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« August 2007 | Main | October 2007 »
Thursday, September 27, 2007 - 08:53:14
I saw "Eastern Promises" last weekend, and I thought it was a very fine film. Viggo Mortensen is exceptional and it was nice to see Armin Mueller-Stahl in a devious not unlike his role in "Shine" many years ago. Cronenberg's made a film better than his critically acclaimed "The History of Violence," and it doesn't surprise me at all that "Eastern Promises" took the top prize at the Toronto International Film Festival. 
Of course they did. Paramount and Dreamworks are holding June 29, 2009 as the opening date of a "Transformers" sequel. Shia LaBeouf and Michael Bay are expected to return. It's not a matter of whether this sequel will suck, just to what degree it will suck.
Here's a link to Wes Anderson's short film "The Hotel Chevalier" which plays as a prequel to his new film "The Darjeeling Limited." It's free from iTunes. Running time: 13 minutes.The first Guru's o' Gold Best Picture rankings are up on Movie City News. The critics comprising the voting pool are Pete Hammond, Eugene Hernandez, Peter Howell, Dave Karger, Lou Lumenick, Glenn Kenny, Jack Matthews, Mark Olsen, David Poland, Sasha Stone, Sean Smith, Anne Thompson, Susie Woz and Glenn Whipp. Here's their Top 5:
1. Atonement
1. No Country for Old Men (tie)
3. Charlie Wilson's War
4. American Gangster
5. Into the Wild
Wednesday, September 26, 2007 - 08:10:45
"So far this year’s film output has been more or less mediocre. However there have been a few exceptions thanks to the likes of Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Ultimatum), David Cronenberg (Eastern Promises) and yes, even Judd Apatow (Knocked Up). But between the usual weak period of January through April and then the nothing-but-dreadful summer season—thanks for absolutely nothing Sam Raimi—there wasn’t really a film to come along and pelt me over the face with any sort of bravado or cinematic dexterity. I will say that David Cronenberg came real close. Close enough that this article could also easily be about him. However I sat down early last week to view what will quite possibly become the best film of 2007: Sidney Lumet’s, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead." - - Andrew Jupin, The Cinephile New York.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 20:34:58
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Nathan Lee of the Village Voice writes about the upcoming New York Film Festival. The festival opens on Friday with Wes Anderson's "The Darjeeling Limited." Writes Lee, "The festival opens with the bittersweet pleasures of Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited, bristles to the acerbic domestic meltdown of Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding (above), and highlights an even more astringent family crisis in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, a wildly contrived but ruthlessly tough-minded thriller from Sidney Lumet. Didn't know he had it in him, though I'm not surprised to find Gus Van Sant further refine the emotional precision of his abstract, experimental youth movies with Paranoid Park."
New York Magazine has a cover story about the festival. Joel and Ethan Coen, Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson are featured on the cover. "The 45th NYFF has drafted a whopping ten New Yorkers—a lineup so stacked they could take on the Yankees. Wes Anderson has the opening-night slot with The Darjeeling Limited. The Coen brothers follow with No Country for Old Men as the centerpiece. To round out the scorecard: Noah Baumbach, Peter Bogdanovich, Abel Ferrara, Murray Lerner, Sidney Lumet, Ira Sachs, and Julian Schnabel. Filmmakers from Hollywood: one. You may not have noticed that you are living in a new heyday of New York film, but you are."
Natalie Portman (pictured above from "V for Vendetta") stars in Wes Anderson's short film "The Hotel Chevalier" which screened in Apple stores yesterday, and is not available for download iTunes. The short film is a companion to Anderson's soon-to-be-released film "The Darjeeling Limited" which opened the New York Film Festival.
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