- - -

Review by David DiMichele

- - -

Nobody likes to be alone when entering Paranoid Park, a skateboarder's heaven underneath a Portland city bridge, because the kids that hang out here are rebels, loners and misfits. Most kids fear they may not be ready for  a park that demands the highest of talent. Even though our character Alex is aware that he's unready, he still trots over with his skateboard in hand, just out of curiosity. Eventually he'll find out why he's not ready for Paranoid Park because the events that come after shake up his already discombobulated life.

Legendary director Gus Van Sant uses Blake Nelson's book as a guide for this film. In the director's latest look at the troubled youth of one's life, he conveys a similar idea to Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" (which I'm reading right now). Alex (Gabe Nevins), unlike Dostoyevsky's character, doesn't premeditate the crime to come.

Breakthrough Actor
tMF profiles one of the most talented and versatile young actors in Hollywood today.
By Jed Medina

It would seem hard to talk about Casey Affleck without mentioning his brother Ben or vice versa. The brothers have been the subject of many articles - from their looks and their relationships to Ben’s decision to cast his brother in Gone Baby Gone and the completely different career paths both guys took on: Casey remained oblivious to the glamour and glitz of Hollywood, while Ben adjusted to the glare of being in the spotlight.

- - -

- - -

While Ben tried his hand at directing, Casey began to develop his acting career and is establishing himself as one of today’s most gifted leading men.

Early career’s ups and downs: "I thought I had a double burger”

With the exception of To Die For and Good Will Hunting, Casey starred in a number of box-office flops earlier in his career. Most notable of these movies are Drowning Mona and Soul Survivors.

- - -

Review by David DiMichele

- - -

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days goes by in what seems like seconds. Cristian Mungiu, director, manages to film the movie in real time, capturing one day with such raw power that he has his audience on a string the entire time. This means we have to wait it out feverishly for crucial revelations in the plot, and when they do come, they hit hard. Another tactic he has mastered is the art of physical direction, which can be quite simple if used in the right way. Many times during the movie he simply lays the camera down and lets it focus on someone's expression almost passionately. Voyeuristically, in fact. Most of the shots have been done without any cuts at all. They just flow steadily where another movie might soup the scene up with fancy effects and camera angles. Not here, though. Mungiu keeps his camera on our characters the entire time.

Last year almost all films that dealt with the conflict in Iraq failed at the box office. The most probable reason is that Americans have been bombarded with news about the war almost daily, leaving them almost 'immune' to more horrors and violence.

This month, there's another war movie about to be shown, and at this early stage, things are not looking good. With such a lot of talent on board (from director Kimberly Peirce to stars Ryan Philippe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Channing Tatum and Abbie Cornish), it would be a pity if moviegoers do not become interested in this important film.

- - -

- - -

More from The Hollywood Reporter: Ads downplay Iraq theme as audiences seem skittish [ By Steven Zeitchik ]

With its morally complex story of soldiers who have served in Iraq, Paramount's upcoming "Stop-Loss" offers a more direct and gritty account of a current soldier's experience than any commercial feature to date.

Yet you wouldn't know it from the trailer, which emphasizes a young cast in moments of camaraderie in Texas. Or from the poster, which has the vibe of a "Friday Night Lights" or "Varsity Blues" as much as "Platoon" or "Full Metal Jacket."
Such is the paradox of Kimberly Peirce's "Stop-Loss," which, after being moved from the fall to avoid the boxoffice hacksaw faced by other war pictures, holds its premiere Monday in Los Angeles before opening wide March 28. The movie addresses the complexities and pressures of those currently serving in the modern military in ways arguably no studio has.

I find it strange, this constant preoccupation with linking a filmmaker to a character. Finding a connection between somebody’s private life and fiction is a vision of the process that is tainted by the current obsession with celebrities, says Andre Techine.

- - -

- - -

The renowned French filmmaker was answering questions regarding his latest film, Les Temoins (The Witness).

What's the Movie About: Paris, summer 1984. Manu arrives in Paris, where he shares a cheap hotel room with his sister Julie. He strikes up a joyous, chaste friendship with Adrien, a wealthy doctor in his early fifties who opens Manu’s eyes to a different way of life. On a trip out on a speedboat, Adrien introduces Manu to Sarah and Mehdi, a young couple who have just had their first child.

Source: 4rfv

Portman Film & Television, part of the Digital Rights Group (DRG) will unveil the brand new BBC drama series 'Criminal Justice' to international broadcasters at MIP-TV in April.

“I hope that this will be the first of many successful partnerships between the BBC and Portman. From the start they just 'got' this project, and their enthusiasm coupled with their proven sales expertise will, I'm sure, make Criminal Justice an international hit.”

Cinema’s Charismatic Rebel
tMF profiles the ambitious, fearless and award-winning Irish actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.
By Jed Medina

"If there's a good script and a good part, you can be guaranteed that all the best actors in the world are trying to get it. There's no such thing as once you get to a certain stage, everything becomes easy. Everything becomes harder; you want the best roles, the biggest roles. And so does everyone else," observes Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

- - -

- - -

The 30-year old Irish actor is known for speaking his mind- he is quite vocal about a number of issues- from the failings of the film industry to dealing with directors with huge egos to the irrelevance of celebrities & the lack of real talent in some of today’s biggest box-office stars.

Rhys-Meyers also suffers from the media’s perception and its apparent fascination with his looks, relegating his strong performances on the background. I have watched him for years now, enjoying a lot of his movies. I have also read a number of his interviews and there’s one thing that really impressed me. Rhys Meyers is driven to succeed as an actor.

Starring: Jason Statham, Saffron Burrows, Stephen Campbell Moore
Director: Roger Donaldson
Release Date: March 7, 2008
Running time: 110min
MPAA Rating: R
Distributors: Lions Gate

- - -

Review by David DiMichele

- - -

The Bank Job has a by-the-book title, but people will be surprised by how smart, inventive and gritty this film actually is. Just look at the poster. There aren’t any overwhelmingly long gun battles between the cops and robbers but rather a basket full of events overflowing the brim of this particular bank job. At the helm is veteran director, Roger Donaldson (Cocktails and The Recruit), and he knows thrills are at their best without any over-the-top action scenes. Amidst all the hoopla of recent heist films, most notably the Ocean franchise, there is something true about The Bank Job. It doesn’t veer off into a fantasy world like Ocean's 13 did. The bank robbery that occurs is so down-to-earth that we can imagine it happening at our local bank. (The film, by the way, is based on a true story - a story that was buried for 30 years due to a government gag order.) It's set in 1971 London and that’s exactly how The Bank Job plays out; almost as if it’s a close cousin to the great heist films of that decade such as The Getaway and Dillinger.