Month: September 2016

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: DEEPWATER HORIZON (USA 2016)

festreviews 2016 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

deepwater_horizon_poster.jpgDEEPWATER HORIZON (USA 2016) **
Directed by Peter Berg

Starring: Dylan O’Brien, Mark Wahlberg, Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez, Ethan Suplee, John Malkovich

Review by Gilbert Seah

Based on the true-life worst U.S. oil disaster in history, DEEPWATER HORIZON is nothing more than a super expensive a re-enactment of the disaster using special effects with a cliched story line framed by testimonies of the survivors at a hearing.

Director Peter Berg who made some original films in his time like VERY BAD THNGS and KINGDOM seems to be out of touch here. The film is a complete bore from start to finish with cardboard performances from Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez and Kate Hudson.

Even John Malkovich dishing, out his usual side nastiness cannot save the day. Another disaster film that proves that disaster films (THE TOWERING INFERNO, THW SWARM, both POSEIDON ADVENTURES) are pure disastrous rubbish!

Lots and lots of pyrotechnics but repeated again and again with lots of screaming actors. See it in IMAX for a larger than human headache experience.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-UPJyEHmM0

Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.

Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month: http://www.wildsoundfestival.com

Happy Birthday: Jean Renoir (1894–1979)

festreviews Happy Birthday , ,

jeanrenoirJean Renoir (1894–1979)

Born: September 15, 1894 in Paris, France
Died: February 12, 1979 (age 84) in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Married to:
Dido Freire (6 February 1944 – 12 February 1979) (his death)

[on Orson Welles]: Orson Welles is an animal made for the screen and the stage. When he steps before a camera, it is as if the rest of the world ceases to exist. He is a citizen of the screen.

Jean Renoir – Born in France in 1894 to famous painter (Pierre-Auguste) ‘Renoir’, Jean was drawn to the art of film. In the early 1920s, Renoir began making his own silent films, financed by the sale of his father’s paintings he had inherited.

In the early 1930s Renoir forayed into sound films, and began achieving success in the industry.

A political artist, much Hollywood material did not appeal to Jean; however, he went on to helm many praised works, and was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for 1945’s The Southerner. Jean Renoir died in 1979.

The Rules of the Game
1939
dir. Renoir
starring
Nora Gregor
Paulette Dubost		 movie posterTHE RULES OF THE GAME
1939
dir. Jean Renoir
Starring
Nora Grégor
Paulette Dubost
Grand Illusion
1937
dir. Jean Renoir
Starring
Jean Gabin
Dita Parlo

Happy Birthday: Agatha Christie (1890–1976)

festreviews Happy Birthday , ,

agathachristieAgatha Christie (1890–1976)

Born: September 15, 1890 in Torquay, Devon, England, UK
Died: January 12, 1976 (age 85) in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Married to: Max E.L. Mallowan (11 September 1930 – 12 January 1976) (her death)
Archibald Christie (24 December 1914 – 1928) (divorced) (1 child)

Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions.

I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.

Happy Birthday: Ron Shelton

festreviews Happy Birthday , ,

ronshelton.jpgRon Shelton

Born: September 15, 1945 in Whittier, California, USA

Married to: Lolita Davidovich

[referring to The Great White Hype (1996)]: “I tried to get my name taken off it because the film they made was not the script I wrote. I find it a horrible movie.”

TIN CUP
1996
dir. Ron Shelton
Starring:
Kevin Costner
Rene Russo
BULL DURHAMBull Durham
1988
dir. Ron Shelton
Starring
Susan Sarandon
Costner		 MOVIE POSTERCOBB
1994
dir. Ron Shelton
Stars:
Tommy Lee Jones
Robert Wuhl
White Men Can’t Jump
1992
dir. Ron Shelton
Starring
Woody Harrelson
Snipes
moviesJORDAN RIDES THE BUS
2010
dir. Ron Shelton
Starring:
Michael Jordan
Phil Jackson

 

Happy Birthday: Rebecca Miller

festreviews Happy Birthday , ,

rebeccamiller.jpgRebecca Miller

Born: September 15, 1962 in Roxbury, Connecticut, USA

Married to: Daniel Day-Lewis (13 November 1996 – present) (2 children)

Read interview from Matthew Toffolo early this year:

From Interview:

I am always open to being surprised and I’m hoping that I can surprise people. My motivation to make movies is so I can keep learning and keep the learning curve steep. I don’t know what’s next but I want to keep surprising myself and I want to keep learning.

Happy Birthday: Caterina Murino

festreviews 140 characters, Happy Birthday , ,

caterinamurino.jpgCaterina Murino

Born: September 15, 1977 in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

I do have ambition – I can dress up for a premiere, get in a limousine, but it’s not my life. My life is wearing jeans and tennis shoes and travelling on the metro. I have to do that because otherwise my acting is going to be false.

I have a dream of re-creating the fantastic family I grew up in with my brother and my parents. I am lucky that I have such a good image of family life – my father and mother are still in love, still happy.

Modelling was not very satisfying for me. I came to London to model, and I fell in love with the theatre. I was eating yoghurt every day so that I had the money to go to the theatre. I saw everything. It’s still my dream to be on stage in London.

Happy Birthday: Josh Charles

festreviews Happy Birthday , ,

joshcharles.jpgJosh Charles

Born: September 15, 1971 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Married to: Sophie Flack (6 September 2013 – present) (1 child)

I grew up in Baltimore. And yes, I am a big sports fan, especially when it comes to my local teams.

My dad said to me growing up: ‘When all is said and done, if you can count all your true friends on one hand, you’re a lucky man.’

Best of GOOD WIFE TV Series TV POSTERBest of GOOD WIFE Season 4
Stars:
Archie Panjabi
Christine Baranski

megan foxBest of GOOD WIFE Season 5 TV POSTERBest of GOOD WIFE Season 3
Stars:
Josh Charles
Matt Czuchry
Muppets From Space
1999
dir. Tim Hill
Cast
Dave Goelz
Bill Barretta		 TV POSTERBest of GOOD WIFE Season 2
Stars:
Julianna Margulies
Chris Noth
DEAD POETS SOCIETYDead Poets Society
1989
dir. Peter Weir
starring
Williams
Ethan Hawke		 TV POSTERBest of GOOD WIFE Season 1
Creators:
Michelle King
Robert King
MOVIE POSTERFAST TRACK
2006
dir. Jesse Peretz
Stars:
Zach Braff
Amanda Peet

 

Happy Birthday: Oliver Stone

festreviews Happy Birthday , ,

oliverstone.jpgOliver Stone

Born: September 15, 1946 in New York City, New York, USA

I consider my films first and foremost to be dramas about individuals in personal struggles and I consider myself to be a dramatist before I am a political filmmaker. I’m interested in alternative points of view. I think ultimately the problems of the planet are universal and that nationalism is a very destructive force. I also like anarchy in films. My heroes were Luis Buñuel and Jean-Luc Godard. Breathless (1960) was one of the first pictures I really remember being marked by, because of the speed and energy. They say I’m unsubtle. But we need above all, a theatre that wakes us up: nerves and heart.

Platoon
1986
dir. Stone
Starring
Charlie Sheen
Willem DaFoe		 WallstreetWallstreet
1987
dir. Stone
starring
Charlie Sheen
Michael Douglas
The DoorsBorn on the 4th of July
1989
dir. Stone
starring
Tom Cruise
Willem DaFoe		 The DoorsThe Doors
1991
dir. Stone
starring
Val Kilmer
Meg Ryan
MOVIE POSTERWORLD TRADE CENTER
2006
dir. Oliver Stone
Stars:
Nicolas Cage
Michael Pena
Any Given Sunday
1999
dir. Stone
starring
Jamie Foxx
Al Pacino		 ALEXANDERAlexander
2004
dir. Oliver Stone
Cast
Colin Farrell
Angelina Jolie		 WW
dir. Stone
Starring
Josh Brolin
James Cromwell		 WALL STREET 2WALL STREET 2
dir. Oliver Stone
Stars:
Shia LaBeouf
Michael Douglas
MOVIE POSTERSAVAGES
2012
dir. Oliver Stone
Stars:
Aaron Johnson
Blake Lively		 MOVIEJFK
1996
dir. Oliver Stone
Starring
Kevin Costner
Tommy Lee Jones