A love story whose romance is built entirely on the quirky defense mechanisms of its protagonists, Benjamin Meyer's Fools features a couple who decide to live together before they've even kissed, much less learned each others' names. Revolving around plot devices and at least one lead performance that would likely play better on the stage, Meyer's feature debut has found some admirers on the fest circuit but is unlikely to grow its audience in regular theatrical release. A heart beats beneath its foibles, though, perhaps representing a storytelling sensibility that simply hasn't found its legs yet.
Mary Cross, a stage...
Mary Cross, a stage...
- 12/6/2016
- by John DeFore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Films playing this year include Eva Riley’s Patriot and Brady Hood’s Sweet Maddie Stone.
Odeon and the National Film and Television School have reteamed for a second edition of their student short films showcase, following the inaugural event last October.
This year’s selected titles include two from current Screen International Stars of Tomorrow: Eva Riley’s Patriot [pictured]. which played in competition at Cannes 2015, and Brady Hood’s Sweet Maddie Stone.
The full programme will consist of a selection of seven former or current Nfts students’ short films from the past year — including live action, documentary and animation titles — which have not previously been shown to the general public.
The films will be simultaneously screened in 16 Odeon cinemas across the UK on January 17. Audiences will be invited to vote for their favourite of the films.
The other seven titles playing are: Present, The Alan Dimension, Fishwitch, A Love Story and Ferris & The Fancy Pigeon.
Ian...
Odeon and the National Film and Television School have reteamed for a second edition of their student short films showcase, following the inaugural event last October.
This year’s selected titles include two from current Screen International Stars of Tomorrow: Eva Riley’s Patriot [pictured]. which played in competition at Cannes 2015, and Brady Hood’s Sweet Maddie Stone.
The full programme will consist of a selection of seven former or current Nfts students’ short films from the past year — including live action, documentary and animation titles — which have not previously been shown to the general public.
The films will be simultaneously screened in 16 Odeon cinemas across the UK on January 17. Audiences will be invited to vote for their favourite of the films.
The other seven titles playing are: Present, The Alan Dimension, Fishwitch, A Love Story and Ferris & The Fancy Pigeon.
Ian...
- 11/23/2016
- ScreenDaily
Right through the 80s, Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor had paired up for many a film to make for a macho ‘jodi’. Films like Ram Lakhan, Karma, Andar Bahar, Yudh, Kaala Bazar, Parinda, Roop Ki Rani Choron Ka Raja, 1942 – A Love Story and many more films are a testimony to that. ThatRead More
The post Tiger Shroff and Nawazuddin Siddiqui pairing up as an unconventional ‘jodi’ in Munna Michael? appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.
The post Tiger Shroff and Nawazuddin Siddiqui pairing up as an unconventional ‘jodi’ in Munna Michael? appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.
- 11/21/2016
- by Joginder Tuteja
- BollywoodHungama
It may seem like horror is mainly used to elicit fear and terror, but its ability to frighten and rattle its audience is actually rooted in an unlikely emotion: sympathy. Even the most cynical character can be found worthy of redemption if the circumstances which jaded them are deemed tragic, and even the darkest villains are made more interesting by exposing their insecurities. It is this gray area in which brilliant author Joe Hill seeks to explore the darkest depths of the human mind throughout his portfolio of work, and the result of his inquiries is a large stack of fascinating publications.
Born Joseph Hillstrom King, Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King, the famous writer of iconic works such as Carrie, Christine, The Shining, Gerald’s Game, Cujo, Salem’s Lot, The Green Mile, Misery, and many, many more. Stephen King has become a household name, and although...
Born Joseph Hillstrom King, Joe Hill is the son of Stephen King, the famous writer of iconic works such as Carrie, Christine, The Shining, Gerald’s Game, Cujo, Salem’s Lot, The Green Mile, Misery, and many, many more. Stephen King has become a household name, and although...
- 11/1/2016
- by Kalyn Corrigan
- DailyDead
Exclusive: Copenhagen’s festival, in new autumn dates, will show a record 226 features kicking off with Doctor Strange.
Copenhagen’s Cph Pix festival, now in its new autumn dates, has revealed a record 226 feature films in its lineup.
The 14-day festival (Oct 27 - Nov 9), which now also includes kids and family festival Buster, will show 46 features for young people in its daytime programmes and 180 films for teenagers and adults in the evenings.
As previously reported, the eighth edition of festival will open with a gala premiere of Marvel’s Doctor Strange (Mads Mikkelsen will attend).
There will be four main awards at Pix: the New Talent Grand Pix for a debut feature (with $11,200 (€10,000)); the Politiken Audience Award that comes with Danish distribution support, and the Nordisk Film Fond prizes for best children’s feature and best children’s short.
Terence Davies [pictured] will be given a full retrospective as well as showing his latest film A Quiet Passion and participating...
Copenhagen’s Cph Pix festival, now in its new autumn dates, has revealed a record 226 feature films in its lineup.
The 14-day festival (Oct 27 - Nov 9), which now also includes kids and family festival Buster, will show 46 features for young people in its daytime programmes and 180 films for teenagers and adults in the evenings.
As previously reported, the eighth edition of festival will open with a gala premiere of Marvel’s Doctor Strange (Mads Mikkelsen will attend).
There will be four main awards at Pix: the New Talent Grand Pix for a debut feature (with $11,200 (€10,000)); the Politiken Audience Award that comes with Danish distribution support, and the Nordisk Film Fond prizes for best children’s feature and best children’s short.
Terence Davies [pictured] will be given a full retrospective as well as showing his latest film A Quiet Passion and participating...
- 10/3/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
(Ezra LeBank, Cynthia Price & Taylor Casas )
Flight 20th New York International Fringe Festival Encore Series Barrow Street Theatre, NYC September 24-30, 2016
A quest. A love story. A search for meaning and connection. In the sweetly uplifting Flight, three performers from the California-based company Curbside pay homage to Antoine De Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. In this sequel of sorts to the classic but still timely fable, the Prince is a girl -- why not? -- cleverly evoked through a sleight of hand, and human bodies transcend the limitations of the physical universe, becoming zebras, cacti, airplanes, and the embodiment of past memory and future potential.
The trio's muscular yet graceful collaboration marries wordless acrobatics with chatty storytelling, philosophical inquiry with playful comedy. If it's a challenge to describe Flight in a way that captures its unique qualities, its creation was equally mystical for its participants.
Writer-director-performer Ezra LeBank was in...
Flight 20th New York International Fringe Festival Encore Series Barrow Street Theatre, NYC September 24-30, 2016
A quest. A love story. A search for meaning and connection. In the sweetly uplifting Flight, three performers from the California-based company Curbside pay homage to Antoine De Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. In this sequel of sorts to the classic but still timely fable, the Prince is a girl -- why not? -- cleverly evoked through a sleight of hand, and human bodies transcend the limitations of the physical universe, becoming zebras, cacti, airplanes, and the embodiment of past memory and future potential.
The trio's muscular yet graceful collaboration marries wordless acrobatics with chatty storytelling, philosophical inquiry with playful comedy. If it's a challenge to describe Flight in a way that captures its unique qualities, its creation was equally mystical for its participants.
Writer-director-performer Ezra LeBank was in...
- 9/23/2016
- by Helen Eisenbach
- www.culturecatch.com
Exclusive: The festival will show eight films directed by Young under the name Bernard Shakey.
After Cph Pix revealed last week that it will open with Marvel’s Doctor Strange, the Copenhagen festival has unveiled that it will host world premieres of eight Danish films as well as hosting a retrospective of works by musician and film-maker Neil Young.
The eighth edition of Cph Pix, which is now in new autumn dates (Oct 27 – Nov 9), will offer world premieres of Morten Bh’s Anti, Mads Erichsen’s Vindmøllernes Sus, Frederik Barington’s Nar Solen Skinner, Anders Fløe’s Afskaret, Philippe Lesage’s Copenhague, A Love Story, David Noel Bourke’s Bakerman and Dariusz Steiness’s De Vildfarne.
The other Danish offerings are all debut features: Christian Tafdrup’s Parents, Ulrich Thomsen’s In Embryo, Ali Abassi’s Shelley and Puk Grasten’s 37.
“We’re excited to present such a diverse roster of Danish films this year,” festival director...
After Cph Pix revealed last week that it will open with Marvel’s Doctor Strange, the Copenhagen festival has unveiled that it will host world premieres of eight Danish films as well as hosting a retrospective of works by musician and film-maker Neil Young.
The eighth edition of Cph Pix, which is now in new autumn dates (Oct 27 – Nov 9), will offer world premieres of Morten Bh’s Anti, Mads Erichsen’s Vindmøllernes Sus, Frederik Barington’s Nar Solen Skinner, Anders Fløe’s Afskaret, Philippe Lesage’s Copenhague, A Love Story, David Noel Bourke’s Bakerman and Dariusz Steiness’s De Vildfarne.
The other Danish offerings are all debut features: Christian Tafdrup’s Parents, Ulrich Thomsen’s In Embryo, Ali Abassi’s Shelley and Puk Grasten’s 37.
“We’re excited to present such a diverse roster of Danish films this year,” festival director...
- 9/12/2016
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Welcome to September folks! I’ve been saying for a few weeks now that this new month means that it’s time for the fall festival season, and here’s some real evidence of it. Earlier today, the lineup for the 2016 Telluride Film Festival dropped, and it’s quite the slate. We now basically know the complete festival landscape now, with the contenders spread out before us. We’ll get into what’s playing shortly, but I just want to say how much I look forward to this part of the season, every single year. We emerge from the summer into an exciting fall, with 2016 looking to be no exception. Especially with how underwhelming the summer movie season was, festival season looks to be where film makes its mark in 2016. It’s full steam ahead towards Academy Award nominations now, and I couldn’t be happier. This is my cinematic happy place.
- 9/1/2016
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
The Telluride Film Festival has announced its lineup for the 2016 edition, which begins Friday. As usual, the exclusive Labor Day weekend gathering of industry insiders and midwestern movie buffs will offer a sneak peak at highly anticipated fall films, including several awards season hopefuls, alongside several favorites from the festival circuit, smaller discoveries and classic films.
Damien Chazelle’s vibrant ode to musicals of the past, “La La Land,” will head to Telluride fresh from the Lionsgate release’s successful opening night slot at the Venice Film Festival, while another Venice premiere, Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi “Arrival,” comes to Telluride courtesy of Paramount alongside a special tribute to star Amy Adams. Another tributee, Casey Affleck, will be in town with Sundance hit “Manchester By the Sea,” which Amazon famously acquired at the Park City gathering for a hefty price tag.
Read More: ‘Manchester By The Sea’ Trailer: Discover Why Kenneth Lonergan...
Damien Chazelle’s vibrant ode to musicals of the past, “La La Land,” will head to Telluride fresh from the Lionsgate release’s successful opening night slot at the Venice Film Festival, while another Venice premiere, Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi “Arrival,” comes to Telluride courtesy of Paramount alongside a special tribute to star Amy Adams. Another tributee, Casey Affleck, will be in town with Sundance hit “Manchester By the Sea,” which Amazon famously acquired at the Park City gathering for a hefty price tag.
Read More: ‘Manchester By The Sea’ Trailer: Discover Why Kenneth Lonergan...
- 9/1/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Castle fans looking to experience exactly how Season 8 was supposed to end — in a way that teed up a Beckett-less Season 9 — won’t find that “extra” on the ABC series’ final DVD set.
RelatedCastle EPs Thank Fans for Watching ‘A Love Story for the Ages’
TVLine has confirmed that among the deleted scenes on Castle: The Complete Eighth Season (available Aug. 23), not included is the cliffhanger ending that was to close Season 8 in the event of renewal. (Because ABC cancelled the drama five days prior to the finale, producers were able to tack on a coda that leaped...
RelatedCastle EPs Thank Fans for Watching ‘A Love Story for the Ages’
TVLine has confirmed that among the deleted scenes on Castle: The Complete Eighth Season (available Aug. 23), not included is the cliffhanger ending that was to close Season 8 in the event of renewal. (Because ABC cancelled the drama five days prior to the finale, producers were able to tack on a coda that leaped...
- 8/3/2016
- TVLine.com
The winning filmmaker will become a candidate for July Project of the Month. That winner will be in the running for Project of the Year.
The four projects up for this week’s Project of the Week are listed below, with descriptions courtesy of the filmmakers. You can vote at the bottom of the page.
Black: A love story, but above all the story of our habits. It tells the story of what can happen if the things we take for granted every day do vanish.
Sparrow: The beautiful story of a small boy who is teased because he thinks he can fly. When a family myth about his war veteran grandfather is exploded, he discovers strength to stand up to the school bullies in a very unusual way.
Flow: Two women solders are about to fight a skirmish with an invading force; but they’re also having a heated...
The four projects up for this week’s Project of the Week are listed below, with descriptions courtesy of the filmmakers. You can vote at the bottom of the page.
Black: A love story, but above all the story of our habits. It tells the story of what can happen if the things we take for granted every day do vanish.
Sparrow: The beautiful story of a small boy who is teased because he thinks he can fly. When a family myth about his war veteran grandfather is exploded, he discovers strength to stand up to the school bullies in a very unusual way.
Flow: Two women solders are about to fight a skirmish with an invading force; but they’re also having a heated...
- 7/22/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
It's a running gag on TV Land's The Jim Gaffigan Show that Gaffigan's fellow comedians dismiss his act as being dumb, uncool, and almost entirely about food. The latter charge? Sure, even Gaffigan would cop to that. His signature stand-up routine is about his hatred of Hot Pockets, he wrote a book called Food: A Love Story, and most episodes of the show feature him stopping by Katz's Delicatessen for a pastrami sandwich. There's even a scene in an upcoming episode where, through the magic of time-lapse photography, we see him eat an entire plate of steak frites and a friend's side order of fries in under a minute(*). (*) Being a responsible journalist, I of course asked whether Gaffigan really ate all the food in that scene. He replied (on the record), “I cannot lie, I only ate 90%. There was a spit bucket involved. Please don’t let this become public knowledge,...
- 7/15/2016
- by Alan Sepinwall
- Hitfix
Chicago-area actors: Get ready for a July chock full of auditions! We’ve rounded up five local and national opportunities across film, TV, and theater that’ll keep you busy this summer. “Open Wounds” This short film will have actors working with award-winning cinematographer Jim Orr (known best for his work in reality TV narratives like “Intervention” and “Duck Dynasty”)! Two leads and one supporting child character are being cast from a nationwide pool. The film is about a father who meets his estranged daughter, Skylar, several years after disowning her because she killed her mother while driving drunkenly. “Smokey Joe’S CAFÉ” Casting director Eleanor Axt is casting understudies for this upcoming jukebox musical production in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. It’s scheduled to run Sept. 7–Oct. 23. This musical won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album, so you know it’ll have you singing and dancing onstage with ease!
- 7/1/2016
- backstage.com
Johnny Depp's friend Doug Stanhope is speaking out about the highly publicized essay he wrote accusing Amber Heard of blackmailing the actor -- and Heard's subsequent defamation suit against him. The comedian appeared on The Howard Stern Show Monday to promote his new book Digging Up Mother: A Love Story, but a portion of his interview with Stern focused on Stanhope's essay in defense of his friend, Depp, who the comedian wrote was "used, manipulated, set up," by Heard. Stern pushed Stanhope to clarify as much as he legally could about how the essay came about and the comedian...
- 6/21/2016
- by Kara Warner, @karawarner
- PEOPLE.com
Welcome to every parent’s worst nightmare. A fully erect middle finger to the idea of abstinence-only education, Eva Husson’s “Bang Gang: A Love Story” is the opposite of a cautionary tale — it’s a salaciously soft-core movie about the upside of indiscriminate teen sex. Opening with a permissive Carl Jung quote that speaks to the trajectory of self-improvement (“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious”), Husson’s directorial debut is too derivative of forebears like “Kids” and “The Rules of Attraction” to earn a spot alongside them, but it nevertheless moves along on the strength of its slyly transgressive undertow.
Here is a rare new entry in that smallest of sub-genres: Movies that don’t punish teens for fucking their brains out (surprise surprise: it’s French). Which isn’t to say that the kids get off without any consequences, but rather that their libidos don’t sentence them to an after-school special. Kids, if you value the freedom to make your own mistakes, do everything in your power to prevent your parents from seeing this film.
“Bang Gang” (more on that title later) begins with a flash-forward that’s hard to shake, the camera tracking through an airy house in the affluent coastal city of Biarritz as dozens of naked teenagers hump each other in all manner of positions; the scene is like the orgy sequence from “Eyes Wide Shut” as it might have been shot by Terry Richardson.
But Husson doesn’t let you gawp at all the lithe young bodies for long, as the film soon begins to feel the weight of some unknown heaviness. “It was the year no one could forget,” an anonymous voiceover solemnly intones, genuflecting on some past trauma with the same wistful sense of wisdom with which Leonardo DiCaprio remembered his time on a remote Thai beach.
Not that it matters much, but we’ll later learn that the voice belongs to Alex (the English-born Finnegan Oldfield), a lanky high school senior whose only discernible quality is a general disregard for other people’s feelings. He and his clownish best friend Nikita (Fred Hotier, one of the film’s numerous first-time actors) can often be found smoking a blunt somewhere and streaming videos of porn star Sasha Grey in action. These two boys own several of the opening scenes, but Husson’s attention seems anchored to the first girls with whom we see Alex and Nikita fool around: Laetitia (Daisy Broom) is a virginal brunette with a strict father. George (potential breakout star Marilyn Lima) is a compact blonde who looks like an Olsen twin by way of Vanessa Paradis.
Their roles seem codified by the color of their hair, especially when George and Alex have sex while their two comparatively demure friends watch from the sidelines, but Husson is itching to test your assumptions, and the dynamic between these characters is soon twisted beyond recognition with the introduction of a shy, curly-haired fifth wheel named Gabriel (Lorenzo Lefebvre).
Read More: Two Teens Discuss an Awkward Encounter in Exclusive Clip from ‘Bang Gang: A Love Story’
Betrayal! Anger! Jealousy! All of it shot with the dreamy poeticism of Andrea Arnold and glazed with a blissed-out electronic score by M83 collaborator White Sea. Alex doesn’t care about George — she’s a conquest, and he disposes of her as soon as she’s reaffirmed his self-worth. But George has an idea to ease her pain, an inclusive plan for all their friends that will allow her to view people as interchangeably as Alex does: She calls them “bang gangs,” but they’re basically orgies. Games of truth or dare in which “truth” isn’t an option. These kids are ready to maul each other to begin with, but sprinkle in some throbbing house music and a flurry of cocaine and you’re off to the races.
Each of these characters threaten to make this their movie at some point, and while that lack of focus prevents them from achieving even the slightest whiff of depth, it also endows Husson’s story with the mutability of teenage friendships, which tend to shift with the tides. To some extent, these kids become as interchangeable to us as they are to each other. As the film’s latter half descends into an overlong blur of bang gangs, the anonymity of all that sex increasingly begins to seem like the point, as George and her friends eagerly reduce their bodies to dildos and vessels because they all just want to feel wanted, no matter the cost.
You’ve never seen a high school movie with such a conspicuous absence of body shaming, as these horny teens give each other a satisfaction that they can’t give themselves. “We all have superpowers,” George declares to the camera before getting railed by a half-dozen dudes off-screen (Husson only shows enough of the action to make viewers believe in what’s happening behind closed doors, and her camera ogles the male cast members almost as much as it does the girls). But maybe they shouldn’t be quite so eager to record the sexcapades on their phones — welcome to the age of Chekhov’s YouTube video.
Storm clouds are clearly forming on the horizon from the start, as Husson repeatedly interlaces scenes with radio reports of a gruesome train derailment. It’s a clumsy attempt at illustrating the myopia of her characters, and one that doesn’t work without the sociopolitical heft that “A Bigger Splash” recently used to anchor the same technique. These boys and girls are clearly sticking their heads into the ground (or whatever holes they can find), but their broad tunnel-vision is spread too thin to maintain much of its taste. “Bang Gang” may have a bit more sizzle than Mia Hansen-Løve’s similarly themed “Goodbye, First Love,” but it desperately misses that film’s wonderful sensitivity.
But Husson, to her credit, does succeed in “making the darkness conscious” for these thirsty young fuck buddies. Their story is so whitewashed that it flirts with irresponsibility — there’s no violence, and any STDs contracted can be cured with a pill.
At one point, a girl refers to the simplicity of her abortion as “a modern day fairytale,” and the same description could be applied to the whole film. But if “Bang Gang” climaxes a bit too cleanly, its moral rings true all the same: Kids have to be kids before they can become adults.
Grade: B
“Bang Gang: A Love Story” opens in theaters on Friday.
Get the latest Box Office news! Sign up for our Box Office newsletter here.
Related stories'Bang Gang: A Modern Love Story' Exclusive Clip: Two French Teens Discuss An Awkward Encounter'Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)' Trailer and Poster: French Teens Explore Sexuality at Organized OrgiesNew Trailer For The Provocative 'Bang Gang: A Modern Love Story' Gets Naked...
Here is a rare new entry in that smallest of sub-genres: Movies that don’t punish teens for fucking their brains out (surprise surprise: it’s French). Which isn’t to say that the kids get off without any consequences, but rather that their libidos don’t sentence them to an after-school special. Kids, if you value the freedom to make your own mistakes, do everything in your power to prevent your parents from seeing this film.
“Bang Gang” (more on that title later) begins with a flash-forward that’s hard to shake, the camera tracking through an airy house in the affluent coastal city of Biarritz as dozens of naked teenagers hump each other in all manner of positions; the scene is like the orgy sequence from “Eyes Wide Shut” as it might have been shot by Terry Richardson.
But Husson doesn’t let you gawp at all the lithe young bodies for long, as the film soon begins to feel the weight of some unknown heaviness. “It was the year no one could forget,” an anonymous voiceover solemnly intones, genuflecting on some past trauma with the same wistful sense of wisdom with which Leonardo DiCaprio remembered his time on a remote Thai beach.
Not that it matters much, but we’ll later learn that the voice belongs to Alex (the English-born Finnegan Oldfield), a lanky high school senior whose only discernible quality is a general disregard for other people’s feelings. He and his clownish best friend Nikita (Fred Hotier, one of the film’s numerous first-time actors) can often be found smoking a blunt somewhere and streaming videos of porn star Sasha Grey in action. These two boys own several of the opening scenes, but Husson’s attention seems anchored to the first girls with whom we see Alex and Nikita fool around: Laetitia (Daisy Broom) is a virginal brunette with a strict father. George (potential breakout star Marilyn Lima) is a compact blonde who looks like an Olsen twin by way of Vanessa Paradis.
Their roles seem codified by the color of their hair, especially when George and Alex have sex while their two comparatively demure friends watch from the sidelines, but Husson is itching to test your assumptions, and the dynamic between these characters is soon twisted beyond recognition with the introduction of a shy, curly-haired fifth wheel named Gabriel (Lorenzo Lefebvre).
Read More: Two Teens Discuss an Awkward Encounter in Exclusive Clip from ‘Bang Gang: A Love Story’
Betrayal! Anger! Jealousy! All of it shot with the dreamy poeticism of Andrea Arnold and glazed with a blissed-out electronic score by M83 collaborator White Sea. Alex doesn’t care about George — she’s a conquest, and he disposes of her as soon as she’s reaffirmed his self-worth. But George has an idea to ease her pain, an inclusive plan for all their friends that will allow her to view people as interchangeably as Alex does: She calls them “bang gangs,” but they’re basically orgies. Games of truth or dare in which “truth” isn’t an option. These kids are ready to maul each other to begin with, but sprinkle in some throbbing house music and a flurry of cocaine and you’re off to the races.
Each of these characters threaten to make this their movie at some point, and while that lack of focus prevents them from achieving even the slightest whiff of depth, it also endows Husson’s story with the mutability of teenage friendships, which tend to shift with the tides. To some extent, these kids become as interchangeable to us as they are to each other. As the film’s latter half descends into an overlong blur of bang gangs, the anonymity of all that sex increasingly begins to seem like the point, as George and her friends eagerly reduce their bodies to dildos and vessels because they all just want to feel wanted, no matter the cost.
You’ve never seen a high school movie with such a conspicuous absence of body shaming, as these horny teens give each other a satisfaction that they can’t give themselves. “We all have superpowers,” George declares to the camera before getting railed by a half-dozen dudes off-screen (Husson only shows enough of the action to make viewers believe in what’s happening behind closed doors, and her camera ogles the male cast members almost as much as it does the girls). But maybe they shouldn’t be quite so eager to record the sexcapades on their phones — welcome to the age of Chekhov’s YouTube video.
Storm clouds are clearly forming on the horizon from the start, as Husson repeatedly interlaces scenes with radio reports of a gruesome train derailment. It’s a clumsy attempt at illustrating the myopia of her characters, and one that doesn’t work without the sociopolitical heft that “A Bigger Splash” recently used to anchor the same technique. These boys and girls are clearly sticking their heads into the ground (or whatever holes they can find), but their broad tunnel-vision is spread too thin to maintain much of its taste. “Bang Gang” may have a bit more sizzle than Mia Hansen-Løve’s similarly themed “Goodbye, First Love,” but it desperately misses that film’s wonderful sensitivity.
But Husson, to her credit, does succeed in “making the darkness conscious” for these thirsty young fuck buddies. Their story is so whitewashed that it flirts with irresponsibility — there’s no violence, and any STDs contracted can be cured with a pill.
At one point, a girl refers to the simplicity of her abortion as “a modern day fairytale,” and the same description could be applied to the whole film. But if “Bang Gang” climaxes a bit too cleanly, its moral rings true all the same: Kids have to be kids before they can become adults.
Grade: B
“Bang Gang: A Love Story” opens in theaters on Friday.
Get the latest Box Office news! Sign up for our Box Office newsletter here.
Related stories'Bang Gang: A Modern Love Story' Exclusive Clip: Two French Teens Discuss An Awkward Encounter'Bang Gang (A Modern Love Story)' Trailer and Poster: French Teens Explore Sexuality at Organized OrgiesNew Trailer For The Provocative 'Bang Gang: A Modern Love Story' Gets Naked...
- 6/15/2016
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
We’ve got questions, and you’ve (maybe) got answers! With another week of TV gone by, we’re lobbing queries left and right about shows including Castle, Empire, Grey’s Anatomy and Legends of Tomorrow!
1 | As fun and Batgirl-y it was to see Hawaii Five-0‘s Abby motorcycle to Grover’s rescue, gun a-blazing, did we ever learn how she escaped Shioma’s gunman?
2 | Admit it, Outlander fans: Wasn’t Jamie’s gruesome, duel-ending strike on Black Jack Randall kinda satisfying?
3 | Didn’t it look as if Once Upon a Time’s captured heroes could have at least tried...
1 | As fun and Batgirl-y it was to see Hawaii Five-0‘s Abby motorcycle to Grover’s rescue, gun a-blazing, did we ever learn how she escaped Shioma’s gunman?
2 | Admit it, Outlander fans: Wasn’t Jamie’s gruesome, duel-ending strike on Black Jack Randall kinda satisfying?
3 | Didn’t it look as if Once Upon a Time’s captured heroes could have at least tried...
- 5/20/2016
- TVLine.com
Sean Penn's Cannes competition film "The Last Face" got off to a rocky start Friday when an opening title card about war in Sudan and a man and woman in love drew laughter from many members of the audience. Things didn't get much better after that. Early reviews of the film have been largely negative, and IndieWire's own Eric Kohn called the film Penn's "worst movie." A love story between the head of an international aid organization (Charlize Theron) and a doctor (Javier Bardem) set against the backdrop of war-torn refugee camps in Africa, "The Last Face" deserves credit for creating amazingly realistic environments of civil war in South Sudan. The difficulties the two main characters have sustaining their romance, however, doesn't play well when interwoven with the much more consequential, true story of war. The remaining cast portraying doctors and aid workers includes french actors Adèle Exarchopoulos and Jean Reno and the.
- 5/20/2016
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Speaking to the press in her first Upfronts Week conference call since succeeding Paul Lee as the president of ABC Entertainment, Channing Dungey weighed in on the very recent decisions to end both Castle and Nashville.
RelatedABC Fall Schedule: Scandal Delayed, Kiefer Replaces Nashville, Middle and S.H.I.E.L.D. on the Move
Alluding to, among other things, how the former was set to move forward without leading lady Stana Katic, Dungey said, “The studios in each case were looking for the best creative and financial ways to make room [for new seasons]. They were definitely engaged in conversations [about how to] set them...
RelatedABC Fall Schedule: Scandal Delayed, Kiefer Replaces Nashville, Middle and S.H.I.E.L.D. on the Move
Alluding to, among other things, how the former was set to move forward without leading lady Stana Katic, Dungey said, “The studios in each case were looking for the best creative and financial ways to make room [for new seasons]. They were definitely engaged in conversations [about how to] set them...
- 5/17/2016
- TVLine.com
ABC is the third network, following NBC and Fox, to announce its schedule for the 2016-17 TV season, and among its major moves — though as suspected — Scandal will not return until midseason, while The Middle is relocating to a new neighborhood for Season 8.
ABC’s new entertainment president Channing Dungey conceded in a call with reporters that Scandal star Kerry Washington’s real-life pregnancy forced the network to “make some adjustments” with regard to scheduling the show.
RelatedFall TV Schedule 2016: What’s on When? And Versus What?
Filling the #Tgit gap on Thursdays in the fall will be Notorious,...
ABC’s new entertainment president Channing Dungey conceded in a call with reporters that Scandal star Kerry Washington’s real-life pregnancy forced the network to “make some adjustments” with regard to scheduling the show.
RelatedFall TV Schedule 2016: What’s on When? And Versus What?
Filling the #Tgit gap on Thursdays in the fall will be Notorious,...
- 5/17/2016
- TVLine.com
ABC’s Castle closed out its eight-season run on Monday with 7.8 million total viewers and a 1.3 rating, rising 16 percent and two tenths week-to-week to deliver season highs. Versus its previous finale, Castle was down just 7 percent and a tenth.
RelatedCastle Series Finale Recap: Plus, Rewatch the Special Final Scene
TVLine readers gave the closure-y series ender an average grade of “B-,” while Season 8 as a whole merited a “C+.”
RelatedCastle EPs Thank Fans for Watching ‘A Love Story for the Ages’
Opening ABC’s night, Dancing With the Stars (11.5 mil/1.8) ticked up.
RelatedDancing With the Stars Week 9 Recap: Which Two Couples Went Home?...
RelatedCastle Series Finale Recap: Plus, Rewatch the Special Final Scene
TVLine readers gave the closure-y series ender an average grade of “B-,” while Season 8 as a whole merited a “C+.”
RelatedCastle EPs Thank Fans for Watching ‘A Love Story for the Ages’
Opening ABC’s night, Dancing With the Stars (11.5 mil/1.8) ticked up.
RelatedDancing With the Stars Week 9 Recap: Which Two Couples Went Home?...
- 5/17/2016
- TVLine.com
She’s had an affair with a terminally ill (and very much married) man — and later, his son. She’s worn questionable wigs during questionable encounters with strangers. She tried on a “thruple” for size.
And now, Mistresses‘ Karen Kim looks like she’s ready to put three seasons of dubious decisions to good use.
RelatedABC Orders Notorious Drama, Jenna Elfman’s Imaginary Friend Sitcom
In the following first-look photos from the ABC sudser’s fourth season premiere (Monday, May 30, 10/9c), Yunjin Kim’s alter ego is giving a reading of her own book — Unleashed: One Woman’s Journey… — and...
And now, Mistresses‘ Karen Kim looks like she’s ready to put three seasons of dubious decisions to good use.
RelatedABC Orders Notorious Drama, Jenna Elfman’s Imaginary Friend Sitcom
In the following first-look photos from the ABC sudser’s fourth season premiere (Monday, May 30, 10/9c), Yunjin Kim’s alter ego is giving a reading of her own book — Unleashed: One Woman’s Journey… — and...
- 5/16/2016
- TVLine.com
The promos for Thursday’s Season 12 finale of Grey’s Anatomy (ABC, 8/7c) keep telling us that we are “cordially invited to the wedding event of the season.” And though we’ll be there with bells on, we can’t be quite so sure about the bride — those same promos suggest that Amelia’s feet may be getting too cold to walk down the aisle. Will the only “I do” she says be “I do not want to get married after all”? To find out, TVLine rang up Caterina Scorsone, the Private Practice veteran who plays Owen’s fiancée.
RelatedGrey...
RelatedGrey...
- 5/16/2016
- TVLine.com
Don Johnsonand Deborah Kara Unger (The Game, Silent Hill) have joined Nicolas Cage in the film Vegeance: A Love Story based on the Joyce Carol Oates novel Rape: A Love Story. The film, which also stars Anna Hutchison (The Cabin in the Woods) and Talitha Bateman (The 5th Wave) is about a little girl (Bateman) who flags down Niagara Falls Police Detective John Dromoor (Cage) after her mother (Hutchison) has been brutally raped by four meth heads. Unger plays the rape victim…...
- 5/12/2016
- Deadline
Check out the second dialogue promo of the upcoming Emraan Hashmi film, Azhar!
A love story that is so innocent & pure…Are you excited to witness the love between #Azhar & Naureen on 13th May? pic.twitter.com/6zWLis3kC0
— Azhar (@AzharTheFilm) May 4, 2016
Though Azhar is not a biopic, it is based on some well-known incidents and facts of former Indian cricket captain Azharuddin’s life. The film is directed by Tony D’Souza and stars Emraan Hashmi, Prachi Desai, Nargis Fakhri and Lara Dutta along with others. Produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor and Sony Pictures Networks, the film is slated to release on May 13th, 2016. It is a Balaji Motion Pictures and Sony Pictures Networks’ production.
The post Azhar – Second Dialogue Promo out now! appeared first on BollySpice.com.
A love story that is so innocent & pure…Are you excited to witness the love between #Azhar & Naureen on 13th May? pic.twitter.com/6zWLis3kC0
— Azhar (@AzharTheFilm) May 4, 2016
Though Azhar is not a biopic, it is based on some well-known incidents and facts of former Indian cricket captain Azharuddin’s life. The film is directed by Tony D’Souza and stars Emraan Hashmi, Prachi Desai, Nargis Fakhri and Lara Dutta along with others. Produced by Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor and Sony Pictures Networks, the film is slated to release on May 13th, 2016. It is a Balaji Motion Pictures and Sony Pictures Networks’ production.
The post Azhar – Second Dialogue Promo out now! appeared first on BollySpice.com.
- 5/5/2016
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
What do slaves, gunslingers, mutants and wizards have in common? They are all protagonists in movies coming out this year. There have been a string of intriguing trailers released lately, promoting films that are sure to attract thousands of fans waiting for these highly-anticipated movies. From The Girl on the Train to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Hollywood Reporter chose its favorite 10 trailers out right now. { "nid": 861648, "type": "news", "title": "'Me Before You' Trailer: A Love Story Starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin", "path": "http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/me-before-you-trailer-movie-book-emilia-clarke-
read more...
read more...
- 4/27/2016
- by THR Staff
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Cabin in the Woods” star Anna Hutchison has landed the female lead opposite Nicolas Cage in the indie thriller “Vengeance: A Love Story,” TheWrap has learned. Johnny Martin is directing from a script by John Mankiewicz (“House of Cards”), who adapted Joyce Carol Oates‘ award-winning 2003 novel “Rape: A Love Story.” Cage was previously attached to direct, but a scheduling conflict forced the actor to hand the reins to Martin, according to insiders. Cage plays a detective who seeks vengeance against four men who assaulted a single mother in front of her own young daughter. Hutchison will play the woman in.
- 4/22/2016
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
‘A love story about a married couple which has a large part of the narrative set inside the four walls of a house’
Now this could well be an antithesis of sorts when compared to conventional love stories for the big screen that don’t really need an excuse to head for those snow peaked mountains or exotic beaches. Time and again, Bollywood has been exposed to feel good affairs where visual beauty compliments the fun-n-entertaining narrative of the subject.
While director Balki has ensured that his Ki & Ka too stays on to be fun, vibrant and happy, he hasn’t fallen prey to the clichés that are usually associated with such tales of ‘happy ever after’. Instead, he along with his steady Dop PC Sreeram [Cheeni Kum, Paa, Shamitabh] have made sure that the look of Ki & Ka works even without such props.
“Exactly,” says Balki in a euphoric tone, “One of the...
Now this could well be an antithesis of sorts when compared to conventional love stories for the big screen that don’t really need an excuse to head for those snow peaked mountains or exotic beaches. Time and again, Bollywood has been exposed to feel good affairs where visual beauty compliments the fun-n-entertaining narrative of the subject.
While director Balki has ensured that his Ki & Ka too stays on to be fun, vibrant and happy, he hasn’t fallen prey to the clichés that are usually associated with such tales of ‘happy ever after’. Instead, he along with his steady Dop PC Sreeram [Cheeni Kum, Paa, Shamitabh] have made sure that the look of Ki & Ka works even without such props.
“Exactly,” says Balki in a euphoric tone, “One of the...
- 3/30/2016
- by Joginder Tuteja
- Bollyspice
Stolen. Rage. Trespass. It seems like Nicolas Cage can’t stay away from movies that involve kidnapping. If those three movies were “a phase” then we can consider it one that’s ongoing, as the Cagester has signed up to star in another kidnap thriller called Philly Fury.
Steven C. Miller (Marauders, Silent Night) directs from a script by Jason Mosberg. The story is described by Variety as “about a Philadelphia businessman whose deadbeat brother is kidnapped for a large ransom – leading everyone to believe that the brother is involved in the kidnapping. Cage’s character, who’s also a mobster, is forced to take action on his own.” It sounds like plenty of Cage’s previous roles, but I never tire from watching him bring on the Cage Rage, which he probably will in this.
Before he starts work on Philly Fury, Cage is stepping behind the camera to...
Steven C. Miller (Marauders, Silent Night) directs from a script by Jason Mosberg. The story is described by Variety as “about a Philadelphia businessman whose deadbeat brother is kidnapped for a large ransom – leading everyone to believe that the brother is involved in the kidnapping. Cage’s character, who’s also a mobster, is forced to take action on his own.” It sounds like plenty of Cage’s previous roles, but I never tire from watching him bring on the Cage Rage, which he probably will in this.
Before he starts work on Philly Fury, Cage is stepping behind the camera to...
- 3/17/2016
- by Gem Seddon
- We Got This Covered
Emerging from an eye-catching run on the festival circuit – where our own Sam Woolf championed the film as a must-see – today’s new trailer for The Lobster has slated Yorgos Lanthimos’ (Dogtooth) atypical, Orwellian love tale for a May release.
Headlining the bleak romantic comedy are Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, two hapless singletons that are forced to find love within an all-too-brief window of 45 days, lest they be ordered into the woods and transformed into animals. Well, we did say this isn’t your standard romcom.
Set in the not-so-distant future, Farrell plays up David’s toe-curling awkwardness remarkably well in the latest snippet, and while we’re fully expecting The Lobster to stick to a limited economy of words – brooding long shots over rambling monologues, etc. – we’re excited to see Farrell and Weisz’s forbidden chemistry play out in full in two months’ time. The Night Manager‘s Olivia Colman,...
Headlining the bleak romantic comedy are Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz, two hapless singletons that are forced to find love within an all-too-brief window of 45 days, lest they be ordered into the woods and transformed into animals. Well, we did say this isn’t your standard romcom.
Set in the not-so-distant future, Farrell plays up David’s toe-curling awkwardness remarkably well in the latest snippet, and while we’re fully expecting The Lobster to stick to a limited economy of words – brooding long shots over rambling monologues, etc. – we’re excited to see Farrell and Weisz’s forbidden chemistry play out in full in two months’ time. The Night Manager‘s Olivia Colman,...
- 3/16/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Coming out of the Cannes Film Festival, one of our favorites was Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Kubrickian, uproarious drama The Lobster. Toplined by Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw and John C. Reilly, it follows the peculiarly fascinating story in which singledom is banned and people are forced to find a match within 45 days or they turned into the animal of their choice. Once set to be released by Alchemy, financial troubles have caused them to give it up to A24, and the film was pulled just a few weeks prior to its March 11th release. The distributor has now settled on a new release date of May 13th, confirming to EW, as well as debuting a new trailer.
We said in our review, “In this first half, The Lobster closely resembles Dogtooth and Lanthimos again exhibits his aptitude for creating insular, ruthlessly regimented microcosms through which to unleash his scathing satire.
We said in our review, “In this first half, The Lobster closely resembles Dogtooth and Lanthimos again exhibits his aptitude for creating insular, ruthlessly regimented microcosms through which to unleash his scathing satire.
- 3/16/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Had things gone according to plan, audiences would already be enjoying "The Lobster." However, shortly after the first U.S. trailer for the movie arrived, its previous distributor Alchemy ran into some financial trouble and began selling off the rights to films under their roof, with Yorgos Lanthimos' movie landing at A24. All was quiet for a while, but the good news is that the delay in reaching cinemas won't be too long for this oddball film. Read More: Cannes Review: Yorgos Lanthimos' Outstanding 'The Lobster' Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz & John C Reilly Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux, and Ben Whishaw star in the film, which chronicles the search for love through the very distinct lens of the Greek auteur, who brings a premise that's perhaps best explained by the the official synopsis below: A love story set in the near future where single people,...
- 3/16/2016
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Nicolas Cage has signed on to direct and star in a new film called Vengeance: A Love Story. This wouldn’t be the first time that Cage has directed a movie. In 2002, he directed James Franco in a movie called Sonny.
The new film project is based on a novel written by Joyce Carol Oates called Rape: A Love Story. Cage will play Detective John Dromoor in the film, “who is asked to help a woman named Teena, who is gang-raped over the Fourth of July weekend. Teena's daughter, who witnessed the attack, asks the detective to help her when it seems that her mother's attackers may be getting away with it when the lawyers put the focus on Teena's credibility, based on her sobriety and sexual promiscuity.” Harold Becker was previously set to direct, but now Cage has taken over.
This sounds like it will be a pretty heavy movie.
The new film project is based on a novel written by Joyce Carol Oates called Rape: A Love Story. Cage will play Detective John Dromoor in the film, “who is asked to help a woman named Teena, who is gang-raped over the Fourth of July weekend. Teena's daughter, who witnessed the attack, asks the detective to help her when it seems that her mother's attackers may be getting away with it when the lawyers put the focus on Teena's credibility, based on her sobriety and sexual promiscuity.” Harold Becker was previously set to direct, but now Cage has taken over.
This sounds like it will be a pretty heavy movie.
- 3/13/2016
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Marking only his second foray behind the camera in a decade, Nicolas Cage is poised to assume directorial duties on indie love thriller Vengeance: A Love Story.
That’s according to Variety, revealing that Cage will replace Harold Becker in the director’s chair. Having only been attached to the project last month, it’s an early departure for Becker. Back then, Nicolas Cage was on board to star in the adaptation, though the A-lister is now primed to helm his first feature film since 2002’s widely derided Sonny.
John Mankiewicz (House, House of Cards) is lending his hand to adapt Joyce Carol Oates’s 2003 novel, which goes by the more startling title Rape: A Love Story, and will tell the tale of Teena Maguire, a 30-year-old single mother who was brutally gang raped and left for dead at the hands of deranged meth heads. Witnessed by her daughter, Bethie,...
That’s according to Variety, revealing that Cage will replace Harold Becker in the director’s chair. Having only been attached to the project last month, it’s an early departure for Becker. Back then, Nicolas Cage was on board to star in the adaptation, though the A-lister is now primed to helm his first feature film since 2002’s widely derided Sonny.
John Mankiewicz (House, House of Cards) is lending his hand to adapt Joyce Carol Oates’s 2003 novel, which goes by the more startling title Rape: A Love Story, and will tell the tale of Teena Maguire, a 30-year-old single mother who was brutally gang raped and left for dead at the hands of deranged meth heads. Witnessed by her daughter, Bethie,...
- 3/9/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
After attaching himself to star in “Vengeance: A Love Story” back in February, Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage has signed on to direct the indie thriller, it was announced Tuesday by Michael Mendelsohn (“I Am Wrath”) of Patriot Pictures and Union Patriot Capital Management. John Mankiewicz (“House of Cards”) wrote the script, which is based on Joyce Carol Oates‘ award-winning 2003 novel “Rape: A Love Story.” The story follows a single mother who is raped by four meth addicts, left for dead, and nursed back to health by her own mother. When the perpetrators make bail and are released from prison, their.
- 3/8/2016
- by Jeff Sneider
- The Wrap
Nicolas Cage will not only star in Vengeance: A Love Story, but he also has signed on to direct the film. Cage, who previously helmed the 2002 film Sonny starring James Franco, will star as Detective John Dromoor in the film, which is based on Joyce Carol Oates' novel Rape: A Love Story. The story centers on Cage's detective character who is asked to help a woman named Teena, who is gang-raped over the Fourth of July weekend. Teena's daughter, who witnessed the attack, asks the detective to help her when it seems that her mother's attackers may be getting away
read more...
read more...
- 3/8/2016
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Oscar-winning actor is attached to star in Vengeance: A Love Story and will direct the project.
Hannibal Classics serves as sales agent and Patriot Pictures CEO Michael Mendelsohn produces the story about a detective on the case of four meth addicts charged with the rape of a young woman.
Production is scheduled for April 4 in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I’m excited to work on Vengeance: A Love Story and bring Joyce Carol Oates’ bittersweet novel to the screen,” said Cage.
“Storytelling has always been my passion and I’m honoured to work with this talented team to tell a tale of the suffering too many women have endured.”
John Mankiewicz adapted the screenplay to Oates’ novel, Rape: A Love Story.
Harold Becker and Mike Nilon are executive producers alongside Hannibal’s Richard Rionda Del Castro
“I love working with Nicolas Cage. He is a scholar, gentleman, and a talented actor. Delighted to work...
Hannibal Classics serves as sales agent and Patriot Pictures CEO Michael Mendelsohn produces the story about a detective on the case of four meth addicts charged with the rape of a young woman.
Production is scheduled for April 4 in Atlanta, Georgia.
“I’m excited to work on Vengeance: A Love Story and bring Joyce Carol Oates’ bittersweet novel to the screen,” said Cage.
“Storytelling has always been my passion and I’m honoured to work with this talented team to tell a tale of the suffering too many women have endured.”
John Mankiewicz adapted the screenplay to Oates’ novel, Rape: A Love Story.
Harold Becker and Mike Nilon are executive producers alongside Hannibal’s Richard Rionda Del Castro
“I love working with Nicolas Cage. He is a scholar, gentleman, and a talented actor. Delighted to work...
- 3/8/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The brand new trailer has arrived for The Lobster. The film is from director Yorgos Lanthimos.
In his Fantastic Fest review, Michael Haffner says the movie, “is ultimately a dark comedy that cuts into the center of society’s need for companionship.”
A love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against their rules.
Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Riley, Léa Seydoux and Ben Whishaw, The Lobster opens in theaters March 11th.
For more information:
www.lobstermovie.com
The post Watch Colin Farrell...
In his Fantastic Fest review, Michael Haffner says the movie, “is ultimately a dark comedy that cuts into the center of society’s need for companionship.”
A love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against their rules.
Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Riley, Léa Seydoux and Ben Whishaw, The Lobster opens in theaters March 11th.
For more information:
www.lobstermovie.com
The post Watch Colin Farrell...
- 2/9/2016
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Nicolas Cage has spent the past five years or so buried in mostly-forgettable movies. I heard good things about 2013's Joe but didn't have a chance to see it myself, and other than that, it seems like the last thing he was in that I really enjoyed was the first Kick-Ass all the way back in 2010. The Academy Award-winning actor has just joined a new project, but sadly, it sounds more in line with his more recent output instead of a true return to form.
Variety reports that Cage will star in Vengeance: A Love Story, a movie based on Joyce Carol Oates' 2003 novel Rape: A Love Story. The plot follows a single mother who is gang raped, and the Gulf War veteran/cop who vows to get revenge on the men who left her for dead. Sounds pretty brutal, but we'll see if John Mankiewicz's screenplay and...
Variety reports that Cage will star in Vengeance: A Love Story, a movie based on Joyce Carol Oates' 2003 novel Rape: A Love Story. The plot follows a single mother who is gang raped, and the Gulf War veteran/cop who vows to get revenge on the men who left her for dead. Sounds pretty brutal, but we'll see if John Mankiewicz's screenplay and...
- 2/8/2016
- by Ben Pearson
- GeekTyrant
Anxious singletons and forbidden love take center stage in the latest trailer for The Lobster, the near-future Orwellian love story coming by way of Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, Julieta).
If the past 24 hours have been dominated with whimsical summer blockbuster, then today’s snippet from Lanthimos’ genre hybrid ought to act as the perfect palette cleanser. Thrusting Colin Farrell’s David into a dystopian future, the narrative driving The Lobster orbits around one single and ingenious premise: singletons are forced to find love within 45 days or they’re banished to the woods and transformed into animals.
Such a bizarre twist of events naturally breeds an air of palpable awkwardness between the residents at The Hotel, with Rachel Weisz, John C. Riley, Léa Seydoux, and Ben Whishaw joining the list of hapless romantics in search of a significant other – lest the turn into woodland creatures. With an excellent premise at its core,...
If the past 24 hours have been dominated with whimsical summer blockbuster, then today’s snippet from Lanthimos’ genre hybrid ought to act as the perfect palette cleanser. Thrusting Colin Farrell’s David into a dystopian future, the narrative driving The Lobster orbits around one single and ingenious premise: singletons are forced to find love within 45 days or they’re banished to the woods and transformed into animals.
Such a bizarre twist of events naturally breeds an air of palpable awkwardness between the residents at The Hotel, with Rachel Weisz, John C. Riley, Léa Seydoux, and Ben Whishaw joining the list of hapless romantics in search of a significant other – lest the turn into woodland creatures. With an excellent premise at its core,...
- 2/8/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
If you need to wash the blitzkrieg of Hollywood advertising out of your eyes following last night's Super Bowl spot frenzy, the arthouse has you covered. Earlier we got the new international trailer for Pedro Almodovar's "Julieta," and new comes a fresh U.S. spot for Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Lobster." Read More: Watch: BFI London Q&A With The Cast Of ‘The Lobster’ Plus Lots Of New Photos & Featurette Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux, and Ben Whishaw star in the movie from the Greek auteur, that naturally features a high concept narrative about love, with dashes of sci-fi, oddball humor, and more. Here's the official synopsis: Read More: Cannes Review: Yorgos Lanthimos' Outstanding 'The Lobster' Starring Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz & John C Reilly A love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City,...
- 2/8/2016
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Coming out of the Cannes Film Festival, one of our favorites was Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Kubrickian, uproarious drama The Lobster. Toplined by Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw and John C. Reilly, it follows the peculiarly fascinating story in which singledom is banned and people are forced to find a match within 45 days or they turned into the animal of their choice. Finally set to arriving in the U.S. next month, we have the first domestic trailer.
We said in our review, “In this first half, The Lobster closely resembles Dogtooth and Lanthimos again exhibits his aptitude for creating insular, ruthlessly regimented microcosms through which to unleash his scathing satire. Unlike that of its predecessor, however, the attributes of this warped world are immediately familiar, even relatable. As a result, the director’s trademark deadpan humor is no longer simply droll, but uproarious – and also inescapably implicating. Lanthimos and his Dp,...
We said in our review, “In this first half, The Lobster closely resembles Dogtooth and Lanthimos again exhibits his aptitude for creating insular, ruthlessly regimented microcosms through which to unleash his scathing satire. Unlike that of its predecessor, however, the attributes of this warped world are immediately familiar, even relatable. As a result, the director’s trademark deadpan humor is no longer simply droll, but uproarious – and also inescapably implicating. Lanthimos and his Dp,...
- 2/8/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
For a guy who starred in only three movies, James Dean has had an oversized impact on pop culture.
Eighty-five years after his birth (on February 8, 1931) and 60 years after the release of his final film ("Giant"), Dean is still our top poster boy for teen angst. And it didn't hurt his legend that his death in a car crash at age 24 meant we never had to watch him grow old, lose his looks, sell out, or make a bad film.
As iconic and familiar as Dean has remained for six decades, there's still plenty of mystery behind this lost-too-soon idol. In honor of his 85th, here are 10 things you need to know about the "Rebel Without a Cause" star.
1. Though he typically played the brooding outsider, Dean was a jock and a team player as a teen. He excelled at baseball, basketball, and pole vaulting in high school and took up fencing in college.
Eighty-five years after his birth (on February 8, 1931) and 60 years after the release of his final film ("Giant"), Dean is still our top poster boy for teen angst. And it didn't hurt his legend that his death in a car crash at age 24 meant we never had to watch him grow old, lose his looks, sell out, or make a bad film.
As iconic and familiar as Dean has remained for six decades, there's still plenty of mystery behind this lost-too-soon idol. In honor of his 85th, here are 10 things you need to know about the "Rebel Without a Cause" star.
1. Though he typically played the brooding outsider, Dean was a jock and a team player as a teen. He excelled at baseball, basketball, and pole vaulting in high school and took up fencing in college.
- 2/6/2016
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Each weekend we highlight the best repertory programming that New York City has to offer, and it’s about to get even better. Opening on February 19th at 7 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side is Metrograph, the city’s newest indie movie theater. Sporting two screens, they’ve announced their first slate, which includes retrospectives for Fassbinder, Wiseman, Eustache, and more, special programs such as an ode to the moviegoing experience, and new independent features that we’ve admired on the festival circuit (including Afternoon, Office 3D, and Measure of a Man).
Artistic and Programming Director Jacob Perlin says in a press release, “Jean Eustache in a Rocky t-shirt. This is the image we had in mind while making this first calendar. Great cinema is there, wherever you can find it. The dismissed film now recognized as a classic, the forgotten box-office hit newly resurrected, the high and the low,...
Artistic and Programming Director Jacob Perlin says in a press release, “Jean Eustache in a Rocky t-shirt. This is the image we had in mind while making this first calendar. Great cinema is there, wherever you can find it. The dismissed film now recognized as a classic, the forgotten box-office hit newly resurrected, the high and the low,...
- 1/20/2016
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Doha Film Institute has announced the recipients of the Fall 2015 session of its grants program following the Dubai International Film Festival, where 15 of the Institute’s previous grantees, 4 of which are world premieres, were showcased. Thirty projects from 19 countries – comprising 16 feature-length narrative films, 10 feature documentaries and 4 short films – will receive funding for development, production or post-production.
The Fall session marks the 11th session of the grants program, which is dedicated to supporting new cinematic talent, with a focus on first- and second-time filmmakers.
Twenty-four of the projects are from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, while 6 are from the rest of the world. For the first time, filmmakers from Chile, Peru and Spain will receive funding from the program.
Stories of displacement, physical or spiritual journeys, tales of family life, the power of nature and the importance of protecting the environment are highlighted in the selections this Fall.
Four projects from Qatar-based filmmakers were awarded grants – Hafiz Ali Abdullah’s "The Search for the Star Pearl," about a young pearl diver from Doha who discovers a map to the most valuable gem on Earth, and sets sail with three teenage friends in search of it; Hamida Al Kawari’s "To the Ends of the Earth" – the first Qatari feature documentary to receive a grant from the Institute – which follows a Qatari woman on an environmental expedition to Antarctica in search of hope; A.J. Al Thani’s "Kashta," a family drama about a father who takes his sons out into the desert to teach them about hunting and survival; and Hend Fakhroo’s "The Waiting Room," about an Arab and a Western family who find themselves sharing a hospital room.
Among the 30 projects selected for funding, 5 are from Morocco – Fyzal Boulifa’s "Pagan Magic," the story of a poor youngster working as a maid for a middle-class family; second-time grantee Uda Benyamina’s "Bastard," about a 15-year-old girl who lives with her mother in a rough Parisian suburb; Yakout Elhababi’s "Behind the Doors," which looks at family life and childhood set high in the Rif mountains of Morocco; Hind Bensari’s "Weight Throwers," a documentary look at the struggles of two young athletes as they train for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro; and "Behind The Wall," by Karima Zoubir, a short film set in a Casablanca slum.
Also featuring strongly are three animation projects – established filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour’s "Miss Camel," the story of a teenage Saudi camel who challenges the deep-rooted restrictions of her culture by travelling across the kingdom to compete in the Miss Camel beauty pageant in Doha; Mortada Gzar’s "Language," about a blind man on the streets of Baghdad who wakes up as a giant and reads the devastation of the city by touch; and Hafiz Ali Abdullah’s "The Search for the Star Pearl."
As in several previous sessions of the grants program, powerful projects from Argentina have also secured funding. Milagros Mumenthaler’s Swiss/Argentinian film "The Idea of a Lake" is about a photographer who undergoes a personal exploration of her past and the absence of her father while creating a book of her work, while Maximiliano Schonfeld’s "The Black Frost" is a drama set on a plantation where a pernicious black frost threatens to devastate the countryside until a mysterious woman arrives.
Continuing the environmental theme, Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel’s "When Two Worlds Collide" is the story of an indigenous Peruvian man and his people, and of the fate of one of our planet’s most valuable natural resources – the Amazon rainforest. The film, which has its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, is the first-ever Peruvian recipient of a grant from the Institute.
Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of the Doha Film Institute, said: “Our Fall grantees cover a broad range of subjects and represent some powerful new voices in cinema, especially from Qatar and North Africa with several projects supported from Morocco and Algeria.”
“Animated films are very popular in our region so it is very encouraging to see an acclaimed filmmaker like Haifaa Al Mansour turn her skills to this important genre; we support two other animated projects in this grants cycle as well.”
“Our grantees represent the core of the Doha Film Institute’s mandate to support emerging filmmakers and contribute to the development of the regional film industry. We have supported more than 255 films since the inception of the grants program and we continue to seek out projects with a strong directorial vision that are challenging, creative and thought-provoking. Our new round of grantees is no exception and I am delighted to welcome this outstanding crop of projects to our growing community of grantee alumni.”
Submissions for the next funding round open January 6 and close January 19, 2016. Funding is available to projects by filmmakers from around the world, with an emphasis on support for filmmakers from the Mena region. Certain categories of funding reserved for Mena and Qatari filmmakers.
The fund is primarily for first and second-time filmmakers. Post-production funding is available to established filmmakers from the Mena region.
For more information about eligibility and submissions, please visit
http://www.dohafilminstitute.com/financing/grants/guidelines
A full directory of past grant recipients is available to view at
http://www.dohafilminstitute.com/financing/projects/grants
The Doha Film Institute Grants Program funding recipients for the Fall 2015 session are:
Feature Narrative / Development
"Death Street" by Mohanad Hayal (Iraq)
Tariq, the sniper of Haifa Street in Baghdad, kills Ahmed on his wedding day. While Tariq prevents anyone from approaching the corpse in the street, an intimate and telling drama unfolds.
"Miss Camel" by Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudia Arabia)
A teenage Saudi camel challenges the deep-rooted restrictions of her culture by traveling across the kingdom to compete in the Miss Camel beauty pageant in Doha.
"Pagan Magic" by Fyzal Boulifa (Morocco, France)
A young, poor and uneducated girl works as a maid for a middle-class family in contemporary Morocco. Her use of pagan rites to confront her entrapment and make sense of her world ultimately corrupt her.
"The Search for the Star Pearl" by Hafiz Ali Abdullah (Qatar)
Ali, a 17-year-old pearl diver from Doha, discovers a map to the Star Pearl of Abu Derya, the most valuable gem on Earth, and sets sail with three teenaged friends in search of the pearl. Along the way, they face mythological beasts that challenge their skills and friendship.
Feature Narrative / Production
"Cactus Flower" by Hala Elkoussy (Egypt)
A flood leaves three Cairenes homeless. As they journey across the city in search of shelter, they depend upon one another to survive and keep their dreams alive.
"Poisonous Roses" by Fawzi Saleh (Egypt)
The world has left nothing to Taheya apart from her brother Saqr. When he disappears, Taheya pursues him in desperation.
"The Return" by Meyar Al-Roumi (Syria, France)
A love story blossoms between Taysir and Lina, exiles from Syria, while they drive across their homeland to bury Taysir’s brother, a victim of the armed conflict.
"Till the Swallows Return" by Karim Moussaoui (Algeria, France)
This is the story of three characters who are a product of the conflicted Algeria of the 2000s. Their ideals shattered and their moral strength drained, each now faces a difficult life choice.
Feature Narrative / Post-production
"Bastard" by Uda Benyamina (Morocco, France)
Fifteen-year-old Dounia lives with her mother in a rough Parisian suburb, where she has been saddled with the nickname “bastard”.
"The Black Frost" by Maximiliano Schonfeld (Argentina)
Soon after a mysterious woman arrives on a plantation, a pernicious black frost ceases to devastate the countryside. Hope emerges. Might she might be a saviour?
"Blue Bicycle" by Ümit Köreken (Turkey)
Young Ali saves up all the money he can working at a tyre repair shop to buy a coveted blue bicycle. Meanwhile, at school, his love for his schoolmate Elif leads him to defend her dismissal as school president. A story of childish love, dreams and resistance.
"The Dark Wind" by Hussein Hassan (Iraq)
Radical Islamists attack a village in Iraq where two young Yazidis are preparing for their marriage. At that moment, their lives become a nightmare.
"The Idea of a Lake" (note: previously titled Air Pocket) by Milagros Mumenthaler (Switzerland, Argentina)
Inés, a photographer, is creating a book of her work. Gradually, the process becomes a personal exploration of her past and the absence of her father, who was disappeared during the military dictatorship in Argentina.
"The Mimosas" by Oliver Laxe (Spain, Morocco, France)
In the Atlas Mountains in the past, a caravan searches for the path to take a Sufi master home to die. Among the party is Ahmed, a rascal who eventually becomes inspired to lead the caravan to its destination. Along the way, he is assisted by Shakib, a man sent from contemporary Morocco to guide Ahmed on his journey.
"Rey" (King) by Niles Atallah (Chile)
In 1860, a French lawyer dreamed of becoming the King of Patagonia – and he did just that. Or so it seemed.
"Suspension" by Ala Eddine Slim (Tunisia)
N is a candidate for an illegal crossing of the Mediterranean from Tunisia. A supernatural voyage, during which N will confront Nature and himself, begins.
Feature Documentary / Development
"Agnus Dei" by Karim Sayad (Algeria, Switzerland)
In Algeria, Ali and his sheep, bought for slaughter on Eid Al-Adha, are getting ready for the fight. Once the bets are in, the referee invites the owners into the ring…
"Behind the Doors" by Yakout Elhababi (Morocco)
High in the Rif mountains of Morocco, the people survive by growing kif. Beneath the shadow of the ambiguous legality of the crop, ‘Behind the Doors’ tells the story of a family through its children and their mirroring games.
"The Great Family" by Eliane Raheb (Lebanon)
In 1976, at the age of four, Marlene was put up for adoption in Lebanon and raised in France. In delving into her past, she discovers she is a survivor of the massacre at the Tal Al-Zaatar Palestinian refugee camp, and a family of survivors grows around her.
Feature Documentary / Production
"The Colonel’s Stray Dogs" by Khalid Shamis (Libya, South Africa)
While director Khalid Shamis watched television in his suburban London home, his father was plotting the overthrow of Muammar Gadaffi in his study. When the regime fell, Shamis sought answers about Libya under Gadaffi and his father’s role in its failed liberation.
"Ibrahim" by Lina Alabed (Jordan)
‘Ibrahim’ uncovers the long journey of the director’s father as a young man, when he was a secret member of Abu Nidal, a militant Palestinian revolutionary organisation.
"Searching for Janitou" by Mohamed El Amine hattou (Algeria)
A journey to unravel love in past and contemporary Algeria by exploring the unique phenomenon of a Bollywood film that swept the country in the 1980s.
"To the Ends of the Earth" by Hamida Al Kawari ( Qatar)
A Qatari woman travels on an environmental expedition to Antarctica in search of hope, before returning to the Gulf and finding unity and inspiration for positive change.
"Weight Throwers" by Hind Bensari (Morocco)
‘Weight Thowers’ follows the struggles of Azzedine and Youssef, disabled members of Morocco’s unemployed and disillusioned young generation, as they struggle to train for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Feature Documentary / Post-production
"Tadmor" by Lokman Slim, Monika Borgmann (Lebanon)
A group of Lebanese men re-enact the ordeals they experienced as detainees in Syria’s notorious Tadmor prison. An ode to the human will to survive.
"When Two Worlds Collide" by Heidi Brandenburg, Mathew Orzel (Peru)
A story of a man and a people, and of the fate of one of our planet’s most valuable natural resources – the Amazon rainforest.
Short Narrative / Production
"Behind the Wall" by Karima Zoubir (Morocco)
Nadia, a little girl, lives in a Casablanca slum that is surrounded by a wall. One day, the municipality begins to paint the wall – but why this sudden interest?
"Kashta" by A.J. Al Thani (Qatar)
A father takes his two sons out to the desert to learn about hunting and survival, but the results are not quite what he was expecting.
"Language" by Mortada Gzar (Iraq)
An old blind man walks throught the streets of Baghdad, then falls asleep while reading a book in Braille. When he wakes up, he finds he has become a giant and reads the devastation of the city by touch.
"The Waiting Room" by Hind Fakhroo (Qatar)
An Arab family and a Western family find themselves sharing a hospital room; the only thing that separates them is a curtain.
The Fall session marks the 11th session of the grants program, which is dedicated to supporting new cinematic talent, with a focus on first- and second-time filmmakers.
Twenty-four of the projects are from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, while 6 are from the rest of the world. For the first time, filmmakers from Chile, Peru and Spain will receive funding from the program.
Stories of displacement, physical or spiritual journeys, tales of family life, the power of nature and the importance of protecting the environment are highlighted in the selections this Fall.
Four projects from Qatar-based filmmakers were awarded grants – Hafiz Ali Abdullah’s "The Search for the Star Pearl," about a young pearl diver from Doha who discovers a map to the most valuable gem on Earth, and sets sail with three teenage friends in search of it; Hamida Al Kawari’s "To the Ends of the Earth" – the first Qatari feature documentary to receive a grant from the Institute – which follows a Qatari woman on an environmental expedition to Antarctica in search of hope; A.J. Al Thani’s "Kashta," a family drama about a father who takes his sons out into the desert to teach them about hunting and survival; and Hend Fakhroo’s "The Waiting Room," about an Arab and a Western family who find themselves sharing a hospital room.
Among the 30 projects selected for funding, 5 are from Morocco – Fyzal Boulifa’s "Pagan Magic," the story of a poor youngster working as a maid for a middle-class family; second-time grantee Uda Benyamina’s "Bastard," about a 15-year-old girl who lives with her mother in a rough Parisian suburb; Yakout Elhababi’s "Behind the Doors," which looks at family life and childhood set high in the Rif mountains of Morocco; Hind Bensari’s "Weight Throwers," a documentary look at the struggles of two young athletes as they train for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro; and "Behind The Wall," by Karima Zoubir, a short film set in a Casablanca slum.
Also featuring strongly are three animation projects – established filmmaker Haifaa Al Mansour’s "Miss Camel," the story of a teenage Saudi camel who challenges the deep-rooted restrictions of her culture by travelling across the kingdom to compete in the Miss Camel beauty pageant in Doha; Mortada Gzar’s "Language," about a blind man on the streets of Baghdad who wakes up as a giant and reads the devastation of the city by touch; and Hafiz Ali Abdullah’s "The Search for the Star Pearl."
As in several previous sessions of the grants program, powerful projects from Argentina have also secured funding. Milagros Mumenthaler’s Swiss/Argentinian film "The Idea of a Lake" is about a photographer who undergoes a personal exploration of her past and the absence of her father while creating a book of her work, while Maximiliano Schonfeld’s "The Black Frost" is a drama set on a plantation where a pernicious black frost threatens to devastate the countryside until a mysterious woman arrives.
Continuing the environmental theme, Heidi Brandenburg and Mathew Orzel’s "When Two Worlds Collide" is the story of an indigenous Peruvian man and his people, and of the fate of one of our planet’s most valuable natural resources – the Amazon rainforest. The film, which has its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January, is the first-ever Peruvian recipient of a grant from the Institute.
Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of the Doha Film Institute, said: “Our Fall grantees cover a broad range of subjects and represent some powerful new voices in cinema, especially from Qatar and North Africa with several projects supported from Morocco and Algeria.”
“Animated films are very popular in our region so it is very encouraging to see an acclaimed filmmaker like Haifaa Al Mansour turn her skills to this important genre; we support two other animated projects in this grants cycle as well.”
“Our grantees represent the core of the Doha Film Institute’s mandate to support emerging filmmakers and contribute to the development of the regional film industry. We have supported more than 255 films since the inception of the grants program and we continue to seek out projects with a strong directorial vision that are challenging, creative and thought-provoking. Our new round of grantees is no exception and I am delighted to welcome this outstanding crop of projects to our growing community of grantee alumni.”
Submissions for the next funding round open January 6 and close January 19, 2016. Funding is available to projects by filmmakers from around the world, with an emphasis on support for filmmakers from the Mena region. Certain categories of funding reserved for Mena and Qatari filmmakers.
The fund is primarily for first and second-time filmmakers. Post-production funding is available to established filmmakers from the Mena region.
For more information about eligibility and submissions, please visit
http://www.dohafilminstitute.com/financing/grants/guidelines
A full directory of past grant recipients is available to view at
http://www.dohafilminstitute.com/financing/projects/grants
The Doha Film Institute Grants Program funding recipients for the Fall 2015 session are:
Feature Narrative / Development
"Death Street" by Mohanad Hayal (Iraq)
Tariq, the sniper of Haifa Street in Baghdad, kills Ahmed on his wedding day. While Tariq prevents anyone from approaching the corpse in the street, an intimate and telling drama unfolds.
"Miss Camel" by Haifaa Al Mansour (Saudia Arabia)
A teenage Saudi camel challenges the deep-rooted restrictions of her culture by traveling across the kingdom to compete in the Miss Camel beauty pageant in Doha.
"Pagan Magic" by Fyzal Boulifa (Morocco, France)
A young, poor and uneducated girl works as a maid for a middle-class family in contemporary Morocco. Her use of pagan rites to confront her entrapment and make sense of her world ultimately corrupt her.
"The Search for the Star Pearl" by Hafiz Ali Abdullah (Qatar)
Ali, a 17-year-old pearl diver from Doha, discovers a map to the Star Pearl of Abu Derya, the most valuable gem on Earth, and sets sail with three teenaged friends in search of the pearl. Along the way, they face mythological beasts that challenge their skills and friendship.
Feature Narrative / Production
"Cactus Flower" by Hala Elkoussy (Egypt)
A flood leaves three Cairenes homeless. As they journey across the city in search of shelter, they depend upon one another to survive and keep their dreams alive.
"Poisonous Roses" by Fawzi Saleh (Egypt)
The world has left nothing to Taheya apart from her brother Saqr. When he disappears, Taheya pursues him in desperation.
"The Return" by Meyar Al-Roumi (Syria, France)
A love story blossoms between Taysir and Lina, exiles from Syria, while they drive across their homeland to bury Taysir’s brother, a victim of the armed conflict.
"Till the Swallows Return" by Karim Moussaoui (Algeria, France)
This is the story of three characters who are a product of the conflicted Algeria of the 2000s. Their ideals shattered and their moral strength drained, each now faces a difficult life choice.
Feature Narrative / Post-production
"Bastard" by Uda Benyamina (Morocco, France)
Fifteen-year-old Dounia lives with her mother in a rough Parisian suburb, where she has been saddled with the nickname “bastard”.
"The Black Frost" by Maximiliano Schonfeld (Argentina)
Soon after a mysterious woman arrives on a plantation, a pernicious black frost ceases to devastate the countryside. Hope emerges. Might she might be a saviour?
