Happy Birthday Today; Evan Rachel Wood, Shannon Elizabeth, Toby Jones, Leslie Jones, Michael Emerson, Julie Kavner, W. Earl Brown
Today’s Birthdays: September 7th
Month: September 2016
TIFF 2016 Movie Review: MOONLIGHT (USA 2016) ***
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.
MOONLIGHT (USA 2016) ***
Directed by Barry Jenkins
Starring: Mahershala Ali, Shariff Earp, Duan’Sandy’ Sanderson
Review by Gilbert Seah
MOONLIGHT is Barry Jenkins’ second feature after MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY. It is s very strange feature, very originally told (in three parts; each part titled by each of the three names the protagonist is given) of the life of Little or Chiron or Black from childhood to adulthood.
His real name is Chiron, but is called Little in school due to his small stature. Little is ‘adopted’ by a local thug and his girlfriend when he is not living with his drug addicted mother. Bullied and beaten up frequently,
Little cannot take it anymore and is arrested after he finally breaks a chair over his bully right in the middle of a class. He grows up to be a big muscled guy and meets back with his school buddy who gave him the nickname of Black. Kevin and Black had a gay sex encounter which Black can never forget. Jenkins’ film feels like it is all over the place though it is obvious he is leading his audience somewhere.
Though slow moving at times, Jenkins film is never boring and a compelling watch for start to end when the audience finally figures out the purpose of MOONLIGHT.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fYFIj16YC0
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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: LONG EXCUSES (Japan 2016)
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.
LONG EXCUSES (Japan 2016) **
Directed by Miwa Nishikawa
Starring: Sôsuke Ikematsu, Masahiro Motoki, Eri Fukatsu
Review by Gilbert Seah
Based on her own novel, Miwa Nishikawa’s (DREAMS FOR SALE) film begins with the death of wife Natsuko (Eri Fukatsu). Husband Sachio Kinugasa (Masahiro Motoki) was having sex with another woman at the same exact time of the wife’s drowning and is therefore consumed with guilt.
THE LONG EXCUSE traces the life of Sachio after the death and how he copes with it. While never being a father, he bonds with the children of Yoichi (Pistol Takehara), whose wife died with Miwa.
Running at over two hours, Nishikawa’s film is a ponderous watch especially watching both Sachio’s and Yoichi’s grief. Except for a few dramatic scenes (the dinner scene when Sachio explains why he does not have children), the film is quite bland. It does to help that Nishikawa’s female characters are all superior to the men.
Sachio is an emotional mess and Yoichi is a rather dumb, uneducated father while Sachio’s wife is patient and understanding and Yoichi’s new girlfriend is thoughtful and smart. Do we really need to spend two hours watching to men grief their wives’ death?
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w5oUgQhMag
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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: WE ARE NEVER ALONE (Czech/France 2016) ***1/2
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.
WE ARE NEVER ALONE (Czech/France 2016) ***1/2
Directed by Petr Vaclav
Starring: Klaudia Dudová, Zdenek Godla, Miroslav Hanus
Review by Gilbert Seah
Director Vaclav says of his film, “No one is ever alone – we are always connected. We all live with others: some we dominate, some dominate us. The weaker submit to the stronger, the imitators to the originators, lovers to their beloved.
All this is true and revealed in his film WE ARE NEVER ALONE. In a small town in the Czech provinces, there exist these characters: a paranoid prison guard, his hypochondriac neighbour and his wife who holds a shocking secret, their hardened children, a lovesick nightclub manager, and a stripper who is a single mother. Like a domino effect, each person’s actions unknowingly trigger consequences for them all.
The trouble is that these are all very depressing people who are always shouting at each other and condemning themselves. Do we need to watch this? We don’t but Vaclav’s film (which moves from black and white to colour back to black and white for no apparent reason) is somehow quite absorbing and his film turns out quite a surprising watch. This is quite an achievement for the director.
WE ARE NEVER ALONE world premiered at the 2016 Berlinale, where it won the Tagesspiegel Readers’ Jury Award.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqOrol4jYls
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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
TIFF 2016 Movie Review: THE SALESMAN (Iran/France 2016) ***
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.
THE SALESMAN (Iran/France 2016) ***
Directed by Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, Babak Karimi
Review by Gilbert Seah
Can Asghar Farhadi ever make a bad movie? His first UNE SEPARATION won the Oscar for Best Foreign film and his latest THE SALESMAN won the Best Screenplay and Best Actor prizes at Cannes this year.
The title comes from the Arthur Miller play DEATH OF A SALESMAN that the protagonist, a high-school teacher is putting up. His wife has just been assaulted in the shower by a stranger and the husband wants revenge. Obviously there is a parallel between the characters in the Miller play and the film.
Director Farhadi always injects a dose of suspense in his films, Hitchcock style no matter what the premise of the film is. Like a Hitchcock film, the climax reveals all, and is unexpected. But the prize performance belongs to Babak Karimi who plays the assaulter.
Lots of detective work done by the husband to discover the assaulter which should delight Hitchcock fans. But the film contains a few too many unrelated incidents that could have been left out- like the evacuation of the building at the film’s start.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VcfinMasfw
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
Short Screenplay – Rough Sleeper by Stephen M Hunt
Watch the August 2016 Winning 1pg. Short Screenplay
Rough Sleeper by Stephen M Hunt
CAST LIST:
NARRATOR – Becky Shrimpton
CAMERAMAN – Rais Muoi
SID – Sean Ballantyne
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your screenplay about?
A documentary filmmaker pays plenty for a down-and-out’s story.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Its a good example of what can be done with just one page.
How would you describe this script in two words?
Surprise ending.
What movie have you watched the most times in your life?
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
How long have you been working on this screenplay?
It took a day.
How many stories have you written?
2 musicals, 6 stage plays, 5 feature screenplays and 10 short screenplays.
What motivated you to write this screenplay?
I was invited to participate in the LA Feedback Festival.
What obstacles did you face…
View original post 86 more words
Short Screenplay – Desperate Crossing by Thomas Thorpe
Watch the August 2016 Winning 1pg. Short Screenplay
Desperate Crossing by Thomas Thorpe
SYNOPSIS:
Genre: Historical Thriller
Three sisters are stranded on the coast of Russia. Separated from their husbands, they encounter escaped convicts from the Siberian Gulag.
CAST LIST:
NARRATOR – Becky Shrimpton
ELIZABETH – Laura Darby
VICTORIA – Victoria Urquhart
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your screenplay about?
Three sisters are stranded on the East coast of Russia. Separated from their husbands, they encounter escaped convicts from the Siberian Gulag.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Adventure, mystery, true events, cultural history, thriller, suspense, character building.
How would you describe this script in two words?
Historical thriller
What movie have you watched the most times in your life?
Jaws, Star Wars, Hunt for Red October
How long have you been working on this screenplay?
Adapted from my novel, Desperate Crossing. 10 years for…
View original post 105 more words
Short Screenplay – Vestiges of a Life by Christopher Willis
Watch the August 2016 Winning 1pg. Short Screenplay
Vestiges of a Life by Christopher Willis
SYNOPSIS:
Genre: Drama
The pivotal moment of change in the life of one woman.
CAST LIST:
NARRATOR – Sean Ballantyne
WOMAN – Becky Shrimpton
NEWSCASTER – Rais Muoi
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your screenplay about?
Years ago a young couple was believed to have committed suicide by jumping from the Newport Bridge after the husband was convicted of manslaughter. Their bodies were never recovered. This screenplay presents an alternative explanation and that moment of transition where the Gloria disposes of the last vestiges of her married life and moves on as a different person.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
There are many women who secretly wish they could move forward in their lives without the baggage of their depraved husband. This movie shows that moment for Gloria Wrigley.
View original post 288 more words
Short Screenplay – Drac’s Cafe by Scot Walker
Watch the August 2016 Winning 1pg. Short Screenplay
Drac’s Cafe by Scot Walker
SYNOPSIS:
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy
Dracula, Political Correctness and Greenwich Village.
CAST LIST:
NARRATOR – Sean Ballantyne
DRACULA- Lorne Hiro
SERVER – David Straus
GAY VAMP – Rais Muoi
Get to know the winning writer:
What is your screenplay about?
It’s a protest piece shortened from a fifteen minute play that was produced in Washington DC. As a gay man, I’m angry that the US government refused to accept blood donations from gay men and women. This is still sickeningly true after the massacre at the gay nightclub in Orlando—the survivors and friends, husbands, wives of the dead and wounded are barred from donating blood.
Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
I’m a retired teacher and a long time activist—it’s time that people become more aware of issues affecting their GLBTQ friends and neighbors.
How would…
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Winning Short Screenplay: APOLLO, THE SUN GOD by Scot Walker
Watch the winning June 2016 short screenplay reading.
APOLLO, THE SUN GOD by Scot Walker
Performed by actor Geoff Mays
Get to know the winning writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
The year is 2016 and Apollo, the Sun god, who has just been retired by his old man, Zeus, after driving the sun around earth 912,500 times, reflecting on his life (and yes, the earth is still the center of the universe, that’s why it circles us as any fool could tell you. . . and one just did!)
2. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
It’s perfect as a short film and could be a lead-in for a major Hollywood production, such as THE GODS, Then and Now, starring Keanu Reaves as Apollo.
3. How would you describe this script in two words?
ironically funny
4. What movie have you seen the most times…
View original post 315 more words
Festival Reviews 