Did you have a good Halloween? I had a good Halloween. Go see "Wreck-It Ralph."
Also! I interviewed The RZA. That was surreal.
Friday, 2 November 2012
Thursday, 1 November 2012
HOLY HORRORS FOR HALLOWEEN FILM FESTIVAL: THE BELIEVERS
“A police psychologist and his school-age son become embroiled in the machinations of a mysterious cult religion in this thriller from director John Schlesinger. After his wife is electrocuted in a freak accident, Dr. Cal Jamison (Martin Sheen) and his son, Chris (Harley Cross), move back to Manhattan, where Cal went to school. When not spending time with his son and surrogate extended family -- husband-and-wife anthropologists Kate (Elizabeth Wilson) and Dennis Maslow (Lee Richardson) -- Cal settles into his new job and romances his landlady, Jessica Halliday (Helen Shaver). Soon, though, a series of brutal murders of young children begins to take over Cal's life. Through the ravings of policeman Tom Lopez (Jimmy Smits), who believes the killers have supernatural power over him after stealing his badge, Cal learns of Santeria, a voodoo-like Latin American sect that mixes elements of Christianity and pagan mysticism. Although the religion turns out to have ties to some of the richest men in the city and even Cal's well-meaning maid seems to be a practitioner, he can't get any straight answers as to whether the cult is responsible for the murders. But after a sinister African shaman (Malick Bowens) places a curse on Jessica, Cal finally begins to understand the danger that faces him -- and his son. The Believers was very loosely adapted from Nicholas Conde's 1982 novel The Religion.” – rovi’s AllMovie Guide
“God can’t save you, the Church can’t save you… you think science can stop them?” – doomed detective Tom Lopez“Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10
Alright, I know Halloween’s over, but why not squeeze in one last movie for our Holy Horrors For Halloween film festival anyway? A few titles come to mind, but how about we go with The Believers. Now John Schlesinger is a director better known for such non-genre classics as Midnight Cowboy, Marathon Man, and (snort) Honky Tonk Freeway (hey, it’s got its fans), so it should really come as no surprise that The Believers, his only real foray into horror, concentrates more on drama and action than it does on scares. A good chunk of the movie is taken up with Martin Sheen’s efforts to deal with the emotional turmoil his young son is going through after the loss of his mother while simultaneously trying to perform his job as a psychiatric adviser to the police as they investigate a string of ritualistic murders. So in many ways, it’s kind of Kramer vs Kramer vs Evil Witch Doctor.
Which is not to say that the movie doesn’t have its share of moments that get under your skin, because it does. Quite literally, in fact, in the case of the spider egg sac buried in someone’s cheek scene (Bleughhhh!!!). But despite the occasional lapses into standard gross out fair, Schlesinger definitely seems to prefer keeping his horror a bit more grounded in realism. Take, for instance, the accidental death by coffee maker (no, really) of Sheen’s wife that opens the movie. It’s completely mundane, with no apparent connection to any of the supernatural shenanigans that follow, and on the surface does little to advance the story except to tell you that Sheen’s wife is dead. Despite that, however, the bizarre randomness of her death makes it somehow more real, and it casts a shadow over the rest of the movie, one in which death is always right there waiting to claim anybody and everybody no matter where they are.
But be all that as it may, The Believers is still a 1980s horror movie, so there can be only so many attempts at subtlety before excess kicks in. And nowhere is that more apparent than in the movie’s treatment of Santeria, the polytheistic belief system that arose during colonial times from an odd amalgam of the Yoruba religion of West Africa, a bit of Native American spirituality, and a healthy dose of some of the visual elements of Catholicism. You see, while the movie does have a quick blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene that explicitly states that the people sacrificing children are not true practitioners of Santeria, but rather a bunch of sociopaths dabbling in Brujería (the Spanish word for witchcraft), the movie still leaves viewers with the vague impression that the followers of Santeria are a bunch of creepy whack job child murderers.
And that’s unfortunate because, while Santeria does require the occasional sacrifice of animals (a practice protected by the Supreme Court by the way), there’s only ever been one recorded instance of human sacrifice involving the religion. This occurred in 1989 in Matamoros, Mexico, where a series of ritualistic murders was carried out by a gang of drug runners seeking supernatural protection for their activities. Once the people involved had been captured, investigators discovered that the leader of the gang had decided to create his own personal offshoot of Santeria inspired by a Hollywood made movie that he required each of his men to watch 14 times. That movie was, you guessed it, The Believers. And folks wonder why religious people get upset over their portrayals in movies.
Look, there are plenty of arguments against practices like Santeria without having to resort to dishonest representations to make them. To begin with, the Catechism expressly states that "all practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion". Now to understand why it says this, you have to take notice that the Catechism places the practicing of magic under the same general heading of “You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me” as it does all other forms of idolatry. Idolatry, as the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia explains it, “etymologically denotes Divine worship given to an image, but its signification has been extended to all Divine worship given to anyone or anything but the true God.” So basically, anything we put before God, even basic human desires like security or financial well being, can become an idol.
So if you look at magic through the lens of idolatry, it’s easy to see that the casting of blessings and curses, divination, brewing potions, magical healings, all that “fire burn and cauldron bubble” kind of stuff, really stems from a desire for control over the events and people in our lives. In our consumer-oriented, appearance-obsessed, goal-driven world, it’s pretty easy to feel ignored and powerless. So if magic offers the chance for a little power over the present or a little heads up on what the future has in store, hey, why not go for it? I mean, why live by faith when you can supposedly gain luck, health, money, and (gasp) even love for the price of a few candles or the life of a chicken. Of course, practitioners of these arts often deny they engage in such activities in order to impose their will on events. They’ll claim something along the lines that they are simply releasing the divine energy inside themselves to interact in a harmonious way with the divine already present in nature or some such stuff. It’s not a bad spin, but it just doesn’t stand up to reason. You don’t brew up a love potion to induce harmony, you do it to try and force someone to love you, end of story.
When you get to the core of it, magic is just another form of idolatrous self-worship, and that’s the oldest sin in the book, isn’t it? In contrast, when Christians pray for something (healing, guidance, maybe even love, it happens) we’re not trying to manipulate some supernatural force into giving us what we want (not if we’re praying correctly, anyway). We’re asking for God’s will to be done. And if what we desire happens to coincide with God’s will, that’s great, but if doesn’t, well, then we hope and pray that God teaches us why it doesn’t and changes us so that we want what He wants. We leave the outcome to God. It’s much healthier for our souls that way. And it doesn’t require gutting any chickens or goats, which is always a plus in my book.
En kongelig affære (A Royal Affair)
I was really impressed with this movie, the remarkable performances, the little known (for me) piece of history and how Nikolaj Arcel was able to do "another" European period movie quite different to many that I have seen. So, just imagine the "cultural" shock I had when discovered the not so good reviews movie gets mainly, but not only, in English from a few professional critics and many viewers. This motivates me to do a different approach here as seems like if I saw (again) a different story than many did.The Film Story - Part 1
Film tells the story of a young queen, Caroline Mathilde, who is married to insane king, Christian VII of Denmark, falls secretly in love with the king's German physician, Johan Friedrich Struensee, and together change too early what later becomes the norm not only in Denmark but across the civilized world or -if you wish- Europe. Is told from the queen's perspective and accordingly to what I read is based primordially on the novel Prinsesse af blodet (Princess of Blood) by Danish author Bodil Steensen-Leth where the queen is the protagonist and the one who narrates story; but also is based on the novel Livläkarens besök (The Visit of the Royal Physician) by Swedish author Per Olov Enquist. So these gives us some clues that story even do is based on actual facts has to have some fiction.
The History
As I'm not that much familiar with Danish history my first instinct told me to check what was fact, so I did a little research from reliable sources. Seems movie is a good dramatization of actual events but there are several issues that seems today are still questionable; most are related to the "affair" or the romance. Some still doubt that Struensee had an affair with the queen, but others confirm that the daughter pictures show resemblance to him and many claim that he had an affair with the queen and also with another woman in the court, which made both women very jealous of each other.
What seems to be real is everything related to Struensee ascension to power, his ahead of time rulings based on his studies of Enlightenment philosophers, and his fall to the aristocrats that had lost all power and finally got it back. All this happening in Denmark 20 years before the French Revolution.
The Story - Part 2
Seems that most viewers see film and only watch the romance, after all who can blame them as if you read the movie title is none other than "A Royal Affair", which most will relate to the romance and not to the other kind of affairs. All right I also saw the romantic affair and admit that it was good, interesting; yet was similar to many European royal stories that we have seen in film, including one mentioned profusely in viewers reviews: the story of Camelot. Most like the romance movie and some even call it a "girlie" film, meaning that is suited only for female audiences. I totally disagree, but then I saw more the "other" story, the one that really captured me to feel all kind of intense emotions, the one that made me think that infamous phrase: "people have the government they deserve".
As movie begins to introduce us to the characters, the queen's tragedy, the king's insanity and whatever follows I was seeing the film with "romance" eyes; but there was one scene that changed all and made me think that there was something more in this story. I'm talking about the scene where the queen finds the books hidden behind the front books in the bookshelf. From that moment on I awoke and started to see film with different eyes. What captured my attention are all the elements that seem to be history accurate and that story seemed to me just fascinating.
I was not aware of this piece of history that happened 20 years before the French Revolution, regret that is lost in history annals and probably will be lost for many even after seeing this film. Won't get into analyzing all the implications but due to Arcel's so contemporary storytelling style plus the outstanding screenplay, made me think about what is happening nowadays around the world, where history tends to repeat itself many times. About the fear of change that some have because will lose their power while others because ignorance. Then, just imagine if Struensee had remained in power world history would have been told quite different today.
The Film
Nikolaj Arcel might be known to some of you because he wrote the outstanding screenplay of Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), that for me is the best of the Millenium saga films; so was not surprising that the screenplay of this movie won the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the 2012 Berlinale that he co wrote with Rasmus Heisterberg. I believe that what makes this movie quite outstanding is the remarkable screenplay that spectacularly blends romance, some humor and historic events while impregnating a very contemporary feel.
Performances by Alicia Vikander (the queen) and Mads Mikkelsen (Struensee) are remarkable but the one that steals the movie for me is Mikkel Boe Følsgaard that gives his insane king performance many layers to make our eyes fixed on him every time he is on the screen. Production design is lavish as well as costumes and production values are on the high end of the scale.
In the end the film is as good as many other European royal period films if you think only about the production values but what makes this film very different is not only the story it tells but also how is told.
As we know film is Denmark's submission to Oscar and before reading reviews I was sure this film will make it to the shortlist of nine and maybe will get a nomination; now I think that only if Academy members see the "other" affairs and how magnificently is blend into romance then perhaps will make the shortlist. Sigh.
Still this is a film I highly recommend to many regular readers as know will enjoy the romance and will appreciate the historic value of this film.
Enjoy!!!
Watch trailer @MOC
*SPOILERS* Check Out The Tracklisting / Scene Sequences For THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
Keep in mind that the soundtrack listings will give away hints as to the scenes in chronological order of their happening in THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, so SPOILER ALERT.
As per normal, Shore's take on the movie sounds gorgeous in the trailers - can't wait to hear more. Look for the soundtracks on December 11th with the movie releasing on December 14th.
THE HOBBIT SPECIAL EDITION TRACKLIST
Hit the jump for more...
DISC 1:
My Dear Frodo
Old Friends (Extended Version)
An Unexpected Party (Extended Version)
Blunt the Knives performed by The Dwarf Cast
Axe or Sword?
Misty Mountains performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast
The Adventure Begins
The World is Ahead
An Ancient Enemy
Radagast the Brown (Extended Version)
The Trollshaws
Roast Mutton (Extended Version)
A Troll-hoard
The Hill of Sorcery
Warg-scouts
DISC 2:
The Hidden Valley
Moon Runes (Extended Version)
The Defiler
The White Council (Extended Version)
Over Hill
A Thunder Battle
Under Hill
Riddles in the Dark
Brass Buttons
Out of the Frying-Pan
A Good Omen
Song of the Lonely Mountain (Extended Version) performed by Neil Finn
Dreaming of Bag End
EXCLUSIVE BONUS TRACKS
A Very Respectable Hobbit
Erebor
The Dwarf Lords
The Edge of the Wild
THE HOBBIT STANDARD EDITION TRACKLIST
Disc 1:
My Dear Frodo
Old Friends
An Unexpected Party
Axe or Sword?
Misty Mountains performed by Richard Armitage and The Dwarf Cast
The Adventure Begins
The World is Ahead
An Ancient Enemy
Radagast the Brown
Roast Mutton
A Troll-hoard
The Hill of Sorcery
Warg-scouts
Disc 2:
The Hidden Valley
Moon Runes
The Defiler
The White Council
Over Hill
A Thunder Battle
Under Hill
Riddles in the Dark
Brass Buttons
Out of the Frying-Pan
A Good Omen
Song of the Lonely Mountain performed by Neil Finn
Dreaming of Bag End
Source: Fandango
Karl Urban Joins Willow Shields In THE WONDER 3-D
Ron Underwood (CITY SLICKERS, MIGHTY JOE YOUNG) is directing along with producers Steve Sachs, Robert Sidaway, Iain Brown and Chun-Yi Yuehare. THE WONDER 3-D will be made available during AFM.
Shooting is set to commence in New Zealand and China in March, 2013 and Pixomondo (HUGO) will be doing the effects.
From Variety: The film follows a 14-year-old (Shields) who, along with two of her classmates, finds the end of a rainbow. As they step inside the rainbow, it takes them away to China where local authorities and a mysterious organization are soon after them. Urban will portray a consul who delivers unexpected help.
Sounds fun. More info when we get it!
WATCH: New Trailer For DESPICABLE ME 2!
DESPICABLE ME 2 seems to be all about that with the apparent alien abduction of various minions going about their innocent (?) lives. Of course we will have a search and recover mission soon embarked upon right? Right!
Here's a brief description for the movie:
Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment's worldwide blockbuster, Despicable Me, delighted audiences around the globe in 2010, grossing more than $540 million and becoming the 10th-biggest animated motion picture in U.S. history. In Summer 2013, get ready for more minion madness in Despicable Me 2. Chris Meledandri and his acclaimed filmmaking team create an all-new comedy animated adventure featuring the return of Gru (Steve Carell), the girls, the unpredictably hilarious minions... and a host of new and outrageously funny characters.
Director: Chris Renaud
Writer: Cinco Paul
Studio: Universal Pictures
Cast: Al Pacino, Jason Segel, Steve Carell
DESPICABLE ME is slated for release on July 3, 2013.
Hit the jump to watch the trailer...
Kauwboy
What seems to be Boudewijn Koole's feature film debut, has done mainly documentaries and TV movies, is an impressive oeuvre that looks and feels like made by a more experienced, accomplished filmmaker as turns an often seen story into an amazing lyrical visuals and narrative film that will engage you very fast even when you do not particularly like kids stories, just like me.Been delaying watching as usually have a hard time relating to kids stories plus most directors seem to not being able to extract from kids actors outstanding performances; but this film absolutely is the exception as not only Rick Lens performance as Jojo is fantastic but director magnificent storytelling style engaged me fast. With a narrative that you will not fully decode until almost the end, beautiful visuals that eases what you are seeing plus engage you perhaps as much as story if not more, Koole created a very uplifting movie that will explode many emotions and perhaps bring one or two tears to your eyes. A true delightful ride that will please your eyes and make you really feel for Jojo.
Film tells the story of nine/ten years-old Jojo that goes into battle mode with his father; you can see that he's left alone too much, finds some solace talking by phone to his absent mother while telling not the truth about his father, he is aggressive and easily explodes and so on and so forth. But something changes when Jojo finds a baby jackdaw as now he not only has a companion, someone to take care for but also someone that helps him to ease his daily pain. How the story evolves you have to see it as don't want spoilers to ruin the film for you, but let me reinforce that is an uplifting story with a happy great end and message.
As Koole says in an interview this film is all about the casting and definitively agree as he was able to extract from non-actor Lens a magnificent performance but I also believe that film is extremely beautiful to watch with some scenes that look and feel like visual poetry, extraordinary hand-held camera scenes that contribute to the narrative, amazing stills (yes, photographs) that made me go into awe mode, absolutely fantastic framing, editing and almost perfect production values are ALSO elements that made this film a great art piece while telling a very compelling story that will entertain you. Many call film unpretentious and this time I have to agree but that doesn't mean that this is a masterful piece of art too.
Film premiered at the 2012 Belinale where it won the Best First Feature and the Crystal Bear in Generation Kplus section plus the Young Audience Award of the 2012 European Film Awards, as yes is a film that young children could enjoy as much as their parents. My only concern is that parents are adults and what they might see could be different to what children could see. Also as we know film is Netherlands submission to Oscar and truly I will not be surprised if film makes it to the shortlist of nine and even if gets a well-deserved nomination; but with the average age of foreign language committee members you never know what they will do.
A must be seen film that could please general audiences plus those that like art cinema; not often I'm able to say art and masses together but this film really fits both.
Enjoy!!!
Watch trailer @MOC
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)