Monday, April 30, 2012

Random Musings - April 2012

Random Musings of the Month
Wow, another month that went by quickly. Lots of cool stuff in the world of film happened in April. The Hong Kong Film Awards, the Tribeca Film Fest, the first Sundance UK, and the official Cannes lineup was announced.

After my unplanned break in March, that by the way ended a 500+ day posting streak, and due to the start of the NHL playoffs, I struggled a little bit this month to get back into my usual blogging routine, but things are starting to get comfortable again. I am however getting used to having weekends off for other pursuits, so I will continue to do that unless something inspiring comes up that I just need to post about.

I've introduced a new feature in which I plan on covering all of the Palme d'Or winners. However, I'm still in the process of trying to locate most of the titles so those reviews won't be as frequent as my other features have been. Expect the first ones to come leading up to the opening of Cannes.

Speaking of Cannes, I plan on remotely covering the festival as best as I can with daily reports and roundups of all the competition films as well as some of the higher profile titles in the other categories. So stay tuned for that.

In other news, I've begun working on a side project for The LAMB that will help streamline some of the existing and very tedious behind the scenes work that goes into maintaining it. This will hopefully allow Shep. Burman to use his time on promoting and improving things for all us fellow Lammies. It may even lead to some new exciting features that weren't possible before.

One other thing, did anyone else notice a very sharp decrease in traffic to their site on April 25? That day was the lowest amount of visitors I've had all year by a large margin and I'm wondering if it was a glitch or just a fluke.

Random Links of the Month
Fellow readers, how was your month? What was the best film you saw or post you read? Share your thoughts below.

Friday, April 27, 2012

2012 Tribeca Film Festival: Award Winners


The 11th Annual Tribeca Film Festival (TFF), announced the award winners of its competition categories yesterday (April 26, 2012) at an awards ceremony held at the Conrad New York Hotel in Downtown Manhattan.

Here are the winners for the World Narrative Competition Categories awarded by jury members Patricia Clarkson, Dakota Fanning, Mike Newell, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Jim Sheridan, and Irwin Winkler:

The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature
  • War Witch (Rebelle) directed by Kim Nguyen - Canada
Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film
  • Dariel Arrechada and Javier Nuñez in Una Noche
    directed by Lucy Mulloy - UK, USA, Cuba
Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film
  • Rachel Mwanza in War Witch
    directed by Kim Nguyen - Canada
Best Cinematography in a Narrative Feature Film
  • Trevor Forrest and Shlomo Godder for Una Noche
    directed by Lucy Mulloy - UK, USA, Cuba
Special Jury Mention: Cinematography
  • Alex Catalan for Unit 7
    directed by Alberto Rodríguez - Spain
Best Screenplay for a Narrative Feature Film
  • Daniel Burman and Sergio Dubcovsky for All In (La Suerte en Tus Manos)
    directed by Daniel Burman - Argentina
Best New Narrative Director
  • Lucy Mulloy for Una Noche - UK, USA, Cuba
Special Jury Mention: Best New Narrative
  • Patricia Benoit for Stones in the Sun - Haiti, USA
  • Sharon Bar-Ziv for Room 514 (Heder 514) - Israel

See the full list of winners including documentary and short film categories at the official TFF website.

Good to see Rebelle/War Witch is continuing its strong success since its premiere at the Berlinale in January. There's still many months to go but I think this win makes it a strong favorite to represent Canada at next year's Oscars.

The Cuban film Una Noche sounds very interesting as well. According to the jury: "reveals a Havana we could never otherwise see, in its jumble of vibrant life, decay, and making do. There’s a ‘you are there’ documentary immediacy to the picture, shot on the fly and in the streets, that keeps us enthralled."

Which of the winners do you look forward to seeing the most?
 

Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Divide (2011)

The Divide (2011)
The Divide (2011)

Genre: Sci-Fi Horror
Director: Xavier Gens
Starring: Lauren German, Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Courtney B. Vance
Language: English
Duration: 112 min.
Rating: 6.4  

Summary:
Survivors of a nuclear attack are grouped together for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at their dynamic.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Declaration of War (2011)

Declaration of War • La guerre est déclarée (2011)
Declaration of War • La guerre est déclarée (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Valérie Donzelli
Starring: Valérie Donzelli, Jérémie Elkaïm
Language: French
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 7.7  

Summary:
A new couple must face the ultimate test when they discover their new born child is very ill.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Martyrs of Love (1967)

Martyrs of Love • Mucedníci lásky (1967)
Martyrs of Love • Mucedníci lásky (1967)

Czech New Wave
Genre: Fantasy Drama
Director: Jan Nemec
Starring: Lindsay Anderson, Jitka Cerhová, Hana Kuberová, Josef Konícek
Language: Czech
Duration: 71 min.
Rating: 6.8  

Summary:
A series of loosely connected shorts comprised of three tales representing different aspects of love: temptation, dreams, and adventure.

Monday, April 23, 2012

The Palme d'Or


The Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) is the coveted top prize presented to the director of the best feature film in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

Although the Festival de Cannes was first held in 1946, the Palme d'Or was not actually created until a few years later. In the early years of the festival, the top prize was originally called the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film (The Grand Prize of the International Film Festival).

The Palme d'Or was created in 1955 as a tribute to the host city's coat-of-arms, and it became the festival's highest honor until 1964 when legal issues forced the festival's directors to temporarily revert to the original prize. It wasn't until 1975 that the Palme was fully reinstated and it has remained the festival's main prize ever since.

In the 65 years (as of 2012) that the Cannes Film Festival has been held, there have been a few anomalies: the first year saw 11 separate films awarded; there have also been ties on 10 other occasions; plus one winner was awarded retroactively (in 2002 for the cancelled inaugural 1939 festival that had to be  scrapped because of WWII) for a total of 84 winners, of which only 8 of them have been voted on unanimously by the jury. 

Winning films have been selected from 25 different countries. The most successful being the USA with 18 Palme/Grand Prix combined. Followed by Italy with 12, France and the UK each with 9, and Denmark and Japan tied with 4.

Only one female director has ever won the Palme d'Or. New Zealand's Jane Campion for The Piano (1993).

There have also been 7 double award winning directors. Alf Sjöberg (1946, 1951), Francis Ford Coppola (1974, 1979), Bille August (1988, 1992), Emir Kusturica (1985, 1995), Shohei Imamura (1983, 1997), Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne (1999, 2005), and most recently Michael Haneke (2009, 2012). So far no director has won the top prize more than twice.

As a new ongoing feature, I will attempt to eventually work my way through the entire list, watching and reviewing each and every one of the winners and keeping track of them all in this post. Even though the award winning films from 1939-1954 and 1964-1974 didn't actually receive a Palme d'Or, I will still include them here for completeness.

Friday, April 20, 2012

2012 Cannes Film Festival: Un Certain Regard


First introduced in 1978 by festival president Gilles Jacob, the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival runs parallel to the main competition and provides an opportunity for a wider range of films including many from first time directors, as well as innovative and artistically daring works that would not fit the main programme.

This year's initial lineup was announced on April 19 and currently consists of 17 titles representing 16 countries. However, I expect that a few films will be added in the coming weeks to round the number to 20. There are four films from first time directors, and two from female directors.

English actor/director Tim Roth is the president of the 2012 Un Certain Regard Jury which will choose the award winners from this section.

Update April 30: Djeca, Gimme the Loot, and Renoir were added to the Line-up.

Read on for a full overview of the films in the 65th Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard section or see the Main Competition films:

Thursday, April 19, 2012

2012 Cannes Film Festival: Official Selection


The official selections for the 2012 Cannes Film Festival were announced on April 19 by the festival's Artistic Director, Thierry Frémaux. A total of 54 features representing 26 countries were chosen from the 1,779 films submitted, with the possibility for a few late additions in the coming weeks.

As always, the exciting main competition lineup features some of the most anticipated titles of the year from many of my favorite directors. Films I have been greatly looking forward to including: David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis, Jacques Audiard's Rust & Bone, Michael Haneke's Amour, and Cristian Mungiu's Beyond the Hills. Sadly there was no mention of Wong Kar Wai's long overdue The Grandmasters. I'm crossing my fingers for a last minute addition, but this is still one very strong programme.

Some other major titles announced include Walter Salles' On the Road, Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly, and John Hillcoat's Lawless.

Earlier in the week it was also announced that The Artist co-star, Bérénice Bejo, will host the festival's opening and closing ceremonies.

Italian director Nanni Moretti is the President of the Jury. He is joined by Palestinian actress Hiam Abbass, British director Andrea Arnold, French actress Emmanuelle Devos, German actress Diane Kruger, French designer Jean Paul Gaultier, British actor Ewan McGregor, American director Alexander Payne, and Haitian director Raoul Peck.

Read on for an overview of the full lineup of 22 films competing for the 65th Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or or see the Un Certain Regard Films:

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2011)

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate • Long men fei jia (2011)
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate • Long men fei jia • 龍門飛甲 (2011)

Genre: Wuxia
Director: Tsui Hark
Starring: Jet Li, Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, Li Yuchun, Kwai Lun-mei, Louis Fan, Mavis Fan
Language: Mandarin
Duration: 125 min.
Rating: 6.1  

Summary:
Several groups of warriors head to the Dragon Inn in the middle of the Gobi Desert in search for a legendary lost city and battle each other for the chance to claim the great treasure the city holds.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

31st Hong Kong Film Awards (2012) Results


The 31st annual Hong Kong Film Awards were presented on Sunday April 15th at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

64 year old director Ann Hui's touching drama, A Simple Life, unsurprisingly swept five of the major awards including: best film, director, screenplay, actor, and actress. While Tsui Hark's action extravaganza, Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, which heading into the night led with the most nominations (13), took home five awards of its own in the technical categories.

