| Fortissimo Newsletter |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Please sign a request under the Newsletter menu if you wish to receive Fortissimo's Newsletter
|
|
| |
|
|
| Fortissimo pacts with Fox International Productions |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton
The first two titles under the deal will be Italian-language production Vallanzasca, directed by Michele Placido, and Russian-language Alien Girl, directed by Anton Barmatov.
|
|
| |
|
|
Fortissimo strikes up partnership with CJ Entertainment
|
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton
Fortissimo Films has entered into a strategic partnership with Korea¡¦s CJ Entertainment that covers co-production and library sales, and gives CJ a first-look deal for Fortissimo¡¦s upcoming titles.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Van Warmerdam comedy wins Venice sidebar |
|
 |
|
|
|
The Hollywood Reporter | By Eric J. Lyman
In presenting van Warmerdam's film with its award, the Venice Days jury called it "ironic and terrifying" and said it was "a tragic-comic look at greed, manipulation, and power within the family."
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| DISGRACE acclaimed at Taiwan fest |
|
 |
|
|
|
The Hollywood Reporter | By Patrick Frater
The John Malkovich-starring picture was praised by the jury for its "profound insight in contemporary political conflicts"
|
|
| |
|
|
| Fortissimo takes international sales on NORWEGIAN WOOD |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton
Fortissimo Films has struck a deal with Japan's Asmik Ace Entertainment to handle international sales on Tran Anh Hung's adaptation of Haruki Murakami's best-selling novel Norwegian Wood.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Kiyoshi Kurosawa chillingly bares the horrors of real life |
|
 |
|
|
|
International Herald Tribune | By Terrence Rafferty
In his latest picture, "Tokyo Sonata" (which opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles and is being released in several European countries this spring), there's nothing supernatural to haunt or bedevil his people, just the ordinary monsters of real life in a nervous country.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Le Louvre coproduit le prochain film du Taïwanais Tsai Ming-liang |
|
 |
|
|
|
Le Monde | By Isabelle Regnier
Faire du Louvre "un lieu vivant de création". Cette volonté, affichée par Henri Loyrette, son président, s'est traduite ces dernières années par l'ouverture du musée à des créateurs comme Pierre Boulez, Anselm Kiefer, Tony Morrison... Aujourd'hui, c'est au tour d'un cinéaste, le Taïwanais Tsai Ming-liang, de s'emparer des lieux.
|
|
| |
|
|
| UNFINIHSED SKY takes top AFI awards |
|
 |
|
|
|
APP | By APP
Romance thriller UNFINISHED SKY was the big winner at the AFI Industry Awards last night, as the Australian film and television sector celebrated the people who work behind the scenes.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
DISGRACE scoops Black Pearl at Abu Dhabi film fest
|
|
 |
|
|
|
AFP | By Marwan Naamani
Australian director Steve Jacobs (R) and producer Anna Maria Monticelli (L) pose for pictures after winning the Black Pearl awards for Best Film and Best Director for their film 'Disgrace' during the closing ceremony of the Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) in Abu Dhabi.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| Wong Kar-wai's Phoenix Project, Rising at Last |
|
 |
|
|
|
New York Times | By Scarlet Cheng
With this version of ASHES the director said, he hopes for a better reception than when the film was first released in 1994... "It's like a bottle of wine," said Mr. Wong, taking off his signature sunglasses over lunch recently in Los Angeles. "It needed time. Perhaps it's finally come of age." Especially since, he said, international audiences - now accustomed to more contemporary swordplay epics like CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON and HERO - have had their tastes elevated.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Fortissimo takes on Omarova's NATIVE DANCER |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screen International | By Wendy Mitchell
Fortissimo Films has acquired world rights (excluding CIS) to writer-director Guka Omarova's Native Dancer, about a spiritual healer from Kazakhstan. The film was co-written and produced by Sergei Bodrov (MONGOL).
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| NO REGRET: The Unexpected Marxist |
|
 |
|
|
|
RottenTomato.com | By Louis Proyect
NO REGRET invites comparisons with BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN but this Korean film is by far the better film. It is a love story about two gay men from different class backgrounds fighting with each other and with social prejudices to make a life for each other.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Fortissimo Films acquires Killer, Epoch's GIGANTIC |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton
Fortissimo Films has picked up Gigantic, an off-beat comedy with a stellar cast headed by Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano and John Goodman, from US production outfits Killer Films and Epoch Films.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Fortissimo takes rights to BUS |
|
|
|
|
|
Variety | By Patrick Frater
Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights outside the U.K. and U.S. to Jigsaw Film's upcoming production "Magic Bus," to be directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney.
|
|
| |
|
| |
FORTISSIMO MAKES DONATION TO SCORSESE'S WCF
|
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton
Sales agent will present Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Foundation with a $50,000 cheque at a special reception at the Berlinale tonight (Feb 8).
|
|
| |
|
|
| CSNY SPEAK OUT AND LISTEN IN "DEJA VU" |
|
|
|
|
|
The Hollywood Reporter | By Gregg Goldstein
The band has reunited again to unveil its Sundance Film Festival closing-night film, "CSNY Deja Vu," a documentary that isn't so much a concert movie as a balanced examination of America's fiercely divided opinions about the Iraq War.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| HELP ME EROS takes Gijon prize |
|
|
|
|
|
Variety | By John Hopewell
Taiwanese actor-director Lee Kang-sheng’s sex drama “Help Me Eros” took the top Principality of Asturias prize on Saturday at the 45th Gijon Festival, which underscored the vibrancy and variety of specialty filmmaking worldwide.
|
|
| |
|
|
| UNFINISHED SKY Variety Review |
|
|
|
|
|
Variety | By Richard Kuipers
A widowed Aussie farmer who's opted out of the human race and a traumatized Afghani refugee meet in the finely crafted meller "Unfinished Sky."
|
|
| |
|
|
| Fortissimo duo set to receive CineAsia award |
|
|
|
|
|
The Hollywood Reporter | By Jonathan Landreth
The co-chairmen of Fortissimo Films will receive the "Award of Excellence" at the annual CineAsia convention in December in Macau.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| ‘THE HOME SONG STORIES’ WINS FIPRESCI AWARD |
|
|
|
|
|
www.dendyfilms.com.au/mediaroom | By
Tony Ayres’, THE HOME SONG STORIES continues its extraordinary lead up to its national theatrical release on August 23, by taking out the prestigious FIPRESCI international jury award at the Brisbane International Film Festival over the weekend and being nominated for the Victorian Premiers Literary Award.
