2012 German Film Awards Winners

About an hour ago the Academy finished their award ceremony and even if winners are not yet at the official site here they are from press sources. Winners are in *BLUE. 

To check all winners at the facebook official page go here, available only in German but you can translate to English with Bing.  Also can check winners in all categories here.

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3/23
A few minutes ago the Deutsche Filmakademie announced the nominations for the famous Lola’s and here they are for main categories. Christian Pertzold’s Barbara leads with eight nominations.

Best Film
Anonymus, Roland Emmerich
*Barbara, Christian Petzold BEST FILM IN SILVER
Dreiviertelmond (Three Quarter Moon), Christian Zübert
*Halt Auf Freier Strecke (Stopped on Track), Andreas Dresen BEST FILM IN GOLD
Hell, Tim Fehlbaum
*Kriegerin (Combat Girls), David Wnendt  BEST FILM IN BRONZE

Best Director
*Andreas Dresen for Halt Auf Freier Strecke (Stopped on Track)
Christian Petzold for Barbara
Hans Weingartner for Die Summe Meiner Einzelnen Teile (Hut in the Woods)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Sandra Hüller in Über uns das All (Above Us Only Sky), Jan Schomburg
Steffi Kühnert in Halt Auf Freier Strecke (Stopped on Track), Andreas Dresen
*Alina Levshin in Kriegerin (Combat Girls), David Wnendt

Best Actor in a Leading Role
*Milan Peschel in Halt Auf Freier Strecke (Stopped on Track), Andreas Dresen
Peter Schneider in Die Summe Meiner Einzelnen Teile (Hut in the Woods), Hans Weingartner
Ronald Zehrfeld in Barbara, Christian Petzold

To check nominees in all categories go here in German only. Can’t deny that is surprising that Petzold’s Barbara got so many nominations but Nina Hoss was not nominated for Best Actress; hope to see movie ASAP and maybe then will learn the reason why. Award ceremony will be on April 27, 2012

SHORT (SORT OF) FEATURE: MULTI-TREKKING

As is probably obvious from the dearth of posting over the past two weeks, I’m stuck in the middle of one of my quarterly work related nightmares. So, basically, I just haven’t had the time to blog, or do much of anything else lately. So what’s a sci-fi geek to do when he’s short on time, but is really in the mood to watch some episodes of Star Trek. Why, watch them all at once, of course…

It’s kind of mesmerizing isn’t it? At least for awhile. But if your ears just can’t take the cacophony for too long, at least fast forward to the last couple of minutes where there’s a neat transition from all the chaos into a weird choral-like effect as each episode starts rolling the end credits.

Admittedly, it’s probably not the best way to watch two seasons of Star Trek, but sometimes you just don’t have hours upon hours to devote to something. Heck, even the study of your religion can get sidetracked due to the responsibilities of day to day life. So, if you happen to know somebody who’s interested in The Church, but doesn’t have the time right now to sit down and dig through 2000 years worth of material like the Bible, The Catechism, Ratzinger’s Introduction To Christianity, The Summa Theologica, etc., ad infinitum, then might I suggest passing along to them something I ran across on Amazon? The Catholicism For Dummies Mini Edition by Rev. John Trigilio, Jr., Rev. Kenneth Brighenti is a brief (I’m talking less than an hour to read), but very concise survey of the basic teachings and structure of the Catholic Church. And it’s only $0.99! (At that price I bought one for my Kindle even though I’ve already got all those other books on it.) But if that’s still too long for them, here’s a free cheat sheet from Catholics For Dummies that sums up most of the basic stuff in one page.

So there, see, problem solved. Just do me a favor and don’t let anyone try watching the above video AND reading the CFD Mini Edition at the same time. I just don’t know what that much information at one time would do to a person’s brain. Although, having watched Scanners, I have a terrible idea.

3rd Cannes Queer Palm News

Organizers announced the Jury for the award that every year becomes more established with this year not only giving the Palm to a feature film but also to a short film, so now we will have two palms that will be announced at the awards ceremony on May 26. I have already identify a couple of gay interest feature films, let's hope that some lesbian interest will appear too beyond the short films category, sigh.

These are the jurors.

President: Julie Gayet, actress and producer, France
Sam Ashby, Little Joe founder and designer, UK
Jim Dobson, publicist, USA
Sarah Neal, Head of Programming at Brisbane Queer Film Festival, Australia
Frederic Niolle, assistand director and film journalist, France
Moira Sullivan, film critic, promoter and experimental filmmaker, USA and Sweden

To read more about each juror go here.

An interview with Julie Gayet and Franck Finance-Madureira, the award founder; available only in French.

2012 Cannes Classics Selection

As the relationship between contemporary cinema and its own memory was disrupted by the advent of the digital age, in 2004 the Cannes Film Festival created the Cannes Classics program showcasing restored prints of classic films and masterpieces of film history. Now an important part of the Official Selection, Cannes Classics is also a means to honor the work carried out by production companies, rights-holders, film libraries or national archives around the world.

The Cannes Classics 2012 program includes 13 feature films, two shorts, a mini-concert and four documentaries. All these films will be world premieres.

