Month: September 2016

Happy Birthday: Alan Ladd (1913–1964)

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alanladdAlan Ladd (1913–1964)

Born: September 3, 1913 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA
Died: January 29, 1964 (age 50) in Palm Springs, California, USA

He and Veronica Lake made seven movies together: The Blue Dahlia (1946), Duffy’s Tavern (1945), The Glass Key (1942), Saigon (1948), Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), This Gun for Hire (1942) and Variety Girl (1947). In Variety Girl (1947), Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) and Duffy’s Tavern (1945), they appear as themselves.

I have the face of an aging choirboy and the build of an undernourished featherweight. If you can figure out my success on the screen you’re a better man than I.

Happy Birthday: Noah Baumbach

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noahbaumbach.jpgNoah Baumbach

Born: September 3, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

[re Woody Allen] I think my parents had “Getting Even”, which was one of his collections, and when I read it I couldn’t believe it. I thought they were the funniest things that I had ever read, but also felt–this is the thing they say about great poetry or something–it’s like your own thoughts brought back to you with added majesty. It was like my own funny ideas brought back, and he just seemed so smart and funny, and I just felt so connected to it from that point forward.

MOVIE POSTERFRANCES HA
2013
dir. Noah Baumbach
Stars:
Greta Gerwig
Mickey Sumner

The Squid and the Whale
2005
dir. by Noah Baumbach
starring
Daniels
Laura Linney
Greenberg
dir. Noah Baumbach
Stars
Ben Stiller
Greta Gerwig

 

Happy Birthday: Paz de la Huerta

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pazdelahuerta.jpgPaz de la Huerta

Born: September 3, 1984 in New York City, New York, USA

[on advice that she avoid playing nudes scenes in future]: That’s good advice, but I’m telling you, typecasting is typecasting. And I mean, look at Charlotte Rampling. She’s a brilliant actress, and she’s still getting naked for films. If I look like that at her age, I’ll flaunt it.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE Season 1
2010
Created by Terence Winter
BOARDWALK EMPIRE
Best of the HBO series		 TV POSTERBOARDWALK EMPIRE Season 2
2010
Created by Terence Winter

 

Happy Birthday: Drena De Niro

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drenadeniro.jpgDrena De Niro

Born: September 3, 1967 in New York City, New York, USA

Former model and D.J.; worked exclusively for Giorgio Armani as musical supervisor for stores and shows; made directorial debut in 2001 with short documentary film Girls & Dolls (2000), which premiered on PBS’ “Reel New York Series” and won best directorial debut for documentary at New York Independent Film and Video Festival 2001. She is the daughter of actors Robert De Niro and Diahnne Abbott.

Happy Birthday: Charlie Sheen

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charliesheen.jpgCharlie Sheen

Born: September 3, 1965 in New York City, New York, USA

Married to: Brooke Mueller (30 May 2008 – 2 May 2011) (divorced) (2 children)
Denise Richards (15 June 2002 – 30 November 2006) (divorced) (2 children)
Donna Peele (3 September 1995 – 19 November 1996) (divorced)

“The same role had been offered to Emilio a year earlier but the financing fell through. This time, Emilio was on another project, so Oliver Stone offered it to me. It was the break of my life, and I knew it. But it was a strange experience, because we filmed in the Philippines, less than 100 miles away from where my dad had filmed Apocalypse Now (1979). People say I look like him – now, here I was, not only making a picture about Vietnam the way he did, but also narrating it the way he did. And, like him, I had a moment that came close to death, when I fell halfway out of a helicopter, but was caught just in time by one of the actors.” – On Platoon (1986).

PLATOONPlatoon
1986
dir. Stone
Starring
Charlie Sheen
Willem DaFoe		 RED DAWNRed Dawn
1984
dir. John Milius
Starring
Patrick Swayze
Lea Thompson
WallstreetWallstreet
1987
dir. Stone
starring
Charlie Sheen
Michael Douglas		 Being John MalkovichBeing John Malkovich
1999
dir. Jonze
starring
John Cusask
John Malkovich
Major League
1989
dir. by David S. Ward
starring
Berenger
Charlie Sheen		 MOVIE POSTERYOUNG GUNS
1988
dir. Christopher Cain
Starring:
Emilio Estevez
Kiefer Sutherland
WALL STREET 2WALL STREET 2
dir. Oliver Stone
Stars:
Shia LaBeouf
Michael Douglas
MOVIE POSTERMAJOR LEAGUE 2
1994
dir. David S. Ward
Stars:
Charlie Sheen
Tom Berenger		 MOVIE POSTEREIGHT MEN OUT
1988
dir. John Sayles
Stars:
John Cusack
Clifton James
A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III
2013
dir. Roman Coppola		 MOVIE POSTERSCARY MOVIE 5
2013
dir. Malcolm D. Lee
Stars:
Lindsay Lohan
Charlie Sheen		 MOVIE POSTERMACHETE KILLS
2013
dir. Robert Rodriguez
Stars:
Danny Trejo
Alexa Vega

 

Happy Birthday: Garrett Hedlund

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garretthedlundGarrett Hedlund

Born: September 3, 1984 in Roseau, Minnesota, USA

[on Friday Night Lights (2004)]: I grew up on a farm, and Lucas in the jungles of Alabama, so I think we adapted very well. It’s just a lot that these guys are holding on their shoulders at such a young age. There’s a lot they’re dealing with, the town pressure or support, their home life, all of that causes a sense of internal insecurities. These guys are realizing how crazy it is that they’re going through all this at such a young age.

MOVIE POSTERINSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
2013
dir. Ethan Coen
Joel Coen
Stars:
Oscar Issac

Country StrongCountry Strong
dir. Shana Feste
Stars:
Garrett Hedlund
Gwyneth Paltrow		 MOVIE POSTERERAGON
2006
dir. Stefen Fangmeier
Stars:
Ed Speleers
Sienna Guillory
TRON: Legacy
dir. Joseph Kosinski
Stars:
Jeff Bridges
Garrett Hedlund
GEORGIA RULEGeorgia Rule
2007
dir. Garry Marshall
Starring
Jane Fonda
Lohan		 FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTSFriday Night Lights
2004
dir. Berg
starring
Thornton
Lucas Black

 

Movie Review: FOOTPRINTS (2016)

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MOVIE POSTERFOOTPRINTS, 13min, Canada, Horror/Family
Directed by Kevin Saycharuen

Deep in the forest, Cahng, an injured hunter searches for his family who are being haunted by a supernatural force.

Seen at the August 2016 HORROR/THRILLER FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto.

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Footprints, a Canadian film by Kevin Saycharuen, will surprise an audience at first with its’ exceptional attention to cinematic details and a level of luminous colour and brightness that is not characteristic of a traditional Horror. Cahng, an injured hunter lost in the forest, seems compelled to track down the monstrous beast that has ruthlessly murdered his wife and child. He is tortured by their absence, plagued by visions and nightmares of them, and appears to be constantly falling in and out of delusions including them.

One tradition that is held onto with stunning effectiveness is that the audience never sees the monster. It can be heard, and often palpably felt- but we are only once ever shown anything remotely supernatural, in the form of a sort of demon ghost who briefly appears in lieu of Cahng’s missing son.

There are cinematic moments in this piece that are no less than stunning. There are breath-taking moments of utter natural beauty that capture of the setting of the forest that truly make us feel that monster in this film lurks somewhere within the disconnect humans have put between themselves and nature. However the demon that is responsible for Cahng’s tragedy is not within the forest- it is within himself.

Footprints is not a clear film. It is debatable if the plot is linear. The pay-off, while impressive, does not answer all the questions the audience is bound to have by the end of the film. Yet, Saycharuen’s work has a poignancy to it that stirs deep, primal emotions in those who watch. It is a true piece of cinema, a true piece of art, in the sense that is leave us with more questions than answers.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video of the short film: