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PRIDE AND GLORY: Colin Farrel takes on Edward Norton |
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What happens when two amazing and talented actors are put together in one film? Fireworks and lots of great movie scenes, of course! We just can't wait to see the new Edward Norton-Colin Farrel film, Pride and Glory. The film is described as "a generational drama about a family of police officers in New York torn apart by a corruption scandal. " |
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PERSEPOLIS: A Personal Journey |
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There are a number of outstanding French films this year: A Girl Cut in Two, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. But the official entry for the Oscar foreign film went to an animated feature, Persepolis!
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Persepolis is the poignant story of a young girl coming-of-age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken nine year old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the “social guardians” and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war, the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable. |
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LUST/CAUTION: In Love and War |
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"To me, no story of Chan Ailing’s [Eileen Chang] is as beautiful or as cruel as “Lust, Caution.” She revised the story for years and years – for decades – returning to it as a criminal might return to the scene of a crime, or as a victim might re-enact a trauma, reaching for pleasure only by varying and re-imagining the pain. Making Lust, Caution, we didn’t really “adapt” Chan’s work, we re-enacted it, just as her characters act and re-enact their parts." says director Ang Lee.
The award-winning director is talking about his latest film, Lust/Caution (Se Jie). |
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YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH: Something close and personal from Francis Ford Coppola |
“You can enjoy the film like a Faust story: an old man gets young, has an
opportunity to finish his great work and fall in love again, but can’t finish the work because of love…that is his ultimate sacrifice. But it can also be an educational opportunity to learn more about Eastern philosophy,” says Francis Ford Coppola.
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He's talking about his new film, Youth Without Youth. Adapted from a novella by Mircea Eliade, it tells the story of Dominic Matei (who is played by Tim Roth) as an aging professor of linguistics who survives a cataclysmic event to find his youth miraculously restored. Dominic's physical rejuvenation is matched by a highly evolved intellect, which attracts the attention of Nazi scientists, forcing him into exile. While on the run, he reunites with his lost love, Laura, and works to complete his research into the origins of human language. When his research threatens Laura’s well being, Dominic is forced to choose between his life’s work and the great love of his life. Youth Without Youth also stars Alexandra Maria Lara, Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Pirici, Marcel Iures and Andre M. Hennicke. |
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BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD: A Family in Crisis |
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Updates! Read our film review!
It would be hard to convince me NOT to watch this movie! Aside from being the latest project of Sydney Lumet, it stars two of Hollywood's most talented, yet underrated actors, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke. And yes, it also stars the versatile Albert Finney!
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What's the Movie About: Sidney Lumet directs this absorbing suspense thriller about a family facing the worst enemy of all – itself. Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Andy, an overextended broker who lures his younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke), into a larcenous scheme: the pair will rob a suburban mom-and-pop jewelry store that appears to be the quintessential easy target. The problem is, the store owners are Andy and Hank’s actual mom and pop and, when the seemingly perfect crime goes awry, the damage lands right at their doorstep. |
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THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB: Romance, Marriage, Relationships |
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Jane Austen is arguably one of the most fascinating authors of all time. While some of her most famous novels have been adapted for the screen, the time has come for the author herself to take center stage. Aside from Becoming Jane, a film that speculates on the novelist's own romantic tale which inspired her most popular books, there is a new film that promotes her books and at the same time features stories about love, romance, and relationships...
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What's the Movie About: Present day central California may be far removed from Regency England, but some things never change. We’re still every bit as preoccupied with the complexities of marriage, friendship, romantic entanglements, position, and social manners and mores asJane Austen was at the turn of the 1800s. THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB reveals the lives of an ensemble of present-day friends through the witty prism of their literary heroine. Six book club members, six Austen books, six interwoven story lines over six months in the busy modern setting of Sacramento, where city and suburban sprawl meet natural beauty. |
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IN THE CITY OF SYLVIA: Romantic Visions |
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We've been impressed by the reviews and reports of two film reviewers we've come to admire regarding one film - In the City of Sylvia. Written and directed by José Luis Guerin, this film is simply extraordinary.
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Says Daniel Kasman:
"A loose theme of the best films seen thus far from this year’s New York Film Festival are films that do so much with so little. Resting on slim stories and minimal dialog, films like Flight of the Red Balloon, The Man From London, and Paranoid Park put aesthetics above script and in turn emphasize ambiance and abstractions over concrete meanings and narrative progression. José Luis Guerin’s stunningly lovely In the City of Sylvia more than belongs in the company of these tremendous auteurs, all the more so because his film seems to work with the slightest of all scenarios: a man (Xavier Lafitte) arrives in a foreign city and proceeds to look for a woman named “Sylvie.”