The Film Foundation (USA), chaired by Martin Scorsese, will present a 4K restored and reconstructed print of ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA by Sergio Leone (1984, 245'), with 25 minutes of additional scenes, based on the first cut by Sergio Leone in 1984. Restoration by the Cinematheque of Bologna at the Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory, in association with Andrea Leone Films, The Film Foundation and Regency Enterprises. The restoration was funded by The Film Foundation and Gucci.

Pathé presents TESS (1979, 171') by Roman Polanski, in a 4K restoration which he himself supervised and was "very impressed" by the laboratory work. Roman Polanski and Nastassja Kinski will be in attendance. A Pathé restoration, image restored by Eclair Group and Le Diapason for the audio restoration.

To celebrate its centenary, the Hollywood studio Universal will present a restored print of this emblematic film in the studio's recent history: JAWS by Steven Spielberg (1975, 124'). The restoration was carried out by Universal Studios Digital Services and the post-production team of Amblin Entertainment.

The BFI National Archive (London) has carried out a three-year programme to restore all nine of Alfred Hitchcock's surviving silent films. THE RING (1927, 109') will be screened as a world premiere and a cine-concert with the musician Stephen Horne. The restoration was undertaken by the BFI National Archive, and funded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The Film Foundation, Deluxe 142 and the Mohamed S. Farsi Foundation.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the production and release of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA by David Lean (1962, 222'), Sony-Columbia have made a new restoration of the film in 4K. Restored by Sony Pictures Entertainment in 4K at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks.

Keisuke Kinoshita is a Japanese filmmaker born in 1912 and deceased in 1998. Having spent much of his career at the Shochiku studios, he will be celebrated by the current management of Shochiku with the projection of THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA (1958, 98'). The digital version has been restored and funded by Shochiku Co., Ltd. and Shochiku Media Worx Inc.; digital restoration by Imagica Corp. and Imagica West Corp.

Cannes celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Dance Cinematheque (Paris). They will present three jewels from its collection: A GREAT DAY IN HARLEM (1994, 60') by Jean Bach and two "jazz shorties": AN ALL COLORED VAUDEVILLE SHOW (4') and JAMMIN THE BLUES (11'). These will be screened from new prints 35mm printed by Daems Laboratory.

In 2011, Cannes Classics welcomed the ambitious Rossellini Project, the result of a collaboration between Instituto Luce Cinecittà, Cineteca di Bologna, CSC-Cineteca Nazionale and the Co-Production Office (head of international sales). After presenting The Machine that Kills Bad People (1948, 70’) in 2012 we will present, as a restored print, VIAGGIO IN ITALIA / JOURNEY TO ITALY (1954, 97') by Roberto Rossellini. Print restored by Cineteca di Bologna with L'Immagine Ritrovata in collaboration with Istituto Luce Cinecittà, CSC-Cineteca Nazionale and The Co-Production Office.

As is the tradition, the Festival de Cannes will host the World Cinema Foundation, created in Cannes in 2007 by Martin Scorsese and many filmmakers, in order to restore world treasures. In this year’s programme there is an Indian film and an Indonesian film, as rare and little-known as they are beautiful and necessary.
AFTER THE CURFEW by Usmar Ismail, Indonesia (1954, 101'). Restoration carried out by the National Museum of Singapore and the World Cinema Foundation. In association with the Konfiden Foundation and Kineforum Jakarta Arts Council. The film was restored from the original print kept at the Indonesian Cinematheque. Special thanks to the family of Usmar Ismail.
KALPANA of Uday Shankar, India (1948, 155').Restored by the World Cinema Foundation from a copy of the original negative preserved by the National Film Archive of India. With thanks to Shivendra Singh and family of Uday Shankar. The print was restored by the Cinematheque of Bologna and the Immagine Ritrovata laboratory.

On the occasion of his presence in Cannes, the festival has asked Andrei Konchalovsky to present RUNAWAY TRAIN (1985, 111'). A new print has been struck courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer/Park Circus.

Every year the CNC French Film Archives (Paris) exhibit a restoration, fruit of their year’s labor. For this edition, they chose CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 (1961, 90’) by Agnès Varda, who will be there in person to present the film. Digital print, restored by Ciné Tamaris, CNC French Film Archives.

An Homage to Georges Lautner: in the presence of his numerous friends, the director of the Crooks in Clover, Let’s Not Get Angry, Sink or Wwim, will be honored by the Cannes Film Festival. The film chosen for this evening of celebration is THE GREAT SPY CHASE (1964, 118'). Film restored by Gaumont and the Eclair Group

Documentaries on the filmmaking, which represent a different kind of cinema and which Cannes Classics regularly showcases, will honor four directors:

Woody Allen
WOODY ALLEN: A DOCUMENTARY by Robert Weide (113'), produced for the American Masters series (PBS) by B Plus Productions, Whyaduck Productions, Rat Entertainment Mike's Movies and Insurgent Media, distributed in France by Memento Films Distribution and world sales by Hanway Films.

Jerry Lewis
METHOD TO THE MADNESS OF JERRY LEWIS by Gregg Barson (115'), produced for American television channel Encore by Mansfield Avenue Productions.

John Boorman
ME AND ME DAD (66’) by his daughter Katrine Boorman who also produced the film through her production company, Colourframe Ltd.

Claude Miller
A film by Emmanuel Barnault, CLAUDE M LE CINEMA (52') produced by Jean Fabrice Barnault of Movie Da Productions for the Ciné + television channel and sold by Catherine Chevassu-C&CO.

On Wednesday, May 23rd at the Plage des Palmes in Cannes, the CNC will host its annual lunch for Cinematheques and Archives around the world.

Finally, it is the “montage film” Final Cut - Hölgyeim És Uraim by György Pálfi (Hungary), produced by Béla Tarr, which will close Cannes Classics on Saturday, May 25th.

To read the announcement at the official site go here.

20th L’ACID Selection

A couple of days ago L’Association du Cinéma Indépendant pour sa Diffusion announced the selection that will be screened at this parallel activity that also happens at Cannes. These are the nine (9)films in the 2012 selection.

Feature Films
Casa Nostra, Nathan Nicholovich, France
The End, Hicham Lasri, Morocco
Ini Avan, Asoka Handagama, Sri Lanka
Noor, Çagla Zencirci and Guillaume Giovanetti, France
Room 514, Sharon Bar-Ziv, Israel
Sharqiya, Ami Livne, Israel, France and Germany
Stalingrad Lovers, Fleur Albert, France
La Tête la première, Amélie van Elmbt, Belgium
La Vierge, les Coptes et Moi, Namir Abdel Messeeh, France, Qatar and Egypt

Special Screenings
Ab Irato, sous l'empire de la colère, Dominique Boccarossa, France
L'été de Giacomo, Alessandro Comodin, France, Belgium and Italy
El Puesto, Aurélien Lévêque, France

Carte blanche à des cinéastes de l’ACID Screening
Le cinéma français se porte bien, Stéphane Arnoux, Aurélia Georges, Jean-Baptiste Germain and Chiara Malta

To read about each film go here, available only in French. The program runs from May 17 to 26 and this year celebrates its 20 years with some special activities.

Jean-Baptiste Germain talks about the selection in the following video available only in French.

Cannes 2012 Trailer

As every year TVFestival de Cannes prepares a trailer with images of past festival, this year the trailer has many images from last year with all the glamour, the drama and the great filmmakers plus actors that populated the fest. Here is the 2012 Trailer. Please pay attention to what Catherine Deneuve says, very funny but somehow true! LOL. Enjoy!

If you wish to watch trailer at official site go here.


Bande Annonce - TV Festival de Cannes 2012 by TVFestival

Also around with some images from 2011 fest from AKA Media. Enjoy!!! Not allowed to be embed so have to go here to watch.

WEEKLY NEWSREEL – 3 1/2 TIME-OUTS TUESDAY (VOL. 20)

Good evening Mr. & Mrs. Catholic, and all you other Christians at sea. Welcome to the Weekly Newsreel sponsored once again by the fine folks at Acts of the Apostasy, home of the 3 1/2 Time-Outs Tuesday. Now off to press.

I

DATELINE: PERNAMBUCO - According to Fox News Latino, “three people accused of killing at least three women in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco said they ate some of their victims' flesh and also used it to make the empanadas they sold to their neighbors.” The accused claim they belong to a sect that receives orders from a "voice" to do away with women they consider evil, dining on their flesh as part of a purification ritual. Shows what I know. I’d always heard it’s us Catholics who were supposed to be the cannibals.

II

DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD – It’s the rare moment when pop science/entertainment site ion9 posts anything friendly towards religion, so it’s no surprise that “after weeks of hot debating, io9's readers have now officially picked the very worst science fiction movie of all time” and it turns out to be one with religious undertones. What is surprising, however, is the religion in question isn’t Christianity. Nope, it turns out that L. Ron Hubbard’s brainchild, Scientology, is the guilty party behind the most atrocious cinematic sci-fi offering ever. That’s right, after whittling down a list that included everything from Catwoman to Highlander II, it was Battlefield Earth which took top (or perhaps bottom) honors in the polling. Sorry, Scientologists. At least you’ll always have Tom Cruise. 

III

DATELINE: SOMEWHERE TOO CLOSE TO ME -  Over the course of my life I’ve been called a jerk by more people than I would care to count, and to tell the truth, most of them have been justified in doing so. But it appears one of the things I’ve been consistently rude about all these years may not have been completely my fault. The New York Times reports that “for people with a condition that some scientists call misophonia, mealtime can be torture. The sounds of other people eating - chewing, chomping, slurping, gurgling - can send them into an instantaneous, blood-boiling rage… The condition almost always begins in late childhood or early adolescence and worsens over time, often expanding to include more trigger sounds, usually those of eating and breathing… Aage R. Moller, a neuroscientist at the University of Texas at Dallas… believes the condition is hard-wired, like right or left-handedness, and is probably not an auditory disorder but a ‘physiological abnormality’ that resides in brain structures activated by processed sound.” So to all the friends and family who over the years have suffered my wrath at the dinner table, please forgive me. Apparently you were not, in fact, EATING LIKE A @#*%^@! GOAT WITH THE TABLE MANNERS OF A SPASTIC VIKING!!! It was just me and my messed up physiology. Fortunately, over the past decade or so, I’ve been able to train myself to suppress my angry outbursts when eating with others, although doing so often makes me appear distracted or uninterested in my tablemates. So if any of you reading this ever find yourself dining with me and I seem inattentive, please don’t take it personally. It’s not because I don’t like you… I’m just trying not to think about murdering you.

 

1/2

I view my little problem with the sound of eating as just another thing to work around. Everybody’s got their own little hang-ups, after all. But for those dealing with more serious issues, the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, established in 1982 to foster implementation of the Pastoral Statement of U.S. Catholic Bishops on People with Disabilities, has a ton of resources worth checking out.

And with that it’s time to sign off another Newsreel, as is our custom, with the immortal words of the great Les Nessman. Good evening, and may the good news be yours.

BMC MOVIE OF THE WEEK: TAMMY AND THE T-REX

“A bizarre entry even for an area of film that specializes in the offbeat, this is the story of an ideal teenage couple, a cheerleader and a jock, who are abruptly separated when a jealous rival slays the footballer. At the hospital, a crazed doctor transplants the young man's brain into that of a giant robotic dinosaur as part of his immortality-via-cobras experiment. Unfortunately, the newly transplanted boyfriend is most unhappy with his new form and with the way things have turned out in general, so he goes on a bloody rampage for revenge. When he finds the cheerleader, he is somehow able to convey his plight to her. She and a pal decide to help him by finding a new body in which to place his brain (his old one was beyond repair). While the low-budget Tammy and the T-Rex has been for some reason marketed as a family-oriented comedy, parents beware. There is a lot of blood, violence, crude sexual innuendo and a striptease scene.” – Rovi’s AllMovie Guide

April 15, 2012: Second Sunday of Easter (Year B)

Well, everybody has to start somewhere right? For Denise Williams (Starship Troopers, The World Is Not Enough) and Paul Walker (Varsity Blues, The Fast and the Furious), that start was Tammy And The T-Rex, the film which represented their first theatrical starring roles. And I’m pretty sure they still remember making it to this day because, let me tell you, this movie is hands down one of the weirder low budget offerings to come out of the 90s.

For most of its running time, Tammy And The T-Rex looks and plays just like one of those teen shows you run across all the time on Nickelodeon. You know what I’m talking about. Stagey sitcom style acting, broadly written jokes even a six year old would get, and a cast comprised of the cleanest cut youth ever to pop out of a stage mother’s uterus (heck, even the juvenile delinquents in this movie look like they shower at least twice a day and buy their clothes from Abercrombie). But every so often, Tammy And The T-Rex takes a sudden turn into some dark territory that is definitely not meant for the youngsters. Imagine if you were watching the kids from iCarly doing their shtick when suddenly the door burst open and the cast from Fight Club rushed into the room and beat the living crap out of everyone. That’s what Tammy And The T-Rex is like.

For instance, the first time good hearted jock Michael and snarling punk Billy brawl over cheerleader Tammy, the whole thing is played mostly for laughs. Yeah, a few punches are thrown, but the whole episode ends with the two boys locked in a mano-a-mano testicle squeezing contest, neither boy willing to be the first to chance loosening his grip, while the whole thing is watched over with bemused delight by Byron, Tammy’s flamboyantly gay best friend. But just a few short minutes later after the chuckles have died down, Billy and his pals catch Michael alone on the street, violently pummel him with baseball bats, and then dump his unconscious body at the local game preserve to be mauled by a lion. Not exactly the kind of material you’d put on right after SpongeBob. And it’s not just the violence. Take for example the scene in which Tammy sits blissfully in her bedroom discussing the future with Michael’s disembodied brain, but then suddenly switches on a boom box and begins dancing around in a teddy while Michael’s mechanized voice cheers her on like some twice-drunk frat boy at a low rent strip club. It would be weird enough on its own, but since both characters are supposed to be in high school, the scene comes off as extra skeevy.

Now don’t get me wrong. There are scenes where the dark humor is spot on. There’s a great moment where Byron, Tammy, and the T-Rex attempt to retrieve Michael’s dead body so they can put his brain back in it, only to open the coffin and discover the corpse is completely decayed and swarming with rats (despite the fact that Michael’s only been dead a couple of days and the coffin was sealed). The frame of all three of the characters (including the dinosaur) simultaneously screaming in horror and disgust is pretty hilarious. But overall, the movie feels disjointed, like maybe the script started out as a clean teen comedy, slowly began to morph into something else, and never quite finished the transformation before they filmed it.

I’m just guessing, but I’d be willing to bet it had something to do with the animatronic dinosaur. As you can see from the one-sheet up there, the creature looks pretty good. On a piece of paper. The problem is, this is a motion picture, and except for the head and arms, the titular creature is entirely immobile. It’s basically a twelve foot tall statue that can wave and open its mouth. Most of the walking scenes involve close-ups of fake legs on sticks, and all of the moments where the T-Rex has to do something complicated with its tiny dino arms, like dial a phone or play charades, are accomplished by somebody wearing green mittens (that aren’t even the same color as the rest of the beast). I’m thinking once the effects crew wheeled this thing in, everybody else looked at each other and said, “We better ramp up the smut and guts, quick, or we’re doomed.”

Which raises an interesting question. If you don’t have the budget to pull off the effects, why not just write the story to involve something more doable than a giant T-Rex robot? In fact, even if you did have the budget, how does the dinosaur make any sense story wise in the first place? The central conceit of the movie is that the mad scientist has developed a way to transfer a person’s brain into a mechanical body as a way to spare mankind the pain and sorrow surrounding death (that and make a nice profit, of course). The idea is simple. Once your old bag of bones is done for, you just  have your brain popped into a brand new body, one that’s actually an improvement on the original because the new one won’t ever age or get sick or develop any of those other pesky problems us meat sacks have to put up with. But why does Dr. Wachenstein insist on the new body being that of a T-Rex? How many people (outside of maybe a few guys hanging out in the back of a comic shop) would actually want to come back in the body of a giant inarticulate lizard with useless little arms? It doesn’t make any sense.

Now Jesus, there was a guy who knew how to make a new body the right way. When he shows up in his glorified body in this week’s gospel, it looks just like his old self, but it comes with a few interesting upgrades. Based on his study of this reading and a few others from the writings of St. Paul, St. Thomas Aquinas deduced that a glorified body has four basic gifts: (1) Impassibility, meaning it can no longer get sick, suffer, or die, (2) Agility, meaning it responds perfectly to the will, moving freely and quickly wherever it is directed, (3) Subtlety, meaning that while still a physical thing, it is no longer restricted by material reality and can therefore pass through other objects, and (4) Clarity, meaning it’s kind of shiny and radiates the beauty of the soul. So it sounds like we’re going to get a pretty good deal, much better than being a T-Rex because, along with all the improvements, we’ll still retain our individual appearances and can use our arms to scratch our own nose if we feel the need.

But so what, right? I mean, even assuming St. Thomas got it all correct, none of this glorified body stuff happens until after we’ve died, so why waste too much time thinking about it? Well, in the simplest terms, Christianity places so much emphasis on the ultimate fate of the body after death so that we never deemphasize its importance while we’re alive. Writing about the glorified body of Christ in in L'Osservatore Romano, Dominican friar Robert Gay put it this way. “If we accept this truth, then it follows that it will have an impact on how we conceive of the spiritual life. We can see that the spiritual life is not about an escape from my physical reality, as some New Age perspectives might propose, but about accepting and making use of that reality… [whereas] if we choose to reject the importance of the physical… then the sacramental economy ceases to be relevant. And this is problematic in several ways. Rejecting the material can easily lead to the same kind of dualistic ideas that St Dominic founded the Order of Preachers in the thirteenth century to preach against, namely a belief that the material world is somehow a bad thing. However, to hold such a view is to go against the sense of the material, sensible world that we get from reading the creation narratives, namely that what God created was indeed good.”

So, the belief that we’ll one day receive a glorified body isn’t important because of what it tells us about the future, but what it tells us about the world we live in right now. That what God created was good, and no matter what misfires and mistakes and tragedies occur along the way, it can be made good again. In fact, it can be made better. And that’s something worth believing in.

WRITTEN REVIEW: Jason Vs Leatherface

By CORY CARR

Hello there! It's been a while but here we are again, celebrating another gore filled Friday the 13th! I wanted to do something special for this Friday the 13th review. Something a little different. Something a little weird, and maybe just a little bit sexy. But, at the last

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CUTAWAYS – INCUBUS

Incubus is one of those weird love-it-or-hate-it kind of affairs. It’s filmed entirely in Esperanto, a language none of the actors actually knew how to speak (and it shows). The only existing print of the film that wasn’t burned (no, seriously) has subtitles in the form of a big black box that’s placed almost squarely in the middle of the screen. And the movie has more pretensions than a whole night’s worth of Academy Award acceptance speeches. But on the other hand, it's also got some obvious talent behind the camera (courtesy of the same crew responsible for The Outer Limits television show) who keep the movie visually interesting. And in front of the camera, well, it’s William Shatner, and he’s always fun to watch (although he doesn’t go full-on Kirk until after he gets stabbed near the end of the film).

But, let’s be honest, the thing which probably places Incubus in the win column here at The B-Movie Catechism is the movie’s mixture of solid Catholic dogma (no, seriously) with age old Christian folklore, all presented in a simple, straight forward, no grey areas tale of good vs. evil. Basically, the story follows a young up and coming succubus named Kia who has grown tired of killing off sinners and longs for the challenge of destroying a truly good soul. Unimpressed with the less than perfect clergymen she has been spying on, Kia finally locates Marc, a wounded soldier with a pure heart. Alas for the poor demoness, although she manages to make Marc fall in love with her, the devout Christian spurns any sexual intimacy until they are married. When Kia refuses to get wed (demons aren’t too big on the sacraments), Marc picks her up while she is sleeping and carries her into the local church hoping to force the issue. Which leads to this great scene…

Okay, so as you can probably tell, Incubus isn’t exactly the movie for fans of subtlety (I did mention Shatner is in this, didn’t I?). But c’mon, you have to dig those crazy sixties lighting effects and background organ music. And subtle or not, it still has a ring of authenticity to it. You see, so solid is Kia’s delusion about how things should be, that when confronted with the truth of God as revealed through Marc’s expressions of love and faith, she is compelled to act violently in order to preserve her worldview (notice she even goes so far as to say his profession of love is an assault analogous to rape). As is entirely befitting a creature from hell, Kia’s reaction is that of the compete and utter narcissist.

According to the book Personality Disorders (WPA Series in Evidence & Experience in Psychiatry), “Several studies support the observation that people with high narcissism tend to have strong aggressive and violent reactions to threats to their sense of superiority or self-esteem. Aggressive reactions to criticism may be more or less controlled and obvious—ranging from cognitive reconstructions of events and subtle, well hidden feelings of disdain or contempt, to intense aggressive argumentativeness, criticism and rage outbursts, to more or less controlled aggressive and violent behaviour.” Or to put it in more layman terms, as Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D. does in Psychology Today, “When criticized, narcissists show themselves woefully incapable of retaining any emotional poise, or receptivity. And it really doesn't much matter whether the nature of that criticism is constructive or destructive. They just don't seem to be able to take criticism, period… Although narcissists don't (or won't) show it, all perceived criticism feels gravely threatening to them (the reason that their inflamed, over-the-top reactions to it can leave us so surprised and confused). Deep down, clinging desperately not simply to a positive but grandiose sense of self, they're compelled at all costs to block out any negative feedback about themselves. Their dilemma is that the rigidity of their defenses, their inability ever to let their guard down (even with those closest to them), guarantees that they'll never get what they most need, which they themselves are sadly--no, tragically--oblivious of.”

Now, given the recent issues involving religious freedom in the United States, some of you out there are probably expecting me to make the suggestion that much like Kia in the movie, more than a few of the enemies of the Church, especially those who seem to have a vitriolic reaction to her very existence, might just be suffering from a tad bit of narcissism. And you know, I could easily go there, because, well… it would be true. But Deacon Doug McManaman, teacher of Philosophy at the Father Michael McGivney Catholic Academy, finds that narcissism is a very real and present danger inside the Church as well. According to the Deacon, narcissists often “ascribe to a religion in an effort to understand their special status, which they believe they enjoy.” The narcissist may believe “he is a disciple -- chosen -- by virtue of a special quality in him, and not really by virtue of the mercy and gratuitous love of God.” In effect, the religious narcissist sees the Church as something which compliments his pre-existing view of himself and the world he lives in, not as something which shapes and molds that view. It’s a subtle difference, but one we should all be aware of, especially in an election year when our personal politics can so easily trump our religion.

So, how do we avoid distorting our religious experience through an over-elevated sense of self worth? Well, Deacon McManaman suggests one simple thing. Orthodoxy. “To keep oneself from being fooled by the narcissist whose facade includes Catholicism, we only have to remain faithful to Peter.” he writes. “The narcissist cannot help but defy authority… [so] by remaining faithful to Peter, one takes a path that ultimately the narcissist cannot follow." So yeah, basically, if you want to avoid the snares of narcissism, then simply follow the teachings of the Church. And if you just can’t bring yourself to do so, well… then don’t worry about it, there must be something wrong with them. As special as you are, it couldn’t possibly be you, could it?

2012 Cannes Quinzaine des Réalisateurs Carrosse d’Or

A few minutes ago the Société des Réalisateurs de Films (SRF) announced that this year’s Carrosse d’Or goes to extraordinary master filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan and he’s to receive the honor at the 44th Directors’ Fortnight opening ceremony on May 17.

As you all know I highly admire Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s master oeuvres, especially the excellent 2011 Cannes Grand Prix winner Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once Upon a Time In Anatolia) that if you have not seen you should as soon as possible.

Since 2002 the Carrosse d’Or recognizes a film director chosen for innovation in their films, for their boldness and intransigence in directing and production; so we know that this great honor is extremely well-deserved as his movies absolutely fit the award requisites well-above the norm.

To check the official announcement at the SRF site go here.

My sincere congratulations to Nuri Bilge Ceylan and hope to see the Quinzaine opening ceremony to enjoy the celebration of a great master filmmaker.

Cheers!!!

Shame

Extraordinary second movie by Steve McQueen, after also extraordinary Hunger, that is a strong felted cinematic experience that will blow your eyes, your senses and impressively is a movie that shows lots of sex, but is NOT about sex at all. Is about a horrendous inferno.

Movie tells about a damaged sibling relationship where Brandon (Michael Fassbender) expresses no feeling towards everyone and when he tries to feel, he can’t perform sexually; where Sissy (Carey Mulligan), his sister, is auto-destructive. Both are attractive, good at what they do but also dry, empty, and living life in automatic drive. Viewers can speculate about how they got so damaged (childhood abuse?) but actually whatever you guess is irrelevant as what we see is the actual today inferno and the whys’ are not as impactful as the hows’. How both express their neurosis and dysfunction. Intense.

Story is common, often portrayed in movies but I can assure you that never like in McQueen’s film that with his outstandingly peculiar style plus tremendous performances by Fassbender and Mulligan puts screen on fire, the kind of fire that you just imagine habits in hell. Ah! film is slow paced, has excellent long shots, outstanding indoors and outdoors compositions, mostly deadpan performances that with small expressions tell all, everything that excellent non-commercial movie has to have … and yes, lots of sex, naked bodies, duos, trios, homosexuality, etc. just like many European movies have in their stories but that seems to appall and attract as borderline porn to those that live in the other side of the ocean. So, no, it is not for all adult audiences.

I believe to know why movie, McQueen, Fassbender and Mulligan didn’t got more accolades and had no awards at top awards like Oscar and BAFTA. See, what most people seem to see in film is the sex, that Brandon is a sex addict; most see the evident story as probably movie hits them so hard that do not dare to go deeper into what’s really story about. Obviously top world awards will not easily recognize great performances in what most consider soft-porn. I’m crazy about Fassbender and know that he will get his BAFTA, his Oscar as he is so darn good. Same goes to Mulligan. Still, during the 2011 award season movie collected 21 wins and 41 nominations, all extremely well-deserved, especially Fassbender wining La Copa Volpi at 2011 Biennale.

You cannot love this type of story as there is nothing to love in what is shown, but I do love the actors’ performances plus the amazing style in McQueen technique and as such I recommend film to those that do not mind nudity in their films, especially when is not gratuitous and is integral part of the nightmarish story.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

Contraband

Baltasar Kormákur is a director I like and follow his work since his first film 101 Reykjavík, so was interested in checking his latest Hollywood movie even when I was expecting to be very different to his Icelandic productions I was hoping that at least his cinematic style was preserved. Well, no, film is like many action packed Hollywood movies starring Mark Wahlberg with the difference that here is sort of the bad guy doing stuff that feels and looks really like fantasy truly far-away from possible reality.

Film tells about Chris Faraday (Wahlberg) once a illegal smuggler that went legit only to be forced to go back to his old trade to save his family. Story is really bad and even ridiculous, especially all that happens in Panama. To be fair film has in some moments Kormákur particular visual style, but as soon as the action starts you have no time to pay attention to anything else but whatever is happening in story. Sigh.

So now I’m looking forward to watch Kormákur latest Icelandic film, Djúpið, that I know has to be more interesting visually and story-wise than his Hollywood incursions.

If you do not mind stories that make not much sense but have Hollywood star power and enough noise and action to kill time, then maybe you will enjoy this movie. I really did not like the story, the style, actors’ performances –didn’t understood why Kate Beckinsale did this role- and the movie in general, so cannot recommend it.

Sigh.

Watch trailer @MOC

Black Gold

There was one reason why I wanted to watch this Qatar, Italian and French production: Tahar Rahim that mesmerized me in A Prophet. Oddly enough Rahim role in this movie is quite similar to the one that had in A Prophet, which allows understanding how a director plus a good script can make the difference in a good actor performance as definitively his performance in this movie doesn’t look or feel as good as in Jacques Audiard film.

Jean-Jacques Annaud directing style doesn’t succeed handling this epic story set in the 1930s when oil was discovered in the Arab peninsula but the script does not help him either and above average production specs does not save movie that becomes like a pastiche of too many underdeveloped situations. It’s a shame as the dawn of the Arab oil boom is a story that hasn’t been told that many times and learning about the beginnings might help to understand whatever is happening today. Sigh, but this film will not give you much info anyway.

So only if you’re in the mood to watch good production values in some war fighting plus outdoor scenery and do not mind much following a fragmented story with below average actors performances, then maybe you will enjoy this movie as an escape moment. Yes there are good or well-known actors here like Rahim, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto and Mark Strong but maybe if producers had chosen unknown actors, viewers could enjoy more the story and pay less attention to how non-credible are their performances.

Enjoy.

Watch trailer @MOC

L'effrontée (The Hussy)

Today after a long illness Claude Miller died. He surely will be missed but I know that he will live through his magnificent body of work, especially two movies that touched me more than the others, 1981 Garde à vue with Romy Schneider and 1985 L'effrontée with 14-year-old Charlotte Gainsbourg.

To honor Claude Miller life and work decided to watch again L'effrontée even do I knew that probably my movie memories were going to be better than what I will see with today eyes. Definitively what I remember was better than what I saw today, but still film and story are compelling thanks to an outstanding Charlotte Gainsbourg performance and a director that deals with the most difficult time in a girl –between childhood and adolescence- by telling us about the summer of her first disillusion, all told with the most luminous images and compositions.

Film tells the story of Charlotte, 13-years-old, living with her father, her brother and the housekeeper in a village; she only has one friend younger than her Lulu that worships her and bores her. But everything bores Charlotte who dislikes her mediocre milieu where everything is predictable like at school or the Saturday dance at Roule Roule; she wishes to have another life. Her chance comes when she learns that the same age girl, Clara, that mesmerized Charlotte while watching her playing the piano is coming to her little town and she decides to do whatever is possible to get close to her after meeting Clara in the street. These are the basic dynamics that will evolve into an interesting story while the music of Mendelssohn, Beethoven and the unbelievable sticky song (still have it in my mind) “Sarà perchè ti amo” by Richi e Poveri that of course I sang in those years, a song that tells about the essence of this story.

Can’t say that when I first saw this movie I clearly saw what I’m about to share with you but definitively today it was crystal clear to me that this movie has lesbian interest “undertones” or better in French, story is “crypto-lesbienne”. Let me start by saying that Céline Sciamma says that this film was his inspiration for her debut film Naissance des pieuvres (Water Lilies) and even Tomboy; don’t doubt it as both Sciamma’s films tell stories similar to the one told here plus the storytelling and cinematic techniques are quite outstandingly similar. As a matter of fact Lulu in this film looks very much alike to the lead character in Sciamma’s Tomboy. If you saw Sciamma’s films and you like them then this film is must be seen for you.

But there is more. The song Sarà perchè ti amo is constantly played at very key moments in the movie and can’t sing song for you here but check some of the lyrics in Italian (without accents).

Che confusione
sara perche ti amo
e un'emozione
che cresce piano piano
stringimi forte e stammi piu vicino
se ci sto bene
sara perche ti amo.

Goes something like this: “What a confusion, must be because I love you, is an emotion, that grows slowly slowly, hug me strongly and come close, if I feel good, must be because I love you”; which of course talks about what Charlotte surely feels for Clara… and Lulu for Charlotte! It’s a coming of age film but also is about Charlotte and Lulu first love, as well as about jealousy, disenchantment and reality acceptance. Quite nice story indeed.

But most of all Claude Miller's film is a very French movie, so I know is not for all audiences, much less for those that tend to have puritan views about sexuality. Still is a beautiful movie that I strongly recommend to those that love French cinema, like to revisit or visit for the first time movies by great French directors, wish to see the Prix Louis Delluc 1985 winner, wish to see great Charlotte Gainsbourg in the role that gave her the Cesar for Most Promising Actress in 1986, wish to watch non-traditional lesbian interest stories, and/or wish to have an excellent cinematic experience French style of course.

My humble homage to a great director, filmmaker and storyteller. Farewell Claude Miller.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

SILENT AGONY

The agony of Jesus in the garden from La Vie et la passion de Jesus Christ (Passion and Death of Christ) (1903), the first movie to ever have colorized sequences and generally regarded to be the first ever feature length film, though it runs only a scant 45 minutes. You can watch the whole movie on YouTube or The Internet Archive, where you can also download it legally for free. However, if you do decide to give the movie a look-see this evening, do keep in mind the film’s short running time. Remember, Jesus asked us if we could sit with him for an hour, so you’ll still owe Jesus 15 minutes. Don’t short change God.

Peace be with you and your spirit during this holy time. See you after Easter.

The Hunger Games

I was going to watch this movie just because Jennifer Lawrence was in here as some of you recall I got very impressed with this young actress since her great performance (Oscar nod worthy) in Winter’s Bone. My expectations besides Lawrence performance were really low as no, I haven’t read the books, the idea of another “teen” franchise was not attractive to me, I’m no fan of scifi and well, I knew this was going to be more a mainstream blockbuster than good cinema. Last, I know actors have to pay their dues before being accepted in Hollywood and this had to be Lawrence turn to make money, get fame, become accepted by her peers, and hopefully continue doing great movies after.

So after that too big introduction feel so ridiculous when I say: I LOVED the movie! Not only is highly entertaining but also is NOT a movie to kill some time as after watching I’m sure what you saw will stay with you for a while, surely longer than what I imagined in my wildest dreams. Have to admit that is a good story and watching the first installment gives no real clue about what the next book will be about, so NO I’m not reading the books as don’t want to spoil the next movie installments. That’s how good this movie is. Surprise, surprise; yes was a huge surprise as after the two hours and half I wanted more, was so into the story that the end was a downer just because I didn’t want movie to end. Sigh. Hate the idea that now will have to wait two years –surely- to have seen the two next installments; that’s it if they don’t decide to split the last installment into two movies.

Enough rambling and let’s go to the point. Movie, story and performances are good, above average mainstream blockbusters and excellent production specs really enhance the entertainment experience. It’s a must be seen movie that will give you a little food for thought IF you haven’t read the books. Undoubtedly I do recommend it as great entertainment cinema as movie takes its time introducing characters (not many mainstream movies do that) and suddenly tension starts to build, thereafter is a rollercoaster with great rush adrenaline moments and the best of all, NO gratuitous violence.

I’m no teenager, so will not watch it twice or more and have too many movies pending, but I understand now what I read all over, yes this is like an old fashion movie, remember the ones that were for ALL audiences –against targeted to teens- as young, old and older audiences surely have already enjoy movie and will enjoy the series.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @MOC

OUTTAKES #039: THE AotA EDITION

Want to know how this ends? If so, then head on over to Acts of the Apostasy where LarryD has foolishly handed over the keys to the kingdom for a day so that we can take a few potshots at some of AotA’s favorite targets.

STILL VOICES #014