Author: festreviews

Deadline August 15th – Feature/Short Screenplay Festival

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WILDsound Festival's avatarWILDsound Festival

SUBMIT your FEATURE Script
FULL FEEDBACK on all entries. Get your script performed

FULL FEEDBACK on your screenplay from our committee of Professional Screenwriters, Production Heads and Script Consultants. Get your entire script performed at the writing festival.

http://www.wildsound.ca/screenplaycontest.html

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WATCH recent FEATURE SCREENPLAY FESTIVAL READINGS

ACTORFEATURE Screenplay – FIEND
July 2016 Reading
Written by Jeff York		ACTORFEATURE Screenplay – THE CHARLOTTETOWN JACKHAMMER
July 2016 Reading
Written by Marc Lalonde		ACTORFEATURE Screenplay – INKED IN BLOOD
June 2016 Reading
Written by Paul Corricelli
ACTORFeature Screenplay – THE BOO
May 2016 Reading
Written by Scott McEntire		ACTORFan Fiction Feature Screenplay – STAR WARS Episode I: THE REDEMPTION OF SKYWALKER
May 2016 Reading
Written by Brian O’Flaherty		ACTORFeature Screenplay – CATCH THE DEVIL
April 2016 Reading
Written by Martin Blinder
ACTORFeature Screenplay – MISPRINTS
April 2016 Reading
Written by Adam Preston		ACTORFeature Screenplay – DEAD NORTH
April 2016 Reading
Written by Alexander…

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Deadline August 15th – Novel Festival

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WILDsound Festival's avatarWILDsound Festival

1st CHAPTER or FULL NOVEL CONTEST
Get full feedback! Winners get their novel made into a video!

http://www.wildsound.ca/book_contest.html

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WATCH RECENT WINNING NOVEL/STORY PERFORMANCES

ACTORNOVEL READING – WHAT PASSES BETWEEN WOMEN
July 2016 Reading
Written by Patty Fischer		ACTORNOVEL Reading – ALEX THE INVENTOR
June 2016 Reading
Written by Gordon Brynelson		ACTORNOVEL Reading – OBITER DICTA
June 2016 Reading
Written by Lucien M.
ACTOR1st Ch. Novel Transcript – WATER FOR BLOOD
May 2016 Reading
Written by Brett Bacon		ACTOR1st Ch. Novel Transcript – TJ S LAST SUMMER IN CAPE COD
May 2016 Reading
Written by Garfield Whyte		ACTORNovel Chapter 1 Reading – EXOTIQA
April 2016 Reading
Written by M. Black
ACTORNovel 1st Chapter Reading – MYSTIC VILLAGE
April 2016 Reading
Written by Jeannine Fortier		ACTORNovel Prologue Reading – IN THE WAKE OF WAR
April 2016 Reading
Written by Stephen L. Nowland		ACTORNovel Reading – PANTERRA: The Machinist
April 2016 Reading

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Read the Best of Storyboard Artist Interviews

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WILDsound Festival's avatarWILDsound Festival

Interview with Storyboard Artist Robert Castillo (X-Men: Apocalypse, Star Wars: Episode VII)

Award winning Director, Animator and Illustrator and Storyboard Artist Robert Castillo discovered his passion for art and illustration at the tender age of five. Nicknamed “Sketch”, Castillo would draw his way through his difficult transition of returning to the US from the Dominican Republic, mastering English, and acclimating to the mostly white environment of Chelsea, Massachusetts.

Interview with Storyboard Artist Cristiano Donzelli (Ben-Hur, The Young Messiah)

Storyboard Artist Cristiano Donzelli is a wealth of knowledge. You can feel his passion for what he does. No wonder all of the top filmmakers in the world who venture to Italy want to work with him. He simply makes all the films he storyboards better.

Interview with Storyboard Artist Stephen Forrest-Smith (Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Dark Knight)

I had a blast sitting down with the very talented storyboard artist Stephen Forrest-Smith. Stephen has worked on some…

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Today’s TIFF Reviews: September 14, 2016

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WILDsound Festival's avatarWILDsound Festival

Read the best of reviews from the Toronto International Film Festival

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: (re) ASSIGNMENT (USA/Canada/France 2016) ***

From Walter Hill, the director of classics like 48 HOURS, THE LONG RIDERS and THE WARRIORS, (re) ASSIGNMENT is a revenge action thriller with a difference. Michelle Rodriguez plays a lowlife killer put through full male-to-female gender reassignment surgery by a score-settling surgeon (Sigourney Weaver).

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: RAW (France/Belgium 2016) ***

As a first time director of a horror feature, Julia Ducournau gets her facts straight. At the introduction of RAW at TIFF Midnight Madness, she told a full house that when she asked a fellow filmmaker about Toronto audiences, she had been told which she did repeat, to huge cheers, that Toronto has the best audience in the world.

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: CITY OF TINY LIGHTS (UK 2016)

The city referred to in the title is London. And Travis’…

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: (re) ASSIGNMENT (USA/Canada/France 2016) ***

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festreviews's avatarFestival Reviews

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.

re_assignment_poster.jpg(re) ASSIGNMENT (USA/Canada/France 2016) ***
Directed by Walter Hill

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Caitlin Gerard

Review by Gilbert Seah

From Walter Hill, the director of classics like 48 HOURS, THE LONG RIDERS and THE WARRIORS, (re) ASSIGNMENT is a revenge action thriller with a difference. Michelle Rodriguez plays a lowlife killer put through full male-to-female gender reassignment surgery by a score-settling surgeon (Sigourney Weaver).

The surgeon is first seen straitjacketed in an interrogation room. Calmly, and not without pride, she recounts to her psychiatrist (Tony Shalhoub) how she got there.

The film unfolds in multiple layered flashbacks, one occurring before the previous one. The film is also appropriately framed by comic book graphics.

A lowlife killer named Frank…

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: (re) ASSIGNMENT (USA/Canada/France 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.

re_assignment_poster.jpg(re) ASSIGNMENT (USA/Canada/France 2016) ***
Directed by Walter Hill

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Caitlin Gerard

Review by Gilbert Seah

From Walter Hill, the director of classics like 48 HOURS, THE LONG RIDERS and THE WARRIORS, (re) ASSIGNMENT is a revenge action thriller with a difference. Michelle Rodriguez plays a lowlife killer put through full male-to-female gender reassignment surgery by a score-settling surgeon (Sigourney Weaver).

The surgeon is first seen straitjacketed in an interrogation room. Calmly, and not without pride, she recounts to her psychiatrist (Tony Shalhoub) how she got there.

The film unfolds in multiple layered flashbacks, one occurring before the previous one. The film is also appropriately framed by comic book graphics.

A lowlife killer named Frank Kitchen (Rodriguez) killed her brother, so she took her ultimate revenge. She captured him and conducted full gender-reassignment surgery. Now Frank is forced to face the world as a woman.

Confused, pissed off, and as macho as ever, she’s out for her own vengeance.

Rodriguez plays both the male and female roles but it is Weaver who steals the show as the straightjacketed surgeon with her extremely snide remarks. Seems that the movie was written for Weaver.

 

 

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

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: RAW (France/Belgium 2016) ***

festreviews Movie Review, TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews , , , , ,

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.

raw_poster.jpgRAW (France/Belgium 2016) ***
Directed by Julia Ducournau

Starring: Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf, Rabah Nait Oufella

Review by Gilbert Seah

As a first time director of a horror feature, Julia Ducournau gets her facts straight. At the introduction of RAW at TIFF Midnight Madness, she told a full house that when she asked a fellow filmmaker about Toronto audiences, she had been told which she did repeat, to huge cheers, that Toronto has the best audience in the world.

Her film about a new graduate in a vet medical university reminds one immediately of Dario Argento’s SUSPIRA. The vet school environment is fully utilized with the blood of animals constantly splattered on the freshies, sights of bottled carcasses as well party happenings (the music track from the club is amazing!). Shy 16-year-old Justine (Garance Marillier) is following in the footsteps of her entire family when she enrols at veterinary college, where she finds herself in the shadow of her distant and dismissive older sister Alexia (Ella Rumpf ).