|
|
| |
|
|
| LIVE! Review |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By David D'Arcy
Live! will show viewers of The Apprentice that "you're fired" can have a very literal meaning. The wildly funny film has topicality, a zinger script, and, with Eva Mendes, a sexy comic actress working in its favour. Mendes, along with the notoriety of exploitation television, should make Live! easy to market as a comedy. The film's smart media critique could also corner the talking-heads market.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Fortissimo to sell LIVE! worldwide |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Jean Noh in Berlin
Fortissimo Films is handling worldwide sales rights excluding North America for Academy Award-winning director Bill Guttentag's LIVE!
|
|
| |
|
|
| Fortissimo takes on non-Asian sales for Blood Brothers |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Jean Noh in Seoul
Fortissimo Films has picked up worldwide sales rights excluding Asia for Alexi Tan's Blood Brothers from CMC Entertainment and John Woo and Terrence Chang's Lions Rock Productions.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| NANKING review |
|
|
|
|
|
The Hollywood Reporter | By James Greenberg
Bottom Line: Indispensable, beautifully crafted account of a little-known Japanese massacre.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 'Nanking' Documentary Rights Sold at Sundance |
|
|
|
|
|
Washington Post | By Thomas Heath
AOL vice chairman Ted Leonsis announced today from the Sundance Film Festival in Utah that he has sold the international rights -- excluding China -- to his documentary film "Nanking" to Fortissimo Films.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| Driessen and Mackey promoted at Fortissimo |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Wendy Mitchell in London
Nelleke Driessen has been promoted to managing director while Nicole Mackey is promoted to executive vice president international sales and managing director of Fortissimo UK.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Le Clef Joins Fortissimo Films in Paris |
|
|
|
|
|
IndieWire | By Brian Brooks
Fortissimo Films has appointed Catherine Le Clef as senior vice president, TV and ancillary sales. Le Clef will join the International Film and TV outfit on January 1st and will be based in Paris.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| Consider It Hilarious |
|
|
|
|
|
Christian Science Monitor | By Peter Rainer
Christopher Guest's latest spoof pillories a troupe of puffed-up thespians
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Fortissimo on board for Hamilton's Mama's Boy |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton in Santa Monica
Fortissimo Films has picked up international rights outside North America to comedy Mama's Boy from Warner Independent Pictures (WIP).
|
|
| |
|
| |
Wong Kar Wai remodels classic Ashes Of Time
|
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton in Santa Monica
Wong Kar-wai is reworking his 1994 martial arts epic Ashes Of Time and the film is being sold at AFM by Fortissimo Films under the title Ashes Of Time – Redux.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Scorsese's Stones doc goes to Paramount, Fortissimo |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton
The long-gestating Rolling Stones documentary, which Martin Scorsese recently joined as director, has started shooting in New York with Paramount Pictures on board as domestic distributor and Fortissimo Films handling international rights.
|
|
| |
|
|
| THE BRIDGE - 4 STARS |
|
 |
|
|
|
Chicago Sun-Times | By Roger Ebert.com
"The Bridge" is brave and unflinching, unshakably haunting and deeply mysterious. I doubt I'll forget it until the day I die.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| BLOOD IN THE 'BURBS |
|
 |
|
|
|
The Australian | By Sandy George
The two women at the heart of a provocative new Australian film tell Sandy George why they are having second thoughts about the amoral character they created.
|
|
| |
|
|
| REVIEW OF CHILDREN OF GLORY |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Mike Goodridge in Los Angeles
Produced to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, the first time that the people of an Eastern Bloc country took up arms against the Soviet Regime, Children Of Glory is a rousing and highly effective tribute to the men and women who fought in the battle.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| RAVE REVIEW FOR THE GO MASTER |
|
|
|
|
|
The Hollywood Reporter | By Richard James Harvis
Bottom line: A deeply thoughtful biopic of a legendary gaming master.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| FORTISSIMO TAKES ON SALES FOR HULA GIRLS |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Craig Leyland in London
Fortissimo Films has acquired the worldwide rights, excluding Japan and Korea, to Hula Girls, the latest film from director Lee Sang-il.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED |
|
 |
|
|
|
Bangkok Post | By Kong Rithdee
After the glory of Cannes in 2004, Apichatpong Weerasethakul's new feature is the first Thai film to ever be picked for the prestigious Venice International Film Festival
|
|
| |
|
|
| Happy Birthday. Here’s an Inspiration. (House of Sand) |
|
 |
|
|
|
New York Times | By Larry Rohter
AT a birthday party here for the director Andrucha Waddington five years ago, one of the guests was Brazil’s most prolific film producer, Luiz Carlos Barreto. When it came time to give the presents, Mr. Barreto announced that his gift was an idea, or rather a single intriguing image that he was convinced Mr. Waddington could somehow transform into a movie.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO GETS FOUR HAL HARTLEY FEATURES |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Wendy Mitchell
Marking the first time Hartley has worked with Fortissimo, the company is taking rights to 1990’s Trust, 1995’s Flirt, 1997’s Henry Fool and 2005’s The Girl From Monday.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO COMING TO AMERICA |
|
 |
|
|
|
IndieWire | By Eugene Hernandez
In a move to expand its sales activities and bolster relationships with North American filmmakers, Fortissimo Films announced Thursday that it will open a New York office, with Winnie Lau heading the new bureau. Lau has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales & Acquisitions, the company announced in Cannes.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO SIGNS UP WONG KAR WAI LIBRARY |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton in Cannes
Fortissimo Films has signed a deal with Cannes jury president Wong Kar-wai's Jet Tone Films to handle the increasing list of titles in the director's library, including films not previously represented by Fortissimo.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| FORTISSIMO SELLS SOLONDZ HAPPY RETURN |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton in Cannes
Fortissimo Films has boarded the as-yet-untitled new film from Todd Solondz, a companion piece to his earlier break-through piece Happiness, and will commence pre-sales immediately in Cannes
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Fortissimo drawn to Sketches Of Frank Gehry |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Liz Shackleton in Hong Kong
Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide rights outside the US, France, Benelux and Italy to Sydney Pollack’s documentary Sketches Of Frank Gehry, which screens in official selection, in an out-of-competition slot, at this year’s Cannes.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| FORTISSIMO BOARDS TSAI MING-LIANG'S I DON'T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Finn Halligan in London
Fortissimo Films has acquired worldwide sales rights to Tsai Ming-liang's I Don't Want To Sleep Alone, set in Malaysia.
The film is one of the seven New Crowned Hope (NCH) projects, which will be shown at Vienna's NCH festival in November celebrating the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| RAVE REVIEW FOR CANDY |
|
 |
|
|
|
yourMovies.com
| By Mark Beirne
Sometimes a film floors you with such emotional gusto that you are left speechless when it comes to an end.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| ABBIE'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE |
|
 |
|
|
|
Sydney Morning Herald
| By Alexa Moses
Abbie Cornish ... "Whenever I am acting, it's everything."
Abbie Cornish is a star on the rise, the new Nicole Kidman even, but acting is something she does to fund more important things - a life in perpetual motion.
|
|
| |
|
| |
COLOURFUL CARMEN
A South African film version of Bizet's opera transcends racial boundaries and social context
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bangkok Post | By Kong Rithdee
When the curtain rises on this Africanised version of Carmen, we see not the boisterous Spanish streets of George Bizet's famous opera but the dusty sprawl of a shanty town in a South African suburb. The exotic, dreamlike vista of Bizet's Andalusia (accented by his buoyant music) is replaced here by the sense of realistic poverty. And even though the coloured Carmen maintains the reputation of her namesake by seducing young men with her siren songs, the social dimension of the setting - post-apartheid South Africa - gives Mark Dornford-May's film an earthly, de-exoticised texture unseen before in other film verions of Carmen.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO BUYS WORLD RIGHTS FOR MEXICAN FEATURE |
|
|
|
|
|
ScreenDaily.com | By Alexis Grivas in Guadalajara
Fortissimo`s Wouter Barendrecht has secured world sales outside the US for the Mexican feature Broken Sky (El cielo dividido) at the Guadalajara International Film Festival.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FILMKO, FORTISSIMO COME UP FOR 'AIR' |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Liz Shackleton in Hong Kong
Fortissimo Film Sales and Hong Kong production company Filmko Entertainment have boarded Zhang Yang’s Air (working title), one of 25 projects participating at this year’s Hong Kong Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF).Filmko announced today that it is fully financing the $2.5m film while Fortissimo will handle world sales. Production is scheduled to start in southern China in May for delivery by the end of the year.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| FORTISSIMO GAME FOR TIAN'S "GO MASTER" |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Fionnuala Halligan in Hong Kong
Fortissimo Films has boarded Tian Zhuangzhuang's highly-anticipated The Go Master, taking international rights outside China.
Fortissimo co-chairmen Michael Werner and Wouter Barendrecht are executive producers on the $6m Cannes-tipped epic, which is currently in post-production in Beijing.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| Avast, Ye Pirates! |
|
 |
|
|
|
LA Times | By John Horn
Is the leader in the global fight against movie piracy a pirate too? That's exactly what director Kirby Dick is charging. He says the Motion Picture Assn. of America made a bootleg copy of "This Film Is Not Yet Rated," his angry broadside against the organization's film rating system.
|
|
| |
|
|
| LOOK BOTH WAYS wins KNF Award in Rotterdam |
|
 |
|
|
|
IFFR | By IFFR
"The jury this year awards a debuting director who has entered with confidence the dangerous territory of melodrama. Without ever becoming sentimental she burdens her protagonists with serious problems and the big questions of life. She does so in a way, or rather various ways, that are original and risky, thereby keeping a light tone despite the weight of the events."
|
|
| |
|
| |
| HOUSE OF SAND WINS ALFRED P. SLOAN PRIZE AT 2006 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL |
|
 web copy.jpg) |
|
|
|
www.moviecitynews.com | By SDFF
Park City, UT The 2006 Sundance Film Festival is pleased to announce that THE HOUSE OF SAND, directed by Andrucha Waddington and written by Elena Soarez, is the recipient of this years Alfred P. Sloan Prize. The Prize, which carries a $20,000 cash award to the writer/director provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is presented to the outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer or mathematician as a major character.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Roger Ebert's Review of THE NIGHT LISTENER |
|
 |
|
|
|
Chicago Sun-Times | By Roger Ebert
...the more he finds out, the more questions are raised,
until the movie takes turns that no one in the audience can anticipate. The screenplay is by Armistead Maupin and Terry Anderson, based on Maupin's novel, and is scary, fascinating, and elusive...
|
|
| |
|
| |
| THE NIGHT LISTENER Reviewed |
|
 |
|
|
|
Hollywood Reporter | By Kirk Honeycutt
PARK CITY -- "The Night Listener," based on Armistead Maupin's novel, plays like an Alfred Hitchcock thriller but is nevertheless a movie of ideas. It bristles with intriguing thoughts about the realm of fiction, how one loves, issues of identity and questions concerning how one transfers a real-life incident into big-screen fiction. This is a film that can crawl inside your skin.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Zhang Yuan Interviewed at Sundance |
|
 |
|
|
|
IndieWire | By staff writer
Every day through the end of the Sundance Film Festival, including weekends, indieWIRE will be publishing two interviews with Sundance '06 competition filmmakers. Sixty filmmakers were given the opportunity to participate in an e-mail interview, and each was sent the same questions.
Chinese filmmaker Yuan Zhang directed "Little Red Flowers," screening in the World Cinema Competition: Dramatic section.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Battling the Waves |
|
 |
|
|
|
Bangkok Post | By Kong Rithdee
Thai auteur Pen-ek Ratanaruang talks about his instinctive approach to filmmaking and why his latest movie is his darkest to date
|
|
| |
|
| |
| Big Screens Groing |
|
.jpg) |
|
|
|
International Herald Tribune | By Thai Day
Invisible Waves, which premiered this year at the influential Berlin International Festival - the first Thai film in 40 years to do so - will kick off BKIFF. This pan-Asian production, about a Macao chef who flees the territory for a cruise ship, is shot by Hong Kong-based cinematographer Christopher Doyle.
The film, Pen-ek's fifth, will be in the official competition category and is widely anticipated to sweep many awards.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| 'LOOK BOTH WAYS' DOMINATES AUSSIE AWARDS |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Sandy George in Melbourne
Compere Russell Crowe and the film Look Both Ways were the stars of the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards at the Melbourne Central City Studios.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| BRIDGE OPENS FOR FORTISSIMO |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily | By Fionnuala Halligan in London
Dutch-HK-based sales agent Fortissimo Films has reported a string of sales on documentary The Bridge, which it picked up at AFM. Directed by Eric Steel and following the stories of people who decided to commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate bridge in 2004, the film has already sold to Japan (Tornado), Village Roadshow (Australia and Greece), Brazil (Imagem) and Mexico (Film House), apart from Matalon in Israel and Portugal’s Lusomundo.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| Still in the Mood for a Collaboration |
|
|
|
|
|
NY Times | By KAREN DURBIN
IN Wong Kar-wai's sublimely funny "Chungking Express" Tony Leung Chiu Wai plays Cop 633, the world's most lovable policeman. When his flight attendant girlfriend dumps him - what was she thinking? - he cheers himself up by commiserating with his weeping dish towel (it drips) and lecturing his shrunken bar of soap on the importance of maintaining appearances no matter how miserable you are. He even has a brisk chat with a couple of large stuffed animals left behind by the merciless dame.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO SELLS NEW TERRITORIES ON UK DRAMA SNOW CAKE |
|
|
|
|
|
| By Wendy Mitchell in Santa Monica
Fortissimo Films has sold UK feature Snow Cake to several more territories. The new deals are with DCA in Argentina, A Film in Benelux, United King in Israel, Media Film International in Korea and Thailand, Monolith in Poland, and Lusomundo in Portugal.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| SARAH WATT LOOKS AWAY |
|
|
|
|
|
The Age | By Stephanie Bunbury
Even without one of the world's major film festivals, San Sebastian would be a drawcard for Sarah Watt (pictured), the Melbourne-based director of Look Both Ways. Watt, a quiet achiever, new to the festival circuit, says "Not only do you get a great festival with great films, but that beach! Those buildings! And the food!"
|
|
| |
|
|
| TWELVE AND HOLDING |
|
|
|
|
|
| By Roger Ebert
Michael Cuesta’s “Twelve and Holding” is another of the treasures in this festival. Set in a New York suburb, it involves 12-year-olds in crisis, who attempt to solve problems they do not understand.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| LETTERS FROM TORONTO |
|
|
|
|
|
San Francisco Bay Guardian | By B. Ruby Rich
I discovered Australian filmmaker Sarah Watts instead. Her thrilling Look Both Ways mixes witty drama and savvy animation into a hybrid exploration of love, mortality, and family ties that sports a visual boldness and muscular pacing in stark contrast to the politesse of so many women filmmakers.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| CRITICS NOTEBOOK: EXPLORING HEAVEN & HELL AT THE TORONTO FESTIVAL |
|
 |
|
|
|
INDIEWIRE.COM | By Howard Feinstein
No one is less afraid of exploring the capabilities of human transgression than the American director Michael Cuesta, as he showed in "L.I.E." In the expressive, finely executed "Twelve and Holding"--perhaps my favorite film in Toronto--he shines his light even more on children than he did in his debut.
|
|
| |
|
|
| MAYHEM LANDS AT FORTISSIMO |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Fionnuala Halligan in Toronto
Fortissimo Films has picked up worldwide rights outside Australia/NZ to black comedy Suburban Mayhem, directed by Australia’s Paul Goldman (Australian Rules), and produced by Lea Churchill Brown with The Piano’s Jan Chapman executive producing. Icon will distribute in Australia/NZ.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
AUSTRALIAN HIT READY FOR INTERNATIONAL BREAKOUT
|
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Sandy George in Sydney
The Australian drama LOOK BOTH WAYS may become the country's long-awaited international breakout after taking $230,000 (A$300,000) on home soil in its first week from only 17 screens.
|
|
| |
|
|
MOVIE REVIEW
'2046'
Director Wong Kar-Wai presents some affairs to remember.
|
|
|
|
|
|
LA Times | By Carina Chocano
A serial lover meditates on longing and the passing of time in Wong Kar-Wai's '2046.' "All memories are traces of tears," says Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung) at the beginning of "2046," Wong Kar-Wai's long-awaited follow-up to "In the Mood for Love," and a gorgeous, fevered dream of a movie that blends recollection, imagination and temporal dislocation to create an emotional portrait of chaos in the aftermath of heartbreak.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| DESIRE AND LOSS IN THE CURVE OF A BACK |
|
|
|
|
|
New York Times | By Manohla Dargis
IN "2046," a story of longing and loss, the passage of time is marked not by the hands of a clock, but by the women who pass through one man's life. The man in question, a newspaper hack, lives in a glorious ruin called the Oriental Hotel, where the thin walls shake violently from the sexual exertions of the clientele. A ladies' man given to vigorous wall-shaking, the writer turns a blind eye to the hotel's decrepitude even as he keeps its female guests fixed in his sights. In this ecstatically beautiful film, walls never tumble, only women do.
|
|
| |
|
|
| BARCLAY SIGNS ON FOR SUBURBAN MAYHEM |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Sandy George
Emily Barclay, who came to attention via the critically acclaimed New Zealand film IN MY FATHER'S DEN, has been cast in the lead role of a conniving single mother with murder on her mind in the Australian black comedy SUBURBAN MAYHEM.
|
|
| |
|
|
| MAD HOT BALLROOM LEAPS OUT OF SPECIALIST ARENA |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Jeremy Kay
It was clear to anyone who saw Marilyn Agrelo’s appealing Slamdance documentary Mad Hot Ballroom earlier this year that the picture was special, and so it’s proved to be with filmgoers over the course of a storming run that promises plenty more to come.
|
|
| |
|
| |
MYSTERIOUS SKIN
A puzzling life missing a key piece
|
|
.jpg) |
|
|
|
Rogerebert.com | By Roger Ebert
"The summer I was 8 years old," a character says at the beginning of "Mysterious Skin," "five hours disappeared from my life." He remembers being at a Little League game, and then the next thing he remembers is being found hiding in his basement at home, with blood from a nosebleed all over his shirt. What happened during those five hours? And why does he continue to have blackouts, nosebleeds and nightmares for the next 10 years?
|
|
| |
|
|
| UNCENSORED: WANG'S 'SHANGHAI DREAMS' |
|
 |
|
|
|
International Herald Tribune | By Joan Dupont
'I love making movies. I work with close friends - that's part of the pleasure. Cinema is my wife, my family. I feel good with it.' - Wang Xiaoshuai
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| Strand Picks up TFF Prize Winner "Simon" As Festival Concludes |
|
.jpg) |
|
|
|
| By Brian Brooks
The Tribeca Film Festival concluded over the weekend with awards and news of a deal. Strand Releasing acquired North American rights to Eddy Terstall's "Simon" at its North American premiere at TFF. The company made the deal with Fortissimo Films. The film, winner of the best actor award Saturday night in Tribeca for actor Cees Geel, was the official Dutch entry for the 2005 Academy Awards and also won top honors at the Dutch Film Awards including best picture, best director and best actor. The pact was negotiated between Marcus Hu and Jon Gerrans of Strand Releasing and Wouter Barendrecht of Fortissimo Films.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO TUNES INTO THE NIGHT LISTENER |
|
|
|
|
|
SCREENDAILY.COM | By Tim Dams (London)
Fortissimo Films is to handle worldwide sales outside of North America for The Night Listener, the recently wrapped film adaptation of Armistead Maupin’s bestselling drama, directed by Patrick Stettner and starring Robin Williams and Toni Collette.
|
|
| |
|
|
| CHEN SINGS AUSSIE 'SONG' |
|
|
|
|
|
Variety.com | By Don Groves
SYDNEY -- Vet thesp Joan Chen ("The Last Emperor," "Twin Peaks") will play a Shanghai nightclub singer who struggles to survive in Australia with her two kids in "The Home Song Stories," a film to be helmed and written by Tony Ayres ("Walking on Water") based on his childhood.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMMENCES IN ASIA ON
PEN-EK RATANARUANG’S ‘INVISIBLE WAVES’
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By DDA
Asano Tadanobu (Zatôichi, Ichi the Killer, Gohatto), Japan’s answer to Johnny Depp, is joined by the beautiful Gang Hye Jung (Three Extremes, Old Boy) and Maria Cordero (The Miracle Box) in INVISIBLE WAVES which will commence principal photography on February 20, 2005 in Phuket, moving on to Macau, Hong Kong and Bangkok over an eight week shoot. Directed by award-winning Pen-ek Ratanaruang (Last Life in the Universe, Monrak Transistor, 6ixtynin9), this classic thriller delves into the psychology of killers and reunites Ratanaruang with Asano who won the Best Actor award at the 2003 Venice Film Festival for Last Life in the Universe.
|
|
| |
|
| |
FORTISSIMO WALTZES WITH PARAMOUNT CLASSICS FOR
“MAD HOT BALLROOM” |
|
|
|
|
|
| By DDA
After a spirited post-Park City bidding war, Fortissimo Films has been appointed by Paramount Classics to handle international sales on the Slamdance fave, MAD HOT BALLROOM, outside of North America and Australia/NZ, it was announced by Ruth Vitale and David Dinerstein, Paramount Classics Co-Presidents and Michael J. Werner and Wouter Barendrecht, Fortissimo Co-Chairmen.
|
|
| |
|
|
FORTISSIMO COOKS UP SPICY TALE WITH “NINA’S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS”
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By DDA
Fortissimo Films is handling worldwide sales on Priority Pictures’ NINA’S HEAVENLY DELIGHTS, a spicy combination of Family, Food, Sex and Surprise. The comedy marks the debut theatrical feature of Pratibha Parmar, an award winning UK based music and documentary filmmaker and is written by Andrea Gibb (Dear Frankie, After Life).
|
|
| |
|
|
| LOOK BOTH WAYS |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Frank Hatherley
Shrewdly commissioned by the Adelaide Film Festival’s own Investment Fund, writer-director Sarah Watt’s thoughtful and sobering debut made a big impression at the 2005 festival’s opening night, as might be expected.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| Der gebrochene Herzensbrecher |
|
 |
|
|
|
Der Spiegel | By Urs Jenny
Das neue Werk des Regisseurs Wong Kar-wai, der durch Filme wie "Chungking Express" zu einer Kultfigur des ostasiatischen Kinos wurde, ist ein Melodram, das neue Maßstäbe setzt: In "2046" trauert ein leidenschaftlicher Zocker und Entwurzelter um die Liebe seines Lebens.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 2046 |
|
|
|
|
|
TIME OUT | By Geoff Andrew
Wong Kar-wai’s long-awaited, sumptuous follow-up to ‘In the Mood for Love’ makes for a rapturous cinematic experience. It’s not just the stunning production design (William Chang), exquisite camerawork (Chris Doyle, Lai Yiu Fai, Kwan Pun Leung) and superbly used music (various artists and composers, including Shigeru Umebayashi), which together give the film the febrile intensity of a nineteenth-century opera (Bellini features on the track).
|
|
| |
|
|
IF YOU CALL ME, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE IN FOR
|
|
 |
|
|
|
The Guardian | By
Considering he spends most of his time behind the camera, Chris Doyle is a conspicuous man. He's one of the few cinematographers who has become a name in his own right, to the extent that he's better known than many of the directors he works with.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| GLAMOUR LIVES, IN CHINESE FILMS |
|
 |
|
|
|
The New York Times | By Manohla Dargis
Once upon a time in Hollywood, the stars shone with a radiant glamour; in Chinese film they still do. In movies from Beijing to Hong Kong, actresses like Zhang Ziyi and actors like Tony Leung Chiu-wai fill the screen with heart-skipping beauty and charm.
|
|
| |
|
|
| SEVEN SWORDS SELLS FOR FORTISSIMO |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Patrick Frater
Fortissimo Film Sales has racked up a string of pre-sales on Tsui Hark’s forthcoming martial arts epic Seven Swords.
|
|
| |
|
|
| BUYERS COURT WARNER BROS' SPANISH 'QUEENS' |
|
|
|
|
|
SCREENDAILY.COM | By Jennifer Green in Madrid
Spanish film Queens (Reinas), Warner Bros’ Pictures first 100% Spanish production, has sold to a raft of European territories while the film is still in post-production.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| CAN I HAVE COFFEE & CIGARETTES WITH YOU IN NEW YORK?' |
|
 |
|
|
|
THE GUARDIAN | By
Comic Steve Coogan and White Stripes frontman Jack White worked together on Jim Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes, but never actually met. Here's what happened when they were offered the chance to meet online.
|
|
| |
|
|
| TSUI HARK’S SEVEN SWORDS |
|
|
|
|
|
Movie marketing Asia, AFM Issue | By By BRICE PEDROLETTI, Xinjiang
45 minutes of a bumpy ride from Urumqi, the capital of China’s northwestern frontier province of Xinjiang, along a dusty road winding its way by the side of ramshackle coal mines leads up to the hills that lie at the foot of the snow-capped Heavenly Montains, a 3,000 meter high mountain range know as Tian Shan in Chinese.
|
|
| |
|
|
| A TALK ON THE WILD SIDE |
|
|
|
|
|
The Guardian | By Simon Hattenstone
No one pushes Jim Jarmusch around, or gives less than 100% in one of his movies. Only a fool would get in a fist-fight with him. So why is everyone so keen to work with him?
|
|
| |
|
| |
| MAGNOLIA TAKES US RIGHTS TO SOMERSAULT |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Sandy George in Sydney
Magnolia Pictures has secured North American rights to writer/director Cate Shortland’s Somersault, which late last week broke all records with its clean sweep of the AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards in Melbourne.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO BOARDS HEDWIG FOLLOW-UP SHORTBUS |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Patrick Frater in Santa Monica
Fortissimo Film Sales has picked up international rights to Shortbus, the much-discussed sexually frank new ensemble piece from Hedwig And The Angry Inch director John Cameron Mitchell.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FRANCE'S ARP FALLS FOR SPANISH QUEENS |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Patrick Frater in Santa Monica
France’s ARP has picked up local rights to star-studded romantic comedy Queens (Reinas) from Fortissimo Film Sales. The deal was struck over the phone on the eve of the AFM.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
SOMERSAULT WINS EVERY SINGLE AFI PRIZE
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Sandy George in Melbourne
Cate Shortland’s Somersault managed a remarkable clean sweep of prizes at the star-studded AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards in Melbourne (Oct 29), winning in all 13 categories.
|
|
| |
|
|
ELECTRIC SHADOWS
Meng Ying Tongnian
(China - Hong Kong)
|
|
|
|
|
|
VARIETY | By Derek Elley
A fairly conventional heartwarmer, lifted by likable performances, good-looking production values and (for movie buffs) a story centered on an outdoor cinema in rural China, "Electric Shadows" is a good example of accessible Mainland cinema that deserves distribution beyond fests. "Cinema Paradiso"-like story, stretching from the Cultural Revolution to the present day, has enough cultural hooks to attract upscale auds in any country, and debuting writer-director Xiao Jiang shows she has the makings of a quality mainstream filmmaker.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| ELECTRIC SHADOWS |
|
|
|
|
|
The Hollywood Reporter | By Andrew Sun
With her debut, Xiao Jiang has created the Chinese equivalent of "Cinema Paradiso." The Beijing Film Academy graduate's confident first feature is a lovely, elegant paean to the joy and liberty that films offer as a symbol. The title itself is the literal meaning of movies in Chinese.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO GRABS JARMUSCH LIBRARY |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Tim Dams
Fortissimo Films is act as the international theatrical, video, and television distributor for the entire Jim Jarmusch film library. The catalogue had previously been represented by diverse entities.
Fortissimo’s relationship with Jarmusch began last year with Coffee And Cigarettes.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 2046: A FILM ODYSSEY |
|
 |
|
|
|
TIME Magazine | By Richard Corliss
For four years, Wong Kar-wai fought to bring his vision to life. What's the result? A romantic masterpiece
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| THE DIRECTOR'S DIRECTOR |
|
 |
|
|
|
NY Times Magazine | By Jamie Wolf
Late one night in March of last year, in a crumbling area on the island of Macao off Hong Kong, a film crew milled around in the street, awaiting the arrival of Wong Kar-wai.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 'IT WAS LIKE BEING IN JAIL' |
|
 |
|
|
|
The Guardian | By Howard Fernstein
It has taken four years and a lot of editing, but 2046 is finally ready for its UK premiere. Wong Kar-wai tells Howard Feinstein why making it was so traumatic.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| QUESTIONS FOR CATE SHORTLAND |
|
 |
|
|
|
The Sun-Herald | By Rosemarie Milsom
Filmmaker Cate Shortland's debut feature film Somersault is being praised as the Aussie film of the year. She talks to Rosemarie Milsom.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
MOVIE REVIEW | 'LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE'
Asians With Nothing to Lose in Translation |
|
|
|
|
|
The New York Times | By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Illusive and enigmatic, with hallucinations that vie with reality in the characters' minds, the Thai film "Last Life in the Universe" is a wistful mood piece whose contemplative tone is periodically punctured by eruptions of violence. A meditation on the mysterious symmetry of lives and the unlikely attraction of opposites, the movie, directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, a filmmaker on the forefront of Thai cinema, observes the off-kilter romance of one of the world's odder couples.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| MOVIES: THE NEVERENDING STORY |
|
|
|
|
|
NEWSWEEK | By Dana Thomas
How does Wong Kar-wai know when a film is done? When he runs out of funds—or a festival looms. Thank goodness for Cannes.
|
|
| |
|
|
| IN THE MOOD FOR RAPTURE |
|
.bmp.jpg) |
|
|
|
TIME Magazine | By Richard Corliss
After years of jokes that 2046 wasn't going to be finished until 2046, it has opened—to acclaim
|
|
| |
|
| |
| SUPER SIZE ME |
|
|
|
|
|
NY Times | By Susan Dominus
You Want Liver Failure With That?
|
|
| |
|
|
| SUNFLOWER TAKES ROOT FOR ZHANG |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Patrick Frater
Chinese director Zhang Yang starts production next week in Beijing on Sunflower, a family story set against the backdrop of China’s "Cultural Revolution" in the late 1970s. The film stars Joan Chen as a mother focusing on finding a larger apartment for her family.
|
|
| |
|
|
FORTISSIMO FITS 'SIZE'
|
|
|
|
|
|
Variety | By David Rooney
Fortissimo Films has signed on to represent Sundance nonfiction hit "Super Size Me," marking the company's third deal to handle international sales on a U.S. documentary after "Capturing the Friedmans" and "Spellbound."
|
|
| |
|
| |
FORTISSIMO ORDERS UP SUPER SIZE ME
|
|
|
|
|
|
Screen Daily | By Jeremy Kay
Fortissimo Films has acquired all international rights to Morgan Spurlock’s hit Sundance documentary Super Size Me and will represent the picture at next week’s AFM.
|
|
| |
|
|
| SCREEN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF "SUPER SIZE ME" |
|
|
|
|
|
Screen International | By Colin Brown
Sundance buyers were drawn to this highly entertaining documentary like kids to candy and Big Macs for good reason: director Morgan Spurlock does to McDonalds fast food what Michael Moore did to both General Motors and the National Rifle Association in his canonical documentary blockbusters, Roger And Me and Bowling For Columbine. Audiences will also eat this one up, but they may never look at a quarter-pounder and cheese with quite the same ravenous intent again.
|
|
| |
|
|
| 'It never gets any easier' |
|
|
|
|
|
The Guardian | By Steve Rose
He is one of Hong Kong's top actors, adored by film-makers across the world. So why does Tony Leung always look sad? He talks to Steve Rose
|
|
| |
|
| |
| The Wooden Camera |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Patrick Frater
Brazil has enjoyed five Oscar nominations thanks to City Of God, a tale of a camera-toting good guy caught in the crossfire of gang-warfare in Rio’s favelas. The Wooden Camera, the story of a video-toting South African boy with choices to make, has similar appeal stemming from its humanity and its fresh eye. The Berlinale and the forthcoming Cannes festival may include stronger pictures that bear witness to a South African film-making renaissance. But The Wooden Camera could carve a niche as an intelligent film that crosses over between adult and child audiences. The film, which played in the Tiger Awards Competition at Rotterdam, appears in Berlin’s new 14plus sidebar.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Versatile Collette drives this 'Story' |
|
 |
|
|
|
Los Angeles Times | By Kevin Thomas
In the decade since "Muriel's Wedding," Australia's Toni Collette has emerged as one of cinema's most beguiling and versatile actresses. Her latest picture, "Japanese Story," a compelling and edgy love story with a twist, offers her a gutsy all-stops-out role worthy of Barbara Stanwyck, and she makes the absolute most of it in one of the year's best screen performances.
|
|
| |
|
|
LATEST WONG KAR-WAI PIC NEARS WRAP
Auteur spends four years in production on '2046'
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Variety.com | By Arthur Jones
SHANGHAI -- Hong Kong helmer Wong Kar-wai's long-awaited pic "2046" is finally nearing completion, after almost four years in on-and-off production. Last week, director and cast members were in Shanghai, the penultimate stop in a production schedule that has taken in China Mainland, Hong Kong and Thailand.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| FORTISSIMO TO SELL "LOVE" WORLDWIDE |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Patrick Frater in Milan
Fortissimo Film Sales has picked up world rights outside North America to PS I Love You, the second film by Dylan Kidd, director of the award winning Roger Dodger.
|
|
| |
|
|
| FORTISSIMO PICKS UP "GIRL" |
|
.jpg) |
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Patrick Frater in Milan
Fortissimo Film Sales unveiled the pick-up of yet another title and the conclusion of a raft of sales on its diverse and expanding slate.
Company co-chief Wouther Barendrecht said that Fortissimo will be handling Fanchin (pictured) (literally "My Girl"), a feel-good film that has become one of the biggest grossing Thai films of recent years.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Nuan scoops Tokyo Grand Prix |
|
 |
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Mark Schilling in Tokyo
The Special Jury Prize, worth $20,000, went to Bakhtiyar Khudoinazarov’s The Suit, a coming-of-age film set in a Black Sea resort town. The film also picked up the award for Best Artistic Contribution.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE |
|
 |
|
|
|
ScreenDAILY | By Lee Marshall
There is a lot to be said for the theory that a territory only really comes of age when it develops a credible arthouse cinema. If this is true, then Thailand can finally join the big boys. Last Life In The Universe is the first Thai film to have made it into competition at a major festival.
|
|
| |
|
|
| GRIMM |
|
 |
|
|
|
Variety.com | By David Rooney
Already established in films like "The Northerners," "The Dress" and "Little Tony" as a distinctively offbeat voice, Dutch director Alex van Warmerdam delivers his darkest, arguably most accomplished film yet with the black comedy-thriller "Grimm."
|
|
| |
|
|
| PALM TAKES SHOT AT 'LIFE' |
|
|
|
|
|
VARIETY.COM | By David Rooney
Continuing its association with cutting-edge Thai filmmaking after horror hit "The Eye," Palm Pictures has acquired North American rights to "Last Life in the Universe," director Pen-ek Ratanaruang's romantic drama about a bored Bangkok hooker and a suicidal Japanese librarian.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| ISREALI OFFICERS IN LOVE, TRYING TO ELUDE DEATH AND DETECTION |
|
 |
|
|
|
New York Times | By Stephen Holden
If the situation has all the ingredients of a shrill, tearful melodrama, the filmmaker, working from a taut screenplay by Avner Bernheimer that doesn't waste a word or a gesture, keeps the emotional lid firmly in place. And this restraint lends the psychological undercurrents among the characters a resonance they would not otherwise have.
|
|
| |
|
|
| GRIMM |
|
 |
|
|
|
ScreenDaily | By Dan Fainaru
If all his previous films were wickedly poking fun at everything Dutch, for his first outing across the national borders he ads the Spaniards to his list of victims. If he is planning a film in your country, be warned.
|
|
| |
|
|
| A DISCO LEGEND RETURNS, WITHOUT HIS FEATHERS |
|
.bmp) |
|
|
|
New York Times | By Lola Ogunnaike
Had this been the New York of yesteryear, James St. James, too, would have been among those decked out for the occasion, the premiere party last week for "Party Monster," a feature film based on his 1999 memoir, "Disco Bloodbath." But this was post-Giuliani New York night life, after the crackdown on clubs, and Mr. St. James, in a black, tailored suit and sensible shoes, was looking aggressively understated, his mascara and chipped nail polish the only hint of a storied past.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE |
|
 |
|
|
|
Variety.com | By David Rooney
Fortissimo Film Sales is proud to announce that LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE has been selected to be Thailand's official entry for the 2004 ACADEMY AWARDS!
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| REBELS' SNEAK A PEEK AT KEN PARK |
|
 |
|
|
|
| By By Lynden Barber, Film writer
AN anonymous group of film activists illegally screened banned film Ken Park in a Melbourne community arts warehouse on Tuesday night.
|
|
| |
|
|
| SYDNEY SCREENING OF KEN PARK RAIDED BY POLICE |
|
|
|
|
|
Screendaily.com | By Sandy George in Sydney
Australian police stepped in to prevent a much-publicised Sydney screening of the banned US film KEN PARK. The film hardly got past the opening credits before the it was confiscated in front of the capacity crowd gathered at an inner city town hall.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| CINEMA: THE RARE SIGHT OF EMOTION FOR ITS OWN SAKE |
|
 |
|
|
|
Financial Times London | By Nigel Andrews
Once people had inexpressible passions because society or moral duty forbade their expression. Today people have inexpressible passions because the passions no longer exist to be expressed.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
| MARTIAL ARTS WITH A KICK -- AND A FEW BITES TOO |
|
 |
|
|
|
Los Angeles Times | By Kevin Thomas, Times Staff Writer
"Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters," written and produced by the Hong Kong martial arts maestro, was directed by Wellson Chin so successfully in Tsui's bravura, breathtaking style that it would surely be difficult if not impossible to guess that Tsui had not directed it himself.
|
|
| |
|
|
| Araki's "Mysterious" New Film |
|
|
|
|
|
indieWIRE: DAILY | By Wendy Mitchell
ARAKI'S SKIN: Gregg Araki is partnering with producers Mary Jane Skalski and Jeff Levy-Hinte to produce his new film, "Mysterious Skin."
|
|
| |
|
|
| JAPANESE STORY |
|
 |
|
|
|
Variety.com | By David Stratton
A cross-cultural love story, "Japanese Story" develops into a powerfully emotional experience thanks to a career-best performance by Toni Collette.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
| PALM PLANTS 'SPRINGTIME' FOR FALL BOW |
|
 |
|
|
|
Variety | By David Rooney
Palm Pictures has acquired North American rights to mainland Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang's festival award winner "Springtime in a Small Town," to be released in the fall under the company's Arthouse Films imprint.
|
|
| |
|
|
| GOLDEN CHICKEN 4 stars. |
|
|
|
|
|
| By Paul Fonoroff
The surprise package of the Christmas season, Golden Chicken is not the lowbrow frolics promised in the poster and theatrical trailer but a thoughtful, seriocomic look at the past twenty years in Hong Kong society as experienced by an extremely experienced lady. Portraying a prostitute (¡°chicken¡± in Cantonese slang) named Kam (¡°Gold¡±), Sandra Ng does justice to the meatiest woman¡¯s role of 2002, and it¡¯s a safe bet her Golden Chicken will be a strong contender for a golden statuette at the next Hong Kong Film Awards.
|
|
| |
|
| |
| YOSSI AND JAGGER / REVIEW SCREENDAILY.COM |
|
 |
|
|
|
ScreenDaily.com | By Dan Fainaru in Berlin
Just a sketch, but highly perceptive and remarkably sensitive one at that, this compact gay love story, set in a remote Israeli military outpost on the Lebanese border, has already gone down a storm at home.
|
|
| |
|
|
| BANGKOK BLACK COMEDY BOUND FOR CANNES |
|
|
|
|
|
South China Morning Post | By Liz Shakleton
One of the film industry's favourite pastimes is guessing which upcoming productions will be selected to screen at the world's most prestigious film event, the Cannes Film Festival.
|
|
| |
|
|
| A FAMILY LOST AND FOUND |
|
 |
|
|
|
Time Asia | By Richard Corliss
Jackie Chan has starred in many strange plots, but his clan's real-life story is odder and more poignant
|
|
| |
|
| |
| IRON LADIES 2 ENJOYS HUGE OPENING IN THAILAND |
|
 |
|
|
|
ScreenDaily.com | By Mike Goodridge
IRON LADIES 2, the sequel cum prequel to the 2000 Thai smash, opened in Thailand with a blockbusting 37m Baht ($0.88m) in its first three days over the weekend.
|
|
| |
|
|
| MOMENTUM JOINS IN FORTISSIMO'S CAMP |
|
 |
|
|
|
ScreenDaily.com | By Patrick Frater
CAMP, the musical romp set in a summer camp star school, has been snapped up for the UK by Momentum Films.
|
|
| |
|
|
| SCREEN REVIEW OF "CAMP" |
|
 |
|
|
|
ScreenDaily.com | By Mike Goodridge
Of all the films in dramatic competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, none was as full of undiluted pleasures as Todd Graff’s directorial debut CAMP. A deliriously good-natured romp through the lives of a bunch of precocious kids attending a summer camp for actors
|
|
| |
|
| |
| VARIETY REVIEW OF "THE SUIT" |
|
 |
|
|
|
Variety | By David Stratton
An almost breathtakingly lyrical film about the rites of passage of three 18-year-olds who live in a seemingly idyllic town by the Black Sea
|
|
| |
|
|
| VARIETY REVIEW OF "TRACES OF THE DRAGON: JACKIE CHAN AND HIS LOST FAMILY" |
|
|
|
|
|
Variety | By Derek Elley
Imagine you're one of the best-known people on the planet and you suddenly discovered that, uh, your family name wasn't what you'd been led to believe. It's a problem Jackie Chan -- or Jackie Fong, as he should really be called -- handles with practiced ease in "Traces of a Dragon," a moving docu by Hong Kong helmer Mabel Cheung that gains resonance by encapsulating a chaotic era of the Chinese experience pre- and post-WWII.
|
|
| |
|
|
| CAMP |
|
|
|
|
|
RollingStone | By Peter Travers
"I'd call Camp some kind of miracle. Shot by first-time director Todd Graff in twenty-three days on a shoestring with an unknown cast, the movie -- a smash at Sundance -- is the modestly perfect antidote to a synthetic, overblown movie summer: a blast of exuberant fun that stays rooted in humanity."
|
|
| |
|
| |
2small.jpg)