"Blue Bicycle" by Ümit Köreken (Turkey)
Young Ali saves up all the money he can working at a tyre repair shop to buy a coveted blue bicycle. Meanwhile, at school, his love for his schoolmate Elif leads him to defend her dismissal as school president. A story of childish love, dreams and resistance.
"The Dark Wind" by Hussein Hassan (Iraq)
Radical Islamists attack a village in Iraq where two young Yazidis are preparing for their marriage. At that moment, their lives become a nightmare.
"The Idea of a Lake" (note: previously titled Air Pocket) by Milagros Mumenthaler (Switzerland, Argentina)
Inés, a photographer, is creating a book of her work. Gradually, the process becomes a personal exploration of her past and the absence of her father, who was disappeared during the military dictatorship in Argentina.
"The Mimosas" by Oliver Laxe (Spain, Morocco, France)
In the Atlas Mountains in the past, a caravan searches for the path to take a Sufi master home to die. Among the party is Ahmed, a rascal who eventually becomes inspired to lead the caravan to its destination. Along the way, he is assisted by Shakib, a man sent from contemporary Morocco to guide Ahmed on his journey.
"Rey" (King) by Niles Atallah (Chile)
In 1860, a French lawyer dreamed of becoming the King of Patagonia – and he did just that. Or so it seemed.
"Suspension" by Ala Eddine Slim (Tunisia)
N is a candidate for an illegal crossing of the Mediterranean from Tunisia. A supernatural voyage, during which N will confront Nature and himself, begins.
Feature Documentary / Development
"Agnus Dei" by Karim Sayad (Algeria, Switzerland)
In Algeria, Ali and his sheep, bought for slaughter on Eid Al-Adha, are getting ready for the fight. Once the bets are in, the referee invites the owners into the ring…
"Behind the Doors" by Yakout Elhababi (Morocco)
High in the Rif mountains of Morocco, the people survive by growing kif. Beneath the shadow of the ambiguous legality of the crop, ‘Behind the Doors’ tells the story of a family through its children and their mirroring games.
"The Great Family" by Eliane Raheb (Lebanon)
In 1976, at the age of four, Marlene was put up for adoption in Lebanon and raised in France. In delving into her past, she discovers she is a survivor of the massacre at the Tal Al-Zaatar Palestinian refugee camp, and a family of survivors grows around her.
Feature Documentary / Production
"The Colonel’s Stray Dogs" by Khalid Shamis (Libya, South Africa)
While director Khalid Shamis watched television in his suburban London home, his father was plotting the overthrow of Muammar Gadaffi in his study. When the regime fell, Shamis sought answers about Libya under Gadaffi and his father’s role in its failed liberation.
"Ibrahim" by Lina Alabed (Jordan)
‘Ibrahim’ uncovers the long journey of the director’s father as a young man, when he was a secret member of Abu Nidal, a militant Palestinian revolutionary organisation.
"Searching for Janitou" by Mohamed El Amine hattou (Algeria)
A journey to unravel love in past and contemporary Algeria by exploring the unique phenomenon of a Bollywood film that swept the country in the 1980s.
"To the Ends of the Earth" by Hamida Al Kawari ( Qatar)
A Qatari woman travels on an environmental expedition to Antarctica in search of hope, before returning to the Gulf and finding unity and inspiration for positive change.
"Weight Throwers" by Hind Bensari (Morocco)
‘Weight Thowers’ follows the struggles of Azzedine and Youssef, disabled members of Morocco’s unemployed and disillusioned young generation, as they struggle to train for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Feature Documentary / Post-production
"Tadmor" by Lokman Slim, Monika Borgmann (Lebanon)
A group of Lebanese men re-enact the ordeals they experienced as detainees in Syria’s notorious Tadmor prison. An ode to the human will to survive.
"When Two Worlds Collide" by Heidi Brandenburg, Mathew Orzel (Peru)
A story of a man and a people, and of the fate of one of our planet’s most valuable natural resources – the Amazon rainforest.
Short Narrative / Production
"Behind the Wall" by Karima Zoubir (Morocco)
Nadia, a little girl, lives in a Casablanca slum that is surrounded by a wall. One day, the municipality begins to paint the wall – but why this sudden interest?
"Kashta" by A.J. Al Thani (Qatar)
A father takes his two sons out to the desert to learn about hunting and survival, but the results are not quite what he was expecting.
"Language" by Mortada Gzar (Iraq)
An old blind man walks throught the streets of Baghdad, then falls asleep while reading a book in Braille. When he wakes up, he finds he has become a giant and reads the devastation of the city by touch.
"The Waiting Room" by Hind Fakhroo (Qatar)
An Arab family and a Western family find themselves sharing a hospital room; the only thing that separates them is a curtain.
- 1/5/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
At only 26, actor Tristan "Mack" Wilds is already on his way to becoming a Renaissance man. He's had starring roles on The Wire and 90210, played the leading man in Adele's highly anticipated video for comeback single "Hello" and even got a Grammy nomination in 2014 for his debut LP New York: A Love Story. Wilds goes back to his roots for the upcoming VH1 hip-hop film The Breaks and in "Off the Clock" for Rolling Stone.
For "Off the Clock," Wilds brought Rolling Stone to the New York neighborhood where he grew up,...
For "Off the Clock," Wilds brought Rolling Stone to the New York neighborhood where he grew up,...
- 1/5/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Wadjda director among 30 awarded grants in the Doha Film Institute’s latest round of funding.Scroll down for the full list of projects
Haifaa Al Mansour, the director of 2012 Bafta-nominated Wadjda, has received a grant for her first animated feature project Miss Camel (in development) as part of the Doha Film Institute’s Fall 2015 round of funding.
The film will follow a teenage camel in Saudi Arabia which travels across the country to compete in a beauty pageant.
In total, 30 projects have received grants, including 16 feature films, three of which are animations, and 10 documentaries.
Of the projects selected, 24 are from the Mena region, while for the first time filmmakers from Chile, Peru and Spain will all receive funding.
Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of the Doha Film Institute, said: “Animated films are very popular in our region so it is very encouraging to see an acclaimed filmmaker like Haifaa Al Mansour turn her skills to this important genre; we...
Haifaa Al Mansour, the director of 2012 Bafta-nominated Wadjda, has received a grant for her first animated feature project Miss Camel (in development) as part of the Doha Film Institute’s Fall 2015 round of funding.
The film will follow a teenage camel in Saudi Arabia which travels across the country to compete in a beauty pageant.
In total, 30 projects have received grants, including 16 feature films, three of which are animations, and 10 documentaries.
Of the projects selected, 24 are from the Mena region, while for the first time filmmakers from Chile, Peru and Spain will all receive funding.
Fatma Al Remaihi, CEO of the Doha Film Institute, said: “Animated films are very popular in our region so it is very encouraging to see an acclaimed filmmaker like Haifaa Al Mansour turn her skills to this important genre; we...
- 12/21/2015
- ScreenDaily
Yesterday saw the release of the first look of Eros International’s forthcoming romantic film Sanam Teri Kasam – A Love Story Sealed with a Curse. The films leading couple are actor Harshvardhan Rane and actress Mawra Hocane. Harshvardhan has previously acted in Marathi and Telugu films while Mawra has acted in Pakistani TV serials. The film is directed by popular director duo Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao. They previously gave us the film ‘Lucky no Time for Love’ and both are also choreographers (their recent work can be seen in the songs of ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’). Sanam Teri Kasam will have music by the multi talented Himesh Reshammiya. We are definitely looking forward to hearing the soundtrack of this one! Check out the first look of the film below and stay with BollySpice for all updates on Sanam Teri Kasam.
The post Check out the First look of Eros...
The post Check out the First look of Eros...
- 12/9/2015
- by Jem Raj
- Bollyspice
A love story that starts in bed!
Well, finally it seems that the youth of India would have a language of its own spoken right at the beginning of the New Year. Come January 2016 and an entire new vocabulary of love (!) could well be up for display, courtesy Loveshhuda, which is not into beating around the bush when it comes to letting the world know what its true content is all about.
The teaser has pretty much done the trick, what with a young couple getting up from the bed after a night of bliss, only to realize that they are complete strangers who just found each other exciting enough for a one night stand. So while the girl doesn’t display any of those ‘Oh my God what did I do’ look, the boy – with a sore eye – only ends up wondering if this has been a ‘Hangover’ moment for him.
Well, finally it seems that the youth of India would have a language of its own spoken right at the beginning of the New Year. Come January 2016 and an entire new vocabulary of love (!) could well be up for display, courtesy Loveshhuda, which is not into beating around the bush when it comes to letting the world know what its true content is all about.
The teaser has pretty much done the trick, what with a young couple getting up from the bed after a night of bliss, only to realize that they are complete strangers who just found each other exciting enough for a one night stand. So while the girl doesn’t display any of those ‘Oh my God what did I do’ look, the boy – with a sore eye – only ends up wondering if this has been a ‘Hangover’ moment for him.
- 12/6/2015
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
The shoot for Sajid Nadiadwala’s Rangoon began this week. The film stars Shahid Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan and Kangana Ranaut and is directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.
The cast and crew of Rangoon had one more reason to celebrate! Today also happens to be Producer Sajid Nadiadwala and wife Warda’s 15th wedding anniversary.
A love story set against the backdrop of the Second World War, Rangoon is one of the most anticipated movies of 2016.
The post ‘Rangoon’ Goes to the Floor appeared first on BollySpice.com.
The cast and crew of Rangoon had one more reason to celebrate! Today also happens to be Producer Sajid Nadiadwala and wife Warda’s 15th wedding anniversary.
A love story set against the backdrop of the Second World War, Rangoon is one of the most anticipated movies of 2016.
The post ‘Rangoon’ Goes to the Floor appeared first on BollySpice.com.
- 11/19/2015
- by Press Releases
- Bollyspice
Oscar and Golden Globe-nominee Lena Olin (The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Enemies, A Love Story) has wrapped production of A Posthumous Woman, an independent drama directed by award-winning poet T. Zachary Cotler and novelist/producer Magdalena Zyzak. The film was produced by Mike Ryan of Greyshack Films and Morgan Jon Fox, a director and producer who placed in the 2009 edition of Filmmaker‘s 25 New Faces. Olin stars as a famous novelist who, after deciding to commit suicide, calls on young male writers to submit their work to her so that she can name one her literary executor. Starring alongside Olin […]...
- 11/16/2015
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
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