• Pedro Almodovar’s I’M SO EXCITED! Opens June 28, 2013

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    I’M SO EXCITED!, written and directed by famed Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar opens in the US on June 28, 2013 two weeks after premiering at  the 2013 Los Angeles Film Festival.

    In the new comedy by Pedro Almodóvar, and starring  Antonio de la Torre, Hugo Silva, Miguel Ángel Silvestre, Laya Martí, Javier Cámara, Carlos Areces, Raul Arevalo, José María Yazpik, Guillermo Toledo, José Luis Torrijo, Lola Dueñas, Cecilia Roth, Blanca Suárez, a very mixed group of travelers are in a life-threatening situation on board a plane flying to Mexico City.

    A technical failure has endangered the lives of the people on board Peninsula Flight 2549. The pilots are striving, along with their colleagues in the Control Center, to find a solution. The flight attendants and the chief steward are atypical, baroque characters who, in the face of danger, try to forget their own personal problems and devote themselves body and soul to the task of making the flight as enjoyable as possible for the passengers, while they wait for a solution. Life in the clouds is as complicated as it is at ground level, and for the same reasons, which could be summarized in two: sex and death.

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  • 5 Documentaries to Watch at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival

    by Morgan Davies

    The Tribeca Film Festival kicks off in downtown Manhattan this week, and while movies with big stars like The English Teacher (with Julianne Moore and Nathan Lane) and Almost Christmas (with Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd) may get most of the attention from the press, many of the festival’s best films are likely to be less-seen documentaries. Here are five to look out for.

    Mistaken for Strangers 

    Unlike previous festivals, which have opened with the likes of Spider-Man 3 and The Avengers, Tribeca will officially begin this year with Mistaken for Strangers (see main image), a documentary (or mock-documentary) by Tom Berninger, brother of Matt Berninger, the frontman of Brooklyn-based indie rock band The National. Described as “embodying the wherewithal of a Christopher Guest character” in the official description of the film, Tom went on tour with his brother’s band as a roadie-cum-documentarian, and what started out as a mockumentary project grew into something more. In a recent interview with Pitchfork, Matt said the film kept getting closer and closer to reality: “We crafted some of it to tell that story, and we’re not calling it a pure documentary, but it’s a very honest, personal narrative that we started chasing.”

    http://youtu.be/FUjBue7XggQ

    Bridegroom

    With the Supreme Court set to make a ruling on the constitutionality on California’s Prop 8 this summer, same-sex marriage is on everybody’s mind these days. Bridegroom, the debut documentary feature by Linda Bloodworth Thomason, is right on the zeitgeist: it focuses on Tom, a young man who must “fac[e] the failure of same sex marriage protections that leave him completely shut out and ostracized” in the wake of his partner Shane’s untimely death.

    Gasland Part II

    Gasland, Josh Fox’s 2010 Oscar-nominated documentary, was instrumental in starting the national conversation about the effects of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) on the land and the people living on it. In his follow-up, Fox once again “examines the long-run impact of the controversial process, including poisonous water, earthquakes and neurological damage, placing his focus on the people whose lives have been irreparably changed.” By looking at anti-fracking protesters and movements and the corporations on the other side of the battle, Gaslands Part II promises to expand and deepen the conversation even further.

    Oxyana

    Funded by Kickstarter, Oxyana is Sean Dunne’s debut documentary feature, focusing on the small town of Oceana, West Virginia, which has become plagued by rampant prescription drug addiction in the wake of the vanishing coal industry. With a score by alt-country band Deer Tick and beautiful photography as seen in the film’s haunting trailer, the film – described as “unflinchingly intimate” – promises to be something special.

    Flex is Kings

    All dance aficionados owe it to themselves to watch the captivating film above, which features footage of twenty-one “flex” dancers from East New York in Brooklyn. Flex is a rapidly-growing style of dance native to Brooklyn that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. In this documentary, filmmakers Deirdre Schoo and Michael Beach Nichols combine “majestic choreographed set pieces” with a focus on three central characters: Reem, Flizzo, and Jay Donn. Billed as “a sparkling testament to the freeing power of art and a powerful visual celebration of the beauty born when raw energy is directed toward the creative process,” this isn’t one to miss.

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  • Love Is All You Need Starring Pierce Brosnan, Opens in NY on May 3rd

    Love Is All You Need diirected by Oscar Winner Susanne Bier opens May 3, 2013 at Lincoln Plaza and Landmark Sunshine Cinemas in NY

    The film, an official selection at Toronto International Film Festival 2012 and Venice International Film Festival 2012, stars Pierce Brosnan, Trine Dyrholm, Molly Blixt Egelind, Sebastian Jessen, Paprika Steen, Kim Bodnia, Christiane Schaumburg-Müller, Micky Skeel Hansen.

    In the film, Philip (Brosnan), a well-off Englishman living in Denmark, is a long-time bachelor and single father. Ida (Dyrholm) is an attractive, middle-aged Danish hairdresser who has just conquered cancer only to find her husband in bed with his secretary, Thilde. Their two fates collide at the airport as they embark upon a trip to Italy to attend the wedding of Patrick and Astrid, Phillip’s son and Ida’s daughter.

    With warmth, affection and confidence, Susanne Bier has shaken a cocktail of love, loss,absurdity, humor, and delicately drawn characters that will leave only the hardest heart untouched. It is a film about the simple yet profound pains and joys of moving on – and forward – with your life.

     In Danish, English and Italian with English subtitles.

    http://youtu.be/v4B02wHam_U

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  • USA Film Festival Unveils 2013 Lineup, incl The Way, Way Back, Manhunt

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    The USA Film Festival released the schedule of events for the 43rd Annual USA Film Festival, April 24 – 28, 2013 to be held at the Angelika Film Center, in Dallas, Texas.

    This year’s program include a salute to veteran indie distributor Jeff Lipsky, Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash present The Way, Way Back (main image), veteran documentary filmmaker Greg Barker presents Manhunt (pictured above) and Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s documentary Bridegroom.

    Other highlights include actress/writer Abby Miller presents Congratulations, director Susan Seidelman presents The Hot Flashes, Caesar Must Die from Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, and Kevin Connolly’s documentary Big Shot (pictured above).

    The festival will also screen new films from femme filmmakers, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell and Lynn Shelton’s Touchy Feely (pictured above),  Japanese anime feature The Princess and the Pilot, feature documentaries Blackfish (dir. Gabriela Cowperthwaite), Free the Mind (dir. Phie Ambo) and More Than Honey (dir. Markus Imhoof).

    Films from hometown – Texas – talent include writer/director David Gordon Green with his new feature Prince Avalanche (pictured above), Actress Amy Acker presents Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing, Writer Joey O’Bryan’s Hong Kong thriller, Motorway, gets the big screen treatment, writer Brad Hennig presents The Hot Flashes (a feature film created to support awareness for cancer screenings), and  Dallas filmmakers Drew Rist and Don Merritt present their documentary Bottled Up, the Dublin Dr Pepper story.

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  • Kinky Lesbians and U-Locks in “Sweet Ride” at 2013 Filmed by Bike

    The short film “Sweet Ride” directed by Ilima Considine, singer of The Sexbots, will show during Filmed by Bike, a film festival of the best bike themed movies from around the world, April 20-23, 2013 at the Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton Street in Portland, Oregon.

    The film features a lesbian love nest with a Sprockette and a greasy bike mechanic, kinky sex involving a bike helmet, someone gets beaten into a coma with a U-lock and what the filmmaker best describes as “or, as my Asian mom said, “I can’t watch this.”

    Considine’s debut short in 2011’s Filmed by Bike was about a pair of friends who shared a fetish for bike mechanics, just like the director.  She has claimed that this 4-minute short was a thinly veiled excuse to make out with a Sprockette and beat someone with a bike lock.

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  • DVD: Canadian Sci-Fi Horror Film The Corrupted Gets A Summer Release Date

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    The Canadian sci-fi horror film The Corrupted will be released this summer on DVD, VOD,by Eagle One Media. Directed by John Klappstein and Knighten Richman, The Corrupted, features Keltie Squires, Shaun Tisdale (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil), Ashley Tallas, Jeremy Hook, and Anuj Saraswat.

