Archive for the ‘Sony Classics’ Category
Filed under: Documentary, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Awards, Lionsgate Films, Sony Classics, Oscar Watch, Cinematical Indie
The 25th Independent Spirit Awards were held in Los Angeles last night, and our friends at indieWIRE were there to celebrate the big night for the little guys. They covered the ceremony minute by minute, so whether you missed the broadcast of the awards on IFC or just want some excellent first-hand commentary from independent film experts, check out the complete live-blogged report here.
The big story of the evening was that Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire swept the major categories and won every award it was nominated for, including Best Feature, Best Director (Lee Daniels), Best First Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher), Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique) and Best Actress (Gabourey Sidibe). Sidibe made me smile when she cited Welcome to the Dollhouse as a major influence on her decision to pursue acting. As for Daniels, he somewhat acknowledged that he didn’t have to compete with Oscar favorite Kathryn Bigelow, as The Hurt Locker was a nominee at last year’s Spirit Awards (though not for Best Director).
Filed under: Action, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Sony Classics, Theatrical Reviews
By Eric Snider — reprinted from 2/18/10 — Portland Film Festival
In A Prophet (Un prophète), Malik El Djebena is a 19-year-old semi-delinquent who has just been sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a police officer, an offense he vehemently denies at first, until he realizes no one cares whether he did it or not. Malik enters the prison nervous, quiet, scared, his eyes conveying his fear. When the film ends, 2 1/2 hours later, that fear is gone.
Directed by the highly regarded French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (Read My Lips, The Beat That My Heart Skipped), A Prophet might have been just another movie about what prison does to a person, were it not for the elements suggested by the title. Malik has what you might call a religious awakening while he’s incarcerated — not uncommon in itself, but Malik’s prophetic calling takes it a bit further.
Born in Morocco, Malik (played by Tahar Rahim) speaks French and Arabic. He’s not a practicing Muslim, but his Arab ethnicity leads people to assume otherwise, and he can pass between Muslim and non-Muslim groups in the prison. He doesn’t completely belong in either society, though, until he is claimed by the Corsicans.
Filed under: Action, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Sony Classics, Theatrical Reviews
By Eric Snider — reprinted from 2/18/10 — Portland Film Festival
In A Prophet (Un prophète), Malik El Djebena is a 19-year-old semi-delinquent who has just been sentenced to six years in prison for assaulting a police officer, an offense he vehemently denies at first, until he realizes no one cares whether he did it or not. Malik enters the prison nervous, quiet, scared, his eyes conveying his fear. When the film ends, 2 1/2 hours later, that fear is gone.
Directed by the highly regarded French filmmaker Jacques Audiard (Read My Lips, The Beat That My Heart Skipped), A Prophet might have been just another movie about what prison does to a person, were it not for the elements suggested by the title. Malik has what you might call a religious awakening while he’s incarcerated — not uncommon in itself, but Malik’s prophetic calling takes it a bit further.
Born in Morocco, Malik (played by Tahar Rahim) speaks French and Arabic. He’s not a practicing Muslim, but his Arab ethnicity leads people to assume otherwise, and he can pass between Muslim and non-Muslim groups in the prison. He doesn’t completely belong in either society, though, until he is claimed by the Corsicans.
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, Sony, Sony Classics, Warner Brothers, Focus Features, Cinematical Seven, Lists, Miramax, Paramount Vantage
I guess it’s a moderate spoiler to admit that tonight’s Cinematical Seven was intended to correspond with today’s home video release of the Sam Rockwell sci-fi drama, Moon, but even if I’ve tipped you off as to what the movie reveals within twenty minutes, I hope that not knowing the exact how’s and why’s of his situation intrigue you enough to still check it out. The reason I and others were so high on it was because Rockwell gave such a uniquely multi-layered performance as his lonely astronaut that I wanted to celebrate other notable dual performances by a single actor.
For the record, I’ve left off David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers because, well, I haven’t seen it yet — nor Multiplicity, while we’re being honest here — and I opted to exclude split-personality performances, similarly impressive though they may be (after some reluctance, I just had to take A History of Violence out of the running before all sorts of Jekyll/Hyde-esque condemnations came my way (Viggo’s great in that all the same)).
As usual, your comments/suggestions are welcome, and as usual, we didn’t snub anyone or anything on purpose. Except for the Eddie Murphy romps. They’ll probably get their own Cine 7 someday.
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, Sony, Sony Classics, Warner Brothers, Focus Features, Cinematical Seven, Lists, Miramax, Paramount Vantage
I guess it’s a moderate spoiler to admit that tonight’s Cinematical Seven was intended to correspond with today’s home video release of the Sam Rockwell sci-fi drama, Moon, but even if I’ve tipped you off as to what the movie reveals within twenty minutes, I hope that not knowing the exact how’s and why’s of his situation intrigue you enough to still check it out. The reason I and others were so high on it was because Rockwell gave such a uniquely multi-layered performance as his lonely astronaut that I wanted to celebrate other notable dual performances by a single actor.
For the record, I’ve left off David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers because, well, I haven’t seen it yet — nor Multiplicity, while we’re being honest here — and I opted to exclude split-personality performances, similarly impressive though they may be (after some reluctance, I just had to take A History of Violence out of the running before all sorts of Jekyll/Hyde-esque condemnations came my way (Viggo’s great in that all the same)).
As usual, your comments/suggestions are welcome, and as usual, we didn’t snub anyone or anything on purpose. Except for the Eddie Murphy romps. They’ll probably get their own Cine 7 someday.