To make matters worse, she is thrown into the humiliating traditions of the school’s wild and vicious hazing rituals. A strict vegetarian like her parents, Justine is confronted with a moral dilemma when she must eat a raw rabbit liver as part of an initiation rite.

When she does, her tastes transform to the desire for more flesh including human ones. The film traces her roots and transformation. A neat subplot has her falling in love with a gay Arab. French FX master Olivier Afonso (who was also responsible for Midnight Madness horror favourite À L’INTERIEUR) again does marvellous work.

The paramedics had to be called during the screening. The most gruesome segment is the finger eating scene.

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

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: CITY OF TINY LIGHTS (UK 2016)

festreviews 2016 movies, 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.

city_of_tiny_lights_poster.jpgCITY OF TINY LIGHTS (UK 2016) **
Directed by Pete Travis

Starring: Riz Ahmed, Billie Piper, James Floyd

Review by Gilbert Seah

The city referred to in the title is London. And Travis’ moody film about a brooding detective is a film noir set in this city.

A down-at-heel private eye, Tommy (Riz Ahmed) is drawn into a dangerous world of religious fanaticism and political intrigue as he investigates a missing persons case. (What other cases are there for Private Investigator film noirs?) One day Melody (Cush Jumbo) walks into his office, like the typical classic femme fatale. Her friend Natasha has gone missing. Tommy helps and the rest is the rest of the story.

Based on his own novel and writing the script, Patrick Neate shows the solution to the mystery is just as important as the atmosphere created of the city. But Travis’ over serious film is too ponderous, with this genre done so much better in countless films. Riz Ahmed’s performance, however is excellent as is Roshan’s Seth’s.

Seth plays Tommy’s cricket obsessed father who saves the day a the climax.

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

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: FOREVER PURE (Israel/UK/Norway/Ireland 2016) ***

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

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.

forever_pure_poster.jpgFOREVER PURE (Israel/UK/Norway/Ireland 2016) ***
Directed by Maya Zinshtein

DOCUMENTARY

Review by Gilbert Seah

Sometimes you have to show that racism wins in order to put it down. Zinshtein’s controversial documentary does just that. The audience will be disgusted at how the Israeli Beiter football club got its way.

The title FOREVER PURE refers to the Beitar Jerusalem Football club that the fans said lost their purity when they brought in two Arab footballers.

This is the true story of the club, which became a flashpoint for controversy in 2012 when the signing of two Muslim players brought down the racist wrath of the team’s long-time fans. Team owner Arcadi Gaydamak, a Russian-born billionaire and failed mayoral candidate in Jerusalem, signs two Muslim players from Chechnya.

Their presence turns La Familia into opponents of their own team and initiates an ideological contest with wide ripples. The doc also reveals the owner’s real motive in hiring the two Muslim players and also contains some precious shost of the Israeli Prime Minister having his say.

FOREVER PURE is the most racist themed film of TIFF and likely one that will affect audiences the most. Not a dull moment from start to finish.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/146790418

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

Died Today (September 14th): Alex Rocco (1936–2015)

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alexrocco.jpgAlex Rocco (1936–2015)

Born: February 29, 1936 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Died: July 18, 2015 (age 79) in Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

[from an interview in 2011] Playing gangsters is great. They usually dress you sharp. And you have a license to pretty much bully anybody. I mean, I wouldn’t dare to that at home. My wife will give me a back hander.

FIND ME GUILTY
2006
dir. Sidney Lumet
Stars:
Vin Diesel
Peter Dinklage

SMOKIN ACESSmokin Aces
2006
dir. Joe Carnahan
starring
Reynolds
Ray Liotta
The Godfather
1972
dir. by Francis Ford Coppola
starring
Marlon Brando
Pacino
THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLEThe Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973
dir. Peter Yates
Cast
Robert Mitchum
Peter Boyle