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HOLDING TREVOR: Sex, AIDS, Drugs and Relationships |
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Awesome soundtrack and amazing performances from Brent Gorski and Jay Brannan make this film one to watch!

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Holding Trevor: What's the Movie About: Trevor Holden (played by Brent Gorski) has just witnessed his boyfriend Darrell overdose on heroin--again. And as his oldest friend, Trevor feels a responsibility to help Darrell in his latest attempt at finding sobriety, much to the dismay of his own best friends Jake and Andie. But, when Darrell starts using again, Trevor is finally ready to call it quits. And just when he does, he meets the ever so charming Ephram. Simply being everything that Darrell is not immediately wins Ephram a number of points. |
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THE HOME OF DARK BUTTERFLIES: Growing Pains |
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After watching URO, Reprise and Matti, I became an instant fan of Scandinavian cinema! There is something totally cool about the way Swedish, Danish, Finnish and Norwegians do movies. Aside from the outstanding performances of their actors, Scandinavian filmmakers have a unique take on how to make films and they are not afraid to challenge their viewers.
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One upcoming film that we are currently looking forward to is called The Home of Dark Butterfiles which is based on a novel by acclaimed Finnish author Leena Lander and directed by Dome Karukoski. Karukoski is known for his film Beauty and the Bastard, which received raves at Berlin and Tribeca in 2006.
What's the Movie About: The movie is about a 14 year-old boy named Juhani (played by Niilo Syväoja). After being bounced between foster homes and temporary families for six years, Juhani ends up in a boys’ home called The Island. Haunted and oppressed by a traumatic childhood experience, Juhani finds it hard to connect and act normally. |
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COCAINE COWBOYS: Riding High! |
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Slingshot Studios is releasing Cocaine Cowboys in UK cinemas on 23rd November 2007. Cocaine Cowboys is the true story that inspired Scarface and Miami Vice and reveals how drug smugglers were able to forever change the once sleepy retirement community of Miami into the epicentre of a $20 billion annual cocaine business.
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This movie was supposed to star Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany and Eva Green, but eventually the two male leads were given to 'younger, fresher' but not necessarily better, actors. However, there might be a reason behind the preference for the younger, 'more exciting' actors the producers demanded. Eva Green was retained, and now actors Sam Riley (Control) and Ryan Philippe are playing the lead roles.
Sam Riley, fresh from the acclaim he received from Anton Corbijn's Control is "a heartbroken thirty-something desperately trying to find a way back to the purity of first love," while Philippe is "a masked vigilante detective, searching for his nemesis on the streets of Meanwhile City, a monolithic fantasy metropolis ruthlessly governed by faith and religious fervor..." Eva Green plays an art student. |
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BEN X: Revenge of a Nerd! |
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While many foreign film fans might consider the work of the Dardenne Brothers as the best in Belgian film, they might also enjoy Nic Balthazar's Ben X. We've heard so much about this film,which is about an autistic young boy who spends most of his time playing an online game. |
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SHADOWS: Sex and Death, and a few important things in between |
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Writer / director Milcho Manchevski, whose “Before the Rain” won over 30 awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1994, and the Independent Spirit Award and the Academy-Award nomination the following year, has crafted a hypnotic journey into the heart of our archaic, elemental needs and emotions colored by a chilling sense of foreboding. His new film is called Shadows…
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What’s the Movie About: If we were to choose one man who’s got everything going for him, then Lazar Perkov would be an excellent choice. He’s young, good-looking, has a beautiful wife, a lovely little boy, a great house and a good job as a hospital physician. In fact, everyone calls him “Lucky.” Nothing’s missing – except maybe Lucky himself, who’s always trying to live up to the expectations of others. Like his bored wife and roguish colleagues. And, above all, his famous physician mother, a driven woman who rose from obscurity to renown with an iron will that crushed all resistance, whether from the living or the dead...
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PALERMO SHOOTING: Through a lens darkly? |
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Acclaimed filmmaker and German cinema legend Wim Wenders has a new film! 'The Palermo Shooting’, which boasts an award-winning international cast, is “a romantic thriller that could only be set in Palermo,” according to Wenders.
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What's the Movie About: The film is about Finn, a world-renowed photographer whose photographs appear in museums and magazines around the world. Considered as the 'rock star of the art world', Finn knows that there is something missing in his life. On a photoshoot in Palermo, something surreal happens to Finn that changes his life forever.
The movie stars German rockstar Campino, Dennis Hopper, Lou Reed and Italian top actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno, who is also in the lead for Love in the Time of Cholera.
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