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Sony Classics, Fandom, Johnny Depp
I’ve already seen my first movie of 2010, and it was The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. It was definitely a great choice to kick off a new year! I’m not a huge Terry Gilliam fan either way, so I went in fairly unbiased but excited for a good yarn, dazzling images, and some good-to-great performances. Besides, I can’t resist Tom Waits as the Devil. I was immensely impressed with all of the above, especially the eerily seamless way that Terry Gilliam and co-writer Charles McKeown managed to adjust the story and direction to fit the untimely death of Heath Ledger during filming with help from actors Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, who stepped in to play Tony in different scenes. Naturally, Christopher Plummer was great, and Andrew Garfield (Boy A, the Red Riding trilogy) was also wonderful as the smitten Anton. And this was definitely Verne Troyer’s best role yet.
I have a confession to make, though. Although I adore Lily Cole’s heart-shaped face and flame-red hair on the runway, and her costumes looked fantastic, I had no idea that I would actually enjoy her performance. Or that her part would be more than just a pretty plot device to continue the banter between Mr. Nick (Waits) and Parnassus. I was horribly wrong. I know she was in St. Trinian’s, which, despite my best intentions, I had to turn off after half an hour, and I haven’t caught Rage, so I didn’t know much else about her other than her more visible assets. As the kids say, my bad.
Continue reading Discuss: Pleasantly Surprising Performances
Filed under: Action, Foreign Language, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Disney, Lionsgate Films, Magnolia, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Sony Classics, Universal, Warner Brothers, Focus Features, 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Johnny Depp, Peter Jackson, James Bond, Lists, Miramax, Best/Worst, War, Daniel Craig
Cinematical is about to launch into our best-of-the-’00s series, with a different writer tackling a different genre over these last few weeks of the aughts (or whatever it was we decided to call this decade). Yours truly has been tasked with sifting out the most exciting action flicks these years have had to offer, and in the list-making equivalent of flinching, I’ve decided to divide them up by superlative instead of ranking them in order of awesomeness.
Oh, and before you comment away about what’s missing (which we do want), I have left off The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, X2: X-Men United and The Incredibles, so they may be included in any superhero or animated list to come. If those movies are left off those lists, then by all means, give them hell. I might even join you.
Filed under: Action, Foreign Language, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Disney, Lionsgate Films, Magnolia, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Sony Classics, Universal, Warner Brothers, Focus Features, 20th Century Fox, Dreamworks, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Johnny Depp, Peter Jackson, James Bond, Lists, Miramax, War, Daniel Craig
Cinematical is about to launch into our best-of-the-’00s series, with a different writer tackling a different genre over these last few weeks of the aughts (or whatever it was we decided to call this decade). Yours truly has been tasked with sifting out the most exciting action flicks these years have had to offer, and in the list-making equivalent of flinching, I’ve decided to divide them up by superlative instead of ranking them in order of awesomeness.
Oh, and before you comment away about what’s missing (which we do want), I have left off The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, X2: X-Men United and The Incredibles, so they may be included in any superhero or animated list to come. If those movies are left off those lists, then by all means, give them hell. I might even join you.
Filed under: Comedy, Foreign Language, Sony Classics, Remakes and Sequels, Trailers and Clips
The term remake has predominantly negative connotations, but once in awhile we see proof that a redo can be a good thing. Just look at Werner Herzog’s new film, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which isn’t quite a remake of Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant so much as it’s a stand-alone sequel or simply another filmmaker’s take on the same sort of character explored in the original. It’s enough to make me wish we could have seen what Spielberg and Will Smith’s version of Oldboy would have looked like.
And here’s another perfect example of a good remake: Zhang Yimou’s version of the Coen Brothers’ neo-noir cult classic Blood Simple, which Peter excitedly wrote about back in July. The film now has a title, The First Gun (aka Amazing Tales: Three Guns), and an international trailer, which shows us just how different Zhang’s version is. The Chinese filmmaker, acclaimed for numerous Oscar-nominated films, whether recognized in the foreign, cinematography or costume categories, recently confirmed that he added a lot of things and changed the whole tone from the Coens’ version.
“We brought in a lot of comedic elements and changed the relationship and personalities of the characters,” Zhang told Chinese website Sina.com.
Filed under: Comedy, Foreign Language, Sony Classics, Remakes and Sequels, Trailers and Clips
The term remake has predominantly negative connotations, but once in awhile we see proof that a redo can be a good thing. Just look at Werner Herzog’s new film, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, which isn’t quite a remake of Abel Ferrara’s Bad Lieutenant so much as it’s a stand-alone sequel or simply another filmmaker’s take on the same sort of character explored in the original. It’s enough to make me wish we could have seen what Spielberg and Will Smith’s version of Oldboy would have looked like.
And here’s another perfect example of a good remake: Zhang Yimou’s version of the Coen Brothers’ neo-noir cult classic Blood Simple, which Peter excitedly wrote about back in July. The film now has a title, The First Gun (aka Amazing Tales: Three Guns), and an international trailer, which shows us just how different Zhang’s version is. The Chinese filmmaker, acclaimed for numerous Oscar-nominated films, whether recognized in the foreign, cinematography or costume categories, recently confirmed that he added a lot of things and changed the whole tone from the Coens’ version.
“We brought in a lot of comedic elements and changed the relationship and personalities of the characters,” Zhang told Chinese website Sina.com.
