Author: festreviews

Happy Birthday: Jonathan Taylor Thomas

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jonathantaylorthomas.jpgJonathan Taylor Thomas

Born: September 8, 1981 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA

“It [rumors of his homosexuality] was just a blatant lie put on the Internet, and then it was just a feeding frenzy… And I’m sure it was validated by my recent roles. What startled me was how willingly people accepted it.” Interview with The Advocate, February 1, 2000.

The whole thing started on this Web site called Cyber Sleaze, which should probably tell you something. My agent called me and said, ‘There’s this stuff going around.’ I got phone calls from my friends saying, ‘What are you going to do about this?’ It was just a blatant lie put on the Internet, and then it was just like a feeding frenzy. And I’m sure it was validated by my recent roles.

Happy Birthday: Martin Freeman

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martinfreeman.jpgMartin Freeman

Born: September 8, 1971 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK

I don’t think it was a surprise that I ended up as an actor, and it was anything but a disappointment. My parents gave me the knowledge that reading isn’t a bad thing, and admitting to liking a painting doesn’t make you an arse-bandit. And that wouldn’t have been a problem either.

Nativity!
dir. Debbie Isitt
Cast
Martin Freeman
Pam Ferris		 MOVIE POSTERWHAT’S YOUR NUMBER?
dir. Mark Mylod
Stars:
Anna Faris
Chris Pratt
HOT FUZZHot Fuzz
2007
dir. Wright
Starring
Simon Pegg
Martin Freeman
SHAUN OF THE DEADShaun of the Dead
2004
dir. Wright
Starring
Simon Pegg
Nick Frost		 CONFETTI
2006
dir. Debbie Isitt
Cast
Martin Freeman
Jessica Hynes
Love ActuallyLove Actually
2003
dir. Richard Curtis
starring
Hugh Grant
Bill Nighy		 MOVIE POSTERTHE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS
dir. Peter Lord
Jeff Newitt
Stars:
Hugh Grant
Salma Hayek
MOVIE POSTERTHE HOBBIT: The Desolation of Smaug
2013
dir. Peter Jackson		 MOVIE POSTERTHE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
dir. Peter Jackson
Stars:
Martin Freeman
Ian McKellen
MOVIE POSTERBREAKING AND ENTERING
2006
dir. Anthony Minghella
Stars:
Jude Law
Robin Wright		 MOVIE POSTERTHE WORLD’S END
2013
dir. Edgar Wright
Stars:
Simon Pegg
Nick Frost

 

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: INTERCHANGE (Malaysia/Indonesia 2016) ***

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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.

interchange_poster.jpgINTERCHANGE (Malaysia/Indonesia 2016) ***
Directed by Dain Iskandar Said

Starring: Prisia Nasution, Iedil Putra, Shaheizy Sam

Review by Gilbert Seah

Writer/director Dain Iskandar Said’s ambitious supernatural crime thriller takes a bit too much than it can chew though it is beautifully shot with a good mix of old-fashioned special effects and magic for good measure.

Shot in both English and Malay with the characters often switching languages within a conversation as is in the case the way Malaysians speak, the film offers a close look at the local customs and folklore as well as the shops and housings in and around Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The supernatural is taken back to Borneo the huge Malaysian island where much is still uninhabited.

The film deals with a forensic photographer Adam (Iedil Putra) who has become a recluse. But another murder with eerie resemblances to that one has just taken place, and Detective Man (Shaheizy Sam) thinks that Adam may unwittingly have access to some answers. Photographs were found at the new crime scene, images in which Adam’s neighbour, Iva (Prisia Nasution), appears — but the pictures seem to have been taken many years before Iva was even born. There is a romance tied in with the rituals.

INTERCHANGE is a bit confusing in the way the story unfolds, and the tie in between bird and longevity is not that credible, but Said tries very hard in his movie and his effort shows.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ81AnCPqJM

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: GAZA SURF CLUB (Germany 2016) ***

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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.

gaza_surf_club_poster.jpgGAZA SURF CLUB (Germany 2016) ***
Directed by Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine

Writers: Michael Dupke, Philip Gnadt

Review by Gilbert Seah

The film begins with the map showing the Gaza Strip between Israel and Egypt bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and then goes on to show a beach with waves that is surrounded by dilapidated buildings.

It is clear that the Jewish Arab conflict, a staple in Israeli and Palestinian films is an issue affecting the characters in this documentary as well. The main characters here are the youth who have a passion for the sport of surfing – something that is unimagined for the Arab people.

Two youngsters that the film concentrate on are 23-year old Ibrahim and 15-year old Sabah. Ibrahim dreams of owning his own surfboard shop while Sabah dreams of being able to swim and surf – something girls are not allowed to do, as it is deemed shameful in the culture.

The documentary sails along smoothly revealing the troubles facing the youth in materializing their goals for surfing. The cinematography of the surfing scenes is magnificent.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qonly9By1aQ

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: MOONLIGHT (USA 2016) ***

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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_poster.jpg
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

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: LONG EXCUSES (Japan 2016)

festreviews 2016 movies, CIMM Fest - Chicago International Movies and Music Fest, 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.

long_excuses_poster.jpgLONG 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

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: WE ARE NEVER ALONE (Czech/France 2016) ***1/2

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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_poster.jpgWE 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

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: THE SALESMAN (Iran/France 2016) ***

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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_poster.jpgTHE 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