are superb as always.

An extraordinary movie that of course I do recommend to those that love (classical) French cinema (at least as much as I do) and enjoy Honoré’s particular style that recalls Jacques Demy films (especially Les Parapluies de Cherbourg with Deneuve) but also here evolves with older Véra story into his own particular style.

Last, but not least, Christophe Honoré dedicated film to great Marie-France Pisier, RIP.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC