Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Random Musings - February 2012

Random Musings of the Month

Happy Feb 29th!
Well the awards season is over without much surprise, and I am pleased that A Separation won for Best Foreign Language film. For the first time since 2003 I agree with the Academy's choice.

It was also nice to see a French film dominate the major awards, even though I wasn't as impressed with it as much as most. However, the ceremony as always, was way too long and boring. I wish they would cut the unfunny fluff and let the winners have more time at the podium. Also why didn't they perform the nominated songs? Terrible decision.

The funniest line of the weekend was delivered on Friday by Antoine de Caunes, host of the César Awards, which was otherwise just as dull as the Oscars were. Just before the presentation of the in memoriam montage he quipped: "This year, we lost a giant of cinema. Megaupload."

For some quick blog news, I took a slight dip in page views compared to January, but still managed to pass the 250K mark. With some help from an increased interest in my coverage of the foreign language nominees, and also being selected as Lamb of the Month.

I've also been toying with the idea of adding a ranked blog roll widget to my sidebar. Similar to the LAMB's Leaderboard, to reward the blogs who send me the most referral traffic, except this one will be automatically updated. What do you guys think?

I caught up with quite a few 2011 releases this month, but there are still a bunch more I want to see, hopefully I can get to them in soon. In March, I'll also be continuing with my Czech New Wave series which I'm about half way through; and I've begun to source some films for my next major spotlight, I'm not yet ready to reveal what it will be, but the idea was inspired by this year's Berlinale.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Daisies (1966)

Daisies • Sedmikrásky (1966)

Czech New Wave
Genre: Comedy • Drama
Director: Vera Chytilová
Starring: Ivana Karbanová, Jitka Cerhová
Language: Czech
Duration: 73 min.
Rating: 9.0  

Summary:
Two young women, both named Marie, revolt against a degenerate, decayed and oppressive society, attacking symbols of wealth and bourgeois culture.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Polisse (2011)

Poliss • Polisse (2011)
Polisse (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Maïwenn
Starring: Joey Starr, Karine Viard, Marina Foïs, Nicolas Duvauchelle
Language: French
Duration: 127 min.
Rating: 7.4  

Summary:
The daily grind for the cops of the Police Department's Juvenile Protection Unit is shaken up with the arrival of a photographer on a Ministry of the Interior assignment to document the unit.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

In Darkness (2011)

In Darkness • W ciemnosci (2011)
In Darkness • W ciemnosci (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Starring: Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska
Language: Polish, German, Ukrainian, Yiddish
Duration: 145 min.
Rating: 7.4  

Summary:
A dramatization of one man's rescue of Jewish refugees in the Nazi-occupied Polish city of Lvov.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Footnote (2011)

Footnote • He'arat Shulayim (2011)
Footnote • He'arat Shulayim (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Joseph Cedar
Starring: Lior Ashkenazi, Shlomo Bar-Aba
Language: Hebrew
Duration: 103 min.
Rating: 6.8  

Summary:
Eliezer and Uriel Shkolnik are father and son as well as rival professors in Talmudic Studies. When both men learn that Eliezer will be lauded for his work, their complicated relationship reaches a new peak.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Tenebre (1982)

Tenebre (1982)
Tenebre (1982)

Genre: Giallo • Thriller
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Anthony Franciosa, Christian Borromeo, Daria Nicolodi, John Saxon
Language: Italian
Duration: 101 min.
Rating: 9.0  

Summary:
An American writer in Rome is stalked by a serial killer obsessed with his latest book.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Opera (1987)

Opera (1987)
Opera (1987)

Genre: Giallo • Thriller
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi
Language: Italian
Duration: 107 min.
Rating: 8.3  

Summary:
A young operata is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Phenomena (1985)

Phenomena (1985)
Phenomena (1985)

Genre: Horror / Fantasy
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Daria Nicolodi, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Donald Pleasence
Language: English, German, Italian
Duration: 110 min.
Rating: 8.0  

Summary:
A young girl, with an amazing ability to communicate with insects, is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Artist (2011)

The Artist (2011)

Genre: Silent • Romance Drama
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
Language: English
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 7.4  

Summary:
Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011)
Monsieur Lazhar (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Starring: Mohamed Fellag, Sophie Nélisse, Émilien Néron, Danielle Proulx
Language: French, English, Arabic
Duration: 94 min.
Rating: 8.0  

Summary:
When an elementary school teacher commits suicide, her class and the entire community is shaken to the core. No one wants to talk about it save her replacement, Bachir Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant seeking political asylum.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)

Four Flies on Grey Velvet • 4 mosche di velluto grigio (1971)
Four Flies on Grey Velvet • 4 mosche di velluto grigio (1971)

Genre: Giallo • Thriller
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Michael Brandon, Mimsy Farmer, Jean Pierre Marielle, Bud Spencer
Language: Italian
Duration: 104 min.
Rating: 7.9  

Summary:
A musician is stalked by an unknown killer who's blackmailing him for an accidential killing of another stalker. But is everything what it appears to be?

Saturday, February 18, 2012

The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971)

The Cat o' Nine Tails • Il gatto a nove code (1971)
The Cat o' Nine Tails • Il gatto a nove code (1971)

Genre: Giallo • Thriller
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: James Franciscus, Karl Malden, Catherine Spaak, Cinzia De Carolis
Language: Italian
Duration: 112 min.
Rating: 7.7  

Summary:
A newspaper reporter and a retired, blind journalist try to solve a series of killings connected to a pharmaceutical company's experimental, top-secret research project and in so doing, both become targets of the killer.

Friday, February 17, 2012

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970)

The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage • L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo (1970)

Genre: Giallo • Thriller
Director: Dario Argento
Starring: Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall, Eva Renzi, Umberto Raho, Raf Valenti
Language: Italian
Duration: 96 min.
Rating: 8.5  

Summary:
A writer is stalked by a serial killer after witnessing a murder attempt on one woman's life.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

I'm the LAMB of the Month!


Today I'm taking a break from my usual posting schedule to announce something that is quite exciting and a honor for me to be a part of. Just this past weekend, I was selected by Joel Burman—a fellow blogger and film producer who is also the recently appointed Shepherd of the LAMB (Large Association of Movie Blogs)—as the very first recipient of the LAMB of the Month Award, in recognition of some of my recent contributions to this great blogging community.

For those who have never heard of the LAMB, its the largest directory of movie blogs on the internet, open to any movie blog that's at least 3 months old, with approximately 1200 current members—though as I've recently discovered by paying a visit to almost every single one, sadly a number of them are now dead or dormant blogs—first created by Dylan from the blog Man I Love Films. I feel greatly honored for having been singled out of this large group of fine bloggers and chosen as January's LAMB of the Month.

Thank you, Joel!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

62nd Berlin International Film Festival (2012) Report

We're now midway through the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. With many of the first gems of 2012 already or about to be screened at the famed Berlinale Palast.

Let's have a closer look at some of the images and initial critical reception for the films in the 2012 Berlinale Competition Programme.

View from outside the Berlinale Palast

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Take Shelter (2011)

Take Shelter (2011)
Take Shelter (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart
Language: English
Duration: 120 min.
Rating: 7.3 

Summary:
Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Tyrannosaur (2011)

Tyrannosaur (2011)
Tyrannosaur (2011)

Best New Film
Genre: Drama
Director: Paddy Considine
Starring: Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman, Eddie Marsan
Language: English
Duration: 91 min.
Rating: 8.2  

Summary:
Joseph is an unemployed widower with a drinking problem, a man crippled by his own volatile temperament and furious anger. Hannah is a Christian charity shop worker, a respectable woman who seems wholesome and happy. When circumstance brings the pair together, Hannah appears as Joseph's guardian angel, tempering his fury and offering him warmth, kindness and acceptance. As their relationship develops, Hannah's own secrets are revealed - her husband is violent and abusive - and Joseph emerges as her unlikely savior.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

A Dangerous Method (2011)

A Dangerous Method (2011)
A Dangerous Method (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Vincent Cassel
Language: English
Duration:  99 min.
Rating: 7.5  

Summary:
A look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

The Shining (1980)

The Shining (1980)


Genre: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Director
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd
Language: English
Duration: 144 min.
Rating: 8.5  

Summary:
A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and of the future.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy
Language: English
Duration: 102 min.
Rating: 7.4  

Summary:
Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Restless (2011)

Restless (2011)
Restless (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Henry Hopper, Mia Wasikowska, Ryo Kase
Language: English
Duration: 91 min.
Rating: 6.6  

Summary:
The story of a terminally ill teenage girl who falls for a boy who likes to attend funerals and their encounters with the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

She Monkeys (2011)

She Monkeys • Apflickorna (2011)
She Monkeys • Apflickorna (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Lisa Aschan
Starring: Mathilda Paradeiser, Linda Molin, Isabella Lindquist
Language: Swedish
Duration: 83 min.
Rating: 7.4  

Summary:
When Emma meets Cassandra, they initiate a relationship filled with physical and psychological challenges. Emma does whatever it takes to master the rules of the game. Lines are crossed and the stakes get higher and higher. Despite this, Emma can't resist the intoxicating feeling of total control.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

House of Tolerance (2011)

House of Tolerance • L'Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close (2011)
House of Tolerance • L'Apollonide, souvenirs de la maison close (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Bertand Bonello
Starring: Hafsia Herzi, Céline Sallette, Jasmine Trinca, Adèle Haenel, Noeémie Lvovsky
Language: French
Duration: 122 min.
Rating: 8.0  

Summary:
A look at the final days of an elegant, turn-of-the-century Paris brothel, the lives of the Madam, and the dozen girls who live and work there.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Mumbai Diaries (2010)

Mumbai Diaries • Dhobi Ghat (2010)
Mumbai Diaries • Dhobi Ghat (2010)

Genre: Drama
Director: Kiran Rao
Starring: Aamir Khan, Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra, Prateik Babbar
Language: Hindi, English
Duration: 100 min.
Rating: 7.4  

Summary:
The story of four people from very different backgrounds, whose worlds intersect and leave them forever altered. As they find themselves drawn into compelling relationships, the city finds its way into the crevices of their lives, separating them even as it brings them closer...

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Closely Watched Trains (1966)

Closely Watched Trains • Ostre sledované vlaky (1966)
Closely Watched Trains • Ostře sledované vlaky (1966)

Czech New Wave
Genre: Comedy Drama
Director: Jirí Menzel
Starring: Václav Neckář, Jitka Bendová, Josef Somr, Vlastimil Brodský, Vladimír Valenta
Language: Czech, German
Duration: 93 min.
Rating: 8.9  

Summary:
At a village railway station in occupied Czechoslovakia, a bumbling dispatcher’s apprentice longs to liberate himself from his virginity. Oblivious to the war and the resistance that surrounds him, this young man embarks on a journey of sexual awakening and self-discovery, encountering a universe of frustration, eroticism, and adventure within his sleepy backwater depot.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Loverboy (2011)

Loverboy (2011)
Loverboy (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: Catalin Mitulescu
Starring: George Pistereanu, Ada Condeescu
Language: Romanian
Duration: 95 min.
Rating: 7.6  

Summary:
Luca seduces girls and then leaves them in the hands of his friends at the Black Sea port of Constanta. But when he meets the beautiful and exuberant Veli, Luca falls in love... It's summer down the Danube river. The music is loud, the cars are fancy, the girls are tanned and Veli runs away from home to Luca's bed. First love has never felt more dangerous.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Kontroll (2003)

Kontroll (2003)
Kontroll (2003)

Genre: Comedy Thriller
Director: Nimród Antal
Starring: Sándor Csányi, Zoltán Mucsi, Csaba Pindroch, Lajos Kovács, Eszter Balla
Language: Hungarian
Duration: 105 min.
Rating: 7.5  

Summary:
A farcical look at the Budapest subway system, the crazy ticket agents who earn their living there and the hostile citizens they deal with on a daily basis.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Headhunters (2011)

Headhunters • Hodejegerne (2011)
Headhunters • Hodejegerne (2011)

Genre: Action Thriller
Director: Morten Tyldum
Starring: Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Language: Norwegian, Danish
Duration: 98 min.
Rating: 7.7  

Summary:
Roger Brown is an elite corporate headhunter who finances his lavish lifestyle by stealing art from his own clients, but trouble ensues when he targets a rare and valuable painting owned by a former mercenary.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

62nd Berlin International Film Festival (2012)

In just a few short days, the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival (Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin) or more commonly referred to as The Berlinale, one of the three major annual film festivals, opens with what promises to be another amazing lineup of films from all over the world.

First held in 1951, the festival has grown to be the largest publicly attended film festival in the world. According to their website there were 485,000 visitors and 300,000 tickets sold at last year's festival.

Films are screened in several categories, including the flagship Main Competition Programme, where this year 18 films will vie for the coveted Golden and Silver Bear prizes awarded by the International Jury. There's also the Panorama section, which focuses on art-house and auteur films from around the globe; the Forum section, covering avant garde, experimental, political minded, and other daring features and documentaries alike;  and the Generation programme, which is dedicated to films for children and young people. With two sections titled Generation Kplus for younger audiences and Generation 14plus focusing on teens and above.  In addition to those, there are special screenings of classics and important films, retrospectives, and homages to internationally renown film personalities, this year's Homage is dedicated to American actress Meryl Streep, and a special screening of her most recent film The Iron Lady will be held at the famed Berlinale Palast.

Read on for a look at the members of the International Jury, and a list of the 23 films showing in the Competition Programme at the 62nd Berlinale: