Happy Birthday: Tim Robbins

October 16, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday, Uncategorized actors, Happy Birthday, Tim Robbins

Tim Robbins

Born: October 16, 1958 in West Covina, California, USA

I don’t want to be working for the sake of working. I don’t want to spend my time doing something I don’t love. But, at the same time, everything leads to something. Howard: A New Breed of Hero (1986) seemed like a great idea at the time. It was George Lucas, who’d just done the Star Wars trilogy. It was a lot of money. I wound up getting paid twice for it! It fuelled my theatre company for a couple of years and provided me with great creative freedom. If they’d cast the duck correctly, we might have had something there. Blame it on the duck!

Bull Durham
1988
dir. Ron Shelton
Starring
Sarandon
Costner

Jungle Fever
1991
dir. Spike
starring
Wesley Snipes
Annabella Sciorra

Mystic River
2003
dir. Eastwood
Starring
Sean Penn
Tim Robbins
Kevin Bacon

War of the Worlds
2005
dir. Steven Spielberg
starring
Tom Cruise
Dakota Fanning
Tim Robbins

Anchorman
2004
dir. Adam McKay
starring
Ferrell
Christina Applegate

City of Ember
2008
dir. Gil Kenan
Starring
Tim Robbins
Murray

GREEN LANTERN
dir. Martin Campbell
Stars:
Ryan Reynolds
Blake Lively

ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE
2005
dir. Jon Favreau
Stars:
Jonah Bobo
Josh Hutcherson

TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY
2006
dir. Liam Lynch
Stars:
Jack Black

The Shawshank Redemption
1994
dir. by Frank Darabont
starring
Tim Robbins
Freeman

High Fidelity
2000
dir. Stephen Frears
Cast
John Cusack
Jack Black

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Happy Birthday: Angela Lansbury

October 16, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday, Uncategorized actor, Angela Lansbury, Happy Birthday

Angela Lansbury

Born: October 16, 1925 in Regent’s Park, London, England, UK

Married to: Peter Shaw (12 August 1949 – 29 January 2003) (his death) (2 children)
Richard Cromwell (27 September 1945 – 11 September 1946) (divorced)

[Advice to aspiring actors] I really can’t honestly give any tips beyond hang on to your dream. Hang on to what you want, what you feel you want to achieve and go for it. We are all the victims of our own talent and our own shortcomings sometimes, and we have to be aware of those things because they will trip us up and stop us from achieving what our aims are.

MR POPPERS PENGUINS
dir. Mark Waters
Stars:
Jim Carrey
Carla Gugino

State of the Union
1948
dir. Frank Capra
Starring
Spencer Tracy
Katharine Hepburn

Bedknobs and Broomsticks
1971
dir. Robert Stevenson
Starring
Angela Lansbury
David Tomlinson

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST 3D
dir. Gary Trousdale
Kirk Wise
Stars:
Paige O’Hara
Robby Benson

The Manchurian Candidate
1962
dir. John Frankenheimer
starring
Sinatra
Laurence Harvey

The Long Hot Summer, dir. Martin Ritt, starring Paul Newman, Orson Welles, Joanne Woodward

The Long, Hot Summer
1958
dir. Martin Ritt
starring
Paul Newman
Orson Welles
Joanne Woodward

Beauty and the Beast
dir. Gary Trousdale
Kirk Wise
Stars
Paige O’Hara
Robby Benson

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Movie Review: WE’LL SEE IF WE DROWN (2016)

October 16, 2016 festreviews 2016 movies, Movie Review 2015 movie reviews, Kierston Drier, movie review, Short Film Movie Review

WE’LL SEE IF WE DROWN, 20min., France, Comedy/Crime
Directed by Hugo Becker

Mickey, Voltaire, and K.O are twenty-five. Mickey works at the butcher’s shop. Voltaire’s a con man in training. K.O fancies himself a boxer. All three have decided to stop eating pasta and skip town. But that’s where things get complicated: when you want something, you got to go get it.

Shown at the September 2016 COMEDY FEEDBACK Film Festival

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

Everyone loves an anti-hero, whether you are watching a scripted show, reality TV or even the news, people naturally look for the bad guys. We’ll See If We Drown, a French smash-hit directed by Hugo Becker, is a story about three such delinquents. Mickey, Voltaire and K.O are three twenty-something pseudo criminals up to no good, with plans to rob the Butcher shop that Mickey works at and skip town to go fishing.

High-quality, high-concept and high-voltage, this film is set at a lightening fast pace that can easy leave a slow-reader stumbling to keep up with the English subtitles, but that is no reason to avoid it. This film has genius undertones layered under slapstick-style high jinks. Our anti-heroes are undeniable assholes- they lack compassion for the people they damage in order to get what they want, they are each individually narcissistic, misguided and vice-driven and yet there is a note of sympathy in all of them. To an audience conforming the the nine-to-five white-picket fence “American Dream” these three represent who we all may be on the inside if we followed only our momentary whims and desires. And each character has their soft spot- a love of fishing or a family pet, that makes them remarkably human and, in their own perverse way, likeable.

This comedy may not sit well with a North American audience, use to a more linear story style, or a less condensed plot- but this reviewer would argue that a true film-lover should experience foreign films as frequently as they can. It is our deviation from the cinematic comfort zone that allows us to learn more about the wonderful world of film. We’ll See If We Drown has elements of slapstick, elements of irony and elements of melodrama. It also has undertones of anarchical philosophy, symbology and nihilism that will tantalize the astute academically minded. Check out this film! It’s a riot for any viewer who loves watching the bad guys do all the bad things.

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Movie Review: THE SOUNDS OF STREET VENDORS (2016)

October 16, 2016October 16, 2016 festreviews 2016 movies, Movie Review, Short Film Movie Review, Uncategorized 2015 movies reviews, documentary, Kierston Drier, Michael Brims, movie review, Short Film Movie Review, THE SOUNDS OF STREET VENDORS

THE SOUNDS OF STREET VENDORS, 8min., USA/Cuba, Documentary
Directed by Michael Brims

A portrait of the music and the sounds of street vendors in Havana.

Shown at the September 2016 DOCUMENTARY FEEDBACK Film Festival

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

The Sounds of Street Vendors is a soundscape portrait of Havana’s bustling daily marketplace. As colorful as it is musical, this piece, directed by Kyle Chen is especially interesting given the recent changes to the political and economic scene in Cuba. This film stands as a testament to Cuba’s economic essence: entrepreneurs sell their wares- flowers, peanuts, fabrics kitchen supplies- or their services, like knife sharpening, all in order to make a living. This cinematic piece is as engaging to the ear as it is to the eye, every vendor seems to be singing to attract their business. As though each vendor where birds, chirping to attract their mates.

To the arm chair sociologist or the culturally curious, this piece is a cultural rosetta stone- likening itself to market places everywhere. To a cinema-buff however, it may be frustrating, as the film is more an exploration of a city’s streets and sounds, than it is a dedication to a specific plot or storyline. The film is framed nicely with the larger-than-life vaudevillian style peanut vendor, whose sultry and enticing voice both opens and closes the piece. Beyond that, however, there is not much in the sense of story development. Instead a story that develops following central cast, crew or plot you are brought along as through a journey of discovery, as thought you were a tourist in the street yourself. The characters we see are each individual vendor, and while their moments in the film may be short, they are colorful and clear. Each vendor with their own song, their own items or services and their own clear selling tactics.

Fun, light, bright and whimsical musical The Sounds of Street Vendors is a rich documentary, that shows the audience another type of world. Like many other excellent documentaries, you are not told what to think, but if you leave this film craving peanuts, the vendors of this marketplace have worked their magic on you.

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Movie Review: WAR OF SPACE (2016)

October 16, 2016October 16, 2016 festreviews movie, Movie Review, Short Film Movie Review, Uncategorized 2015 movies reviews, documentary, Kierston Drier, matt mays, movie review, Short Film Movie Review, war of space

WAR OF SPACE, 5min., USA/Kenya, Documentary
Directed by Matt Mays

As human and elephant populations increase across the Serengeti ecosystem, the Maasai Mara region of Kenya is struggling with room for both to exist peacefully. Conflict is daily and sometimes deadly. A group of dedicated rangers is working to find a way to end the war of space.

Shown at the September 2016 DOCUMENTARY FEEDBACK Film Festival

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

A stunningly beautiful short, War on Space, by Matt Mays, tells the story of on-going conflict between the human and elephant populations of the Maasai Mara region of Kenya. Poignant musical composure and spectular footage of the Kenyan Landscape are not the only strengths of this piece; this film is an investigation of human ingenuity and hope.

Human-elephant relations have been a long troubling issue in the Maasai Mara region- with human growth crowding out the roaming lands for herding elephants. Elephants attacks have claimed human lives and the ever shrinking room for elephant movement have lead to attacks on elephants as well. Yet War on Space investigates the solutions to these problems with human advancements in technology. In an effort to find harmony with humans and wildlife, new legions of troops now assist in peacefully navigating elephants away from human habitats via GPS devices and drone usage, sparing countless elephants lives. To help instruct the future generations, local schools teach the importance of protecting the elephant population.

This film shows a beautiful type of hope. A future where humans live in peace with the world we are a part of. It shows the transformative power of education and technology. It brings light to an issue many North American audiences have never known about. It is gorgeously produced and exceptionally well executed as a piece of cinema. Most importantly for our cinema lovers- it it successful in it’s attempts to create a visually beautiful spectacle while also weaving a compelling and meaningful message. A wonderful documentary about humans and our impact on this amazing, awe-inspiring world.

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Movie Review: THE CHAMPION (2016)

October 16, 2016October 16, 2016 festreviews 2016 movies, movie, Movie Review, Short Film Movie Review, Uncategorized 2015 movie reviews, documentary, Kierston Drier, Patrick McGowan, Short Film Movie Review, The Champion short film

THE CHAMPION, 17min, USA, Documentary
Directed by Patrick McGowan

A former Iraqi boxing champion, Estaifan Shilaita overcomes tremendous hardships as he builds a special bond with his family and taxi cab customers in Chicago.

Shown at the September 2016 DOCUMENTARY FEEDBACK Film Festival

Movie Review by Kierston Drier

The Champion, a powerful short film hailing from the USA, directed by Patrick McGowan, is the story of Estaifan Shilaita, former Iraqi boxing champion turned taxi driver. The story follows Estaifan in his pursuit for a better life for himself in Chicago. Full of stunning re-enactments, brilliant cinematography, powerful composition and above all, breath taking humanity in its’, The Champion is all at once heartbreaking and humorous, compelling and inspiring.

Estaifan may seem on the outside like any other metropolitan taxi driver- friendly, smiling, overtly chatty. But under his ever-calm and ever beaming face is a story of rich history and deep roots. Achieving great fame in his youth in Iraq as a light weight boxer, Estaifan fled to find a better life for himself. He fell in love in Greece and took his new wife to Chicago under refugee status, where they began raising their four children under the American dream.

This film boasts excellent production value, rivaling any highly acclaimed feature. But it is not the visual beauty of the film that makes it sing- it is the honesty, the heart and humanity of Estaifan’s life. His resilience and happiness in the face of conflict is nothing less than a testament to human triumph. As a film, The Champion, glosses over the political and economic tensions that propelled our hero’s to flee Iraq. It glosses over the struggles a young refugee family must have faced in a new country. The film only briefly touches on the pain of loss that Estaifan and his wife feel, at having spent nearly forty years in the USA without ever being able to access their family in Iraq. It glosses over all of these things so that is can focus on joy. For Estaifan’s life is so utterly full of his own encapsulating joy it is tangible. The audience cannot help but be uplifted by it. And it makes this film spectacular.

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Happy Birthday: Jean Peters (1926–2000)

October 15, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday actors, Happy Birthday, Jean Peters (1926–2000)

Jean Peters (1926–2000)

Born: October 15, 1926 in Canton, Ohio, USA
Died: October 13, 2000 (age 73) in Carlsbad, California, USA

Married to: Stanley Hough (28 August 1971 – 23 February 1990) (his death)
Howard Hughes (12 January 1957 – 18 June 1971) (divorced)
Stuart Warren Cramer III (29 May 1954 – 9 December 1955) (divorced)

[in 1972] My life with Howard Hughes was and shall remain a matter on which I will have no comment.

Niagara
1953
dir. Henry Hathaway
Starring
Jospeh Cotten
Marilyn Monroe

La Strada
1954
dir. Federico Fellini
starring
Quinn
Giulietta Masina

IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING
1949
dir. Lloyd Bacon
Stars:
Ray Milland
Jean Peters

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Happy Birthday: Mira Nair

October 15, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday actors, Happy Birthday, Mira Nair

Mira Nair

Born: October 15, 1957 in Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India

I was seen as an outsider in the beginning and then an object of great envy. All the national directors wanted to be international. They would come up to me and say, “If I cast Michael Caine and Sean Connery, do you think this will make it?” There was this fascination with the international that was totally wrong-headed.

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST
2013
dir. Mira Nair
Stars:
Riz Ahmed
Liev Schreiber

Amelia
dir. Mira Nair
Stars:
Swank
Richard Gere
Ewan McGregor

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Happy Birthday: Penny Marshall

October 15, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday actors, Happy Birthday, Penny Marshall

Penny Marshall

Born: October 15, 1943 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

I was born and raised in the Bronx and my grandfather and my brother Garry were huge Yankees fans. One of my first memories is of them listening to a game on the radio and screaming at the radio. My brother would cry when they lost, and when I was really little, I didn’t know why he was crying.

Look at YouTube, how many talented people there are. It’s a whole new world of how to express yourself. I don’t know how to work that world, but take advantage of it.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
1992
dir. Penny Marshall
Stars:
Tom Hanks
Geena Davis

Awakenings
1990
dir. by Penny Marshall
Also Starring
Robin Williams