Happy Birthday: Joel Edgerton

festreviews's avatarFestival Reviews

joeledgerton.jpgHappy Birthday actor Joel Edgerton

Born: June 23, 1974 in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia

THE THING
dir. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Stars:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Joel Edgerton
MOVIE POSTERWARRIOR
dir. Gavin O’Connor
Stars:
Tom Hardy
Nick Nolte
Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
2002
dir. Lucas
Starring
Natalie Portman
REVENGE OF THE SITHStar Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith
2005
dir. Lucas
SMOKIN ACESSmokin Aces
2006
dir. Carnahan
starring
Ryan Reynolds
Liotta
MOVIE POSTERTHE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN
dir. Peter Hedges
Stars:
Jennifer Garner
Joel Edgerton
MOVIE POSTERZERO DARK 30
2012
dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Stars:
Chris Pratt
Jessica Chastain
MOVIE POSTERTHE GREAT GATSBY
dir. Baz Luhrmann

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Happy Birthday: Frances McDormand

festreviews's avatarFestival Reviews

francesmcdormand.jpgHappy Birthday actor Frances McDormand

Born: June 23, 1957 in Chicago, Illinois, USA

Married to: Joel Coen (1 April 1984 – present) (1 child)

Raising Arizona
1987
dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
starring
Nicolas Cage
Holly Hunter
Miller's CrossingMiller’s Crossing
1990
dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
starring
Gabriel Byrne
Marcia Gay Harden
DARKMANDarkman
1990
dir. Sam Raimi
Starring
Liam Neeson
Frances McDormand
FARGOFargo
1996
dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
starring
William H Macy
McDormand
SwingersAlmost Famous
2000
dir. Crowe
starring
Billy Crudup
Kate Hudson
WONDER BOYSWonder Boys
2000
dir. Curtis Hanson
Starring
Michael Douglas
Holmes
THE MAN WHO WASN'T THEREThe Man Who Wasn’t There
2001
dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
Cast
Billy Bob Thornton
James Gandolfini
Burn After ReadingBurn After Reading
2008
dir. Joel and Ethan Coen
Starring
George Clooney
Brad Pitt
MOVIE POSTERTRANSFORMERS 3
dir. Michael Bay
Stars:
Shia LaBeouf
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
MOVIE POSTERMADAGASCAR 3
dir. Eric Darnell
Stars:
Ben Stiller
Jada Pinkett Smith
MOVIE POSTERTHIS MUST BE THE PLACE

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Happy Birthday: Joss Whedon

festreviews's avatarFestival Reviews

josswhedon.jpgHappy Birthday writer/director Joss Whedon

Born: June 23, 1964 in New York City, New York, USA

Married to: Kai Cole

SerenitySerenity
2005
dir. Josh Whedon
starring
Nathon Fillion
Gina Torres
sexyTHE AVENGERS
2012
dir. Joss Whedon
See over 100 pages of photos and videos!
MOVIE POSTERMUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
2013
dir. Joss Whedon
Stars:
Alexis Denisof
Amy Acker
tv POSTERAGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. TV SHOW PILOT
2013
Created by: Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon

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Happy Birthday: Joel Edgerton

festreviews's avatarFestival Reviews

joeledgerton.jpgHappy Birthday actor Joel Edgerton

Born: June 23, 1974 in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia

THE THING
dir. Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Stars:
Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Joel Edgerton
MOVIE POSTERWARRIOR
dir. Gavin O’Connor
Stars:
Tom Hardy
Nick Nolte
Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones
2002
dir. Lucas
Starring
Natalie Portman
REVENGE OF THE SITHStar Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith
2005
dir. Lucas
SMOKIN ACESSmokin Aces
2006
dir. Carnahan
starring
Ryan Reynolds
Liotta
MOVIE POSTERTHE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN
dir. Peter Hedges
Stars:
Jennifer Garner
Joel Edgerton
MOVIE POSTERZERO DARK 30
2012
dir. Kathryn Bigelow
Stars:
Chris Pratt
Jessica Chastain
MOVIE POSTERTHE GREAT GATSBY
dir. Baz Luhrmann

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Film Review: THE LOCKPICKER (Canada 2016) ***

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The Lockpicker Poster
A teenage thief tries to leave town to escape the violence that threatens him and he people he loves.

Director:

Randall Okita

Writer:

Randall Okita

 

THE LOCKPICKER is the low budget multi-award winning feature debut of director Randall Okita, arriving at big screens in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary for special screenings this week.  

THE LOCKPICKER was shot in actual Toronto classrooms over a span of two school years with a cast of non-professional teenagers in key roles.   This intimate coming-of-age drama follows high school student Hashi (unknown and newcomer Keigian Umi Tang) as he struggles to maintain a state of calm in the wake of the sudden suicide of his friend.  When people close to him are victimized by violence, he is forced to choose between fighting back and becoming what he fears, or leaving behind everyone and everything he knows.

Tang inhabits his role as the restless student with relative ease.  This is not an actor’s but director’s film.  There are no extensive monologues or other acting demands required of Tang.  Much of the character’s personality is established by the director.  For example when Hashi steals money from the jackets hug outside the classrooms, he only takes the small notes and not the larger twenties.  The director intends to show Hashi as a thief but with some conscience.  He takes only what he needs for the moment.  Hashi is displayed as the normal teenager at school, easily distracted with hardly a thought of his future.  Hashi  smokes weed, crashes parties and badgers adults to buy him liquor.  He is distracted enough not to complete the assignments necessary for him to quality for a sailing outing,  He goes around constantly distracted with a head set on.  Hashi is a fairly good-looking and fit kid who works occasionally at a shoe store.  Director Okita does not have Hashi commit acts that determine his character to be a likeable or unlikeable one.

As a first feature, THE LOCKPICKER looks sufficiently fresh.  It appears that Okita experiments quite a it with lighting, cinematography and camera placement.  The film is also variedly shot with steady cam and hand-held camera.  His eye for natural landscape and surrounding architecture is alas apparent when Hashi travels around the icy winter by transit or waiting at a bus stop  with the transit map in the background.  The Toronto winter is revealed to be a cold one with dirty snow and litter blowing across the snow and ice.  The film contains a comfortable mix of staged and free flowing improvised parts.

In Toronto, THE LOCKPICKER will be screened with a special Question and Answer a with Okita discussing the film’s powerful themes and its deeply personal connection on June 22 at 6:45 PM at TIFF Bell Lightbox.The film won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture in the Discovery Section.

It should be noted that Okita was the recipient of the Toronto Film Critics Association’s (of which the writer is a member and involved) Technicolor Clyde Gilmour Award with a cash prize of $50,000, which made the production of The Lockpicker possible.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/181642231

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Film Review: THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY (UK 2018) ***

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Poster
Trailer

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a movie starring Lily James, Glen Powell, and Matthew Goode. A writer forms an unexpected bond with the residents of Guernsey Island in the aftermath of World War II, when she decides to write a book about their experiences during the war.

Director:

Mike Newell

Writers:

Kevin Hood (screenplay by), Thomas Bezucha (screenplay) |3 more credits »

The film’s trailer and film’s beginning establish the origin of the name of a book club in the Island of Guernsey.  It all began in 1941 during the World War II when a group of four English people, two men and two women, are walking at night-time in German occupied Guernsey.  They are stopped by Germans for breaching curfew.  When asked for their reason, one of the women notices a book in the pocket of one of the Germans and says that they were at a book group. Collectively they improvise the book group’s name: the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and avoid arrest when one of the men throws up on the soldiers’ boots.

This film is the second film (the other being BEAST set on Jersey Island) to open this month that has a setting on a United Kingdom associated island in the sea between Britain and France.  It is beneficial to know a bit that Guernsey like Jersey Island in order to better appreciate the film.  Guernsey is is not part of the United Kingdom though the populace share a lot in common with the British including the currency of pound sterling  The island is self governing though protected by Britain’s Military.   The island’s landscape is stunning, especially the beaches and rocky cliffs, much like Wales, west of Britain.   The film is shot in England and at Ealing Studios and not on Guernsey though the film would definitely aid the Guernsey Tourism Board in efforts to promote visits to the island.

The film has a strong female slant, understandably being based on the 2008 novel of the same name by two female writers Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, with a female protagonist at the heart of the story.  All the males have secondary importance in the story, serving the purpose of the females.  One could suitably classify this WWII historical drama as a chick flick.

The story, set in 1946 on Guernsey Island, concerns an author Juliet Ashton (Lily James) invited to the island to address the local book club.  She learns of the story of  Elizabeth McKenna (Jessica Brown Finlay) who has a daughter with a German soldier during the German Occupation of the island.  The message of the film is show how books can affect human lives.

Lily James (Kate Winslet was originally slotted) delivers a sufficiently fine performance while her co-star Dutch Game of Thrones actor, Michiel Huisman was chosen for her main love interest likely for his resemblance to Alan Bates who has a similar scruffy look in FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD.  Matthew Goode has another gay role as Juliet’s publisher while British TV actress Penelope Wilton steals the show as Amelia Maugery.

One would naturally expect a whimsical female fantasy from the FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL director director Mike Newell.  The film succeeds with regards to this respect.  Commercial filmgoers would be more likely entertained by this film than the serious film critic who would be quick to shrug at the beleaguered dialogue and identify the plentiful clichés.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTDNGv61-Dk

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