Read on for the full list of winners.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Marketa Lazarová (1967)

Marketa Lazarová (1967)
Marketa Lazarová (1967)

Czech New Wave
Genre: Drama
Director: Frantisek Vlácil
Starring: Josef Kemr, Magda Vásáryová, Jaroslav Moucka, Frantisek Velecký
Language: Czech, German
Duration: 162 min.
Rating: 9.0  

Summary:
A mid-13th Century epic following the rivalry between two warring clans, and the doomed love affair of a couple from opposing sides.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Alois Nebel (2011)

Alois Nebel (2011)
Alois Nebel (2011)

Genre: Animated Drama
Director: Tomás Lunák
Starring: Miroslav Krobot, Marie Ludvíková, Leos Noha, Karel Roden
Language: Czech
Duration: 84 min.
Rating: 7.8  

Summary:
A lonely train dispatcher at a small railway station on the Czechoslovak border, lives a quiet life. However, whenever the fog rolls in and he hallucinates, seeing ghosts and shadows from the dark times of WWII. One day he encounters a mute stranger who propels him on the journey to resolving his nightmares.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Livid (2011)

Livid • Livide (2011)
Livid • Livide (2011)


Genre: Horror
Director: Director
Starring: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Language: French
Duration: 88 min.
Rating: 7.5  

Summary:
Young caregiver in training Lucie and two friends decide to rob the house of former ballet instructor Deborah Jessel, a comatose bed ridden old woman who is rumored to be the owner of valuable treasure.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Bells Toll For The Barefooted (1965)

The Bells Toll For The Barefooted • Zvony pre bosých (1965)
The Bells Toll For The Barefooted • Zvony pre bosých (1965)

Czech New Wave
Genre: Drama
Director: Stanislav Barabás
Starring: Ewa Krzyzewska, Vlado Müller, Ivan Rajniak, Axel Dietrich
Language: Slovak, German
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 8.3  

Summary:
Towards the end of WWII, two partisans are returning to their headquarters after a fight, bringing with them a young captured German soldier. In the middle of deserted woods enemies walk side by side, however the partisans cannot locate the rest of their unit, and their German hostage starts to lose hope for survival.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Shame (2011)

Shame (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan
Language: English
Duration: 101 min.
Rating: 7.8  

Summary:
Brandon is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. His insular life spirals out of control when his wayward younger sister Sissy moves into his apartment, stirring memories of their shared painful past.

Monday, April 9, 2012

The Intouchables (2011)

TThe Intouchables • Intouchables (2011)
The Intouchables • Intouchables (2011)

Genre: Comedy Drama
Director: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano
Starring: François Cluzet, Omar Sy
Language: French
Duration: 113 min.
Rating: 7.3  

Summary:
The true story of a wealthy, physically disabled risk taker, the picture of established French nobility, whose world is turned upside down when he hires a young, good-humored, black Muslim ex-con as his caretaker.

Friday, April 6, 2012

The High Wall (1964)

The High Wall • Vysoká zed (1964)
The High Wall • Vysoká zed (1964)

Czech New Wave
Genre: Romance
Director: Karel Kachyna
Starring: Radka Duliková, Vít Olmer
Language: Czech
Duration: 71 min.
Rating: 7.5  

Summary:
Every day after school, eleven year old Jitka secretly goes to the hospital wall, where she meets and develops a crush on a young man recovering from a spinal injury he sustained in a car accident. 

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Faust (2011)

Faust (2011)

Genre: Fantasy Drama
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov
Starring: Johannes Zeiler, Anton Adasinsky, Isolda Dychauk
Language: German
Duration: 134 min.
Rating: 7.6  

Summary:
A version of the German legend in which a man sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Adopted (2011)

The Adopted • Les adoptés (2011)
The Adopted • Les adoptés (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Mélanie Laurent
Starring: Marie Denarnaud, Denis Ménochet, Mélanie Laurent, Clémentine Célarié
Language: French
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 6.5  

Summary:
Lisa and her adopted sister Marine have been inseparable since they were kids. Along with Lisa’s mother Millie, they have forged a deep bond that protects them from life’s hard knocks. There is little place for men in their lives but when Marine falls in love, their world is thrown off balance. Everybody tries their best to find a new equilibrium, but tragedy soon strikes and the family must realign with a new reality in order to turn loss into hope and love.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Something Different (1963)

Something Different • O necem jinem (1963)
Something Different • O necem jinem (1963)

Czech New Wave
Genre: Drama
Director: Vera Chytilová
Starring: Eva Bosáková, Vera Uzelacová
Language: Czech
Duration: 85 min.
Rating: 7.8  

Summary:
Explores the separate lives of two women, one of them a housewife and the other a competition gymnast, each of them wishing and wondering if they would be happier if their lives were different.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Oslo, 31. August (2011)

Oslo, 31. August (2011)
Oslo, 31. August (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Joachim Trier
Starring: Anders Danielsen Lie
Language: Norwegian
Duration: 95 min.
Rating: 7.9  

Summary:
One day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.