    Shot in Alberta, Canada, The Corrupted was nominated for six (Alberta Media Production Industry Association) AMPIAS Awards including Best Feature, Best Special Effects, and Best Screenplay. 

    The Corrupted is described as “Spring Break meets HP Lovecraft. Where it’s all fun and games…until someone gets infected.”

    A man quietly strums his guitar at the edge of a tranquil lake in the middle of the night. Through the darkness a beautiful young woman emerges along the shoreline, silent and mysterious. She approaches and whispers
    something into his ear. When she beckons, he has no choice but to follow. When his friends arrive for a weekend of partying, its obvious…something in him has changed. What did the woman tell him? Why does he seem so
    distant? Where did she take him? The Corrupted is an intellectual sci-fi horror thriller feature film produced in Canada and directed by John Klappstein and Knighten Richman.

    http://youtu.be/g011KyNH4JY

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  • AMPAS Cocktail Party to Inaugurate the Future Home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

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    On Thursday, April 11, 2013, the Academy Museum of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held the inaugural celebration for the future home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures at the historic Wilshire May Company Building in Los Angeles. Guest in attendance included Annette Bening (left), Co-Chair of The Academy Museum, Warren Beatty (center) and Academy Governor Jim Gianopulos (all pictured above).

    Academy President Hawk Koch (left) and Jerry Bruckheimer during the inaugural celebration for the future home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the historic Wilshire May Company Building in Los Angeles.

    credit: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.

    The inaugural celebration for the future home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the historic Wilshire May Company Building in Los Angeles.

    credit: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S.

    Rachel McAdams (left), Laurence Mark (center) and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson during the inaugural celebration for the future home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the historic Wilshire May Company Building in Los Angeles.

    credit: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S.

    Jason Schwartzman (left), Ellen Harrington (center), Academy Director of Exhibitions and Special Events, and Academy Governor John Lasseter during the inaugural celebration for the future home of The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the historic Wilshire May Company Building in Los Angeles.

    credit: Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S.

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  • Pasadena Starring Peter Bogdanovich, Cheryl Hines to World Premiere at 2013 Sarasota Film Festival

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    PASADENA, the new independent ‘dramedy’ starring Peter Bogdanovich, Cheryl Hines, Alicia Witt, Sonya Walger and Ashton Holmes will have its World Premiere today, Saturday  April 13, 2013, in Sarasota, Florida, at the 2013 Sarasota International Film Festival. 

     

    PASADENA was written and directed by Will Slocombe. Set in present-day Pasadena and constructed around a series of meals, PASADENA is about what happens when you set a match to a powder keg. It’s about honesty. It’s about love. It’s about trying your best. Ultimately, it’s about the kind of emotional terrorism that only families can inflict upon one another.

    Thanksgiving get-together for the eccentric Turner clan, presided over by eminent scholar and patriarch, POPPY (Peter Bogdanovich), turns into a disastrous holiday weekend when black sheep daughter NINA (Alicia Witt) pays her first visit home in 15 years. Nina immediately clashes with stepmother, DEBORAH (Cheryl Hines), and competes with her siblings (Ashton Holmes and Sonya Walger) for Poppy’s affection – and money. Over three days, the family gradually disintegrates over who will get Poppy’s money – only to discover Poppy has his own bad news to share…

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  • Maryland Film Festival Adds Twelve More Films to 2013 Lineup

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    Maryland Film Festival unveiled twelve more feature films in the festival’s 2013 lineup.  The list includes two highly anticipated documentaries with Baltimore subjects, Jeffrey Schwarz’s loving and definitive portrait I Am Divine (photo above), and Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk’s Catonsville Nine documentary Hit & Stay.   

    Also featured are a wide range of international films including Augustine (France), Berberian Sound Studio (UK), Post Tenebras Lux (Mexico), and Watchtower (Turkey); Sundance 2013 breakthrough dramas A Teacher and This Is Martin Bonner; and the latest from David Gordon Green, Prince Avalanche.

    MFF 2013 will take place May 8-12 in downtown Baltimore.

    The latest announced titles for MFF 2013 are:

    Augustine (Alice Winocour) Set in Belle Epoque France, Alice Winocour’s provocative period piece chronicles the sexual awakening of a female patient in a mental hospital for women suffering from “hysteria.”

    Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland) In the 1970s, a gifted but reclusive British sound engineer begins having ever-escalating strange experiences the mirror that Italian horror film on which he’s working.

    Drinking Buddies (Joe Swanberg) Kate and Luke form a close bond working together at a Chicago craft brewery-but as the line between friendship and romance gets blurry, cracks begin to show, both in the workplace and their personal lives. Starring Olivia Wilde, Anna Kendrick, Jake Johnson, and Ron Livingston.

    Hit & Stay (Joe Tropea and Skizz Cyzyk) This Baltimore-made documentary tells the story of the radical priests, nuns, and everyday people who comprised the Baltimore Four and the Catonsville Nine, risking prison to challenge U.S. military involvement in Vietnam.

    I Am Divine (Jeffrey Schwarz) From the director of Vito comes the definitive documentary look at actor, singer, and drag icon Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as Divine; featuring extensive interviews with John Waters and many others who knew, loved, and worked with Divine.

    Leviathan (Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel) Functioning as both an immersive experiential documentary about modern commercial fishing and a feature-length experimental film, Leviathan offers an explosive and chaotic sensory experience like no other.

    Post Tenebras Lux (Carlos Reygadas) The director of challenging art-house favorites Battle in Heaven and Silent Light returns with his most personal and transgressive film yet, a masterful meditation on natural wonder, sudden violence, and the human condition.

    Prince Avalanche (David Gordon Green) Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch star as highway workers with a bumpy history paired for a project in a remote location in this charming blend of comedy and drama from the director of George Washington and Pineapple Express.

    Swim Little Fish Swim (Lola Bessis and Ruben Amar) In this offbeat French/U.S. co-production with notes of deadpan comedy and romance, hardworking Mary’s frustration with her idealistic husband Leeward mounts when a vivacious young French woman enters their life.

    A Teacher (Hannah Fidell) Diana, a young suburban high-school teacher, seems to be leading a pleasant, if placid, life-but behind closed doors, she’s risking it all for an affair with one of her students.

    This Is Martin Bonner (Chad Hartigan) Fifty-something Martin Bonner looks for a new beginning in Reno, working with released prisoners for a faith-based organization. This subtle and moving character study won the Sundance 2013 Best of Next Audience Award.

    Watchtower (Pelin Esmer) Plagued by tragedy and guilt, a man takes a job in a remote corner of Turkey-but the solitary new life he builds for himself is challenged by the arrival of a young woman, also running from her past.

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  • REVIEW: Nor’easter

    by Christopher McKittrick 

    Father Erik (David Call) is a young priest on an island off the coast of Maine who is new to the island after the previous priest left under less-than-holy circumstances.  Along with the problem of a dwindled congregation, he is confronted by a family torn apart by the disappearance of their son.  Josh went missing when he was eleven years old and his father, Richard (Richard Berkins) is adamant that his son is still alive, but his long-suffering wife Ellen (Haviland Morris) enlists Erik’s help in convincing Richard to have a funeral for Josh.  After Richard finally agrees to finally “bury” his son, Josh (Liam Aiken), now sixteen, reappears.  When asked where he has been the only response he offers his parents and the police is, “I heard I was dead. I didn’t like that.”  However, he reveals the truth to Erik before disappearing again, and Erik, bound by his vows, is unable to reveal Josh’s whereabouts.  However, Erik will not let that prevent him from returning Josh home again.

    Nor’easter features some remarkable performances.  Call’s Erik plays hockey on the mainland as an escape and joined the priesthood to find answers for problems in his own life, though there are indications that he questions his decision.  Call conveys Erik’s doubt without making Nor’easter overdramatic or melodramatic, and though he has been acting for years it’s clear he is only a lucky role away from a major breakthrough.  On the same level, veteran actor Danny Burstein turns in an extraordinary performance in a role that I don’t want to spoil.  His character is a major part of the film despite his limited screen time, and it was an extraordinarily brave decision on his part to take on the role of such a manipulatively heinous character.  However, a majority of the praise is due to writer/director Andrew Brotzman, who has created a refreshing thriller that pits the sacred rules of the clergy versus the rule of law and the moral obligation to save a boy’s life.  In particular, the staging of the climax is particularly clever.



    However, there were a few bits that confused me.  After being a key character in the beginning of the film, Ellen is hardly present after the funeral.  Likewise Josh’s sister, Abby (Rachel Brosnahan) is a vastly underdeveloped character.  Her relationship to Josh is ambiguous, but again she only seems to exist to move a single scene along.  Instead of complete characters, they seem to be dashed “offstage” as soon as they serve their purpose.  I was also taken aback by the editing.  Nor’easter contains some beautiful scenery of snowy Maine that are rapidly cut, and I’m not sure why the pace was so quick in some parts because this 85 minute film mostly has an otherwise effectively slow pace.  Were these cuts a technical issue?

    Still, Nor’easter is a rookie winner for Brotzman.  Although some might be turned off by the subject matter, there is so much potential here that it’s definitely worth a look.

    RATING: A slow-paced, slow-burning thriller that reveals a lot of fresh talent (4 : See it ……. It’s Very Good / 5).

     

    Nor’easter Trailer from David Lowery on Vimeo.

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  • Zulu Starring Forest Whitaker, Orlando Bloom to Close 2013 Cannes Film Festival

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    The 66th Festival de Cannes aka Cannes Film Festival, has chosen the thriller Zulu starring  Forest Whitaker, Orlando Bloom and Tanya van Graan to close the festival on May 26, 2013. The film which shot entirely on location in South Africa by Jérôme Salle is adapted from the novel of the same name by Caryl Férey.

    The action takes place in Cape Town, in a South Africa still overshadowed by apartheid, where destitute townships rubs shoulders with affluent neighborhoods  Two cops on the beat, Orlando Bloom (Pirates of the Caribbean by Gore Verbinski, Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson) and Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland by Kevin McDonald, Ghost Dog, La Voie du Samouraï by Jim Jarmush) are caught up in a suspenseful search which combines elements of political film noir and social study.

    Interesting tid bit: In 1988, Forest Whitaker won Best Male Actor at Cannes for his role in Clint Eastwood’s Bird.

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  • Opening Night Red Carpet Photos of 2013 Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

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    The 11th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles kicked-off Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles with a red carpet and the Los Angeles premiere of Anurag Kashyap’s GANGS OF WASSEYPUR, followed by a gala. 

    Celebrities in attendance included Actress Freida Pinto and director Anurag Kashyap (pictured above).

    The film festival, which runs through April 14, is showcasing 30 plus narrative and documentary features and short films.

     

    From left – Actress Freida Pinto, director Anurag Kashyap and Christina Marouda, Founder and Chair of the Board of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) on the Opening Night Red Carpet Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles. Kashyap’s film GANGS OF WASSEYPUR opened the film fest that runs through April 14.
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

     From left – Guneet Monga, CEO and Producer AKFPL and Sikhya Entertainment who is also an honoree of IFFLA’s Industry Leadership Award 2013, Christina Marouda, Founder and Chair of the Board of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA), and director Vasan Bala whose film PEDDLERS is part of the film fest line-up on the Opening Night Red Carpet Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles. The film fest runs through April 14
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

     Actors Parvesh Cheena and Ben Rappaport with Christina Marouda, Founder and Chair of the Board of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) on the Opening Night Red Carpet of the film fest Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles.The film fest runs through April 14.
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

     Director Anurag Kasyap whose film GANGS OF WASSEYPUR opened the 11th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles addresses the audience prior to the screening while Christina Marouda, IFFLA Founder and Chair of the Board, looks on. The fest runs through April 14.
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

    Director Wendy J.N. Lee whose award-winning documentary PAD YATRA: A GREEN ODYSSEY is screening at the 11th Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) poses on the  film fest’s Opening Night Red Carpet Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at Arclight Hollywood in Los Angeles. The fest runs through April 14.
    Photo credit: Tiffany Rose

     

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